>>> WELCOME BACK. AS WE MENTIONED EARLIER,
TALLAHASSEE MAYOR ANDREW GILLUM
WON A BIG UPSET VICTORY IN THE
GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY.
GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY. THE STAKES FOR PROGRESSIVES
COULDN’T BE HIGHER.
GILLUM IS THEIR CHANCE TO SHOW
THAT A PROGRESSIVE MESSAGE CAN
WIN IN THE SWINGIEST OF SWING
STATES AND HE WOULD MAKE HISTORY
IF ELECTED.
IF ELECTED. THE MAYOR JOINS ME NOW.
MAYOR GILLUM, WELCOME TO "MEET
THE PRESS DAILY."
>> WHAT’S UP, CHUCK.
GO ’CANES, MAN.
>> YOU’RE A GUY THAT’S BEEN IN
MIAMI, LIVED IN GAINESVILLE AND
MAYOR OF TALLAHASSEE.
I ASSUME IT BETTER BE RATTLERS
FIRST.
FIRST. >> IT’S ALWAYS RATTLERS FIRST,
LET’S BE CLEAR ABOUT THAT.
>> THE WAY I LOOKED AT IT, THE
OTHER GREEN AND ORANGE IN THE
STATE OF FLORIDA.
>> THAT’S EXACTLY RIGHT, BUT WE
LOVE ALL OUR FLORIDA SCHOOLS.
>> LET ME START WITH THE
CONTROVERSY TODAY BY YOUR
OPPONENT, CONGRESSMAN RON
DeSANTIS.
DeSANTIS. YOU HEARD SOMETHING AND YOU SAID
IT WAS A PAGE FROM THE DONALD
TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANUAL.
DO YOU WANT AN APOLOGY FROM
CONGRESSMAN DeSANTIS?
CONGRESSMAN DeSANTIS? DO YOU THINK YOU’RE OWED ONE?
>> LET ME BE ARTICULATE AND
CLEAR HERE, WHICH IS WE’RE
BETTER THAN THIS IN FLORIDA.
I BELIEVE THE CONGRESSMAN CAN BE
BETTER THAN THIS.
I REGRET THAT HIS MENTOR IN
POLITICS IS DONALD TRUMP.
BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT THE VOTERS
OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA ARE
GOING TO REJECT THE POLITICS OF
DIVISION.
DIVISION. THEY BELIEVE THAT WE’RE BETTER
THAN THAT, WHICH IS WHY I’M
GOING TO SPEND MY TIME THE NEXT
TWO PLUS MONTHS GETTING AROUND
THE STATE TALKING ABOUT THE
ISSUES THAT MATTER TO EVERYDAY
VOTERS IN THIS STATE.
KITCHEN TABLE ISSUES, HEALTH
CARE, EDUCATION, MAKING SURE WE
CLEAN UP OUR ENVIRONMENT WHICH
OUR GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN DERELICT
WITH THE REPUBLICAN LEGISLATURE
TO DO.
TO DO. I THINK THAT’S HOW WE’RE GOING
TO WIN IN NOVEMBER.
BUT IT’S CLEAR THAT THE
CONGRESSMAN IS GOING TO JOIN
DONALD TRUMP IN THE SWAMP.
WE’RE GOING TO LEAVE THEM THERE
AND CONTINUE TO PRESS TOWARD A
HIGHER MARK.
HIGHER MARK. >> LET ME ASK YOU THIS, YOU
TALKED ABOUT YOU WERE GOING TO
TRAVEL THE STATE, TALK ABOUT
KITCHEN TABLE ISSUES.
BUT FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH, YOU’VE
TWEETED ABOUT THE PRESIDENT TEN
TIMES THIS MONTH.
YOU POINTED OUT THE LAST
DEMOCRATIC DEBATE, YOU WERE THE
ONLY CANDIDATE WHO CALLED FOR
IMPEACHING THE PRESIDENT.
THAT’S FINE EXCEPT YOU’RE
RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO AS
GOVERNOR TO STOP DONALD TRUMP?
WHY DO YOU BELIEVE STAKING OUT
AN IMPEACHMENT POSITION IN A
GUBERNATORIAL RACE IS RELEVANT
TO VOTERS IN THE STATE OF
FLORIDA?
FLORIDA? >> WELL, I SHOULD FIRST SAY THAT
THE PRESIDENT SELF-ADMITTED THAT
HE OBSTRUCTED JUSTICE BY FIRING
JIM COMEY BECAUSE HE WOULDN’T DO
HIS BIDDING.
HIS BIDDING. THOSE WERE HIS WORDS.
I BELIEVE THAT THE PRESIDENT FOR
THOSE REASONS HAS BARGAINED
HIMSELF INTO CONVERSATION AROUND
IMPEACHMENT.
