tv Americas Choice 2014 CNN October 21, 2014 4:00pm-5:01pm PDT
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tweet the show at cnn sit room. please join us tomorrow, and every day monday through friday in "the situation room." you can watch us live or dvr so you don't miss a moment. that is it for me. debate starts right now. >> tonight the debate in the florida governor's race. republican rick scott is fighting to keep his job. >> let's keep working. >> he's a former tea party darling backed by the establishment he once backed. >> democrat charlie crist is fighting to reclaim his old job. >> let's go win this thing. thank you. >> he's a former republican, backed by the president he once controversially embraced. >> we can get this done. >> it is a bitter battle of the governors. >> he is a slick politician.
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all he can do is sling mud. >> why we would re-elect this guy is beyond me. >> and anything can happen. the last time these candidates faced off, scott didn't take the stage at first because crist broke the rules. it was a flap over a fan and viewers were blown away. >> that has it to be the most unique beginning to any debate. >> election day is almost here. the governor's office is up for grabs and it is florida's choice. live from jacksonville, florida, this is debate night. we want to welcome viewers from around the sunshine state and around the county. i'm jake tapper from cnn's the lead. tonight i'll have questions for rick scott and former governor charlie crist. i'm joined by wjxt anchor and we'll be asking questions via social media and can you join
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realtime, go to bing.com to vote on the answers you like the most or the least convincing. each governor will have one minute to respond to the questions and 30 seconds for rebuttal. i'll allow for conversation between the candidates and try to press for questions to be answered. gentlemen, welcome to you both. everybody is comfortable here? >> thank you, yes. >> everybody is comfortable. okay. good. let's start with you governor scott and an issue on the mind of every governor around the country -- ebola. if tomorrow a patient were to test positive at memorial hospital here in jacksonville, would you transfer that patient to one of the four hospitals outside of the state that has bio containment units or are you completely confident the hospitals in this state could treat that patient without any florida health care workers getting sick. >> here is what we've done so far. i feel comfortable we are doing the right thing here in florida. when this first came out, here
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is how i thought about it. we have almost 120 million people in the state and millions that come to the state and health care workers and first responders. my goal was to make sure everybody comfortable. just like if there was a hurricane we would be prepared. i start asking for things from the cdc. we wanted more testing kits. we've asked for 30 and we've gotten 3. and we asked for more protective gear and we haven't gotten that. we asked them to do a conference call to explain what happened in atlanta versus what happened in dallas because i used to be in the hospital business, you try to find best practices. they did that yesterday. that was a positive. we asked if we could use federal funding in our own agencies to buy more equipment. so we are buying with their money and state money protective gear akd heading in the right direction. >> so you feel comfortable? >> yes.
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>> and you gave the governor high marks when it came to his handling of ebola. on a scale of one to ten, how would you -- what marks would you give to president obama for his handling of this? >> i would probably give it a eight. i think we had a slow start but i think they have caught their stride. i think the federal administration is doing a commendable job with a difficult situation and i think it is important that the president work with governors throughout the country and make sure we are doing everything possible, everything humanly possible to be prepared and not panic over this issue. i think working with the cdc is important as well. and anybody in the public health arena who has experience with scenarios like this, we need to rely on them most importantly. >> let's bring in wjxt anchor ken justice for the next question. >> it is an honor to be a voice for florida voters tonight and governor crist, we have a question from facebook.
