BLACK AND WHITE HISTORICAL FILM FILE OF ELVIS PRESLEY WITH PRISCILLA BEAULIEU WHEN THEY WERE MARRIED IN LAS VEGAS MAY 1,1967, AT THE ALADDIN HOTEL AND CASINO.Note: date listed above is release date of newsreel, not individual news items)

AMERICAN MONTAGE

Las Vegas (04/14/1980): El Morocco Motel and Casino, Frontier Hotel with marquee that reads: Boy Lesque and breakfast for $.69, large pump shoe on top of sign, CU on El Morocco sign, "Fresh free popcorn 8pm to 4am, adults only, Fresh Shrimp Cocktail $.6, Kosher style hot DOG, liberal slots, Stardust advertising Lido de Paris, Circus Circus Westward Ho Casino with free champagne, CU on El Morocco hotel Panama Canal: Royal Lines cruise ship, black man throwing a rope on board the ship, historical stills of men building the Panama Canal, various stills of the building of the canal, modern shots of the canal with cruise ships floating through Anchorage Alaska (1979): Landscape shots of Denali mountain range outside of Anchorage, town shots with a couple walking down the sidewalk, Anchorage town with mountain range in background, huge YMCA building, couple all dressed in red walking the streets, looking at flowers, shot of water way, JC Penney's building, man with newspaper tucked under arm walking down a busy boulevard, CU on native Alaskan men, man in cowboy hat selling flowers, CU on man with handlebar mustache wearing a cowboy hat Native American Indians: Inside museum where tools and supplies of native Americans are on display; CU of Indian boy laughing and rolling clay sitting with a group of men, women and children, young boy smiling, Native American art on display, reporter interviewing Native American woman, Native American kids working with clay, Indians of the Bay Area map, Native American hunting and gathering tools, CU on shaft of arrow, CU on woven basket, Native American boys playing keep away and jumping rope in parking lot.

ORIG. COLOR 1000 SOF / MAG. INTS. LAS VEGAS NIGHT CLUB, BAND PLAYING DIXIELAND JAZZ, PEOPLE DANCING, DRINKING BEER, ETC. INTS. GAMBLING CASINO. PEOPLE WORKING SLOT MACHINES. VS NEON LIGHTS IN VEGAS. US STAMPS BEING PRINTED IN POST OFFICE PRINTING PLANT. MAIL BEING SORTED IN POST OFFICE. MAILMEN WALKING DELIVERY ROUTES. G.I.'S IN VIETNAM READING LETTERS / SOLDIERS READING MAILN VIETNAM. MOVING THRU FOOD LINES. VS COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT AND GRADUATION CEREMONY IN PROGRESS. INTS IRS COMPUTER CENTER, WORKERS OPERATING MACHINES, VS POSTAGE MACHINES IN OPERATION. VS SCENES OF ISLAND OF CURACAO, IN CARIBBEAN. VS OF EARTH FROM DEPARTING SPACESHIP. VS OF MOON SURFACE. VS MEN SPREADING NEWLY DYED ORIENTAL RUGS IN SUN TO DRY. VS SNAKE GLIDING ALONG GROUND. VS BRUSH FIRE BURNING. VS SHIPS BEING UNLOADED AT DOCK. VS OF HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT IN LONDON, WESTMINSTER ABBY, HOUSE OF LORDS, ETC., EXTS. NO. 10 DOWNING ST., HAROLD WILSON ON BALCONY, WAVING TO CROWD. EXTS BUCKINGHAM PALACE, BIG BEN. VS WILD GEESE IN FLIGHT. VS U.S. NAVY MEDAL PRESENTATION CEREMONY. CUTS OF RICHARD KLEINDIENST TESTIFYING BEFORE SENATE COMMITTEE CHAIRED BY SEN. EASTLAND. VS SUNSET OF CITY OF CAIRO AND HARBOR. VS UNID. PARADE IN PROGRESS, FLOATS DEPICTING VARIOUS HISTORICAL SCENES. VS GIRL IN BIKINI WALKING AROUND POOLSIDE. VS CLOWNS PERFORMING AT OUTDOOR CIRCUS, ELEPHANT AND ZEBRA PERFORMING. VS TIGERS IN CAGE. CI: PERSONALITIES: WILSON, HAROLD. PERSONALITIES: KLEINDIENST, RICHARD. PERSONALITIES: EASTLAND. MUSIC: BANDS, DIXIELAND JAZZ. BUILDING: NIGHT CLUB. GAMBLING: SIGNS: NEON. STREETS: CITIES, LAS VEGAS. MACHINES: PRINTING PRESS (STAMPS). OCCUPATION: MAILMAN. MAIL: MILITARY: ARMY. EDUCATION: GRADUATION. MACHINES: COMPUTER. GEOGRAPHIC: CURACAO ISLAND SPACE: VIEWS, EARTH FROM ROCKET. GEOLOGY: MOON. ANIMALS: SNAKE. DISASTERS: FIRE FOREST. TRANSPORTATION: SHIPS, CARGO. STREETS: CITIES, LONDON, CIRO. BUILDINGS: GOVERNMENT, 10 DOWNING STREET. BUILDING: TOWERS, BIG BEN. BUILDING: PALACE BUCKINGHAM. ANIMALS: BIRDS, GEESE. GEOLOGY: SUN SET. PARADES: MISC. FASHIONS: BATHING SUIT (BIKINI). BUILDINGS: POOLS. ENTERTAINMENT: CIRCUS. ABC SHOWS: MAKE A WISH.

00:00:00:00 PKG MISSING [Las Vegas seeks to change its image from a playground for adults to a family resort area with casinos adding arcades and other kiddie joys and investors planning theme park ...

The stroke of east coast midnight meant the end of a 40-year history for the Hacienda Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. Almost 500-thousand people witnessed the historic hotel implode, even as temperatures hit the low 50's. The sound was deafening, and a huge dust cloud rose several thousand feet over the Las Vegas Strip. It took more than one minute for the dust to clear enough to see what remained of the Hacienda.Circus Circus Enterprises, which owns more than a mile of strip land, plans to build a new 800-million-dollar mega resort on the Hacienda site..The action then shifted to a giant block party in front of the Mirage, Treasure Island, and Caesars Palace resorts, just two miles away. The event featured live performances by Sinbad, Hootie and the Blowfish, and Salt-n-Pepa.

NAME: US NEVADA 20080117I TAPE: EF08/0071 IN_TIME: 10:54:08:13 DURATION: 00:03:55:13 SOURCES: AP TELEVISION/ABC DATELINE: Las Vegas - 17 Jan 2008 RESTRICTIONS: see script SHOTLIST: AP Television Las Vegas, Nevada - Recent 1. Tilt down from flashy slot machine to man saying, "Oh my god..." 2. Close shot of slot machine stopping on three 7's 3. Man spinning roulette wheel in casino 4. Close shot of roulette wheel spinning, stopping on 7 AP Television Las Vegas, Nevada - 11 January 2008 5. Wide shot of Hillary Clinton, surrounded by press and supporters, walking through Latino neighbourhood 6. Cutaway of assembled media 7. Clinton talking with supporters in Latino neighbourhood ABC - No Access N America/Internet Las Vegas, Nevada - 15 January 2008 8. Barack Obama walking through Latino neighbourhood, walks up to family and shakes hands 9. Different angle of Obama shaking hands with kid AP Television Las Vegas, Nevada - 14 January 2008 10. Wide shot of Latino cooks in a Mexican restaurant 11. Close of cook 12. Cook putting sauce on Mexican dish 13. Cooks placing dishes to be served on kitchen counter 14. Waiter in Mexican restaurant delivering plate to table 15. SOUNDBITE: (English) Andres Ramirez, Outreach Coordinator, Nevada Democratic Party. "The Hispanic vote I think is going to play a very crucial part in the presidential caucuses here in Nevada on Saturday, January 19th. One of the primary reasons that the Democratic National Committee selected Nevada as an early caucus state was specifically because of our large Hispanic population." AP Television Las Vegas, Nevada - 11 January 2008 16. Newly naturalised citizens walking out of citizenship ceremony 17. UPSOUND: Democratic party outreach organiser asking new citizens to register to vote "Would you guys like to register to vote? Se quiere inscribir a votar?" 18. Mid of outreach organiser asking new citizens to register to vote 19. Newly naturalised female citizen holding American flag and registering to vote AP Television Las Vegas, Nevada - 14 January 2008 20. SOUNDBITE: (English) Andres Ramirez, Outreach Coordinator, Nevada Democratic Party. "I have seen more excitement and enthusiasm in the Hispanic community for this caucus cycle than I have ever seen before. People who have been registered before but have never voted are deciding to get involved this time. People who otherwise may have been here legally and just chose not to get their citizenship, have fought to get their citizenship to be able to caucus." AP Television Las Vegas, Nevada - 11 January 2008 21. UPSOUND: Democratic outreach coordinator talking to newly naturalised citizen after ceremony "You want to, you want to be part of this... C'mon!" 22. Newly naturalised male citizen filling out voter registration form and asking a question 23. Close shot of the form in his hand 24. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Olga Rubalca, Newly naturalised US Citizen: "Almost always, the Hispanics are an after-thought. For this reason, it's necessary that we vote to become part of the community." 25. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Lucilla Fuentes,Newly naturalised US Citizen: "If we don't vote, we'll never be able to do anything. We have to make a change." AP Television Washington, DC - 15 January 2008 26. SOUNDBITE: (English) Paul Taylor, Director, Pew Hispanic Centre "With regard to Latinos generally, they think the Bush administration has been harmful rather than helpful to the Latino community. We also find on the issue of illegal immigration, Latinos believe the Republican party generally has done a very poor job." AP Television Las Vegas, Nevada - 11 January 2008 27. Hillary Clinton walking through Latino neighbourhood; she walks up to family with baby and shakes hands 28. Close shot of mother and baby 29. Hillary Clinton walks up to another Latino family, hugs the mother ABC - No Access N America/Internet Las Vegas, Nevada - 11 January 2008 30. Barack Obama speaking before the Culinary Workers Union (UPSOUND): "You don't serve democracy by trying to keep people out, you're supposed to try to bring them in, and encourage everybody...", pull out to wide AP Television Las Vegas, Nevada - 14 January 2008 31. Wide shot of casino equipment technicians working on machines 32. Mid of Latino technician working on slot machine 33. Latina housekeepers making beds in hotel rooms 34. Close of housekeeper making bed 35. Wide of chefs-in-training, cooking in a kitchen 36. Mid of chefs in kitchen 37. SOUNDBITE: (English) Steven Horsford, CEO Nevada Partners Training Academy: "He's a new fresh face, he wants to do things differently in Washington, and they really, I think in the end, believe that that's the way that they're going to have a greater say." 38. Latino waiter in Mexican restaurant carrying tray of food from kitchen towards dining room 39. Another latino waiter delivering food to table 40. SOUNDBITE: (English) Juan Molina, Nevada Hispanic Voter "Hillary Clinton, I think she has the chance to win and I hope she does." ABC - No Access N America/Internet Las Vegas, Nevada - 11 January 2008 41. Barack Obama walking through Latino neighbourhood and up to doors AP Television Las Vegas, Nevada - 11 January 2008 42. Hillary Clinton talking to voters in Latino neighbourhood (UPSOUND) : "Thank you, thank you... I need you to caucus for me now." 43. Clinton laughs and hugs a supporter STORYLINE: Gambling capital, Las Vegas Nevada, is a popular spot for warmth - and wins - in the winter months. But this week's focus shifts from gambling to politics, as the Democratic presidential hopefuls seek to strike it big on Saturday's caucuses... and do it with a large number of Hispanic voters. Following the dramatic nomination contests in predominantly-white Iowa and New Hampshire, minority voting power now moves into the spotlight, and could help steer the presidential race. While historical realities suggest blacks and Hispanics won't be a huge factor in determining the Republican nominee, the Democratic race is a different story. In Nevada, where Latinos make up a quarter of the population, the state moved it's presidential caucuses up to January this year - nearly a month earlier than its schedule in 2004. The move was designed in large measure to give Hispanics a voice in the nominating process. "The Hispanic vote I think is going to play a very crucial part in the democratic caucuses here in Nevada. One of the primary reasons that the Democratic National Committee selected Nevada as an early caucus state was specifically because of our large Hispanic population," said Andres Ramirez, the Latino outreach coordinator for the Nevada Democratic Party. According to the Pew Research Centre, Hispanics are twice as likely to identify themselves as Democrat than Republican. But they're less likely to vote. While 71 percent of voting-eligible whites are registered to vote, the rate drops to 54 percent for Latinos. But Ramirez and his colleagues hope to change that. The first two Fridays of each month, he and others from the Democratic party set up voter-registration tables outside the federal court chamber in Las Vegas where new citizens are sworn in. "I have seen more excitement and enthusiasm in the Hispanic community for this caucus cycle than I have ever seen before. People who have been registered before but have never voted are deciding to get involved this time. people who otherwise may have been here legally and just chose not to get their citizenship, have fought to get their citizenship to be able to caucus," said Ramirez. In 2004, George Bush got a GOP-record 44 percent of the Latino vote by some exit poll estimates. But Democrats are optimistic that this year, the results will be different. Not only has the party been registering Latinos by the thousands to vote, but following the defeat of immigration reform in Congress by the GOP, many hispanics now see the Republican party as increasingly "anti-immigrant." Paul Taylor, a pollster at the Pew Hispanic Centre, explains, "What we found is that Latinos have a very low regard for the policies of the Bush administration...They feel that the Bush administration has been harmful rather than helpful to the Latino community. We also find on the issue of illegal immigration, Latinos believe the Republican party generally has done a very poor job." Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are actively courting the crucial Latino vote, even going door to door in heavily-populated areas. Last week, Obama got the endorsement of the Culinary Workers Union, the largest and most powerful labour organisation in the state and a potentially heavy source of influence among Hispanic voters, who make up a large portion of the casino, hotel and restaurant workers. Nine caucuses are scheduled to be held in casinos along the Vegas strip, which could serve to benefit Obama. Steven Horsford, who runs a training academy for culinary and service workers in Nevada, said the Latinos he works with feel that Obama is their best chance for positive change. "He's a new fresh face, he wants to do things differently in Washington, and they really, I think in the end, believe that that's the way that they're going to have a greater say," said Horsford. But Clinton enjoys wide name recognition, and national polls suggest she is the favourite among Latinos across the country. Nevada voter Juan Molina said his support this Saturday will go to Hillary, because he believes she has the best chance to win. "Hillary Clinton, I think she has the chance to win and I hope she does," Molina said. The latest polls show Clinton and Obama in a neck-and-neck race. And analysts say, the results on Saturday night will likely boil down to voter turnout, and which campaign does a better job getting all its voters, including Latinos, out to the caucuses. Nevada Republicans also have caucuses scheduled for Saturday, but GOP candidates have generally stayed away from the diverse electorate and unfamiliar electoral landscape of the state. In fact, no major Republican has stepped foot in the state for two months.

<p><b>#NEWS: NV/35K workers across 18 casinos will strike on Nov 10 if deal isn't reached</b></p>\n<p>From CNN's Taylor Romine</p>\n<p>The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 will strike on November 10 at 5 am PT if a contract is not agreed to by then, they said in a news</p>\n<p> release Thursday. </p>\n<p>Thirty-five thousand workers would strike across 18 casino resorts on the Las Vegas strip if a 5-year contract is not reached, the release said. </p>\n<p>“A month ago, workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike and we have continued negotiating in good faith, but unfortunately companies haven’t made enough movement in negotiations," Ted</p>\n<p> Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union, said in a statement. "Their current proposal on the table is historic, but it’s not enough and workers deserve to have record contracts - especially after these giant corporations are enjoying</p>\n<p> their record profits."</p>\n<p>The unions are asking for better pay, a reduced workload and quotas and provision of safety protections, among other things, according to a</p>\n<p> previous news release.</p>\n<p><i>Previous CNN reporting here: </i>https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/27/business/las-vegas-culinary-and-bartenders-union-strike-vote/index.html</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--TEASE--</b></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--SUPERS</b>--</p>\n<p>File </p>\n<p><b>--VIDEO SHOWS</b>--</p>\n<p>Union members holding signs, police, union members being arrested</p>\n<p><b>--LEAD IN</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--VO SCRIPT</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--SOT</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--TAG</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--REPORTER PKG-AS FOLLOWS</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>-----END-----CNN.SCRIPT-----</b></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--KEYWORD TAGS--</b></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--MUSIC INFO---</b></p>\n<p></p>

IN VEGAS...IT'S ALWAYS WITH THE NEW...BUT WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE OLD?

<p><pi><b>This package/segment contains third party material. Unless otherwise noted, this material may only be used within this package/segment.</b></pi></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>Supers/Fonts: </b> Monday</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Las Vegas, NV</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>Story Location: </b> Las Vegas</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>State/Province: </b> Nevada</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>Shot Date: </b> 04/01/2024</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>URL: </b> https://www.fox5vegas.com/2024/04/01/former-tropicana-performers-gather-final-goodbye-historic-hotel/</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>Notes and Restrictions: </b> This package includes 3rd party material that needs to be cleared ONLY if you want to run the items as stand alones outside of the affiliate package. If your show or platform is interested please contact RACI directly.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>Newsource Notes: </b></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>Story Description: </b></p>\n<p>Elements:</p>\n<p>DONUT - sot comedian, vo exterior of hotel, sot visitors, vo of reporter talking to comedian, 3rd-party video of last show (source: Concrete), vo step and repeat from Tropicana and laugh factory, 3rd-party video and images of last show (source: Concrete), 3rd-party image of Thank you sign (source: Alex Gassaway) </p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Wire/StoryDescription:</p>\n<p>LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Its a weekend of reminiscing at the Tropicana before it closes for good on Tuesday after 67 years on the Las Vegas Strip.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>On Saturday, about 175 former performers from the Folies Bergere show at the Tropicana gathered at the historic hotel to say their final goodbyes.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Its going to be hard to say goodbye to the Tropicana, very much, said performer Denny Pezzin.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>I understand that they need to take it down, but all the memories that go with it... It makes me feel sad, said Rosemarie Caspary, a former Tropicana showgirl.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Many of these performers spent years, even decades dazzling on stage at the Tropicana until the Folies show was shut down just before its 50th birthday.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Station Notes/Scripts:</p>\n<p>GUESTS ARE GETTING THE FULL TROPICANA EXPERIENCE WHILE THEY STILL CAN...</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>CHECKING IN BEFORE THE FINAL CHECK-OUT ON TUESDAY, WHEN THE HISTORIC HOTEL CLOSES FOR GOOD.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((0401 TROPICANA LAST DAYS RAW EGR))</p>\n<p>((03:05-03:10))</p>\n<p>This is our first time in Vegas, so we were kind of excited that we could stay at a classic hotel before it closed.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>ONE OF THE HOTEL'S LAST GUESTS -- WAS THE COMEDIAN 'CONCRETE' FROM L-A, WHO HEADLINED THE LAUGH FACTORY'S FINAL SHOWS AT THE TROPICANA OVER THE WEEKEND -- BOTH SOLD OUT CROWDS.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((18:41-19:56))</p>\n<p>They knew that it was a special moment. They knew that it was a special night, and everyone who came was saying I came to see you, but I also wanted to be a part of history. You could just feel the vibe in the building, that it's coming to an end.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>CONCRETE SAYS HE FEELS LUCKY TO HAVE BEEN A PART OF THAT HISTORY AT THE TROPICANA, AND HE BROUGHT HIS FAMILY TO EXPERIENCE IT WITH HIM.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((17:02-17:09))</p>\n<p>I remember coming here as a kid, and we actually stayed in our car. We didn't have the money to be able to get into a hotel...</p>\n<p>((17:13-17:24))</p>\n<p>And now, to be invited here as a comedian and to be able to close out at one of the most legendary casinos in Las Vegas, it's been surreal, like a dream come true.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>THIS FAMILY FROM MINNESOTA ALSO STAYED AT THE TROPICANA SUNDAY NIGHT.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>THEY BOOKED THEIR ROOM BACK IN OCTOBER, BEFORE THE HOTEL'S CLOSING WAS ANNOUNCED.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((Joe Thiegs - tropicana hotel guest))</p>\n<p>((02:33-02:41))</p>\n<p>I think we paid $130 for the room, and when we checked in, we heard that rooms were much more expensive for these last couple of nights more recently.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>THE PRICES GUESTS HEARD WERE AS HIGH AS 500 TO 1500 DOLLARS, OR TRIPLE THE NORMAL RATE TO BOOK A LAST-MINUTE ROOM.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>BUT SOME SAY IT WAS WORTH IT TO EXPERIENCE ONE OF THE LAST NIGHTS OF THE TROPICANA'S 67-YEAR LEGACY ON THE LAS VEGAS STRIP.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--SUPERS</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--VIDEO SHOWS</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--VO SCRIPT</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--LEAD IN</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--SOT</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--TAG</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--REPORTER PKG-AS FOLLOWS</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>-----END-----CNN.SCRIPT-----</b></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--KEYWORD TAGS--</b></p>\n<p></p>

