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The Source with Kaitlan Collins
CNN California governor debate. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired September 30, 2026 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:55:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Tonight. Candidates for governor with very different visions battling to lead one of the nation's biggest states.
Democrat Xavier Becerra, running on his experience, trying to keep California blue.
XAVIER BECERRA, (D) CALIFORNIA GOV. CANDIDATE, FORMER HHS SECRETARY: Democrats are the ones that aspire to include everyone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Facing off against the political newcomer. Republican Steve Hilton says he'll shake things up.
STEVE HILTON, (R) CALIFORNIA GOV. CANDIDATE, BUSINESSMAN & FORMER TV HOST: Who thinks California's going in the wrong direction?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): As Californians confront skyrocketing prices, do the candidates have an answer?
HILTON: It's not Donald Trump who's given us gas prices $2 higher than the rest of the country. It's Democrat policies.
BECERRA: If we fight to make California affordable, people will stay, and they will come to this great state.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): As an AI boom in Silicon Valley fuels fears about what's next, who will California voters pick to lead the state?
HILTON: If we're the fourth-biggest economy in the world, can we please act like it?
BECERRA: Unless you can deliver, people are going to crucify you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Two candidates. Two paths. One critical choice.
A CNN Special Event, the California Governor Debate, starts right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[21:00:00] JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Good evening from Burbank, California, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is the CNN California Governor Debate. I'm Jake Tapper.
DANA BASH, CNN HOST: And I'm Dana Bash.
Over the next hour, you'll hear from the two candidates seeking to lead the nation's most populous state as they go head-to-head in their first and only scheduled debate.
TAPPER: Joining us:
Former California Attorney General and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Democrat Xavier Becerra.
And businessman and former FOX host, Republican Steve Hilton.
Candidates, we're about to begin, but, first, a review of the ground rules that your campaigns agreed to in advance.
BASH: Each of you will have one minute to answer questions, 30 seconds for responses and rebuttals, and 15 additional seconds if one of us asks for a clarification. The timing lights in front of you will mark these limits. Please respect them so the voters at home can hear your positions.
TAPPER: I want to start with what voters say is the most important issue here in California, and that is the cost of living, which is among the highest in the nation.
Secretary Becerra, your opponent says he's going to eliminate state taxes on the first $150,000 in income and get rid of the 63-cent-per- gallon gas tax. He says those tax cuts are the quickest and most direct way to bring relief to Californians. Is he right?
BECERRA: Absolutely, he's wrong. What he would do is, he would damage our state even further, make it harder for working families.
He'd make it tough for folks like my parents, who came to this country with $12, and they settled in California. They were able to build the California dream, but they had to work hard. They needed to make sure that the government was there with them.
If you start cutting taxes -- and Steve Hilton's plan actually goes beyond just the $150,000 he claims he will try to cut. He wants to give the richest Californians, millionaires and billionaires, a 40 percent tax cut, which means, of course, he will take it out of our schools, he will take it out of health care, he will take it out of housing, and make the conditions even worse.
We have to have sound policy, whether it's tax policy or spending policy, to make sure that we can bring our California dream back to life. Right now, we have a situation where, if you start making tax breaks for the wealthiest, you damage our working families, like my parents.
TAPPER: Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: I love the way that Xavier says the wealthiest of people who are earning less than $150,000 a year, struggling.
But, first of all, I just want to say thank you to CNN for bringing Xavier out of hiding. He's barely been seen in public since the primary four months ago. It's very important we have this debate.
And the simple point is that the quickest way to get more money in people's pockets is for the government to take less out. That's what I'm going to be doing. And it's not coming from the budgets that he describes. You know what it's coming from? Canceling high-speed rail, which he's promised to continue with.
TAPPER: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hilton.
And Mr. Becerra, your name has been invoked. If you want to respond.
BECERRA: Again, you're going to hear a lot of stories, a lot of new math, a lot of alternative facts from Steve Hilton. The math doesn't add up with what he's talking about. He's going to have to take it out of somewhere. It will come out of our schools.
Fifty -- close to 40 percent of our budget in California is for our schools. And so, Steve Hilton is talking about making taxes, not just $150,000, but he's got a plan to give the wealthiest Californians a 40 percent tax cut.
HILTON: So, just to be clear, you want the people working so hard and barely able to survive -- I have been in every one of our 58 counties. The struggle that people face with the highest cost of living in the country and the highest taxes, you want to ask them to continue to pay taxes at the same rate?
BECERRA: See, again, the misrepresentation. What I said is...
HILTON: Well, do you, or don't you?
BECERRA: What I said is that you shouldn't give...
HILTON: Do you want to keep taxes at the same rate, yes or not?
BECERRA: What I said, Steve -- what I said, Steve, is that you shouldn't give the tax breaks to the folks who are making the most money in California. That's your plan.
If you look at your plan, you're going to make across-the-board tax cuts. You're going to end up giving the wealthiest Californians, billionaires, a 40 percent tax break, the biggest in California history.
You only talk about the portion about $150,000. But there's another aspect to it. You don't like to talk about that.
HILTON: No, I do. I will tell you very -- I will tell you...
BECERRA: And that's why it's important to make sure...
(CROSSTALK)
HILTON: I'm very happy to talk about that.
Xavier is right about that. As well as helping...
BECERRA: That's what I thought. So, you are going to tax -- give tax breaks to the wealthiest.
HILTON: As well helping working people -- as well helping working people, we need to bring jobs back to California.
Right now, because of your policies, we have the highest poverty rate and the highest unemployment rate in America. That's because high taxes have driven business out. So, we need to incentivize jobs to be created in California, instead of sending them to Texas.
What I didn't hear was a single thing from Xavier about how he would actually help people with the cost of living. And, in fact, if we continue with his policies, that's another $11,074 a year extra that you would pay with Xavier.
BECERRA: What I wouldn't do, Steve, what I wouldn't do, Steve, is try to convince the people of California that proposing Trump tax policies, promising Trump tax cuts, believing you're going get better results than Trump has gotten so far to date, that that is what -- isn't it the definition of insanity you do the same thing over and over again expecting different results?
HILTON: Yes.
[21:05:00]
BECERRA: You're using Trump's playbook...
HILTON: Like voting Democrat.
BECERRA: ... his promises. You expect different results. You're going to end up with Trump results if you follow Steve Hilton's plans.