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andrea sacha from orman beach asks, why should we trust charlie crist? he has flipped parties, views on education, health care and abortion. it seems like he just does what is expedient for charlie crist. respond to andrea and other voters that may have that concern? >> sure. i think what is important is to be true to your core beliefs. and it is the way i was raised. and that is why i'm not a republican any more. the republican as gone to the right under the tea party kidnapping, if you will, it just wasn't consistent with how i was raised by my mother and father in st. petersburg. on abortion, i was pro-life but i never thought it was important for the government to pose it's own will. and i think women should governor their own bodies. i'm somebody you can trust. i am who i have always been. i call it as i see it. i am for education and i want to
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protect our environment and women have the right to choose and we should raise the minimum wage. >> and your name was invoked if you want to response. >> sure. he said we are taking public skpeedency and -- >> that is not true. >> and that is exactly what he said. what is he saying this year that he believes, whether it is on taxes or education or abortion or women's rights, what position is he taking today that he is doing just to get re-elected. >> you can respond. >> and he talked about how do you know charlie is telling the truth? how do you know rick is telling the truth. this is a man whose company was charged with medicare fraud, $1.7 billion. and then i think you actually worked on the story, jake. and you did a great job. but when you bring that kind of
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background into the governor's office and then have the kind of cronyism that we do in the scott administration, it makes it hard to believe anything he said. >> governor scott? >> right there is a big difference between charlie and me. i built a company from scratch and in nine years it went to 235,000 employees and when everything went wrong and i said in 2010 and i'll say it again today, i'll take responsibility. there is always something you can do better. but charlie never took responsibility. he said he is not responsible. scott rothstein testified under oath that charlie was paid to appoint judges. he won't take respond. his hand-picked party chair went to prison. they raised money committing fraud and charlie said he is not responsible. >> thank you, governor. >> jobs were lost. >> and may i respond to that. that was pretty serious. >> governor crist. >> the notion that he would put millions of dollars behind a
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commercial where somebody who is a convicted felon makes a false allegation against me is stunning. that is so irresponsible and that is not being accountable. and rick, you talk about being accountable. how were you accountable with hca. you won't answer questions, you pled the fifth amendment, paid no fine, didn't give any money back and left with $100 million and i don't call that responsible. >> let me ask a direct question of each of you. having to do with charges that you have each leveled just now against each other. governor scott, you said you took responsibility for at columbia. what are you taking responsible for? what happened at that firm resulting in a $1.75 billion fine that you are saying i was responsible. >> when you have a company like that and something goes wrong, you say, i thought about what could i do better? what could i have done better? i could have hired more auditors. that is what i said in 2010 and i wish i would have done that.
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but remember, i said i took spomtd for that. charlie is not responsible for 832,000 jobs lost, raising taxes $2.2 million. raising tuition when he said he was against all of those things. when we elected him saying he was a ronald reagan republican and did just the opposite. and again, he won't respond to the fact that -- did he -- what charges did -- judges did he apoint for the campaign contribution. he won't respond. >> zero. >> did he know what was happening when he was raising money back? he didn't give the money back? he kept the money back. >> he gave all of the money back. you're just wrong. >> he didn't give the money back. >> we'll see in the paper tomorrow. >> do you want to respond. >> i think we should move on. he has his problems and i don't. >> the charge leveled against you and you leveled against him,
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there are associates of you that have gone to prison. what does that say about your judgment? >> i don't have a crystal ball and you can't foresee what people will do in their future. let me give an example. i've met people that later took a bad turn. that happens. and it is unfortunate. it also happened to jeb bush. he picked a secretary at the department of corrections who is now in federal prison. those things happen. you can't always foresee that somebody might go bad later on. and i'm no different than governor bush was. >> let's move on. governor scott, florida prides itself on the open right laws and reporters have found that federal documents appear you have much more money tied up in family trusts than you have disclosed. why not do what the state constitution requires and file a quote, full and public disclosure of your financial interests. what i'm looking for, governor, what is the reason for your reluctance to provide this information to the voters of a state that prides itself on open government?
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>> well i believe in open government and that is what i've done. let's look at what i've done. in 2010 when i ran, i disclosed the assets. i dw what the -- did what the grand jury suggest. that i put my assets in a blind trust. do you that so you don't know what you own if you have any assets so you don't have a conflict. jeb bush did it. alex sync did it when she was cfo and i did the same thing. and on top of that, i exposed everything in the blind trust when i did my filing and filed my tax returns, mine and my wives. i've done all of that, charlie hasn't. charlie has not released his and his wife's tax return like jeb bush did, like alex sink did and phil mcbride did. but i have disclosed everything and i will continue to disclose everything. >> governor crist? >> i've disclosed all of my tax returns. i think i've disclosed them for the last 15 years. rick scott has not done that. and he talked about the fact that my wife has not released hers.
