Candidate Cafe special: Bernie Sanders See the lighter side of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in this Candidate Cafe segment. Share Shares Copy Link Copy

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WEBVTT BUSINESS, WHEN THEY STOP ASKING FOR PICTURES, IT IS A BAD THING. SO THIS IS A GOOD SIGN. JOSH: ANOTHER CANDIDATE KNOWN TO BUCK THE TREND FROM TIME TO TIME IS BERNIE SANDERS. REGISTERED ON CAPITOL HILL AS AN INDEPENDENT, HE FILED FOR THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY AS A DEMOCRAT. HE ADMIRES OTHER UNORTHODOX FIGURES, BUT IN MANY PARTS OF HIS LIFE, SANDERS IS AS TRADITIONAL AS BASEBALL. MR. SANDERS: MORNING! CROWD: MORNING! MR. SANDERS: WHY AM I THE ONLY PERSON WEARING A TIE HERE? JOSH: THAT IS BECAUSE ONLY HOURS EARLIER THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT WAS DOING HIS DAY JOB IN THE SENATE AND IT WAS A LATE-NIGHT. MR. SANDERS: WE ARE NOT GOING TO SOLVE THE FINANCIAL CRISIS BY NOT PAYING OUR BILLS. BUT THERE WE GO. THAT IS WHAT 3:00 IN THE MORNING HAS DONE. JOSH: SURE, SANDERS IS A SENATOR FROM VERMONT, BUT HE IS STILL VERY MUCH BROOKLYN. HE GREW UP IN A NEIGHBORHOOD THAT WAS BOUND BY BASEBALL. MR. SANDERS: YOU REMEMBER THE BROOKLYN DODGERS? IT WAS A TEAM THAT KNIT THE ENTIRE BOROUGH TOGETHER. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT -- IF YOU PRESS ME, I COULD NAME THE STARTING LINEUP IN 1955, PROBABLY. WE LEARNED TO DO ARITHMETIC -- YOU WANT TO HEAR IT? [LAUGHTER] MR. SANDERS: HE IS AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER. ALL RIGHT. GIL HODGES ON FIRST, WE HAD AN SHORT, BILLY COXE AT THIRD, LUKE SNYDER IN CENTER FIELD, ROY CAMPANELLI CATCHING, DON DRYSDALE, AND MANY OTHER GREAT PICTURES. VERY GOOD! [APPLAUSE] MR. SANDERS: ASK ME WHAT I DID YESTERDAY AND I CAN'T QUITE REMEMBER. [LAUGHTER] HOW DOES A KID FROM BROOKLYN AND UP IN VERMONT? MR. SANDERS: SMART GUY. [LAUGHTER] MR. SANDERS: THE STORY THERE IS THAT I GREW UP IN BROOKLYN AND MY PARENTS SENT ME TO BOY SCOUT CAMP. IT WAS UP AND NARROWS BERG, NEW YORK -- NARROWSBURG, NEW YORK. AND I LOVED IT THERE. I LOVED IT, IT WAS ABOUT THREE OR FOUR WEEKS. IT WAS MY FIRST REAL EX PERIENCE WITH THE WOODS. WHEN I CAME BACK, I REALLY LIKED THINKING ABOUT GOING OUTSIDE AND HIKING. WHEN I WAS A KID, MY OLDER BROTHER TOOK ME TO NEW HAT -- TO MANHATTAN. THIS WAS YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS AGO. WE WOULD GO TO RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL AND MY BROTHER WOULD TAKE LEAFLETS AND WE WOULD PICK UP EVERYTHING WE COULD. SO I LEARNED ABOUT VERMONT. JOSH: SANDERS MOVED TO VERMONT WITH HIS WIFE RIGHT OUT OF COLLEGE. THEY BOUGHT 75 ACRES OF LAND FOR THE TIDY SUM OF $2500, BUT IT WAS THE PACE OF LIFE THAT WAS THERE THAT SANDERS SAYS FIT HIM LIKE A GLOVE. MR. SANDERS: WHEN YOU GET INTO THE COUNTRY, MY BLOOD PRESSURE GOES DOWN. IT IS A VERY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE. I WAS JUST IN NEW YORK THE OTHER DAY. IT TURNS OUT AFTER ALL I AM KIND OF A RURAL GUY. WHAT IS YOUR STORY? FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE? MR. SANDERS: THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION AND THE HONEST ANSWER IS THAT I DON'T KNOW. I CAN TELL YOU THAT AS A LITTLE KID, I WENT TO PUBLIC SCHOOL, AND THERE WAS ALWAYS A GUYS BULLIED ME, AND I HAD AN INSTANT JEWEL DISLIKE FOR THAT. I WOULD WANT TO STAND UP FOR LITTLE GUYS. MAYBE SOME OF IT CAME, I SUSPECT THAT -- I AM JEWISH -- WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID, MY FAMILY WASN'T PARTICULARLY POLITICAL. WE LEARNED WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY IN THE LATE 40'S, YOU KNOW I WAS COMING OF AGE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FATHER'S FAMILY, KILLED IN THE HOLOCAUST, AND I THINK THAT LEFT A LASTING -- I REMEMBER READING PICTURE BOOKS OF WORLD WAR II TEARS WERE COMING OUT OF MY EYES -- SO I THINK THAT HAS LEFT A LASTING IMPRESSION OF WHAT EVIL IS AND WHAT OPPRESSION IS ABOUT WHAT TERRIBLE PEOPLE DO TO HUMAN BEINGS. JOSH: IT WAS THERE THAT SANDERS HAD FORMED HIS OPINION OF WEALTH OR LACK OF THEIR OF IT. MR. SANDERS: WHEN YOU HEAR YOU ARE -- WHEN YOU ARE YOUNG AND YOU HEAR YOUR PARENTS ARGUING ABOUT MONEY, IT IS FRIGHTENING. MY MOTHER WOULD SAY, WHY DO YOU MAKE MORE MONEY? I THINK -- SO, GROWING UP WITHOUT A LOT OF MONEY, TO BE CONSCIOUS OF WHAT THAT MEANS -- AND I THINK THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT -- THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS, MAYBE YOU MAY HAVE TROUBLE PUTTING GAS IN THE CAR OR WORRY ABOUT THE LIGHTS BEING SHUT OFF. I GREW UP IN A FAMILY WHERE WE STRUGGLED ECONOMICALLY. IT IS A LESSON I HAVE NEVER, EVER FORGOTTEN. WHAT DID YOU DO TO RELAX? MR. SANDERS: GOOD QUESTION. WE HAVE SEVEN BEAUTIFUL GRANDCHILDREN. THEY ARE THE JOY OF MY LIFE. THERE IS THIS LITTLE GUY, HE NEVER STOPS. WE HAD A MEDIA EVENT. SOMEBODY FROM EUROPEAN TELEVISION GOES, "WHY WOULD YOUR GRANDFATHER BE A GOOD PRESIDENT?" FOUR YEARS OLD, HE SAYS, "WELL, HE TEACHES ME HOW TO PLAY BASEBALL." [LAUGHTER] JOSH: IN THIS CAMPAIGN, THE LOW-KEY GRANDFATHER HAS GROWN INTO A NATIONAL FIGURE, A CELEBRITY THAT HE MET ITS IS TOUGH TO GET USED TO. MR. SANDERS: I AM HAPPY TO DO SOMETHING. [LAUGHTER] MR. SANDERS: BUT IT IS -- I'M USED TO IT IN VERMONT. EVERYBODY IN VERMONT KNOWS ME. BUT TO BE WALKING DOWN THE STREETS OF CHICAGO AND NEW YORK CITY OR PORTLAND, OREGON AND PEOPLE COMING UP TO YOU AND SAYING, BERNIE SANDERS, BERNIE SANDERS, WHAT IT MEANS IS THAT YOU HAVE TO BE ON YOUR TOES TWICE FOUR HOURS A DAY. JOSH: -- TOES 24 HOURS A DAY. JOSH: ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO THE MEDIA, A GROUP THAT SANDERS BELIEVES OFTEN LOSES SIGHT OF THE BALL. MR. SANDERS: DUMBEST QUESTION IS WHAT I HAD PUT INTO MY COFFEE? [LAUGHTER] MR. SANDERS: WELL YOU JUST SAW IT, ONE CREAM, ONE CREAM. I WAS NOT VERY NICE TO THEM. I SAID, WE HAVE ONE OR TWO CRISES IN AMERICA AND YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW MUCH CREAM I PUT IN MY COFFEE. MAYBE I WAS HAVING A BAD DAY. JOSH: THAT'S NOT TO SAY THAT SANDERS DOESN'T HAVE HUMOR. HE DOES. HE ENJOYS THE COMPARISON THAT IS OFTEN MADE BETWEEN HIM AND THE CREATOR OF "SEINFELD." MR. SANDERS: I DON'T HOW TO SAY THIS, BUT I AM LARRY DAVID. WE LEFT BURNIE IN WASHINGTON. HE WILL BE JOINING US LATER THIS EVENING. [LAUGHTER]

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