[Democratic Presidential Debate ON MSNBC P1] [LAS VEGAS, NV USA] FTG OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY) / PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SENATOR BARACK OBAMA (D-ILL) / PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FORMER SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES PARTICIPATE IN A DEBATE ON MSNBC JANUARY 15, 2008 SPEAKERS: SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, D-N.Y. FORMER SEN. JOHN EDWARDS, D-N.C. SEN. BARACK OBAMA, D-ILL. NATALIE MORALES, MODERATOR BRIAN WILLIAMS, MODERATOR TIM RUSSERT, MODERATOR [*] WILLIAMS: Before we get under way, we need to thank all of our hosts for this evening, in part so our candidates don't feel the need to. The Nevada Democratic Party. That includes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The African-American organization known as 100 Black Men of America. Also, our local Nevada partners in this: Impacto; the African- American Democratic Leadership Council; and, of course, the College of Southern Nevada. We have told the members of our vast studio audience here tonight that we cannot allow applause or any outbursts following the candidates' responses. We will open with a Q&A format, allowing for 90-second answers, lights will alert the candidates to the end of time; some 30-second answers; and then follow-ups at the moderator's discretion. Finally, for tonight's debate of the top three Democratic contenders, I am joined by my partner Tim Russert, our Washington bureau chief and of course moderator of "Meet the Press" on NBC; and Natalie Morales of "Today" on NBC, who will be handling some of the thousands of e-mail questions we've received over the past few days directed to the candidates. We thank you all for being here. And before we begin with the questioning, we have to mix a bit of breaking political news with the business of our debate tonight. At this hour, as we come on the air, we are prepared to report that NBC News is projecting that when all the votes are counted in tonight's Michigan primary, Mitt Romney is the projected winner of that contest. Again, in the Michigan primary tonight, a former Massachusetts governor, a son of the state of Michigan, Mitt Romney, will be the projected winner. WILLIAMS: That is according to an NBC News estimate. And now, we can begin with the questioning tonight. As we sit here, this, as many of you may know, is the Reverend Martin Luther King's birthday. Race was one of the issues we expected to discuss here tonight. Our sponsors expected it of us. No one, however, expected it to be quite so prominent in this race as it has been over the last 10 days. We needn't go back over all that has happened, except to say that this discussion, before it was over, involved Dr. King, President Johnson, even Sidney Poitier, several members of Congress, and a prominent African-American businessman supporting Senator Clinton, who made what seemed to be a reference to a party of Senator Obama's teenage past that the Senator himself has written about in his autobiography. The question to begin with here tonight, Senator Clinton, is: How did we get here? CLINTON: Well, I think what's most important is that Senator Obama and I agree completely that, you know, neither race nor gender should be a part of this campaign. CLINTON: It is Dr. King's birthday. The three of us are here in large measure because his dreams have been realized. John, who is, as we know, the son of a millworker and really has become an extraordinary success, as Senator Obama who has such an inspirational and profound story to tell America and the world; I, as a woman, who is also a beneficiary of the civil rights movement and the women's movement and the human rights movement, and the Democratic Party has always been in the forefront of that. So I very much appreciate what Senator Obama and I did yesterday, which is that we both have exuberance and sometimes uncontrollable supporters; that we need to get this campaign where it should be. We're all family in the Democratic Party. We are so different from the Republicans on all of these issues in every way that affects the future of the people that care so much about. So I think that it's appropriate on Dr. King's birthday, his actual birthday, to recognize that all of us are here as a result of what he did, all of the sacrifice, including giving his life, along with so many of the other icons that we honor. CLINTON: But I know that Senator Obama and I share a very strong commitment to making sure that this campaign is about us as individuals. WILLIAMS: Senator Obama, same question? OBAMA: Well, I think Hillary said it well. You know, we are, right now, I think, in a defining moment in our history. We've got a nation at war. Our planet is in peril. And the economy is putting an enormous strain on working families all across the country. Now, race has always been an issue in our politics and in this country. But one of the premises of my campaign and, I think, of the Democratic Party -- and I know that John and Hillary have always been committed to racial equality -- is that we can't solve these challenges unless we can come together as a people and we're not resorting to the same -- or falling into the same traps of division that we have in the past. OBAMA: I think our party has stood for that. Dr. King stood for that. I hope that my campaign has inspired that same sense, that there's much more that we hold in common than what separates us. And that is how I want to move this campaign forward and I hope that's how it moves forward. WILLIAMS: Senator Edwards, you waded into this topic tangentially yesterday. EDWARDS: Well, the only thing I would add is I had the perspective of living in the South, including a time when there was segregation in the South. And I feel an enormous personal responsibility to continue to move forward. Now, we've made great progress, but we're not finished with that progress. EDWARDS: And the struggles and sacrifice of Dr. King and many others who gave blood, sweat, tears, and in some cases, their lives to move America toward equality. And I saw it. I saw it when four young men walked into a Woolworth luncheon counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and sat down, had the courage and strength to do the right thing. And they literally stood up, stood up on behalf of African Americans, on behalf of southerners, on behalf of Americans helped move this country forward in a really serious way. And having seen the pain and the struggle and the sacrifice of so many up close -- because I lived with it. I lived with it in my years growing up -- I think we, all of us, have an enormous responsibility not to go back but to go forward. And I would just add, I think it goes far beyond the Democratic Party. This is about America and about creating real equality in America across the waterfront. WILLIAMS: Questioning continues with Tim Russert. RUSSERT: In terms of accountability, Senator Obama, Senator Clinton on Sunday told me that the Obama campaign had been pushing this storyline. And, true enough, your press secretary in South Carolina -- four pages of alleged comments made by the Clinton people about the issue of race. In hindsight, do you regret pushing this story? OBAMA: Well, not only in hindsight, but going forward. I think that, as Hillary said, our supporters, our staff get overzealous. They start saying things that I would not say. And it is my responsibility to make sure that we're setting a clear tone in our campaign, and I take that responsibility very seriously, which is why I spoke yesterday and sent a message in case people were not clear that what we want to do is make sure that we focus on the issues. Now, there are going to be significant issues that we debate, and some serious differences that we have. OBAMA: And I'm sure those will be on display today. What I am absolutely convinced of is that everybody here is committed to racial equality -- has been historically. And what I also expect is that I'm going to be judged as a candidate in terms of how I'm going to be improving the lives of the people in Nevada and the people all across the country, that they are going to ultimately be making judgments on can I deliver on good jobs at good wages; can I make sure that our home foreclosure crisis is adequately dealt with; are we going to be serious about retirement security; and are we going to have a foreign policy that makes us safe. If I'm communicating that message, then I expect to be judged on that basis. And if I'm not, then I expect to be criticized on that basis. That's the kind of campaign that we want to run and that we have run up until this point. RUSSERT: Do you believe this is a deliberate attempt to marginalize you as the black candidate? OBAMA: No. As I said, I think that if you've looked not just at this campaign, but at my history, my belief is that race is a factor in our society, but I think what happened in Iowa is a testimony to the fact that the American public is willing to judge people on the basis of who can best deliver the kinds of changes that they're so desperately looking for. OBAMA: And that's the kind of movement that we want to build all across the country, and that, I think, is the legacy of Dr. King that we need to build on. RUSSERT: In New Hampshire, your polling was much higher than the actual vote result. Do you believe, in the privacy of the voting booth, people used race as an issue? OBAMA: No. I think what happened was that Senator Clinton ran a good campaign up in New Hampshire. And, you know, I think that people recognize we've got some terrific candidates who are running vigorous campaigns. It's going to be close everywhere we go. It's close here in Nevada. It's going to be close in South Carolina. And, you know, at any given moment, people are going to be making judgments based on who they think is best speaking to them about the urgent problems that they're facing in this country. OBAMA: Now, the one thing I'm convinced about -- and this was true in Iowa and this was true in New Hampshire, as well -- is that change is going to happen because the American people determine that change is going to happen. And that's what I draw from Dr. King's legacy. You know, what happens in Washington is important. And we've got to have elected officials that are accountable and serious about moving forward on the goals of opportunity and upward mobility. But if we don't have an activated people, a unified people, black, white, Latino, Asian, who are all moving in the same direction, demanding that change happens, then Washington, special interests, lobbyists end up dominating the agenda. That's what I want to change. RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, in terms of accountability, you told me on Sunday morning, "Any time anyone has said anything that I thought was out of bounds, they're gone. I've gotten rid of them." RUSSERT: Shortly thereafter, that same afternoon, Robert Johnson, at your event, said, quote, "When Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood, that I won't say what he was doing, but he said it in his book," widely viewed as a reference to Senator Obama's book ,"Dreams From My Father" from 1995, where he talked about his drug use as a teenager. Will you now not allow Robert Johnson to participate in any of your campaign events because of that conduct? CLINTON: Well, Bob has put out a statement saying what he was trying to say and what he thought he had said. We accept him on his word on that. But, clearly, we want to send a very clear message to everybody that this campaign is too important for us to either get diverted or, frankly, get the message of what we want to do for our country subverted by any kind of statements or claims that are just not part of who I am or who Barack or John are. CLINTON: Because I think what's critical here is that the American people understand clearly what is at stake in this election. The stakes are really high, and there's an urgent need for leadership on a range of issues, you know, some of which are now becoming right here in front of us about whether or not people are going to be able to keep their homes in Nevada, whether they're going to have jobs. You know, I went door to door in Las Vegas last week and, you know, I've met construction workers who've been laid off. I met a casino employee who's already been laid off. So what people talk to me about is not what somebody they never heard of said, but what we say, what we're for, what we're standing for, and what we're going to be pushing for. So I accept what he said, but I think what's important is what I say and what each of us says about the kind of president we intend to be and how we're going to get there. RUSSERT: Were his comments out of bounds? CLINTON: Yes, they were. CLINTON: And he has said that. WILLIAMS: We're going to continue the questioning now with Natalie Morales. MORALES: Thank you, Brian. And this is a question for Senator Edwards. It comes to us from Margaret Wells from San Diego, California. Senator, she's asking, "The policy differences among the remaining candidates is so slight that we appear to be choosing on the basis of personality and life story. That being said, why should I, as a progressive woman, not resent being forced to choose between the first viable female candidate and the first viable African American candidate?" EDWARDS: Well, I think that the decision for every voters in this election should revolve around first whether you believe America needs change. If you do, who you think will be most effective in bringing about that change. We have different perspectives on that. I think the system in Washington is broken. I don't think it works. And I think the American people, middle-class Americans, are struggling and suffering. They can't pay for their health care. They're losing their jobs. They can't pay for their kids to go to college. This is a very personal thing for me. EDWARDS: Hillary mentioned a minute ago that I grew up in a family of millworkers. I was the first person in my family to actually be able to go to college. And so this battle for real opportunity for everybody, the kind of chances I've had in my own life, is central to everything I do. It is central to this campaign. It is a personal, personal fight for me. And I think the decision that voters make about who can best fight for the middle class, who will never give up on the fight for universal health care, who will actually stand up strongly and affirmedly to -- for the right to organize, for unions to be able to organize in the workplace. These things are not academic for me; they are my life. I believe in them to my soul and I will fight with every fiber of my being to make sure that everybody gets that kind of opportunity, and I think there are some differences on policy and perspective between the three of us, and I hope we get a chance to talk more about that tonight. MORALES: Senator Edwards, as a follow-up to Margaret Wells' question, what is a white male to do running against these historic candidacies? (LAUGHTER) EDWARDS: You know, I have to say on behalf of my party, and I've said this many times, I'm proud of the fact that we have a woman and an African American who are very, very serious candidates for the presidency. They've both asked not to be considered on their gender or their race. I respect that. I do believe, however, that it says really good things about America. I think I actually believe that both through these primaries and caucuses and in the general election, that the American people are going to make decisions based on who we are, what we stand for, and what we're fighting for. WILLIAMS: Question for Senator Obama. You won the women's vote in Iowa, but Senator Clinton won the women's vote in New Hampshire, and there probably isn't an American alive today who hasn't heard the post-game analysis of New Hampshire, all the reasons the analysts give for Senator Clinton's victory. Senator Clinton had a moment where she became briefly emotional at a campaign appearance. WILLIAMS: But another given was at the last televised debate, when you, in a comment directed to Senator Clinton, looked down and said, "You're likable enough, Hillary." That caused Frank Rich to write, on the op-ed page of the New York Times, that it was "your most inhuman moment, to date." And it clearly was a factor and added up. Senator Obama, do you regret the comment, and comments like that, today? OBAMA: Well, I absolutely regret it because that wasn't how it was intended. I mean, folks were giving Hillary a hard time about likability. And my intention was to say, "I think you're plenty likable." (LAUGHTER) And it did not come out the way it was supposed to. But, you know, I do think that, during the course of that debate, there was a tendency to parse out what is, I think, not an issue. I think all three of these candidates are good, capable people. And what we really should be focusing on is who's got a vision for how we're going to move the country forward? And I believe that, right now, the only way we're going to move the country forward is if we can bring the country together, not just Democrats but independents, Republicans who have also lost trust in government, and we are able to push aside the special interests and the lobbyists, and we are truthful with the American people and enlisting them in changing how our health care system works, how our economy works, what our tax code looks like. OBAMA: And that is going to be an issue that, I think, all of us are going to have to struggle with over the coming days. It's not going to be an issue of, you know, who's got the nicest smile or, you know, who's going to be fun to have a beer with. It's going to be, who can provide the leadership that makes sure the country is moving forward through what I anticipate are going to be some difficult times, and who is going to be able to transform how Washington works in a fundamental way. WILLIAMS: And one more question about that last televised debate, Senator Edwards. Afterwards, Senator Clinton said it was as if you and Senator Obama had formed a buddy system against her. Senator Clinton put out an Internet ad that was entitled "Piling On." Looking back on it, the campaign for New Hampshire in total, do you admit that it might have looked that way? EDWARDS: Might have looked that way or actually was that way? I don't think it was that way. I mean, my job as a candidate for president of the United States is to speak the truth as I see it. I've spoken the truth, I will continue to speak the truth whatever the consequences are and whatever the perception that people have is. I do believe that I am a candidate for president who is fighting for change, who believes that we have entrenched, moneyed interests in this country that are preventing the middle class from having a real chance. And it's drug companies, insurance companies, oil companies. There are lobbyists. Barack spoke about them just a few minutes ago. It's why I've never, the whole time I've been in public life, taken a dime from Washington lobbyist or special interest PAC, because I do believe those people stand between America and the change that it so desperately needs, in real ways. EDWARDS: They're the reason we don't have universal health care. They're the reason we have a trade policy that's cost America millions of jobs. They're the reason we have an insane tax policy that actually gives tax breaks to American companies sending jobs overseas. The promise of America that I and millions of others have lived -- and then we are in Nevada tonight, a place that people come to in the thousands every day to find the promise of America because they believe in it. It is central to everything we are as a nation. And I do believe that promise is being jeopardized by very well-financed monied interests. I believe that's the truth, and I'm going to keep saying it. WILLIAMS: Tim? RUSSERT: Senator Clinton... PROTESTER: Will you stop all these race-based questions? These are race-based questions... RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, your husband said that Senator Obama very well could be the nominee -- he could win. With that in mind, when you say that Senator Obama is raising false hopes, and you refuse to say whether he's ready to be president, what are the consequences of those comments in the fall against the Republicans? CLINTON: Well, Tim, we're in a hard-fought primary season. I think each of us recognize that. You know, we're the survivors of what has been a yearlong campaign. But I certainly have the highest regard for both Senator Obama and Senator Edwards. I've worked with them. I have, you know, supported them in their previous runs for office. There's no doubt that when we have a nominee, we're going to have a totally unified Democratic Party. The issue for the voters here in Nevada, South Carolina and then all of the states to come is, who is ready on day one to walk into that Oval office, knowing the problems that are going to be there waiting for our next president: a war to end in Iraq, a war to resolve in Afghanistan, an economy that I believe is slipping toward a recession, with the results already being felt here in Nevada with the highest home foreclosure rate in the entire country, 47 million Americans uninsured, an energy policy that is totally wrong for America, for our future? CLINTON: President Bush is over in the Gulf now begging the Saudis and others to drop the price of oil. How pathetic. We should have an energy policy right now putting people to work in green collar jobs as a way to stave off the recession, moving us towards energy independence. All of that and more is waiting for our next president. You know, obviously each of us believes that we are the person who should walk into the oval office on January 20th, 2009. I'm presenting my experience, my qualifications, my ideas, my vision for America. CLINTON: And it's routed in the voices that I hear, that I've heard for 35 years, of people who want a better life for themselves and their children. And I'm going to keep putting forward what I have done and what I will do. And this is what this election, I think, is really about. RUSSERT: You may think you are the best prepared, but would you acknowledge that Senator Obama and Senator Edwards are both prepared to be president? CLINTON: Well, I think that that's up to the voters to decide. I think that's something that voters have to make a decision about on all of us. They have to look at each and every one of us and imagine us in the Oval Office, imagine us as commander in chief, imagine us making tough decisions about everything we know we're going to have to deal with, and then all of the unpredictable events that come through the door of the White House and land on the desk of the president. RUSSERT: Senator Obama, you gave an interview to the Reno Gazette-Journal and you said, "We all have strengths and weaknesses." WILLIAMS: You said one of your weaknesses is, quote, "I'm not an operating officer." Do the American people want someone in the Oval Office who is an operating officer? OBAMA: Well, I think what I was describing was how I view the presidency. Now, being president is not making sure that schedules are being run properly or the paperwork is being shuffled effectively. It involves having a vision for where the country needs to go. It involves having the capacity to bring together the best people and being able to spark the kind of debate about how we're going to solve health care; how we're going to solve energy; how we are going to deliver good jobs and good wages; how we're going to keep people in their homes, here in Nevada; and then being able to mobilize and inspire the American people to get behind that agenda for change. That's the kind of leadership that I've shown in the past. OBAMA: That's the kind of leadership that I intend to show as president of the United States. So, what's needed is sound judgment, a vision for the future, the capacity to tap into the hopes and dreams of the American people and mobilize them to push aside those special interests and lobbyists and forces that are standing in the way of real change, and making sure that you have a government that reflects the decency and the generosity of the American people. That's the kind of leadership that I believe I can provide. RUSSERT: You said each of you have strengths and weaknesses. I want to ask each of you quickly, your greatest strength, your greatest weakness. OBAMA: My greatest strength, I think is the ability to bring people together from different perspectives to get them to recognize what they have in common and to move people in a different direction. And as I indicated before, my greatest weakness, I think, is when it comes to -- I'll give you a very good example. OBAMA: I ask my staff member to hand me paper until two seconds before I need it because I will lose it. You know, the --- you know... (LAUGHTER) And my desk and my office doesn't look good. I've got to have somebody around me who is keeping track of that stuff. And that's not trivial; I need to have good people in place who can make sure that systems run. That's what I've always done, and that's why we run not only a good campaign, but a good U.S. Senate office. RUSSERT: Senator Edwards, greatest strength, greatest weakness? EDWARDS: I think my greatest strength is that for 54 years, I've been fighting with every fiber of my being. In the beginning, the fight was for me. Growing up in mill towns and mill villages, I had to literally fight to survive. But then I spent 20 years in courtrooms fighting for children and families against really powerful well-financed interests. I learned from that experience, by the way, that if you're tough enough and you're strong enough and you got the guts and you're smart enough, you can win. That's a fight that can be won. It can be won in Washington, too, by the way. And I've continued that entire fight my entire time in public life. EDWARDS: So I've got what it takes inside to fight on behalf of the American people and on behalf of the middle class. I think weakness, I sometimes have a very powerful emotional response to pain that I see around me, when I see a man like Donnie Ingram (ph), who I met a few months ago in South Carolina, who worked for 33 years in the mill, reminded me very much of the kind of people that I grew up with, who's about to lose his job, has no idea where he's going to go, what he's going to do. I mean, his dignity and self-respect is at issue. And I feel that in a really personal way and in a very emotional way. And I think sometimes that can undermine what you need to do. RUSSERT: Senator Clinton? CLINTON: Well, I am passionately committed to this country and what it stands for. I'm a product of the changes that have already occurred, and I want to be an instrument for making those changes alive and real in the lives of Americans, particularly children. CLINTON: That's what I've done for 35 years. It is really my life's work. It is something that comes out of my own experience, both in my family and in my church that, you know, I've been blessed. I think to whom much is given, much is expected. So I have tried to create opportunities, both on an individual basis, intervening to help people who have no where else to turn, to be their champion. And then to make those changes. And I think I can deliver change. I think I understand how to make it possible for more people to live up to their God-given potential. I get impatient. I get, you know, really frustrated when people don't seem to understand that we can do so much more to help each other. Sometimes I come across that way. I admit that. I get very concerned about, you know, pushing further and faster than perhaps people are ready to go. But I think that, you know, there is a difference here. I do think that being president is the chief executive officer. I respect what Barack said about setting the vision, setting the tone, bringing people together. But I think you have to be able to manage and run the bureaucracy. CLINTON: You've got to pick good people, certainly, but you have to hold them accountable every single day. We've seen the results of a president who, frankly, failed at that. You know, he went in to office saying he was going to have the kind of Harvard Business School CEO model where he'd set the tone, he'd set the goals and then everybody else would have to implement it. And we saw the failures. We saw the failures along the Gulf Coast with, you know, people who were totally incompetent and insensitive failing to help our fellow Americans. We've seen the failures with holding the administration accountable with the no-bid contracts and the cronyism. So I do think you have to do both. It's a really hard job, and in America we put the head of state and the head of government together in one person. CLINTON: But I think you've got to set the tone, you've got to set the vision, you've got to set the goals, you've got to bring the country together. And then you do have to manage and operate and hold that bureaucracy accountable to get the results you're trying to achieve. RUSSERT: Senator Obama, Senator Clinton invoked your name. I'll give you a chance to respond. OBAMA: Well, there's no doubt that you've got to be a good manager. And that's not what I was arguing. The point, in terms of bringing together a team, is that you get the best people and you're able to execute and hold them accountable. But I think that there's something, if we're going to evaluate George Bush and his failures as president, that I think are much more important. He was very efficient. He was on time all the time, and you know, and had... (LAUGHTER) OBAMA: You know, I'm sure he never lost a paper. I'm sure he knows where it is. What he could not do is to listen to perspectives that didn't agree with his ideological predispositions. What he could not do is to bring in different people with different perspectives and get them to work together. OBAMA: What he could not do is to manage the effort to make sure that the American people understood that, if we're going to go into war, that there are going to be consequences and there are going to be costs. And we have to be able to communicate what those costs are; and to make absolutely certain that, if we're going to make a decision to send our young men and women into harm's way, that it's based on the best intelligence and that we've asked tough questions before we went into fight. I mean, those are the kinds of failures that have to do with judgment. They have to do with vision, the capacity to inspire people. They don't have to do with whether or not he was managing the bureaucracy properly. That's not to deny that there has to be strong management skills in the presidency. It is to say that what has been missing is the ability to bring people together, to mobilize the country, to move us in a better direction, and to be straight with the American people. OBAMA: That's how you get the American people involved. WILLIAMS: Time for the rebuttal has expired. Senator Obama, a fresh question here. It may not come as news to you that there's a lot of false information about you circulating on the Internet. We received one e-mail, in particular -- usually once several weeks; we've received three of them this week. This particular one alleges, among other things, that you are trying to hide the fact that you're a Muslim, that you took the oath of office on the Koran and not the Bible... (LAUGHTER) ... that you will not pledge allegiance to the flag or generally respect it. How do you -- how does your campaign go on about combating this kind of thing? OBAMA: Well, look, first of all, let's make clear what the facts are: I am a Christian. I have been sworn in with a Bible. WILLIAMS: I figured. OBAMA: I pledge allegiance and lead the pledge of allegiance sometimes in the United States Senate when I'm presiding. I haven't been there lately because I've been in Iowa and New Hampshire. (LAUGHTER) OBAMA: But you know, look, in the Internet age, there are going to be lives that are spread all over the place. I have been victimized by these lies. Fortunately, the American people are I think smarter than folks give them credit for. You know, it's a testimony -- these e-mails were going out in Iowa. They were going out in New Hampshire. And we did just fine. If we didn't do well, for example, in New Hampshire, it wasn't because of these e-mails. It was because we didn't do what we needed to do in our campaign. So my job is to tell the truth, to be straight with the American people about how I intend to end climate change, what I'm going to do with respect to providing health care for every American, how we're going to provide tax relief to hard-working Americans who are really feeling the pinch, and to present my vision for where the country needs to go. If I'm doing that effectively, then I place my trust in the American people that they will sort out the lies from the truth, and they will make a good decision. WILLIAMS: Senator Obama, thank you. At this point, we are going to take the first of exactly three breaks in the two-hour broadcast tonight. On the other side of this break, among the topics we will take on the economy, when we continue from Las Vegas after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) WILLIAMS: We are back live in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the three top candidates for the Democratic nomination for president. Brian Williams with Tim Russert, Natalie Morales. WILLIAMS: We're going to continue the questioning here on the topic of the economy. And then, within this portion of the broadcast, we're going to try something new for this series, and that is, the candidates will have two questions each to ask of their fellow candidates. So while they think about that, we will start off with the economy and a question for you, Senator Clinton. This evening on NBC Nightly News, our lead story was about the fact that Citigroup and Merrill Lynch have both "gone overseas," as some put it, hat in hand, looking for $20 billion in investment to stay afloat from, among other things, the government of Singapore, Korea, Japan, and the Saudi Prince Alwaleed, the man -- Rudolph Giuliani turned his money back after 9/11. This is -- strikes a lot of Americans as just plain wrong. WILLIAMS: At the end of our report we said this may end up in Congress. What can be done? And does it strike you as fundamentally wrong, that much foreign ownership of these American flagship brands? CLINTON: Brian, I'm very concerned about this. You know, about a month and a half or so ago I raised this concern, because these are called sovereign wealth funds. They are huge pools of money, largely because of oil and economic growth in Asia. And these funds are controlled often by governmental entities or individuals who are closely connected to the governments in these countries. I think we've got to know more about them. They need to be more transparent. We need to have a lot more control over what they do and how they do it. I'd like to see the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund begin to impose these rules, and I want the United States Congress and the Federal Reserve Board to ask these tough questions. But let's look at how we got here. CLINTON: We got here because, as I said on Wall Street on December 5th, a lot of our big financial institutions, you know, made these bets on these subprime mortgages. They helped to create this meltdown that is happening, that is costing millions of people who live in homes that are being foreclosed on or could be in the very near future because the interest rates are going up. And what they did was to take all these subprime mortgages and conventional mortgages, bundle them up and sell them overseas to big investors. So, we're getting the worst of both worlds. We can't figure out, under this administration, what we should do. I have a plan: a moratorium on foreclosures for 90 days, freezing interest rates for five years, which I think we should do immediately. The administration is doing very little. And what we now see is our financial institutions having to go hat in hand to borrow money from these foreign funds. I'm very concerned about it. CLINTON: I'd like to see us move much more aggressively, both to deal with the immediate problem with the mortgages and to deal with these sovereign wealth funds. WILLIAMS: Senator Edwards, I neglected to point out that one of the companies keeping these giant American banks afloat is Kuwait, a nation, an economy arguably afloat itself today, as you know, thanks to the blood, sweat and tears of American soldiers. What would you do as a remedy? EDWARDS: Well, the things that Senator Clinton just spoke about are correct. We need more transparency. We need to know what's actually happening. But the fundamental problem is what's happening at the core of the American economy. What's happening to the economy in America, if you look at it from distance, is we have economic growth in America -- we still do -- but almost the entirety of that economic growth is with the very wealthiest Americans and the biggest multinational corporations. You ask any middle class family in America and they will tell you they do not feel financially secure. They are worried about their job. They are worried paying for health care. They're worried about having to send their kids to college. They're worried about, in so many cases, here in Nevada particularly, worried about their home being foreclosed on. EDWARDS: I spoke a few minutes ago about thousands of people coming to Nevada everyday to try to find the promise of America, to try to find a good job, a good home to meet the great moral test that all of us have as Americans, which is to make certain that our children have a better life than we had. This is the great challenge that we're facing in this election. We talked about other historic moments. It is an historic moment for America in this election. Are we going to do what our parents and our grandparents did, who worked and struggled and suffered to ensure that we would have a better life? They have now passed that torch to us and it is our responsibility, and it will be my responsibility as president to ensure that our children and our grandchildren have a better life than we had. WILLIAMS: Tim? Oh, Senator Obama, a rebuttal. OBAMA: Well, not a rebuttal. I just want to pick up on a couple of things that have been said. Number one, part of the reason that Kuwait and others are able to come in and purchase, or at least bail out, some of our financial institutions is because we don't have an energy policy. OBAMA: And we are sending close to $1 billion a day. And this administration has consistently failed to put forward a realistic plan that is going to reduce our dependence on foreign oil; is going to invest in solar and wind and biodiesel. You look at a state like Nevada; one thing I know is folks have got a lot of sun here. (LAUGHTER) And yet we have not seen any serious effort, on the part of this administration, to spur on the use of alternative fuels, raise fuel efficiency standards on cars. That would make a substantial difference in our balance of payments and that would make a substantial difference in terms of their capacity to purchase our assets. And the second thing, I just want to point out, is that the subprime lending mess -- part of the reason it happened was because we had an administration that does not believe in any kind of oversight. And we had the mortgage industry spending $185 million lobbying to prevent provisions such as the ones that I've proposed over a year ago that would say, you know, you've got to disclose properly what kinds of loans you're giving to people on mortgages. OBAMA: You've got to disclose if you've got a teaser rate and suddenly their mortgage payments are going to jack up and they can't pay for them. And one of the things that I intend to do as president of the United States is restore a sense of accountability and regulatory oversight over the financial markets. We have the best financial markets in the world, but only if they are transparent and accountable and people trust them. And, increasingly, we have not had those structures in place. WILLIAMS: Time is up, Senator. RUSSERT: Senator Edwards, poor folks, middle class folks really feeling the pinch. EDWARDS: Yes. RUSSERT: Bankruptcies are up 40 percent in one year, 5 percent of credit card debts are now delinquent. In 2001, you voted for a bankruptcy bill which was the precursor to the 2005 bankruptcy bill that become law, which made it much tougher for middle class folks, particularly women, when they became bankrupt. RUSSERT: Do you regret that vote? EDWARDS: I absolutely do. I should not have voted for that bankruptcy law. If you look at what's happening in America today, the bankruptcies that are occurring, about half of them are the result of medical costs. And the idea that any single mom who has a child who gets catastrophically sick and incurs $30,000 of medical cost has to go into bankruptcy as a result, and can't be relieved of that debt, makes absolutely no sense. And it's not fair and it's not right. And I spoke just a few minutes ago about the great struggles that the middle class are faced with in this country, and you hear it every single day. Because what's happening in America is jobs are leaving, cost of everything is going up -- health care, college tuition, everything -- and, on top of that, middle class incomes are not going up. EDWARDS: The incomes at the very top are going up. Profits of big corporations are going up. But the incomes of middle class families are not going up. So the question is, what do we do about it? Besides having somebody who truly understands in a personal way what's happening, what would the president of the United States do? There are a bunch of things we need to do. We desperately need truly universal health care that covers every single American and dramatically reduces health care costs. We do need, as Barack spoke about just a few minutes ago, a radical transformation of the way we produce and use energy. We can create at least a million new jobs in that transition. We need a national law cracking down on predatory and payday lenders that are taking advantage of our most vulnerable families. We ought to raise -- the national minimum wage is going up to $7.25 an hour. That's fine. It's not enough. The national minimum wage should be at least nine and a half dollars an hour. It ought to be indexed to go up on its own. We need to make it easier for kids to go to college. My proposal is that we say to any young person in America who's willing to work when they're in college, at least 10 hours a week, we'll pay for their tuition and books at a state university or community college. EDWARDS: And that can be paid for by getting rid of big banks as the intermediary in student loans. They make $4 billion or $5 billion a year. That money ought to be going to sending kids to college. RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, you voted for the same 2001 bankruptcy bill that Senator Edwards just said he was wrong about. After you did that, the Consumer Federation of America said that your reversal on that bill, voting for it, was the death knell for the opponents of the bill. Do you regret that vote? CLINTON: Sure I do, but it never became law, as you know. It got tied up. It was a bill that had some things I agreed with and other things I didn't agree with, and I was happy that it never became law. I opposed the 2005 bill as well. But let's talk about where we are now with bankruptcy. We need urgently to have bankruptcy reform in order to get the kind of options available for homeowners. In addition to what I want to do, which is the moratorium on foreclosures for 90 days to see what we can do to work them out, and freezing interest rates for five years, and making the mortgage industry more transparent so we actually know what they're doing. CLINTON: I mean, look what happened with Countrywide. You know, Countrywide gets bought and the CEO, who was one of the architects of this whole subprime mess, is set off with $100 million -- $100 million in severance pay. You know, the priorities and the values are absolutely wrong. So, what we've got to do is move urgently. In addition to what I proposed, I think we've got to reform the bankruptcy law right now, going forward, so that people who are caught in these subprime and now increasingly conventional loans that they can't pay because of the way the interest rates are going up and many of the fraudulent and predatory practices that got people into them in the first place will have the option of getting relieved of this debt. So there's a lot we need to do right now. And, you know, I want to just add that the groups that sponsored this are primarily black and brown groups that care deeply about these issues. Everything we're talking about falls disproportionately on African Americans, on Hispanics, on a lot of Asian Americans. CLINTON: Here in Nevada, the African-American and Hispanic communities are really the ones that are most victimized by these sub- prime mortgages. They're the ones who are often the first to be let go when the economy begins to slide. You know, in and out of the homes that I have visited, and here in Las Vegas, those are the stories that I am hearing. So we need to move urgently. We have a lot of big agenda items that I agree with John on: universal health care, college affordability. But we can't wait. We're going to lose another, you know, million Americans in home foreclosures. We're going to see a deteriorating community across America because homes will be left vacant. The housing market is down. Nobody will buy those homes. Housing wealth, which the principle source of American middle class wealth, is now decreasing. So I have a real sense of urgency. CLINTON: We need to be acting now. And I know that the Democratic Congress, under Senator Harry Reid and Speaker Pelosi, are going to do everything they can to address this. RUSSERT: Senator Obama, the 2001 bankruptcy bill; the 2005 bankruptcy bill? OBAMA: I opposed them both. I think they were a bad ideas. Because they were pushed by the credit card companies. They were pushed by the mortgage companies. And they put the interests of those banks and financial institutions ahead of the interests of the American people. And this is typical. Now, Hillary's exactly right that we've got to modify some of the fraudulent practices, predatory lending practices. I put in a bill, a year and a half ago, to make that happen. Because it does affect communities, including my own, on the south side of Chicago. But, unless we are able to rid the influence of special-interest lobbies in Washington, we're going to continue to see bad legislation like that. And that's why we're going to have to change how politics is done in Washington. Now, we have an immediate problem. I met with a number of folks up in Reno, just two days ago, who are already seeing their homes being foreclosed upon. One of the things that we have to do is we have to release people who are in bankruptcy as a consequence of health care; we've got to give them a break. OBAMA: One woman who I was with, her husband is a police officer. He contracted cancer, went through chemotherapy, ends up being hit by a car while in the line of duty, and they fall three, four months behind on their health care payments, and that's it, they can't make the payments on their house. We've got to provide them some relief. I've put forward a $10 billion housing fund that can help bridge people who have been responsible in making their payments. They're not speculators, they're not trying to flip properties. They're in their own homes. We've got to make sure that they can get the kinds of help that they need to stay in their homes and make the payments and live out the American dream that is so important to so many people. WILLIAMS: Time is up, Senator. We're going to get some more e-mail questions from Natalie Morales. MORALES: All right. And this one is directed to Senator Obama. MORALES: It comes from a resident of Miami, Florida: "As a middle class retiree whose primary source of income is dividends, capital gains from stock investments, what if any safeguards would you put in place to protect us from your proposed reversal of the Bush tax cuts on these investment vehicles?" OBAMA: Well, what I would do is I would exempt middle income folks, potentially, from increases in capital gains and dividends. But what I have insisted upon is that we make our tax code fair. And if for example, my friend and Hillary's friend, Warren Buffett, makes $46 million last year, and he is paying a lower rate on -- a lower tax rate than his secretary, there is something fundamentally unjust about that. Yeah. And I think, you know, he acknowledges it. And by the way, he has offered $1 million to any CEO of a Fortune 500 company who can prove that they pay a higher tax rate than their secretary. OBAMA: Now, nobody has taken them up on the offer, by the way. So part of the reason is because he primarily gets his income from dividends and capital gains, and he's taxed at a lower rate. That has to change, and that's part of a broader shift that I'm proposing in our tax rates. We were talking earlier about lower and middle income people really getting squeezed. I've said we need to provide tax relief to them. If you're making less than $75,000 a year, we are proposing that we offset the payroll tax to give you relief, $1,000 for the average family. That if you're a senior citizen who is making less than $50,000 a year, or getting less than $50,000 in Social Security benefits, then you shouldn't have to pay taxes on that Social Security income. Homeowners who do not itemize their deductions, we want to give you a mortgage deduction credit, and we're going to pay for that by closing loopholes, closing tax havens, and yes, rolling back some of these breaks that have gone disproportionately to the wealthiest Americans. OBAMA: That will help the economy grow, because part of the reason we've got a bubble financially -- first in the Internet sphere and then in the real estate market -- is because of what John referred to earlier. You've got all this money going to the top 1 percent, and they're looking for ways to park the money. We need the money in the hands of hard-working Americans who deserve it. They will know how to spend it, and they will actually help spur business growth across the country. WILLIAMS: Time is up, Senator. One more question from Natalie. MORALES: And this one is for Senator Clinton, and you spoke already about foreclosure rates. So on that subject -- this was coming from Christian Denny from Henderson, Nevada: "Senator Clinton, recently, while visiting Las Vegas, you mentioned your plan to freeze interest rates to help prevent foreclosures. Are you aware of any long-term effects on the housing market and our economy that this may cause?" CLINTON: Well, Natalie, I think that the question really goes to the heart of what we're trying to do here. We have short-term, medium-term and long-term goals when it comes to our economy. You know, the Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates in order to spur the economy. CLINTON: But because of a lot of the way these mortgages were structured, the interest rates are going to keep going up. And a lot of people who can pay what they're paying now will not be able to pay what they're expected to pay next month or the month after that. So freezing the interest rates is not only a way of being able to stabilize the housing market, but it also is in line with what the Fed is doing on monetary policy. In other words, you can't be cutting interest rates in one part of the economy and letting them go through the roof in the other part and expect to be able to stimulate the kind of economic growth that we need to have right now. I have other pieces of my economic action plan. In addition to dealing with the home foreclosure issue on the moratorium and the rate freeze, I'd like to have a fund of about $30 billion that communities and states could go to work in order to prevent foreclosures and the consequences of foreclosures. When I was talking about this issue last week here in Las Vegas, somebody from the mayor's office said they're starting to see a slowdown in property tax receipts. CLINTON: That means police services and other services start to deteriorate. That compounds the problem. I want to see money in the pocket's of people who are having trouble paying their energy bills. That stimulates the economy. I want to make sure the unemployment compensation system is there for people as they begin to get laid off, which is happening here in Las Vegas and around the country. And then, finally, I want to have about $5 billion put to work right now to employ people in green-collar jobs like I saw when I was in L.A. last week with electrical workers being trained to put in solar panels. And then, if we need additional stimulation, we should look at tax rebates for middle class and working families, not for the wealthy who've already done very well under George Bush. WILLIAMS: Two bits of housekeeping at this point. I've been asked to remind our candidates that we have a system of lights that they can plainly see. WILLIAMS: The yellow one starts flashing... (LAUGHTER) The yellow one starts flashing when they're starting to run out of time... (LAUGHTER) ... and the red one starts flashing when they are out of time. And another reminder that only seven feet separates us from the candidates. (LAUGHTER) Now to that segment we promised earlier. We asked the candidates and their campaigns to come here tonight prepared with two questions, one for each of their opposition candidates. It's not our intention that these be novelty or, at all, throwaway questions but that they be real questions. And we should know, right away, here, whether this was a good or a very bad idea. (LAUGHTER) Senator Edwards, I would like to start with you. A question for Senator Obama and a question for Senator Clinton? EDWARDS: I get to do both, to begin with? WILLIAMS: Sure. (LAUGHTER) EDWARDS: OK. Well, let me start this question. This is about campaign finances. And let me start it by saying the obvious, which is, all three of us have raised a great deal of money in this campaign. EDWARDS: And so this is not preachy or holier than thou in any possible way. What we know is that all three of us want to do something about health care in this country. And we also know that until recently, Senator Clinton had raised more money from drug companies and insurance companies than any candidate, Democrat or Republican.

