CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: "Interview with Gov. Gavin Newsom"

Interview

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COOPER: Governor Newsom, this tweets now from the President about Ford and your state, it's essentially just one out of dozens of attacks that we've seen from the President just over the last couple days. I'm wondering just watching him insult people, try to divide religious groups, reverse course over and over again, what do you think is going on? I mean, do you think something different is going on?

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): I'll leave that to more objective observers. But there's something that's certainly going on as it relates to the work we're doing here in California. He's losing and we're winning. This is Donald Trump feeling the pressure, the reality is setting in, and he's feeling more and more that he needs to change course but he doesn't know how to move because he can't move off his base.

And it's remarkable, particularly as it relates to the vehicle emissions question, that he is out there making a case that he's helping the automobile manufacturers when they're saying he's doing just the opposite.

COOPER: It seems like -- I mean, certainly in Ford's case and the other, you know, automakers who you have made deals with, that they kind of see the future and they know where the future is going.

The President is now using the argument and the EPA and others are using the argument that what you're doing is actually going to end up killing more people because it will end up with more cars on the road in the future. And that it's going to have very little impact on the environment, which is obviously very hard to or make that argument.

NEWSOM: I mean, it's just -- it's honestly rather pathetic arguments and they fly in the face of reality. There's no objective observers that can make that case. I mean, at the end of the day, you're right, he's arguing against innovation. He's arguing against competitiveness. He's arguing against the future. One thing we all know, if you don't invest in the future, you're not going to do very well there.

And as it relates to automobile manufacturers, they understand where the rest of the world is going, where China is going, where India, Japan are going, where the American consumer is going, and where mother nature is taking us, and that's into a lower carbon, green growth future. And California wants to lead the way in the absence of the President of the United States himself.

COOPER: So, what do you think the reason he is doing this is? I mean is it certainly -- is it personal? Is it political and that he thinks a higher car price perhaps initially because cars that, you know, are electric usually are more expensive, although that will probably change over time. Is it worries about the economy? What is it?

NEWSON: Well, is it the oil companies? I mean, who -- at the end of the day you have to ask yourself not only that question, but who is the only one to really benefit? If the car companies themselves saying, we're not going to benefit, we have to compete globally, we have to compete for the American mind share, meaning where consumers want us to go, which is alternative fuels and less cost at the gas pump.

The only objective way of answering that question is, yes, it's personal because Obama set this rule and he wants to roll back everything the Obama administration achieved as it relates to climate. And number two, it helps the oil companies.

And significantly, by the way, so, by one estimate 320 billion gallons of oil will be consumed. That's the delta between the California rules and where he wants to go. There is no other beneficiary except the oil companies themselves.

COOPER: I also want to ask you about the Trump administration's new proposal to detain undocumented families together indefinitely, which replacing the agreement that set a 20-day -- the Flores Agreement, instead of a 20-day limit for holding children. Your state is obviously already taking measures to push back on the President's immigration policies. Is there anything as a state you can or will do to try to combat the new rule if it goes into effect?

NEWSOM: We're going to join many other states probably as early as next week, and I think we'll file our 58th lawsuit against the administration, and I don't say that proudly.

[20:35:06] The overwhelming majority of that is just protecting the values we hold dear in our state. But this one has national significance. Seven young children have died since Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States. Not one died over eight years under President Obama's stewardship.

The family separations happened under this administration. We saw the public charge assault last week, which is family separation by other means, and now here we are detaining some children indefinitely. It's an assault on the Flores decision. Clearly I think it will be rejected by the courts. And the answer to your question is California will once again assert itself in the court of law.

COOPER: Governor Gavin Newsom, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

NEWSOM: Thanks. Thanks for having me.

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