Interview with Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA), Presidential Candidate
SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): Yesterday, the President went on and kind of said, oh, it's no big thing, or everybody does it. No, Mr. President, everybody doesn't do it. The presiding officer who just left to run for president before, I have no question in my mind that if a foreign power tried to intervene in his campaign, he would report it to law enforcement. Every evidence in the past of attempts on foreign intervention, candidates have stepped up -- it didn't matter what party they are -- and did the right thing and report to law enforcement. One of my colleagues on the other side said have said they don't want to relitigate 2016. There will be other times and places to further litigate --</s>PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: So there you're hearing top Democrats in the Senate blasting President Trump for saying that he would accept foreign dirt on his opponent. There you're hearing Senator Mark Warner. Before that, Chuck Schumer spoke. I want to bring in Washington State Governor Jay Inslee. He's a 2020 Democrat. He's hoping to unseat Trump. So, Governor, let's first just get your reaction to what we're hearing from top Democrats there -- Mark Warner, Chuck Schumer -- on the President's comments in this ABC interview.</s>GOV. JAY INSLEE (D-WA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, mine is the same with virtually everyone, which is that it is a shocking result to think that an American president is going to publicly solicit a crime and think that that's O.K. on behalf of a foreign power. And it is shocking. It's -- to me, it's like to think Dwight Eisenhower, good Republican president, saying it's O.K. if you go conspire with the KGB against this nation in its most fundamental action of democracy, which was electing our president. But the question is, what are we going to do about this? And that means all of this, this is a message to us that we have to remove this threat from the Oval Office. He is a clear and present danger to democracy. And I will say, we have to figure out, look, if he would do this again -- I mean, I'm a candidate for president. If he would do this again --</s>BROWN: So let me just stop you right there because you said we have to remove this threat from the Oval Office. My understanding is, up until this point, you've been in line with Nancy Pelosi's approach to impeachment. Does this change your thinking then?</s>INSLEE: Well, we have to remove him by any legal means necessary, including defeating him at the electoral ballot box.</s>BROWN: So you don't think this is means for beginning an impeachment --</s>INSLEE: No, I think --</s>BROWN: -- proceeding or inquiry?</s>INSLEE: I believe the President, as we've seen his comments in the last two weeks, is forcing the U.S. Congress to bring impeachment proceedings, to give them no choice. And when a president says that there was clear interference of our election cycle and when he says that that is fine with him, and when he says, apparently, he will do it again, there's really no other choice. But we need to remove him through the ballot box. But the point I wanted to make is there are other legal means. Look, if some victim in my state becomes a victim of this illegal activity, he may be subject to the laws of the state of Washington. He can't hide from the laws of the state of Washington. And she -- he should not assume that if he does the same thing again that we're not going to be happy to cut him slack of the criminal laws of the state of Washington. He has to be aware of that. But this is, I think, just the ultimate last and most dangerous thing he said of all the insults to democracy and that ought to lead us to be committed to his removal.</s>BROWN: So what I'm trying to pin down here, though, is you said, look, you know, we should -- we should do this at the ballot box but, also, is this a -- is this sort of the tipping point for you on impeachment? I mean, do you think that, now, this is serious enough where Democrats should open up an impeachment inquiry?</s>INSLEE: I don't see any --</s>BROWN: Has this --</s>INSLEE: I don't see any other choice. I know the leaders are going to make a timing decision, but I don't -- I think he is making it inevitable by his actions.</s>BROWN: All right, I want to talk about the 2020 race. You have qualified for the first Democratic debate, but you also have a lot of ground to cover in the polls. What do you need to do to change that?</s>INSLEE: We need people to hear my message, and we're happy to do that. And I've qualified for the first two debates, and we've had a good surge of support because my clean energy message is resonating. I am the candidate and the only candidate saying, unequivocally, that I will make defeating climate change the number one priority of my administration. I am the candidate and the only who said we have to get off coal in the next 10 years. I'm the candidate who basically says that half measures are not good enough. Look, we didn't win World War II halfway. This is a matter of survival. It is a matter of great urgency. It is our last chance. And I am the candidate with what's been called the gold standard of the plans of how to build a new clean energy economy.