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CNN Live Event/Special

Town Hall Meeting with Gov. Steve Bullock (D-MT), Presidential Candidate. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 25, 2019 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[18:00:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN: Good evening, everyone, and welcome to a CNN Democratic presidential town hall event. I'm Alisyn Camerota.

Tonight, two presidential candidates from two very different parts of the country. We have Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City and Governor Steve Bullock of Montana. Each are vying to take on President Trump.

So first up, Governor Bullock, the Democratic governor of a state that voted for President Trump by 20 points in 2016. But Bullock says he knows how to win back those voters in 2020. So he'll take questions from Democrats and independents who say they plan to participate in the Democratic primaries and caucuses next year.

So now, please welcome Governor Steve Bullock.

(APPLAUSE)

Hi, Governor.

GOV. STEVE BULLOCK (D-MT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hello. So good to see you.

CAMEROTA: So great to see you, as well. Great to see you, great to have you here in New York. I can't help but notice your choice of footwear with your business suit, cowboy boots for any of you who can't see it. Do you always wear cowboy boots?

BULLOCK: I don't always wear them. These are my fancier cowboy boots actually given to me. I just got done of chair of National Governors' Association, so that's the Democrats and the Republicans, and that was my gift for a year of service to our nation's governors.

CAMEROTA: They're quite handsome.

BULLOCK: You're so good to me.

CAMEROTA: OK. So, obviously, we have much more pressing and important questions for you this morning. And let's start with a deadly serious one. As you know, earlier this month, 31 people were killed in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, and since then, more than two dozen people have been arrested for threats to commit mass shootings across the country. So I want to bring in a young man named Aditya Sunar. He's a high

school senior from Long Island who will be voting for president for the first time in 2020. So, Aditya, what is your question for the governor?

QUESTION: Two years ago, I was eating lunch in the cafeteria when our high school was placed on lockdown because someone threatened to commit a school shooting. My friends hid underneath desks for over an hour as a SWAT team ran through our school before the lockdown ended. Why should we trust you to end this fear of gun violence with your past opposition to universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons and current opposition to gun licensing?

BULLOCK: Thanks for the question, Aditya. And you're not the only one. I mean, as the parent of a sixth-grade boy when he went to a new school this year, I said, what did you learn during your first week? And he said, I know where to go in case of mass shootings.

And no one should have to go through this. Look, I come at this a little bit different perspective than some. Like 40 percent of American households, I'm a gun owner. I hunt.

Also, unlike far too many people in this country, my family has been personally impacted by gun violence. Twenty-five years ago, I was actually living here in New York. I was a law student and got pulled out of my last class of law school because I had an 11-year-old nephew, Jeremy, shot and killed on the playground by a 10-year-old. At the time, it was the youngest schoolyard shooting in the country. I don't know right now if a 10-year-old killed an 11-year-old it would even make national news.

Never forget sitting around in my office after the Vegas shooting. We were asked to lower the flags. And I'm like, I don't even know what to write in this proclamation. A co-worker of mine said, we now have a template for mass shootings. Nine times since Parkland, or seven times since Parkland, nine times since the Vegas shooting, I've been asked to lower the flags.

If we could ever look at this as a public health issue, we know exactly what to do. If it wasn't a political issue. A public health issue would be universal background checks. It would be red flag laws. It would be taking steps for gun safety and security.

Dick's and Walmart, other places no longer even sell those assault weapons. They're not used for hunting. They're not used for self- defense. I don't think we should sell them anymore.

I'll give you a reason why we can't look at it as just a public health issue. In fact, I'll give you 30 million reasons. And that's how much the NRA spent to make sure that Donald Trump was elected. When I was growing up, the NRA used to be just a gun safety and hunting organization. Now it's a dark money field political organization to do nothing more than drive us apart.

So we have to make progress on this. And lowering those flags, sitting there knowing there's a template for mass shootings, that's what also got me to start looking at saying that there are steps that we can take, like universal background checks. Vast majority of gun owners, even the vast majority of NRA members, think that this makes sense.

It can no longer just be a political issue. And I'm counting on you. I'm counting on gun owners to finally break what's happened in Washington, D.C. I'll never forget, after Parkland, all the nation's governors came to the White House. And at the time, the president said universal background checks and I want to hear from you. Within four or five days, he had heard from Wayne LaPierre of the NRA and he walked back. The same was the case here.

