be able to be o safe in america. host: which candidate or decades jeffrey, this tame? gabbert. really like has the policys that will keep us out of the war and of truth that she says. engage with g to people who are in my opinion war feeding the military omplex and i think that her voice might be a bit of a reason in this crazy landscape of politics. host: thank you for calling. we will look from des moines, iowa at the state fair. the podium there where candidates will be talking. expect to here from castro delaney and mary now abbard and we will go

for sell hours of coverage -- several hours of coverage from iowa. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] have five presidential candidates coming to the stage today. julian castro. let's have him take it away. [applause] julian castro: good morning. it is great to be with you in des moines at the iowa state fair. thank you to the folks who helped organize this. was proud of this state fair. i'm excited because i am here with my family. our daughter and and son. [applause] julian castro: this is a real

treat for me because as you can imagine, like all the candidates, i don't often get to travel with my family. so it is neat that we get to spend some time together. i think the kids are looking forward to the bumper cars and the sky ride and the bacon you sell on a stick. thist to talk to you morning about what we are going to become as a nation. here in we went around this crowd and listened to the stories of your family that we would hear a lot of stories that would reflect the best of our nation, of the american dream coming true. it is true in my case. i grew up with my brother and my ran mother and my mom on the west side of san antonio. my grandmother had come over to san antonio when she was seven years old with her younger sister because their parents had

died. mexicome from northern in 1922 and ended up in the west side of the city. she got yanked out of school while she was still an elementary and she never got a formal education. lifeorked as hurt entire as a maid, cook, and babysitter. she raised my mom as a single parent and my mom raised my others and i as a single parent. my mom was the first to graduate from high school and go on to college. my brother and i had the opportunity to go to stanford and then harvard law school. we went together because i can't get rid of my brother. he likes to say the way to tell us apart is that i am uglier than he is. it is not true. i am a minute older. i had the chance to come home and get elected to the san

antonio city council and to come to san antonio as a verse in my family and i served on the sea council in san antonio until i ran for mayor when i was 30. become theg to youngest elected mayor in san antonio coming -- running against a judgment who was 70. in a spinoff but there were short terms so i came back and was elected. the city has 1.5 million people now. i got a call on april 16, 20 14 when i got a call from president barack obama. it is not every day the president calls you and asks you if you want a job. i had just driven through the drive-through at panda express. [applause] julian castro: you know how on your phone is is unknown or blocked call? it said private. if you ever get a call that says

private, answer the phone and hopefully it will be me on the other end of the line calling you. [applause] julian castro: i didn't answer the phone and i serve the last two and a half years at secretary of housing and urban development with 8000 employees and had $48 billion budget and 54 field offices. i got to see in that time all of the ways communities across this country are grappling not only with housing but everything that goes along with it. the fact that where you live determines your child's education and what job opportunities you have. it determines, in many communities, especially in ru this, haveike trouble with health care. in places like flint, michigan that i visited when i was hud secretary and then two months

again. it determines something as simple as whether you can drink clean water. i am running for president because i believe that we live in the greatest nation on earth. i know that we need a president that understands that in the years, we have to move forward with one nation with one destiny. i am convinced that our destiny in the years to come is to be the smartest, healthiest, fairest, and most prosperous nation on earth. healthiest,his the fairest, and most prosperous nation on earth. we need to start with universal pre-k for three and four-year-olds. [applause] julian castro: when i was in san antonio, put a sales tax increase that went to voters to get high quality pre-k. we were in texas and some

wondered about that, what more than 53 scent of the voters said yes to investing in our four-year-olds. ofay, san antonio has one the best pre-k programs and all of the country because of it. we pay teachers what they deserve, reduce class sizes, and making sure that no matter what the needs of a child are, they can have their needs met at the school they go to because too often times the parents of special needs children feel like they have to be lawyers to argue with the bureaucracy to get what they need for their child. that should not be the way that it is and we can do better. we also know that today, for the first time in our history, where police -- competing and collaborating with those around the world and producing young people who are courageous, young, innovated. that means we don't have a