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that is true. we file separately. and i believe in a woman's right to choose. and i'm going to protect her from that if that is what she wants. i don't think that is fair for governor scott to try to impose my wife -- she's not running for anything. this is an election between you and me, rick. >> let's move on to an issue that is foremost among the minds of florida voters and that is jobs and the economy. governor crist, as you know, and governor scott reminds us quite often, more than 800,000 jobs were lost while you were governor. when that is raised, you say you were not responsible for the global economic meltdown that occurred during your term but florida did have the second highest job loss in the nation. are you saying you are not to blame for any of the jobs lost while you were governor? >> no, i don't think i was. and i'll tell you why. when i came into office, we were starting to experience a real estate meltdown in particular. we're in florida. we depend on real estate an awful lot in our state and i know the viewers watching
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tonight get that. and what rick scott doesn't get is the fact even though he talks about creating more than 600,000 jobs, i was not responsible for the global economic meltdown any more than rick was responsible for the national economic recovery. and if you are somebody who flies around in a private jet and you live on a mansion on the sea, it is hard to understand what people are suffering from. and this is probably the most important thing i will say tonight. the real difference in this race is, i understand what you are dealing with. i talk to people that are working two and three jobs every day i'm out there in florida. i am on your side. and unfortunately, rick scott is not. >> governor, scott you want to respond? >> well, first off, charlie, you grew up with money. i grew up with families that struggled. i don't know my natural father. i lived in public housing, i have an adopted dad. they struggled for money. i know what it is like to lose the only family car we have. i watched my parents struggle when my brother couldn't get
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health care. so i didn't grow up with money you did. you grew up with plenty of money. charlie, you lost more jobs than any state but one. we have the second highest increase in unemployment in the country. >> thank you, governor. >> a million homes were foreclosed on when you were governor. >> may i respond quick. >> well we're staying on the topic. >> okay, great. >> let's stay on the jobs and economy. and governor scott, four years ago running for october in october 2010, you promised in seven years you would create 700,000 new jobs, quote, on top of what normal growth would be. economists expected that to be 1 million and that 1.7 million new jobs and so far about 626,000 jobs have been created and short of your mark so the question is why aren't you meeting your own benchmark. >> i ran on a campaign of 7,000 jobs over seven years. we've add the 600,000 over.
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and we have 621,000 open right now. let's look at the normal growth when i took office. under charlie, you would lose 832,000 jobs. so no more -- normal growth would double that. and it was unemployment going from 3.5 to 11.1%. so no more growth under charlie would be at 18%. so if you look at what normal growth was when i look office, he was losing 800,000 jobs over four years and we've added $651,000 jobs and 261,000 openings for the top 25 in demand is $27 an hour, or $55,000 annual income and we're down to a little over 100,000 people on unemployment. so this state is on a roll. >> governor crist, do you want to respond? >> there are 600,000 people still unemployed in florida and another 700,000 not on the job rolls any more because they have given up. that is about 1.3 million people
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in florida not working today. what i think is important is to understand their plight, what they are dealing with, their challenges. you have to look at who we defend and who we support and why the two of us are running. i'm running to defend the middle class to give you a chance. i've fought for you as your attorney general and governor before. rick scott is fighting for the big utility companies and the property insurance companies. that is whose side he is on and that is the difference in the race. >> can i respond? >> yes. >> the truth is, look at our differences. carly grew up with money. he's never had to worry about money his whole life. when you grow up worried about money like my parents did growing up, when you start a business, wondering if you can make payroll. charlie didn't have these things. he didn't have parents worrying about putting food on the table or health care. and i ran for governor for this reason. i want this state to be the place where any family from whatever country or zip code, you can live any dream and you
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can get a great job and your children can get a great education so they can live the dream. >> governor crist if you want to respond. >> if that is so, why doesn't governor scott fight for the middle class consumers i meet every single day that are paying higher utility bills and higher property bills and they go higher and higher every year of his administration. when i was elected as your governor last time within of the first things i did was call an emergency special session to reduce your property insurance bills and we did it. and then i called another one to reduce your property taxes and we got it done. that is somebody looking out for you. that is somebody on your side. he's on the side of the big utility companies. >> thank you. >> first off, utility rates went up during charlie. you can go to facts.com. he says things that are not true. with regard to property taxes. you said they would drop like a rock. when you were governor, the only thing that dropped like a rock
