The Latest: Biden takes on fire at debate from Julián Castro

HOUSTON (AP) — The Latest on the Democratic presidential debate (all times local):

9:55 p.m.

Early front-runner Joe Biden took on the most fire at Thursday's Democratic presidential debate, and former Obama Housing Secretary Julián Castro was the most explicit in arguing it was time for a new generation.

Castro also seemed to allude to speculation about the 76-year-old Biden's mental acuity during an exchange about health care. When Biden denied that his health plan required people to buy into Medicare, Castro exclaimed, "Are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago?"

Sen. Bernie Sanders faced sharp criticism about his universal health care plan from several candidates, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren was more in the background than in prior debates but didn't damage herself.

The likely result is little change in a primary that has been remarkably static for months.

9:30 p.m.

Democratic presidential contender Andrew Yang says he supports a mix of options, including charter schools, in trying to fix the nation's education system.

The former tech entrepreneur said at Thursday night's debate that he is "pro-good school." Yang also said that his proposed "Freedom Dividend" would help lower-income families support their children's educational needs while alleviating teachers already overburdened because many are going beyond classroom instruction, compensating for support some students aren't getting at home.

Several candidates, including Pete Buttigieg (BOO'-tuh-juhj), Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, advocated for raising teacher salaries — something Cory Booker noted that "we actually did it" as mayor of Newark, New Jersey.

Both Warren and Bernie Sanders promoted student debt cancellation plans. Harris, a graduate of a historically black university or college, noted her proposal to put $2 billion toward the institutions' teacher training programs, drawing applause from the audience at Texas Southern University, a Houston HBCU.

9:20 p.m.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is again refusing to call Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro a "dictator," calling him instead "a vicious tyrant" at Thursday night's Democratic primary debate.

Sanders, who identifies as a democratic socialist, is also calling a question from the moderator asking him to contrast his vision of socialism with Maduro's government "deeply unfair. He says he supports Canada's and Scandinavia's policies of universal health care and offering paid family leave and a living wage, as well as wresting control over major institutions from a small number of wealthy Americans.

Maduro's 2018 reelection has been disputed, and the United States has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate leader of Venezuela. His leadership has seen the country fall into economic and political upheaval, with residents facing food shortages and the Venezuelan currency losing value.

9:15 p.m.

The only combat veteran on the Democratic presidential debate stage in Houston is reminding the audience that many new military inductees were newborns when the U.S. was attacked 18 years ago.

South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg's comments on Thursday came the day after the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The debate was an opportunity for him to bring up his proposal to seek an authorization for the use of military force with a built-in three-year sunset that Congress would be required to renew.

Buttigieg says, "We have got to put an end to endless war."

Buttigieg also says that President Donald Trump treats "troops as props, or worse, tools for his own enrichment." That final dig is an allusion to the Trump administration's rerouting of U.S. military personnel to overnight stays at his Trump Turnberry golf resort in Scotland.

8:50 p.m.

Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren says that she would repair the country's trade relationships by leveraging desired access to American markets.

Saying the United States' trade policy has "been broken for decades," the Massachusetts senator said Thursday in the Houston debate that the heft of the American market should be used in negotiating with other countries in ways that are fair to workers, farms and small businesses.

The comments come as the United States and China prepare to relaunch trade talks next month amid an escalating tariff dispute.

The countries have been trading conciliatory gestures, raising hopes they can de-escalate a standoff over trade that has shaken financial markets and cast gloom over the global economy.

8:45 p.m.

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg (BOO'-tuh-juhj) says President Donald Trump "clearly has no strategy" in his trade war with China.

The South Bend, Indiana, mayor and other candidates were asked during Thursday's debate in Houston about the tariffs Trump has imposed on China. The country has retaliated with tariffs that have hit U.S. farmers and some other industries hard.

Trump has scoffed at Buttigieg's candidacy, often saying he'd like to see the 37-year-old make a deal with Chinese leader Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng).

