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President Trump Speaks at CPAC; TSA: Unclear When Everyone Will Get Their Back Pay; Sanders Kicks Off 2020 Presidential Campaign In Brooklyn. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired March 02, 2019 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

REP. LUCY MCBATH (D), GEORGIA: I don't think any of us want that. We want to make sure our children are cared for and protected. So that is definitely a measure that I think that we can really find some common ground on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that was Phil Mattingly reporting. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now. Hello again, everyone. Thanks so much for being with me in the second hour of the NEWSROOM this afternoon. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. At any moment now President Trump will speak at a very large conservative gathering following a busy week in politics. Trump left empty-handed from the second summit with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, his former personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen called him a racist and con man in front of the entire nation while the president was overseas and news broke that the president himself ordered officials to give his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a top security clearance despite objections from the intelligence community.

Also taking place at any moment now, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders -- that's his wife right now -- at Sanders' first major campaign rally since launching his 2020 bid. He is returning to his roots and returning to his native Brooklyn for today's speech. We of course will take you there live as soon as Senator Sanders also takes to the podium there. So let's get started first with CNN's White House reporter Sarah Westwood. What can we expect from the president at CPAC?

SARAH WESTWOOD, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, CNN: Well Fred, President Trump is emerging from a week of rough headlines on the foreign policy front and domestically, so we do expect him to try to turn the page on all of that. When he takes the stage at CPAC, it'll be the first time that we're seeing him since he left those North Korea talks in Vietnam empty-handed, without any progress towards the denuclearization that he had hoped for. So we may see him try to characterize that summit in a positive light. That's certainly what Vice President Mike Pence did when he spoke at the same conservative gathering yesterday, perhaps providing a preview to the kind of spin that we'll see from President Trump.

We also saw him argue last night on Twitter that his words in Vietnam had been misinterpreted when he said that the American student who died days after his release from North Korean custody, Otto Warmbier -- he said he believed Kim Jong-un when the North Korean dictator said he didn't know how harshly Otto was being treated. And of course a harsh rebuke came from Otto Warmbier's parents. About those comments, the president, though, could continue that line of argument that his words since then have been twisted and that his failure to reach any kind of deal with North Korea is somehow a victory.

This will be a very friendly crowd. His third appearance at CPAC. Some people trace the launch of his political career back to a speech he gave at CPAC in 2011. But as you know, Fred, President Trump tends to go off script when he's in front of a friendly crowd, so we could see him touch on any number of topics today.

WHITFIELD: Sarah Westwood, thank you so much from the White House. Of course we'll take everyone back out to the National Harbor there in Maryland when the president does arrive. And also, near simultaneously now at any moment U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders will deliver the first major speech of his 2020 presidential campaign. Sanders is expected to get deeply personal at this campaign rally in his native Brooklyn as the 77-year-old reintroduces himself to voters right at that venue. CNN's Ryan Nobles is in Brooklyn. Looks like a pretty good crowd there. Are we close to hearing from and seeing Bernie Sanders?

RYAN NOBLES, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes we are, Fred. And you're right, this is a pretty impressive crowd, which is something Bernie Sanders was known for in 2016. He has filled the quad here in Brooklyn College, where he spent a year of his youth before going to college in Chicago. And already the program is underway. We're going to hear from five speakers before Senator Sanders comes out. We already heard from his wife Jane Sanders. Actually, the man speaking right now is the president of an electrical workers union in Erie, Pennsylvania that is currently on strike, so this is an example of the different highlights that Bernie Sanders is going to hit on in this speech here today.

But to your point earlier, Fred, this is really going to be a deeply personal speech for Senator Sanders. This is not a side that he showed all that often during his campaign in 2016, instead just sticking to these progressive policy issues that really made a name for himself in that past race. This time he's going to try and marry those policy proposals along with that personal story that he has of growing up here in a part of a working class family in Brooklyn in a rent-controlled apartment with immigrant parents and how that kind of shaped who he is today.

