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Loyola Marymount On National Stage For Democratic Debate

WESTCHESTER (CBSLA) — Several dozen students, faculty and even residents of the Westchester community gathered at a lecture hall at Loyola Marymount University's College of Business Administration to watch Thursday's debate unfold just a short distance away.

"It's an honor to have this debate on our campus," one student said. "I think everyone was really, really excited when it was announced that it was going to be here. It's a huge deal."

The debate was the sixth held this year and was the only one to feature fewer than 10 candidates as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and businessmen Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer took the stage.

Along with those watching, a number of LMU students also volunteered to make the debate — that was at risk of being delayed or cancelled — happen.

Prior to the debate, Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti spoke with CBS News about what he thought was important to voters in Los Angeles.

"A lot of people are focused on impeachment, but a lot more people are focused on their bills they have to pay, the future, the economy and whether or not we'll still have a planet to live on," he said. "I think that we know this is something necessary and part of people's jobs in Washington to do, but we sure hope that both Republicans and Democrats are not just caught up in impeachment, but they're talking about our lives."

As expected, the final Democratic debate of the year started with a question on impeachment before leading to some heated exchanges about fundraising and experience.

"I think the debate is very entertaining, but also very telling of a lot of their policies, and it's really making me think about who I want to support in the primaries in March," another student said.

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