officials and scholars discuss the peace building process on the korean peninsula. that gets underway at 10:30 a.m. eastern. senator bernie sanders held a town hall at clayton college, a historically black college in south carolina. he was joined by actor danny glover. senator sanders, along with a number of other candidates have been campaigning in south carolina this weekend. the state holds its primary on saturday, february 29. southy clinton won carolina in 2016, and president trump carried the state in the general election. >> rock hill, how are you doing tonight?

raquel, please welcome to the stage, south carolina's deputy field director j run -- date jail in. -- jaylin. >> how are you all feeling today echo -- today? are you feeling the bern? i have the blessing and pleasure of being the deputy field director here for our campaign in south carolina that is going to lead the political revolution to change our nation for the better. when they come to events like these and we see all of our enthusiastic supporters, i can't help but feel hopeful for the future. of january 20, 2017, we have had dark days. we have had for some days that felt hopeless.

we have had days of despair. we know because of people like because of people who manned a campaign, people like our candidates bernie sanders, a genuine 20th, this nation will change for the better. when we take the resolution -- revolution that starts in south carolina, it goes all the way to the oval office. while we come to these rallies, while they are great, what we need is time and energy and dedication. to bring-- we need you in voters and people who have never been engaged in our political process. that is how it begins. that is how we and inequality and climate change and restore

this nation's promise. [applause] when you hear our candidates say, not me, us, it is all of you he is talking about. it is all of you that the this revolution. you have to answer the call to bring the change. in our time in this place. let us continue on this path toward our revolution. let's continue on this path to ring about change. the path toue on put bernie sanders in the oval office. am i right? [applause] >> i appreciate your time and you getting out and joining our efforts.

he wants to come and share a few words. we appreciate all of you. thank you very much. >> thank you and welcome to clinton college. we are thrilled to welcome to our historic campus united states senator bernie sanders. [applause] we are always honored to have our elected officials here. councilwomen are in the house and we thank god for others who are here who also happen to welcome mr. danny

glover, our friend. [applause] i told him privately and i will say publicly how grateful i am for his powerful testimony on onalf of the congress reparations. an articulate voice he offers. [applause] and what a special honor it is for clinton college to host our second candidate for highest office in the land. you are on hallowed grounds for one of the fastest-growing historically black colleges in the nation. we are known as a beacon for leaders. clinton is now before your liberal arts college that has stood in this community for 125 years. [applause]

give it up for clinton. >> thank you. provide abc you's, we path to success by allowing access to the higher education that our community needs. we have been built on the pillars of scholarship, social change, spiller -- spirituality, and leadership. we are seeking to become the 10th federally designated work college in the united states.

we believe that, given the opportunity and an intentional living and earning environment, our students can thrive, become productive contributors to the economy and be the ethical leaders and moral agents of change that our world so desperately needs. andelieve here in clinton excellence without excuse. because our society has too many people in leadership who offer more excuses than solutions. clinton students, most of whom are first-generation and from low wealth communities, come with little preparation, but they leave. he to face the world armed with

the confidence and compassion to make a real difference. which is why we are happy to persons like bernie sanders who aspire to the presidency. many of our leaders have picked up a few trinkets of political expediency that would build walls and cage children than build bridges and educate our children. 2 throughout this nation's history, hbcu's have helped america see better, learn better, think better, and do better. yes, we can do better. we admit that the bar for presidential leadership has been set pretty low in the past couple of years, and we know that making america great again

doesn't mean the same for all of our citizens. [applause] but we know that we can do better and we can be better. in fact, we should expect the best, and as i remind our students all the time, we must practice the rhyme, good, better, best, never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best. welcome to rock hill, welcome to clinton college where our better is becoming best. [applause] it is my privilege now to present to you the york county democratic party chair, my friend, mr. jim thompson. [cheers and applause] thank you, mr. president.

everybody prepare to replace the current occupants of the white house. is everybody here feeling the bern? i want to assure you and welcome you as chair of the york democratic party. don't let anyone tell you that bernie sanders isn't a democratic because i know he is a democratic. don't let anyone tell you that bernie sanders has really radical outlandish ideas because they are the same ideas that democrats have been putting forward since f.d.r., harry truman, john f. kennedy, lyndon b. johnson, jimmy carter, bill clinton, and barack obama. now, i know the senator is within hearing distance, so once again, let me ask you, are you feeling the bern and ready to get a new occupant of the white house?

