DEMOCRATIC DEBATE Here are the particulars of the Democratic presidential candidates debate. WHO: Vice President Al Gore, former Sen. Bill Bradley. WHEN: Monday, Jan. 18, 6-7:30 p.m. EST. WHERE: North High School, Des Moines, Iowa. SPONSORS: Democratic Black and Brown Forum. COVERAGE: MSNBC, WBUR-FM (90.9) will broadcast on tape delay, beginning at 7 p.m. MORE COVERAGE Democratic rivals joust on civil rights Excerpts from the debate Truth Squad report Black support key for Gore

Excerpts from Monday night's Democratic presidential debate between Vice President Al Gore and Bill Bradley in Des Moines, Iowa, as transcribed by Federal Document Clearing House.

On the Confederate flag in South Carolina:

GORE: ... one of the ways we can bring our country together is to recognize that the Confederate battle flag divides America. It stands as a hurtful symbol to millions, not only African-Americans, because it recalls the pain of slavery. It should be removed from the state Capitol building in South Carolina and from any government institution so as to make them welcoming to all of our citizens.

BRADLEY: I would pull it down today ... I think it's an offense to our common humanity, and it is not the future of this country.

I mean, for many politicians it's dangerous to tell the truth.There is no subject about which that is truer than the issue of race. And that's why I believe that if we're going to move forward in this country, we have to tell the truth.

Bradley, asked whether his Medicaid plan would exclude minorities:

BRADLEY: ... only a politician in Washington thinks Medicaid is a great system ... We all know if you're a Medicaid recipient two-thirds of the doctors won't accept you ...

I want to provide a primary care physician for everybody. And 40 percent of the people in poverty in this country don't have Medicaid. They are overwhelmingly African-American and Latino. Under the proposal that I have offered, they would have health care.

GORE: The fact remains and the question hasn't been answered: Where could they buy the health care benefits that they get right now, with $150 a month? A weighted average means half or so of the states would get less than $150 a month. I haven't heard any mentioned that would get less than $150 a month.

And, you know, I've told this story before, but a weighted average sounds like the guy who had his feet on a block of ice and his head in the oven, and according to the weighted average, he was comfortable.

Q: Where do you rank affirmative action when it comes to anyone you might have the chance to nominate to sit on the Supreme Court. Are we talking Thurgood Marshall construct or the Clarence Thomas construct?

GORE: Two words-Thurgood Marshall. Dr. King would want us to rededicate ourselves to building a beloved community. And that means that we've still got work to do. I believe that we need vigorous enforcement of the civil rights laws. I believe that we need to understand and operate on the assumption that we should have prenatal care, high-quality child care, universal preschool, adequate child nutrition, raise the minimum wage a dollar an hour, expand the earned income tax credit, give access to higher education for every young person in this country, bring the crime rate down even further-much further-in our neighborhoods, and care for every single child in this country.

Bring our people together with affirmative action, civil rights enforcement and with leadership to put civil rights right at the top of our national agenda.

On racial profiling:

BRADLEY: You know, Al, I know that you would issue an order to end racial profiling if you were president of the United States. But we have a president now. You serve with him. I want you to walk down that hallway, walk into his office and say: Sign his executive order today.

GORE: I don't think President Bill Clinton needs a lecture from Bill Bradley about how to stand up and fight for African Americans and Latinos in this country.

It's one thing to talk the talk. It's another thing to walk the walk, whether it's down the hallway -- the mayor of the largest city in New Jersey, an African-American, Sharp James, asked for help on the policy of racial profiling when you were in the Senate. He's here today, and he's supporting me because President Clinton and I have helped him with racial profiling.

On improving inner-city education:

GORE: ... I think it's time to start treating our teachers like the professionals they are, and reward them adequately and give them smaller class size, and smaller schools, and higher standards, with the resources to bring all children along. I'm for universal preschool in this country.

Now I say in every speech, that bringing about revolutionary improvements in our public schools has to be the number one priority for investment in the future.

BRADLEY: I don't think vouchers are the answer to the problems of public education ... I voted for experiments. Those experiments were tried to help kids that are caught in dead schools to have a chance. No experiments ever took place. And so, now I think what we need to do is we need to focus on how we improve education in this country.

I view education as not just simply K-12. I view it as beginning at birth, extending through every life stage and for everybody. And that means the first three years of life, kids have to have stimulation, early child care and education.

I've offered a proposal that would put 600,000 qualified, great teachers in public schools in urban areas and in rural areas of this country. That's an important step in the right direction.

On protecting civil rights:

GORE: ... the leaders of most all civil rights groups, and most all gay and lesbian rights groups, believe that it is not wise to open up the '64 civil rights bill in the Republican Congress to a process that could lead to it being seriously damaged and even lost.

Virtually all of them have followed the leadership of Congressman Barney Frank in supporting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act as a way to get right to the heart of the problem in eliminating the discrimination that exists against gays and lesbians. We came within one vote of passing that in the last Congress.

BRADLEY: Where there's discrimination, you address it with the 1964 Civil Rights Act. That's where you would add another class.

Now, would I send such a piece of legislation to Congress if I thought the 1964 Civil Rights Act was going to be opened up? Absolutely not. One of the main reasons that I got into politics in the first place -- I was in the Senate chamber in 1964 the night the Civil Rights Act passed. And I said to myself that night, "Something happened here to (make) America a better place -- not just for African-Americans, Latino-Americans, Asian-Americans -- but for all Americans."

On immigration:

GORE: I think that communist dictatorships are treated differently for a legitimate reason. I do think that underlying your question is the stark reality that in some times past, Haitian immigrants have not been treated according to a fair standard. And recently, the child of a Haitian immigrant, who had been sent back, was returned when the INS reversed itself and applied the same standard there, which it should always do. But I think that the law which singles out the pervasive effects of a communist dictatorship is a difference that is justified. And it has been reflected in some other situations where communist dictators have been calling the shots.

BRADLEY: ... If I was elected president of the United States, my wife would be the first immigrant first lady of the United States. So I think immigration is what we are as a country.

On Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker's comments about minorities:

BRADLEY: I made my living for 10 years playing professional basketball, traveling with a predominantly African-American group around the country. I learned more from them than they ever learned from me.

And one of the things I learned is how much I will never know about what it is to be African-American in this country. But I saw some things that offended me ... I don't know John Rocker and I don't want to know John Rocker.

But I do know one thing: This would not have happened had an organization and a team (been) attuned to the kind of things that he said. When I was on the Knicks, one of my jobs was when there was a white player that came on the team who didn't quite understand -- used the wrong words... I took him over to the side and said, 'Look, that doesn't work on this team. If you want to be on this team, you respect everybody.'

If that had happened on the Atlanta Braves, you wouldn't have had John Rocker.

On a convicted felon's right to vote:

GORE: Now, the principle that convicted felons do not have a right to vote is an old one. It is well established. I think that the definition of what kind of crimes automatically fall in the category that triggers that exclusion from the franchise could well benefit from a fresh review. I'm not familiar with the specific case that you're referring to, but I will review it. I believe that the established principle that felonies -- certainly heinous crimes -- should result in a disenfranchisement.

BRADLEY: There's also no question that a generation of young African-American males are ending up in prison, in large part for nonviolent, first-time drug offenses; in large part because of disparity in the sentencing for different quantities of crack and cocaine...

If someone is in on a nonviolent offense, and comes out and is able to go straight for two years, three years, I think that that person ought to be able to wipe his record clean and start the day anew. And that's what I would attempt to achieve.