single person to waste. we need to make sure that higher education is available and for everybody who graduates from high school for free community college and university and trade programs. in high schoolt so folks can get gainful employee -- employment and make a good inning if they decide not to go to higher education. if we are going to be the healthiest nation on the earth come we need a different health care system. like many of you all, i grew up with a grandmother and maybe for you it was your parents or a sibling or other relatives, my grandmother had diabetes. i watched her get worse and worse as i got older and older until she had to have one of her feet amputated right before she passed away but that whole time

she had medicare. i want to strengthen medicare for those who are on it and make sure it is available to every single person who wants it in this country. i also believe if you have a that younsurance plan like to hold onto you should be able to hold on. we should be able to do both things. but what i don't feel is the profit margin of big pharma or insurance companies should determine with a person gets the health care they need in our country. nobody should have to travel to canada or mexico to get medications or get a dental or medical procedure. we need to do things like end the distinction between physical health care and mental health care and invest in treating mental health care. [applause] if we are going

to be the fairest nation on earth, we need to reimagine our criminal justice system. differenteople from background and places get caught up in a justice system that puts a big lack ask on their record. it means they can't -- a big black x on the record. it means they can't get a job. we need to invest in public defenders. we need to do cash bail reform and do things like allies marijuana and in versed in diverse -- invest in diversion programs so people don't get caught up in the system in the first place. and we also need to make sure that a matter what the color of your skin is, how much money you have, or what neighborhood you live in that you are treated fairly by law enforcement. tom the only candidate plan restructure the justice system. we have seen video after video

that too often times you are treated different in this country. my plan would add transparency and accountability to police departments and make sure we invest in groups that are trying to mend the rift that too often exists between the police and the community. so many of our cops i know do a great job, but i believe it is not a case of bad apples the system is broken and we need to fix it and my plan would fix it. [laughter] julian castro: we also need to do things like have the equality act so that no matter your sexual orientation or identity you cannot be discriminated against. we won't have second-class citizens in the united states of america. like some of you all, i grew up with a single mom and i watched how hard she worked to support

me and my brother and her mom, my grandmother. we need to ensure that we get equal pay for equal work in our country. and that we passed equal rights amendment. and that we defend a woman's right to choose because it is under assault in our country. if we are going to be the most prosperous nation on earth, it has to mean prosperity for everyone. recently the house of representatives pass legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour the senate needs to pass that as well and the president should sign it. we need to make sure people can earn a good living and provide for their families. tot also means that we need support labor so that unions can and thet workers

benefits that they get. working people that are 40 to 60 hours a week are still struggling to pay the rent. you see that here in des moines. ufc might go up tremendously over the past several years. we need to invest in housing that is affordable. i have a housing plan that would create more affordable housing in small towns and in big cities so we can do just that and people can have a safe, decent, affordable place to live. i see housing as a human right. i don't believe in the wealthiest nation in earth that anybody should sleep on the streets and especially our veterans because too many veterans make up the homeless in this country. i know that we can do it. siowan ma administration,

worked hard and we reduced homelessness. washington worked the way it should and we can do that again. if we are going to be the most prosperous nation on earth, it also means that we need to reform our immigration system. we need to harness the potential of immigrants. -- you allsterday saw the raid in mississippi where they rounded up people and there were little children wondering where their parents were. they got out of school and they did not know where they were. we can do better than this and we can fix the broken immigration system so that we put on docket -- undocumented immigrants as long as i haven't committed a serious crime on the way to citizenship. we need to fix the legal immigration system because people have to wait too long to become a citizen right now. a 20% also do things like

three marshall plan for like as, el salvador -- marshall plan for hunters, el salvador and that is a more humane way to do it than what we are doing now. finally, if we are going to wesper in the years ahead, need to get rid of the most existential threat to the country. we need to combat climate change. my first order would be to rejoin the paris climate accord and invest in the green new deal so that we create jobs and also get to net zero in the years ahead. don't let anybody tell you that we can't do both of those things area you know that in iowa and we know in texas in the wind and solar industry. we can create new jobs in the economy and protect our planet and ensure that we get to net zero and that we have clean water and clean air.