TAPPER: One of the key drivers of the high cost of living here is housing. And at the root of the problem is that there are simply not enough available homes.
To fill that gap, Governor Newsom pledged to build 3.5 million new homes during his administration, but the state has not come even close to meeting those goals.
Mr. Hilton, how many new homes would be built during your administration? And do you pledge to close that housing gap during your four years?
HILTON: This is actually much more straightforward than I think people realize. There's a couple of simple things that we can do to restore that
California dream of home -- homeownership. Number one, the quickest way to reduce the cost of housing is for the government to stop making it more expensive. A recent survey found that the average new home in California is subject to $200,000 in government fees and regulations. I'm announcing tonight that I will cap that at $50,000. That is $150,000 off the price of a new home.
Secondly, we need to stop forcing apartment buildings into suburban areas and having all those battles between NIMBYs and YIMBYs, when we have got so much space that we could be building in, in California.
And then the final part is to build, as we used to do in this state, the magnificent California dream, 10 new cities. That's my plan, with counties bidding to host the construction of the new communities that will help young people follow their dreams here in California, instead of having to move to another state.
TAPPER: Before we go to Secretary Becerra, I just want to clarify, because you didn't exactly answer the question. How many new homes would be built during your administration? And do you pledge to close the housing...
HILTON: I think one of the problems, Jake, is that we have had these kind of top-down targets, rather than -- and they never get met, and they make all these promises.
And exactly as Xavier said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I have got a completely new approach. Instead of the -- Sacramento forcing this onto communities, I want communities to build the housing that meets their needs.
TAPPER: Secretary Becerra, do you pledge to close the housing gap? What's your response? What's your goal?
BECERRA: We will close the housing gap. I have said already that we have to at least double the rate of building of homes.
How much can we do? It just depends. How much red tape can we cut? How fast can we try to expand down payment assistant programs? How fast can we make sure Wall Street isn't outbidding the teacher or the firefighter for a home in California? We have to make sure we don't let Wall Street investors buy homes over those people who are working hard in California.
And the final thing I will do is what I did when I was A.G. I will enforce the law that requires local governments to build.
TAPPER: Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: He hasn't explained how he would actually reduce the cost of housing. We have the highest...
BECERRA: I just did.
HILTON: No, you didn't. You said that you would...
BECERRA: Sure, I did. I would cut red tape. Red tape...
(CROSSTALK)
BECERRA: ... move fast.
HILTON: What's the track record that you have shown in standing up to the legislature in Sacramento? When you were there as attorney general, you did nothing to push back against the cost and the craziness of that legislature to reduce the regulations.
BECERRA: You can make up the facts. I could get into that if you would like, but you can make up the facts.
HILTON: You did nothing.
Tell us one thing you did when you were in the -- when you were state attorney general to push back against the growth of red tape on housing and everything else, just one thing.
BECERRA: Sure. I sued the city of Huntington Beach, Steve, because the city...
HILTON: That's more red tape, not less.
BECERRA: No, no, it's enforcing the law, because Huntington Beach was not following state law, which required it to encourage building in its community. And so, they were not following the law. As attorney general, I enforced the law. And guess what? We won, because Huntington Beach was denying permits, and we have to build.
And no locality should have the right to try to stop all of our people in California from having the housing they need, even Huntington Beach.
HILTON: We have got communities up and down the state that want to build, but they're being stopped from building by the legislation, the regulations and the red tape that his party has put in place over 16 years.
BECERRA: And I said I would cut the red tape.
HILTON: Why should that -- it's like your question. The definition of insanity is believing that the people who put the red tape in place are now somehow going to cut it.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Gentlemen, I want to turn to artificial intelligence.
California is home to the largest AI companies in the world. Some industry leaders are issuing dire warnings about the existential risk AI models could pose to humanity.
Mr. Hilton, yesterday, President Trump met with many of those leaders at the White House and suggested that -- quote -- "self-policing" by AI companies is the answer to safety concerns.
Can these companies be trusted to police themselves?
[21:10:00]
HILTON: Well, I think this AI question is actually a different one for California than the rest of the country, because these companies are based here, and because of the fact that so many businesses have been driven out of the state, our finances are really dependent on these companies. And the problem is that the jobs associated with AI, the high-end manufacturing and infrastructure, that's all going to other states like Texas and Arizona.
And the first priority with this industry is to make sure we get all those jobs here in California. The second thing that's very important, and I think we can all agree on, is that -- and this is the least complicated part, at least let's protect children. I think we can all agree on that. And that's why I've said that we should have an immediate pause on AI in the classroom, because right now, we're seeing real concerns about something called cognitive stunting, where children's ability to learn is being impeded by AI.
In terms of the regulations, I want to make sure that the priority for these companies is safety, making their products safer, whether that's done by them or we need regulation, is -- we'll see how quickly they act on the promises they've made.
BASH: So, I was going to say, that was going to be my question. Just to clarify, the President says that these companies can self-police. It sounds like you don't agree.
HILTON: Well, we'll have to see. They made a number of commitments yesterday. This is very urgent, and I will hold them to that. And as they said in that -- in that announcement that they made yesterday, that it may require regulation and legislation. I think that should be led in California, because this industry is here. You've got a lot of people putting out their opinions on this who really don't know what they're talking about. Here in this state, we lead this industry, and I think we need to lead the regulation of this industry as well.
BECERRA: If you listen closely, you can hear Donald Trump in that response by Steve Hilton. He's not interested in regulating AI. He's not interested in telling these companies, you have to protect not just our kids and not just in school, you have to protect our workers who are looking at the prospect of losing their jobs to AI. You're looking at public safety that may be in danger by having AI penetrate our -- our privacy.
You know, it's really interesting, the President got a pinky promise in this forum that he had with AI leaders. That's all he got. No commitment. He can go ahead and start an illegal war in Iran. He can go ahead and tear down the East Wing of the White House, but he can only get a pinky promise from the largest leaders of AI. That's not what we need.
And, Steve, it's not a gimmick to ask for guardrails. It's the real thing. You use the word gimmick. It's not a gimmick.
HILTON: How can we--
BECERRA: We need real enforcement.
HILTON: I just want to ask you a very simple question. How can we possibly trust you on this when you are funded by Big Tech and AI? How much money have you taken from OpenAI and Anthropic?
