01/15/20 01/15/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> soaking woman beat donald trump? look at the men on this stage. collectively, they have lost 10 elections. the only people on the state you have won every single election they have been and are the women. the in the final debate for

iowa caucus, senators elizabeth warren and bernie sanders openly spy for the first time during the race, but both agreed on many policy issues, including the withdrawal of u.s. combat troops from the middle east. >> what we have to face as a nation is the true great foreign policy disasters of our lifetime were the war in vietnam and the war in iraq. both of those wars were based on lies. and right now what i fear very much is we have a president who is lying again and couldld drags into a war that is eveven worse than the war in iraq. r of thewill ai debate and have a roundtable discussion. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the house of representatives is

slated to vote today to send the articles of imimpeachment againt president trump to the senate. today's vote sets in motion only the third presidential impeachment trial and all of u.s. history. house speaker nancy pelosi is scheduled to name the impeachment managers in a news conference today. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says supreme court chief justice john roberts will swear in senators as jurors later this week, and the impeachment trial will start next tuesday. this comes as "the washington post" reports explosive new information at the center of the impeachment inquiry. new materials released by house democrats show text messages between former giuliani andciate now indicted it, robert hyde, republican congressional candidate from connecticut, i in which the two have threatening exchanges about maria bonaventure, the former u.s. ukraine. in the text messages, they discuss how yovanovitch was

under surveillance. in one message, hyde wrote "they like aling to help if price. i guess you could do anything with ukraine with money." a lot of it was later told to leave ukraine immediately. her lawyer is now calling for an investigation. in another message, hyde described being in contact with the security team near the embassy, apparently monitoring her physical movements. he wrote "her phone is off, computers off, they will let me know when she is on the move." yovanovitch has repeatedly said she felt threatened by trump. during the call, trump also said of yovanovitch, "she is going to go through some things." iranian leaderers said they will seek to file a criminal case against the united states at the international criminal court, over the u.s. assassination of iranian general qassem soleimani.

ththis is iranian judiciary spokesperson gholamhossein esmaili. >> our intention is to file a criminal case against the u.s. military come against the u.s. government, and against the u.s. president himself in the islamic republic, in iraq, and in the international criminal court. amy: this comes as, in the unitited states, a revised versn of a war powers resosolution aid at limiting president trump's ability to take further military action against iran without congressional approval appears to have garnered enough votes to pass the senate after two more republican senators -- susan collins of maine and todd young of indiana -- came out supporting the resolution. a similar version of the legislation has already passed the house. meanwhile, "the new york times" has obtained secururity camera fofootage that shows two m misss hitting ukrainian airliner flight 7 752, which crashedd shorortly after takeofoff in ten a a week ago, killing all l 176

people aboard. the plane, headed toto kiev, was mistakenly shot down b by the iranian mimilitary, after iranan fired ballistic mimissiles at to military baseses in iraq that housed iraqi and u.s. troops in retaliation for soleimani's assassination. iowa, sixines, democratic candidates took to the stage tuesday night and the final debate before the iowa caucuses. for the first time this election cycle, every candidate on the stage was white. former vice president joe biden, senators bernie sanders, elizabeth warren, amy klobuchar, former south bend indiana mayor pete buttigieg, and billionaire investor tom steyer. after headlines, we will play highlights from the debate and host a roundtable. in puerto rico, at least 5000 people are living inin sheheltes arly one week after a 6.4 maititudearthquake hit the island, cacausing at least $110

million in damage and plunging nearly an tirere pulation into darkness a a massower o oage atat lted for ys. erto ri's blic pow utilyy saiaidonday eltricity has be almost tirely restor on the land. new york gernor anew cuomo, whtraveled to puer r rico is ek, is cticizinghe trump adminiration fkka aid the island and hasuthohorid the dedeplment of 150 natialal grd to p pueo ro. puto ricanliving inew york city a also criticizing ee ck of aid to theslandnd armobilizi their o fundraisers,ayaying eyey do not trust e feder governmt to lp puertrico aft its inadeqte respoe to the devaating huicane maa. human ghts wat has blaed china its neweport, accusing the chinese government of human rights violations against uyghur muslims in the xinjiang region and protesters in hong kong, as well as efforts to censor chinese citizens living abroad. this comes as china has barred the head of human rights watch

kenneth roth from entering hong kong to present the report. this is kenneth roth responding to officials' claims they had barred his entry for "immigration reasons," even though u.s. citizens are entitled to visit hong kong for up to three months without a visa. put forth asijing preposterous as punishment for barring me? i think the reason is that the chinese government is terrified of admitting this genuine desire for democracy on territory that they rule because if they admit desire a spontaneous rather than what they claim is a foreign position, human rights watch inciting people, than what is happening in hong kong m migt spread too the mainland. that is really the big fear. amy: in honduras, and report by the violence observatory at the honduran national autonomous universityty says that at least5 women have been murdered in the first 14 days of this year.