[cheers and applause] well welcome to york county. this is the road where we reclaim america in 2020, and thanks so much for coming out. thank you. >> rock hill, please welcome activist and actor danny glover. >> yes, yes. hello. it is beautiful. it is wonderful being here with you here in rock hill. to be here at clinton college and to celebrate this incredible moment, an opportunity we have. this campaign with my friend and my friend bernie sanders is about justice, love, and compassion. this is what we -- we want to bring people together. we want to bring people together, not tear them apart. we want to make sure that we make a better america for our children, to make a better world

for you our children. that's why we're here. that's why the center is run and been so extraordinary. thank you for coming out tonight -- tonight. tonight, today. this afternoon. come on, let's keep pushing. let's keep pushing. bernie sanders, the democratic nominee for president. yes, sir. [cheers and applause]

>> rock hill. rock hill, rock hill, rock hill, rock hill. give me that other cordless mic. rock hill, it is such a pleasure an honor to be here at clinton college. i was fortunate enough to be the keynote speaker at this college and it is such a pleasure to be here on a campus that is rooted in a tradition. this college is about 125 years old and it was founded by folks who had a dream. who understood that education is a pathway to freedom, and we all are excited to be here. i want to hold up here for rock hill. i know all of you understand the history of this community, but this book right here, "no fear for freedom." and i want to thank the good doctor kimberly and mr. mccloud, who i believe is in the audience today. i want to thank this community for standing up and doing what is right, and in the same way that others have done the right thing, we have the obligation to continue to build on doing the right thing. no fear for freedom.

[cheers and applause]. show less text no fear for freedom and that is what the campaign of senator bernie sanders is all about -- no fear for freedom. the freedom to live a good life. the freedom to have health care. the freedom to not be saddled with debt. the freedom to have peace of mind. the freedom to have opportunity. the freedom to have a good life. and we can do this in the wealthiest country on the face of the earth, sisters and brothers, we can do this. i want you, if you will, rock hill, to raise one hand for yourself and one hand for somebody else. i need you to participate with me sisters and brothers. one hand for yourself and one hand for somebody else. and with these hands, we will have medicare for all. with these hands we will college for all.

with these hands, women will be able to control their bodies. with these hands we will get our whole damn dollar, ladies. with these hands, we will take care of mother earth. with these hands, we will take care of our elderly. with these hands, we will assure fair, humane immigration reform. with these hands we will overhaul a racist criminal justice system. and with these hands, we will dream big dreams. and with these hands we will elect senator bernie sanders, the next president of the united states of america. [cheers and applause]

>> thank you. [crowd chanting "bernie"] >> thank you. thank you. please. it does sound like rock hill, south carolina, is ready for a political revolution, and i thank you all. now, i love campaigning, but the only problem that i have is that i always have got to follow nina turner, and that's hard. and then you've got danny glover there as well. so i want to thank nina and

danny and jim thompson and dr. mchorne for allowing us to use the campus of this great college. thank you very much. what this campaign is about is a very profound concept. we just talked about it earlier today. we were meeting with some local folks, and somebody raised the issue of what we are entitled to -- what we are entitled to as human beings in the wealthiest country on the history of the world. what are we entitled to? now, i believe that what we must strive for is a government not based on racism, not based on sexism, not based on homophobia, not based on xenaphobia, and not

based on religious bigotry. in fact -- in fact, what our campaign is about is exactly the opposite of what trump is trying to do. he is trying to divide us up, our campaign brings us together. and it brings us together, black and white and latino, native american, asian american, it brings us together in the struggle for economic justice, for social justice, for racial justice, and for environmental justice.

[cheers and applause] it brings us together in the belief that the american people are entitled to an economy and a government which works for all of us, not just the 1%. now, this campaign is asking you to think big, not small. it is asking you to imagine the kind of country we can and must become. and it is also asking you to take a hard look at the country we are today and how we can do better. now, i know i get criticized by

a lot of people. all right. that's right. when you say -- when you talk truth to power, you sometimes get criticized. so this afternoon we are going to talk truth to power. and we're going to ask ourselves a few questions. we're going to ask ourselves whether it is moral and whether it is right that in america today three people own more wealth than the bottom half of america? whether it is appropriate that the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 92%. whether it is good economics

goes to thew income top 1%. now, we raised those questions because most candidates, most members of congress and the media does not talk about that. so what we are about is creating an economy and a country that works for all, and what does that mean? let's start off by taking a look at jobs and the economy. right now in this great state, you've got tens and tens of thousands of workers earning a starvation wage. now, four years ago when i came here to south carolina, i proposed something that everybody said was radical and extreme.

