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CNN Live Event/Special

CNN & Jubilee Town Hall with James Talarico. Aired 8-9:30p ET

Aired October 14, 2026 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[20:00:37]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And good evening from Texas. CNN and Jubilee are bringing you a new kind of town hall tonight with U.S. Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico.

Good evening to everyone. I'm Erin Burnett live here in Fort Worth tonight.

This is a razor-thin race that could make history. A Democrat has not one statewide office here in the Lone Star State in 32 years. James Talarico hopes that Democratic drought will end in 20 days. And all eyes are on Texas because a win here could catapult Democrats to the Senate majority.

Now, we're going to welcome Mr. Talarico to the stage in just a moment. But, first, I want to explain to everyone here and everyone watching exactly how tonight is going to work.

Now, we are teaming up with Jubilee, and you may have seen some of their shows on YouTube. We have gathered Texas voters from across the political spectrum tonight for the town hall. We have roughly 20 Democrats in the blue section on the left, in the middle, flanking me, 20 independents -- you can see them on both sides -- and 20 Republicans over in the red section on the right.

Now, we're going to start with voters asking Mr. Talarico about what they feel is their top issue, the most important thing. And then, later, we're going to do something different. And I'm excited about this. Some of the voters here in the room are going to head to this stage one at a time.

We're going to put out a table, and they're going to sit face-to-face, a table for two, to debate an issue that they disagree with the candidate on. And Talarico will have a chance to change their minds right here live on this stage.

Now, we cast a wide net to find tonight's audience. We reached out to local and state business groups, civic organizations, religious groups, universities, as well as a call out on CNN and Jubilee's digital platforms.

And I do want to be clear. We offered Mr. Talarico's opponent, Republican Ken Paxton, the opportunity to appear. He has yet to respond, but that invitation still stands.

So please welcome the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Texas State Representative James Talarico.

(CHEERING)

STATE REP. JAMES TALARICO (D-TX), SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, guys. Thank you.

(CHEERING)

TALARICO: It's good to see you all. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: Good to see you.

BURNETT: Thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you. All right, well, let's -- we will sit down to get it started.

So, I guess, in the context of all of the talk over the past few days here, I will start with a very simple question. How are you doing tonight?

(LAUGHTER)

TALARICO: I'm doing much better. I got a nasty case of the flu. I guess I have been shaking too many hands on the campaign trail.

But I'm feeling much better and so excited to be here. I want to thank you, Erin. I want to thank CNN for hosting us, and I want to thank all of you for being here. It feels so good to be back in Fort Worth, Texas.

My faith teaches me servant leadership, the idea that being a leader means being a servant. And over four terms in the Texas House, I have tried to serve my constituents in Central Texas, and I'm looking forward to doing that in the United States Senate. I want to be your servant.

I'm applying to be your senator. That's why I showed up here for the job interview tonight, and I'm looking forward to answering your questions.

BURNETT: So I have one more question for you on this, because there has been a lot of wild speculation. Anyone on social media has seen it, right, about the flu.

So, can you just clear it up for people? Was the flu the only reason you were out?

(LAUGHTER)

TALARICO: Yes.

BURNETT: And is there anything you do differently now when you look back at the nine days that you weren't on the trail?

TALARICO: No. I think the responsible thing to do when you have something like the flu is to stay at home and not get other people sick.

And I was able to work remotely from home. But you're right. I mean, that decision to stay home for a week sent my opponent and his conspiracy theorists spiraling. I opened up social media and learned that I apparently had dropped out of the race, had flown to a mental hospital in Ohio, that I had died.

This is crazy. I mean, these false claims got millions of views online.

BURNETT: They did. They did.

TALARICO: And this is an example of what I call the rage economy. Conspiracy theorists can post anything they want on the Internet. They get clicks. The billionaires who own these platforms get rich.

We all get angry. And nobody's life gets any better. Conspiracy theories don't put food on the table. They don't put gas in the tank. They don't actually improve our communities or improve our country. And so I'm going to stay focused on the very real problems that are facing Texans, and that's exactly why I'm here tonight.

BURNETT: All right, and I'm glad that we're all here tonight. And you have got Republicans, Democrats, independents here for the sort of civil, respectful disagreement and debate that we all want to have.

[20:05:08]

So let's get straight to it. We're going to look at the screen here.

TALARICO: OK.

BURNETT: I'm going to put up -- we had surveyed everyone in the room, as well as other Texas voters. About 250 people submitted questions for tonight's town hall.

They were asked what their top issues were. So you can take a look at what -- what came out here. Far and above first is economy and affordability. Now, my goal, OK, everyone, is to get to as many of these issues as we possibly can in the various things we're going to do tonight, some of which are going to be exciting and new and different.

But, first, can everyone in the audience who said economy and affordability or anything about that as your top issue, could you please stand up? OK. All right.

So I want to start with the independent section, and I want to start with Tyler.

Tyler, that's you. All right, everybody else can sit down except for Tyler, because I want to be able to see you, and I want Mr. Talarico to be able to see you.

So can you introduce yourself? And then go ahead, please, and ask your question?

TYLER JAMES, WATCHMAKER: Yes, I'm Tyler James, and I'm local here, but I grew up in Austin. And me and my wife moved up here because I had a job, and she is a children's nurse.

My question is actually not about affordability. My question is something that's important. You have stated before that you have to work with both sides.

TALARICO: Yes.

JAMES: Recently, most of the advertisements that we have seen have been smear campaigns with mudslinging against both candidates. My question for you is, why would you approve one when you have to work with other people in the exact same party?

TALARICO: Yes, thank you for that question, Tyler.

And you're right. There is way too much mudslinging in our political discourse. There's way too much big money in our politics. Right now, the richest man in the world is dumping hundreds of millions of dollars into this state to try to defame me, to try to defeat this movement that we're building.

And so I'm doing everything I can to stand up against those lies. I'm doing everything I can to correct the record. And I'm trying not to get into the mud. I'm trying to stay focused on my opponent's record. I'm not lying about him. I'm not talking about personal issues.

I am only talking about his record and trying to articulate the choice that's in front of voters in this state. But I completely agree with you that we have got to get back to a place where we can actually work together across the partisan spectrum.

I mean, just look at how this studio is set up tonight. I am tired of us being divided into teams, left versus right, blue versus red, urban versus rural, because the truth is, we're all on the same team.

I just want to do a quick experiment. Show of hands, how many people here have an elderly parent or grandparent who needs care? So do I. How many people here struggle to afford the high price of everything these days? So do I.

How many people here know what it means to carry the burden of student debt or credit card debt or medical debt? So do I.

Do you want a good job with good benefits? Do you want a safe neighborhood? Do you want a high-quality, well-funded public school? So do I. The truth is that we are all on the same team. We are far more the same than we are different. But those big money interests, those social media platforms, those cable news networks, they want to divide this team. Imagine what we could do if we did it together. Imagine who we could take on in this country if we did it together. As one team, we are unstoppable.

BURNETT: All right, since we're doing a lot of hand-raising here...

TALARICO: Yes.

BURNETT: ... hands don't get sore, raise your hand again if you had said the economy was your top issue across the board, Democrat, Republican, independent?

All right, let's go to the Democratic section.

Douglas, can you go ahead and stand up? And could you, again, just introduce yourself and explain what it is, what it is about the economy right now that speaks to you so deeply.

DOUGLAS GREEN, FAMILY NURSE PRACTITIONER: Yes, so my name is Douglas Green. Nice to meet you, Mr. Talarico.

TALARICO: Yes.

GREEN: I'm registered Democrat. I live here in Dallas, Texas. And I'm a family nurse practitioner.

So I think -- I have -- I have been a previous pediatric nurse as well, five years before I came an FNP. And I have seen how parents also have a really hard time affording things, even from before COVID through to now.

A big issue we had when I was in Houston, Texas, was parents not being able to afford garage parking. When I first started working there, it was $13 a day, ended up being $20 when I left. And, you know, parents can't really leave the hospital, leave their sick children there.

[20:10:00]

So, my question to you is, a lot of us in here have also -- the affordability crisis is an issue. If Texas were to send you to the U.S. Congress, what are your plans on legislation affecting -- combat these rising costs, and especially in, you know, a bipartisan manner as well.

TALARICO: Well, thank you for your work providing for your work providing care for Texans, really grateful for that. And the cost of health care is one of main drivers of this affordability crisis. And I know this personally. I was 28 years old when I first ran for the state house here in Texas. I was perfectly healthy, and I decided to do something a little unusual. I decided to walk the entire length of my legislative district from Round Rock, Texas, to Taylor, Texas. It was 25 miles. I did the whole thing on foot all in one day, all in the Texas heat, and I held three town halls along that walk.

