CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Representative Katherine Clark

Interview

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HARLOW: Welcome back. Republicans likely to use today's impressive economic report to boost their platform heading into the midterms. How are Democrats going to play their hand in November on this?

Democratic congressman of Massachusetts, Katherine Clark, joins me. She's announced this week that she's running for vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

It's nice to have you.

[10:50:03] REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Poppy, it's good to be with you.

HARLOW: So you see the GDP report, 4.1 percent. That is good. The deficit is coming down. That is good. This is a good news story for the president and for the Republican Party. We know a lot of people vote on the economy. How are Democrats going to play this?

CLARK: Well, I think what we have to ensure is that this good economy is impacting those folks at home. And I can tell you what I hear from families around the country and certainly in my district. They are concerned about their wages and that their paychecks aren't going far enough anymore to cover increasing gas costs, groceries, the rent. And we have to make sure that this economy instead of closing the winner's circle to those who are already wealthy and to large corporations, that we open it and it trickles down to make sure that we are not just sprinkling some of this economy on American families, but we are giving them opportunities to have a good quality of life and a good paying job.

HARLOW: We -- look, we have unemployment near an 18-year low. Factory production is up, as the president talked about. Wage grown is an important point, 1.2 percent wage growth, which is not as strong as many would like it to be. But this is overall a very, very strong economy.

So when it comes to what you should run on, and that message you just bring up, as you hope to be more of a leader within the party, what about the Russia probe? Because there's some interesting new CNN polling. And what it shows us is that the American public, not just Democrats or Republicans, the entirety of the American public, their confidence in how Mueller is handling the Russia probe has fallen from 48 percent in March to 41 percent now. That's the lowest it has been in our polling.

Is this something that Democrats should look on and consider as they are running and not run on Russia and not run on the Russia probe and instead focus on other issues like immigration, like health care?

CLARK: I can tell you what the focus of Democrats are going to be on. And that is what matters to families at home. Overwhelmingly what we hear our people's concerns about health care and making sure that they have coverage that covers pre-existing conditions and a allows them to afford prescription drugs.

HARLOW: So not Russia --

CLARK: Americans are worried --

HARLOW: Is what you're saying, right? I mean, it sounds like you're saying it's a mistake for Democrats to run on this, to run on Russia. Talk about other things.

CLARK: I think that Democrats are focused and rightly so. The reason we're seeing this energy that's out there is because our candidates are connecting with voters on the issues that they talk about around their kitchen tables.

HARLOW: Let me get your --

CLARK: Now we have to make sure that we protect the Mueller investigation and that we allow it to run its course. But the issues that --

HARLOW: So let me get your take on something related to that. I'm just getting it in my ear. And I'm sorry for interrupting.

CLARK: Yes.

HARLOW: But it is that the White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has just said that, yes, president Trump is open to the invitation that Vladimir Putin made to him to go to Moscow, pending, you know, certain -- pending a formal invitation. But the president is open to going to Moscow. Should he go?

CLARK: Listen, with this president and what happened in the meeting back in Helsinki, we have seen a president who has been an apologist for Russia, who has chosen to take Russians' words over their attacks on our elections and democracy, over that of our own intelligence community. But I can tell you that the focus of this midterms, while we're going to do everything we can to protect the integrity of the Mueller investigation, it's going to be on the issues that matter to families at home.

HARLOW: OK.

CLARK: And that's the connection with voters that we're seeing and it's driving the energy for Democrats around the country.

HARLOW: On your desire to be more of a leader in the party, what you're running for, you wrote this recently. Quote, "The diversity of our caucus is our greatest asset. And we are stronger as a caucus when every member has a chance to contribute."

We all know the makeup of Democratic leadership right now and it is largely old and white. Is it too old and too white?

CLARK: I can tell you what I'm seeing is, you know, the enthusiasm, the people who are coming out, not only to vote but help these candidates be successful because they understand that we're talking to their needs. That we're talking to what their aspirations are for their children, for their lives.

HARLOW: But I'm asking you if leadership is reflective of the diversity of your constituents?

CLARK: And what I'm saying to you is that the diversity of this caucus and what we are hoping to do, job number one is to win the majority because we want to reflect and put those values of working families back on the table in Washington.

[10:55:10] And the diversity of our caucus and our leadership is one that I think reflects the American people. As we go forward we're going to have a lot of new members of Congress.

HARLOW: Congresswoman --

CLARK: And I think we're going to see a lot of people running for leadership positions that are very diverse.

HARLOW: Thank you. Thank you for joining us. We're up against this hard break. We'll have you back. I appreciate your time.

CLARK: OK.

HARLOW: Thanks very much, Congresswoman Katherine Clark.

CLARK: All right.

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