>> Stephen: FOLKS, MY FIRST GUEST IS AN INDEPENDENT
SENATOR FROM VERMONT WHO WANTS TO BE OUR NEXT PRESIDENT.
PLEASE WELCOME SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) ( BAND PLAYING )
>> Stephen: SIR, GOOD TO SEE YOU, WELCOME BACK!
GOOD TO BE WITH YOU.
>> Stephen: ALWAYS NICE TO HAVE YOU ON.
I'VE GOT TO SAY, YOU'RE LOOKING SPREE, YOU'RE LOOKING GOOD, EVEN
THOUGH -- AND I WANT TO PUT THIS UP, NOT TO BRING UP ANY BAD
MEMORIES OR ANYTHING -- YOU WERE HERE IN SEPTEMBER LAST TIME AND
JUST DAYS AFTER YOU WERE HERE, YOU HAD A HEART ATTACK.
I WANT TO APOLOGIZE FOR HOW TOUGH I WAS ON YOU.
( LAUGHTER ) THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED.
GILLIBRAND WAS HER AND HER KIDNEYS FAILED.
>> I KNOCKED ON WOOD THAT NIGHT.
TURNS OUT, THIS IS PLASTIC.
>> Stephen: IT IS.
IT IS.
I APOLOGIZE TO YOU AGAIN.
IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT.
OKAY.
THERE'S A LOT TO TALK ABOUT IN THE WORLD AND THE CAMPAIGN.
I'D LIKE TO START OFF WITH THE RECENT POSSIBLY WAR WITH IRAN.
THE UNITED STATES, JUST TO RECAP, WE SENT A DRONE STRIKE AT
THE PRESIDENT'S COMMAND TO KILL HEAD OF THE QUDS FORCE QASEM
SOLEIMANI.
NIKKI HALEY HAS SAID THE ONLY PEOPLE MOURNING SOLEIMANI ARE
DEMOCRATIC LEADERS.
HAVE YOU SEEN ANY DEMOCRATIC LEADERS MOURNING SOLEIMANI?
ARE YOU MOURNING SOLEIMANI?
ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO SAY BACK WITH NIKKI HALEY RIGHT NOW,
PERHAPS WITH A FRAGRANT GESTURE?
( LAUGHTER ) >> NO, NOBODY I KNOW IS MOURNING
SOLEIMANI, BUT I TELL YOU WHAT, YOU KNOW, STEPHEN, I THINK ABOUT
THE MODERN HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY, AND I REMEMBER VIETNAM,
THAT WAS MY GENERATION, AND I REMEMBER THE WAR IN IRAQ.
THOSE ARE THE TWO WORST FOREIGN POLICY BLUNDERS IN THE MODERN
HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY, AND BOTH OF THOSE WARS WERE BUILT ON
LIES.
( APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: I JUST WANT TO
POINT OUT THAT CANDIDATE TRUMP AGREED WITH YOU.
>> YEAH, WELL -- >> Stephen: CANDIDATE TRUMP
AGREED THAT IRAQ WAS THE WORST DECISION.
>> YEAH, BUT HERE'S THE POINT -- THE POINT IS THAT BOTH OF THOSE
WARS WHICH CAUSED SUCH INCREDIBLE SUFFERING IN OUR
COUNTRY -- 59,000 AMERICAN SOLDIERS DEAD AS A RESULT OF THE
VIETNAM WAR, PROBABLY MORE DIED AFTER THEY CAME BACK, A
GENERATION REALLY ENORMOUSLY IMPACTED.
THE WAR IN IRAQ, 4500 OF OUR PEOPLE, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF
IRAQIS DEAD.
WE SPENT TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS THAT SHOULD BE INVESTED IN
HEALTHCARE, IN EDUCATION, IN INFRASTRUCTURE.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS SPENT IN
THAT WAR BASED ON A LAW YOU REMEMBER.
YOU REMEMBER IT VERY WELL.
>> Stephen: SURE, YEAH.
YEAH.