all of that is possible. but before we do that, we need new leadership. i don't want to make our country again. i don't want us to go backwards. i want to make it better than it has ever been and move forward into the future to create great opportunity for everybody. [applause] i got tested very early on in my tenure. i went back home and got a good job. i bought a house, a car, i had $950 in student loan payments. by the way, my plan addresses student loan relief. i got elected to the city council and it only paid $1000 a year back then, even though we were a city of a million people. the law firm we were at got a client and the client wanted those on the city council to do a land deal. it was that we -- they wanted us

to put a golf course over our water supply. i was against it because i had concerns about their environmental plan. i didn't think it was strong enough. i thought that the chemicals use on a golf course might seep into the water supply and compromise it. i wanted to vote against it. under the ethics rules for lawyers and texas, because there are ethics rules for lawyers, believe it or not, you cannot go against the client like that. so i was stuck. on the one hand, my constituents wanted me to vote against it and wanted me to represent them and do the right thing. on the other hand, my livelihood depending -- depended on me shutting up and say i had a conflict of office. one day i walked into my law firm and i quit my job and that i voted against the land deal for the state council. [applause] julian castro: i tell you that

because before i went into politics i was concerned i would have to change who i was to succeed you heard it is dirty and you have to play the game with people who usually get their way or special interest to have a lot of control. i was happy when that first test came when i was 27 years old that i stood up and did the right thing for those i was to represent. no one gets tested more than the president of the united states. this president has failed that test but i want you to know if i am elected president, i will keep my eye on the ball and work hard every single day so you and your family can have good health care when you need it, they are children and grandchildren can get a good education so they can reach their dreams and you can have good job opportunities whether you live in a small town or in a big city. i am not taking any federal lobbyist or pack money in this campaign. it is fueled by the people of the united states. , week by week,e

month by want, we are getting -- month by month, we are getting stronger and i believe we are going to keep working hard. i think many will be ambassadors of this campaign and spread a good word throughout iowa because you go first and we need you. talk to your friends, neighbors, family, and coworkers. i hope that we will keep getting stronger and that by february 3 when the iowa caucuses come around that i can be a front runner and go on and do well in the other states on super tuesday then defeat donald trump on tuesday, november 3, 2020. and then on january 20, 2021, we will say audios to donald trump. [applause] julian castro: thank you very much. -- adios to donald trump. [applause] thank youtro: i think w

very much. [inaudible] julian castro: i do think we need to make sure that renewables are part of the energy equation. stay tuned for that. the question is why are my wearing a poncho with beto o'rourke? [no audio]

julian castro: i am not going to go there just to go there to campaign or try and use that. converse meant a work is from el paso. he is at home and should be there. i'm not from there and i did not want to go in the first couple of days after that happened because i don't think what they need is more presidential candidates over there. what they need is us expressing our support and what they really is they need action. they need congress and mitch mcconnell to get the senate back in session and to pass commonsense sense gun safety legislation. that is what we can do for the people of el paso and the people of dayton and everywhere else. we need to take action now and this morning i did put out a combatingposal on

white nationalism, domestic terrorism that includes gun safety legislation. i hope you all will check that out. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much. [indistinct commerce] --

indistinct conversations] >> you're watching live coverage from the iowa state fair, dating back to 1854. last year, 1.1 million visitors attending the state fair. this year, at a number of the presidential candidates. you heard from julian castro who served with the obama administration and a former mayor. be hearing andrew yang and all of the candidates expected to meet with the press. we will have coverage tonight of the iowa democratic party "wing place --er" taking placeing dinner" taking tonight. back to the des moines register

and julian castro taking questions. julian castro: i also believe that there are all types of newspapers and organizations that put out information about who contribute to who. that he wasas lamenting the fact that you have 70 folks, businesses in san antonio who have made their livelihood of the hispanic community that are popping up a president who is clearly racist hate andraging division against the hispanic community. i believe that people need to know what businesses in that city that are profiting off of the backs of hispanic customers and putting that into the pocket of a politician in donald trump who is actively making the lives of hispanics in this country worse. you have been very critical