Buttigieg says, "I'd like to see him make a deal with Xi Jinping." He says, "Wasn't that supposed to happen in, like, April?"

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar also was critical of Trump, saying he's treating farmers and workers "like poker chips in one of his bankrupt casinos."

8:35 p.m.

Several of the Democrats seeking their party's presidential nomination say they would loosen restrictions on immigration put into place under the Trump administration.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said at Thursday's debate that she would expand pathways to citizenship, blaming current problems on the United States' withdrawal of aid to Central America. She says "a crisis that Donald Trump has created and hopes to profit from politically."

Former tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang noted his status as the son of immigrants and called immigration "positive for our economic and social dynamism" and pledged to return immigration levels to those of the Obama administration.

Asked if President Donald Trump's supporters are racist, given the president's references to Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (BOO'-tuh-juhj) said, "Anyone who supports this is supporting racism."

8:25 p.m.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is dismissing questions about the Obama administration's record of deportations by touting the former Democratic president's effort to open doors to immigrants.

Instead of answering whether the deportations were a mistake, Biden noted Thursday during the Democratic presidential debate Obama's support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and a path to citizenship for people in the country illegally.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro pounced on Biden, accusing him of standing by Obama when it suits him but sidestepping the administration's blemishes.

Castro says, "He wants to take credit for Obama's work, but doesn't want to answer any questions."

Biden shot back angrily, "I stand with Barack Obama all eight years, good, bad, indifferent."

8:20 p.m.

Former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke says "hell yes" he will institute mandatory buybacks for some machine guns if elected president.

In one of the biggest applause lines of the Thursday night presidential debate, O'Rourke described in vivid detail how bullets shot by semi-automatic rifles are designed to "shred everything inside your body."

He said that if a gun is meant to "kill people on a battlefield ... hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15s, your AK-47s." While O'Rourke supports mandatory gun buybacks, other candidates believe such a program should be voluntary.

O'Rourke left the campaign trail last month to return to his hometown of El Paso after a gunman opened fire at a Walmart there, killing 22 people. He has sought to revitalize a flagging campaign by focusing on his gun violence plan.

8:15 p.m.

Several of Beto O'Rourke's fellow Democratic presidential hopefuls are praising him for the support he showed for residents of his hometown following a massacre there last month.

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday on the debate stage that how the former Texas congressman "handled what happened in his hometown is meaningful," a line that drew applause from the Houston crowd.

A white nationalist killed 22 people and wounded about two dozen others in the Aug. 3 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. Following the violence, O'Rourke stepped away from the campaign trail for nearly two weeks to spend time supporting the community.

Biden started the exchange by calling O'Rourke by his first name, which O'Rourke accepted with a smile.

California Sen. Kamala Harris also said, "Beto, God love you for standing so courageously in the face of that tragedy."

8:10 p.m.

Former Vice President Joe Biden says "nobody should be in jail" for nonviolent crimes or for drug problems.

At the Democratic presidential debate in Houston on Thursday, Biden is touting his criminal justice reform plan, which would exonerate drug possession offenders and put drug rehabilitation ahead of jail time for such offenders.

Biden is also touting his role in the 1994 crime bill, often used as a strike against him by his rivals, for its introduction of drug courts aimed specifically at minor drug offenses.

And when the debate turned to mass shootings, Biden said he defeated the National Rifle Association by leading the 25-year-old crime bill's ban on assault weapons.

8:05 p.m.

President Donald Trump says more people are probably tuning into his speech in Baltimore than are watching Democratic presidential hopefuls on the debate stage in Texas.

Trump spoke Thursday to congressional Republicans attending an annual retreat in Baltimore.

Trump said people "should be watching the debate, but they're probably watching this." His speech was aired on CSPAN, while ABC and Univision aired the debate.

The joke drew chuckles from the friendly audience of GOP members of the House.

The candidates in Texas have mentioned him frequently, including on issues of racism and shootings. Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke called Trump "a mortal threat" to people of color in the United States and accused him of inspiring the actions of the El Paso gunman who killed 22 people.

