Growing up after the Second World War in a Jewish family, I really understand that, and have members of my family who are very committed to this concept. My grandfather's first name was Israel and he thought it was his country. In my own sense of this issue as an American Jew, I have been on both sides of this. At this point I think it is very important for there to be separation of religion and state. It's not good for Jews. It's not good for Muslims. It's not good for Christians. The marriage of state and religion is inherently problematic.

Why should the Democratic and Republican parties be in charge of the debates, especially at a time when the largest block of voters has repudiated the Democratic and Republican parties? Why are they still in charge?

I did my residency on the South Side of Chicago.We were taking care of people who were incredibly sick and were really struggling with poverty, and , access to food, and how could they afford their medications.

Maybe Bernie [Sanders] lost his perspective because he became a part of the Washington culture. Maybe it's a generational thing.

Over three-quarters of the American people are saying it's time to open up the debates. We have rejected these two candidates [Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump] at the highest levels of disapproval in our history.

Twenty million jobs is what we call for in the Green New Deal, which is essentially a New Deal focused on greening the economy on an emergency basis. So it's 20 million jobs, which are mixed, private sector, nonprofits, government jobs where others will not do the job and will not create the employment.

Why not liberate voters to actually vote your values?