WEBVTT

00:00:02.970 --> 00:00:05.910
Welcome to this curated educational transcript of the Joe Rogan Experience. In this session, we provide a deep-dive examination of the critical perspectives and historical dialogues presented in Episode #1330. Our mission is to offer a high-fidelity, searchable research resource for students of cultural history, emerging technology, and global discourse. This transcript has been specifically optimized for academic reference, linguistic study, and archival preservation regarding Democratic Socialism, Healthcare Reform, and Economic Policy in America
And we're live. Hello, Bernie. How are you, Joe?

00:00:06.209 --> 00:00:08.169
Wonderful. Pleasure to meet you. Nice to meet

00:00:08.169 --> 00:00:10.029
you. It's exciting to have you here, man. And

00:00:10.029 --> 00:00:13.929
it's obviously an exciting time for you. The

00:00:13.929 --> 00:00:16.390
presidential campaign is up in full swing. Do

00:00:16.390 --> 00:00:20.550
you get frustrated by the time constraints of

00:00:20.550 --> 00:00:25.289
the debates? Absolutely. You shouldn't even call

00:00:25.289 --> 00:00:31.449
them a debate. What they are is a reality TV

00:00:31.449 --> 00:00:33.859
show. in which you have to come up with a sound

00:00:33.859 --> 00:00:35.700
bite and all that stuff. It is the meaning. It's

00:00:35.700 --> 00:00:37.799
the meaning to the candidates, and it's the meaning

00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:40.679
to the American people. You can't explain the

00:00:40.679 --> 00:00:43.479
complexity of healthcare in America in 45 seconds.

00:00:43.899 --> 00:00:46.460
Nobody can. But why is it still done that way?

00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:51.539
If you try to... Let's pull this thing. You know,

00:00:51.539 --> 00:00:54.840
I think the DNC is in a difficult position. They

00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:57.179
have 20 -plus candidates, and they want to give

00:00:57.179 --> 00:01:00.359
everybody a fair shot, which is the right thing

00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:03.520
to do. And then if you're going to have ten candidates

00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.819
up on the stage, what do you do? But there are

00:01:05.819 --> 00:01:08.219
other ways that we've got to do it because the

00:01:08.219 --> 00:01:10.959
issues facing this country are so enormous and

00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:14.170
in some cases so complicated. Nobody in the world

00:01:14.170 --> 00:01:16.510
can honestly explain them in 45 seconds and then

00:01:16.510 --> 00:01:18.930
that what? Encourages people to do is to come

00:01:18.930 --> 00:01:20.989
up with sound bites to do absurd things if I

00:01:20.989 --> 00:01:22.870
yelled and scream on the show I took my clothes

00:01:22.870 --> 00:01:25.689
off We get a lot of publicity right if you give

00:01:25.689 --> 00:01:27.709
a thoughtful answer to a complicated question.

00:01:27.750 --> 00:01:29.750
It's not so sexy for the media Well, you don't

00:01:29.750 --> 00:01:31.329
even have a chance to give a thoughtful answer

00:01:31.329 --> 00:01:34.930
like Tulsi Gabbard went after Kamala Harris and

00:01:34.930 --> 00:01:37.890
then Kamala Harris had about 12 seconds to reply

00:01:37.890 --> 00:01:42.040
to it was so ridiculous to do to have something

00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:44.819
that's such an important issue. Did you or did

00:01:44.819 --> 00:01:47.000
you not put all those people in jail for marijuana?

00:01:47.140 --> 00:01:49.280
Did you laugh about it? Did this happen? Did

00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:51.120
that happen? All these different things. Was

00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:55.359
evidence withheld? These are long conversations.

00:01:55.579 --> 00:01:59.180
But it takes us to another issue and that as

00:01:59.180 --> 00:02:03.459
a nation we do a pretty bad job in analyzing

00:02:03.459 --> 00:02:05.560
and discussing the serious issues facing our

00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:08.120
country. And I hold the media to some degree

00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:10.020
responsible for that. You know, other countries,

00:02:10.099 --> 00:02:12.240
what they do is they say, Joe, you want to run

00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:13.919
for president? I'll tell you what, with your

00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:16.460
party in the general election, we're going to

00:02:16.460 --> 00:02:19.120
give you a certain amount of time, hours, on

00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:21.439
television. And you use those hours any way you

00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:23.680
want. You want a 15 -minute discourse. You remember

00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:26.099
Ross Perot? Yes. And people used to laugh at

00:02:26.099 --> 00:02:28.539
Ross Perot because he used to get up there with

00:02:28.539 --> 00:02:31.199
a chart and all this stuff. And the media made

00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:33.319
fun of him. But in fact, he tried in his own

00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:36.379
way to explain his point of view. to the American

00:02:36.379 --> 00:02:38.759
people. And we need serious discussion on serious

00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:41.139
issues. Well, he had the, because he was so rich,

00:02:41.300 --> 00:02:44.199
he had the ability to buy airtime on network

00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:46.319
television, which is pretty unprecedented. He

00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:49.539
just bought a chunk of airtime and then pled

00:02:49.539 --> 00:02:51.479
his case. But you know what goes on in other

00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:54.199
countries? You don't have to buy that time. What

00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:57.139
the obligation is, if you are a network, you're

00:02:57.139 --> 00:02:59.840
going to make that time free and available. to

00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:01.960
candidates. Do you think that that's something

00:03:01.960 --> 00:03:04.879
that could be viable in America? Could you convince

00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:07.639
CBS and NBC and ABC to go along with something

00:03:07.639 --> 00:03:09.740
like that? No. You couldn't convince them. You'd

00:03:09.740 --> 00:03:11.780
have to pass legislation to make that happen.

00:03:11.860 --> 00:03:14.719
But everyone's online today. I mean, the entire

00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:17.360
country is essentially getting email and Facebook

00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:21.020
and all that jazz. Why bother doing it in this

00:03:21.020 --> 00:03:23.900
particular medium that has an inherent time constraint?

00:03:24.759 --> 00:03:27.500
Well, you're right. I mean, the internet has

00:03:27.500 --> 00:03:31.219
revolutionized politics, and in many ways good

00:03:31.219 --> 00:03:34.479
ways. We use our social media, our email list,

00:03:34.500 --> 00:03:36.639
which is very large. Every day we're sending

00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:38.520
out stuff and other candidates are doing it the

00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:40.680
same way. But television still has a very important

00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:42.620
role to be playing. I'm sure it does, but I mean

00:03:42.620 --> 00:03:46.159
the ability to discuss things in long form, like

00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:48.139
you can do online, like you can do right here

00:03:48.139 --> 00:03:51.099
right now, you can't get that on television.

00:03:51.979 --> 00:03:55.400
Well, you could. But they would have to interrupt

00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:56.759
you every 15 minutes or so for commercials. No,

00:03:56.860 --> 00:03:59.599
no, no, no. No, what I'm saying about is what

00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:01.699
goes on in other countries. If I'm not mistaken,

00:04:01.860 --> 00:04:04.460
don't hold me to this. I think in the UK, you're

00:04:04.460 --> 00:04:05.900
a member of the Labour Party, you're a candidate.

00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:09.300
He has 30 minutes of time, and you do with it

00:04:09.300 --> 00:04:10.819
as you want. You want to speak 30 minutes on

00:04:10.819 --> 00:04:12.240
healthcare, whatever it may be, you can do that.

00:04:12.580 --> 00:04:14.719
Really? Yeah. And they don't interrupt with commercials?

00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:16.519
No, no, no, no. That's the law that they have

00:04:16.519 --> 00:04:19.759
given. This is the candidate's opportunity to

00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:21.500
speak at length to the people of the country.

00:04:22.540 --> 00:04:25.939
What are the misconceptions of you? Because here's

00:04:25.939 --> 00:04:29.379
the, if you go to the knee -jerk conservative

00:04:29.379 --> 00:04:32.920
reaction, you talk to people who are not interested

00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:35.279
in anyone that wants to be a democratic socialist,

00:04:35.540 --> 00:04:38.220
they hear the name Bernie Sanders, the negative

00:04:38.220 --> 00:04:41.019
implications are that you are somehow or another

00:04:41.019 --> 00:04:44.079
going to take their money, right? Is that annoying

00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:46.720
to you? Yes, it is. Of course it is. And also

00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:50.199
that I'm Mr. Maduro, I'm a dictator, I love dictatorships

00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:55.019
and all that stuff. And the truth is, Joe, that

00:04:55.019 --> 00:04:58.680
if you look at the issues that I campaign on

00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:01.100
and what I believe on, they are really not terribly

00:05:01.100 --> 00:05:04.019
radical. They exist in many countries all over

00:05:04.019 --> 00:05:06.379
the world. For example, just, we can start on

00:05:06.379 --> 00:05:09.740
healthcare if you'd like. Is the idea that healthcare

00:05:09.740 --> 00:05:12.939
is a human right, not a privilege, a radical

00:05:12.939 --> 00:05:15.439
idea? I don't think it is. It's not. And the

00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:17.800
truth is, we are the only major country on Earth.

00:05:17.899 --> 00:05:20.379
Many people don't know this. We're the only major

00:05:20.379 --> 00:05:22.360
country on earth not to guarantee health care

00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:24.920
to all people as a human right, and yet we end

00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:28.120
up spending almost twice as much per capita on

00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:30.699
health care. The function, and you can argue

00:05:30.699 --> 00:05:32.480
with me if you want, but the function of the

00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:34.720
current health care system is not to provide

00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:37.560
quality care to all, it is to make tens of billions

00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:40.120
of dollars in profit for the drug companies and

00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:42.100
the insurance companies. That's the function.

00:05:43.660 --> 00:05:45.959
If you go to Canada, and I live 50 miles away

00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:48.000
from the Canadian border, you have major heart

00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:50.360
surgery. You're in the hospital for a month.

00:05:50.579 --> 00:05:51.839
Do you know what the bill is when you get out?

00:05:52.120 --> 00:05:54.720
Zero. You got it. You go to any doctor you want.

00:05:54.899 --> 00:05:56.980
You don't have to take out your wallet. And yet

00:05:56.980 --> 00:05:59.220
they guarantee health care to all of their people,

00:05:59.259 --> 00:06:01.639
and they spend one half of what we spend. That's

00:06:01.639 --> 00:06:03.100
kind of what I want to do. And I don't think

00:06:03.100 --> 00:06:05.740
that that's terribly radical. We have a program

00:06:05.740 --> 00:06:07.579
now which everybody knows. It's called Medicare.

00:06:07.699 --> 00:06:10.120
It was started by Lyndon Johnson back in 1965.

00:06:11.060 --> 00:06:14.259
It is a popular program. All that I want to do

00:06:14.259 --> 00:06:16.779
over a four -year period is to expand the today

00:06:16.779 --> 00:06:19.160
eligibility at age of 65. I want to take it out

00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:22.519
to 55, 45, 35, everybody over a four -year period.

00:06:22.579 --> 00:06:25.360
That's about it. And I want to expand benefits

00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:28.800
to include dental care, hearing aids, and eyeglasses

00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:31.579
as well. That's about it. Not too radical. That

00:06:31.579 --> 00:06:33.079
doesn't sound radical at all. Now when you say

00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:35.199
that Canada spends less, obviously they have

00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:37.259
less people. You mean less per capita? Yes, half

00:06:37.259 --> 00:06:39.920
per capita. Exactly, per capita. And the quality

00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:43.529
of care is as good or better. Do they have problems?

00:06:43.689 --> 00:06:45.149
Yeah, they have problems. Everybody has problems.

00:06:45.889 --> 00:06:49.470
But overall, the health care experts will tell

00:06:49.470 --> 00:06:51.470
you the quality of care there is as good or better

00:06:51.470 --> 00:06:53.709
than it is in our country. So what's the hurdle?

00:06:54.170 --> 00:06:55.769
Okay, I'll tell you exactly what the hurdle is.

00:06:55.870 --> 00:06:58.870
The hurdle is exactly the same thing as in every

00:06:58.870 --> 00:07:01.329
other aspect of our lives. It's the power of

00:07:01.329 --> 00:07:04.709
money. All right, listen to this. Over the last

00:07:04.709 --> 00:07:09.810
20 years, the drug companies alone have spent

00:07:09.810 --> 00:07:14.360
four and a half billion dollars in 20 years on

00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:17.040
lobbying and campaign contributions. That's what

00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:20.980
we're up against. The knowledge, and I mock my

00:07:20.980 --> 00:07:23.540
words, within a short period of time you will

00:07:23.540 --> 00:07:25.800
see TV ads in California all over this country

00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:28.000
demonizing Bernie Sanders. He wants to do this

00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:30.600
terrible thing to you. He wants to do that. They

00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:34.319
have unbelievable amounts of money and politicians

00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:36.959
are frightened of that power. I'll give you one

00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:40.839
example. Back in 2016, I got involved here in

00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:43.279
a little way with an effort on the part of the

00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:46.740
nurses to control the cost of prescription drugs

00:07:46.740 --> 00:07:48.680
in California. You may recall that effort. I

00:07:48.680 --> 00:07:51.740
do. It was a ballot item in one state here in

00:07:51.740 --> 00:07:53.420
California. Do you know how much the drug companies

00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:57.819
alone spent to defeat that? They spent $131 million

00:07:57.819 --> 00:08:03.160
on one ballot item in one state. Last year, the

00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:07.009
top ten drug companies made $69 billion. A week

00:08:07.009 --> 00:08:09.509
ago, I went to Canada with a number of Americans

00:08:09.509 --> 00:08:12.970
who are dealing with diabetes. We bought insulin

00:08:12.970 --> 00:08:16.629
in Windsor, Ontario for one -tenth the price,

00:08:16.850 --> 00:08:18.610
ten percent of the price, same exact product

00:08:18.610 --> 00:08:22.430
being charged in America. So you got drug companies

00:08:22.430 --> 00:08:25.009
that are engaged in collusion and in price fixing

00:08:25.009 --> 00:08:28.480
who are incredibly greedy. And the result is

00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:30.660
many elderly people, many working people simply

00:08:30.660 --> 00:08:33.200
cannot afford the medicine they need. It's unbelievable.