8:02 p.m.

Kamala Harris is vocally defending her criminal justice record during Thursday's Democratic presidential debate in Houston.

The California senator has taken flak since beginning her campaign for what some activists have described as an insufficiently progressive record during her prosecutorial career, culminating with service as the state's attorney general. But Harris has since rolled out a detailed criminal justice reform proposal, including the elimination of federal mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders — a policy blamed for increasing mass incarceration.

Harris said on Thursday that, as she became a prosecutor, "I made a decision that if I was going to have the ability to reform the system, I would try to reform it from the inside."

She said she was "absolutely not" able to do enough at the time.

8 p.m.

Democratic presidential candidates are outlining their plans to address racism in the nation and attacking President Donald Trump as they do so.

At Thursday's Democratic presidential debate, Beto O'Rourke called Trump "a mortal threat" to people of color in this country as he calls on Congress to pass a bill giving reparations to the descendants of slaves.

Julián Castro says white supremacy "is a growing threat to this country," and he adds, "we have to root it out."

Cory Booker says the nation must have the "courage" to call out systemic racism in the nation.

And Pete Buttigieg (BOO'-tuh-juhj) says the nation's issues of systemic racism " preceded this president, and even when we defeat him, it will be with us."

The Democratic primary debate is being held at Texas Southern University, a historically black university.

7:55 p.m.

Some Democratic presidential candidates have called on their rivals to stop attacking one another as the debate over health care grew heated.

Ten candidates are meeting Thursday in Houston for the third presidential primary debate.

The night kicked off with sometimes-fiery exchanges about "Medicare for All," the health care overhaul backed by Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and some other candidates.

Former Vice President Joe Biden says it's too expensive. He wants to build on "Obamacare" to expand coverage to those who want it.

As former Obama Housing Secretary Julián Castro accused Biden of forgetting what he said moments earlier, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (BOO'-tuh-juhj) interjected, saying, "This is why presidential debates are becoming unwatchable."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar agreed, saying, "A house divided cannot stand."

7:50 p.m.

Former Obama Housing Secretary Julian Castro has accused former Vice President Joe Biden of fumbling comments on his own health care reform plan.

During Thursday's Democratic presidential debate in Houston, Castro said Biden was "forgetting already what you said just two minutes ago" when he claimed that 10 million people would not be left in a coverage gap under his health care reforms but would be automatically enrolled.

Castro also said fact checks after a debate earlier this summer showed Biden's plan would leave out 3% of Americans, or about 10 million people.

Castro says President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act vision "was not to leave 10 million people uncovered."

In July's presidential debates, Castro criticized Biden for his role in immigration deportations under the Obama administration.

7:45 p.m.

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are sharply battling over "Medicare for All" at Thursday's Democratic presidential debate in Houston.

The former vice president is accusing Sanders of being less than candid about "how much it's going to cost the taxpayers" to shift the nation to single-payer health insurance, particularly union members who made concessions to obtain better health insurance under the current system.

Biden says, "For a socialist, you've got a lot more confidence in corporate America than I do."

When Sanders pushed back, invoking cancer treatment, Biden replied that "I know a lot about cancer — it's personal to me." Biden's son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015.

7:40 p.m.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is suggesting his 2020 rival Elizabeth Warren is not being candid about the costs of her plan for the federal government to provide health care to all Americans.

He said Thursday at the third Democratic debate that "This is about candor, honesty," suggesting Warren's plan to increase income taxes on wealthier Americans by 2% falls far short of the estimated $30 billion the plan would cost.

Biden says it's not a bad idea if you like it. But he says, "I don't like it."

Warren is responding by saying people will pay premiums to the government instead of to health insurance companies, adding, "I've never actually met anyone who likes their insurance company."

7:35 p.m.

Joe Biden is evoking former President Barack Obama and his signature policy achievement as a contrast to rivals Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

Biden said Thursday during the third Democratic debate: "I know the senator says she's for Bernie. Well, I'm for Barack."

