02/20/20 02/20/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: broadcasting from purdue university, this is democracy now! close think about who we are running against. womenionaiaire who calls fat broads and a horse faced lesbians. i'm not talking about donald trump. i'm talking about mayor bloomberg. cooksey is not managed his city

very well. he did not get a whole lot done. he had stop and frisk throwing close to five million young black men up against a wall. owns -- that is wrong. that is immoral. that should not be the case when we have half-a-million people sleeping on the streets.s. >> i cannot speak for all billionaires. amy: you hard at the rumble in the jungle? and last that's democratic debate, billionaire former new york mayor michael bloomberg was the piñata in nevada as the six leading candidates squared off. we will unpack one of the most contentious debates of the long primary season in a roundtable discussion with katrina vanden heuvel, activist and journalist raquel willis who has endorsed senator elizabeth warren, ana maria archila the center for popular democracy -- which has endorsed senator bernie sanders -- and in houston, we will speak

with former houston mayor annise parker now p president of the lgbtq q victory fund which endorsed mayor pete buttigieg. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in nevada, the six leading candidates for the democratic presidential nomination squared up wednesday night in one of the most contentious debates of the primary season. senator bernie sanders sought to defend his position as front-runner while former vice president joe biden and amy klobuchar try to attract more supporters. senator elizabeth warren let a night full of attacks on the new person on the stage, billionaire former new york city mayor mike bloomberg. >> i would like to talk about who we're running against, a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse faced lesbians

stop no, i'm not talking about donald trump. i'm talking about mayor bloomberg. democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women, and of supporting racist policies like redlining and stop and frisk. amy: protest erected at the end of the two are debate just as former vice president joe biden was set to begin his closing remarks. the protesters -- erika andiola and lucia allain of the texas-based immigrants rights group raices -- shouted at biden "you deported 3 million people!," a reference to the record number of deportations under the obama administration. they chanted "no kids in cages!" and "don't look away!" as they were escorted from the auditorium. this is erika andiola speaking just after the protest. >> we decided to interrupt. we are not sorry. the immigration debate today is

the last issue they talked about, and they did not even have t time to talk about t the issue? this is not ok. we are beingng the most attacked by t the trump administration ad we deserve a conversation about how our r lives are gogoing to k opinion of those people get elected. amy: in more campaign news, former new york city mayor and billionaire michael bloomberg is under fire after newly surfaced video showed him making transphobic remarks less than one year ago. buzzfeed news first reported on this comment from bloomberg, which came last march during a bermuda business development agency conference in manhattan. >> if your conversation during a presidential election is about someme guy wearing a dress and whether hehe, she, or it can goo the lockerer room with ththeir daughter, that is not a winning formula for most people. amy: meanwhile, the nation magazine reports that bloomberg's campaign is forcing its staffers to sign a nine-page nondisclosure agreement, or nda, that could prevent them from reporting workplace abuse and discrimination.

critics say the nda is overly broad to the point of preventing sexual harassment t and incidens of racism from being r read what it. we will have more on last night i'm a credit debate after the headlines. we will have a roundtable discussion, including katrina vanden heuvel, publisher of the nation magazine. the united nations is warning of an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in syria's ititaly idlib provinince. wednesday, u.n. humanitarian affairs chief mark lowcock pleaded for an immediate cease-fire. >> nowhere is safe. almost 50,000 are sheltering under trees or in other open spaces. i am gettingng daily reports of babies and other young children dying in the cold. imagine the grief of a parent

who escaped over some of their child only to watch that child freeze to death. amy: the warning him as the turkish president erdogan try to launch his own military offenses in idlib the end of the month unless syrian troops withdraw behind the line. his warning drew a sharp rebebue from russia'a's g governmnment,h supported ththrough president bashar al-assad. in germany, a gunman with a high-powered rifle opened fire i'm patrons at two bars wednesday night, killing ninine people. the 43-year-oldd suspectct then returned to his home and killed his mother beforore turning a gn on himself. the attacks s appear to targrget peopople of turkish and d rdish ancestry and german federal investigators say they are investigating the killings as a likely right wing terror attack. the killings came a week after german police arrested 12 members of a far-right group and accused them of plotting to usus

