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Interview with Florida Governor Rick Scott; Virginia a Key Battleground State; Virginia Rep. Scott Rigell Says He'll Vote 3rd Party; Scathing DOJ Report against Baltimore PD. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired August 10, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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


[13:30:00] RICK SCOTT, (R), FLORIDA GOVERNOR: They walked out of office broke, started the foundation, now they're worth over 100 million.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you want him to issue another statement to go out there and say, maybe I misspoke, maybe I thought I was joking, I really wasn't, to clean up this controversy, because you have seen the very, very angry reaction, including from a lot of the Independent undecided voters in your key battleground state of Florida?

SCOTT: You know, when talked to anybody that's going to run for office, I said you need to be clear about what you're running on. I was clear in my race. I told everybody we were going to run on jobs. We added over 1 million jobs. Every candidate has to do that. Every candidate is different. But, Wolf, we all know if you look at all of the polls, the election is going to be about jobs. Donald knows how to create jobs. She's a career politician never creating a private sector job in her life.

BLITZER: She's going to visit your state. She was in your state yesterday. Trump will be there tonight. This new Quinnipiac poll shows it's a dead heat, 45 percent to her 46 percent. She's slightly within the margin of error, a tie right now. The problem he has and you know Florida well, he's not doing well with Hispanic voters. He's not doing well with African-American voters and with young people and with women. How does he change all that if he's going to carry your state?

SCOTT: You know, Wolf, I do what I did in 2010. As I can and talk about he's going to create jobs. He put out his economic plan this week. He's doing something similar to what we did in Florida. We cut taxes 55 times. We said we want businesses to keep their money so they can hire more employees and do more research and do more marketing to get more jobs. That's what he's going to talk about that every second. An election is going to be who is going to help my family get back to work? I grew up in public housing. I know the importance of a job. Donald is going to talk about why his plan will get this country back to work. I need a partner in Washington that will make it easier to add more than jobs that we've added. I need a real partner.

BLITZER: You said that the Zika Virus now is a national issue and not an issue just in Florida. You say Florida is the tip of the spear. About 21 people in your state with locally transmitted Zika. You need resources, but the Republican leadership in the House and Senate are standing in what do you say to Republican friends in the Congress who are refusing to provide the funds you say you need?

SCOTT: We have less than one square mile from downtown Miami, only spot we think there's local transmission. Congress and the president have to start figuring out how to work together. I work with my legislature. The president and Congress have to work together. Congress should not have gone on recess. They should come back from recess right now and get a bill passed so we can have a partner. This is a national/international issue. It's not going to just impact Florida. It will impact our nation.

BLITZER: You think Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, Republican leaders in Senate and house, are threatening the people of Florida right now by their refusal to come back into session and deal with the Zika Virus funding?

SCOTT: I say the whole federal government has failed us. I put up state money. I allocated $26.2 million. Feds are not doing their part. We asked for additional resources from CDC but the federal government needs to get to work. Congress needs to come back from research. President and Congress have to work together to be a partner in this. We've been able to control other issues in our state. Need the federal partner in this issue.

BLITZER: Hillary Clinton wants Congress to reconvene but it's your Republican friends who are refusing to do so. You're upset with them, I assume.

SCOTT: I want Congress to come back from recess now, pass a bill, work with the president, get something done now. We've asked for additional Zika protection kits from the CDC. We need a plan to deal with FEMA from the president. We also need continued support from mosquito control. And we need a vaccine and research and figure out how to make sure we don't see more cases like this. We're keeping our state safe. We have one square mile, less than one square mile north of downtown Miami, and we reduced that area, but we're doing the testing, everything we can.

BLITZER: A quick final question, Governor. Donald Trump praised you. He said, when it comes to Zika in Florida, he said you seem to have it under control. Have you spoken with him about it? Does he have a good appreciation of what's going on right now?

SCOTT: I have not talked to him about Zika. I think what he knows about our state, we prepare. I started preparing for Zika back in February. We're ahead of the game. The federal government is behind the game. He knows, whether it's a hurricane or tropical storm or flooding, this state gets prepared. That's what we do.

BLITZER: Rick Scott is the governor of Florida.

Thanks very much, Governor.

SCOTT: See you, Wolf. Have a good day. [13:34:55] BLITZER: Thank you.

Still ahead, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton each need a win Virginia to help them become president of the United States. We're taking a look at their ground game in that key battleground state. And we'll also talk with a Republican Congressman from Virginia, who says he won't be voting for either of the two major candidates.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Virginia is a key battleground state in this year's presidential election and could help decide the outcome of the race. Once a reliable Republican stronghold, the state went for Barack Obama in each of the last two presidential elections.

As CNN's Athena Jones show us, the two campaign's push for voters are as different as the candidates themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[13:40:01] UNIDENTIFIED CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: I'm reaching out to you on behalf of the Trump campaign.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The battle for Virginia is being waged by volunteers like these.