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were home prices. they dropped 48% when you were governor. third on property insurance. you put the state at significant risk for each hurricane, the average household would be responsible for $1800 of additional fees because of what you did to citizens. >> do you want to respond? >> sure. we haven't had a hurricane in eight years and your property insurance rates have gone through the roof. no why is that? i'll tell you why. because rick scott is not letting the department of insurance regulate insurance. he actually signed a bill last year that said that the department of insurance regulation cannot regulate insurance. does that make sense to anybody? it certainly doesn't make sense to the people at home paying higher property insurance rates because of your administration. >> would you love to move on. >> that is not true. [ overlapping speakers ] >> that is not true at all. >> i would like to move on. both of you disagree on raising the minimum wage which is $7.93 and the governor wants to raise it to 10.10 and governor you said you oppose raising the
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minimum wage because you think it would be a job killer. clarify something for florida voters, do you support the print pell of a minimum wage or the concept of a minimum wage? >> sure. >> what should it be? >> how would i know -- the private sector decides wages. let's look at what happened. charlie said he wants to raise the minimum wage. that according to the congressional budget office would lose 500,000 jobs. charlie you lost 832,000 jobs when you were governor and how many more jobs can we lose? let's look at what charlie does. he can do anything with minimum wage but under charlie the minimum wage was zero. charlie went -- 832,000 people went from making money to zero. charlie, you should be known as the zero-wage governor. i don't want to lose any more jobs. think about where we are. 261,000 job openings, average income for the top 25 in demand is $27 an hour. that is how you get people
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better wages. you find companies to move here like hursts or look heed martin or northrup grumman and something you never did while you were governor. >> and you say you support the concept of a minimum wage but you said the private sector sets it but the government is setting it. do you support the government setting a minimum wage. >> just because they set a minimum wage znlt mean you get a job. under charlie it was $7.93, it has gone up since i was governor. the minimum wage was zero. 832,000 people lost her jobs. >> i would like to let governor crist respond. >> the facts are clear. he is against waging the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. and he said the very idea of it makes him cringe. why? why would it make any cringe to have a little bit more money in your pocket. and the statistics are not what
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he said, but crystal clear that in seattle and san francisco where the minimum wage has been raised, more jobs are being produced and people have more money in their pocket so you can go to the mom and pop down the street and spend more. >> governor crist i want to ask you, because economists say that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would cost 50,000 jobs in florida, 500,000 is a projection nationwide and 50,000 in florida. we spoke with one small business florida business own, and she did the math, she will have to lay off one of her 17 employees. what is your message to the one employee who would be laid off? why is it worth it? >> i think it is worth it because people deserve it. my wife is a small business woman. god bless her, she pays her employee at least $10.10 an hour because it is the right thing to do. how can somebody get by on $7.93 an hour. as i said before, i talk to people every day telling me they
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have to work two and three jobs just to make ends meet. that is not an economy that is humming along. as i said before, if you are somebody like rick scott and have a private jet and fly 30,000 feet above people all of the time or live in an ocean-front mansion you are out of touch and not feeling what people watching tonight are feeling at home. and i know they are hurting. they need somebody on their side. i was that governor before and i was the attorney general before when i fought the utility companies and i'll do it again and in 14 days you get the opportunity to make that change. >> governor scott. >> charlie just said it. 50,000 individuals, he doesn't care. that -- jake, your example, that one employee, charlie doesn't care. the reason he doesn't care is because he's never experienced it. i watched a parent lose the only family car. i watched a father struggle to buy christmas presents. i went through that as a child. charlie grew up with plenty of money. he's never had to worry about money or being laid off.
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charlie has done fine in life. but what i'm going to fight for every day is what i've done the last three years ab nine months, i'm going to fight for families like mine growing up. >> governor. >> he talks about that i've done fine in life. when i was a little kid, we lived in a small apartment in atlanta when my dad was going to medical school and he delivered newspapers to make ends meet so you don't know me and you can't tell my story. and i won't tell you. but i know you are worth about $200 million today and god bless you for that wealth but the way you got it was unsavory. and the fact that you don't relate to people, real people in florida today and the struggles they have, and you won't lower utility rates, you won't lower property insurance, it is wrong. >> charlie, you raise utility rates. >> i did not. >> they've come down since i've been governor. you almost bankrupt our state. you borrowed $900 million. somebody has to pay that off.
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charlie, when you took off, a faurm wanted to buy a prepaid to send their child to university was only $400 a month and later -- >> he is talking about -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> people ksht afford your -- can't afford your lost. >> we can't either. >> and when we come back, these governors are not the only one on the ballot. medical marijuana is. we'll get their take on that next. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars.
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hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern. the smartest or nothing. the quietest or nothing. the sleekest... ...sexiest, ...baddest, ...safest, ...tightest, ...quickest, ...harshest... ...or nothing. at mercedes-benz, we do things one way or we don't do them at all. introducing the all-new c-class. the best or nothing.