Now this rally is kind of a progressive hot bed. There's no doubt that Brooklyn is one of the most liberal places in America so it's not a surprise that Sanders was able to bring out the crowd in the way that he has today. He's going to be in Chicago tomorrow night where he went to college, where he really began his political activism, where he took a big part in the civil rights movement and that's going to really launch his campaign into 2020 head-first. And Fred, this time around, this isn't just about getting out certain issues and bringing them to the forefront.

Sanders made it clear that he was only going to run if he thought he could win and beat Donald Trump. That process begins here today and he believes that even though there's a lot of animosity in some corners of the Democratic Party, that he could be the candidate to unite Democrats and take on Donald Trump in 2020.

So, Fred, off and running here for Bernie Sanders as he begins his second run at the White House. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Ryan Nobles, thank you so much, there in Brooklyn. Let's talk further about all this. Joining me right now, Washington Bureau Chief for the Chicago Sun Times, Lynn Sweet; and former director of the Nixon Presidential Library and CNN's Presidential Historian, Tim Naftali. Good to see you both.

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, CHICAGO SUN TIMES: Hi, Fred.

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Nice to be here.

WHITFIELD: So, Lynn, what is it about Bernie Sanders feeling like he has to reintroduce himself to people at this campaign rally, spending a lot more time about his personal life, when really, 2016 is still in our rearview mirror.

SWEET: Well, a few reasons. First of all, there are new voters coming online and Bernie is banking on having a running start with the younger vote. So when he tells people that he grew up near where they were in Brooklyn, that he went to their campus and his dad was a paint salesman who emigrated from Poland, who was escaping antisemitism, this is something that is - is something that people may not remember, as you start the launch of the campaign.

And I think he wants to also show his multiple rivals that he can draw a crowd, really with just his use of social media. He booked a very big venue in Chicago tomorrow night at Navy Pier. And he is expected to have a healthy, robust crowd there. So that's what he's trying to do; reintroduce himself and then tell the rivals, who might say he's too old, or he's had his chance or whatever, I'm the one with this powerful social media mechanism that could bring out people.

WHITFIELD: And Tim, you know, your story can be a very powerful thing. We've seen it in, you know, other presidential contenders who - who speak very heavily about where they come from. I mean, Barack Obama, he had a book - two books that helped people understand who he was and he really campaigned on that hard. And then you have other candidates who shy away from that.

How potentially pivotal can this be for Bernie Sanders who has name recognition but, I guess, perhaps he feels like there are a lot of people who don't know about his upbringing?

NAFTALI: Well, it's always - when a candidate has a compelling story, when they're the child of immigrants or when, in some cases, they're an immigrant (ph) living as a child of immigrants, when they were touched by events overseas such as the holocaust; telling your story makes you more believable and relatable. Good candidates are always trying to connect with as many Americans as possible because what they're asking to be is to be the representative of the United States, to be - to be, if you will, a bald eagle for the country. So one of the criticisms four years ago of Bernie Sanders was that he just talked policy. He - he - and those policies were very emotive for many young people but that - he didn't talk about himself. And so one thing we're hearing is that he is going to open up a little bit more about Bernie Sanders, the man. The other thing to keep in mind is that one criticism among Democrats of the Sanders campaign four years ago was that it wasn't inclusive enough, that he wasn't reaching out to enough people of color; that in some ways, he wasn't reaching enough to women.

And so what I'm listening - will be listening for today is the extent to which he re-crafts his message to make it appear more inclusive because he's now running against progressives like Kamala Harris, who are people of color and who are going to easily connect - Cory Booker - he has competition in the progressive state - progressive place now that he didn't have four years ago.

And so his message actually has to be different for him to be relevant this time go - this time around.

WHITFIELD: And our reporting has been that Bernie Sanders has surrounded himself - or at least in his campaign, is more representative of people of color and even women. But we'll see if that is what, indeed, makes the difference - differentiates himself from the others you just mentioned, Tim. So, you know, the 2020 presidential field is, of course, growing. You know, Lynn - what do we have - you know, at a pretty sizeable number like 11 now.

And then we've got Washington Governor Jay Inslee who is officially - made his announcement yesterday. So how are these candidates going to separate themselves from the crowd, besides the makeup of say their campaigns.

