struggling. >> what's interesting, trying to add this to the party platforms during the caucus process. >> we want to make sure our issues last after the caucuses. we're having our ambassador go to their precinct caucuses with their issues, equal pay legislation topics and then paid family lead and affordable child care and saying we want the dressed in the next elections. so they are coming with those topics and then being voted on in the caucuses. >> if people want to learn more what's the web address. >> www.make it work.org. >> so, on this insold of the show we're going to brown and black forum in town here. we're going to chat to sure good ats for each candidate, and an event for governor jeb bush, all

exciting episode of "roske on politics." >> rosky on politics! >> we have the top one tenth of one percent owning more wealth than the bottom 90%. >> what did -- >> the thing i've been concerned about in the nation has not changed. >> we're chatting with chief national correspondent for "new york times" magazine. >> thank you for having my wife and i in your beautiful home. >> hop on the back. >> i got my own. this is that just a prop. >> aloha. >> state senator. >> senator tom harkin, you don't have to win the caucuses if you come in a good second or third

>> somebody said, paul strauss. the automatic and sacred trust of the presidency of the united states has to come and engage with the people of iowa. >> the highest ranking democrat in the state of iowa. >> jon huntsman. >> senator ted cruz. >> senator chuck grassley. >> haven't eaten anything other than the fried snickers. it's like going to heaven. >> we need to push back on the rnc. this is a dumb way to do it. >> i think it's important because it's the first contest. >> a potential clinton castro ticket. >> whoever the nominee is, gets to select their vice-president. will be the envy of

than you. i'm an optimist about the potential of the country. i'm not naive. it is truly time to lead, and our president has to be -- [inaudible] -- if you think the end is near, you're walking around all the time, the problems are overwhelming and nothing is going to happen and all we have to do is just be angry about it, then maybe -- if that your world -- hopeful and believe in the greatness of this country and believe in the character of people. restrict government's power that allows people to rise up in their own way.

this is -- [inaudible] truly is a joy to be able to express love of country and believe our future is brighter than what we have today. >> you mentioned in your comments moving the embassy in israel from jerusalem to tel aviv. what would that do? >> it's the capital of israel and sends a signal we're re-establishing the kind of, i got your back relationship, that the united states has had with israel. right now that been torn asunder with the -- between netanyahu and the president. that's not good for our national security interests. it's important to send a powerful signal because the rest of the world need to know we have their back and our enemies need to fear us and this would be a symbolic gesture. >> you have people working incredibly long hours.

$4,000 less than it was in 1999. the bottom line of this economy is that it is rigged. what this campaign is about is to demand that we create an economy that works for all of us rather than a handful of millionaires. if you work hours a week in america you should not live in poverty. >> growing up i thought taxation

for residents of the district of columbia, it's not true. >> d.c.'des serve in the military and pay taxes. >> that's why i support statehood for the district of columbia. >> if you believe every american should have equal rights del

statehood. >> building a wall and deporting 11 million or 12 million people so they're on the other site of the wall. now, that, to me, is not only foolish, it is offensive. >> this is jeff weaver the campaign manager for the sanders campaign. how long have you been with the candidacy. >> the candidacy or the candidate. >> the candidate. >> i've work off and on since 1986. >> what was that. >> vermont in 1986. >> senator sanders, he got two

>> by the time i started working for him he was mayor of burlington and ran for governor, then ran for congress, and then the next year, in 1990, he won by 16 points. >> so, senator sanders on this program the first time a year and a half ago in the basement of the united methodist church, and i asked him, are you going to run? i didn't feel this was a button, i felt he was going over it. what was the moment you knew he was running. >> he called me up. i had worked for him for many years, ran his senate campaign and house chief of staff. then opened a comic book store, and he called me up and i had dinner with him and we talked about it, and difficult to turn down the opportunity to come back in. >> when you first started this did you think you would be getting 27,000 people in portland.