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i think you get like 50 megabits. wow that's fast. personally, i prefer a slow internet. there is something about the sweet meditative glow of a loading website. don't listen to the naysayer. switch to comcast business today and get 50 megabits per second for $89.95. comcast business. built for business. welcome back to debate night. we are here in jacksonville, florida, for the final debate in the heated florida governor's
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race. we have a lot to cover. so let's get right back to it. as i mentioned before the break, medical marijuana is on the ballot. governor scott, you signed a rule for mild marijuana used by those with cancer or ep ill epsy. and [ inaudible ] said that brand of marijuana will not be enough for his 8-year-old daughter whose seizures cause her to stop breathing. what is your message to seth? he said you are not giving his daughter a real chance? >> first off, i want everybody gets the medical health they need. i've been in the health care business, anybody with a debilitated service, i want everyone to get that. we started this year with charlotte's web and the right thing to do is continue to go back through the legislative process to find treatments that work and make sure we get those
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two individuals all around our state, make sure they are things that are safe for your family. we are going through the charlotte's web discussion this year and i wanted to make sure it was safe for everybody. >> governor crist? >> i support the medical marijuana amendment. and the reason i do is i think it is the compassionate thing to do. my law partner john morgon has worked very hard to get it on the ballot and i commend him for that. i think it is important to have done so because he did it out of compassion. compassion for his brother, compassion for his father. i happen to have a sister that a little ore a year -- over a year ago was diagnosed with brain cancer. thank god she's doing well. hello, margaret. god bless you. but if people like her were get into pain or multiple sclerosis better than oxycontin, it is a good alternative. >> thank you, governor. >> there are questions raised about the florida state university football team, specifically that some fsu football players have gotten away with crimes from car theft
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to alleged rape as they are a protected class. you are a proud fsu alumnis, do you think this is a serious probable or as some boosters would have it, just the media taking cheap shots? >> well i think it is a serious problem. whenever you have an allegation of the types that we have seen, you have to take it seriously. i used to be the attorney general and i understand what justice many means. you have to approach it in a fairway. you have to make sure there is balance just like on the scales of justice. but this isn't just an issue at florida state university, it is an issue across our country. and we've seen a lot of focus on it and i think that is a good thing. we've seen the stories out of the nfl. this is a problem that america has and we have to address it in a serious way and have law enforcement that acts appropriately and we have to have state attorneys or whoever might bring those charges to do thorough investigations, get all of the facts and then move forward appropriately. >> governor scott, does fsu have a serious problem? >> well first off, i think every
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athlete and every student needs to be held to the highest standards. so i think that if there is allegations, they need to be reviewed. there shouldn't be different standards for anybody. anybody involved, whether going through the schools or through the state attorneys, everybody has to be held to the highest standard. >> are they being held to the highest standard in. >> what is going on in particular with the fsu issue is the state attorney reviewed it and willie mays reviewed it and decided not to proceed. it is going back through again now the process at fsu and they will go through the process and review it through the normal channels. but my goal is that every athlete and every student be held to the highest standards and the same standards. >> governor scott, during your term, dpla became second in the number of executions. it was said, quote, this governor signs a lot of death warrants for whatever reason. i did not sign a lot of them because i took it very, very seriously. governor crist is seeming to say you do not take this process
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seriously and what is your response? >> sure. look, the death penalty is a solemn duty. it is something very difficult to do. but these individuals have done heinous crimes. i think about the families and the victims and i review the cases and i'm very cautious in that case. but they have done heinous crimes. i have met with the victims, families, and it gives those families some conclusion to what is going on. i see them sometimes around the state. and what i think about all of the time is the victims. >> governor crist, do you really think governor scott doesn't take it seriously? >> well let's look at the facts. he has signed a lot of death warrants. i signed death warrants as well and it is the most solemn act a governor has to do as your governor.
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knowing that you your name on a piece of paper is going to result in the death of another human being, if that doesn't make you think seriously about what is happening, nothing will. but just this past year, an execution here in florida was delayed by the governor so the attorney general could go forward and have a political fundraiser. now, to me, and my way of thinking, that doesn't sound like somebody is taking that solemn duty as seriously as they should. i don't understand that. and i don't know what all of the facts were. the only facts i do know is an execution was delayed because the attorney general of florida wanted to hold a political fundraiser and that can't be delayed without the governor's consent. >> governor scott? >> charlie said it. he doesn't know all of the facts. he doesn't know what i go through -- how i think. the prayers i -- i do. because it is a solemn duty. >> did the attorney general ask you to delay it.
