Each candidate had at least eight minutes of speaking time tonight — and every one had at least one standout one-liner, compelling argument or tense exchange.
Here’s a look at the candidate’s most dramatic, most humorous and most riveting moments.
Sen. Michael Bennet mentioned his mother, an immigrant who was separated from her parents during the Holocaust in Poland, and said she’s part of the reason immigration is an issue that’s important to him:
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand directly questioned former Vice President Joe Biden about an op-ed he wrote on about women working outside the home. She repeatedly asked him what he meant when he wrote that working women would “create the deterioration of family.” Even as Biden defended why he voted against a child care funding bill, she kept pressing him on the op-ed:
Julián Castro, the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, criticized Biden’s position on border crossings after the former vice president said that illegally crossing the border should remain a crime. Castro responded:
Sen. Cory Booker got into a heated exchanged with Biden over criminal justice reform and criticized him with this line:
Sen. Kamala Harris spent her debate night aggressively attacking Biden. The very first question of the night became an opportunity for the two to debate on their dueling heath care plans. Later, she called out the former vice president out for changing his position on abortion funding.
Former Vice President Joe Biden spent the majority of the night defending himself against attacks from the other candidates. He got into it with Harris over his changing position on a measure that blocks federal funds from being used for most abortions. Biden also struggled to answer Democratic foes who criticized Obama-era deportations of undocumented immigrants. In a separate moment, protesters began chanting in the debate hall after Biden was asked about deportations under the Obama administration.
Businessman Andrew Yang offered this fiery comparison between himself and Trump in his opening remarks:
Later on, he defended immigrants, saying they’re “being scapegoated for issues they have nothing to do with in our economy.”
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the only war veteran on stage tonight, said most policymakers in Washington can’t fathom the cost of the war. Her political record has come under intense scrutiny over the past few years, but Gabbard’s criticism of the US foreign policy establishment is in line with most progressives’ — and she pulled no punches on stage tonight.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee challenged Biden on the urgency of climate change. He then a passionate defense for action on climate changing, saying:
Mayor Bill de Blasio came under fire tonight for not taking action against New York City police officer, Daniel Pantaleo, who choked Eric Garner to death. Protesters disrupted the debate demanding Pantaleo’s firing. Several candidates also called on the mayor to fire the officer.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said to former Vice President Joe Biden, “Your argument is not with me, it’s with science. And unfortunately your plan is just too late. The science tells us we have to get off coal in 10 years. Your plan does not do that. We have to have off of fossil fuels in 15.”
Fact First: Inslee is exaggerating the timeline.
The science that Inslee was referring to likely comes from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s report published in 2018. The report argued that the world needs to urgently cut emissions. It did not set a specific year as a deadline or say that we only have 10 years to fix our problems, there is no specific tipping point, though some politicians and media outlets have characterized it as such.
Instead, the report explains there needs to be a 45% cut in human-caused carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, as compared to 2010 levels. If it doesn’t the planet could warm by 1.5 degrees Celsius between 2030 and 2052. The international community considers 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming to be catastrophic.
These are all estimates based on the best science. Any level of warming is dangerous and risks increase as the temperature does. At the current rates, the world could easily go far beyond the 1.5 degree goal by 2052.
Former Vice President Joe Biden defended his criminal justice record by saying that he has tried since 2007 to “totally” eliminate the disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine, which disproportionately affected African Americans.
Facts First: Biden is right that he introduced in 2007 a bill to treat crack and powder cocaine equally, but he did not mention he supported legislation 21 years earlier that created the disparity in the first place.
In 2007, Biden introduced a bill that would undo the 100-to-1 powder-to-crack ratio set into law by another bill he co-sponsored in 1986. That earlier bill established the same five-year mandatory minimum sentence for people convicted of distributing 500 grams of powder cocaine or five grams of crack.
Biden’s 2007 bill did not pass, but the Obama administration did sign into law in 2010 legislation to reduce the ratio to 18 to 1.
And in 2018, President Donald Trump signed the First Step Act, which makes the reform retroactive, helping those convicted of crack offenses before 2010.
Former Vice President Joe Biden ended his debate night inadvertently directing his supporters to a website that his campaign doesn’t own.
He likely wanted voters to text “Joe” to 30330, but the way Biden phrased his closing remarks made it sound like he was sending them to a website.
In the minutes after the debate, someone bought Joe30330.com.
At first, the website redirected to Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign site. Moments later, it started going to joshforamerica.com. Josh claims to be “the first Gen Z’er to declare candidacy for this office.”
The donate page of Josh’s website now has this disclaimer:
See Biden’s call to action:
The second night of CNN’s 2020 Democratic debate just wrapped, and by the end of the night, former Vice President Joe Biden had the most speaking time, with 21 minutes and 1 second.
Sen. Kamala Harris spoke for 17 minutes and 43 seconds. Meanwhile, businessman Andrew Yang had the least amount of talking time, with 8 minutes and 38 seconds.
Here’s the full breakdown:
The 10 presidential candidates just wrapped up their debate appearances tonight with their closing remarks to Americans.
Here’s what they said:
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio: “If we’re going to beat Donald Trump, this has to be a party that stands for something. The party of labor unions. This has to be the party of universal health care. This has to be the party that’s not afraid to say out loud we’re going to tax the hell out of the wealthy. And when we do that, Donald Trump right on cue will call us socialists. Here’s what I’ll say to him: ‘Donald, you’re the real socialist.’”
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet: “I think that we have an incredible opportunity in front of us. All of us. To come together just as our parents and grandparents did before them, and face challenges even harder than the ones we face. But the only way that we’re going to be able to do it is to put the divisive politics of Donald Trump behind us.”
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee: “We have one last chance. When you have one chance in life, you take it. Think about this. Literally the survival of humanity on this planet in civilization is in the hands of the next president. And we have to have a leader who will do what is necessary to save us. That includes making this the top priority of the next presidency.”