SWEET: Well, they have to win various - there's multiple places they have to go. So, for example, tonight, presidential candidate, Minnesota Senator Amy is giving a big speech before the Gridiron Club and Foundation, Bernie Sanders is actually on the road, Eric Swalwell who is thinking about running is introducing himself in Iowa, Jay Inslee, though, is interesting because he actually has picked a very exclusive topic that he's basing his candidacy on, climate change, so that's going to make it easier for him to stand out.

And that's what helps in these this crowded field. One of the things that Bernie Sanders does very explicitly is go after the billionaire class and corporate America. He names names. He talks about Wal- Mart, Amazon and the impact on lives and that they have not paid their -- not even their fair share but nothing in federal tax. So you have actually the finer-honed messages I think at this very beginning is important because every Democrat is against Trump. obviously.

WHITFIELD: Right. And of course trump himself is, you know, campaigning to keep his job. This has been an interesting week, you know, Tim, for the president, lots of ups and downs. He walked away from the second North Korean summit empty-handed say some and this was a play straight from the Art of the Deal, however. You know, don't be afraid to walk away at the last second. That was his pledge. So was it wise, you know, for him, particularly at this juncture, to operate on the instincts that he says he did?

NAFTALI: The president was in over his head in this summit. He had set -- he had violated one of the basic rules of presidential summitry. He set unreasonable expectations in his use of social media beforehand. He also sent a message to Kim Jung-un, which from the get-go, saying to Kim Jong-un, I am your friend, I am going to believe you. That's not the right message to send to dictator. You have to make the dictator give you what is necessary for U.S. national security, not give away something to them, give them respectability, give -- right from the get-go.

So he put himself in the corner, the president did. He was absolutely right to walk away because he was discussing a deal that no American president should accept. But the fact was he -- his walking away should have been a sign of strength but it actually turned out to be a sign of weakness --

WHITFIELD: Why is that?

NAFTALI: -- because of the way that he had framed this summit to begin with.

WHITFIELD: All right. Tim Naftali, Lynn Sweet, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much.

NAFTALI: Thank you.

SWEET: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, President Trump has been focused on the Mueller investigation in a very big way, but is there really more legal pressure waiting for him in New York? And later, White House senior adviser and son-in-law to the president, Jared Kushner, has top secret security clearance. Did Trump make that happen and if so, did he break any rules? We'll discuss coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. President Trump facing legal battles on two fronts. We know the special counsel's focus is limited to Russia interference in the 2016 election, at least that's the starting point, we know. But the Southern District of New York investigation could be more far-reaching and pose a bigger threat for Trump and the people around him. Those investigators can look into any aspect of Trump's behavior that has taken place in its jurisdiction. And according to his former personal attorney Michael Cohen, more of those investigations are in the works.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D), ILLINOIS: Is there any other wrongdoing or illegal act that you are aware of regarding Donald Trump that we haven't yet discussed today?

MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER ATTORNEY TO DONALD TRUMP: Yes. And again, those are part of the investigation that's currently being looked at by the Southern District of New York.

WHITFIELD: Ross Garber is a CNN legal analyst. Good to see you, Ross. So after hearing Cohen's testimony to Congress this week, he really does kind of reveal there's a lot more coming and it's going to be central to the Southern District of New York investigations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSS GARBER, LEGAL ANALYST, CNN: Yes, that -- that's right, Fred. And I think you and I have talked about this before. And I -- you know I've represented politicians for a long time and -- and that was the most troubling part of Cohen's testimony. You know, we knew that the Southern District was looking at -- at -- at the president, his businesses but Cohen -- you know, Cohen verified it and he -- he also clearly indicated that he'd been in contact with the Southern District who had sort of instructed him what he could talk about and what he couldn't. That suggests some very active investigations.

And as you know, the Southern District, they are the elite sort of federal prosecutors. It would -- it would cause anyone concern --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

GARBER: -- to -- to be investigated by them.

WHITFIELD: Would you go as far as saying he was almost encouraging it? I mean, he also may have also, you know, been signposting that he's willing to facilitate or assist in any way.

