Salary Dispute Rocks The Sanders Campaign; Joe Biden Hits Key Caucus State Nevada
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you're right about that, Martin. There's no doubt this is not what Bernie Sanders wants to be talking about in Iowa this week. He's here, right behind me, hosting a roundtable on senior citizens issues and issues related to health care. That's what the focus of this campaign is. He does not want to be talking about this. It's an inescapable fact it's something he has to deal with. That's because a group of his field staffers, the lowest rung on the campaign infrastructure, are upset because the original deal they negotiated with his union -- this is a union that went into negotiations and came out with a contract with the Sanders campaign. Historic, never happened before in the history of a presidential campaign. They negotiated a 36,000 a year salary for the field staff. And based on a 40-hour week, that does get them at the $15 an hour mark. But as the campaign ramps up - take, for instance, today, Bernie Sanders has five different events in Iowa alone. That means more demands on their field staff. And when many of them are six days a week, 10-hour days, and you get up to 60 hours a week, the $15 salary is not meeting that threshold. Some went to the press and leaked to the "Washington Post" their concerns about this. It is part of an ongoing negotiation with the union, Union of Food and Commercial Workers. They're trying to work out these issues. They even, at one point, were offered a pay raise and they turned that down. Now Sanders is saying he's proud of the contract his campaign negotiated. He's proud that a union is representing his staffers. This is what he told the "Washington Post" in a statement. He said, "We have an historic contract agreement that provides unprecedented protections and benefits. Through that framework, we are committed to addressing concerns in good faith through the bargaining process." Sanders said he's disappointed his field staff went to the press to air their concerns. They have a union and a they have a collective bargaining agreement. They can negotiate these issues behind closed doors without bringing them out into the light of the day. Of course, Martin, this would be a headache for anyone dealing with a union but, in a presidential campaign, especially Bernie Sanders', who has made employee rights a hallmark of his campaign, and particularly that $15 an hour standard, it's made life very difficult for him during the campaign -- Martin?</s>SAVIDGE: Yes. Like you said, it's complicated. Ryan Nobles, thank you very much, in Iowa. Let's go to battleground state of Nevada, and an important place for Joe Biden's war chest. CNN Political Reporter, Arlette Saenz, is in Las Vegas. Arlette, CNN did its draw for the debate earlier this week. What did the vice president think of his place in the lineup?</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Joe Biden told me yesterday he's looking forward to this upcoming debate. I had the chance to ask him as he was leaving a tamale restaurant in east Los Angeles what he thought of the debate lineup and he said he's looking forward to it and he likes it. But Biden will have about a week and a half to prepare for that second presidential debate that we're hosting. He's going to find himself in another rematch of Senator Kamala Harris. If you take a look at that lineup, he'll be right in the middle, between Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, two people who have been strongly critical of the former vice president, especially when it comes to issues of race. The Biden campaign tells me they're fully aware most of the candidates are going to direct their fire at the former vice president but that he wants to make the clear, stark policy differences clear that he has with other candidates, particularly on the issue of health care. That's something you've seen him really engage in over the past two weeks, trying to highlight that he does not believe that Medicare-for- All, which is supported by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, among others, he doesn't believe Medicare-for-All is the answer on health care. The former vice president is going to be drilling into that debate prep in the coming two weeks -- Martin?</s>SAVIDGE: And what is Biden doing there in Las Vegas today?</s>SAENZ: Well, this is his second trip to Nevada. In just a few hours, Biden will be stopping by this union hall where there's going to be phone banking going on. This is the campaign's national day of action. They're phone banking and canvassing across the country. And some volunteers will be setting up here over the next few hours. You'll see they have all of these files and papers for people to start making phone calls to voters. They'll make phone calls in English and Spanish as they really try to reach out to the Latino community here in Nevada. And the former vice president will be making an appearance. And we'll see if he decides to make a few phone calls himself -- Martin?</s>SAVIDGE: I bet he will. Arlette Saenz, thanks very much for that. Still ahead, protesters in Puerto Rico call for the police to join their cause as they demand the governor resign. Is he on the verge of being impeached? We'll have a live report.