00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:35.720
And the reason for all of that stuff is we are

00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:37.980
the only country in the world that does not negotiate

00:08:37.980 --> 00:08:39.759
with the drug companies. They can charge you

00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:42.100
any price they want. And that has to do with

00:08:42.100 --> 00:08:43.519
the fact that we don't have a national health

00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:45.360
care program, Medicare is not negotiating, et

00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:48.220
cetera. Is this something that can really be

00:08:48.220 --> 00:08:50.960
implemented inside of four years? It seems like

00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:53.460
it's an enormous endeavor. Well, I want you to

00:08:53.460 --> 00:08:58.500
think back, think back, Joe, in 1965. You had

00:08:58.500 --> 00:09:00.879
Lyndon Johnson as president. And by the way,

00:09:01.100 --> 00:09:05.100
this idea of national healthcare, this has been

00:09:05.100 --> 00:09:06.960
talked about literally since Teddy Roosevelt.

00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:09.259
This is not a new concept. Healthcare is a human

00:09:09.259 --> 00:09:10.700
right. That's what Teddy Roosevelt was talking

00:09:10.700 --> 00:09:12.960
about. That's what FDR was talking about. Harry

00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.460
Truman was talking about it. Kennedy was talking

00:09:15.460 --> 00:09:18.039
about it. Kennedy got killed. Lyndon Johnson

00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:21.480
picked up the mantle. And their idea was, according

00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:23.220
to people in their administration, we'll start

00:09:23.220 --> 00:09:26.320
with the elderly who are most impacted by by

00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:29.659
health care costs and sickness will start and

00:09:29.659 --> 00:09:32.519
they did in 1965 without the technology we have

00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:37.539
today they implemented Medicare 19 million people

00:09:37.539 --> 00:09:40.259
elderly people signed up in the first year so

00:09:40.259 --> 00:09:43.679
if you could start a brand new program and have

00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:46.039
19 million people sign up with the technology

00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:48.600
that is way way behind where we are today why

00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:50.600
can't we over a four -year period simply expand

00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:53.480
that program I don't think it's such a difficult

00:09:53.480 --> 00:09:56.250
operation So when you talk about the drug companies

00:09:56.250 --> 00:09:58.629
and the lobbyists and the enormous amount of

00:09:58.629 --> 00:10:02.230
money that they spend, does this exist anywhere

00:10:02.230 --> 00:10:04.009
else other than the United States, lobbyists

00:10:04.009 --> 00:10:07.549
on that level? No, no, of course not. And the

00:10:07.549 --> 00:10:09.990
reason, you know, in Canada what you have is

00:10:09.990 --> 00:10:12.809
you have a national health care program and so

00:10:12.809 --> 00:10:15.409
forth, and they sit down and, A, they negotiate

00:10:15.409 --> 00:10:16.909
with the drug companies, they have their own

00:10:16.909 --> 00:10:19.669
approach, but every other major country on earth

00:10:19.669 --> 00:10:21.509
says to the drug companies, of course you can't

00:10:21.509 --> 00:10:24.139
charge us any price you want. This is a reasonable

00:10:24.139 --> 00:10:25.919
price. Tell me what your profits are, what your

00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:28.480
expenditures are. This is a price. For us, you

00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:30.360
could walk in, you know, if you have an illness,

00:10:30.700 --> 00:10:32.639
you could walk into the pharmacy tomorrow, and

00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:34.139
the price has been doubled, and you say to the

00:10:34.139 --> 00:10:35.559
pharmacist, what happened? He said, they just

00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:37.580
raised their prices. They could do it any day

00:10:37.580 --> 00:10:41.720
they want to, any price they want. Now, lobbyists

00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:44.759
are, in general, when people talk about lobbyists,

00:10:44.779 --> 00:10:47.799
it's an unattractive term. We think a bit in

00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:50.440
terms of a negative. We don't think of, oh, thank

00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:53.120
God there's lobbyists. We think, wow, there's

00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:55.580
someone with enormous amounts of money using

00:10:55.580 --> 00:10:58.080
that money to gain influence on politicians,

00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:01.440
and it shapes regular people, it shapes our lives,

00:11:01.659 --> 00:11:04.100
mostly in a negative way. This is the way most

00:11:04.100 --> 00:11:05.460
people look at it. I'm not saying it's correct.

00:11:06.259 --> 00:11:09.779
Why do we have that system in place? Like, why

00:11:09.779 --> 00:11:12.700
do we have lobbyists? Why is it legal for someone

00:11:12.700 --> 00:11:17.340
to spend exorbitant amounts of money to affect

00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:20.360
our civilization to affect the way our culture

00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:22.480
works. Now you're taking us into a whole new

00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:25.000
area. Yeah. All right. Let's look. Can I? Let

00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:31.159
me detour and I'll come back. Today, in America,

00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:34.840
you got three people owning more wealth than

00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:36.820
the bottom half of the American society. You

00:11:36.820 --> 00:11:38.419
don't see that on television too much, do you?

00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:41.440
No, you don't. Three people. You got the top

00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.740
1 % owning more wealth than the bottom 92%. Listen

00:11:44.740 --> 00:11:47.120
to this. This is a statistic we recently saw.

00:11:47.289 --> 00:11:50.649
came from the Federal Reserve. Over the last

00:11:50.649 --> 00:11:54.470
30 years, the top 1 % has seen a $21 trillion

00:11:54.470 --> 00:11:57.570
increase in their wealth. The bottom half of

00:11:57.570 --> 00:12:00.169
America has seen a $900 billion decline in their

00:12:00.169 --> 00:12:03.750
wealth. So what you have in America today is

00:12:03.750 --> 00:12:06.929
a relatively small number of incredibly wealthy

00:12:06.929 --> 00:12:08.970
people. And I deal with these guys every day.

00:12:08.970 --> 00:12:10.429
People say, oh, we're talking about rich. You

00:12:10.429 --> 00:12:13.309
don't know what rich is, what multi -billion

00:12:13.309 --> 00:12:16.950
dollar operations are. Incredible. power over

00:12:16.950 --> 00:12:19.610
our society. And if you were in the pharmaceutical

00:12:19.610 --> 00:12:22.269
industry and last year 10 companies made $69

00:12:22.269 --> 00:12:25.610
billion in profit, you're sitting around right

00:12:25.610 --> 00:12:27.210
now saying, all right, that's great, how do we

00:12:27.210 --> 00:12:29.429
do better next year? What strategy do we have?

00:12:29.470 --> 00:12:31.610
We're going to put a lot of ads on. We're going

00:12:31.610 --> 00:12:33.289
to work with other companies. During the CNN

00:12:33.289 --> 00:12:36.149
debate that I participated in recently, in the

00:12:36.149 --> 00:12:38.909
debate, right in the middle of the debate, the

00:12:38.909 --> 00:12:40.549
drug companies and the insurance companies had

00:12:40.549 --> 00:12:43.529
an ad telling how bad so -called, how bad Medicare

00:12:43.529 --> 00:12:47.250
for all would be. So they're smart guys. And

00:12:47.250 --> 00:12:49.549
they use their power over politicians. They use

00:12:49.549 --> 00:12:51.549
their power over the media. They spend billions

00:12:51.549 --> 00:12:54.509
of dollars on advertising, on media, to make

00:12:54.509 --> 00:12:56.769
sure that they make as much as they can in profit.

00:12:56.830 --> 00:12:58.529
But it's not any different with Wall Street.

00:12:58.809 --> 00:13:01.289
It's not any different with the fossil fuel industry

00:13:01.289 --> 00:13:04.330
or the prison industrial complex. These guys

00:13:04.330 --> 00:13:06.710
have wealth. They have power. And they could

00:13:06.710 --> 00:13:09.029
care less about the needs of working people in

00:13:09.029 --> 00:13:11.649
this country. And that's the dynamic of American

00:13:11.649 --> 00:13:14.379
politics right now. And in our campaign, look,

00:13:14.539 --> 00:13:16.500
we're taking them all on. I know it makes a lot

00:13:16.500 --> 00:13:19.820
of people uncomfortable. But we are taking on

00:13:19.820 --> 00:13:22.700
all of these entities and all of their wealth

00:13:22.700 --> 00:13:24.700
and all of their power. And that's what a political

00:13:24.700 --> 00:13:28.799
revolution is about. So the real problem seems

00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:30.860
to be that they have this strategy of unlimited

00:13:30.860 --> 00:13:33.419
growth. Not that they're not providing medication

00:13:33.419 --> 00:13:35.379
that people need to save their lives. I mean,

00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:38.600
it's obviously... important to have pharmaceutical

00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:40.740
companies. Of course, of course. Right, so there's

00:13:40.740 --> 00:13:43.559
good that they provide, but the business aspect

00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:45.179
of it is where the problem lies, right? Right,

00:13:45.179 --> 00:13:47.740
look, they have great researchers, but if you

00:13:47.740 --> 00:13:50.759
check how they even spend their money, you know,

00:13:50.779 --> 00:13:53.039
they will tell you all of their money are research

00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.139
and development, we're tackling cancer, we're

00:13:55.139 --> 00:13:57.580
tackling diabetes, Alzheimer's. The truth is,

00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:00.320
of course they are, but the bulk of their money...

00:14:00.279 --> 00:14:03.159
is going off into what we call me to drugs they

00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:05.019
make modest changes in the drug which really

00:14:05.019 --> 00:14:07.740
doesn't improve people's well -being in order

00:14:07.740 --> 00:14:10.440
to make profits so the answer is yes we need

00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:13.240
obviously vigorous research and development and

00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:15.980
by the way your tax dollars all of our tax dollars

00:14:15.980 --> 00:14:19.019
often goes to that research and we don't get

00:14:19.019 --> 00:14:22.190
the benefit of in terms of lower prices So it's

00:14:22.190 --> 00:14:25.389
just it's a business model issue. It's a greed

00:14:25.389 --> 00:14:28.970
issue You've got it and how would one stop that

00:14:28.970 --> 00:14:31.309
when you're dealing with this the kind of influence

00:14:31.309 --> 00:14:33.870
that you're talking about with 69 billion dollars

00:14:33.870 --> 00:14:37.049
in a year. I mean the resources they have How

00:14:37.049 --> 00:14:40.509
would you stop that? Well, that is kind of what

00:14:40.509 --> 00:14:44.269
we call the 64 dollar question. Yeah And I'll

00:14:44.269 --> 00:14:46.250
tell you what I think this is what I believe

00:14:46.250 --> 00:14:52.529
if you think back American history and you think

00:14:52.529 --> 00:14:56.029
about the real changes that have taken place

00:14:56.029 --> 00:14:58.809
in society you think about the labor movement

00:14:58.809 --> 00:15:01.470
and working -class people standing up and saying

00:15:01.470 --> 00:15:03.450
to their employers we're not going to be treated

00:15:03.450 --> 00:15:05.850
like animals anymore you can't hire and fire

00:15:05.850 --> 00:15:08.370
us you can't work us you know 15 hours a day

00:15:08.370 --> 00:15:11.750
we deserve dignity and you think about the growth

00:15:11.750 --> 00:15:13.850
of the labor movement of millions of people beginning

00:15:13.850 --> 00:15:16.450
to stand together and fight you think about the

00:15:16.450 --> 00:15:18.850
civil rights movement you know And it wasn't

00:15:18.850 --> 00:15:20.970
just Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was, again,

00:15:20.990 --> 00:15:22.769
millions of African Americans and their white

00:15:22.769 --> 00:15:25.049
allies saying, we're going to end segregation

00:15:25.049 --> 00:15:27.350
and racism in this country. Think about the women's

00:15:27.350 --> 00:15:30.169
movement. 100 years ago, women in America didn't

00:15:30.169 --> 00:15:32.289
even have the right to vote. Think about the

00:15:32.289 --> 00:15:33.909
gay rights movement. Think about the environmental.

00:15:34.210 --> 00:15:38.409
The only way the change takes place is when ordinary

00:15:38.409 --> 00:15:41.090
people come together and stand up and fight and

00:15:41.090 --> 00:15:44.899
say that the status quo is not working. And that's

00:15:44.899 --> 00:15:46.340
what I believe, and that's what we're trying

00:15:46.340 --> 00:15:50.860
to do. So the message of our campaign is it's

00:15:50.860 --> 00:15:52.840
us, not me, because I can't do it alone. Let

00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:54.720
me be very honest with you. If I were elected

00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:57.600
president tomorrow, I can't do the things that

00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:00.320
I would like to do, that I'm campaigning on,

00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:03.039
unless millions of people were working with me

00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:05.580
to tell the corporate elite that they cannot

00:16:05.580 --> 00:16:08.960
get it all. So how would that be implemented?

00:16:09.019 --> 00:16:10.820
Let's say you become president. You're going

00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:12.279
to become president? What do you think? I think

00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:15.730
we got a shot at it. President Bernie, what do

00:16:15.730 --> 00:16:18.330
you do? You get in there, what do you do? First

00:16:18.330 --> 00:16:23.110
of all, you make it clear to the American people

00:16:23.110 --> 00:16:25.730
what your agenda is and I appreciate the opportunity

00:16:25.730 --> 00:16:30.049
to talk about an agenda in more than 12 seconds.

00:16:30.570 --> 00:16:32.190
What does that mean? We're going to fight for

00:16:32.190 --> 00:16:34.370
Medicare for all. We're going to raise the minimum

00:16:34.370 --> 00:16:38.720
wage to a living wage. We are going to deal with

00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:42.279
education in a profound way because I worry about

00:16:42.279 --> 00:16:45.100
what's going on in education today. Everybody

00:16:45.100 --> 00:16:49.220
knows that the ages of zero through four are

00:16:49.220 --> 00:16:52.259
the most important years for human intellectual

00:16:52.259 --> 00:16:54.940
and emotional development, right? Every psychologist

00:16:54.940 --> 00:16:57.120
will tell you that. And yet we have a totally

00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:00.799
dysfunctional early childhood system. We pay

00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:04.819
our child care workers starvation wages, yet

00:17:04.819 --> 00:17:07.099
working -class families cannot find affordable

00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:10.140
quality childcare. You got our public school

00:17:10.140 --> 00:17:13.819
systems all around this country, and many of

00:17:13.819 --> 00:17:16.420
them really being challenged right now. Teachers

00:17:16.420 --> 00:17:18.240
are underpaid. Teachers are working two or three

00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.599
jobs. You got kids who can't afford to go to

00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:23.119
college, and here's something that is just unbelievable.