Biden is committing to building on the Affordable Care Act with a public option, while both Warren and Sanders have championed the farther-reaching "Medicare for All" policy goal.

Warren says "We all owe a huge debt to President Obama" because he "fundamentally transformed health care in America." The Massachusetts senator, like Sanders, believes Medicare for All is the better way to move forward.

7:25 p.m.

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke claims the perpetrator of last month's mass shooting in his hometown of El Paso, Texas, was "inspired to kill by our president."

O'Rourke made the comment during his opening statement in the Democratic debate Thursday.

Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh replied on Twitter that O'Rourke is "as desperate as he can be."

The shooter killed 22 people, many of them Latino, at a Walmart store on Aug. 3 and is believed to have written a manifesto expressing racist and anti-immigrant sentiments. The author of the manifesto insisted his opinions "predate Trump and his campaign for president."

But the words echoed some of the views Trump has expressed on immigration, Democrats and the media.

7:15 p.m.

Businessman Andrew Yang is announcing plans to give away $1,000 a month to 10 families over the next year as part of his effort to prove the efficacy of his universal basic income campaign proposal.

Yang said during Tuesday night's Democratic primary debate that he will randomly choose 10 families to receive $12,000 over the next year that will come from his campaign funds. If elected president, Yang has proposed what he calls a "Freedom Dividend," which would give every citizen 18 and older $1,000 each month, something Yang says would address poverty and help Americans cover basic needs.

He has already started distributing funds to two families in the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as another family in Florida that was selected via Twitter.

7:05 p.m.

The third debate of the Democratic presidential primary is underway with the top candidates sharing the debate stage for the first time.

Ten hopefuls are meeting Thursday in Houston. Former Vice President Joe Biden is at center stage along with two of his closest rivals, progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

The three have not been on stage together during previous debates, which were split over two nights. Tougher requirements to qualify for the debate stage winnowed the number of candidates this time, resulting in a one-night debate.

Also debating are Sens. Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (BOO'-tuh-juhj), former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and businessman Andrew Yang.

5:20 p.m.

President Donald Trump is weighing in on the Democratic primary field hours before his would-be opponents face off on the debate stage in Houston.

Trump said Thursday that he thinks he'll face former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren or Sen. Bernie Sanders next year. He says, "It's going to be one of those three."

Trump says he's going to catch up on the Democratic debate once he returns from Baltimore, where he is traveling to address congressional Republicans on Thursday evening.

He says, "It's going to be very interesting. I'm going to have to watch it as a rerun."

11:50 a.m.

Just hours before Thursday night's debate in Houston, former Vice President Joe Biden went up with a digital ad aimed at deflecting criticism of President Barack Obama's administration.

Biden is shown saying in footage from a campaign event that Obama "was a president our children could and did look up to." Biden says he was "proud to serve as his vice president, but never more proud than the day we passed health care."

Other Obama administration accomplishments appear on-screen, including "protected dreamers" and "led on marriage equality."

After a debate earlier this summer in Detroit, Biden said he was "a little surprised" at the flak he took from fellow Democrats about Obama's legacy, pushing back against criticism of the Affordable Care Act and Obama-era immigration policy.

Some Democrats in early voting states like South Carolina, which holds the first primary vote in the South next year, have listed Biden's proximity to Obama as among their top reasons for supporting him.

8:35 a.m.

The top Democratic presidential contenders will finally be on one debate stage Thursday in Houston as Joe Biden tries to solidify his early lead over Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg (BOO'-tuh-juhj) will look to reclaim some lost momentum.

The ABC News debate has 10 candidates altogether and will air on a broadcast network with a post-Labor Day uptick in interest in the race. That could give candidates their largest audience yet as the campaigning heads into the fall.

It's also the first time Warren and Biden will appear on the same stage.

But the campaigns say that doesn't necessarily mean the three-hour debate will end up being a direct clash between the progressive Massachusetts senator and the more centrist former vice president.