i said that if you work 40 hours a week in the united states of america, you should not be living in poefrt, that -- poverty, that we have got to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. [cheers and applause] and that living wage is at least $15 an hour. [cheers and applause] now, four years ago i was told that i was somewhat crazy for proposing an idea that would more than double the federal minimum wage. you know what happened since? that crazy idea has now been adopted by seven states in america. and unless i am very mistaken, and i am not, the u.s. house of representatives is going to vote

for a $15 and pass a $15 an hour minimum wage in the next several weeks. [cheers and applause] and i need you to tell your republican senators here when that bill comes from the house to the senate that people cannot live on $8 an hour or $9. they need to vote for a $15 an hour minimum wage. [cheers and applause] and when we talk about raising wages, we're going to end the obsurdity of women making less money than men. we will have equal pay for equal work.

and -- and when we talk about women's rights -- when we talk about women's rights, let me be as clear as i can be. i believe that women have the constitutional right in this country to control their own bodies. [cheers and applause] and i pledge to you -- i pledge to you that i will never nominate anybody to the u.s. supreme court who is not 100% in

favor of defending roe versus wade. four years ago when i came to south carolina, i made another radical idea. i said maybe in the united states we should do what every other major country on earth does and guarantee health care as a right to all people. [cheers and applause] i am sick and tired of talking to doctor who tell me that patients walk into their offices too late because they have no health insurance or because they are under insured with high deductibles and high co-payments.

the function of a rational health care system is to provide quality care to all in a cost-effective way, not to make billions in profits for the insurance company. [cheers and applause] and that is why together -- that is why together we will pass a medicare for all single-payer program. [cheers and applause] and when we talk about our dysfunctional health care system, it means that we are going to take on the pharmaceutical industry, the top ten drug companies last year

made $69 billion in profits and millions of americans cannot afford the medicine they need because we are forced to pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. so we got news for the drug companies. they are going to stop ripping off the american people. we're going to cut drug costs in half -- in half. [cheers and applause] we live in a competitive global economy, and all of you know that to make it into the middle class, by and large, people need a good quality higher education, like the people are getting here at clinton college. [cheers and applause]

and, yet, despite that reality, we've got hundreds of thousands of bright young people who cannot afford to go to college or get the training they need to go out and get a good-paying job. now, the truth is 50 or 60 years ago, you had -- if you had a high school degree, the odds are that you could go out and make it into the middle class. but the world has changed, technology has changed, the economy has changed and today people need that higher education. and that is why i believe that we have got to make public colleges and universities tuition free. [cheers and applause] not a radical idea. it exists in countries all over

the world. and in addition to that, we have got to very, very substantially reduce the burden of student debt on our people. [cheers and applause] and tomorrow -- tomorrow in washington i'm going to be making a big announcement. i want to hold off until i make it tomorrow. but basically this is what we're going to be saying. we're going to being saying that it is a little bit crazy for people to what they have to do, which is to get a quality education and then find themselves in the absurd position of having to pay that debt off for decades. and some of those people, they can't afford to get married,

they can't afford to have kids, they can't afford to buy their own home. well, we are going to change that. [cheers and applause] now, some of you may remember that ten years ago, against my vote, as it happens, the congress voted to bail out the crooks on wall street. do you remember that? they provided $700 billion in federal loans, and in addition, trillions of dollars in zero or very-low interest loans. so i think the time is now for wall street to repay that obligation to the american people. [cheers and applause]

if we could bail out wall street, we sure as hell can reduce student debt in this country. [cheers and applause] president trump believes climate change is a hoax. [crowd jeering] president trump does not believe in science. it is time we had somebody in the white house who understands that climate change is not a hoax but that it is an

extensional threat to this country and to the planet. [cheers and applause] and it is time long overdue that we told the fossil fuels industry that they cannot continue through their carbon emissions to destroy this planet for short-term profits. [cheers and applause] and that is why together we are going to transform our energy system away from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energies. and in the process we are going to create millions of

good-paying jobs. [cheers and applause] you have a lot of sunshine here in south carolina, and it is time that this state and the rest of this country use that sunshine to create energy. [cheers and applause] and we talk about disparities in this country between the very rich and everybody else. we are also talking about racial disparities. [cheers and applause] and that means we end the -- end -- the absurdity of white

