-Tonight was the first round of the second series
of Democratic presidential debates.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
Of course, just because it was the Democrats' big night
doesn't mean Donald Trump could stay out of the news.
In fact, he's physically incapable of it.
I'm shocked he didn't crash through the wall
of the debate stage in his golf cart.
Trump, as usual, spent the morning screaming at the TV
all day on Twitter, ranting about everything
from his racist attacks on Baltimore
to trade to morning talk shows,
to a possible infrastructure bill,
tweeting, "Do I hear the beautiful word 'bipartisan'?"
I don't know. Do you? Let's listen.
-In a few moments, I will sign a bar-- bipartisan bill.
-Of course, a bar partisan
is someone who only votes while drunk.
[Slurring] "Okay, now, how do I get out of this booth?"
[ Laughter ]
[Normal voice] Also, how do you mess up the word "bipartisan"?
It's, like, the most popular word in politics.
That's like messing up the word "Congress" or "lawmakers."
-Lawmarkers. -Alright.
[ Laughter ]
Trump was also asked today if his racist attacks
on Congressman Elijah Cummings in Baltimore
were part of some sort of calculated political strategy,
which is both clearly not true and also doesn't matter.
It's just who Trump is.
He's a racist. It's how he sees the world.
And when he was asked today if it was
some sort of grand strategy, he said this.
-There's no strategy. I have no strategy. There's zero strategy.
-That would be an accurate Trump response
to literally any question.
[ Cheers and applause ]
"Mr. Trump..."
[ Cheers and applause continue ]
"Mr. Trump, when you stand up straight,
are you intentionally puffing your chest out
like an angry kangaroo?"
"I have no -- I stand like this --
I stand like this because my bones are hollowed out
from the Diet Coke." [ Laughter ]
In fact, today was a day of seemingly accidental confessions
from Trump, because he was also asked by reporters
about a bipartisan election security bill
that Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is blocking.
Trump tried to defend McConnell
from accusations that he's essentially aiding Russia,
but I don't think Trump's comment was helpful.
-Mitch McConnell is a man that knows less about Russia
and Russian influence than even Donald Trump,
and I know nothing.
-I agree! I mean, this is a crazy day.
And, again...
an answer that could work for literally any question.
After his presidency is over
and they haul him in on obstruction-of-justice charges,
he's going to be sitting in an interrogation room
telling the cops, "It was all Mike Pence's idea."
-I know nothing.
[ Laughter ]
-All of this is why whatever you think of the Democrats,
it was a relief and a change of pace
to at least hear a bunch of people
who can speak in coherent sentences about actual policies.
The only time Elizabeth Warren's ever been a bar partisan
is when she drank a beer that one time on Instagram Live.
Now, Warren was one of the leading contenders
coming into tonight's debate,
along with her close ideological ally
and longtime friend Bernie Sanders.
And coming into the debate tonight,
there were a lot of questions
about how they'd handle their friendship.
The media couldn't help but speculate.
Would they go after each other, or would they team up
to go after the moderates onstage?
-Tonight, the front-runners in the center of the stage
are going to be Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
And one of the big questions is, they're political allies.
Will they go after each other? -They kind of seem
to have a pact that they won't go after each other.
Does that pact live through the evening?
-They are seen as competing for some of the same voters,
so does she try to create some differentiation
with Senator Sanders, or does she focus on Joe Biden
or do a different thing?
-I think Sanders and Warren are more likely to team up
against some of the more moderate candidates onstage.
-That's right. They should team up. Like a wrestling duo.
Warren could start by giving a lengthy explanation
for her plans for a wealth tax on assets over $50 million,
and then Bernie could tag in and hit a billionaire
over the head with a chair!
And then there was the rest of the field.
Everyone was looking for their moment to stand out.
And there were big questions for each of them,
questions like -- who the hell are these guys?"
Would Beto bust out his Spanish again?
And since Cory Booker wasn't onstage,
would he make this face at home?
Would Tim Ryan get caught touring the debate stage again
looking like a pledge from Sigma Kai?
And would Marianne Williamson explode into
a thousand butterflies that spell out the word "love"?
And then once the debate got started, CNN chose to have
the candidates come onstage individually for intros
like they were the original "Star Trek" cast at Comic-Con.
And while some candidates obviously had big fan bases,
others got more muted reactions.
-Senator Bernie Sanders.
[ Loud cheers and applause ]
Senator Elizabeth Warren.
[ Loud cheers and applause ]
Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
[ Loud cheers and applause ]
Former Congressman John Delaney.
-Hi. [ Subdued cheers and applause ]
-Oh, man, what a bummer for that guy
to have to follow Warren, Buttigieg, and Bernie.
It's like if Springsteen, Bono, and the Rolling Stones
all opened a concert,
and then they were followed by a Weezer cover band.
"Hey, how you guys doin' tonight?
Hey, one more time for Mick Jagger."
