August 9th, 2015

Gov John Kasich on being ‘open’ to police body cameras: “I’m open to anything that’s going to improve practices.”

Today on CNN’s State of the Union, 2016 GOP President hopeful, Governor John Kasich (R-OH), joined anchor, Jake Tapper.

For more information, see http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/. Also, text highlights and a transcript of the discussion are below.

MANDATORY CREDIT: CNN’s “State of the Union”

VIDEO HIGHLIGHT

Kasich defended Trump on debate stage

Kasich on police shootings

TEXT HIGHLIGHTS

Kasich on Trump’s comments about Megyn Kelly: “I mean, I think the problem a lot of times in our party is that instead of being positive and talking about our record, my experience, budget committee chairman, chief architect, the balancing of budget, the welfare reform, defense experience, turning Ohio around, why am I spending my time talking about something negative?  That’s just not in me to do that. So, look, I don’t appreciate what he said.  But I’ve just told you how I feel about women and I think it’s more important for me to tell you who I am and what I think than spend my time on the negative side of the street.  I just don’t want to be there.”

Kasich on immigration: “…let me tell you what I think we ought to do with immigration.  First of all, we ought to finish the fence.  And even if special interests don’t want it done we should get it done.  The 12 million — 11 or 12 million who are here we ought to find out who they are.  If they’ve been law abiding over a period of time they ought to be legalized and they ought to be able to stay here.  There are people who contribute to a lot to the United States of America. If you have violated the law, we’re going to ship you out.  And once that fence gets built, Jake, I don’t — I think we should make it clear, anybody who sneaks in, you’re going back home.  And in addition we need a guest worker program so that people can come in and work and be able to go back and support their family.  That’s how I feel about it. In terms of these people who brought — who were brought here, young children, you know, in our state they can get driver’s licenses.  We treat them with respect.  But we need to get this thing fixed, and as you know, from your time in Washington, we’re not getting it fixed because there’s too much fighting and people are spending too much time being negative, instead of building a fence, getting through this, and moving on.”

Kasich on the relationship between police and communities: “First of all, we have a thing called the Miracle of America and we need to make sure all Americans feel they can be part of it.  And there are many in the African-American community who think that the government doesn’t just work for them but works against them. …And now what we’re doing, Jake, is what’s really critical.  Really critical, that the community can understand the challenges of police, and that police can understand what is going on inside of the community.  A collaborative effort.  And this moves forward in our state.”

FULL TRANSCRIPT

THIS IS A RUSH FDCH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Joining us now live, Republican candidate John Kasich.

Mr. Kasich, I’m not going to spend this entire debate talking about Donald Trump, but I do want to know, what do you think?

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER:  He says he was — he says he was talking about Megyn Kelly’s nose.  Carly Fiorina clearly doesn’t believe him.  Do you?

KASICH:  Jake, let me tell you what I — what I know.

I have got strong women in my family.  I have got strong women in my administration.  And I have strong women in my campaign.  In fact, my campaign manager is a woman.

And I have found that, whenever women touch anything, they clearly make it better than we do, as guys.  And so, you know, I’m not getting into this or that or he or she said.  I’m just telling you that — my perception of how it’s worked in my lifetime.  And I actively seek out and recruit women to be involved, because, like I say, they make things better.

TAPPER:  And now a lot of Republican women are really upset at what Donald Trump said about Megyn Kelly.  Are you afraid of directly criticizing him?

KASICH:  No.  I just don’t want to be negative, Jake.  I mean, I think the problem a lot of times in our party is that instead of being positive and talking about our record, my experience, budget committee chairman, chief architect, the balancing of budget, the welfare reform, defense experience, turning Ohio around, why am I spending my time talking about something negative?  That’s just not in me to do that.

So, look, I don’t appreciate what he said.  But I’ve just told you how I feel about women and I think it’s more important for me to tell you who I am and what I think than spend my time on the negative side of the street.  I just don’t want to be there.

TAPPER:  I want to talk to you about immigration, specifically in 1993, you co-sponsored a bill in Congress that would take away the birth right citizenship that is the citizenship automatically given to babies born in the United States, even if they are born to undocumented immigrants.

In 2010 when you were running for governor you reiterated your longtime support for ending birth right citizenship.  Immigration a big issue on the campaign trail.  Is that still your position?