GARBER: Yes. And -- and he was asked. He was asked, in fact, by Republicans, you know, what do you have to gain from this testimony here today and -- and are you holding out hopes of a sentence reduction. And he -- he came clean. He said yes, you know, I'm -- actually am hoping for a sentence reduction because of my cooperation in the Southern District. And in -- in the federal sentencing system, there are two ways you can do it. You can get a sentence reduction by cooperating up front, you can also get a sentence reduction by cooperating after you've been sentenced. It's a rule 35 motion and Cohen indicated that's what he's hoping for by his cooperation with the Southern District.

WHITFIELD: So then that kind of answer would allow people to be skeptical about his motivation. Yet, at the same time, one has to wonder - you know, he has already laid it out there. Does this come at great risk for him?

GARBER: Yeah, and - and I think a lot of lawyers would be sort of skeptical about this - this approach that he's taken. He and his lawyers have sort of gone on this PR tour to try to rehabilitate his reputation. But it does come at a potential risk. He's already plead guilty one time to lying before Congress. To sit there and testify day after day, including in public, about these issues, does put him at risk of a potential perjury charge.

The more you say, the more chance there is there's something that can be interpreted as a lie. And then second, when you cooperate with prosecutors' offices, in particular the southern district, there's no halfway. You've got to tell them everything you know and everything that you've been involved in. And from what we know, Cohen doesn't have any immunity. So if he goes in and talks to them and tells them he's been involved in other crimes, he potentially has risk there too.

WHITFIELD: Then the flip side to that is, that bodes well for his credibility.

GARBER: Yeah, I think - I think most people thought that he was - he was generally credible. The Republican House members tried to make issues of his credibility. I don't think any of those blows landed. I think most folks thought he was credible and in fact, on some issues, even the president noted his credibility. One of the bright spots for Cohen's testimony is that he pretty much did say that the president - at least he wasn't aware of any actual collusion with Russia and the president noted that he didn't implicate him in those kinds of things.

WHITFIELD: So, the SDNY, especially based on a lot that Cohen revealed or talked about in that testimony, it appears as though prosecutors in New York are poised to continue looking into Trump's inauguration funding, his SuperPAC funding, the Trump Organization finances. Michael Cohen was asked specifically, you know, even give names; who else might know? And he revealed that. Do you suppose SDNY already knew those things or do they have new threads in which to act on?

GARBER: Yeah, I'd be surprised if the SDNY learned anything from his public testimony. It's possible. But it's more likely he's already been debriefed several times by the SDNY and his lawyers - his lawyers are very good lawyers. They probably made sure that he wasn't going to say something that would shock the prosecutors and agents from the SDNY. And as you point out, they are potentially looking at a lot of different things.

And as you know, right now, the Department of Justice policy is that a sitting president can't be indicted but that doesn't extend to his businesses, his colleagues, his family. And so there are potential issues there.

WHITFIELD: Yes, so the president has reason to be worried about the SDNY and you mean even as a sitting president and especially after his presidency?

GARBER: Yeah, and that's exactly right. Current DOJ policy, the Department of Justice policy, is that a sitting president can't be indicted. But that doesn't mean - you're exactly right, that a president can't be indicted once he leaves office and that's also a concern.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ross Garber, thank you so much. Always enjoy talking to you, appreciate it.

GARBER: Good to see you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Lots of big questions surrounding the White House this weekend, not just about those matters but also about whether President Trump demanded his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, get top-secret security clearance. And if so, why did the president lie about it? The question surfaced after the New York Times reported the president overruled his chief of staff at the time, John Kelly, and other top intelligence officials to secure Kushner's clearance.

Here with me now to discuss all of this, CNN Law Enforcement Analyst and Former Secret Service Agent under President Obama, Jonathan Wackrow. Good to see you, Jonathan.

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Hi, how are you?

WHITFIELD: All right, so the reporting revealed that the intelligence community made it very clear that Kushner was not deserving of full security clearance and that there were contemporaneous notes that John Kelly, the then-chief of staff, actually took because he was nudged - more than nudged by the president to make it happen. How potentially problematic is that sequencing of events, in your view?

