Sanders Campaign Press Release - New Video Featuring Mark Ruffalo Highlights Sanders' Brooklyn Roots

NEW YORK — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign on Monday released a new online video highlighting the Democratic candidate's roots and upbringing in Brooklyn. The video features Sanders walking through the Brooklyn College campus where he spent his freshman year, talking with actor and environmentalist Mark Ruffalo.

Over images of Brooklyn from decades ago, Sanders discusses values and experiences gained from growing up in an immigrant community.

"Many of us were the sons or grandchildren of immigrants. And the main shopping area was Kings Highway. And if you went shopping there, you saw would see people who had serial numbers on their arms, which was from Hitler's concentration camps," Sanders says.

The densely populated and diverse community Sanders grew up in had a large impact on the way he sees the world today. He explains, "The strength of this country is the fact that we have so much diversity. And I think that we do better when we are a people who appreciate, who love, respect people from all over the world who bring their own values and traditions and become part of the American experience."

Sanders goes on to discuss the lessons he learned from his parents — his father's experience as an immigrant and his mother's desire to provide a better life for her children.

Asked about his role in anti-segregation efforts in Chicago, Sanders tells Ruffalo tells that he became involved out of "a sense of justice."

The video ends with a discussion of Sanders' accomplishments as mayor of Burlington, where he put the city on the path to becoming one of the most progressive cities in America, and his time in Congress where he was dubbed the "Amendment King" for his unparalleled record of passing roll call amendments in the House.

"One of the beautiful parts of this campaign," Sanders concludes, "is your dreams and my dreams, you may have thought there were very few of us. Turns out we are the majority of the people in this country. And people now through this campaign, I think, are sensing that they are not alone. And that's a big deal."