Women's March To Begin Soon In Washington; Interview with Rep. Debbie Dingell
CAMEROTA: Americans are descending on Washington DC at this hour for what is expected to be a large women's march to the backyard of the White House. CNN's Kyung Lah is live in the National Mall where the marchers are already assembling. What are you seeing, Kyung?</s>KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, we are two-and- a-half hours before speakers begin to take the stage here and we have a pretty sizable crowd. There is no way I could count exactly how many people there are, but you can see that we are surrounded by people right here. And then, just over their heads, if you look that way, that's the main stage. In about two-and-and-half hours, we're anticipating a large number speakers to speak for about three to four hours. There are various celebrities from Scarlett Johansson to Julianne Moore to women's leaders like Cecile Richards and Gloria Steinem. But I kind of want to give you a sense of what this crowd is. You can see that -- a good number of faces here. We've got some of these women here from -- where are you from?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm from Atlanta.</s>LAH: We've heard women from South Carolina as well as from California. And then if you can look at those signs here, the thing that strikes me is that there aren't a ton of anti-Trump signs. It's a lot of very positive, women-forward signs, a lot of issues like Black Lives Matter. And what you're also seeing here are a large number of hats. This has been a viral movement. And if you just scan the crowd here, you can see a number of these ladies are wearing hats. You'll also see men. You can see this gentleman here. He's wearing a Planned Parenthood scarf. So, a variety of people. And a jovial crowd. If I had to describe, Chris, what this crowd is like, it's almost like before a concert or a peaceful event. Two hundred and fifty thousand women and men are expected to take part according to the organizers. Six hundred sister marches expected to take place across the country. Alisyn, Chris?</s>CUOMO: All right. Kyung, thank you very much. Keep us updated. Joining us now Democratic Congresswoman from Michigan, Debbie Dingell. Good to see you --</s>REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D), MICHIGAN: Good morning.</s>CUOMO: -- as always.</s>DINGELL: Good to see you. Nice to be in the studio.</s>CUOMO: So, the word is that this isn't just about DC. These marches will be across the country, maybe as many as 600, about 1.5 million signed up online. We'll see how many actually show. Internationally, there is some echo effect of this as well. What do you believe it speaks to?</s>DINGELL: You know, I think it's a coming together of community today. I was real pleased to hear the report that you see that women are trying to be positive. They care about the future of this country. They are coming together for democracy. We're going to see a lot of people here. But I'm leaving. I'm going to gather in Hancock Park. We've got 100 buses. We've got 7,500 women coming just from Michigan. And then I'm racing to the airport and I'm going to do a march in Ypsilanti, Michigan and a march in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the end of the day. We pull ourselves together across the country.</s>CUOMO: Protest, dissent, uniquely American.</s>DINGELL: Freedom of speech.</s>CUOMO: Freedom of speech.</s>DINGELL: Let's not even be negative in how we frame it. CUOMO, Well, look: I'm suggesting that you will see plenty of negativity because there's a lot of reaction formation to our new president. And part of the criticism to that reaction is "You lost, move on with it, don't delay these confirmation hearings, you know, don't speak out against the president, give him a chance." What do you make of that criticism?</s>DINGELL: So, I'm going to say a couple of different things. One, even in the pre-program hearing, you saw that she was talking about positivity. And I think the women today are trying to be positive. I think yesterday, you saw a lot of different people here. I think you saw some of the professional demonstrators we see at the World Bank. We saw people just come from home scared. And they wanted to make sure that their voices were heard, and that that's why they were here. And I think yesterday was a day of democracy. The symbol of a peaceful transfer of government is one of the most important symbols we have, but freedom of speech is a fundamental pillar.</s>CUOMO: Those protesters have to try to weed the malefactors out of their ranks. When guys break windows, when they fire --</s>DINGELL: Let me be really clear, I got caught in it.</s>CUOMO: It was a riot.</s>DINGELL: It scared me and I ended up not going. Two things, because I didn't want to -- you know me, I go by myself. And I didn't want to walk by myself.