semi-automomatic weapons to mumr worshipers at mosques, in attatacks that would mirror thoe cacarried out by a whihite natitionalist gunman in christchurch, new zealand, last year. chinese officials said wednesday they are expelling 3 wall st journal reporters from mainland china over the newspapers coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. a government ministry spokesman cited recep op-ed published in t the general heheadlined d "china is the real sickck man of as," calling it racist. the expulsions drew condemnation from secretary of state mike pompeo. the chief executive of dodow jonenes, which pubublishes "wall street journal" said he regretted ththe upset andd concerned d because by t the opn piece totohe chinese people. is comess two elderlyly people ofiran died after testiting the new strain from m the new virus. president trump on wednesday named u.s. ambassador to germany

richard grenell as his next director of national intelligence. he is a staunch supporter of trump on social media and also a gogold level member of the trump organization's trump card loyalty program. he brings to the job title little experience or with heading a large government bureaucracy. grenell l can serve up to 210 ds without sesenate confirmation as acting dni. he's expected to hold that position while keeping his ambassadorship to berlin. president trump's longtime ally former advisor roger stone is said to be sentenced by federal judge in washington, d.c. come today on several counts including witness tampering, obstruction, and making false statements. over night shortly before 2:00 a.m., president trump to ted a pardon for stone pending a video to his twitter feed of tucker carlsen blasting federal prosecutors over stone's case. this comes as "the washington post reports the white house is

moving to take more direct control overcoming patience with trump try to limit the role of justice department and the clemency process. lawyers for julian assange told a london court wednesday that president trump offered the wikileaks founder a presidential pardon if he agreed to publicly state that russia was not behind the leak of democratic party emails ahead of the 2016 election. the explosive allegation by came as part of a legal filing by assange's lawyers, who are seeking to block assange's extradition to the united states, where he faces up to 175 years in prison. according to the lawyers, then-congressmember dana rohrbacher visited assange in the ecuadorian embassy in london in 2017, claiming he had instructions from president trump to make a deal for a pardon. rohrbacher has since denied thee allegatition, saying he was on a personal fact finding meanwhile, lawyers for u.s. army whistleblower chelsea manning filed a motion in federal court wednesday asking for her release from a prison outside washington, d.c., where she's been jailed since march of last year for refusing to cooperate

in a federal grand jury investigation into wikileaks. manning could be held as long as 18 months on contempt of court charges. in mexico city, government investigators have opened a corruption probe into former mexican president enrique peña nieto. the investigation stems from a broader case against emilio lozoya, the former head of mexico's national oil company pemex. lozoya was arrested last weeks in spain pending his extradition to mexico, where he's charged with accepting millions of dollars in bribes from a brazilian construction firm and a mexican steel company. at the time of the alleged bribes, lozoya was a top official in peña nieto's 2012 presidential campaign. in arizona, federal judge has ordered the u.s. border patrol to provide clean math and thin blankets to migrants within 12 hours after they are brought to an immigration jail. wednesday's court order came after immigrant rights group sued the trump administration over overcrowded, unsafe,

unsanitary, freezing, inhumane conditions at eight border patrol jails in arizona. in nashville, tennessee, 58-year-old nicholas todd sutton is scheduled to be electrocuted to death this evening after governor bill lee declined to halt his planned execution. sutton was convicted of three murders in 1979 and later sentenced to death for fatally stabbing a prisoner in 1985. seven current and former tennessee prison workers have called for clemency for sutton, saying he reformed to become a model prisoner. one of them, retired prison guard tony eden, says sutton intervened to save his life during a prison riot in 1985. unless tonight's execution is stopped, sutton will become the fifth tennessee prisoner to be killed by the electric c chair sisince 2018. a federal appeals court ruled wednesday the ste of florida cannot requi formal incarcerated people to pay all fines related to their ntences before they caregister to vote. mparing it to anax. voting rights advocates when the republican led move would have disenfranchised many of the one

point 4 million people who are reentering in 2018 after florida voters narrowly approved the historic allott measure calledd "amendment 4." in argentina, thousands of reproductive rights activists held protest and dozens of cities wednesday to renew their push to legalize abortion. public support for abortion rights has grown since 2018 when a bill to repeal an abortion been narrowly lost in the argentine and it. this is pamela martin who joined a large protest. actiony is the day of for safe, legal, and free abortion. this is our third protest. february 19 is a day for political influence, a day and which we ask ourselves t to continue calalling for to demand struggle for our right to decide. amy: and those are somome of the headlines. this is democracy y now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from purdue university in west lafayette, indiana. and las vegas, nevada, the six leading candidates for the