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>> will you please wait while i'm talking. what i think about is those victims. if you read the cases at what these individuals have done to those victims, you won't feel good about doing it, but it is my duty to do it as governor and i'll continue to do it. >> governor crist? >> well he won't answer the question. i asked him a simple question. did the attorney general ask you to delay the execution so she could go forward with her political fundraiser? >> you can answer that governor, scott. >> it was -- she asked me to delay it because it didn't work on the dates that she thought it was going to be on. >> did you know it was for a political fundraiser. >> charlie, she apologized. >> did she know it was for a political fundraiser? >> what would you like her to do. >> he doesn't answer questions. pleads the fifth. >> and this year why you left the republican party, you said, quote, i couldn't be consist eblt with myself and be so unfriendly against the
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african-american president. i will go there. i saw the activists and what they were doing and it was intolerable to me. and so clarify for the voters if florida. there are so many racist in the republican party? >> no. i'll say that my parents, i love them to death and they don't have a racist bone in their body. and if you remember back to 2008 and the e-mails distributed by the president by some members, not all, of the republican party, they weren't exactly flattering. and i think you probably can research and find out what i'm talking about. but it wasn't right. and i can tell you that the reaction i had gotten from some in the republican party, leadership, wasn't tolerable to me. and it was pretty clear, it wasn't because i was willing to work across the aisle with a democrat to get the funds to come to florida, because it was the first african-american
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president. i don't enjoy saying that. it is not -- it is not fun to say but i'm going to tell the truth and those are the facts. >> governor scott? >> charlie, you are [ inaudible ]. you are a mud slinger and a divider. the entire you've been in politics has been -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> excuse me. >> you have spent millions and millions. you are a divider. look at what we have. we live in a wonderful state. we are the best melting pot in the world. we have so many wonderful people here that have come from all over the world and you want to try to divide people. i want everybody -- i want everybody -- i want everybody to have the same shot i had to live the american dream. >> governor crist. >> nothing to be further from the truth. i reached across the aisle when i was your governor and worked with the president to get recovery funds. this governor won't work with the president even to get high-speed rail, which is so important to central florida and the whole state, would have been
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$2.4 billion to florida, some say 60,000 jobs, he will not lift a finger to get medicaid skmangs done and -- expansion done and as a result a million floridians are not getting that as part of the action on rick scott's part and it would bring 120,000 jobs. >> first off, charlie, your high speed -- first off, you left me with a $3.6 million budget deficit. you borrowed $9 billion and then left a project on the table that would cost us billions of and then you want to talk about medica medicaid. you were governor when it passed. why didn't you expand it right there. i have worked with the federal government, worked as an example, something you wonlt do, we settled a decades old lawsuit over the decades. you wouldn't try to settle that. >> well governor scott doesn't work with the administration. it is pretty clear. he asked for them help when we
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maybe have a crisis like ebola and that is the right thing to do. but when we are offered 60,000 jobs for high-speed rail and 120,000 jobs with medicaid expansion, governor scott just says no. he is all talk and no action and as a result the tens of thousands of floridians that would have a job today in our stalled economy, rick, aren't getting the employment they need. and that is just not right. you are not on their side. i am. >> thank you, governor. >> charlie, you are the last person that ought to be talking about jobs. you lost 832,000 jobs. charlie, government doesn't create jobs. you can talk all you want. but you didn't take action to help create jobs. you wouldn't call on a company. you wouldn't work with economic development. we've won 400 competitive projects to get companies like hertz and lockheed martin or
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northrup grumman to expand here. you won't make those calls. >> what governor scott has done is said i will guarantee $266 million for big corporations outside of florida to come to florida for jobs that are promised. well the tampa bay times and miami herald did a great piece and found that only 4% of the jobs promised were actually created. that is a 96% failure on your jobs program. and what would i do? because you deserve to know, in two weeks you have to decide. i would take that money and invest it here in florida. go to fair shot florida.com that talks to our plan. >> can i talk about that. >> would you love to move on. i would like to -- >> he doesn't know how it works. ge just said they are going to add 500 jobs so we did a project with them. it was a competitive bid and we won. now charlie, they don't add the jobs in one day and we don't
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give them the money until they add the jobs. so we are not out the money until then. and charlie, you had this job, why didn't you do all of these great things you are talking about, because you're pure talk and you take no action. that is why you lost -- >> may i respond to that, jay? >> thank you very much. i was serving during the global economic meltdown. and we did the very best we could to get florida through it and we did. and the economy in florida was starting to come back when you came into office because of the policies i had. like accepting the recovery money from the president. that kept us from having to fire 20,000 school teachers. those are real jobs, rick. and it matters to them. so i'm action. and i got things done. and i'll do it again. and i'll work with anybody, republican, democrat, or independent that will help bring jobs here and you won't. >> i would like to move on if i could governor scott, i want to talk about the 2012 shooting of trayvon martin.