You shouldn't have to grow up as a senior in high school having to have lockdown drills. We can take commonsense actions, and I'm counting on that not only when I'm president, but I'm also counting on gun-owners and non-gun-owners alike to finally say enough's enough.

CAMEROTA: Governor, let me have you sit down for one minute, just to follow up on what Aditya said, because I think that it's an important point. You only announced your support for universal background checks and these other things in 2018, which was about a year before you announced for president, and so what do you say to people who say, well, this was just a political calculation?

BULLOCK: Yeah, and Alisyn, all throughout my 10 years in public office, I've certainly tried to say let's take some commonsense steps and vetoed 14 different bills that came through our legislature that certainly I don't think added to the safety of our communities or law enforcement or others.

But I think it was quite a gut punch as an example when I'm sitting there saying, what should we even write in this proclamation? And having a staff member say, you know what, we do have templates, or I have my oldest daughter's your same age. And when I went to -- you know, we had March for our Lives even in Helena, Montana. And they asked me to speak, I said, I don't want to speak, but I listened. And I listened to your generation.

And those kids up there, I went with my daughters and my son, and said if I can't be part of the leadership, as someone also that recognized that it's not just a binary issue meaning, right? It's not just about gun safety. We talk about hardening our schools. At times we should figure out how to soften our schools, meaning how to make no kid feel isolated.

But if I said there are commonsense steps we could take -- and you could start looking at it from a public health perspective, and I think it does give us the path.

CAMEROTA: At the same time, some of your rivals, your Democratic rivals, support mandatory buybacks of assault weapons. You say that goes too far. Why?

BULLOCK: Yeah, I think -- look, and an assault weapon, as I noted, it's not used for hunting. It's not used for self-defense. But we've also battled for quite some time -- like so what I proposed is both voluntary buybacks and also then at the time of transfer stopping that. But it's one where I think that -- look, the NRA has been way too darn effective, right? And what they prey on is turn around and saying, the government's going to come in and take away everyone's guns. I think we can get there without a mandatory buyback system of keeping our kids and our communities a lot safer.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's move on to our next question. I noted the audience has so many questions for you. So I want to bring in Peter Tresnan. He's a middle school art teacher here in New York City. Peter, what's your question?

QUESTION: Thank you. Do you believe white supremacy is a threat to the United States? And, if so, how do you plan to address the rise in white supremacy nationwide, which impacts Americans in many different ways, most notably its roots in mass shootings?

BULLOCK: Yeah. Peter, thank you for the question. And it is a time where white supremacy is on the rise. And first, we have a leader that empowers it, saying that there are fine people on both sides at Charlottesville. It's giving license to people.

How I would propose to deal with it is in a difference in leadership. We had a rash of anti-Semitism going on in Montana for a little while, targeting one specific community in northwestern Montana. The way I dealt with it as governor is, first, I went up without cameras and talked to that community, talked to them about what can I do to make you feel more safe here?

Then I brought Democrats and Republicans together, our leaders, and we did announcements to say hate has no room in the state of Montana. And I put the Star of David up in my window in the governor's residence and encouraged everyone in our state to do so, say that we'll never allow people to divide us by race, by gender, by geography.

And I think we're in a challenging time in this country. And I think the first thing that we can do actually to really tamp this down is make sure that Donald Trump isn't re-elected president.

And then, secondarily, it is leadership matters in this country. And the way one leads and say -- Democrats, Republicans, no one will countenance what we're hearing, the hate-filled rhetoric, not just from this president but so many people across this country. And that's exactly what I'd do.

CAMEROTA: Governor, I have a question for you about the death penalty, because so many of your Democratic rivals say that they oppose the death penalty because they worry about wrongful convictions as well as racial bias. You say that you worry about those things as well, but you're not willing to take it off the table. So why not?

BULLOCK: Yeah, I don't think -- like the Oklahoma City bomber or someone that goes into a house of worship, people, congregants in prayer, for the only reason of killing them because of the color of their skin, I think they forfeited their right to comfortably live the rest of their life. Now, don't get me wrong, though, because I was also a state attorney

general. And so many times the death penalty in this country is -- it's different for people of color, it's different for people of less economic means, it's so disproportionate. I went to law school because I wanted to believe that justice was blind and justice wasn't based on income. And I'll do everything I can to make sure that's the case. And when it comes to the death penalty, only in very, very limited areas like domestic terrorism do I think we should still have it.