democratic presidential nomination squared off wednesday night and one of the most contentious debates of the long primary season. senator sanders defended his position as front runner in the democrats nomination fight and former vice president joe biden, mayor pete buttigieg and senator amy klobuchar tried to attract more supporters. senator elizabeth warren led a night full of attacks on the new person on the stage, billionaire former new york city mayor mike bloomberg, who struggled to address questions about his vast wealth, his defense of stop and frisk, and treatment of women. the debate man began with a question for moderator lester holt. of democratic voters still say their top priority is beating president trump. senator sanders, the first question t to you. mayor bloomberg is pitching himself as a centrist who says he's best positioned to win in november. why is your revolution a better bet? sanders: in order to beat donald trump, we're going to need the

largest voter turnout in the history of the united states. mr. bloomberg had policies in new york city of stop and frisk which went after african-american and latino people in an outrageous way. that is not a way you're going to grow voter turnout. what our movement is about is bringing working-class people together, black and white and latino, native american, asian american, around an agenda that works for all of us and not just the billionaire class. warren: i would like to talk about who o we're running again. a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse faced lesbians. i'm not talking about donald trump, i'm talking about mayor bloomberg. democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women, and of supporting racist polls like

-- policies like redlining and stop and frisk. look, i'll support whoever the dedemocratic nomineeee is. but understand this democrarats , take a huge risk if wewe just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another. this country has worked for the rich for a long time and left everyone else in the dirt. it is time to have a president who will be on the side e of working families and be willing to get outut there and fight for them. that is why i am in this race, and that is how i will beat donald trumpmp. amy: to unpack all of this and so much more from the las vegas debate, we are hosting a roundtable discussion. i am in indiana. that is the home state at pete buttigieg. by joining me from new york is katrina vanden heuvel editorial , director and publisher of the nation, america's oldest weekly magazine. she is also a columnist for thewashingtonpost.com

raquel willis is an activist and journalist based in new york city and has endorsed elizabeth warren. ana maria archila, co-executive director of the center for popular democracy. the group has endorsed senator bernie sanders in december. and in houston, texas annise , parker is the former mayor of houston and now president of the victory fund, which works on increasing the number of openly lgbtq officials in government and has endorsed mayor pete buttigieg for president. the victory fund is the largest lgbtq political action committee in the united states. we welcome you all to this democracy now! roundtable. katrina vanden heuvel, let's begin with you. to say the least, it seems to me that bernie sanders was very lucky last night because usually, the guns are sorta focused on the number one candidate. but instead, they were all focused on the person who is not

on the ballot in nevada, and that is the newcomer to the stage, billionaire michael bloomberg. >> that was one of the most fiery democratic debates i think we've all lived through. mayor bloomberg seemed to amp everything up and it is right the targets were focused on mayor bloomberg. what was important was it seemed all of the candidates, especially elizabeth warren -- elizabeth warren warriored back. she's the comeback woman of last night. but i think bernie sanders spoke eloquently about what he is doing. he is building a majority coalition of workers across race and region. elizabeth warren came out fighting and rightly took on mayor bloomberg for his comments about women and more important, what is going on not only in his workplace, bloomberg, the allegations of sexual harassment workplace abuse, but as the nation reported, amy, and he spoke of this earlier, our d.c. correspondent received nda

campaign nondisclosure agreement that transparency experts say is so broad, could really prohibit campaign staffers from reporting incidents of sexual harassment or workplace abuse. i think last night you had in elizabeth warren and bernie sanders, the progressive wing of the party. they have one the ideas primary. won the ideas primary. bernie sanders is winning the money debate. mayor bloomberg is pushing down on this country. you have to wonder, with all of that money, where was the debate prep for this guy? it was lousy. we don't need two duelingng plutocrats. we need people who represent with the democratic party could be. so i think it was an important night stop we will see moving forward -- as we talked this morning, it does look, and one

hates to put too much on polls because they are unpredictable, but bernie sanders is leaeading across racial ideological and educational grounds. and certainly leading among the younger cohort. we will see what the turnout looks like because you heard sanders. his theory of change is expanding the electorate and bringing in new voters and extending a turnout that has to be huge in order to overcome what the president -- the president. amy: the early voting in nevada, which is a little confusing since it is a caucus state, more people -- something like 70,000 people have voted. that is about equal to all that came out in the 2016 caucus. thelet's go to part of extended exchange between mike bloomberg and elizabeth warren on those allegations of sexual harassment. this begins with a question from hallie jackson.

