CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Dingell

Interview

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SCIUTTO: The breaking news this hour, the House will, in fact, vote today on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism. Earlier, democrats were seemingly unable to agree on the language of that resolution, this all stemming from controversial comments made by Minnesota's freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. We are just learning that the resolution will not mention her by name. Also language in the bill will condemn all forms of hate. Majority Whip Steny Hoyer, telling CNN the message will be, quote, we are against bigotry, we are against prejudice and against hate.

Joining us now to discuss this and more, Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan. Congresswoman, first, thanks so much for taking the time. But also let us express our sympathies to you for the loss of your husband just recently, the long-serving Congressman John Dingell. Our thoughts are with you today.

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D), M.I.: Thank you for that.

SCIUTTO: On this issue now, we know a vote will take place today. Can you give us a sense of the language in here, what will be said, what won't be said in this resolution?

DINGELL: I think that Steny Hoyer summed it up well. We are still looking to see what the final language is. I, for some time, have been very disturbed, and I say this frequently, you've heard me say it, that this country is being divided with fear and hatred. And we must stand up and be strong against anti-Semitism.

But I represent the largest Muslim community in this country. And the hatred and fear that you have seen there, they've just arrested someone that was trying to burn down a number of commercial entities. Every time I talk about this, I myself find myself the subject of a lot of hate, my colleagues. If you look at what happened in West Virginia, that black caucus has been feeling an increase in anti- rhetoric.

So we need to stand up together as one caucus, be against all of this form of any language to defend somebody. That's what you're going to see this afternoon.

[10:20:00]

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this because it's CNN's reporting that one reason democrats are having this vote today is that republicans in the House were pressing forward with the possibility of their own resolution that the democrats want to have this vote before, in effect, republicans steal it away. What's your reaction?

DINGELL: I quite frankly don't think that that is why we are doing this. So I think every member of our caucus believes very firmly and strongly that we have to stand up against hatred and bigotry. Each member of our caucus comes from a different perspective. They have -- one of the things that all of us have to do. And I don't care if you are republican or democrat. One of my favorite -- it's a John Dingell saying. We have two ears and one mouth for a reason. It's to listen to each other. And there are times that something maybe said that somebody finds offensive. We all have to listen. But we need to be clear, this entire institution, republicans and democrats, that we stand up against hatred, bigotry and move on to what the American people want us to do.

SCIUTTO: But if that's the message, it's quite a general one and one that I don't imagine anyone would disagree with, why did it take so long for the Democratic Party to reach unity on that message and on this resolution?

DINGELL: I don't think it took that long to reach unity. I think there was a lot of -- first of all, we were gone over the weekend. There was a lot of discussion. And a lot of members of this caucus had very strong feelings about what they're seeing. We move very quickly. A lot of times, things don't move this quickly.

You have to realize that sometimes the other party, and I have a great deal of respect for them, is trying to do got you moments. I don't think you play got you moments with fear and hatred and bigotry. I think we find a way to remember that we're not republicans or democrats or Americans. And we stand up against hatred, against anybody.

So they are trying to do -- some people, not all of them, were trying to do a got you moment. We are voting on it today, a very strong sense. And then tomorrow, we're going to move on with doing the people's business. So there are a lot of things that we've got to do for the people, like healthcare and infrastructure, and we need to move on. But to get a resolution this quickly is not that fast in this sometimes slow-moving place.

SCIUTTO: There is certainly a lot of demand to that. To that point, when you speak about people's livelihoods, GM, you served for some 30 years with General Motors. As you know, General Motors --

DINGELL: Well, not 40 but 30. I'm not that old.

SCIUTTO: 30. No, I said 30, right? I said 30. As you know, General Motors just eliminated thousands of jobs. They closed three plants here, the Lordstown plant being one of them. And you've spoken about this and the effect on the communities.

As you know, the President has been very public in his criticism of GM for following this decision. And I wonder if you agree with him, that the criticism of GM here is justified.

DINGELL: I have made it very clear that -- from the beginning, that I would work with the President, when he was right, mattered to the people of my district. And I have been very clear how I feel about how General Motors handled this, what they have done, that they are closing these plants, at the same time that they located a Blazer plant in Mexico because that plant is paying $1.50 to $3.50 an hour.

When you look at the faces of those work men and women in Lordstown, when my people that live in my district are working at Hamtramck, it's got an extension, we've got to keep manufacturing in this country, and these companies need to be working with us to keep jobs here. Don't ship jobs overseas. Pay a whole lot less and then ship them back into this country. Not right, not fair.

SCIUTTO: The President, as you know, promised to bring those jobs back. Has he failed to do so?

DINGELL; We've got to look at doing something about I call it NAFTA 2.0. Because I don't want anybody to forget what NAFTA 1.0 did. It's not where I think it needs to be. But I've made it clear I will work with them on a bill that will protect and keep jobs here in the United States and not have them located in Mexico at unfair labor rates.

I have talked to the -- I talked to the U.S. T.R. I've met with him this morning again, the Trade Representatives this morning, and I have talked to the President about it. So, yes, I'm going to fight with him to keep those jobs here.

SCIUTTO: An opportunity for bipartisanship. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, thanks so much, always good to have you on.

DINGELL: Good to be with you.

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