WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:04.200 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Hello. I'm Robert Costa. And this is the Washington Week Extra. 00:04.200 --> 00:08.380 align:start This year's field of Democratic presidential candidates is diverse and historic - more 00:08.380 --> 00:13.630 align:start people of color, more women than ever before - and eight of the 21 contenders - wow, 21 - 00:13.630 --> 00:18.430 align:start traveled to Texas this week to speak to the She The People event, the first-ever 00:18.430 --> 00:22.580 align:start presidential candidate forum focused on women of color, one of the Democratic Party's 00:22.580 --> 00:25.170 align:start most loyal voting groups. 00:25.170 --> 00:28.820 align:start Joining me to talk about the role these voters will play in the race for the White 00:28.820 --> 00:33.590 align:start House, Karoun Demirjian, congressional reporter for The Washington Post; Jerry Seib, 00:33.590 --> 00:37.530 align:start executive Washington editor for The Wall Street Journal; Julie Hirschfeld Davis, 00:37.530 --> 00:41.460 align:start congressional correspondent for The New York Times; and Jeff Zeleny, senior Washington 00:41.460 --> 00:47.990 align:start correspondent for CNN. It is, of course, early in the 2020 race, but events like these 00:47.990 --> 00:53.130 align:start do matter as candidates introduce themselves to voters and sketch out policies and themes. 00:53.130 --> 00:57.350 align:start One contender who has been policy heavy in her campaign is Massachusetts Senator 00:57.350 --> 01:00.900 align:start Elizabeth Warren. Warren was well-received at this Houston event, 01:00.900 --> 01:04.500 align:start especially when talking about the issue of infant mortality. 01:04.500 --> 01:09.020 align:start SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): (From video.) I want to talk to the hospitals who are - 01:09.020 --> 01:13.290 align:start is where most of these births take place, and I want to talk to them in the language they 01:13.290 --> 01:20.370 align:start understand, money. If they bring down those maternal mortality rates, then they get a 01:20.370 --> 01:26.340 align:start bonus; and if they don't, then they're going to have money taken away from them. 01:26.340 --> 01:31.080 align:start ROBERT COSTA: California Senator Kamala Harris made headlines with her remarks on guns. 01:31.080 --> 01:34.620 align:start SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): (From video.) If Congress fails to act with smart gun 01:34.620 --> 01:40.840 align:start safety laws, I will execute executive action - (cheers, applause) - to put in place what 01:40.840 --> 01:45.380 align:start is long overdue and people have had the courage to do - or lacked the courage to do. 01:45.380 --> 01:51.220 align:start ROBERT COSTA: New Jersey Senator Cory Booker repeated his pledge about a potential running mate. 01:51.220 --> 01:54.740 align:start SENATOR CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): (From video.) I will have a woman running mate. 01:54.740 --> 01:57.840 align:start To me it's really clear that we do that. 01:57.840 --> 02:02.180 align:start ROBERT COSTA: And Senator Bernie Sanders, well, he struggled to attempt to connect with the crowd. 02:02.180 --> 02:05.740 align:start SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): (From video.) I actually was at the March on Washington 02:05.740 --> 02:08.970 align:start with Dr. King back in 1963. 02:08.970 --> 02:13.640 align:start ROBERT COSTA: You take all that in, it's a lot to take in. 02:13.640 --> 02:17.750 align:start Jeff, you've been on the campaign trail covering 2020 at this early stage. 02:17.750 --> 02:23.020 align:start When you think about women of color, they were so important in recent Democratic 02:23.020 --> 02:27.560 align:start victories like Senator Doug Jones in Alabama winning a special election. 02:27.560 --> 02:33.770 align:start Who at this early stage has a strategy and who's building with that central demographic? 02:33.770 --> 02:37.730 align:start JEFF ZELENY: Well, I think at the event - the She The People event the person who had a 02:37.730 --> 02:43.170 align:start plan, to use her language, is Elizabeth Warren. She talks about racial injustice and 02:43.170 --> 02:47.040 align:start prejudice and other things in a way that really no other candidate is talking about. 