CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: "Interview with Sen. Rick Scott"

Interview

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BLITZER: Yes, still a lot of uncertainty in the Bahamas. I should point out, five people now confirmed were killed in this storm. Jennifer, we'll check back with you shortly.

Let's get some more on the breaking news right now. Joining us, Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida, he's the former governor of Florida. Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): Wolf, you know, you can rebuild your house but you can't rebuild your life. And as Jennifer said, you know, we don't know for sure exactly where this storm is going to go and we're already talking, even if it stays off the coast of four to seven feet of storm surge. I mean, that is deadly. If that's coming into your house, you're not going to survive seven feet of storm surge.

So I want everybody to continue to watch, follow the local law enforcement and others that are telling you whether you need to evacuate. But thank you for doing this to keep people informed.

BLITZER: Well, thank you for what you're doing as well.

We still see the tracking of this storm, where it will hit. What sort of preparations are you making at the state level right now, you and your colleagues?

SCOTT: Well, I was with the president. I talked to him last week. I was with him at Camp David for a briefing in the afternoon, with him at FEMA. So FEMA is out there along with a lot of federal agencies. They're doing it. They've been talking to our sheriffs and emergency management teams around the state. The governor has called up the National Guard.

So everybody is doing right now, I think, people are trying to get ready, but you have got to do your part. If you need to evacuate, evacuate now. If they close the bridge because the wind comes up, you're not going to get off of these islands. The water is going to come up first before the wind is going to come up. And even if that all works, you might be out of power for a week. So have seven days of water, seven days of food, get your medicines around, do all of these things to take care of yourself, because during the middle of the storm, the first responders can't help you.

BLITZER: Well, when you look at the awful images coming in from the Bahamas and the preliminary numbers coming out of the Bahamas, including the death toll, what are your top concerns right now, Senator?

SCOTT: Well, my top concerns are, people look at that track right in the middle and they don't look at the cone and don't understand that the National Hurricane Center, I was there again today, I've had briefings all day, they're doing their best. But these storms are an act of God. There is no perfect path. Two-thirds the time, the storm goes outside that cone of uncertainty, so you have got to take this very seriously and take care of yourself.

We've got tourists here, we have a lot of people moving here. Just think about -- the first thing we heard out of Bahamas, it was a seven or eight-year-old boy lost his life. You don't want to lose your family, you don't lose a pet. And you've got people in your neighborhood, they probably need help. So be part of solving all of these problems.

BLITZER: But as you know, there are Floridians, and this is normal, they're always hoping the storm turns away [18:35:00] from Florida, from their area in Florida. They're deciding to stay put rather than evacuate, even though they've been ordered to evacuate. What's your message to them?

SCOTT: Wolf, let me tell you about the story of a lady down just south of Tallahassee, I think it was three or four years ago with Irma. She thought, oh, six feet of storm surge would be fine. When three feet came in, she said, I'm not going to survive this. And she got out of her house and she would have died, but there was one last high water vehicle leaving and picked her up, or she would have passed away because she got six feet of storm surge through her house, she wouldn't have survived it.

And so I tell people -- I can tell people story after story, because as governor, I got to talk to a lot of people, and don't take a chance. The water is probably the most likely thing to kill you, storm surge, flooding, be careful. Don't drive into standing water. We're going to get rain. So just be careful and take it seriously and take care of your family, take care of your pets, take care of people you know on your street or your neighborhood that are disabled that might need more help. Take care of each other.

Floridians do that, and I'm sure they do it in every other state too.

BLITZER: We're told, Senator, that more than 70 nursing homes, assisted living facilities in your state have been evacuated right now. Can you assure us that the rest of those facilities are safe? We always are worried about the elderly in Florida.

SCOTT: You know, if you are responsible for somebody else, if you're running a hospital or a nursing home or a skilled nursing, then you need to make sure you have the backup power, you make sure you're not in an area with storm surge, you're very comfortable that you can survive this. If not, you do the right thing and evacuate. That's my expectations of every nursing home.

But you as a person, you should be taking charge and asking your nursing home or skilled nursing facility, do you have the backup generation? Do you have the backup power? You know, are we in an evacuation area? And if you are, take charge and make sure they do the right thing to take care of you.

BLITZER: As I remember, all of us remember what happened in Hollywood, Florida, that nursing home lost power.

SCOTT: It makes you mad. It makes you --

BLITZER: Yes, go ahead.

SCOTT: Well, Wolf, what were they doing? It makes you mad. That was -- of all our nursing homes and skilled nursing, there was one place in the state, and they decided with a hospital across the street, they did not evacuate. And then we had those individuals that passed away there. That's wrong.

BLITZER: Yes, it was awful indeed. And I hope all the lessons from now have been learned throughout the state.

What about Florida's undocumented population? Will they be safe from immigration enforcement, for example, if they go to shelters?

SCOTT: Well, Wolf, I've never heard anybody during the storms I've had with shelters that that's ever been an issue. No one's ever asked me that, but I've never heard that to be an issue. That shouldn't be an issue. We're at a time where we are saving individual's lives. It doesn't matter whether wherever they're from, we are there to take care of them.

And I know it's going to be important for us to also take care of the people in the Bahamas, who -- I mean, they just have been devastated. So I'm sure that our shelters, they're doing the right thing and taking care of people.

BLITZER: That's very encouraging. I only asked the question because some undocumented immigrants have raised the possibility they may be afraid to go to a shelter. But it's very encouraging to hear what you just had to say.

Senator Scott, thanks so much for joining us. Good luck to all the folks in Florida.

SCOTT: Thanks, Wolf.

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