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and that we've seen time and time again, perhaps noticeably in furguson, missouri. and here is the larger issue coming up in the issues and it is a yes or no question, do you believe that african-americans, especially young african-american men, do you think they get a fair shake in the criminal justice system? >> my goal is that they do. i can tell you about the trayvon martin case. >> what is your goal to get them there if you want them to be there. >> here is what we've done. in the trayvon martin case i sat down with the family, sabrina the mom and tracy the dad and i introduced to the florida department law enforcement that would do the investigation and i told them if person i would bring in a special prosecutor to make sure that justice was served. so i'm going to do everything i can to make sure in any case like that the right thing happens. now here is what we've done. we've completely changed how we
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do juvenile justice. we have had a dramatic drop in the number of arrests since i got elected. we have the lowest recidivism out of our prison system because we put in reentry programs and you get out of prison you get a job and can you get a job today unlike under charlie when you couldn't get a job. so are we making progress? yes. is there more work to do? absolutely. >> we'll take a quick break. and one issue the next governor of florida must deal with before it's too late. that is coming up. ♪
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around the country and you can go to bing.com/realtime to vote on what you believe the most or least convincing. governor crist, you wanted to weigh in on the question about whether or not african-americans, specifically young african-american males get a fair shake from the justice system. i'll give you 30 seconds. >> i don't think they do. i think it is important that everybody is treated equally and get the justice they deserve. i used to serve as the attorney general and we filed civil rights cases to make sure all people were being treated fairly. one dealt with a hotel in perry, florida, call the the southern inn when they were not letting the african-american children swim in the pool. when i was governor i brought restoration of rights back for nonviolent offenders. and sadly under this governor, it is gone and it is gone for five years and you can't change
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it. >> and here is charlie's plan. if you get out of jail, you get to vote. stalk, you get to vote. you have intentional permanent disfigment of a child and you walk out of jail and you get to vote. >> that is unfair. i said nonviolent criminals. you are lying. >> go to facts for -- >> that is wrong. and i completely disagree. >> that is unfair. go to his website if you want to, go to fair state florida and find out what he said is false. and you said you would like to lift the embargo against cuba and like to travel there. governor crist calls castro terrorists, would you like to meet with him when you are in cuba? >> i would not. i think that the embargo, let's talk about it in the broader sense. the embargo has been in place for over 15 years, it hasn't
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worked. that was to get rid of the castro brothers and that didn't work. the people on the island are suffering and that concerns me. i have compassion and i care about people and don't want to see them suffer. and we are the state closest to cuba, only 90 miles away. in addition, if we were able to open up relations with the island of cuba and the cuban people, learn from the dissidents, get better insight into what they are having to deal with -- god bless you. >> the natural launching pad for all of that to move forward is the state of florida and that would help florida's economy and help our hemisphere. >> the only thing that changed with regard to the castro brothers is charlie's position,
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there is human rights violations, they're part of the agreement with venezuela, where they're killing peaceful protesters. i would not go to cuba or meet with the castro brothers. we need to stand with individuals there. and say do not in tend the emba it is the right thing for long-term democracy. >> we want to take a question from facebook, regarding immigration and specifically driver's license's. governor crist, i want to start with you. from miami beach florida, do you support giving driver's licenses regardless of legal status, not just the dreamer. >> i think we ought to have all of them. i am the grandson of a greek immigrant, my grandfather came here when he was 14 years old and didn't have any money, he
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fought in world war i, honorably discharged and gained his citizenship. and he was able to get a driver's license and these young people today should be able to get a driver's license, my running mate is an immigrant from colombia, we are a nation of immigrants, we need to do everything we can to move the comprehensive immigration reform forward, and if elected governor i would encourage our congress, our senators to work the administration to get to done. >> thank you, governor crist, governor scott? >> here is why we are having this conversation. he has not worked to get immigration reform done and has not secured our borders. now we have a humanitarian crisis on our border, where we have unaccompanied minors coming across the border. we need to have comprehensive immigration reform. we know how to legally emigrate in this country. if you want to come to this
