Bernie Sanders to Claflin: New national priorities

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders held a rally at Claflin University Friday, the day before the South Carolina primary.
The event, which took place at the university's gym, attracted students as well as the public.

"What this campaign is about is taking a look at national priorities," Sanders said. He talked about helping students with their college debts and making public universities as well as HBCUs free. He took jab at Republicans by saying that their tax proposals favour the top 1 percent i.e. the wealthy folks.
He said unemployment is high, especially among African-Americans and other minorities. He said he would address such issues by creating millions of new jobs as well as raising the minimum wage. He promised to fight for pay equity for women and asked men to stand up for that cause.

"It is worse than you think," Sanders said as he told the crowd about the Flint water problem in Michigan. He said children are getting sick due to lead poisoning as the government has failed them. He said he is going to make Flint's water problem a reality.

He said America needs to fix the broken criminal justice system, including reforms with police. He talked about how a majority of people in jail are blacks, Latinos and Native Americans. He also promised to legalize marijuana, which led to loud cheers from students.

He said he is against the death penalty. "Vengeance is not the answer," Sanders said.

He said his campaign is funded by ordinary Americans, unlike other campaigns funded by private investors, especially from the Wall Street. He promised to break down the Wall Street system, which he said makes the rich richer and poor poorer.

Sanders' opponent, Hillary Clinton, held a rally Friday afternoon at neighboring S.C. State University.