And I wasn't worried about my ability to do it. You know, I hiked Big Bend every year. It was pretty flat terrain. But halfway through the walk, I started to feel fatigued and nauseous. Actually threw up a couple of times along the walk. Somehow I finished it, I went home, I figured I was dehydrated, and I just needed a good night's sleep. I went to bed. I ended up sleeping for 36 hours straight. My family got concerned. They took me to the ER where nurses checked my blood sugar. I don't think I'd ever had my blood sugar tested before. They said a normal blood sugar is 100 or lower, mine was 900. I was in a state of diabetic ketoacidosis, which leads to coma and death without insulin. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on the spot. I was lucky to be alive. The nurses and the doctors in Williamson County saved my life.

When I left the hospital, I went to Walgreens to pick up my first 30- day supply of insulin, this new medicine that I now needed to live, and it cost me $684. I didn't have that kind of money, so I put it on a credit card. So many Texans with diabetes can't afford their insulin, can't afford the medicine that they need to live. And it's all because big pharma has a monopoly on the global insulin market. It's three companies that control this market. And they set their prices together. So many Texans can't get the medicine they need because these for-profit corporations are making billions of dollars in profit off of our pain.

And so when I got elected to the state house, I brought Democrats and Republicans together to pass the first ever cap on insulin co-pays in our state history. We took it from $684 to $25 per prescription. And that's...

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: And that's what's possible if you're willing to take on big pharma, if you're willing to take on this corrupt system, then you can actually make change for people. And so in the U.S. Senate, I want to do a few things. One, I want to roll back the cuts to the Affordable Care Act, because those cuts are driving up premiums, sometimes $1,000 a month for Texans. I want to cap the cost of more life-saving drugs like EpiPens and cancer drugs. And then I think we need a robust public option that can compete with the for-profit health insurance companies in this country. I think if we do those things, we can guarantee health care for millions of Texans and millions of Americans, because I believe that health care is a human right. It shouldn't depend on how much money you make. It shouldn't depend on the zip code you're born into. And that's what we can do if we win this seat in Texas.

(APPLAUSE)

BURNETT: All right, I want to go one more show of hands on the economy. Just to remind everyone, again, who had said this was your top issue, I think you're supposed to raise your hand, Chris. He's already ready. He's got his microphone. Chris, go ahead with your question. And, please, stand up and introduce yourself and then ask your question, please.

CHRIS WOOD, RETIRED WRITER: Yes. Mr. Talarico, welcome.

TALARICO: Thank you.

WOOD: And my question is energy related.

TALARICO: Yeah.

WOOD: The importance of the gas and oil industry in Texas. Well, it's very successful, obviously. What specifically do you think in terms of how would you balance the continued success of our oil and gas endeavors, balanced against your ideas of alternative or renewable energy? Please be specific.

TALARICO: Yeah. And we can do both of those things. You know, I -- I'm an eighth generation Texan. I've had family members who have worked in the oil and gas industry here in our state. I went to public schools here in Texas that were funded by the oil and gas industry. That's how we fund public education in this state. So I owe a lot to that industry, as most Texans do. And so I'm campaigning on all of the above energy strategy that includes oil and gas. I want to protect the good--paying oil and gas jobs that support whole families across the state. And I want us to invest in the energy sources of the future, wind and solar and geothermal and hydrogen and batteries, so that we can stay dominant in the energy industry.

[20:15:05]

What I don't want to see is politicians, frankly, in both parties, playing politics with Texas energy. And so I will stand up to my own party if they mess with our oil and gas industry, and I will stand up to the other party if they mess with renewables, which we've seen in recent years.

I think there are a few things we could do. One is support efforts to streamline permitting so that we can speed up some of these -- these projects. I think we can restore the -- the tax credits and the subsidies for some of these renewable industries. And -- and I think if we do that, we can grow this -- this industry in Texas and we can stay an energy leader in the 21st Century, just like we were in the 20th.

BURNETT: So I -- I want to follow up here, when we're talking about the economy, oil and gas, and how significant it obviously is to this state. So in 2020, you were at a Sierra Club event. You were talking about economics, but -- but also about capitalism. And at the time you said capitalism is a, quote, "oppressive system." And you talked about, your words, the process of dismantling it. Now, we had come to your campaign a while back and asked about those comments, and they responded that you are a proud capitalist. So to go from oppressive system of capitalism to a proud capitalist, that's a really big shift. What happened? What changed?

TALARICO: Well, so the problem in political campaigns, the problem with the media is they take one sentence out of a long conversation and -- and then use it to try to paint a picture. If you go back and listen to the conversation that we were having, I was talking about the system we have now, which is actually not capitalism. It's crony capitalism. What -- what's rewarded in this economy is people who can pay for access and pay for control, people who can pay for politicians.

BURNETT: So the current system you still see as oppressive, but you just define that as crony capitalism.

TALARICO: I want to get back to the kind of capitalism we had in the middle of the 20th Century in this country. I want competition, but it's got to be fair competition. We've got to take on these monopolies, this consolidation, because, again, it's fundamentally anti-capitalist. I want there to be growth, but it's got to be shared growth. Right now, again, because billionaires can buy politicians, all of the gains in this economy, all of the growth is going to the top. All of the wealth is being accumulated by the top 1 percent. It's actually not going to the people doing the actual work in this economy.

Capitalism was an innovation at the time from the feudal system. The idea that -- that you should be compensated for your labor, that you should be compensated for your time, that was a revolution. And so I think if Adam Smith saw the kind of crony capitalist system we have today, he would be rolling over in his grave. And so what I'm trying to get back to is OG capitalism, where we actually reward -- where we reward work instead of wealth. And right now...

BURNETT: But people can still accumulate wealth?

TALARICO: Of course, I'm all for success. I want an economy that creates fewer trillionaires and more millionaires. But right now, our tax system literally taxes work more than it taxes wealth. And I think that's -- that's backwards. So, again, I think what I'm advocating for is a return to those original capitalist principles that we've strayed away from in this country over the last five decades.

BURNETT: All right. Let me put the board back up to remind everybody of the issues again, that everyone here, as well as about 200 others, had submitted. So democracy and corruption was number two. Twenty percent of people felt that this was the single most important issue. So let's again have everybody stand up who had said -- felt this was your most important issue.

OK. All right. So now I want to go to the independent section, which I think appropriately is -- you know, you spawn the -- you span the catwalk. Emma, let me start with you. Why don't you go ahead, please? Everyone else can be seated. Emma, please stand up, introduce yourself and go ahead with your question, please.

EMMA X. BIGGS, MEDICAL STUDENT: Hi, I'm Emma. I'm an immigrant and adoptee from China, and I now live in Plano. What steps would you support to prevent corruption and protect fair elections, even when those steps would disadvantage your own party? And how can voters hold you accountable for following through?

TALARICO: Yeah, it's a great question, Emma, thank you for being here. I mentioned earlier that some of the wealthiest people in this country, including the richest man in the world, are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to try to defeat our campaign here in Texas. And here's why they're doing it. I don't take corporate PAC money. I never have, I never will. I don't work for them. I work for the people of Texas. I'm running to ban super PACs and corporate PACs so billionaires aren't spending unlimited secret money on our political campaigns.

And I don't care if they're Democratic super PACs or Republican super PACs. I think we've got to ban them all because there's way too much influence from big money in our politics. I'm running to ban members of Congress in both parties from trading stocks and enriching themselves while they're in public office.

[20:20:07]

And, again, this is a problem among Republicans and Democrats, and it has to end in both parties. I'm running to ban gerrymandering in every state in the union, red states and blue states alike, so that we can have actual free and fair elections in every state, in every community.

And I am running to pass term limits so that we can show career politicians in both parties the door because we have seen for way too long people feeling entitled to these positions.

Again, back to my -- my very first comments, I believe in servant leadership. I believe that public servants should actually serve the public.

And when you're in office for decades, it becomes about self- preservation. Everything becomes about holding on to power at all costs. I mean, we see people who are dying in office because they can't let go of these positions. That shouldn't be the case in a democracy.

And so, I'm running on these political reforms that will affect both parties, that will clean up government so that we can have a government of, by, and for the people again, not a government of, by, and for the billionaires.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN MODERATOR: All right, let's put hands up again with democracy. Corruption was your top issue. All right, we get those hands up around the room.

Okay, let's go to the Democratic section.

Lena -- why don't you go ahead, introduce yourself, please? And explain why this issue was most important for you.

LENA REMBERT, COLLEGE STUDENT: Okay.

Hi.

TALARICO: Hi.

REMBERT: My name is Lena Rembert. I'm a Dallas native and I'm a senior at SMU.

TALARICO: Hey.

REMBERT: This issue is most important to me because I've seen how redlining has affected not just the state, but I guess Dallas because I live in Oak Cliff and my mom was in Oak Cliff and then my family's from rural East Texas.

And so, seeing how gerrymandering has affected that, the reducing of polling access, and then also the misinformation that is out there of where you're supposed to go. So, like, you may know your location, and then online, it tells you it's a different location.

TALARICO: Yeah.

REMBERT: You go there and they say, oh, well, no, you need to go here.