CNN spent what seemed like an eternity
going through the rigmarole of all the intros,
the color guard, the national anthem.
And then after all that, Elizabeth Warren
returned the opening kickoff for a 99-yard touchdown.
And then there was still more,
because they also had opening statements.
We didn't even get to our first question
until about 25 minutes in.
You could've just watched an entire episode of "Veep."
In fact, I'm pretty sure anyone on "Veep" would've had
a better chance of getting elected than this guy.
I mean, what -- what is this guy doing here?
And where's Gromit?
[ Laughter ]
Of course...
[ Cheers and applause ]
We did get the benefit of an opening statement
from Marianne Williamson, who, right off the bat,
made it weird with her word choice.
-In 1776, our founders brought forth on this planet
an extraordinary new possibility.
-On THIS planet?
"To be clear, on the planet I'm from,
you can only vote if you've gathered enough moon crystals
to please the ancient oracle."
[ Laughter ]
And then the Democrats immediately got into it,
with the moderators asking Bernie to respond
to former Congressman John Delaney's criticisms
of his Medicare for All plan.
-You support Medicare for All, which would eventually
take private health insurance away
from more than 150 million Americans
in exchange for government-sponsored healthcare
for everyone.
Congressman Delaney just referred to it as bad policy,
and, previously, he has called the idea
political suicide that will just get President Trump re-elected.
What do you say to Congressman Delaney?
-You're wrong.
[ Laughter ]
-Such a quick answer. Bernie said that
like he's definitely used those words before.
"Sir, you ordered the lobster bisque."
"You're wrong! I ordered the chicken soup!
And I want those crackers! Crackers for all!"
And then, after Delaney and others
accused Bernie and Warren
of trying to make private health insurance illegal,
Warren stepped in to stop the bickering.
-Let's be clear about this. We are the Democrats.
We are not about trying to take away healthcare from anyone.
That's what the Republicans are trying to do.
And we should stop using Republican talking points
in order to talk with each other
about how to best provide that healthcare.
-Elizabeth Warren will turn this car around right now,
and nobody's going to Disneyland!
[ Cheers and applause ]
Bernie and Warren had standout moments,
and Bernie seemed especially feisty early on.
He was shouting over the moderators
when they interrupted him,
taking on the moderates like Delaney,
and landing a big blow against Congressman Tim Ryan.
-Senator Warren, it's your turn.
-Oh, can I complete that, please?
-Your time is up.
-They will be advertising tonight with that talking point.
Under Medicare for All,
the hospitals will save substantial sums of money
because they're not going to be spending a fortune doing billing
and the other bureaucratic things they have to do today.
-I've done the math. It doesn't add up.
-Maybe you did that and made money off of healthcare,
but our job is to run a nonprofit healthcare system.
Medicare for All is comprehensive.
It covers all healthcare needs for senior citizens.
It will finally include
dental care, hearing aids, and eyeglasses.
-But you don't know that. -Second of all --
-You don't know that, Bernie. -Second of all --
-We'll come to you in a second, Congressman.
-I do know it. I wrote the damn bill.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Damn. Tim Ryan better hope Medicare for All passes
'cause he's going to need some healthcare for that burn.
[ Laughter and applause ]
Bernie scared him so bad, Ryan turned white as a sheet
40 years ago. [ Laughter ]
Tim Ryan got owned so hard, his hat flew back onto his head.
[ Laughter ]
You know Bernie was waiting for that moment.
To be challenged on a bill you wrote is a politician's dream.
It's like if J.K. Rowling was on "Jeopardy!"
and one of the categories was Boy Wizards.
[ Laughter ]
But it seemed like all the moderates
wanted a shot at Warren or Bernie tonight.
At one point, they debated the question of whether
a self-described democratic socialist like Bernie
could take on Trump,
and former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper
even tried to mock Bernie's mannerisms,
which only encouraged Bernie.
-So, again, I think, if we're gonna force Americans
to make these radical changes,
they're not gonna go along.
You -- Throw your hands up, but you --
-Alright. -You haven't --
[ Cheers and applause ] Oho! I can do it!
-I feel like that's the first and only time
John Hickenlooper has said, "Throw your hands up!"
[ Laughter and applause ]
And don't challenge Bernie to pull a Bernie.
"Oh, and let me guess --
you're gonna do that thing with your finger."
"Okay, I will do it,
and I'm gonna point it right at you!"
[ Laughter ]
And then, when the moderates
kept challenging Warren on her plans,
claiming her ideas were either impossible
or politically impractical,
she delivered what seemed like a thesis statement
for her candidacy and for the night.
-You know, I don't understand
why anybody goes to all the trouble
of running for President of the United States
just to talk about what we really can't do
and shouldn't fight for. [ Cheers and applause ]
-Yeah, I mean, what's the point of running for president
if all your positions are about stuff you can't do?
It's like if Ronald Reagan had said,
"Mr. Gorbachev, make this wall a little shorter."