cooks several former employees have claimed your company was a hostile workplace for women. you admitted making sexually suggested remarks in "that's the way i grew up." in a lawsuit in the 1990s, according to the washington post, one former female employee alleged d that you said, quote,i would do you in a second." should democrats expect better from their nominee? bloomberg: let me say a couple of things, if i could have my full minute and a quarter, thank you. i have no tolerance for the kind of behavior ththat the " "me, t" movemement has exposed. and anybody that does anything wrong in our company, we investigate it, and if it's appropriate, they're gone that day. but let me tell you what i do at my company and my foundation and in city government when i was there. in my foundation, the person that runs it is a woman. 70% of the people therere are women.n. in my company, lots and lots of women have big responsibilities. they get paid exactly the same

as men. and in my -- in city hall, the person, the top personon, my deputy mayor was a woman, and 40% of our commissioners were women. i am very proud of the fact that about two weeks ago we were awarded -- we were voted the most -- the best place to work, second best place in america. if that doesn't say something about our employees and how happy they are, i don't know what does. >> senator warren, you've been critical of mayor bloomberg on this issue. warren: yes, i have. and i hope you heard what his defense was. "i've been nice to some women." [applause] warren that just doesn't cut it. : the mayor has to stand on his record. and what we need to know is exactly what's lurking out there. he has gotten some number of women, dozens, who knows, to sign nondisclosure agreements both for s sexual harassment and for gender discrimination in the

workplace. so, mr. mayor, are you willing to release all of those women from those nondisclosure agreements so we can hear their side of the story? [applause] bloomberg: we have a very few nondisclosure agreements. warren: how many is that? bloomberg: let me finish. warren: how many is that? bloomberg: none of them accuse me of doing anything other than maybe they didn't like a joke i told. and let me just -- and let me -- there's agreements between two parties that wanted to keep it quiet and that's up to them. they signed those agreements, and we'll live with it. biden: come on. warren: so, wait, when you say it is up to -- i just want to be clear. some is how many? and -- and when you -- and when you say they signed them and they wanted them, if they wish now to speak out and tell their side of the story about what it is they allege, that's now ok with you?

you're releasing them on television tonight? is that right? bloomberg: senator -- [applause] warren: is that right, tonight? bloomberg: senator, the company and sosomebody else, in this c e -- a a man or a woman oror it cd be more than that, they decided when they made an agreement they wanted to keep it quiet for everybody's interests. biden: come on. bloomberg: they signed the agreements and that's what we're going to live with. warren: i'm sorry. no, the question is -- bloomberg: i heard your question. warren: -- are the women bound by being muzzled by you and you could release them from that immediately? because, understand, this is not just a question of the mayor's character. this is also a question about electability. we are not going to beat donald trump with a man who has who knows how many nondisclosure agreements and the drip, drip, drip of stories of women saying they have been harassed and discriminated against. that's not what we do as democrats. >> m mr. vice prpresident?

bloombererg: i said we're not going to end these agreements because they were made consensually and they have every right to expect that t they will stay private. biden: if they want to release it, they should be able to releasase themselves. say yes. amy: the last voice was former vice president joe biden. the main part, of course, billionaire mayor mike bloomberg being attacked and criticized by senator elizabeth warren. we're also joined by raquel willis, the executive editor of out magazine. she personally has endorsed elizabeth warren. kenny responded this back and forth? >> absolutely. i feel like senator warren came out swinging last night. she was not afraid step we really going to talk about electability, she really demonstrated that last night. a lot of the conversation around her as a candidate has been whether people think she could

actually be elected or whether she e could actually hold someoe like trump accountable. and we really saw also the failings of mike bloomberg. we see just how much of a demagogue, how disgusting trump has been in his history and also currently in the policies he has enacted. why would we think so much would change under a bloomberg administration? really senator warren came at him and major to hold him accountable in the moment and really made a point about us not electing leaders who want to silence marginalized people, particularly, women. debated this is a key for senator warren who has been slipping in the polls and fundraising, made a lot of money just last night as this debate was going g on and aftererwards. >> absolutely. absolutely. i think this was the night that all of these orders for senator

-- supporters for senator warren have been wanting. i saw a social media, where has this senator warren been? she has always been there and i think she's really taking a new strategy, making sure people understand she is not just going to be there only to present her plans but she's going to hold people accountable for what they have or not put out plan-wise. i think should another strong moment, particularly around health care. i think she garnered a lot of ire from the progressive wing of our electorate around her plan for medicare for all, particularly in comparison to senator sanders. i think she really made some great points about not thinking klobuchar had a plan, really thinking that pete was -- mayor buttigieg was really kind of blowing past some of the finer notes on what the people actually want and people want health care.