KASICH:  You know, let me tell you what I think we ought to do with immigration.  First of all we ought to finish the fence.  And even if special interests don’t want it done we should get it done.  The 12 million — 11 or 12 million who are here we ought to find out who they are.  If they’ve been law abiding over a period of time they ought to be legalized and they ought to be able to stay here.  There are people who contribute to a lot to the United States of America.

If you have violated the law, we’re going to ship you out.  And once that fence gets built, Jake, I don’t — I think we should make it clear, anybody who sneaks in, you’re going back home.  And in addition we need a guest worker program so that people can come in and work and be able to go back and support their family.  That’s how I feel about it.

In terms of these people who brought — who were brought here, young children, you know, in our state they can get driver’s licenses.  We treat them with respect.  But we need to get this thing fixed, and as you know, from your time in Washington, we’re not getting it fixed because there’s too much fighting and people are spending too much time being negative, instead of building a fence, getting through this, and moving on.

TAPPER:  I appreciate that. Would ending birth right citizenship be part of this larger immigration approach?

KASICH:  I don’t think we need to go there.  I think what I’ve outlined here is what we need to be doing.

TAPPER:  It’s been exactly one year since Michael Brown was killed.  Michael Brown the unarmed African-American teenager shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri.  Obviously a very controversial and upsetting case.

You have faced your own incidents in Ohio.  Ones in many ways even more stark than the Michael Brown incident.  There was the shooting of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy killed by police.  The incident in Cincinnati where the policeman at the campus there was charged with murder.

Are you doing enough in Ohio to ensure that routine traffic stops, routine 911 calls, don’t end up with dead bodies?

KASICH:  Yes, Jake, I’m glad you asked that. First of all, we have a thing called the Miracle of America and we need to make sure all Americans feel they can be part of it.  And there are many in the African-American community who think that the government doesn’t just work for them but works against them.

I created a collaborative, very broad — Nina Turner, a former state senator ran against Republicans, was one of the chair people of it along with my head of public safety.  We have community leaders, we have ministers, we’ve got law enforcement, and we came out with a unanimous recommendation to create a statewide policy on the use of deadly force, and examination of recruiting and hiring practices.

And now what we’re doing, Jake, is what’s really critical.  Really critical, that the community can understand the challenges of police, and that police can understand what is going on inside of the community.  A collaborative effort.  And this moves forward in our state.

And as you know, we’ve done a lot of things to try to lift the minority community, including things like set-asides to create entrepreneurship.  To be able to change the criminal justice system.  I mean, we’re doing — reforming our schools.  Where many in the minority community have been frustrated.  I am totally dedicated to this.

TAPPER:  Right.

KASICH:  And you know, fortunately I received 26 percent of the African-American vote, and I’m not bragging about it.  I’m just pleased that people are giving me some recognition that I hear them, I care about them, and I want them to rise.

TAPPER:  There are Democrats in your state, as you know, pushing legislation that would require all officers to wear body cameras.  Would you sign such legislation?

KASICH:  Yes.  First of all we have to see what passes.  But I’m open to anything that’s going to improve practices. But, Jake, we have to realize there’s a balance here.  There’s a balance, so that the community has to realize that there’s a family at home waiting for an officer to come home at night, and they don’t want to hear that he’s been wounded or killed.  And that happened in Cincinnati, as well.  And we also need the police to understand the concerns of the community.

Unwarranted stops, you know, what we just saw in Cincinnati with an officer who’s just been indicted for murder.  I mean these are tough issues.  But at the heart of it is an ability to give people a sense that the system is not rigged against them.  That they, in fact, can be hopeful.  That, in fact, America can work for everybody.

And Jake, that’s why I don’t want to spend time talking about the negative stuff on the campaign.  We have too much to do to build this country up so that everybody feels that they are a part of it.  And we are doing that in the state of Ohio but we’ve got a long way to go, Jake, but we’re trying our best.  I promise you that.

TAPPER:  Ohio Governor John Kasich.  We look forward to joining you on the campaign trail.  Thanks so much.  Congratulations on the good reviews for your debate performance.

KASICH:  Thank you, Jake.  Always a pleasure.

###END INTERVIEW###