As part of an interview with GOP presidential candidate John Kasich that aired on Tuesday’s CBS Evening News, anchor Scott Pelley fretted that Kasich might “tear out ObamaCare, root and branch, start all over again” and signal to the American people that they will be “going to war” to defeat ISIS.
The interview began with an extensive back-and-forth over whether or not Kasich’s still a viable candidate due to him having only won one state and lagging well behind Ted Cruz and Donald Trump in total delegates, before turning to policy.
Pelley’s opening-ended question on tax policy featured Kasich revealing that his tax plan is “sort of the Reagan plan, 28, 25, 10 percent with 15 percent capital gain and increasing the earned income tax credit so people at the bottom are going to have the incentives to be able to make more money without being punished.”
Moving to the President’s healthcare law, Pelley was quite blunt in his question about whether Kasich would seek to repeal it:
PELLEY: Do you tear out ObamaCare, root and branch, start all over again?
KASICH: Oh yeah. You want to make sure anybody who has a preexisting condition can still get health insurance. That's absolutely critical.
On foreign policy, Pelley noted that Kasich has referred to ISIS as “barbarians” and the Ohio Governor responded that it will require an air and ground strategy “with an Arab-Muslim coalition” to stop them and akin to what “we had when we defeated Saddam with western Europe involved.”
When Kasich added that ground troops are part of that plan, Pelley lamented by blurting out loud that “[t]he Kasich White House is going to war” (without considering the fact that other presidential candidates have been in favor of this solution).
Kasich immediately fired back: “Let me just say it's not the Kasich White House. It's all the civilized world that needs to go to war.”
Pelley sought to back off in the next portion as he wanted to know from Kasich what “hardship in your life formed your character” to which Kasich recalled how his “parents were killed by a drunk driver” in 1987.
The relevant portion of the transcript from the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley on April 12 can be found below.
CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley
April 12, 2016
6:34 p.m. Eastern
SCOTT PELLEY: But, governor, you're not the front-runner. You're not second runner. You're way off, in third.
REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR JOHN KASICH (Ohio): Right now.
PELLEY: You could make an argument for the guy who came in second but that's not you.
KASICH: Think of it this way — Coke, Pepsi, Kasich. You go to the store, you're with your spouse, and your spouse says, "I kind of like that Kasich but I don't know that much about him." As we've seen more and more of my message be able to be communicated, we're getting bigger crowds and that will translate into delegation and delegates will translate into momentum.
PELLEY: What's your tax plan? Who gets a tax cut? Who will get a tax increase?
KASICH: We will lower. It's sort of the Reagan plan, 28, 25, 10 percent with 15 percent capital gain and increasing the earned income tax credit so people at the bottom are going to have the incentives to be able to make more money without being punished.
PELLEY: Nobody gets a tax increase?
KASICH: No.
PELLEY: Do you tear out ObamaCare, root and branch, start all over again?
KASICH: Oh yeah. You want to make sure anybody who has a preexisting condition can still get health insurance. That's absolutely critical.
PELLEY: On foreign policy, we asked about ISIS, which he calls the barbarians. How do you destroy the barbarians, as you say?
KASICH: Well, in the air and on the ground with an Arab Muslim coalition, like we had when we defeated Saddam with western Europe involved.
PELLEY: U.S. combat troops on the ground, in Syria, in Iraq.
KASICH: Sure. Not designed to topple, not to be in the middle of a civil war, but basically to destroy ISIS.
PELLEY: The Kasich White House is going to war.
KASICH: Let me just say it's not the Kasich White House. It's all the civilized world that needs to go to war.
PELLEY: What hardship in your life formed your character?
KASICH: Well, my parents were killed by a drunk driver, 1987. That was tough. I mean, tough is an understatement. As a kid, you know, I grew up in a blue collar town where if the wind blew the wrong way we saw people out of work. I mean, I had a great childhood but the most traumatic time in my life was the night I found out that one of my parents was dead and the other would be soon.
PELLEY: Where do we see your mom and dad in your campaign?
KASICH: Probably, you know, in my heart and in my head. You know, my mother was very opinionated and very smart. Undereducated, high school diploma, but came from a very poor family. My father had the twinkle in his eye, and he was the one that was connected to all the neighbors, as he delivered the mail, he delivered a lot more. He delivered compassion, and he delivered hope. And my mother always said, "Johnny, shoot for the stars. Change the world where you live."