many people would come out, how much money we would raise, what the response would be. i had confidence, having worked with him for so many years, his message would resonate with people. always hard to know at the beginning exactly how it would happen. we announced at burlington and had 5,000 people. went to new hampshire, huge crowds, minneapolis, 4,000 people, denver 5,000 people, and started growing. so the response has been overwhelming and gratifying. >> how did your candidate do. >> i think he did great. some humor, the type of forum where you get to talk about issues that are off the normal talking points. it's a good opportunity for people to see candidates talking -- not just talking points, talking about something different. >> what differentiates your guy from o'malley and clinton. >> bernie sanders has spent his entire life fighting for a fair economy and a fair country. he understands we have a rigged

corrupt system of campaign finance and reject super pacs. he stands by working class and middle class people and that's been the story of this entire life in politics. >> finally, can your candidate win the primary and the general? >> absolutely. well, i'm sure you have seen recent polls that show the race in iowa here tightening significantly and is ahead in new hampshire and the same polls show? general election he performs better against republicans than sect clinton, so, yes and yes. >> jeff weaver, thank you for chatting. >> my pleasure. >> welcome back to "roske on politics." if you watch this program you know who this is, former iowa state representative wayne ford, the cofounder of eevent that happened tonight. as we know, your event started in 1984. the seventh one. >> seventh one. >> and was this your favorite.

we pass it the baton an to the millenials, us baby-booms had a good running but these youngsters have new challenges. we're taking it to another level. >> i just was speaking to former state senator nina turner. she thought it was the first time it was forum and not a debate. is that true? >> i thick it was ruled by the dnc. they wanted to fix the debate. that would a dnc situation, not mine. this is my first forum.

i was happy about fusion. when you were thinking about running for president, did you say, look, i'm going to run as me, i'm going to play music, i'm going to have gigs? did you sitdown with a bunch of consultant -- >> no, we can't afford consultants.

i made a decision after listening to people all over the country -- i kept hearing two phrases again and again, they're the phrases, new leadership, and getting things done. and so i offered my candidacy as a perspective and a candidate of the new generation the only one with a track record of actually pulling people together to get progressive things done whether it was marriage equality, legislation -- whether it was the dream act. it's leadership. and so i am who i am, and that's what i offer. i've learned how to do a few things very well. among them, bringing people together, finding a consensus, getting things done, if you heard me play guitar i don't do that very well but die enjoy doing it, and there's such a distance between -- such a sense of alienation in our nation right now between us and the leaders that we elect, and so music for me, find, is a way to break that down.

everybody together, more comfortable, someone just playing a song. >> i always found that. when i ran for mayor of baltimore in 1999 it wasn't because our city was doing well. we had deep divides in race and class and place, but i kept playing music and found that music was a great way to bring people together and let us see each other as human beings. >> you're the current mayor of baltimore, the former mayor of baltimore and former government of maryland, has a candidate, how did former governor o'malley do. >> if think all the candidates did well. secretary of the dnc, and i am very, very proud democrat. when i see the republican forums and debates, it's a little scary. i just don't know if that represents the best of america, the type of rhetoric that we have seen and the type of language we have seen, is not

of us think is healthy for our country. so to be able to sit and listen to thoughtful conversation about things that matter to america and that will actually help us, that was -- made my proud as a democrat. >> will you be endorsing. >> as secretary, we have a a new central process so none of the officers of dmc are permitted to endorse until we have an official democratic nominee. >> i heard criticism from the sanders and o'malley campaign about the debate schedule in record to dnc. what are your feelings? >> it's traditional. i don't think there's been a primary season when the so-called challengers have been satisfied with the number of debates.

played out again and again. >> this is congress monica 'er becerra from the great city of

i used to live in your district. if a been to your morning coffee. i went to several when you were my representative, so nice to see you again. what brings you to iowa tonight? >> i'm here for the same reason you're here. i care about who will be the next president and i want to make sure we make the right decision. >> we had three candidates on stage tonight. last time you were endorsing secretary clinton. >> absolutely. >> why is that? >> no one is better tested to take on the tough issues and whether it's domestic or foreign no one has proven tough as the way she has and at the end of the day i think she has the values that we need right now for america. she is going to focus on the middle, and up the middle build so we have that economic engine that makes us the country we -- >> tee vent the is iowa brown and black forum. decide they cover the things you wanted to hear? >> it's interesting.