And so, it's very disheartening, especially when I live in a community -- in my community, and then I go to a school in a different part of the same city that I've lived in my whole life. And the access is better, the opportunities are better, and it's just kind of disheartening, I guess.

TALARICO: Yeah. I think you're exactly right. Texas is one of the hardest places to vote in the country, and it's why we have the second lowest voter turnout rate in the country. We've seen that already over the past couple months.

I think the people in power are afraid of the movement that we're building. They're seeing working people across the political spectrum, not just Democrats, but independents and Republicans too, who are fed up with their extremism and their corruption, who are joining this campaign.

And so those people in power are going to do everything they can to hold onto power. So they have already tried to redraw our political districts in the middle of the decade to try to manufacture the outcome they want.

Again, this is wrong no matter if it's the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. And both parties do it. Let's be honest about that, right? This is about power, not about party.

So we've seen that in Texas already in this election cycle.

We've also seen them suspend more than a million voter registrations. We've seen them in Tarrant County, right here, close 93 polling locations. That's a third of the polling locations in this county, one of the largest counties in the state.

And you know what that's going to mean on Election Day? It's going to mean longer commutes to get to your polling location. It's going to mean longer wait times to be able to vote. And they're hoping it's going to mean lower voter turnout in some neighborhoods.

And that's unacceptable. That's un-American. Again, I'm fighting for voting rights for all Texans, including the Texans who aren't going to vote for me. I want everyone to make their voice heard in this process. That is a God-given right.

That right to shape your own destiny, to choose your own leaders, that's -- that doesn't come from politicians. That comes from God.

And it's why we have to guarantee that right, safeguard it with everything we have. And it's why we need everyone to show up and make their voice heard.

Voter suppression is powerful. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, but it is nothing compared to people power. Thank you.

BURNETT: I want to move to the next issue, important to so many in this room and so many around the country, of course. But here in Texas, you really are on the front lines of the immigration debate in a way that many other states in this country are not.

So, if everyone could stand who had said immigration was your top issue, please stand up. I know there were -- there were several people here who said that.

I want to go to the Republican section.

Tina, please go ahead and introduce yourself and ask your question to Mr. Talarico.

TINA LOREN, AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

My name is Tina Loren, and I protect firefighter families from the unexpected. I'm also a Miss Texas United.

TALARICO: Wow.

LOREN: And my question for you is that your Senate term would extend beyond President Trump.

[20:25:07]

TALARICO: Yeah.

LOREN: So what would you do and what federal laws would you support to ensure that border security was durable regardless of what party was in the White House? And then if or when someone enters our country illegally, and they have no basis to stay, should federal law require that they be removed from our country?

TALARICO: So I think Texans understand this issue of immigration better than most people around the country because we live with it. We live with the challenges, and we live with the benefits.

And I've said before that both political parties have failed us on this issue. Joe Biden failed us during his administration by not securing the border. I remember talking to my colleagues in the state legislature who represent border communities, and they were telling me about the utter chaos along our southern border during the Biden administration. That's unacceptable.

But now we've seen under this administration a different kind of extremism. We've seen masked men in unmarked vehicles kidnapping our neighbors off our street.

We were told that ICE was going to go after violent criminals, and I support that. If you're an undocumented immigrant and you commit a violent crime, you should be deported immediately.

But that's not what they're doing. They're going after Uber drivers. They're going after small business owners. They're going after grandmothers and infants.

ICE should be focused on going after the cartels, not our communities. They should be going after violent gang members, not moms and babies.

And so, I think we've got to get to a place where we reject the extremism on this issue in both parties and finally pass comprehensive immigration reform.

And here's what I think that should include. One, it should include border security. I'm a border security Democrat. I think we should know who's coming into our country.

And in fact, in the state legislature, I worked on this issue. I authored a bill as a state representative to modernize our ports of entry because 93 percent of the fentanyl that comes into Texas comes through our ports of entry. And we don't have the technology or the manpower to stop it.

I rolled out a common sense border security plan that was endorsed by Democratic and Republican law enforcement officials along our southern border, calling for more border patrol agents, calling for better surveillance technology so we can detect unauthorized crossings.

I also think that that comprehensive immigration reform package should include more legal pathways for hardworking immigrants who want to come here and contribute to our economy and make us richer and stronger as a nation, as immigrants have always done. You wouldn't be at a town hall for a guy with the last name Talarico if this was not a nation of immigrants. We all have that immigrant story somewhere in our backgrounds.

And then lastly, I think we have to build a pathway to citizenship for our neighbors who have been here for years and decades. They should pay a fine. They should pay back taxes. They should learn English.

And if they can do all those things, I think they deserve a shot at joining our communities as full citizens.

That's what I want to see from a comprehensive immigration reform package. I hope to fight for it in the United States Senate.

BURNETT: So we have obviously, from where I sit, we've been covering ICE-involved apprehensions, as well as ICE-involved shootings over the past year. And a lot of them have been tragic and touched to so many. Earlier this year, after the Minnesota ICE shooting of Renee Good, you said and I quote you, Representative, "It is time to tear down this secret police force and replace it". That was actually in your Senate primary debate back in January.

Your current immigration plan as you -- as you lay it out does not go quite that far, right? It does not actually abolish ICE, if that's what -- but tear down the secret police force.

So I'm trying to understand where you stand on this issue, so important to Texas and the country.

TALARICO: Yeah.

BURNETT: Do you support abolishing ICE or not?

TALARICO: No and I never had have. We need Immigration and Customs Enforcement in this country.

BURNETT: Uh-huh.

TALARICO: Bit that's not what we're seeing. What we've seen over the last year is a secret police force, and that's what we don't want in this country.

We don't want masked men in unmarked vehicles coming through and terrorizing our communities. We don't want federal agents murdering our neighbors before our very eyes.

You know, I think about Lorenzo Salgado, who was our fellow Texan. He lived in Houston for 35 years. As a construction worker, he sent his three boys to college.

His oldest is a public school teacher. His middle son is an engineer. His youngest is still in school.

Lorenzo Salgado embodies the American dream. He's exactly the kind of person we want in this country.

His three boys called him "el mundo entero", the whole world. And they watched as their whole world died in a video posted on Facebook.

Lorenzo Salgado was a child of God, endowed with infinite worth. Lorenzo, our fellow Texan, deserves justice, and that's exactly what I'll fight for in the U.S. Senate.

[20:30:11]

BURNETT: All right, I want to move on to education, which is another issue important to many.

If everybody could stand who said that education was your most important issue, please. All right, thank you.

Let's go over to the Democratic section here to get a question. Jerry, that's you. All right, everyone else can sit down. Jerry,

please stay standing. Introduce yourself and go ahead and ask your question. Thanks.

JERRY WILLIAMS, SOFTWARE DEVELOPER: Representative Talarico, thank you so much for answering our questions tonight.

TALARICO: Yes.

WILLIAMS: My name is Jerry. I have been in Texas for 13 years and moved from the Midwest. I have two perfect little buttheads who call me Dad.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: And so my question, looking to gain some of your knowledge from your experience in education, Texas districts across the state are running million-dollar deficits. The teacher turnover rate is extremely high. And the basic allotment for our students, I think, has been around $6,100 since 2019, even though inflation has gone through the roof.

TALARICO: Yes.

WILLIAMS: So, my question is, outside of opposing vouchers, which, as I understand that you do...

TALARICO: Yes.

WILLIAMS: ... what are some of your plans to raise that allotment, if that's an actual solution? How do we turn around the teacher turnover rate? And how do we stop this backslide from our -- from the performance of our districts?

TALARICO: Yes, thank you for asking that question, Jerry.

Before I was a politician on stages like this, I was a public school teacher. I taught sixth grade language arts at Rhodes Middle School on the West Side of San Antonio. I always joke that teaching middle school is the best preparation for politics.

(LAUGHTER)

TALARICO: And -- and I entered the classroom in the fall of 2011, right after our state legislature cut more than $5 billion from public education in this state.

So I saw the impact of those cuts firsthand. I saw programs get eliminated. I saw class sizes grow. At one point, I had 45 students in one classroom. There weren't enough desks for all those kids, so I had students sitting on the air conditioning unit in the wealthiest country in human history, in the 21st century, children sitting on the air conditioning unit.

And that made me mad. I ended up leading an education nonprofit for several years. And then, when a seat in that very same legislature opened up in my hometown of Round Rock, Texas, I threw my hat in the ring, because I believe that educators should be sitting at the decision-making table when it comes to making decisions about education policy.

And you're right. The situation has only gotten worse. We rank as a state 43rd in the nation in per student education funding. We have got teachers who are driving Ubers at night to make extra money. The teaching profession is the most important profession, because, without it, there would be no other professions.

Everything starts with a teacher in a classroom. And we are nickel- and-diming the most important professionals in our communities.

And so there's a few things that I would do. One, I would make sure that we fully fund the Department of Education. We have seen them gut that department. We have seen them go after teachers, go after our kids all across this country, including here in our state with this private school voucher scam, which is funded by out-of-state billionaires, back to the point about corruption in our politics.

