CNN "State of the Union" - Transcript: Interview with Ohio Governor John Kasich

Interview

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TAPPER: Polls indicate that the president is right that his party is going to have to put up a fight. Just this week, Republicans got another worrying sign, after a Republican candidate in Arizona won, but by a slim margin, in a district that Trump carried by 21 points in 2016.

Joining me now to discuss this and much, much more is Republican Governor of Ohio John Kasich.

Governor Kasich, always a pleasure to have you.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO: Yes.

Congratulations on your award last night.

TAPPER: Thank you so much.

KASICH: And I noticed it took four of you to win it. So...

TAPPER: Well, you know, we're getting old. We're getting old.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: So, I want to ask you about the midterms.

Republican congressional leaders increasingly worried that a Democratic wave is coming, that they will lose the House, they might even lose the Senate.

President Trump doesn't agree. He's confident in his abilities. He's confident that the Republicans are going to hold the House and Senate.

You're out there in real America in Ohio. How concerned should Republicans be, how concerned should President Trump be?

KASICH: I think that the Democrats are more energized than the Republicans.

And then the Republicans are going to have trouble in a lot of these suburban districts, because a number of people who live in the suburbs, including women who have been traditionally voting Republican, are very uncomfortable with what they see.

So, in that race in Pennsylvania, which is an area I'm really familiar with because I grew up there, this young man Conor Lamb, he won in a district that no Democrat had really won. So, you're beginning to see the intensity factor.

Now, where the Democrats fall short, Jake, is, I have no idea what they're for. I mean, they're really betting on the Republicans just bouncing the ball off their foot out of bounds, and that they will win the game that way.

So, I believe it will be a decent Democrat year. But it could be a big year if they stood for something, but -- and, you know, look, they're all screwed up too, because the left wing is really dominating them, just like the right wing is dominating the Republican Party.

It's an amazing situation.

TAPPER: When you say that suburban women voters who normally vote Republican are trending the other way because that -- they don't like what they see, what do you mean? Do you mean President...

KASICH: Harsh language.

TAPPER: President Trump?

KASICH: Yes, they don't want -- they don't like harsh language. They don't like division.

And, Jake, here is what is going on in our country. Look, you got the hard left and the hard right. They only absorb that that they agree with. God bless them. Maybe we can come back and rescue them later. But there's a big ocean of people in the middle who are up for grabs. And these are people who are objective. These are people who are rational. And these are people who seek the truth.

Last night, people come up to me, "Well, I'm a Democrat, I'm for you" at the dinner. "I'm a Republican." I said -- "I'm for you."

I said, forget it. Don't identify yourself. Be yourself. Be an American and care about being rational, objective and seeking the truth, because we're almost in a post-truth environment.

What does that mean? A post-truth environment means that somebody would argue, I'm not even on the set with you. We have to get our facts right. We have to seek the truth. And if we have a difference between liberals, conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, we can mediate those differences, if we can agree to the facts, the basic facts.

TAPPER: And let's talk about that.

Last night was the White House Correspondents Association Dinner. You were there for some of it. President Trump was not.

There was a new poll this week that I found, as a journalist, rather alarming. It showed only 38 percent of Republican voters say the news media...

KASICH: I saw that.

TAPPER: ... is -- quote -- "an important part of democracy."

Most Republican voters in this poll, 51 percent, agree with President Trump's view that the media, the press is a -- quote -- "enemy of the American people."

KASICH: You know...

TAPPER: This is your party.

KASICH: Well, Jake, this -- these are people, OK?

TAPPER: Right.

KASICH: And here's the thing.

The press is such a critical foundation of freedom in our society and all over the world. The first thing that people do when they want to assume power, these autocrats in Central Europe, now is, they shut the press down.

And here's the question people have to ask themselves. If you don't want to trust the press -- and the press has a responsibility to not go just for hype -- but if you don't trust the press, who are you going to trust? A politician?

I mean, that's the last group of people I would trust, are politicians.

So, as you absorb information -- a lot of people say to me, how am I supposed to know what to believe? Well, sample everything. And then you use your good brain to figure out what you think is true. But don't just keep absorbing that that you agree with, and getting more and more angry with people that say something that you don't agree with.

How are we supposed to unify in this country if we only want to consume and agree with things that we like? It's just -- life doesn't work that way. And let's not teach our children to do that either.

TAPPER: Last night, at his rally in Washington, Michigan, President Trump said that nobody has been tougher than he has on Vladimir Putin, so much so, he says that Putin is now trying to sabotage his presidency through various ways.

But the larger point is what I want to ask you about.

