CNN "The Lead with Jake Tapper" - Interview with Mike DeWine

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

oining me now to discuss this and much more is the governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine.

Governor DeWine, what do you think about the next time you can go to a Browns game or a Reds game? Do you foresee concerts, sporting events canceled in Ohio until 2021?

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): You know, I don't really know.

You know, if you start looking at what you're going to do sequentially, probably, the last thing you open back up is a big event, where you have got a lot of people, whether it's a concert or whether it's a football game, or, you know, a baseball game.

And those are all, you know, near and dear to my heart, and I know for many Ohioans and Americans.

But...

TAPPER: Seems like the shot for Governor DeWine has just gone out. We will bring him back whenever we can.

Oh, he's back here. OK.

You were saying, Governor -- Governor DeWine, you were saying that those are near and dear to your heart, and then you froze up.

Go ahead. I'm sorry.

DEWINE: Oh.

Well, I just think those are probably the last things that you can open up. I think any big gathering is something that's going to be the last thing. I mean, you're going to start to try to get some businesses back that can practice the distancing and do those things, before you're able to open up to the big concerts.

And, you know, one of the things I talked about today to the people of Ohio is that, until we get a vaccine, things are not going to be really normal. And, you know, particularly people who are high at risk, people who, because of their age or because of some medical condition, you know, are going to be exceedingly careful, until we get that vaccine.

[16:45:06] And I'm sure they're going to be weighing the odds of, if I go to a football game or I go to a baseball game, is that -- is that really worth it? And that's, again, someone who's a big fan, but it's a different world until we get a vaccine.

TAPPER: Right.

Let's turn to the situation specifically in Ohio, where you have suffered more than 7,500 coronavirus cases and more than 320 deaths from the virus. I think it's 324 at this hour.

Now, you have said your team is working on a plan to reopen the state. What would be the first step in trying to do that? And do you have any sort of timeline in mind?

DEWINE: Well, we have reached out to businesses, both those that we have already deemed essential and those that were deemed nonessential, and started working with them about how they can provide a safe workplace for their employees.

And we have had some experience. We have had companies that have done a very good job that have stayed open during this epidemic. So, that's a place we start. We also look to our hospitals. We have stopped elective surgeries at our hospitals, because we don't have enough personal protection equipment.

So, once we're sure that we have enough personal protection equipment, we will be able to then start rolling those things out with a hospital, so they can get back to taking care of people on things that are not just total emergencies.

TAPPER: And do you have any idea when you might start to take some of these initial steps? Would it be May 1, which is a goal that President Trump is talking a lot about? Would it be strictly based on what your health commissioner and others tell you whether that's in June or July?

What are you thinking?

DEWINE: Well, we're thinking we got to look at the numbers.

I mean, what we have seen in Ohio in the last weak is that we have -- looks like we have leveled off, fairly flat now in regard to hospital admissions. And so that's a good thing.

We want to see if we get another week of that and see if this is really the right trend. And what we'd like to see, of course, is those numbers to start down.

But we're already moving forward with plans. But, no, we do not have a specific date. That's going to depend on as we see these facts unfold. We got to get back. We have got to get people back working. But at the same time, we don't want to be in a situation where we do things that dramatically shove that curve up again, and we're back at the problem again. And we're going to live with this virus, I guess, is my message to people of Ohio. We're going to live this -- with this virus until we get a vaccine. And so that's going to mean different things. It's going to mean we're going -- people who are working are going to have masks on.

People who are out in public are going to have those on. A lot of different things are going to -- things are just going to be different. And that's the sad truth.

TAPPER: And are you going to make your decision regardless of whether President Trump calls for governors to start to take steps to reopen businesses on May 1, or are you going to listen to what he wants to do?

DEWINE: Well, we're certainly going to listen to the president.

I think one of the things that people miss is that we have a lot of exchange back and forth with the vice president and the president. This week, we had an hour-and-a-half conference with governors and the vice president, and it was just great.

They do this all the time. And so we're exchanging information back and forth all the time. We're going to take -- certainly take that into consideration.

Ultimately, we have to craft a plan that is uniquely Ohio, for Ohioans. And Ohioans are anxious to get back to work. We have got to make sure that they can do it in a safe way, and that we can protect them.

TAPPER: Governor Mike DeWine, thank you so much. Best of luck to you and the good citizens of Ohio.

DEWINE: Thank you.

TAPPER: We appreciate your time.

DEWINE: Thank you.

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