NBC "Meet the Press" - Interview with Mike DeWine and Gretchen Whitmer

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Welcome back. On both coasts and now in the Midwest, governors are forming regional coalitions to figure out how and when to begin the tricky task of slowly reopening their states. At the same time, demonstrations have broken out across the country, particularly in the Midwest by protestors demanding states loosen their coronavirus restrictions and allow people to get back to work soon. Two governors who have seen some protests in their states are with us this morning, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Republican Mike DeWine of Ohio. Governors Whitmer and DeWine, welcome back to Meet the Press.

GOV. MIKE DEWINE:

Thanks, Chuck.

CHUCK TODD:

I want to start with something that the vice president said and I want to confirm it with you all. He said that every state has enough testing capacity and enough equipment to begin enough testing to get through phase one. Governor DeWine, is that true is Ohio?

GOV. MIKE DEWINE:

Well, first of all, Chuck, we've had a great partnership with the president and vice president. Three weekends ago, I called the president about a real problem we had about sterilizing masks, the N95 mask. And, that was an FDA problem. And the president got that, got that done. Our big problem today -- I could probably double, maybe even triple testing in Ohio virtually overnight if the FDA would prioritize companies that are putting a slightly different formula together for the extraction reagent kit. And that's -- if the FDA would do that -- we have a shortage, worldwide shortage of some of the materials that go into this. So we really need help. Anybody in the FDA's watching, this would really take our, take our capacity up, literally, Chuck, overnight. And that's what we need to get moving in Ohio.

CHUCK TODD:

All right, there's the answer in Ohio. You need more federal help. Governor Whitmer, do you have enough right now, or, on testing, both capacity and equipment, to have enough testing to do this phase one guideline?

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER:

Well, similar to Ohio, I think part of the story in Michigan is we have the capacity to double or triple the number of tests that we are doing. But we need some of these supplies. The reagents and the swabs are absolutely essential. You can't process all these tests if you can't take the sample and protect it and move forward to, to -- through testing. And so while our capabilities are there, these important supplies are not. And that's I think one of the points that you were making in your interview, is that if the federal government would use the Defense Production Act and say, "We're going to make every swab people need and we're going to expedite creation of the reagents," we would be able to know how prevalent COVID-19 is. It would take down the risk associated with taking actions to reengage parts of our economy because we would have a lot more data about how prevalent COVID-19 still is in our states.

CHUCK TODD:

All right, let's talk about the issue of reopening the economy. Governor Whitmer, I want to start with you. You, you saw those protests. So let me ask this, do you have any regrets on any of the restrictions that you have put into place?

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER:

I don't. And here's why. You know, Michigan right now has the third highest number of death from COVID-19. And yet, we're the tenth largest state. We have a disproportionate problem in the state of Michigan. And so, we could take the same kinds of actions other states have, but it doesn't rise to the challenge we're confronting. And that's precisely why we have to take a more aggressive stand. It's working. We are seeing the curve start to flatten. But as people come in from across the state and gather and congregate without masks, without standing six feet apart, without those important protections, it means that they might have gone back to these parts of our state and perhaps brought COVID-19 along with them. Our rural hospitals are not equipped to handle a big surge. And that's why this -- important steps that we've taken are just critical to continuing to flatten that curve.

CHUCK TODD:

Governor Whitmer, I want to stay with you here a minute on this issue though. I'm just curious, what have you learned about people's patience, I guess, and your citizenry's patience? And are you contemplating figuring out how to balance that a little bit? How do you essentially open a steam valve a little bit so that you don't -- so that these protests don't become distractions to the greater good?

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER:

Yeah. Absolutely. You know, every executive order that I've taken weighs heavily on me. I know when we pull kids out of school, that means they're not getting the education they need. And some of them aren't going to get the meals that they've come to rely on. I know that when we shut down bars and make restaurants dine out only, there are businesses that may never open again. And a lot of people are going to get laid off. These stay home orders weigh incredibly heavy because I know there's an economic cost. I know there's a mental health cost. People are struggling with this isolation that we have, you know, on top of all of the other stressors. But the fact of the matter is we have to be really smart about how we proceed. I'm glad to see that the White House recommended opening in phases or waves or whatever terminology you want to use. The fact of the matter is, we can't just turn back to what life was like before COVID-19. We have to be strategic. We have to be careful. We have to look at different sectors of our economy. How often do they interact with the public? How close are -- they work together? Are they indoor or outdoor? Do they share tools and machinery? I mean, all of these are factors that have to go into a really thoughtful situation where we start to phase back in sectors of our economy. But I'm always -- we're doing this calculation every day and looking to when we can do that safely because the worst thing would be a second wave.

CHUCK TODD:

Governor DeWine, Congress is -- as a former member of Congress, certainly, you're not surprised that Congress is struggling here to do the second response financially. There's going to be some partisan back and forths. And you may have personal views on this. But let me ask you this, Congress' priorities here on the small business fund, unemployment insurance, help to the states, help to the hospitals. What do you want to see Congress -- should they prioritize one or the other or should all three, states, hospitals and that small business fund be prioritized simultaneously?

GOV. MIKE DEWINE:

Well, all of these are very important. What we really need at our local government level as well as at the state level is just more flexibility. We're looking, as you can imagine, Chuck, when we have a downturn in the economy, two things happen as far as the state is concerned or local government. Your revenues go dramatically down and the costs go dramatically up. So it's just more flexibility so that we can fight this virus, but at the same time, be able to educate our children, be able to take care of people who have mental health challenges. That's really what we need. So flexibility would be the one word that I would ask from Congress.

CHUCK TODD:

Let me ask you this, Governor DeWine. You've had some protests. We've seen that the president's egging on this protest. Is this wise to politicize social distancing right now?

GOV. MIKE DEWINE:

You know, Chuck, the only thing that I've asked our protests to do is to observe social distancing. We're all big believers in the First Amendment. They were protesting against me yesterday, and that's just fine. They have every right to do that. We're going to do what we think is right, what I think is right. And that is try to open this economy, but do it very, very carefully so we don't get a lot of people killed. But we have to come back. And that's what we're aiming to do beginning on May 1st. And frankly, it's consistent. Very, very consistent with the plan, the very thoughtful plan that the president has laid out.

CHUCK TODD:

Governor Whitmer, Governor DeWine, Michigan and Ohio respectively, thank you both for coming on and sharing your perspectives --

GOV. MIKE DEWINE:

Thank you, Chuck.

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