[Democratic Presidential Debate ON MSNBC P1] [LAS VEGAS, NV USA] FTG OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY) / PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SENATOR BARACK OBAMA (D-ILL) / PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FORMER SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES PARTICIPATE IN A DEBATE ON MSNBC JANUARY 15, 2008 SPEAKERS: SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, D-N.Y. FORMER SEN. JOHN EDWARDS, D-N.C. SEN. BARACK OBAMA, D-ILL. NATALIE MORALES, MODERATOR BRIAN WILLIAMS, MODERATOR TIM RUSSERT, MODERATOR [*] WILLIAMS: Before we get under way, we need to thank all of our hosts for this evening, in part so our candidates don't feel the need to. The Nevada Democratic Party. That includes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The African-American organization known as 100 Black Men of America. Also, our local Nevada partners in this: Impacto; the African- American Democratic Leadership Council; and, of course, the College of Southern Nevada. We have told the members of our vast studio audience here tonight that we cannot allow applause or any outbursts following the candidates' responses. We will open with a Q&A format, allowing for 90-second answers, lights will alert the candidates to the end of time; some 30-second answers; and then follow-ups at the moderator's discretion. Finally, for tonight's debate of the top three Democratic contenders, I am joined by my partner Tim Russert, our Washington bureau chief and of course moderator of "Meet the Press" on NBC; and Natalie Morales of "Today" on NBC, who will be handling some of the thousands of e-mail questions we've received over the past few days directed to the candidates. We thank you all for being here. And before we begin with the questioning, we have to mix a bit of breaking political news with the business of our debate tonight. At this hour, as we come on the air, we are prepared to report that NBC News is projecting that when all the votes are counted in tonight's Michigan primary, Mitt Romney is the projected winner of that contest. Again, in the Michigan primary tonight, a former Massachusetts governor, a son of the state of Michigan, Mitt Romney, will be the projected winner. WILLIAMS: That is according to an NBC News estimate. And now, we can begin with the questioning tonight. As we sit here, this, as many of you may know, is the Reverend Martin Luther King's birthday. Race was one of the issues we expected to discuss here tonight. Our sponsors expected it of us. No one, however, expected it to be quite so prominent in this race as it has been over the last 10 days. We needn't go back over all that has happened, except to say that this discussion, before it was over, involved Dr. King, President Johnson, even Sidney Poitier, several members of Congress, and a prominent African-American businessman supporting Senator Clinton, who made what seemed to be a reference to a party of Senator Obama's teenage past that the Senator himself has written about in his autobiography. The question to begin with here tonight, Senator Clinton, is: How did we get here? CLINTON: Well, I think what's most important is that Senator Obama and I agree completely that, you know, neither race nor gender should be a part of this campaign. CLINTON: It is Dr. King's birthday. The three of us are here in large measure because his dreams have been realized. John, who is, as we know, the son of a millworker and really has become an extraordinary success, as Senator Obama who has such an inspirational and profound story to tell America and the world; I, as a woman, who is also a beneficiary of the civil rights movement and the women's movement and the human rights movement, and the Democratic Party has always been in the forefront of that. So I very much appreciate what Senator Obama and I did yesterday, which is that we both have exuberance and sometimes uncontrollable supporters; that we need to get this campaign where it should be. We're all family in the Democratic Party. We are so different from the Republicans on all of these issues in every way that affects the future of the people that care so much about. So I think that it's appropriate on Dr. King's birthday, his actual birthday, to recognize that all of us are here as a result of what he did, all of the sacrifice, including giving his life, along with so many of the other icons that we honor. CLINTON: But I know that Senator Obama and I share a very strong commitment to making sure that this campaign is about us as individuals. WILLIAMS: Senator Obama, same question? OBAMA: Well, I think Hillary said it well. You know, we are, right now, I think, in a defining moment in our history. We've got a nation at war. Our planet is in peril. And the economy is putting an enormous strain on working families all across the country. Now, race has always been an issue in our politics and in this country. But one of the premises of my campaign and, I think, of the Democratic Party -- and I know that John and Hillary have always been committed to racial equality -- is that we can't solve these challenges unless we can come together as a people and we're not resorting to the same -- or falling into the same traps of division that we have in the past. OBAMA: I think our party has stood for that. Dr. King stood for that. I hope that my campaign has inspired that same sense, that there's much more that we hold in common than what separates us. And that is how I want to move this campaign forward and I hope that's how it moves forward. WILLIAMS: Senator Edwards, you waded into this topic tangentially yesterday. EDWARDS: Well, the only thing I would add is I had the perspective of living in the South, including a time when there was segregation in the South. And I feel an enormous personal responsibility to continue to move forward. Now, we've made great progress, but we're not finished with that progress. EDWARDS: And the struggles and sacrifice of Dr. King and many others who gave blood, sweat, tears, and in some cases, their lives to move America toward equality. And I saw it. I saw it when four young men walked into a Woolworth luncheon counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and sat down, had the courage and strength to do the right thing. And they literally stood up, stood up on behalf of African Americans, on behalf of southerners, on behalf of Americans helped move this country forward in a really serious way. And having seen the pain and the struggle and the sacrifice of so many up close -- because I lived with it. I lived with it in my years growing up -- I think we, all of us, have an enormous responsibility not to go back but to go forward. And I would just add, I think it goes far beyond the Democratic Party. This is about America and about creating real equality in America across the waterfront. WILLIAMS: Questioning continues with Tim Russert. RUSSERT: In terms of accountability, Senator Obama, Senator Clinton on Sunday told me that the Obama campaign had been pushing this storyline. And, true enough, your press secretary in South Carolina -- four pages of alleged comments made by the Clinton people about the issue of race. In hindsight, do you regret pushing this story? OBAMA: Well, not only in hindsight, but going forward. I think that, as Hillary said, our supporters, our staff get overzealous. They start saying things that I would not say. And it is my responsibility to make sure that we're setting a clear tone in our campaign, and I take that responsibility very seriously, which is why I spoke yesterday and sent a message in case people were not clear that what we want to do is make sure that we focus on the issues. Now, there are going to be significant issues that we debate, and some serious differences that we have. OBAMA: And I'm sure those will be on display today. What I am absolutely convinced of is that everybody here is committed to racial equality -- has been historically. And what I also expect is that I'm going to be judged as a candidate in terms of how I'm going to be improving the lives of the people in Nevada and the people all across the country, that they are going to ultimately be making judgments on can I deliver on good jobs at good wages; can I make sure that our home foreclosure crisis is adequately dealt with; are we going to be serious about retirement security; and are we going to have a foreign policy that makes us safe. If I'm communicating that message, then I expect to be judged on that basis. And if I'm not, then I expect to be criticized on that basis. That's the kind of campaign that we want to run and that we have run up until this point. RUSSERT: Do you believe this is a deliberate attempt to marginalize you as the black candidate? OBAMA: No. As I said, I think that if you've looked not just at this campaign, but at my history, my belief is that race is a factor in our society, but I think what happened in Iowa is a testimony to the fact that the American public is willing to judge people on the basis of who can best deliver the kinds of changes that they're so desperately looking for. OBAMA: And that's the kind of movement that we want to build all across the country, and that, I think, is the legacy of Dr. King that we need to build on. RUSSERT: In New Hampshire, your polling was much higher than the actual vote result. Do you believe, in the privacy of the voting booth, people used race as an issue? OBAMA: No. I think what happened was that Senator Clinton ran a good campaign up in New Hampshire. And, you know, I think that people recognize we've got some terrific candidates who are running vigorous campaigns. It's going to be close everywhere we go. It's close here in Nevada. It's going to be close in South Carolina. And, you know, at any given moment, people are going to be making judgments based on who they think is best speaking to them about the urgent problems that they're facing in this country. OBAMA: Now, the one thing I'm convinced about -- and this was true in Iowa and this was true in New Hampshire, as well -- is that change is going to happen because the American people determine that change is going to happen. And that's what I draw from Dr. King's legacy. You know, what happens in Washington is important. And we've got to have elected officials that are accountable and serious about moving forward on the goals of opportunity and upward mobility. But if we don't have an activated people, a unified people, black, white, Latino, Asian, who are all moving in the same direction, demanding that change happens, then Washington, special interests, lobbyists end up dominating the agenda. That's what I want to change. RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, in terms of accountability, you told me on Sunday morning, "Any time anyone has said anything that I thought was out of bounds, they're gone. I've gotten rid of them." RUSSERT: Shortly thereafter, that same afternoon, Robert Johnson, at your event, said, quote, "When Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood, that I won't say what he was doing, but he said it in his book," widely viewed as a reference to Senator Obama's book ,"Dreams From My Father" from 1995, where he talked about his drug use as a teenager. Will you now not allow Robert Johnson to participate in any of your campaign events because of that conduct? CLINTON: Well, Bob has put out a statement saying what he was trying to say and what he thought he had said. We accept him on his word on that. But, clearly, we want to send a very clear message to everybody that this campaign is too important for us to either get diverted or, frankly, get the message of what we want to do for our country subverted by any kind of statements or claims that are just not part of who I am or who Barack or John are. CLINTON: Because I think what's critical here is that the American people understand clearly what is at stake in this election. The stakes are really high, and there's an urgent need for leadership on a range of issues, you know, some of which are now becoming right here in front of us about whether or not people are going to be able to keep their homes in Nevada, whether they're going to have jobs. You know, I went door to door in Las Vegas last week and, you know, I've met construction workers who've been laid off. I met a casino employee who's already been laid off. So what people talk to me about is not what somebody they never heard of said, but what we say, what we're for, what we're standing for, and what we're going to be pushing for. So I accept what he said, but I think what's important is what I say and what each of us says about the kind of president we intend to be and how we're going to get there. RUSSERT: Were his comments out of bounds? CLINTON: Yes, they were. CLINTON: And he has said that. WILLIAMS: We're going to continue the questioning now with Natalie Morales. MORALES: Thank you, Brian. And this is a question for Senator Edwards. It comes to us from Margaret Wells from San Diego, California. Senator, she's asking, "The policy differences among the remaining candidates is so slight that we appear to be choosing on the basis of personality and life story. That being said, why should I, as a progressive woman, not resent being forced to choose between the first viable female candidate and the first viable African American candidate?" EDWARDS: Well, I think that the decision for every voters in this election should revolve around first whether you believe America needs change. If you do, who you think will be most effective in bringing about that change. We have different perspectives on that. I think the system in Washington is broken. I don't think it works. And I think the American people, middle-class Americans, are struggling and suffering. They can't pay for their health care. They're losing their jobs. They can't pay for their kids to go to college. This is a very personal thing for me. EDWARDS: Hillary mentioned a minute ago that I grew up in a family of millworkers. I was the first person in my family to actually be able to go to college. And so this battle for real opportunity for everybody, the kind of chances I've had in my own life, is central to everything I do. It is central to this campaign. It is a personal, personal fight for me. And I think the decision that voters make about who can best fight for the middle class, who will never give up on the fight for universal health care, who will actually stand up strongly and affirmedly to -- for the right to organize, for unions to be able to organize in the workplace. These things are not academic for me; they are my life. I believe in them to my soul and I will fight with every fiber of my being to make sure that everybody gets that kind of opportunity, and I think there are some differences on policy and perspective between the three of us, and I hope we get a chance to talk more about that tonight. MORALES: Senator Edwards, as a follow-up to Margaret Wells' question, what is a white male to do running against these historic candidacies? (LAUGHTER) EDWARDS: You know, I have to say on behalf of my party, and I've said this many times, I'm proud of the fact that we have a woman and an African American who are very, very serious candidates for the presidency. They've both asked not to be considered on their gender or their race. I respect that. I do believe, however, that it says really good things about America. I think I actually believe that both through these primaries and caucuses and in the general election, that the American people are going to make decisions based on who we are, what we stand for, and what we're fighting for. WILLIAMS: Question for Senator Obama. You won the women's vote in Iowa, but Senator Clinton won the women's vote in New Hampshire, and there probably isn't an American alive today who hasn't heard the post-game analysis of New Hampshire, all the reasons the analysts give for Senator Clinton's victory. Senator Clinton had a moment where she became briefly emotional at a campaign appearance. WILLIAMS: But another given was at the last televised debate, when you, in a comment directed to Senator Clinton, looked down and said, "You're likable enough, Hillary." That caused Frank Rich to write, on the op-ed page of the New York Times, that it was "your most inhuman moment, to date." And it clearly was a factor and added up. Senator Obama, do you regret the comment, and comments like that, today? OBAMA: Well, I absolutely regret it because that wasn't how it was intended. I mean, folks were giving Hillary a hard time about likability. And my intention was to say, "I think you're plenty likable." (LAUGHTER) And it did not come out the way it was supposed to. But, you know, I do think that, during the course of that debate, there was a tendency to parse out what is, I think, not an issue. I think all three of these candidates are good, capable people. And what we really should be focusing on is who's got a vision for how we're going to move the country forward? And I believe that, right now, the only way we're going to move the country forward is if we can bring the country together, not just Democrats but independents, Republicans who have also lost trust in government, and we are able to push aside the special interests and the lobbyists, and we are truthful with the American people and enlisting them in changing how our health care system works, how our economy works, what our tax code looks like. OBAMA: And that is going to be an issue that, I think, all of us are going to have to struggle with over the coming days. It's not going to be an issue of, you know, who's got the nicest smile or, you know, who's going to be fun to have a beer with. It's going to be, who can provide the leadership that makes sure the country is moving forward through what I anticipate are going to be some difficult times, and who is going to be able to transform how Washington works in a fundamental way. WILLIAMS: And one more question about that last televised debate, Senator Edwards. Afterwards, Senator Clinton said it was as if you and Senator Obama had formed a buddy system against her. Senator Clinton put out an Internet ad that was entitled "Piling On." Looking back on it, the campaign for New Hampshire in total, do you admit that it might have looked that way? EDWARDS: Might have looked that way or actually was that way? I don't think it was that way. I mean, my job as a candidate for president of the United States is to speak the truth as I see it. I've spoken the truth, I will continue to speak the truth whatever the consequences are and whatever the perception that people have is. I do believe that I am a candidate for president who is fighting for change, who believes that we have entrenched, moneyed interests in this country that are preventing the middle class from having a real chance. And it's drug companies, insurance companies, oil companies. There are lobbyists. Barack spoke about them just a few minutes ago. It's why I've never, the whole time I've been in public life, taken a dime from Washington lobbyist or special interest PAC, because I do believe those people stand between America and the change that it so desperately needs, in real ways. EDWARDS: They're the reason we don't have universal health care. They're the reason we have a trade policy that's cost America millions of jobs. They're the reason we have an insane tax policy that actually gives tax breaks to American companies sending jobs overseas. The promise of America that I and millions of others have lived -- and then we are in Nevada tonight, a place that people come to in the thousands every day to find the promise of America because they believe in it. It is central to everything we are as a nation. And I do believe that promise is being jeopardized by very well-financed monied interests. I believe that's the truth, and I'm going to keep saying it. WILLIAMS: Tim? RUSSERT: Senator Clinton... PROTESTER: Will you stop all these race-based questions? These are race-based questions... RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, your husband said that Senator Obama very well could be the nominee -- he could win. With that in mind, when you say that Senator Obama is raising false hopes, and you refuse to say whether he's ready to be president, what are the consequences of those comments in the fall against the Republicans? CLINTON: Well, Tim, we're in a hard-fought primary season. I think each of us recognize that. You know, we're the survivors of what has been a yearlong campaign. But I certainly have the highest regard for both Senator Obama and Senator Edwards. I've worked with them. I have, you know, supported them in their previous runs for office. There's no doubt that when we have a nominee, we're going to have a totally unified Democratic Party. The issue for the voters here in Nevada, South Carolina and then all of the states to come is, who is ready on day one to walk into that Oval office, knowing the problems that are going to be there waiting for our next president: a war to end in Iraq, a war to resolve in Afghanistan, an economy that I believe is slipping toward a recession, with the results already being felt here in Nevada with the highest home foreclosure rate in the entire country, 47 million Americans uninsured, an energy policy that is totally wrong for America, for our future? CLINTON: President Bush is over in the Gulf now begging the Saudis and others to drop the price of oil. How pathetic. We should have an energy policy right now putting people to work in green collar jobs as a way to stave off the recession, moving us towards energy independence. All of that and more is waiting for our next president. You know, obviously each of us believes that we are the person who should walk into the oval office on January 20th, 2009. I'm presenting my experience, my qualifications, my ideas, my vision for America. CLINTON: And it's routed in the voices that I hear, that I've heard for 35 years, of people who want a better life for themselves and their children. And I'm going to keep putting forward what I have done and what I will do. And this is what this election, I think, is really about. RUSSERT: You may think you are the best prepared, but would you acknowledge that Senator Obama and Senator Edwards are both prepared to be president? CLINTON: Well, I think that that's up to the voters to decide. I think that's something that voters have to make a decision about on all of us. They have to look at each and every one of us and imagine us in the Oval Office, imagine us as commander in chief, imagine us making tough decisions about everything we know we're going to have to deal with, and then all of the unpredictable events that come through the door of the White House and land on the desk of the president. RUSSERT: Senator Obama, you gave an interview to the Reno Gazette-Journal and you said, "We all have strengths and weaknesses." WILLIAMS: You said one of your weaknesses is, quote, "I'm not an operating officer." Do the American people want someone in the Oval Office who is an operating officer? OBAMA: Well, I think what I was describing was how I view the presidency. Now, being president is not making sure that schedules are being run properly or the paperwork is being shuffled effectively. It involves having a vision for where the country needs to go. It involves having the capacity to bring together the best people and being able to spark the kind of debate about how we're going to solve health care; how we're going to solve energy; how we are going to deliver good jobs and good wages; how we're going to keep people in their homes, here in Nevada; and then being able to mobilize and inspire the American people to get behind that agenda for change. That's the kind of leadership that I've shown in the past. OBAMA: That's the kind of leadership that I intend to show as president of the United States. So, what's needed is sound judgment, a vision for the future, the capacity to tap into the hopes and dreams of the American people and mobilize them to push aside those special interests and lobbyists and forces that are standing in the way of real change, and making sure that you have a government that reflects the decency and the generosity of the American people. That's the kind of leadership that I believe I can provide. RUSSERT: You said each of you have strengths and weaknesses. I want to ask each of you quickly, your greatest strength, your greatest weakness. OBAMA: My greatest strength, I think is the ability to bring people together from different perspectives to get them to recognize what they have in common and to move people in a different direction. And as I indicated before, my greatest weakness, I think, is when it comes to -- I'll give you a very good example. OBAMA: I ask my staff member to hand me paper until two seconds before I need it because I will lose it. You know, the --- you know... (LAUGHTER) And my desk and my office doesn't look good. I've got to have somebody around me who is keeping track of that stuff. And that's not trivial; I need to have good people in place who can make sure that systems run. That's what I've always done, and that's why we run not only a good campaign, but a good U.S. Senate office. RUSSERT: Senator Edwards, greatest strength, greatest weakness? EDWARDS: I think my greatest strength is that for 54 years, I've been fighting with every fiber of my being. In the beginning, the fight was for me. Growing up in mill towns and mill villages, I had to literally fight to survive. But then I spent 20 years in courtrooms fighting for children and families against really powerful well-financed interests. I learned from that experience, by the way, that if you're tough enough and you're strong enough and you got the guts and you're smart enough, you can win. That's a fight that can be won. It can be won in Washington, too, by the way. And I've continued that entire fight my entire time in public life. EDWARDS: So I've got what it takes inside to fight on behalf of the American people and on behalf of the middle class. I think weakness, I sometimes have a very powerful emotional response to pain that I see around me, when I see a man like Donnie Ingram (ph), who I met a few months ago in South Carolina, who worked for 33 years in the mill, reminded me very much of the kind of people that I grew up with, who's about to lose his job, has no idea where he's going to go, what he's going to do. I mean, his dignity and self-respect is at issue. And I feel that in a really personal way and in a very emotional way. And I think sometimes that can undermine what you need to do. RUSSERT: Senator Clinton? CLINTON: Well, I am passionately committed to this country and what it stands for. I'm a product of the changes that have already occurred, and I want to be an instrument for making those changes alive and real in the lives of Americans, particularly children. CLINTON: That's what I've done for 35 years. It is really my life's work. It is something that comes out of my own experience, both in my family and in my church that, you know, I've been blessed. I think to whom much is given, much is expected. So I have tried to create opportunities, both on an individual basis, intervening to help people who have no where else to turn, to be their champion. And then to make those changes. And I think I can deliver change. I think I understand how to make it possible for more people to live up to their God-given potential. I get impatient. I get, you know, really frustrated when people don't seem to understand that we can do so much more to help each other. Sometimes I come across that way. I admit that. I get very concerned about, you know, pushing further and faster than perhaps people are ready to go. But I think that, you know, there is a difference here. I do think that being president is the chief executive officer. I respect what Barack said about setting the vision, setting the tone, bringing people together. But I think you have to be able to manage and run the bureaucracy. CLINTON: You've got to pick good people, certainly, but you have to hold them accountable every single day. We've seen the results of a president who, frankly, failed at that. You know, he went in to office saying he was going to have the kind of Harvard Business School CEO model where he'd set the tone, he'd set the goals and then everybody else would have to implement it. And we saw the failures. We saw the failures along the Gulf Coast with, you know, people who were totally incompetent and insensitive failing to help our fellow Americans. We've seen the failures with holding the administration accountable with the no-bid contracts and the cronyism. So I do think you have to do both. It's a really hard job, and in America we put the head of state and the head of government together in one person. CLINTON: But I think you've got to set the tone, you've got to set the vision, you've got to set the goals, you've got to bring the country together. And then you do have to manage and operate and hold that bureaucracy accountable to get the results you're trying to achieve. RUSSERT: Senator Obama, Senator Clinton invoked your name. I'll give you a chance to respond. OBAMA: Well, there's no doubt that you've got to be a good manager. And that's not what I was arguing. The point, in terms of bringing together a team, is that you get the best people and you're able to execute and hold them accountable. But I think that there's something, if we're going to evaluate George Bush and his failures as president, that I think are much more important. He was very efficient. He was on time all the time, and you know, and had... (LAUGHTER) OBAMA: You know, I'm sure he never lost a paper. I'm sure he knows where it is. What he could not do is to listen to perspectives that didn't agree with his ideological predispositions. What he could not do is to bring in different people with different perspectives and get them to work together. OBAMA: What he could not do is to manage the effort to make sure that the American people understood that, if we're going to go into war, that there are going to be consequences and there are going to be costs. And we have to be able to communicate what those costs are; and to make absolutely certain that, if we're going to make a decision to send our young men and women into harm's way, that it's based on the best intelligence and that we've asked tough questions before we went into fight. I mean, those are the kinds of failures that have to do with judgment. They have to do with vision, the capacity to inspire people. They don't have to do with whether or not he was managing the bureaucracy properly. That's not to deny that there has to be strong management skills in the presidency. It is to say that what has been missing is the ability to bring people together, to mobilize the country, to move us in a better direction, and to be straight with the American people. OBAMA: That's how you get the American people involved. WILLIAMS: Time for the rebuttal has expired. Senator Obama, a fresh question here. It may not come as news to you that there's a lot of false information about you circulating on the Internet. We received one e-mail, in particular -- usually once several weeks; we've received three of them this week. This particular one alleges, among other things, that you are trying to hide the fact that you're a Muslim, that you took the oath of office on the Koran and not the Bible... (LAUGHTER) ... that you will not pledge allegiance to the flag or generally respect it. How do you -- how does your campaign go on about combating this kind of thing? OBAMA: Well, look, first of all, let's make clear what the facts are: I am a Christian. I have been sworn in with a Bible. WILLIAMS: I figured. OBAMA: I pledge allegiance and lead the pledge of allegiance sometimes in the United States Senate when I'm presiding. I haven't been there lately because I've been in Iowa and New Hampshire. (LAUGHTER) OBAMA: But you know, look, in the Internet age, there are going to be lives that are spread all over the place. I have been victimized by these lies. Fortunately, the American people are I think smarter than folks give them credit for. You know, it's a testimony -- these e-mails were going out in Iowa. They were going out in New Hampshire. And we did just fine. If we didn't do well, for example, in New Hampshire, it wasn't because of these e-mails. It was because we didn't do what we needed to do in our campaign. So my job is to tell the truth, to be straight with the American people about how I intend to end climate change, what I'm going to do with respect to providing health care for every American, how we're going to provide tax relief to hard-working Americans who are really feeling the pinch, and to present my vision for where the country needs to go. If I'm doing that effectively, then I place my trust in the American people that they will sort out the lies from the truth, and they will make a good decision. WILLIAMS: Senator Obama, thank you. At this point, we are going to take the first of exactly three breaks in the two-hour broadcast tonight. On the other side of this break, among the topics we will take on the economy, when we continue from Las Vegas after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) WILLIAMS: We are back live in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the three top candidates for the Democratic nomination for president. Brian Williams with Tim Russert, Natalie Morales. WILLIAMS: We're going to continue the questioning here on the topic of the economy. And then, within this portion of the broadcast, we're going to try something new for this series, and that is, the candidates will have two questions each to ask of their fellow candidates. So while they think about that, we will start off with the economy and a question for you, Senator Clinton. This evening on NBC Nightly News, our lead story was about the fact that Citigroup and Merrill Lynch have both "gone overseas," as some put it, hat in hand, looking for $20 billion in investment to stay afloat from, among other things, the government of Singapore, Korea, Japan, and the Saudi Prince Alwaleed, the man -- Rudolph Giuliani turned his money back after 9/11. This is -- strikes a lot of Americans as just plain wrong. WILLIAMS: At the end of our report we said this may end up in Congress. What can be done? And does it strike you as fundamentally wrong, that much foreign ownership of these American flagship brands? CLINTON: Brian, I'm very concerned about this. You know, about a month and a half or so ago I raised this concern, because these are called sovereign wealth funds. They are huge pools of money, largely because of oil and economic growth in Asia. And these funds are controlled often by governmental entities or individuals who are closely connected to the governments in these countries. I think we've got to know more about them. They need to be more transparent. We need to have a lot more control over what they do and how they do it. I'd like to see the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund begin to impose these rules, and I want the United States Congress and the Federal Reserve Board to ask these tough questions. But let's look at how we got here. CLINTON: We got here because, as I said on Wall Street on December 5th, a lot of our big financial institutions, you know, made these bets on these subprime mortgages. They helped to create this meltdown that is happening, that is costing millions of people who live in homes that are being foreclosed on or could be in the very near future because the interest rates are going up. And what they did was to take all these subprime mortgages and conventional mortgages, bundle them up and sell them overseas to big investors. So, we're getting the worst of both worlds. We can't figure out, under this administration, what we should do. I have a plan: a moratorium on foreclosures for 90 days, freezing interest rates for five years, which I think we should do immediately. The administration is doing very little. And what we now see is our financial institutions having to go hat in hand to borrow money from these foreign funds. I'm very concerned about it. CLINTON: I'd like to see us move much more aggressively, both to deal with the immediate problem with the mortgages and to deal with these sovereign wealth funds. WILLIAMS: Senator Edwards, I neglected to point out that one of the companies keeping these giant American banks afloat is Kuwait, a nation, an economy arguably afloat itself today, as you know, thanks to the blood, sweat and tears of American soldiers. What would you do as a remedy? EDWARDS: Well, the things that Senator Clinton just spoke about are correct. We need more transparency. We need to know what's actually happening. But the fundamental problem is what's happening at the core of the American economy. What's happening to the economy in America, if you look at it from distance, is we have economic growth in America -- we still do -- but almost the entirety of that economic growth is with the very wealthiest Americans and the biggest multinational corporations. You ask any middle class family in America and they will tell you they do not feel financially secure. They are worried about their job. They are worried paying for health care. They're worried about having to send their kids to college. They're worried about, in so many cases, here in Nevada particularly, worried about their home being foreclosed on. EDWARDS: I spoke a few minutes ago about thousands of people coming to Nevada everyday to try to find the promise of America, to try to find a good job, a good home to meet the great moral test that all of us have as Americans, which is to make certain that our children have a better life than we had. This is the great challenge that we're facing in this election. We talked about other historic moments. It is an historic moment for America in this election. Are we going to do what our parents and our grandparents did, who worked and struggled and suffered to ensure that we would have a better life? They have now passed that torch to us and it is our responsibility, and it will be my responsibility as president to ensure that our children and our grandchildren have a better life than we had. WILLIAMS: Tim? Oh, Senator Obama, a rebuttal. OBAMA: Well, not a rebuttal. I just want to pick up on a couple of things that have been said. Number one, part of the reason that Kuwait and others are able to come in and purchase, or at least bail out, some of our financial institutions is because we don't have an energy policy. OBAMA: And we are sending close to $1 billion a day. And this administration has consistently failed to put forward a realistic plan that is going to reduce our dependence on foreign oil; is going to invest in solar and wind and biodiesel. You look at a state like Nevada; one thing I know is folks have got a lot of sun here. (LAUGHTER) And yet we have not seen any serious effort, on the part of this administration, to spur on the use of alternative fuels, raise fuel efficiency standards on cars. That would make a substantial difference in our balance of payments and that would make a substantial difference in terms of their capacity to purchase our assets. And the second thing, I just want to point out, is that the subprime lending mess -- part of the reason it happened was because we had an administration that does not believe in any kind of oversight. And we had the mortgage industry spending $185 million lobbying to prevent provisions such as the ones that I've proposed over a year ago that would say, you know, you've got to disclose properly what kinds of loans you're giving to people on mortgages. OBAMA: You've got to disclose if you've got a teaser rate and suddenly their mortgage payments are going to jack up and they can't pay for them. And one of the things that I intend to do as president of the United States is restore a sense of accountability and regulatory oversight over the financial markets. We have the best financial markets in the world, but only if they are transparent and accountable and people trust them. And, increasingly, we have not had those structures in place. WILLIAMS: Time is up, Senator. RUSSERT: Senator Edwards, poor folks, middle class folks really feeling the pinch. EDWARDS: Yes. RUSSERT: Bankruptcies are up 40 percent in one year, 5 percent of credit card debts are now delinquent. In 2001, you voted for a bankruptcy bill which was the precursor to the 2005 bankruptcy bill that become law, which made it much tougher for middle class folks, particularly women, when they became bankrupt. RUSSERT: Do you regret that vote? EDWARDS: I absolutely do. I should not have voted for that bankruptcy law. If you look at what's happening in America today, the bankruptcies that are occurring, about half of them are the result of medical costs. And the idea that any single mom who has a child who gets catastrophically sick and incurs $30,000 of medical cost has to go into bankruptcy as a result, and can't be relieved of that debt, makes absolutely no sense. And it's not fair and it's not right. And I spoke just a few minutes ago about the great struggles that the middle class are faced with in this country, and you hear it every single day. Because what's happening in America is jobs are leaving, cost of everything is going up -- health care, college tuition, everything -- and, on top of that, middle class incomes are not going up. EDWARDS: The incomes at the very top are going up. Profits of big corporations are going up. But the incomes of middle class families are not going up. So the question is, what do we do about it? Besides having somebody who truly understands in a personal way what's happening, what would the president of the United States do? There are a bunch of things we need to do. We desperately need truly universal health care that covers every single American and dramatically reduces health care costs. We do need, as Barack spoke about just a few minutes ago, a radical transformation of the way we produce and use energy. We can create at least a million new jobs in that transition. We need a national law cracking down on predatory and payday lenders that are taking advantage of our most vulnerable families. We ought to raise -- the national minimum wage is going up to $7.25 an hour. That's fine. It's not enough. The national minimum wage should be at least nine and a half dollars an hour. It ought to be indexed to go up on its own. We need to make it easier for kids to go to college. My proposal is that we say to any young person in America who's willing to work when they're in college, at least 10 hours a week, we'll pay for their tuition and books at a state university or community college. EDWARDS: And that can be paid for by getting rid of big banks as the intermediary in student loans. They make $4 billion or $5 billion a year. That money ought to be going to sending kids to college. RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, you voted for the same 2001 bankruptcy bill that Senator Edwards just said he was wrong about. After you did that, the Consumer Federation of America said that your reversal on that bill, voting for it, was the death knell for the opponents of the bill. Do you regret that vote? CLINTON: Sure I do, but it never became law, as you know. It got tied up. It was a bill that had some things I agreed with and other things I didn't agree with, and I was happy that it never became law. I opposed the 2005 bill as well. But let's talk about where we are now with bankruptcy. We need urgently to have bankruptcy reform in order to get the kind of options available for homeowners. In addition to what I want to do, which is the moratorium on foreclosures for 90 days to see what we can do to work them out, and freezing interest rates for five years, and making the mortgage industry more transparent so we actually know what they're doing. CLINTON: I mean, look what happened with Countrywide. You know, Countrywide gets bought and the CEO, who was one of the architects of this whole subprime mess, is set off with $100 million -- $100 million in severance pay. You know, the priorities and the values are absolutely wrong. So, what we've got to do is move urgently. In addition to what I proposed, I think we've got to reform the bankruptcy law right now, going forward, so that people who are caught in these subprime and now increasingly conventional loans that they can't pay because of the way the interest rates are going up and many of the fraudulent and predatory practices that got people into them in the first place will have the option of getting relieved of this debt. So there's a lot we need to do right now. And, you know, I want to just add that the groups that sponsored this are primarily black and brown groups that care deeply about these issues. Everything we're talking about falls disproportionately on African Americans, on Hispanics, on a lot of Asian Americans. CLINTON: Here in Nevada, the African-American and Hispanic communities are really the ones that are most victimized by these sub- prime mortgages. They're the ones who are often the first to be let go when the economy begins to slide. You know, in and out of the homes that I have visited, and here in Las Vegas, those are the stories that I am hearing. So we need to move urgently. We have a lot of big agenda items that I agree with John on: universal health care, college affordability. But we can't wait. We're going to lose another, you know, million Americans in home foreclosures. We're going to see a deteriorating community across America because homes will be left vacant. The housing market is down. Nobody will buy those homes. Housing wealth, which the principle source of American middle class wealth, is now decreasing. So I have a real sense of urgency. CLINTON: We need to be acting now. And I know that the Democratic Congress, under Senator Harry Reid and Speaker Pelosi, are going to do everything they can to address this. RUSSERT: Senator Obama, the 2001 bankruptcy bill; the 2005 bankruptcy bill? OBAMA: I opposed them both. I think they were a bad ideas. Because they were pushed by the credit card companies. They were pushed by the mortgage companies. And they put the interests of those banks and financial institutions ahead of the interests of the American people. And this is typical. Now, Hillary's exactly right that we've got to modify some of the fraudulent practices, predatory lending practices. I put in a bill, a year and a half ago, to make that happen. Because it does affect communities, including my own, on the south side of Chicago. But, unless we are able to rid the influence of special-interest lobbies in Washington, we're going to continue to see bad legislation like that. And that's why we're going to have to change how politics is done in Washington. Now, we have an immediate problem. I met with a number of folks up in Reno, just two days ago, who are already seeing their homes being foreclosed upon. One of the things that we have to do is we have to release people who are in bankruptcy as a consequence of health care; we've got to give them a break. OBAMA: One woman who I was with, her husband is a police officer. He contracted cancer, went through chemotherapy, ends up being hit by a car while in the line of duty, and they fall three, four months behind on their health care payments, and that's it, they can't make the payments on their house. We've got to provide them some relief. I've put forward a $10 billion housing fund that can help bridge people who have been responsible in making their payments. They're not speculators, they're not trying to flip properties. They're in their own homes. We've got to make sure that they can get the kinds of help that they need to stay in their homes and make the payments and live out the American dream that is so important to so many people. WILLIAMS: Time is up, Senator. We're going to get some more e-mail questions from Natalie Morales. MORALES: All right. And this one is directed to Senator Obama. MORALES: It comes from a resident of Miami, Florida: "As a middle class retiree whose primary source of income is dividends, capital gains from stock investments, what if any safeguards would you put in place to protect us from your proposed reversal of the Bush tax cuts on these investment vehicles?" OBAMA: Well, what I would do is I would exempt middle income folks, potentially, from increases in capital gains and dividends. But what I have insisted upon is that we make our tax code fair. And if for example, my friend and Hillary's friend, Warren Buffett, makes $46 million last year, and he is paying a lower rate on -- a lower tax rate than his secretary, there is something fundamentally unjust about that. Yeah. And I think, you know, he acknowledges it. And by the way, he has offered $1 million to any CEO of a Fortune 500 company who can prove that they pay a higher tax rate than their secretary. OBAMA: Now, nobody has taken them up on the offer, by the way. So part of the reason is because he primarily gets his income from dividends and capital gains, and he's taxed at a lower rate. That has to change, and that's part of a broader shift that I'm proposing in our tax rates. We were talking earlier about lower and middle income people really getting squeezed. I've said we need to provide tax relief to them. If you're making less than $75,000 a year, we are proposing that we offset the payroll tax to give you relief, $1,000 for the average family. That if you're a senior citizen who is making less than $50,000 a year, or getting less than $50,000 in Social Security benefits, then you shouldn't have to pay taxes on that Social Security income. Homeowners who do not itemize their deductions, we want to give you a mortgage deduction credit, and we're going to pay for that by closing loopholes, closing tax havens, and yes, rolling back some of these breaks that have gone disproportionately to the wealthiest Americans. OBAMA: That will help the economy grow, because part of the reason we've got a bubble financially -- first in the Internet sphere and then in the real estate market -- is because of what John referred to earlier. You've got all this money going to the top 1 percent, and they're looking for ways to park the money. We need the money in the hands of hard-working Americans who deserve it. They will know how to spend it, and they will actually help spur business growth across the country. WILLIAMS: Time is up, Senator. One more question from Natalie. MORALES: And this one is for Senator Clinton, and you spoke already about foreclosure rates. So on that subject -- this was coming from Christian Denny from Henderson, Nevada: "Senator Clinton, recently, while visiting Las Vegas, you mentioned your plan to freeze interest rates to help prevent foreclosures. Are you aware of any long-term effects on the housing market and our economy that this may cause?" CLINTON: Well, Natalie, I think that the question really goes to the heart of what we're trying to do here. We have short-term, medium-term and long-term goals when it comes to our economy. You know, the Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates in order to spur the economy. CLINTON: But because of a lot of the way these mortgages were structured, the interest rates are going to keep going up. And a lot of people who can pay what they're paying now will not be able to pay what they're expected to pay next month or the month after that. So freezing the interest rates is not only a way of being able to stabilize the housing market, but it also is in line with what the Fed is doing on monetary policy. In other words, you can't be cutting interest rates in one part of the economy and letting them go through the roof in the other part and expect to be able to stimulate the kind of economic growth that we need to have right now. I have other pieces of my economic action plan. In addition to dealing with the home foreclosure issue on the moratorium and the rate freeze, I'd like to have a fund of about $30 billion that communities and states could go to work in order to prevent foreclosures and the consequences of foreclosures. When I was talking about this issue last week here in Las Vegas, somebody from the mayor's office said they're starting to see a slowdown in property tax receipts. CLINTON: That means police services and other services start to deteriorate. That compounds the problem. I want to see money in the pocket's of people who are having trouble paying their energy bills. That stimulates the economy. I want to make sure the unemployment compensation system is there for people as they begin to get laid off, which is happening here in Las Vegas and around the country. And then, finally, I want to have about $5 billion put to work right now to employ people in green-collar jobs like I saw when I was in L.A. last week with electrical workers being trained to put in solar panels. And then, if we need additional stimulation, we should look at tax rebates for middle class and working families, not for the wealthy who've already done very well under George Bush. WILLIAMS: Two bits of housekeeping at this point. I've been asked to remind our candidates that we have a system of lights that they can plainly see. WILLIAMS: The yellow one starts flashing... (LAUGHTER) The yellow one starts flashing when they're starting to run out of time... (LAUGHTER) ... and the red one starts flashing when they are out of time. And another reminder that only seven feet separates us from the candidates. (LAUGHTER) Now to that segment we promised earlier. We asked the candidates and their campaigns to come here tonight prepared with two questions, one for each of their opposition candidates. It's not our intention that these be novelty or, at all, throwaway questions but that they be real questions. And we should know, right away, here, whether this was a good or a very bad idea. (LAUGHTER) Senator Edwards, I would like to start with you. A question for Senator Obama and a question for Senator Clinton? EDWARDS: I get to do both, to begin with? WILLIAMS: Sure. (LAUGHTER) EDWARDS: OK. Well, let me start this question. This is about campaign finances. And let me start it by saying the obvious, which is, all three of us have raised a great deal of money in this campaign. EDWARDS: And so this is not preachy or holier than thou in any possible way. What we know is that all three of us want to do something about health care in this country. And we also know that until recently, Senator Clinton had raised more money from drug companies and insurance companies than any candidate, Democrat or Republican.

