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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) delivers a campaign update at the Hotel Vermont on March 11, 2020 in Burlington, Vermont. (Photo: Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Bernie Not Going Anywhere Until He Has Chance to Ask Biden Some Vital Questions--And Get Some Serious Answers--on Key Issues
"We have won the ideological debate, but we are losing the debate over electability," Sanders said Wednesday.
Mar 11, 2020
After disappointing results in primary contests held in six states on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders held a press conference in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont on Wednesday to offer a "campaign update" and said that while the delegate math to win the Democratic presidential nomination is not in his favor, he intends to stay in the race at least through this Sunday's one-on-one debate with frontrunner Joe Biden.
"We have won the ideological debate, but we are losing the debate over electability," Sanders said in his remarks. "I cannot tell you how many people our campaign has spoken to who say they agree with us but will vote for Joe because they believe he's the best to beat Donald Trump. Needless to say, I strongly disagree with that assertion, but that's what millions of Democrats and independents say. On Sunday, I very much look forward to the debate."
Watch Sanders' complete remarks:
Sanders told reporters that he wants answers from Biden about a number of issues that the Vermont senator has centered his campaign on and that polls have confirmed are important to Democratic primary voters.
"Joe, what are you going to do for the 500,000 people who go bankrupt in our country because of medically related debt, and what are you going to do for the working people of this country and small business people who are paying, on average, 20% of their income for healthcare?" Sanders said he plans to ask Biden on Sunday. "Joe, how are you going to respond to the scientists who tell us we have seven or eight years remaining to transform our energy system before irreparable harm takes place [on] this planet because of the ravages of climate change?"
Sanders pointed out that in 20 primary states--all the states with exit poll data available--majorities of voters said in exit polls that they support Medicare for All. Exit polls in Mississippi, which Biden won by the widest margin in the primary so far, showed that 62% of voters back the proposal. Biden's healthcare proposal would leave an estimated 10 million people uninsured, according to NBC News.
"Joe, what are you going to do to end the absurdity of the United States of America being the only major country on Earth where healthcare is not a human right? Are you really going to veto a Medicare for All bill if it is passed in Congress?" said Sanders, referring to Biden's comments to that effect on Monday.
Sanders' comments followed calls from Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Democratic strategist James Carville Tuesday night for the cancellation of the upcoming debate in Arizona. Clyburn said the Democratic National Committee should "shut this primary down" after Biden's success in at least four states on Tuesday while Carville told MSNBC, "This thing is decided."
Biden currently has 837 delegates out of 1,991 needed to win, while Sanders has 689. A number of states with large delegate counts have yet to vote, including New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
Sanders expressed his intention to allow voters to see the two Democratic candidates in a one-on-one debate, before many cast their ballots.
"Donald Trump must be defeated, and I will do everything in my power to make that happen," Sanders said. "On Sunday night in the first one-on-one debate of this campaign, the American people will have the opportunity to see which candidate is best positioned to accomplish that goal."
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After disappointing results in primary contests held in six states on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders held a press conference in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont on Wednesday to offer a "campaign update" and said that while the delegate math to win the Democratic presidential nomination is not in his favor, he intends to stay in the race at least through this Sunday's one-on-one debate with frontrunner Joe Biden.
"We have won the ideological debate, but we are losing the debate over electability," Sanders said in his remarks. "I cannot tell you how many people our campaign has spoken to who say they agree with us but will vote for Joe because they believe he's the best to beat Donald Trump. Needless to say, I strongly disagree with that assertion, but that's what millions of Democrats and independents say. On Sunday, I very much look forward to the debate."
Watch Sanders' complete remarks:
Sanders told reporters that he wants answers from Biden about a number of issues that the Vermont senator has centered his campaign on and that polls have confirmed are important to Democratic primary voters.
