CNN "American Morning" - Transcript

Interview

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ACOSTA: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. In the Florida Senate race, Republican Marco Rubio won the party's nomination last night. He'll face off in a three-way race in November with Democrat Kendrick Meek and Republican-turned-independent Charlie Crist. And Marco Rubio is joining us live now from Fort Lauderdale this morning to give us his reaction to last night's race and his big victory and also to take a look ahead.

Good morning, Mr. Rubio. Thanks for joining us.

MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), NOMINEE U.S. SENATE: Good morning, thank you for having me.

ACOSTA: It's been an exciting night for you. And, you know, it goes without saying that a lot of folks put the words Marco Rubio and Tea Party together. It's happened a lot throughout this race. And I was just curious, you know, there are some conservative blogs this morning, "The Daily Caller" among them pointing out that you didn't mention the Tea Party last night in your victory speech. Was there a reason for that? And tell us about your victory and what it means.

RUBIO: Well, just understand, I mean, obviously there are people that cover politics on a daily basis. They're involved in the process of that. But we're focused on our message. Our message is pretty simple. And our message is that Washington has got this whole wrong. I think both parties are to blame, quite frankly, but Washington has put us on a road that's going to rob us of everything that makes America's exceptional. And the reason why I got in this race a year-and-a-half ago when nobody had thought we had the chance to win, was because I looked at the other people running and I realized none of them are going to stand up to the direction Washington is taking us and offer a clear alternative. And I think that's still true. I am running against two people who support the direction that Washington is taking our country. We're offering a clear agenda and particularly on things like the national debt, on job creation. Washington's agenda is destructive for America's future and that's what we're focused on. It's our message.

ACOSTA: And any reason why you didn't mention the Tea Party in your victory speech?

RUBIO: Well, again, people get obsessed with these labels. I'm very proud of my association with the Tea Party, but I think people misunderstand what the Tea Party movement is in America. It's not a centralized organization or a political party. It's the sentiment of every day Americans who think that Washington has it wrong. They're taking our country in the wrong direction and they're looking for voices in American politics that will stand up to that and offer a clear alternative. And that's what we're doing.

RUBIO: OK. You're opponent, Charlie Crist, who you essentially forced out of the Republican primary you were doing so well out there, had this to say about you and your Democratic opponent. He said this last night on Larry King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (I), FLORIDA: And what that choice is when it comes to Florida is, if you want somebody that's on the hard right, you have a candidate now. If you want somebody on the hard left, you have a candidate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And so, there you have it. I'm sure Kendrick Meek would dispute the characterization that he's from the hard left. And I imagine you will dispute the characterization that you're from the hard right. What do you have to say about that? Charlie Crist trying to own the middle here.

RUBIO: Well, here's the bottom line. This is about ideas and public policy, not about labels or slogans. Charlie Crist hasn't offered a single concrete idea this entire campaign. With the issues we stand for, the things we're proposing are with the vast majority of Floridian support.

Look, I think that politicians don't create jobs. And that's why the stuff they're trying in Washington isn't working. Jobs are created by every day people that start businesses or expanding existing businesses, and the job of government is to create an environment -- is to create an environment where the private sector can grow employment. And we've offered ideas to do that. I think our government shouldn't spend more money than it takes in. ACOSTA: Do you think --

RUBIO: Make the world just a safer place.

ACOSTA: Do you think Charlie Crist is trying to --

(CROSSTALK)

Do you think Charlie Crist is being a little bit of an opportunist there when he tries to characterize the race in those terms and what do you make of the fact that he says, well, when he goes -- if he goes to the Senate, if he wins and goes to the Senate, he'll be with the people's caucus, not with the Democratic caucus or the Republican caucus?

RUBIO: Well, first of all, Charlie Crist needs to answer the fundamental question of who he's going to vote for for majority leader if he's elected. And he refuses to answer that question. In fact, he refuses to say what hl he'll do on any issue if he gets to Washington, D.C.

Look, this campaign is not going to be about labels. It has to be about specific ideas. What are his ideas? Where are his public policy proposals?

ACOSTA: Yes.

RUBIO: The bottom line is he's a supporter of what Washington is proposing for America. So is Kendrick Meek. I'm the only one running that offers a clear alternative. That's why we're going to win.

ACOSTA: And at the beginning of this interview, you said there have been problems with both parties. And it's interesting because it sounds like you're trying to move towards the middle a little bit.

RUBIO: That's right.

ACOSTA: And I was just curious because you said in the "New York Times" that you don't want the Republican Party to be the anti-illegal immigration party. What did you mean by that and what did you mean when you said about the Arizona immigration law that there were some problems with it, that you think that it could cause problems for your party?

RUBIO: Well, I think it's important to fill out the entire statement of what I said. What I said was that I don't want the Republican Party to be the anti-illegal immigration party. I want us to be the pro-legal immigration party, and that's what I meant.

Legal immigration is good for America, but we cannot be the only country in the world that does not enforce its immigration laws. And so the first order of business is border security and particularly securing our border with Mexico.

ACOSTA: All right. Well, Marco Rubio, congratulations on your victory last night. It wasn't unexpected. Obviously, you were going to win last night, and it's going to be an interesting campaign to watch heading into the fall. I think everybody's going to be watching that race down in Florida.

So good luck to you and thanks for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.

RUBIO: Thank you. Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right - Kate.

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