BECERRA: The reason you could trust me, Steve, is because...
HILTON: How much money have you taken from OpenAI and Anthropic?
BECERRA: Want an answer? The answer is, the reason you can trust me is because I have sued Meta. I have sued Amazon. I have sued Google. I have sued these very companies. I have enforced the law against...
HILTON: You're owned by them.
BECERRA: ... these companies. And I will continue to do so as governor. The difference between us, Steve, is I have a record of having done that. You just say the talk, but you've never done it.
HILTON: What I've never done is what you've done in your 36 years as a career politician, where you've never created a job, you've never actually had to make any money of your own, all you've ever done is spent other people's money in every government job you've had.
According to your Democrat colleagues, the ones who worked with you, like Susan Rice, who worked with you side by side when you were in the Biden cabinet, she described you as an idiot. She called you bitch- ass. Why did Susan Rice, a respected political leader, call you an idiot?
BECERRA: First, let me correct the record. I have helped create millions of jobs while -- during my service as a member of Congress and preserving the protections for the State of California when I was attorney general, when Trump was attacking us, and as secretary of health and human services, I expanded health care to more Americans, which required more doctors, more hospitals. So, unlike what you've just said, Steve, the facts show that I've helped create jobs.
But to your point, since when do I have to respond to politicians? I'm running for governor of California. I'm looking for the vote of California voters, not some politician in Washington, D.C.
BASH: Staying on the topic of AI, I want to turn to something that has become a real flashpoint in this election cycle, and that is data centers and concerns about their use of land and water and electricity.
Secretary Becerra, states from New York to Texas are restricting data center construction. As governor, would you impose any limits on AI data centers?
[21:15:00] BECERRA: Yes, of course. And I would work with our local communities to make sure that we enforce. This -- Dana -- Dana, the standard, I think, is pretty straightforward. Having a data center, does that benefit the community where they want to locate? If it doesn't benefit them, if they don't see it as an investment in their community, if all you're going to do is rob their energy and electricity and their water, that's not a good deal. And we should say no.
But if someone wants to come in and build a data center that creates more jobs in the community, adds more energy to our grid, and it actually protects and adds more water capacity, then let's talk. But it has to be good for the community. We can do that. But if you're Donald Trump and his endorsed candidate, you probably want to lay off these guys and let them do whatever they want.
HILTON: If you're Xavier Becerra and you're the candidate who is supported by the machine in Sacramento, the unions, big business, all these people, that for 16 years have given us the highest cost of living in the country, made it impossible to build anything, given us the highest unemployment rate, the highest poverty rate, then we're not going to get the jobs in this state that we so desperately need. And that's why we've got to try something different this time instead of voting for more of the same and expecting a different result.
BECERRA: Maybe the difference here, Steve, is that I've gotten the endorsement of our law enforcement peace officers throughout the State of California, because they think I'm going to help public safety.
HILTON: Because you promised them what they wanted to hear.
BECERRA: I've gotten the support of carpenters and -- and construction workers. I was a member of the construction field as well for a while before I got to become a lawyer.
But what I'm saying to you is this, people who know my policies are supporting me because they think it will be good for them in their communities, creating jobs.
But pinky promises, Steve, is that all you can do? Is that all your -- your endorser, Donald Trump can do to make sure AI safety reaches our communities, a pinky promise?
HILTON: Is all you can do is point to the same people, the same organizations, the same policies that have given this state the worst homelessness, which you gave Gavin Newsom an A grade for, unbelievably, the highest cost of living, the highest cost of doing anything, the highest unemployment rate, the highest poverty rate? It's impossible for regular working people to live in this state anymore. That's why 2 million people have left just in the last few years. And all you're offering is more of the same, backed by the same corrupt machine in Sacramento. We've got to change direction.
BECERRA: I'll let our peace officers and our carpenters and our teachers know that you think it's their fault that we haven't gotten control of these things. TAPPER: I want to turn to immigration enforcement. Nationwide about
1 million people have been deported since 2025 under President Trump's mass deportation policy.
Mr. Hilton, right now, California law prohibits state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities, except in cases involving dangerous criminals. As governor, would you reverse that policy? Would you direct California law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities?
HILTON: Well, as you said, Jake, there -- there is a scope within the law, SB 54, our Sanctuary State Law, as its known, for there to be cooperation on a long list of categories, specific crimes and specific circumstances. And so, I would follow the law.
And in fact, my goal here would be to lower the temperature on this whole question. I'm an immigrant. My parents were immigrants from Hungary to England. And so, I want to make sure that we protect our legal immigrant communities and we enforce the law. Everybody agrees that we need secure borders, and that we've got to make sure that people who are in this country illegally, who have committed dangerous crimes should be removed. But that's not happening in California.
Every week, pretty much, we hear horrific stories of crimes that have been committed because of this partisan posturing by the politicians in California that just refuse to follow the law as its written, even California's sanctuary law, which allows for those kinds of criminals to be removed from the country.
TAPPER: So, Mr. Hilton, just to clarify, would you direct California law enforcement to assist the Trump administration's mass deportations beyond dangerous criminals, yes or no?
HILTON: It's about enforcing the law. I mean, the federal law is -- immigration law is obviously a federal matter. And my whole aim here would be to lower the temperature. We've got to get this whole debate back to where most people want it to be, which is to prioritize the removal of dangerous criminals. That's not happening in California today. And that's because they're playing politics with the issue instead of protecting public safety. And that will be my priority.
BECERRA: Steve, you're running for governor of California, and you'll enforce Trump's laws at the federal level, but you won't enforce state laws at our level. California welcomed you into California, and you welcomed ICE mercenaries into our state in return. How does that -- how do you square that?
[21:20:00]
You know, you're an immigrant. I have fought all my life to make life better for immigrants, to represent them well, to defend them, to let them grow and build, like my parents. But here's the problem I have with your policies. You seem to welcome immigrants who look like you, but deport immigrants who look like me.
We need to have a governor who will protect everyone who works hard. I don't need to stand here and listen to you say that you'll enforce Trump's laws, but you won't enforce California state law.
HILTON: You're not enforcing and your party isn't enforcing California law as it is now.
And what a disgraceful remark that was. I don't think people want to hear that kind of remark in a debate like this.
(CROSSTALK)
BECERRA: Then why would you deport every farm worker in California? Why only farm workers? That's what you said.