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: “I’m running for president because I want to help people. And I actually have the experience and the ability to do that. I brought Congress together and actually made a difference in peoples lives.”
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: “The needs are great as your president I will put your interest above all else.”
Former Secretary Julián Castro: “I believe that we need leadership that understands that we need to move forward as one nation. With one destiny. And our destiny in the years to come is to be the smartest, the healthiest, the fairest and the most prosperous nation on Earth.”
Businessman Andrew Yang: “You know what the talking heads couldn’t stop talking about about after the last debate? It’s not the fact that I am somehow No. four on the stage in national polling. It was the fact that I wasn’t wearing a tie. Instead of automation in the future, including the fact we automated away 4 million manufacturing jobs. Hundreds of thousands right here in Michigan. We’re up here with makeup on our faces and our rehearsed attack lines. Playing roles in this reality TV show. It’s one reason why we elected a reality TV star as our president.”
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker: “We have a real crisis in our country, and the crisis is Donald Trump — but not only Donald Trump, I have a frustration that sometimes people are saying the only thing they want is to beat Donald Trump. Well, that is the floor and not the ceiling.”
California Sen. Kamala Harris: “What we need is someone who is going to be on that debate stage with Donald Trump and defeat him by being able to prosecute the case against four more years. And let me tell you we’ve got a long rap sheet.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden: Everybody knows who Donald Trump is. We have to let him know who we are. We choose science over fiction. We choose hope over fear. We choose unity over division. And we choose, we choose the idea that we can as Americans, when we act together, do anything.”
See Harris’ closing statement:
While defending his record as mayor of Newark, New Jersey, against attacks from former Vice President Joe Biden, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker claimed that the leader of New Jersey’s American Civil Liberties Union “has said that I embraced reforms not just in action but in deeds.”
Facts First: This is true, but lacks important context.
Booker was mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013, and in his last year the head of ACLU-NJ did “commend” Booker and the city’s police director for issuing “one of the most comprehensive policies in the nation requiring the tracking and public reporting of the police department’s stop-and-frisk practices.”
But the reforms came, in part, following a 96-page complaint made by the ACLU against Newark’s police department in 2010. The complaint led to a three-year investigation from the Department of Justice into the department. The DOJ released a report in 2014 which found “reasonable cause to believe” police officers had stolen from civilians and – among other things – engaged in a “pattern of unconstitutional stops and arrests” that disproportionately affected black people.
Booker is leaving out this critical background in touting the praise from the ACLU.
Andrew Yang said: “If you go to a factory here in Michigan, you will not find wall-to-wall immigrants, you will find wall-to-wall robots and machines. Immigrants are being scapegoated for issues they have nothing to do with in our economy.”
Facts First: Yang is right that robots have displaced more workers than immigrants.
Many studies have shown that immigrants generally create more net jobs in the US, although there may be some displacement and wage stagnation in low-skilled industries where more immigrants compete directly with native-born Americans.
But all kinds of manufacturing industries in America, from steel to tractors, have incorporated technology that reduces the number of people needed to create a given amount of stuff. The automotive sector accounts for about half the US’ robot shipments, according to the Robotics Industry Association, though non-automotive industries have been catching up fast. And many economists, including those at Oxford Economics and McKinsey, project that automation will displace millions of jobs in manufacturing down the line.
However, manufacturing employment in Michigan has been steadily rising since the bottom of the Great Recession, and now stands at 635,000 jobs — 14% of total employment in the state. And according to the pro-immigration American Immigration Council, in 2015, 94,152 of those jobs were occupied by immigrants, a share that was higher than immigrants’ percentage of the overall population.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the only war veteran on stage tonight, said most policymakers in Washington can’t fathom the cost of the war.
Her political record has come under intense scrutiny over the past few years, but Gabbard’s criticism of the US foreign policy establishment is in line with most progressives’ – and she pulled no punches on stage tonight.
Before she began, Gabbard who was deployed to Iraq in 2005, said her feelings on the issue are “difficult to convey in words.”
Ending the American conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, she added, should not be about the setting of “arbitrary deadline.” It’s a question, Gabbard said, “about leadership.”
“The leadership I will bring to do the right thing, to bring our troops home within the first year in office because they shouldn’t have been there this long,” she said.
Turning to Trump, Gabbard added: “We were all lied to (about Iraq). The problem is that this current president is continuing to betray us.”
Watch Gabbard speak on Afghanistan:
Former Vice President Joe Biden was forced to defend his changing position on a measure that blocks federal funds from being used for most abortions.
During a conversation about women’s rights, California Sen. Kamala Harris brought up Biden’s recent decision drop his support for the Hyde Amendment.
Biden defended his position, saying, “The fact is that senator knows that’s not my position.”
“Everybody on this stage has been in the Congress. And the Senate or the House has voted for the Hyde Amendment at some point. It’s in the past it was available because there was other access for those kinds of services, provided privately. Once I wrote the legislation making sure that every single woman would have the opportunity to have health care paid for by the federal government, everyone, that that could no longer stand,” he said.
“I support a woman’s right to choose. I support it as a constitutional right. I support it, and will continue to support it and move as president to see to that the Congress legislates that that is the law as well,” Biden added.
The former vice president said he changed his position on the measure “because there was not full federal funding for all reproductive services prior to this point.”
Watch the moment:
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand grilled Joe Biden on an op-ed that about women working outside of the home, which he wrote when he was a senator.
“I want to address Vice President Biden directly. When the Senate was debating middle class affordability for child care he wrote an op-ed. He voted against it,” she began. “He wrote an op-ed: He believed that women working outside the home would, quote, ‘create the deterioration of family.’ He also said that women who were working outside the home were quote, ‘avoiding responsibility.’”
