CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Interview with Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Interview
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[19:35:05]
BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, the Democratic Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer.
And, Governor Whitmer, I was obviously giving the troubling statistics we have from your state on hospitalizations, levels you have not seen since May, with the surge in cases.
Now, to be clear, Trump alone cannot fire Dr. Fauci. But you know, he could certainly put people in place who could if that was what his goal was. And his comment does come as you have an average of -- tripling of cases over a month ago. Hospitalizations, as I said, at levels you have not seen since early May.
So, when you hear the president of the United States suggest just give me a little bit of time after I win re-election to fire Dr. Fauci, what's your response?
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): Erin, I'm not surprised. I mean, the only thing that surprises me is that he's saying it out loud.
I mean, this is an administration that has completely bungled the COVID response. The Trump virus response has made our nation a laughingstock. It has subjected so many to illness. And 230,000 have lost their lives. Tens of millions lost their jobs.
And we're posting the worst numbers we've had in the last eight months all across this country.
We need a national response. I know I made the president angry when I observed that back in March or April. I said there's no national response.
Here we are. Here we are eight months later, there's still not a national strategy. And we're paying for it with our economic toll. We're paying with it -- paying for it with the health crisis that we're all confronting.
BURNETT: So, here we are the night before the election. Major cities ready for potential unrest, right? There's been businesses across this country boarding up windows. The attorney general in your state says law enforcement will be near all polling locations to respond to any issues.
Do you view this as a case of just being extra careful? Or do you have specific reason to think that there could be, you know, looting, rioting? I mean, if they're boarding up all these businesses?
WHITMER: Well, we're being pragmatic. I can tell you from the state government perspective. We have run elections since the founding of this nation, and they -- we've never had people being terrorized at the polls like some are anticipating.
Now, we are prepared, but we do believe that we're going to be able to keep people safe, and that our voters should be able to the polls and know that they're going to be safe.
We take any effort to intimidate voters seriously. It's a felony in Michigan and it will be treated accordingly.
BURNETT: So, what's your sense -- as you know, we talk about states and how many ballots are still outstanding and when those are going to be tabulated? Where do you stand right now in Michigan? Do you think we will have a clear sense of the winner tomorrow evening?
WHITMER: Well, I think -- I've been telling everyone we've got to be patient. We've got to give our clerks the ability to get these ballots counted. And it's going to take a while. We've had -- we're going to have a historic number of ballots cast, so many of them through absentee ballot.
So they've turned them in. We've got 2.9 million ballots that have been cast already in Michigan. It's going to take a while to get them out of the envelopes and around through the machines.
And so, our secretary of state is saying let's all be patient, let's just make sure we let the system work. We're going to get everything counted and we will make sure that the will of the people is done. No matter what the will is, we'll get it counted, it will be reflected and it will be the vote of Michigan.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate your time, Governor Whitmer. Thank you very much.
WHITMER: Thank you.
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