NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Rick Scott
Interview
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CHUCK TODD:
Joining me now is Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida. And I say, "Senator," because this is his first time on the show as senator. Senator Scott, welcome. And have you decided, like a bunch of other former governors in the Senate, that you miss the old title?
SEN. RICK SCOTT:
Oh, Chuck, it's a different job. But you know, I ran for the job, because I wanted to get something done. D.C.'s dysfunctional.
CHUCK TODD:
Yeah, well --
SEN. RICK SCOTT:
It's very frustrating.
CHUCK TODD:
Well, let's start about this frustrating topic.
SEN. RICK SCOTT:
We're going to get there.
CHUCK TODD:
You actually -- it's ironic. You had to take the oath during a shutdown, right? All of these new members elected in 2018, taking an oath of shut -- talk about your metaphor for dysfunction. Has the president, and his public threat of a national emergency still, does that undermine -- doesn't that undermine the negotiations that are happening now on Capitol Hill?
SEN. RICK SCOTT:
Well, first off, I don't think the first thing you want to do is use your emergency power to do things like this. But if I was the president right now, I'd be pretty frustrated. You know, everybody says, "Oh, gosh. We don't want government shut down." And everybody says, "We need border security." And then you see Nancy Pelosi sit there and say, "There's not going to be any money for a wall." When you talk to border security, they say, "You have to have barriers." So people are being disingenuous. It's like they're just actors. And there's just a lot of hatred up there for President Trump, on the Democratic side. And it's frustrating. We've got to get something done. It's not my first choice for him to use his emergency power. But he's proposed things. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are not being -- they're not negotiating with him in good faith, I don't believe. And so if I was sitting in his position, I mean, I would go out there, and I would say, "I'm going to use whatever power I have to solve the problem." We have to have border security. We have to take care of the DACA kids. And on top of that, I think we need to have a permanent solution for TPS. Let's go start solving these problems, instead of just talking, talking, talking, and nothing gets done.
CHUCK TODD:
TPS, by the way, Temporary Protected Status for quite a few other communities. And in Florida, I know that it's, particularly, some Central American immigrants, in particular, on that. But I want to ask you about something you just said. You said that Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer were being disingenuous, and the president wasn't. I'm just sort of curious. He had -- he walked away from two deals that seemed to be on the table. And then he walks away. So why should Democrats trust the president? DACA for the wall was about a 48-hour deal. And then the president walked away from that. And then 48 hours -- Senator McConnell thought he had a deal, at least to avoid a shutdown. And the president walked away from that. So is this really just on the Democrats? Doesn't President Trump own some of this disingenuousness?
SEN. RICK SCOTT:
Everybody does. You know, everybody's got to act in good faith. Everybody's got to stop saying, "This is all about, you know, this is about winning and losing." It's not. It's about what's good for the American public. The public wants border security. The public doesn't want government shut down. You know, I ran, basically, saying, "We've got to change the direction of Washington. We need to have term limits. You know, you do a shutdown, you don't pass a budget, Congress shouldn't get paid." So we've got to make sure that people start working together. And I think everybody's got to figure out how to do that. And I'm going to try my best to be part of that.
CHUCK TODD:
What is it that you think is a reasonable compromise, at this point? Would you advise the president to take half of the money he's asking for at this point, I mean, actually come to a compromise, acknowledge divided government? What would your advice to the president be? I know you and him are, professionally, very close.
SEN. RICK SCOTT:
Sure. What I would say to him is, we have to have border security. From my standpoint, what I would want would be -- I'd want a permanent fix. Let's fund -- let's talk to -- and which I did a week or so ago. I sat down with border security. What do you need? They need people. They need technology. They need barriers. We need to do it permanent. Let's -- I think -- what I like is, I think what I'd like is to fix everything: fix that, welcome our Dreamers, a permanent solution for TPS. But I'd start the path. What I did as governor, I just, "What could I get done today," and I did it. And I went forward with the next thing.
CHUCK TODD:
You know, there is a compromise on the shelf. In fact, your colleague, Marco Rubio, in the Senate, was one of the, essentially, one of the sponsors and organizers of it, the Gang of Eight compromise from 2013. You were governor of Florida at that time. What's wrong with that compromise? It had new barriers. It had -- it dealt with DACA. As Michael Bennet said, very dramatically on the Senate floor, it had $46 billion in border security funding, not just $5 billion.
SEN. RICK SCOTT:
Well, first of all, I want to thank Marco Rubio. Because I know he's been a big proponent of taking care of the Dreamers and working on trying to fix TPS and also working on border security. I think something like that, we need to look at all of the provisions, what's in that, as compared to where we are today. But I think we ought to look at things like that. We ought to do a big deal. But I want to get something done. I do not want government shut down. I want to have border security. We all know we should do this. People have to stop being actors and sit down and get something done. You shouldn't go into negotiation, like Nancy Pelosi did, and say, "There's going to be no money for a wall." There has to be border security. There has to be barriers. We all know that.
CHUCK TODD:
What -- this issue of shutdown versus national emergency, if the president doesn't want to do national emergency but won't sign this deal, you're stuck with a shutdown. What do you do, as a Senate Republican?
SEN. RICK SCOTT:
I think it's going to be tough. I think it's going to be very difficult. I was very frustrated, as an example. Our Coast Guard didn't get paid during the shutdown. I think, and first off, I don't, I don't like shutdowns. But our Coast Guard, part of our military, didn't get paid. And we had a bill sponsored to do that. And Chuck Schumer stopped that, even. I mean, there's just so much hatred up there right now. And people aren't working together. We've got to stop and say, "Let's act in the best interest of the American public, instead of, 'Oh, how do I win the next election?'"
CHUCK TODD:
I want to switch gears here, the issue of Venezuela. What is the line? The president has not ruled out sending the military in. We've sent humanitarian aid in. I assume that it has some military protection, as we send that aid in. When do you think it is appropriate to send in the American military to overthrow Maduro?
SEN. RICK SCOTT:
Well, Chuck, what you hope is, if Maduro understand that that is an option, and if he actually believes that's an option, and world leaders all over are telling him that he's got to step aside, and you see those protests yesterday, then I think he'll , hopefully, he'll step aside.
CHUCK TODD:
Do you think the president, then, needs to be more aggressive in threatening the use of force?
SEN. RICK SCOTT:
No. I think they've been clear. I think they've been clear that everything's on the table. I mean we're seeing, look at the number of people that protested again yesterday. We're starting to see the military move now, which is the key right now. That's the only thing that's propping up Maduro, and the Cuban thugs that are there. So I'm optimistic that something's going to happen here. I spoke to Juan Guaidó last week. I told him, "I'm going to do everything I can to help." You just feel so sorry. Most families, nine out of ten families, don't have enough money for food. 80% of the kids under five are malnutrition -- have malnutrition. I mean, I heard stories, on Friday, from a lot of Venezuelans. And it's just you can't believe -- why would Maduro be doing this to his citizens? And so I think everything's got to be on the table. I hope we never have to use military force. But everything's got to be on the table.
CHUCK TODD:
All right, Senator Rick Scott, the new senator from Florida, former Republican governor. Thanks for coming on and sharing your views, sir. Good to see you here.
SEN. RICK SCOTT:
Thanks, Chuck.
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