CNN "State Of The Union With Jake Tapper" - Transcript "Interview with Sen. Rick Scott"

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

And my next guest joined the president yesterday at Camp David for a hurricane briefing there and has a lot of experience leading disaster response.

Joining me now is Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida.

Thank you so much for being here.

You were governor of Florida for eight years, so many hurricanes during that time. Put this in perspective for us. How bad could this be?

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): Category 5. You know what the best to picture look at? Remember Mexico Beach? I mean, devastation along there.

The issue is, one, the wind, two, the rain, but the storm surge. If this turns due west and hits right at Florida, we're going to see significant storm surge.

The other issue is, everybody's got to understand that don't look at the middle of this, where they said, oh, this is the track. Look at the whole cone, because that's where it could go. And if it does that late, are you going to be ready? Do you have your food, your water, your medicine?

And have you evacuated if you have a good chance that you might have to evacuate? You need to really think about it today, not -- don't -- don't wait. Don't assume it's going to go right up that track.

BASH: And you feel confident that there are avenues for people to evacuate? We're seeing reports of gas shortages and other problems.

SCOTT: The -- there's -- there's good emergency management at the state and at the local level.

I mean, I went -- I went through, what, four hurricanes my last four years as governor. There's good teams there all across the state. But you have to take care of yourself first. And so if you decide not to evacuate when they tell you to, or if you wait, then that's -- that's really the risk. Or you wait to go get ready.

So you got to think about it all along. Watch it. Watch the news. Watch what you guys are putting out, because it's very helpful.

BASH: So the Trump administration recently told Congress it plans to move at least $155 million from the FEMA disaster relief fund to immigration enforcement.

Do you think that money would be better spent fighting and responding to natural disasters like Dorian?

SCOTT: Well, I -- I have talked to -- I have talked to FEMA. I have talked to the White House. And they have all convinced me that there's plenty of money there to take care of them.

I know there -- I was just down at the border two days ago. I know we still have issues at our border. But they have assured me they're going to do it. They have got -- FEMA has got a great team.

By the way, one thing people can do is download the -- download FEMA's app, because it does give you a lot of good information.

BASH: So, you specifically talked to the president about this?

SCOTT: I talked to the White House.

BASH: OK.

SCOTT: So...

BASH: And you're confident that they're going to have every resource they need?

SCOTT: That's what they told me.

And I was at FEMA yesterday. I will be going back there today with President Trump. They have told me they have all the resources. They have -- in my disasters in Florida, they have always shown up and done their job. FEMA has done a good job.

BASH: So you're comfortable moving the money?

SCOTT: Well, that's what they have told me.

BASH: OK. Hurricane Dorian, as it seemed to be approaching Puerto Rico this

week, President Trump went on Twitter, and he called a Puerto Rico one of the most corrupt places on Earth.

And that, of course, came just weeks after he tweeted that Congress -- quote -- "foolishly gave hurricane relief money to Puerto Rico after Maria."

So you're thinking about Americans who live in Puerto Rico, not to mention Puerto Rican residents who moved to your state because of...

SCOTT: A lot.

BASH: A lot after Hurricane Maria.

Can you guarantee that the president has their backs?

[09:30:01]

SCOTT: Well, if -- I mean, I know Congress does.

And the -- I worked hard to get funding for them. They had -- and also the safeguards. They have had problems, as we know, in the past. They have a new governor. I spoke to her quite a few times before the storm.

And House and the speaker -- speaker of the House and Senate president, I have good relationships there. I'm going to do everything I can. I wish there wasn't rhetoric like there is. And it's a new day. We have a new governor. So let's figure out how to work together.

BASH: So you wish the president would not tweet and make statements like this about Puerto Rico?

SCOTT: Well, there -- look, I know there -- I know that he has a disagreement with the mayor of San Juan. I actually have never met her.

But I talk to the politicians over there. I worked hard to put in safeguards to make sure money wasn't wasted. They all are supportive of that, and I'm going to continue to work for them.

BASH: OK, let's turn to the shooting in Texas.

