Kasich Calls for More Aggressive Approach to Track Terrorists' Plots

The shootings on Wednesday in San Bernardino, California were an act of terrorism that has been plotted for a "significant period of time," GOP candidate John Kasich believes, and work needs to be done more aggressively to disrupt such plots before they can grow.

"For some reason, even though these two people we now believe have been in contact with a group of radical jihadists, somehow we have not been able to pick them up," the Ohio governor told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program.

"That brings up one of the issues of encryption — are they able to communicate in a dark world where we can't find out who they are or what they are talking about?"

But, Kasich said that he thinks the nation's gun laws that are already on the books should be enforced.

"As you know in my state, we are doing many things to deal with the problems of the mentally ill," said Kasich. "We have emergency beds so when people harm themselves or others there is a place for them to go. We devoted a significant number of resources to the issue of mental illness."

And many mass shootings, he said, seem to come from people who are isolated or alone, and "you wonder, where is the rest of the family, where are the neighbors?"

The nation's leaders focus on guns when a mass shooting occurs, he continued, but instead, "we have to focus on the deeper societal issue of alienation within families and neighborhood and our community. That's the tougher thing to address. But we need to focus on that as well."

Kasich on Friday also commented about a new CNN-ORC poll that puts Donald Trump's lead at 36 percent and himself at 2 percent, saying that while there is a huge spread between the numbers, he is not worried about the threat that the businessman will take the nomination.

"I don't think you can have a candidate, conservative candidate who can win who attacks, we know he attacked women and Hispanics and Muslims," said Kasich. "I mean, this is not a way you can win. Secondly, it's not good for the country. We need somebody to unite us, not divide us."

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