00:17:24.099 --> 00:17:27.019
Kids who have gone to college leaving school

00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:30.440
with $50 ,000, $100 ,000 in debt. Unbelievable.

00:17:30.970 --> 00:17:32.849
These are issues that we have to deal with, and

00:17:32.849 --> 00:17:36.990
I will deal with them. And we are going to substantially

00:17:36.990 --> 00:17:39.309
improve the quality of education in America.

00:17:39.390 --> 00:17:41.690
We're going to cancel student debt by imposing

00:17:41.690 --> 00:17:44.470
a tax on Wall Street speculation. So you've got

00:17:44.470 --> 00:17:46.269
to deal with education. You've got to deal with

00:17:46.269 --> 00:17:49.750
climate change. The truth is that Donald Trump

00:17:49.750 --> 00:17:53.369
is dead wrong. Climate change is not a hoax.

00:17:53.430 --> 00:17:56.049
It is a very, very dangerous reality for our

00:17:56.049 --> 00:17:58.230
country and the rest of the world. Scientists

00:17:58.230 --> 00:18:01.059
tell us we have less than 12 years. to transform

00:18:01.059 --> 00:18:03.420
our energy system away from fossil fuel or there

00:18:03.420 --> 00:18:07.619
will be irreparable damage. So those are, and

00:18:07.619 --> 00:18:09.359
healthcare of course for all, so those are some

00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:11.500
of the major issues, criminal justice, immigration

00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:14.019
reform. You lay it on the table, you see these

00:18:14.019 --> 00:18:16.079
are the issues that we are going to focus on.

00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:20.299
And you rally the American people around those

00:18:20.299 --> 00:18:22.299
issues and you tell people like Mitch McConnell,

00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:25.200
who represents a very poor state in Kentucky,

00:18:26.259 --> 00:18:28.940
that Mitch If you are going to oppose raising

00:18:28.940 --> 00:18:31.220
that minimum wage to at least 15 bucks an hour,

00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:34.480
I will be in Kentucky as president of the United

00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:37.039
States. And we're going to have a rally because

00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:38.819
you're going to have to stop representing. And

00:18:38.819 --> 00:18:40.980
I hope, by the way, that Mitch McConnell is not

00:18:40.980 --> 00:18:43.559
the leader. I hope the Democrats can gain control

00:18:43.559 --> 00:18:45.940
over the Senate. But if he is, we'll put enormous

00:18:45.940 --> 00:18:48.740
pressure on him to do what the people want. Every

00:18:48.740 --> 00:18:50.599
idea, Joe, here's the bottom line on this thing.

00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:52.539
Every idea that I've just talked to you about

00:18:52.539 --> 00:18:54.759
is supported by a majority of the American people.

00:18:55.059 --> 00:18:58.569
These are not. radical ideas. Let's take these

00:18:58.569 --> 00:19:00.009
one step at a time because you mentioned a lot

00:19:00.009 --> 00:19:01.710
of important things there. Let's go with the

00:19:01.710 --> 00:19:03.589
minimum wage thing. Now the argument that I've

00:19:03.589 --> 00:19:05.410
heard about the minimum wage being raised to

00:19:05.410 --> 00:19:08.170
$15 an hour is that there are entry level positions

00:19:08.170 --> 00:19:09.990
for high school kids, for people that are just

00:19:10.190 --> 00:19:12.549
getting their feet wet in the marketplace, they're

00:19:12.549 --> 00:19:14.150
learning how to work, they're learning, they're

00:19:14.150 --> 00:19:17.190
making some money after school, that they, that

00:19:17.190 --> 00:19:20.930
if you charge or if businesses have to pay $15

00:19:20.930 --> 00:19:24.349
an hour to people like that, to entry -level

00:19:24.349 --> 00:19:26.630
people, that they won't be able to stay open.

00:19:27.410 --> 00:19:30.609
Well, first of all, they will be competing against,

00:19:30.650 --> 00:19:32.109
you know, if you're a business and I'm a business

00:19:32.109 --> 00:19:34.950
and both of us have to raise our wages at the

00:19:34.950 --> 00:19:37.769
same level, we both have the same burden, so

00:19:37.769 --> 00:19:42.269
it's spread across. That is what my conservative

00:19:42.269 --> 00:19:44.990
colleagues will tell you. The truth is, I don't

00:19:44.990 --> 00:19:47.009
have the numbers right in front of me, that while

00:19:47.009 --> 00:19:49.890
it certainly is true that young people do work

00:19:49.890 --> 00:19:53.710
at McDonald's and the minimum wage jobs, a significant

00:19:53.710 --> 00:19:56.410
and majority of the workers are not kids. They

00:19:56.410 --> 00:19:59.670
are often, and I've met them at McDonald's, they

00:19:59.670 --> 00:20:05.210
are workers who have children themselves. We

00:20:05.210 --> 00:20:07.849
work very hard to raise the minimum wage at Amazon

00:20:07.849 --> 00:20:10.900
and at Disney. We put pressure on both of those

00:20:10.900 --> 00:20:12.700
companies, and they did the right thing. And

00:20:12.700 --> 00:20:14.859
when you talk to the people at Amazon who got

00:20:14.859 --> 00:20:18.160
that raise, these are not kids. These are people

00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:22.799
in their 30s. These are ordinary adults who cannot

00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:25.039
make it on 12 or 13 bucks an hour. So I think

00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:28.420
the argument that, oh, they're all kids is not

00:20:28.420 --> 00:20:31.220
really quite accurate. Well, not even that all

00:20:31.220 --> 00:20:33.539
there are they're all kids but that if they are

00:20:33.539 --> 00:20:35.859
kids What would you think about making a minimum

00:20:35.859 --> 00:20:38.660
wage for someone who's under 18? That's different

00:20:38.660 --> 00:20:40.400
from a minimum wage with someone who's a legal

00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:43.500
adult. I'm not I'm not for that I think we do

00:20:43.500 --> 00:20:46.940
it and and look many of these young people and

00:20:46.940 --> 00:20:49.000
have their own needs I just talked to a young

00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:53.740
woman Last night who is working going to college

00:20:53.740 --> 00:20:55.480
working full -time trying to take care of her

00:20:55.480 --> 00:20:57.970
family as well. So I think Look, the minimum

00:20:57.970 --> 00:20:59.950
wage has not been raised in 10 years. It is now

00:20:59.950 --> 00:21:03.250
$7 .25 an hour, which is clearly unacceptable.

00:21:05.410 --> 00:21:07.630
The cost of housing, California, all over this

00:21:07.630 --> 00:21:10.369
country is rising fairly rapidly. People can't

00:21:10.369 --> 00:21:14.589
afford health care, can't afford college. I don't

00:21:14.589 --> 00:21:17.490
think it's asking our employers too much to pay

00:21:17.490 --> 00:21:20.509
at least $15 an hour minimum wage. Now, I'm glad

00:21:20.509 --> 00:21:22.809
you brought up Amazon. One of the things that

00:21:22.809 --> 00:21:24.809
always freaks me out is when I find out that

00:21:24.859 --> 00:21:27.380
enormous corporations that make billions of dollars

00:21:27.380 --> 00:21:29.519
have tax loopholes where they literally pay no

00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:32.579
money. How is that possible and how do you stop

00:21:32.579 --> 00:21:34.900
that? Well, it's the same thing as the drug companies.

00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:37.119
How is it possible that we pay ten times more

00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:40.279
for insulin in this country and for other drugs

00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:43.339
than the one in Canada or countries around the

00:21:43.339 --> 00:21:47.980
world? And the answer is it's power. So what

00:21:47.980 --> 00:21:52.420
is the goal of major corporations in America?

00:21:52.980 --> 00:21:56.480
It's to be deregulated as much as possible, so

00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:59.079
in some cases they can pollute our water, our

00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:01.740
air, our environment. It's also not to pay any

00:22:01.740 --> 00:22:06.119
taxes. Trump campaign, as you recall, he said,

00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:09.420
my tax plan is not going to benefit the wealthy,

00:22:10.059 --> 00:22:11.859
it's going to benefit working people. Well, it

00:22:11.859 --> 00:22:14.799
turns out over 10 years, 83 % of the benefit

00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:17.740
at the end of 10 years goes to the top 1%. That's

00:22:17.740 --> 00:22:20.740
what these guys, though I remember, I'm called

00:22:20.740 --> 00:22:22.880
the ranking member on the Budget Committee in

00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:26.549
the Senate. And some guy came forward representing,

00:22:26.650 --> 00:22:28.769
I don't know, one of the big business organizations.

00:22:30.690 --> 00:22:33.190
And this is their agenda. Their agenda was to

00:22:33.190 --> 00:22:35.509
cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid,

00:22:35.829 --> 00:22:38.750
and to do away with all corporate taxes. So what

00:22:38.750 --> 00:22:41.609
you have right now, that's what greed is about.

00:22:41.630 --> 00:22:44.410
They want it all. So as you indicated, you have

00:22:44.410 --> 00:22:47.369
a company like Amazon, owned by Jeff Bezos, who

00:22:47.369 --> 00:22:49.630
happens to be the wealthiest guy in America,

00:22:49.809 --> 00:22:53.470
worth about 150 billion. Amazon paid zero in

00:22:53.470 --> 00:22:55.390
federal income taxes. And it's not just them.

00:22:55.710 --> 00:22:58.309
Dozens of corporations paid nothing or very,

00:22:58.309 --> 00:23:00.950
very little. And on top of all of that, you got

00:23:00.950 --> 00:23:05.769
these guys able to stash all over the world trillions

00:23:05.769 --> 00:23:09.089
of dollars, trillions of dollars in the Cayman

00:23:09.089 --> 00:23:12.589
Islands, in Bermuda, in Luxembourg, and other

00:23:12.589 --> 00:23:15.009
tax havens. That is insane. And that has got

00:23:15.009 --> 00:23:19.089
to end. Yeah. How is it legal to do that? Why

00:23:19.089 --> 00:23:22.529
is it legal? Joe it is legal because they make

00:23:22.529 --> 00:23:27.049
the laws right all right. You know it That is

00:23:27.049 --> 00:23:29.589
what here you're touching now on the heart and

00:23:29.589 --> 00:23:33.269
soul of the tragedy of American politics How

00:23:33.269 --> 00:23:36.549
does it happen that on issue after issue the

00:23:36.549 --> 00:23:38.670
American people the working class of this country

00:23:38.670 --> 00:23:41.089
wants something? Nobody pays any attention to

00:23:41.089 --> 00:23:43.950
it, but billionaires want something and it gets

00:23:43.950 --> 00:23:48.250
done and that has to do with a corrupt Political

00:23:48.250 --> 00:23:52.069
system so right now If you are the Koch brothers

00:23:52.069 --> 00:23:55.589
or some multi -billionaire, you say to the leadership

00:23:55.589 --> 00:23:57.430
of the Republican Party and in some cases to

00:23:57.430 --> 00:23:59.569
the Democratic Party, hey, guess what? We're

00:23:59.569 --> 00:24:01.170
prepared to put hundreds of millions of dollars

00:24:01.170 --> 00:24:04.230
into your campaign. Hundreds of millions of dollars

00:24:04.230 --> 00:24:06.970
coming from one or two people. And here is my

00:24:06.970 --> 00:24:10.170
agenda. I want tax breaks. I want a trade system

00:24:10.170 --> 00:24:12.789
which will enable me to shut down in this country

00:24:12.789 --> 00:24:14.809
and go to China or Mexico and pay people there

00:24:14.809 --> 00:24:18.049
two bucks an hour. I want to be able to do more

00:24:18.049 --> 00:24:20.849
pollution because I don't like all of this money

00:24:20.849 --> 00:24:23.769
I have to spend preventing pollution of the air

00:24:23.769 --> 00:24:25.789
or the water. That's what I want you to do. And

00:24:25.789 --> 00:24:28.069
by the way, I'm worried about the deficit. So

00:24:28.069 --> 00:24:29.750
you may as well cut Social Security, Medicare,

00:24:29.849 --> 00:24:33.609
and Medicaid. How many Americans actually believe

00:24:33.609 --> 00:24:36.069
that we should give tax breaks to billionaires

00:24:36.069 --> 00:24:37.890
and cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid?

00:24:38.210 --> 00:24:41.490
Very few. Talk to Mitch McConnell. Get Mitch

00:24:41.490 --> 00:24:43.349
on the show. That is exactly what he believes.

00:24:44.049 --> 00:24:47.460
But that's ridiculous, right? It seems that if

00:24:47.460 --> 00:24:51.119
you just took away those tax breaks, the enormous

00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:54.200
amount of money that would come from those corporations

00:24:54.200 --> 00:24:56.660
having to pay their fair share would take care

00:24:56.660 --> 00:24:58.980
of a lot of the expenses of all these things

00:24:58.980 --> 00:25:02.559
that you're proposing. Exactly. Okay, let's talk

00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:06.140
about the education, because the idea of free

00:25:06.140 --> 00:25:08.759
education is a wonderful thing for people. I

00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:12.480
mean, the idea that you get out of college and

00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:16.019
you're in debt in an insane amount. that you

00:25:16.019 --> 00:25:18.539
might have 10, 20 years where you have to pay

00:25:18.539 --> 00:25:20.460
it back. And I know many people that are in that

00:25:20.460 --> 00:25:22.380
situation. Joe, there are people who are getting

00:25:22.380 --> 00:25:24.779
their social security checks garnished right

00:25:24.779 --> 00:25:27.720
now. It's not 10 or 20 years. In some cases,

00:25:27.720 --> 00:25:31.579
it's literally a lifetime. Now, a lot of that

00:25:31.579 --> 00:25:35.519
is... I mean, it's got to, in some way, be preventable

00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:37.400
by what we're talking about here. Absolutely.

00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:40.539
Is that how you would pay for it? I'll tell you

00:25:40.539 --> 00:25:42.380
exactly how we would pay for it. Okay. And we

00:25:42.380 --> 00:25:44.980
pay for every idea that we have, we pay for it.