WACKROW: Well, it's very troubling. And I think what's really important to understand, Fred, is that we're actually in uncharted waters right now. I mean, it typically - if you go through the process to get a security clearance and that clearance is denied, you then do not have access to classified information. And I think it's important to understand, like, what exactly are we talking about here in terms of classified information?

You know, for -- for -- for many, they just hear this -- these words that are out there. But classified information is information and data that the government has deemed necessary to protect at all costs because it has a measured effect on national security. Access to that information, you know, actually not is -- not only gives an individual, you know, the -- the information at face value, but it also gives them access to the means and methods by which that information was gathered.

So that's where it's really troubling right now. To go through a process to get cleared to have, you know, a security clearance, what the federal government is doing is saying that this person is free from, you know, any potential coercion, that they're trustworthy, that they do not have the foreign contacts that could be used as leverage. And I think when you start looking at, you know, Jared Kushner specifically, that's where, you know, General Kelly, members of the intelligence community, that's where a lot of red flags, you know -- you know, exist, saying, hey, does this person, you know, possess the, you know, propensity for disclosing information either out of malicious intent or could he be leveraged.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And we don't know what those problem areas are, but we know that, you know, your financial ties, you know, with foreign countries, et cetera, can be a -- an obstacle and we know that Jared Kushner has a large web of contacts through his years in the private sector, both foreign and domestic. So what -- what would he need to do or rectify, if -- if at all possible, to eventually gain that kind of security clearance in the traditional routes, since the intelligence community discouraged it? WACKROW: Well, I mean, I think you just -- you just actually brought

up a very key point. You know, Jared Kushner, between his, you know, personal finance and his connection to his family business have very complex financial ties, not only here domestically but also to foreign investors. So we've seen -- how many times has Jared Kushner updated or had to revise his financial disclosure forms? There's just this iteration of -- of -- of never-ending information that -- that's coming out of Mr. Kushner that says, oh, I forgot this contact, I forgot this, you know, financial obligation. I mean, I think that's the problem.

The problem here is transparency. The -- the process is definitely different for Mr. Kushner than it is for everybody else. I'll tell you -- you know, I held a -- a security clearance for 14 years. If I missed one element of my application or I didn't live to the high standards that that security clearance granted me, I would have it revoked immediately. The problem is is that there's no check and balance to, you know, clearance access. The president and the president alone has the ability to declassify any information and grant anybody access to classified information without the oversight of Congress, mind you.

So I know that, you know, members of the Democratic, you know, controlled House right now are calling for oversight hearings. That's fine, that's political posturing, unfortunately. The legislation needs to be changed --

WHITFIELED: And would perhaps be over different matters but not necessarily on the matter of security clearance, is what you're saying.

WACKROW: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: Right. All right. Jonathan Wackrow, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Good to see you.

WACKROW: Thank a lot, Fred. I appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, we are just moments away from Bernie Sanders' first big speech of his 2020 presidential run. We'll take you there live in Brooklyn next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:33:16] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. It's been more than a month since the U.S. Government reopened from that longest shutdown in history. But we are now learning more than a thousand TSA workers are still waiting on their back pay. Here now is CNN's Rene Marsh.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Well as we know many TSA employees impacted by that government shutdown lived paycheck to paycheck, they were depending on food banks. Some even received eviction notices.

So it was really unbelievable when CNN learned more than a month after this shutdown ended, more than a thousand TSA employees are still owed back pay. This includes screeners, inspectors, K-9 teams. But here's the thing. The reason for the delay stems in part from an unusual move by TSA Administrator David Pekoske during the shutdown to pay a partial paycheck to workers in order to help keep them on the job. Remember, hundreds of TSA workers called out from work during the shutdown.

Now, the current problem with the back pay was the subject of a phone call that TSA Headquarters held with field offices across the country on Wednesday. And according to a partial transcript of a call obtained by CNN, the agency said that their partial payment to employees coincided with the end of the shutdown when funding got restored.

And I'm quoting, they said on this call, "Our timing could not have been poorer in terms of when we executed partial pay." Well, the result is an administrative mess.