She asked him what those quotes meant — and Biden explained why he voted against the bill.
“That was a long time ago,” he said. “It would have given people making today $100,000 a year tax break for child care. I didn’t want that. I wanted the child care to go to people making less than $100,000.”
Gillibrand was not satisfied.
“Mr. Vice President you didn’t answer my question,” she said. “What did you mean when you said when a woman works outside the home, it’s resulting in, quote, ‘the deterioration of family’?”
Biden said both his late and current wives worked outside the home, and he said that he wrote the Violence Against Women Act. He pointed out that he and Gillibrand have worked together on women’s issues.
“I don’t know what’s happened except you’re now running for president,” Biden said to Gillibrand.
Here’s how Gillibrand responded:
“I never believed it” Biden said.
Watch this moment:
Tulsi Gabbard, who has opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, said she’d ensure that the US remains competitive against China by “pushing for fair trade.”
What you need to know about the deal: The Trans-Pacific Partnership, known as TPP, was negotiated under the Obama administration. It would have eliminated trade barriers between the United States and 11 other countries, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, as well as some South American countries like Peru and Chile – with the goal of creating an alliance to counter Chinese economic influence.
Some Democrats, like Gabbard, are opposed: It drew criticism from some Democrats, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who argued it was written behind closed doors with input from corporations and could end up forcing American workers to compete with low-wage labor around the world.
President Trump isn’t a fan either: He repeatedly said during his election campaign that it would send American jobs overseas and – as one of his first acts as President, he withdrew the United States from the agreement. The 11 other countries went ahead with the deal, now called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. It went into effect in January 2019.
Instead, Trump has decided to take on China alone. He’s imposed tariffs on more than $250 billion of Chinese goods while his administration negotiates with Beijing, attempting to reach a comprehensive trade agreement that would address what it says are unfair trade practices by the Chinese.
Former Vice President Joe Biden was the target of multiple attacks, from protesters and from others onstage, about the deportation record of President Barack Obama. Biden defended his former boss against New York Mayor Bill de Blasio by saying Obama “came up with the idea for the first time ever of dealing with the DREAMers. He put that into law.”
Fact’s First: That’s false. Obama didn’t put it into law – and that’s a hugely important point.
The “DREAMers” are undocumented immigrants who were brought into the United States as children and there has long been bipartisan support to give a pathway to legal status. The DREAM Act was a bill written by Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois. It never became law despite multiple efforts – but the name stuck.
But there was not enough support to put it into law. And when a comprehensive immigration plan failed in congress, Obama instead used executive authority to give DREAMers temporary protection with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.
If they met certain requirements, signed up for the program and stayed out of trouble, he promised they could stay in the country. But it was a temporary fix and not ever put into law.
So when Donald Trump came into office, he moved to end DACA. Trump says he supports a legal status for DREAMers, but has said Congress must pass a law giving it to them. His effort to end the DACA program is currently stalled in the courts.
So no, Obama did not put anything for the DREAMers into law. And that’s part of the point of his record on immigration that frustrates immigration advocates.
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who is not a co-sponsor of the sweeping Green New Deal proposal, called the climate change debate “personal,” drawing on her experience growing up in Hawaii.
“First of all, this is personal. You can imagine I grew up in Hawaii, which is the most remote island chain in the world, so for us growing up there, protecting our environment was not a political issue, it’s a way of life,” she said. “It’s part of our culture. It’s part of who we are.”
She went on to plug her work on climate change in Congress:
Watch now:
While criticizing former Vice President Joe Biden’s health care plan, California Sen. Kamala Harris said, “Let’s talk about the fact that the pharmaceutical companies and the insurance companies last year alone profited $72 billion, and that is on the backs of American families.”
Facts First: Harris was in fact understating the profits of these industries. Ten of the largest US-based drug companies alone made $69 billion in profits last year. Health insurance companies made $23 billion.
The profits of the top US drug companies were as follows: Johnson & Johnson ($15.3 billion), Pfizer ($11.2 billion), Amgen ($8.4 billion), Merck ($6.2 billion), AbbVie ($5.7 billion), Gilead ($5.5 billion), Bristol-Myers Squibb ($5 billion), Biogen ($4.4 billion), Celgene ($4 billion), Eli Lilly ($3.2 billion).
Not all of these profits came from the companies’ operations in the United States.
A report from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners said the health insurance industry generated net earnings of $23.4 billion in 2018.
Asked if he would commit to ending the use of fossil fuels and fracking during his presidency, Joe Biden hesitated before saying he would “work it out” of the American economy.
“We would make sure it’s eliminated and no more subsidies for either one of those,” the former vice president said of coal. “Any fossil fuel.”
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who began his run as a one-issue candidate focused on climate change, challenged Biden, saying he didn’t seem to understand the urgency.
Inslee, who has released a comprehensive plan backed by leading climate activists, told Biden that his “argument isn’t with me, it’s with science” and claimed the former vice president’s plan took a “middle ground” approach.
Biden denied it, then talked about his plan to rejoin the Paris climate pact and push for the alliance to adapt more aggressive goals.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand made a similar promise, but with some extra mustard.
“The first thing that I’m going to do when I’m president is I’m going to Clorox the Oval Office,” she said. “The second thing I’m going to do is I will reengage on global climate change and I will not only sign the Paris Global Climate Accords, but I will lead a worldwide conversation about the urgency of this crisis.”
“The greatest threat to humanity,” Gillibrand said, “is global climate change.”
Still, such promises were criticized.
“Nobody should get applause for rejoining the Paris climate accord,” Sen. Cory Booker said. “That is kindergarten.”
Businessman Andrew Yang offered an even more dire portrait of what’s to come – without or without immediate, urgent action.
