>> good evening. i'm lester holt and welcome to night two of the first democratic debate in the 2020 race for president. >> i'm savannah guthrie. we heard from 10 last night and 10 more take the stage tonight. >> we will be joined by our colleagues, josé diaz, chuck todd and rachel maddow. >> the candidates are in position so let's get started. >> tonight, round two, senator michael bennet. former vice president, joe biden. south bend indiana mayor, pete buttigieg. new york senator kirstin jill brandt. senator kamala harris, former colorado governor, john hickenlooper. vermont senator

bernie sanders, california congressman, eric wall is well. marianne williamson, and andrew yang. from nbc news, decision 2020, the democratic candidates debate. in from the performing arts center in miami, florida. good evening and welcome to our spirited audience here across america tonight. we continue the spirited debate about how to tackle the most pressing problems and getting to the heart of the biggest issues in this primary. >> we will talk about health care and immigration, the economy and job and climate change as well. quick rules of the road before

we begin. they may sound familiar. 20 candidates qualify from the first debate. we heard from 10 last night and we hear from 10 tonight. the break down was selected at random. the candidate will have 60 seconds for the answer and 30 seconds for any follow-ups. because of the large field of candidates, not every person is going to be able to weigh in on every topic, but over the next two hours, we will hear from everyone. over the next two hours, we will hear from everyone >> we love our audience, but we want to ask you to keep our audience to a minimum and make sure you keep to time. with that business taken care of, let's get to it. we will start today with senator sanders. good evening to you. you have called for big new government benefits like universal health care and free college. in a recent interview, you suspected that americans would be delighted to pay more taxes for things like that. my question to you is, will taxes go up for the middle class in a sanders administration and if so, how do you sell that to voters?

>> you are quite right. we have a new vision for america. at a time when we have three people in this country owning more wealth than the bottom half of america, while 500,000 people are sleeping on the streets today, we think it is time for change. real change. by that i mean health care in my view is a human right. we have got to passe medicare for all single payer system. under that system, by the way, the vast majority of the people in this country will be paying significantly less for health care than they are right now. i believe that education is the future for this country. that is why i believe that we must make public colleges and universities tuition-free and eliminate student debt and we do that by placing a tax on wall street.

[ applause ] every proposal that i have brought forth is fully paid for. >> i will give you 10 seconds to answer the very direct question. will you raise taxes for the middle class in a sanders administration? >> people who have health care under medicare for all will have no premiums, no deductibles and copayments and no out of pockets. yes, they will pay more in taxes and less in health care for what they get. >> thank you, senator. senator bennet, we will get to everyone, but i promise everyone will get in here. promise. vice president biden. senator sanders has been calling for a revolution. recently in remarks to a group of wealthy donors as you spoke to the problem of income inequality, you said we shouldn't demonize the rich. nobody has to be punish and no one's standard of living would change.

nothing would fundamentally change. what did you mean by that? >> what i meant is, look. donald trump thinks wall street built america. ordinary middle class americans built america. my dad had an expression. joe, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. it's about dignity and respect and looking your kid in the eye and seeing that everything is going to be okay. too many people at the middle class and fall had the bottom fallout. i am saying we have to be straight forward. we have to make sure we understand that the return of dignity to the middle class, they have to have insurance that is cover and they can afford it. they have to make sure we have a situation where there is continuing education and they are able to pay for it and they center have to make sure they breathe air that is clean and they have water that they can drink. look, donald trump put us in a horrible situation. we do have enormous income inequality. the one thing i agree on is we can make massive cuts in the

$1.6 trillion in tax loophole s and i would be going about eliminating donald trump's tax cut for the wealthy. >> vice president biden, thank you. senator harris -- [ applause ] there is a lot of talk in this primary about new government benefits such as student loan cancellation, free college, health care and more. do you think that democrats have a responsibility to explain how they will pay for every proposal they make along those lines? >> well, let me tell you something. i hear that question, but where was that question when the republicans and donald trump passed a tax bill that benefits the top 1% and the biggest cover corporations contributing to the debt of america which middle class families will pay for one way or another. working families need support and need to be lifted up and frankly, this economy is not working for working people. for too long, the rules have been written in the favor of the

people who have the most and not in favor of the people who work the most. that's why i am proposing that we change the tax code so for every family making less than $100,000 a year, they will receive a tax credit they can receive up to $500 a month that makes all the difference between the families getting through the end of the month with dignity or support or not. on day one, i will repeal the tax bill that benefits the top 1% and the corporations of america. >> governor hickenlooper, you warned that democrats will lose in 2020 if they embrace socialism, as you put it. you were booed at the california democratic convention when you said that. only one candidate on this stage, senator sanders identifies as a democratic socialist. what are the qualities you think are veering towards socialism? >> i think that the bottom line is we don't clearly define we

are not socialists, the republicans are going to come at us every way we can and call us socialists. if you look at the green new deal which i admire the sense of urgencey and how important it is to do climate change, i'm a scientist, but we can't promise every american a government job. i believe health care is a right and not a privilege, but you can't expect to eliminate private insurance for 180 million people, many of whom don't want to give it up. in colorado we brought businesses together and we have universal health care coverage. we were the first state to bring the environmental community and the oil and gas to address methane emissions and also the first place to expand reproductive rights on a scale basis that we reduce teen pregnancy by 54%. we have done the things people said couldn't be done. i have done what everyone else up here is still talking about doing. >> governor, thank you.

senator sanders, what is your response to those who say nominating a socialist would reelect donald trump? >> well, i think the response is that the polls have us 10 points ahead of donald trump because the american people understand that trump is a phony. trump is a pathological liar and a racist and that he lied to the american people during his campaign. he said he was going to stand up for working families. well, president trump, you are not standing up for working families when you try to throw 32 million people off their health care that they have and that 83% of your tax benefits go to the top 1%. that's how we beat trump. we expose him for the fraud that he is. >> senator gillibrand? >> i disagree. with both perspectives.

the debate we are having in the party right now is confusing because the truth is there is a big difference between capitalism on the one hand and greed on the other. so all the things we are trying to change is when companies care more about profits than about people. if you are talking about ending gun violence, it's the greed of the nra and the gun manufacturers that make any progress possible. it's the greed of the insurance companies and the drug companies when we want to try to get health care as a right and not a privilege. there may not be disagreement in the party. we want healthy capitalism and not corrupt capitalism. >> i want to be fair to all the candidates. >> senator bennet, you said it's possible to write proposals that have no basis in reality. you might as well call them candy. were you referring to a candidate and proposal in particular? >> was that directed to me? that sounded like me. >> it was you. >> appreciate it.

first of all, i gree with bernie about what the fundamental challenge is we are facing as a country. 40 years of no economic growth for 90% of the people and 160,000 people in the top .1% as the same wealth as the bottom 90% and we have the worst income inequality. we have had in 100 years. where i disagree is on his solution of medicare for all. i proposed getting to universal health care which we need to do and health care is a right. we need to get to universal health care. i believe the way to do that is by finishing the work we started with obamacare and creating a public option that every family and person in america can make a choice for their family about whether they want a public option for them would be like having medicare for all and if they want to keep their insurance. i believe we will get there much more quickly if we do that. if i can finish, bernie mentioned that the taxes we

would have to pay and because of those tax, vermont rejected medicare for all. >> senator -- we are going to talk about health care at length, but for the moment, my colleagues say continue the question on the economy. >> in senator sanders' bill that is the transition which merges what the two senators said. the truth is if you have a buy in over a four or five-year period, you move us to single payer more quickly. >> we will get to this. we will get to this. before we do, i want to say hello and good evening to mayor buttigieg. [speaking foreign language]. >> [speaking foreign language]. >> many of your colleagues support free college. you do not. why not? >> sure, so college affordability is personal for us. chasten and i have six-figure student debt. i believe in reducing student

debt. it's logical that if you can refinance your house, you ought to be able to refinance your debt. i believe in free college for those whom cost could be a barrier. i just don't believe it makes sense to ask working class families to subsidize even the children of billionaires. the children of the wealthiest americans can pay a little tuition. while i want costs to go down, i don't think we can buy down every last penny for them. something else doesn't get talked about in the college affordability debate. it needs to be more affordable to go to college. it also needs to be more affordable not to go to college. you should be able to live well, afford rent, be generous to your church and little league whether you went to college or not. that's one of the many reasons we need to raise the minimum wage to at least $15. >> i have $100,000 in student loan myself. >> you can't count on people around when this problem was created to solve it.