</s>BROWN: Well, what's going to happen to all those people in the coal jobs right now under your plan?</s>INSLEE: Well, there's a transition taking place in any event. Coal is being reduced in any event. We know, today, a report was issued that we now have more renewable energy today in our state -- or our nation than the coal industry. So that transition is taking place, but we need to accelerate it to save us from the climate crisis. And when we do that, we need to care for these families and these communities -- these are dedicated hard-working people -- and do what we've done in the state of Washington to give them a plan for transition to help them. We need to be committed to these families in the United States.</s>BROWN: You're very clearly passionate about climate change. You have made this your main platform. You even proposed the DNC for there to be a debate just on this matter, but you were turned down. Why is that?</s>INSLEE: Well, it's a disappointment. And because of Ves Swaz (ph), a petition of 200,000 people was delivered to have a climate debate. There are nine state chairs calling for a climate crisis debate. And it is the right thing to do because this is the existential moment. It is our last chance.</s>BROWN: But why were you turned down? What did they --</s>INSLEE: The DNC Chair said that it was impractical. And I just find that kind of more than shocking. What's impractical is having eight feet of water over your head when you're a farmer in Iowa. What's impractical is having your town burn down like the 25,000 people in Paradise, California. We can chew gum and work at the same time. We need to have a chance for the voters to decide who's really got the chops and the passion and the commitment to get this job done because there is no other chance for the survival of our civilization. I got three grandkids, and I'm running for president because I want to be able to tell them on my deathbed that I did everything humanly possible for those kids and for your kids and grandkids. And so we need a debate to really get down to get this job done.</s>BROWN: Really quickly on this, you know, President Trump said recently in an interview that climate change goes both ways. That essentially it's a marketing term, that the term keeps changing. What is your response to that?</s>INSLEE: You know, I talked to a woman who ran a nonprofit for victims of domestic violence in Davenport, California, and she served 1,500 women. And then the flood came and washed away her nonprofit, leaving those women high and dry. And when I think of her tears about the suffering she had and the tears I saw in Paradise, California, and Seminole Springs where their towns were burned down, it is infuriating to me that we have a president who is lying to the American people about this existential threat. It is infuriating that he's preventing from -- our taxpayer dollar is used to generate this science and he won't even let these scientists speak. This is morally an affront to everybody in the United States, and he needs to be removed from office so we can move forward to save this nation. I'm committed to that.</s>BROWN: All right, I want to get to this because this is first on CNN Business. We're learning that 600 trade groups and companies -- including Walmart, Costco, and Target, big companies -- are warning President Trump on tariffs, saying tariffs on China will damage the U.S. economy, lead to job losses, and harm millions of consumers. What's your response to that?</s>INSLEE: He is -- those groups are right. Look, we are going to pay for Donald Trump's incompetence. This is the most incompetent administration. I don't care what party you're in. They just can't run a two-car funeral, and they have fouled up this trade beyond all human recognition. What they're doing is ending up causing consumers' prices for most of what we buy to go up, taxing people on top of that to try to make up for the damage the trade war has caused, and not actually advancing the trade agenda. Look, we know we have to put pressure on China. But we know, to be effective on that, it's better to have alliances rather than this go- alone position. He makes decisions based on press releases and tweets. We need a president who would -- who will make it based on good strategy on how to protect our economy, and I got a candidate ready for that job.</s>BROWN: All right, Governor Jay Inslee, I think I know which candidate you're talking about.</s>BROWN: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.</s>INSLEE: Thank you.</s>BROWN: Yes. And we have breaking news now on Cuba Gooding, Jr. The actor is accused of groping a woman in a New York City club. New details about the charges against him up next.