Interview with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz; Sanders Campaign Holds Spanish Language Town Hall in Nevada
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Senator Bernie Sanders is holding steady in the polls consistently rounding out the top three with Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren. But he appears to be excelling in states with a large Latino population. In California, for instance, he is polling 25 percent support among Latino voters there, virtually tied with Biden for first. The Sanders campaign hoping to give the senator a boost in nearby Nevada this weekend. They held a Spanish language Town Hall headlined by Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, and the Mayor joins us now. She is the Sanders campaign co-chair. Thanks for being with us.</s>MAYOR CARMEN YULIN CRUZ (D), SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO: Thank you for having me.</s>CABRERA: Why is senator Sanders resonating so much with Latino voters? What is he offering that the other candidates aren't?</s>CRUZ: Well, a couple of things. Senator Sanders understands that Latino families are just like any other families. But there are certain issues not only the immigration issue, which is a different look that Bernie Sanders takes to that position, but also the housing issue. Having housing and not being subjected to gentrification is very important to the Latino population. The education issue: Having education for all and ensuring that children are able to go to school, not even only at the grammar school level, not having to pay for lunch, for example, but also a college for all and getting rid of student debt. It's also very important, the medical aspect of it, Medicare-for-All, and even for those that do not have the necessary papers or status to be in the United States. So Senator Sanders - Tio Bernie like Alexandria started to call him and it has caught on is a person that thinks Latinos as needing the same human rights and basic needs than any other particular person and it's also a movement.</s>CRUZ: Bernie, you can trust Bernie Sanders. He's got a lifetime of commitment. I summarize his commitment three ways. He is committed. He is courageous. And he is consistent. And those three things are resonating with the Latino population.</s>CABRERA: As you know, enthusiasm among this voter group is very important for Democrats to win back the White House and according to Pew Research, the 2020 election will mark the first time Hispanics will be the largest racial and ethnic minority group in the electorate accounting for just over 13 percent of eligible voters. In 2016. Latinos made up about 11 percent of all voters nationwide, but Clinton underperformed with Latinos compared to 2012. How do Democrats ensure Latino voters are energized behind the eventual nominee?</s>CRUZ: Well, a couple of things. First of all, I just came from the first campaign that has had an all-Spanish Town Hall meeting and it is important because what that says about Bernie Sanders is that language is not going to be a barrier to having people engage in the conversation and shaping the conversation. And that's very important for Bernie Sanders. It's also important that people participate, that the grassroots movement that he has begun, not now, but many years ago, continues to grow. And now, three things one, immigration, of course, it's a very important aspect of the Latino population, the protection of DACA, which he says often on day one, so he's not saying I'm going to wait, he is saying, I'm going to do it on day one, of course, through Executive Order. But also through understanding and engaging people and how do you do that? When you have a track record and when your life is a blueprint for fundamental change, people know that what you see is what you get with Bernie Sanders. And they understand with our campaign and our movement more than with any other campaign and movement that what's in it for each one of us, is a society that allows us all to thrive and not only to survive.</s>CABRERA: And I'm not just talking about Bernie Sanders' campaign, but let's just talk about Democrats in general in the 2020 election, if we're comparing apples to apples in the last presidential election, Clinton got support from 66 percent of Latino voters, so obviously, more than the majority. But he got 91 percent support from black voters. Why aren't Democrats seeing the same level of support from Latinos? Are they taking Hispanic voters for granted?</s>CRUZ: No, maybe that was in the past, but it isn't right now. One of the things is that Latinos are not being lumped into other categories and special attention is being paid that the Bernie Sanders campaign, for example, has more Latinos employed in the campaign, and having take-charge positions than any other. Analilia Mejia is not the Political Director for the Latino portion of the Bernie Sanders campaign. She is the Political Director for all of the Bernie Sanders campaign. For example, there's four co-chairs. Each one of us represent a particular group and the voices and the challenges of those groups. But we're not only engaged in that particular section. So what we're looking at is a transformation of how politics is done, a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural movement that will catapult people forward.</s>CABRERA: But why aren't Democrats winning upwards of 80 or 90 percent support among Latino voters?</s>CRUZ: Well, in the past, I think you're right, that the Latino population was taken for granted. In the past also, the Latino population was a lot more engaged at community grassroots and did not see how that engagement really translated into the national politics. But now, campaigns are seeing things differently. Certainly from the get go, the Bernie Sanders Campaign has seen that in a different way. Human rights are Latino rights, Latino rights are human rights and it is really -- we have a President right now that has demonized the Latino population, that has demonized the immigrant population, and for us in the Sanders Campaign and in the Sanders Movement, it is a lot different than that. We are engaging people, but ensuring that the conversations that we are having, we're bringing people on board from the get go so that people understand that Sanders' agenda is their agenda.</s>CABRERA: Okay, Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, good to have you here. Thank you very much. Merry Christmas.</s>CRUZ: Thank you very much.</s>CABRERA: Happy Holidays.</s>CRUZ: Happy Holidays.</s>CABRERA: Thank you. President Trump is spending the Holidays at his Mar-a-Lago estate, but some are concerned about privacy and security. We'll have a closer look at the risks, next.