“We are too late. We are ten years too late,” Yang said. The entire world needs to take action to reverse the damage, he added, but “we also need to start moving people to higher ground.”
Watch the moment:
It’s 10 p.m. ET and the debate is nearing its end.
After talking for two hours, it looks like former Vice President Joe Biden has had the most to say. He lead the way with 15:38 minutes, followed by California Sen. Kamala Harris with 13.25 minutes.
Here’s where things stand:
Several candidates criticized the Trump administration’s policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the border, citing a long-standing US law that can result in such action.
Facts First: This is true – and the law has been a flashpoint in the immigration debate.
Last year, the Trump administration implemented its controversial “zero tolerance” policy, using a section of US law to criminally prosecute all adults who illegally crossed the southern border. The policy led to the separation of thousands of families, given that children can’t be held in federal jail with adults. The policy—and the section of the code at the center of it—have become a flashpoint in the immigration debate.
Democratic candidates remain divided over the law, referred to as Section 1325, with some wanting to instead make crossing the border illegally a civil offense, instead of a criminal offense.
Former HUD Secretary Julian Castro shot the issue into the national dialogue at the last round of debates and hammered in on his position Wednesday night.
“The only way that we’re going to guarantee that we don’t have family separations in this country again is to repeal section 1325 of the immigration nationality act,” Castro said Wednesday. “That is the law that this President, this administration is using to incarcerate migrant parents and then physically separate them from their children.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden added: “The fact of the matter is, when people cross the border illegally, it is illegal to do it unless they’re seeking asylum. People should have to get in line. That’s the problem. And the only reason this particular part of the law is being abused is because of Donald Trump. We should defeat Donald Trump and end this practice.”
In explaining the urgency of the climate crisis, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said one of the first things she’d do as president would be to sign the Paris climate accord.
What’s in the deal? The Paris climate accord is a 2015 agreement among more than 200 nations to combat climate change.
Participants committed to keep global warming well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and, if possible, below 1.5 degrees.
The US signed — then withdrew — from it: The United States ratified the agreement, but President Donald Trump announced in June 2017 that the US would withdraw from it — although it cannot formally leave until November 2020.
Each country is responsible for developing their own plans for achieving those goals.
The Obama administration pledged to slash carbon emissions by 26%-28% below 2005 levels by 2025. But Trump harshly criticized the agreement and pledged to withdraw from the Paris climate accord in 2017. He has also rolled back some of the Obama administration’s federal rules changes curbing emissions.
Read more about Trump’s climate claims here.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said, as a white woman of privilege, she thinks she can lift voices that aren’t being heard and explain white privilege to women in the suburbs.
She went on to describe this scenario:
“That when their son is walking down the street with a bag of M&Ms in his pocket wearing a hoodie, his whiteness protects him from not being shot. When his – when her – when their child has a car that breaks down and he knocks on someone’s door for help and the door opens and the help is given, it’s his whiteness that protects him from being shot. That’s what white privilege in America is today. And so my responsibility is to not only lift up those stories but explain to communities across America, like I did in Youngstown, Ohio, to a young mother, that this is all of our responsibilities. And together we can make our community stronger.”
Watch the moment:
Kirsten Gillibrand cracked a joke about President Donald Trump before explaining her positions on the climate crisis.
“So, the first thing that I’m going to do when I’m president is I’m going to Clorox the Oval Office,” she said. The audience laughed and applauded.
She continued on a more serious note: “The second thing I’m going to do is I will reengage on global climate change, and I will not only sign the Paris Global Climate Accords, but I will lead a worldwide conversation about the urgency of this crisis.”
Remember: This is not the first time Gillibrand has make this joke.
Watch the moment:
Sen. Kamala Harris attacked former Vice President Joe Biden’s health care plan, saying it “leaves out almost 10 million Americans.”
Facts first: Harris is right.
Biden’s plan – which builds on the Affordable Care Act by creating a government-backed health insurance option and increasing Obamacare’s federal subsidies – would insure more than an estimated 97% of Americans, according to his plan.
That means out of the population of 327 million in the country, roughly 10 million would be left without any health insurance.
However, it’s unclear exactly who would be uninsured. But under Biden’s plan, families buying coverage on the Obamacare exchanges would spend no more than 8.5% of their income on health insurance – a sum that might be too pricey for some Americans.
Watch the moment:
The police killing of Eric Garner is an open wound in New York City, where Mayor Bill de Blasio has been under fire for not taking action against the officer, Daniel Pantaleo, who choked Garner to death.
On Wednesday night, that debate reached the 2020 stage.
“That officer should be off the street,” Castro said.
“He should be fired. He should be fired now,” Gillibrand said.
Earlier in the night, protesters disrupted the debate demanding Pantaleo’s firing.
Here in Detroit, De Blasio answered in the same he has back in New York, pointing to an internal review that is now winding down.
“There is going to be justice in the next 30 days,” de Blasio said, pivoting to the decision by the Trump Justice Department not to bring charges against Pantaleo.
De Blasio’s political bind in New York City, where he is a frequent target of ridicule from the police union – which has a truck outside the debate mocking him – was always going to follow him into this race. He has argued that he cannot fire the officer. (In all likelihood, taking that step would have led to a lawsuit and an escalation of strife with the NYPD.)
But he is right, the likelihood is that Pantaleo will lose his job when the current investigation ends in the coming months.
Watch the moment:
Sen. Michael Bennet said that all Democrats voted to back a pathway to citizenship for 11 million people and spending $46 billion on border security.
Facts first: This is true. All Senate Democrats and 14 Republicans voted for the Senate immigration bill that passed in 2013.
Bennet was one of eight senators — four Republicans and four Democrats — who became the bipartisan group known as the “gang of eight” that hammered out an immigration compromise bill in 2013. The legislation, which included a pathway to citizenship, passed the Senate, 68-32, and Bennet is correct that all 54 Senate Democrats voted for it, along with 14 Republicans. A majority of Republicans, 32, opposed the bill.