02:47.040 --> 02:50.620 align:start Now, we'll see is that resonates out there or not, but I think she has the most 02:50.620 --> 02:55.790 align:start substantial policies. Otherwise, I think you have to say Joe Biden, who of course just 02:55.790 --> 03:01.050 align:start got into this race at the very end, but largely because of his name recognition, the 03:01.050 --> 03:06.870 align:start fact that he was Barack Obama's partner and defender, and a right-hand man in every 03:06.870 --> 03:11.960 align:start way for so long. I think he probably starts with an advantage, no doubt about it. 03:11.960 --> 03:17.460 align:start But he's not likely to grow support; he's likely to lose support if someone else sort of 03:17.460 --> 03:23.120 align:start takes off. But I think we are at a moment now as we almost head into the month of May, 03:23.120 --> 03:30.470 align:start a pretty wide-open race. It's sort of divided into sections of three tiers, I think, 03:30.470 --> 03:34.990 align:start but I don't think anyone owns the - really what is the single most important or one 03:34.990 --> 03:38.830 align:start of the single most important sort of demographic groups; that's black women. 03:38.830 --> 03:44.330 align:start JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS: I mean, I think that it's a fascinating sort of array of 03:44.330 --> 03:47.820 align:start candidates to watch on that stage and the issues that they chose to go to. 03:47.820 --> 03:51.780 align:start One of the reasons I think that Elizabeth Warren seemed to resonate with the audience 03:51.780 --> 03:54.730 align:start there was she was talking about concrete issues. 03:54.730 --> 03:58.080 align:start She was, of course, talking about, you know, racial injustice and all of the - all of 03:58.080 --> 04:03.290 align:start those kind of broader concepts, but you know, maternal mortality is a big issue that we 04:03.290 --> 04:06.550 align:start haven't really heard many politicians, many elected officials talk about. 04:06.550 --> 04:09.360 align:start That is something that people feel in their real lives. 04:09.360 --> 04:13.490 align:start And in campaigns, you know, people respond to things that are going to matter to them - 04:13.490 --> 04:17.070 align:start pocketbook issues, things that affect their health and their children. 04:17.070 --> 04:21.150 align:start And so the fact that she has come out with, you know, some of these very specific plans 04:21.150 --> 04:24.750 align:start about how she would go at some of those issues I think has been appealing not just to 04:24.750 --> 04:28.990 align:start African American women, but to a lot of the Democratic primary electorate. 04:28.990 --> 04:33.750 align:start But it was also interesting to, you know, hear Kamala Harris say that she was going to, 04:33.750 --> 04:37.720 align:start you know, use executive actions on gun violence if she couldn't get legislation through 04:37.720 --> 04:42.100 align:start Congress. That is an issue that there is sort of a pent-up demand for not just among Democrats, 04:42.100 --> 04:47.010 align:start frankly, but certainly among the audience at that event, and you know, the fact that 04:47.010 --> 04:50.150 align:start she's coming out proactively and saying that that's going to be a central thing for her I 04:50.150 --> 04:53.980 align:start think could end up being, you know, a very important element for her. 04:53.980 --> 04:56.630 align:start KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: Yeah, it's important for the candidates to start defining themselves 04:56.630 --> 04:59.620 align:start on policy issues pretty soon because generally speaking, as you were just making the 04:59.620 --> 05:03.550 align:start point, there are these issues that are very, very important to the party writ large, but 05:03.550 --> 05:07.470 align:start the how and the what specifically and the what will you do first and will you be 05:07.470 --> 05:11.870 align:start successful, how can you guarantee that, matters for everything ranging from health care 05:11.870 --> 05:17.020 align:start to student loans to gun violence and to all the other hot-button issues for the Democrats. 