it's going to be the next generation. will be the 40 million of us who can't start a family and can't buy our first home. this is the generation that will solve student loan debt. this generation is ready to lead. >> mr. yang, your signature policy is to give every adult in the united states $1,000 a month, no questions asked. that's like $3.2 trillion a year. how would do you that? >> i'm sorry? >> how would you do that? >> it's difficult to do if you have companies like amazon paying literally zero in taxes. we need to put the american people in position to benefit from the innovations and other parts of the economy. if we had a value added tax at even half the european level, we would have 800 million in new revenue. combined with the money in our hands, it would be the trickle up economy from the people,

families and communities and the money would circulate through the economy and creating millions of jobs and making the families stronger and healthier and we would save on incarceration, homelessness services, emergency room health care and the gains of having a ment loolly healthier population would increase gdp by $700 million. this is the move we have to make as they are automating millions of jobs and why donald trump is our president today. we automated away four million manufacturing jobs and we are about to do the same to millions of retail jobs and call center jobs and fast food and truck driver jobs. >> if i get to understand a little bit better, you are saying $1,000 a month for everyone over 18, but a value add tax to spend that $1,000 on value added tax? >> the value added tax would end up -- you still would be

increasing the buying power of the bottom 94% of americans. you have to spend a lot of money for the value added tax. per individual. for the average family with two or three adults, it would be $36,000 a year. >> what mr. yang is talking about, americans are worried about self driving cars, robots, drones, artificial intelligence will cost them their jobs. what would you do to help people get their skills to adapt to the new world? we have to be the country and we have seen the anxiety across america where the manufacturing goes from 1,000 to 100 to 1. we have to modernize the schools and value the teachers who prepare our kids and wipe the student debt from any community that needs it and invest in communities where places where the best exports are people who move away to get skills. josé, i was 6 years old when a presidential candidate came to the california democratic

convention and said it's time to pass the torch to a new generation of americans that. candidate was then senator joe biden. joe biden was right when he said that 32 years ago. he is still right today. if we are going to solve the issue, pass the torch. if we are going to solve climate chaos, pass the cover. if we want to end gun violence and solve student debt, pass the torch. >> vice president, would you like to sing a torch song? >> i would. i'm still holding on to that torch. i want to make it clear. the fact is we have to make sure that everybody is prepared better to go on for an education. the fact is that's why i proposed and was focusing on schools in distress. i think we should triple the amount of money we spent for title one schools. we should have universal pre-k and think every single person who graduates from high school,

65 out of 100 need something beyond high school and should provide for them to be able to get that education. that's why there should be free community college, cutting in half the cost of college. we should be in a position where we do not have anyone pay back a student debt when they get out, they are making less than $25,000 a year. their debt is frozen and no interest until they get beyond that. we can't put people in a position where they aren't able to move on. there is a lot we can do, but we have to make continuing education available for everyone so everyone can compete in the 21st century. we are not doing that now. >> as the youngest guy on the stage, i should contribute. >> part of joe's generation, let me respond. >> before we move on from education -- >> please, please. >> it's generational. who has the guts to take on wall

street, to take on the fossil fuel industry, to take on the big money interest who have unbelievable influence over the economic and political life of this country. >> senator harris, i'm so sorry. we will allow all of you. senator harris. we will let you all speak. senator harris. >> we can't afford to wait. >> america does not want a food fight, we want to know how we put food on their table. so on that point, part of the issue at play in america today and we have all been traveling around the country. i certainly have. i meet people working two and three jobs. this president talks about and flouting his great economy. my great economy.

yes and how are you measuring the greatness of this economy? he talks about the stock market. that's fine if you own stocks. soechl fam soechl fam so many families do not. you ask how are you measuring the greatness and they point to the jobless and unemployment numbers. people are working, but working two and three jobs n. our america no one should have to work more than one job to have a roof over their head and food on their table! >> you all expressed an interest in talking about health care. this is going to be a show of hands question. we asked about health care last night that spurred a lot of discussion. we are going to do it again. many people watching at home have health insurance through their employer. who would abolish private health insurance in favorite of a government-run plan? >> kristin gillibrand.

>> it's my turn. this is a very important issue. so the plan that senator sanders and i and others support is how to get to single payer. it has a buy in period. that's really important. in 2005 when i ran for congress in a 2-1 republican district, i actually ran on medicare for all and i won that 2-1 district twice. the way i formulate it is simple. anyone who doesn't have access can buy in at a level they can afford. that's what we put in for our medicare for all plan. i believe we need to get to universal health care as a right and not a privilege to single payer. the quickest way to get there is you create competition with the insurers. god bless them if they want to compete, they can try, but they never put people over profits and i doubt they ever will. what will happen is people choose medicare and we will get

to medicare for all and your step is so short, i would make it an earned benefit just like social security so that you buy in your whole and it's there for you and it's permanent and universal. >> i will put the same question to mayor buttigieg. >> everybody who says medicare for all and every person in politic who is allows that phrase to escape their lips has a responsibility to explain how you are supposed to get from here to there. here's how i would do it. very similar. i would call it medicare for all who want it. you take medicare or a flavor of that and make it available on the exchanges and if people like us are right that that will be not only more inclusive, but a more efficient plan, it will be a natural glide path to the single payer environment. in countries that have outright socialized medicine like england, there is still a private sector. that's fine. for primary care we can't rely

on the tender mercies of the corporate system. this is very personal. i started dealing with a terminal illness of my father. i make decisions for a living. nothing could prepare me for the decisions my family faced. the thing we had going is we never had to make the decisions based on whether it would bankrupt our family because of medicare. i want every family to have the same freedom to do what is medically right. >> your time is complete. vice president biden, you were one of the architects of obamacare. where do we go from here? >> this is very personal to me. when my wife and daughter were killed and my two boys were very, very badly injured, i couldn't imagine what it was like if i didn't have adequate health care available to me. when my son came home to iraq and was diagnosed with terminal cancer and he was given months to live. i can't fathom what would have happened if they said by the way, the last six months of your

life, you are on your own. you used up your time. the fact is that the quickest fastest way to build it is build on obamacare and do what we did. secondly, to make sure that everyone does have an option. everyone with private experience and employer experience and no insurance. they can buy in to a medicare-like plan. the way to do that can be done quickly. urgency matters. there is people right now facing what i faced and what we faced without any of the help i had. we must move now. i'm against any democrat who takes down obamacare and any republican who wants it. [ applause ] >> senator sanders, you want to scrap the private health insurance system and replace it with a government-run plan. none of the states that tried something like that, california, vermont and new york were not successful.

if politicians can't make it work in those states, how would you implement it on a national level? >> i find it hard to believe that every other major country on earth, including my neighbor, 50 miles north of me, canada, somehow has figured out a way to provide health care to every man, woman, and child, and in most cases spending 50% per capita what we are spending. let us be very clear. the function of health care today from the insurance and drug company perspective is not to provide quality care to all in a cost-effective way. the function of the health care system today is to make billions in profits for the insurance companies and last year if you can believe it, while we pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs and i will lower prices in half in this country top 10 companies made

$69 billion in profit. they will spend hundreds of millions of dollars lying to the american people, telling us why we cannot have a medicare for all. >> how do you implement it on a national basis, given the fact that it has not succeeded in other states? >> we will do it the way real change has always taken place whether the labor movement or the civil rights or the women's movement. we will have medicare for all when tens of millions of people are prepared to stand up and tell the insurance companies and the drug companies that their day is gone and health care is a human right and not something to make huge profits off of. >> ms. williamson, this is a question for you. i'm addressing the question to ms. williamson. we have been talking about the access to health insurance. the most pressing concern is the

high cost of health care. how would you lower the cost of prescription drugs. >> first of all the government should never have made the deal with big pharma they couldn't negotiate. that was part of the corruption by which corporations have their way with us. while i agree and i'm with senator bennet and others, but i agree with almost everything here. i tell you one thing, it's nice if we have all these plans, but if you think we beat donald you got another think coming. he didn't win by having a plan. he just said make america great again. we have to get deeper than superficial fixes. as important as they are. even if we are talking about the superficial fixes, ladies and gentlemen, we don't have a health care system in the united states. we have a sickness care sickness in the united states. we wait until somebody gets sick and talk about who is going pay for the treatment and how they will be treated. what we need to talk about is why so many americans have unnecessary chronic illnesses

compared to other countries. that gets back into not just big pharma and health insurance companies, but chemical policies and environmental policies and has to do with food and drug policies and environment policies. >> senator bennet, you want to keep the system we have with obamacare. and build on it. is that enough to get us to universal coverage. >> i believe that will get us the quickest way there and i thought the vice president was moving and mayor pete as well. i had prostate cancer recently and i was a little late getting in the race and my kid had an appendectomy. i felt strongly that families should have the choice. that's what the american people want. i believe it will get us there quickly. millions of people in american do not have health insurance because they can't. they make too much money to be on medicaid.