families having ten times more wealth than black families. it means that we end the disparity in health care where the infant mortality rate in the black community is two and a half times higher than in the white community. [cheers and applause] it means that we end the disparities in education where black school districts are substantially underfunded. [cheers and applause] it means that we end the disparity in financial services where small black businesses can't get the loans that they need. [cheers and applause] and it means that once and for all we are going to reform a

broken and racist criminal justice system. [cheers and applause] today, and i want you all to hear this -- but today in america we have more people in jail, about two million people -- more people in jail than any other country on earth, including china, four times our size. we are spending about $80 billion at the local state and federal level locking up fellow americans. now, i happen to believe that it makes more sense to use some of that $80 billion to invest in our young people in jobs for these kids and in education .

[cheers and applause] show less text rather than building more jails and having more incarceration. [cheers and applause] it costs more money to send somebody to jail than to send them to the university of south carolina. let's get our priorities right. let's educate, not incarcerate. [cheers and applause] and when we talk about

education, we're also talking about a very significant increase in funding for hbcu's. [cheers and applause] when we talk about criminal justice -- you know, i was here four years ago talking about criminal justice, and i said, you know what? i think that the time is right to end the so-called war on drugs. [cheers and applause] well, four years ago that seemed like a radical idea, not so radical today. state after state after state is either decriminalizing or legalizing the possession of marijuana. [cheers and applause] and some communities are even going further and expunging the records of those arrested for the possession of marijuana.

[cheers and applause] so when i talk about criminal justice reform, we are talking about also ending cash bail in this country. [applause] right now -- right now, quite unbelievable, hundreds of thousands of fellow americans are in jail today and their crime is they are poor. they haven't been convicted of anything. they can't afford bail. that is absurd. we are going to end that practice. and we are going to end private prisons and detention centers in this country.

and when we talk about reform, we should be aware that, as we speak, millions of people in this country are living in terrible, terrible fear, and those are the undocumented people. and, in my view, instead of having a president who demonizes people because they came from abroad, people who are undocumented, we need to work together for comprehensive immigration reform and a path towards citizenship. [cheers and applause] we need -- we need to provide immediate legal status to the

1.8 million young people eligible for the daca program. and we need a humane bored policy, not a policy that tears babies from the arms of their mothers. [cheers and applause] now, my friends, you all know that we are living in an unprecedented moment in american history. and the results of this election will very clearly determine the future of america. one choice that we have is moving this country further and further into oligarchy where a

handful of billionaires exert unbelievable power over the economic and political life of this country. that is one direction we can go. [crowd jeering] or the other direction that we can go is to create a vibrant democracy where we are not suppressing the votes. [cheers and applause] where we are not making it harder for people of color or poor people or young people to vote but making it easier for people to vote. [cheers and applause] and where we can create an economy that is based on justice that works for all of us. those are the choices that we face. now, when i announced for

president, what i said -- and it was not an easy decision, i should tell you because when you run for president nowadays, you get attacked by everybody and your family gets attacked, but we decided to run for two reasons. number one, i happen to believe that i am the strongest candidate to defeat the worst president in the history of this country. [cheers and applause] [chanting "bernie] >> every poll that has ever been done in the last year has us running ahead of trump, and in recent weeks, those numbers are pretty significant.

i believe that we can defeat trump in battleground states like michigan and pennsylvania, wisconsin. recent polls had us ahead of him even in florida and north carolina. and you know what i think? with your energy and your enthusiasm, i think we've got a shot here in south carolina. [cheers and applause] so the first reason that my wife and i decided that we should do this is because we have a moral imperative to defeat the worst

president in the modern history of america. but there's a second reason. there is a second reason which goes beyond defeating trump. it is the imperative to create a government and an economy that is based on justice. a government that is based on honesty, not lies. [cheers and applause] but let me tell you something that i believe no other candidate will tell you. many of the people running are personal friends of mine. they are decent and good people. and they know, by the way, who i know. is that whoever ends up winning this democratic primary, all of us will rally around that person. [cheers and applause]

and what i have said before, i certainly hope that person is me. [cheers and applause] but if it is not, i will do everything -- i can to support that candidate and defeat trump. but the second reason -- so the first reason that i'm in this is to make sure that trump is defeated, but the second reason is equally as important. so obviously i am here in south carolina to ask for your support to win the democratic primary here. i am asking for your support to win the democratic nomination. i am asking your support, if nominated, to defeat trump. but i am asking something more of you -- i'm asking something more of you, and i think that maybe distinguishes our campaign