While the bill passed the Senate, then-House Speaker John Boehner did not take it up in the Republican controlled House, and the legislation died at the end of 2014. It’s not clear whether Bennet and the other senators in the 2020 presidential race could strike a similar compromise or another major immigration bill in today’s Senate.
We’re an hour and a half into the debate, and so far former Vice President Joe Biden has had the most speaking time, with just more than 13 minutes.
Sen. Kamala Harris has had almost 12 minutes so far.
Here’s a look at where all the candidates stand:
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker challenged former Vice President Joe Biden on his new criminal justice reform plan.
The exchange between the two presidential hopefuls got heated after Biden was asked to respond to Booker’s criticism of his plan as “an inadequate solution to what is a raging crisis in our country.”
Booker then challenged Biden’s record on crime:
Biden jumped back and tried to defend his record by attacking Booker’s record as mayor:
But Booker shot back at Biden.
Watch the moment:
Sen. Kamala Harris has been a vocal critic of former Vice President Joe Biden’s position on busing in the 1970s — but Biden says the two actually share the same opinions on the issue.
They’re currently debating the issue.
“Had those segregationists had their way, I would not be a member of the United States senate, Cory booker would not be a member of the United States senate and president Obama would not have been in a position to nominate him to the place he holds,” Harris said.
Some background on what busing means: The 1954 US Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education brought an end to legal racial segregation in schools. But because of demographic trends, white flight to the suburbs and discriminatory housing practices like redlining, many neighborhoods across the country remained segregated. Combined with how cities drew school district lines, that meant schools remained segregated, too.
Enter busing.
After the 1971 Supreme Court ruling in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, lower courts began mandating busing to effectively desegregate schools. Black students started taking school buses to majority-white schools and white students to majority-black schools, often in neighborhoods far from where they lived
It became one of the most controversial topics in US politics. Supporters of busing argued that the practice was necessary to effectively integrate schools — and help correct the damaging legacy of school segregation.
But opponents of busing, many of whom were also opponents of school desegregation, argued that children were being transported to unsafe neighborhoods, and they objected to the long commutes children experienced. Others, including then-Sen. Biden, said that busing forced schools to fulfill racial quotas and did not achieve equal opportunity for students.
Watch the moment:
Andrew Yang said: “Raise your hand in the crowd if you’ve seen stores closing where you live. It is not just you. Amazon is closing 30% of America’s stores and malls.”
Facts first: Yang is right that up to 30% of malls may close in the next few years, but that’s not all because of Amazon.
Malls have been closing fast, and will continue to do so, according to Wall Street retail analysts. A report from Credit Suisse in 2017 projected that between 20% and 25% of malls would close within five years. Cowen & Company estimated that 20% of stores in large mall chains will close, and that all class C and D malls — which comprise about 30% of the total — are at dire risk.
E-commerce has played a role in the shrinkage of brick and mortar stores, rising from less than 1% of all retail in 1999 to 10.2% now, according to the Census Bureau. Amazon comprises nearly half of online retail in the United States, according to EMarketer.
But retail has also been challenged by overcapacity, given a years-long retail boom that saw real estate developers building more malls than consumers really wanted. That bubble is now bursting, as consumer preferences have shifted away from enclosed malls. Also, many large chains — from Payless Shoes to Toys ”R” Us — have slipped into bankruptcy after being acquired by private equity firms that loaded them up with debt.
Sen. Cory Booker, while debating criminal justice reform with Joe Biden, criticized the former vice president with this line:
“You need to come to the city of Newark and see the reforms we put in place,” Booker, the former mayor of Newark, New Jersey, said.
Watch the moment:
Joe Biden – who has placed his time as Barack Obama’s vice president at the center of his campaign – struggled to answer Democratic foes who criticized Obama-era deportations of undocumented immigrants.
Biden was attacked by New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro – who, like Biden, served in Obama’s administration.
De Blasio pressed Biden on whether he counseled Obama to halt the deportations.
“Did you say those deportations were a good idea or did you go to the president and say, this is a mistake, we shouldn’t do it?” de Blasio asked.
Biden said he wouldn’t talk publicly about the advice he gave Obama privately on the issue – and that’s when Booker piled on.
“You can’t have it both ways,” Booker said. “You invoke President Obama more than anyone in this campaign; you can’t do it when it’s convenient and then dodge it when it’s not.”
Watch the moment:
The two exchanged sharp words over immigration on stage tonight, but just a few hours earlier Joe Biden and Julian Castro shared a warm moment outside the Fox Theater.
Their paths crossed at the stage door as Biden arrived for the walkthrough just as Castro was leaving.
The former vice president smiled when he saw his former Obama administration colleague, walked toward him and extended his hand. They shook hands, hugged and chatted briefly out of earshot.
Protesters began chanting in the debate hall after Vice President Joe Biden was asked about deportations under the Obama administration.
“Vice President Biden, in the first two years of the Obama administration, nearly 800,000 immigrants were deported — far more than President Trump’s during the first two years. Would the higher deportation numbers resume if you were president?” CNN’s Don Lemon asked.
“Absolutely not,” Biden said.
That’s when two women shouting “3 million deportations” — on each side of the hall —interrupted Biden.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, in discussing his stance on immigration, blasted President Trump, calling him a “white nationalist.”
Inslee then described all the ways he’s stood up to Trump on immigration.
“And number two — number two, we have to make America what it’s always been, a place of refuge. We got to boost the number of people we accept. I’m proud to have been the first governor, saying send us your Syrian refugees. I proud to have the first governor to stand up against Donald Trump’s Muslim ban. I’m proud to have sued him 21 times and beat him 21 times in a row. I’m ready for November 2020.”