they can't afford health insurance. when senator sanders said that canada is single payer, there are 35 million people in canada. there are 330 million people in the united states, easily the number of people on a public option that can be 35 million. for them it would be medicare for all as mayor buttigieg said. for others that want to keep it, they should be able to keep it. i think that will be the fastest way to get where we need to go. bernie is a very honest person. he said over and over unlike others that supported this legislation. over and over again, this will ban making it legal all insurance except cosmetic. except insurance for i guess plastic surgery. everything else is banned under the medicare for all. >> obviously senator sanders, you get a response. >> just briefly, you know, mike,

medicare is the most popular health insurance program in the country. people don't like their private insurance companies. they like their doctors and hospitals. under our plan people go to any doctor or hospital they want. we will substantially lower the cost of health care because we stop the greed of the insurance companies. >> we have to think about how this affects real people. and the reality of how this affects real people is captured in a story that many of us heard and will paraphrase. there is any night in america, a parent who has seen their child has a temperature that is out of control and calls 911, what should i do. take the child to the emergency room. they get in their car and they drive and they are sitting in the parking lot outside of the emergency room, looking at the sliding glass doors with the

hand on the forehead of their child knowing if they walk through the sliding glass doors even though they have insurance, they will be out of 5,000 deductible when they walk through the doors. that's what insurance companies are doing! only in america today. >> we will continue this discussion. >> candidates, please. >> i'm one of the parents who was just in the emergency room. we fight health insurance companies every single week. we stand in line and pay expensive prescription drugs. we have to have a guarantee. if you are sick in america, you never go broke because of it. >> a lot of you have been talking about government health care plans you proposed in one form or another. this is a show of hands question and hold them up so people can see. raise your hand if your government plan would provide coverage for undocumented immigrants. let me start with you, mayor buttigieg, why?

>> because our country is healthier when everybody is healthier. we are talking about something, people are given a chance to buy into. in the same way there are undocumented immigrants in my community who pay sales taxes and pay property taxes directly or indirectly. this is not about a handout. this is an insurance program. we do ourselves no favors by having 11 million undocumented people in our country be unable to access health care. the real problem is we shouldn't have 11 million undocumented people with no pathway to citizenship. it makes no sense. the american people agree on what to do. this is a crazy thing. if leadership consists of forming a consensus around a divicive issue, this white house divided us around a consensus issue. the american people want a pathway to citizenship and protections for dreamers. they need to clean up how my

father immigrated to the country. we can do whatever common sense measures are need the, but washington can't deliver on something the american people want. what does that tell you about the system we are living in? it needs profound structural reform. >> vice president biden? >> your plan would not cover undocumented immigrants with the show of hands. you did not raise your hands. >> no, i did. >> sorry. you said it would be covered under your plan that is different than obamacare. can you explain that change. >> you cannot let as the mayor said, people who are sick no matter where they come from and whatever their status go uncovered. you can't do that. it's going to be taken care of. it's the humane thing to do. the deal is that he's right about three things. number one, they contribute to the well being of the country

and also for example increased the lifespan of social security. that's what they're doing. it increased the lifespan and do the same in terms of reducing the overall cost of health care to be treated and not wait until they are an extremist. we can deal with the insurance companies by number one, putting insurance executives in jail for misleading advertising and what they are doing on opioids and paying doctors to prescribe. we can be doing this by making sure everyone on medicare that the government should be able to negotiate the price for whatever the drug costs are. we can do this by making sure they are in a position that we in fact allow people. time's up? >> we need to take a short break and we have a lot more we need to talk about. we're just getting started. we will be back with more from miami after this.

you try hard, you eat right... mostly. you make time... when you can. but sometimes life gets in the way, and that stubborn fat just won't go away. coolsculpting takes you further. a non-surgical treatment that targets, freezes, and eliminates treated fat cells, for good. discuss coolsculpting with your doctor. some common side-effects include temporary numbness, discomfort, and swelling. don't imagine results, see them. coolsculpting, take yourself further.

♪ when you have nausea, heartburn, ♪ ♪ indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea ♪ try new pepto liquicaps for fast relief and ultra-coating. ♪ nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea ♪ get powerful relief with new pepto bismol liquicaps. {tires screeching} {truck honking} [alarm beeping] (avo) life doesn't give you many second chances. but a subaru can. (dad) you guys ok? you alright? wow. (avo) eyesight with pre-collision braking.

standard on the subaru ascent. presenting the three-row subaru ascent. love is now bigger than ever. >> i'm richard lui. southern california is recovering from the strongest earthquake in 20 years. a 6.4 magnitude quake hit this morning about 125 miles east of bakersfield. a few people suffered minor injuries. in washington on lookers braved the rain to hear president trump speak and see more than a dozen fly overs. it was all part of the president's salute to america fourth of july event. that's the latest from msnbc. now back to the democratic debate. e democratic debate >> welcome back from miami. josé is going to lead off the questioning in this round. >> thank you very much. senator harris, last month more

than 130,000 migrants were apprehended at the southern border. many of them are being detained, including small children in private detention centers in florida and throughout our country. most of the candidates on this stage say the conditions of these facilities are abhorrent. on january 20th, 2021, if you are president, what specifically would you do with the thousands of people who try to reach the united states every day and want a better life through asylum? >> immediately on january 20th of 2021, we cannot forget our daca recipients and i'm going to start there. i will immediately by executive action reinstate daca status and daca protection to those young people. i will further extend protection for deferral of deportation for their parents and for veterans

who we have so many who are undocumented and have served our country and fought for our democracy. i will also immediately put in place a meaningful process for reviewing the cases for asylum and release children from cages and get rid of the private detention centers and ensure that this microphone that the president of the united states holds in her hand is used in a way that is about reflecting the values of our country and not about locking children up, separating them from their parents and i have to say that we have to think about this issue in terms of real people. a mother who pays a coyote to transport her child through the entire country of mexico facing unknown peril to come here, why would that mother do that? i will tell you.

because she has decided for that child to remain where they are is worse. but what does donald trump do? he says go back to where you came from. that is not reflective of our america and our values and it's got to end! >> governor hickenlooper, day one if you are at the white house, how do you respond? i will get to you in a second. governor. day one thousands of men, women, and children ask for a better life. >> what do you do, day one, hour one? >> certainly the images we have seen this week compound the impact that the world is judging us by. if you had told me at any time in my life that this country

would sanction federal agents to take children from the arms of their parents and put them in cages and put them up for adoption. in colorado, we call that kidnapping. i would have told you it was unbelievable. the first thing we have to do is recognize that humanitarian crisis is what it is. make sure there are sufficient facilities in place so that women and children are not separated from families and children are with their families. we have to make sure that ice is completely reformed and they begin looking at their job in a humanitarian way addressing the news that people are engaged with along the border and make sure ultimately we provide not just shelter, but food, clothing, and access to medical care. >> ms. williamson? >> what donald trump has done to the children and not just in colorado, you're right, it is

kidnapping and it's important for us to realize that. if you take a child from their parents' arms, you are kidnapping them. if you take a lot of children and put them in detainment inflicting trauma upon them, that's child abuse. this is collective child abuse. both of those things are a crime. if your government does it, that doesn't make it less of a crime. these are state-sponsored crimes. what president trump has done is not only attack these children, not only demonize the immigrants, but attacking a basic principal of america's moral core. we open our hearts to the stranger. this is extremely important. it's also important for all of us women. i have great respect for everyone on this stage. why have you been, guys? it's not just a matter of a plan and i haven't heard anybody who talked about american foreign