<p><b>Supers/Fonts: </b> Wednesday</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Las Vegas, NV</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>Story Location: </b> Las Vegas</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>State/Province: </b> Nevada</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>Shot Date: </b> 07/17/2024</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>URL: </b> https://www.fox5vegas.com/2024/07/17/closing-day-original-mirage-employees-founders-reminisce-historic-las-vegas-strip-property/</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>Notes and Restrictions: </b></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>Newsource Notes: </b></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>Story Description: </b></p>\n<p>Elements:</p>\n<p>PKG: sot reporter standup intro, vo exterior of hotel, final volcano eruption, sots workers, vo of workers outside hotel together in group taking photo, night footage of volcano, sot reporter standup tag</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Wire/StoryDescription:</p>\n<p>LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - A beloved Las Vegas Strip staple closed for good Wednesday morning after 35 years.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>As The Mirage begins its transition into the Hard Rock, employees who had worked for the hotel-casino since opening day in 1989 talked with FOX5 about the poignance of the day.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Its very, very emotional to see it go, said Bonnie Wheeler, whos worked at the Mirage Sportsbook since it opened. So many memories, and its just been fantastic. Thats why I stayed so long.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Its very sad, touching, heartbreaking, said Kathie Averett, who started the same day as Wheeler at the sportsbook and retired four years ago.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>A closing ceremony was held in front of the atrium Wednesday morning, with former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones Blackhurst among several speaking about the impact of The Mirage.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>The Mirage changed everything, she said. We didnt realize how grown up, how magnificent, how visionary we could be. And Steve and Elaine, they changed all of that.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Elaine Wynn, who co-founded The Mirage along with her husband Steve, reminded the crowd gathered in front that closing iconic properties is part of the cycle of life here.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>This is what we do in Las Vegas, she said. We reinvest, we refresh, and we keep Las Vegas as one of the most exciting cities in the entire world for that.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Wynn and others kept it light during closing ceremonies.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>We dont let our buildings get too old we just let the bosses get too old, she joked, later talking about the features she and Steve Wynn added to the resort. Magical gardens and exploding volcanoes, and dolphins in the backyard, which by the way, he really wanted to put in our home, and I explained to him, Steve, I dont know a thing about dolphins.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Jones Blackhurst recalled the first time she was there.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>I have the dress I wore to the opening of the Mirage. I almost brought it, she said, eliciting laughter from the crowd. I remember seeing Siegfried and Roy and then going to their house after the show, where Roy was swimming in the pool with the tigers.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>When the resort opened, Wheeler would take time to see the brand-new volcano whenever she could.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>I used to walk out here on my lunches and see how beautiful it was, and then I would go home and tell my husband, Can you make me a little waterfall? she said, laughing.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Now, on the last day the volcano erupted, Wheeler and Averett said their final goodbyes to the place they made so many memories and friends.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>I will remember The Mirage the way it always has been, Averett said in response to a question about how shell feel seeing a guitar-shaped hotel in place of the volcano.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Its a lifetime of emotions, but Im just trying to look forward knowing that Ill always have all these memories to cherish, Wheeler said. Ill miss the building, but Ill still see everybody.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Station Notes/Scripts:</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((INTRO - 2:46-3:03))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>"I spent the day talking with folks... Take a listen to what some of them said."</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((NATS OF VOLCANO - 48:39-48:44))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>ONE LAST ERUPTION WEDNESDAY MORNING </p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((NATS OF CHEERING - 49:58-49:01))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>BEFORE THE ICONIC MIRAGE CASINO-RESORT CLOSED FOR GOOD.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((3:11-3:13))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((Bonnie Wheeler, Worked at Mirage Sportsbook since 1989))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>"It's very, very emotional to see it go."</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>BONNIE WHEELER HAS BEEN THERE SINCE DAY ONE.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((0:24-0:26))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((Kathie Averett, Worked at The Mirage for 31 years))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>"It's very sad, touching, heartbreaking."</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>AND SO HAD KATHIE AVERETT -- UNTIL SHE RETIRED FOUR YEARS AGO.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>THEY WORKED AT THE SPORTSBOOK TOGETHER.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((2:24-2:25))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((Bonnie Wheeler, Worked at Mirage Sportsbook since 1989))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>"We're all like a family."</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((2:53-2:57))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((Bonnie Wheeler, Worked at Mirage Sportsbook since 1989))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>"So many memories, and it's just been fantastic. That's why I stayed so long."</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>WHEN THE RESORT OPENED, AND THE VOLCANO WAS BRAND-NEW... BONNIE WOULD TAKE TIME TO SEE IT WHENEVER SHE COULD.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((2:34-2:40))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((Bonnie Wheeler, Worked at Mirage Sportsbook since 1989))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>"I used to walk out here on my lunches and see how beautiful it was, and then I would go home and tell my husband, 'Can you make me a little waterfall?'"</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>AND ON THIS LAST DAY, IN FRONT OF THE SAME VOLCANO...</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((0:34-0:38))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((Kathie Averett, Worked at The Mirage for 31 years))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>"Since I was here day one opening, I wanted to be here the last day that they're open."</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>KATHIE AND BONNIE SAID THEIR FINAL GOOBYES TO THE PLACE WHERE THEY MADE SO MANY MEMORIES AND FRIENDS.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((1:26-1:28))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((Kathie Averett, Worked at The Mirage for 31 years))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>"I will remember The Mirage the way it always has been."</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((3:44-3:54))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((Bonnie Wheeler, Worked at Mirage Sportsbook since 1989))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>"It's a lifetime of emotions, but I'm just trying to look forward knowing that I'll always have all these memories to cherish. And I'll miss the building, but I'll still see everybody."</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>((TAG - 3:26-3:41))</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>"Overall, safe to say a bittersweet day Local. Las Vegas."</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--SUPERS</b>--</p>\n<p>Wednesday</p>\n<p>Las Vegas, NV</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>:00-:16</p>\n<p>Mike Allen </p>\n<p>KVVU Reporter</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>:27-:29 // :41-:47 // :53-:59 // 1:16-1:26</p>\n<p>Bonnie Wheeler</p>\n<p>Mirage Employee</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>:33-:36 // 1:04-1:08 // 1:13-1:16</p>\n<p>Kathie Averett</p>\n<p>Mirage Employee</p>\n<p><b>--VIDEO SHOWS</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--VO SCRIPT</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--LEAD IN</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--SOT</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--TAG</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--REPORTER PKG-AS FOLLOWS</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>-----END-----CNN.SCRIPT-----</b></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--KEYWORD TAGS--</b></p>\n<p>NEVADA RESORT CASINO MIRAGE FINAL DAY LAS VEGAS </p>\n<p></p>

Footage from low budget documentary show on Las Vegas taken between 1976-1978. This black and white production has a lot of great period imagery.

<p>https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/18/economy/historic-number-of-50-bills-were-printed-last-year/index.html</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>A record number of $50 bills were printed last year. It’s not why you think</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Unless you’re an avid currency collector, an employee of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, or work at the Federal Reserve, you likely didn’t know that last year a record number of $50 bills were printed.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Last year, the government printed 756,096,000 of those bills — the highest total of the denomination printed in one year in more than 40 years. If you put all those $50s together, you’d have about $37.8 billion. That’s enough to afford Taco Bell’s parent Yum Brands, Inc. $35.3 billion market cap.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Usually, the $50 bill is an uncommon, somewhat unpopular, denomination. There are even multiple superstitions that it is unlucky. (More on that later.) In 2019, only 3.5% of all US bills printed were $50s. In 2022, that zoomed to 8.5%, according to the BEP.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>So why are you seeing more $50s? Surprisingly, it has nothing to do with inflation — even if it may sometimes feel these days like an item that used to cost $20 now costs $50. (Luckily, the rate at which inflation has grown slowed to 3.2% in October from its peak of 9.1% last June.)</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Instead, it all began with the pandemic. People started hoarding cash, the Fed discovered. And it’s easier to squirrel away bigger bills.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building May 14, 2023 in Washington DC.</p>\n<p>The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building May 14, 2023 in Washington DC.</p>\n<p>Ken Cedeno/Sipa USA/AP</p>\n<p>The Fed pulls the strings</p>\n<p>In July 2021, the Fed noted its “2022 print order is heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic… the Federal Reserve continues to experience unprecedented demand for currency.”</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>A subsequent report from the San Francisco Fed confirmed that, after 2020, Americans began to carry more cash in their wallets, cars, houses and elsewhere.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>So, the Fed ordered a big uptick in $50s. Until the pandemic, the $50 had been one of the rarest bills ordered for years, save for the $2 bill. But for 2021 and 2022, the Fed ordered up more $50s than $10s and $5s.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>To understand why so many $50 bills were printed, it’s important to know how the system of printing money works. The Fed doesn’t print any physical money itself; it estimates the anticipated demand for currency and the rate of decay of bills already in circulation. Then, it orders the money from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the government agency that prints paper money. The US Mint produces coins.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>An unlucky denomination</p>\n<p>Few people really love the $50. There’s an old superstition that, because President Ulysses S. Grant is on the face of the $50, and he notoriously went bankrupt, the bills are jinxed. (The $50 bill dates to 1862, but Grant’s face wasn’t added until 1914.)</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Back in 2010, North Carolina Republican Representative Patrick McHenry even attempted to introduce a measure into Congress to replace 18th President Grant with 40th President Ronald Reagan. The effort got some support but ultimately went nowhere.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Professional gamblers and casinos reportedly don’t like to carry the bills, considering them a jinx and partially because Las Vegas casino investor and gangster Bugsy Siegel was rumored to have died with only $50s in his pocket.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>But, more likely, and more realistically, people tend to avoid using $50 bills due to them being confused with $5 or $20 bills and many stores not accepting bills larger than $20.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877.</p>\n<p>Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877.</p>\n<p>The White House</p>\n<p>The safety of cash</p>\n<p>A surge in demand for physical money amid a lockdown might not make sense at first glance. Especially given that, as Covid-19 set in, businesses across the United States closed their customer-facing storefronts temporarily and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discouraged the use of cash.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>But demand for physical cash and actually paying with cash are two separate things, according to analysts at the San Francisco Fed. Economic and geopolitical uncertainty naturally causes unease, prompting many people to hold on to cash that they may not immediately try and spen, they concluded.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Their data also shows Americans are using physical cash less in daily purchases, and the amount being held by consumers still remains elevated when compared to before the pandemic.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Back to normal</p>\n<p>The printing of various denominations has returned to normal levels this year, as shown by the Fed’s 2023 and 2024 print orders. The Fed in its 2023 order said its primary driver now in currency orders is the need to replace damaged notes ($50s last 12.2 years on average, according to the Fed; dollar bills last about half as long.)</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>The Fed placed its 2024 currency order in July, with an anticipated volume of $50 bills in the range of 99,200,000 to 211,200,000 notes, less than one-third of the 2022 printing.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>But cash holdings for American households remain elevated compared to pre-pandemic times, the San Francisco Fed report shows, noting that consumers “continue to hold a significant amount of cash that may be unlikely to be used for daily purchases.”</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--SUPERS</b>--</p>\n<p>File</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--LEAD IN</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--VO SCRIPT</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>-----END-----CNN.SCRIPT-----</b></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--KEYWORD TAGS--</b></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>

HISTORIC VINTAGE 16 MM COLOR FILM FOOTAGE, CONVERTED TO VIDEO OF IMAGES FROM NEVADA FOOTAGE IS SILENT. EXACT DATE FOOTAGE WAS TAKEN IS UKNOWN BUT APPEARS TO BE LATE 1950'S OR EARLY 1960'S.