people want to be covered. i think it was a great night for her. i think it also was important that bloomberg was fully held accountable fresh out of the gate. i think a lot of folks have been worried about what his presence in the election season means. ands have been very worried saying, you know, he is buying the election. i think a lot more of it is about buying delegates more than anything else. but i think it was important for his first showing in the national stage to be one where he was really held to the fire. we will see what it looks like for him to maybe recover if he tries to do that. but i think senator warren had a great night. amy: if last night was a dress rehearsal for taking on trump with bloomberg as the stand and, of course, former republican, warren clearly had a very good night. very interesting how little trump was raised last night. we're going to go to a break and then come back to more of this

what;, well, much more than a rumble in the jungle perhaps, mayor bloomberg, the piñata in nevada. stay w with us.. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. i am broadcasting from purdue ununiversity in west lafayette, indiana. as we are looking at that debate in nevada last night. yes, the democratic debate in las vegas where the six leading democratic candidates facebook and one of the most contentious debates of the long primary season. this is senator elizabeth warren criticizing her opponents health care plan. warren: mayor buttigieg really has a slogan that was thought up by his consultants to pay for over a thin version of a plan that would leave millions of people unable to afford their health care. it's not a plan.

it's a powerpoint. and amy's plan is even less. it's like a post-it note, "insert plan here." bernie has started very much -- has a good start, but instead of expanding and bringing in more people to help, instead, his campaign relentlessly attacks everyone who asks a question or tries to fill in details about how to actually make this work. and then his own advisors say, yeah, probably won't happen anyway. amamy: and thiss iss msnbc chuck todd questioning bernie sanders. >> there are some democrats who like you a lot but worry that this plan, medicare for all, it is going to take away private insurance and that it goes too far. are they right? sanders: no. let me be very clear, two points.

from teddyrs, roosevelt to barack obama, this country has been talking about the need to guarantee health care for all people. and yet today, despite spending twice as much per capita, chuck, twice as much as any other major country on earth, we got 87 million who are uninsured or underinsured. we got over 60,000 people who die every year because they don't get to a doctor on time. we're getting ripped off outrageously by ththe greed and corruption of the pharmaceutical industry, which in some cases charges us 10 times more for the same drugs because of their price-fixing. 500,000 people go bankrupt every year because they can't afford medical bills. so let me be very clear to myy good friends in the culinary workers union, a great union. i will never sign a bill that will reduce the health care benefits they have. we will only expand it for them, for every union in the america, and for the workining class of this country.

amy: a and this is msnbnbc moder chuck todd questioning senator sanders. was what we just heard. we're going to go now to ana maria archila co-executive , director of the center for popular democracy. the progressive advocacy group endorsed senator bernie sanders . ana maria archila, respond to the debate last night and particularly talk about health care. >> health care continues to be the most important issue for most people in this country. i knocked on doors and new hampshire leading up to the primaries there. i k knocked on doors in nevada just a few days ago. and every person i spoke to said health care was their number one issue. i met a young woman, puerto rican woman in new hampshire who told me that she pays $11,000 in premiums. she makes around $35,000 a year.

then she has to pay $5,000 deductible. the health insurance she has does not cover the things she needs. what senator sanders has committed to do is make sure everyone in this country can access health care without having to pay anything at the point of service. that all of us are going to contribute something to make sure that everyone can go to the doctor, that no one goes bankrupt because they have an illness, that no one has to chchoose between paying their rt and paying their health care. this is the most important issue for people across this country. and a clear eyed commitment to medicare for all is the only way to make sure that we stop having this morally bankrupt system that prioritizes profit for insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies over the lives of people. there was a study recently published by yale university that documents how medicare for all will save over $400 million

a year for people in this country. and 60,000 lives. the debate that is happening inside the democratic party about health care is actually about -- not just about health care, but what kind of democracy we have, what role does government plate in people's lives. bernie says the role government should play is one of making sure people have everything they need to live with dignity. health care come access to college without having to be burdened by debt forever, and abilityo housing, the to take care of their families. what centrist democrats and billionaires like mike s say is, no, the party should focus on still continuing to prioritize the needs of the 1%. and that is not what people want. that is why millions and millions of people in this country are excited by bernie sanders campaign and see themselves reflected in his platform and see in him someone they can trust, someone whom

they believe because he has been very consistent for decades that the kinds of politics he believes our country and our people deserve. amy: i want to also ask you, ana maria archila, who is just back from nevada and then heading to go back there right away, about this questioning of senator amy klobuchar. klobuchar, you are running on your washington experience but last week in a telemundo interview, you could not name the president of mexico or discuss any of his policies. last night, you defended yourself saying, quote, "this isn't 'jeopardy!'" but my questioion to you is,s, shouldn't our next president know more about one of our largest trading partners? klobuchar: of course. of course. and i don't think that that momentary forgetfulness actually reflects what i know about

