CNN "Newsroom" - Interview with Mike Jones

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

VAUSE: Joining us now on the line is Mike Jones. He was one of the protesters who gathered on the steps of the state capital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Monday, a rally which demanded the state reopen. He is also a Republican lawmaker, a representative in the Pennsylvania state legislature.

So Mike Jones, thank you for taking the time and bearing with us through all this. It's good to have you with us.

But I want to start off with, you know, it's important to stress that times are not just economically tough right now, but that uncertainty and the financial trouble and everything that comes with it, it's sort of manifesting itself in very real health problems, and there's an impact here. And you're seeing that in your district. And you wrote about it in an op-ed for "The Washington Post."

REP. MIKE JONES (R), PENNSYLVANIA STATE LEGISLATURE (via phone): You're exactly correct, John. And I think, you know, part of the issue here, you touched on it -- made a good point. The psychology of this, we're really in uncharted territory. And it seems like each day brings new regulations and restrictions, with really, no light at the end of the tunnel.

But to your point, yes, we're concerned about we've seen a dramatic increase in drug overdoses, like almost a tripling of the calls to the suicide hotline. We're very concerned about domestic abuse, particularly with children. It's not being reported, because they're not in school.

And then there's a lot of elective surgeries and cancer screenings and things like that that have been put off. You know, you can only go so long. These are necessary procedures that -- that need to be done. So we're putting -- we're putting those medical procedures piece of it off, as well. So we're very concerned about that.

VAUSE: I want to read a little from the op-ed that you wrote. Here it is: "Public health officials bring valuable scientific expertise to an unprecedented challenge. But these public health officials are advisers, not policymakers. It is the job of elected officials to consider their advice seriously and then weigh it against competing concerns, including economic ones."

This seems to be a softer, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) more measured version of what the president was arguing a few weeks back when he wanted the country to reopen by Easter.

But I'm just wondering if your point is a little more nuanced here. Because I'm sure these advisors are looking at the full picture. Are you arguing that maybe they need to put more weight on the other side, the economic side, the other -- the impact that this is having on families, and the health -- health consequences not associated with the coronavirus.

JONES: Yes. I think that's exactly correct. And two quick points there. First, I think there are -- there's a bit of tunnel vision there. And whenever you focus on a single variable, in this case minimizing COVID deaths, you can do a lot of -- I'm sure it's unintentional, but there's a lot of collateral damage. And I'm not sure that those folks, while they may be experts in their

field, they are not experts in business and economics and looking at the bigger picture. The other point is that I think there's a big difference between a four- or five-week shutdown and a seven-, eight-, nine-, ten-week. Financially, whether it's business-wise or personal finances, you can -- a lot of people can weather a one-month storm, but you start to get to two or three months, especially with no end in sight, and it gets exponentially worse.

VAUSE: Yes. I want to play some sound, though, for you from the mayor of Las Vegas. Because she spoke with Anderson Cooper. And like so many mayors in this country, she wants her city back in business as soon as possible. Here's part of the interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: So he knows you want them open? Because obviously, visitors are not going to come without casinos and shows and things.

MAYOR CAROLYN GOODMAN, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: Well, no, they'll come, because they love -- we've got major league sports here. And --

COOPER: You want stadiums open?

GOODMAN: -- we've got so many -- I'd love everything opened, because I think we've had viruses for years that have been here.

COOPER: So that -- that is the call you said you weren't making. That is the call. You want casinos open. You want stadiums open. You want restaurants open. You want Vegas back in business.

GOODMAN: Anderson, you're being very specific. I appreciate it. Because that's where you're seeing it. No, the reality is I want us open in the city of Las Vegas so our people can go back to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I'm wondering if, in some ways, that kind of sums up the problem here. You know, the outbreak has to be brought under control first, which is part of the White House guidelines, before you can actually really embark on any serious reopening of the economy.

[00:40:10]

GOODMAN: Yes. It's a bit of a catch-22, but I would say particularly here in Pennsylvania, John, we went -- we're beyond the norm, even by U.S. standards.

So the big one, the big issues, we jumped -- our governor jumped immediately to this idea of essential and nonessential businesses. And three big ones -- construction, real estate and automobile sales -- have been shut down. And they've been -- that's not the case in virtually any other state.

So we have now almost double the national average of unemployment, which then overburdens that system. The other thing is there's been little consideration to what I'll call the profile of the business. So unlike -- unlike the -- I believe you said it was the mayor there who was commenting, I'm not -- we're not advocating, necessarily, for restaurants and bars, stadiums to open immediately.

But there are a number of businesses that are inherently safe. Virtually all manufacturing and virtually any business that can be connected with five or less people.

The other thing is there is really not much consideration for geography. So Pennsylvania, obviously, has a -- you know, big city like Pennsylvania or Pittsburgh. Where, you know, maybe even a complete shutdown almost may make sense.

But we have vast rural areas where they naturally social distance. We want those people working, not just for the sake of the economy, but we're going to need those funds to take care of the people that -- that need to be shut down. So we're going to pay a terrible consequence just a few months down the road if we don't start to get back to business.

VAUSE: You know, it's a much more nuanced approach. It's not just simply open it up or leave it closed. And you know, it seems a lot to talk about there with your Democrat -- you know, Democrats on the other side of the aisle. So we'll leave you to it.

JONES: Yes, you're 100 percent correct. We're just looking for a little common sense and some common ground here, John.

VAUSE: That would be a nice of change of things, if that can happen.

JONES: There seems to be a shortage of common sense in the world today, doesn't it?

VAUSE: Absolutely. Thank you. Be well. Appreciate you being with us.

JONES: Thank you, John.

VAUSE: Cheers.

Source