policy in latin america and how we might have in the last few decades continue to. >> senator gillibrand, what would you do as president with a reality? >> one of the worst things about president trump, what he has done to the country is torn apart the moral fabric of who we are. when we started separating children at the border from their parents, the fact that seven children have died in his custody, the fact that dozens of children have been separated from their parents and have no plan to reunite them, i would do a few things. fight for comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship. second, reform how we treat asylum seekers at the border. have a community-based treatment center where we are doing it within the communities and asylum seekers are given lawyers and real immigration judges and not employees of the attorney general and appointed for life. i would fund border security, but the worst thing president

trump has done is diverted the funds away from cross border terrorism and drug and gun trafficking and given that money to the for profit prisons. i would not spend money to lock up children in for profit prisons for children and asylum seekers. >> we're had a debate about decriminalization of the border. raise your hand if you think it should be a civil offense rather than a crime to cross the border without documentation. can we keep the hands up to see them? >> let's remember that's not just a theoretical exercise, that criminalization is the basis for family separation. do you away with that, it's no longer possible, it wouldn't be possible anyway in my presidency because it's dead wrong. the republican party likes to cloak itself in the language of religion. now, our party doesn't talk about that as much largely for a

good reason which was, we are committed to the separation of church and state and stand for people for any religion and people of no religion, but we should call out hypocrisy and for a party that associates with christianity to say it is okay to suggest that god would smile on the division of families at the hands of federal agents, that god would condone putting children in cages has lost all claim to ever use religion language again. [ applause ] >> i don't know if you raised your hand or were asking to speak, but would you decriminalize crossing the border without documents? >> the first thing i would do is unite families that surge immediately. billions of dollars worth of help to the region immediately. look, i talk about foreign policy. i'm the guy that got a bipartisan agreement at the very end of the campaign and our term

to spend $740 million to deal with the problem and go to the root cause of why people are leaving in the first place. it was working. we saw, as you know, the net decrease of the children coming. crisis was abated. along came this president and immediately discontinued that. we all talk about these things. i did it. i did it. now look, second thing we have to do. the law now requires the reuniting of those families. we would reunite the families, period. if not, we would put the children where they were until we could find their parents and lastly, the idea that he is in court with the justice department saying children in cages do not need a bed or a blanket and do not need a tooth brush is outrageous. >> the obama-biden administration deported more than three million americans.

my question to you is if an individual is living in the united states of america without documents and that is his only offense, should that person be deported? >> depending if they committed a major crime, they should be deported. president obama did a heck of a job. to compare him to what this guy is doing is i find immoral. the fact is that we should not be locking people up. we should be make sure we change the circumstance as we did why they would leave in the first place. those who come seeking asylum, we should immediately have the capacity to absorb them, keep them safe until they can be heard. >> 15 seconds if you wish to answer. should someone who is here without documents and that is his only offense. should that person be deported? >> that person should not be the focus of deportation. we should change the way we deal

with things. >> i agree with a lot of what kamala just said and that is on day one, we take out our executive order and we rescind every damn thing on this issue that trump has done. number two, picking up on the point that you are making. we have to look at the root causes. we have a situation where honduras among other things is a failing state. massive corruption. you have got gangs who are telling families if a 10-year-old is not joining that gang, the family will be killed. what we have to do on day one is invite the presidents and the leadership of central america and mexico together. this is a hemispheric problem. >> congressman swalwell. what do you do? >> day one? >> no, if someone is here without documents and that is their only offense, is that person to be deported? >> no.

that person can be a part of this great american experience. that person can contribute. my congressional district is one of the most diverse in america and we see the benefits when they become a part of the community. day one for me. families are reunited. this president though for immigrants, there is nothing he will not do to separate a family, cage a child, or erase their existence by weaponizing the census. there is nothing i will not do as president to reverse that and make sure that families always belong together. >> senator harris? >> thank you. i will say absolutely not they should not be deported. this was one of the very few issues with which i disagreed with the administration. with whom i had a great relationship and a great deal of respect. on the secure communities issue, i was attorney general of

california and led the second largest department of justice in the united states second only to the united states department of justice in a state of 40 million people. on this issue i disagreed with my president because the policy was to allow deportation of people who by isis's definition were noncriminals. as attorney general and the chief law officer of the state of california, i issued a directive to the sheriffs that they did not have to comply with detainers and instead should make decisions based on the best interest of public of the basis of their community. i was tracking it and saw that parents, people who had not committed a crime even by definition were being deported. i have to add a point here. the problem with this kind of policy and i know it as a prosecutor. i want a rape victim to be able

to run in the middle of the street and wave down a police officer and report the crime against her. i want anybody who has been the victim of any real crime to be able to do that and not be afraid that if they do that, they will be deported because the abuser will tell them that they are the criminal. it is wrong. >> we are going to turn to the issue of trade if we can. we asked the candidates last night to name the greatest geopolitical threat. four mentioned china. u.s. businesses say china steals our intellectual property and party leaders accuse them of manipulate being the currency to keep the cost of goods artificially low. i will ask this to senator bennet. how would you stand up to china? >> first of all, the biggest threat to national security is russia, not china. second, on china, we have -- because of what they have done with our election. the president has been right to push back on china, but has done it in completely the wrong way.

we should mobilize the entire rest of the world who all have a shared interest in pushing back on the trade policies and i think we can do that. i would like to answer the other question before this as well. when i see these kids at the border, i see my mom because i know she sees herself. she was separated from her parents for years during the holocaust in poland. for donald trump to be doing what he is doing to children and their families at the border and i say this as someone who wrote the immigration bill in 2013 and created a pathway to citizenship for 11 million people in this country and had the most progressive dream act that ever has been conceived, much less passed. that got 68 votes in the senate. that had $46 billion of border security that was sophisticated 21st century border security, not a medieval wall and the president has turned the border of the united states into a

symbol of nativist hostility that the whole world is looking at and what we should be represented by is the statue of liberty that brought my parents to the country to begin with. we need to make a change. >> mr. yang on the issue of china. you expressed concerns about technology and taking jobs. are you worried about china and how would you stand up. >> i want to agree that i think russia is the greatest geopolitical threat because they have been laughing their asses off for the last couple of years and we should focus on that before we worry about other threats. china, they do power intellectual property, but the tariffs and the trade war are punishing businesses and producers on both sides. a farmer in iowa send six years building up a relationship and that disappeared. it's gone forever. the beneficiaries are not american workers. it has been southeast asia and other producer who is stepped into the void. we need to track down on chinese

malfeasance, but the trade wars are the wrong way to go. >> how would you stand up against china. >> we have to recognize that the china challenge is a serious one. this is not something to dismiss or waive away. if you look at what china is doing, they are using technology for the perfection of dictatorship. the fundamental model is not going to change because of tariffs. i live in the industrial midwest. folks who are not in the shadow of a factory are near a soy field where i live. manufacturers and especially farmers are hurting. tariffs are taxes and americans pay $800 more a year because of the tariffs. meanwhile, china is investing so they could soon be able to run circles around us in artificial intelligence and this president is fixated on the relationship that if all that mattered was the balance on dishwashers, we

have a moment when their authoritarian model is an alternative to ours because ours looks so chaotic because of internal divisions, the biggest thing we have to do is invest in our own domestic competitiveness. if we disinvest, we will never be able to compete. if we want to be an alternative, a democratic alternative, we actually have to demonstrate that we care did democratic values at home. >> we are going to take a quick break here. when we come back, the questioning continues with our colleagues. chuck todd and rachel maddow will be here. much more with our candidates, straight ahead. moving is hard.

no kidding. but moving your internet and tv? that's easy. easy?! easy? easy. because now xfinity lets you transfer your service online in just about a minute with a few simple steps. really? really. that was easy. yup. plus, with two-hour appointment windows, it's all on your schedule. awesome. now all you have to do is move...that thing. [ sigh ] introducing an easier way to move with xfinity. it's just another way we're working to make your life simple, easy, awesome. go to xfinity.com/moving to get started.

the sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your movement and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. the queen sleep number 360 c4 smart bed, now $1299. plus, free premium delivery when you add a base. ends sunday.

this is the hour's top stories. a spectacle in the sky. the big apple celebrated with an epic fireworks display that just finished. 70,000 fireworks were used. in washington president trump held his salute to america event. it featured an address and fly overs from military aircraft. in southern california people are cleaning up from a 6.4 magnitude earthquake, it is biggest in decades.

a few minor injuries. back to the democratic debate. c. welcome back to the democratic presidential debate from the arts center in miami. >> we're want to bring in more members of our team. >> let's turn it over to chuck todd and rachel maddow. [ applause ] >> rachel, i had a dream that we have done this before. >> no. this is definitely the first time. >> thank you, lester and savannah and josé. let's recap the rules one more time. 20 candidates qualified for the debate and we heard from 10 last night. we hear from 10 more tonight. the break down was selected at random and the candidates will have 60 seconds to answer and 30 seconds for follow-up, if necessary.

