CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript Interview with Gretchen Whitmer
Interview
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And I want to go straight now to Gretchen Whitmer, Democratic Governor of Michigan. Governor, I want to show again the pictures of what we're seeing right now. This is live in Wisconsin right across Lake Michigan from you. When you see these images of all these people gathered and there are, not that I can see being used, any masks in this picture. And you have a state right with a record daily caseload since the pandemic began. What's your reaction?
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D) MICHIGAN: Well, I think like Dr. Schaffner said, I'm sad. I'm sad to see that because we know that the President who's luring them out know that this activity can expose them to this dangerous virus that can take their lives. But this is how COVID spreads and he's known this for a long, long period of time.
And yet these people are going out to support him and I don't wish them any ill will, I just feel terrible that they are being treated so poorly that COVID-19 is going to spread amongst them and they're going to bring it home to their families and communities. And it's going to make it harder on us to get this economy back up and running and most importantly, people are going to lose their lives because of it.
BURNETT: Governor, the President has been blaming blue states, obviously, including yours for a high number of coronavirus deaths in the country saying, oh, this would all be fine if it weren't for these Democratic states. Here's what he said.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The blue states had tremendous death rates. If you take the blue states out, we're at a level that I don't think anybody in the world would be at. We're really at a very low level, but some of the states - they were blue states and blue state managed.
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BURNETT: He obviously then went on to specifically mentioned your state along with that of North Carolina and Pennsylvania. What do you say if it just took out the deaths in your state it would all look good?
WHITMER: Well, first of all, he's flat out wrong, but I'm not surprised by that. He frequently gets the facts wrong. Secondly, we're all Americans. I tell you, we've lost over 6,600 people in the State of Michigan. I've never once asked which party that person voted in. They're Michiganders and that's enough for me.
My job is to protect everyone in the state and the U.S. President's job is to protect everyone in the United States. It should not matter what state they're from, it should not matter what side of the aisle they set up. The fact of the matter is, this is a virus that is deadly and it does not respect party line. It does not respect state line. We should be in this together against a virus and need an American president who understands that.
BURNETT: So you issued stay-at-home orders early in the pandemic and you have not ruled out issuing them again, if there's a big jump there. The Attorney General Bill Barr spoke out about that sort of order today. Here's what he said.
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WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Putting a national lockdown stay-at- home orders is like house arrest. It's other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint; this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history.
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BURNETT: Greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history. What do you make of the comparison to slavery?
WHITMER: I mean, I just think the Attorney General is unhinged and it is deeply disturbing that our chief law enforcement officer is promulgating this kind of craziness. The fact of the matter is the worst thing that we can do for another American is to give them a virus that could kill them. That's the biggest violation of our civil rights is, and an administration and a government that is undermining our ability to protect ourselves and our lives and our livelihood.
BURNETT: Governor, I want to ask you about something else the President did today specifically about you, slamming your state for a ballot issue. He tweeted, "The Democrat Trump Hater Secretary of State of Michigan purposely misprinted Ballots for the Military, putting the wrong names on the Ballot, and actually listing a member of another party as a replacement for Vice President Mike Pence.
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Everybody is totally confused by their egregious behavior, which is just the way they want it. This was not a mistake, it was done illegally and on purpose."
Now, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State in your state did confirm there was a temporary error that resulted in 400 ballots being downloaded incorrectly saying it was unintentional. How did it happen? And putting aside the President trying to stir the pot and stoke the flames, does it concern you about being able to say the ballots in Michigan are all accurate and all clean?
WHITMER: Well, obviously, we have the duty to ensure that the integrity of this collection and that means ballots that are accurate. A computer glitch that printed 400 ballots incorrectly was caught quickly. The Secretary of State's office has handled it and taken care to ensure that the problem is fixed.
But the fact of the matter is it's 400 ballots, it was caught immediately and it was a computer glitch. We are working overtime to ensure the integrity of this election. It's actually misinformation that's coming out of the White House that is the biggest, I think, threat to getting this election right and to ensuring that everyone can get their votes counted. As you've acknowledged, they've tweeted six times more about ballot than they have about the threat of COVID- 19 or taking a minute to even acknowledge the almost 200,000 people that have lost their battle with COVID-19.
We're gonna get the selection right. We've made great strides in Michigan, our Secretary of State is on it and this one computer glitch has been fixed.
BURNETT: All right. Gov. Whitmer, I appreciate your time. I'm glad to see you again. Thank you.
WHITMER: Thank you.
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