HILTON: What people want to hear is solutions to their problems, not these unpleasant political attacks that don't help anyone, immigrant or not, with the problems that they're facing, the cost of living, all of the problems that you have no solutions to whatsoever.
So, all you've got is talk about --
BECERRA: Steve --
HILTON: -- your federal politics. All you ever say is Trump, Trump, Trump.
BECERRA: Well, let me --
HILTON: And that's nothing but an insult to every Californian who is desperate for something to change in this state. And all you're offering is more of the same.
BECERRA: Your words, Trump, Trump, Trump, because he is your supporter. You chased his endorsement. And now that you got it --
HILTON: That's all you say on every question because --
BECERRA: And you just said it, too. And your policies say it every day. But let's be clear. OK let's use --
HILTON: Because you've got nothing to offer Californians except more of the same.
(CROSSTALK)
BECERRA: Let's use your words. You said Trump's ICE immigration policies and his raids were -- your words -- perfect. You said that every farm worker in California should be deported. Your words.
HILTON: That's simply not true.
BECERRA: Those are your words, Steve.
HILTON: Again, because he's got no argument --
(CROSSTALK)
BECERRA: Those are your own words. HILTON: Because he's got no arguments and no solutions and nothing to
say about how he would change anything about how California is run. All that's he's got -- all that's he's got-
BECERRA: Do you deny that you said that Trump's immigration raids are perfect?
HILTON: All that he's got are these insults.
BECERRA: Here's your chance, to deny that you said Trump's immigration raids are perfect.
TAPPER: Secretary Becerra, Secretary Becerra, monthly illegal crossings at the southern border under President Biden reached an all- time high of 250,000 in December 2023. They have now plummeted to fewer than 9,000 last month under President Trump.
Do you think it's good for California that there are fewer undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border?
BECERRA: It is good to have a regulated system of immigrants to come into our country, including California. And that's something that I have always pushed for. It is bad when immigrants are being separated from their children. It's bad when immigrants are being killed indiscriminately. It's bad when U.S. citizens are dying through these immigration raids.
So, let's have regulation of our borders. We have a right as a sovereign nation to do so. I have always been for that. I am not for violating the Constitution. I am not for treating immigrants like animals. And I am for recognizing that immigrants lift up our state. They build it every day.
And I say that as the son of immigrants, that what we should do is have a -- an immigration reform that will allow us to decide who stays and who goes.
But Steve thinks it's perfect to let ICE mercenaries come on into California, and he welcomes them, even though our state laws require that ICE follow federal immigration law.
TAPPER: Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: I cannot believe that you're standing there trying to make these arguments when you were HHS secretary, you were responsible for 479,000 unaccompanied migrant children and for their welfare in camps that you ran. You sent them because you dismantled the vetting that should have made sure that they were with a safe, protective family or sponsor. You sent thousands of young children directly into the clutches of child sex and labor traffickers. Hundreds of thousands of children that you were responsible for are still missing today, a 100,000 of them are under 10-years-old.
So, I cannot believe that you haven't apologized, that you have any kind of sense of shame or responsibility for what you did to those children. And you stand here lecturing people about immigration when you treated these most vulnerable children, unaccompanied children, in this way.
BECERRA: Steve, those -- those retread, Trump talking points, that Trump used -- that Trump used --
(CROSSTALK)
HILTON: It was "The New York Times," and they won a Pulitzer Prize for it.
(CROSSTALK)
BECERRA: -- in 2024.
You've used those. In fact, every candidate --
HILTON: Your Democrat colleague Antonio Villaraigosa --
(CROSSTALK)
BECERRA: --follow the rules.
TAPPER: Let Secretary Becerra answer the question.
BECERRA: If we could follow the rules, Steve, let me answer the question.
Trump left a system for care of these immigrant kids that had been dismantled because he doesn't want them here. He made it very clear. Remember, he used to put kids in cages. He used to separate those children from their parents.
[21:25:00]
We changed all that. I am proud of the record in all my life of working on immigration and in protecting immigrant children. What I won't do is do what you've done and welcome ICE raids so they can come and separate kids from their parents. They can kill people indiscriminately. I will not be part of that.
And the record speaks for itself, Steve. You tried this before. It didn't work. You're going to try it again because you have nothing else. Those aren't the facts, but you can peddle them if you like.
TAPPER: Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: The original investigation that he's now trying to deny was by "The New York Times," and it won a Pulitzer Prize.
These arguments were made in the primary by other Democrats, including Antonio Villaraigosa, the former Mayor of Los Angeles. And you tried the same trick, then, to deny responsibility.
I cannot believe -- I've seen the testimony of the victims who were sexually assaulted. And you're proud of putting them into the hands -- 200 children were sent to one address that turned out to be a container lot, because you dismantled the vetting that was in place. TAPPER: Let's let Secretary Becerra answer it.
BECERRA: So once again, these misrepresentations --
HILTON: They're facts.
BECERRA: It's made-up facts, made-up facts.
"The New York Times" story didn't even go into those details about 487. The number keeps changing. You said it was one thing one day. Now it's another thing.
Look, you can continue to do that. The fact remains, Donald Trump has a history of trying to deny immigrants their rights, abusing them. And he did that with kids.
We changed that. I'm proud of the record we have when it came to providing care to these kids.
What I will tell you is this: we need to fix a broken immigration system because no child should have to spend time in a detention center when they're three or four years of age.
BASH: OK. Thank you.
Let's turn to the climate crisis, which is already having devastating impacts here in California, contributing to more frequent and severe wildfires, deadly heat waves, and according to the state of California's own assessment, could lead to a, quote, prolonged megadrought.
Mr. Hilton, you have pledged, quote, to scrap all of California's current climate policies. If you're elected governor, will you take any action to slow the climate crisis?
HILTON: Yes. Sensible things that will actually help reduce carbon emissions without hurting every California family and business. For example, it makes absolutely no sense right now to do what we're doing -- importing oil halfway around the world from the Middle East and from South America, when we have abundant oil reserves here. That actually increases carbon emissions, as well as raising gas prices. As long as we're using those energy products in California, let's use what we produce here, which is produce cleaner than anywhere else in the world.
Secondly, wildfires. When you have these mega wildfires that burn out of control, they release much more carbon dioxide than is saved by these ineffective and costly climate policies. So, we'll have proper forest management to reduce the risk of mega wildfires. That will reduce carbon emissions.