CAMEROTA: As you know, this weekend, we've seen President Trump on the world stage at the G7 in France. So our next question is on foreign policy. It comes from Diane Zuchnik. She's an adjunct professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology here in New York and currently supports Senator Elizabeth Warren, but this is your big chance, Governor, to win her over.

BULLOCK: Do I have a chance, Diane? Talk to me. Depends how this goes.

QUESTION: I'm listening.

BULLOCK: I'm listening, too.

QUESTION: Governor, how does a nice guy like you deal with the likes of a Putin, a Netanyahu, a Kim Jong-un, and others of their ilk?

BULLOCK: Yeah, easily. I mean, from the perspective of what's been interesting in some respects is sort of Trump's knee-jerk reaction, right, has been to treat our allies as adversaries and our adversaries as allies. And in doing that, in all of these areas of the world, we're actually a lot less safe than we once were.

I mean, priorities, when it comes to foreign policy, certainly always protect Americans, actually strengthen our alliance, deter our adversaries, at times that is through dialogue. You don't go to North Korea just for a photo-op. You don't go and joke about even Vice President Biden or others, you know, highlighting what North Korean dictators say.

So you be strong with resolve. You have to deal with our adversaries both with deterrence and with dialogue. And you promote American values like human rights and democracy around the world.

But what we've seen is not only has he had this infatuation with dictators. He's also kind of taken this America first into America alone. So it's that much harder, be it in the Middle East, be it in North Korea, be it in Iran, be it in Russia, or even trade in China, to actually bring our allies along with us to deter bad behavior.

So I think that you stand up. You don't coddle. You certainly don't write love letters. And you be firm about American interests and American values, and that's what's missing from this president.

CAMEROTA: But, Governor, specifically, how would you stand up to Vladimir Putin? BULLOCK: Well, look, let me count the ways. I mean, Vladimir Putin

attacked our elections, and all that President Trump does is wrapped his arms around it and makes fun of that. I mean, how do you actually -- so you both take it from the United States' perspective and say we won't allow -- yeah, make sure you do all the cyber work, but we won't allow that. You call him out at the start.

And also you take the steps along the way and say that hopefully it doesn't get ever to a military perspective, but bring the rest of the world in, because it's not just the United States that Vladimir Putin is doing that, as an example.

And I think that -- that that's where -- you know, seeing the president at the G7 summit actually saying we should invite Russia back to it, the G7 is actually -- promotes human rights and democracy. And that's why they got -- Russia got kicked out in the first instance.

Trying to reward behavior in the way that the president has done, I certainly would not take that tact. And I think in all of these instances, right, when you look at what he did with North Korea, there's been, what, seven missile tests in the last month? And what has he done? He's done photo-ops and tweets. We're not safer as a result of this president.

CAMEROTA: Governor, stand by. We have many more questions for you. So we'll be right back with more from CNN's Democratic presidential town hall with Governor Steve Bullock. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Welcome back to CNN's Democratic presidential town hall with Montana Governor Steve Bullock. OK. Our next question comes from Vishal Reddy. Vishal grew up in Cleveland. He's a law student at New York University. So, Vishal, what's your question?

QUESTION: Virtually all scientists say we only have 10 to 12 years to act before global warming fundamentally alters the state of human existence. Just this past summer, we saw a surge in flooding affecting farmers in states like Iowa and Illinois, and saw hundreds of thousands of Detroiters who lost their power for days after a heat wave. Do you have an aggressive environmental plan, such as the Green New Deal, that can urgently address the environmental disasters affecting middle America?

BULLOCK: I do, Vishan. And it's not just middle America that's being impacted. In the West, fire seasons are now 78 days longer than they were about 40 years ago. I literally had to close down the Yellowstone River in 2016 due to fish kills from warming waters.

So as outdoors people, we see it each and every day. You know, the scientists say that we have to be net zero, carbon neutral effectively as a world by 2050. I think we can do it by 2040 or even earlier.

But I think -- so step number one would certainly be rejoin Paris. Number two, it was so great this week when even the auto companies said -- now, President Trump wanted to get rid of the fuel efficiency standards, but they're like, no, we want to meet this. And the notion that, you know, we need to invest -- like the most antiquated piece of machinery in throughout the West is the grid. It can't even take renewables on.

