Read the full transcript of ABC News' 3rd Democratic debate: DemDebate
MODERATORS:STEPHANOPOULOS: The stage is set. The field has been narrowed. For one night only, the top 10 candidates are here. Our Democratic primary debate starts right now.WARREN: This is our moment.HARRIS: We fight for our country. That's the nature of who we are.BOOKER: We have overcome worse times and darker moments than this.KLOBUCHAR: We are on a march together.ANNOUNCER: Live from Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, here now, chief anchor George Stephanopoulos.
I'm joined here tonight by my ABC colleague,"World News Tonight" anchor David Muir, our national correspondent, Linsey Davis, and Jorge Ramos from our partner network, Univision.RAMOS: George, thank you very much. We appreciate the opportunity to welcome Latinos across the country and to ask about Latinx issues during these challenging times.
But this is democracy, the great American experiment, and the candidates are here tonight to make their case. Houston, we have a problem. This -- we have a guy there that is literally running our country like a game show. He would rather lie than lead. I think we need something different. A racism and violence that had long been a part of America was welcomed out into the open and directed to my hometown of El Paso, Texas, where 22 people were killed, dozens more grievously injured by a man carrying a weapon he should never have been able to buy in the first place, inspired to kill by our president.
That's the story of America. At our best, we unify, we find common cause and common purpose. The differences amongst us Democrats on the stage are not as great as the urgency for us to unite as a party, not just to beat Donald Trump, but to unite America in common cause and common purpose. That's why I'm running for president, and that's how I will lead this nation.
We just marked the anniversary of 9/11. All day today, I've been thinking about September 12th, the way it felt when for a moment we came together as a country. Imagine if we had been able to sustain that unity. Imagine what would be possible right now with ideas that are bold enough to meet the challenges of our time, but big enough, as well, that they could unify the American people. That's what presidential leadership can do. That's what the presidency is for.
But we must do more. We must do more. We have got to recognize that this country is moving into an oligarchic form of society where a handful of billionaires control the economic and political life of this country. And as president, I am prepared to take them on. By then, I had two little kids, and when childcare nearly brought me down, my Aunt Bee moved in and saved us all.
Look, this is the United States of America. There has never been a single solitary time when we've set our mind to something we've been unable to do it. We're walking around with our heads down like woe is me. We're the best-equipped nation in the world to take this on. It's no longer time to postpone. We should get moving. There's enormous, enormous opportunities once we get rid of Donald Trump.
BIDEN: That will be for the voters to decide that question. Let me tell you what I think. I think we should have a debate on health care. I think -- I know that the senator says she's for Bernie, well, I'm for Barack. I think the Obamacare worked. I think the way we add to it, replace everything that has been cut, add a public option, guarantee that everyone will be able to have affordable insurance, number one.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Warren, let me take that to you, particularly on what Senator Biden was saying there about health care. He has actually praised Bernie Sanders for being candid about his health care plan, that Senator -- says that Sanders has been candid about the fact that middle class taxes are going to go up and most of private insurance is going to be eliminated.
WARREN: Look, what families have to deal with is cost, total cost. That's what they have to deal with. And understand, families are paying for their health care today. Families pay every time an insurance company says, sorry, you can't see that specialist. Every time an insurance company says, sorry, that doctor is out of network, sorry, we are not covering that prescription.
... intend to eliminate all out-of-pocket expenses, all deductibles, all co-payments. Nobody in America will pay more than $200 a year for prescription drugs, because we're going to stand up to the greed and corruption and price-fixing of the pharmaceutical industry. But guess what? Of the 160 million people who like their health care now, they can keep it. If they don't like it, they can leave. Number one.
WARREN: So, let's be clear, I've actually never met anybody who likes their health insurance company. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Klobuchar, you said in your opening statement you don't -- you want to represent the people stuck in the middle of the extremes. Who represents the extreme on this stage? That's in four years. I don't think that's a bold idea, I think it's a bad idea. And what I favor is something that what Barack Obama wanted to do from the very beginning. And that is a public option. A non-profit choice that would bring down the cost of insurance, cover 12 million more people, and bring down the prices for 13 million more people. That is a bold idea.