And so, right through all of these policies, we need to be practical and sensible about these goals rather than just following ideological objectives that increase the cost of living for every California family and business.
BASH: Secretary Becerra?
BECERRA: Well, let me unwrap this a bit here. Steve Hilton wants to put polluters in charge of our fossil fuels, of our move towards greener energy. He wants to let the industries decide at what pace and where and how we do it. He wants to let Donald Trump take oil leases out of our coast, on our coast.
He wants to. He said it himself, "Drill, baby, drill." He wants to "drill, baby, drill" along the coast of California.
Steve, you weren't living here in California at the time. You weren't living in America at the time. We went through that experience. We don't want to see our coastline damaged.
And talking about firefighters, Steve, your policy that gives that 40,000 -- a 40 percent tax cut to the wealthiest, you're going to cut firefighters from fighting wildfires.
BASH: Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: I'm going to cut the bureaucrats that they've increased in massive numbers that are making everyone's life more expensive and difficult, and cancel high speed rail and cancel the payments to nonprofits that are ripping us off when it comes to homelessness. That's how we reduce taxes for every worker.
But I just want to ask you a question about why you're not going to change. Just look into that camera and tell everyone the national average gas price in America today.
BECERRA: $2 more than it was when Donald Trump started the war in Iran.
HILTON: Just tell them the number.
BECERRA: It's over $6 a gallon because--
HILTON: No, the national average.
BECERRA: The national average is over $4 a gallon. And it--
HILTON: What is it exactly? Do you know?
BECERRA: It is over -- you don't -- you can't give an exact number because --
BASH: It's Secretary Becerra's time.
BECERRA: Yes.
[21:30:00]
And so, what I would tell you is this. Steve, remember, we could drop the price of gasoline by $2 in California even more when it comes to diesel if you didn't have Trump's policies on the Iran war.
BASH: Gentlemen, I'm --
BECERRA: That's caused major pain for folks.
But if I can answer on this wildfire issue, he -- Steve, you just called firefighters bureaucrats. These are the folks that are on the front line, fighting fires, and you're saying we should go ahead and get rid of them, cut them because they're bureaucrats.
HILTON: No, I'm saying we should cut bureaucrats...
BECERRA: That's the wrong way to handle firefighters.
HILTON: ... in Sacramento, so that we can give firefighters a tax cut, so they're not struggling to live. They are under your policy.
BASH: OK, gentlemen, we're going to move on to the homelessness crisis.
Nearly a quarter of the nation's homeless population lives right here in California. Last year in the state, there were more than 115,000 people living on the streets.
Secretary Becerra, you say you -- quote -- know what works and what does not, when it comes to homelessness based on your experience leading the Department of Health and Human Services. But, during your tenure, the nation's homeless population increased by nearly 200,000 people.
Given that, why are you the right person to solve the crisis here in California?
BECERRA: Because, as attorney general, I demanded accountability, and I will make sure that, as governor, I will demand accountability of our local governments, who have control of the streets in their cities and their counties.
What we will do is, we will make sure the encampments are cleared. We will make sure that we are enforcing the law, because we have a right to make sure that those encampments are cleared. We're going to make sure that we tackle what is one of the major issues that's involved with these folks who are staying in the streets, mental health and substance use addiction.
We have to be serious about tackling that. And the thing I will do most, because it's so important to work with the cities and the counties to tackle the streets and remove people from the streets and find them shelter, but, as a state leader, I can make sure that we're providing the investments it takes to make sure any Californian who maybe by some medical emergency or unexpected loss of a job is now on the verge of losing their home.
I want to help them, because it's easier to help you stay in your home than pulling you off the streets and trying to get you upright again.
BASH: Mr. Hilton?
BECERRA: It costs way more to let them get on the streets.
HILTON: So, Xavier gave -- when we were asked to give Gavin Newsom a grade on homelessness, he gave him an A. And he's standing there, after 16 years, where this absolute scandal shames our state, saying that suddenly he's going to go in a new direction.
This is what's so insulting, actually, about this attitude we get from the Democrats, that just you're going to keep voting for the same thing, and you're going to just suck it up because that's what happens in California.
We need a plan to change policy on homelessness...
BASH: Secretary Becerra?
BECERRA: And I guess...
HILTON: ... not more of the same failed policy.
BECERRA: And I guess, Steve, you give Donald Trump an A for having denied our local governments the funding they need to tackle the homelessness crisis.
Donald Trump has this habit of withholding dollars from the State of California. Californians pay more in taxes to the federal treasury than any other state, yet Donald Trump keeps holding our money back. He's holding money back for homelessness.
He's holding $30 billion hostage for the victims and survivors of the Altadena and Pacific Palisades fires because he wants his way on voting. He wants to restrict voting. So, he won't give that money up until we change our laws. Fat chance. We're going to fight to get our $30 billion for our victims and our survivors, and we're going to keep our people voting.
(CROSSTALK)
HILTON: I was there in Altadena this week, and the money that's being withheld is actually the money that Gavin Newsom promised. And the -- and they said that, when you went there, you didn't even -- you didn't even bother -- you didn't bother to listen.
BECERRA: Steve, you got to get your facts right. This is federal FEMA -- federal FEMA disaster aid.
TAPPER: Gentlemen...
HILTON: You didn't bother to listen to the stories of local people who feel so terribly let down by the California government.
BECERRA: You got to correct--
TAPPER: Gentlemen--
HILTON: As usual, all he wants to talk about is federal policies.
BECERRA: --you got to -- Jake, you got to correct the record.
TAPPER: OK.
BECERRA: You got to correct the record. Steve Hilton is saying that the $30 billion is being held up by the state.
HILTON: What about the $2.5 billion that Gavin Newsom promised?
BECERRA: Well, I said $30 billion. You just said that in a state that--
HILTON: Where is that? Where is that money?
TAPPER: Gentlemen--
BECERRA: Jake, let's clarify this.
TAPPER: OK.
BECERRA: Because there are families here in L.A. who are still waiting for their assistance.
HILTON: From Gavin Newsom.
BECERRA: And $30 billion -- talk to any member of Congress, Republican or Democrat; $30 billion is waiting to go to Pacific Palisades and Altadena.
Donald Trump doesn't want to let it go, because Donald Trump isn't getting his way on elections.