"Joe, what are you going to do for the 500,000 people who go bankrupt in our country because of medically related debt, and what are you going to do for the working people of this country and small business people who are paying, on average, 20% of their income for healthcare?" Sanders said he plans to ask Biden on Sunday. "Joe, how are you going to respond to the scientists who tell us we have seven or eight years remaining to transform our energy system before irreparable harm takes place [on] this planet because of the ravages of climate change?"
Sanders pointed out that in 20 primary states--all the states with exit poll data available--majorities of voters said in exit polls that they support Medicare for All. Exit polls in Mississippi, which Biden won by the widest margin in the primary so far, showed that 62% of voters back the proposal. Biden's healthcare proposal would leave an estimated 10 million people uninsured, according to NBC News.
"Joe, what are you going to do to end the absurdity of the United States of America being the only major country on Earth where healthcare is not a human right? Are you really going to veto a Medicare for All bill if it is passed in Congress?" said Sanders, referring to Biden's comments to that effect on Monday.
Sanders' comments followed calls from Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Democratic strategist James Carville Tuesday night for the cancellation of the upcoming debate in Arizona. Clyburn said the Democratic National Committee should "shut this primary down" after Biden's success in at least four states on Tuesday while Carville told MSNBC, "This thing is decided."
Biden currently has 837 delegates out of 1,991 needed to win, while Sanders has 689. A number of states with large delegate counts have yet to vote, including New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
Sanders expressed his intention to allow voters to see the two Democratic candidates in a one-on-one debate, before many cast their ballots.
"Donald Trump must be defeated, and I will do everything in my power to make that happen," Sanders said. "On Sunday night in the first one-on-one debate of this campaign, the American people will have the opportunity to see which candidate is best positioned to accomplish that goal."
After disappointing results in primary contests held in six states on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders held a press conference in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont on Wednesday to offer a "campaign update" and said that while the delegate math to win the Democratic presidential nomination is not in his favor, he intends to stay in the race at least through this Sunday's one-on-one debate with frontrunner Joe Biden.
"We have won the ideological debate, but we are losing the debate over electability," Sanders said in his remarks. "I cannot tell you how many people our campaign has spoken to who say they agree with us but will vote for Joe because they believe he's the best to beat Donald Trump. Needless to say, I strongly disagree with that assertion, but that's what millions of Democrats and independents say. On Sunday, I very much look forward to the debate."
Watch Sanders' complete remarks:
Sanders told reporters that he wants answers from Biden about a number of issues that the Vermont senator has centered his campaign on and that polls have confirmed are important to Democratic primary voters.
"Joe, what are you going to do for the 500,000 people who go bankrupt in our country because of medically related debt, and what are you going to do for the working people of this country and small business people who are paying, on average, 20% of their income for healthcare?" Sanders said he plans to ask Biden on Sunday. "Joe, how are you going to respond to the scientists who tell us we have seven or eight years remaining to transform our energy system before irreparable harm takes place [on] this planet because of the ravages of climate change?"
Sanders pointed out that in 20 primary states--all the states with exit poll data available--majorities of voters said in exit polls that they support Medicare for All. Exit polls in Mississippi, which Biden won by the widest margin in the primary so far, showed that 62% of voters back the proposal. Biden's healthcare proposal would leave an estimated 10 million people uninsured, according to NBC News.
"Joe, what are you going to do to end the absurdity of the United States of America being the only major country on Earth where healthcare is not a human right? Are you really going to veto a Medicare for All bill if it is passed in Congress?" said Sanders, referring to Biden's comments to that effect on Monday.
Sanders' comments followed calls from Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Democratic strategist James Carville Tuesday night for the cancellation of the upcoming debate in Arizona. Clyburn said the Democratic National Committee should "shut this primary down" after Biden's success in at least four states on Tuesday while Carville told MSNBC, "This thing is decided."
Biden currently has 837 delegates out of 1,991 needed to win, while Sanders has 689. A number of states with large delegate counts have yet to vote, including New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
Sanders expressed his intention to allow voters to see the two Democratic candidates in a one-on-one debate, before many cast their ballots.
"Donald Trump must be defeated, and I will do everything in my power to make that happen," Sanders said. "On Sunday night in the first one-on-one debate of this campaign, the American people will have the opportunity to see which candidate is best positioned to accomplish that goal."
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LATEST NEWS
'Simply Empowers the Bully': EU Leader Faces Backlash Over Trump Trade Deal
"Von der Leyen has just handed Trump the biggest victory he could hope for," said one critic. "We will all pay the price because in the process, she has strengthened him and his fascist project. Deeply depressing."
Jul 28, 2025
The leadership of the European Union on Sunday struck a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump that will leave tariffs significantly higher for many of the bloc's exports—including cars, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors—and at 50% for steel and aluminum.
News of the deal was met with sharp criticism, including from some European officials. François Bayrou, France's prime minister, wrote on social media that "it is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, gathered to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission."
Nick Dearden, director of the United Kingdom-based advocacy group Global Justice Now, warned that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen "has just handed Trump the biggest victory he could hope for."
"We will all pay the price because in the process, she has strengthened him and his fascist project. Deeply depressing," Dearden wrote, arguing that the deal "simply empowers the bully" and likely won't last.
In her statement announcing the agreement with Trump, von der Leyen suggested the deal would avert further escalations from the U.S. president and bring "stability" to markets unsettled by his erratic threats.
"Today with this deal, we are creating more predictability for our businesses," she said. "In these turbulent times, this is necessary for our companies to be able to plan and invest."
The sweeping 15% tariff on E.U. products entering the U.S. is half the rate that the president threatened to impose earlier this month, but it is far higher than the estimated 1.5% rate prior to Trump's second White House term. The E.U. is the United States' largest trading partner.
Cailin Birch, global economist at the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit, told CNBC that while the deal represents "a climb down from a much worse place," the 15% tariff "is still a big escalation from where we were pre-Trump 2.0."
Wolfgang Niedermark, a board member of the Federation of German Industries, called the deal "an inadequate compromise" that "will have a huge negative impact on Germany's export-oriented industry."
Trump and his team wasted no time bragging in bombastic terms about the agreement. Trump called it "probably the biggest deal ever reached in any capacity, trade or beyond trade," while the president's deputy chief of staff gushed that it is "impossible to overstate what a staggering achievement President Trump delivered for America today."
"Stephen Miller is boasting about Trump hitting us with a HUGE tax increase," responded economist Dean Baker, alluding to the fact that tariffs are often passed to consumers in the form of higher prices.
As part of the agreement, the E.U. pledged to buy $750 billion worth of U.S. energy over three years—including LNG and oil.
Andreas Sieber, associate director of policy and campaigns at 350.org, said in a statement Monday that "it's deeply shortsighted to see the E.U. strike a so-called 'deal' with the U.S. that locks us into expensive, polluting gas."
"Fossil gas is not only worse for the climate than coal, it comes at a higher cost," said Sieber. "This risks locking Europe into decades of fossil fuel dependence, volatile energy bills, and accelerating the wildfires and flooding already wreaking havoc across the continent. While Trump celebrates this as a win, communities on both sides of the Atlantic are suffering with deadly climate impacts."
As Smoke Returns to NY Skies, Climate Activists Disrupt Zeldin Event in the Hamptons
"Mr. Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is making it impossible for us to regulate these life-threatening emissions," one activist said.
Jul 27, 2025
As smoke from Canadian wildfires triggered an air quality alert for New York City and Long Island on Sunday, activists with Climate Defiance disrupted a speech by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in the Hamptons.
The disruption came four days after reports emerged that Zeldin's EPA was set to repeal the 2009 "endangerment finding" that greenhouse gas emissions "threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations." It is this finding that has given the EPA the authority to regulate climate emissions under the Clean Air Act.
"We are in a climate crisis largely caused by the burning of fossil fuels," the first activist to disrupt the speech said, according to video footage shared by Climate Defiance. "And Mr. Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is making it impossible for us to regulate these life-threatening emissions."
Zeldin's speech took place at the Global Breakfast Forum, held at The Hamptons Synagogue.
"What are you going to say to your children when the Hamptons are underwater?"
Several of the young Jewish activists who disrupted the speech referenced their faith.
"The Torah commands us to be stewards of the Earth, not the oil industry," one activist said.
The audience largely responded with boos and jeers, and one attacked two of the activists with a chair, according to Climate Defiance video footage.
However, the Climate Defiance activists emphasized that Zeldin and the pro-fossil fuel Trump administration were the forces that would ultimately disrupt life and community in the Hamptons.
"History is going to remember you as a monster," one yelled out to Zeldin.
Another said: "Lee Zeldin, you have taken half of a million dollars from fossil fuels. What are you going to say to your children when the Hamptons are underwater?"
The disrupters also referenced Project 2025 and the broader Trump administration. According to the Project 2025 Tracker, Zeldin's EPA has achieved 57% of the Heritage Foundation road map's objectives.
"Lee Zeldin is carrying out the plans of Project 2025 and fossil fuels to a T," one said. "Your orange overlord does not care about any of you. All of you will be suffering from the rising seas and the worsening climate crisis."
A member of Extinction Rebellion NYC, who assisted with the protest, said in a statement: "Heritage has long been helmed by fossil fuel interests like Koch Industries, which has done some of the heaviest lifting to make sure nothing is done on climate change in the U.S. The majority of these wishes have been executed by Zeldin himself, and through Trump, who asked for $1 billion from oil companies in a dinner at Mar-a-Lago during his campaign. His Big, Beautiful Bill is a wish list directly penned in Project 2025. And when we hit 4°C of warming this century, we will know the true cost of these deadly practices."
Protesters also referenced the repeal of the endangerment finding, climate-fueled extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy, and the smoke pollution clouding the region as Zeldin spoke.
"There is smoke in the air for another summer," one said. "This is only going to get worse and worse."
Both New York City Emergency Management and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued Air Quality Health Advisories through 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Sunday as smoke poured into the region from Canadian wildfires. Air quality was listed as "unhealthy for sensitive groups," and at 11:00 am Eastern Time on Sunday, New York City had the eighth worst air quality of any city on Earth.
The smoke recalled the thick orange haze that blanketed New York and other parts of the Northeast during the record-breaking Canadian wildfire season of 2023. The climate crisis makes wildfires more frequent and extreme.
'A Cruel and Transparent Farce': Israeli Attacks Kill 62 in Gaza Amid 'Tactical Pause'
"There is nothing humane or tactical about letting a trickle of aid in after a man-made famine has started while continuing to bomb starving men, women, and children, even in so-called safe zones," one advocate said.
Jul 27, 2025
The Israeli military began instituting tactical pauses in its assault on certain sections of Gaza on Sunday, as part of a plan to allow what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as "minimal humanitarian supplies" to enter the besieged enclave.
Several humanitarian organizations and political leaders described the Israeli approach as vastly insufficient at best and a dangerous distraction at worst, as Palestinians in Gaza continue to die of starvation that experts say has been deliberately imposed on them by the U.S.-backed Israeli military.
"Deadly airdrops and a trickle of trucks won't undo months of engineered starvation in Gaza," Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam policy lead for the Occupied Palestinian territory, said in a statement on Sunday. "What's needed is the immediate opening of all crossings for full, unhindered, and safe aid delivery across all of Gaza and a permanent cease-fire. Anything less risks being little more than a tactical gesture."
Israel announced a plan to institute a daily 10-hour "tactical pause" in fighting from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm local time in the populated Gaza localities of Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and Muwasi, as The Associated Press explained.
"These actions are not pauses—they are part of an ongoing genocide that the world must act to stop."
However, on Sunday—the first day of the supposed pause—Israeli attacks killed a total of 62 people, Al Jazeera reported, including 34 who were seeking humanitarian relief. Another six people died of hunger, bringing the total death toll from starvation and malnutrition to 133, including 87 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
"The Israeli government's so-called 'tactical pauses' are a cruel and transparent farce," said Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) national deputy director Edward Ahmed Mitchell in a statement on Sunday. "There is nothing humane or tactical about letting a trickle of aid in after a man-made famine has started while continuing to bomb starving men, women, and children, even in so-called safe zones. These actions are not pauses—they are part of an ongoing genocide that the world must act to stop."
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, meanwhile, called the pause "essential, but long overdue."
"This announcement alone cannot alleviate the needs of those desperately suffering in Gaza," Lammy said, as The Guardian reported. "We need a cease-fire that can end the war, for hostages to be released, and aid to enter Gaza by land unhindered."
The United Nations' World Food Program posted on social media that it welcomed the news of the pause, as well as the creation of more humanitarian corridors for aid, and that it had enough food supplies either in or en route to the area to feed the entire population of Gaza for nearly three months.
"A man-made hunger can only be addressed by political will."
Since the border crossings opened on May 27 following nearly three months of total siege, WFP has only been able to bring in 22,000 tons of food aid, about a third of the over 62,000 tons of food aid needed to feed the population of Gaza each month.
While it welcomed the pause, WFP did add that "an agreed cease-fire is the only way for humanitarian assistance to reach the entire civilian population in Gaza with critical food supplies in a consistent, predictable, orderly, and safe manner—wherever they are across the Gaza Strip."
Joe English, emergency communications specialist for UNICEF, emphasized that the limited pauses proposed by Israel were not the ideal conditions for treating serious malnutrition.
"This is a short turnaround in terms of the notice that we have, and so we cannot work miracles," English told CNN.
English explained that, while UNICEF can treat malnutrition, children who are malnourished require a course of treatments over an extended period of time in order to fully recover, something only truly possible with a cease-fire, which would allow the U.N. to reestablish the 400 aid distribution points it had set up across Gaza before the last cease-fire ended in March.
"We have to be able to reach people and also to reach people where they are," he said. "We can't be expecting people to continue to traverse many miles, often on foot, through militarized areas, to get access to aid."
In addition to bringing in food aid through trucks, Israel, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates all began air-dropping aid over the weekend. However, this method has been widely criticized by humanitarian experts as ineffective and even dangerous.
"The planes are insulting for us. We are a people who deserve dignity."
"Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient, and can even kill starving civilians. It is a distraction and screensmoke," U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote on social media on Saturday.
"A man-made hunger can only be addressed by political will. Lift the siege, open the gates, and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need," Lazzarini wrote.
Palestinians in Gaza also complained about the air drops.
"From 6:00 am until now we didn't eat or drink. We didn't get aid from the trucks. After that, they said that planes will airdrop aid, so we waited for that as well," Massad Ghaban told Reuters. "The planes are insulting for us. We are a people who deserve dignity."
In a reminder of what is at stake in effectively delivering aid to Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Sunday that "malnutrition is on a dangerous trajectory in the Gaza Strip, marked by a spike in deaths in July."
WHO continued:
Of 74 malnutrition-related deaths in 2025, 63 occurred in July—including 24 children under 5, a child over 5, and 38 adults. Most of these people were declared dead on arrival at health facilities or died shortly after, their bodies showing clear signs of severe wasting. The crisis remains entirely preventable. Deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health, and humanitarian aid has cost many lives.
WHO said that the search for lifesaving aid was itself deadly: "Families are being forced to risk their lives for a handful of food, often under dangerous and chaotic conditions. Since 27 May, more than 1,060 people have been killed and 7,200 injured while trying to access food."
Israeli solders have reported that they had been ordered to fire on Palestinian civilians seeking aid.
In the face of Israel's atrocities, CAIR's Mitchell called for decisive action: "No more statements. Our government, Western nations, and Arab Muslim nations must act immediately to end the genocide, allow unfettered humanitarian aid into Gaza, secure the release of all captives and political prisoners, and hold Israeli leaders accountable for war crimes. Every moment of inaction contributes to the unimaginable suffering of everyone in Gaza."
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