TVU 16 JOE BIDEN LAS VEGAS NA COMMUNITY EVENT WITH MI FAMILIA VOTER ABC UNI 011120 2020 P2 SLUGGED AS "LAS VEGAS NA" BUT SHOULD BE NEVADA LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Former Vice President Joe Biden took part in a community event Saturday afternoon at a Las Vegas high school jointly organized by Mi Familia Vota, a national civic engagement organization advocating on behalf of the Latino community in America. Biden was pressed on a number of different issues by moderator Hector Sanchez Barba, including deportation levels in the Obama administration, how to better support those affected by the recent natural disaster in Puerto Rico, and how as president he would ensure sufficient representation from the Latino community. While there were a few tense exchanges with the moderator, Biden did not stray far from his typical stump speech lines about unity and needing to restore America's soul. When asked if he would commit to having at least four Latino cabinet members, Biden said he would not commit to any specific number, but promised that his cabinet would "look like America." "I will not commit to any number of anybody. Number one. And I think that's an appropriate thing to ask. But I think I will, you will see, there will be a significant number of Latinos in my cabinet. And you'll see Latinx women in my cabinet. And, number one. Number two. I guarantee you. I guarantee you. There will be senior advisors who are going to be part of the core staff of the White House who are Latino," Biden said. (17:51:30) Biden was pressed again on the issue of having a specific number of Latino cabinet members, but shot back at the moderator, saying "don't try to tell me number," but going on to say there may be more than four Latinos in his cabinet, and in other positions in his administration. "By the way, there's gonna -- one of the things that's gonna happen is you're going to see Latinx women on the Supreme Court of the United States. And by the way, the only Latinx on the Supreme Court of the United States, when I had a choice to pick who would swear me in as vice president, I picked her to swear me in. So -- and you're not going to get a position in the administration. You're too much of a wise guy," Biden said. (17:56:48) As it often does in conversations with the Latino community, the topic of deportation levels during the Obama administration was another topic of discussion. Biden said that if elected, it is the ICE agents who are going to be re-educated, not new immigrants coming to America. "This is not about deporting anyone...it's about keeping families together, not about separating families. And it's about making sure that we don't continue to add to the anxiety of our children in this school and everywhere else where you have an ICE agent wait outside of school for mom to pick someone up and she's undocumented worrying she's gonna be taken away. Or when you come out of 10:00 o'clock mass and you find there's an ICE agent that's outside or you find an ICE agent that's going to the doctor's office because they know you're going to have to take your child for the physical and take them away," Biden said. (17:58:43) Biden was also asked what he would do to help the people of Puerto Rico affected by the recent hurricanes and earthquakes, and how to ensure Puerto Ricans are treated with the same respect as the rest of America. As president, Biden said he'd have his FEMA Director go to Puerto Rico and do a damage assessment to see the resources necessary to help the island recover. He also slammed President Trump, saying that if these types of disasters had happened elsewhere in America, this administration would be rushing to help. "If this happened -- what do you think would happen if this happened down by one of his nightclubs -- not his nightclubs, his golf clubs? No, I'm I'm serious. What do you think -- we should treat it no differently than any other American city, any other American state or any other American property. We should be surging to help them," Biden said. (18:13:33) TVU 16 JOE BIDEN LAS VEGAS NA COMMUNITY EVENT WITH MIA FAMILIA VOTER ABC UNI 011120 2020 HIGHLIGHTS Moment with the kid: 173705 through 173731 Cabinet members: 175059 And I can assure you one thing, my cabinet, if I'm elected, my administration will look like America. It will look like America. Q: Let me let me have a follow up on that, Mr. Vice President, because I have done these in the past and we haven't seen the level of commitment. If you become president, can you commit right here right now to have four Latinos and Latinas in your cabinet and have senior advisors at the closests level also appointed to the highest level? 175130 BIDEN>> I will not commit to any number of anybody. Number one. And I think that's an appropriate thing to ask. But I think I will, you will see, there will be a significant number of Latinos in my cabinet. And you'll see Latinx women in my cabinet. And, number one. Number two. I guarantee you. 175152 I guarantee you. There will be senior advisors who are going to be part of the core staff of the White House who are Latino. There's a simple reason for this. It's a simple proposition. By the way there will also be not just, but there will brown and black leaders in my cabinet, and they will be part of it. They are part of my whole organization. 175213 But here's the deal. Look, Latinx -- Latinos make up 25% of every single solitary person in school in America today. The idea, the idea that we are not going to have overwhelming representation of Latinos in my Cabinet says we're not going to move forward as a country. You are the future. By the way, this isn't a joke. 175240 This is the future of the country. We've had massive waves of immigration in the past, with there were large numbers of people from particular parts of the world that have come forward. And now it is Latinos and a phenomenal increase. And look, it is, it is why, it's the reason why we have to invest so much more. 175305 And what we need to do to bring along the entire population. And by the way, I say this to all white audiences. I say this to the chambers of commerce. I say this to the universe -- wherever I go for a simple reason. It's overwhelmingly in the interest of the United States of America that everybody come along and I mean that. 175327 And there's so much we can do. We're in a Title 1 school right now. Well, you're going to ask me about that stuff later. Anyway, I get a little, but I guarantee you, there will be significant representation. And I have one apology to you. I can't speak Spanish. I tried the single largest event in my state is the Hispanic ball in my state, in the state of Delaware. And I took, unfortunately, I took all the wrong languages. In high school and college, I took five years of French. I tried to stand up and speak French and I did it pretty well. And they still make fun of you. OK? I made a speech at the ball. 175408 This is now 12 years ago. And I butchered the Spanish. And you know what? I got a standing ovation, but I was still embarrassed to try it again. But I needed to learn a lot. But really and truly, look, it's a matter of -- This is America. You are America. There is no distinction here and there never has been when we've had these massive increases and we've gone through these periods in our whole career, our whole, our whole history, and we run again, we run up against every once in a while the xenophobia that no, no, not in my country. We're not going to do this anymore. Appointing Latinx women to the Supreme Court: 175613 Q: Just to close the issue of representation of Latinos is critical, Mr. Vice President, and that we see a high level of representation and that sort of strong recommendation for you and for all the presidential candidates to have at least four Latinos and Latinas in the cabinet. And we're hoping that -- BIDEN>> Don't try to tell me a number. Okay? >> We are hoping -- 175632 BIDEN>> You're not -- there may be more than four. >> I would love to see that, Mr. Vice President. BIDEN>> But I'm serious. I'm serious. Look, don't fall into this -- this role where we decide that we're going to make sure everybody is based upon the actual number. 175648 By the way, there's gonna -- one of the things that's gonna happen is you're going to see Latinx women on the Supreme Court of the United States. And by the way, the only Latinx on the Supreme Court of the United States, when I had a choice to pick who would swear me in as vice president, I picked her to swear me in. So -- and you're not going to get a position in the administration. You're too much of a wise guy. Deportations: 175843 This is not about deporting anyone. This is not about -- it's about keeping families together, not about separating families. And it's about making sure that we don't continue to add to the anxiety of our children in this school and everywhere else where you have an ICE agent wait outside of school for mom to pick us, someone up and she's undocumented worrying she's gonna be taken away. 145904 Or when you come out of 10:00 o'clock mass and you find there's an ICE agent that's outside or you find an ICE agent that's going to the doctor's office because they know you're going to have to take your child for the physical and take them away. No one will be deported in my administration who hasn't committed a felony and the felony is serious. Puerto Rico: 181108 SANCHEZ>> Thank you, Mr. Vise President. And as a community we're ready, and as an organization we're ready to fully mobilize to make sure that this is a national priority. We're losing the soul of our nation by the devastation of these anti-immigrant policies and issues that we're ready to engage with you of you become president. 181125 There is another issue, Mr. Vice President, that breaks my heart and breaks the heart of the nation, and that is the issue of Puerto Rico. It -- 181135 BIDEN>> I've spent more time there than you have. SANCHEZ>> I spent a lot of time there, Mr. Vice President, but I know you've been there a lot. And it's an element of resilience, it's an element of hope. Seeing the Puerto Rican people in the front lines fighting all these horrible issues from Hurricane Maria to the airwaves(?) that we have seen, to all the political issues, to the disrespect of this administration throwing in paper towels and them instead of providing the support of that the brothers and sisters in the island need? 181210 If you become president, what are you going to do to make sure Puerto Rico recovers, that this never happens again in the island of Puerto Rico, and that the middle class is a strengthened because of workers rights have also been under attack in the island. 181224 BIDEN>> A number of things. Look, I have been deeply involved with Puerto Rico for a long time. Initially, it's the largest portion of the Spanish speaking population in my state, the state of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, significant large Puerto Rican populations. Let's start with what this guy doesn't even know, meaning the president. Puerto Ricans are American citizens. They are American citizens. 181255 Number one. I've been to the island many, many, many times because the Third Circuit Court of Appeals is the same as Delaware, we're the same --- anyway. I've been there a lot. Here's the situation: today if I were president, I would be having the head of FEMA in Puerto Rico, making an assessment of the damage done by this earthquake, these earthquakes and I would be surging all the help that was needed in that, on that island, as if it happened anywhere else in the United States of America. 181333 If this happened -- what do you think would happen if this happened down by one of his nightclubs -- not his nightclubs, his golf clubs? No, I'm I'm serious. What do you think -- we should treat it no differently than any other American city, any other American state or any other American property. We should be surging to help them, number one. 181357 Number two, what we did in our administration and what I did as senator and the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, as well as Judiciary Committee, is we significantly increased the tax opportunities for tax relief for Puerto Ricans by providing opportunities to bring in to Puerto Rico significant middle class jobs. Let me define what I mean by middle class. I don't mean 15 dollars an hour. I mean be able to make forty five dollars an hour. I mean, be able to form unions. 181427 I mean, being able to be in a position where you have, you have health care, where you have wage protection beyond that. That's -- and being middle class is you know, the way I define it is it's just not a number. It's an idea. It's about being able to own your home and not rent it if you want to own a home. It's about being able to send your kid to a local public high school, and if they do well, know they go on to college and they can figure out how to go to college, you can figure out how to pay for it. 181456 It's about being able to take your geriatric mom home when your dad dies and hope you never have to count on your children to take care of you. It's about a little bit of breathing room and the middle class is getting killed, not just in Puerto Rico and not just among Latinos. Across America. EVENT 173834 SANCHEZ>> Vice President Biden Thank you. You are one of the first candidates -- this actually this is our second event in you were one of the first ones that actually reach out immediately and start engaging to do a big event, and we welcome that with all the presidential candidates. But the reality Mr. Vice President is that this happens with all the candidates every time there is an election. 173857 We are 20% of the population and all the presidential candidates always reach out to us when there are elections. And to be fully honest with you, when we see the policy priorities coming from different administrations, we don't see your priorities represented. Why -- BIDEN>> Don't see my priorities represented? 173916 SANCHEZ>> No. The priorities of the candidates in general. This is our conversation. Why should latinos vote for you and how are you planning to engage holistically with our community to make sure that if you become president, you are going to be really advancing the priorities of our community? 173932 BIDEN>> TVU 16 JOE BIDEN LAS VEGAS NA COMMUNITY EVENT WIT.Sub.01.wav [17:39:32] Well, for me. Look, it's all about family. I've been engaged with the Latino community back east because the Hispanic community for a long, long time. I have a fairly large and 2020 census. My little state of Delaware, the fastest growing Hispanic population in the country. And we have a state where almost nineteen point eight percent of my state is African-American. And over 40 percent of my state is is Hispanic. And so I've been involved in the beginning with relating to everything from civil rights to job opportunities. [17:40:10] When I ran for the Senate, when I was a 29 year old kid, I wasn't even old enough to be sworn in. When I got elected, I got elected 17 days before is eligible. And I worked with the Chavez organization because we have a large agricultural population. I fought for decent housing. I fought for opportunities from the very beginning. And there's no reason why you'd know that because no one knows where Delaware is. I find Western news don't pay much attention to a little states like us back east. And by the way. Dana, thank you for the passport to come into your district. [17:40:51] But I think look, my. [17:40:56] For me, everything in my whole career has been about family. I mean, this is silly. It's been about family and coming from a family that was not at all. I have no Hispanic lineage coming from a family that understands what it's like to be treated like a second second class citizen. I come from a little town called Scranton, Pennsylvania. And we're Irish Catholics. Didn't have a whole lot of shot when my grandpop were growing up. We were considered sort of the bottom of the rung of the social agenda. [17:41:35] And I was always taught by my grandfather and my grandfathers table and my dad's table that everyone, everyone, everyone, everyone is allowed to be treated with dignity, no matter who you were, no matter where you're from. And that's why when I moved to the state of Delaware, when there are no jobs in Scranton with my dad had to go looking for work. We had to go home and live with my grandpop for a year when my dad found a job and was able to get a house to bring us all down, to be able to live together again. [17:42:08] We. I was taught that the greatest abuse of all this is the God's truth. The greatest abuse of all that could be committed was the abuse of power. The abuse of power by a government, by wealthy people, by people who had power. And he said, you still argue that the greatest sin of all, the cardinal sin of all, was for a man to raise his hand to a woman or a child. That's why I wrote the Violence Against Women Act myself. [17:42:38] The point is that everything that I've ever been engaged in has been about fighting the abuse of power. And that's why as a kid in my state of Delaware when I got elected. And you're gonna think it doesn't relate, but I believe it does relate. I was got very deeply involved, the civil rights movement as a kid and in high school and a kid in college. And I worked on the African-American community. And and that's why I ran for the Senate. I didn't ever. I never thought I was going to run for public office. [17:43:10] That wasn't why I got involved. I got involved and changed the way in which people were treated. And it's just been across the board. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. But here's the deal. You know, and if we're going to make this country as great as it can be. We have to understand that we have to stop this God awful appeal to racism. This God awful to know. [17:43:41] We have to restore the soul of America, America's soul is at risk. This guy comes down an escalator not much higher than those steps. And what's the first thing he says he's running because he's gonna get rid of those Mexican rapists? What's he done? The way he's treated Latinos from the day he ran? Everything is about we're being invaded. In other words, presidents speak matter, they matter. [17:44:13] Even if a president is like this one, spewing hate spend is designed to divide us, divide us and folks look. And this is more than you wanted to hear. But the reason why you should trust me is because I feel this this internal. Almost anger about a way in which we're dividing this country. Appealing to the prejudices this country. Look what happened in 2018. Why does he keep showing? Because, you know, they're going to lose the off year elections. He kept showing this. This horde he called of Latinos invading the United States of America, the invasion from the south. [17:45:01] Going to take over. Take over America. We're going to polluters. Well, you know what? It's not I'm not saying he's directly responsible, but our children are listening to these things. All children are listening snakes. [17:45:16] And it wasn't a far cry when a young man walks into a parking lot and guns down. [17:45:23] Hispanic Americans in Texas saying that he was doing it to prevent an invasion of Texas by Hispanics. And look how we treat people now. Look how we talk to people. My dad used to have an expression. He said, Joey, our children are listening. [17:45:44] And our silence is complicity. This is not who we are. This is not who we are. The last thing I'll say to get to you rescue of questions is look. [17:45:59] I learned a long time ago. As a kid, the civil rights movement. [17:46:04] I thought when my city in Wilmington, Delaware, is the only city in America occupied by the National Guard since the Civil War. Because my two political heroes. One was Martin Luther King, other as Bobby Kennedy. I never knew Cesar Chavez, I knew oh, I didn't know personally. They fought for people's honor, respect and dignity. [17:46:28] They were assassinated my senior year in law school. I came home in my city, a big part of it been burned to the ground in the riots. And I had a job with a fancy law firm. I quit that job, became a public defender. So I could defend the people who were being abused. And I thought things were never, ever gonna get better. [17:46:53] And here I was almost 40 years later to the day, standing in the same place that I interviewed my clients the first time. [17:47:01] After these raids. On a platform. [17:47:06] In Wilmington, Delaware, at a train station waiting for a black man to come and pick me up. Coming down from Philadelphia, the. [17:47:13] One hundred and twenty seven miles to Washington, D.C. to be sworn in as president and vise president on states America. And I thought, well, things have changed. I called my three sons up. My three children, I share my two sons, my one son was the attorney general of Delaware and he's now deceased, died of cancer after a year in Iraq. [17:47:35] My other son, who headed up at the time, the World Food Program USA, my daughter. Who is a social worker? And I said, don't tell me things can't change. Look what's happening. Forty years ago, the day I thought blacks and whites would never speak again in Delaware. And here we are. I'm about to be picked up by Barack Obama. But you know what? [17:48:03] Now and for much longer, longer answers. [17:48:06] But look, folks. I made a mistake. [17:48:11] I thought you could defeat hate. [17:48:14] But hey, it only hides. It never goes away. [17:48:19] And as John, good friend of mine says. The history of America is not a fairy tale. And when you give hate, oxygen, when you do the things the president has done, making it sound legitimate. [17:48:34] It comes back out. And we have to defeat the hate and the hate relationship with people. [17:48:43] Thank you, Mr. Vise President. [17:48:44] As you approach on the issue of civil rights and something that is directly related to this issue is the structure of this solution to part with from some communities. Latinos are probably the community that has been excluded from my system. What are the structural challenges to make it harder for a community to get access to power in something that is directly related to this is the composition of the staff of the campaigns. [17:49:10] What percentage of Latinos do you have in your campaign, especially at the highest level? And how many Latinos do you have in your inner circle, poor for strategic advice? [17:49:19] Well, if you're willing to come back and help, you'll be one of them. But that will, in fact, make it more difficult. First of all, I have 80 significant Latinos endorsers. I have three former cabinet members. This cabinet right here, Hilda Solis and her family, Ken Salazar and Federico Penny, have all endorsed. But the people who just yesterday my dad, Eric Garcetti, endorsement and as part of my. [17:49:53] And as part of the campaign, as a co-chair of the campaign, with regard to I have five members of the CHC, Tony Cardenas, represent a robocall, Lou CORERA. [17:50:07] This gentleman right here from Texas. He came all the way from Texas. But thank you very much, Representative Villa and Vincent Gonzalez. My staff my my deputy campaign manager is anything Burnell who is a manager or CEO. He, in fact, is is from Texas and his family is Mexican-American. Alex, first of all, Alex at Kurri Kurri Kurri, Cristobal. Alex, who is here? [17:50:35] Are you like him? A lot, but don't try to get him a raise. Okay, I'll keep you. Keep telling me O'Grady is, but he is pretty great. And senior adviser and Nevada State Senator Kinsella, senior adviser here in Nevada. [17:50:51] General, I actor Jessica is a California state director. [17:50:55] And Jennifer, sources or organizational director. 175059 And I can assure you one thing, my cabinet, if I'm elected, my administration will look like America. It will look like America. Q: Let me let me have a follow up on that, Mr. Vice President, because I have done these in the past and we haven't seen the level of commitment. If you become president, can you commit right here right now to have four Latinos and Latinas in your cabinet and have senior advisors at the closests level also appointed to the highest level? 175130 BIDEN>> I will not commit to any number of anybody. Number one. And I think that's an appropriate thing to ask. But I think I will, you will see, there will be a significant number of Latinos in my cabinet. And you'll see Latinx women in my cabinet. And, number one. Number two. I guarantee you. 175152 I guarantee you. There will be senior advisors who are going to be part of the core staff of the White House who are Latino. There's a simple reason for this. It's a simple proposition. By the way there will also be not just, but there will brown and black leaders in my cabinet, and they will be part of it. They are part of my whole organization. 175213 But here's the deal. Look, Latinx -- Latinos make up 25% of every single solitary person in school in America today. The idea, the idea that we are not going to have overwhelming representation of Latinos in my Cabinet says we're not going to move forward as a country. You are the future. By the way, this isn't a joke. 175240 This is the future of the country. We've had massive waves of immigration in the past, with there were large numbers of people from particular parts of the world that have come forward. And now it is Latinos and a phenomenal increase. And look, it is, it is why, it's the reason why we have to invest so much more. 175305 And what we need to do to bring along the entire population. And by the way, I say this to all white audiences. I say this to the chambers of commerce. I say this to the universe -- wherever I go for a simple reason. It's overwhelmingly in the interest of the United States of America that everybody come along and I mean that. 175327 And there's so much we can do. We're in a Title 1 school right now. Well, you're going to ask me about that stuff later. Anyway, I get a little, but I guarantee you, there will be significant representation. And I have one apology to you. I can't speak Spanish. I tried the single largest event in my state is the Hispanic ball in my state, in the state of Delaware. And I took, unfortunately, I took all the wrong languages. In high school and college, I took five years of French. I tried to stand up and speak French and I did it pretty well. And they still make fun of you. OK? I made a speech at the ball. 175408 This is now 12 years ago. And I butchered the Spanish. And you know what? I got a standing ovation, but I was still embarrassed to try it again. But I needed to learn a lot. But really and truly, look, it's a matter of -- This is America. You are America. There is no distinction here and there never has been when we've had these massive increases and we've gone through these periods in our whole career, our whole, our whole history, and we run again, we run up against every once in a while the xenophobia that no, no, not in my country. We're not going to do this anymore. It never lasts, because finally the American people stand up and say, enough, enough, enough. [17:54:50] We are who we are because we are a nation of immigrants. That's why we are who we are as we've been able to pick the best of every culture in the world. It takes courage to decide you're going to get up and leave everything you know and come to a different country. I can hear it now. Someone's in Guadalajara now. I've got a great idea. Let's sell everything we have. [17:55:15] Give it to a a you know, a somebody who's going to work. We're gonna sell everything we have and give it to somebody who's going to smuggle across the border to a country that says they don't want us. Won't that be fun? Come on. [17:55:30] Think of what it takes to come. It takes resilience. It takes optimism. It takes determination. [17:55:37] Only people didn't have a choice. Should people come over and sips on change on the floor? From American community, that's the original sin. The only way. [17:55:47] Look. [17:55:50] My great grandfather during the potato famine left Ireland, got in a coffin ship in the Irish Sea, wasn't as sure he's ever gonna make it. [17:55:57] It took courage. That's why we're who we are. You are the backbone of the future of this country. And that's not hyperbole. That's a fact. Thank you. Vise President. [17:56:08] Applause. 175613 Q: Just to close the issue of representation of Latinos is critical, Mr. Vice President, and that we see a high level of representation and that sort of strong recommendation for you and for all the presidential candidates to have at least four Latinos and Latinas in the cabinet. And we're hoping that -- BIDEN>> Don't try to tell me a number. Okay? >> We are hoping -- 175632 BIDEN>> You're not -- there may be more than four. >> I would love to see that, Mr. Vice President. BIDEN>> But I'm serious. I'm serious. Look, don't fall into this -- this role where we decide that we're going to make sure everybody is based upon the actual number. 175648 By the way, there's gonna -- one of the things that's gonna happen is you're going to see Latinx women on the Supreme Court of the United States. And by the way, the only Latinx on the Supreme Court of the United States, when I had a choice to pick who would swear me in as vice president, I picked her to swear me in. So -- and you're not going to get a position in the administration. You're too much of a wise guy. [17:57:16] They're going steroids. But I see them hoping to see the amazing number of Latinos and Latinas in your amazing administration moving to another issue that is you're ready to switch on. [17:57:25] And this is so critical for our nation and is the issue of immigration. I'm a very proud Mexican immigrant and I just became citizen two years ago. Cheers and applause. I have no doubt, Mr. President, that the American dream is still a reality because of the contributions of immigrants, particularly undocumented immigrants. I work with you a lot in there. PRESIDENT OBAMA We met in a number of occasions to work on a lot of issues. [17:57:56] We worked together on Hill criminal justice reform, minimum wage issues for I had the US. There was one issue, Mr. Vise President, that we strongly disagree. All the time during the administration was the show of the protection is an issue that has been devastating for the communities, is devastating on families. It's a painful issue separation, exploitation of workers. It increases the ability for families. What can we expect from you if you become president on each of the politicians? [17:58:28] You probably know where I was on that, but I'm not going to do that because I was vise president. [17:58:33] Number one. [17:58:35] What you can expect is that people are going to go back to school or the ICE agents, they're going to be reeducate. 175843 This is not about deporting anyone. This is not about -- it's about keeping families together, not about separating families. And it's about making sure that we don't continue to add to the anxiety of our children in this school and everywhere else where you have an ICE agent wait outside of school for mom to pick us, someone up and she's undocumented worrying she's gonna be taken away. 145904 Or when you come out of 10:00 o'clock mass and you find there's an ICE agent that's outside or you find an ICE agent that's going to the doctor's office because they know you're going to have to take your child for the physical and take them away. No one will be deported in my administration who hasn't committed a felony and the felony is serious. Or second thing is I'm going to increase. We tried to raise, as you know, and I will raise to one hundred and twenty five thousand. The number of refugees able to come under international law, able to come to the United States. Look what's happened in Venezuela. [17:59:44] We should be writing. [17:59:45] We should providing temporary protected status. Anyone here in temporary protected status has been here and now able to go back because of danger for four years, should be able to get in line to be along with everyone else. Eleven million undocumented on a path to citizenship. [18:00:01] Number three as number three. [18:00:06] My wife and the congressman just went from Brownsville across across the border from to feed Christmas dinner to all those folks who are should be in the United States of America waiting to deal with their plea and their argument that they are entitled to come here and run under the existing laws that are there. [18:00:31] My wife came back with the congressman and she was devastated and she talked about what she saw, children who happened to be heavy and time children living in mud and squalor. They should be in the United States of America. I would be surging judges to the border to make those early decisions about whether or not someone qualifies. [18:00:53] Number two, no more family separation. [18:00:58] It makes us. No, I really mean it. But the generation in America that has them is not there the most. [18:01:06] I spoke to an international psychiatric association in London and the American Psychiatric Association as well. You know, the generation has the greatest degree of mental health and anxiety problems. [18:01:17] Generation Z. People from the ages of 7 to 17 Y. [18:01:23] Part of the reason is this anxiety about family separation and other part is about guns in schools. You know, the greatest concern people have, no matter what their background is of that generation, according to Hillary's polling, getting shot in school. And we have a president who has that's the NRA only on own, the Oval Office. I'm the only guy that's been the NRA nationally. I eliminate assault weapons. I eliminated the ability them to be able to have more than 10 bombs and background checks. [18:01:57] So, look, this is about the overall health of America. [18:02:02] And by the way, you know, they talk about how much immigrants are costing America. Give me a break. [18:02:07] The reason why our Social Security system is still solvent is because of immigration. [18:02:13] Bob, people. They have jobs as the reason why we're growing. [18:02:19] Look, we're the only nation in the world that's a major industrial power that is able to have replacement workers. Look what's happening. Look what's happening from China, which is xenophobic. They're not allowing anybody in to fulfill. Japan is xenophobic. [18:02:35] All the European countries. We're the only country the only country that has replacement workers. Because why? Because of all of you and your families and all the people who come here to the United States to make us stronger. That's why we're who we are. [18:02:50] That's why there's so much more. And by the way, everybody, there's 11 million undocumented. But, you know. [18:02:59] The significant portion of those people are overstayed their their visas. They didn't cross the border. [18:03:04] They crossed legally and didn't go home. But guess what? We have to make. How many of you here are dreamers? [18:03:12] You're already an American man. [18:03:15] You're already an American. No, no, I'm not just saying that. I love the way these guys in the right talk about it. [18:03:23] I can prove how well you can. [18:03:26] Now, I can say, mom, leave me at the border. I think it's a crime to cross, man. Leave me here. Don't. [18:03:31] Come on. Come on. What do we do? [18:03:34] What are we doing? And by the way, every single solitary dreamer is going to be entitled to every educational benefit, including free community college access to health care, for example. It makes no sense to take a talented person who's a dreamer, who wants to go on to college. [18:03:57] I'm doubling the amount of money for Pell Grants from six to twelve thousand dollars a year. I'm not trying to be nice. It's in our interest that you be able to go free community college. Not a single cent to be paid in cash. And but if we what we have to do is invest early. If I only have one dollar to invest in education, I invested before kindergarten, not after. And here's what I do. [18:04:21] I was telling your superintendent and principal here, you're a Title 1 school. [18:04:26] I'm going to triple Title 1 funding. [18:04:27] And I can get it done. We can get it done. We're talking about going from 15 to 45 billion a year. You know what that means? It means we'll be able to pay teachers competitive wages and we won't lose teachers in our schools. [18:04:41] Number one. Number two. Everybody. 