IMPEACHMENT. I WILL TELL YOU, THOUGH, IT DOES
MATTER WHAT THE GOVERNOR OF THE
STATE OF FLORIDA THINKS.
IT MATTERS THAT THE GOVERNOR OF
THE STATE OF FLORIDA WORKS EVERY
DAY TO PUSH PACK AGAINSTBACK AGA
DIVISIVE RHETORIC THAT THIS
ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN SO
INCREASINGLY RELIANT ON AS A WAY
TO DIVIDE THIS COUNTRY AND TO
DIVIDE MY STATE QUITE FRANKLY.
WE’RE ONE OF THE MOST DIVERSE
STATES IN ALL OF AMERICA.
IT MATTERS THAT THE GOVERNOR IS
WILLING TO STAND UP AND SAY, DO
YOU WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING?
IN THE AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE
MARIA, YOU OWE THE PEOPLE OF
PUERTO RICO, U.S. CITIZENS,
BETTER THAN HOW YOU’VE TREATED
THEM.
THEM. BECAUSE SO MANY OF THEM NOW CALL
FLORIDA HOME, THEY NEED TO KNOW
THAT I’LL BOWE A GOVERNOR THAT
STANDS FOR THEM.
OR IF YOU LIVE IN HAITI IT
MATTERS TO YOU WHAT THE
PRESIDENT HAS TO SAY AND YOU
WANT TO KNOW THAT YOUR GOVERNOR
WILL STAND UP ON YOUR BEHALF.
>> THE GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA HAS
TO WORK WITH THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES NO MATTER THE
PARTY AND NO MATTER WHAT THEY
THINK OF HIM.
FLORIDA IS TOO BIG OF A STATE TO
ESSENTIALLY NOT END UP
INTERACTING WITH THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT.
GOVERNMENT. IT’S NOT GOING TO BE EASY WITH
SOMEBODY YOU WANT TO SEE
IMPEACHED FROM OFFICE.
HOW WOULD THAT WORK?
>> WELL, I’LL TELL YOU, FIRST
OFF, I WISH THAT OUR CURRENT
GOVERNOR HAD TAKEN THAT ADVICE,
RIGHT, AND THE REPUBLICAN
LEGISLATURE.
LEGISLATURE. WE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPAND
MEDICAID FOR OVER 700,000 OF THE
MOST MEDICALLY NEEDY PEOPLE IN
THIS STATE AND WE SAID NO,
LEAVING $6 BILLION ALONE IN LAST
YEAR’S BUDGET ON THE TABLE AT
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO BE
DISTRIBUTED ELSEWISE.
DISTRIBUTED ELSEWISE. BARACK OBAMA TRIED TO SEND US
MORE THAN $2 BILLION TO BUILD
HIGH-SPEED RAIL ACROSS THE I-4
CORRIDOR AND WE SAID NO, THANK
YOU.
YOU. THAT WAS NOT ACTIONS TAKEN IN
THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE
OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA.
SO CURRENT ADMINISTRATION HAS IN
MY OPINION ACTED CONTRARY TO
WHAT’S IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF
THE PEOPLE OF THIS STATE.
I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THIS, IF
DONALD TRUMP WANTS TO SEND US
MONEY TO BUILD A HIGH-SPEED
RAIL, WE’RE GOING TO BUILD A
HIGH-SPEED RAIL BECAUSE IT’S IN
THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE
OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA.
THAT DOES NOT REMOVE MY
SENTIMENTS AROUND HOW UNIQUELY
UNQUALIFIED I FIND HIM AS THE
PRESIDENT AND THE GREAT TROUBLE
THAT HE NOW FINDS HIMSELF IN
THAT HE’S CREATED FOR HIMSELF.
BUT THAT BEING SAID, I KNOW THAT
WE’RE GOING TO WIN THIS RACE
LARGELY BY TALKING ABOUT HOW IT
IS WE PAY TEACHERS MORE, HOW WE
MAKE HEALTH CARE MORE ACCESSIBLE
AND AFFORDABLE.
AND AFFORDABLE. THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN TALKING
ABOUT IN THE PRIMARY AND THAT’S
WHAT I THINK WILL CARRY US OVER
ON NOVEMBER 6th.
>> YOU HEARD MARK CAPUTO SAY IT
AND I’VE SEEN IT.
YOU CAN HAVE ALL THE PLANS IN
THE WORLD AS GOVERNOR BUT IF YOU
DON’T HAVE A LEGISLATURE THAT’S
GOING ALONG WITH YOU, YOU’RE
GOING TO ISSUE A LOT OF PRESS
RELEASES, DOING A LOT OF
SPEECHES AND MAYBE ISSUING A LOT
OF VETOES BUT YOU’RE NOT GOING
TO GET THESE PLANS FORWARD.
WHAT’S THE REALITY HERE?
WHAT’S THE STRAIGHT TALK TO