UNIDENTIFIED CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: You're planning to support Hillary this November?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

JONES: Working to identify and recruit supporters to help turn out the vote in this swing state.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Thank you, northern Virginia.

JONES: With three months to go until Election Day, neither side is taking anything for granted.

GARREN SHIPLEY, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, VIRGINIA REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Virginia is absolutely critical. The road to the White House runs through the commonwealth and we're committed to making that happen for our Republican nominee.

SUSAN SWECKER, CHAIRWOMAN, VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY: It's a very competitive state. We are going to do everything we can to win this one for Clinton/Kaine.

JONES: The Clinton team had staff here since April and has 28 field offices with more opening this month. Much of their focus will be turning out voters in northern Virginia counties, close to D.C., an area with large college-educated population that has grown more diverse in recent years.

JEREMY MAYER, SCHAR SCHOOL OF POLICY & GOVERNMENT: Loudoun County is a huge battleground. Second only to Fairfax and there's a lot of swing voters and people who can be persuaded.

JONES: Once reliably Republican, Loudoun County voted twice for President Obama in 2008 --

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's good to be back in Virginia.

JONES: -- and 2012.

OBAMA: How's it going, Leesburg?

JONES: -- helping him stop a decade's-long Republican winning streak in presidential races statewide dating back to 1958.

Now it's a top target for both Clinton and Trump.

TRUMP: We have to get everybody out. Loudoun County is so important.

JONES: The real estate mogul has won over some Loudoun County voters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says things like it is. I feel more that you can trust him, more than Hillary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's mainly a Never Hillary vote.

JONES: Is it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I think she has way too much baggage to be president of the United States.

JONES: But Clinton supporters here are just as committed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think competency is important. And she clearly has a lot of experience and seems to know what she's doing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is the best candidate for the job. I've been a supporter of hers for a long time. And in this particular case, I think that she is certainly the better choice.

JONES: The Clinton campaign hopes tapping former governor and current Virginia Senator, Tim Kaine, as her number-two will help her in the state.

SEN. TIM KAINE, (R), VIRGINIA & VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Do you want a trash-talking president or a bridge-builder president?

JONES: The Clinton campaign has spent $5 million on TV ads in Virginia while the National Rifle Association has spent just over $260,000 on behalf of Trump. The Trump campaign hasn't spent any money on the airwaves but that doesn't mean Republicans aren't fighting hard to win here.

SHIPLEY: We're working right now with our volunteers to identify as many Republicans as we can and then as we move forward in the campaign, that will become persuasion, motivation to get out the vote. JONES: Trump's campaign is leaning heavily on the Republican National

Committee for its "get out the vote" efforts. The RNC has been on the ground here since the beginning of 2015.

UNIDENTIFIED CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: My name is Jacob. I'm with the Trump campaign.

JONES: They have some 40 paid staffers working with hundreds of volunteers to woo voters, particularly in southwest Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley, and south side Virginia.

And they're not conceding Loudoun County, where recent college graduate, Cameron Saeidi (ph), is hoping the debates will help him make up his mind.

CAMERON SAEIDI (ph), LOUDOUN COUNTY VOTER: I'll be watching them to see how the candidates distinguish themselves from each other.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Our thanks to Athena Jones for that report.

The Trump campaign has seen a significant number of Republicans jumping ship to support other candidates in this year's election campaign.

Joining us now from Virginia Beach is Congressman Scott Rigell.

Scott, Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

REP. SCOTT RIGELL, (R), VIRGINIA: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: So you are not endorsing, not backing, voting for the Republican nominee this time. You are a Republican. You say Trump would be catastrophic if he became president. Who are you going to vote for?

RIGELL: I'm going to be voting for Governor Gary Johnson. I made this clear. I made my case to the second district of Virginia prior to the Virginia primary that the sum of all things that Donald Trump has said and done really his adult life led me to the view that a Trump presidency would really harm our nation. I'm not a representative prone to hyperbole. I don't throw things out in the extreme. In this matter looking at the sum of his actions, I could not support him, what he said about any number of things, for example, the deliberate targeting of not only a terrorist but the terrorist family. I think the insult that he hurled at Senator McCain was the first thing that got my attention that he really didn't understand our United States military. Virginia's second congressional district has the highest concentration of men and women in uniform in the country. By the nature of our commands, we have a disproportionate loss. Our Gold Star families are here, many of them.

BLITZER: All right.

RIGELL: And he's just disconnected on so many levels and I believe he would be a danger to our country, Wolf.

[13:45:21] BLITZER: You'll vote for Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee and former governor, William Weld, the vice presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party. Are you concerned that if others in Virginia follow your lead that will effectively help Hillary Clinton, backing someone who is a party that really doesn't have much of a chance of winning this overall contest?