WE WERE TOLD -- WE WERE TOLD THAT SADDAM HAD MASS WEAPONS OF
MASS DESTRUCTION, CHEMICAL WEAPONS TIED INTO AL QUAIDA, ALL
ALIKE, AND ALL OF THAT SUFFERING.
AT THE END OF ALL OF THAT, ALL OF THE DEATH, ALL OF THE
SUFFERING, TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF EXPENDITURES, WE GET BOOTED
OUT OF IRAQ, THEY NO LONGER WANT US THERE.
SO I WILL DO EVERYTHING THAT I CAN TO STOP A WAR WITH IRAN THAT
I THINK WILL BE A DISASTER.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: THE
ADMINISTRATION, AS YOU WAS TALKING ABOUT EARLIER IN THE
SHOW, THE ADMINISTRATION SENT REPRESENTATIVES BOTH IN THE
MILITARY AND FROM THE CABINET TO HAVE A BRIEFING AT THE SENATE
YESTERDAY.
WERE YOU AT THESE BRIEFINGS?
>> YES.
>> Stephen: MIKE LEE CALLED THESE INSULTING.
DID YOU FIND THEM INSULTING?
>> WELL, I AM SO USED TO TRUMP THAT I -- YOU KNOW, AND HIS
ADMINISTRATION THAT NOTHING SURPRISES ME.
( LAUGHTER ) >> Stephen: ISN'T THAT PART OF
THE DANGER OF THIS ADMINISTRATION THAT WE'RE
BECOMING DEAFENED TO THE LIES.
>> YES.
AND MIKE LEE IS A CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN WITH WHOM I DISAGREE
WITH ON ALMOST EVERYTHING BUT HE AND I HAD WORKED TOGETHER
BECAUSE MIKE IS MAYBE OLD FASHIONED ENOUGH TO BELIEVE IN
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) I KNOW THAT IS SOMETHING -- AND
THAT IS SOMETHING THAT TRUMP I THINK HAS NOT YET READ OR
UNDERSTANDS.
( LAUGHTER ) BUT WHAT MIKE MADE PUBLIC
TODAY -- WHICH IS TRUE, I WAS THERE, IN FACT, SIGNATURE RIGHT
BEHIND HIM -- WHEN ASKED BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MILITARY
AND THE C.I.A. IF, IN FACT, TRUMP DECIDES TO ASSASSINATE THE
LEADERSHIP -- THE LEADER -- OF IRAN, WOULD HE HAVE TO COME TO
CONGRESS FOR AUTHORIZATION, AND THEY COULD NOT GIVE A CLEAR
ANSWER ON THAT.
AND HERE IS THE POINT THAT I KNOW THAT EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS,
THE CONSTITUTION IS EXTREMELY CLEAR, IT IS THE CONGRESS OF
UNITED STATES THAT HAS WARMAKING POWERS, NOT THE PRESIDENT.
( APPLAUSE ) AND THAT IS WHY I HAVE
INTRODUCED LEGISLATION WHICH WOULD PREVENT SPENDING -- GIVING
TRUMP ONE NICKEL OF MONEY TO GO TO WAR IN IRAN, AND THERE'S
ANOTHER GOOD PIECE OF LEGISLATION THAT, ONCE AGAIN,
WOULD BRING UP THE WAR POWERS ACT TO MAKE SURE THAT HE COULD
NOT GO TO WAR UNLESS HE HAD THE AUTHORIZATION OF THE CONGRESS.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: IT HAS BEEN A LONG
TIME, AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG HERE, BUT IT HAS BEEN A
LONG TIME SINCE CONGRESS HAS EXERTED THAT POWER.
HOW DO YOU THINK WE GOT HERE WHERE TRUMP THINKS HE CAN ACT
WITH SUCH IMPUNITY?
>> YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, AND IT IS UNFORTUNATE SITUATION THAT
THAT HAS EXISTED, AND I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I THINK THE ANSWER IS,
YOU KNOW, AND I'VE GOT TO SAY THIS.
