Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both came ready to brawl to Brooklyn's Democratic debate, hosted by CNN and local station NY1 Thursday. CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Dana Bash and NY1's Errol Louis refereed the bout between the Brooklyn-born son of a Polish immigrant and the two-time junior senator from New York.
Tensions ran high for a reason: The New York Democratic primary matters this cycle, for the first time in many years. Sanders has won seven out of the the last eight contests, but needs to take New York by a broad margin to stay competitive; Clinton is still leading him by nearly 14 points, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls.
Here were some of the feistiest moments of the night.
1. "We worked hard to really keep New York values at the center of who we are and what we do together." -Hillary Clinton taking a swipe at Ted Cruz in her opening statement
2. "Sen. Sanders did call me unqualified. I've been called a lot of things in my life. That was a first." -Hillary Clinton
3. "I think you need to have the judgment on day one be both president and commander in chief." -Hillary Clinton, responding to Bernie Sanders' assertion that he believes she's qualified but doesn't trust her judgement
4. "Let's talk about judgment. Let us talk about the worst foreign policy blunder in the modern history of this country." -Bernie Sanders
5. "President Obama trusted my judgment enough to ask me to be Secretary of State for the United States." -Hillary Clinton
6. "[Let's] talk about the kinds of problems he had answering questions about even his core issue: breaking up the banks. He could not explain how that would be done." -Hillary Clinton
7. "Do we really feel confident about a candidate saying that she's going to bring change in America when she is so dependent on big money interests?" -Bernie Sanders
8. "This is a phony attack that is designed to raise questions when there is no evidence or support." -Hillary Clinton responding to Sanders' attack on who she's accepted money from
9. "I love being in Brooklyn. This is great." -Hillary Clinton, taking a moment to smile and address the rowdy crowd
10. "It may be inconvenient, but it's always important to get the facts straight. I stood up against the behaviors of the banks when I was a senator." -Hillary Clinton
11. "Secretary Clinton called them out. Oh my goodness, they must have been really crushed by this. And was that before or after you received huge sums of money by giving speaking engagements?" -Bernie Sanders
12. "I am going to release all of the transcripts of the speeches that I gave on Wall Street behind closed doors — not for $225,000, not for $2,000, not for two cents. There were no speeches." -Bernie Sanders
13. "Of course we will release our taxes. Jane does our taxes. We've been a little bit busy lately. You'll excuse us." -Bernie Sanders on why he hasn't released his taxes yet
14. "Well, you know, there are a lot of copy machines around." -Hillary Clinton
15. "What's taking so long? Because you just have to go to the filing cabinet, make a copy and release them." -Wolf Blitzer
16. "I don't want to get anybody very excited. They are very boring tax returns. No big money from speeches, no major investments. Unfortunately, I remain one of the poorer members of the United States Senate." -Bernie Sanders
17. "He can't come up with any example because there is no example." -Hillary Clinton, on Bernie Sanders' failure to say when she's changed her stance on a major issue because of a donation from a special interest
18. Bernie Sanders: "I am sure a lot of people are very surprised to learn that you supported raising the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour."
Hillary Clinton: "Come on, I have stood on the debate stage with Senator Sanders eight time. I have said the exact same thing."
Bernie Sanders: "To suddenly announce now that you are for $15, I don't think is quite accurate."
Hillary Clinton: "It happens to be true."
19. "If you are both screaming at each other, the viewers won't be able to hear either of you." -Wolf Blitzer, trying to calm the proceedings down
20. "Are you seriously blaming Vermont — and implicitly Sen. Sanders — for New York's gun violence?" -Wolf Blitzer to Hillary Clinton, responding to her claim that a large number of guns used in crimes in New York originated in Vermont
21. "Of course not. This is a serious difference between us.... [To Bernie Sanders, who was smirking] It's not a laughing matter.... I take it really seriously, because I have spent more time than I care to remember being with people who have lost their loved ones." -Hillary Clinton on gun violence
22. "Because it was a racist term and everybody knew it was a racist term." -Bernie Sanders on Hillary Clinton's use of the word "superpredators" in the Nineties
23. "The lobbyists thought she was a pretty good bet on this issue." -Bernie Sanders, referencing the fact that 43 fossil fuel industry lobbyists have donated to Clinton's campaign
24. "I don't take a back seat to your legislation that you've introduced that you haven't been able to get passed." -Hillary Clinton on Sanders' climate change legislation
25. "It's easy to diagnose the problem. It's harder to do something about the problem." -Hillary Clinton on fracking
26. "I know you keep referring to Barack Obama all night here, but you in Syria talk about a no-fly zone, which the president does not support, nor do I support." -Bernie Sanders
27. "Of course they should be paying more, but that doesn't mean if they don't, we leave." -Hillary Clinton on NATO
28. "There comes a time when if we pursue justice and peace we are going to have to say that Netanyahu is not right all of the time." -Bernie Sanders on U.S. relations with Israel
29. "Please do not confuse that with your active effort for regime change without contemplating what happens the day after." -Bernie Sanders, on voting to support a resolution condemning human rights abuses in Libya
30. "I live 50 miles from Canada. It's not some kind of communist, authoritarian country. They're doing OK." -Bernie Sanders
31. "If I hear you correctly, Madame Secretary, you are now finally coming out in favor of lifting the cap on taxable income? If that is the case, welcome on board. I'm glad you're here." -Bernie Sanders
32. "There is still something called Congress — and I want Democrats to regain a majority in the Senate so a lot of what we are talking about can actually be implemented when I am president." -Hillary Clinton on the practicality of Sanders' Social Security plans
33. "We've had eight debates before, this is our ninth, and we've not had one question about a woman's right to make her own decisions about reproductive health care. Not one question, and in the meantime we've got states, governors doing everything they can to restrict women's rights. We have a presidential candidate by the name of Donald Trump saying that women should be punished [for having abortions], and we are never asked about this." -Hillary Clinton, taking the debate moderators to task
34. "Secretary Clinton cleaned our clock in the deep South. No question about it. We got murdered there. That is the most conservative part of this great country. That's the fact." -Bernie Sanders, who lost Southern states because of black voters' support for Clinton, not the states' conservatism
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