violence against women, lgbtq people, indigenous leaders and environmental acactivists has skyrocketed in honduras under the u.s.-backed government of president juan orlando hernandez. hundred media reports another migraine caravan has congregated in san pedro sula and was preparing to head north, as violence and poverty continues to push hondurans to flee the country. an american citizen has died in egyptian after a series of prison lengthy hunger strikes protesting his imprisonment. moustafa kassem was arrested in 2013 amid a massive crackdown following abdel fattah el-sisi's military takeover of egypt. kassem said he had no links to politics or opposition groups, but he was sentenced to 15 years in prison on political charges he said were false. he died on monday. egypt is the second-largest recipient of u.s. military aid after israel. president trump has frequently

praised egyptian leader el-sisi, even as he has imprisoned tens of thousands of people on political charges since 2013. in seattle, the city c council s voted toto ban most polilitical spspending b by foreign-influend corporations in an attempt to obstruct attempts from multinational tech companies from influencing local elections. the legislation's author, city council president lorena gonzales, said the ban could potentially apply to amazon, despite the company being based seattle, because the legislation will also cover businesses that are substantively owned by foreign investors. in a statement, gonzales said -- "we have an epidemic of big money in our elections, and this step helps to address the appearance and risk of corruption." the popular gamame show jeopapa! has apologized, saying it never meant to broadcastst this questn

about the location of f the chuh of the natativity ththat sparked outrage last week. nativity.rch of the >> what is palestine? >> no. >> jack? >> what isis israel. first.get t to go amy: in fact, the church of the nativity is located in the palestinian territory of the west bank, which is occupied by israel in violation of international lalaw. after palestinian and human rights activists called on jeopardy! to apologize, the game show said it had broadadcast ths ququestion by mistake after rulg during t the show's s taping tht ththe question was flawed and tt "detetermining a an acceptablele response would be problematic." and in oakland, california, at least four people were arrested after sheriff's deputies carried out a pre-dawn militarized raid aimed at evicting a group of mothers who had moved into a vacant house, owned by a real

estate investment firm wedgewood properties. the group moms4housing is fighting homelessness and real estate speculation that has make housing affordable in oakland and across the country. just after 5:00 a.m. tuesday morning, dozens of armed deputies, including a tactical team, descended on the house on magnolia street, broke down the door with a battering ram, and sent a robot into the house -- allegedly, to search for possible threats. the deputies then arrested two mothers who were living in the house, as well as two of their supporters. all four were released on bail tuesday afternoon. this is carroll fife of the alliance of californians for cocommunity empowerment speaking after the eviction. >> i just wanted to let you know, don't leave here today with your head down like this was not a victory this house. the intention was to start a

movement. the only way you should leave is if you do not commit to that movement. amy: to see our full interview with carroll fife and dominique walker of moms4housing, go to democracynow.org. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i am one gonzales. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. in the final debate before the iowa caucus, six democratic candidates took to the stage on tuesday night in des moines. for the first time this election cycle, every candidate on the stage was white -- former vice president joe biden, senators bernie sanders, elizabeth warren, and amy klobouchor, former south bend indiana mayor pete buttigieg, and billionaire investor tom steyer. on monday, new jersey senator cory booker has announced he is dropping out of the presidential race -- leaving only one black candidate, former massachusetts governor deval patrick, in the

race but he did not make the cut for the debate. amy: tuesday's debate marked the first time sanders and warren openly sparred. at the end of the night, warren refused to shake the hand of her longtime friend and colleague. the debate took place as the senate prepares for the historic impeachment trial of president trump. sanders, warren, and klobuchar are all expected to leave the campaign trail to serve as jurors in the senate trial. on tuesday, senator klobuchar called on the senate republican leadadership to allow w for witnesses at the impeachment trial. >> we have asked for only four people as wiwitnesses. anand if our republican colleags won't allow those witnesses, they may as well give the president a crown and a scepter. they may as well make him king. the last time i checked, our country was founded on this idea that we did not want to o ruled by a king. juan: in addition to

impeachment, much of the debate focused on foreign policy. senator sanders warned president trump about going to war with iran. >> what we have to face as a great foreigntwo policy disasters of our lifetimes were the war in vietnam and the war in iraq. onh of those wars were based lies. and right now, what i fear very much is we have a president who is lying again and could drag us into a war that is even worse than the war in iraq. juan: during the debate, senator elizabeth warren called for the u.s. war in afghanistan to end. >> on senate armed services committee, we have one general after another. in afghanistan who comes i in ad says, you know, we have just turned the corner and now it is all going to be different.

