John Hickenlooper takes questions at CNN town hall

Democratic presidential candidate John Hickenlooper, the former Colorado governor, spoke directly to voters at tonight's town hall in Atlanta, Georgia, where he answered questions on a range of issues.

We're wrapping up our live coverage, but in case you missed it, here are some key quotes from his town hall, from his thoughts on gun violence and white nationalism, to why he wants female candidates to say if they'd put a man on the ticket, too:

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper hung around after his town hall at the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, to talk to voters in attendance.

He also took photos with some of them.

Hickenlooper spoke for an hour about his policies on climate change, the death penalty and his thoughts on bullying.

John Hickenlooper, the Democratic former governor of Colorado, went into great detail on Wednesday evening explaining the time he took his mother to see an X-rated movie at a theater in the 70s.

The awkward moment started with a question from CNN's Dana Bash. She brought his memoir in which he talked about seeing an X-rated movie with his mother. Bash then let him have the floor.

The movie, Hickenlooper said, was "Deep Throat" —the X-rated film that turned into a pop culture phenomenon after its release in 1972.

Hickenlooper said he had left for college and had returned home to visit his mother for Thanksgiving.

"And I got home for Thanksgiving and we thought it was a little naughty but we didn't think it was that bad. You've got to understand I was 18 years old," he said.

She had this huge dinner laid out, he explained. And so he promised:

He admitted his mother was "mortified" at the first scene, and so he told her they should leave, but she said no -- she paid for a ticket.

"I said repeatedly, 'I think we should leave, I think we would should go.' And my mother was someone who rarely went to a movie. She thought almost every movie would get on TV, obviously not this one. When she paid, she was going to stay. And at the end she knew I was humiliated. And as we drove home and you know how the dashboard in the old cars had a kind of green light, and I asked her, I said, 'That was some experience,'" Hickenlooper said.

"And she goes, 'I thought the lighting was very good in the movie.' I thought I saw a little grin in that green light," he added.

See the moment:

After he was asked about whether he would put a woman on the presidential ticket, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper retorted by asking why women are not being asked if they would select a man as their running mate.

“Governor,” said CNN’s Dana Bash, “some of your male competitors have vowed to put a woman on the ticket. Yes or no, would you do the same?”

“Of course,” Hickenlooper said, before saying he wanted to ask Bash a question.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey has pledged repeatedly over the last few days to make a woman his running mate if he wins the Democratic nomination.

“No matter what, I’m looking you in the eye and saying this: There will be a woman on the ticket. I don’t know if it’s in the vice president’s position or in the president’s position,” Booker recently said in New Hampshire.

He later told Ellen DeGeneres on Wednesday, “If I am elected as the nominee, I’m going to make sure there is gender diversity on the ticket.”

Watch the moment:

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper offered a different approach to standing up to President Donald Trump’s notorious name-calling and taunts. Drawing on his childhood as a “skinny kid with thick Coke bottle glasses and a funny last name,” Hickenlooper said his go-to device to deal with bullies is not to punch back, but rather focus on the punchline itself.

For Trump, Hickenlooper said that exposing the President’s ridiculousness would be more effective than “trying to punch back and fight tooth and nail, then you’re just dividing all of us back into one camp or the other.”

Watch the moment:

John Hickenlooper got a chance to dig into his geologist past after meeting a fellow geologist at tonight's town hall when she got the opportunity to ask him a question.

Kate Nahodyl, the geologist in the audience, joked, "I don't normally look like this. Normally a lot more dirt."

Hickenlooper laughed and said that he was honored to meet her.

"I should point out I think I'm the first professional geologist to become a governor in the history of America. I'm not sure what that means. But I'm honored to be with another geologist," he said.

She asked him a question about oil and gas regulations. After answering it, he added a dig at President Donald Trump.

"I do appreciate it as one geologist to another. Thank you for promoting science. Lord knows it would be nice to have somebody in the White House who actually understands science."

Watch the moment:

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper defended his record on regulating oil and gas companies and fighting climate change on Wednesday, saying he would put his record on the issue up against anybody else.

Hickenlooper, a former geologist, has been criticized from the left for his efforts to regulate the oil and gas industry in Colorado, arguing that he has not gone far enough and worked too closely with the industry to craft regulations.

“I would hold Colorado’s success in regulating the oil and gas industry and really all of our emissions up against anybody,” the 2020 candidate said.

But the answer is unlikely to assuage some of his critics on the left, who believe the governor is too willing to promote the fracking industry – including by once drinking fracking fluid.

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said Wednesday that despite his feeling that gun violence in the United State is a national emergency, he would not – as president – declare it a national emergency like President Donald Trump has done with immigration along the U.S-Mexico border.

“I think it also, you know, just deflects his desire for building a wall, his political vanity and deflects the public attention from just how bad that is.”

Behind the question: Trump has declared a national emergency on the border in an effort to build a wall and fulfill a long-held campaign promise. In response, many Democrats have suggested there are more pressing national emergencies like climate change and gun violence, and some have said Trump’s tactics could be used by the next Democratic president.

Hickenlooper was governor during the July 20, 2012, movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado and during his tenure, the governor helped pass a statewide universal background check bill and a high capacity magazine limit.

“It was a tough battle,” he said.

Former Gov. John Hickenlooper said President Donald Trump “should be ashamed of himself” for saying that he doesn’t view white nationalism as a rising global threat following mosque terror attacks in New Zealand that killed 50 people.

Asked about Islamophobia and white nationalism during CNN’s presidential town hall, Hickenlooper noted that “the rise of Islamophobia and white nationalism are different sides of the same coin.”

“Any time you are making comments and creating, fanning the flames of hatred, then you’re doing a genuine harm to your community,” Hickenlooper continued.

He added:

Watch the moment: