Fact-checking the Democratic debate

Last night, the top 10 Democratic primary candidates took the state at Texas Southern University in Houston for a three-hour debate. Here's a brief run-down of issues with rural resonance, as well as some fact-checking of the candidates' answers.

On fact-checking, the candidates' claims mostly passed the smell test. The New York Times fact-checkers noted that Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont exaggerated when he said that 500,000 Americans are going bankrupt because of medical bills. According to several studies, income losses from illness contributed to bankruptcy; the fact-checkers note that universal health care would not address that problem.

In an attempt to distance himself from Trump's immigration policies, Vice President Joe Biden said the Obama administration "didn't lock people up in cages" or separate families. That was misleading, the fact-checkers said, since the Obama administration built some detention facilities at the border. However, they write, those facilities were never meant for long-term detention of children. Biden is correct that Obama did not have a policy of separating families at the border, they note, and said people were only separated if the children were suspected of being unrelated to the adults (trafficked, in other words).

On the issues: ABC News national correspondent Linsey Davis asked about criminal justice reform; that's an area of concern for rural residents, which struggle with overcrowded county jails while often counting private prisons as major local employers.

Sen. Kamala Harris of California said she wants to take the profit out of the criminal justice system, and promised to shut down for-profit prisons on her first day as president. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota proposed reducing the sentences of nonviolent offenders in state and local jails, whom she says make up 90% of the incarcerated. Vice President Joe Biden said too many people are in jail who should not be in jail, and that we must make rehabilitation our goal. No one should be in jail for a nonviolent crime, especially a drug problem, he said, and proposed building more rehab centers instead of prisons. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said the criminal justice system is unfair to the poor, and that 17,000 people are in jail unjustly today.

ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir asked the candidates about mass shooting and gun rights. He noted that Biden sponsored a measure to require extended background checks after the deadly Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012, but that the measure did not pass the Senate.

Biden said he had beaten the National Rifle Association before because he had helped shepherd the Brady Bill through the Senate. He also said that more than 50% of NRA members supported his post-Sandy Hook proposals, and said more than 90% of Americans now believe assault weapons should be banned. Harris affirmed that she would ban imports of AR-15 rifles within her first 100 days and said Trump was encouraging mass shooters with his tweets.

Former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke said he had discussed his assault weapon buyback proposal at a gun show in Conway, Arkansas, and said some people who were selling assault weapons there were open to giving them up because of the shootings. Klobuchar, who proposed a voluntary buyback program, noted that that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was sitting on three bills to limit gun rights, and that passing those bills could bring about change more quickly than waiting for one of them to get elected president.

Booker said the majority of gun owners agreed with him that more gun-control is needed. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said that mass shootings get more headlines than everyday gun deaths from suicide and domestic abuse, and said Congress is beholden by gun lobbyists and must be reformed so it works for people other than the wealthy and well-connected. Sanders said he was proud to get an F rating from the NRA and promised comprehensive gun reform.

Jorge Ramos of Univision asked Booker if others should emulate his vegan diet or try to eat less meat because of concerns about climate change. Booker said no, but said he had sponsored a bill to stop corporate consolidation in the ag industry because large-scale farming operations hurt the environment and small family farmers. Booker also decried inadequate medical care for military veterans through the VA system, and said we must prioritize their care.

On the subject of climate change, O'Rourke said farmers must be given incentives to adopt greener practices like no-till farming and planting cover crops, and that more land should be kept under conservation.

Mayor Pete Buttegieg of South Bend, Indiana, said that he had seen very rural, conservative communities in Iowa grow after embracing immigration. So, he said, his plan for revitalizing rural economies includes expanding community renewal visas to increase the local population and make them more attractive to potential employers.

The main debate on health care was whether the candidates supported a single-payer system (Medicare for All) or a public option that retains the private insurance system. Warren, who supports single-payer, said passing the measure would not require people to switch health care providers or locations, even in rural areas; the biggest difference, she said, would be where the bill is sent.