Then, I would fight to guarantee universal high-quality early childhood education for every kid in this country. The first -- the first three years, the first 1,000 days of a child's life are the most important when it comes to brain development. It's something crazy. Like 1,000 neural connections are formed every second during that period of brain development.

And we are nowhere to be seen as a society. And I want to guarantee that high-quality education for every kid, no matter what zip code they're born into, because it will be a game changer for our education system in this country.

And then, lastly, I think we can do so much to finally pass a pay raise for our hardworking educators all over the state, long overdue.

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: This is -- this is LBJ's Senate seat that I'm running for, a Texas teacher before he ran for office.

And I hope that we -- when we win back LBJ's Senate seat, we can pass an LBJ-sized investment in America's public schools. And I think sending a teacher back to the United States Senate from Texas will go a long way toward achieving that goal.

(APPLAUSE)

BURNETT: I will say, you said 45 kids in a classroom?

TALARICO: Yes.

BURNETT: I have a sixth and seventh grader. That's God's work.

TALARICO: Yes.

(LAUGHTER) TALARICO: And I will tell you...

BURNETT: I...

TALARICO: ... it was right after lunch, so you can imagine the chaos in that classroom.

[20:35:05]

BURNETT: Well, especially if they allow chocolate milk, which is a whole separate conversation. I don't support it.

TALARICO: That's right.

BURNETT: Anyway...

TALARICO: That's right.

BURNETT: All right, we're going to take a brief break.

And when we come back, we're going to reset our stage for something different. And I'm really excited about this. Voters are going to have the opportunity to come sit right here on stage and go face to face with Mr. Talarico, table for two, to see whether he can change their minds.

We're going to reset. You'll see that table, and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(APPLAUSE)

BURNETT: And welcome back to the CNN and Jubilee town hall with Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate James Talarico. We are live here in Fort Worth, Texas.

And now we're going to do something that we have never done before, and I'm pretty excited about it. So, we asked every member of our audience, Democrat, independent, Republican, we asked all of you to -- if you had an issue where anyone in this room disagrees with Mr. Talarico.

Now, some of you said yes, and you came prepared to debate, debate one-on-one. And Representative Talarico is going to be seated at the table here.

[20:40:04]

And as you can see, there is another chair. And that is because in just a moment, we're going to invite some of you, some of the voters who have had their question on stage, one at a time, to challenge Mr. Talarico on an issue where they disagree.

So you can go ahead, and that's your seat. And as everybody can see, there are two microphones here, right? That's because this isn't a lecture. It's a conversation. I want everybody to -- to speak. So if you are prepared to debate Representative Talarico, please raise your hand.

All right. I'm glad there's some really sharp up hands here. Back to like -- back to the elementary school, right? Some people really want to do this.

OK, where's Jodi? Jodi? All right. Jody is an independent. Jodi, why don't you go ahead and make your way to the stage, OK. Now, while Jodi is doing that, I'm just going to explain exactly what's going to happen here. So she's going to sit down and she's -- we have a clock. I'm going to put a clock here. It's going to say four minutes. So that's about the time that she's going to have to debate. Mr. Talarico. When the bell goes off, it's going to end. You'll sit down, introduce yourself, go ahead and say what your issue is with him. And as soon as I stop talking, I will begin the clock and go.

JODI HUNT, FARMER & PROFESSOR: Sure.

TALARICO: Hi, whats your name?

HUNT: I'm Jody Hunt, nice to meet you.

TALARICO: Hi, nice to meet you.

HUNT: Hi, I'm from Burleson, Texas.

TALARICO: Hey, Burleson, yeah.

HUNT: I'm also an eighth generation Texan.

TALARICO: Hey, wonderful.

HUNT: Yeah, fantastic.

TALARICO: I'm so glad you're here.

HUNT: My family's been here since the revolution.

TALARICO: Yeah, I'm so...

HUNT: Yeah, so we're very happy, very good Texans.

TALARICO: Yeah.

HUNT: I'm a wife and mom of three.

TALARICO: Wonderful.

HUNT: Like you, I'm also an educator.

TALARICO: Hey...

(CROSSTALK)

HUNT: In fact, in 2011, I was teaching in San Antonio.

TALARICO: Wow. We have a lot in common. HUNT: Yeah. At a Catholic private school, Antonian College Prep. So

shout out to all those students and...

TALARICO: Yeah.

HUNT: ... former students there.

TALARICO: That's wonderful.

HUNT: I'm now a university professor. My topic is abortion.

TALARICO: Yeah.

HUNT: I'm a Catholic, an orthodox Catholic. Do you -- as you know, Catholics, we tend, and myself included, to be a one-issue voter. And abortion is a large part of that. Dignity of human person and natural law. I'm a theologian. I was -- and so that's -- we have something in common.

TALARICO: Yeah.

HUNT: And because of that, we believe that at the moment of conception, there's a human life to protect. And so we struggle with the idea that it's the woman's right to choose because it takes two people to create that being. And the woman is the bearer of that child into the world. And through co-creation, that child has been created. So as people, we are to protect that life at all costs. And so what makes it difficult for us to vote Democrat is that we have this idea that if you cannot vote, like provide policies or support policies that protect the most innocent among us, who is the unborn child, how can we trust that you're going to provide policies to protect the rest of Texans and to promote dignity and human life in that? So I challenge you on that.

TALARICO: Yeah.

HUNT: And to provide some -- some feedback on, like, how would you convince me as a Catholic voter...

TALARICO: Yeah.

HUNT: ... that I can trust you that you would protect the most innocent among us?

TALARICO: I'm so, so grateful that you -- that you brought that question because I think there's a lot of folks in Texas, a lot of Catholics who are asking themselves the same question. So thank you for doing it. I know its not easy to do it on live television.

HUNT: No, it's not, yeah.

TALARICO: But I'm really, really grateful you did. You know, some of my spiritual heroes, like Pope Francis and Pope Leo are pro-life, and they are consistently pro-life. They're not just against abortion, but they are against poverty, against climate change, against war. And so I can respect anyone, like you, who is consistently pro-life. And I actually think there's common ground we can find here. We may come to different moral and ethical conclusions when it comes to the question of should abortion be legal or not. It sounds like you and I do come to a different conclusion. That's OK. You know, were both Christians and -- and the Bible is silent on the issue of abortion. It means you and I both have to look at -- at different scriptures to try to come to a conclusion.

But what I think we can do is actually come together on reducing the number of unplanned pregnancies and the number of abortions, because if we treat this issue as a public health problem and not a culture war problem, then we can actually make progress together. And this is what drives me crazy about this debate, is we use it to kind of beat each other over the head, right? We treat it as a philosophical debate or a theological debate when actually it's a public policy problem.

Because I also want to see fewer unplanned or unwanted pregnancies. I want to see fewer abortions. And so you and I actually have the same goal. We may have different moral conclusions when it comes to this particular ethical question, but we actually have the same public policy goal. And so if we can do that, if we can join together to make sure that we have scientifically valid sex education, age appropriate sex education, if we can make sure that folks who need contraception can get it, if we can make sure that everyone has health care, something the Catholic Church has led on, then we know that that reduces the number of abortions because you can look at the research and you see that certain policy levers like sex education, like health care can actually reduce the number of abortions.

[20:45:19]

HUNT: Sure.

TALARICO: And that's what I'm willing to work with you on.

HUNT: And I just want to add that the bible is not silent on abortion. There is the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not kill. And as Catholics, we take great...

(APPLAUSE)

HUNT: ... insult, I guess, sometimes when it's spouted that way.

But I also want to add, I know I'm up on time, but contraception and age appropriate thing also when it comes to Catholic vote is a very trying thing for us because we believe the parents are the primary -- primary educator of our children. And so one of the things that we really struggle with is having any government interference with how we educate our children. So I know we're going to agree to disagree on that, but I do appreciate your comments on tending to the life from the womb to the tomb.

TALARICO: Yeah.

HUNT: And I think that's one common ground we can come to. TALARICO: And -- and I think, you know, you know that I'm an educator

like you.

HUNT: Sure.

TALARICO: And if I believed if -- that abortion was murder, that it violated the Ten Commandments, then I wouldn't support it. And so it's OK that you and I come to different conclusions about that. But I think we can also look at the current abortion ban in Texas, which bans abortion in all cases, including in cases of rape and incest, including when the life of the mother is in danger. We currently see in Texas women dying in emergency room parking lots from sepsis because their doctors are too afraid to provide life-saving care. We talk about Texas women, but it's also Texas girls. We see girls as young as 10 years old who need that abortion care, and they cant get it in Texas.

And so if we are authentically pro-life, I think we should be disturbed by the outcomes of this extreme abortion ban. That's why...

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: That's why -- that's why I think you and I actually agree more than we think we do. Again, the theological debate is interesting. And you and I should, you know...

HUNT: We should have it...

TALARICO: ... grab a coffee or...

HUNT: ... on podcast or something.

TALARICO: Yeah, yeah, we should do a podcast.

HUNT: I would like that.

TALARICO: And I would love to get into that. But as a policy-maker, I'm always like, how do we solve the problem, right? How do we get better outcomes? And that's what you want too, that's what -- that's what every pro-life person wants. And we should join together to do it.

BURNETT: OK. I'm jumping in because you did go over, and I want to make sure everybody gets -- everybody gets a turn. That was a really great conversation.

(APPLAUSE)

BURNETT: Jodi, thank you so much for starting this off. I want to start off with Matthew, an independent. All right. Can you -- you can make your way out here. All right. There you go. OK. So you go ahead to the stage again.

I'm just going to reiterate the rules. I hope we can keep it to four, when that goes off. Sometimes I'm going to be a tougher taskmaster than others. So be careful. And I also want to just emphasize here that there are two mikes. Please jump in on each other, have a conversation.

All right. Go ahead and introduce yourself and, and say your issue and your time starts now.

MATTHEW LENNARD, ASSISTANT PROBATION SUPERVISOR: Representative Talarico, it's an honor. My name is Matthew and I live in Dallas. My question is about an issue that is rarely talked about, but I believe is the existential problem facing our country, and that is the national debt. The national debt recently passed $40 trillion. We have been deficit spending for decades with no end in sight. And it's scary for me because throughout history, we can see that most major nations and empires have fallen because in some way, they've overextended themselves.

Now I know and I respect that you want to invest in things such as health care and education. All good things. But we can't even pay for our current financial obligations. So my question to you is, how can we get our national debt and deficit under control so that we can begin exploring, to invest in the kind of policy initiatives that candidates like you support?

TALARICO: Yeah, this is such a good question. I'm so glad that you brought it tonight because it rarely gets talked about...

LENNARD: Ever.

TALARICO: ... in forums like this. But it is a -- it's not just an economic and political emergency, it is a moral emergency, because we are stealing from future generations. It is intergenerational theft.

LENNARD: A hundred percent.

TALARICO: And so I -- actually, I talk about the national debt in almost every -- every speech at every campaign event. Because I do believe that it's an emergency. Here's what I'll say. We are often told that the only way to tackle the -- the deficit or the debt is by doing it on the backs of working people. And that's not true. We can -- we can close the deficit, and we can do it by closing billionaire tax loopholes. Right now, billionaires can write off flying on a private jet from their taxes and call it a business expense. They can write off their mega-yacht as a business expense. That -- that is ridiculous.

And that is exploding the deficit. This big, ugly bill that was passed a year ago gave $3 trillion in tax cuts to the top 1 percent, people who don't need it. Nothing against the top 1 percent, but they don't need any help. And that money could go toward closing the deficit and tackling the debt.

[20:50:07]

And then I'll mention one more. We can close the deficit and tackle the debt by ending this disastrous war in Iran that is costing us $1 billion a day.

(APPLAUSE) TALARICO: When you -- the last time -- the last time we balanced the

budget was during President Clinton's term, back in the '90s. You and I were both kids.

We've seen that -- we've seen that deficit and that debt explode over the last 30 years. And it's be -- it's because of two things primarily: tax cuts for rich people, both in the Bush administration and in the Trump administration, and forever wars in Iraq and in Iran.

And so, if we can -- if we can end those two policy decisions, if we can start making the wealthy pay their fair share and we can bring some sanity back to our foreign policy, I think it could go a long way toward tackling this deficit and tackling this debt.

MATTHEW LENNARD, ASSISTANT PROBATION SUPERVISOR: It could go a long way. I do -- I don't disagree with anything you said. But I do want to challenge you --

TALARICO: Yeah.

LENNARD: -- because you are -- you know, applying to be our senator.

TALARICO: Yes.

LENNARD: Even if we eliminated all discretionary spendings in this year's budget, I'm talking about shut the government down, nothing's open and only paid for our mandatory spending and interest on the national debt alone, we would barely cover the bills with revenues.

I don't have the answer, but I'm going to challenge you in that when you become our senator, it's going to -- it's going to take making some really difficult decisions.

TALARICO: I completely agree. And let me just -- let me say something that a lot of Democrats aren't willing to say. We should be looking for efficiency in our government. I believe --

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: I believe -- I believe in stewardship.

Again, this is the value in my faith tradition. We should be good stewards of taxpayer funds. If people -- if plumbers and nurses and teachers are going to be giving the federal government their hard- earned tax dollars, we should be using that in the most efficient way possible.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN MODERATOR: All right. We're going to end that from there.

TALARICO: Thank you.

BURNETT: That was a good conversation. Matthew, I'm glad you jumped in. That was good. That's exactly the kind of back and forth that I know we want.

Sarah, there you are.

Sarah is going to go up. She's a Republican.

Please introduce yourself, of course. Talk about your issue. And please remember, it is a dialogue and jump in and ask questions. Your time begins now.

TALARICO: Sarah, where are you from?

SARAH GARDNER, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: I'm actually from Round Rock. So, Williamson County.

TALARICO: Hey. So what high school did you go to?

GARDNER: I actually went to Hyde Park, Austin. Great to be with you.

TALARICO: Yeah, yeah. It's good to meet you.

GARDNER: So I'm here talking to you Christian to Christian today about a faith in the Bible.

TALARICO: Yeah.

GARDNER: And I believe where we differ is really our interpretations of the Bible.

For a lot of Christian voters, you've said some concerning things in the past kind of related to faith and social issues, things such as God is non-binary, questions about how many genders there really are, and your justifications using the Bible for abortion.

And so I think that's led a lot of Christian voters to question the authenticity of your faith.

And I wanted to ask you a very direct question.

TALARICO: Yeah.

GARDNER: Do you believe that the Bible is the absolute source of truth and God's final authoritative word even when our culture says otherwise?

TALARICO: Yes.

And I think it's important to remember that even the early church, the disciples who actually knew Jesus of Nazareth, the early church we often talk about as a singular body, when in reality it was more like early churches because there was a lot of disagreement, there was a lot of debate.

And that's something that we should be comfortable with. We as Christians, you and I are both members of the body of Christ. You are my sister in Christ.

And it's okay if you and I have disagreements about our interpretations of Scripture or certainly about political and policy topics. That should be encouraged, not discouraged. And we can do that as we're called to do in Scripture, do it with love.

And so I actually want to clarify a few of the things that you said, because I know that this has been used in these attack ads all over the state. You know, the first comment about God not being defined by gender, when I said that I was being provocative, and I want to admit that and come clean about that.

But I think what I was saying is actually not controversial theologically, the idea that we can't define God using human categories. Not only did I say that, but the late Charlie Kirk said that. The late Pope Benedict said that.

And so, yes, I was doing it maybe in an annoying way. I can admit that. But I think --

GARDNER: I think we have to be careful using modern cultural terms when talking about God.

TALARICO: Sure. Sure. I think that is very fair criticism. And I've kind of admitted when -- you know, how I've said things in the past have maybe not come across in the right way or have upset people. And that's not my intention.

[20:55:00]

And so, you know, my goal -- I'm a seminary student as you know. My granddad was a Baptist preacher and I'm following in his footsteps, hopefully going to become a minister one day.

And preachers often will say something shocking in a sermon to get your attention. And that's something I'm still learning how to do in a responsible way.

And so I'm always going to take feedback from my fellow Christians, from my constituents on how to do that in a responsible way where I'm actually communicating what I mean and not muddying the waters.

GARDNER: Sure. And I want to quickly get to my second question.

TALARICO: Yes.

GARDNER: You talk a lot about Jesus on the campaign trail and just generally related to your faith.

TALARICO: Yeah.

GARDNER: You talk a lot about his love and inclusion and social reform.

But I don't hear you mention often his core mission on Earth, which was really related to calling out human sin, leading people to repentance, and of course, his ultimate work on the cross through his death and resurrection, which is the heart of the gospel message.

And so I wanted to ask you today, what is Jesus' death and resurrection mean to you personally? TALARICO: Yeah, I actually gave a whole Easter sermon about this. You can find it on YouTube. And I hope people will, because I believe the cross is the shape of reality.

I believe that the cross is at the center of our shared faith. And I believe that Easter reminds us that while death is powerful, it is not the final word.

GARDNER: Do you believe that Jesus is the only savior for people here on Earth?

TALARICO: I believe Jesus is the truth, the way, and the light.

GARDNER: Thank you.

TALARICO: Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

BURNETT: Thank you for that great conversation.

Paul, in the Democrat section. Paul, why don't you walk up?

I think Sarah just did a wonderful job, just being able to jump in and have such a provocative and profound conversation, honestly.

So, Paul, please go ahead, introduce yourself. State your issue. When you sit down, I will begin the clock.

And here we go.

PAUL WULLER, COLLEGE STUDENT: Hi, Representative.

TALARICO: Hi.

WULLER: Hi, Representative Talarico.

TALARICO: Hi.