then what happens? it is all the same for another year. someone new comes in and we've just turned the corner. we've turned the corner so many times, we're going in n circlesn these regions. this has got to stop. amy: but some of the other democratic candidates disagreed with callsls by senators warren and sanders to bring u.s.s. tros home. ththis is debate moderator wolf blitzer. >> just to be clear, vice president biden, would you leave troops in the middle east or would you pull them out? >> i would leave troops in the middle east in terms of patrolling the gulf where we are now. small numbers of troops. i think it is a mistake to pull out the snow ash small number of troops that are there now to deal with isis. senator klobuchar? >> i would leave some troops there but not in the level that donald trump is taking us right now. afghanistan, i've long wanted to bring our troops home. i would do that. some would remain for counterterrorism and training. in syria, i would not have

removed the 150 troops from the border with turkey. i think that was a mistake. i think it made our allies and many others much more vulnerable to isis. and then when it comes to iraq, right now, i would leave our troops there, despite the mess that has been created by donald trump. >> senator warren? leave combat troops, at least some combat troops in the middle east or bring them home? >> know, i think we need to get our combat troops out. you know, we have to stop this mindset that we can do everything with combat troops. our military is the finest military on earth and they will take any sacrifice we ask them to take. but we should stop asking our military to solve problems that cannot be solved militarily. >> senator sanders? >> in america today, our infrastructure is crumbling. half of our people are living paycheck-to-paycheck. 87 million people have no health

care or are uninsured. thousands living on the street tonight. the american people are sick and tired of endless wars, which have cost us trillions of dollars. our job is to rebuild the united nations, rebuild the state department, make sure we have the capability of bringing the world together to resololve international conflict diplomatically. amy: we turn now to phyllis bennis, fellow the institute for policy studies, written a number of books, including "understananding the u.s.-iran crisis." the final debate before the iowa caucus. i think one of the things that was important to see last night was that all of the democratic candidates, including the right wing of thee group, as well as the progressiveves, as

well as bernie sanders and elizabeth warren, were vying with each other essentially to see who could be more critical of the iraq war. last night it was very overt that this was a critical point of unity for these candidates. now whether that says mumuch abt the prospects for the democratic party is not so clear. but i thought it was an important advance that there is a recognition of where the entire base of half this country is, whwhich is strongly against wars. and those two clips you just used from elizabeth warren and from bernie sanders i think spoke to where there are those differences between the progressive side and the others. where you have from sanders and warren a clear sense that it is not only about what are we going to do specifically right now about afghanistan, specifically around iran? they address those questions as well, but the broader questions. when elizabeth warren spoke about recognizing there are not

military solutions for every problem. that has been the tendency of the dedemocratic party and the republican party for the last 20 plus years. thatbernie sanders said the focus is on the cost of these wars and is not the right use of our money, that was importanant. of course in both cases, they could have made a specific half the to using military budget, for example, $350 billion, , using that to py for a green new deal, medicare for all, free college education -- all of the various social prprograms t that there was debe abouout where the mononey goingo come from. all of them in the past -- it is interesting. one of the things not pushed by the moderators is the fact that back in june, all of the democratic candidates who were form the question in a sponsored by the poor people

campaign, were asked, would you cut the military budget? everyone of them said yes. and yet none of the journalists are pushing them to say, ok, we have established you will cut the military budget. let's talk specifics. how much would you cut? would you use the decision about which programs to cutut is something you tell us now? where would the money go? nobody's pushing them to remind them that was a commitment they made. so there are some problems. but i think it was important was always clear and strong positions. now come on the specifics. i think there were some serious limitations in two ways. on the one hand, on the specific question of withdrawing troops come everybody basically said, i would leave trtrps. elizababeth warren said, i would withdrawal all the combat troops. we have to recognize combat troops are not thehe ones who he been kililling people probobably since about 2011. the killing of civilians in particular is being carried out by special forces, by bombings,

byby drones. we heard the same thing from various other candidates -- all of whom said they would leave some behind. we startion is, when saying we're going to pull out the combat troops come in a sense, that is the easy part. it is a larger number in most cases, but now the troops actually carrying out the very violent activities that are continuing to kill children and women and old people in and aroundnd afghanistan, iran, iraq -- sorry, not in iran yet. in iraq, syria, semi you, and other countries. the assassination was carried out by special forces with drones, not by combat troops. so withdrawing combat troops is an important step. it is not really enough. the other point that i think -- just one other point. we saw a limitation in terms of the issue of american