Agriculture has a significant role to play. We can invest more at the federal level along the way, and I think we can get there.

I think there's a couple of things people don't talk about, though. One of which is the Republican Party is literally the only major political party in the world now that denies that climate change is real and human caused. That first George Bush said, look, we'll address the greenhouse effect from the White House effect. I mean, there were Republicans saying we'll lead from the top.

And because of the corrupting influence of money in our system, because of the Koch family, because of oil companies, Republicans now no longer even acknowledge climate change is real. So I think that we do have to address that Washington, D.C., is now more about the donors than about meaningful policy or science.

And secondary, I guess that I'd also say that, you know, as we make this transition -- and in Montana, we've doubled our wind, we've quadrupled our solar, I've fought back on any efforts to end renewable energy standards. We also got to recognize that we can't leave communities behind.

I mean, too many times when we're having this discussion, you've got people that have spent their whole life powering this nation and Democrats sound like they're part of the problem. So we need to make a transition. We can't wait another 35 years.

We need to take immediate and durable steps but we also have to make sure to invest in those communities with worker training and others so that we don't just look at this as a climate crisis, but for our country we look at it as a climate opportunity, to regain our standing in the world and create jobs along the way. That's what I'd do.

CAMEROTA: Governor, you've talked about the investments, but what sacrifices should Americans be prepared to make to combat this crisis?

BULLOCK: Well, I hope at end of the day that you really look at it, and it's not just sacrifices, or from the perspective of -- look, one of the biggest things that we could do to actually bring down our carbon footprint is just, like, weatherizing homes, taking steps at the federal level that would not only create jobs, but create opportunities along the way to reduce our carbon footprint.

We know what we have to do. Like, I don't think -- it was funny, I was in Iowa. This was a while ago. And somebody came up to me and said, oh, you're a Democrat. Are you going to make us quit eating cows? Really? Like, the Dairy Council already, as an example, has said they're reducing their carbon footprint or outtake by about 20 percent by 2020.

It's going to take a federal partner to actually invest along the way in both the research and the carbon sink. I mean, our forests, taking care of them are actually capturing carbon. But I don't think that we should look at it like -- it's a not the days of Jimmy Carter where everybody had to turn down the thermostats to 62 to address this.

Let's actually view it as an opportunity, because it is an opportunity. And it's also an opportunity to hand off something better for our kids and grandkids than what we have.

CAMEROTA: OK. Our next question comes from Jessica Meiselman. She's from Brooklyn. She works as a lawyer at a tech company. Jessica?

QUESTION: In 2016, you criticized Hillary Clinton for promoting a quick end to coal. Given that we are undeniably in a climate crisis now, what is your stance on coal?

BULLOCK: Yeah, and thanks for the question, Jessica. And what I did is, as we were looking at the overall clean power plan, right, is how do we move our state forward along the way, had said, look, we can't leave those communities behind.

So when Hillary Clinton said we're going to put a whole lot of coal miners out of business, that's what I mean from the perspective of figuring out those ways. Look, we've had more I think coal companies have bankruptcies in the last two-and-a-half years than probably six or eight under Obama. You've had more and more coal plants shutting down as we make those transitions.

But I don't think that we can just leave communities behind along the way, folks that have spent their whole life powering our nation. So coal is an abundant resource. It's not just in the United States. Around the world. I think we should always be investing in technologies to figure out if there are ways to carbon capture and carbon sink. And like an X prize, start on that. But we need to make that transition. And we can.

CAMEROTA: Governor, I want to drill down on that for a moment, no pun intended.

BULLOCK: Sure.

CAMEROTA: Because as you just said, you were disappointed in the Obama administration's efforts to phase out coal. You also criticized the administration's stance on the Keystone XL pipeline in 2015. So do you believe that the economic gains that the fossil fuel industry brings to your state at the moment outweighs the climate crisis?

BULLOCK: No, I think we have to address climate change and we can. Keystone, of all the 37 candidates or however many there are right now, right, that's the only one -- I'm the only one where it would run through my state. And I've also, as both attorney general and governor, dealt with the fact that I've had pipeline breaches in the Yellowstone River, where it significantly impacted not only our economy, but also the wildlife along the way as we're still cleaning up parts of that.

