CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) is Interviewed About the Coronavirus Crisis And His Response to President Trump

Interview

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BURNETT: And New York Governor Andrew Cuomo joins me now on the phone.

Governor, you were listening to President Trump in his briefing just a few moments ago. And he said some of the governors have not been appreciative. He said what he really wants is governors to be appreciative. He said that multiple times, although he said say you are among those who have been appreciative.

Is that the case? And what's your response to the president?

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY) (voice-over): Well, yes, Erin, you know, I said -- I've been working closely with the president. This is no time for politics. This is a time for exquisite coordination between the federal government and the state governments, because we need each other, right. The federal government is basically using the state governments as the instrumentality.

So, I said to the president, I put my hand out in partnership. We've had political differences in the past, forget about that, and let's work together and help me deliver for my people, my state -- as you've said many times -- has the highest number of cases in the country, and the president has been very cooperative.

And I'll tell you something else, Erin, I applaud the president on his use of the Defense Production Act and his conversation about General Motors. Good for him. That gives him the muscle of the law to get companies to actually respond to the production of ventilators, which is exactly what we want.

BURNETT: So, let me just ask you on that point. You know, General Motors is telling me that this isn't going to change anything that they are doing, that they were all out and they were producing at cost. They do say that it will change his ability in terms of ordering things and streamlining.

Would you agree with that? Or do you think that companies like General Motors were dragging their feet?

CUOMO: You know, dragging their feet suggests a pejorative. When you use the Defense Production Act and you have the law on your side, you can basically order a private company to do something, to manufacture a product. It's a -- it's an extreme measure, no doubt. But, this is an extreme time.

And from the president's point of view, by what he said, General Motors was not delivering the product and not gearing up -- and look, if a corporation is dealing with its normal timeframe that suits them, that's one thing. But here, the president is saying, I need this product and I need it fast, and if it's going to cost more money to accelerate the design and coming up to speed, and so be it and the federal government will pay it. But he needs it. And he's right. These ventilators are going to be the

matter of life and death, and whether they're delivered in four or six or 10 or 12 weeks, you are talking tens of thousands of lives that will be relying on them.

[19:45:07]

BURNETT: So, I know you talked about it a bit today. But I want to give you a chance to say to people watching right now. Last night, the president said, I don't believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators, talking about you in New York. You know, sort of saying now all of a sudden, they're saying -- I'm quoting him, Governor, of course, saying, can we order 30,000 ventilators?

What do you say to him and why are you so sure that you're going to need at least that number?

CUOMO: Look, I hope the president is right. I'll go better than what the president said. I hope I don't need any ventilators. I hope this is a bad dream and it all disappears tomorrow.

But I can't govern that way. I govern on the data, and on the numbers and on the science. I have projections done by some of the best companies on the globe. I'm talking to world health leaders, Dr. Fauci, studying what happened in South Korea and China, et cetera.

And if you look at the numbers, you count the numbers and the trajectory, we are looking at 40,000 possible ventilators, 140,000 possible hospital beds. Those are the numbers, Erin.

So, I don't get into hope and emotion when you come to -- when it comes to actually planning a plan of action. Use the numbers. You know, use the science and the data.

BURNETT: So, the president then said in the briefing. I don't know if you heard this, Governor, because I know you got a lot going on. But he did say that they have shipped you a lot of ventilators, and they had sent them to a warehouse, he referenced a warehouse in New Jersey and that you still were complaining about them, but they were there, and you just weren't aware that they were actually in the warehouse, but that he had -- he had delivered many ventilators.

Is that true that they were in a warehouse and you didn't know about it?

CUOMO: First, I heard the warehouse is in New Jersey, funny way of delivering it to New York. But I knew very well that the federal government has delivered 4,000 ventilators. We have been buying ventilators on our own, the ventilators are in a stockpile. They're not yet deployed because we don't need them yet, right?

The concept of a stockpile is to build up the reserve so when you hit the apex of the curve, you have the supplies. I have enough ventilators today. I'm not worried about today. I'm at about 48,000 people in the hospitals today. I'm worried about the apex of the curve that they project that takes

that 48,000 to 140,000. And that's when I need ventilators and more PPE, etcetera. And that's what the stockpile is for.

By definition, a stockpile is not for immediate deployment.

BURNETT: Right, before we go. I want to ask you one other thing, because you've talked about possibly being 21 days away from the peak in New York. The U.S. surgeon general, though, says he's hopeful cases will actually start to come down next week in New York.

Do you -- have you seen any data that would support that conclusion?

CUOMO: Yes, again, these words, Erin, hopeful -- you know, I don't, I don't relate to that concept in this. You have numbers. You have projections by medical experts.

I don't know how you could make that statement nationwide because you have different curves in different parts of the country. You have one curve in L.A., one curve in New York, one curve in Florida. So, I don't know how you could say --

BURENTT: He was saying specifically New York.

CUOMO: Oh, well, then I don't know what numbers he is looking at, because he's not looking at any numbers, any science, any data, or any expert that I've heard from. And I don't see how you can plot those numbers that are moving steadily up have not slowed at all and think that they're going to turn in a week.

BURNETT: All right, Governor Cuomo, I appreciate your time. Thank you, sir.

CUOMO: Good to be with you, Erin.

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