>> because of the large field, not every candidate will comment on everything, but the less audience reaction there is, the less time they will all get. we will hear from all of these candidates, but we will begin with mayor buttigieg. in the last five year, civil rights activists led a national debate over race and the criminal justice system. your community of south bend, indiana has been in uproar over an officer-involved shooting. the police forces 6% black in a city that is 26% black. why has that not improved over your two terms as mayor. >> because i couldn't get it done. my community is in anguish right now. because of an officer-involved shooting. eric logan killed by a white officer and i'm not allowed to take sides until the investigation comes back. the officer didn't have his body camera on. it's a mess. we are hurting. i could walk you through all of

the things we have done as a community. all of the steps we took from bias training to deescalation, but it didn't save the life of eric logan. when i look into his mother's eyes, i have to face the fact that nothing that i say will bring him back. this is an issue that is facing our community and so many communities around the country. until we move policing out from the shadow of systemics of racism and whatever this teaches us, there is a wall of mistrust put up one racist act at a time not from what happened in the past, but what happened in the present. it threatens the well being of every community. i am determined to bring about a day when a white person driving a vehicle in and a black person driving a vehicle, when they see a police officer approaching, feels the same thing. not of fear, but of safety. i am going to bring about that

very thing. >> if i can ask one more question. >> i will give you 30 seconds. >> the question they are asking in south bend and across the country is why has it taken so long? we had a shooting when i became mayor 10 years before ferguson. we diversified the police force and two years we did deescalation training. i think the real question that america should be asking is why, five years after ferguson, every city doesn't have this level of accountability. >> i have to respond to that. we have taken so many steps towards police accountability that the flp denounced me for too much accountability and i accept responsibility for that because i'm in charge. >> should you fire the chief. >> so under indiana law this will be investigated.

there will be accountability. >> but you are the mayor. that's the policy if someone died. >> all of these issues are specific, but they are symptoms. the underlying cause has to do with deep, deep rounds of racial injustice in the criminal justice system and economic system and the democratic party should be on the side of reparations for slavery for this very reason. i do not believe that the average american is a racist, but the average american is woefully undereducated by the history of race in the united states. >> vice president biden, we will get to you. >> i would like to speak on the issue of race. [ applause ] >> senator harris, >> we will give you 30 seconds and come back to you. >> okay. so on the issue of race, i couldn't agree more that this is an issue that is still not being talked about truthfully and honestly.

there is not a black man i know, be he a relative, a friend or a coworker who has not been the subject of profiling or discrimination. my sister and i had to deal with the neighbor who told us her parents couldn't play with us because we were black. i will say also that in this campaign we have also heard and i will direct this at vice president biden, i do not believe you are a racist and i agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground, but i also believe and it's personal and it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two united states senator who is built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country. it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose bussing.

there was a little girl in california who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bussed to school every day. that little girl was me. so i will tell you that on this subject, it cannot be an intellectual debate among democrats. we have to take it seriously. we have to act swiftly. as attorney general of california, i was proud to put in place a requirement that all my special agents would wear body cameras and keep those cameras on. [ applause ] >> senator harris, thank you. vice president biden, you have been invoke and we will give you a chance to respond. [ applause ] vice president biden. [ applause ] >> it's a mischaracterization of my position across the board. i do not praise racists. that is not true. number one. number two, if we want to have this litigated on who supports

civil rights, i'm happy to do that. i was a public defender. i was not a prosecutor. i left a good law firm to become a public defender. when in fact my city was in flame because of the assassination of dr. king. number one. number two, as vice president of the united states, i worked with a man who in fact we worked very hard to see to it we dealt with the issues in a major, major way. the fact is that in terms of bussing, the bussing, you would have been able to go to school the same way because it was a local decision made by your city council. that's fine. that's one of the things i argued for that we should be breaking down the lines. the bottom line here is, look. everything i have done in my career, i ran because of civil rights and continue to think we have to make fundamental changes and those civil rights, by the way, include not just african-americans, but the lgbt community.

>> but do you agree today that you were wrong to oppose bussing in america then? do you agree? >> i did not oppose bussing in america. what i opposed is bussing ordered by the differently education. that's what i opposed. >> there was a failure of states to integrate public schools in america. i was part of the second class to integrate berkeley, california public schools almost two decades after brown v board of education. >> because your city council made that decision. >> and federal government must step in and pass the equality act and need the pass the era. there are moments in history where states fail to preserve the civil rights of all people. >> supported the era from the beginning. >> 30 seconds. i want to bring other people in. >> i supported it from the

beginning and ex-continued the voting rights for 25 years and got to the place where we got 98 out of 98 votes in the senate doing it and i argued strongly that we in fact deal with the notion of denying people access to the ballot box. i agree that everybody -- anyway, my time is up. >> all of these things -- >> senator sanders, i will go to you. you said on the day you launched your campaign that voters should focus what people stand for, not a candidate's race or age or sexual orientation. many are excited by the diversity of the field and on this stage and last night's stage and the perspective that diversity brings to this contest and these issues. are you telling democratic voters that diversity shouldn't matter when they make this decision? >> absolutely not. unlike the republican party, we encourage diversity and believe in diversity. that's what america is about.

but in addition diversity in terms of having more women, more people from the lgbt community, we also have to do something else. that is we have to ask ourselves a simple question. how come today the worker in the middle of our economy is making no more money than he or she made 45 years ago and that in the last 30 years the top 1% has seen a $21 trillion increase in wealth. we need a party that is diverse, but we need a party that has the guts to stand up to the powerful special interest who have so much power over the economic and political life of this country. >> senator gillibrand? >> where bernie left off, we heard a lot of good ideas on this stage and a lot of plans, but until you go to the root of the corruption, the money in

politics and the fact that washington is run by the special interest, you are never going solve any of these problems. i have the most comprehensive approach and the most transformative plan to take on political corruption and get money out of politics through publicly funded elections and have clean elections. if we do that and get money out of politics, we guarantee health care as a right and not a privilege and deal with racism and take on income inequality and the corporate corruption that runs washington. >> the first one who did that was me as a young senator. >> on the issue of partisan gridlock, president obama promised in 2012 after his reelection, fever would break. that did not happen. vice president biden said the same thing. if he is elected, both parties will want to work together. should voters believe if there is a democratic president in

2021 that gridlock is going to magically disappear. >> gridlock will not magically disappear as long as mitch mcconnell is there, first. that's why it's so important for us to win not just the presidency and to have somebody who can run in all 50 states, but to win the senate as well. that's why we have to propose policies that can be supported like medicare act so we can build a broad coalition of americans to america for broken washington, d.c. i agree with what senator gillibrand was saying. we need end gerrymandering in washington and the court today said they couldn't do anything about it. we need to overturn citizens united. the court gave us citizens united and the attack on voting rights. that's something we need to deal with. all of those things happened since vice president biden was in the senate.

we face structural problems that we have to overcome with a broad coalition. it's the only way to do it. we need to root out the corruption in washington and expand people's right to get to the polls and we can succeed. >> vice president biden, it does sound as if you haven't seen what's been happening in the united states senate over the last 12 years. it didn't happen. why? >> i have seen what happened. just since we were vice president, we needed an act to keep us from going into the depression. i got three votes changed. we needed to be able to keep the government from shutting down. i got mitch mcconnell to raise tax $600 billion. by raising the top rate. as recently as after the president got elected, i was able to put a coalition together that billions of dollars go into cancer research, bipartisan. sometimes can't do that and you

have to go out and beat them. i went to 20 states and 60 candidates and we beat them and we won back the senate. >> the problem with what -- >> 30 seconds. go ahead. >> sometimes you have to beat them, but the deal with mitch mcconnell was a complete victory for the tea party. it extend the bush tax cuts permanently. they had been running against this for 10 years. we lost that economic argument because that deal extended almost all those bush tax cuts permanently and put in place the mindless cuts we still are dealing with today that are called the sequester. that was a great deal for mitch mcconnell and a terrible deal for america. >> you heard from the republicans that the reason why the tax cut had to be pass is they had to pay back the donors. they said those words.

