00:00I'm Tanya Christian, News and Politics Editor at Essence Magazine.
00:04Recently, I, along with News and Politics Director Ayesha Callahan,
00:07sat down with a number of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.
00:11Elizabeth Warren is a senator from Massachusetts.
00:14She also served as a professor at Harvard University.
00:18What message do you want to send to black women voters?
00:21That government matters, and that right now in America,
00:25we've got a government that's working great for those at the very top.
00:28Working great for the rich, working great for giant corporations.
00:32It's just not working for anyone else.
00:35And that we have a chance in 2020 to turn that around.
00:39We have a chance. We've got the numbers. We've got the power.
00:43We can make this government work for the rest of America.
00:46We can create opportunity, not just for those born into privilege,
00:50but opportunity for all of our kids. That's why I'm in this fight.
00:53What three issues do you view as priority in the 2020 election?
00:59So I think the first one is the corruption in Washington.
01:03The fact that money speaks, that it has so much power.
01:08And that means whatever issue brings you into the fight,
01:13whether it's gun safety, whether it's health care,
01:18whether it's the cost of prescription drugs,
01:22whatever issue brings you in,
01:24I guarantee if there's a decision to be made in Washington,
01:27it's been influenced by money.
01:31The second one is we've got to make some structural change in this economy.
01:37So we've got to fight back the corruption, put it on its heels,
01:41be willing to run against it.
01:43But then we've got to talk about changes in the economy.
01:45And I've got two quick ones.
01:47And that is we've got to get more power into the hands of workers.
01:51There's too much in the corporations.
01:53And the way we do that is we make it easier to join a union
01:56and give unions more power when they negotiate.
02:00More workers with more union power will see more balance in the system.
02:04The second one is I've got a proposal for a wealth tax.
02:08It's a two-cent tax on the great fortunes in this country, above $50 million.
02:14So your first $50 million free and clear,
02:16but your $50 million and first dollar pitch in two cents.
02:20You know what we can do with that?
02:21We can do universal child care,
02:23universal pre-K for every three-year-old and four-year-old.
02:26We can raise the wages of every child care worker in this country.
02:31We can provide tuition-free technical school, community college, four-year college.
02:37And we can cancel the student loan debt for 95% of the folks who've got student loan debt.
02:43That means for the first time we'd start to shrink the black-white wealth gap.
02:47And we can level the playing field.
02:49We can put $50 billion into historically black colleges and universities.
02:55That's about growing tomorrow's leaders.
02:57And the third thing we've got to do, we've got to protect our democracy.
03:01You know, I want to see a constitutional amendment to protect the right of every American citizen to vote
03:07and to get that vote counted.
03:09I want to get rid of this ugly political gerrymandering.
03:12And I want to overturn Citizens United.
03:15Democracy is not for sale.
03:17We do those three things.
03:18We fight back against the corruption.
03:20We get some structural change in this economy, and we protect our democracy.
03:24And we do start to create opportunity for all of our kids.
03:29Recently, candidates visited migrant facilities.
03:32What would you do with that issue that's been plaguing the country recently?
03:38So, a year ago, when it first started leaking out that the federal government, our federal government,
03:46was separating children from their parents, babies from their mamas, I went straight down to the border.
03:52I was down at McAllen, Texas.
03:55I saw the cages of little girls.
03:59I held mamas who had had their babies taken away from them and didn't know where their children were.
04:06I spoke out.
04:08I fought back.
04:08And yet, this is an administration that just keeps making it worse.
04:13Just last week, I went to Homestead down in Florida the morning of the debates.
04:19I come from a tradition of witnessing, and I think that's an important part.
04:23I think our government should reflect our values.
04:27And this, I guarantee you, as President of the United States, I would not separate babies from their mothers.
04:32I would know the difference, and I would have an administration that knows the difference.
04:37Between the threat posed by a criminal, a terrorist, and a 12-year-old girl, we need to rework this whole system.
04:46And I'll tell you where I'd start.
04:47I'd start by saying, we're getting rid of the for-profit detention facilities.
04:54Nobody should make a profit from locking people up.
04:58The first 90 days, what's the mess that was made?
05:04What would you do to fix it?
05:06Okay, so there's a lot we've got to do, and I've got plans, making lists.
05:11But let me start with one that's really important, and that is, I want not just to talk in general terms
05:21about the fact that black women's work has been undervalued for generations,
05:27but about making real change on day one.
05:31So here's one.
05:32Right now, the federal government does about a half a trillion dollars in government contracting business.
05:40One in every four Americans works for a company that does some business with the federal government.
05:47Now, those companies like doing business with the federal government,
05:50but the federal government gets to set the terms.
05:53So here's something a president all by herself on the first day can do,
05:59and that is to say for government contracts going forward,
06:03for all you corporations that want a chance to be in this business, here's the deal.
06:09You can't just talk the talk on equal pay for equal work and a diverse workforce.
06:15You've got to walk the walk.
06:18That's Americans' taxpayer dollars that are supporting those government contracts,
06:24and Americans have a right to know that those businesses are going to reflect the values of America.
06:34I'm so glad to be here.
06:36Thanks to all the candidates for taking the time to speak with us.
06:40Stay tuned to Essence's platforms for our next exclusive interview.
06:43I'm Tanya Christian, and thank you for watching.
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