TAPPER: So, on the same ballot that you two will appear this November, Californians are also going to vote on a ballot initiative which would impose a one-time wealth tax, 5 percent, on the assets of California billionaires.
[21:35:00]
Secretary Becerra, you have raised concerns about this wealth tax. But more than 70 percent of California Democrats say that they are going to support it. How are you going to vote on this measure, yes or no?
BECERRA: I'm going to vote no. I have said that very clearly from the very beginning, not because I don't agree with so many Californians who think that billionaires haven't paid their fair share, because they haven't. It's that this is not the way to do tax policy.
I'm the only one on the stage who's done tax policy. I'm the only one who's enacted tax cuts. I did it for working families, I did it for making construction of affordable housing more -- easier to do. I have done it for families with children. I have given tax cuts.
I have also had to deal with raising revenue. And what you don't do is, you don't have a policy where it's a one-time tax and it isn't predictable and sustainable. We need to have policy that everyone sees is fair, it will sustain us going forward, because we need to pay for our schools, we need to pay for health care, we need to pay for housing, and we have to make it so that everyone is willing to do it.
But, no doubt, billionaires in California, too many of them are not paying their fair share. When you can pay fewer -- a tax rate lower than a teacher, a firefighter, a nurse, you're not paying your fair share.
TAPPER: Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: I agree that we can't drive more tax revenue out of our state, because we need that money here, and this initiative would do that.
But the priority has to be working people, not just making sure we don't drive the jobs out, but actually we create jobs and that we reduce taxes for people who are struggling. If you earn around $70,000 in California, just above the typical individual earning, you're paying 9.3 percent tax.
That's higher than the top rate in most states. He's got no plans to do anything about that.
TAPPER: Thank you. Thank you, sir.
HILTON: We've got to help working people.
TAPPER: So, as I noted, Election Day is coming up, 34 days away, and Californians are already receiving their ballots in the mail.
Mr. Hilton, President Trump has spent years casting doubt on the integrity of California's elections. In fact, just today in the Oval Office, he said -- quote -- California is a very crooked election system, and that if it had -- quote -- an honest election, he would have won.
He also claimed that the L.A. mayoral primary election this year had -- quote -- fake votes.
Do you think California has a crooked election system with fake votes?
HILTON: As I have said, I have got confidence in what we saw in the primary and in this process.
But the thing that I can't believe is the attitude you get from the Democrats who've been running this state about our elections. We just had Karen Bass, the Mayor of L.A., saying we don't need an election for governor because the Democrat is going to win.
And that is the attitude we get from these people who've been in charge of our state for 16 years, and they think that they can just do whatever they want, get whatever bad results, the highest taxes in the country for the worst results, taking everybody for granted, taking their votes for granted. That's why that he's not trying to earn anybody's vote. That's why he
hasn't been campaigning in this election. They take you for granted. And I just want to ask every Californian, aren't you tired of that? It's time to try something different, instead of the same thing over and over again.
He wasn't even supposed to be the candidate. He was the sixth or seventh choice, but they said it doesn't matter. As long as it's a D, that will do.
TAPPER: Secretary...
HILTON: It won't do. We need change in California.
TAPPER: Thank you, sir.
HILTON: We just got to try something different.
TAPPER: Thank you, sir.
Secretary Becerra?
BECERRA: I love these stories, Steve. You spin them all the time. I guess it's from your experience being a talking head on FOX News. You're so good at that, even though they're not factual, even they have nothing to do with reality.
HILTON: Did Karen Bass not say that?
BECERRA: Let me -- can I -- can we make sure that we don't get interrupted when we try to give responses? That was part of the rules, Steve. It would be helpful if you stop interrupting. And I hope that's not going to count against my time.
TAPPER: Well, keep going, sir.
BECERRA: OK.
So, Prop 39 is on the ballot. Prop 39 is an initiative that is backed by Donald Trump. He couldn't get his SAVE Act out of Congress, which tries to interfere in elections. So, he's gone around the country and put initiatives on the ballot. In California, it's Prop 39.
Steve Hilton is supporting the Trump-backed Prop 39. That would make it harder for Californians to vote. We have to all vote no on 39 to send a clear message to Donald Trump and Steve Hilton that we want people to vote. We don't want to make it tougher for them to vote.
TAPPER: Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: There's a majority in this state who agree that it's reasonable to show I.D. when you vote.
But the thing that we have to understand is that if we vote -- just as Xavier said earlier, if we vote the same way in this state as we have been doing, we're going to get the same results. And this attitude of just constantly talking about national politics,
because he's got nothing to offer to change the direction of this state, when people are suffering so much, and he takes no responsibility for the policies that he's supported for the last 16 years of one-party rule, is an insult to every Californian.
TAPPER: We're going to take a quick break, and we'll be right back with more from CNN's California Governor Debate.
[21:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:45:00]
BASH: And we're back with CNN's California Governor Debate. Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton.
I want to talk about measles. The cases are rising all around the country. So far this year in California, there have been 59 confirmed cases, more than twice as many as last year. And nearly everyone who has gotten sick was unvaccinated.
Mr. Hilton, earlier this year, in response to a question about vaccines, you said, quote, The government should have nothing to do with these fundamental and vital decisions. California currently requires children to be vaccinated before attending school. If you're elected, will you push to eliminate those vaccine requirements?
HILTON: No, I'm -- I'm pro-vaccine, but I think the data shows when you look at different ways that this very, very emotional issue for a lot of parents has been handled, particularly since the pandemic, when Xavier forced children to be vaccinated, when there was no public health or scientific justification for that whatsoever, forcing little babies and toddlers to wear masks when there was no justification for that whatsoever. And it's become very contentious.
And -- and the evidence shows, as the current head of NIH has made clear, when you look at the data around the world, the places where the requirements, the mandates are lower are the places where you actually have higher compliance, where parents don't feel that they're being bullied into doing something that they don't want to do. And that's what I want to see here.
BASH: So, just to clarify, you want to get rid of all of the requirements...
(CROSSTALK)
HILTON: No, I -- and it's the law in California in any case, it's the law.
BASH: Well, but if you're governor, you can help change the law if you want to.
HILTON: I can't overturn the law, much as Xavier would like to, I'm sure, in many areas. I would follow the law. And I think that the evidence is that if we can move away from this over-prescriptive attitude where you're telling parents to -- to use so many different vaccines that they're concerned about, and actually do it without those kinds of mandates, the evidence from other places is you get higher compliance with the vaccines that are really important for public health.
