Transcript - Interview: Crystal Britt of KFVS Cape Girardeau, MO Interviews Donald Trump - October 27, 2018 | Factba.se

Crystal Britt

00:00:00 - 00:00:03 (3 sec)

Mr. President, first of all thank you for doing this interview.

Donald Trump

00:00:03 - 00:00:03 (1 sec)

Thank you very much.

Crystal Britt

00:00:03 - 00:00:07 (4 sec)

Talk about being in southern Illinois. Why come to Murphysboro. Why is it so important?

Donald Trump

00:00:07 - 00:00:21 (14 sec)

Well, Mike Bost is a great congressman, who has fought very hard for the steel industry. We brought the steel industry back fully. It's incredible. It's talk of -- it's the talk of the country, in a sense, and I thought that I should reward him, actually, and he's got a close race.

Donald Trump

00:00:21 - 00:00:38 (17 sec)

I can't imagine it being close, actually. Mike Bost, he's the congressman from the area. So I said I'd come up here. Usually, I don't do it for a single congressman. But, you know, we have the two others, who are terrific. So, between the three of them, and I think they're going to do fantastically well. They're great people.

Crystal Britt

00:00:38 - 00:00:45 (7 sec)

And the upcoming midterms. You mentioned that that was a big deal, and again, I told you, you know, we're -- we're not far from here, over in southeast Missouri.

Donald Trump

00:00:45 - 00:00:45 (0 sec)

Crystal Britt

00:00:45 - 00:00:51 (5 sec)

So what about the McCaskill-Hawley race? And I know that's a big one for you, too.

Donald Trump

00:00:51 - 00:01:28 (37 sec)

Josh Hawley is one of the stars of the party. He's young. He is a brilliant guy. He is doing unbelievably well. She's been a terrible senator. She has not represented her people well. She votes against tax cuts. She votes against Justice Kavanaugh, as an example, who was a star, who's great, you know, Yale, and top of his class, and so many other things, Brett Kavanaugh. She has been so bad to her people and what they represent. So Josh Hawley really is a star, and I think that he is going to go places like few others.

Crystal Britt

00:01:28 - 00:01:30 (2 sec)

Will we see you in southeast Missouri anytime soon?

Donald Trump

00:01:30 - 00:01:55 (24 sec)

I'm actually -- I'm coming back. I believe Josh is leading, and actually, maybe even leading by a decent number. But, I'll tell you what: I want to give him every chance of winning. That's a race that should be won. She should've lost last time. And, frankly, a mistake was made by somebody, and it didn't work out that way. But she got very lucky. We can't let that happen a second time. She has not represented her people well.

Crystal Britt

00:01:55 - 00:01:57 (3 sec)

Will we see you possibly in Cape Girardeau?

Donald Trump

00:01:57 - 00:02:03 (6 sec)

That could be. But we're going to be back in Missouri, I think sometime soon. Next week.

Crystal Britt

00:02:03 - 00:02:04 (1 sec)

Columbia, right?

Donald Trump

00:02:04 - 00:02:05 (1 sec)

I believe so, yes. I believe so.

Crystal Britt

00:02:05 - 00:02:09 (4 sec)

Well, talk about -- you know, today, we had the horrible tragedy that happened in Pennsylvania.

Donald Trump

00:02:09 - 00:02:09 (0 sec)

Crystal Britt

00:02:09 - 00:02:21 (12 sec)

Talk about -- you mentioned, if there would have been an armed guard there, that things might have been different. Do you think that that's unrealistic, or do you think this is a chance for maybe church leadership to start rethinking security?

Donald Trump

00:02:21 - 00:02:34 (13 sec)

Well, it's the endless debate about guns or no guns, and the problem is that if you go with the other route, no guns, the bad guys are always going to have guns. So they're going to walk in, and we'll be totally defenseless. You have to have them.

Donald Trump

00:02:34 - 00:02:56 (22 sec)

And, if you, I mean literally, if you don't -- you take a look at Paris, the nightclub where almost 500 people were killed over a long period of time. Just one after another after another. And I always say, if just one person had a gun, where the bullets could have flown the other way, you wouldn't have had that tragedy like that. So, I understand both sides of the argument.

Donald Trump

00:02:56 - 00:03:14 (18 sec)

But, I mean, this madman walked in -- I will say this law enforcement did a fantastic job. A few of them were hurt very badly, but they did a fantastic job. But you have to have protections. Remember this: the bad people the bad ones will always have guns. And how do you counteract that? They're always going to have guns.

Crystal Britt

00:03:14 - 00:03:19 (5 sec)

Mr. President, I know you have a tight schedule, but just a couple other quick things. Can you address the tariff situation?

Donald Trump

00:03:19 - 00:03:20 (0 sec)

Crystal Britt

00:03:20 - 00:03:22 (3 sec)

I know you spoke with some farmers today, we have a lot of farmers here in the heartland.

Donald Trump

00:03:22 - 00:03:23 (1 sec)

Crystal Britt

00:03:23 - 00:03:24 (1 sec)

Can you ease any concerns?