Watch the moment:
Julián Castro criticized Joe Biden’s position on border crossings.
After Biden said that illegally crossing the border should remain a crime, Castro responded with this:
Some background on the law: Right now anyone who crosses the border illegally can be charged with a misdemeanor.
Part of the Immigration and Nationality Act, known as Section 1325, says illegally entering the United States can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor. It’s punishable by up to six months in prison. And it’s become one of the most prosecuted federal crimes in the United States.
But it’s a divisive issue. Castro and others who argue that Section 1325 should be repealed say that it isn’t necessary given that crossing the border illegally is already a civil offense that can result in deportation.
Critics, like Biden, say changing the law could incentivize more illegal immigration.
Watch the moment:
Former Housing and Urban Development secretary Julián Castro said he wants to decriminalize illegal immigration.
He said during the debate Wednesday that the only way to “be smarter, more effective and more humane when it comes to immigration policy” is to repeal part of the Immigration Nationality Act.
He said:
He continued saying there should be a plan to aid countries like Honduras and Guatemala to “get to the root of this challenge so people can find safety and opportunity at home instead of having to come to the United States.”
Castro was one of the first candidates to unveil an immigration plan.
The issue of immigration is particularly personal for Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet.
His mother was an immigrant and she was separated from her parents during the Holocaust in Poland, he said.
“For those reasons, I was part of the gang of eight that wrote — I wrote the immigration bill in 2013 with John McCain that passed the Senate with 68 votes that gave a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people that are here,” he said.
He went on to blast President Trump’s policies on immigration:
Former Vice President Joe Biden called criticism of Obamacare “a bunch of malarkey.”
“No one has to keep their private insurance,” he said. “They can buy into this plan and they can buy into it with $1,000 deductible and never have to pay more than 8.5% of their income when they do it and if they don’t have any money, they will get in free.
This isn’t the first time Biden has said “malarkey” on a debate stage. The exclamation went viral when he used it back in 2012, when he used it against then-Rep. Paul Ryan in the vice presidential debate.
Watch the moment:
The Democratic candidates are now debating decriminalizing crossing the border.
Some background on the law: Right now anyone who crosses the border illegally can be charged with a misdemeanor.
Part of the Immigration and Nationality Act, known as Section 1325, says illegally entering the United States can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor. It’s punishable by up to six months in prison. And it’s become one of the most prosecuted federal crimes in the United States.
Section 1325 has been on the books for decades. But for many years it wasn’t often enforced. That notably changed in 2005, when President George W. Bush’s administration implemented what was known as “Operation Streamline,” increasing criminal prosecutions at the border in an effort to deter illegal immigration.
According to an analysis from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, federal prosecutors charged more than 52,000 people with illegal entry under Section 1325 in the first eight months of the 2019 fiscal year, which began in October.
Supporters say that provision of the law isn’t necessary and was used to separate families. Castro and others who argue that Section 1325 should be repealed – including Sen. Elizabeth Warren and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg – say that it isn’t necessary given that crossing the border illegally is already a civil offense that can result in deportation.
They also argue that Section 1325 made many of the Trump administration’s family separations at the border possible. Under the “zero tolerance” policy, children were separated when their parents were criminally prosecuted for illegally crossing the border.
Tonight in Detroit, Joe Biden is bringing it.
The former vice president, who has more high-profile experience on debate stages than most of his rivals combined, turned in a lackluster performance at the first debate in Miami last month. So far tonight, it’s like he’s a new man.
He’s speaking faster, with an energy and fire that was absent during his first debate. He aggressively defended his health care plan, surrendering little ground in several heated exchanges.
Even an old standby line – “this is a bunch of malarkey” – came out with swagger.
To be sure, the bar was incredibly low after the Miami debate. But his performance so far tonight shows a command that has eluded him for much of the summer.
His challenge, of course, is sustaining this and proving that he’s a front-runner, not simply a placeholder at the front of the pack.
Sen. Kamala Harris put out her health care plan ahead of the debate in anticipation of this moment.
But the proposal, which would create a public-private combo plan over ten years, has been criticized from both the “Medicare for All” left and by moderates who want to build on Obamacare.
One of those doubters, former Vice President Joe Biden, accused Harris on Wednesday of misleading people about her position.
“You can’t beat President Trump with double-talk on this plan,” Biden said, after asking rhetorically why something good would take a decade to deliver.
Harris, like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren last night, described her critics’ words as “Republican talking points.”
Earlier in the exchange, Harris suggested Biden and other critics had not read her plan. She also touted the support of former Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard pushed a progressive criticism tied to Sebelius’ endorsement, noting the latter’s ties to the private insurance industry.
Harris, though, kept her focus on Biden, whose proposal would create a public option, saying he would effectively solidify the status quo.
As exchange carried on, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio chimed in in favor of Medicare for All, arguing that people don’t like their private insurance – they like being insured, then accused critics onstage of “fear-mongering.” Booker tried to pivot the debate, one he said President Donald Trump would enjoy, and suggested his rivals focus instead on the ongoing GOP challenges to Obamacare.
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet also took aim at Harris over the plan’s phasing out of private insurance, saying it would ban an entire industry.
It would not, as Harris noted, but over time will disentangle health insurance from employers – meaning coverage would no longer be tied primarily to having a job that offers benefits.
Watch the moment:
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker just praised the protesters who briefly interrupted tonight’s debate.
“To the folks who were standing up to Mayor de Blasio a few minutes ago—good for you. That’s how change is made. #DemDebate,” Booker said in a tweet sent while he was on stage at the debate.
Booker is referring to a group of protesters who interrupted his and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s opening remarks.
The protesters were yelling “Fire Pantaleo” — a reference to New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo, who is accused of fatally choking Eric Garner. The Justice Department declined to file charges against the officer.