WULLER: My name is Paul Wuller. I'm currently a senior at Southern Methodist University.

TALARICO: Wonderful.

WULLER: And an issue that I really want to talk to you about today is international relations.

I know when I go to your website and I read your policy stances, I see that you want to continue supporting Ukraine and you want to broker a peace deal between Israel and Gaza.

I guess I get concerned when I look at how much money we've sent to Ukraine over the many years this war has been going on. And then I turn around and look at my own community, and I see homeless people living under a bridge and begging for money.

Why should we focus our financials on foreign wars rather than our own citizens first?

TALARICO: Well, you know, the -- the real drain on our resources is this disastrous war in Iran. And it's why I've called for this war to come to a close because not only is it costing us a billion dollars a day, not only is it driving up gas prices and diesel prices here at home, but it is also killing our brave men and women in uniform --

WULLER: Yeah.

TALARICO: -- including one of our own, our fellow Texans, Private Isabella Gonzales, who grew up right here in DFW.

She graduated from Hebron High School. She was 19 years old when she was killed by an Iranian airstrike in Jordan. Isabella died a hero, died a patriot.

We should be grateful for her service and her sacrifice, but our gratitude for her service should not be mistaken for an acceptance of her death. We should not be sending our brave men and women off to die in another forever war in the Middle East. Our service members love this country. It's time for this country to start loving them back.

WULLER: I completely agree.

(APPLAUSE)

WULLER: I completely agree with that. But I do just want to bring the question back to Ukraine.

TALARICO: Yeah.

WULLER: Why should we send all this money to Ukraine? And Ukraine has done a phenomenal job defending themselves --

TALARICO: Yeah.

WULLER: -- since it feels like forever at this point. Why shouldn't we invest that money first and foremost in our local communities and help fellow Texans?

TALARICO: Well, I think we learned back in the Second World War that when we failed to stand up to an aggressor in Europe, that comes back to haunt us. And we need to strengthen Ukraine. We need to strengthen our NATO allies as they stand up to Russian aggression, so we don't have to.

So, in some ways, I see this as a cost-saving measure. If we can stop this aggression, if we can stop Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, then we're not going to have to stop him elsewhere.

And I always think we got to be good stewards of our taxpayer funds. We got to be strategic when it comes to any investments abroad.

I think what we're doing in Ukraine is a good investment. I think it will save us money in the long run, but it doesn't mean that we shouldn't always examine it and ensure that we are using taxpayer dollars in the most efficient and effective way possible.

WULLER: Absolutely. And I want to kind of just follow up on that.

TALARICO: Yeah.

WULLER: So I look this past weekend when Trump announced that he wants to start buying Russian oil again. Do you think that economic and military together should work together?

[21:00:10]

TALARICO: Yes.

WULLER: Or should we primarily focus on just one or the other? Which is more important?

TALARICO: No, we should identify what our objectives are, and then we should align our military and economic strategy to achieve those objectives.

And I think my biggest complaint about the administration's policies in Iran or when it comes to buying Russian oil is that those objectives aren't clear, or those objectives keep changing. And there's no way that you can -- you can steer our foreign policy without clear goals. And so, no, I think this decision to enable and appease Vladimir Putin is a mistake.

And I have actually outlined a different policy that could bring down gas prices. I have said that we should immediately suspend the federal gas tax and the federal diesel tax, which would drop the price of gas by 18 cents a gallon tomorrow, and it would save those who use diesel about $200 a year.

I know that's not enough, but it could provide some immediate relief now, as we bring this war in Iran to a close.

(BELL RINGS)

WULLER: Thank you.

TALARICO: Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

BURNETT: Paul, thank you very much.

And I'm here in the independent section.

Stacy. All right, Stacy, why don't you go up? I'm sorry.

STACY VASQUEZ, PROFESSOR: Excuse me, ma'am.

BURNETT: Go around me. I apologize.

TALARICO: Hi, Stacy. VASQUEZ: Hey, Mr. Talarico. It's nice to meet you.

TALARICO: You too. Appreciate it.

VASQUEZ: Pleasure to be here.

TALARICO: Yes.

BURNETT: All right, we will start the clock, Stacy.

TALARICO: Where are you from?

VASQUEZ: Rosenberg, Texas.

TALARICO: Hey, I was in Rosenberg at the end of last year for a campaign event.

VASQUEZ: Yes. No one knows where that is, so I just say Houston.

TALARICO: Well, Fort Bend is very...

VASQUEZ: I think that's what Texans do. They say, I'm from Houston.

TALARICO: Well, we love Fort Bend County. And...

(CROSSTALK)

VASQUEZ: I reside in Dallas, but technically Glenn Heights, but yes.

TALARICO: I appreciate that. Yes, you always got -- Round Rock is the same way, right?

VASQUEZ: Yes. Yes.

TALARICO: People think Round Rock is just Austin, but it is a different city. So...

VASQUEZ: It's a pleasure...

(CROSSTALK)

TALARICO: Yes. It's good to see you.

VASQUEZ: Yes.

So, my topic has to do with government overreach.

TALARICO: Yes.

VASQUEZ: And so you had recently stated in a FOX News interview that you would support a national ban on gender-affirming surgeries for transgender youth under the age of 18.

Can you provide a little bit more information as to what informs your position on that issue?

TALARICO: Yes.

You know, when it comes to minors, when it comes to kids, as a policymaker, I always have to balance two things. One is protecting children and honoring the rights of parents, because I believe that parental rights are sacred, and we should trust parents to raise their kids.

But if there's something that's going to endanger a child or a minor, certainly something that could cause permanent damage, then I'm always going to try to err on the side of protecting those kids.

And this discussion is a difficult one. It's one that requires nuance and thoughtfulness. In the state legislature, the Republican majority tried to pass an extreme ban that would go after all kinds of different forms of health care, not just gender reassignment surgeries.

I actually supported an amendment to that bill to limit the legislation to just banning surgeries for those under the age of 18. But that was rejected by the Republican -- Republican majority, and instead they wanted to pass this blanket ban on all kinds of health care.

And I felt like that, that disrupted the balance I was just talking about, and, in fact, started to infringe on the rights of parents and the rights of doctors to provide that care to kids. And it's why I voted against it.

And now you're seeing on all kinds of attack ads all over Texas that somehow I supported those procedures, when I didn't. And when you go back in the legislative record, you can see that I was trying to go after just those surgeries.

But, again, this is the silliness of a political campaign.

VASQUEZ: Sure.

TALARICO: And lies are going to be spread, because they want to score political points.

VASQUEZ: Yes.

And while I certainly understand your point, I personally feel that the legislature should have no role in decision-making with regard to people's health, especially considering a large majority of them have zero clinical or medical backgrounds or training.

And I just think it should be a discussion between the patient, their parents, assuming they're a minor, and their doctor. That's just where I stand on the issue, right, and, again, liberty, freedom, no government overreach in that regard.

Especially when we get to this topic in particular, the number of people under the age of 18 that are getting gender-affirming surgeries, it's 0.002 percent. It is not happening at the rates that some people would like citizens of this country to believe. TALARICO: Yes.

VASQUEZ: It's essentially a nonissue. Not only that, when we think of transition regret or detransitions, they certainly happen, but they're outliers.

[21:05:03]

And I feel that there's the amplification of these outliers to detract from actual issues that are impacting our country. And that's what bothers me so much. I too am very -- I have grown very wary of these culture war talking points.

TALARICO: Yes.

VASQUEZ: And I do find it very frustrating that that has been the core of the attacks on your campaign.

TALARICO: Yes.

VASQUEZ: So I just personally feel that...

TALARICO: Yes.

VASQUEZ: ... it's not a very good use of the legislature's time to be instituting bans on things that aren't really impacting people.

(BELL RINGS)

VASQUEZ: And I hope that, when you get to Congress, that you will get us back on track.

TALARICO: Well, let me tell you where -- where I think we agree.

Powerful people are using small minorities in our community to distract from their corruption. The only...

(CHEERING)

TALARICO: The only minority destroying America is the billionaires. They are constantly trying to divide us.

(CHEERING)

BURNETT: Oh, he...

TALARICO: Didn't realize I'm at the...

BURNETT: He heard the bell. He heard the bell. He said, that's it.

(LAUGHTER)

TALARICO: I got to pay attention to that bell.

BURNETT: Way to go, Stacy. You want a job in television? You said, my time's up. You removed yourself from it. (LAUGHTER)

BURNETT: All right, we're going to take a quick break. There's obviously a lot more to discuss here. I want to make sure that we hear from more people in the room, get through as many of those topics as possible.

We're going to take a very quick break. We will come right back, and there will be more debates on the other side.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:10:33]

BURNETT: And welcome back to Fort Worth, Texas, and the "CNN and Jubilee Town Hall," where we are live with Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, James Talarico.

So I want to get back to it. We're in our table for two debate, as you can see. Representative Talarico is sitting there. For those of you just joining us, basically, we're bringing voters on stage, one at a time. And these are voters who have said they're willing to debate with him. They want to go head to head, and they have something that they disagree with Representative Talarico on. It's a four-minute clock. So I'm over here in the Republican section.

