Interview With Ohio Governor John Kasich
KEILAR: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION. I'm Brianna Keilar. And in case you forget, there's another big-name Republican who starred on "The Apprentice," Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is now calling for a Republican to the president in 2020. And he says he knows the right man for the job.</s>ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA: That's why I said, John Kasich, go back to Washington and kick some butt and go and straighten out the mess. I told him he should run in 2020. I mean, the -- the running should start now.</s>KEILAR: Ohio's governor has not ruled out a potential 2020 run. The buzz is only increasing. Kasich is on the cover of an upcoming issue of "The Weekly Standard" titled "Party of One: John Kasich Eyes 2020." And the former presidential candidate is slated to make an appearance in New Hampshire early next month. Governor Kasich is joining us now from his home state of Ohio. And, Senator, I know you love discussing your political future.</s>GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO: Governor. Don't -- what, are you -- what, are you criticizing me right off the bat?</s>KASICH: I'm not a senator.</s>KEILAR: So sorry. Governor, of course. I know you love talking about your political future so much. But we're going to wait a moment. We're going to get to that in just a little bit.</s>KEILAR: I want to start, of course, with what we saw over the weekend, hundreds of thousands of young people marching across the country yesterday in support of stricter gun laws. Do you think the Republicans should be worried that, if Congress isn't able to do something on gun reform, that they're going to face a big backlash from these same crowds at the ballot box in September?</s>KASICH: Well, look, we already -- we have already seen what the public thinks. We saw an election in Pennsylvania where the people are basically saying they can't stand what's happening in Washington. And, yes, I -- I really do believe that. I think the people do want changes here. And, look, I think there's three kinds of people who are involved in this gun debate, those that want no changes on guns -- believe me, they're there and they're strong -- and those people that think there ought to be significant changes, even while we protect the Second Amendment. And the third group are a bunch of politicians who are afraid of their own shadows. So, the key is for these -- for these young people, followed by so many other people -- I saw Paul McCartney was at one of these rallies. Somebody told me Lady Gaga. I wish I had been at that one. I could have met her.</s>KASICH: But the fact of the matter is, is that it's -- it's a massive effort here. And it reminds me of some of the protests that have changed the people in office. But they got to keep it up. If they don't keep it up, those that want no change will just sit on their hands. They will never come out and say anything. They will just try to stall, stall, stall until the steam comes out of the kettle. And the fact is, if we can keep the pressure on, we're not going to change everything overnight, but you can get significant changes. And I hope so. And if they do not, if they do not bring about change, I think people should be held absolutely accountable at the ballot box, and no question about it.</s>KEILAR: Let's turn to the president's new national security adviser, John Bolton. He is considered one of the most aggressive voices when it comes to American foreign policy. These were just some of the headlines for opinion pieces that he wrote. He called for preemptive strikes on Iran in 2015. In another one just last month, he called for strikes on North Korea. This was the legal case for striking North Korea first, and to stop Iran's bomb, bomb Iran. Do you support John Bolton to be the president's national security adviser?</s>KASICH: Well, as you know, I'm not a senator, so I don't have a vote.</s>KASICH: And I think you have to look at the full record. I -- look, I don't know the guy, I don't know much about him, but that kind of language bothers me, you know, premature bombing and all that, but the most people -- or preemptive bombing, I should say. But the most important thing is that you have a national security team that can give you a diversity of opinions. We're going to have to see how this team rolls out. The fact of the matter is, when I run my government here in Ohio, I don't want everybody to think the same way. And we learned that all the way back when John Kennedy was president. It's a problem called groupthink. And so a president, a leader, a decision-maker needs to hear a variety of opinions and then, guess what, ultimately decide what they want to do, not by watching television, frankly, but they have got to decide, what is the proper place for the United States of America to be? And the most important thing we need to do is engage the world, not fight with them over trade, not yell and scream at them, not act unilaterally, not withdraw from the Paris accord, you know, like we did, not, you know, starting with the sanctions against China without having the rest of the world, to go unilaterally on Iran. All it does is isolate us. And America cannot build a wall around itself. The rest of the world in the Western part of the world depends on us and our values and being the strong leader. And I don't want to see us retreat. And I hope John Bolton doesn't preach retreat. I don't know where he is. That's why the hearings will be important.</s>KEILAR: You saw the president having called Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday, congratulating him on his election victory, even though advisers said, don't do that. If you were president, would you have made that phone call?</s>KASICH: Of course I wouldn't have called. The guy is -- look, we were joking, all right, in a -- almost a...</s>KEILAR: But what would you have said about his election win?</s>KASICH: ... in a dark way. You know, Here's the thing. Like, wow, he's pretty popular over there. Yes. If you don't support him, he figures out -- look what they did in London. Look what he did to the gentleman in Moscow on the bridge, Nemtsov. Look, this guy is -- he's the worst. He's a dictator. And the problem we have is, when the United States retreats from the world, you have the Chinese that know exactly what they want to do, and they will work with great aggression to take power from us when there are vacuums. Or the Russians and Vladimir Putin, they want to exploit our weaknesses, and not just our weaknesses, but the weaknesses of those in the West. This is very serious business. And it doesn't mean we shouldn't figure out a way to talk to them. They have got nuclear weapons. We have got to talk to them. But it is kind of -- you know, to work -- to walk -- or to work in a way that is not very serious, and to make it very clear to them what we will tolerate and what we will not is a big mistake.</s>KEILAR: You heard what the former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger told CNN about you yesterday. And, for all of our viewers, let's refresh their memories.</s>SCHWARZENEGGER: I told him he should run in 2020. I mean, the -- the running should start now. I think that he should run against President Trump, and I think that he should go and show the American people an alternative.</s>KEILAR: He said you should kick some butt.</s>KASICH: Yes.</s>KEILAR: Are you going to do that? Are you going to take this advice?</s>KASICH: Well, you know, Arnold, his -- his kind -- those kind of words give me -- it's a strong level of support, right? It gives me a big lift, right? Let me tell you about Arnold. He's a fantastic guy. He's a natural leader. He's a dear friend of mine. And he's worried about our country. And I appreciate that. Anything that I do in politics, you know, I would put a little bit more delicately, but I would say that I'm going to -- I have always been very aggressive in promoting the things that I believe in. But I also want to say, Brianna, the most important thing now for leaders at all levels and in all spheres, bring people together. Too much division. Too much confusion. Too much an erosion of the values that our mothers and fathers have taught us. We have to stop that. We have to lead from the top, but, with these young people and people protesting, lead from the bottom too. Bring them together. That's a healthy America.</s>KEILAR: All right, so you're not biting, but we will see you in New Hampshire next month.</s>KEILAR: And we will see what comes of that. Governor Kasich, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time.</s>KASICH: Oh, it's always great to be with you. Thank you. Best to everybody. Happy Palm Sunday.</s>KEILAR: You as well. Teenagers marching in the streets issuing a warning to those in power.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to educate ourselves on which politicians are truly working for the people and which ones we want to vote out.</s>KEILAR: How concerned should lawmakers be about these very energized young voters? We will have that next.