3, 4 and 5 years old will go to school, not daycare, school. [18:04:51] And whatever university in this country is pointed out that will increase over 55 percent. [18:04:56] The ability to make it all the way through school and go on to college, because that's what it does. [18:05:02] Yet equalize is what people, in fact, come look. And the other thing is, the thing I don't like about the way we talk about this, I've been involved this a long time is somehow in schools where there's not as much of a tax base and where there is a where there's large groups of people who come from low income backgrounds. Well, we don't want to demand too much of them. [18:05:21] We're gonna have advanced placement in this school because not a thing you can't do. If you're given the shot from the beginning, from the beginning, there's no 3 year old in America. [18:05:34] You're right, 40 percent of your brains are already developed who can not learn and can not succeed. [18:05:40] So there's so many things we're able to do. And that drives me nuts that even those people who are xenophobic, they don't understand. [18:05:48] It's in their interest. It's in their interest. Everybody's better off everybody. Rich folks, poor folks, everybody. When, in fact, you have a better educated public. [18:06:01] When you have a better educated community anyway. For that, I apologize. [18:06:05] My passion is because these things we can do to the reason we celebrate. But I see them. The element of immigration in general is it's an issue that is, I think, what people need to call nation on this issue. Entire sectors of the economy heavily depend on the contributions of undocumented workers. It needs. [18:06:26] Some may seem it's on theirs. I can I can understand why we have an immigration reform done in the past. It's an issue that should be done. You were in the Senate for a very long time. How can you get immigration reform passed in the first 100 days of your administration? [18:06:41] Guaranteed in the first 100 will be sent in the first month. I can't guarantee you first, but I'm the most effective senator I've ever known getting things done. Maybe somebody has got more done than me. Name me. What can we get it done sooner and can be done in two ways? [18:06:54] I'm sorry. I just get really guys. Look, there's two ways countries get inspired. [18:07:02] They get inspired by great leaders who their rhetoric and their leadership raises people up from Abraham Lincoln to John Kennedy to Barack Obama. There's a second way you do it, a second way you do it. [18:07:17] You have a really bad president for a while. Think about it. [18:07:22] Not a joke. And he makes you realize what is able to be done. [18:07:28] Case in point. We worked together on Obamacare. We got it passed without a single Republican vote. But what happened was right after that, we lost the United States House representative. Everybody said expert says, because we passed Obamacare. You may remember I don't remember you in the office at the time, but you may remember my arguing with Barack. [18:07:49] He should do a fireside chat and he should stand there and explain to the American people what we had just done, because I was convinced because I've done this my whole life. They didn't fully understand what he had just done. We had just done and we did, he said. And to his credit, he said, this is no time to take a victory lap. We have so much more to do everything. But Locus has landed on his desk at the time. I'm serious. Remember the situation we were he was in? And so what happened? We lost the house. But then what happened? [18:08:23] Republicans came after Obamacare without people even knowing it was Obamacare. They said what we're gonna do is we're going to do away with this thing called Obamacare. And they didn't realize the reason why if they had a Down syndrome child that they're able to haven't covered with because that preexisting condition, they could afford to cover him now. [18:08:41] They didn't realize if you're at a 23 year old son or daughter, they could still stay on your insurance policy because they would not have a job because the recession was so bad. [18:08:51] They couldn't get a job. They didn't realize they didn't realize that over four million Latino Latinos had gotten coverage for the first time. They didn't realize into this. And then what happened? The 2018 election, this last one we had the off year election. I went into 24 states personally campaigning for over 65 candidates. And I was foolish enough to say we're going to win 41 seats in the House and take it back. And he said, there goes Biden again. We won 41 seats. But here's the deal. You know how we did it. [18:09:26] We didn't go after a person's motive, criticize him with a dirty policy. [18:09:29] The reason why you're not with us is because you're in the pocket of big business or you're a liar or you're this. We said to the Republican, are you for doing away with Obamacare? [18:09:42] Are you doing away with preexisting conditions coverage and there. No, no, no, no, no, not may not mean not me. Did you hear any Republicans running last time out on being against Obamacare? [18:09:54] And if they did, they got beat. Sixty five candidates. We won governor seats and the rest. Here's the deal. [18:10:02] Now, everybody knows they have seen children snatched from their mother's arms. [18:10:08] They've seen people put in cages. They've seen it. [18:10:12] They didn't believe it when they were told it. But they've seen it. And as they traveled around the country and around the world, they realized how damaging it is the United States. How totally contrary it is to who we are as a people. They've seen and heard what this man has said about people of browns and blacks in America. [18:10:32] They've seen it and they go, Oh, my God. That's not America. What's happened to these people? Some of you travel abroad. Some of you have been around the world. Have you been in any country as an American visiting the last year where you haven't had the question, what's happened to America? No, I'm serious. [18:10:52] So, folks, the country's ready and they're ready to believe what we've been saying, that this is totally counterproductive, what we're doing. We have to restore the soul of this country in. 181108 SANCHEZ>> Thank you, Mr. Vise President. And as a community we're ready, and as an organization we're ready to fully mobilize to make sure that this is a national priority. We're losing the soul of our nation by the devastation of these anti-immigrant policies and issues that we're ready to engage with you of you become president. 181125 There is another issue, Mr. Vice President, that breaks my heart and breaks the heart of the nation, and that is the issue of Puerto Rico. It -- 181135 BIDEN>> I've spent more time there than you have. SANCHEZ>> I spent a lot of time there, Mr. Vice President, but I know you've been there a lot. And it's an element of resilience, it's an element of hope. Seeing the Puerto Rican people in the front lines fighting all these horrible issues from Hurricane Maria to the airwaves(?) that we have seen, to all the political issues, to the disrespect of this administration throwing in paper towels and them instead of providing the support of that the brothers and sisters in the island need? 181210 If you become president, what are you going to do to make sure Puerto Rico recovers, that this never happens again in the island of Puerto Rico, and that the middle class is a strengthened because of workers rights have also been under attack in the island. 181224 BIDEN>> A number of things. Look, I have been deeply involved with Puerto Rico for a long time. Initially, it's the largest portion of the Spanish speaking population in my state, the state of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, significant large Puerto Rican populations. Let's start with what this guy doesn't even know, meaning the president. Puerto Ricans are American citizens. They are American citizens. 181255 Number one. I've been to the island many, many, many times because the Third Circuit Court of Appeals is the same as Delaware, we're the same --- anyway. I've been there a lot. Here's the situation: today if I were president, I would be having the head of FEMA in Puerto Rico, making an assessment of the damage done by this earthquake, these earthquakes and I would be surging all the help that was needed in that, on that island, as if it happened anywhere else in the United States of America. 181333 If this happened -- what do you think would happen if this happened down by one of his nightclubs -- not his nightclubs, his golf clubs? No, I'm I'm serious. What do you think -- we should treat it no differently than any other American city, any other American state or any other American property. We should be surging to help them, number one. 181357 Number two, what we did in our administration and what I did as senator and the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, as well as Judiciary Committee, is we significantly increased the tax opportunities for tax relief for Puerto Ricans by providing opportunities to bring in to Puerto Rico significant middle class jobs. Let me define what I mean by middle class. I don't mean 15 dollars an hour. I mean be able to make forty five dollars an hour. I mean, be able to form unions. 181427 I mean, being able to be in a position where you have, you have health care, where you have wage protection beyond that. That's -- and being middle class is you know, the way I define it is it's just not a number. It's an idea. It's about being able to own your home and not rent it if you want to own a home. It's about being able to send your kid to a local public high school, and if they do well, know they go on to college and they can figure out how to go to college, you can figure out how to pay for it. 181456 It's about being able to take your geriatric mom home when your dad dies and hope you never have to count on your children to take care of you. It's about a little bit of breathing room and the middle class is getting killed, not just in Puerto Rico and not just among Latinos. Across America. You have for the first time, we're no longer the wealthiest middle class in the world, no longer. You have for the first time a majority of people, the middle class, arguing that their children will never have the same standard of living they had. And let me tell you why the middle class is so important. [18:15:29] Every other country in the world I know I'm referred to as my colleagues will tell you is middle class, Joe. That's how they always talked about me when I was in the senator's by even administration. [18:15:40] Well, it's not because that they think. [18:15:44] They think I'm not sophisticated. I'm pretty damn sophisticated about what built this country. What built this country wasn't Wall Street. It was middle class folks. And the union movement built the middle class. That's how it happened. [18:15:57] Now, for real, Wall Street didn't build America as I was. [18:16:03] I wasn't. I went I wasn't as poor as a lot of folks may be in this in this district. But I'll tell you what. When my father finally got a job after a couple of years from when we got from Scranton, we moved, you know, three bedrooms full of a house of four kids and a grandpop. It wasn't an unsafe neighborhood, but it wasn't what we were. I guess technically lower middle class, but from the time I was born. And even though I used to stutter badly as a kid, my father mother looked me. [18:16:31] She could be anything you want, anything you want. [18:16:33] There's not a thing that you can't do. And I really mean it. [18:16:38] I'll think about how many parents and go back to people's go back to their own neighborhoods. How many parents are saying that to the kids now? They don't think they're going to be able to do it. And look, the reason why we've been the most stable nation in the world, the reason why we've been a nation that's been able when other democracies have teetered, where there's been great depressions or great wars. Is because the middle class provided hope. Everybody thought there's possibilities. [18:17:09] I spend more time with Xi Jingping, the head of China, than any world leader yet. [18:17:14] And I'm in a town called Chengdu, a multi million people on the Tibetan plateau. [18:17:19] And he turns to me. Twenty five hours at dinners we had together because the President Obama wanted me to get to know him, not we could become buddies, but just to understand his motivation. And he was vise president and I was vise president. Wouldn't appropriate for the president to spend that much time. [18:17:35] And he looked at me and he said with an interpreter, whisper in my ear, I apologize. My colleagues have heard this before, whispering in my ear. The translation, as he said, he has one whispering in his ear for me when I speak. And he said, Can you define America for me? [18:17:50] I said, Yeah. One word. One word. Possibilities. [18:17:56] We are believed. Anything is possible in America. Anything. If we do it together, we give people a chance. We've thought anything is possible. [18:18:05] And we're losing that sense. We lose that sense in America, possibilities. Everything changes, everything changes. And guess what? You are the possibilities for this country now. [18:18:23] Mr. Vise president. [18:18:26] And ask me if family level that we use when I say in a very strong message of solidarity with Puerto Rico. Someone's gonna say this if I must. I said a possible link on Wednesday to see on a mobility suddenly. But I'll put you out and I'll see what I said. What I don't know is gay. Guess someone stole. Possibly. But getting them on before us politics. [18:18:45] E e starts seeing principally that stubby guys like you stuck a Dunkin ticket and told me that most so they can blow their icy lindsay up which has glasses, put dollar gas and. Instead of pressing them, we have so many issues saying it's important for us that we hear from the community. So we're going to call a lull for a couple of people. [18:19:05] Let me add one more thing about Puerto Rico. It's my wife headed the Children's World Children Program for the United States. She had hundreds of workers in Puerto Rico during the hurricane. She spent time down there trying to mobilize people to make sure. TVU 16 JOE BIDEN LAS VEGAS NA COMMUNITY EVENT WIT.Sub.02.wav [18:19:28] They get treated with some dignity and they weren't they weren't treated with dignity and a lot of people left behind. But I want to tell you something. Not only caring about, but getting engaged with. Letting people know that you care matters a lot. [18:19:47] My wife spent a lot of time in Puerto Rico trying to going back to thank all the all the Save the Children workers, which run the largest children's organization in the world. [18:19:56] Thank you, Mr. Vise President. Now we're going to hear from the audience. We have Marianne here. She says to them from Las Vegas, Maria. [18:20:13] Hi, my name is Randy. So we're a time traveling the civic engagement organizer from if and we get what they hear in Nevada. I have been living in Las Vegas since I was 12 and a half years old. I am not a citizen. I am undocumented. And I had the privilege of having some sort of protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as Dr.. Education is just as important as immigration, and it is an intersectional issue for the whole community. [18:20:35] Access to quality education is a top priority and some students get charged out-of-state tuition and some even international fees. And I know you just mentioned that. So. VISE President Joe Biden, we are asking you to increase access to quality education like you just stated not too long ago, like maybe 30 minutes ago. And to make sure we have full inclusion with no barriers to our society we contribute so much to. [18:20:56] So my question to you is how can you ensure that at a federal level, the Docker recipients aren't charged out-of-state tuition for states to reside in? And if you can't do that at a federal level, how can you work with states to fix that policy? [18:21:09] We can incentivize states to fix the policy. We can't dictate to do. But what we can do is make sure that if you're in college, you have access to every single federal program that's available, including including everything from the Pell Grants to other actions that are other opportunities available and including student loan forgiveness nationally and a student, a whole range of issues that you would qualify for. [18:21:36] That is question your question on now. If in fact, we're going to do that. So, for example, if you're in school and you're now in a situation where you may find it difficult to maintain your room and your board or your travel back and forth, you would qualify for twelve thousand dollars per year directly to allow you living expenses and travel expenses and roommate expenses that can fundamentally change the circumstance for you and your family and all other people who, in fact are darker qualified. [18:22:08] Now they'd be able to have that. Secondly, we can't, in fact, incentivize states by saying we will provide more funding for other aspects of your education system, if you will in fact treat darker students like every other student in state and do not charge them out-of-state tuitions wherever their resident official residence is, they can name where they live, the address they live at. That is what in fact you should treat them as. [18:22:37] Now, if you're going to go from here to a great university like the University of Delaware, you'll be charged out-of-state students. I'm joking. But all kidding aside, in-state students should be charged no matter whether they're DACA or they are already citizens. The same exact tuition that would be charged for each of them. But again, and if you in fact, right now, as everybody knows, by the way, community colleges, all the credit you have in community college, you transfer to a four year college, you can cut in half the cost of your education, cut it in half. Secondly, there is a program that you're probably familiar with, although you may not need it that in fact were released, the student debt. [18:23:18] Right now, you have to pay back 10 percent of your disposable income if you qualify for the program, which you would qualify for. I cut that to 5 percent, which means that from the time you graduate, if you're making less than twenty five thousand dollars a year and you start, you pay nothing back until you make more than that. If you do, then you pay back not 10, but five percent of your disposable income. Sorry. This goes into detail, but the detail matters. You had 5 percent of your disposable income. [18:23:46] That means after you pay your rent, your house payment, your car payment, your food, everything you pay is only 5 percent back. But if you engage in if you engage in a voluntary organisation, you can have all your debt forgiven. So if you decide to do everything from doing what you're doing now all the way through to joining the Peace Corps or working for violence, women's shelter or dealing with or school teaching, etc., you can have up to ten thousand dollars a year written off your student debt up to fifty thousand dollars and you pay nothing at all for your education. There's a lot more, but he's getting frustrated. [18:24:22] So I'm not going to take another question. Is that a vise president? But I'm such he'll mend this. [18:24:29] She was cheating Las Vegas at the hotel in those three such. [18:24:36] We have a my coming. Oh, hi. [18:24:44] Hi. Nice to meet you. Menominee Associate Mendes. For me, no such tremendous trouble, corporal, like those three hour day later he saw me and brother only on Latinas, somewhat less struck by how the Rays get the name most elaborate chess. [18:25:01] L'Oreal must get on the. So long as they're missing, when they plateaus and doubles for that other lot of chaos, it will normally blanco tambien so free most emotions. Also loved Alice. Yeah. We don't want incremental drastic war in Iraq. Also, 6 1 control Latinas. Amy Grant, this kept politics. A sector meant the be in the implemented, but a paralyzed block does not bode well for marketers. [18:25:34] I'll be doing the translation. The question is Latinos are the workers with the largest wage theft. We only make 54 cents for every dollar a white man makes. We also separate from labor abuses and there has been a dramatic increase in sexual harassment against Latinos and immigrants in the workplace. What policies are you planning to implement if you become president to stop the exploitation against women's workers? [18:25:57] A number of things, some of which have already done. If you are a person who is undocumented. And you are harassed, engaged in sexual violence or sexual harassment. [18:26:12] You are under the law. [18:26:13] I wrote the Violence Against Women Act allowed to report that to enforcement, law enforcement and or go to a violence from violence against women shelter and they report it. And you cannot be deported for doing that. They cannot allow, as a consequence of that, identify you as undocumented and be deported. That is a safeguard built in. And the legislation I wrote. Number one. Number two. What I do is I significantly increase the prospect of you being able to join a union. For example, if you have the Freedom Brothers and, you know, Station Casino. [18:26:53] You've negotiated that they've had a union that has been certified but not negotiate with them. You in fact, I make sure that we fundamentally change and go after them for violating the law, for not being engaged in those two piece of legislation. I won't bore you that because you'll get upset and it takes a long time. But there's a thing called the pro act and there's a thing called anyway. There's two piece of legislation we can pass and pass in the House. And if we get one, 51 of the Senate will pass it in the Senate as well. [18:27:26] That says that if they in fact make it difficult for you to the union to organize, then they can be fined heavily and personally. And if they engage in the inability of you to be able to cast a vote to join a union, they can. In my view, I'd be held criminally liable. That's what I want to see happen. And the fines are 50 and 100 thousand dollars. But it should not be to the corporations should be them personally. Do you want. Is this going to be translated again? I'm sorry. [18:27:55] Got it. OK. All right. [18:27:57] All right. He won't give you the whole thing, but I will later. But all kidding aside, what's happening is that we have to improve. The only one way to deal with the abuse of power is to have power. And the only people can take on the abuse of power. If you work in an industry that is, for example, when you work at a hotel. Is unions the only ones that have enough power to respond? And so I make it there's a whole lot of things I do. And I'm a union guy. And a matter of fact, my staff just organized with the Teamsters, the staff that works for me, just organizing things. [18:28:34] But my point is that you've got to have power facing power. Otherwise, we get no respect. They don't treat us with any respect. [18:28:44] Thirdly, I think that I've been trying since 1973 as a senator and I think we can get it done. Now, finally, people are realizing we should pass the the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. United States amendment. The United States Constitution. [18:29:01] I mean, for real, because all the rest of the way they're getting around a lot of the things we're doing here. [18:29:06] We can do that and establish a principle. Look, I believe we're at a moment in American history where the real inflection point. We've been there probably the last time was during the civil rights movement with Johnson and before that when they've been in a situation with labor all the way back to Roosevelt. And another one of those inflection moments. People have realized the extent of the abuse that exists across the board in many ways from corporate America. In addition to that, I think that what you have to we have to do is we have to focus on the notion that we're going to change the culture of violence against women in America. [18:29:44] When I wrote the Violence Against Women Act, women's groups didn't even supported initially, I thought it would take away from the issues related to choice and gender. OK. And then they finally came around and everybody were all. But here's what I said at the time. Women who find themselves the victim of abuse, whether it's with a if they're married or a boyfriend or a stranger, you know, under the law, you can't. [18:30:08] Well, what happens is we have to you know, you all know what the the English language and how it translates in Spanish, what the rule of thumb means. [18:30:21] The rule of thumb was is comes from English jurisprudence from England. It's not some some some non European notion. It came from. [18:30:31] Ah. System. It didn't come from Africa or China. It's ours. And it said, back in the late 13, hundreds women were viewed as a chattel. No different than the pigs or the horses or the. Or the farm animals. And. And they will have a responsible for their husbands. So husband was able to chastise his wife, beat his wife. But so many women were dying from being beaten. The English common law changed in the last thirteen hundred and said a man could no longer strike a woman with a rod bigger than the circumference of his thumb. Think of that. It was alright to beach it as long as it wasn't going to kill you. This is a cultural problem, we have to change the culture. No man has arrived. [18:31:21] To raise the hand of a woman or a child for any reason whatsoever other than self-defense is zero. And we've got to now stay at it. We've got to now stay at it. You know why they haven't really reauthorized my Violence Against Women Act in the Senate so far? Because although I build in every year, it has to be every SB reauthorized. We build in with the help of the people here. We build it a provision saying that if you're convicted of abusing a woman or you have a stay away order, you get an order saying you can't go near her, you cannot own a weapon at all. [18:32:01] But there's an exception that I tried to close. [18:32:05] We tried to close this last time. It's called the boyfriend exception. If you just had a boyfriend, you didn't live with him. You didn't have a child by him. He, in fact, was not required to have imposed on him a prohibition of being able to own a weapon. [18:32:23] Well, guess what? [18:32:24] The NRA is holding up the whole Violence Against Women Act now because these guys in the pocket of the NRA and the gun industry, folks, more women die because someone shoots them to death, shoots them. [18:32:42] And the idea that if you had a boyfriend who beat you up several times and as a stay said you. The court says you can't go near that woman again. Why in God's name should they ever be able to have a weapon, period? [18:32:57] We've got to change the culture. Thank you, Mr. Vise President. [18:33:03] I got the signal from your staff that you need to run out to another meeting. We appreciate the time. We have questions on climate change, on education, health care, environment. Well, there are so critical issues. I know at some point we're going to be able to get to them with your with your A campaign. [18:33:20] But will we want to welcome some closing remarks from you, Mr. Vise president, with this campaign? We need to make sure that whomever is in the next president is fully committed to protecting and advancing the serious issues that we're facing in the Latino and the immigrant community where literally being killed with hate them violence being promoted from the White House. [18:33:45] Hate crimes against our community increased 26 percent since the last three to four years because of all of this, Kate, and all these crimes. And that also is reflected in the policies that are being advanced in the nation. So the road to the White House is to the Latino community. We in Mi Familia Vota, in all the Latino organizations in the community, want to make sure that we mobilizing historic numbers, the big the right, the right birth, somebody if you become president, we hope to be very working very closely with you to make sure that we have a better and more inclusive democracy. Mr. Vise, president presenting with that, if you went out for some closing remarks. Thank you, folks. [18:34:24] You know, I just ask you. [18:34:27] To judge me on my record. It's a completely open book. Judging me on my record. Find me anything that we've ever done that I have inconsistent with what I've said. I believe that we can cover every single person in America with health care. Adequate health care and mental health care. We're going to significantly increase the number of health care clinics, mental health care clinics to exist in this country. We're going to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure. One hundred billion of that being read of repairing schools that are in disarray. [18:35:13] Schools or the drinking water is not pure schools. They still have asbestos and other things in the walls, schools where the windows leak energy, schools where there are a lot of schools in America, usually usually schools particularly affecting African-Americans and Hispanic Americans, number one to number three. [18:35:35] I guarantee you, I guarantee you that everything that I have done it again, look at my record has been about preventing the abuse of power no matter where it is. Look at the hate crimes we've gone up against Jews in America. It's increased exponentially. More Jews have been killed in the United States of America because of their religion than any time in American history. More Jews have been killed. You see what's happening in the black community. [18:36:06] It's gotten worse, not better. And a whole range of communities. You see what's happening. For example, just been doors by the AAPI, the the, you know, Asian-American and Pacific Islanders organization, because I've worked so hard. They're dreamers. Millions. [18:36:24] Seven of them are Asian Pacific Islanders. It is you are the largest numbers, but I hope and I believe you will. I have found that you extend the same kind of open arms to Jews, to blacks, to Asians. Across the country. Because we are all one people and we really are. We are and folks. [18:36:54] To me, this is about the future of America. And I'm not just saying that go back and look, I've been saying that for 25 years. This is about who we are as a country. We are the most unique country in the history of the world. America is an idea, the only country organized on an idea. The idea has written into our constitution or Declaration of Independence. We the people order form a more perfect union or we hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. We've never fully lived up to that. [18:37:39] But we have never fully walked away from it. Every generation has opened the aperture wider and wider and wider until this man has come along and he shut it down. [18:37:51] Close your eyes. [18:37:53] And remember the television scenes of those racist and neo-Nazis coming out of a field carrying torches. Carrying torches in Charlottesville, their veins literally bulging with hate. [18:38:10] Screeching the same anti-Semitic bile. [18:38:14] That was preached in Germany in the 30s, same exact words. Carrying Nazi banners. Company by the Klu Klux Klan and white supremacist. [18:38:29] Young woman killed president asked what did he think and what did he say? He said. There are very fine people on both sides. [18:38:38] No president, no president in American history has ever said something like that. Never. TVU 16 JOE BIDEN LAS VEGAS NV COMMUNITY EVENT WITH MI FAMILIA VOTER ABC UNI 011120 2020 P2 TVU 16 JOE BIDEN LAS VEGAS NA COMMUNITY EVENT WIT.Sub.03.wav [18:39:00] Sir, but. But. [18:39:05] We have led by the power of our example. [18:39:10] That's why the rest of the world is following us. [18:39:13] That is being devastated. Let me end on a slightly different note. Look. I guarantee you. If I'm your president. You will never have had a better friend in the White House. Fighting for equality and dignity. Latinos and all Americans. Let me tell you something. Third thing. When I got elected as a 29 year old kid, I was labeled. [18:39:49] Because I was the first Catholic elected to my state. I was this idealistic young Irish Catholic guy who was optimistic. I am more optimistic about America's chances to lead the world and make it better than I've ever been. [18:40:10] Think about this. [18:40:13] Once Trump is out of the way, we have an opportunity to do so much. No country is a patch on our genes. Not because they're bad, we think about it. [18:40:28] We have more great research universities than any country in the world than all countries combined. Every major earth taking change from science and technology to basic changes has come out of one of those research universities and the American people own them, not the government that corporations, the American people. [18:40:50] Are workers and men in this room, for example, two or three times as productive as workers in Asia? We're the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. And if we invest in our people will remain so. If we invest in our people. We have more capacity here than anywhere in the world because of we're making up a nation of immigrants. Take a look at all those major Silicon Valley places. Guess what? They're run by immigrants who founded them. Some folks. [18:41:28] I'm so tired of all of us walking around our heads down, like, what are we going to do? Oh, my God, we're in trouble. What's going on? I've met every major world leader in the last 40 years. I've not met one single one who wouldn't trade places of the present United States in a heartbeat. [18:41:45] In a heartbeat. Trade problems. Take a look at China. I don't wish China ill, but China's got so we'll talk about how China is going gonna run over us. China has so many problems. [18:41:59] You realize they don't have enough water w tr. For the folks who drink to talk about multi million dollar projects to turn around rivers. So they can actually find potable water further for their people. Thirty to forty five percent of all their land is polluted by Caribbean. [18:42:20] The variable land, they can't produce enough crops. More people are going to die in China, this is not a good thing, more people are going to die in China of cancer in the next 10 years than all the rest of the world combined. [18:42:34] Hear me? All the rest of the world combined. They put one million Muslims, one million weavers. [18:42:45] Rick, essentially concentration camps in the mountains in the west. You see what's happening in Hong Kong. You see what's happening in Hong Kong. And this administration been silent about it. [18:42:59] Ladies and gentlemen. They have more problems than we can contemplate. This time, remember who we are. This is the United States of America. There has never been one time in our history. Well, we decided to take on an issue together that we've not been able to accomplish. Not once, not one single time ever. So let's remember who and how we are. This is the unit. Why did you come in the first place? [18:43:30] This is the United States of America. And I'm so sick and tired. Of us not realizing our capacity, what we could do. [18:43:42] We can all of the 21st century. [18:43:45] We can make the rest of the world better. We can bring back this country in a way that is a new level of progress that we've never seen before. So get the hell up and let's do it. Let's do it. I really mean it. We can do this. And because of you. God bless you all. May God protect our troops.