Rodrigo, why don't you go up and take that seat? And when you sit down, of course, introduce yourself and I'll begin the clock.

TALARICO: Nice to meet you. Where are you from?

BURNETT: All right, take it away.

RODRIGO ZURITA, U.S. NAVY CHIEF PETTY OFFICER (RET.): Hello, Mr. Talarico.

TALARICO: Hi.

ZURITA: I'm from Killeen, so it's about 2.5 hours from here.

TALARICO: I know Killeen.

ZURITA: Yeah, so it's a -- it's an honor to meet you. I'm, Rodrigo. I served 22 years in the Navy. Retired Navy chief. I was in the...

(APPLAUSE)

ZURITA: I served in Iraq and Afghanistan. My question for you today is about the Save America Act, because I think it's really important to -- to be honest with quite a few of us here. So my question is, do you support the Save America Act? And if not, what parts and why? TALARICO: Well, I'd honestly have to read the details of the

legislation. I -- I'm a policy wonk, and so I always hesitate to -- to say I'm going to support any one bill if I haven't read the final version of that bill.

ZURITA: Yes, sir.

TALARICO: But I -- from what I understand, the bill is about our elections. Is that right?

ZURITA: Yes, sir.

TALARICO: So I'll tell you what I am for. I am for fair voter ID, and I say fair because here in Texas, I think that a lot of our voter ID policies are discriminatory. And here's -- here's what I mean by that. Some kinds of ID are allowed and other valid forms of ID aren't allowed. So, for instance, when you go to vote here in Texas, you can bring your concealed carry license, which I'm all for, but a student at a public college or university can't bring their student ID. And so I think that hurts some kind of voters and helps other kind of voters.

What I want to see is voter ID that is consistent across the board, because I think you and I probably both agree we want everyone, if they are eligible, if they are citizens, to be able to vote. And we don't want to discriminate against any one group of people. We don't -- I don't want to discriminate against Republicans who are voting. And I don't want to discriminate against Democrats who are voting. And so that's all I'm asking for. As long as voter ID is fair, then I'm all for it.

ZURITA: OK. So you are willing to have -- because the reason I bring it up is because it's been said, I'm pretty sure you've heard it too, that 83 percent of Americans, including everybody here probably has heard that before, 83 percent of Americans agree with voter ID, just like you said. And even 71 percent of Democrats agree with voter ID. So that's pretty important. That is bipartisan.

TALARICO: Yes.

ZURITA: So the reason I ask it is because if you are, you know, selected to be our senator, what I want to know is, if it is something we agree on, on a bipartisan fact, can we pass it if you are voting with New York or voting with California on something Texas by majority wants?

TALARICO: Well, I am not running for the U.S. Senate to represent New York or California. I'm not running for the U.S. Senate to represent the Democratic Party. I am running for Senate to represent all of 31 million Texans. And I will...

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: I will -- I will always do what's best for Texas, even if that means standing up to my own party. We talked earlier about oil and gas. If the Democratic Party is going after the good-paying oil and gas jobs here in Texas, I'm going to stand up against them. I'm going to call out Democrats like Joe Biden, who failed us on our southern border, because we need border security here in Texas. We need to protect our border communities.

I'm going to work with Republicans. You know, as you know, I was a member of the Texas legislature. There is a Republican majority in the state house where I worked in the state senate. And Republicans have the governor's mansion. I was able to pass 60 bipartisan bills during my time in the legislature. And the only way I could pass those bills is by working with Republicans.

And so I have no problem standing up to my own party. I'm a proud Texas Democrat, but I already have a religion, and I already have a sports team. So I have -- I have no problem...

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: I have no problem sharing hard truths with my party if it's what's best for Texas.

ZURITA: OK, no, I do -- I hope that is the case here because the -- you are going to be going to -- if you do get selected to be our senator representing Texas, you will be a junior senator.

[21:15:08]

And like a Hakeem Jeffries is going to come over and say, hey, this is what we're voting on, and we are going to vote across the board. And I need to know that you represent Texas, not California or New York.

TALARICO: Absolutely. And you can look at my record in the legislature and see that I always did what was best for my district and my constituents, even if it meant pissing off my own party. And that's exactly what I'm going to do in the U.S. Senate.

ZURITA: OK. Good luck. Good luck.

TALARICO: Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

BURNETT: Thank you so much, Rodrigo.

Holly over here in the Democratic section. Holly, why don't you go ahead and make your way up. There you go. If you go that way and then you can walk around. And, Holly, of course, when you do get to the stage, remember to introduce yourself. And I wont start the clock until you get there. So you keep -- you keep going.

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: I'm so glad you're here. Hi, Holly. My aunt's name is Holly. It's a great name. You said you're a rabbi? Wonderful. Thank you for being here, Rabbi.

BURNETT: Thank you, Holly. TALARICO: And, Rabbi, where are you from?

HOLLY COHN, RABBI: I'm from Dallas. I've moved around a lot growing up, but what I wanted to ask you, I'm Rabbi Holly Levin (ph) Cohn. I've been a rabbi for over 26 years. And I'm also the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. And so I'm concerned with some of the things that I've been hearing lately about your stance on Israel and also on your support of the Jewish people. With the rise of antisemitism and perception being reality, I'm very concerned and want to know where you stand on this issue.

TALARICO: Yeah. Well, thank you for what you do for the community, and thank you for being here and asking that question. I have deep love and respect for the Jewish people, for the Jewish scriptures. I -- as a seminary student, my seminary required that I spent the first year of my seminary studies learning the Hebrew scriptures from a local rabbi. Shout out Rabbi Blumoff (ph), who hopefully is watching. So I didn't learn it from a Christian perspective. I learned it from a Jewish perspective, which I think is so valuable to understand our mother tradition and have deep reverence for that tradition.

And as a state lawmaker, I have stood by Jewish leaders in Central Texas against antisemitism. I've stood against hate in all its forms because I believe that all of us should feel welcomed here in Texas, no matter our religious beliefs. In fact, in the state capital, I have been the fiercest critic of Christian nationalism, because I don't think there's anything Christian about Christian nationalism. I...

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: I -- I was raised by my granddad, a Baptist preacher, to follow the two commandments Jesus gave us, and Jesus, as a good rabbi, took the two commandments from the Torah to love God and to love neighbor. And there's no exception to that Second Commandment. I'm called to love all of my neighbors, not just my Presbyterian or Christian neighbors.

COHN: Well, I'm curious then also then where you stand on Israel...

TALARICO: Yeah.

COHN: ... in relation to all of this.

TALARICO: Yeah, absolutely.

COHN: Big issue that can impact antisemitism as well.

TALARICO: Yeah. And -- and I'm always very careful when I talk about this to -- to make sure that my criticisms are directed toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and not the Israeli people. I have -- as you know, have been very critical of Prime Minister Netanyahu. You know, I -- I, as a -- as a former teacher seeing the death and the destruction in Gaza, seeing what's happening to children in particular makes me sick to my stomach. I know that October 7th was the deadliest day for the Jewish people

since the Holocaust. And I believe that Israel, like any nation, has a right to defend its people. But I don't believe that Benjamin Netanyahu has a right to wage war against civilians or use collective punishment, or restrict aid to civilians. And so that's what I've spoken out against.

COHN: I want to address the restricting aid.

TALARICO: Yeah, please.

COHN: Because there has been humanitarian efforts and food brought in and things like that on behalf of the Israelis. But Hamas takes those resources. And so what looks like Israel is not doing that. I mean, the border that's closed is with Egypt. And so when there's medical help that's needed, the Israelis step up. And I would be on the same path as you as far as Netanyahu. But I think there's a lot more further that is going on in Israel and how it's projected in the media that, as a senator, I think you'd be able to address some of the things that might be. Again, perception is reality.

[21:20:03]

TALARICO: Well, and I think regardless of -- of how we feel about the current situation, hopefully we can all come together to fight for a two-state solution where we have security for Israel and we have freedom and self-determination for Palestinians.

COHN: Right.

TALARICO: What my hope is, is -- my prayer actually is out of this -- this chaos, this death, this destruction, this bloodshed --

COHN: Uh-huh.

TALARICO: -- something new can rise out of the ashes. And I hope it's a -- it's a sustainable, durable peace for all people in the region.

COHN: I pray that there's peace as well. And this is a very tough issue.

And just want to make sure that what you're communicating is what people are hearing as far as the perception of everything. So that's a really important topic.

TALARICO: And I take that feedback, and as a leader, I know that my words carry weight, and I'm always trying to improve how I talk about things, especially something as sensitive and difficult and painful as the conflict in the Middle East.

And so, you have my word that I'm going to continue to listen to all sides of this conflict. I'm going to continue to learn as much as I can so that I can lead with moral clarity in the United States Senate.