See his tweet:
Watch the moment:
Sen. Kamala Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden began this debate by sparring over health care.
Harris, whose campaign released a health care plan this week, backs a version of “Medicare for All.”
“The bottom line is this: We must agree that access to health care must be a right and not just a privilege of those who can afford it,” she said.
Biden, on the other hand, criticized that plan and said, “Obamacare is working.”
Some background: Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris have already taken swipes at each other this week on health care.
Biden wants to build on the Affordable Care Act, which was implemented while he was in office. He would add a government-backed insurance plan, known as a public option, to the Obamacare exchanges and greatly enhance federal subsidies for purchasing Obamacare plans. He would also expand coverage to low-income Americans who live in the 14 states that haven’t expanded Medicaid by giving them access to the public option with no premiums.
Harris, on the other hand, backs a version of Medicare for All – one that retains a role for private insurers. She would transition to a national health insurance system over 10 years, but allow Americans to sign up for a private option similar to today’s Medicare Advantage, which insurers about one-third of Medicare enrollees. Also, Harris would exempt the middle-class from paying higher taxes for the coverage, levying an income-based premium on households making over $100,000 with an even higher threshold for families living in high-cost area, and slapping additional taxes on Wall Street trades.
Under Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ plan, households earning above $29,000 would pay an income-based premium. It would also essentially eliminate the private insurance industry.
Watch the moment:
Protesters interrupted Sen. Cory Booker and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s opening remarks tonight.
Booker paused his speech as the protesters were removed from the Fox Theatre.
They shouted, “Fire Pantaleo” — a reference to New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo, who is accused of fatally choking Eric Garner.
Some background: The Justice Department announced earlier this month that it was declining to bring federal charges against the New York police officer accused of using a chokehold on the 43-year-old father of six.
See the moment:
When Sen. Kamala Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden greeted each other on stage, Biden shook her hand and said, “Go easy on me, kid.”
Her campaign just responded to that:
Ten Democratic presidential candidates just wrapped up their opening remarks as they debate kicks off in Detroit.
Here’s what they said:
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio: “Tonight we have to get to the heart and soul of who we are as Democrats. There are good people on this stage but real differences.”
Sen. Michael Bennet: “But for the last three years, we’ve been consumed by a president who frankly doesn’t give a damn about your kids or mine. Mr. President, kids belong in classrooms, not cages.”
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee: “I am running for president because the people in this room and the Democrats watching tonight are the last best hope for humanity on this planet.”
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: “We need a nominee who will take on the big fights and win. We need a nominee who doesn’t know the meaning of impossible.”
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: “I know what patriotism is and I’ve known many great patriots throughout my life and let me tell you this, Donald Trump is not behaving like a patriot. As president, I will bring this spirit of real patriotism to the White House, serving the interest of all Americans, not just the rich and powerful.”
Former Housing and Urban Development secretary Julián Castro: “I don’t want to make America anything again. I don’t want us to go backward. We’re not going back to the past. We’re not going back where we came from. We’re going to move forward.”
Businessman Andrew Yang: “We need to do the opposite of much of what we’re doing right now and the opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian man who likes math.”
Sen. Cory Booker: “We have serious problems in America. We have deep wounds and seriously deeply rooted challenges. We desperately need to heal as a nation and move forward because we know in this country that our fates are united, that we have a common destiny.”
Sen. Kamala Harris: “This is a moment in time that is requiring us each as individuals and collectively to look in the mirror and ask a question. That question being: Who are we? And I think most of us know that part of the answer to that question is we are better than this.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden: “Mr. President, this is America. And we are stronger and great because of this diversity, Mr. President, not in spite of it, Mr. President. So Mr. President, let’s get something straight: We love it. We are not leaving it. We are here to stay, and we’re certainly not going to leave it to you.”
Watch the moment:
Ten more Democratic candidates running for president will take the stage Wednesday for the second night of debates. Each candidate will have the opportunity to make an opening and closing statement, and the debate will run for two hours.
Here’s what else you can expect:
Former Vice President Joe Biden was the first person to take the stage tonight. As he greeted the second candidate, Sen. Kamala Harris, he asked for a favor.
Harris stole the show in the first debate when she went after Biden over his early-career opposition to federally mandated busing.
Watch the moment:
Former Vice President Joe Biden and California Sen. Kamala Harris just shook hands before facing off tonight on stage for a debate rematch.
The two had a tense exchange at the last debate. Several advisers encouraged Biden to be “more aggressive” earlier in the campaign, one adviser said. But after rewatching the last debate, the former vice president told aides he felt he needed to fight back more.
The second night of CNN’s Democratic debate just started.
The 10 candidates are being introduced now: Cory Booker, Julián Castro, Kirsten Gillibrand, Michael Bennet, Andrew Yang, Bill de Blasio, Tulsi Gabbard, Jay Inslee, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
The candidate just shared this.
CNN asked our readers to submit their top debate topic for CNN’s Democratic presidential debates Tuesday and Wednesday.
With nearly 50,000 responses, climate crisis was the top topic, followed by the economy and health care.
Joe Biden’s family came to Detroit to support him on the debate stage.
The former Vice President tweeted a photo and wrote: “I’m getting ready to take the stage in Detroit! Grateful to have my family by my side.”
See the tweet:
Kamala Harris wears a gold bracelet on her right wrist with a lotus embossed on it. “Kamala” is a Sanskrit word meaning lotus, a sacred flower in Eastern cultures.
Harris, the former California attorney general who was elected to the Senate in 2016, has taken progressive stances on “Medicare for All” and marijuana legalization. She also served as San Francisco’s district attorney.
Joe Biden loves Corvettes and still has a 1967 green Corvette Stingray his father gave him as a wedding present. In 2016, he drag raced his Corvette against former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s 2015 Corvette Stingray Z51 for an episode of “Jay Leno’s Garage.”