HISTORIC VINTAGE 16 MM COLOR FILM FOOTAGE, CONVERTED TO VIDEO OF IMAGES FROM LAS VEGAS, NEVADA FOOTAGE IS SILENT. EXACT DATE FOOTAGE WAS TAKEN IS UKNOWN BUT APPEARS TO BE LATE 1950'S OR EARLY 1960'S.

TVU 16 JOE BIDEN LAS VEGAS NA COMMUNITY EVENT WITH MI FAMILIA VOTER ABC UNI 011120 2020 SLUGGED AS "LAS VEGAS NA" BUT SHOULD BE NEVADA LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Former Vice President Joe Biden took part in a community event Saturday afternoon at a Las Vegas high school jointly organized by Mi Familia Vota, a national civic engagement organization advocating on behalf of the Latino community in America. Biden was pressed on a number of different issues by moderator Hector Sanchez Barba, including deportation levels in the Obama administration, how to better support those affected by the recent natural disaster in Puerto Rico, and how as president he would ensure sufficient representation from the Latino community. While there were a few tense exchanges with the moderator, Biden did not stray far from his typical stump speech lines about unity and needing to restore America's soul. When asked if he would commit to having at least four Latino cabinet members, Biden said he would not commit to any specific number, but promised that his cabinet would "look like America." "I will not commit to any number of anybody. Number one. And I think that's an appropriate thing to ask. But I think I will, you will see, there will be a significant number of Latinos in my cabinet. And you'll see Latinx women in my cabinet. And, number one. Number two. I guarantee you. I guarantee you. There will be senior advisors who are going to be part of the core staff of the White House who are Latino," Biden said. (17:51:30) Biden was pressed again on the issue of having a specific number of Latino cabinet members, but shot back at the moderator, saying "don't try to tell me number," but going on to say there may be more than four Latinos in his cabinet, and in other positions in his administration. "By the way, there's gonna -- one of the things that's gonna happen is you're going to see Latinx women on the Supreme Court of the United States. And by the way, the only Latinx on the Supreme Court of the United States, when I had a choice to pick who would swear me in as vice president, I picked her to swear me in. So -- and you're not going to get a position in the administration. You're too much of a wise guy," Biden said. (17:56:48) As it often does in conversations with the Latino community, the topic of deportation levels during the Obama administration was another topic of discussion. Biden said that if elected, it is the ICE agents who are going to be re-educated, not new immigrants coming to America. "This is not about deporting anyone...it's about keeping families together, not about separating families. And it's about making sure that we don't continue to add to the anxiety of our children in this school and everywhere else where you have an ICE agent wait outside of school for mom to pick someone up and she's undocumented worrying she's gonna be taken away. Or when you come out of 10:00 o'clock mass and you find there's an ICE agent that's outside or you find an ICE agent that's going to the doctor's office because they know you're going to have to take your child for the physical and take them away," Biden said. (17:58:43) Biden was also asked what he would do to help the people of Puerto Rico affected by the recent hurricanes and earthquakes, and how to ensure Puerto Ricans are treated with the same respect as the rest of America. As president, Biden said he'd have his FEMA Director go to Puerto Rico and do a damage assessment to see the resources necessary to help the island recover. He also slammed President Trump, saying that if these types of disasters had happened elsewhere in America, this administration would be rushing to help. "If this happened -- what do you think would happen if this happened down by one of his nightclubs -- not his nightclubs, his golf clubs? No, I'm I'm serious. What do you think -- we should treat it no differently than any other American city, any other American state or any other American property. We should be surging to help them," Biden said. (18:13:33) TVU 16 JOE BIDEN LAS VEGAS NA COMMUNITY EVENT WITH MIA FAMILIA VOTER ABC UNI 011120 2020 HIGHLIGHTS Moment with the kid: 173705 through 173731 Cabinet members: 175059 And I can assure you one thing, my cabinet, if I'm elected, my administration will look like America. It will look like America. Q: Let me let me have a follow up on that, Mr. Vice President, because I have done these in the past and we haven't seen the level of commitment. If you become president, can you commit right here right now to have four Latinos and Latinas in your cabinet and have senior advisors at the closests level also appointed to the highest level? 175130 BIDEN>> I will not commit to any number of anybody. Number one. And I think that's an appropriate thing to ask. But I think I will, you will see, there will be a significant number of Latinos in my cabinet. And you'll see Latinx women in my cabinet. And, number one. Number two. I guarantee you. 175152 I guarantee you. There will be senior advisors who are going to be part of the core staff of the White House who are Latino. There's a simple reason for this. It's a simple proposition. By the way there will also be not just, but there will brown and black leaders in my cabinet, and they will be part of it. They are part of my whole organization. 175213 But here's the deal. Look, Latinx -- Latinos make up 25% of every single solitary person in school in America today. The idea, the idea that we are not going to have overwhelming representation of Latinos in my Cabinet says we're not going to move forward as a country. You are the future. By the way, this isn't a joke. 175240 This is the future of the country. We've had massive waves of immigration in the past, with there were large numbers of people from particular parts of the world that have come forward. And now it is Latinos and a phenomenal increase. And look, it is, it is why, it's the reason why we have to invest so much more. 175305 And what we need to do to bring along the entire population. And by the way, I say this to all white audiences. I say this to the chambers of commerce. I say this to the universe -- wherever I go for a simple reason. It's overwhelmingly in the interest of the United States of America that everybody come along and I mean that. 175327 And there's so much we can do. We're in a Title 1 school right now. Well, you're going to ask me about that stuff later. Anyway, I get a little, but I guarantee you, there will be significant representation. And I have one apology to you. I can't speak Spanish. I tried the single largest event in my state is the Hispanic ball in my state, in the state of Delaware. And I took, unfortunately, I took all the wrong languages. In high school and college, I took five years of French. I tried to stand up and speak French and I did it pretty well. And they still make fun of you. OK? I made a speech at the ball. 175408 This is now 12 years ago. And I butchered the Spanish. And you know what? I got a standing ovation, but I was still embarrassed to try it again. But I needed to learn a lot. But really and truly, look, it's a matter of -- This is America. You are America. There is no distinction here and there never has been when we've had these massive increases and we've gone through these periods in our whole career, our whole, our whole history, and we run again, we run up against every once in a while the xenophobia that no, no, not in my country. We're not going to do this anymore. Appointing Latinx women to the Supreme Court: 175613 Q: Just to close the issue of representation of Latinos is critical, Mr. Vice President, and that we see a high level of representation and that sort of strong recommendation for you and for all the presidential candidates to have at least four Latinos and Latinas in the cabinet. And we're hoping that -- BIDEN>> Don't try to tell me a number. Okay? >> We are hoping -- 175632 BIDEN>> You're not -- there may be more than four. >> I would love to see that, Mr. Vice President. BIDEN>> But I'm serious. I'm serious. Look, don't fall into this -- this role where we decide that we're going to make sure everybody is based upon the actual number. 175648 By the way, there's gonna -- one of the things that's gonna happen is you're going to see Latinx women on the Supreme Court of the United States. And by the way, the only Latinx on the Supreme Court of the United States, when I had a choice to pick who would swear me in as vice president, I picked her to swear me in. So -- and you're not going to get a position in the administration. You're too much of a wise guy. Deportations: 175843 This is not about deporting anyone. This is not about -- it's about keeping families together, not about separating families. And it's about making sure that we don't continue to add to the anxiety of our children in this school and everywhere else where you have an ICE agent wait outside of school for mom to pick us, someone up and she's undocumented worrying she's gonna be taken away. 145904 Or when you come out of 10:00 o'clock mass and you find there's an ICE agent that's outside or you find an ICE agent that's going to the doctor's office because they know you're going to have to take your child for the physical and take them away. No one will be deported in my administration who hasn't committed a felony and the felony is serious. Puerto Rico: 181108 SANCHEZ>> Thank you, Mr. Vise President. And as a community we're ready, and as an organization we're ready to fully mobilize to make sure that this is a national priority. We're losing the soul of our nation by the devastation of these anti-immigrant policies and issues that we're ready to engage with you of you become president. 181125 There is another issue, Mr. Vice President, that breaks my heart and breaks the heart of the nation, and that is the issue of Puerto Rico. It -- 181135 BIDEN>> I've spent more time there than you have. SANCHEZ>> I spent a lot of time there, Mr. Vice President, but I know you've been there a lot. And it's an element of resilience, it's an element of hope. Seeing the Puerto Rican people in the front lines fighting all these horrible issues from Hurricane Maria to the airwaves(?) that we have seen, to all the political issues, to the disrespect of this administration throwing in paper towels and them instead of providing the support of that the brothers and sisters in the island need? 181210 If you become president, what are you going to do to make sure Puerto Rico recovers, that this never happens again in the island of Puerto Rico, and that the middle class is a strengthened because of workers rights have also been under attack in the island. 181224 BIDEN>> A number of things. Look, I have been deeply involved with Puerto Rico for a long time. Initially, it's the largest portion of the Spanish speaking population in my state, the state of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, significant large Puerto Rican populations. Let's start with what this guy doesn't even know, meaning the president. Puerto Ricans are American citizens. They are American citizens. 181255 Number one. I've been to the island many, many, many times because the Third Circuit Court of Appeals is the same as Delaware, we're the same --- anyway. I've been there a lot. Here's the situation: today if I were president, I would be having the head of FEMA in Puerto Rico, making an assessment of the damage done by this earthquake, these earthquakes and I would be surging all the help that was needed in that, on that island, as if it happened anywhere else in the United States of America. 181333 If this happened -- what do you think would happen if this happened down by one of his nightclubs -- not his nightclubs, his golf clubs? No, I'm I'm serious. What do you think -- we should treat it no differently than any other American city, any other American state or any other American property. We should be surging to help them, number one. 181357 Number two, what we did in our administration and what I did as senator and the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, as well as Judiciary Committee, is we significantly increased the tax opportunities for tax relief for Puerto Ricans by providing opportunities to bring in to Puerto Rico significant middle class jobs. Let me define what I mean by middle class. I don't mean 15 dollars an hour. I mean be able to make forty five dollars an hour. I mean, be able to form unions. 181427 I mean, being able to be in a position where you have, you have health care, where you have wage protection beyond that. That's -- and being middle class is you know, the way I define it is it's just not a number. It's an idea. It's about being able to own your home and not rent it if you want to own a home. It's about being able to send your kid to a local public high school, and if they do well, know they go on to college and they can figure out how to go to college, you can figure out how to pay for it. 181456 It's about being able to take your geriatric mom home when your dad dies and hope you never have to count on your children to take care of you. It's about a little bit of breathing room and the middle class is getting killed, not just in Puerto Rico and not just among Latinos. Across America. EVENT 173834 SANCHEZ>> Vice President Biden Thank you. You are one of the first candidates -- this actually this is our second event in you were one of the first ones that actually reach out immediately and start engaging to do a big event, and we welcome that with all the presidential candidates. But the reality Mr. Vice President is that this happens with all the candidates every time there is an election. 173857 We are 20% of the population and all the presidential candidates always reach out to us when there are elections. And to be fully honest with you, when we see the policy priorities coming from different administrations, we don't see your priorities represented. Why -- BIDEN>> Don't see my priorities represented? 173916 SANCHEZ>> No. The priorities of the candidates in general. This is our conversation. Why should latinos vote for you and how are you planning to engage holistically with our community to make sure that if you become president, you are going to be really advancing the priorities of our community? 173932 BIDEN>> TVU 16 JOE BIDEN LAS VEGAS NA COMMUNITY EVENT WIT.Sub.01.wav [17:39:32] Well, for me. Look, it's all about family. I've been engaged with the Latino community back east because the Hispanic community for a long, long time. I have a fairly large and 2020 census. My little state of Delaware, the fastest growing Hispanic population in the country. And we have a state where almost nineteen point eight percent of my state is African-American. And over 40 percent of my state is is Hispanic. And so I've been involved in the beginning with relating to everything from civil rights to job opportunities. [17:40:10] When I ran for the Senate, when I was a 29 year old kid, I wasn't even old enough to be sworn in. When I got elected, I got elected 17 days before is eligible. And I worked with the Chavez organization because we have a large agricultural population. I fought for decent housing. I fought for opportunities from the very beginning. And there's no reason why you'd know that because no one knows where Delaware is. I find Western news don't pay much attention to a little states like us back east. And by the way. Dana, thank you for the passport to come into your district. [17:40:51] But I think look, my. [17:40:56] For me, everything in my whole career has been about family. I mean, this is silly. It's been about family and coming from a family that was not at all. I have no Hispanic lineage coming from a family that understands what it's like to be treated like a second second class citizen. I come from a little town called Scranton, Pennsylvania. And we're Irish Catholics. Didn't have a whole lot of shot when my grandpop were growing up. We were considered sort of the bottom of the rung of the social agenda. [17:41:35] And I was always taught by my grandfather and my grandfathers table and my dad's table that everyone, everyone, everyone, everyone is allowed to be treated with dignity, no matter who you were, no matter where you're from. And that's why when I moved to the state of Delaware, when there are no jobs in Scranton with my dad had to go looking for work. We had to go home and live with my grandpop for a year when my dad found a job and was able to get a house to bring us all down, to be able to live together again. [17:42:08] We. I was taught that the greatest abuse of all this is the God's truth. The greatest abuse of all that could be committed was the abuse of power. The abuse of power by a government, by wealthy people, by people who had power. And he said, you still argue that the greatest sin of all, the cardinal sin of all, was for a man to raise his hand to a woman or a child. That's why I wrote the Violence Against Women Act myself. [17:42:38] The point is that everything that I've ever been engaged in has been about fighting the abuse of power. And that's why as a kid in my state of Delaware when I got elected. And you're gonna think it doesn't relate, but I believe it does relate. I was got very deeply involved, the civil rights movement as a kid and in high school and a kid in college. And I worked on the African-American community. And and that's why I ran for the Senate. I didn't ever. I never thought I was going to run for public office. [17:43:10] That wasn't why I got involved. I got involved and changed the way in which people were treated. And it's just been across the board. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. But here's the deal. You know, and if we're going to make this country as great as it can be. We have to understand that we have to stop this God awful appeal to racism. This God awful to know. [17:43:41] We have to restore the soul of America, America's soul is at risk. This guy comes down an escalator not much higher than those steps. And what's the first thing he says he's running because he's gonna get rid of those Mexican rapists? What's he done? The way he's treated Latinos from the day he ran? Everything is about we're being invaded. In other words, presidents speak matter, they matter. [17:44:13] Even if a president is like this one, spewing hate spend is designed to divide us, divide us and folks look. And this is more than you wanted to hear. But the reason why you should trust me is because I feel this this internal. Almost anger about a way in which we're dividing this country. Appealing to the prejudices this country. Look what happened in 2018. Why does he keep showing? Because, you know, they're going to lose the off year elections. He kept showing this. This horde he called of Latinos invading the United States of America, the invasion from the south. [17:45:01] Going to take over. Take over America. We're going to polluters. Well, you know what? It's not I'm not saying he's directly responsible, but our children are listening to these things. All children are listening snakes. [17:45:16] And it wasn't a far cry when a young man walks into a parking lot and guns down. [17:45:23] Hispanic Americans in Texas saying that he was doing it to prevent an invasion of Texas by Hispanics. And look how we treat people now. Look how we talk to people. My dad used to have an expression. He said, Joey, our children are listening. [17:45:44] And our silence is complicity. This is not who we are. This is not who we are. The last thing I'll say to get to you rescue of questions is look. [17:45:59] I learned a long time ago. As a kid, the civil rights movement. [17:46:04] I thought when my city in Wilmington, Delaware, is the only city in America occupied by the National Guard since the Civil War. Because my two political heroes. One was Martin Luther King, other as Bobby Kennedy. I never knew Cesar Chavez, I knew oh, I didn't know personally. They fought for people's honor, respect and dignity. [17:46:28] They were assassinated my senior year in law school. I came home in my city, a big part of it been burned to the ground in the riots. And I had a job with a fancy law firm. I quit that job, became a public defender. So I could defend the people who were being abused. And I thought things were never, ever gonna get better. [17:46:53] And here I was almost 40 years later to the day, standing in the same place that I interviewed my clients the first time. [17:47:01] After these raids. On a platform. [17:47:06] In Wilmington, Delaware, at a train station waiting for a black man to come and pick me up. Coming down from Philadelphia, the. [17:47:13] One hundred and twenty seven miles to Washington, D.C. to be sworn in as president and vise president on states America. And I thought, well, things have changed. I called my three sons up. My three children, I share my two sons, my one son was the attorney general of Delaware and he's now deceased, died of cancer after a year in Iraq. [17:47:35] My other son, who headed up at the time, the World Food Program USA, my daughter. Who is a social worker? And I said, don't tell me things can't change. Look what's happening. Forty years ago, the day I thought blacks and whites would never speak again in Delaware. And here we are. I'm about to be picked up by Barack Obama. But you know what? [17:48:03] Now and for much longer, longer answers. [17:48:06] But look, folks. I made a mistake. [17:48:11] I thought you could defeat hate. [17:48:14] But hey, it only hides. It never goes away. [17:48:19] And as John, good friend of mine says. The history of America is not a fairy tale. And when you give hate, oxygen, when you do the things the president has done, making it sound legitimate. [17:48:34] It comes back out. And we have to defeat the hate and the hate relationship with people. [17:48:43] Thank you, Mr. Vise President. [17:48:44] As you approach on the issue of civil rights and something that is directly related to this issue is the structure of this solution to part with from some communities. Latinos are probably the community that has been excluded from my system. What are the structural challenges to make it harder for a community to get access to power in something that is directly related to this is the composition of the staff of the campaigns. [17:49:10] What percentage of Latinos do you have in your campaign, especially at the highest level? And how many Latinos do you have in your inner circle, poor for strategic advice? [17:49:19] Well, if you're willing to come back and help, you'll be one of them. But that will, in fact, make it more difficult. First of all, I have 80 significant Latinos endorsers. I have three former cabinet members. This cabinet right here, Hilda Solis and her family, Ken Salazar and Federico Penny, have all endorsed. But the people who just yesterday my dad, Eric Garcetti, endorsement and as part of my. [17:49:53] And as part of the campaign, as a co-chair of the campaign, with regard to I have five members of the CHC, Tony Cardenas, represent a robocall, Lou CORERA. [17:50:07] This gentleman right here from Texas. He came all the way from Texas. But thank you very much, Representative Villa and Vincent Gonzalez. My staff my my deputy campaign manager is anything Burnell who is a manager or CEO. He, in fact, is is from Texas and his family is Mexican-American. Alex, first of all, Alex at Kurri Kurri Kurri, Cristobal. Alex, who is here? [17:50:35] Are you like him? A lot, but don't try to get him a raise. Okay, I'll keep you. Keep telling me O'Grady is, but he is pretty great. And senior adviser and Nevada State Senator Kinsella, senior adviser here in Nevada. [17:50:51] General, I actor Jessica is a California state director. [17:50:55] And Jennifer, sources or organizational director. 175059 And I can assure you one thing, my cabinet, if I'm elected, my administration will look like America. It will look like America. Q: Let me let me have a follow up on that, Mr. Vice President, because I have done these in the past and we haven't seen the level of commitment. If you become president, can you commit right here right now to have four Latinos and Latinas in your cabinet and have senior advisors at the closests level also appointed to the highest level? 175130 BIDEN>> I will not commit to any number of anybody. Number one. And I think that's an appropriate thing to ask. But I think I will, you will see, there will be a significant number of Latinos in my cabinet. And you'll see Latinx women in my cabinet. And, number one. Number two. I guarantee you. 175152 I guarantee you. There will be senior advisors who are going to be part of the core staff of the White House who are Latino. There's a simple reason for this. It's a simple proposition. By the way there will also be not just, but there will brown and black leaders in my cabinet, and they will be part of it. They are part of my whole organization. 175213 But here's the deal. Look, Latinx -- Latinos make up 25% of every single solitary person in school in America today. The idea, the idea that we are not going to have overwhelming representation of Latinos in my Cabinet says we're not going to move forward as a country. You are the future. By the way, this isn't a joke. 175240 This is the future of the country. We've had massive waves of immigration in the past, with there were large numbers of people from particular parts of the world that have come forward. And now it is Latinos and a phenomenal increase. And look, it is, it is why, it's the reason why we have to invest so much more. 175305 And what we need to do to bring along the entire population. And by the way, I say this to all white audiences. I say this to the chambers of commerce. I say this to the universe -- wherever I go for a simple reason. It's overwhelmingly in the interest of the United States of America that everybody come along and I mean that. 175327 And there's so much we can do. We're in a Title 1 school right now. Well, you're going to ask me about that stuff later. Anyway, I get a little, but I guarantee you, there will be significant representation. And I have one apology to you. I can't speak Spanish. I tried the single largest event in my state is the Hispanic ball in my state, in the state of Delaware. And I took, unfortunately, I took all the wrong languages. In high school and college, I took five years of French. I tried to stand up and speak French and I did it pretty well. And they still make fun of you. OK? I made a speech at the ball. 175408 This is now 12 years ago. And I butchered the Spanish. And you know what? I got a standing ovation, but I was still embarrassed to try it again. But I needed to learn a lot. But really and truly, look, it's a matter of -- This is America. You are America. There is no distinction here and there never has been when we've had these massive increases and we've gone through these periods in our whole career, our whole, our whole history, and we run again, we run up against every once in a while the xenophobia that no, no, not in my country. We're not going to do this anymore. It never lasts, because finally the American people stand up and say, enough, enough, enough. [17:54:50] We are who we are because we are a nation of immigrants. That's why we are who we are as we've been able to pick the best of every culture in the world. It takes courage to decide you're going to get up and leave everything you know and come to a different country. I can hear it now. Someone's in Guadalajara now. I've got a great idea. Let's sell everything we have. [17:55:15] Give it to a a you know, a somebody who's going to work. We're gonna sell everything we have and give it to somebody who's going to smuggle across the border to a country that says they don't want us. Won't that be fun? Come on. [17:55:30] Think of what it takes to come. It takes resilience. It takes optimism. It takes determination. [17:55:37] Only people didn't have a choice. Should people come over and sips on change on the floor? From American community, that's the original sin. The only way. [17:55:47] Look. [17:55:50] My great grandfather during the potato famine left Ireland, got in a coffin ship in the Irish Sea, wasn't as sure he's ever gonna make it. [17:55:57] It took courage. That's why we're who we are. You are the backbone of the future of this country. And that's not hyperbole. That's a fact. Thank you. Vise President. [17:56:08] Applause. 175613 Q: Just to close the issue of representation of Latinos is critical, Mr. Vice President, and that we see a high level of representation and that sort of strong recommendation for you and for all the presidential candidates to have at least four Latinos and Latinas in the cabinet. And we're hoping that -- BIDEN>> Don't try to tell me a number. Okay? >> We are hoping -- 175632 BIDEN>> You're not -- there may be more than four. >> I would love to see that, Mr. Vice President. BIDEN>> But I'm serious. I'm serious. Look, don't fall into this -- this role where we decide that we're going to make sure everybody is based upon the actual number. 175648 By the way, there's gonna -- one of the things that's gonna happen is you're going to see Latinx women on the Supreme Court of the United States. And by the way, the only Latinx on the Supreme Court of the United States, when I had a choice to pick who would swear me in as vice president, I picked her to swear me in. So -- and you're not going to get a position in the administration. You're too much of a wise guy. [17:57:16] They're going steroids. But I see them hoping to see the amazing number of Latinos and Latinas in your amazing administration moving to another issue that is you're ready to switch on. [17:57:25] And this is so critical for our nation and is the issue of immigration. I'm a very proud Mexican immigrant and I just became citizen two years ago. Cheers and applause. I have no doubt, Mr. President, that the American dream is still a reality because of the contributions of immigrants, particularly undocumented immigrants. I work with you a lot in there. PRESIDENT OBAMA We met in a number of occasions to work on a lot of issues. [17:57:56] We worked together on Hill criminal justice reform, minimum wage issues for I had the US. There was one issue, Mr. Vise President, that we strongly disagree. All the time during the administration was the show of the protection is an issue that has been devastating for the communities, is devastating on families. It's a painful issue separation, exploitation of workers. It increases the ability for families. What can we expect from you if you become president on each of the politicians? [17:58:28] You probably know where I was on that, but I'm not going to do that because I was vise president. [17:58:33] Number one. [17:58:35] What you can expect is that people are going to go back to school or the ICE agents, they're going to be reeducate. 175843 This is not about deporting anyone. This is not about -- it's about keeping families together, not about separating families. And it's about making sure that we don't continue to add to the anxiety of our children in this school and everywhere else where you have an ICE agent wait outside of school for mom to pick us, someone up and she's undocumented worrying she's gonna be taken away. 145904 Or when you come out of 10:00 o'clock mass and you find there's an ICE agent that's outside or you find an ICE agent that's going to the doctor's office because they know you're going to have to take your child for the physical and take them away. No one will be deported in my administration who hasn't committed a felony and the felony is serious. Or second thing is I'm going to increase. We tried to raise, as you know, and I will raise to one hundred and twenty five thousand. The number of refugees able to come under international law, able to come to the United States. Look what's happened in Venezuela. [17:59:44] We should be writing. [17:59:45] We should providing temporary protected status. Anyone here in temporary protected status has been here and now able to go back because of danger for four years, should be able to get in line to be along with everyone else. Eleven million undocumented on a path to citizenship. [18:00:01] Number three as number three. [18:00:06] My wife and the congressman just went from Brownsville across across the border from to feed Christmas dinner to all those folks who are should be in the United States of America waiting to deal with their plea and their argument that they are entitled to come here and run under the existing laws that are there. [18:00:31] My wife came back with the congressman and she was devastated and she talked about what she saw, children who happened to be heavy and time children living in mud and squalor. They should be in the United States of America. I would be surging judges to the border to make those early decisions about whether or not someone qualifies. [18:00:53] Number two, no more family separation. [18:00:58] It makes us. No, I really mean it. But the generation in America that has them is not there the most. [18:01:06] I spoke to an international psychiatric association in London and the American Psychiatric Association as well. You know, the generation has the greatest degree of mental health and anxiety problems. [18:01:17] Generation Z. People from the ages of 7 to 17 Y. [18:01:23] Part of the reason is this anxiety about family separation and other part is about guns in schools. You know, the greatest concern people have, no matter what their background is of that generation, according to Hillary's polling, getting shot in school. And we have a president who has that's the NRA only on own, the Oval Office. I'm the only guy that's been the NRA nationally. I eliminate assault weapons. I eliminated the ability them to be able to have more than 10 bombs and background checks. [18:01:57] So, look, this is about the overall health of America. [18:02:02] And by the way, you know, they talk about how much immigrants are costing America. Give me a break. [18:02:07] The reason why our Social Security system is still solvent is because of immigration. [18:02:13] Bob, people. They have jobs as the reason why we're growing. [18:02:19] Look, we're the only nation in the world that's a major industrial power that is able to have replacement workers. Look what's happening. Look what's happening from China, which is xenophobic. They're not allowing anybody in to fulfill. Japan is xenophobic. [18:02:35] All the European countries. We're the only country the only country that has replacement workers. Because why? Because of all of you and your families and all the people who come here to the United States to make us stronger. That's why we're who we are. [18:02:50] That's why there's so much more. And by the way, everybody, there's 11 million undocumented. But, you know. [18:02:59] The significant portion of those people are overstayed their their visas. They didn't cross the border. [18:03:04] They crossed legally and didn't go home. But guess what? We have to make. How many of you here are dreamers? [18:03:12] You're already an American man. [18:03:15] You're already an American. No, no, I'm not just saying that. I love the way these guys in the right talk about it. [18:03:23] I can prove how well you can. [18:03:26] Now, I can say, mom, leave me at the border. I think it's a crime to cross, man. Leave me here. Don't. [18:03:31] Come on. Come on. What do we do? [18:03:34] What are we doing? And by the way, every single solitary dreamer is going to be entitled to every educational benefit, including free community college access to health care, for example. It makes no sense to take a talented person who's a dreamer, who wants to go on to college. [18:03:57] I'm doubling the amount of money for Pell Grants from six to twelve thousand dollars a year. I'm not trying to be nice. It's in our interest that you be able to go free community college. Not a single cent to be paid in cash. And but if we what we have to do is invest early. If I only have one dollar to invest in education, I invested before kindergarten, not after. And here's what I do. [18:04:21] I was telling your superintendent and principal here, you're a Title 1 school. [18:04:26] I'm going to triple Title 1 funding. [18:04:27] And I can get it done. We can get it done. We're talking about going from 15 to 45 billion a year. You know what that means? It means we'll be able to pay teachers competitive wages and we won't lose teachers in our schools. [18:04:41] Number one. Number two. Everybody. 