(APPLAUSE)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN MODERATOR: Thank you both so much. Rabbi, thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE)

BURNETT: And now the big question, did Mr. Talarico win over the votes of some of the undecided voters here in the room, people who walked in saying they did not know who they were going to vote for?

Up next, you will have an opportunity to ask them directly.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:25:36]

BURNETT: And welcome back to Fort Worth, Texas, in a CNN and Jubilee Town Hall.

We're live here with Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, James Talarico.

And we've had the opportunity tonight to hear about issues that are important to our audience, and given some voters the opportunity for that table for two discussion with Representative Talarico.

Now, there are a number of voters here who, when you came in, told us that you were undecided, that you had not decided whether you were voting at all or for Mr. Talarico or for Mr. Paxton.

So can you raise your hand if you told us when you were coming in that you were undecided?

Okay, not a lot, but if I'm watching this race from anywhere else in the country, I'd say any is a lot, right? Because we keep hearing about it, so this is important.

What -- what will what will change your mind? What will get you over the finish line?

So let's go to Jasmyn.

Jasmyn, that's you.

JASMYN CARTER, PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR: Hi, how are you? Oh, yes, lucky to stay --

BURNETT: You can introduce yourself, too, of course, Jasmyn.

CARTER: And my name is Jasmyn Carter. I was bamboozled when I went to go become a press secretary for a police department and found out I was born in Tarrant County.

Mom, when were you going to tell me this? She said when you cross the street is Dallas County. Okay.

But thank you for having us tonight. I want have a very frank conversation with you about homeownership. I

am a young lady who has a very good income to debt ratio. I was responsible. I pay my student loans, which are almost like a car note.

And in 2022, when I finally saved $30,000 cash, I went to go house shopping. And upon arrival, I had a family from California put an extra $80,000 cash down, and all the Texans looked at each other and said, peace out, OK?

And so my question to you is what are you really going to do about the infrastructure that's taking place? We know that Texas is number seven and now beating France in -- as far as our region and what we have to offer, but when it comes to affordability for us that are homegrown here, eight generations here, we cannot afford a house.

TALARICO: That's right.

CARTER: And so I need you to do something about it, but I want to know what you're going to do about it.

TALARICO: Well, and I'm --

(APPLAUSE)

BURNETT: That's bipartisan applause.

TALARICO: Yeah, I'm hearing this, especially from young people like you all over the state, who were promised that if they worked hard, if they played by the rules, if they went to school, if they studied, they could live the American dream. And that was a lie.

CARTER: It's a nightmare.

TALARICO: It's a -- it's a nightmare now. And so many young people can't afford to buy a home.

I've actually worked on this in the state legislature. I passed a bipartisan bill to allow for a new kind of housing to be built here in Texas. Our outdated building codes don't allow for something called single-stair housing, which is smaller apartment complexes, smaller condos. It's a great entry point for homeownership.

And because our regulations wouldn't allow it, we weren't building it here. And so I worked with the Republicans across the aisle. We repealed that outdated regulation. Now we're building that kind of housing here in Texas.

CARTER: But do you know that when it comes to purchasing in Texas, the average home is $360,000?

TALARICO: Right.

CARTER: It -- I would like to walk outside and not feel safe.

TALARICO: Right. That's right.

CARTER: You know, when I'm going somewhere, it's a nice house where I can walk around. And I'm not saying --

TALARICO: Yeah.

CARTER: I'm a Rockefeller or anything because I'm not. But I'm saying, why do I have to spend $605,000?

TALARICO: Yeah.

CARTER: And then your incentives for Texas? Oh, we can help you with closing costs. Do you know what $20,000 does --

TALARICO: Yeah.

CARTER: -- for something that's $605,000? Nothing.

So I need you to really change that.

TALARICO: Yeah.

CARTER: That first time home buyer incentive should not be 20 to 30 grand. It needs to be like 60 --

TALARICO: Yes.

CARTER: -- because the times are different.

TALARICO: Yeah.

CARTER: And we really need help with that.

TALARICO: Yeah, we need substantial assistance for first-time homebuyers.

And you mentioned the Californians putting down money. Actually, the folks who are buying up most of the properties here in Texas, it's Wall Street.

And so we need to ban Wall Street from gobbling up our housing stock here in Texas so that we can allow actual Texans to afford a home.

(APPLAUSE)

CARTER: So -- and I'm not shaming Californians. I want everybody to come. But what I would like for you to do is create some type of legislation that is grandfathered to people who are born and raised here.

TALARICO: I love that idea.

CARTER: We're not going to have New York policy. We're not going to have New York retirement. We're not going to have Arizona retirement money.

TALARICO: Yeah.

CARTER: We're not going to have California minimum wage. TALARICO: Yeah.

CARTER: It's still $7.25. So I mean --

TALARICO: Let's raise that minimum wage. So there you go.

CARTER: I'm going to come find you.

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: Amen. Amen.

BURNETT: All right. We have time for more -- we've got time for one more question.

[21:30:05]

Monica, that is you. So hold on. Let's just get the mic over to you.

You were undecided coming in, so how do you feel now? What concerns you? And please introduce yourself, Monica.

MONICA LOCKETT, SOFTWARE ENGINEER: My name is Monica. I'm a software engineer, and I'm also a content creator.

TALARICO: Oh, wonderful.

LOCKETT: So I am still undecided because I feel like there's an elephant in the room that no one has brought up, and that is A.I., data centers, okay?

Data centers are coming in, they seem to be like coming in in droves, like there's like I think 100 planned to be coming into Texas, I'm not sure, or more. I think one was just built.

People don't even know that these things are being built in their -- in their areas. It's just like one just pops up and they're like, okay, wow.

TALARICO: That's right.

LOCKETT: On top of that, people are afraid that the aquifers are like losing water. We already having droughts as it is. Texas is a very dry hot place.

So, now, the water is being diminished. People are worried about their bills, like their electric bills going up.

TALARICO: Yes.

LOCKETT: Their water bills going up. A decrease in quality of water, it's already a dry place as it is, especially in the middle of Texas.

So I just want to know what are your -- what's your take on like the A.I. boom --

TALARICO: Yeah.

LOCKETT: -- and those data centers (INAUDIBLE)?

TALARICO: I was actually up in Abilene meeting with residents, Democrats and Republicans alike because they are building three giant data centers in Abilene.

I met a -- a mother. She and her husband moved out to Abilene to build their dream home and then a data center popped up right across the street.

Now, her -- her young son wakes up in the middle of the night and thinks it's day because the light's shining through his window.

And so I've rolled out a plan to crack down on these giant data center companies. I've said that we got to force them to pay for their own energy instead of jacking up our utility bills. We got to force them to recycle their water so they are not exacerbating the water crisis here in Texas, and force them to get the consent of the people who live in these communities before they start building.

(APPLAUSE)

LOCKETT: And one --

TALARICO: And here's --

LOCKETT: Another thing, too, is that a lot of these data centers are being halfway built, and there's a lot of bureaucracy within the towns that are trying to stop the data center.

TALARICO: Right.

LOCKETT: So you have a half-built building. You have things being tied up in court. Like what do you think about that as well?

TALARICO: And here -- and here is the central problem, because corrupt politicians who are bought and paid for by these data center companies are giving sweetheart tax deals to these companies.

This is -- this is, I think, a theme of this entire conversation tonight. We have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis.

We -- we have seen --

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: We have seen, for the last five decades, since the late 1970s, corporate special interests, billionaire mega-donors buying politicians.

And then those politicians in both political parties rig the rules of the economy in favor of those wealthy special interests at our expense. But we can change that, in this year, in this state, in this race. You

may have noticed that I haven't talked about my opponent at all tonight because I don't want people to vote -- I don't want people --

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: I don't want people to vote just against Ken Paxton. I want them to vote for me. I want them to know my values and my vision.

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: But the last thing I will say is that we are running against the most corrupt politician in Texas. And -- and this is not an exaggeration. Since taking office, Ken Paxton has increased his net worth by $27 million. He now owns 15 homes, while most Texans can't afford one.

He has taken bribes from wealthy special interests, including half a million dollars from data center companies, all while he sells us out when he makes public policy.

We cannot afford Ken Paxton's corruption. We have an opportunity in this race not just to defeat the most corrupt politician in Texas. We have an opportunity to defeat this entire corrupt system.

This election is not about left versus right. It's about whether we will have a senator who puts money in your pocket or a senator who puts money in their own. That is the choice before us in November.

(APPLAUSE)

BURNETT: Representative Talarico, thank you so much for coming here and for being part of our town hall.

TALARICO: Yeah.

BURNETT: I appreciate it.

And thanks so much to all of you for being part of this. It matters so much to everybody to see this sort of thoughtful conversation and respectful debate.

TALARICO: It's great --

(CROSSTALK)

BURNETT: So we have a special post-show analysis coming up here on CNN with Kaitlan Collins, and that starts right now.

(APPLAUSE)

TALARICO: Very good. Thank you, guys. Thank you all.

(APPLAUSE)