exceptionalism. across the board, particularly from the more centrist candidates, but really across-the-board the board, there was a focus on what is americans.ppen to american jobs, american soldiers. americans. american jobs, american soldiers. we did not hear about human rights and the rest of the world, even the day after a u.s. citizen had died in custody as a political prisoner in egypt. we did not hear about ththe rigs of people e in these countriese. and i ththink that i is somethig that we inin the social movemens need to be pressing all of the candidates much more firmly. juan: in terms s of the fact t s was billed focusing so much on foreign policy, there were a lot of foreign-policy questions did not come up at all. israel-palestine situation. the attempt by the trump administration and regime change in venezuela. relations with saudi arabia or even policy the trumpet administration policy toward ukraine and russia.

>> right. there were huge lapses. i think it was inevitable and perhaps even appropriate that the main focus was on the question of wars, the global war on terror -- although that term was not used -- because that has been the urgency of recent days anand recent weeks.s. that is where u.s. troops are deployed and are responsible for the deaths of people around the world. that is where the vast majority of money -- 53 cents out of every federal discretionary dollars -- goes to the military. so in all of those ways, it was perhaps appropriate to keep the main focus on the issues of the existing wars, but obviously, leaving out the question of israel-palestine, policy toward russia, toward ukraine, all of latin america and africa were left out of the debate. human rights was left out of the equation. and those are huge problems. ththere is the assumption that somehow it is ok for people to be running for president as

centrirists or progressives anad not necessarily have to talk about that every time they talk about what it means to be the president. they talked some about what itit means to be the commander-in-chief. they did not talk enough about what it means to be the diplomat-in-chief. there were some references of the need for more diplomacy. nobody talked about the fact that trump has left the state department completely diminished , that massive numbers of people have left the state department -- the professionals, not the political appointees -- have left. so it any point when someone says, finally, we need to get back to diplomacy, will there be any company diplomats ready and able to carry that out? so there were huge questions that were not addressed. but i thinink this was a turning pole -- point moment in the campaign in the since the understanding from all of the candidates that they had to take seririously the questionon of tr

position -- not only on the past wars, which was important watching biden and say "i was wrong" -- although he went on to say he would do essentially the same things -- but recognizing was also important to have posititions, not as specific as they should've been, not clarifying for example sanctions are enact of war and not an alternative to work. nobody called him on that. nobody called them on the lacack of focus on internationanal law, the role of the united nations -- although bernie sanders spoke of rebuilding the united nations. i'm not sure even meant to say the u.n. rather than the u.s. u.n., one of our jobs is to rebuild the u.n. all of these things are missing. it is seems to me it was a way and because all of the candidate referenced in different ways and with differerent integrity, le's say, but many referenced the question of the role of movements being important. i think that is one of thee things we ououtside of the polititical arena have to take

very seriously. these folks are not goining to move further than we push them to move. at the end of the day, comes back to the movements outside. not just what the candidates say on the debate stage. very few talked about the fact that right now the senate has in front of it new war powers act that would focus on iran. pete buttigieg is that we need a new war powers act. that is wrong. but we're going to n need a movement too say we need to have the end of the existing authorizations foror the use of military f force, nonot new one. get rid of the old ones and stop authorizing illegal wars. amy: we're going to gonna break and then come back to our discussion. speaking of movements, right outside at drake university in des moines, liz the o'hara's and r leading a poor people's march once again. they were demanding the media televised a national discussion on the part of the candidates on

poverty. this is democracy now! is with the two for policy studies. we will be back in a minute with our roundtable. ♪ [music break]

amy: "run in place" by the nadas. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we bring you a roundtable on the last democratic primary debate before the first caucus, iowa. in less than three weeks. larry hamm is with us, chair the new jersey for bernie 2020 committee. he is chairman for the people's organizatition for progress. he just recently announced he is running against senator cory booker for his new jersey senate seat. welcome to democracy now! overall, the picture of last nights debate? there were fewer people and the complexion was much lighter.

