BLITZER: Take a look at the black blobs that washed up today on the beach in Pensacola, Florida. It's the biggest amount of oil to hit the state so far affecting more than nine miles of white shoreline.

The health advisory has been issued for parts of Pensacola beach and Fort Pickens. Florida governor and U.S. Senate candidate, Charlie Crist, says it breaks his heart.

And joining us now Marco Rubio. He's the Republican senatorial candidate in Florida.

Thanks very much for coming in.

MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA SENATE CANDIDATE: Thank you. Glad to be here.

BLITZER: Let's talk about what's happening right now in Florida because it's pretty heart breaking to see these pictures. It seems to be getting worse and worse, not better. Is that what you're hearing?

RUBIO: It is. It is heart breaking. You see these sandy white beaches in Pensacola that are part of our heritage. People have raised their families there, both economically and creating family memories. And you see the pictures coming out today just absolutely breaks your heart.

BLITZER: So what needs to be done right now?

RUBIO: Well, unfortunately, more needs to be done. I mean that's the bottom line. I think the federal government took its time in responding to this early on. I think they weren't quick enough and the bureaucracy continues to be in place.

If you talk to locals they'll tell you the red tape is extraordinary. But this is -- we are the most powerful country in the world. Every oil skimmer on the planet should be in the Gulf of Mexico by now and they're not.

And I think that's something that our senator now, George LeMieux, has been talking about repeatedly. We needed the federal government to do a better job of addressing what we have here.

BLITZER: And Senator Nelson? Is he doing a good job?

RUBIO: Well, like I said, I've heard Senator Nelson speak out about it as well but the leader in these efforts has been Senator LeMieux who's consistently spoken out for the need for more skimmers. I think as of yesterday there were 20-some odd skimmers working at that moment. And I -- it's tragic to see what's happening because of lack of response from from the federal government.

BLITZER: We see the governor, Charlie Crist, your challenger, your opponent for the Senate we see him out there all the time. How is he doing?

RUBIO: He's doing a great job of getting press releases and press conferences and video time. That's part of the job of being governor but the other part is getting results. Right now we're not getting results from the Obama administration and I don't think the governor has pressed the Obama administration enough. Recently he said that he thought the Obama administration was doing a very good job and had finally caught up. They haven't and today is evidence they haven't caught up.

BLITZER: You're blaming who?

RUBIO: First of all BP. There's no doubt about it they cut corners. I think we're learning about that everyday that BP cut corners and it lead to this accident. They are ultimately responsible for what happened here. We are also supposed to have the federal government who is by law responsible for dealing with emergencies of this degree. They weren't prepared to do so. They didn't have plans to do so. They didn't have resources to do so and 60 some odd days after the spill they're still not doing a good job.

BLITZER: You seem to disagree with Governor Crist on the whole issue of offshore oil drilling off the coast of Florida. Do you?

RUBIO: What I believe is America has to have all of its energy resources at its disposal and we have to have domestic production. I hope we reach a point where we don't use any petroleum. I don't know if it will happen. For example this initiative to get more electric cars I think is fantastic. I've always been a fan of alternatives and efficiency improvements that allow us to become energy independent. In the short term the truth is that America has to increase its domestic energy production and part of that may have to be offshore drilling.

BLITZER: Off the coast of Miami or Pensacola, you want to see deep water drilling going on there?

RUBIO: First of all, Florida law prohibits it near the coast. You're talking about deep water drilling and I only to see it if it can be done safely. That's why it is so important that we study why this happened. If you tell me we're going to have to put up with a couple more of these? Of course not. But if it can be done safely, there's evidence that it can be done safely. It's being done safely all over the world. So in the future once we pass this crisis, I think America has to have more domestic production but only if it can be done in a safe way.

BLITZER: Well because I want to be precise. When he was on this show about a week ago he said flatly he doesn't want to see any offshore oil drilling anywhere near Florida but on this specific issue you have a different take.

RUBIO: Well, my take on it is that America has to have domestic production. We have to increase our domestic production. I don't know how we do that if we don't offshore drill. If there is something else we can do instead maybe it's better but ultimately those who are against domestic production need to show where we'll get the energy from. They need to point to where they're going to get it from. And if it's going to be from foreign countries that means you'll bring it in on tankers. Tankers are just as dangerous as drilling.

BLITZER: If Charlie Crist does an ad saying I oppose offshore oil drilling off the coast of Florida, Marco Rubio supports offshore oil drilling off the coast of Florida, would that be accurate?

RUBIO: It would only be accurate if it's being done safely. The second thing that he would not point out in that ad is that he was one of the leaders of the drill baby drill chants just a couple years ago when he hoped to become Senator McCain's vice presidential choice. That is neither here nor there. The bottom line is that I am for safe exploration of domestic resources. We need that in order to be energy independent and safe but it has to be done safely. That's why it's so important to find out why this happened so it never happens again.

BLITZER: Listen to what he said on the whole issue of energy when he was here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (I), FLORIDA SENATE CANDIDATE: We have a duty and an obligation to protect our beaches. This is also a wakeup call I think for us to go more green and more clean in terms of the types of energy that we generate, whether it's wind or solar or nuclear. We have to look to other means, be responsible, do what's right, and certainly not plug another hole in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to potentially create another one of these catastrophes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. Go ahead. React.

RUBIO: What car runs on wind power? What car runs on solar power that's cost effective? And there are no cars that I know of that run on nuclear power. What we're talking about here is transportation energy and right now the only cost effective way to fuel vehicles for driving, for airplanes, et cetera is petroleum based products. We should change that. We should invest in technologies. We should invest the time to become a leader in alternatives whether it's fuel cells or electric cars but that is not going to happen from today to next week or next month or next year. In the interim we've got to have a supply of energy for our country that is safe and reliable and that's why, that's the position I think our country needs to be in.

BLITZER: Marco Rubio is the Republican senatorial candidate. Congratulations on your win. We'll be watching this race very closely. I hope you'll come back.

RUBIO: I hope to come back. Thank you.