You are the only member of Congress with recent experience actually enacting a solution to the problem of gun violence. You signed a sweeping gun reform bill into law when you were governor after Parkland's shooting.

Is gun reform legislation doable this month when you all come back to work here in Washington?

SCOTT: I'm hopeful.

I mean, I think they ought to do what we did. What I did, as soon as Parkland happened, is, I got law enforcement together within two or three days, mental health counselors and educators. I said, what would you do?

Because we -- we can't have this happen again. We all have kids or, in my case, grandkids. You don't want this to happen.

And so we did. The biggest thing we did was this red flag law that says that, if you are threatening harm to yourself or somebody else, through due process, through the court system, you don't have access to any weapons, not just a gun, but any weapons.

Now, there's still due process. You can go back and look and review it. But we did that. Plus, we added law enforcement at every school in the state and more mental health counselors.

So I think what we ought to -- what we ought to be doing is saying, OK, so we have a problem. Young men are doing things that, when I was growing up, nobody even considered. Something's gone wrong. Something's in wrong right now in our country. So let's figure out, what's gone wrong and what can we do that's doable, and do it.

BASH: Let's just put this into context.

Since Parkland, since the shooting in your state -- it was a year-and- a-half ago -- there have been several major, major shootings, 12 people killed at a Virginia Beach city building, 12 people killed in Thousand Oaks, California, 11 people killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue, 10 people killed at Santa Fe High School, just in the last month, of course, 22 people killed in El Paso, nine in Dayton.

And this is not even an exhaustive list.

How do you explain to the American people why Congress isn't acting?

SCOTT: Well, this -- I have been up there eight months. I'm going to do everything I can.

I think the way you do it, the way we did it, you bring people together, and you -- this is not a -- this is not a partisan issue. This is an issue about, how do we keep Americans safe? And so I'm going to do everything I can.

I'm giving you steps, but what I'm frustrated about is, I still do not have an answer from the FBI. They had prior knowledge of the shooter at Parkland, prior knowledge of the shooter at our airport, at Fort Lauderdale Airport. They today will still not tell me if they have reprimanded anybody, if anybody's been held accountable.

So we need to pass laws, but we need to hold everybody accountable also. And the FBI still won't tell me what happened.

BASH: OK, that's fair.

But you're in the business of passing laws, since you're a senator. So...

SCOTT: Fixing problems.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: The House passed a bill that requires universal background checks. They did that in February; 93 percent of American voters support universal background checks; 93 percent of Americans don't support anything.

I mean, that's a huge number. Do you?

SCOTT: Well, here's what I did in Florida.

We saw a problem at the state level, where the -- your mental health issues were not being put on your record. So we worked on that. There's lots of proposals. I'm going to review them and work to figure out how to do it.

I believe in the Second Amendment. I don't want to take guns away from law-abiding Americans. But I do want to solve problems. So that's why I think we ought to look at really what we did in Florida, because that really works.

BASH: OK.

Beto O'Rourke was just on -- on the set, on this program. He supports a ban on so-called assault weapons, as do many others.

How do you explain to him and 60 percent of Americans who agree with him why weapons of war should remain on the streets?

SCOTT: Well, I believe in all the amendments, including the Second. I don't want to take weapons away from...

BASH: Even weapons of war?

SCOTT: Well, everybody has their definition of things.

But what we ought to look at, why don't we look at the people that have the problems that say -- and look at taking all their weapons away from them.

BASH: And why not do both?

SCOTT: I want to do things that I think work.

I think the red flag laws work. I think, in school situation, we have put in mental health counselors and law enforcement. After the Pulse, I added more counterterrorism experts.

So what I'm trying to say, what actually would solve that problem? And that's how I think we ought to all do it in Congress.

BASH: So, just to put a button it, an assault weapons ban is a nonstarter in this current Congress?

SCOTT: No, I'm focused -- I'm focused on the people that have problems.

BASH: Thank you for coming in today.

SCOTT: Dana.

BASH: Good luck in your home state. And we're all going to be watching you. And we will be back in touch.

SCOTT: Get -- get prepared.

BASH: Yes.

Thank you very much.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source