the corruption in washington is real and something that makes every one of the plans we heard about impossible. i have the most comprehensive approach to do it with clean elections. publicly funded elections. we restore the democracy to the hands of the voters and not the koch brothers. we were talking about issues. imagine we are in florida and the parkland kids having as much power in our democracy as the koch brothers or the nra and imagine their voices carrying farther and wider than anyone else because their voice is needed. >> i'm trying to get everyone in. >> nothing else is possible whether it's education or health care or ending institutional -- >> i would like to put a different question to you. roe vs. wade is the law of the land since 1973. now with a conservative majority, several states have passed laws to restrict or ban abortions. one could make it to the supreme

court during your presidency if you are elected. what is your plan if roe is struck down in the court while you are president? >> my plan is somebody who believes for a start that a woman's right to control her own body is a constitutional right that government and politicians should not infringe on that right. we will do everything we can to defend roe vs. wade. let me make a promise here. you ask about litmus tests. i will never appoint any nominate any justice to the supreme court unless they are clear he or she will defend roe vs. wade. third of all, i do not believe in packing the court. we got a terrible 5-4 majority conservative court right now. i do believe that constitutionally we have the power to rotate judges to other courts.

that brings in new blood into the supreme court and a majority, i hope, that will understand that a woman has the right to control her own and the corporations cannot run the united states of america. >> i'm going to give you 10 additional questions. what if the court has already overturned roe and roe is gone. all the things are to preserve gone. what could you do as president to preserve abortion rights. >> let me tell you this. it didn't come up here, but medicare for all guarantees every woman in this country the right to have an abortion if she wants it. >> thank you, sir. >> can i address this for a second and want to talk directly to america's women. and to men who love them. women's reproductive rights are under assault by president trump and the republican party.

30 states are trying to overturn roe vs. wade right now. it is mind boggling that we're debating this on this stage in 2019 whether women should have access to reproductive rights. i think we have to stop playing defense and start playing offense. one thing about politics with the corruption and the deal making. when the door is closed and negotiations are made, there are conversations about women's rights and compromises have been made on our backs. that's how we got to the hyde amendment. a compromise by the leaders of both parties. then we have the aca. during the aca negotiation, i had to fight like heck with other women to make sure that contraception was not sold down the river or abortion services. so what we need to know is imagine this one question. when we beat president trump and mitch mcconnell walks into the oval office to do negotiations, what do you want when that door closes to fight for women's

rights? i have been the fiercest advocate for over a decade and i promise you when that door closed i will guarantee your reproductive rights no matter what. >> we are moving to climate. senator harris, i address you first. your state has been hit by drought, wildfires and flooding. it's a major concern for voters in your state and this state as well. voters heard many of the candidates weigh in on proposals. explain specifically what yours is. >> first of all, i don't call it climate change. it's climate change is an existential threat to us as i species. the fact that we have a president who embraced science fiction or science is to our peril. i visited while the embers were smoldering the wildfires and spoke with firefighters in the midst of fighting a fire while

their own homes were burning. on this issue it is a critical issue about what we must do to confront what is immediate and before us right now. that's why i support a green new deal. it's why i believe on day one and as president will re-enter us in the paris agreement. we have to take these issues seriously and frankly, we have a president of the united states, we talked about whether you asked what is the greatest national security threat to the united states, it's donald trump. i am going to tell you why. because i agree. climate change represents an existential threat. he denies the science. you want to talk about north korea. a real threat in terms of nuclear arsenal. he embraces kim jong un, a dictator for the sake of a photo op. putin. you want to talk about that? he takes the word of the russian president over the word of the american intelligence when it comes to a threat to our democracy and our elections. these are the issues before us,

chuck. >> i hear you. thank you, senator harris. mayor buttigieg, in your climate plan, if you are elected president in your first term, how is this going to help farmers impacted by climate change in the midwest? >> the reality is we need to adapt right away, but can't skip a beat from preventing it from getting worse. we need aggressive and ambitious measures. we need a carbon tax and dividend. i would propose we do it in a way that is rebated out in a progressive fashion so that most americans are made more than whole. this is not theoretical for us. parts of california on fire. they're talking about sea level rise. in indiana, i had to operate the emergency evacuation center twice in less than two years. first time was a 1,000 year flood and then a 500 year flood. this is not just the arctic icecaps, but the middle of the country.

we have to be dramatically more aggressive. here's what few people talk about. rural america can be part of the solution instead of being told they are part of the problem. with the right soil management, rural america could be a huge part of how we get this done. we have to look at the leadership of local communities. the networks of mayors and cities not waiting for the national governments to catch up. we should have a pittsburgh summit as well as rejoining the paris agreement. >> i want to bring governor hickenlooper in. >> you said that oil and gas companies should be a part of the solution on climate change. lots of your colleagues talked about moving away from fossil fuels entirely. can oil and gas companies be partners? >> i share the sense of urgency and i'm a scientist and recognize that within 10 or 12 years of

actually suffering irreversible damage. guaranteeing everybody a government job is not getting there. socialism is not the solution. we have to look at what really will make a difference. colorado is closing a couple of coal plants and replace it with wind and solar and the monthly bills go down. we are building a network for electric vehicles. we are working with the oil and gas industry and created the first methane regulations. it is 25 times worse than c02. we have to get to the last part of the industrial heavy industry and we haven't seen the plans yet. if you look at the real problem, c02, the worst polluters is china, the united states, and concrete in the escalation. beyond that, we have to recognize that only by bringing people together, businesses, nonprofits, we can't demonize every business. if we're not able to do that, we will be doomed to failure. no way of doing this.

>> thank you. vice president biden, on the issue of how you do this, democrats are arguing among themselves about what's the best way to tackle climate change, but many republicans including the president are still not sure if they believe it is even a serious problem. so, there are significant ways you can cut ash on emissions if you have to do it with no support from congress? >> the answer is yes. number one, in our administration we built the largest wind farm in the world and the largest solar in the world. we drove down the competitive price of both of those renewable sources. i would immediately insist that we in fact build 500,000 recharging stations throughout the united states of america with the governors and mayors and others to go to a full electric vehicle future by the

year 2030. i would make sure we invested $400 million in new science and technology to be the exporter not only of the green economy, but economy that can create millions of jobs. i would join the paris climate accord and up the ante because we make up 15% of the problem. 85% of the world makes up the rest. we have to know someone who knows how to corral the rest of the world and get something done like we did in our administration. >> i want to give you 30 seconds to follow-up. hold to you 30. >> the old ways are no longer relevant. the scientists tell us we have 12 years before there is irreparable damage to the planet. this is a global issue. what the president of the united states should do is not deny the reality, but tell the rest of the world that instead of spending a trillion and a half dollars on weapons of destruction, let's get together for the common enemy and that's to transform the world energy

system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy. the future of the planet rests on us doing that. >> before we leave this topic -- >> pass the torch to the generation that will feel the effects. >> take on the fossil fuels and that's the solution. >> before we leave this topic, here's something you will all want to weigh in on. hold one moment. >> just because you have a older body does not mean you don't have new ideas. john kennedy doesn't say i have a plan to get a man to the moon and we can all work to get a man on the moon. john kennedy said by the end of this decade, we are going to put a man on the moon. because john kennedy was back in the day when politics included the people and imagination and great dreams and great plans. i had a career not making the

political plans, but i had i a career harnessing the inspiration and the motivation and the excitement of people. masses of people. when we know we will turn from a dirty economy to a clean economy, we will have a green new deal and create millions of jobs and do it in the next 12 years. i'm not interested in just winning the next election, but our grandchildren. >> we will sneak in a break, but before we go, i will go down the line and i ask you for one or two words only. please. >> really. >> president obama and his first year wanted to address both health care and climate he could only get one signature issue accomplished. it was obviously health care. he didn't get to do climate change. you may only get one shot and your first issue that you are

going to push you get one shot that it may be the only thing you get passed. what is that first issue for your presidency. eric swalwell? >> for parkland and for orlando and every community affected, ending gun violence. [ applause ] >> senator bennet. >> climate change and the lack of economic mobility bernie talks about. >> passing a family bill of rights that includes a national paid leave plan and pre-k and affordable daycare and making sure women and families can thrive no matter who they are. >> so passing a middle class and working families tax cut, daca, guns and -- >> i giver you credit for the first thing. tax cuts. >> the premises that there is only one or two issues out there. there is enormous crisis. political revolution and people have to stand up and take on the special interest. we can transform this country.