IT IS A POLITICIAN, THE PRESIDENT GETS UP THERE, WE'RE
GOING TO BE TOUGH, THESE ARE EVIL GUYS, WE'RE GOING TO WAR,
WOW!
YOUR POLL RATINGS GO UP!
AND PEOPLE SAY, WAIT A MINUTE, WHAT ARE THE UNINTENDED
CONSEQUENCES OF THAT?
HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL DIE?
HOW MUCH IS IT GOING TO COST US?
OH, CANDIDATE X OR CONGRESSMAN X IS SOFT ON TERROR.
YOU KNOW, CONGRESSMAN X, HE DOESN'T WANT TO PROTECT AMERICA,
ALL RIGHT, AND I REALLY GET VERY ANGRY AT THAT APPROACH, BECAUSE
WE SIT IN THE CONGRESS IN OUR BEAUTIFUL ROOMS, BEAUTIFUL
STUDIO OVER HERE, AND WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT WAR IS ABOUT.
WE DIVERT THE FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS
AFFAIRS.
I MET WITH THE MOTHERS OF THE YOUNG MEN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES
IN THE WAR, MET WITH THE WIVES, MET WITH THE KIDS, I MET WITH
THE SOLDIERS WHO CAME BACK WITHOUT ARMS AND LEGS, WHO ARE
DEALING WITH PTSD TODAY.
WAR IS A HORROR, AND IT'S TIME POLITICIANS UNDERSTOOD THAT
WE'VE GOT TO DO EVERYTHING HUMANLY POSSIBLE TO AVOID WAR.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) AND I'VE GOT TO SAY, STEPHEN,
YOU KNOW, I HAVE TO SAY THAT I KNOW IT IS NOT SEXY TO TALK
ABILITY DIPLOMACY, IT IS NOT SEXY TO TALK ABOUT MAKING SURE
THAT WE HAVE A GREAT STATE DEPARTMENT WITH PEOPLE WHO KNOW
THE CULTURE AND THE LANGUAGE OF COUNTRIES ALL OVER THE WORLD.
I'VE MET SOME OF THE PEOPLE, THEY DO A GREAT JOB.
IT AIN'T SEXY.
IT IS MUCH MORE POWERFUL, IT'S BETTER TV TO TALK ABOUT HOW
WE'RE GOING TO KILL THIS ONE AND KILL THAT ONE.
BUT I BELIEVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE SICK AND TIRED OF END
LESS WARS, THEY WANT TO IMPROVE LIVES FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
AND, YOU KNOW -- ( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
>> Stephen: SOME PEOPLE JUSTIFYING THIS ARE POINTING AT
THE AUMF OF 2002.
>> RIGHT.
>> Stephen: THE AUTHORIZATION OF USE OF MILITARY FORCE
FOLLOWING THE ATTACKS OF 9/11.
>> RIGHT.
>> Stephen: I READ THE TEXT THE OTHER NIGHT, IT SPECIFICALLY
SAYS YOU CAN ONLY GO AFTER PEOPLE -- YOU'RE AUTHORIZED TO
GO AFTER PEOPLE, THE PRESIDENT, IS AND THIS PRESIDENT AS WELL,
TO GO AFTER PEOPLE WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTACKS OR
WHO AIDED IN THOSE ATTACKS.
AND THE 9/11 COMMISSION SAID THERE WAS NO CONNECTION WITH
IRAN.
>> RIGHT.
>> Stephen: SO HOW CAN THEY STILL JUSTIFY USING THAT?
>> BECAUSE YOU HAVE -- YOU KNOW, YOU'RE RAISING THE RIGHT
QUESTION.
>> Stephen: THANK YOU.
( LAUGHTER ) >> YOU HAVE AN ADMINISTRATION
WHICH IS LED BY A PRESIDENT WHO IS A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR.