that are just brown or black, and what people often make a mistake about is the fact they think that african-americans and latinos think about things that whites don't think about. the reality is the most important thing to most black or brown families is, aim going to have a decent job? will my kid have a decent school to go to? will i be able to retire in dignity at the end of the day? was i able to buy a house? did i send my kids to college? so reality is the basic, the fundamental issues important to americans are important to folks who are brown and black. obviously a little nuance here and there immigration clearly important to latinos fish of criminal justice reform, very important to african-americans and latinos. more so than perhaps whites. but you're not going to see a big difference. so it's the subtlety that you

something. >> one vote 2016 is a campaign

against extreme poverty and preventible disease. >> so one vote is about educating voters about what needs to be fixed or how does it work. >> not just educating voters but also directly engaging the presidential candidates across the state of iowa. we travel a lot and have volunteers at town halls, coffee shops, local businesses where are the candidates are engaging with voters to make sure we maintain the united states assistance and foreign aid as a top priority in this presidential cycle. >> a few years back i ran for house in california. different district. what do you feel or the differences between california politics and iowa politics? >> bigger state, bigger population, bigger everything in many respects except maybe the ag areas. we have the largest ag industry in the nation. >> people forget that. >> yes, dairy, you name it.

i was born and raised in sacramento, california, my wife is from fresno. i've lived in l.a. for three decade. we're just big so just amplify it, but at the end of the day folks here are not much different from the folks in l.a. you tweak it a little bit but we're americans, and at the end of the day we talk the same language, we eat the same food, and we do eat the same food because you eat as many to tias and chips and salsa in iowa as we do in l.a. >> some criticism of iowa and new hampshire being first caucus and first primary is people think it's just a bunch of white people. what are your thoughts on that. >> well first, it's not. but good for iowa. there's a tradition here. we want to maintain the tradition of a democracy, of voting, making sure we're electing the leaders ourselves and good for iowa they had a chance to claim first in the nation. don't let it go.

we're the biggest. we're not going let that go. but at the end of the day, you're the first, we're the biggest, and we're all americans. >> how many representatives in california. >> 53. >> iowa has four. put it in perspective. >> yes. >> what was your favorite moment for the forum tonight? >> there were some good opportunities to hear what the younger folks had to -- were thinking about. >> some zingers in there. >> the last question of secretary clinton, white privilege. >> we can't show the clips. tell people what happened. >> so, some of the young folks candidate. the question that was asked of secretary clinton was: tell us what you think -- how you would define white privilege, and give us an example of how you have experienced white privilege. >> and benefited from it. >> yes.

that is -- that will stop you in your tracks. >> well, as we recall in the law, a leading question, it's a very -- you have to go to particular place, and i thought she answered it well. she said, this country is filled with people who have privilege against those who don't. >> she was very good. >> she talked about her experiences and how she realized, it came to her when she was young, a child, that she was created -- she was living a different life than others, and while she didn't call it an intentional discrimination, she said many of us are privileged. my girls are privileged. my girls are lat tina but they're privileged because their parents are both college educated professionals. >> your wife is a doctor. >> my wife is a physician.

i make in one year what my parents would take a couple decades to make, and so we're privileged in that sense. we're not white but we're privileged. and it is not derogatory. just means you have to understand there are privileges we get. sometime wes earn them. it's when we don't earn them that it becomes a detriment, and so it was a great question, and i thought the secretary hit it out of the park with her answer.

represents california. welcome to the home show, this is a great way to keep your thumb on the pulse of the dynamic real estate market. we'll talk new construction with the best buildings and iowa realty professional as on an average sunday, hundreds of iowa

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