So, it wasn't more than probably two months ago even that I reached out to the Trump administration and said I'm not comfortable with what you've done with Keystone and said you haven't given me the assurances of actually meaningful consultation with our tribal nations or that our water will be protected or you are addressing the climate change impacts of that. So there's a lot for me before I could ever say that this should go forward.

CAMEROTA: OK, Governor, stick around. Obviously, we have many, many more questions for you. So we'll be right back with more from Democratic presidential candidate Governor Steve Bullock. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Welcome back, everyone. We are live in New York City for CNN's Democratic presidential town hall with Montana Governor Steve Bullock.

So, Governor, we're going to get to more audience questions in a moment. But first I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk to you about the economy. As you know, some economists are worried that they see signs of a recession on the horizon, perhaps by the time you would take office. So what is the first thing that you would do to address the economy?

BULLOCK: Yeah. And let's actually look at where we are right now, right? Job growth and wage growth, Alyson, has grown less under Trump than Obama. I mean, the only thing that's increased is what? Our national deficit, farm bankruptcies, the uninsured, the number of hate crimes.

At the end of the day, from my perspective, the economy is really about 300 million people making decisions each and every day around their kitchen table. It's like, am I going to try to get another 10,000 miles out of this set of tires or am I going to buy a new one? Am I going to buy a new phone? Am I going to buy my children something?

And what the president has done is either wanted to blame the press or caused so much more global uncertainty along the way that I think what's happened with trade is part of what's impacting sort of confidence of those 300 million families about whether they should be making those investments.

So I sure hope we don't end up in a recession by the time that I'm elected president, but if so, it's both addressing some of the challenges along the way, getting back to global stability, getting off of Twitter, and if big things need to be done -- like, it's crazy that we haven't been able to get a meaningful infrastructure bill through, you know, all through this president's time and even before, probably not since the Recovery Act.

So I think that we can look at -- like, the earlier question about how do we make sure that climate is an opportunity? We proposed about a $375 billion infrastructure investments just when it gets to the climate side. Hopefully we won't end up there, but with the instability of this president, it's only caused an instability in families trying to decide whether they should actually be making that next investment and buy another set of tires.

CAMEROTA: OK, our next question comes from Michael Zingman. He's a medical student at Columbia University here in New York who says he currently supports Senator Elizabeth Warren, but anything is possible. Michael?

QUESTION: Hi, Governor. Do you support an improved Medicare for all system that eliminates private insurance companies? As a medical student, soon to be physician, and board member of Students for a national health program, I know that this is the system needed for my future patients and a significant step forward towards racial and economic justice.

BULLOCK: Yeah, and, Michael, thank you for actually becoming a medical student and becoming a doctor at a time where it's not without some challenges when you look at our overall health care system.

I think that every one of us, health care is very personal to us. I think of my son, Cameron, who's 12. He's now 12 years old. He had a heart attack within 24 hours of being born. He had to be life- flighted out to Salt Lake where we spent the first month of his life hoping he would live. He's now running around and playing football, because we had good doctors, like hopefully you'll become, because we had a quality health care plan, that's what's allowed Cam to be where he is today.

So when I look at what we need to do to make sure that everyone has access and affordability when it comes to health care, where it is universal so everyone is covered, recognizing that the greatest stride that we made since Medicaid and Medicare was Obamacare. I want to build on that, not start all over.

And I think you could do that with a public option. If you look at the 25 million people that don't have health care in this country, half of them are in states that didn't expand Medicaid.

We need to end surprise medical billing. We need to end out of network charges. And, you know, it's crazy that Costco, as an example, can negotiate drug prices, but if the federal government does it, it would be a crime. The idea that the drug companies have been investing in our elections a lot, so you can't even negotiate drug prices.

I don't think, though, that the best thing to do would be to start all over. I don't want to take away 165 million people that have employer-sponsored health care and take it away. I also don't think that from the perspective -- and it would increase taxes on everyone in this country in doing so.

I look at this as an add-on, not a complete teardown. Republicans have spent 70 times now trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, take away coverage for pre-existing conditions. So the way that we get to full access and affordability isn't to start over. It's to build on what we have.

