CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: Interview with Gretchen Whitmer

Interview

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With the President threatening to send troops in the states, whether the governors want it or not, we're joined now by the Governor of Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Governor, first of all, your reaction of what happened tonight in Washington, D.C., the President is saying he is going to deploy the military, quote, "If the city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents."

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): It's shocking. You know, I was watching CNN with my daughter and he -- the split screen was, he was saying he stands with peaceful protesters, and on the other side, his police troops were shooting at peaceful protesters.

You know, in this country right now, we need a leader who can bring calm, who can bring unity, who can show the compassion and competence that we need.

If they could put this kind of energy behind the Defense Production Act and start producing swabs, we could do the testing to keep people safe.

If they could just muster some sort of acknowledgement about the pain, the historic pain that is coming to a tipping point right now around criminal justice and what is happening here in this country, it would go a long way.

But the fact of the matter is, what happened in the Rose Garden tonight is only, I am fearful, going to further fuel the animosity and angst and anxiety in this country and I think it is more destructive than what I was hoping he would incite.

COOPER: Can the governor -- can the President send in active military troops to your state without your approval?

WHITMORE: You know, the President -- apparently, there are outreach efforts to ask for acknowledgment of Federal officers in states.

And I can tell you that states -- my understanding is that they can't do it without the approval of the governors, and I can also tell you that it's probably not going to happen in a lot of our states.

[20:25:17]

COOPER: Would you ask for -- at this point in Michigan, would you ask for Federal troops?

WHITMER: You know what would help take the heat down from everything? A real showing, a genuine showing of concern about the underlying problem here of police brutality, a genuine concern about how we ramp up our testing across the country to combat COVID-19, which has had a disproportionate impact on communities of color.

That's how we get through this moment. Not by looking at one another as enemies and declaring Civil War on one another. That's not going to fix the problem. It's only going to make it worse, Anderson.

And as the governor of a state that is really hurting right now, I'm calling on all leaders, on both sides of the aisle, to come together and to show competence and compassion and give people hope because that's not what we need more than anything.

COOPER: I just have got to ask you again, just because the President has thrown this out there just an hour ago, saying you know that all governors should call on the National Guard, and if you don't, he will act. What does that mean to you? Would you ask for -- I mean, are you in a position right now where you want Federal military forces?

WHITMER: You know what, if it ever came to that moment, it would be because they had just thrown a lot more gas on a fire that is burning.

I don't want that to happen. That's why when you look at the Sheriff in Genesee County whose video went viral because he was actually engaging with people who were hurting, the protesters. That's how we solve the problem, not by throwing more police and military at something that is festering.

We acknowledge it and we try to solve this problem, not militarize this.

COOPER: One of the things that, you know, that has been so encouraging has been scenes of protesters defending stores so that they don't get looted. Protesters defending, in some cases, police officers or at least communicating with police officers.

But we have seen in some cases protesters defending police officers and trying to -- trying to tamp down violence, and not wanting their peaceful protest, not wanting their legitimate protests and demonstrations to be, you know, taken over by elements that are out there with -- are going to break into a store, or take stuff. Because that's not what the vast majority of these protesters are about.

WHITMER: That's right. I mean, the vast majority of people who are showing up to protest really care about the issue. They care about the George Floyds of the world that we didn't hear about because it wasn't filmed.

They care about addressing the issue of police brutality and years of this inequity that is showing up in COVID-19, as we hold a mirror up to the United States of America.

The vast majority of people are doing this out of genuine concern and desire to make sure that we, as a country do better on behalf of all Americans.

And yet we know that there are people with their own agendas that are infiltrating these events and turning them into violence and vandalism and undermining the real cause that they're supposedly there to be supporting, and that's precisely why we absolutely support the right to protest.

But what we want to make sure is that these other forces don't come in and undermine it and make it into something that's dangerous.

And that's why the President words today were so dangerous and so distressing. Both his words to the governors in our call earlier and his address to the nation moments ago.

This is a moment in our country where we need -- we need peace. We need unity and compassion. And we need an agenda that actually fixes the problems we are suffering from. COOPER: Governor Whitmer, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

WHITMER: Thank you.

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