Bernie Sanders at CNN town hall: live coverage

Sanders closes with call to action 

Wrapping up, Sanders touts the upcoming “Day of Action” rallies for Medicare and urges Democrats to focus less on who’s running for president next and more on becoming politically active.

One thing Sanders likes about Trump 

Asked by a George Washington student to name one thing he likes about Trump, Sanders comes up with an answer: 

Someone asks Sanders to name something good about Trump, Sanders says he did something “extraordinary,” defied GOP, Dem establishment

— Lisa Hagen (@LA_Hagen) January 10, 2017

Sanders won’t commit to presidential run

Asked by a young man who called Sanders an inspiration whether he’ll run for president in 2020 to rally progressives and liberals, Sanders won’t commit.

 “It is much too early to be talking about that,” Sanders says. 

Sanders says it’s “much too early” to discuss 2020 run and encourages voters to worry about “how we deal with issues that impact us today”

— Lisa Hagen (@LA_Hagen) January 10, 2017

Addressing Muslims’ concerns

Sanders mum on SCOTUS plans

Just like he wouldn’t commit to voting for or against EPA nominee Scott Pruitt and attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions, Sanders won’t say he’ll automatically vote against a Trump Supreme Court nominee as payback for Republicans’ refusal to consider Obama’s replacement for Antonin Scalia. 

But at the same time, Sanders wouldn’t rule out a block and said Democrats are considering it, especially if Trump doesn’t nominate a moderate. 

Sanders, business owner get testy over regulation

A small business owner asks Sanders why, as the business owner sees it, Obama has hampered small businesses with regulation. Sanders counters that, if he had anything to say about it, he would have raised taxes far higher on millionaires and billionaires. 

The business owner shoots back that Sanders hasn’t “lived until you’ve had a payroll on your credit card.”

Praise for (the other) Cuomo

Sanders praises New York governor (and Chris Cuomo brother) Andrew Cuomo for his plan to make state college free, depending on income. Still, both Sanders and CNN’s Cuomo joked that the other Cuomo is “funny-looking.”

As for how to pay for it…

He explains again how he’d pay for it: proposing tax on Wall Street speculation

— Lisa Hagen (@LA_Hagen) January 10, 2017

Sanders won’t rule out backing EPA nominee—sort of

Sanders won’t say yet that he won’t vote for EPA nominee and Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt. Pressed by Chris Cuomo, though, Sanders concedes he’s leaning against it. 

Cuomo keeps pressing Sanders to say how he’ll vote on Scott Pruitt for EPA, Sanders replies: “All I’m doing is trying to be polite”

— Lisa Hagen (@LA_Hagen) January 10, 2017

Sanders has “grave concerns” about Sessions

A Harvard Law student asks Sanders if he’ll vote for Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions’s attorney general nomination. Sanders says he has “grave concerns” about Sessions on voting rights, but says he’ll wait to hear what Sessions says at his hearing this week. 

Sanders face-off with GW student

A George Washington University student who describes himself as a moderate Democrat wants to know whether Sanders fears he’s alienating and demonizing wealthy voters.

Sanders counters that he’s not—but still thinks “corporate greed” is destroying the country.

Then Sanders and the student start parrying questions: does the student think tax cuts for the wealthy make sense if they come at the expense of education funding? (No). Then the student asks Sanders why he wants to tear up NAFTA (Sanders says he’s for changing the terms). 

“I think you and I have a disagreement about trade policies, but that’s what democracy is about,” Sanders says. 

Working with Trump on jobs

A corrections employee from Appalachia, a longtime Democrat who voted for Trump, wants to know how Sanders will work with Trump to bring back rural jobs.

Sanders says he’ll support Trump on trade deals if they involve telling corporations to “control their greed.”   

Sanders: “I will work with Mr. Trump…to develop a trade policy which tells corporate America they’ll have to look beyond their greed”

— Lisa Hagen (@LA_Hagen) January 10, 2017

Sanders backs intel agencies on alleged Russia hacks

On Russia election hack, Sanders says he agrees with intel communities’ findings, calls Trump’s position “unfortunate”

— Lisa Hagen (@LA_Hagen) January 10, 2017

Sanders: Trump a “pathological liar”

Sanders doesn’t buy incoming White House counselor Kellyanne Conway’s call for Americans—and the media—to take Trump not by what he says, but by what’s in his “heart.”

“That may be true, but think about that statement for a moment,” Sanders told Cuomo. “You’re not a heart surgeon, you can’t know what’s in someone’s heart.”

Instead, Sanders called Trump a “pathological liar” over issues like saying thousands of New Jersey Muslims cheered the 9/11 attacks.

Democrats as opposition party

Sanders says he accepts the Democrats’ new role as the “opposition” party—but rejected mirroring what he described as Republicans’ kneejerk obstruction to President Obama’s policies. 

Sanders’s summed up the GOP’s reaction to Obama:“OK, our strategy is going to be that we will obstruct, obstruct, obstruct. We will do everything we can to make sure he accomplishes as little as possible.”

Instead, Sanders promises “constructive criticism when we disagree” and alternative ideas.

Sanders says Trump “ran a campaign whose cornerstone was bigotry…on that issue, I personally will not compromise”

— Lisa Hagen (@LA_Hagen) January 10, 2017

Sanders talks “questions” in town hall op-ed

Updated 8:45 p.m.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will sit down for a one-on-one interview moderated by CNN’s Chris Cuomo Monday night, with Congress readying for Cabinet hearings and President-elect Donald Trump poised to assume office next week.

The hour-long town hall will stream live on CNN starting at 9 PM ET. 

In an op-ed previewing the broadcast, Sanders called for the media to stop acting like politics is a “baseball game,” focusing instead on issues like income inequality, the power of money in politics, and healthcare affordability.

Sanders, a progressive stalwart, unsuccessfully challenged Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary. Since the election, he’s been one of the most vocal lawmakers opposed to President-elect Trump.

The primetime town hall coincides with Senate Democrats’ late-night talkathon to protest the GOP’s plans to repeal ObamaCare. Sanders, a supporter of a “Medicare-for-all” healthcare plan, has called for a national day of rallies to protect ObamaCare and has ripped GOP efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.

{mosads}The interview also comes ahead of a busy week in Congress where the Senate will conduct confirmation hearings for nine of Trump’s Cabinet picks.

Sanders has criticized several of Trump’s nominees, including former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin for Treasury secretary, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of State and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Vermont senator was integral in shaping the Democratic Party’s 2016 platform and pushing Clinton to the left on issues like free college tuition. He was also an outspoken opponent of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the then-chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee who stepped down from the position after emails allegedly obtained by Russian hackers showed DNC officials tipping the scales for Clinton.

The Democratic Party is still dealing with the aftermath of Sanders’s candidacy, as Sanders-backing Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison competes with White House-favored Labor secretary Tom Perez, along with other hopefuls, to chair the DNC.