[09:20:00]

Do you think that the Trump administration has been tough enough on Vladimir Putin's Russia?

KASICH: Well, look, it's been getting better since the poisoning of that of -- that former agent in London.

Putin has been able to unify the West, unlike what we have seen, Jake. So, there have been sanctions. There probably could be more sanctions.

But the fact is, is that the French, the Germans, the Brits, the Americans, we're all now beginning to say that Putin is a thug and that we need to push back on him.

So, Putin inadvertently has done more to unify the West than the West has done to unify itself.

TAPPER: You say there could be more sanctions, but, generally speaking, it sounds like you're supportive of President Trump when it comes to how he's been handling Russia.

KASICH: I think -- well, look, I think he's taken action lately that has been good. Give him credit for that, the same way that I give him credit for the pressure that he's put on the North Koreans.

I mean, look, my job is not to be a critic of Donald Trump. People don't understand that. I am not speaking out because somehow I want something politically. I'm worried about my country, and I'm worried about the divisions and the constant effort to continue to polarize us.

But, at the end, when the president deserves credit, when Donald Trump deserves credit, I'm going to give it to him. Why not? Be fair.

TAPPER: So, let me ask you about that. You talked about North Korea as a place where maybe he -- an area where President Trump maybe deserves credit. In December, you wrote an op-ed on the topic, saying -- quote -- "This increasingly hot war of words does nothing to bring us closer to where we need to be on North Korea" -- unquote.

It sounds like you were talking about President Trump's at times -- a lot of people were concerned about it.

(CROSSTALK)

KASICH: Yes. Well, I think...

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: The rhetoric used.

But, looking at it now, was -- did he have the right approach?

KASICH: Well, I think the idea that he stood up -- and I have talked to many experts about this. And I served on the Defense Committee myself for 18 years.

There was a point at which the rhetoric needed to stop. No, I think what has pressured the North Koreans have been the sanctions which have been brought together by the world.

Look, there are many factors involved. And part of it is the pressure that Donald Trump put on the North Koreans. But it's also -- also the rest of the world that joined in, including the Chinese, to say, we're going to sanction them.

Jake, no one quite understands why un is doing the things that he's doing. But, fortunately, he's moving in the right direction.

Now, the United States -- and I think the administration has said this -- I give them credit for this -- don't ease up. You know, this is like the whole Charlie Brown thing. I have got the football, go and kick it, you know?

TAPPER: Right.

KASICH: And they pull the football away.

You can't just trust the North Koreans. You have got to be very careful. And you have got to go to a phased implementation of any relief we give them, based on what they're willing to give us.

TAPPER: All right.

Lastly, your favorite topic. Senator -- several Senate Republican lawmakers have said that they're not ready to back President Trump...

(CROSSTALK)

KASICH: I'm not ready to back -- this is what... (CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: ... in 2020.

KASICH: Tell me what is going to happen in the next five minutes.

TAPPER: OK, but it's unusual...

KASICH: Yes, it is. It is.

TAPPER: It's unusual for senators to say, I'm not there yet.

KASICH: I was surprised. Yes.

TAPPER: Senator Lankford did offer his support, but a lot of -- a lot of senators have not been.

Do you see an opening there for Republicans maybe wanting an alternative brand of leadership for 2020?

KASICH: I think it's too early to say, Jake, but here's what I do believe.

You have a department store that's red and a department store that's blue, and neither of them right now are providing products to the great middle. And you know what happens? That's how another store opens up in the neighborhood.

In other words...

TAPPER: Are you going to open up that store?

KASICH: I'm still a Republican. And I want to pull my -- look, I didn't leave the Republican Party. The Republican Party left me. In my state, we have balanced budgets, surplus. We're up a half-a- million jobs. And then people say, well, Kasich is not a conservative.

What does that mean? Does that mean I have to be anti-immigrant, anti-trade, in favor of debt? I mean, what -- party, come on home. Come home to where we basically live. We're pro-immigrant. We're pro-trade. We're pro-growth. We worry about that. We should care about people from top to bottom, not just those at the top, but everybody.

I can bring that party back. That's what I'm going to do in one way or another, Jake.

TAPPER: In one way or another.

KASICH: I don't know what that -- that's just one of those openings.

TAPPER: In one way or another.

KASICH: I told Jake Tapper's wife last night, who I met, going on the set with Jake Tapper is like having a laser fight in a "Star Wars" movie. We go back and forth.

And you thought you had me there, but you didn't have me anywhere. I'm sorry.

TAPPER: Governor John Kasich, thank you so much for being here.

(LAUGHTER)

KASICH: Always good, Jake.

TAPPER: Always good to see you, sir.

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