</s>CUOMO: So, the next layer of it is how do you react to the president, President Trump, the confirmation hearings? We've got Mattis, we've got Kelly. Pompeo is being held up. That's not unusual in the tradition of these confirmation hearings. But with the rest of them, you don't have the votes to stop these confirmations in the senate unless you get GOP defections. What is the strategy at play for the democrats?</s>DINGELL: I think that -- well, first of all, I was very happy to hear him to say yesterday, last night, he's going to reopen NAFTA. You know, I've said to you for two years he's just tapping in on trade, and I've said this from the beginning, if he's going to do things that like help the working men and people of my district in this country, I'm going to be right there with him. We need to reopen NAFTA. We have bad trade deals, and we're not playing on a level playing field. But if he tries to privatize social security and Medicare, if he tries to create a Muslim data registry, he's going to meet a buzz saw like none that he has ever seen. And I do think that we cannot rush things through in confirmation hearings. There are serious ethics issues that we've got to make sure that people are looking in and understanding potential conflicts of interest. That's responsible government.</s>CUOMO: What did you take from the address yesterday? What did American carnage mean to you?</s>DINGELL: I'd have to say to that, I was disheartened yesterday. I always felt that I should be there, because it is a fundamental transfer of government. And I think everybody needed to make their own decision, but I'm -- I believe in democracy, I believe in working with everybody --</s>CUOMO: 60 members of your rank in the house didn't go.</s>DINGELL: And they chose not to -- and that's their right to choose. But I -- but I think I was the most disheartened back then because I'd hope he would do something to pull us all together. He didn't acknowledge any of the sitting presidents that were sitting there. So, I have to say that, you know, there -- we got to pull together. If this country is going to succeed, we've got to pull together, and --</s>CUOMO: Except -- look, everybody always wants unity, right? But there --</s>DINGELL: Unity doesn't mean you got to get along. Unity means you respect each other.</s>CUOMO: Well, that's fine. Some civil discourse would be nice, but I think that the defense of the message yesterday from Donald Trump's perspective would be, "There are people who feel ignored and forgotten by your party, and I speak for them. And they don't like what happens here. And they don't like how you guys do your job, and I'm not going to forget that."</s>DINGELL: So, you know, I've been saying that for two years. And if that's what we were connecting with, and that that's a problem out there. But when I talk about it, I'm also respectful. And I talk about -- I want to reach across the aisle. I want to talk with all -- we've got to be about change. So, I'm going to do it. I've said to you I'm going to -- if he -- I cannot wait to reopen NAFTA with him. And I want to take the time to understand what both the auto companies and the UAW think matters, as we reopen that. We got to do our homework, too. It can't be rhetoric. It can't just be words. OK. How do we create that level playing field? I'm going to do the homework, too.</s>CUOMO: You got to separate foreign and domestic. We'll talk about foreign in a different date, because it wasn't a big emphasis for the president yesterday, and we'll see what he does going forward. But domestically, it really seems like Donald Trump and this emerging part of the Republican Party has eaten your lunch, as democrats. You were the lunch pail party; you were the blue collar party -- no more. Now, you're seen as culture warriors and elitists. What do you do about that?</s>DINGELL: It is a real challenge for this party and I have been saying this for a while. So, I'm going to try to be a voice for the middleclass economic issues, because that's what our party has to start talking about. And we've got a challenge. We have a very real challenge, which is how do we continue to be a voice for those that have no voice. How are we -- but how are we going to have identity politics and also be an inclusive party that working men and women in this country. And I don't care what race they are or -- that we're going to be a voice for everybody. And they need to know we're fighting for them.</s>CUOMO: The great equalizer is the paycheck. Congressman Dingell, as we know, we'll be covering the actions that follow up the words on both sides. Thanks for being with us.</s>DINGELL: You know I'm going to be there, thank you.</s>CUOMO: Americans still very much divided about a Trump presidency. You don't need me to tell you that. Up next, Alisyn is going to sit down with a group of voters who have some civil disagreement. Can you believe that? Hopefully, it's the way forward. More of our special coverage live from Washington, next.