3, 4 and 5 years old will go to school, not daycare, school. [18:04:51] And whatever university in this country is pointed out that will increase over 55 percent. [18:04:56] The ability to make it all the way through school and go on to college, because that's what it does. [18:05:02] Yet equalize is what people, in fact, come look. And the other thing is, the thing I don't like about the way we talk about this, I've been involved this a long time is somehow in schools where there's not as much of a tax base and where there is a where there's large groups of people who come from low income backgrounds. Well, we don't want to demand too much of them. [18:05:21] We're gonna have advanced placement in this school because not a thing you can't do. If you're given the shot from the beginning, from the beginning, there's no 3 year old in America. [18:05:34] You're right, 40 percent of your brains are already developed who can not learn and can not succeed. [18:05:40] So there's so many things we're able to do. And that drives me nuts that even those people who are xenophobic, they don't understand. [18:05:48] It's in their interest. It's in their interest. Everybody's better off everybody. Rich folks, poor folks, everybody. When, in fact, you have a better educated public. [18:06:01] When you have a better educated community anyway. For that, I apologize. [18:06:05] My passion is because these things we can do to the reason we celebrate. But I see them. The element of immigration in general is it's an issue that is, I think, what people need to call nation on this issue. Entire sectors of the economy heavily depend on the contributions of undocumented workers. It needs. [18:06:26] Some may seem it's on theirs. I can I can understand why we have an immigration reform done in the past. It's an issue that should be done. You were in the Senate for a very long time. How can you get immigration reform passed in the first 100 days of your administration? [18:06:41] Guaranteed in the first 100 will be sent in the first month. I can't guarantee you first, but I'm the most effective senator I've ever known getting things done. Maybe somebody has got more done than me. Name me. What can we get it done sooner and can be done in two ways? [18:06:54] I'm sorry. I just get really guys. Look, there's two ways countries get inspired. [18:07:02] They get inspired by great leaders who their rhetoric and their leadership raises people up from Abraham Lincoln to John Kennedy to Barack Obama. There's a second way you do it, a second way you do it. [18:07:17] You have a really bad president for a while. Think about it. [18:07:22] Not a joke. And he makes you realize what is able to be done. [18:07:28] Case in point. We worked together on Obamacare. We got it passed without a single Republican vote. But what happened was right after that, we lost the United States House representative. Everybody said expert says, because we passed Obamacare. You may remember I don't remember you in the office at the time, but you may remember my arguing with Barack. [18:07:49] He should do a fireside chat and he should stand there and explain to the American people what we had just done, because I was convinced because I've done this my whole life. They didn't fully understand what he had just done. We had just done and we did, he said. And to his credit, he said, this is no time to take a victory lap. We have so much more to do everything. But Locus has landed on his desk at the time. I'm serious. Remember the situation we were he was in? And so what happened? We lost the house. But then what happened? [18:08:23] Republicans came after Obamacare without people even knowing it was Obamacare. They said what we're gonna do is we're going to do away with this thing called Obamacare. And they didn't realize the reason why if they had a Down syndrome child that they're able to haven't covered with because that preexisting condition, they could afford to cover him now. [18:08:41] They didn't realize if you're at a 23 year old son or daughter, they could still stay on your insurance policy because they would not have a job because the recession was so bad. [18:08:51] They couldn't get a job. They didn't realize they didn't realize that over four million Latino Latinos had gotten coverage for the first time. They didn't realize into this. And then what happened? The 2018 election, this last one we had the off year election. I went into 24 states personally campaigning for over 65 candidates. And I was foolish enough to say we're going to win 41 seats in the House and take it back. And he said, there goes Biden again. We won 41 seats. But here's the deal. You know how we did it. [18:09:26] We didn't go after a person's motive, criticize him with a dirty policy. [18:09:29] The reason why you're not with us is because you're in the pocket of big business or you're a liar or you're this. We said to the Republican, are you for doing away with Obamacare? [18:09:42] Are you doing away with preexisting conditions coverage and there. No, no, no, no, no, not may not mean not me. Did you hear any Republicans running last time out on being against Obamacare? [18:09:54] And if they did, they got beat. Sixty five candidates. We won governor seats and the rest. Here's the deal. [18:10:02] Now, everybody knows they have seen children snatched from their mother's arms. [18:10:08] They've seen people put in cages. They've seen it. [18:10:12] They didn't believe it when they were told it. But they've seen it. And as they traveled around the country and around the world, they realized how damaging it is the United States. How totally contrary it is to who we are as a people. They've seen and heard what this man has said about people of browns and blacks in America. [18:10:32] They've seen it and they go, Oh, my God. That's not America. What's happened to these people? Some of you travel abroad. Some of you have been around the world. Have you been in any country as an American visiting the last year where you haven't had the question, what's happened to America? No, I'm serious. [18:10:52] So, folks, the country's ready and they're ready to believe what we've been saying, that this is totally counterproductive, what we're doing. We have to restore the soul of this country in. 181108 SANCHEZ>> Thank you, Mr. Vise President. And as a community we're ready, and as an organization we're ready to fully mobilize to make sure that this is a national priority. We're losing the soul of our nation by the devastation of these anti-immigrant policies and issues that we're ready to engage with you of you become president. 181125 There is another issue, Mr. Vice President, that breaks my heart and breaks the heart of the nation, and that is the issue of Puerto Rico. It -- 181135 BIDEN>> I've spent more time there than you have. SANCHEZ>> I spent a lot of time there, Mr. Vice President, but I know you've been there a lot. And it's an element of resilience, it's an element of hope. Seeing the Puerto Rican people in the front lines fighting all these horrible issues from Hurricane Maria to the airwaves(?) that we have seen, to all the political issues, to the disrespect of this administration throwing in paper towels and them instead of providing the support of that the brothers and sisters in the island need? 181210 If you become president, what are you going to do to make sure Puerto Rico recovers, that this never happens again in the island of Puerto Rico, and that the middle class is a strengthened because of workers rights have also been under attack in the island. 181224 BIDEN>> A number of things. Look, I have been deeply involved with Puerto Rico for a long time. Initially, it's the largest portion of the Spanish speaking population in my state, the state of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, significant large Puerto Rican populations. Let's start with what this guy doesn't even know, meaning the president. Puerto Ricans are American citizens. They are American citizens. 181255 Number one. I've been to the island many, many, many times because the Third Circuit Court of Appeals is the same as Delaware, we're the same --- anyway. I've been there a lot. Here's the situation: today if I were president, I would be having the head of FEMA in Puerto Rico, making an assessment of the damage done by this earthquake, these earthquakes and I would be surging all the help that was needed in that, on that island, as if it happened anywhere else in the United States of America. 181333 If this happened -- what do you think would happen if this happened down by one of his nightclubs -- not his nightclubs, his golf clubs? No, I'm I'm serious. What do you think -- we should treat it no differently than any other American city, any other American state or any other American property. We should be surging to help them, number one. 181357 Number two, what we did in our administration and what I did as senator and the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, as well as Judiciary Committee, is we significantly increased the tax opportunities for tax relief for Puerto Ricans by providing opportunities to bring in to Puerto Rico significant middle class jobs. Let me define what I mean by middle class. I don't mean 15 dollars an hour. I mean be able to make forty five dollars an hour. I mean, be able to form unions. 181427 I mean, being able to be in a position where you have, you have health care, where you have wage protection beyond that. That's -- and being middle class is you know, the way I define it is it's just not a number. It's an idea. It's about being able to own your home and not rent it if you want to own a home. It's about being able to send your kid to a local public high school, and if they do well, know they go on to college and they can figure out how to go to college, you can figure out how to pay for it. 181456 It's about being able to take your geriatric mom home when your dad dies and hope you never have to count on your children to take care of you. It's about a little bit of breathing room and the middle class is getting killed, not just in Puerto Rico and not just among Latinos. Across America. You have for the first time, we're no longer the wealthiest middle class in the world, no longer. You have for the first time a majority of people, the middle class, arguing that their children will never have the same standard of living they had. And let me tell you why the middle class is so important. [18:15:29] Every other country in the world I know I'm referred to as my colleagues will tell you is middle class, Joe. That's how they always talked about me when I was in the senator's by even administration. [18:15:40] Well, it's not because that they think. [18:15:44] They think I'm not sophisticated. I'm pretty damn sophisticated about what built this country. What built this country wasn't Wall Street. It was middle class folks. And the union movement built the middle class. That's how it happened. [18:15:57] Now, for real, Wall Street didn't build America as I was. [18:16:03] I wasn't. I went I wasn't as poor as a lot of folks may be in this in this district. But I'll tell you what. When my father finally got a job after a couple of years from when we got from Scranton, we moved, you know, three bedrooms full of a house of four kids and a grandpop. It wasn't an unsafe neighborhood, but it wasn't what we were. I guess technically lower middle class, but from the time I was born. And even though I used to stutter badly as a kid, my father mother looked me. [18:16:31] She could be anything you want, anything you want. [18:16:33] There's not a thing that you can't do. And I really mean it. [18:16:38] I'll think about how many parents and go back to people's go back to their own neighborhoods. How many parents are saying that to the kids now? They don't think they're going to be able to do it. And look, the reason why we've been the most stable nation in the world, the reason why we've been a nation that's been able when other democracies have teetered, where there's been great depressions or great wars. Is because the middle class provided hope. Everybody thought there's possibilities. [18:17:09] I spend more time with Xi Jingping, the head of China, than any world leader yet. [18:17:14] And I'm in a town called Chengdu, a multi million people on the Tibetan plateau. [18:17:19] And he turns to me. Twenty five hours at dinners we had together because the President Obama wanted me to get to know him, not we could become buddies, but just to understand his motivation. And he was vise president and I was vise president. Wouldn't appropriate for the president to spend that much time. [18:17:35] And he looked at me and he said with an interpreter, whisper in my ear, I apologize. My colleagues have heard this before, whispering in my ear. The translation, as he said, he has one whispering in his ear for me when I speak. And he said, Can you define America for me? [18:17:50] I said, Yeah. One word. One word. Possibilities. [18:17:56] We are believed. Anything is possible in America. Anything. If we do it together, we give people a chance. We've thought anything is possible. [18:18:05] And we're losing that sense. We lose that sense in America, possibilities. Everything changes, everything changes. And guess what? You are the possibilities for this country now. [18:18:23] Mr. Vise president. [18:18:26] And ask me if family level that we use when I say in a very strong message of solidarity with Puerto Rico. Someone's gonna say this if I must. I said a possible link on Wednesday to see on a mobility suddenly. But I'll put you out and I'll see what I said. What I don't know is gay. Guess someone stole. Possibly. But getting them on before us politics. [18:18:45] E e starts seeing principally that stubby guys like you stuck a Dunkin ticket and told me that most so they can blow their icy lindsay up which has glasses, put dollar gas and. Instead of pressing them, we have so many issues saying it's important for us that we hear from the community. So we're going to call a lull for a couple of people. [18:19:05] Let me add one more thing about Puerto Rico. It's my wife headed the Children's World Children Program for the United States. She had hundreds of workers in Puerto Rico during the hurricane. She spent time down there trying to mobilize people to make sure. TVU 16 JOE BIDEN LAS VEGAS NA COMMUNITY EVENT WIT.Sub.02.wav [18:19:28] They get treated with some dignity and they weren't they weren't treated with dignity and a lot of people left behind. But I want to tell you something. Not only caring about, but getting engaged with. Letting people know that you care matters a lot. [18:19:47] My wife spent a lot of time in Puerto Rico trying to going back to thank all the all the Save the Children workers, which run the largest children's organization in the world. [18:19:56] Thank you, Mr. Vise President. Now we're going to hear from the audience. We have Marianne here. She says to them from Las Vegas, Maria. [18:20:13] Hi, my name is Randy. So we're a time traveling the civic engagement organizer from if and we get what they hear in Nevada. I have been living in Las Vegas since I was 12 and a half years old. I am not a citizen. I am undocumented. And I had the privilege of having some sort of protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as Dr.. Education is just as important as immigration, and it is an intersectional issue for the whole community. [18:20:35] Access to quality education is a top priority and some students get charged out-of-state tuition and some even international fees. And I know you just mentioned that. So. VISE President Joe Biden, we are asking you to increase access to quality education like you just stated not too long ago, like maybe 30 minutes ago. And to make sure we have full inclusion with no barriers to our society we contribute so much to. [18:20:56] So my question to you is how can you ensure that at a federal level, the Docker recipients aren't charged out-of-state tuition for states to reside in? And if you can't do that at a federal level, how can you work with states to fix that policy? [18:21:09] We can incentivize states to fix the policy. We can't dictate to do. But what we can do is make sure that if you're in college, you have access to every single federal program that's available, including including everything from the Pell Grants to other actions that are other opportunities available and including student loan forgiveness nationally and a student, a whole range of issues that you would qualify for. [18:21:36] That is question your question on now. If in fact, we're going to do that. So, for example, if you're in school and you're now in a situation where you may find it difficult to maintain your room and your board or your travel back and forth, you would qualify for twelve thousand dollars per year directly to allow you living expenses and travel expenses and roommate expenses that can fundamentally change the circumstance for you and your family and all other people who, in fact are darker qualified. [18:22:08] Now they'd be able to have that. Secondly, we can't, in fact, incentivize states by saying we will provide more funding for other aspects of your education system, if you will in fact treat darker students like every other student in state and do not charge them out-of-state tuitions wherever their resident official residence is, they can name where they live, the address they live at. That is what in fact you should treat them as. [18:22:37] Now, if you're going to go from here to a great university like the University of Delaware, you'll be charged out-of-state students. I'm joking. But all kidding aside, in-state students should be charged no matter whether they're DACA or they are already citizens. The same exact tuition that would be charged for each of them. But again, and if you in fact, right now, as everybody knows, by the way, community colleges, all the credit you have in community college, you transfer to a four year college, you can cut in half the cost of your education, cut it in half. Secondly, there is a program that you're probably familiar with, although you may not need it that in fact were released, the student debt. [18:23:18] Right now, you have to pay back 10 percent of your disposable income if you qualify for the program, which you would qualify for. I cut that to 5 percent, which means that from the time you graduate, if you're making less than twenty five thousand dollars a year and you start, you pay nothing back until you make more than that. If you do, then you pay back not 10, but five percent of your disposable income. Sorry. This goes into detail, but the detail matters. You had 5 percent of your disposable income. [18:23:46] That means after you pay your rent, your house payment, your car payment, your food, everything you pay is only 5 percent back. But if you engage in if you engage in a voluntary organisation, you can have all your debt forgiven. So if you decide to do everything from doing what you're doing now all the way through to joining the Peace Corps or working for violence, women's shelter or dealing with or school teaching, etc., you can have up to ten thousand dollars a year written off your student debt up to fifty thousand dollars and you pay nothing at all for your education. There's a lot more, but he's getting frustrated. [18:24:22] So I'm not going to take another question. Is that a vise president? But I'm such he'll mend this. [18:24:29] She was cheating Las Vegas at the hotel in those three such. [18:24:36] We have a my coming. Oh, hi. [18:24:44] Hi. Nice to meet you. Menominee Associate Mendes. For me, no such tremendous trouble, corporal, like those three hour day later he saw me and brother only on Latinas, somewhat less struck by how the Rays get the name most elaborate chess. [18:25:01] L'Oreal must get on the. So long as they're missing, when they plateaus and doubles for that other lot of chaos, it will normally blanco tambien so free most emotions. Also loved Alice. Yeah. We don't want incremental drastic war in Iraq. Also, 6 1 control Latinas. Amy Grant, this kept politics. A sector meant the be in the implemented, but a paralyzed block does not bode well for marketers. [18:25:34] I'll be doing the translation. The question is Latinos are the workers with the largest wage theft. We only make 54 cents for every dollar a white man makes. We also separate from labor abuses and there has been a dramatic increase in sexual harassment against Latinos and immigrants in the workplace. What policies are you planning to implement if you become president to stop the exploitation against women's workers? [18:25:57] A number of things, some of which have already done. If you are a person who is undocumented. And you are harassed, engaged in sexual violence or sexual harassment. [18:26:12] You are under the law. [18:26:13] I wrote the Violence Against Women Act allowed to report that to enforcement, law enforcement and or go to a violence from violence against women shelter and they report it. And you cannot be deported for doing that. They cannot allow, as a consequence of that, identify you as undocumented and be deported. That is a safeguard built in. And the legislation I wrote. Number one. Number two. What I do is I significantly increase the prospect of you being able to join a union. For example, if you have the Freedom Brothers and, you know, Station Casino. [18:26:53] You've negotiated that they've had a union that has been certified but not negotiate with them. You in fact, I make sure that we fundamentally change and go after them for violating the law, for not being engaged in those two piece of legislation. I won't bore you that because you'll get upset and it takes a long time. But there's a thing called the pro act and there's a thing called anyway. There's two piece of legislation we can pass and pass in the House. And if we get one, 51 of the Senate will pass it in the Senate as well. [18:27:26] That says that if they in fact make it difficult for you to the union to organize, then they can be fined heavily and personally. And if they engage in the inability of you to be able to cast a vote to join a union, they can. In my view, I'd be held criminally liable. That's what I want to see happen. And the fines are 50 and 100 thousand dollars. But it should not be to the corporations should be them personally. Do you want. Is this going to be translated again? I'm sorry. [18:27:55] Got it. OK. All right. [18:27:57] All right. He won't give you the whole thing, but I will later. But all kidding aside, what's happening is that we have to improve. The only one way to deal with the abuse of power is to have power. And the only people can take on the abuse of power. If you work in an industry that is, for example, when you work at a hotel. Is unions the only ones that have enough power to respond? And so I make it there's a whole lot of things I do. And I'm a union guy. And a matter of fact, my staff just organized with the Teamsters, the staff that works for me, just organizing things. [18:28:34] But my point is that you've got to have power facing power. Otherwise, we get no respect. They don't treat us with any respect. [18:28:44] Thirdly, I think that I've been trying since 1973 as a senator and I think we can get it done. Now, finally, people are realizing we should pass the the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. United States amendment. The United States Constitution. [18:29:01] I mean, for real, because all the rest of the way they're getting around a lot of the things we're doing here. [18:29:06] We can do that and establish a principle. Look, I believe we're at a moment in American history where the real inflection point. We've been there probably the last time was during the civil rights movement with Johnson and before that when they've been in a situation with labor all the way back to Roosevelt. And another one of those inflection moments. People have realized the extent of the abuse that exists across the board in many ways from corporate America. In addition to that, I think that what you have to we have to do is we have to focus on the notion that we're going to change the culture of violence against women in America. [18:29:44] When I wrote the Violence Against Women Act, women's groups didn't even supported initially, I thought it would take away from the issues related to choice and gender. OK. And then they finally came around and everybody were all. But here's what I said at the time. Women who find themselves the victim of abuse, whether it's with a if they're married or a boyfriend or a stranger, you know, under the law, you can't. [18:30:08] Well, what happens is we have to you know, you all know what the the English language and how it translates in Spanish, what the rule of thumb means. [18:30:21] The rule of thumb was is comes from English jurisprudence from England. It's not some some some non European notion. It came from. [18:30:31] Ah. System. It didn't come from Africa or China. It's ours. And it said, back in the late 13, hundreds women were viewed as a chattel. No different than the pigs or the horses or the. Or the farm animals. And. And they will have a responsible for their husbands. So husband was able to chastise his wife, beat his wife. But so many women were dying from being beaten. The English common law changed in the last thirteen hundred and said a man could no longer strike a woman with a rod bigger than the circumference of his thumb. Think of that. It was alright to beach it as long as it wasn't going to kill you. This is a cultural problem, we have to change the culture. No man has arrived. [18:31:21] To raise the hand of a woman or a child for any reason whatsoever other than self-defense is zero. And we've got to now stay at it. We've got to now stay at it. You know why they haven't really reauthorized my Violence Against Women Act in the Senate so far? Because although I build in every year, it has to be every SB reauthorized. We build in with the help of the people here. We build it a provision saying that if you're convicted of abusing a woman or you have a stay away order, you get an order saying you can't go near her, you cannot own a weapon at all. [18:32:01] But there's an exception that I tried to close. [18:32:05] We tried to close this last time. It's called the boyfriend exception. If you just had a boyfriend, you didn't live with him. You didn't have a child by him. He, in fact, was not required to have imposed on him a prohibition of being able to own a weapon. [18:32:23] Well, guess what? [18:32:24] The NRA is holding up the whole Violence Against Women Act now because these guys in the pocket of the NRA and the gun industry, folks, more women die because someone shoots them to death, shoots them. [18:32:42] And the idea that if you had a boyfriend who beat you up several times and as a stay said you. The court says you can't go near that woman again. Why in God's name should they ever be able to have a weapon, period? [18:32:57] We've got to change the culture. Thank you, Mr. Vise President. [18:33:03] I got the signal from your staff that you need to run out to another meeting. We appreciate the time. We have questions on climate change, on education, health care, environment. Well, there are so critical issues. I know at some point we're going to be able to get to them with your with your A campaign. [18:33:20] But will we want to welcome some closing remarks from you, Mr. Vise president, with this campaign? We need to make sure that whomever is in the next president is fully committed to protecting and advancing the serious issues that we're facing in the Latino and the immigrant community where literally being killed with hate them violence being promoted from the White House. [18:33:45] Hate crimes against our community increased 26 percent since the last three to four years because of all of this, Kate, and all these crimes. And that also is reflected in the policies that are being advanced in the nation. So the road to the White House is to the Latino community. We in Mi Familia Vota, in all the Latino organizations in the community, want to make sure that we mobilizing historic numbers, the big the right, the right birth, somebody if you become president, we hope to be very working very closely with you to make sure that we have a better and more inclusive democracy. Mr. Vise, president presenting with that, if you went out for some closing remarks. Thank you, folks. [18:34:24] You know, I just ask you. [18:34:27] To judge me on my record. It's a completely open book. Judging me on my record. Find me anything that we've ever done that I have inconsistent with what I've said. I believe that we can cover every single person in America with health care. Adequate health care and mental health care. We're going to significantly increase the number of health care clinics, mental health care clinics to exist in this country. We're going to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure. One hundred billion of that being read of repairing schools that are in disarray. [18:35:13] Schools or the drinking water is not pure schools. They still have asbestos and other things in the walls, schools where the windows leak energy, schools where there are a lot of schools in America, usually usually schools particularly affecting African-Americans and Hispanic Americans, number one to number three. [18:35:35] I guarantee you, I guarantee you that everything that I have done it again, look at my record has been about preventing the abuse of power no matter where it is. Look at the hate crimes we've gone up against Jews in America. It's increased exponentially. More Jews have been killed in the United States of America because of their religion than any time in American history. More Jews have been killed. You see what's happening in the black community. [18:36:06] It's gotten worse, not better. And a whole range of communities. You see what's happening. For example, just been doors by the AAPI, the the, you know, Asian-American and Pacific Islanders organization, because I've worked so hard. They're dreamers. Millions. [18:36:24] Seven of them are Asian Pacific Islanders. It is you are the largest numbers, but I hope and I believe you will. I have found that you extend the same kind of open arms to Jews, to blacks, to Asians. Across the country. Because we are all one people and we really are. We are and folks. [18:36:54] To me, this is about the future of America. And I'm not just saying that go back and look, I've been saying that for 25 years. This is about who we are as a country. We are the most unique country in the history of the world. America is an idea, the only country organized on an idea. The idea has written into our constitution or Declaration of Independence. We the people order form a more perfect union or we hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. We've never fully lived up to that. [18:37:39] But we have never fully walked away from it. Every generation has opened the aperture wider and wider and wider until this man has come along and he shut it down. [18:37:51] Close your eyes. [18:37:53] And remember the television scenes of those racist and neo-Nazis coming out of a field carrying torches. Carrying torches in Charlottesville, their veins literally bulging with hate. [18:38:10] Screeching the same anti-Semitic bile. [18:38:14] That was preached in Germany in the 30s, same exact words. Carrying Nazi banners. Company by the Klu Klux Klan and white supremacist. [18:38:29] Young woman killed president asked what did he think and what did he say? He said. There are very fine people on both sides. [18:38:38] No president, no president in American history has ever said something like that. Never. TVU 16 JOE BIDEN LAS VEGAS NV COMMUNITY EVENT WITH MI FAMILIA VOTER ABC UNI 011120 2020 P2 TVU 16 JOE BIDEN LAS VEGAS NA COMMUNITY EVENT WIT.Sub.03.wav [18:39:00] Sir, but. But. [18:39:05] We have led by the power of our example. [18:39:10] That's why the rest of the world is following us. [18:39:13] That is being devastated. Let me end on a slightly different note. Look. I guarantee you. If I'm your president. You will never have had a better friend in the White House. Fighting for equality and dignity. Latinos and all Americans. Let me tell you something. Third thing. When I got elected as a 29 year old kid, I was labeled. [18:39:49] Because I was the first Catholic elected to my state. I was this idealistic young Irish Catholic guy who was optimistic. I am more optimistic about America's chances to lead the world and make it better than I've ever been. [18:40:10] Think about this. [18:40:13] Once Trump is out of the way, we have an opportunity to do so much. No country is a patch on our genes. Not because they're bad, we think about it. [18:40:28] We have more great research universities than any country in the world than all countries combined. Every major earth taking change from science and technology to basic changes has come out of one of those research universities and the American people own them, not the government that corporations, the American people. [18:40:50] Are workers and men in this room, for example, two or three times as productive as workers in Asia? We're the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. And if we invest in our people will remain so. If we invest in our people. We have more capacity here than anywhere in the world because of we're making up a nation of immigrants. Take a look at all those major Silicon Valley places. Guess what? They're run by immigrants who founded them. Some folks. [18:41:28] I'm so tired of all of us walking around our heads down, like, what are we going to do? Oh, my God, we're in trouble. What's going on? I've met every major world leader in the last 40 years. I've not met one single one who wouldn't trade places of the present United States in a heartbeat. [18:41:45] In a heartbeat. Trade problems. Take a look at China. I don't wish China ill, but China's got so we'll talk about how China is going gonna run over us. China has so many problems. [18:41:59] You realize they don't have enough water w tr. For the folks who drink to talk about multi million dollar projects to turn around rivers. So they can actually find potable water further for their people. Thirty to forty five percent of all their land is polluted by Caribbean. [18:42:20] The variable land, they can't produce enough crops. More people are going to die in China, this is not a good thing, more people are going to die in China of cancer in the next 10 years than all the rest of the world combined. [18:42:34] Hear me? All the rest of the world combined. They put one million Muslims, one million weavers. [18:42:45] Rick, essentially concentration camps in the mountains in the west. You see what's happening in Hong Kong. You see what's happening in Hong Kong. And this administration been silent about it. [18:42:59] Ladies and gentlemen. They have more problems than we can contemplate. This time, remember who we are. This is the United States of America. There has never been one time in our history. Well, we decided to take on an issue together that we've not been able to accomplish. Not once, not one single time ever. So let's remember who and how we are. This is the unit. Why did you come in the first place? [18:43:30] This is the United States of America. And I'm so sick and tired. Of us not realizing our capacity, what we could do. [18:43:42] We can all of the 21st century. [18:43:45] We can make the rest of the world better. We can bring back this country in a way that is a new level of progress that we've never seen before. So get the hell up and let's do it. Let's do it. I really mean it. We can do this. And because of you. God bless you all. May God protect our troops.