Donald Trump

00:03:24 - 00:03:44 (19 sec)

Well, there are no concerns. We just made the deal by using tariffs. We just made one of the great deals ever, with Mexico and Canada. The deal is finished. The USMCA. We don't want to call it NAFTA, because NAFTA was a disaster , and for the farmers -- you remember this: from the time I was elected, if you go back 15 years before, the farmers had been on a constant decline.

Donald Trump

00:03:44 - 00:03:56 (12 sec)

Now, they're starting to go up. We're making a deal with, well, we're either going to make a deal or something else is going to happen with the European Union, who have treated our farmers horribly. You look at Japan, you look -- everybody treated our farmers badly.

Donald Trump

00:03:56 - 00:04:19 (23 sec)

Now, they're starting to treat them good. We just made the deal, finished to deal with South Korea, which was a horror show, and now it's a great deal. And we're using tariffs as -- for two reasons: to negotiate, and if they don't want to negotiate and make good deals for our farmers, and our manufacturers, and everybody else, then we'll put the tariffs on. And if they do, we don't have to put the tariffs on. Without tariffs, we would never be able to make great deals that I'm making.

Crystal Britt

00:04:19 - 00:04:26 (7 sec)

And opioids. Historic legislation this week. Talk about -- this -- that's a big problem around here, Mr. President. Talk about --

Donald Trump

00:04:26 - 00:04:43 (17 sec)

It's a tremendous problem in this area, but it's a tremendous problem all over the country. It's a tremendous problem all over the world. Drugs. If you just take it a step larger. Drugs. And with opioids, we just got $6 billion -- the largest ever, for working on not only solving the problem, and getting people better.

Donald Trump

00:04:43 - 00:05:01 (17 sec)

I mean, you have so many people there are so addicted. So we just got $6 billion approved. Opioid prescriptions are down 17 percent. You know, the doctors are just prescribing stuff, but they're down, because now they're being watched, and we're going after them if they're abusive. We've done a very good job.

Donald Trump

00:05:01 - 00:05:24 (24 sec)

With respect to that but I must tell you it is a tough problem, and it's been a very tough problem for this area. We just got 15 -- and we just got six, and that six is being used so well. One other thing we're doing: tremendous commercials on drugs, opioids, everything. Why you shouldn't be doing it, why you shouldn't be taking it, why they shouldn't be prescribed, in the case of opioids. And we're really making a big dent. We're making a big dent.

Donald Trump

00:05:24 - 00:05:40 (15 sec)

And one other thing: we're being very strong on the pushers. The people that sell drugs. We're being really tough, and ultimately that's going to have to be, and probably will have to go, maybe even a step tougher than we already are, and we are tough.

Crystal Britt

00:05:40 - 00:05:50 (10 sec)

Well, I can ask you questions all night. But what would you say to our viewers who are watching, the people in southern Illinois, southeast Missouri, western Kentucky and parts of Tennessee, that's our viewing area. What are you doing to --

Donald Trump

00:05:50 - 00:05:52 (2 sec)

Yeah, yeah. Those are great states. Great places.

Crystal Britt

00:05:52 - 00:05:57 (5 sec)

What are you doing to help us, here in America's heartland, sleep better at night?

Donald Trump

00:05:57 - 00:06:22 (25 sec)

Well, what we're doing is, number one we're making our country much stronger. The trade deals, and all that we've done, has been incredible. The other thing is our military, look at our military. Our military was depleted, who was in trouble. We didn't even have really ammunition of any kind. I mean, if you look at what was going on. We, in a very short period of time, and already, we're going to have the strongest military we've ever had. $716 billion is being put in our military.

Donald Trump

00:06:22 - 00:06:37 (15 sec)

And, if you ask the generals, if you ask anybody, we will never have a military so strong. We're going to have protection. We're guarding, up as you know, we're guarding up the southern border. We're not letting people come in. We're setting records of detention, and getting people.

Donald Trump

00:06:37 - 00:06:54 (17 sec)

This caravan that's coming up is not getting through. It's -- no way it's getting through. And, in fact, I called up the United States military to make sure. People are not going to come through in the caravan. They are going to apply, and they have to come through legally. And we want a merit system, not this ridiculous system that we have. Merit.

Donald Trump

00:06:54 - 00:07:12 (18 sec)

So that all of these companies that are coming into the United States, they need employees, they need workers. We want a merit system. We need the workers. You know, we're down to 3.7, it's the lowest in 50 years, 3.7 percent unemployment. We want the merit system. Wo we're doing a lot, and we're hitting on all 12 cylinders.

Crystal Britt

00:07:12 - 00:07:15 (3 sec)

And I'm supposed to ask you if you're going to eat barbecue while you're here.

Donald Trump

00:07:15 - 00:07:18 (4 sec)

Well, I would. I love barbecue. I'm probably better off not doing it, but that's okay.

Crystal Britt

00:07:18 - 00:07:21 (2 sec)

[Laughs] Probably no time for that. Mr. President --

Donald Trump

00:07:21 - 00:07:21 (1 sec)

Crystal Britt

00:07:21 - 00:07:22 (1 sec)

Thank you so much for your time.

Donald Trump

00:07:22 - 00:07:23 (1 sec)

Thank you very much.