00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:47.599
And we pay for it by understanding that today

00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:50.079
we have massive levels of income and wealth inequality.

00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:53.240
And we have in many cases the wealthy and large

00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:55.440
corporations paying nothing or very little in

00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:58.500
taxes. Here is the issue in terms of education.

00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:02.519
40, 50 years ago, you were an average American

00:26:02.519 --> 00:26:05.339
working class person. You graduated high school.

00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:08.539
Especially if there was a union around, you can

00:26:08.539 --> 00:26:10.200
go out and get a job and make it into the middle

00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:12.380
class. You could own your own home. You could

00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:14.240
send your kids to school. You lived a pretty

00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:17.759
good life. You made it in the middle class. 40

00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:20.559
or 50 years later, there's an explosion of technology.

00:26:20.759 --> 00:26:24.319
There's a growth in unfettered free trade. And

00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:28.420
it is clear now that most people to make it into

00:26:28.420 --> 00:26:30.720
the middle class are going to need a higher education.

00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:33.000
That's college or maybe it's technical training

00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:39.980
in order to become a skilled worker. It is insane

00:26:39.980 --> 00:26:44.319
to me to deny working -class people and lower

00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:46.660
-income people the opportunity to get that education

00:26:46.660 --> 00:26:49.180
because the cost of college has soared. So all

00:26:49.180 --> 00:26:53.240
that I say is that a hundred plus years ago the

00:26:53.240 --> 00:26:55.599
American people said that we should have free

00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:57.660
public education. I went to a public school.

00:26:57.980 --> 00:27:00.099
My parents didn't pay a nickel. Went to kindergarten.

00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:02.019
I went through the 12th grade. Pretty good education

00:27:02.019 --> 00:27:05.000
in Brooklyn, New York. All that I'm saying is

00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:07.779
the world has changed. And a high school degree

00:27:07.779 --> 00:27:11.299
is not good enough anymore. So expand that concept

00:27:11.299 --> 00:27:15.859
through college. Now, guess what? 50 years ago,

00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:17.599
do you know how much the University of California,

00:27:17.700 --> 00:27:20.240
a very great university, cost in terms of tuition?

00:27:20.380 --> 00:27:24.079
How much? Virtually free. What's it now? I don't

00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:26.119
know, but it's pretty high. It is high. It's

00:27:26.119 --> 00:27:28.099
thousands and thousands of dollars. So you had

00:27:28.099 --> 00:27:30.539
great universities like the University of California,

00:27:31.480 --> 00:27:33.519
City University of New York, state colleges all

00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:36.059
over this country. where tuition was virtually

00:27:36.059 --> 00:27:39.319
free and then what happened for a variety of

00:27:39.319 --> 00:27:42.099
political reasons states in the federal government

00:27:42.099 --> 00:27:45.099
started cutting back on higher education and

00:27:45.099 --> 00:27:47.119
put more more burden on the student with higher

00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:49.259
and higher tuition which is where we are today

00:27:49.259 --> 00:27:51.799
so all i'm saying is in the year two thousand

00:27:51.799 --> 00:27:55.059
and nineteen two thousand and twenty if our working

00:27:55.059 --> 00:27:57.440
-class kids are going to go out and get the jobs

00:27:57.440 --> 00:28:01.400
that are out there they need a They need a higher

00:28:01.400 --> 00:28:04.259
education, which should be tuition free in terms

00:28:04.259 --> 00:28:07.019
of the cancellation of debt, which is my view.

00:28:07.619 --> 00:28:11.779
You got 45 million people who are dealing with

00:28:11.779 --> 00:28:13.420
debt. I'll never forget this. This is where it

00:28:13.420 --> 00:28:15.740
really hit me. I was in Burlington, Vermont and

00:28:15.740 --> 00:28:17.640
I had a meeting on an issue and a young woman

00:28:17.640 --> 00:28:20.619
comes up and she says she's a doctor. She graduated

00:28:20.619 --> 00:28:23.220
medical school. She's very happy. She's practicing

00:28:23.220 --> 00:28:25.460
in a community health center, loves what she's

00:28:25.460 --> 00:28:26.700
doing. She said, Bernie, I got to tell you though,

00:28:27.079 --> 00:28:30.930
I am $300 ,000 in debt. having gone to medical

00:28:30.930 --> 00:28:33.630
school. I couldn't believe it. I was in Iowa,

00:28:33.890 --> 00:28:37.109
a young woman, $400 ,000 in debt. This is not

00:28:37.109 --> 00:28:39.829
unusual for medical schools and dental schools.

00:28:40.470 --> 00:28:42.769
And, you know, ordinary people, $50 ,000, $100

00:28:42.769 --> 00:28:44.950
,000 for going to college or getting a master's

00:28:44.950 --> 00:28:48.470
degree. We promised these young people, we said,

00:28:48.690 --> 00:28:50.569
go to college, go out and get an education, you'll

00:28:50.569 --> 00:28:52.869
get decent paying jobs. Well, the answer is they

00:28:52.869 --> 00:28:54.890
have not been able to do that. So what we have

00:28:54.890 --> 00:28:57.250
proposed in one piece of legislation, or two

00:28:57.250 --> 00:29:00.670
actually, is to make public colleges and universities

00:29:00.670 --> 00:29:02.849
tuition -free cancel all student debt in this

00:29:02.849 --> 00:29:05.549
country. That will cost $2 .2 trillion, a lot

00:29:05.549 --> 00:29:08.829
of money, over a 10 -year period. We do this

00:29:08.829 --> 00:29:12.349
through attacks on Wall Street speculation, which

00:29:12.349 --> 00:29:15.869
will bring in $2 .4 trillion. We bailed out Wall

00:29:15.869 --> 00:29:18.329
Street 11 years ago, and by the way, these are

00:29:18.329 --> 00:29:21.009
crooks on Wall Street who engaged in illegal

00:29:21.009 --> 00:29:23.890
behavior. Taxpayers against my vote bailed them

00:29:23.890 --> 00:29:26.279
out. we can bail out wall street you know what

00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:28.619
we can cancel student debt and provide public

00:29:28.619 --> 00:29:31.019
colleges and universities tuition -free when

00:29:31.019 --> 00:29:33.819
you say attacks on wall street speculation what

00:29:33.819 --> 00:29:36.140
what exactly do you know it will be attacks on

00:29:36.140 --> 00:29:39.720
all all of the trip every sale of attacks you

00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:43.119
people buy and sell stocks and bonds all of them

00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:45.579
we have a very modest tax on it and by the way

00:29:45.579 --> 00:29:48.519
it will have an impact on speculation by cutting

00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:50.519
back on the high -frequency trading which we

00:29:50.519 --> 00:29:53.220
now see so you would just there is there's no

00:29:53.220 --> 00:29:56.279
current tax on correct so you would put a small

00:29:56.279 --> 00:29:59.099
amount and that would do the job that would that

00:29:59.099 --> 00:30:01.819
would raise more than enough money it's a very

00:30:01.819 --> 00:30:04.640
small tax it exists a small how much it depends

00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:06.440
on on the nature of the transaction but it's

00:30:06.440 --> 00:30:08.700
less than one half of one percent really yeah

00:30:08.829 --> 00:30:11.049
And that would cover? Yeah, because the amount

00:30:11.049 --> 00:30:13.029
of stocks being sold, bought and sold. And this

00:30:13.029 --> 00:30:15.750
is not, again, a new idea. It's being done in

00:30:15.750 --> 00:30:19.569
countries all over the world. Here's one of the

00:30:19.569 --> 00:30:22.190
darkest things about student loans is that if

00:30:22.190 --> 00:30:24.910
you go bankrupt, it doesn't matter. You still

00:30:24.910 --> 00:30:27.650
owe that. And that's kind of crazy. I mean, if

00:30:27.650 --> 00:30:30.450
you have a serious medical issue, if you're held

00:30:30.450 --> 00:30:33.769
up, whatever happens to you that's awful, you

00:30:33.769 --> 00:30:36.289
go bankrupt. Most of those things are resolved,

00:30:36.769 --> 00:30:40.200
but not student loans. I mean, again, this talks

00:30:40.200 --> 00:30:44.180
to the – and that has to do with bankruptcy law,

00:30:44.660 --> 00:30:48.000
which was passed against my vote. And while you're

00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:50.079
on bankruptcy – and I should have mentioned this

00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:52.400
before – when you talk about the healthcare system,

00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:55.359
a half a million Americans every single year

00:30:55.359 --> 00:30:58.400
go bankrupt because of medical bills that they

00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:00.319
can't pay. But you're right. With student – I

00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:01.880
talked to this guy in Nevada. I'll never forget

00:31:01.880 --> 00:31:04.779
it. The guy said, Bernie, you know, I'm over

00:31:04.779 --> 00:31:07.759
in my – the guy's in his 50s. And he said, you

00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:09.740
know, I've been paying off my student debt for

00:31:09.740 --> 00:31:11.539
years. I'm going nowhere because the interest

00:31:11.539 --> 00:31:14.759
rates are high. And I fear very much, which is

00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:16.759
the case, that they will start garnishing taking

00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:19.200
away my Social Security checks, taking money

00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:22.259
away from me. So people are carrying this burden.

00:31:22.859 --> 00:31:26.940
The result is that they can't, in many cases,

00:31:27.059 --> 00:31:28.960
get married and have kids. They certainly can't

00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:31.160
buy a home. They can't buy a car. They are really

00:31:31.160 --> 00:31:34.200
crushed by this debt. And what was their crime?

00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:36.670
What did they do? They've tried to get a higher

00:31:36.670 --> 00:31:38.849
education. I think that's pretty crazy and a

00:31:38.849 --> 00:31:40.829
lot of them when they do this higher education

00:31:40.829 --> 00:31:43.470
They're 18 years old imagine making a decision

00:31:43.470 --> 00:31:45.329
when your brain isn't even fully formed It's

00:31:45.329 --> 00:31:46.789
gonna affect you for the rest of your life. You've

00:31:46.789 --> 00:31:49.410
got it exactly right and you talk to these kids

00:31:49.410 --> 00:31:52.130
So how much debt do you owe? Um, what kind of

00:31:52.130 --> 00:31:53.490
interest rates you're paying? Yeah, I really

00:31:53.490 --> 00:31:56.029
don't know. They just told me to sign OVM. Sorry

00:31:56.029 --> 00:32:01.950
Now right now we are a week I'm not even a week

00:32:01.950 --> 00:32:04.819
out just a few days away from two mass shootings

00:32:04.819 --> 00:32:10.259
in a row. And whenever these things happen, there's

00:32:10.259 --> 00:32:12.839
all these people that want action, but nobody

00:32:12.839 --> 00:32:14.980
knows exactly what to do. There's calls for gun

00:32:14.980 --> 00:32:17.759
control. There's calls for mental health reform.

00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:21.460
There's calls for I mean, what, if anything can

00:32:21.460 --> 00:32:24.099
be done to stop these things from happening?

00:32:24.099 --> 00:32:28.799
And how have you sat down and tried to come up

00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:30.799
with some sort of a solution? And is there a

00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:35.480
solution? Look I would be lying to you if I told

00:32:35.480 --> 00:32:40.759
you I had a magical answer I don't and This is

00:32:40.759 --> 00:32:43.579
such a horrific situation. I you know we were

00:32:43.579 --> 00:32:46.259
in you know we had a town meeting. We were in

00:32:46.259 --> 00:32:50.220
Nevada actually in Las Vegas when El Paso happened

00:32:50.220 --> 00:32:54.099
and We did a town meeting and I said let's take

00:32:54.099 --> 00:32:57.160
a moment of silence to remember the victims and

00:32:57.160 --> 00:33:00.740
pray for the survivors literally the next day

00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:03.680
in another part of Las Vegas, I have to do it

00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:06.480
again. And I said, I can't believe that just

00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:08.319
yesterday we did this and I have to do it again.

00:33:09.720 --> 00:33:12.720
This is, I don't know what the words, you know,

00:33:12.839 --> 00:33:14.740
my friend Beto O 'Rourke would say, you don't

00:33:14.740 --> 00:33:16.539
know what words, what can you say, it happens

00:33:16.539 --> 00:33:19.940
again and again. Who can imagine some lunatic

00:33:19.940 --> 00:33:23.880
walking into a school or a mall or just on a

00:33:23.880 --> 00:33:26.380
nightclub area and taking out an assault weapon

00:33:26.380 --> 00:33:30.160
and shooting down people. And... that we almost

00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:32.880
become to accept this as a normal part of American

00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:37.859
life is incredible, is just totally demoralizing.

00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:40.420
All right, so here's what I think. There's no

00:33:40.420 --> 00:33:43.339
magical answer, but let me tell you what I think.

00:33:43.400 --> 00:33:47.000
First of all, this is the reality. The reality

00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:50.240
is that today as we speak, there are approximately

00:33:50.240 --> 00:33:53.160
400 million guns in America today. We have more

00:33:53.160 --> 00:33:57.750
guns than we have people. We have between five

00:33:57.750 --> 00:34:01.049
to ten million assault weapons and an assault

00:34:01.049 --> 00:34:03.490
weapon as you know is a military style Weapon

00:34:03.490 --> 00:34:05.769
designed to kill human beings kind of rapidly.