CAMEROTA: OK, Governor. I want to bring in now Lauren Summa. She works for the town of North Hempstead, New York, and she's the president of the Nassau County Young Democrats. Lauren, what's your question?

QUESTION: Hi, Governor. How are you? The Supreme Court Citizen United ruling allowed unlimited campaign spending by corporations, unions, and super PACs. It gave these big money groups undue influence and made it difficult for some candidates to get their message out without substantial financial backing. How do you propose to level the playing field and bring about more transparency in campaign financing?

BULLOCK: Thank you for the question, because for anybody that thinks campaign finance and sort of dark money in our elections is a fringe issue, if we really want to talk about climate, if we want to talk about health care costs, if we want to talk about gun safety, if we want to talk about income inequality, they're at the core of all of this with dark money in our elections.

I was attorney general when that little case called Citizens United came up, and actually when that case came down, took the first case after -- all the way back up to the U.S. Supreme Court, fighting against it, because Montana had this great history of -- actually, real dark history, at one time of copper kings, wealthy copper miners controlling every single local and state and federal election. So to the point where at one point Mark Twain said corruption smells sweet in Montana.

But regular folks took it back. It became -- elections actually became about people talking to people. So we took it all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Lost that on a 5-4 decision. Don't ever doubt what one justice can do when it comes to our democracy, women's rights, workers' rights.

Doubled down with the two-thirds Republican legislature, passed this law that said 90 days out from an election, I don't care if you call yourself Americans for America for America, whatever it is, you have to disclose every nickel that you spend.

Never forget, I was running for re-election in 2016, and the Koch brothers, Americans for Prosperity, mailed every single household in the country -- our state, including the governor's residence. My kids looked at it and said, are you really that much of a creep, dad?

But then 90 days out, it stopped. And if we can stop them there, we can stop them anywhere in the country.

First step I would do is same thing I did as governor. I did an executive order that said I can't tell you because of Citizens United that you can't spend during elections, but if you're going to spend, I want you to disclose every single dollar that you spend or contribute.

Think about if the federal government did that. You contract with dang near every single company in America. If elected officials are effectively going to be like NASCAR, bought and paid for by everyone, we ought to at least know who's doing the buying. And I think adding that sunshine and transparency is such an important first step. Ten years of public office, I've never had anybody come up to me and

say, you know what, Bullock, there's just not enough spending in our elections, right? So this isn't a Democrat, or a Republican, or an independent, or a libertarian issue. All of us want to believe that our voice matters.

And I think as we could take those legislative steps in Montana, with a two-thirds Republican legislature, if you get outside of D.C. and talk to folks, you can do it there, as well. And I'd push for the 28th Amendment. The 28th Amendment would actually overturn Citizens United, because we've got to make sure that everybody recognizes that we're all equal at least one day a year or one day every two years, and that's Election Day. And our vote and our voice matters. That's what we've been able to do in Montana. And that's what I'll do for the entire country.

CAMEROTA: OK, Governor, we have many more questions for you. So we'll be right back with more from CNN's Democratic presidential town hall with Governor Steve Bullock. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Welcome back to CNN's Democratic presidential town hall with Montana Governor Steve Bullock. OK, let's get to our first question. It comes from Richard Klar, a lawyer from Jericho, New York. What's your question, Richard?

QUESTION: Hello, Governor. You have campaigned on the basis that as governor from a red state that you would be the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump. Do you think that electability should be the litmus test for picking a presidential candidate, rather than the candidate whose positions best reflect and support the wishes and needs of the people?

BULLOCK: Richard, I would hope that we could actually do both many times. I mean, at the core of the word of progressive is making progress in people's lives, I would put my record up on health care, on kicking dark money out of our elections, on education investing in so many other ways.

I think we're at a challenging time, folks, in this 243-year experiment called representative democracy. I know that every single time that somebody runs for office, they say it's the most important election in our lifetime, but I truly think that that's the case this time.

And I think that if we can't win back places that we lost, we're not going to win this election. We could run up the numbers 2 million more in New York and guess what, if we can't win places like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, we're not going to win this election. I am the only one in the field that actually won in a Trump state. He took Montana by 20. I won by four. Twenty-five percent to 30 percent of my voters voted for Donald Trump.