from other campaigns of the message of our campaign, as you may have seen, is us, not me. us not me. and what it that means is, i think, two things. i think that means we are all, as americans, in this together. my job is to worry about you and your family, your job is to worry about me and my family. that is what being an american is about. but the second thing that us, not me means is something very profound, which you're not going to see much on t.v. or in the media, and that is for 45, 50 years, the american people have seen politicians giving great speeches, sincere speeches, honest speeches,

they've seen party platforms that have been good and strong, they've seen strong legislation being passed. but today the average american worker is earning in real inflation accounted-for dollars exactly what he or she earned 45 years 45 years ago. so after all of the speeches, after all of the great technology that we have seen, after all of the worker productivity which means the average worker is reducing much, much more than 30 years ago, the average person in the middle of our economy is no better off in real dollars. second of all, in the last 30 years, listen to this, according to federal reserve data, the top 1% have seen a $21 trillion increase in their wealth.

the bottom 50% of our people have seen a $900 billion decline in their wealth. [crowd jeering] now why does that happen? how does it happen? and what we have got to begin to deal with is where the real power in this country rests. all right. it is not that candidates are insincere when they come before you. they want to do this and they want to do that, and they do, but somehow or another it never happens, and it never happens because we have yet to deal with the power of wall street. [cheers and applause] the six largest banks in america

have assets equivalent to 54% of the gdp in america. they control the flow of trillions of dollars. they determine whether factories stay in the u.s. or go to china, they determine whether workers earn a living wage or a starvation wage. we are not going to have progress in this country until we have the courage to deal with wall street, but it is not just wall street. the american people understand that health care is a right. they know that the system is dysfunctional when we spend twice as much per person on health care as do people of any other country. we want medicare for all, but in order to get that, we are going to have to take on the insurance companies and all of their moneys and all of their power. [cheers and applause]

the american people are disgusted at the high cost of prescription drugs. everybody knows that we've got to lower the cost of medicine, but in order to do that, you can't just give a speech. you've got to have the guts to tell the pharmaceutical industry, you are going to stop your greed. we are going to substantially lower prescription drug costs. and it is not good enough to give great speeches about the crisis in climate change. we all know that that's real. but what we have got to do is to have the courage to take on the billionaires who own the fossil fuels industry. so what i am asking you for is your help, not just to win the nomination and to defeat trump,

i'm asking for your help in something beyond that. and that is to understand that real change in this country does not be never has happened unless millions of people at the grassroots level stand up and fight back and demand justice. that is the history of the labor movement. that is the history of the civil rights movement. that is the history of the women's movement. that is the history of the gay

rights movement. power never gives up their power voluntarily. wall street is not going to say, oh, i guess we should do the right thing and lower interest rates for consumers in this country. fossil fuels industry is not going to say, oh, yeah, climate change is real. i guess we've got to go to energy efficiency and sustainable energy. that's not the way it happens or ever happens. change happens when people have the courage to stand up to the powers that be. [cheers and applause] so today i am asking your help, not just to win this thing but to understand that the only way we bring about real change is when we work together, when tens of millions of people demand

justice. so we have the opportunity in this election not only to defeat the worst president in the modern history of this country but to transform our nation and to become the people we know we can become. thank you all very much. [cheers and applause]

[indiscernible conversations] [indiscernible conversations]

the 46th president, bernie sanders. [indiscernible conversations]

thank you. thank you, senator. [indiscernible conversations]

[indiscernible conversations] is somebody going to take a picture? i am. right here. got it? yes.

good. can i get one? yes, one at a time. can we take a picture? who has a camera? here we go. there you go. we've got it. ok.

that's my wife. got it. thank you. got a couple of friends coming with me. thank you. thank you so much. [indiscernible conversations] are you sure we only have two minutes? yes. get it? yes. thank you, senator. you've got it. it must be really hot. yeah, it is. ok. got it? ok. thank you so much. thank you very much.

you got me in to politics. good. thank you. thank you.

thank you for all of your work. thank you very much. all right. thank you. thank you. we're going to have to get moving. listen, thank you all very much. we love you!

ok, senator. thank you. >> on saturday, the south carolina democratic party held their convention in columbia. spoke teates