00:34:05.789 --> 00:34:10.710
So that's and then on top of that we have again

00:34:10.710 --> 00:34:12.570
nothing to be proud of but you know, we have

00:34:12.570 --> 00:34:15.750
a number of mentally unstable people people for

00:34:15.750 --> 00:34:17.510
whatever reason I walk in the streets. They're

00:34:17.510 --> 00:34:20.409
suicidal. They're homicidal That's the mix that

00:34:20.409 --> 00:34:23.809
we have. I think the answer is and I'm not the

00:34:23.809 --> 00:34:25.949
guy to invent all these ideas, but here's some

00:34:25.949 --> 00:34:29.489
of what we have to do. First of all, if you want

00:34:29.489 --> 00:34:35.190
to own a gun in America, we have got to know

00:34:35.190 --> 00:34:38.050
that you are a stable person, and that means

00:34:38.050 --> 00:34:44.869
that we need to expand the background checks

00:34:44.869 --> 00:34:47.269
that currently exist. Okay, so we've got to know,

00:34:47.309 --> 00:34:49.570
did you beat up your wife? Have you committed

00:34:49.570 --> 00:34:53.030
crimes? Et cetera, et cetera. What is the state

00:34:53.030 --> 00:34:56.050
of your mental health? Number two, we gotta make

00:34:56.050 --> 00:35:01.210
that universal. Number two, right now, there

00:35:01.210 --> 00:35:03.429
is a background check if you walk into a gun

00:35:03.429 --> 00:35:07.610
show, into a gun shop, but you can buy guns in

00:35:07.610 --> 00:35:11.250
various states at a gun show. And you don't have

00:35:11.250 --> 00:35:13.210
to do any of that. You and I go to a gun show,

00:35:13.329 --> 00:35:17.789
you sell me a gun, I don't have to do that. Third

00:35:17.789 --> 00:35:21.969
of all, I can today legally, walk into a gun

00:35:21.969 --> 00:35:25.110
show, pass the background check, and buy a dozen

00:35:25.110 --> 00:35:28.230
guns, walk out and sell them to criminal elements

00:35:28.230 --> 00:35:31.610
who will use them for bad things. So I think

00:35:31.610 --> 00:35:36.409
those are issues that most Americans believe

00:35:36.409 --> 00:35:39.489
we have got to deal with, and we can. Fourthly,

00:35:39.489 --> 00:35:41.690
I happen to believe, and I believe this for 30

00:35:41.690 --> 00:35:44.730
years, that we should not be selling or distributing

00:35:44.730 --> 00:35:47.920
assault weapons in this country. They are weapons

00:35:47.920 --> 00:35:50.280
of mass destruction in a sense. They kill people

00:35:50.280 --> 00:35:52.820
rapidly, as we saw. And thank God, by the way,

00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:55.500
when we talk about both Dayton and El Paso, thank

00:35:55.500 --> 00:35:57.940
God, cops were there very, very quickly and did

00:35:57.940 --> 00:36:00.260
an incredible job. So if that guy had walked

00:36:00.260 --> 00:36:02.840
into the nightclub, there could have been dozens

00:36:02.840 --> 00:36:05.840
and dozens more people killed within a few minutes'

00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:11.059
time. I happen to believe, A, that we should

00:36:11.059 --> 00:36:14.199
not be selling or distributing assault weapons

00:36:14.199 --> 00:36:17.800
in this country. That's my view. period. So I

00:36:17.800 --> 00:36:19.420
believe in a ban on assault weapons. And I think

00:36:19.420 --> 00:36:22.699
we have got to begin thinking about when we have

00:36:22.699 --> 00:36:24.719
five to ten million assault weapons, which is

00:36:24.719 --> 00:36:27.420
more than the U .S. military has, we have to

00:36:27.420 --> 00:36:31.500
think about a strong licensing procedure in terms

00:36:31.500 --> 00:36:33.480
of who owns these assault weapons. So that's

00:36:33.480 --> 00:36:36.909
some of what I think. There are many other things,

00:36:37.010 --> 00:36:38.510
but those are some of the ideas that are out

00:36:38.510 --> 00:36:42.489
there. Now the legal gun owners who are law -abiding

00:36:42.489 --> 00:36:45.090
citizens who would never in a million years think

00:36:45.090 --> 00:36:47.110
about going around shooting people, but they

00:36:47.110 --> 00:36:49.630
love guns. They hear this kind of stuff about

00:36:49.630 --> 00:36:52.429
like banning assault rifles, banning assault

00:36:52.429 --> 00:36:54.429
weapons. They don't even like the term assault

00:36:54.429 --> 00:36:56.570
weapons, right? They like to refer to them as

00:36:56.570 --> 00:36:58.469
their individual names for whatever they are.

00:36:59.309 --> 00:37:02.980
These people Feel like this is an inexorable

00:37:02.980 --> 00:37:05.460
part of being an American that you should be

00:37:05.460 --> 00:37:08.239
able to own a gun It's written into our Bill

00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:12.500
of Rights is written into our The way we the

00:37:12.500 --> 00:37:14.380
way this country was founded. It's the Second

00:37:14.380 --> 00:37:17.139
Amendment What do you say to those people that

00:37:17.139 --> 00:37:19.920
don't that? Don't want to give up their guns,

00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:21.380
but they wouldn't do and they want to protect

00:37:21.380 --> 00:37:24.239
themselves They feel like these guns are viable

00:37:24.239 --> 00:37:27.039
options to protect themselves from criminals.

00:37:27.840 --> 00:37:31.340
I understand that And Joe, you may know I'm a

00:37:31.340 --> 00:37:33.239
senator from the state of Vermont. And the state

00:37:33.239 --> 00:37:35.219
of Vermont is one of the most rural states in

00:37:35.219 --> 00:37:37.760
America. Every fall, we've got thousands and

00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:40.099
thousands of people out in the woods hunting.

00:37:40.559 --> 00:37:42.159
And it's something that's part of our tradition.

00:37:42.260 --> 00:37:43.820
I believe in it, and I believe in the Second

00:37:43.820 --> 00:37:47.380
Amendment. But all that I ask of the gun owners,

00:37:47.480 --> 00:37:50.719
and you're absolutely right, 99 .9 % of gun owners

00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:52.619
would never in a million billion years think

00:37:52.619 --> 00:37:56.239
of doing these horrible things. But in the moment

00:37:56.239 --> 00:38:00.329
that we are living in, I think that we're all

00:38:00.329 --> 00:38:02.550
gonna have to make, you know, some concessions

00:38:02.550 --> 00:38:05.909
to the reality of what is going on, and that

00:38:05.909 --> 00:38:08.969
is that there is a small number of, call them

00:38:08.969 --> 00:38:11.690
what you want, depraved people who are prepared

00:38:11.690 --> 00:38:14.369
to do that. You know, in Australia, you remember

00:38:14.369 --> 00:38:17.590
that terrible, New Zealand, I'm sorry, the terrible

00:38:17.590 --> 00:38:20.610
shooting at the mosque, and they moved pretty

00:38:20.610 --> 00:38:25.230
quickly in an aggressive way. So, you know, I

00:38:25.230 --> 00:38:28.150
wish I can say, in the best of all possible worlds,

00:38:28.659 --> 00:38:30.820
Yeah, you know, you can own any weapon you want

00:38:30.820 --> 00:38:33.320
and so forth and so on. We're not living in the

00:38:33.320 --> 00:38:35.400
best of all possible worlds. We're living in

00:38:35.400 --> 00:38:37.500
a world where we're shocked every day by horror.

00:38:38.059 --> 00:38:41.320
I agree we are living in a terrible situation.

00:38:41.440 --> 00:38:43.880
I mean, there's hundreds of mass shootings a

00:38:43.880 --> 00:38:46.380
year now, which is insane. And if you look at

00:38:46.380 --> 00:38:48.360
the number in comparison to the rest of the world,

00:38:48.659 --> 00:38:50.880
it's crazy. Like a big one in another country

00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:53.199
is like three mass shootings in a year. We had

00:38:53.199 --> 00:38:58.510
more than 270. It's crazy. How would you implement

00:38:58.510 --> 00:39:01.550
something like this? Well, the idea of banning

00:39:01.550 --> 00:39:06.369
assault weapons has been done in 1994. We banned

00:39:06.369 --> 00:39:09.489
assault weapons, I believe, I believe it was

00:39:09.489 --> 00:39:13.769
for 10 years. That ban was undone by Republican

00:39:13.769 --> 00:39:18.110
majority. And it didn't, you know, I'm not suggesting,

00:39:18.130 --> 00:39:20.289
by the way, that anything here that if you banned

00:39:20.289 --> 00:39:22.150
assault weapons tomorrow that would radically

00:39:22.150 --> 00:39:24.889
change everything, but we have got to do the

00:39:24.889 --> 00:39:27.880
best that we can do. And again, I preface my

00:39:27.880 --> 00:39:29.760
remarks by telling I don't have a magical solution.

00:39:30.199 --> 00:39:32.219
You've got hundreds of millions of guns out there.

00:39:32.300 --> 00:39:34.099
You have people who should not be owning these

00:39:34.099 --> 00:39:38.320
guns, who get set off by God knows what and do

00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:41.360
terrible things. All we can do is the best that

00:39:41.360 --> 00:39:44.059
we can do. But to say we can't do anything I

00:39:44.059 --> 00:39:46.719
think is a real disservice to the American people.

00:39:46.719 --> 00:39:49.380
Now, I'll tell you something else that bothers

00:39:49.380 --> 00:39:52.400
me, you know, in addition to the horror of seeing

00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:56.099
people lying on the street dead. What this is

00:39:56.099 --> 00:39:57.860
doing to the children of this country and I think

00:39:57.860 --> 00:40:00.239
we underestimate that I have seven grandchildren

00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:05.039
and And for them and for kids all over this country

00:40:05.039 --> 00:40:07.059
You're gonna see the falls coming kids coming

00:40:07.059 --> 00:40:09.300
back to school. You're gonna see in schools all

00:40:09.300 --> 00:40:11.639
over America drills Alright, this is what you

00:40:11.639 --> 00:40:13.960
do if somebody walks into the school. Alright,

00:40:13.980 --> 00:40:16.800
you're gonna hide under here. You go over there

00:40:16.800 --> 00:40:20.280
kids a Couple of months ago. I was in Iowa. This

00:40:20.280 --> 00:40:22.440
guy is about six foot two big guy probably a

00:40:22.440 --> 00:40:25.409
football player And he says, Senator Sanders,

00:40:25.550 --> 00:40:28.070
I gotta tell you that the young people in my

00:40:28.070 --> 00:40:30.750
school are increasingly frightened, terrified

00:40:30.750 --> 00:40:33.769
about what could happen in the school. Think

00:40:33.769 --> 00:40:38.570
about what this, the trauma, the trauma of what

00:40:38.570 --> 00:40:40.329
this gun violence is doing. So I think we're

00:40:40.329 --> 00:40:43.530
all, as Americans, there ain't no easy answers

00:40:43.530 --> 00:40:45.090
here, but I think we're all gonna have to come

00:40:45.090 --> 00:40:47.869
together and figure this one out and do the best

00:40:47.869 --> 00:40:53.250
that we can. Now, would that mean forcibly removing

00:40:53.250 --> 00:40:55.389
these guns from people's homes? I don't think

00:40:55.389 --> 00:40:57.489
you're going to have the FBI knocking on somebody's

00:40:57.489 --> 00:40:59.110
doors and taking it. That's not what we do in

00:40:59.110 --> 00:41:01.710
America. But if we have 400 million guns already

00:41:01.710 --> 00:41:03.789
out there, and they're building more every year,

00:41:03.849 --> 00:41:06.630
right now as we speak, gun manufacturers are

00:41:06.630 --> 00:41:10.050
making more guns. This is happening right now.

00:41:10.250 --> 00:41:12.010
So if those guns already exist, there's more

00:41:12.010 --> 00:41:15.550
than enough. Oh yeah. How would you stop? Well

00:41:15.550 --> 00:41:19.360
again, I think, look. You know, I do think there

00:41:19.360 --> 00:41:21.440
should be a ban on assault weapons. So that means

00:41:21.440 --> 00:41:23.719
that manufacturers would not be able to produce

00:41:23.719 --> 00:41:26.320
or sell those weapons. To American citizens,

00:41:26.420 --> 00:41:28.500
but not to the military, obviously. Right, obviously.

00:41:29.039 --> 00:41:32.360
Okay. So, you know, and your point is well taken.

00:41:32.420 --> 00:41:34.539
If you've got 400 million guns out there, you

00:41:34.539 --> 00:41:38.219
know. So I think there are approaches. No one

00:41:38.219 --> 00:41:40.400
has any magical solution. But I've given you,

00:41:40.460 --> 00:41:42.219
I'll tell you something else that I didn't mention.

00:41:42.280 --> 00:41:46.199
And that is the role of gun manufacturers is

00:41:46.199 --> 00:41:49.719
that If you are a gun manufacturer and you are

00:41:49.719 --> 00:41:53.300
selling a hell of a lot of guns to a gun store

00:41:53.300 --> 00:41:55.880
in an area which normally you would not think.

00:41:56.019 --> 00:41:59.059
I mean, these guys know what cities buy, what

00:41:59.059 --> 00:42:02.900
towns buy, how many guns. And if suddenly there

00:42:02.900 --> 00:42:06.000
is a tremendous demand, you've got to be thinking,

00:42:06.559 --> 00:42:09.980
why is this gun store buying so many guns? It

00:42:09.980 --> 00:42:12.179
doesn't reflect the population in the area. You've

00:42:12.179 --> 00:42:13.480
got to deal with that issue with the gun owners

00:42:13.480 --> 00:42:16.289
who have to take some responsibility. Besides

00:42:16.289 --> 00:42:19.510
the guns the gun manufacturers. I'm sorry besides

00:42:19.510 --> 00:42:22.550
the guns the gun manufacturers the other gigantic

00:42:22.550 --> 00:42:25.929
issue is mental health the only way any of this

00:42:25.929 --> 00:42:29.210
ever happens is someone has to be insanely mentally

00:42:29.210 --> 00:42:32.750
depraved. That's the only way and many of them

00:42:32.750 --> 00:42:36.590
are medicated and many of them are on pharmaceutical

00:42:36.590 --> 00:42:38.969
drugs and they have been since they were children

00:42:38.969 --> 00:42:43.300
including amphetamines like Adderall and Prozac

00:42:43.300 --> 00:42:46.199
and all this different stuff that has varied

00:42:46.199 --> 00:42:50.019
effects on the human brain. What could be done

00:42:50.019 --> 00:42:53.119
and what would you done to analyze this, to find

00:42:53.119 --> 00:42:55.380
out what the cause and effect are, and to try

00:42:55.380 --> 00:42:59.360
to figure out what role and how much these drugs

00:42:59.360 --> 00:43:03.480
are responsible? Well, two things. Let me respond

00:43:03.480 --> 00:43:05.719
first by saying it goes without saying that we

00:43:05.719 --> 00:43:07.659
have a mental health crisis in America before

00:43:07.659 --> 00:43:11.699
we even talk about drugs. And for whatever reason,

00:43:12.840 --> 00:43:14.719
you know, there are a whole lot of people, and

00:43:14.719 --> 00:43:16.639
the nature of our healthcare system, getting

00:43:16.639 --> 00:43:19.599
back to healthcare, is I just talked to a woman

00:43:19.599 --> 00:43:25.599
literally last night, and we had a town meeting,

00:43:26.760 --> 00:43:29.820
and she said, this is unbelievable, she said,

00:43:30.960 --> 00:43:34.619
Bernie, I was in Las Vegas when the terrible

00:43:34.619 --> 00:43:38.389
shooting took place, okay? And now I am, and

00:43:38.389 --> 00:43:40.809
I can understand this perfectly, I'm seeing Dayton

00:43:40.809 --> 00:43:44.230
and I'm watching television, El Paso, and I'm

00:43:44.230 --> 00:43:48.210
getting a PTSD reaction. And that's totally,

00:43:48.469 --> 00:43:50.070
if you were in a place where people were shot

00:43:50.070 --> 00:43:53.530
down, and I'm trying to get counseling, I can't

00:43:53.530 --> 00:43:56.889
find it. I remember a guy called up, a woman

00:43:56.889 --> 00:43:59.690
called up my office in Burlington, Vermont, and

00:43:59.690 --> 00:44:04.190
she said, I'm worried about my husband, what

00:44:04.190 --> 00:44:06.849
he, my brother was his brother, what he might

00:44:06.849 --> 00:44:09.050
do to himself or somebody else. We're looking

00:44:09.050 --> 00:44:10.929
for mental health counseling. We can't find something

00:44:10.929 --> 00:44:14.670
that we can afford. So we need above and beyond

00:44:14.670 --> 00:44:18.710
gun violence. We need, and this is why I believe

00:44:18.710 --> 00:44:21.210
in Medicare for all, mental health is health

00:44:21.210 --> 00:44:23.150
care. You break your arm, that's a health issue.

