MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg spoke this hour to supporters in Nevada, noting Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' win there. Mr. Buttigieg made the argument that a more moderate candidate is the better way for the Democratic Party to broaden its base.
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PETE BUTTIGIEG: I believe the best way to defeat Donald Trump and deliver for the American people is to broaden and galvanize the majority that supports us on the critical issues. Senator Sanders believes in an inflexible ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats, not to mention most Americans. I believe we can defeat Trump and deliver for the American people by empowering the American people to make their own health care choices with Medicare for all who want it.
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BUTTIGIEG: Senator Sanders believes in taking away that choice, removing people from having the option of a private plan and replacing it with a public plan whether you want it or not. I believe that we can bring an end to corporate recklessness and rebalance our economy by empowering workers, raising wages and insisting that those who gain the most must contribute the most in order to keep the American dream going forward.
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MARTIN: That was Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaking to his supporters. But now we're going to go to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders addressing his supporters in Texas. He is the winner of the Nevada caucuses according to The Associated Press. Let's hear his comments now
BERNIE SANDERS: So don't tell him that we're going to beat him here in Texas.
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SANDERS: And now I'm delighted to bring you some pretty good news.
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SANDERS: I think all of you know we won the popular vote in Iowa.
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SANDERS: We won the New Hampshire primary.
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SANDERS: And according to three networks and the AP, we have now won the Nevada caucus.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) Bernie. Bernie. Bernie. Bernie. Bernie.
SANDERS: So let me thank the people of Nevada for their support.
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SANDERS: In Nevada, we have just put together a multi-generational multi-racial coalition which is going to not only win in Nevada, it's going to sweep this country.
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SANDERS: And in Nevada and in New Hampshire and in Iowa, what we showed is that our volunteers are prepared to knock on hundreds and hundreds of thousands of doors, that no campaign has a grassroots movement like we do, which is another reason why we're going to win this election.
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SANDERS: In Nevada, I want to thank our rank-and-file union members.
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SANDERS: I want to thank Make the Road and all of the grassroots organizations that helped us win there.
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SANDERS: We are going to win here in Texas. We are going to win across the country because the American people are sick and tired of a president who lies all of the time. They are sick and tired of a corrupt administration. They are sick and tired of a president who is undermining American democracy, who thinks he is above the law, and who apparently has never read the Constitution in this country.
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SANDERS: The American people are sick and tired of a government which is based on greed corruption and lies. They want an administration which is based on the principles of justice - economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice.
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SANDERS: Now, Trump and his friends think they are going to win this election. They think they're going to win this election by dividing our people up based on the color of their skin or where they were born or their religion or their sexual orientation. We are going to win because we are doing exactly the opposite. We're bringing our people together. We are bringing our people together - black and white and Latino, Native American, Asian American, gay and straight. We are bringing our people together around an agenda that works for the working people of this country, not the 1%.
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SANDERS: All over this country, workers are sick and tired of earning starvation wages. You can't make it on nine bucks an hour or 11 bucks an hour or 12 bucks an hour. We are going to raise the federal minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour. We are going to provide equal pay for equal work for women. We are going to make it easier for workers to join unions. We are going to create millions of good-paying union jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, building the 10 million units of low-income and affordable housing this country desperately needs. We're going to win this election because we believe in education. We are going to have high-quality affordable universal child care. We are going to triple funding for low-income Title I schools. And we need great teachers in this country.
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SANDERS: We need more Latino teachers. We need more African American teachers. And because we know the vitally important work that teachers do, we're going to fight to make sure that no teacher in America earns less than $60,000 a year.
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SANDERS: And because we believe in education, we believe that all of our people, regardless of their income, are entitled to a higher education. And that is why we're going to make public colleges and universities tuition-free.
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SANDERS: We're going to cancel all student debt in this country by imposing a modest tax on Wall Street speculation. Twelve years ago, we bailed out the crooks on Wall Street. Now it is their turn to help the working families in this country.
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SANDERS: And together we are going to end the international embarrassment of the United States of America, our great country being the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people.
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SANDERS: So let me be as clear as I can be. Health care is a human right, not a privilege. We are going to end the absurd situation in which we now are spending twice as much per person on health care as the people of any other country, yet 87 million of us are uninsured or underinsured. Thirty thousand die each year, and 500,000 people go bankrupt because of medically related debt.
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SANDERS: In America, you should not go bankrupt because you're struggling with cancer. The function of a rational and humane health care system is to guarantee health care to all, not make a hundred billion in profit for the drug companies and the insurance companies.
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SANDERS: And we are going to take on the greed and corruption of the pharmaceutical industry. Under our administration, the American people will not pay in some cases 10 times more for the same prescription drugs sold in Mexico, Canada or in Europe. And when we talk about the major crises facing this country, it is a sad state of affairs when we have a president of the United States who believes that climate change is a hoax.
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SANDERS: Well, the scientific community has a slight disagreement with Mr. Trump. They think that climate change is an existential threat to this planet. And our administration believes in science, not right-wing extremism.
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SANDERS: And that is why together we are going to adopt the principles of the Green New Deal which creates up to 20 million good-paying jobs as we transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainability.
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SANDERS: Brothers and sisters, this is a moral issue. We must make sure that the planet we leave our children and grandchildren is a planet that is healthy and habitable.
MARTIN: We're listening to Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders thanking his supporters. He's in San Antonio, Texas. He is projected to have won the Nevada caucuses. And I want to thank my colleagues Domenico Montanaro, Scott Detrow and Asma Khalid for joining us this hour. I'm Michel Martin. And you're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