of the president but we are hearing him say just now he wants to see meaningful change on background checks. do you give him credit for trying to push that? julian castro: i will give him credit when he signs legislation laws.ives common law gun his playbook is that he says what he needs to say in the heat of the moment. if you will say we will have a plan on that in a few days are we are going to do x, y, or z in a few days. he knows the nature of the american public and the attention span is very short. then he creates another issue that gets in the way and everyone's attention go somewhere else and he never follows up on what he said in the first place about what that issue was. what do i expect from the president? i expect that in a few days the president will drop this, like you did last time. he had this meeting at the white

house with a bunch of advocates and then he talked to the nra and appeased the nra again. i am tired of president that constantly just appeases the nra because he is afraid of using -- losing the election without their support. americans deserve better than that. we don't need any happy talk from this president. what we need is for him to actually push mitch mcconnell and the senate to enact common sense gun safety legislation. >> you said yesterday that poor kids are just as bright as white kids. do you think that is racist? julian castro: look, i don't believe that the vice president was being racist. like a lot of us, he got tripped up in his words but what i do believe that a matter what the of a- color of the skin kid is our whether they live in cityal community are big

that they have a good education. i went to schools that were grappling with segregation. i lived in neighborhoods who were still feeling the effects of segregation. i know what it is like to go to those schools and to see a lot of people around you not be able to make it out of there. we need to make sure that we are investing the resources and doing the right policies so that no matter who you are and no matter the color of your skin you can meet your dreams. expect president trump to attack your family and if so, how did you prepare them? julian castro: my family has been standing up for civil rights longer than donald trump's family has been trying to tear those civil rights down. donald trump is not going to scare me, my brother, or any of my family. i know what is right and what is wrong. this president has demonstrated

he is simply not up to the job as president and that is why i am running. you have talked about reclaiming and reimagining ice. what is your response to the raids and how can you ensure border security to those who are concerned about it? julian castro: we will always maintain border security. we will maintain the resources that need to be maintained so we have border security. i don't see those workers in mississippi as any kind of threat to this country. there are simply good folks trying to live those lives and provide for their sons and daughters. they are making our country a stronger country. i would put undocumented immigrants as long as they have not committed a serious crime on a pathway to citizenship so we wouldn't have that type of situation where people who have been here for years and years who have roots and little children who are american

citizens -- i wouldn't put them in that situation. how would you put your gun policy to? julian castro: the question is -- with the policy i put forward combatingng on domestic terrorism, white nationalism that includes gun safety legislation, how would we get that passed in the senate that mitch mcconnell may still be in control of, although i believe will have a democratic president and senate come january 20, 2021. but if he is still the majority leader, we will use every thing we can to put pressure on republicans who represent swing states who are for reelection and in the congress, republicans who represent swing districts because some do still exist. i believe that what those republicans -- senators in swing

states is an outpouring of frustration and anger at them for standing in the way of things like universal background checks that 90% of americans support. you saw what happened the other day in ohio. that while governor but he was going to get up and make this happy talk speech and the people of ohio were having none of it because we are tired of politicians just talking about keeping our families safe or common sense gun laws. we want them to act. you saw mitch mcconnell today talking about how he might do something. why is he doing that? he is doing it because he has an election coming up and he is afraid. whether it is in kentucky, texas, or other places, they are having to take notice because people are fed up. voting are usually republican may withhold their vote or vote democrat because they see these folks are not

keeping their families safe. do,ou have a child like i you think about the fact that your child is going to school every day and they are less safe than they should be because we copycat massho are shooters going into schools just trying to make a statement, or people going into shopping malls s or whatever it is, the only way to keep your family safe is to pass gun safety legislation. the republicans are starting to feel the heat from those who have had enough of it. there is a lot of racism athin -- i know you released plan, but how do you change the culture and some of the departments? whether it is