00:44:23.429 --> 00:44:26.570
That's a medical issue. Mental health is a medical

00:44:26.570 --> 00:44:29.769
issue. And we have got to make mental health

00:44:29.769 --> 00:44:32.710
counseling available to all people in this country

00:44:32.710 --> 00:44:35.909
when they need it, not six months from now. at

00:44:35.909 --> 00:44:37.670
a price they can afford and on the medicare for

00:44:37.670 --> 00:44:40.250
all that would be free so that's number one number

00:44:40.250 --> 00:44:43.670
two your point about uh... studying the impact

00:44:43.670 --> 00:44:48.210
of drugs uh... on people's behavior and possibly

00:44:48.210 --> 00:44:51.210
resulting in violence absolutely deserves to

00:44:51.210 --> 00:44:52.969
be studied we should be studying the impact of

00:44:52.969 --> 00:44:56.630
drugs in my view this is a layman's view you

00:44:56.630 --> 00:44:59.730
know i'm not a psychiatrist i worry very much

00:44:59.730 --> 00:45:04.489
that we are over medicating kids in schools You

00:45:04.489 --> 00:45:07.949
know, we have this deficit, the deficient issue,

00:45:08.170 --> 00:45:09.469
you know, kids are running around and they're

00:45:09.469 --> 00:45:11.690
active. You know, when I was a kid, people used

00:45:11.690 --> 00:45:13.010
to run around and they were active, you know,

00:45:13.030 --> 00:45:15.489
and they weren't, they weren't drugged up. So

00:45:15.489 --> 00:45:17.230
I worry about that whole business, but your point

00:45:17.230 --> 00:45:19.110
is well taken. I think we need to study this

00:45:19.110 --> 00:45:22.030
issue and make sure that these drugs, in fact,

00:45:22.190 --> 00:45:24.909
are not causing kinds of reactions that we will

00:45:24.909 --> 00:45:28.909
regret later. No, on the subject of drugs, marijuana

00:45:28.909 --> 00:45:30.909
is obviously a big issue in this country and

00:45:30.909 --> 00:45:33.829
we've seen many states make it recreational,

00:45:33.889 --> 00:45:36.929
including this one, what do you think could be

00:45:36.929 --> 00:45:39.969
done and what should be done to have this across

00:45:39.969 --> 00:45:42.289
the board, especially federally? You know, there's

00:45:42.289 --> 00:45:44.110
a guy that I have on the podcast coming up soon,

00:45:44.190 --> 00:45:46.010
his name is John Norris, and he wrote a book

00:45:46.010 --> 00:45:50.250
on the cartels growing marijuana illegally all

00:45:50.250 --> 00:45:52.570
over this country and selling it, especially

00:45:52.570 --> 00:45:54.449
particularly in California now because it's a

00:45:54.449 --> 00:45:57.050
misdemeanor because it's legal recreationally,

00:45:57.110 --> 00:46:00.090
and selling it with all sorts of horrible pesticides

00:46:00.090 --> 00:46:03.750
on it, all sorts of like very In fact deadly

00:46:03.750 --> 00:46:07.590
chemicals all of this because it's not federally

00:46:07.590 --> 00:46:10.789
legal because we can't have Sanctioned licensed

00:46:10.789 --> 00:46:13.750
companies doing an ethical job of growing something

00:46:13.750 --> 00:46:16.650
than any responsible law -abiding person should

00:46:16.650 --> 00:46:22.690
be able to consume Okay Let me say this when

00:46:22.690 --> 00:46:25.329
I ran for president for the Democratic nomination

00:46:25.329 --> 00:46:30.369
in 2016 I Talked about a broken criminal justice

00:46:30.369 --> 00:46:34.659
system which ends up having in the United States

00:46:34.659 --> 00:46:36.480
more people in jail than any other country. We

00:46:36.480 --> 00:46:38.019
have more people in jail than China does, which

00:46:38.019 --> 00:46:42.780
is a communist authoritarian country. And what

00:46:42.780 --> 00:46:49.320
I call for then and I call for now is the legalization

00:46:49.320 --> 00:46:51.840
of marijuana in America. Right now you have a

00:46:51.840 --> 00:46:53.920
federal law. It's called the Controlled Substance

00:46:53.920 --> 00:46:57.469
Act. He has heroin. Here is marijuana. They're

00:46:57.469 --> 00:46:59.969
at the same level. That is insane. Heroin is

00:46:59.969 --> 00:47:02.730
a killer drug. You can argue the pluses and minuses

00:47:02.730 --> 00:47:05.710
of marijuana, but marijuana ain't heroin. So

00:47:05.710 --> 00:47:07.230
we have to end that, and that's what I will do.

00:47:07.429 --> 00:47:08.769
As president of the United States, I believe

00:47:08.769 --> 00:47:10.650
we can do that through executive order, and I

00:47:10.650 --> 00:47:13.650
will do that. Second of all, what we have now

00:47:13.650 --> 00:47:16.610
is a number of states, and I'm very proud. I

00:47:16.610 --> 00:47:19.610
talked about during 2016 what seemed kind of

00:47:19.610 --> 00:47:22.349
radical. the need to legalize the decriminalized

00:47:22.349 --> 00:47:24.710
marijuana very radical idea four years ago it

00:47:24.710 --> 00:47:26.469
is spreading all over the country and by the

00:47:26.469 --> 00:47:29.170
way it blows my mind to drive through nevada

00:47:29.170 --> 00:47:31.389
i think you're even california you see signs

00:47:31.389 --> 00:47:34.570
corporations by our marijuana if four years ago

00:47:34.570 --> 00:47:37.050
people getting arrested doing that right their

00:47:37.050 --> 00:47:39.110
lives being destroyed well particularly nevada

00:47:39.110 --> 00:47:41.409
there's life sentences given on the seventies

00:47:41.409 --> 00:47:43.110
can you believe that and now you have corporations

00:47:43.110 --> 00:47:44.989
selling the their product the people went to

00:47:44.989 --> 00:47:49.389
jail for uh... so i i think Ultimately, you know,

00:47:49.469 --> 00:47:52.849
we've got to legalize marijuana. And what's good

00:47:52.849 --> 00:47:55.030
news, in a sense, is some communities, some cities,

00:47:55.750 --> 00:47:59.010
are expunging the records. So if you were arrested,

00:47:59.650 --> 00:48:01.230
have a criminal record for selling marijuana,

00:48:01.989 --> 00:48:03.849
that is being expunged, and that is the right

00:48:03.849 --> 00:48:05.650
thing to do. You know, we can argue about the

00:48:05.650 --> 00:48:08.449
pluses and minuses. I'm not a great fan of drugs.

00:48:09.969 --> 00:48:12.230
smoked marijuana a couple of times. Didn't do

00:48:12.230 --> 00:48:13.969
much for me. Other people, I guess, have different

00:48:13.969 --> 00:48:15.789
impacts. Just a couple times? That's right, true.

00:48:15.989 --> 00:48:17.750
It didn't do much for you? Yeah, maybe. Where

00:48:17.750 --> 00:48:20.250
were you getting it? I was in Vermont, Northern

00:48:20.250 --> 00:48:22.989
Vermont. Oh, that's the problem. Maybe. It'll

00:48:22.989 --> 00:48:24.829
do something for you. Well, it made me cough

00:48:24.829 --> 00:48:26.750
a whole lot. But I gather other people have had

00:48:26.750 --> 00:48:28.289
different experiences, correct? Oh, for sure.

00:48:28.570 --> 00:48:33.150
Yeah, I certainly have. The other problem is,

00:48:33.150 --> 00:48:36.789
of course, with illegal drugs comes, you get

00:48:36.789 --> 00:48:41.510
this horrible cycle. particularly in inner cities,

00:48:41.809 --> 00:48:44.309
where you have people that are incarcerated for

00:48:44.309 --> 00:48:46.690
illegal drugs, illegal drugs seem to be the only

00:48:46.690 --> 00:48:49.369
way out. The hard drugs, when we're talking about

00:48:49.369 --> 00:48:52.389
cocaine and all these other drugs, how does one

00:48:52.389 --> 00:48:56.250
stop that? And would you ever consider legalizing

00:48:56.250 --> 00:48:59.469
all drugs or decriminalizing all drugs? Not at

00:48:59.469 --> 00:49:02.289
this point, no, I wouldn't. But you're touching

00:49:02.289 --> 00:49:08.480
on a real tragedy. Yes. When we talk about criminal

00:49:08.480 --> 00:49:10.440
justice in America, we have over two million

00:49:10.440 --> 00:49:13.340
people in jail. They are disproportionately African

00:49:13.340 --> 00:49:16.739
-American, Latino, and Native American. And here's

00:49:16.739 --> 00:49:19.739
what I think. I think in the wealthiest country

00:49:19.739 --> 00:49:23.400
in the history of the world, what we have got

00:49:23.400 --> 00:49:26.199
to do, instead of building more jails and locking

00:49:26.199 --> 00:49:29.179
up more people, we really do have to invest in

00:49:29.179 --> 00:49:32.000
our young people, especially young people in

00:49:32.000 --> 00:49:33.320
distressed communities. What does that mean?

00:49:34.069 --> 00:49:37.329
If we can, and we can do this with a proper amount

00:49:37.329 --> 00:49:39.489
of resources, make sure the kids are not dropping

00:49:39.489 --> 00:49:41.889
out of school. If you drop out of school today,

00:49:42.570 --> 00:49:44.230
you know, say you drop out in your second or

00:49:44.230 --> 00:49:45.929
third year of high school, you don't have an

00:49:45.929 --> 00:49:47.869
education, you don't have any job skills, what

00:49:47.869 --> 00:49:49.869
are you going to do with your life? And the answer

00:49:49.869 --> 00:49:52.269
is you may well do drugs, you know, or you'll

00:49:52.269 --> 00:49:55.170
get in trouble, self -destructive activity or

00:49:55.170 --> 00:49:56.530
destructive activity, you're going to end up

00:49:56.530 --> 00:49:59.989
in jail. It makes so much more sense from a humane

00:49:59.989 --> 00:50:03.559
perspective, protecting our people. as well as

00:50:03.559 --> 00:50:05.780
a financial situation. We're spending $80 billion

00:50:05.780 --> 00:50:07.820
a year to invest in these kids. What does it

00:50:07.820 --> 00:50:10.639
mean? It means making sure they get the education

00:50:10.639 --> 00:50:12.360
that they need, paying attention, having good

00:50:12.360 --> 00:50:15.400
schools, making sure that they get the jobs that

00:50:15.400 --> 00:50:18.179
are out there, doing job training. There was

00:50:18.179 --> 00:50:20.440
a principal in a school in southern Vermont.

00:50:20.559 --> 00:50:21.980
I'll never forget what she said. It was a working

00:50:21.980 --> 00:50:24.360
class school. And she said, Bernie, I love these

00:50:24.360 --> 00:50:27.260
kids. I am not going to let them drop out. And

00:50:27.260 --> 00:50:30.079
she had a mentoring program just watching the

00:50:30.079 --> 00:50:33.159
kids who are mostly at risk. so that they would

00:50:33.159 --> 00:50:36.219
not end up going through the cracks and getting

00:50:36.219 --> 00:50:37.940
into trouble. That's what we should be doing

00:50:37.940 --> 00:50:39.940
as a nation. And when we do that, we invest in

00:50:39.940 --> 00:50:42.280
the kids, we get them jobs, we get them education,

00:50:42.699 --> 00:50:45.699
the likelihood of them falling into bad ways

00:50:45.699 --> 00:50:48.360
is significantly reduced. All those things sound

00:50:48.360 --> 00:50:51.420
great. The uncomfortable reality about drugs

00:50:51.420 --> 00:50:53.480
though is that when drugs are illegal, criminals

00:50:53.480 --> 00:50:56.059
sell them. And there's obviously a need for drugs

00:50:56.059 --> 00:50:59.179
in terms of, not necessarily a need, but a demand

00:50:59.179 --> 00:51:01.000
for drugs. There's a demand for drugs in this

00:51:01.000 --> 00:51:04.579
country that's absolutely fueling Mexican cartels

00:51:04.579 --> 00:51:07.380
and illegal drug runners inside this country.

