'This Week' Transcript: Gov. Chris Christie and DNC Chair Donna Brazile

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT FOR 'THIS WEEK' ON August 28, 2016 and it will be updated.

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC HOST: I’m joined now by Governor Chris Christie, a former presidential candidate and one-time Trump opponent, now the chair of Trump’s transition team.

And, Governor, let me start with this simple question: will Donald Trump try to deport all undocumented workers or just those he refers to as the bad ones?

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: Listen, I think that he’s been very clear on this. We’re not going to have amnesty . What we’re going to do is to get those who are breaking the law out of the country as quickly as possible to make sure then that you deal with people in a humane way. I think that’s what he’s been saying. He’s been saying that I think for as long as I’ve been listening to him of late, and that’s what he’s going to do.

RADDATZ: Well, dealing with them in a humane way, does that mean taking all of those 11 million undocumented workers, pushing them out of the country?

CHRISTIE: Well, I think what he has said is that people are not going to be eligible for legalization or citizenship unless they leave the country and get back in line. Now there’s going to be, you know, some decisions he’s going to have to make as president regarding those folks, and I think what he’s said let’s first get all of the bad actors out of the country. And I think that’s what’s really important.

And then he wants to look at this situation and deal with it in a humane way, and quite frankly, you know, I think this is the kind of thing people expect from a President of the United States, that they all approach these things thoughtfully and smartly and I’m confident that that’s exactly what a President Trump will do.

RADDATZ: Would you acknowledge then that does sound like a softening from his original statements about getting everyone, 11 million undocumented workers, out of the country with a deportation force?

CHRISTIE: listen, I think that the key to this, Martha, and the way to look at it, is that this is a guy who’s been very consistent on no amnesty, no legalization, for folks who have been coming to the country illegally. And that’s always been the underpinning of his policy along with the building of the wall on the United States-Mexican border. And those things have remained completely consistent.

I think what you expect of every candidate and ultimately of a president is to listen to the facts and to deal with things in a way that’s smart and direct. I’m confident that’s exactly what President Trump will do.

RADDATZ: Do you think this will turn off some of his supporters who originally liked that idea of getting everyone of the country no matter what?

CHRISTIE: No. I think what it’s going to do is put an even greater highlight on the fact that Hillary Clinton has a 100-day amnesty plan, where everybody here, no matter whether you’ve been a criminal or not, no matter how you got here or not, is going to wind up becoming American citizens under Hillary Clinton’s plan. And I think when voters look at that, they’re going to say that’s not what we want to have happen in this country.

And so, remember, this is a binary choice. It’s going to be the approach that Donald Trump takes or the approach that Hillary Clinton takes, not some other approach. And the Clinton approach is just a completely unacceptable one, it’s unlawful one, and it’s one that voters who have supported Donald Trump from the primary going forward are not going to turn around and support and they’re certainly going to want to make sure they do everything they can to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House. And that’ll mean voting for Donald Trump on November 8.

RADDATZ: Governor Christie, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani told a New Jersey publication that Trump is softening his stance and that is partially because of your prodding him to do that. Did you recommend this?

CHRISTIE: Listen -- and Martha, you know, I ran for president, as you know. I ran for governor twice. And I’ve been the governor now for nearly seven years. I find that the people who are my best advisors are the people who are smart enough to give me really good advice and smart enough to keep their mouths shut about what advice they give me. And so if I want advisors that way, that’s the kind of advisor I’m going to be for Donald Trump.

I’ve said consistently, the advice I give to Donald is to Donald. And that’s based upon our friendship over the last 14 years and the way I would expect to.

So Rudy can talk about whatever he wants to talk about. He’s my friend, I like him a lot and respect him, but I don’t talk about the advice I give to Donald Trump.

RADDATZ: OK, let’s -- let’s turn to the subject of race. As part of his outreach to black voters, Trump has described life for African-Americans as marked by poverty, crime, and violence. The vast majority of African-Americans do not live like that and many found those words offensive.