Now look, I think we do have to go far beyond tinkering with the ACA. I propose Medicare for all who want it. We take a version of Medicare, we make it available for the American people, and if we're right, as progressives, that that public alternative is better, then the American people will figure that out for themselves. I trust the American people to make the right choice for them.
I want to give credit to Bernie. Take credit, Bernie. You know, you brought us this far on Medicare for All. I support Medicare for All, I always have, but I wanted to make the plan better, which I did.So, under my Medicare for all plan, people have the choice of a private plan or a public plan, because that's what people want. And I agree, we shouldn't take choice from people.
And frankly, I think this discussion has given the American public a headache. What they want to know is that they're going to have health care and cost will not be a barrier to getting it. But let's focus on the end goal. If we don't get Donald Trump out of office, he's going to get rid of all of it.STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me get to Congressman O'Rourke and then bring you -- go ahead, Mr. Vice President.
BIDEN: I know a lot about cancer, let me tell you something. It's personal to me. Let me tell you something. Every single person who is diagnosed with cancer or any other disease can automatically become part of this plan. They will not go bankrupt because of that. They will not go bankrupt because of that. They can join immediately.
CASTRO: Thank you. And, you know, I also want to recognize the work that Bernie has done on this. And, of course, we owe a debt of gratitude to President Barack Obama. Of course, I also worked for President Obama, Vice President Biden, and I know that the problem with your plan is that it leaves 10 million people uncovered.
That's a big difference, because Barack Obama's vision was not to leave 10 million people uncovered. He wanted every single person in this country covered. My plan would do that. Your plan would not.CASTRO: You just said that. You just said that two minutes ago. You just two minutes ago that they would have to buy in.BIDEN: Your grandmother would not have to buy in. If she qualifies for Medicaid, she would automatically be enrolled.
And I believe we're talking about this the wrong way. As someone who has run a business, I know that our current health care system makes it harder to hire people, makes it harder to give them benefits and treat them as full-time employees. You instead pretend their contractors. It's harder to change jobs. It's certainly harder to start a business.
And I'll tell you, there is an urgency right now in this nation. Everybody feels it. And as a person who has an ideal, I know we cannot sacrifice progress on the altar of purity, because people in my community, they need help right now. They have high blood pressure right now. They have unaffordable insulin right now.
O’ROURKE: You know, I called this out in no uncertain terms on August 3rd and every day since then. And I was talking about it long before then, as well. In our health care system, where there's a maternal mortality crisis three times as deadly for women of color, or the fact that there's 10 times the wealth in white America than there is in black America.
I'm proud that I put forward a plan to disarm hate. I'm also proud that I was the first to put forward a police reform plan, because we're not going to have any more Laquan McDonalds or Eric Garners or Michael Browns or Pamela Turners or Walter Scotts or Sandra Bland, here from the Houston area. We need to root out racism, and I believe that we can do that, because that doesn't represent the vast majority of Americans who do have a good heart.
We have to come at this issue attacking systemic racism, having the courage to call it out, and having a plan to do something about it. If I am president of the United States, we will create an office in the White House to deal with the problem of white supremacy and hate crimes. Look, systemic racism preceded this president, and even when we defeat him, it will be with us. That's why we need a systemic approach to dismantle it. It's -- it's not enough to just take a racist policy, replace it with a neutral one and expect things will just get better on their own. Harms compound. In the same way that a dollar saved compounds, so does a dollar stolen.
We can and must do that. But that means transcending this framework that pits us against each other, that pits a single black mother of three against a displaced auto worker. Because when I -- where I come from, a lot of times that displaced auto worker is a single black mother of three. We've got to say that...DAVIS: Also a concern for people of color is criminal justice reform.
I created one of the first in the nation requirements that a state law enforcement agency would have to wear cameras and keep them on full-time.
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