mexico and how much i care about it. and i first want to say greetings to president lopez obradodor. secondly, i -- what i meant by the game of "jeoeopardy!" is tht i think we could all come up with things. you know, how many members are there in the israeli knesset? who is the president of 120. honduras? senator klobuchar -- >>senator klobuchar -- klobuchar: hernandez. not know howid many members were in the knesset. you are staking your candidacy on your washington experience. you are on the committee's that oversees border security. you're on the committee that does trade. you're literally in part of the committee that's overseeing these things and were not able to speak to literally the first thing about the politics of the country to our south. klobuchar: are you -- are you trying to say that i'm dumb? or are you mocking me here, pete? buttigieg: i'm saying you shouldn't trivialize that knowledge. klobuchar: i i said i made an

error. people sometimes forget names. i am the one that -- number one, has the experience based on passing over 100 bills -- >> thank you, senator. klobuchar: if i could respond, this was a pretty big allegation. he's basically saying that i don't have the experience to be president of the united states. i have passed over 100 bills as the lead democrat since being in the u.s. senate. i am the one, not you, that has won statewide in congressional district after congressional district. and i will say, when you tried in indiana, pete, to run, what happened to you? you lost by over 20 points to someone who later lost to my friend, joe donnelly. so don't tell me about experience. what unites us here is we want to win. and i think we should put a proven winner in charge of the ticket. >> quick response, mayor buttigieg. buttigieg: this is a race for president. if winning a race for senate inn minnesota a translated directlyo becoming president, i would have grown up under the presidency of walter mondale. this is different.

warren: this is not right. name.rstand she forgot a it happens. it happens to everybody on this stage. look, you want to ask about whether or not you understand trade policy with mexico? have at it. and if you get it wrong, man, you ought to be held accountable for that. you want to ask about the econonomy and you get it wrong? you ought to be held accountable. you want to ask about a thousand different issues and you get it wrong? you ought to be held accountable. but let's just be clear. missing a name all by itself does not indicate that you do not understand what's going on. and i just think this is unfair. amy: so that was senator elizabeth warren. before that, former south bend mayor pete buttigieg. and of course, senator amy klobuchar. ana maria archila, your response to her forgetting? also, tom steyer, the

billionaire, presidential candidate, also said he could name stuckr amlo's clubs listen, we're not talking about a country far away from here. we're talking about the biggest neighbor that the country with whom we have beenn negotiating border policy. the country from where most immigrants in this country come from. you have to know the name of the president of mexico. you have to know who he is and what he stands for. lopez obrador represents a transformation of mexican politics. you cannot run for president and not know the basic facts. i understand people forget things in the moment. it did not seem like senator klobuchar had much to say about who president obrador is or who he represents. to the lack of attention to international policy, to border policy, to

migration policy in all of these debates. one question on immigration. the very last question was the only senator klobuchar was asked and she was allowed to speak for several minutes on platitudes about dreamers. when in reality, my community, immigrant communities have been under attack in ththis administration relentlessly. people have been separated from their children at the border. people have been terrorized all over the country. there has been a steady attack against local elected officials that are trying to protect residents of cities and sanctuary cities. the debate last night was basically just allowing amy klobuchar, who just a few days before made really disparaging and silly pandering jokes and her conversation with the culinary workers, to allow her to just speak about dreamers without talking about the importance of undoing the immigration enforcement system that is hurting families and terrorizing communities, without

asking her or any of the other candidates about how they will use their executive power to protect immigrants to abolish ice, to break up border patrol, stop deportations. there were so much more to discuss. in the debate, like many other debates, did not go there. amy: there was only one question on immigration but there were vicesters who interrupted president biden at the end as they chanted "you deported 3 million people" "no kids in cages," "don't look away." i want to bring in annise parker , former mayor of houston and president of the victory fund, which works on increasing the number of openly lgbtq officials in government and has endorsed mayor pete buttigieg for president. as amy klobuchar try to defend herself are forgetting the mexican president's name by saying to pete buttigieg, are you suggesting that i am dumb --

your thoughts, annise parker? >> i think in a heat of the moment, a lot of things were set. what i appreciated about mayor buttigieg is that as he has done in everyone of the debates, he continued to not just attempt to speak to democratic primary voters, he was trying to speak to the broader american onctotorate and to keep focus the priority in this campaign, which is to ultimately beat donald trump. it is unfortunate we have reached the point in the campaign where people are throwing elbows on stage and not staying focused on let's have a robust policy debate so that we for a wine ourselves in november. amy: and why did you endorse or the victory fund endorse pete