RIGELL: Wolf, this may surprise you here, but I'm ready to defend the proposition that Governor Johnson can win. Here's why.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: He can he win Virginia or win the presidency?

RIGELL: I mean that he can thread this needle, and here's how, and win the presidency, and here's why. If we can get him up to about 15 percent in the polls, he'll participate in the presidential debate. No one saw Trump winning the nomination, at least early on. And I believe these same types of unusual real anomalies and the forces coming against our country are present now in the general election. The level of dissatisfaction with the two nominees is so wide and intense, Wolf, I've never seen anything like this. A Republican is voting against the Democratic nominee, but not really for the Republican nominee and, conversely, Democrats are voting against the Republican nominee, and not for their nominee. I've had so many people, family, friends, across the political continuum say what are we going to do this fall? I struggle with that, too. I cannot vote for Donald Trump in good conscience. And Hillary Clinton is equally as unacceptable to me.

I give credit to a young intern. We were coming home from an event and he was driving, and he said, sir, are you considering the Libertarian ticket? I said, I hadn't, I need to do that. Once I did, the more I learned about Governor Johnson and what he believes in -- and, Wolf, to your point, it's not going to take votes from simply the Republican ticket, though it will, it will take votes from the Democratic ticket. I think that there's a pent-up demand that will surprise a lot of people on Election Day.

BLITZER: Let's see if they get to that 15 percent threshold and you are eligible to participate in the three presidential and one vice presidential debates.

Scott Rigell is a Republican Congressman from Virginia, not going to vote for the Republican nominee.

Congressman, thanks very much.

RIGELL: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up, the Department of Justice here in Washington blasting the Baltimore Police Department in a scathing report revealing racial bias and behavior so egregious that several officers have been fired. We'll discuss with the NAACP President Cornell William Brooks. There he is. He's in Baltimore. Lots to assess when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:52:12] BLITZER: A scathing just released report from the Department of Justice here in Washington has revealed rampant racism and discrimination throughout the city of Baltimore Police Department. It found officers routinely making unconstitutional stops, searches and arrests, unnecessary use of excessive and sometimes deadly force. It also finds the police force disproportionately targets African- Americans.

Let's talk about this and more. I'm joined by the head of the NAACP, Cornell William Brooks. He's joining us from Baltimore.

Cornell, quickly, what's your reaction to this scathing report?

CORNELL WILLIAM BROOKS, CEO & PRESIDENT, NAACP: This report is nothing less than a damning indictment of the Baltimore Police Department. We have a city where approximately half of the population, 300,000 people, have been stopped and frisked, 96 percent of the time without a citation or an arrest, the majority of whom are African-American, on the basis of a variety of potential reasons. This is a damning indictment of the Baltimore Police Department, specifically, and policing more broadly. That is to say, this policy of stopping and frisking, zero tolerance, is constitutionally unconscionable, morally unjustified, and really a plague against the American citizenry.

BLITZER: You think Baltimore is usual in this type of situation or you think similar situations are going on right now in other major cities around the United States?

BROOKS: Tragically, sadly, unfortunately, Baltimore is not unusual. This policy of zero tolerance, stopping massive numbers of American citizens in their communities, on their streets on the basis of race and ethnicity is widespread. So where we have literally a generation that has been profiled, that has been criminalized, that has been demeaned -- in other words, this policy of Stop and Frisk could be translated as detain, demean and dehumanize. This is the case in many American cities and small towns. It is a policy that is not only unconscionable, it is ineffective. You cannot mount successful prosecutions. You cannot engage in policing without the trust and the engagement of the community. And so here we have a federal report that speaks very clearly in very specific terms about police officers not fulfilling their badges, not fulfilling their oaths, not honoring their badges by treating people with respect, where we have a police department where it has been found that crimes have not been investigated, and crimes such as, yes, using racial slurs, but also sexual assault. This is a huge problem. And we wish we could say it's just Baltimore. But those in you know, American citizens well understand, it is not just Baltimore. It's American policing itself.

[11:55:06] BLITZER: Is progress being made? Because these problems, as you know, Cornell, they've been around for a long time.

BROOKS: Progress is being made. The reality is there are cities around the country that have engaged in best practice policing, evidence-based policing, data-driven policing, where they engage the community, they elicit the trust of the community and focus on deterring crime, as opposed to racking up arrests at the expense of the civil rights and the humanity of citizens of this country. So, yes, there are cities that get it right. There are police departments that get it right. So we can be encouraged and we can be inspired by the best practices of police departments around the country.

BLITZER: All right.

BROOKS: For example, we saw five police officers --

BLITZER: Unfortunately, Cornell, we're out of time. But you and I are going to continue these conversations down the road.

Thanks very much for joining us.

BROOKS: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Cornell William Brooks is the president and CEO of the NAACP.

That's it for me. Thanks for watching.

The news continues right after a quick break.

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