>> vice president biden. your first issue, mr. vice president. >> you are so under estimating what barack obama did. he is the first man to bring together the entire world to commit to deal with climate change. immediately. i don't buy that. but the first thing i would do is make sure that we defeat donald trump. period. >> mayor buttigieg, your first priority and first issue as president that you are going to block and tackle. >> fix our democracy before it's too rate. get that and every other issue gets better. >> i would passe $1,000 diffident starting at age 18 that would feed us up and focus that. >> would pronounce it well before the election to make sure we don't reelect the worst president in american history.

>> to the prime minister of new zealand who said her goal was to make it a place where it's the best place in the world for a child to grow up and you are so on. the united states of america is going to be the best place in the world for a child to grow up. we are degree to have -- >> you guys are close. at least it was shorter. >> not at all. >> c minus. >> we'll take a quick break. we will be right back with the candidates after this. i switched to liberty mutual, because they let me customize my insurance. and as a fitness junkie, i customize everything, like my bike, and my calves. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ you might or joints.hing for your heart... but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish,

prevagen has been shown in clinical trials to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

>> this is your hour's top stories. a brilliant display over new york city tonight. at annual fireworks spectacular. all 70,000 fireworks set off. in washington president trump

held a celebration in military history. in southern california the clean up begins from the largest earthquake in 20 years. the 6.4 quick caused damage and only minor injuries. now back to the democratic debate. e democratic debate welcome back to the candidates' debate in miami. we will continue with lester in the audience. we are? we are in a second have a question from lester in the audience. that was a fake out. >> we are going to the issue of guns and -- >> congressman swalwell. among this field you have a unique position. you are proposing that the government should buy back every assault weapon in america and it should be mandatory.

how do you envision that in states? >> keep your pistols and rifles and shotguns, but we can take the most dangerous weapons from the most dangerous people. we have the nra on the ropes because of moms and march for our lives and brady group. i'm the only candidate calling for a ban and buy back of every assault weapon in america. i have seen the plans of the other candidates. they would leave 15 million assault weapons in the communities and wouldn't do a thing to save a single in parkland. i will approach it as a prosecutor and the only person who voted and passed background checks, but also as a parent. of a generation who sends our children to school where we look at what they are wearing in case we have to identify them later. a generation who has seen thousands of black children killed on the streets and the

generation who goes to the theater and we look where the fire exits are. we don't have to live this way. we must be a country who loves our children more than we love our guns. [ applause ] >> senator sanders, a vermont newspaper recently released portions of an interview you gave in 2013 in which you said my own view on guns is everything being equal, states should make those decisions. >> no. >> has your thinking changed since then and do you think there is a federal role to play? >> that's a mischaracterization. >> that's a quote. >> we have a gun crisis right now. 40,000 people a year are getting killed. in 1988, rachel, when it wasn't popular, i ran on a platform of banning assault weapons and in fact lost that race for congress. i have a d minus from the nra. what we need is comprehensive

gun legislation that among other things provides universal background. we end the gun show loophole and provision and believe in 1988 and believe today. the assault weapons are weapons from the military and they should not be on the streets of america. >> your plan leaves them on the streets. >> we're ban the sale and that's what i believe for many years. >> will you buy them back. >> if the government wants to do that and people want to. >> if you are the government, will you buy them back? >> yeah. >> your idea is a great one, congressman swalwell and there are a lot of great ideas. the problem is congress has not had the courage to act. when elected president, i will give the congress 100 days to pull their act together and put all these ideas together and put a bill on my desk for signature. if they do not, i will take

executive action and put in place the most comprehensive background check policy we had. i will require the atf to take the licenses of gun dealer who is violate the law and ban by executive order the importation of assault weapons. i'm going to tell you, as a prosecutor, i have seen more autopsy photographs and hugged more mothers of homicide victims and attended more police officer funerals. it is enough. it is enough. there have been plenty of good ideas from the members of congress and no action and as president, i will take action. >> mayor buttigieg, i will bring you in. [ applause ] a lot of discussion are often shorthanded as military style. you are the only person on the stage with military experience and veteran of the afghanistan war. [ applause ] will military families, does that inform your thinking and do you believe america's veterans

or military families at large have a different take than the other americans we have been talking about and congressman swalwell? >> of course because we trained on some of these weapons. every part of my life experience, being the mayor of the city where the worst part is dealing with violence. we lose as many as were lost at parkland every two or three years in my city alone. this is tearing communities apart. if more guns made us safer, we would be the safest country on earth. it doesn't work that way. common sense measures like universal background checks can't seem to get delivered by washington let alone most americans. as somebody who trained on weapons of war, i can tell you, there are weapons that have absolutely noplace in american cities or neighborhoods in peace time. ever. >> vice president biden. 30 seconds.

>> a real 30 seconds? >> i'm the guy that got the brady bill passed. background checks. we increased that background check during the obama-biden administration, i'm the person who got the assault weapons banned and the number of clips in a gun banned. folks, look. i would buy back the weapons. we started talking about that. we tried to get it done. i think it can be done. it should be demanded that we do it and that's a good expenditure. lastly, we should have smart guns. no gun is sold unless your biometric measure can pull that trigger. it's within our right to do that. we can do that. our enemy is the gun manufacturers, not the nra. the gun manufacturers. >> but the nra is taking over. that's the problem. >> lester? >> this is a question from our viewers. we put suggestions that ask maybe they could share some.

this is from kathleen from oregon. many fear the current administration inflicted irrevocable harm on governing process on our reputation abroad. what do you see as reversing the damage done and we will put it to senator bennet. >> thank you very much. what an excellent question. we have to restore our democracy at home. the rest of the world is looking to us for leadership. we have a president who doesn't believe in the rule of law and freedom of the press and doesn't believe in independent judiciary and believes in the corruption he brought to washington, d.c. and that is what we have to change and why everybody is up here tonight. i appreciate the fact that they're up here for that reason. second, we have got to restore the relationships that he destroyed with our allies. not just in europe, he flew to the g-20 last night and attacked

japan, germany and a third ally of ours without saying anything about north korea or russia. when you have got a situation with a president who says something happened in the straights of hormuz and the whole world doesn't know whether to believe it or not, that's a huge problem with the national security of the united states of america. >> perfect time to do another one of these down the line. this is what the question is. you are likely going to have to reset a relationship between america and another country or entity if you become president because of some relationship that you just mentioned about president trump. what is the first relationship you would like to reset as president. i will go down the line. ms. williamson? >> one would be to call the european leader and say we're back. i understand that the united states be part of the alliance.

>> one or two words. >> governor hickenlooper? >> i talk about constant engagement. the first country and i could they have been cheating and stealing, but it's china. >> thank you. >> all the challenges of the globe. we have to have relationships with everyone. >> mr. yang. we are trying to squeeze in. >> china. we need cooperate with ai and other issues. >> we have no idea who he would have pissed off more between now and then, but the entire world needs to change. it starts by modelling american values at home. >> mr. vice president, trying to be quick. >> we know nato will fall apart if he is elected four more years. it is the single most consequential alliance. >> it's not one country. i knowledge it is rebuilding trust in the u nitted nations

and understanding we can solve conflicts without war, but diplomacy. >> senator harris. >> all the members of the nato alliance. >> senator gillibrand. >> president trump is hell bent on starting a war. stabilizing the mideast and make sure we do not start a never ending war. >> our european allies and every latin american people about how to deal with the refugee crisis. >> congressman swalwell. >> we are breaking up with russia and making up with nato. >> last question for vice president biden. you made your decades of experience a pillar of your campaign, but when the time came to say yes or no on one of the most consequential foreign policy decisions of the last century, you voted for the iraq war. you said you regret that vote. why should voters trust your judgment when it comes to making a decision on taking the country to war the next time.