buttigieg? pete -- mayor candidacy, we are achieving more representation of the lgbtq at all levels of government. we did not endorse him when he first entered the campaign. we had a conversation and said, you're going to have to get out and d compete on a level playing on thend show you belong national stage as a candidate for president. he did that over and over again. last june we endorsed him. i believe personally and i believe as the head of my organization that he is the best candidate for this job. momentwant to go to a that was not last night, but was the night before when pete

buttigieg was being questioned by aaron burnett. he was in a cnn town hall and he was being asked about the horrific homophobic comments of the conservative radio host rush limbaugh who went into a homophobic rampage against pete buttigieg. this was limbaugh on his radio show. >> they're looking at mayor pete. 37-year-old gay guy, loves to kiss his has been on the debate stage. and they are saying ok, how is this going to look? 37-year-old gay guy kissing his husband on stage next to mr. mann donald trump. what is going to happen? and they got to be looking at that and they have got to be , that despite all the great progress and despite all the great ground that has been

covered, america still is not elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage president. amy: said this was aaron burnett questioning pete buttigieg about this in the town hall the night before the debate. >> the idea of rush the ball or donald trump -- lecturing anybody on family values? i mean one thing about t my mamarriage is it has never involved me having to send hush money to a porn star after cheating on my spouse. want to debate family values, let's debate family values. i am ready. if you wouldaparker, like t to respond? >> well, of rush limbaugh during the same shtick he has done for

a couple of decades now. pete buttigieg going directly to that. we know as an organization and i know personally that americans will vote for capable, qualified lgbt candidate when they are the right candidate forr the job and they have a good policies and they are prepared to lead. we have elected lgbtq leaders at every level of goverernment in america, everyry state come evey level, every p position except president of the united states. that is just the next step. i happen to believe that pete buttigieg is ready for that next step and has positioned himself -- and he is not going to take the bait. that is what is so amazing about pete's ability to focus on the fallsnd let the attacks away. do i belelieve that americans se ready for an lgbt president? yes. do i b believe americans are rey for a woman president?

yes. do i believe americans are ready to vote trump out of office? yes. one of the people on that stage has to be ready to step up and take the mantle. i am proud of all of the candidates. asm particularly proud that a bobody, as a a party d docrats have advanced so far on ubt q issues but they are not that far away from where the american population is as well. amy: raquel willis to executive editor of out magazine. your thoughts on pete buttigieg and why you chose to endorse senatotor warren? great that heis is in openly gay candidate. however, i do think it is important for us to remember that your identity is not enough . and exactly what was just said, woman, it trans

doesn't necessarily tell me e wt you stand for when you tell me we are in the same community. and for me, it was important to really endorse someone that i saw has been very intentional about their outreach, particularly to lgbtq organizers, black and brown organizers who are on the ground . so the campaigns that have done that work have really spoken to me, and i think senator warren has done that probably better -- actually, i was a she definitely has done a better than the other campaigns. the other thing i will say is i think what also is important is when i really look at what mayor buttigieg stands for, he stands for the status quo. he stands for us not really rocking the boat enough. he feels particularly someone like senator elizabeth warren who is really out there and interested in tackling

corruption on all levels in the government is really gunning for a fight that is not necessary. and i think it is so necessary. i think we really have to have a conversation about how even when a marginalized group, you still have privileges. the weight the world operated in 20 before trump was in office may have been fine for you. lgbtqk for a lot of folks, particularly those who are black and brown and more marginalized, we need more. we need a revolution. people were hurting before. we need people who are fighting for those who are incarcerated, fighting for those who are detained, fighting for those who are tryingng to access health ce system that has really ignored them for so long. i think someone like senator elizabeth warren who is really trying to uproot and get out of here all of that corruption is

who we need to be standing behind in this moment because as you will notice, particularly the mayor's closing statement, he made a statement that he is gunning for people who are are not intnterested in a status quo and revolution. that makes no sense. i think you have to be very clear about where you stand. for me, maybe he is afraid to say he stands for the status quo but i know the people i role with in the lgbtq community are looking for and they're looking for something that is going to blow past the status quo that has forgotten us for so long. amy: or another way pete buttigieg put it, we should not have to choose between one candidate who wants to burn this party down and another who wants to buy this party out. we have to go to break and we will come back to the discussion. this is democracy now! stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!,