>> well, yes. stating the obvious, there were no people of color. but that doesn't mean there wasn't diversity. there was ideological diversity. i think it is very clear at this popoint that bernie sanders is still pushing the hardest for a program and agenda that addresses people's needs. over and over again, he hit the issue of medicare for all. he had the issue of the green new deal. he hit the issue of ending these wars in afghanistan, iraq, not going to war with iran, and using that money for people's needs here at home -- housing, education, jobs. those are the things that i think people are talking about. amy: let's go to another clip of the debate. this is moderator abby phillip sanderssking senators and warren about the controversy around w whether a woman can bee president. close senatotor sanders, cnn

reported yesterday that senator warren confirmed in a statement that in 20, you told her that you did not believe a woman could win the election. why did you say that? >> well, as a matter of fact, i didn't say. and i don't want to waste a whole lot of time on this because this is what donald trump and maybe some of the media want. those who know me, it is income principle i would think that a woman could not be president of the united states. go to yoyoutube today. there's a video of me 30 years ago talking about how a woman could become president of the united states. in 2015, i deferred, in fact, the senator warren. there was a movement to draft senator warren to run for president. and you know what, i said -- stayed back. senator warren decided not to run, and i then -- i did run afterwards. hillary clinton won the popular vote by 3 million votes. how could anybody in a million

years not believe that a woman could become president of the united states? and let me be very clear. if any of the women on this stage or any of the men on this stage win the nomination, i hope that's not the case, i hope it's me. [laughter] but if they do, i will do everything in my power to make sure that they are elected in order to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of our country. close so senator sanders, i do want to be clear here. you are saying that you never told senator warren that a woman could not win the election? >> that is correct. >> senator warren, what did you think when senator sanders told you a woman could not win the election? >> i disagreed. bernie is my friend, and i am not here to try to fight with bernie. but, look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised, and it's time for us to attack it head-on. and i think the best way to talk

about who can win is by looking at people's winning recocord. so can a woman beat donald trump? look at the men on this stage. collectively, they have lost 10 elections. the ononly people on this stage who have won every single election that they've been in are the women. amy and me. [applause] amy: that was senators warren and sanders. in addition to larry hamm, we're joined by alexis goldstein, activist and contributor to truthout.org. she worked for seven years on wall street at morgan stanley, merrill lynch, and deutsche bank. she has signed onto an open letter by prominent lgbtq women and non-binary people supporting elizabeth warren. if you can comment on this latestst controversy and what happened after the debate -- but the significance of what was said there, quite stunning when cnn's abby phillip, after sanders said what he had to say, refuted what he said said her,

what do you say about him saying a woman can't win? is s much think this adado about nonothing. i do think the media has latched onto this in away i don't think either sanders or warren is interested in perpetuating. warren herself said, "i'm not here to fight with bernie." opinion, -- amy: and larry hamm? >> i think senator sanders explained himself well. i think what senator sanders said. i agree that i think the media wants to make a bigger issue out of this than it is. i think that would like to see the progressive camp divided and i don't think we're going to let that happen. i think if we stick to the issues, medicare for all, green new deal, doubling the minimum wage, defeating trump, i think that is the path forward. amy: let's go back to bernie sanders in 1988.

he referenced this youtube video. this is bernie sanders in 1988. >> the real issue is not whether you are black or white, a woman or a man -- in my view, a woman could be elected president of the united states. the real issue is, whose side are you on? are you on the side of workers and poor people, or are you on the side of big money and the corporations amy: that t was bernie sanders in 1988. larry hamm? >> bernie is consistent. his positions have been consistent over the last 40 years, maybe even half-century on some of the issues. that is why i think he is the stronger candidate. he is leading in iowa right now. frankly, i don't think the is going to move theve needle that much. i think bernie sanders is leading going in and i think he

is to get stronger as we get closer to the iowa caucus. amy: julian brave noisecat, your journalist who belongs to the secwepemc and st'at'imc nations. vice president of policy and ststrategy at the think-tank "da for progress." what nations are you a member of? >> secwepemc and st'at'imc . thank you for having m me on yor show. amy: you wrote a whole piece on this. but you come up with the same recommendation. debate between them, but also what you want to see moving forward. >> look, i feel like we were watching the end of the "lord of the rings" trilogy and their approaching mount doom. instead of finishing g the darn mission, they are fighting each other. at the end of the day, we need who is controlling the white house. i would tend to agree the infighting in the progressive

movement is not helpful right now. it leaves out the bigger picture in the primary of we still have weak front runner in biden. positioncementing his at the front of the pack. there are some real considerations i think moving forward once we start getting ballots about how sort of the left flank of the democratic party should be positioning itself. if you're a voter and you're not in one of the first three states, i think there still an open question as to whether you will be casting your vote for senator sanders or senator warren. there is also talk on the fringes of a potential contested convention. we of course choose our democratic nominee not literally through our votes, but through delegate. there is a very outside

