CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: "Interview with Rep. Dan Kildee"

Interview

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POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right, 2020 Democratic candidates on the defense today after two heated debates in Detroit. A big question now, did they launch too many attacks on one another, not enough on the president?

With me now Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee of Michigan. He serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, represents Flint, Michigan, notably.

Sir, thank you for being here. And we'll dive into Flint in a moment.

But what -- who won last night and what do you make of it? Was it too much an attack on, you know, our friends and not enough on the president?

REP. DAN KILDEE (D-MI): I do think that. I think there was far too much attention on nuanced differences between the candidates that they tried to turn into big ideological battles. They're not. The big ideological battle, the big struggle is with this president. We ought to be focusing a lot more attention on that and on the issues that really matter to people -- you know, people who are trying to figure out their lives. People here in Michigan who are trying to make sure that we preserve our way of life here. We need to hear more about that.

HARLOW: Yes, I say our friends because they call each other friends, you know, and then they -- and then they attack each other like that.

All right, so is there -- was there a clear winner in your mind last night?

KILDEE: I don't think there was any clear winner. I mean, obviously, there was a lot of attention trained on the vice president. And I guess over the two nights, if there were winners that were -- some of those people who were able to present themselves and make their case. You know, I --

HARLOW: OK>

KILDEE: Jay Inslee was just on. I think he made a compelling case on climate change. Tim Ryan, who comes from the Midwest, made a -- you know, an argument away from left and right politics. So I think some of those candidates had a chance to present themselves.

HARLOW: Right.

KILDEE: But this is going to be a long slog and I don't think there's anything -- anybody can declare that they emerged the winner --

HARLOW: For sure.

KILDEE: But I think we'll go forward from here.

HARLOW: Let's talk about Flint, Michigan, that is in your district. Just last week you partnered with Senator Kamala Harris and Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence. They introduce the Water Justice Act that would invest $250 billion into critical upgrades in the nation's infrastructure to make sure that there is not another Flint. But did you hear enough about Flint last night and also what Flint is symbolic of, congressman, as you've talked about across it country?

KILDEE: You know, I did not hear enough about Flint. You know, there were references to Flint, but it felt very much like a drive by conversation. Many of the candidates have made their way to Flint. And, you know, we appreciate them coming.

But what Flint does not need or want is sympathy. We don't need or want more photo-ops. We want people who are willing to step forward and say, this is an injustice what happened and we're going to make sure that things are made right in Flint and that we don't see another one happen.

And I think the discussion about Baltimore and the president's, you know, insistence on degrading the people of Baltimore was another inflection point that could have led to a conversation about Flint, about Youngstown, about Gary, Indiana --

HARLOW: Sure.

KILDEE: All those places that feel like they're being left behind.

HARLOW: For -- that not just feel like, congressman. I mean let's be real. That out -- that are being left behind if policy really doesn't change in this country and we stop just talking about retraining and actually doing it, right, from a government level and on corporations.

Do you -- you said this felt like a little bit of a drive by, by some of these candidates. Do you feel like the Democrats, who came to Flint in the weeks leading up to the debate, were largely using it for photo-ops rather than actually doing things to implement change?

[09:35:08] KILDEE: I think in some cases that is the case. I mean in some cases there's real policy that candidates have presented after seeing Flint, or, in some cases, real investment that they've helped to make.

And, you know, again, Congressman Tim Ryan came a year ago and now there's some investment that's taking place as a result of his work.

HARLOW: Right. Right.

KILDEE: That's great.

HARLOW: OK.

KILDEE: That's what we need. But what we don't need are people to use this as a backdrop.

HARLOW: Of course.

So, before we go, talking about Michigan and what you just talked about and the economy and what this means for those who have been left behind. Michigan economy as a whole has thrived under President Trump. Unemployment is down to 4.2 percent there. Obviously it's higher in Flint, 5.6 percent.

But listen to what Andrew Yang said last night about this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW YANG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you go to a factory here in Michigan, you will not find wall to wall immigrant. You will find wall to wall robots and machines. Immigrates are being scapegoated for issues they have nothing to do with in our economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Is he right that more should be a focus on automation over immigrants taking jobs?

KILDEE: Well, I think what we should be focusing on is how we take technology and use that as an advantage, rather than use it as a way to replace hardworking people here in the Midwest. And there's a way to do that, but it takes an intentional policy around that.

You know, we can't just rely on the ebb and flow of economic cycles and then when we're at the top say, look, everything's fine, when the fundamentals still are really difficult. We have a lot of cities that are struggling. We really don't have educational performance that we know will put people in a position to be able to compete for jobs when things aren't going so well. We have infrastructure that's falling apart. That's not going to look good when the economy begins ultimately to decline.

You know, these are real issues. We have the Great Lakes that the president seems to want to ignore until it's -- politically it seems like a good idea to talk about them. These are issues that tend to get papered over when the economic cycles have us riding high for a period of time --

HARLOW: Yes.

KILDEE: But we don't deal with the fundamentals. That's the biggest mistake. And I think that's what -- if I can be blunt, that's a mistake that I think a lot of people running for president are ignoring.

Yes, we're in an economy that's moving, but it's a normal cycle of the economy that we've been able to continue, but it's not permanent. Unless we deal with the fundamentals, we're going to be making a heavy price in the coming years.

HARLOW: I think we will. I think you're right on that.

We're out of time, but come back and we'll dive into that more.

Congressman Dan Kildee, thanks for taking the time this morning.

KILDEE: Thanks, Poppy.

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