Now the agency is working to make corrections in its system to reflect that some employees have already received a partial payment so that the balance that is owed to them is accurate. As one frustrated TSA official put it, this cheated the purpose of the shutdown. During shutdowns people are intended to basically not receive a paycheck because it is not supposed to be comfortable, it is a way to ensure that the shutdown does not last very long.

[12:35:09] But what we saw was agencies looking for ways to soften the blow of what was the longest shutdown in U.S. history. And now as this official put it, this created more problems for employees and they are dealing with it more than a month after the shutdown is over.

We did reached out to the agency and TSA tells CNN in a statement, "Of TSA's 60,000 employees, approximately 1,000 throughout the country require some sort of pay correction." And the agency says that it is continuing to process those corrections, but no clear deadline for when everyone will receive their back pay?

Reporting from Washington, Rene Marsh, CNN.

WHITFIELD: Coming up, we're just moments away from Bernie Sanders' first big speech of his 2020 presidential run. We'll take you back to Brooklyn as soon as it happens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:40:10] WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. We're going to take you live to Brooklyn, New York because at any moment now, somewhere in the crowd and soon to emerge will be a U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders just announced his arrival. This is his second run for the presidency. His first run 2016 and here we go again, almost like a repeat now for 2020, but what is different here is Bernie Sanders at his first rally of his run for presidency, he feels like he has to reintroduce himself to the crowd. He is going to spend a lot more time talking about his personal upbringing.

You see him there now with his wife Jane, shaking hands there. He's there at Brooklyn College. He wants to return to his roots at this rally after making it official that he is for certain in this run for the Democratic ticket for the White House.

Our Presidential Historian Tim Naftali is also watching all of this. So Tim, glad you could be with me. Bernie Sanders even though he has got name recognition he feels like he has to reintroduce himself to voters, perhaps introduce for the first time to a lot of new voters who will be voting for president for the first time in the 2020 race.

How will this run be different for him? What is he feel like he has to establish with people about who he is, the man Bernie Sanders and not the politician, the U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, you know Fredricka, four years ago when he ran for the first time, his campaign was seen as quixotic. Hillary Clinton seemed to have a lock on the Democratic nomination.

This time around, you know, if history says anything, it's that Bernie Sanders could in fact be viewed as the frontrunner. He came second. It was a much closer race than anyone imagine four years ago. How will Bernie's message changed now that he's not an insurgent?

Bernie is running as an independent for the Democratic nomination. He is not a Democrat and hasn't, you know, embraced the party that way. Is he going to run as an insurgent again or is he going to try to reshape the Democratic Party and the Democratic message. This is what I'm waiting to hear.

WHITFIELD: And I think he is just moments away from speaking. Let's listen in right now in fact, Tim.

(APPLAUSE)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Brooklyn, thank you. What an incredible crowd. Thank you so much.

Let me thank Keilah (ph) for her wonderful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Let me thank Scott Chason who's standing up not just for the workers in eerie, Pennsylvania against corporate greed but for every worker in America. Scott, thank you very much. And let me thank Representative Terry Alexander of South Carolina. And Terry is right, this is going to be a 50 state campaign. We're not going to concede one state to Donald Trump.

And let me thank my very good friend, Nina Turner. Nina has been with me all across this country. Nina has helped developed one of the great grassroots organizations in this country, our revolution. And Nina is mobilizing people from one end of this country to the other (INAUDIBLE). Nina, thank you very much.

And let me thank Shaun King. All over this country and I'm going to say a few words about it today and more tomorrow. People understand we have a broken criminal justice system. And there are few people in America more than Shaun who are fighting to change that system. Shaun, thank you. [12:45:20] And lastly, let me thank my wife and my family. Thank you Jane and Levi and David and Heather and Carina and all my beautiful seven grandchildren for the support you've given me. Thank you all for coming out today. Let me thank the weather men for giving us Vermont weather, thank you. And thank you all for being part of a political revolution which is going to transform America.

(APPLAUSE)

CROWD: Bernie, Bernie, Bernie, Bernie, Bernie.

SANDERS: No, no, no, it is not Bernie, it is you. It's us together. And I want to thank all of you for being part of a campaign which is not only going to win the Democratic nomination, which is not only going to defeat Donald Trump who is the most dangerous president in modern American history. But with your help, we are going to transform this country and finally create an economy and a government which works for all of us, not just the one percent.