BECERRA: Dana, we had nearly eradicated measles. When I left the HHS, you rarely heard of a case of measles, you rarely heard of a case of someone dying of measles. Today, children are dying of measles.
Today, the spread of measles has reached a proportion we haven't seen since the 1960s, I believe. That's what happens when vaccine-deniers take over. And this is what will happen to California if you let someone who is willing to promote that type of attitude become governor of the State of California.
We can't reward those who are willing to let families die. We know vaccines work, and we should continue...
BASH: Thank you.
BECERRA: ... to enforce, make it possible for us to have the vaccines available.
BASH: Mr. Hilton.
BECERRA: I should -- I have to mention real quickly--
HILTON: Well--
BECERRA: --that one thing that Steve said is absolutely untrue. We never forced anyone to get a vaccine. We don't have the power to do that at HHS. Steve, if you knew the law, you would recognize that. The states have the authority to decide who gets vaccinated, in the states.
BASH: Thank you, sir.
Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: Did you give guidance to the states?
BECERRA: We gave guidance, that's not mandatory.
HILTON: It's not -- OK. Why did...
BECERRA: It's not mandatory.
HILTON: Why did you suggest, forcefully, that children should be given the COVID vaccine?
BECERRA: Forcefully? We -- is that -- we didn't suggest.
HILTON: Why did you suggest that?
BECERRA: The medical professionals who helped develop the vaccine are the...
HILTON: Many spoke out against it. They was no--
BECERRA: ... ones that decided what we should do with the vaccines, including for children. We never made a vaccine available for a child until the medical professionals and the science community said it was safe. You should know that because your friend Donald Trump's HHS oversees those agencies that make those decisions with -- working with the states.
HILTON: When he was HHS secretary, he suggested that children, young children should wear masks, two- and three-year-olds...
BECERRA: That's right.
HILTON: ... wearing masks. There was no public health justification for any of that. He went along with the groupthink. This is why you can't trust him because, he's been a bureaucrat and a career politician all his life, and he goes along with the groupthink instead of actually standing up for facts, and in this case, the science. He went against the science and along with the politics and the groupthink, that's why he can't be trusted.
BECERRA: We -- we followed the science.
HILTON: You did not.
BECERRA: This is the problem when you have politicians dictating what we should do in health care, when you have politicians telling the medical experts what we should do, like on vaccines. We stayed away from trying to force anyone to do anything, especially if they didn't follow the medical science.
You are willing to let Donald Trump force people to follow your dictates. It's just like with a woman's right to choose whether she should have an abortion. You want to be able to dictate whether or not a woman should be able to have an abortion.
BASH: Let's stay with the topic of health care. In the next four years, the number of uninsured Californians under the age of 65 is expected to double, primarily due to the cuts in President Trump's so- called Big Beautiful Bill.
[21:50:00]
Mr. Hilton, Secretary Becerra has promised that no one will lose health care coverage due to those cuts. Can you make the same pledge to the people of California?
HILTON: Yes. And in fact, I will increase affordable, reliable health care for Californians. Right now, so many families and individuals have health care in name only, where they actually have such a high deductible and such a high premium that it doesn't really mean anything.
That's why I've announced my plan for a working-class health care guarantee that will have a low premium and a low deductible by cutting out the waste and the fraud in the system. The fraud, by the way, that Xavier unleashed when he was HHS secretary, he dismantled the fraud unit at HHS. He changed the policy so that hundreds of billions of dollars were lost in fraud.
And when it comes to what he describes as cuts, it shows that, first of all, he can't even do math because the amount of money is going up. But secondly, what he's really talking about are work requirements for Medicaid and the same exact work requirements for Medicaid that have been put in place by the federal government, have been matched by Gavin Newsom for the California part of the system.
BASH: Thank you.
Secretary Becerra?
HILTON: So, the question for him is, is he going to undo that?
BECERRA: So, here we go -- this is what happens when you get to use your own facts, these alternative facts that don't relate to the actual situation at hand. I won't get to it -- go into it because I don't have enough time.
But what I will tell you is this: in rural California, we're going to have hospitals closed. We're going to have community health centers closed. Doctors won't be able to provide services. Because of Donald Trump's cuts to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and large corporations.
That trillion-dollar cut to health care, we're going to make sure we don't kick people off of health care, because it's not what you should do for families who need health care. And it's not what you should do to those providers, those doctors and those hospitals and those clinics that are willing to stay open, but they need to get paid.
BASH: Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: If you're against the work requirements, will you then remove them for the California part of the system in the way that Gavin Newsom has imposed them? Will you remove that?
BECERRA: So, if he's going to let me answer the question, I will answer it. Because when I was Secretary of Health and Human Services, we had a state, Georgia, that did have work requirements. And what we found was that the way Georgia was implementing those work requirements, it was kicking people off of Medicaid unjustly, who did qualify for it.
And so, if you're going to make these requirements that make people jump these hurdles, when they do qualify for medical benefits, then you better make sure you do it right. And so, this is going to be a requirement that I, as governor, will have to work with, and I will make it work, because I'm not going to kick people off of the health care rolls.
HILTON: So, you're going to keep the-- TAPPER: So -- so--
HILTON: You're going to keep the Gavin Newsom what requirements?
TAPPER: So, candidates, we're here in beautiful downtown Burbank, as Johnny Carson used to call it, home to some of the world's most famous film and television studios. Since 2009, this state has offered tax incentives to keep productions here in California, as you know. Despite increasing those incentives to $750 million last year, the fact of the matter is, is other states and even other countries offer more generous tax incentives, lower cost of labor or easier permitting processes.
Secretary Becerra, as governor, how far would you be willing to go on these issues to keep film and television production in California
BECERRA: Jake, first, we've lost some 50,000 jobs in Los Angeles and California from the film and movie industry. These are middle-class jobs. I'm not talking about the high-paid actors. I'm talking about the grips, the camera people, the people who build the sets. They make a decent living. Those jobs have left.
We've got to fight to keep Hollywood in Hollywood. And I've said, I'll do everything I can to make sure that happens.