>> once we abuse that power, we got elected and made sure and the president said joe, get our combat troops out of iraq. i was responsible for getting 150,000 combat troops out of iraq and my son was one of them. i think we should not have combat troops in afghanistan. it's long overdue and should end. thirdly, you are not going to find anybody who pulled together more to deal with what is the real threat out there. we cannot go it alone in terms of dealing with terrorism. i would eliminate the act that allowed us to go into war and not the amf and make sure it can only be used for what the intent was. that is to go after terrorists, but never do it alone. that's why i have to repair alliances and put together 65 countries and make sure we dealt with isis in iraq and other places.

that's what i would do and have done and know how to do it. >> senator sanders. >> one of the differences that joe and i have in our record is joe voted for that war and i helped lead the opposition to that war which was a total disaster. second of all, i helped lead the effort for the first time to utilize the war powers act to get the united states out of the intervention in yemen which is the most horrific humanitarian disaster on earth and thirdly, let me be clear. i will do everything i can to prevent a war with iran which we are far worse than disastrous war with iraq. >> the good news is you get more time, but i have to sneak in one more break. we'll be right back with more debate. it's time for our lowest prices of the season on

the sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your movement and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. the queen sleep number 360 c4 smart bed, now $1299. plus, free premium delivery when you add a base. ends sunday.

>> we are back from miami. each candidate will have a final chance to make their case to the voters. 45 seconds each. we begin with congressman swalwell. >> we can't be a forward looking party if we look to the past for our leadership. i'm a congressman, but also a father of a 2-year-old and an infant. when i'm not changing diaper, i'm changing washington. most of the time, the diapers

smell better. i went to congress at 31 and found a washington that doesn't work for people like you and me. it's made of the rich and disconnected. i was the first to go to college in my family and have student loan debt. i have the effort to elect the next members of congress. we have a moment to seize. this is a can-do generation. this is the generation that will end climate chaos. this is the generation that will solve student loan debt. this is the generation that will say enough is enough and end gun violence. this generation demands bold solutions. that's why i'm running for president. >> congressman, thank you. >> i'm sorry we haven't talked more tonight about how we're going to beat donald trump. i have an idea about donald trump. donald trump is not going to be beaten just by insider politics talk. he's not going to be beaten by somebody who has plans, he's going to be beaten by somebody who has an idea of what this man has done. this man has reached into the psyche of the american

people and harnessed fear for political purposes. so, mr. president, if you are listening. you have harnessed fear and only love can cast that out. so i sir, i have a feeling you know what you are doing. i am going to harness love for political purposes. i will meet you on that field and sir, love will win. >> thank you. senator bennett. thank you. >> thank you. thank you. my mom and her parents came to the united states to rebuild their shattered lives. in the only country that they could. 300 years before that my parents' family came, searching religious freedom here. the ability for one generation to do better than the next is now severely at risk in the united states, especially among children living in poverty like the ones i used to work for in the denver public schools. that's why i'm running for president. i've had two tough races in colorado. by bringing people together, not

by making empty promises. and i believe we need to build a broad coalition of americans to beat donald trump and end the corruption in washington and build a new era of the american democracy and american opportunity. this is going to be hard to do. but it's what our parents would have expected. it's what our kids deserve. i hope you will join me in this effort. thank you. >> governor hickenlooper. >> i'm a small business owner who brought that same scrappy spirit in colorado to one of the most progressive states in america. we've expanded reproductive health by 64%. we were the first state to legalize marijuana, we improved the transportation system in the process. we passed universal background systems, we attacked climate change with the toughest methane regulations in the country and for the last three years, we have been the number 1 economy in america. you don't need big government to

do big thing. i know that because i'm the one person up here whose actually done the big progressive things everyone else is talking about. if we turn toward socialism, we run the risk of helping to reelect the worst president if american history. >> thank you, governor. >> senator gillibrand, you have the floor for 45 seconds. >> women in america, women in america are on fire. we've marched, we've organized. we've run for office and we won. but our rights are under attack like never before by president trump and the republicans who want to repeal roe v wade, which is why i went to the front lines in georgia to fight for them. as president, i will take on the fights that no one elsewhere. i stood up to the pentagon and repealed don't ask don't tell. i stood up to the banks and voted against the bailout twice. i stood up to trump more than any other senator in the u.s. senate. and i have the most comprehensive approach for getting money out of politics with publicly funded elections

to deal with political corruption. now is not the time to play it safe. now is not the time to be afraid of firsts. we need a president who will take on the big challenges, even if she stands alone. join me in fighting for this. >> senator gillibrand, thank you. >> mr. yang, you have 45 seconds for your closing. >> i am proof that our democracy still works. democrats and americans around country have one question for the nominee, and that is who can beat donald trump in 2020. that is the right question. the a and the right candidate will have a vision of the trickle-up economy that is already drawing independents and libertarians as well as democrats and progressives. i am that candidate. i will build a broader coalition to beat donald trump. it is not left. it is not right. it is forward. that's where i'll take the country in 2020.

>> mr. yang, thank you. >> senator harris, the floor is yours. >> thank you. i just want to leave you with a couple of things. one, we need a nominee who has the ability to prosecute the case against four more years of donald trump. and i will do that. second, this election is about you. this is about your hopes and your dreams and your fears and what wakes you up at 3:00 in the morning. and that's why i have what i call a 3:00 a.m. agenda that is about everything from what we need to do to deliver health care to how you will be able to pay the bills by the end of the month. and when i think about what our country needs, i promise you i will be a president who leads with a sense of dignity, with honesty, speaking the truth, and giving the american family all that they need to get through the end of the month in a way that allows them to prosper. so i hope to earn your support.

please join us at kamalaharris.org. >> mayor buttigieg, 45 seconds. >> i've had the experience of writing a letter to my family, putting it in a nn envelope mard "just in case," in case i didn't come back from afghanistan. i have the experience of being in a marriage that exists bit grace of a single vote on the u.s. supreme court. i have the experience of guiding a community where the per capita income was $20,000 into a brighter future. the decisions in the next three or four years will decide how the next 30 or 40 go. i want to be able to look back on these years and say my generation delivered climate solutions, racial equality, and an end to endless war. help me deliver that new generation to washington before it's too late. >> thank you.

senator sanders, 45 seconds. >> i suspect people all over the country who are watching this debate are saying, these are good people, they have great ideas. but how come nothing really changes? how come for the last 45 years, wages have been stagnant for the middle class? how come we have the highest rate of childhood poverty? how come 45 million people still have student debt? how come three people own more wealth than half of america? here is the answer. nothing will change unless we have the guts to take on wall street, the insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the military industrial complex, and the fossil fuel industry. if we don't have the guts to take them on, we'll continue to have plans, we'll continue to have talk, and the rich will get richer, and everybody else will be struggling. >> thank you, senator. >> and lastly, we'll hear from

vice president biden. sir, you have 45 seconds. >> thank you very much. i'm run to go lead this country because i think it's important we restore the soul of this nation. this president has ripped it out. it's the only president in our history who has equated racists and white supremacists with ordinary, decent people. he's the only people who has embraced dictators and thumbed their nose at our allies. i'm secondly running for president because i think we have to restore the backbone of america. the poor and hard working middle class people. you can't do that without replacing them with the dignity they once had. lastly, we've got to unite the united states of america. if we do, there's not a single thing the american people can't do. we can do anything if we're together. together. so god bless you all and may god protect our troops. >> we want to thank our

candidates. we've had two nights of spirited debate on a range of issues, 20 candidates in all. >> seriously, it takes guts to run and stick your neck out like this. to you guys and to the ten last night. >> i would also like to thank the audience for completely ignoring our suggestion not to react. >> also thanks to the democratic national committee and the florida democratic party. >> and of course thank you to everyone at the adrian arts center for hosting us here and our terrific audience. for savannah, jose, chuck, and rachel, i'm lester holt. good night, everybody, from miami. [ cheers and applause ]

♪ what goes on behind the closed doors of a marriage is not always apparent to the outside. >> my wife fell asleep in the bathtub. i just came up here, and she was laying face down in the bathtub. >> something wasn't right. she was just unconscious. >> a beaming bride. a haunting death. >> he was just telling me he could never ever love another woman as much as he loved her.