Sen. Bernie Sanders visits northern Nevada: one-on-one interview

RENO, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — Hundreds of Nevadans could say they "Felt the Bern", after Senator Bernie Sanders made his eighth visit to the Silver State.

News 4-Fox 11 had the chance to speak one on one with Senator Sanders.

During the interview on Monday, Sanders recognized Nevada’s lack luster education system and said he would increase federal funding for students three fold.

"Instead of giving tax breaks to billionaires and putting hundreds of billions into the fossil fuel industry, what we do is start investing in education from childcare through college," explained Sen. Sanders. "What that means for K-12 students is we're going to triple federal funding for low-income Title 1 schools and we're going to make sure kids have enough money to handle kids with disabilities."

Earlier on Monday, the Senator from Vermont also visited the Stewart Community Center to speak with voters in Carson City.

Senator Sanders spoke on a lot of issues, including the growing the risks of climate change and harmful influence of money in politics.

"I think most people understand that we have a corrupt campaign finance system," said Sen. Bernie Sanders in regards to dealing with the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. "We are going to do everything we can to have a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and also move the public funding of elections against voter suppression."

He also says many of the issues in Nevada start at America’s growing income inequality.

During his rallies in both Carson City and Reno, he called America's political system corrupt and said in many cases, companies like Amazon paid $0 in federal taxes, significantly lower than most of middle class America.

Sanders also called for the legalization of marijuana and Medicare for all. One Nevada voter says healthcare is one of the biggest reasons he's supporting Bernie Sanders for president.

"The biggest point for me to support him is healthcare," explained David Gould, who has already seen Sen. Sanders speak twice. "I think we can catch up to other countries and really have healthcare for all people."

The Vermont Senator also talked about the drastic need to address climate change.

"If we do not act in an incredible bold and aggressive manner to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel," reasoned Sen. Sanders. "The country we'll be living our children and grandchildren will be increasingly unhealthy and uninhabitable."

Senator Sanders says while there may be issues that divide the country, he says in general, people agree on common sense solutions, like universal background checks. With over 1.2 million donors so far, he says he’s confident he can bring the country together.

Senator Bernie Sanders is expected to return to Nevada at least once more before the end of 2019.