CNN "State of the Union with Jake Tapper" - Transcript Interview with Mike DeWine

Interview

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Joining me now is Ohio's Republican Governor Mike DeWine.

First of all, Governor, thank goodness that you're OK. We're glad that you're healthy.

DEWINE: Thank you.

BASH: But what I want to ask you about is about this experience. You called it scary.

And what I'm wondering is whether it gave you a greater appreciation for the panic and confusion that Americans feel because the testing situation is so inadequate, and specifically about the plan that you have.

There are millions of antigen tests that are out there. And people are concerned about them. But you're obtaining, with a group of six other states, the ability to do more of them.

Do you still have that plan, even though you have your own personal experience about how inadequate that test is?

DEWINE: Well, first of all, I talked with Larry Hogan this morning. And we were just talking about that.

And I think what -- people should not take away from my experience that testing is not reliable or doesn't work. What I took was, as you pointed out, an antigen test, which is really a -- should be looked at as a screening test; 1.3 million Ohioans have taken a PCR test.

That test is very, very, very reliable. And so that is the diagnostic test. That's the test that we have been using in Ohio. The antigen tests are fairly new. And the companies that are coming out with them, quite frankly, have the burden of showing, you know, how good they are.

Could they be used in some situations? Yes, they could be, but you have to understand going in that you can get the false positives, like happened in my case, or you can get the false negatives. So, it can be used in a screening way.

BASH: So, you're still going ahead with this plan with the other governors, despite what happened?

(CROSSTALK)

DEWINE: We have not made a decision.

BASH: Oh, OK, go ahead.

DEWINE: Yes, all we have done is, we have said, let's group together. Let's put our purchasing power together, not just potentially for antigen tests, but maybe for other things as well.

BASH: I see.

DEWINE: So, we are taking this one step at a time.

What we saw the other day is certainly -- if anyone needed a wakeup call with -- about antigens, how careful you have to be, that was -- we certainly saw that with my test. And we're going to be very careful in how we use it.

BASH: They certainly did.

I want to ask you about the executive action signed by the president yesterday, after negotiations collapsed on Capitol Hill. He claimed that what he did yesterday gives $400 in weekly payments to Americans out of work extra.

But in order to qualify, states like yours have to be willing to pay a quarter of that. Listen to what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: States will be asked to cover 25 percent of the costs using existing funding, such as the tens of billions of dollars available to them through the coronavirus relief fund. States have the money. It's sitting there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:45:10]

BASH: So, Governor, are you going to set up that new program, request this money, and can you even afford your share of it?

DEWINE: Well, first of all, we're reviewing this now. We have set some money aside, a significant amount of money, for testing. Testing is going to be very, very important. So, the answer is, I don't know yet.

But I want to say that -- I want to thank the president. And, look, the president had a difficult situation. He's got a blunt instrument. And that's the executive order. He's trying to do something. He's trying to move the ball forward.

But I think it's -- what happen -- what really needs to happen is, Congress needs to get back in and negotiate. You and I were talking off air. I spent 20 years in Congress. And many, many times, it looked like it was absolutely impossible.

You had Democrat vs. Republicans, somebody in the White House. Nothing's going to happen, and then, boom, at the last minute, it happened.

And so I'm confident that Congress can do something. They need to do -- they really need to do it. They need to pull together.

I think, Dana, we need to look at this as if we are at war. And throughout our history, when we have had a foreign invader, we have pulled together, Democrats and Republicans. We have an invader. And that is this virus. So, I think -- I'm confident that they can do that.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: OK.

DEWINE: Optimistic.

BASH: So, just to be clear, people in your state of Ohio, they were watching the president yesterday. They think that they're going to get, if they're unemployed, an extra 400 bucks coming their way. What you're saying is, that is not clear and it might not happen?

DEWINE: We're looking at it right now to see whether we can do this.

And one of the things that we looked at, as we look back, our economists looked at what has happened, particularly in regard -- specifically in regard to Ohio.

But that extra money, you know, went to people who really needed it, enabled them to buy groceries, enabled them to do their rent. The other benefit it had, frankly, is, they went out and spent that money, as you would expect. And that money circulated in the Ohio economy. So it mattered a lot.

And so whether or not it's $600 or $400 or where that figure should be, I think Congress needs to get back at it.

BASH: So...

DEWINE: I talked with Rob Portman this morning. And Rob had a plan some time ago that seemed to me to be a compromise plan, which gave people money, but also gave them an extra incentive if they went back to work.

That's the type thing that there's got to be a middle ground somewhere, so people can...

BASH: Yes, you would think that there would be.

DEWINE: Yes.

BASH: I want to ask about the money for states, which is a big holdup between the two sides. The president said yesterday that what he did takes care of the

situation. But, more importantly, he said the Democrats are holding out for funding for states like yours because it's a bailout for Democratic-run states.

You're a Republican. You run an important state of Ohio. Could you use the money that they're talking about?

DEWINE: Yes, I'm not sure all the -- what's been going back and forth. I can't follow it every day. I have got a state to try to run here.

BASH: Well, they're talking about a federal -- more federal dollars to give to the states. Could you use that money?

(CROSSTALK)

DEWINE: Yes, let me -- sure, we could.

Let me just say what our priorities are. Our priorities would be more flexibility for our state, so that we can help with education. Our priority would also be more flexibility for the local communities, for the cities, and for the counties to be able to spend the money.

We could use additional money for testing. This testing -- you know, we have doubled our testing in the last four weeks. We need to double it again and then double it again.

And so that is not going to be cheap to do. But that is -- until we get a vaccine, we have to do testing and we have to do tracing. So, those would be our -- my priorities in Ohio.

BASH: Governor, I understand.

Before I let you go, I have an important question about elections coming up. As you well know, Ohio has picked the winner in all but two elections since 1896. So far, what we have seen now in your state is that every Ohio voter can vote by mail.

Politico is reporting that the White House is weighing executive actions to curb mail-in voting. The president insists that it leads to widespread fraud. Do you agree with that?

DEWINE: I can only speak to Ohio.

And we have long experience in voting by mail. We have a no-reason -- you don't have to give a reason, and, for four weeks, you can get an absentee ballot. It's worked exceedingly well in Ohio. People can also go in at the Board of Elections and vote.

So, as -- I think you're going to see more of that because of the coronavirus and people not wanting to go out. But we have a long, long experience in doing that in Ohio. And...

[09:50:02]

BASH: And you're comfortable with that, no fraud?

DEWINE: I'm comfortable. You -- look, you always have to worry about fraud. You have to be vigilant.

We have a great secretary of state, Frank LaRose. And we have local boards, Democrat and Republican...

BASH: Thank you.

DEWINE: ... checking on each other. It's going to work.

BASH: Thank you, Governor. Thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate it.

DEWINE: Thank you. Good to be with you.

BASH: I'm glad you're well.

DEWINE: Thank you.

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