Do you find that an appropriate outreach?

CHRISTIE: I think that when you have any folks in our population who live under the threat of violence, who live under the threat of crime, who don’t have the opportunity that others have because the schools in our urban areas are a dreaded failure, because of the positions that Hillary Clinton has taken and the people who support her, that I think any candidate should speak out to say that that type of thing is unacceptable. And I think what Donald is saying is that it’s unacceptable to him that members of the African-American community -- and I’m sure he will say this about other communities as well -- who live in violence, who are subject to that, or who do not have the educational opportunities that every child in this country should have so they can reach their fullest potential, that that’s unacceptable.

And what he’s saying is that a Trump presidency will address those kind of things head on without caving into the special interests like the teachers union, which Mrs. Clinton has completely sold out to/ Reversed her position on charter schools, reversed her position on changing the way our urban education is run, because she has sold out to the teachers union.

RADDATZ: So you had no problem --

CHRISTIE: Donald Trump won’t do that.

RADDATZ: -- with Donald Trump’s language on that? On the reach out to the minority community.

CHRISTIE: Well, I --

RADDATZ: No problem at all?

CHRISTIE: I like -- no, listen, my view on it is that you have to look at what the message is. And the message is that if anybody lives in those circumstances in this country, that’s something that the government should be working to try to change. And Donald Trump is not going to give into the special interests in this country, like the teachers union who say that substandard education in our urban areas can only be fixed by giving it more money and that that’s all they’re going to do about it and not change the underlying problems that we have on violence. We need to support our police officers and make sure that community policing becomes something that becomes the standard across the country.

These are the things Donald Trump has talked about. These --

RADDATZ: OK, Governor -- Governor --

(CROSSTALK)

CHRISTIE: And I know that people like to twist it around, Martha --

RADDATZ: Speaking of violence --

CHRISTIE: Yes.

RADDATZ: Go ahead.

CHRISTIE: No, I’m -- go ahead.

RADDATZ: Speaking of violence, there was another tragic shooting in Chicago on Friday, the cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade caught in the crossfire and killed while pushing a stroller. And this is what Trump tweeted. He said, "Dwyane Wade’s cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will vote Trump."

Four hours later he tweeted his condolences, but is that an appropriate way to say, "Vote Trump"?

CHRISTIE: Listen, if people want safer streets, they want police supported, then they should vote for Donald Trump because that’s what he’ll do. He’ll appoint an Attorney General who will send very clear messages about how law enforcement is to be pursued in this country. And quite frankly we have seen the liberal policies in cities like Chicago, like New York, and others, have led to increased crime. And, Martha, the fact of the matter is we need to have a very clear message. We haven’t had that from the current president and you’ve seen the violence in his home city of Chicago. This is just another example.

RADDATZ: He also called this --

CHRISTIE: You all focus on process. But you all focus on process, Martha, instead of the message. The message is that that type of thing is happening. Let’s focus on what happened. What happened was the murder -- the murder of this person pushing a stroller -- is unacceptable in an American city to continue to have this level of violence, and the level of violence in Chicago is unacceptable. That’s what Donald Trump has said and that’s what he’ll change when he’s President of the United States.

RADDATZ: Governor Christie, he also called Hillary Clinton a bigot this week. Do you believe that Hillary Clinton is a bigot?

CHRISTIE: I’ll tell you this, this type of discourse in the campaign is just unwarranted, but it was started by Mrs. Clinton. Mrs. Clinton has started the idea of calling Donald Trump those type of names. And the fact is that one you are the person, and Mrs. Clinton is the person who injected this type of commentary into this race, one you inject that type of commentary into this race, you can’t then sit back and start complaining about or have some of your handmaidens in the media complain about it.

The fact is that she’s been the person who started this type of conversation in the campaign. She should be ashamed of herself.

RADDATZ: OK, thanks very much for joining us this morning, Governor Christie.

CHRISTIE: Great to be with you, Martha. Have a good weekend.

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