But not by compromising my values have I won three elections in a red state. I'm a pro-choice, pro-union, populist Democrat that's actually gotten things done. So I think that the answer to that, Richard, is that we've -- I'm a single issue voter this time, and that's making sure that Donald Trump is not re-elected as president of the United States, and I hope that everything that we do along this way -- because I think at times through this primary we're actually making it harder to make sure that he's not re-elected, not easier.

CAMEROTA: Governor, one follow-up question.

BULLOCK: Please.

CAMEROTA: As you know, Democrats, of course, are eager to win back the White House, but also the Senate, the U.S. Senate.

BULLOCK: Yeah.

CAMEROTA: And I know that you've said that you're not interested in running for the Senate, but if you don't win the Democratic nomination, would you reconsider running for Senate?

BULLOCK: Alyson, we're going to have good candidates in Montana. I know that not everybody knows everyone in Montana, but fine candidates. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that we elect somebody to beat Steve Daines.

But for me, it's -- I mean, part of it is professional, meaning that my whole time I've served as an executive, I've been able to bring people together to get things done. I think that's where my talents are best suited.

Part of it is political. We have to make sure that we can recapture the Senate. But I also think we should talk about not just the races in 2020, but how is it that we've lost places like North Dakota, Indiana, Texas last time? And if we actually want to win some of these red and purple states, it might help to have somebody that's won in a red and purple state at the top of the ticket.

CAMEROTA: So...

BULLOCK: And then part of it, though, is also, to be honest, personal. I still have young kids.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BULLOCK: And I know that President Obama actually had dinner with his kids a lot more than I would as a senator from Montana, because I'd only see them on the weekends.

CAMEROTA: So that's an absolute no?

BULLOCK: That is an absolute no.

CAMEROTA: OK, thank you very much for that definitive answer. We're going to take a very quick break. And when we come back, more from CNN's Democratic presidential town hall with Governor Steve Bullock. So, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Welcome back to CNN's Democratic presidential town hall with Montana Governor Steve Bullock. OK, we'd like to go right now to Adam Gillette (ph). He lives here in Manhattan. He works for a business advisory firm. Adam worked on the Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016, but he's undecided this time around. So, Adam, what is your question for the governor?

QUESTION: Hi, Governor.

BULLOCK: Hey, Adam.

QUESTION: Are your politics informed by a sense of morality? If so, what does that morality tell you? And where did you learn it?

BULLOCK: It's a great question, Adam. My politics are informed by a sense of morality, and I learned it from growing up in Montana, from being raised in a single-parent household, often paycheck to paycheck, by my faith, the recognition that there is something more that we should be doing for everyone, by my role as a parent.

Think back to my first State of the State Address, because my kids were, like, 6, 8, and 10, the youngest in 40 years in Montana -- as the governor's house -- like, we moved into the governor's residence. My son kicks a soccer ball, bounces off a painting. It's like, uh-oh, maybe we should take down all the paintings in this house.

But at a time of great division, even in our state legislature, my first State of the State, I said you're going to hear different sounds from the governor's residence, and that's the sound of young kids. We as elected leaders have to recognize that our kids learn from our words and our deeds. And our kids are watching.

Believe that more true today than ever before. At some point this president's going to have to answer, are we giving something for our kids to aspire to and be inspired by? And I think all of us running is going to have to do the same.

So both from my family, by my faith, by the community I was raised in, it's what sort of shaped my morality and how I view the world.

CAMEROTA: And, Governor, we only have a couple of minutes left, but how does your morality shape what we're happening at the border, with family separations and the crisis there, if that's what you call it?

BULLOCK: And it is a crisis. It's a humanitarian crisis that we have to address. And, look, I believe in border security, but I don't believe in ripping families apart. And at some point we have to acknowledge, we need comprehensive immigration reform. We need a path for Dreamers, actually protection of dreamers. We need a path for citizenship for the 11 million folks that are living here without documentation, two-thirds of whom who've lived here for over a decade in this country.

But we also got to recognize the biggest problem right now in our immigration system is Donald Trump, because he's using it to actually rip not only families apart, but also rip this country apart. The best step that we can take until we get to comprehensive immigration reform is getting rid of Trump.

CAMEROTA: Governor, we want to thank you for answering this wide array of questions from our audience.

(APPLAUSE)

And thanks to our great studio audience for all of their fine questions. So up next, our town hall event is going to continue. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will be here with my colleague, Ana Cabrera. Stay with us.

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