05:17.020 --> 05:20.830 align:start It is kind of striking how much Elizabeth Warren has been setting the tenor, though, for 05:20.830 --> 05:24.720 align:start exactly where the policy should move to, because she's been very specific about, you 05:24.720 --> 05:28.390 align:start know, taxation. She's been very specific about the small issues too, talking about 05:28.390 --> 05:31.910 align:start infant mortality. And she was the first person to say, loudly - with the biggest 05:31.910 --> 05:35.360 align:start megaphone, at least - impeachment, we should go for it. And the fact that she's - people 05:35.360 --> 05:39.930 align:start are following is going to make it very interesting to see if they - other candidates do 05:39.930 --> 05:44.590 align:start kind of try to move in to fill that space with policy proposals of their own, or if 05:44.590 --> 05:47.630 align:start this just becomes a question of who packages it and sells it the best. 05:47.630 --> 05:51.310 align:start ROBERT COSTA: That's a great point, about who's going to move in on the policy front, 05:51.310 --> 05:54.510 align:start because we just talked in the show about Vice President Biden. 05:54.510 --> 05:57.520 align:start We know he has a message against President Trump, referendum on President Trump. 05:57.520 --> 06:01.910 align:start What about on policy - on these policies that were really animating the discussion at She 06:01.910 --> 06:04.660 align:start The People? Where does he stand? Where could he make a move? 06:04.660 --> 06:07.250 align:start GERALD SEIB: Well, look, he can talk about any subject, right? 06:07.250 --> 06:11.800 align:start And so I think he has to decide where he's going to be on the ideological spectrum, not 06:11.800 --> 06:15.000 align:start just does he have policy positions but, you know, what are you going to say about 06:15.000 --> 06:19.070 align:start Medicare for All as the guy who's kind of hanging his hat in the center of the - the 06:19.070 --> 06:22.230 align:start center left, not the far left? And what are you going to say about climate change? 06:22.230 --> 06:25.610 align:start What about the Green New Deal? He's going to be forced to address issues like that. 06:25.610 --> 06:29.630 align:start And I think you're right, Elizabeth Warren has kind of set the tone in policy terms for a 06:29.630 --> 06:33.650 align:start lot of those subjects. And I think a lot of us have been waiting for her to have her 06:33.650 --> 06:37.650 align:start moment as a result of that. And I think you've finally seen in the last week a couple 06:37.650 --> 06:42.360 align:start of instances in which you think maybe this Elizabeth Warren moment might be arriving. 06:42.360 --> 06:45.890 align:start She's got intellectual appeal and a kind of an emotional appeal. 06:45.890 --> 06:49.230 align:start And we hadn't been seeing it much. And I think that clip indicated we're seeing it. 06:49.230 --> 06:52.650 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Let's step back for a minute, because if you think about She The People, 06:52.650 --> 06:59.030 align:start it is shining a light on an important demographic for the Democratic Party. 06:59.030 --> 07:05.370 align:start But when you look at the primary process for Democrats, a mostly white state in Iowa for 07:05.370 --> 07:10.150 align:start the caucuses, a mostly white state in New Hampshire for the first primary. 07:10.150 --> 07:14.520 align:start And then you get to South Carolina - Nevada's going to come first, then South Carolina 07:14.520 --> 07:19.460 align:start fourth this time around. Sixty percent of the vote in the South Carolina Democratic 07:19.460 --> 07:25.990 align:start Primary in 2016 was African American. So only once you get to South Carolina it 07:25.990 --> 07:28.710 align:start seems like these issues really get pushed to the fore. 07:28.710 --> 07:32.800 align:start Is that part of why She The People almost seems unique for this Democratic Party? 07:32.800 --> 07:35.650 align:start It's so much driven by Iowa and New Hampshire. 07:35.650 --> 07:38.920 align:start JEFF ZELENY: It is. And it always has been, largely because of inertia, I think. 07:38.920 --> 07:42.880 align:start There's never been kind of a different system put forward. 07:42.880 --> 07:46.640 align:start And the next cycle is always upon us before there's sort of a change of the calendar. 