2020 Daily Trail Markers: Democratic candidates head to Las Vegas for Gun Safety Forum
Ahead of Wednesday's "2020 Gun Safety Forum" in Las Vegas, co-hosted by gun control groups Giffords and March for Our Lives, presidential candidates are weighing in today with calls for action on the two-year anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
CBS News Campaign Reporter Alex Tin reports that progressives cheered Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak and the Democrat-led legislature last year for measures tightening gun laws in this early caucus state, including closing the so-called "gun show loophole," enacting a "red flag" law, and banning "bump stock" weapon modifications, like the kind the Las Vegas gunman used in 2017.
However, some rural Nevada sheriffs earlier this year vowed to ignore the new background checks. Fallout in the courts over another new measure has worried domestic violence prevention advocates. And last month, the state faced calls to further tighten its laws after a gunman brought an assault weapon, legally purchased in Nevada, to his mass shooting at a food festival in California.
FROM THE CANDIDATES
CORY BOOKER
In a conference call with reporters late Tuesday morning, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker's presidential campaign manager Addisu Demissie said the campaign raised more than $6 million in the third quarter.
According to CBS News Campaign Reporter Jack Turman, Demissie also said the campaign raised more than $2.1 million in the past ten days after he wrote a memo published on September 21st saying that the campaign needed to raise $1.7 million before the end of the third quarter to expand its organization.
"This was really a make or break moment for our campaign," Demissie said referencing the $1.7 million fundraising goal.
Booker's campaign also indicated it has set a fundraising goal of $3 million for October in order to be able to continue growth. Demissie said the budget for October is roughly $2.5 million.
With the funds the campaign has raised in the third quarter, Demissie said the campaign will hire 40 new staff members over the next six weeks. The staff members will be on the ground in the early voting states and at the campaign's headquarters in Newark. In addition, the campaign will open more field offices in the early voting states, make a six-figure investment in building their email list and launch a ballot access program.
PETE BUTTIGIEG
CBS News Campaign Reporter Jack Turman says South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg's campaign manager wrote in a memo that the campaign raised more than $19.1 million in the third quarter, which is less than the $24.9 million the campaign raised in the second quarter. With the new third quarter fundraising number included, the campaign said it has raised more than $51 million this year.
Mike Schmuhl, Buttigieg's campaign manager, wrote that the campaign received roughly 182,000 new donors in the third quarter and that the average contribution for the quarter was $32.
"This is great news and shows that in a crowded field, Pete continues to stand out as having the vision and leadership voters know we need to tackle the urgent problems facing our country," Schmuhl wrote. "It also positions us solidly as one of the top three fundraisers in this race. We will have the resources to go the full distance, and to win, the 2020 nominating contests."
The campaign did not report a quarterly cash on hand figure.
BERNIE SANDERS
Senator Bernie Sanders' campaign announced Tuesday it raised $25.3 million dollars in the third quarter of 2019, setting a new record for the amount raised by the democratic presidential candidate in a single quarter of the 2020 election cycle.
CBS News Political Unit Associate Producer Sarah Ewall-Wice notes the cash haul came from 1.4 million donations. The average donation was $18. According to the campaign, it was their single best fundraising month of the campaign since its February launch. In the last quarter, Sanders raised $18 million but also transferred more than $7.6 million from other committees. In September, Sanders' campaign announced it had surpassed one million individual donors. According to the campaign, 99.5% of donors can contribute again.
ELIZABETH WARREN
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren's has made no secret of her plans to target the most powerful companies in the country. In May, she even put up a billboard that read "Break up big tech" in the heart of Silicon Valley, according to CBS News Campaign Reporter Zak Hudak.
Now, her plan from March to break up tech giants, which names Facebook 11 times, has caught the attention of Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who told his employees in July that, "If she gets elected president, then I would bet that we will have a legal challenge, and I would bet that we will win the legal challenge. And does that still suck for us? Yeah." The quote was first reported by The Verge.
Zuckerberg confirmed the authenticity of the audio in a Facebook post Tuesday. And Warren, for her part, appeared to welcome a dispute with Zuckerberg.
"What would really "suck" is if we don't fix a corrupt system that lets giant companies like Facebook engage in illegal anticompetitive practices, stomp on consumer privacy rights, and repeatedly fumble their responsibility to protect our democracy," she tweeted Tuesday.
GOP FUNDRAISING
MAGA MONEY
According to President Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale, the president and the Republican National Committee brought in $125 million in the third quarter and ended the fundraising period with $156 million cash on hand. This brings their total fundraising to $308 million in 2019. Just last week, campaign spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany told CBS News Political Unit Associate Producer Sarah Ewall-Wice in a statement that fundraising off the impeachment inquiry has been through the roof. According to them, the first email they sent raised $250,000 in 15 minutes.
UP FOR DEBATE
CENTER STAGE
The clock is ticking down on the deadline to qualify for the next Democratic presidential debate on October 15 in Westerville, Ohio. According to CBS News Political Unit Associate Producer Sarah Ewall-Wice, 12 candidates are qualified to participate ahead of the end of day deadline. Those candidates include Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker, Julian Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang.
Steyer and Gabbard appear to be the only two candidates who did not qualify for the September debate who will appear on stage in October. This will also be the last debate before the thresholds for qualifying go up dramatically for the November debate.
EARLY STATES
DOWN SOUTH
As voters across country continue to weigh in on the legitimacy of the House impeachment inquiry into President Trump's call with the President of Ukraine, some South Carolina voters tell CBS News Campaign Reporter LaCrai Mitchell no matter the outcome, Congress pursue an investigation.
"I think whether or not you're a Republican or Democrat it's worth looking into," said Antonio Jones, a political science major at the College of Charleston. "I think that the impeachment inquiry will lead to no actual removal from office…just a bunch of tweets."
While others agree that the inquiry may not lead to removal, Democratic voters like Carlos Goodwin maintain that "everybody should be held accountable for their actions."