CNN "State of the Union with Candy Crowley" - Transcript

Interview

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CROWLEY: Joining me here in Washington, Florida Governor Rick Scott.

You and I are out of place. But nonetheless, thanks for joining us here in Washington.

I wanted to quick show our viewers the latest poll we have. This a Quinnipiac University poll in Florida showing among the likely primary Republican voters Mitt Romney 38 percent, Newt Gingrich 29 and then down the line Paul and Santorum.

Looking at it from your perspective how is this going to shake out? GOV. RICK SCOTT, R-FLA.: Well, it sure looks like Governor Romney's going to win. Now if I had my druthers what I'd want them to do, do what we're doing in Florida talk about jobs. I mean, our unemployment dropped from 12 percent to 9.9 percent, that's what people are worried about. We have generated 141,000 jobs last year in the private sector. But we still have 900,000 people out of work. So, that's our biggest issue. I wish they talked about that more.

CROWLEY: You have been pretty vocal in saying that all these attacks on Governor Romney's business past are counterproductive and shouldn't happen. It sounded to me almost like an endorsement of Governor Romney. Is that where you're leaning?

SCOTT: Well I just think they shouldn't be doing all the -- first off, the free market creates jobs. We need jobs. In this country and our state, we want more jobs. So it's good to have somebody that has a business background.

Now, you know, I think the candidate that has the best plan for jobs -- what I did in my campaign, seven steps. Everybody in the state knew it. Seven steps to 700,000 jobs over seven years. And so that's what I think they ought to be doing. They ought to say look, whether it's three or five...

CROWLEY: Who has the best plan since you brought it up? SCOTT: I think -- they all have plans, all right. It's generally lower taxes, less regulation. But that's not what they're talking about. But that's what the public wants. They want somebody to get up there and say, look, what we've done in Florida, we're turning our economy around. But we need a federal partner. Look, all the other issues are important. Foreign policy is important. All those issues are important.

But if you have a job, you're worried about losing it. If you don't have a job, you're worried about getting one. That's what they ought to talk about day in and day out.

CROWLEY: And I also saw a poll, this was an ABC News/Univision Poll that said 49 percent of likely Latino voters in this primary back Governor Romney, 23 percent then -- a huge gap between him and former speaker Gingrich.

Why is that do you think? What is it about the Romney campaign that's attracting the Florida Republican Latino vote?

SCOTT: Well, I mean, the -- the Latino vote is -- look, the Latino vote cares about family. I mean, if you look at Governor Romney's family, he's been very successful. He's built a great family, very committed to his wife.

He's somebody that's been successful in life. So I think if they look at his background, it's what they want. They care about their families. They care about, you know, somebody that's been successful in business. That's what they care about. So I think that's part of what his attraction to the Latino vote. CROWLEY: So that would be in contrast to, I mean, the family values in contrast to Newt Gingrich or to others in the race, you know? Rick Santorum, obviously espouses family values as well.

SCOTT: Absolutely. You know, I think what's hard is it's not like you can have ten people saying the same thing. So somebody's going to have to be in the lead. And in this case, I mean, Mitt Romney has done a better job...

CROWLEY: It's that combination of social values as exemplified in his life as well as the business background that you think.

SCOTT: Absolutely. But you I think about my race. In the end what they care about is tell me how my family is going to get an education for my children, how my family is going to get a job, and don't do things that raises the cost of living. You think about your family in Florida, that's what you care about: education for your children, a job for your family, and keep the cost of living low so I can afford it.

CROWLEY: I want to ask you something that came out of the president's State of the Union Address on Tuesday. He was talking about housing, and in particular he was talking about those people who paid their mortgages, but who now find that, in fact, their mortgage is worth more than their house is. And he has a proposal for that. Here's what he had to say on state of the union night.

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OBAMA: That's why I'm sending this congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage by refinancing at historically low rates. No more red tape. No more runaround from the banks. A small fee on the largest financial institutions will ensure that it won't add to the deficit. And we'll give those banks that were rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay a deficit of trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: So a lot of these homeowners, while they have good credit, they can't -- they can't refinance to much lower rates because their home is no longer worth as much. What do you think of the president's plan?

SCOTT: Well, it's -- I haven't seen the details of it. But I think anything we can do to help homeowners is positive.

Now there's two sides of it. How can we help them, but how do we pay for it? I think if you look at our concern, I think in Florida is, we're paying down our debt. We've got a AAA credit rating. We're worried about the credit rating of the federal government and the deficits. So I don't know how They're going to pay for it.

But the things we can do to help homeowners in Florida is important. Now I personally... CROWLEY: Isn't it worth paying for it, though, I guess. I mean, it's going to cost some money in the sense that they're going to have to back up those loans in some way, shape, or form. So, yeah, there will be -- it doesn't look like a big taxpayer output but there might be taxpayer risk here. Isn't that worth it when -- what are you, the third worst in the country in terms of home foreclosures?

SCOTT: It might be, but we don't know what it's going to cost.

Here's my belief in Florida, the way we're fixing our homeowner problem is getting people more jobs. 141,000 more jobs last year in the private sector. That's what's changing our housing market.

You know, our housing market is coming back. In my hometown of Naples I think we're at a five-year low as far as homes on the market. So there's places where we're doing really well. There's places where we're not.

So the most important thing we can do is continue the track we're down -- 12 percent down to 9.9 percent. Hopefully this year we'll even do better and continue to drive down the unemployment and the employment. That's what's going to have the biggest impact.

CROWLEY: I want to show one last poll to our audience. And this is approval rating for you which you know has been kind of in the basement. Approval rating 36 percent, disapproval rating 49 percent. You know what the chatter is out there, that there is worry by some anonymous folks that say he's going to be a drag on the ticket in Florida. Do you worry about that?

SCOTT: Here's the election. I'm going to have an election in three years. And they'll decide. And hopefully in my election, it's what I get judged on every third Friday of every month. Tell me what the unemployment number is. Now down 2.1 percent, second biggest drop in the country. That's how I'll get judged.

The presidency is going to get judged on basically who can get at the federal level become a partner with what we're doing in Florida? That's how the election will be.

CROWLEY: Governor Rick Scott, thank you for joining us this morning. Happy trails back to Florida.

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