potential that progressives, if we pool our delegates were if we stick in the race longer, could use our leveragage to either contested convention or to use that sort of threat of -- which partly shook ones to avoid it all cost t to influence t the ultitimate ticket and party platform on the issues that we care about, which are medicare for all, green new deal, free college, doubling the minimum wage call of these things. juan: i want to ask larry hamm, terms of the progressive vote, much of it has been made of the fact that joe biden still, according to all of the polls, has the far greater support in the african-american community and any of the other candidates. and even kamala harris and cory booker when they were in the race. this whole issue of whether the " is goingve community

to different direction from the voters?african-american how do you see that shifting in the coming months? >> i think it is going to shift. first of all, i think bernie sanders has support in the african-american community and he has more support than people would give him credit for. polls show that he has support, particularly among african-american 35 years old and younger. i think as we actually moved into the primary season, as the field narrows, that more and more african-americans are going to see that bernie sanders is the candidate that best represents their interests. amy: you decided to run against senator booker. booker has just pulled out of the race. i don't know if that has anything to do with you announcing right before he pulled out that you are going to be challenging him. >> i was surprised that senator booker pulled out before the

iowa caucus. he had been saying his strategy was similar to that of barack obama and that obama was in a similar position vis-a-vis the was. in 2008 as he but that after iowa, the obama campaign took off. so when senator booker announced the other day he was pulling out, i was quite surprised. i thought he was going to go through to iowa. but the fact is, he withdrew because his campaign was not getting traction. he just could not break through 4%, 3%, even some places lower than that. i am running for u.s. senate because i think we are going to need more senators in the senate that support our progressive political agenda. when bernie sanders wins the democratic primary, when he wins the nomination, and whwhen he gs to the white house, , he is goig

any peoplple in the senate that are going to fight as hard for his agenda as he is. and i want to be one of the senators. juan: let's turn to health care. this is pete buttigieg defending his health care plan at last nights's debate. >> when it comes to health care, you can do it in two moves. my plan because $1.5 trillion over a decade, no small sum, --ther 2030 -- $20 million but not the $20 trillion, $30 trillion, $40 trillion that we're hearing about from the others. all you've got to do is two things, both of them are commonsense. allow medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and roll back the trump corporate tax cuts that went to corporations and the wealthy that didn't even need it. close senator warren? >> so i started this by talking about 36 milillion americans, including americans with insurance, who just can't even afford to have a prescription filled. we all talk about plans, health care plans that we have, and these plans are paid for. the problem is that plans like the mayor's and like the vice president's is that they are an improvement. they are an improvement over

where we are right now. but they're a small improvement. and that's why it is that they cost so much less, because by themselves, they're not going to be enough to cover prescriptions for 36 million people who can't afford to get them filled. juan: i would also like to bring into the roundtable discussion julio ricardo varela, the cohost of the in the thick political podcast and founder of latino rebels. can you tatalk about this health care change we just played and also your take on what you thought was either the highlights or what was missing in last nights debate? >> absolutely.y. firsrst of all, thee biggest tae away from this health care debate -- even though it has beenen repeated d so many times- is the fact that during the warr talk, no one was talking abobout cost. like, how are you going to pay for the war and anyththing that will happen in iran? but when we got to health care, the questions were framed about, how w are we going to pay for this??

this? i think that is such a disservice to the american people and the amemerican elecectorate. in the end, let's be real.l. if there i is anything that t ha lot of universeality or cocommonality about what is happening in the u.s., it is the cost of health care. i have a daughter who is a pre-existing condition was not it is our biggest expense in my family. f from aand i come privileged background d in massachusetts. i ththink the framining of the health care debate, we get t it. itit is been repeated. cnn, let's stop asking these questions because we understand what is happening. you sanders s and warren on the progressive side saying we have to go medicare for all, with a look at this a little more holistically, health care is a human right for ameriricans. did he have the defenders of private health insurance -- then you happy defenders of health giveance who are trying to

you a little hybrid. i still don''t know w what joe biden's s health care polilicy . at least i will give buttigieg credit he is trying playining of the medicare for those who need it or want it. so i think that is a big problem and talking to people in the health care debate, w we have already had this. this is like a repeat debate. i think cnn failed on this p pa, especially when it came to the contrarast betweenen the war tak that literalally dominated the of the debater i instea and the war talk. and con the cost of war, they did not talk about it. the cost of war project just estimated that the cost of the wars in afghanistan and iraq has been -- i think that number was something like $6.4 trillion. >> well. well. that is the prproblem. this whole nototion -- i tweeted it out less than. it is like no one is talking about paying her war.