( APPLAUSE ) HONESTLY, STEPHEN, I DISAGREE
WITH MANY MEMBERS IN CONGRESS, THEY'RE NOT PATHOLOGICAL LIARS,
BUT THIS PRESIDENT, HONESTLY, IN MY VIEW, DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE
CONSTITUTION, DOES NOT RESPECT THE RULE OF LAW, IS NOT
PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN DEMOCRATIC PROCEDURES, AND THAT
IS WHY I CONSIDER HIM TO BE THE MOST DANGEROUS PRESIDENT IN THE
MODERN HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY, AND I INTEND TO DEFEAT THIS
PRESIDENT.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: IF YOU DO -- LET'S
SAY YOU DO, SOME PEOPLE SAY THIS PRESENT EXCHANGE IS OVER, OTHERS
SAY IRAN IS GOING TO TAKE THEIR TIME AND COULD BE MONTHS OR
YEARS DOWN THE LINE.
IF YOU DO WIN, HOW DOES PRESIDENT SANDERS RESPOND TO
IRANIAN AGGRESSION, THE BOMBING OF OIL FIELDS IN SAUDI ARABIA,
SPONSORING OF TERROR, HEZBOLLAH, WHAT DO YOU DO IN RESPONSE TO
THAT?
>> I TELL YOU WHAT WE DO, WHAT WE DO IS UNDERSTAND WE HAVE A
VERY VOLATILE REGION, THAT, FOR MANY, MANY YEARS, THE UNITED
STATES HAS SIDED WITH SAUDI ARABIA, LED BY MOHAMMED
BIN SALMAN WHO IS A MURDERER AND A DEMAGOGUE.
HE IS OUR ALLY.
I THINK WHAT WE DO IS USE OUR DIPLOMATIC POWER AND OUR
RESOURCES TO DEMAND THESE PEOPLE, WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR
NOT, ARE GOING TO SIT IN A ROOM AND THEY'RE GOING TO START
WORKING OUT THE DIFFERENCES THEY HAVE BECAUSE I THINK THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE TIRED OF GETTING SUCKED INTO WARS THAT
ARE A RESULT OF THEIR DIFFERENCES.
>> Stephen: BUT THE DIFFERENCES ARE JUST NOT
POLITICAL DIFFERENCES, THEY'RE ALSO RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES
BECAUSE THE UNITED STATES IS TAKE SIDES NOW IN A SUNNI-SHIA
DIVIDE THAT HAS GONE ON FOR YEARS.
>> WE HAVE BEEN THE ALLIES OF SAUDI ARABIA SINCE WAY BACK WHEN
AND I THINK THE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE LEADERSHIP OF
SAUDI ARABIA MURDERED JOURNALIST JAMAL KHASHOGGI, CUT HIM UP.
THEY WILL CRUSH ANYBODY WHO FIGHTS DEMOCRACY FOR
SAUDI ARABIA, INCLUDES WOMEN WHO ARE THIRD-CLASS CITIZENS.
I'M NOT SUGGESTING ANY OF THIS STUFF IS EASY, IT IS NOT.
BUT WE'VE GOT TO USE OUR DIPLOMATIC POWER, OUR FINANCIAL
CARROTS AND STICKS TO GET PEOPLE TOGETHER, NOT ONLY BETWEEN
SAUDI ARABIA AND IRAN, BUT THE ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS, GET
PEOPLE TOGETHER AROUND THE WORLD WHO ARE IN CONFLICT AND SEE WHAT
ROLE WE CAN PLAY IN TRYING TO AVOID WAR.
>> Stephen: WHAT IS YOUR BAR FOR MILITARY ACTION?
>> LOOK, THERE ARE TIMES WHEN WE MAY WELL USE.
WE HAVE THE GREATEST MILITARY IN THE WORLD, AND THERE ARE TIMES
WHEN WE MAY WELL HAVE TO USE THAT MILITARY.
BUT I BELIEVE THAT MILITARY ACTION SHOULD BE THE LAST
RESPONSE, NOT THE FIRST RESPONSE.
( APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: SENATOR, WE HAVE
TO TAKE A QUICK BREAK.
IF YOU CAN STICK AROUND, YOU STICK AROUND BECAUSE WE'LL BE
RIGHT BACK WITH MORE SENATOR BENDERS, EVERYBODY.