07:46.640 --> 07:48.690 align:start ROBERT COSTA: But it's such a diverse party right now. 07:48.690 --> 07:52.030 align:start JEFF ZELENY: It is a diverse party, particularly with the candidates. That's one of the 07:52.030 --> 07:55.820 align:start things that I think obviously is the biggest challenge for the Joe Bidens of the world. 07:55.820 --> 08:01.530 align:start You know, there are five credible female candidates, elected officials, running. 08:01.530 --> 08:06.070 align:start Two African American candidates, young candidates, an openly gay candidate, et cetera. 08:06.070 --> 08:11.420 align:start So it's very diverse. Yet the two frontrunners of the party are two white men in their 08:11.420 --> 08:14.890 align:start upper 70s. (Laughter.) So you know, we'll sort of see how this goes. 08:14.890 --> 08:19.960 align:start But there's no question the organizing structure of the primary process is lagging behind 08:19.960 --> 08:23.260 align:start where the party is progressively here. 08:23.260 --> 08:25.690 align:start KAROUN DEMIRJIAN: I mean, the party's been aware of this for a while. 08:25.690 --> 08:29.020 align:start That's why Nevada vaulted into the early state group, because it made the argument that 08:29.020 --> 08:32.830 align:start it has a large Latino community and that's a big part of the Democratic voting bloc in 08:32.830 --> 08:37.520 align:start Nevada. But it's been very, very hard to dislodge Iowa and New Hampshire from their 08:37.520 --> 08:41.220 align:start wanting to be the first of each type of contest for the party. 08:41.220 --> 08:44.540 align:start And, you know, you saw all the contests move up earlier in the calendar. 08:44.540 --> 08:47.310 align:start If they're going to move up any earlier we're going to be doing this around Christmas. 08:47.310 --> 08:50.690 align:start I mean, that's going to be very, very awkward. So unless you do everybody on the 08:50.690 --> 08:53.540 align:start same day, it seems like they're just holding on very, very - 08:53.540 --> 08:58.230 align:start ROBERT COSTA: One final question. Watching all these clips, I think back to 2016. 08:58.230 --> 09:03.950 align:start Senator Bernie Sanders did well in New Hampshire, and then he comes into South Carolina 09:03.950 --> 09:09.690 align:start and Secretary Clinton starts picking up speed. Has - he got a muted reception, perhaps worse than 09:09.690 --> 09:18.810 align:start muted, at this event. Has he addressed these issues from 2016 with minority voters this time or not? 09:18.810 --> 09:22.340 align:start JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS: I don't think he has. I mean, I think what you saw there - I 09:22.340 --> 09:24.850 align:start think you're being charitable in terms of a muted reception. 09:24.850 --> 09:28.500 align:start Is that, you know, there's still - that people are still not comfortable with him. 09:28.500 --> 09:32.210 align:start People in that audience, among African American women - frankly, among African American 09:32.210 --> 09:36.490 align:start voters in general, and among a lot of other female voters there is - you know, he has 09:36.490 --> 09:41.130 align:start some ground to make up there. And when you look at him where his standing is in the 09:41.130 --> 09:44.370 align:start polls right now, he's obviously in, you know, the top two of most of the polls that 09:44.370 --> 09:47.180 align:start we've seen. But that's going to start to be an issue for him. 09:47.180 --> 09:51.120 align:start And you have to imagine he's trying to put together a strategy to speak to them. 09:51.120 --> 09:55.170 align:start But when you hear him talk, he's talking in the ways that he talked in 2016. 09:55.170 --> 09:58.480 align:start It sounds like the same Bernie. And so the question is, what can he say, what can 09:58.480 --> 10:02.460 align:start he do, how can he respond to those concerns? Because they're clearly out there. 10:02.460 --> 10:05.680 align:start ROBERT COSTA: All right. Well, that's it of this edition of the Washington Week Extra. 10:05.680 --> 10:09.780 align:start You can listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch it on the Washington Week website. 10:09.780 --> 10:13.360 align:start While you're online, check out the Washington Week-ly News Quiz. 10:13.360 --> 10:30.860 align:start I'm Robert Costa. See you next time.