sayll say this, sanders did this cost us trillions adjoins of dollars. i sit back as an amemerican journalist thing, at this money was diverted to the american people and we have wars based on lies and we'e're looking at another fly right now, the president of the united states is lying abobout the justificatn of war with iran -- i mean, anyone who is s look at the stat for the past two weeks would know that -- can you jujust imimagine with his american society would be i if health cae was a a human right? if health care was something that we believed in and said this is what matters? it gets lost because it has become sort of t this topopic tt you see e progressives and moderates s fighting against eah otheher when we all know in fact when any democratic candidate fights against donald trump on this issue, the democrats are going to win this issue. and if they are going to win this election, they should be saying that point every day attackrump is going to

obamaa care, republilicans are going out your health care, and thatat matters. it matters because it is a pocketbook issue for the amamerican cititizens. not only is it a pocketbook issue, butut it is also -- it is health care. it is a human right. at the other take away i wouldld believeeneral -- i do -- i agree with all of our panelists that the issue of the sanders-warren debatate about a woman president is a nonissue. convenient that cnn, the day before, reported this story, a private meeeeting that reportedly was just bernie sanders and elizabeth warren, and all, this was the story on monday. guess what? what queuestion did we hear on tuesday on what is everyone talking about in the debate non? i think both of the candidates gave very good answers. i agree this seems to be like progressives going after each other. let's be real.

elizabeth warren and bernie sanders are still front runners and moderate democrats still don't know what to do with it. amy: let me ask about the backdrop of this debate coming as -- speaking about cost, you about theatest news wall. the trump administration planning to divert an additional $7.2 billion from the military budget for the construction of trump's promised border wall, bringing the total amount allocated to wall construction to over $18 billionj. ulio? >> when trump went downwn the escalalar in 2016 and he said what he said, those anti-mexican comments that really just struck in thisatinx community country, we all knew this campaign was based on fear andnd this misperception off the other

invading this country. the endle wall talk in is just a diversion. it is creaeated sort of a splitn this country. it is based on lies and misinformation. and d anyone who thinks a wall s theg to protetect u us -- statistics are notot there. this is not the way you approach it. but that is what the americ people are led to believeve. and i just find it to be insulting to what he has done over the last couple of years. the only way you fight against this is you challenge that propaganda because that is what it is becoming. it has become propaganda. political journalists need to do a better job in challenging what the president says. i hope this election cycle will begin to look into this and become journalists that say, you know what? this is what authoritarianism looks like. i don't t say those words light. i am a latin american.

i'i'm a puerto rican. lelet's nonot get into the issue that no one e even mentioned the earthquakes that are happening in puerto o rico, even during climate change y yesterdayay. and we are talking about democrats. so there has to be a better way. i think journalists s have to lk at this election and a much more critical light. and that doesn't make you less of an american. that makes you an american journalist. amy: we're going to go to break and come back to our discussion, -- cohost of in the thick political podcast. back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. "space oddity" from the bayfield sessions. as we continue to bring you this roundtable discussion on the last democratic primary debate before the iowa caucus in less than three weeks. ofn: that's not a moderator

"thehe des moines register" wita quesestion on the u.s., mexico, canada agreement. looks senator sanders, you have said that new deal, the usmca "makes modest improvement, yet you're going to vote against it. art modest improvements better ?han no improvements >> the answer is we could do much better than a trump-led trade deal. this deal -- and i think the proponents of it acknowledge -- will result in the continuation of the loss of hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs as a result of outsourcing. the heart and soul of our disastrous trade agreements -- and i'm the guy who voted against nafta and against permanent normal trade relations with china -- is that we have forced american workers to compete against people in mexico, in china, elsewhere, who earn starvation wages, $1 or $2 an hour. second of all, every major

environmental l organization has said no to this new trade agreement because it does not even have the phrase "climate change" in it. close senator warren, you support the usmca. why is senator sanders wrong? >> i do. i wasn't here. i haven't been in congress long enough to have voted against nafta, but i l led the fight against the trade deal with asia and the trade deal with europe, because i didn't think it was in the interests of the american people, the american workers, or environmental intererests. but we have farmers here in iowa who are hurting. and they are hurting because of donald trump's initiated trade wars. we have workers who are hurting because the agreements that t he already been cut really don'n't have enforcement on workers' rights. this new trade deal is a modest improvement. senator sanders himself has said so. , an: julian brave noisecat journalist with data for progress, your take on this? which was one of the clear

policy differences from last night's debate between sanders and warren? >> i think this is a very concerning issue for democrats right now. is,, the president according to the economic indicators, going to head into the general election with a humming economy. he is going to be able to set of the public that he got the usmca trade agreement done. this week it looks like he will be able to say he got an agreement with china done. and whether those actually make any kind of material difference for people's lives, you know, that narrative will be a powerful one for him. the reason this will be such an issue for democrats is not actually the fault of anyone on the campaign trail, it is leadership in the house. the usmca, there was an opportunity for house democrats -- democrats controlled house right now -- to include