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country, you need to know how to emigrate and you need to know what the rules are. the president needs to secure the borders and have a policy to follow. >> on the same subject of immigration reform, you praised senator rubio for his efforts in immigration reform. this one clarification i think the voters of florida would appreciate. do you support the part of senator rubio's bill that would provide a path to citizenship for the undocument eed immigran in this country, specifically that part? >> what i said was, i appreciate that rubio tried, he tried to get the comprehensive immigration reform done. but i don't think you can talk about this in pieces. you have to take the whole package and the president has failed us. he has not done it, not worked with congress or secured our borders. by not securing our borders it makes it very difficult to get anything done. because the first thing americans want is a secure
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border and then they want the comprehensive policy out of the prison, and he won't do that. >> but do you support the citizenship part of the bill? sn >> i support the process, but want a comprehensive package done. >> governor crist? >> yes, i support it. and i think what happened is, it is not that the administration tried to move forward on this issue. you know, there are a lot of components to government, three branches, and congress, particularly the house of representatives has not been particularly helpful in helping the administration move forward. so to blame it all on the administration is disingenuous. and he wanted to bring a law into florida where law enforcement officers wanted to pull people over because maybe they looked wrong, that is not the right policy. >> first of all, i believe in legal immigration and the rule of law. let's look at what i did do what
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charlie says was the wrong thing to do. i said if you were in our state you should get the same tuition as our peers, charlie was against that. but we did the right thing, because whatever country you grow up in, if you live in florida you ought to have the same in-state tuition as their peers. >> but you won't get a driver's license? >> they have one right now. >> and scientists in the state are concerned about an issue, people near the beach, are concerned about climate change, whenever you're asked about climate change, you're not a scientist you say, but you are a governor. doctors advise you on the ebola issue, why are you willing to not believe the overwhelming majority of scientists who say that man contributes to climate change. >> so here is what we've done. we have spent $350 million to
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deal with sea level rise down in the keys. or down in the miami area. we spent hundreds of millions, doing an historic work in the everglades, putting historic money into our springs. so we're going piece by piece invol solving problems, that is the right way to do this. charlie will have climate, global warming conferences and then do nothing. he didn't put money into dealing with sea level rise or put money into settling the lawsuit over the florida everglades, or make sure areas were protected. he will have a nice conference, but nothing will happen. >> governor crist? >> well, i believe in climate change and global warming, and i think that man is a significant part in that. we did have conferences but i signed executive orders, rick, the nature of which you would sign to cut emissions.
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now, why do i believe it is important to do that? i believe in clean energy like solar and wind, these are the kind of things to be involved in instead of being addicted to gasoline at the pump, i'm looking out for people at home, we ought to have more solar energy and electric cars. we're going to take a break, one question i have never heard a candidate answer back after this.
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welcome welcome back to the final debate in the race for governor of florida. we only have a little time left so let me proceed right to this final question from facebook. from susan orman. she writes i would like each of the candidates to tell us what one thing they wish florida would give them a do-over on. governor scott, we'll start with you. what do you want a do-over on from the voters of florida?
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>> you know, the biggest thing is i wish there was more time. i have called on companies for more than four years, i just wish there was more time. my wife has traveled to every state. we love getting all over the state but it is really tough. >> governor? >> for me, it is pretty obvious. the opportunity to serve you again as your governor, i love florida. it want to make sure we look out for the middle class, where we support small business growth, protect our environment, make sure we do the type of things that the people of florida deserve, want and need. not cutting our education budget but adding to it the way it was when i was your governor before. two weeks from now you'll make that vote. i hope to earn your vote. >> all right, thank you, governor, we had over 170,000 votes on line, and the results can be seen at bing.com/vote. thank you, i appreciate you. and to anchor, kent justice, i
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really appreciate it. i'm jake tapper, we hope to see you on election night. have a great night, and of course, remember to vote. good evening, everyone, thank you for joining us. we have breaking news, on many fronts tonight, including the sad news that publisher ben bradley has died. a truly humble hero who saved the life and ducked the spotlight, and a boyfriend who didn't let a secret service detail stop him from doing what he knew his girlfriend would. the people will smile, and so will you, first, the cameraman infected with ebola and being treated in omaha, nebraska, is virus-free tonight. and nina pham, one of two nurses
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