Here's the rule. Pretty simple. If we give a tax credit, so long as we get more than $1 back for that dollar in tax credit, we're going to do it because Hollywood belongs here. We don't want it to be in Sydney, Australia. It shouldn't be Sydney-wood. It shouldn't be in Toronto, Canada, not Toronto-wood. It needs to be Hollywood. And we'll fight to keep Hollywood business in Hollywood and in California.
TAPPER: Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: Who's been in charge when all those jobs have gone --
BECERRA: Donald Trump.
HILTON: -- when this industry has collapsed?
BECERRA: Donald Trump.
HILTON: The Democrats, the Democrats in California have run this state for 16 years.
He asked me earlier not to interrupt. I see he's not following his own advice. That's OK.
The Democrats have been in charge for 16 years as the jobs have gone, the industries have gone. And this city, this iconic industry is on the brink of collapse. And it's the same with so many other industries. Agriculture, which he helped destroy in this state by suing to stop our farmers getting the water that they need.
My plan to bring Hollywood home would make us competitive with the best in the world, and reduce the bureaucracy and the red tape, which also has been piled on by Xavier and his friends.
BECERRA: And let me -- let me clarify.
TAPPER: Thank you.
Secretary Becerra.
BECERRA: Let me clarify the facts.
[21:55:00]
First, he says that I have done nothing on Hollywood. I was in Congress. I was part of the team that enacted the first federal tax credit for film and movie production. So, Steve, I was there 20 years ago when you weren't even in California.
Secondly, when it comes to this water issue, quit using false statements. I won that case in court on water, not because I was trying to protect little fish. It's because Donald Trump was trying to impose his standards on California when it comes to water infrastructure.
TAPPER: Thank you.
BECERRA: We have a right to make sure water in California is regulated by California. I sued and we won.
TAPPER: Thank you.
Let's talk about K-12 education. In California, less than half of third graders are reading at grade level. And despite being one of the wealthiest states in the nation, California ranks below the national average in both reading and math.
Secretary Becerra, why are California schools failing children? And what are you going to do to fix it?
BECERRA: We don't see our education system well-coordinated. It is not working well. There's too much over compliance required.
What we have to do is make sure before we pass a child on, we're making sure that they are at grade level. We have to provide the tutoring that they need. We have to start earlier.
We've started transitional kindergarten, which gets a 4-year-old into our schools. But too often when they're one, two and three years of age, they're not being ready -- prepared to get into our school system.
So, I would fight to make sure that were working with our teachers because they're the most important people that will make sure their success for this child. I'll make sure that every public dollar, taxpayer dollar that we put in our schools and nine out of 10 kids in California go to public schools, that those dollars, taxpayer dollars stay in our public schools. Steve Hilton wants to send those public taxpayer dollars to private,
for-profit schools. Not on my watch. We want to make sure we let community schools thrive. Steve Hilton would kill those community schools by taking the money out of those communities and sending it to private, for-profit institutions. We're not doing that.
TAPPER: Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: None of that is true. What is true is that yet again, he's talking as if someone else other than the Democrats, his party and his friends and his legislature in Sacramento, that he did nothing to push back against when he was attorney general, haven't actually been in charge of California's education system that spends nearly the highest amount in the entire country for some of the worst results.
We need reform and change. We need to make sure that every student reads by third grade. We need to use phonics in our school system to teach kids to read. We need accountability for teachers and for individual schools.
TAPPER: Thank you.
HILTON: None of that will happen because he is sponsored by the teacher unions that have been such a big part of the problem in California.
TAPPER: Secretary Becerra?
BECERRA: Well, he attacks teachers. He's made that very clear. He doesn't like teachers. I -- I believe that the people who are supposed to train our kids should be treated like professionals. They are underpaid compared to professionals with similar education levels. He attacks them. He says they're doing the wrong thing for our kids. These are the people we put our children's futures in. We should treat them like real professionals and reward them like real professionals. That's what I'll do.
TAPPER: Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: We have some of the worst results in the country after 16 years of Xavier and his policies being implemented in California. Less, as you said, Jake, less than half the students read at grade level. With math, it's 37 percent. It's a catastrophe for our young people.
We cannot go on like this, just as we can't go on with the highest cost of living, with the highest unemployment rate, with the worst homelessness.
All of these things are the result of the policies that he wants to see more of.
TAPPER: Thank you.
HILTON: It can't happen in California. We've got to try something different. TAPPER: So, I want to ask both of you one final question. This month,
the State of California turned 176-years-old. And whomever is elected will be the 41st Governor of the Golden State. What is one lesson from California's past that the next governor should not forget?
Mr. Hilton, we'll start with you.
HILTON: This is the most amazing state in the most amazing country on Earth. And it's because we've got this rebel spirit that we do things differently. People build, we can grow anything, build anything, make anything, invent anything.
That spirit is being crushed by this bloated nanny-state bureaucratic government that Xavier has been a part of for 36 years and would continue. It's time to try something different, not least to reduce the cost of living.
[22:00:00]
And so, if we have his policies for another four years, the average, the typical California household will pay $11,047 more dollars. If I'm elected governor, the starting point will be to reduce that cost of living. $11,000 is what you'd save. And you can check out individually how much you'd save if you go to state -- savewithsteve.vote.
It's a practical plan to reduce your costs. And when we do that, we'll make California once again the best place to start and raise a family, to start and grow a business, the best place anywhere in the world.
TAPPER: Thank you.
Secretary Becerra, what is one lesson from California's past that the next governor should not forget?
BECERRA: Jake, let's not forget that what we call the American Dream in California was probably put to life more than in any other place in the country. California has thrived. Our dynamism has made us the fourth largest economy in the world. We are able to not only educate our kids, but send it to some of the best universities in the world. We're losing that because it's becoming unaffordable and we can't forget it.
I started by saying that my parents came to California with $12 in their pocket. They lived the California dream. We need to make sure we don't forget that, and we fight to keep the California dream.
But you can't do it with someone who's never served, who's never balanced a budget the size of California, who's never actually been there to defend people against a tyrant like Donald Trump. You can't expect a guy who has never been in office like this to go in there and do the right job.
Steve, there aren't training wheels in the governor's office. You have to know how to do the job.
And that's why I'm asking California voters to vote for me for governor of State of California.
BASH: Thank you, both candidates. Appreciate it.
Thank you, our audience at home.
This has been the CNN California Governor Debate.
A special two-hour "NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP" starts right now.
