Seven presidential hopefuls will gather this evening at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles for the sixth Democratic debate, and a senior advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders told Cheddar he does not expect Donald Trump's impeachment to change the rhetoric of the field tonight.
"I think there will be a question about it because it's so fresh and we're coming off the heels of this big day that happened in Washington, DC, but people here at this debate, especially Senator Bernie Sanders are going to stay focused on his core issues… We're going to talk about the brick and mortar issues that have propelled Bernie Sanders to the top in the California polls," Chuck Rocha said.
Sanders surged in a California poll last week. California, which votes on Super Tuesday, promises almost 500 delegates, yielding influence over the presidential primary's ultimate result. In 2016, Sanders trailed in California to Hillary Clinton, who later claimed the Democratic nomination.
California's decision to move its primary up for the 2020 race this year from June to March makes its outcome even more significant. The Golden State has a more diverse population than Iowa and New Hampshire, which vote in February, and will have the largest number of delegates at next summer's Democratic convention.
Rocha thinks the Vermont senator's appeal to young, diverse voters will help propel him to the nomination. "We have such huge support among young people of color," he said. Only one non-white candidate, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, will be on the stage tonight and recent Quinnipiac polls put Yang fourth in the demographic group under 35, which Sanders leads.
"It's time for the working families of this country to have a voice… that's what we stand for and that's what Senator Sanders will continue to stand for," Rocha said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is projected to keep his job. Around two-thirds of the votes have been reported, and roughly 64% of those votes are in favor of keeping Newsom as their governor.
Daniel Strauss, senior political correspondent at The New Republic, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more about what Newsom's win means to both political parties moving into Midterm elections season.
The Department of Justice is suing Texas over the state's new abortion law that prohibits abortions after six weeks, well before many women even know they're pregnant. The lawsuit argues the law is unconstitutional under long-standing Supreme Court precedent. It was filed last week in federal court in Texas, but could go all the way to the high court within weeks. Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, discusses the DOJ lawsuit and what it could mean for other abortion laws across the country.
26 states have now fully vaccinated more than half of their population with Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts fully vaccinating at least two-thirds of their residents. These three states are among the ones with the lowest new Covid-19 cases per capita, but in states with low vaccination rates, hospitals are filling up again.
Dr. Rob Davidson, ER doctor and executive director of Committee to Protect Health Care, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more.
The Biden Administration has officially extended a ban on a Trump-era policy that prohibits traveling with a U.S. passport to North Korea. The extension is expected to last until August 2022. The ban was initially enforced after the death of Otto Warmbier, who entered a vegetative state while in North Korean custody. Advocates against the ban argue that it has caused crippling impacts on Korean Americans who have not been able to reunite with their families back home. Senior Fellow at The Foundation For Defense of Democracies Anthony Ruggiero joined Cheddar's News Wrap to discuss more.