climate and environment vocals in the usmca. instead of doing that, they allowed this trade agreement to move forward without any significant inclusion of climate which set up where you have farmers and workers on one side and environment list on the others. welcome to democratic politics. how often does that happen? that force this into the campaign cycle, to the primary for democrats and has created it into a witch issue. i don't think we really have a great message on it right now. obviously, we should be addressing climate change through things like trade agreements, but we should also as a party not be setting our toughs up for a tough, race on the campaign trail. and that is what house democrats have done with this issue. amamy: that isis why bernie sans has come unlike other candidates, he is not going to be signing off for voting for the trade agreement.

let's turn to higher education. this is pete buttigieg who was asked what he posted proposals for free public college. >> we have to be making sure we target our tax dollars where they will make the biggest difference. and i don't think subsidizing the children of millionaires and billionaires to pay absolutely zero intuition of public colleges is the best use of the scarce dollars. >> senator warren? >> we need a wealth tax in america. we need to ask people with fortunes above $50 million to papay more. that means the lowliest millionaire that i would tax under this wealth tax would be paying about $19 million in the first year in taxes. if you want to send his kid to public university, then i'm ok with that. because what we really need to do is talk about the economic picture. we need to be willing to put a wealth tax in place, to ask those giant corporations that are not paying to pay, because that's how we build an economy and, for those who want to talk

about it, bring down the national debt. amy: that is elilizabeth warren and pete buttigieg. , talk abouttetein this. >> i think this issue is one of the most important ones the democratic party needs to decide on when it comes what direction they're going to go in. we essentially have a disagreement between the progressive candidate in the matter candidates about whether or not we want to pursue a universal benefit for her education and make it a public k-12much in the way that education is treated as a public good. and i believe, and i think the data bears out, when you make benefits universal, they are more resilient, more robust, they can withstand a tax the come from austerity and even come from reactionaryism.

we see this with medicaid and social security, which are incredibly popular across the political spectrum and have withstood many attacks by past administrations to reform them, to privatize them, to reduce them. i think people also need to remember there used to be free public collegege in the united states in california prior to the election of governor ronald reagan. then he essentially made that signature issue in his campaign and really began the end to free public college in california. bere us to duster us used to free college system in new york. this is not a concept for us the united states but it is treated for us as though it is something strange and something we should be skeptical of. the mayor of south bend has always use this as an attempt to which people and say, oh, we don't want to give this benefit to millionaires anand billionaires. millionaires and billionaires first of all send their children to public colleges at a much

lower rate than the rest of the population. queer and i- i am know sometimes people are gisele by their families. i'm a little disappointed, frankly, does he the first openly gay major democratic primary candidate sort of ignore that simple fact that sometitims lgbtq folks are disowned from their families. so if you have a millionaire or billionaire who disowns her lgbtq child, they will be able to access public college. i think the most important point is we need to build programs that can resist any attacks on them wherever they come from. one of the things we saw -- we've seen historically there was a 2018 study that sociologist put out the said if white americans see benefits program is going to benefit black americans, they are less likely to approve of it and to be in favor of it. what way you can tackle that kind of racism is with universal programs where everyone benefits

and you don't have either racial resentment or class resentment. byally, those perceptionsns white americans are completely false. there is lots of data on lots of studies that show white americans think black americans and brown americans benefit from programs like snap at rates far lower than they do white americans often make up the majority of those programs. at this is a real decision point for the democratic party. i think going the route of universal benefits is really the way to go. the also mentioned about student debt cancellation plan. that is something that would benefit the entire economy for all. if we canceled student debt, that will benefit everyone and that is the strong reason of my up need to do that. there's a study this has $108 billion a year moves to the economy if we cancecel student debt. amy: we want to thank you alexis goldstein, the native american journalist julian brave noisecat , larry hamm, head of the bernie

sanders 2020 committee in new jersey who has just announced he is running for senate against cory booker, julio ricardo varela voting is from boston, and phyllis bennis, thank you for joining us as well from the institute for policy studies. that does it for our broadcast.

♪ thank you for joining us on nhk "newsline" from tokyo. the u.s. and china have signed a phase-one trade deal, a step toward calling a truce in their trade war. washington will soon wind back some of its tariffs on chinese goods, t the first time it's do so since it started ramping them up nearly two years ago. >> today we take a momentous step, one that has never been taken before with china. together we are righting t the wrongs of the past and delivering a future of economic

justice and securi f