Biden is running to restore the legacy of the eight years he served alongside Obama – but has also introduced his own policy plans, including a major new expansion of subsidies for Obamacare, their signature legislation. Prior to his time in the Obama administration, Biden represented Delaware in the US Senate for 36 years.
Julián Castro was a sports fan and participant as a kid. He collected trading cards and played tennis in high school.
Michael Bennet was born in New Delhi, India. His father, Douglas Bennet, was working as an aide to the US ambassador at the time.
Andrew Yang is the godfather to Teddy Roosevelt’s great-granddaughter, he told The Conway Daily Sun in March.
“That’s what happens when you go to Phillips Exeter (Academy),” he told the Sun.
Tulsi Gabbard is a “goofy-footed” surfer, which means she surfs with her right foot forward (most people surf with their left foot forward, or “regular” stance).
Gabbard, who was elected in 2012 to Congress, brings her experience as an Iraq War veteran to the presidential campaign and has staked out a distinctly anti-interventionist position on foreign policy.
She sat on the Honolulu City Council and served in the Hawaii House of Representatives.
Michigan’s Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist received a standing ovation from the crowd inside tonight’s Democratic debate at the Fox Theatre.
In his short speech ahead of the debate, Gilchrist highlighted the state’s achievements and many firsts.
Gilchrist continued: “And I am proud to stand here before you as the first black lieutenant governor in the history of the state of Michigan.”
That’s when the crowd rose to its feet to cheer the lieutenant governor.
Watch the crowd react:
Bill de Blasio hasn’t always been Bill de Blasio.
He was born Warren Wilhelm Jr. and changed his name twice. Once in 1983 to Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm, and then once more in 2002 to Bill de Blasio.
CNN’s Democratic debates will be held at the historic Fox Theatre in Detroit tonight.
But hours before the debate started, protesters and supporters with varying platforms gathered outside the venue.
Take a look at what it looked like today outside the debate arena:
For the last 10 years, Jay Inslee has written and illustrated one children’s book a year for his three grandkids. A number of the books focus on nature, the climate and the effects the warming Earth has on the environment.
The Washington state governor is running on a single issue: climate change. He’s also been a vocal opponent of Trump, including suing the President after he tried to ban US immigration from several Muslim-majority countries. Prior to being governor, Inslee served in the US House and the Washington state House.
A campaign aide provided a following list of Joe Biden’s guests at tonight’s debate. They are…
Biden is also hosting the winners of a fundraising contest. Kellie Nelson and Amanda Bolt are from Charlotte, North Carolina.
The candidates walked through the Fox Theatre and checked out the stage before tonight’s debate in Detroit.
This is what it looked like:
Julián Castro
Joe Biden
Andrew Yang
Tulsi Gabbard
Bill de Blasio
Michael Bennet
Kamala Harris
Kirsten Gillibrand
Jay Inslee
Cory Booker, a Baptist, was co-president of L’Chaim Society, a Jewish group, at Oxford. He later co-founded a Jewish group at Yale Law.
Cory Booker’s football past made his political future:
Dee Dee Bridgewater and the Flint City Wide Choir performed a soulful rendition of “America the Beautiful” for the audience inside the Fox Theatre ahead of tonight’s debate.
A native of Flint, Michigan, Bridgewater and the choir received a warm welcome and roaring applause from the crowd.
Bridgewater is a multi-Grammy Award winning jazz singer.
Watch the performance:
Twenty Democratic candidates will face off for the second time this summer at the presidential primary debates in Detroit.
Tonight, ten more candidates take the stage.
Take a look at tonight’s stage lineup:
Joe Biden is preparing for confrontation in the second Democratic debates.
Several advisers encouraged Biden to be “more aggressive” earlier in the campaign, one adviser said. But after rewatching the last debate, the former vice president told aides he felt he needed to fight back more.
Leading up to tonight’s debate: His rivals, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and California Sen. Kamala Harris, have been criticizing Biden on the campaign trial.
After Biden released his criminal justice reform plan, Tuesday Booker called him “architect of mass incarceration” and said his plan was “inadequate.”
Biden fired back by pointing to Newark police practices during Booker’s time as mayor.
“His police department was stopping and frisking people, mostly African American men,” Biden said, adding that Booker “objected to federal interference” at the time.
Regardless, Booker has signaled that he intends to continue to attack Biden’s record on criminal justice including his role in the passage of the 1994 crime bill, which incentivized states to implement tough sentencing laws with mandatory minimums.
Biden also criticized Harris, without naming her, for backing a Medicare-for-All proposal while claiming she would enact it without raising taxes on middle-class Americans.
“Come on. I mean, what is this? Is this a fantasy world here?” Biden told reporters after a campaign stop in Dearborn, Michigan.
The last debate: Harris climbed in the polls after launching a withering attack during the first debate on Biden over his previous opposition to federally-mandated busing and his comments about getting along with segregationist lawmakers.
What we can learn from Biden’s past debate performances:
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is proposing $10 trillion in public and private funding over the next decade to combat climate change and bring the US to net-zero carbon and greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Here are some things that are included in the plan:
Climate change will be central to the 2020 election.
A recent CNN poll showed that combating climate change is among the most pressing issues on the minds of Democratic voters. Other Democratic presidential candidates have also released comprehensive climate change proposals as the party approaches the issue with new urgency.
The second night of CNN’s presidential debates starts tonight at 8 p.m. ET in Detroit, Michigan. Our live coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET.
The CNN debate brings the Democratic candidates to the battleground state of Michigan, which Trump won in 2016.
The lineups for each night were announced July 18 on air during a live, random draw for transparency around the event. There were three distinct draws based on polling: One to divide the bottom 10 candidates, one to divide the middle six candidates and one to divide the top four candidates.
These 10 candidates will be on stage tonight:
