2nd Democratic presidential debate focuses on terrorism, Wall Street

The second debate for Democratic presidential candidates has ended in Des Moines, Iowa. The participants were former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. The nationally televised debate was sponsored by CBS, Twitter, KCCI-TV and the Des Moines Register.

10:55 p.m.

In closing statements, O'Malley said new thinking is needed so American doesn't get pushed into a corner by war.

"We will not solve our problems . . . with polarizing figures of our past," O'Malley said.

"The president's job is to do everything possible, everything she can do to live up to the people of this country," Clinton said. She said she has worked her whole life "to even the odds . . . I will work my heart out . . . to make this country what we know it can and should be."

Sanders touched on income inequality.

"We have a corrupt campaign finance system dominated by super PACs" and no affordable health care, Sanders said. "In order to bring about the changes we need we need a political revolution . . . and tell the big money interests we are taking back our country."

"Please become part of the political revolution," Sanders said, closing out the debate.

10:50 p.m.

In the final segment, the candidates were asked how they have dealt with crises in their lives.

"Well, there are so many I don't know where to start," Clinton said, drawing laughs. She picked her role in a small group that advised President Obama on going after Osama bin Laden.

"It was an excruciating experience, there was nobody to talk to," she said, not even her husband.

O'Malley said as a mayor and governor he learned "certain disciplines" to protect people, to "constantly evaluate" threats.

"I have been tried under many emergencies . . . I knew how to lead and I knew how to govern," he said, citing gang warfare and natural disasters.

Sanders said he learned much from disabled veterans. That led him to work to improve Veterans Affairs hospitals. When his plan failed because of a lack of Republican support, he went back and worked with Republicans on a new bill.

"I lost what I wanted, but I came back and got the best I could," Sanders said.

10:42 p.m.

Back to prescription drugs, Sanders costs will come down "when millions of people stand up . . . and I will lead them."

He cited the Canadian system as a better, more affordable way to provide health care.

"We have to decide, is health care a right?" Sanders said.

Clinton said Democrats should support Obamacare "and make it the model we know it should be."

Sanders was asked if his free college is a waste since so many drop out.

"I want kids . . . in the sixth grade to know if they study hard, if they do their homework, regardless of the income of their family, they will get a college education," Sanders said.

He said states will find a way to pay their part, and states that don't will find that it will hurt them in trying to create a trained workforce.

"In American, in the year 2015, any person who has the ability and the desire should get a college education," he said.

O'Malley said "affordable college, debt-free college" should be the goal. He said as governor he made college more affordable in Maryland.

O'Malley said student loan interest rates are too high. He said he was proud when his children graduated, "but we are going to be proud every month for the rest of our lives."

Clinton supports free community college, and said there must be a new less expensive way to finance attending four-year colleges.

10:35 p.m.

On improving race relations, O'Malley said all Americans should look at what works, which he did in Maryland. He cited voting rights legislation and ending the death penalty.

"I would lead these efforts," he said, noting he attended more funerals of urban victims than his rivals. "Black lives matter," he said, to applause.

Sanders said he is concerned about African-American youths, who face dangerous odds of being incarcerated or unemployed.

"We need very clearly major, major reform in a broken criminal justice system, from top to bottom," Sanders said. Police who kill unarmed people "must be held accountable," he said.

He also said marijuana should no longer be a federal crime and states should decriminalize it.

Clinton, noting she is a child of the 1960s, said she respects protests and the "concern, even despair that people of color have." But she said Americans need to listen to each other to improve race relations.

"It's really a question for all of us to answer," she said.

10:30 p.m.

Sanders was asked why he has talked about the Clinton email issue, when he said he wouldn't.

Sanders said "that's just media stuff." He said he still believes the candidates should be talking about more important things.

"I agree," Clinton said, to laughs.

In the October Democratic debate, Sanders had given Clinton a pass on the issue of using a private server for her emails while secretary of state, saying, "People are sick and tired about hearing about your damn emails."

Clinton said there is no more damaging information to come from the emails.

"After 11 hours, I think that's clear," she said, referring to a recent congressional hearing on the issue.

She then said the debates should be about much more important issues, such as funding Planned Parenthood and that climate change is real.

Republicans, she said, "They don't believe in any of those."

10:25 p.m.

Sanders was asked how he would deal with a conservative revolution already underway.

"What we need is leadership in this country that revitalizes democracy," he said. "We are actually defeating the secretary among younger people . . . We are giving them hope."

Sanders said the voter revolution he wants would save the middle class and end income inequality. "Enough is enough!" he said.

But "because of a corrupt campaign finance system, Congress is not listening," he said.

10:20 p.m.

O'Malley said the big banks have too much power "and we are on the hook" to bail them out.

"We need to protect Main Street from Wall Street," he said, and he called Clinton the candidate of Wall Street.

10:15 p.m.

"I applaud Secretary Clinton," Sanders said, referring to Clinton's efforts to rebuild Wall Street after Sept. 11.

"Their business model is greed and fraud and for the sake of our economy the big banks must be broken up," Sanders said. "Secretary Clinton is on the wrong side."

10:15 p.m.

Clinton said Sanders made a "terrible mistake" by giving firearms makers immunity in public shootings.

"We have to go after the gun lobby," she said, citing universal background checks and ending the purchase of guns at gun shows with little oversight.

Sanders, representing Vermont with a hunting tradition, has a moderate record on gun control for a Democrat.

Sanders said he wants to toughen the background checks and once lost an election by calling for a ban on assault type rifles.

"I don't know that there's any disagreement here," Sanders said.

O'Malley said, "Secretary Clinton, you have been on three sides of this."

"What we need to do is bring people together," Sanders said, calling for gun owners and advocates to work together.

10:05 p.m.

Clinton said O'Malley has appointed investment bankers. She said she would do what is best for the country.,

"If the big banks don't play by the rules, I will break them up," Clinton said.

Sanders said "with all due respect to the secretary, Wall Street played by the rules," but the problem was greed.

"Wall Street representatives will not be in my cabinet," Sanders said.

10:05 p.m.

In the second half of the debate, the questions turned to Wall Street.

Clinton was asked to defend taking large amounts of money from Wall Street, while trying to tell Americans she will rein it in.

"They know I will," she said, noting some Super PACs are fighting her now. She said her Senate record included limiting compensation of CEOs.

"I am going right at them," she said.

"Not good enough," Sanders said of her reaction. "Why over her political career has Wall Street been the major political contributor to Hillary Clinton?"

"Why do they make millions of dollars in campaign contributions? They expect to get something," he said.

"If Teddy Roosevelt was alive today . . . he'd say, 'Break them up!' " Sanders said. He said he would do so as president.

Clinton told Sanders, "Wait a minute here, senator," and noted she has numerous small contributors, many of them women.

She said she helped Wall Street after the 2001 terrorist attacks 'and it was good for country."

"We need to show by example we will not rely on corporate donations," Sanders countered.

"I won't be taking my orders from Wall Street," O'Malley said. "Our economy was wrecked by the big banks on Wall Street." He called Clinton's Wall Street policy "weak tea."

9:55 p.m.

Sanders said if you "put money in the hands of working people," the economy will grow.

O'Malley said Maryland actually did raise the minimum wage to strengthen the middle class, "the source of economic growth." His raise was to $10.10 an hour, a nation-leading rate for states.

Clinton said studies show that overall raising the minimum wage won't cost jobs, but she wants a $12 minimum wage so the United States doesn't outprice its labor against other countries. She said states could raise it more and it would be indexed to the median wage.

On raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, Sanders said the current situation is intolerable.

"This country needs to move to a living wage. It is not a radical idea," Sanders said. He said the minimum wage must be moved over years to $15 an hour, "and I apologize to nobody for that."

9:50 p.m.

Turning to immigration, O'Malley said Democrats must fight back against the "immigrant-bashing, carnival-barking Donald Trump."

He said a pathway of citizenship is needed.

"Our symbol is the Statue of Liberty, it is not a barbed-wire fence," O'Malley said.

Clinton and O'Malley said immigration from Mexico is basically zero.

9:45 p.m.

On health care, Clinton said Obamacare has been "great progress," and said Republicans want to "rip it up."

Clinton said the cost of health care should be lower under the Affordable Health Care Act.

Sanders said he was on the committee that wrote the Obamacare law, but now the country needs to target pharmaceutical companies to lower costs.

"I want to end the international embarrassment" that the United States doesn't guarantee health care "as a right."

Sanders defended his plan for "debt-free" public college education.

"I do believe that we must end corporate loopholes . . . we bailed out Wall Street, it's their turn to bail out the middle class," Sanders said.

He said Wall Street has been "getting away with murder."

O'Malley defended his increased taxation of the rich in Maryland to improve schools and for other social causes.

"While other candidates can talk about these things . . . I actually got it done," O'Malley said.

9:40 p.m.

Turning to the economy, Clinton said she wouldn't make the middle class pay for lower-cost prescription drugs, lower college tuition and other needs.

She said she would "tax the wealthy more . . . without raising the debt," she said.

She said government must negotiate lower costs to medications.

"We have to go after price gouging and monopolistic practices," she said.

9:35 p.m.

O'Malley repeated his call for the United States to accept 65,000 Syrian refugees, more than his competitors had proposed. He called President George H.W. Bush's invasion of Iraq a "mindless rush to war" and said sending American ground troops to confront the ISIS could be counterproductive.

"There are ways of being a moral leader . . . rather than at the end of a drone," O'Malley said.

"I also said we should take increased numbers of refugees," Clinton said, but with a better vetting process.

"We do have to take a hard look at the defense budget," Clinton said, agreeing with Sanders. "But we do have to be very clear that we have continuing challenges," citing China and Russia.

9:33 p.m.

Clinton said the U.S. needs to stem "the flow of foreign fighters" to the terrorists groups.

Sanders said spending is out of whack, with money being spent on nuclear weapons instead of fighting terrorism.

"The Cold War is over and our focus has got to be on intelligence," Sanders said.

Clinton had for months called for more U.S. involvement in the long civil war in Syria to stop ISIS, which claimed responsibility for Friday's attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people.

9:28 p.m.

O'Malley said Muslim Americans "are our first line of defense . . . now like never before we need our Muslim Americans to stand up."

Clinton said it is "important to understand your adversary," but acknowledged ISIS' behavior is "barbaric . . . a lust for power."

Sanders said terror groups want to turn back society several centuries, such as making women third-class citizens.

"It requires an entire world to come together . . . including in a very active way the Muslim nations," Sanders said.

"I don't think we are at war with Islam," Clinton said. She said the enemy are jihadists.

"We've got to reach out to Muslim countries," she said. She credited former President Bush for going to a mosque and saying the United States isn't at war with Islam, but with extremists.

9:25 p.m.

Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, O'Malley said, "are a mess."

He said the United States has "failed" American soldiers by failing to have a strong, well-thought out plan of intervention in the Middle East. It was a shot at Clinton's role as secretary of state.

"There does need to be a whole government approach," she agreed.

Clinton defended the Obama administration for having a plan after Libya's leader was deposed. She said the country has since elected moderate leaders, "but there has been a lot of turmoil and trouble."

"It is imperative we do more . . . to deal with this arc of instability," Clinton said.

9:22 p.m.

"It's not just about getting rid of a dictator," O'Malley said, calling for far better intelligence and long-term foreign policy goals.

"I don't think you can paint with a broad brush," Clinton said, emphasizing her experience. "This is an incredibly complex area."

Sanders said Clinton was right, that it's complicated, but said an international coalition is needed.

"The Muslim nations . . . all these nations are going to have get the hands dirty," Sanders said. "This is a fight for the soul of Islam." He said Islamic countries are not contributing now to they extent they must.

Clinton defended Jordan and other allies, but said Turkey and other countries "must be absolutely clear about where they stand."

9:18 p.m.

Sanders argued that Clinton was wrong in saying that this is America's fight. He criticized the Iraq War, which Clinton voted for in the Senate, as giving rise to hatred of the West.

Sanders voted against "the disastrous vote."

"I think that was one of the worst foreign policy bluster in the history of the United States," he said.

"I have said the invasion of Iraq was a mistake," Clinton said, but noted terrorism happened long before the Iraq invasion.

"Not only did I vote against the war in Iraq," Sanders said, but noted "these regime changes have unintended consequences."

Sanders said climate change is directly related to the rise in terrorism in the Middle East.

9:14 p.m.

Clinton was pressed on whether the Obama administration, of which she was part, underestimated the Islamic State. She said Obama had to adhere to former President George W. Bush's promise to Middle East allies to leave the region.

O'Malley disagreed "respectfully."

"This is America's fight, it is not solely America's fight," O'Malley said, calling Islamic State "an evil in this world."

"The great failing of these last 10 or 15 years has been a failing of intelligence on the ground," he said.

The Islamic State "cannot be contained it must be defeated," Clinton said. She urged diplomacy and said military force should be a last resort.

"But it cannot be an American fight . . . we will support those who take the fight to ISIS," Clinton said, careful not to blame President Obama's policies.

9:10 p.m.

O'Malley, 52, said there is a new face of conflict in the 21st century.

"This is the new sort of challenge . . . that requires a new way of thinking," O'Malley said, a jab at his elder rivals.

9:08 p.m.

Clinton, 68, said the election is not about just choosing a president, but the next commander in chief "to do a better job of coordinating our efforts" with allies against terrorists.

Sanders, 74, said he was "shocked and disgusted" by the attacks in Paris. Then he launched into his complaint that the economy and politics are "rigged" for the wealthy.

"What my campaign is about is a political revolution," he said. "Our government belongs to all of us."

9:03 p.m.

The debate began with a moment of silence to honor the victims and survivors of the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris the night before.

It was quickly followed by raucous applause by the crowd as the candidates were introduced.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.