00:51:07.480 --> 00:51:11.440
I mean, there's a lot of that. How do you curb

00:51:11.440 --> 00:51:17.000
that if drugs are illegal? You're raising a deep

00:51:17.000 --> 00:51:19.300
question. Yes. All right. So the question essentially

00:51:19.300 --> 00:51:23.260
that you're asking is What is the cause of the

00:51:23.260 --> 00:51:27.360
opioid epidemic? Yes, that's one But the opioid

00:51:27.360 --> 00:51:29.239
epidemic it's is interesting because there's

00:51:29.239 --> 00:51:32.219
so much of it that's coming legally Right, that's

00:51:32.219 --> 00:51:34.019
not the drug cartels. That's the pharmaceutical

00:51:34.019 --> 00:51:36.340
industry. You're right, but you the heroin is

00:51:36.340 --> 00:51:39.619
illegal Yes, all right. Now you're asking this

00:51:39.619 --> 00:51:41.659
is a very very deep question, which we don't

00:51:41.659 --> 00:51:46.599
talk about terribly much Why is it that so many

00:51:46.599 --> 00:51:50.860
of our people are turning to drugs, to alcohol

00:51:50.860 --> 00:51:53.579
by the way, and I don't mean to drink a night

00:51:53.579 --> 00:51:58.079
but I mean serious alcohol problems, and tragically

00:51:58.079 --> 00:52:03.099
to suicide. We now have for the last three years

00:52:03.099 --> 00:52:05.619
something that is ahistorical, never happened

00:52:05.619 --> 00:52:09.199
before in modern history and that is our life

00:52:09.199 --> 00:52:12.460
expectancy is actually going down and this is

00:52:12.460 --> 00:52:14.619
hitting all over the country, but especially

00:52:14.619 --> 00:52:17.960
hitting rural areas. And what the doctors are

00:52:17.960 --> 00:52:20.559
saying is that these are diseases of despair.

00:52:21.480 --> 00:52:24.679
Despair. So you're in West Virginia, you're in

00:52:24.679 --> 00:52:27.960
rural Ohio, or any place, Vermont, any place,

00:52:29.500 --> 00:52:32.400
and the job you used to have earning a decent

00:52:32.400 --> 00:52:36.340
living is now in China. Your kid can't afford

00:52:36.340 --> 00:52:38.659
to go to college, maybe you can't afford healthcare.

00:52:40.079 --> 00:52:43.619
You've got nothing to look forward to. Under

00:52:43.619 --> 00:52:47.840
that scenario, drugs become, alcohol becomes

00:52:47.840 --> 00:52:52.360
a way out, and the worst case is suicide. So

00:52:52.360 --> 00:52:54.860
I think what we're talking about is why is this

00:52:54.860 --> 00:52:58.119
happening, often in rural areas, in urban as

00:52:58.119 --> 00:53:04.320
well, and how can we reestablish hope and optimism

00:53:04.320 --> 00:53:08.130
in the American people? And that gets back to

00:53:08.130 --> 00:53:10.789
a whole lot of other issues. It means if people

00:53:10.789 --> 00:53:13.570
have health care as a right, that will certainly

00:53:13.570 --> 00:53:15.170
play a role in this thing. They'll walk into

00:53:15.170 --> 00:53:17.730
the doctor when they need. But it also means

00:53:17.730 --> 00:53:21.449
that people need decent jobs that pay them a

00:53:21.449 --> 00:53:24.769
living wage. That means we have to rebuild rural

00:53:24.769 --> 00:53:27.210
America. We have to rebuild the depressed communities

00:53:27.210 --> 00:53:30.329
in urban America. It means that we have to have

00:53:30.329 --> 00:53:34.840
a great educational system. People say, oh, that's

00:53:34.840 --> 00:53:37.119
great, Bernie, that's utopian. It is not utopian.

00:53:37.559 --> 00:53:39.579
This is something that in the wealthiest country

00:53:39.579 --> 00:53:41.639
in the history of the world we can afford, and

00:53:41.639 --> 00:53:44.659
we should be doing rather than creating a situation

00:53:44.659 --> 00:53:46.880
where Amazon pays zero in federal income taxes.

00:53:47.219 --> 00:53:48.920
So to answer your question, this is a deep question.

00:53:49.280 --> 00:53:51.440
And again, I'm not here to tell you I have all

00:53:51.440 --> 00:53:53.599
the answers, but there are a lot of people out

00:53:53.599 --> 00:53:56.440
there who have basically given up hope. And for

00:53:56.440 --> 00:53:58.960
those people, I guess drugs is the alternative.

00:53:59.380 --> 00:54:01.420
So what you're saying essentially is that if

00:54:01.420 --> 00:54:04.480
we can do something to mitigate despair, then

00:54:04.480 --> 00:54:08.199
we'll do something to at least stop some of the

00:54:08.199 --> 00:54:10.340
demand for these illegal drugs. I believe that

00:54:10.340 --> 00:54:12.679
is the case. Look, if I am optimistic, if I'm

00:54:12.679 --> 00:54:14.519
excited about going to work tomorrow and I'm

00:54:14.519 --> 00:54:17.079
seeing my kid doing great in school, and you

00:54:17.079 --> 00:54:19.119
know, when I get sick, I can go to the doctor's

00:54:19.119 --> 00:54:21.019
office and have a sense of community. My downtown

00:54:21.019 --> 00:54:23.300
is not all boarded up because businesses have

00:54:23.300 --> 00:54:26.929
left. But we have a community, yeah, the strong

00:54:26.929 --> 00:54:29.969
likelihood is there will be less diseases of

00:54:29.969 --> 00:54:34.090
despair and drugs than we currently see. When

00:54:34.090 --> 00:54:36.309
we're talking about impoverished communities

00:54:36.309 --> 00:54:39.449
and chronically, when you're talking about cities

00:54:39.449 --> 00:54:43.309
like Baltimore, parts of Chicago and Detroit

00:54:43.309 --> 00:54:45.730
that have just been in a terrible state of despair

00:54:45.730 --> 00:54:48.130
for long periods of time and it doesn't seem

00:54:48.130 --> 00:54:50.269
like there's a way out, the people that are born

00:54:50.269 --> 00:54:52.650
there, the people that live there, they live

00:54:52.650 --> 00:54:57.829
in this state of despair. What can be done to

00:54:57.829 --> 00:55:01.400
resolve all these terribly impoverished communities

00:55:01.400 --> 00:55:04.199
and bring them up to a standard where these kids

00:55:04.199 --> 00:55:06.460
that grow up there that they feel like there

00:55:06.460 --> 00:55:09.199
is an out that they do have an opportunity and

00:55:09.199 --> 00:55:11.940
how wise is not addressed when we talk about

00:55:11.940 --> 00:55:15.280
making america great wouldn't like fixing the

00:55:15.280 --> 00:55:18.099
worst parts of the country be the primary concern

00:55:18.099 --> 00:55:21.920
the the will last people that grow up in a terribly

00:55:21.920 --> 00:55:25.230
disadvantageous position from birth Wouldn't

00:55:25.230 --> 00:55:27.030
that be an important thing, and what can you

00:55:27.030 --> 00:55:30.150
do to resolve that? Well, Joe, I think you, you

00:55:30.150 --> 00:55:31.769
know, you said it better than I can. I think

00:55:31.769 --> 00:55:34.690
you're right. You know, when we talk about what

00:55:34.690 --> 00:55:37.090
it means to live in a great society, a great

00:55:37.090 --> 00:55:39.829
nation, a nation that we're proud of, I'm afraid

00:55:39.829 --> 00:55:42.889
there are some people who have incredible wealth

00:55:42.889 --> 00:55:45.190
and power who say, you know, what's great is

00:55:45.190 --> 00:55:47.559
that we're seeing a growth in the number of billionaires

00:55:47.559 --> 00:55:49.900
in America. Isn't that terrific? And we got one

00:55:49.900 --> 00:55:53.320
guy who's worth $155 billion. How great? Oh,

00:55:53.320 --> 00:55:55.579
by the way, we're building more nuclear weapons.

00:55:56.059 --> 00:56:00.059
And we're spending $750 billion a year on the

00:56:00.059 --> 00:56:02.559
military. Isn't that extraordinary? And by the

00:56:02.559 --> 00:56:03.980
way, just see the yacht that that billionaire

00:56:03.980 --> 00:56:06.719
has. You know, it's three miles long. Isn't that

00:56:06.719 --> 00:56:09.280
great? Your point is that we have to, I think,

00:56:09.440 --> 00:56:11.619
as I understand what you're saying, we have to

00:56:11.619 --> 00:56:14.320
redefine what being a great nation is about.

00:56:14.590 --> 00:56:18.550
We are not a great nation when we have 40 million

00:56:18.550 --> 00:56:22.170
people living in poverty and in despair. We're

00:56:22.170 --> 00:56:24.090
not a great nation when we have massive levels

00:56:24.090 --> 00:56:26.250
of income and wealth inequality when 87 million

00:56:26.250 --> 00:56:29.610
people can afford to go to a doctor today. So

00:56:29.610 --> 00:56:31.989
to answer your question, I think that as a nation

00:56:31.989 --> 00:56:35.710
we have got to focus a great deal of attention

00:56:35.710 --> 00:56:38.789
on those distressed communities. Often they're

00:56:38.789 --> 00:56:40.969
African -American, often they're Latino, often

00:56:40.969 --> 00:56:45.059
they are rural white communities. And that means

00:56:45.059 --> 00:56:47.300
making sure that the kids there get the quality

00:56:47.300 --> 00:56:50.800
education that they deserve, making sure that

00:56:50.800 --> 00:56:53.800
we're creating good paying jobs in those communities.

00:56:54.619 --> 00:56:58.519
I voted against NAFTA permanent normal trade

00:56:58.519 --> 00:57:00.659
relations with China and other trade agreements

00:57:00.659 --> 00:57:03.539
because I knew that those agreements were written

00:57:03.539 --> 00:57:06.079
by corporate America with the goal of shutting

00:57:06.079 --> 00:57:08.260
down plants in this country and moving abroad.

00:57:08.579 --> 00:57:11.019
And the result of that has been the loss of millions

00:57:11.019 --> 00:57:14.820
of good paying jobs. the complete destruction

00:57:14.820 --> 00:57:17.059
of communities all across this country, in the

00:57:17.059 --> 00:57:19.500
South and all across this country. So we have

00:57:19.500 --> 00:57:22.900
got to rebuild those communities. We have got

00:57:22.900 --> 00:57:25.659
to bring high -tech jobs, not just to Silicon

00:57:25.659 --> 00:57:29.500
Valley, but to rural America again. I don't have

00:57:29.500 --> 00:57:32.139
magical answers, but the goal is we will not,

00:57:32.199 --> 00:57:34.699
under a Sanders administration, turn our backs

00:57:34.699 --> 00:57:37.519
on distressed communities. We will rebuild those

00:57:37.519 --> 00:57:39.719
communities. We will build the millions of units

00:57:39.719 --> 00:57:42.559
of affordable housing. that we need. Now think

00:57:42.559 --> 00:57:44.320
about what it means to a community now where

00:57:44.320 --> 00:57:47.099
people are living in terrible housing or housing

00:57:47.099 --> 00:57:49.679
they cannot afford. When we put young people

00:57:49.679 --> 00:57:53.079
to work rebuilding their own communities will

00:57:53.079 --> 00:57:56.639
that become an indication of hope and optimism?

00:57:56.800 --> 00:57:59.260
I think it will. We're talking about so many

00:57:59.260 --> 00:58:02.780
deeply important issues and all of them that

00:58:02.780 --> 00:58:06.179
will be under the control or at least the direction

00:58:06.179 --> 00:58:08.739
of the one person who winds up becoming the President

00:58:08.739 --> 00:58:12.900
of the United States. Is it a Impossible job.

00:58:12.900 --> 00:58:15.480
I mean, it seems like being the president you

00:58:15.480 --> 00:58:19.639
are managing so many different aspects of our

00:58:19.639 --> 00:58:24.099
economy our culture our safety our environment

00:58:24.099 --> 00:58:29.159
International communication and it's so it's

00:58:29.159 --> 00:58:31.960
so in -depth. How does one person do a job like

00:58:31.960 --> 00:58:34.360
that? Well, one person doesn't do it and you

00:58:34.360 --> 00:58:36.360
certainly don't do it by tweeting every other

00:58:36.360 --> 00:58:38.719
day major policy issues I think he tweets a lot

00:58:38.719 --> 00:58:44.510
more than You know, what you do, and this is

00:58:44.510 --> 00:58:47.329
the way any sane president operates, is you need

00:58:47.329 --> 00:58:50.289
to be working with the smartest men and women

00:58:50.289 --> 00:58:53.409
from all walks of life who understand these issues.

00:58:53.590 --> 00:58:55.750
Every issue we have touched on, Joe, is enormously

00:58:55.750 --> 00:58:58.809
complicated. And I can send out a 20 -word tweet

00:58:58.809 --> 00:59:01.969
on it, but that doesn't solve it. So unlike Trump,

00:59:02.289 --> 00:59:07.750
we will bring together the... best and most knowledgeable

00:59:07.750 --> 00:59:09.750
people in this country to address the housing

00:59:09.750 --> 00:59:13.909
crisis, to address the issue of these diseases

00:59:13.909 --> 00:59:17.190
of despair. We didn't even touch on climate change,

00:59:17.489 --> 00:59:18.670
you know, and then the future of the planet.

00:59:18.710 --> 00:59:21.530
How do we lead the world in transforming our

00:59:21.530 --> 00:59:23.590
energy system and creating the kind of jobs that

00:59:23.590 --> 00:59:25.789
we need? How do we revitalize American democracy

00:59:25.789 --> 00:59:28.190
so that instead of suppressing the vote, we're

00:59:28.190 --> 00:59:29.789
getting more young people involved in the political

00:59:29.789 --> 00:59:31.590
process? So to answer your question, it is not

00:59:31.590 --> 00:59:33.650
a one -person job, and anyone who thinks it is

00:59:33.650 --> 00:59:37.059
is dead wrong. You need the help of a very strong

00:59:37.059 --> 00:59:40.000
administration that knows the issues that comes

00:59:40.000 --> 00:59:41.519
from the ranks of the working class. And this

00:59:41.519 --> 00:59:44.280
is the promise I will make. My administration,

00:59:44.400 --> 00:59:47.460
unlike Trump's, is not going to be filled with

00:59:47.460 --> 00:59:50.780
billionaires who's basically very often greedy

00:59:50.780 --> 00:59:53.480
type people. It is going to be filled with the

00:59:53.480 --> 00:59:55.579
best people often from the working class itself,

00:59:56.079 --> 00:59:58.250
from the trade union movement. people who are

00:59:58.250 --> 01:00:00.269
going to help us create policies that work for

01:00:00.269 --> 01:00:03.650
workers and not just the billionaire class. Now

01:00:03.650 --> 01:00:06.210
we're getting to the end of your hour here, so

01:00:06.210 --> 01:00:08.070
climate change is obviously an enormous issue

01:00:08.070 --> 01:00:10.889
for our country and for the world. What could

01:00:10.889 --> 01:00:14.150
be done and what do you think you can do as president

01:00:14.150 --> 01:00:18.909
that can somehow or another slow down this process?