customs and border patrol or police department across the united states, what we see is this epidemic of racism and white supremacy. the report you are talking about and one look at facebook posts and other social media posts of police officers across our thousand --what it found was that they are making racist posts. and they are people on the streets were supposed to be treating all people equally. my policing plan calls for a better recruiting, better screening, also antivirus training for police officers and the ability to terminate officers who don't live up to the expectations that we have of them in police departments across the country. we need to find ways at the department of justice to reward those departments who are doing the best in terms of best practices for recruiting and

keeping good police officers with a diverse police force, people that whatever their background or skin color that they are able to do a good job with the people they are supposed to work with in the community. we have that in some places and we do have a lot of offices doing a good job but we also have this epidemic of racism and better officers and training so we can ensure that police officers understand how to treat people the same no matter their background, instead of profiling them -- those other kinds of things we need to do. what is your message to the iowa farmers around climate change? the last year had the highest levels of rain in the straight valve by a drought before that. how will you address the iowa farmers? julian castro: i will farmers

know that climate change represents a threat to their livelihood. there was another report out that said that climate change is going to negatively affect our food supply. we need to act. my hope is that more iowa farmers will leverage the foruence they have to push climate change legislation. we need to do it. it is an existential threat to our country and the world. willo believe that i farmers understand how badly this president has betrayed them. has stopped buying agricultural products from the united states. the soybean farmers and other farmers have lost contracts that may never come back because this president has too big of an ego to actually try and figure out how we marshal support for what we want to do with china instead of just with the erratic going

alone haphazard trade war. the trade war is costing jobs and costing farmers their livelihood here in iowa and they are watching it go by. i would tell the farmers -- this is not what you bargained for. this man is not who he says that he would be. he has caused you to lose your livelihood. he is costing you money out of your pocket right now and costing jobs. we can make a change into something better so that we can improve your livelihood and also make sure that america comes out on top in the years i had. trump donors are being targeted and harassed. republican or democrat, how is that ok? julian castro: it is not ok for anybody to harass anybody else. it does not matter where they are coming for, right or the left. nobody ever said it was ok to harass people. >> why post the list online? julian castro: my brother put

out a list of names of people who had maxed out to the trump campaign. that is public information. that kind of information is put out all the time. for anyone to pretend or suggest that it is not that is just untrue. he did not put down anybody's private information. he did not put down addresses, phone numbers. but hecastro: but -- >> single them out -- singled them out. julian castro: what he did was put forward publicly available information that was already out there. the right wing wants to make this a story because they want to pretend like in some way that is equivalent to the hate or the division that donald trump is fostering in this country. it is not. i guess what donald trump wants is he wants the donors to be secret. he doesn't want you to know who is donate to them. >> you know that they are

donating to you too? julian castro: maybe he believes that these people are embarrassed that they are donating to them. >> can you explain why your gun plan is different from your rivals? julian castro: we will. thank you. ♪ [indistinct conversations]

>> wonderful job date area -- today. julian castro: thank you. >> you support reparations, can i have my money now? do you support reparations? is it possible to get plate -- paid now? only 26% of americans support reparations. how would you sell that to the rest of america? [crosstalk] >> could i get a picture please? julian castro: how are you.

good to see you. [indiscernible] >> thank you so much. this is autumn from the twin cities. thanks again. julian castro: thank you for being here. >> thanks a lot.

julian castro: good luck with everything. indistinct conversations]

five --e literally taking you to the iowa state fair. we will hear from and you yelling at 11:00 eastern followed by john delaney who will be there at 1:00.

marianne williamson will be speaking at 2:30 p.m. and representative tulsi gabbard will also be speaking. s for the cedar lake wing ding dinner. at 10:00, governor inslee followed by senator kamala harris. congressman tim ryan at 1215 time eastern time. in the afternoon -- 1215 time eastern time. 2:15.1 warrennator elizabeth followed by senator cory booker. i want to share with you this one tweet from president trump who says "serious discussions