Robert Allen

Detroit Free Press

The night before he learned about the Flint water crisis, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he received a briefing "telling me that there really isn't a problem in Flint. That these outside experts aren't correct."

The next day, Sept. 28, 2015, he had a conference call with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Health and Human Services.

"And I get on the call, and I push them, and they tell me, 'It looks like there is a problem,'" he said Monday morning, taking questions at the Michigan Chronicle's 11th annual Pancakes and Politics breakfast at the Detroit Athletic Club. "That's the kind of thing you never want to see. And talk about being upset, I was upset."

Snyder was on stage about an hour this morning at the event attended by roughly a couple of hundred people. He spoke about his plans to help Flint, his goals for education, and positive developments in the state's economy since he assumed office in 2011.

Flint's water continues to be deemed unsafe for human consumption, with high enough levels of lead recorded in some homes to cause potentially permanent brain damage in children.

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Carol Cain, Free Press columnist and host of Michigan Matters on CBS, said Monday that Snyder had been touted as a potential U.S. presidential or vice-presidential contender a year ago, but in the past month was ranked by Fortune magazine among the world's most disappointing leaders. She asked Snyder what the past six months have been like.

Snyder responded, "Well it's a humbling experience. And it's a huge challenge. I mean that's the honest answer. It's been a very difficult time period. But what I keep in mind is there are people suffering a lot more in Flint, and I want to do something about it."

On the water crisis, he said career civil servants showed "an absolute lack of common sense," and that instead of adding $150 in daily chemicals to the water supply -- which previously had been added before the water's source was switched to the Flint River -- they decided to test the water for two six-month periods.

The governor has been the subject of numerous ongoing protests, with many calling for his removal from office. Monday morning, about 10 people stood outside the Detroit Athletic Club, some with signs, including one with a picture of a Hitler-style mustache on Snyder's face.

The Rev. W.J. Rideout III of Detroit said the governor has harmed children.

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"Help us get this demon, this devil out of office," he said. "I"m asking that we prosecute him, lock him up, get him out of office."

Tamika Gaines of Detroit was among the protestors. She said her mother, on dialysis with infected ports, is "being poisoned in Flint," and she needs help moving her to Detroit. She said her sister is also ill from lead.

During the breakfast event, Snyder said he's taken responsibility for the Flint crisis.

He also said he's pushing to get a bipartisan bill to help the failing Detroit Public Schools pushed through the House after it passed the Senate. He said legislation is needed by summer to keep it from ending up in the courts.

The governor was asked about his legacy. He said that when he was elected, the state had about 11% unemployment, and that as of this morning, it was at 4.8%. He said the automotive industry is "doing fabulous" and that "we are the comeback state of the United States."

Contact Robert Allen @rallenMI or rallen@freepress.com.