01:00:20.130 --> 01:00:22.889
First of all, we have to have a president who

01:00:22.889 --> 01:00:29.259
unlike Trump believes in science, and I do. And

01:00:29.259 --> 01:00:31.699
what the scientists are telling us, as I mentioned

01:00:31.699 --> 01:00:33.619
earlier, is that we have fewer than 12 years

01:00:33.619 --> 01:00:35.679
to transform our energy system, or else there

01:00:35.679 --> 01:00:38.440
will be irreparable damage done, not only to

01:00:38.440 --> 01:00:41.500
our country, but to the world. Now, climate change

01:00:41.500 --> 01:00:43.940
is not just an American issue. So we could do,

01:00:43.940 --> 01:00:46.519
tomorrow, do all the right things, but if China

01:00:46.519 --> 01:00:49.400
and Russia and India and the rest of Brazil and

01:00:49.400 --> 01:00:51.239
Africa does not do the right thing, you know,

01:00:51.239 --> 01:00:52.719
we're not going to make the progress we need.

01:00:54.170 --> 01:00:56.630
Here is what we have to do in my view. Number

01:00:56.630 --> 01:01:00.449
one, we have to tell the fossil fuel industry

01:01:00.449 --> 01:01:02.909
that their short -term profits, and they make

01:01:02.909 --> 01:01:05.869
a whole lot of money, their short -term profits

01:01:05.869 --> 01:01:09.110
are not more important than the future of this

01:01:09.110 --> 01:01:11.690
planet. I don't think that's a hard sell to make.

01:01:11.929 --> 01:01:14.530
You cannot keep producing a product which is

01:01:14.530 --> 01:01:16.840
destroying the planet. in the United States and

01:01:16.840 --> 01:01:18.599
around the world. So by saying that, you're saying

01:01:18.599 --> 01:01:20.539
you would have to move, we would have to move

01:01:20.539 --> 01:01:23.820
consciously away from fossil fuels. No, if so,

01:01:23.880 --> 01:01:26.039
buts and maybes. And if we do that, how do you

01:01:26.039 --> 01:01:28.460
tell the fossil fuel companies, do you tell them

01:01:28.460 --> 01:01:30.579
you can't sell fossil fuels anymore? There are

01:01:30.579 --> 01:01:32.219
a variety of ways to do that, but that is the

01:01:32.219 --> 01:01:35.199
bottom line. And by the way, in the midst of

01:01:35.199 --> 01:01:41.139
that, we do what we call is a just transition.

01:01:42.239 --> 01:01:45.000
The guy out on the oil rig today simply wants

01:01:45.000 --> 01:01:47.639
to feed his family. And the coal miners today

01:01:47.639 --> 01:01:50.000
want to feed their families. And we're not going

01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:52.340
to leave them. I'm a pro -worker. I have probably

01:01:52.340 --> 01:01:54.400
the strongest pro -worker record of any member

01:01:54.400 --> 01:01:56.659
of the Congress. So it is not my intention to

01:01:56.659 --> 01:01:58.980
throw these guys out on the, and women, out on

01:01:58.980 --> 01:02:01.340
the street and ignore the pain that they will

01:02:01.340 --> 01:02:04.440
go through. We are proposing billions of dollars

01:02:04.440 --> 01:02:06.820
to rebuild those communities and make sure that

01:02:06.820 --> 01:02:09.679
those guys and women get new jobs. So we're not...

01:02:09.760 --> 01:02:12.019
just discarding people in the fossil fuel industry.

01:02:12.440 --> 01:02:14.780
But ultimately, the product that they are producing,

01:02:14.900 --> 01:02:16.880
which is now carbon emissions, is destroying

01:02:16.880 --> 01:02:20.320
the planet. So we have to move away from fossil

01:02:20.320 --> 01:02:24.360
fuel in a very bold way into energy efficiency.

01:02:25.400 --> 01:02:27.679
Right now, in my own state of Vermont and all

01:02:27.679 --> 01:02:30.639
over this country, there are buildings which

01:02:30.639 --> 01:02:33.760
are incredibly wasteful. We don't have the windows.

01:02:33.780 --> 01:02:35.579
We don't have the insulation. We don't have the

01:02:35.579 --> 01:02:38.099
roofing, the doors that we need to keep the buildings.

01:02:38.320 --> 01:02:43.099
warm in the winter and cool in the summer. And

01:02:43.099 --> 01:02:46.019
we can create just an incredible number of jobs

01:02:46.019 --> 01:02:49.340
just retrofitting our buildings. Second of all,

01:02:49.820 --> 01:02:53.360
we need to move very aggressively to sustainable

01:02:53.360 --> 01:02:55.699
energies like wind and solar. In California,

01:02:55.840 --> 01:02:58.039
you're doing a good job with wind. Iowa's doing

01:02:58.039 --> 01:03:00.179
a good job. Texas doing a good job. We've got

01:03:00.179 --> 01:03:03.880
to do much more. Solar, there is incredible potential

01:03:03.880 --> 01:03:06.239
out there. Prices of solar have dropped in recent

01:03:06.239 --> 01:03:09.519
years. we have got to not only transform the

01:03:09.519 --> 01:03:11.340
energy system in our own country we got to lead

01:03:11.340 --> 01:03:15.099
the world in working with Russia and China because

01:03:15.099 --> 01:03:18.260
in this issue we are in it together and Here's

01:03:18.260 --> 01:03:20.840
my dream and maybe this may be a utopian dream

01:03:20.840 --> 01:03:23.360
the world right now is spending a trillion and

01:03:23.360 --> 01:03:25.760
a half dollars on weapons of destruction designed

01:03:25.760 --> 01:03:28.460
to kill each other and Maybe just maybe if we

01:03:28.460 --> 01:03:30.539
had a kind of leader and I hope to be that leader

01:03:30.539 --> 01:03:33.300
Who says to the world instead of spending a trillion

01:03:33.300 --> 01:03:35.389
and a half dollars killing each other? Maybe

01:03:35.389 --> 01:03:38.230
we use those resources to transform the global

01:03:38.230 --> 01:03:40.630
energy system and save the planet for our kids

01:03:40.630 --> 01:03:42.429
and our grandchildren. That's the goal that I

01:03:42.429 --> 01:03:44.989
have. Well, these ideas sound great, but in the

01:03:44.989 --> 01:03:47.250
competitive environment of global politics, how

01:03:47.250 --> 01:03:49.590
would you convince Russia or China or any of

01:03:49.590 --> 01:03:51.510
these countries to do something that would put

01:03:51.510 --> 01:03:54.489
them in some sort of a competitive disadvantage?

01:03:54.989 --> 01:03:58.809
Well, and the answer is... Joe if we do not do

01:03:58.809 --> 01:04:01.090
that in 50 a hundred years everybody's gonna

01:04:01.090 --> 01:04:03.170
be right terrible this event and look I'm not

01:04:03.170 --> 01:04:05.070
you know I'm saying you know I'm not telling

01:04:05.070 --> 01:04:07.250
you that tomorrow it's gonna happen But you got

01:04:07.250 --> 01:04:09.650
to make the case these people you know Putin

01:04:09.650 --> 01:04:12.309
is a dictator I dislike him intensely you know

01:04:12.309 --> 01:04:14.929
Chi in China very authoritarian so fun so but

01:04:14.929 --> 01:04:17.429
they're not crazy people and Presumably they

01:04:17.429 --> 01:04:19.429
have concern about their kids and their grandchildren.

01:04:20.010 --> 01:04:22.530
This is a planet under siege you know i don't

01:04:22.530 --> 01:04:24.429
want to become a science fiction you've all seen

01:04:24.429 --> 01:04:26.889
the movies the media racing toward earth we're

01:04:26.889 --> 01:04:29.050
gonna blow up the earth what do we do well we

01:04:29.050 --> 01:04:31.210
gotta get together this is in a sense what that

01:04:31.210 --> 01:04:34.030
is about you know i think about in nineteen forty

01:04:34.030 --> 01:04:39.469
one uh... after pearl harbor we were faced with

01:04:39.469 --> 01:04:43.329
a war in the east with china a war in the west

01:04:43.329 --> 01:04:48.389
within two years the united states had transformed

01:04:48.389 --> 01:04:51.829
its economy to address And win the war basically

01:04:51.829 --> 01:04:53.909
in two or three years by reindustrializing America.

01:04:54.150 --> 01:04:56.389
We can do it. We can lead the world. That's what

01:04:56.389 --> 01:04:59.170
we have to do. So in your eyes we have to look

01:04:59.170 --> 01:05:01.429
at the economy almost as if the same kind of

01:05:01.429 --> 01:05:04.079
threat. or excuse me, the environment. It's the

01:05:04.079 --> 01:05:06.719
same kind of threat as Nazi Germany. An act together.

01:05:07.059 --> 01:05:09.300
Look, if you ask the defense department, you

01:05:09.300 --> 01:05:11.639
ask the CIA, you ask the defense people all over

01:05:11.639 --> 01:05:13.500
the world, tell us what the great national security

01:05:13.500 --> 01:05:15.139
threat is. You know what it is? It is climate

01:05:15.139 --> 01:05:16.739
change. There's a lot of people, though, that

01:05:16.739 --> 01:05:18.400
are skeptical of this. How would you convince

01:05:18.400 --> 01:05:20.199
them? I mean, this is a big part of the problem,

01:05:20.239 --> 01:05:22.519
right? There's a narrative that you hear from

01:05:22.519 --> 01:05:25.079
a lot of people that, oh, you know, climate change

01:05:25.079 --> 01:05:27.460
is not a proven science, and climate change is

01:05:27.460 --> 01:05:29.420
a hoax. I mean, this is something that's repeated

01:05:29.420 --> 01:05:33.070
over and over again. I'm sure some of it has

01:05:33.070 --> 01:05:35.929
to do with lobbyists, and some of it has to do

01:05:35.929 --> 01:05:38.349
with merchants of doubt that go out there and

01:05:38.349 --> 01:05:41.550
seed the world with disinformation to try to

01:05:41.550 --> 01:05:43.670
increase their profits and continue the practices

01:05:43.670 --> 01:05:45.869
that they're currently enjoying. You know, Joe,

01:05:45.949 --> 01:05:48.309
when I'm thinking back, and I don't know if all

01:05:48.309 --> 01:05:51.050
you listen is can remember this because I'm older

01:05:51.050 --> 01:05:54.300
than most, but... I can remember tobacco and

01:05:54.300 --> 01:05:56.599
cigarette ads on television, remember? Yes. Doctor,

01:05:56.739 --> 01:05:58.960
the guy dressed in a white truck, smoking away,

01:05:58.960 --> 01:06:00.880
this is a great cigarette, it'll improve your

01:06:00.880 --> 01:06:03.280
health. They lied. The tobacco industry knew

01:06:03.280 --> 01:06:05.260
exactly what was going on. And the fossil fuel

01:06:05.260 --> 01:06:07.300
industry is lying right now. And the President

01:06:07.300 --> 01:06:10.039
of the United States is either too stupid to

01:06:10.039 --> 01:06:11.880
understand what the scientists are telling us,

01:06:12.320 --> 01:06:14.860
or he is lying as well. Climate change, look,

01:06:15.400 --> 01:06:17.460
I am not the scientist. This is not my idea.

01:06:17.539 --> 01:06:20.840
I listen to the scientists. The debate is long

01:06:20.840 --> 01:06:24.219
over. Climate change is real, my God. Look at

01:06:24.219 --> 01:06:26.619
what's happening around the world today. July

01:06:26.619 --> 01:06:29.260
was, I think, the warmest July or warmest month

01:06:29.260 --> 01:06:33.380
in the modern history of the world. The Arctic

01:06:33.380 --> 01:06:37.880
ice is melting. Heat waves in Europe. Just look

01:06:37.880 --> 01:06:41.719
out the window at what's going on. So this is

01:06:41.719 --> 01:06:44.659
not Bernie Sanders talking. This is the scientific

01:06:44.659 --> 01:06:49.750
community. Climate change is real. It will only

01:06:49.750 --> 01:06:52.750
get worse if we do not act boldly to cut carbon

01:06:52.750 --> 01:06:56.630
emissions. Well, we just did an hour, sir, so

01:06:56.630 --> 01:06:58.449
I'm going to let you go, because I know you got

01:06:58.449 --> 01:07:00.369
very important things to do. One last question.

01:07:00.769 --> 01:07:04.170
If you got into the office and you found out

01:07:04.170 --> 01:07:07.409
something about aliens, if you found out something

01:07:07.409 --> 01:07:10.190
about UFOs, would you let us know? Well, I'll

01:07:10.190 --> 01:07:12.489
tell you, my wife would demand that I let you

01:07:12.489 --> 01:07:15.010
know. Is your wife a UFO nut? No, she's not a

01:07:15.010 --> 01:07:17.059
UFO nut. She says, Bernie, what is... Going on.

01:07:17.159 --> 01:07:18.920
Do you have any access to Ricketts? You don't

01:07:18.920 --> 01:07:21.119
have any access? I don't. Honestly, I don't.

01:07:21.199 --> 01:07:23.340
Okay. You'll let us know though? All right. I'll

01:07:23.340 --> 01:07:24.760
be on the show. We'll announce it on the show.

01:07:25.340 --> 01:07:27.019
Please. All right. You got to. Thank you, sir.

01:07:27.099 --> 01:07:29.059
I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.