i'm amy goodman. indiana.ing to from as we debrief on thehe democrarc presidential primary debate last night in las vegasas, where the six leading candidates for the democratic presidential nomination squared up. let's go to a question from msnbc's chuck todd on delegates to the democratic national convention. >> should the person with the most delegates at the end of the primary season be the nominee even if they are short of a majority? senator sanders, i will let you go last because i know yoyour vw on t this. instead, i'll start with mayor bloomberg. bloomberg: whatever the rules are, they should be followed. if they have a process, which i --ieve they do, everybody >> you want the convention to work as well. warren: that means people have the delegates that are pledged to them and they keep those delegates until --

coax the leading person? should they be the nominee? biden: p play by the rules. >> yes or no, leading person with thehe delegates, should thy be the nominee or not? biden: no, let the process work its way out. mayor buttigieg? >>mayor buttigieg? buttigieg: not necessarily. not until there's a majority. sanders: well, the process includes 500 super-delegates on the second ballot. so i think that the will o of te people should prevail, yes. amy: katrina vanden heuvel, explain the brokered convention and what bernrnie sandeders was saying and what the other candidates were saying. >> one reason the nation is holding a debate this coming sandersebruary 24,

versus warren, sanders and warren, time to choose, is that the nation is not endorsed a candidate yet except we have endorse the deepening of the left lane and our politics, the deepening of issues, a bold issues that both sanders and warren have pushed. in a belief that an solidarity -- and you saw last that t at te debate the kind of tacit truce between them when the moderator asked warren to talk about bernie sanders supporters and the alleged abuse online. she said, no, i'm going to talk about bloomberg. he is the real threat to what we believe. i believe that solitaire is important moving forward to the convention. because a bernie sanders comes in and does not have enough delegates, he is winning plururalities, but the size of e turnout is going to be critical in these next states to bring him enough delegates s to get io that convention with 50 plus. he's going to need to turn to allies. if you don't when on that first valid come as bernie sanders said, he got it a little wrong because i think the 700 superdelegates, not 500. it will get thrown to the superdelegates

. they are the establishment of the democratic party. in some cases, they are also organizers. the most part, they a are the electeds, the establishment, those who work for hillary clinton and 2016. if you have a contested election, it goes to a contested ballad and it goes to not the mostst delegates, maybe bernie sanders with support from warren, you could see outrage and a sense of a rigged convention that would deflate enthusiasm, deflate turnout in the general. i think that is a real concern for many. i think that is why the process should play out fairly and why people should come to our debate on the 24th two here to candidates, their views. we will have their surrogates on corruption he ran for attorney on the recently, and side of elizabeth warren maurice

mitchell of the working families party. i think this is a moment arguably where america is eager for bold leadership, bold progressive ideas. i will say one more thing about chuck todd and the moderation. this is something that you have talked a lot about, amy. the media coverage. the media coverage, it seems especially these moderated debates my people seem to have a hard time e with the framework r understanding progressive politics. there is a rootedness and a failure of imagination to imagine a world beyond the status quo.. i think that really hurts our discussion, our politics. imagine if a moderator asked bernie sanders or elizabeth warren, what are the costs of not doing the green new deal or medicare for all? or, why are there no questions from moderators about the cost of endless war but there is always a question about the cost of doing major bold programs

that would -- amy: there were no major questions on foreign policy. but i want to go to end with ana maria archila, who has just come back from nevada and going back there, in 2016, although hillary clinton won, idly bernie sanders pulled a great deal higher among the latino community and the latino community is coming out in nevada, like 30% of the vote, one third of the vote. your final thoughts as we move into the nevada caucus on saturday? >> well, latino communities, the latino community has been under intense attack by this president, by president trump. but also has been at the bottom of our economy, has been at the bottom of school graduations. and i think what sanders speaks to my community is this idea that he is committed to building

a country that includes all of us. so when he says that we're going have health care for all and that includes everybody including undocumented people, that is what my people here. when he says he is committed to making sure that we have debt-free college and that will include also young people who are new in this country, that speaks volumes to my community. seeing a bigwe are difference we're seeing from 2016 to now is bernie sanders really been able to create the multiracial, most diverse coalition of young people, people of color, black folks, latinx folks got immigrants -- line amy: ana maria archila, i had to end it but i want to thank you for being with us. ana maria archila, co-executive director of the center for populalademocracy. katrina vanden heuvel, publisher of the nation magazine. activist and editor raquel willis executive editor of out , magazine.

and former houston mayor annise parker. i want to thank you all for being here. democracy now! is currently accepting applications for a development manager position and our news production fellowship. check our website democracynow.org. [captioning g made