[ Light laughter ]
Yeah.
[ Laughter ]
[ Chuckles ] [ Applause ]
One of the -- One of the flash points --
One of the flash points in this divide
between the progressives and the moderates
was the climate crisis --
the candidates disagreed over
ambitious proposals like the Green New Deal,
and, again, Ryan tried to take on Bernie.
-What do you do with an industry that knowingly,
for billions of dollars in short-term profits,
is destroying this planet?
I say that is criminal activity. -Thank you.
-That cannot be allowed to continue.
-Thank you, Senator Sanders. Congressman, your response?
-Well, yeah, I would -- I would just say --
I didn't say we couldn't get there till 2040, Bernie.
You don't have to yell.
-Oh, no, he -- he absolutely does have to yell.
[ Laughter ]
Bernie's been kicked out of every library in Vermont.
[ Laughter ] He's like the bus from "Speed."
If he goes under 100 decibels, his hair will explode.
[ Laughter and applause ]
This debate basically seemed like a bunch of moderates
trying to take on Warren and Bernie
and Warren and Bernie teaming up to fend them off.
It like watching Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen
take on the Washington Generals.
In fact, at one point,
John Delaney was again called on to debate Warren
over her proposal to impose a wealth tax
on assets over $50 million,
and she managed to debate Delaney
just with her facial expressions.
-We can raise the capital gains rate
to match the ordinary income.
You know, the last president to do that
was actually Ronald Reagan.
We can do that in our first year.
I've called for that to be done,
and it'll double the earned income tax credit.
I called for the expansion of universal pre-K,
so that every American has pre-K.
-[ Chuckling ] Damn. [ Laughter ]
Even when she's not talking, she's winning.
It's like when you're on the subway next to the crazy guy
and you try to signal to your friend
you want to move without talking.
[ Laughter ]
[ Mouthing words ]
[ Laughter ]
Also, look at how she rubs her hands
when the wealth tax comes up.
-Your estimated net worth is more than $65 million.
That would make you subject
to Senator Warren's proposed wealth tax
on the assets of the richest 75,000 homes, households, or so
in the United States.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-[ Chuckles ]
I mean, she was like J.K. Rowling
if the "Final Jeopardy!" category was Boy Wizards.
[ Laughter and applause ]
And then, of course, there was Marianne Williamson, again,
who gave this answer on the Flint water crisis.
-Flint is just the tip of the iceberg.
I was recently in Denmark, South Carolina,
where it is -- there is a lot of talk
about it being the next Flint.
We have an administration that has gutted the Clean Water Act.
We have communities,
particularly communities of color
and disadvantaged communities all over this country
who are suffering from environmental injustice.
I assure you -- I lived in Grosse Pointe.
What happened in Flint would not have happened in Grosse Pointe.
This is part of the dark underbelly
of American society. [ Cheers and applause ]
-Wait. Was that good? [ Laughter ]
Is Marianne Williamson like one of those albums
you have to listen to a couple of times
before you figure out what they were trying to do?
[ Laughter ]
Is Marianne Williamson jazz?
[ Laughter and applause ]
Let's hear some more.
-You can't fight dog whistles -- you have to override them.
And the only way you can override them
is with new voices, voices of energy
that only come from the fact
that America has been willing to live up to our own mistakes,
atone for our own mistakes,
make amends for our own mistakes,
love each other, love our democracy,
love future generations.
-Okay. I think I'm gonna put this album away.
[ Laughter ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
But there were a couple things that were a little odd
about how this debate was conducted.
For one thing, they kept giving so much time to John Delaney,
a guy who's polling at less than 1%.
-Congressman Delaney. Congressman Delaney.
Congressman Delaney.
Congressman Delaney, your response?
-Congressman Delaney, I'll start with you.
-Congressman Delaney, your response?
Congressman Delaney.
Congressman Delaney, I'm coming to you now.
-Why do they keep asking him to chime in?
He's polling within the margin of error.
He's not gonna win. [ Laughter ]
It's like going to a Maroon 5 concert
if Adam Levine kept going, "Alright!
Now time for another drum solo!" [ Laughter ]
And Delaney wasn't the only also-ran
who got more stage time than he probably should have --
there was also Tim Ryan, who, for some reason,
always seemed surprised when they'd toss him a question.
-I want to go to Congressman Ryan,
and I want to turn to the subject of North Korea.
-I mean, my goodness -- he looked like a long-haul trucker
desperately fighting to stay awake.
[ Laughter ]
"130 miles to Tulsa. Maybe if I take off one shoe..."
[ Laughter ]
[ Laughter continues ]
Ultimately, this was a deeply substantive debate
that showcased genuine differences among the candidates
on key policy questions.
And no matter what you think of any them,
eventually, one of them's gonna go up against a guy
whose campaign slogan is basically...
-I know nothing.
[ Laughter ] This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]