Today at our very first rally, I want to welcome you to a campaign which says loudly and clearly that the underlying principles of our government will not be greed, hatred and lies. It will not be racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia and religious bigotry. It will not be tax breaks for billionaires and efforts to throw millions of the health care that they currently have.

This campaign is going to end all of that. The principles of our government will be based on justice -- on economic justice, on social justice, on racial justice, on environmental justice. Today I welcome you to a campaign which tells the powerful special interests who control so much of our economic and political life that we will no longer tolerate the greed of corporate America and the billionaire class. Greed, which has resulted in this country having more income and wealth inequality than any other major country on earth.

(APPLAUSE)

CROWD: Bernie, Bernie, Bernie, Bernie, Bernie.

SANDERS: No, we will no longer stand idly by and allow three families in this country to own more wealth than the bottom half of the American people.

[12:50:06] And while these families become richer, over 20 percent of our children live in poverty, veterans sleep out on the streets and senior citizens cannot afford their prescription drugs. We are here to tell the one percent that we will no longer tolerate 46 percent of all new income going to the very richest people in this country while millions of Americans are out working two or three jobs just to survive and pay the bills.

Today we launch our fight for a political revolution. And we say to the private health insurance companies, whether you like it or not, the United States is going to join every other major country on earth and guarantee health care to all people as a right. And you can spend all of the money you want against us, we will have a Medicare For All single-payer system.

And today we say to the pharmaceutical industry that you will no longer charge the American people the highest prices in the world by far for the medicine they desperately need. Whether you like it or not, your greed is going to end and we are going to lower the cost of prescription drugs in this country.

Today we say to Walmart, to the fast food industry and to other low wage employers stop paying your workers starvation wages. Yes, we are going to raise the minimum wage in this country to at least 15 bucks an hour. And we are going to make it easier for workers to join unions.

Today we say to the American people that we will rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, our roads and our bridges and our rail system. Our water systems, our waste water plants and our airports. And when we do that, we're going to create up to 13 million decent paying jobs.

And today we say to the parents in our country that you and your children deserve quality affordable child care. And today here at Brooklyn College, we say to young people all over this country, we want you to get the best education you can regardless of your income. Good jobs require a good education. And that is why we are going to make public colleges and universities tuition free. And why we are going to substantially lower the outrageous level of student debt in this country.

America once had the best educated workforce in the world and we are going to make that happen again.

[12:55:00] And today we say to our senior citizens in Vermont, in Brooklyn, in California, we know you cannot survive with dignity on $14,000 a year Social Security. My Republican colleagues in the Senate want to cut Social Security benefits. Well, we've got some bad news for them, we're going to raise Social Security benefits.

Today we say to Donald Trump and the fossil fuel industry that climate change is not a hoax. But it is an existential threat to our country and the entire planet and we intend to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel and into energy efficiency and sustainable energy. And when we do that, we're going to create millions of good paying jobs. All of us and every person in this country has a moral responsibility to make certain that the planet we leave our kids and our grandchildren is a planet that is healthy and habitable.

And today we say to the prison industrial complex that we are going to achieve real criminal justice reform in this country. We are going to end the international embarrassment of the United States having more people in jail than any other country on earth. Instead of spending 80 billion a year in jails and incarceration, we are going to invest in jobs and education for our young people.

No more private prisons. No more profiteering from locking people up. No more war on drugs that have destroyed so many lives. No more keeping people in jail because they are too poor to afford cash bail. And by the way, when we talk about criminal justice reform, we are

going to change a system in which tens of thousands of Americans every year get criminal records for possessing marijuana, but not one major Wall Street executive went to jail for destroying our economy in 2008. No, they didn't go to jail, they got a trillion dollar bailout.

Today we say to the American people that instead of demonizing the undocumented immigrants in this country, we are going to pass comprehensive immigration reform. And provide a path toward citizenship. We're going to provide legal status to the 1.8 million young people eligible for the DACA Program. And develop a humane border policy for those who seek asylum.

The United States will no longer snatch babies from the arms of their mothers.