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Cuomo Prime Time

President Trump Blames China for the Pandemic; Unemployment Rate Growing Bigger as COVID Claims More Lives; Dr. Fauci Gives Hope to Hold; Coronavirus Pandemic; Mayors Face The Reality Or Reopening Urban Areas; Interview With Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D-GA), Ron Nirenberg (I-TX), Kevin Faulconer (R-CA), About Reopening Their Cities; The Reality Of Reopening On A Personal Level; Health And Outbreak Experts Discuss Covid-19 Vaccine Timeline; New York City Together As One; Ameri-can, Nursery Surprises Woman With Free Groceries And Meals; Free Milk At Wisconsin Creamery's Kindness Cooler. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired April 30, 2020 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[22:00:00]

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back to our town hall. In case you haven't heard, Anderson Cooper is a father. Congratulations again.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Thanks. Thanks.

GUPTA: A lot of you at home have been writing us and asking about how you can help. You can find out by going to cnn.com/coronavirus. We got a lot of information there. There are also different categories to search through on that page and places to reach out to get help for yourself or for a loved one. You can also go to cnn.com/impact.

COOPER: Sanjay, thanks very much as always. Thanks to Bill Gates, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, everyone else who joined us tonight. Also, I want to thank all those who wrote questions. If you didn't get your question answered tonight, the conversation continues at cnn.com/coronavirusanswers.

The news continues right now with Chris and Cuomo Prime Time. Hey, dad.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Forget corona-Shimona (ph) Wyatt Morgan Cooper.

COOPER: Yes.

CUOMO: Put his picture up again. Please, show this beautiful baby perfectly swaddled. Where's the baby? Who wants to look at us? That kid is -- look at him. Perfect head. So, let me ask you something.

COOPER: Yes?

CUOMO: You and I have talked about having kids before and what it would mean. How did you feel when you had that little boy in your arms and you looked into his eyes? COOPER: Yes, it's hard to describe. Hard to describe. I think it's

slowly sinking in. Like, I mean, it was sort of overwhelming. And yes, it just -- it's amazing. I literally do not have language to kind of wrap my head around it and to explain it. But I think -- yes. Things seem different and different in a much better way and more important though, I don't know.

CUOMO: And you will --

COOPER: Things seem clear.

CUOMO: You will honor the memory of your loved ones in a way you never imagined through how you love this kid. And your waspy ass is going to emote in a way that you never -- you're going to cry with a frequency you never imagined.

COOPER: Yes.

CUOMO: When he looks at you, when he recognizes you, you will see, my friend. This is going to be the best thing that ever happened in your life and his too.

COOPER: Well, thanks, Chris. I appreciate it.

CUOMO: I appreciate it. You made my month to put purpose to this kind of pain that we've been living through and bring love into the world, a beautiful boy who means so much to you and he's a remembrance of your family.

I'm -- I have -- I'm just so happy for you. And he could not be more lucky. He's got one of the smartest, most deeply caring people as his father that I've ever met in my life. You're going to be a great dad.

COOPER: Thank you, Chris. Thank you.

CUOMO: But when it comes to discipline, listen to Uncle Mo, not Uncle Sal on your other shoulder. All right. We are like the -- he's going to say let him do everything. And I'm the guy who's going to bring the stick. So, come to me when it gets tough.

I'm so happy for you, Anderson.

COOPER: All right.

CUOMO: And you know what, he brought you the CNN thing. I've got clothes. I've got onesies.

COOPER: Yes.

CUOMO: I've got what you need, brother. I've got what you need. I'm happy for you. God bless you. God bless Wyatt.

COOPER: Thank you.

CUOMO: God bless you too, Sanjay.

GUPTA: You got it, Chris. Thank you.

CUOMO: Who wants to talk about anything else tonight? Good evening everybody.

I hope that was a gift for you in your head, in your heart as it is for the CNN family and for the Cuomo family as well. Anderson making the decision to bring life into this world is just an affirmation of hope about our future, naming it after his father, the little boy, Wyatt Morgan Cooper. What a blessing. What a beautiful, beautiful thing. And you know what? The timing couldn't be better. God bless Anderson and God bless his baby boy.

Well, welcome to Prime Time, everybody.

More than half the country is going to be at least partially open by the end of this week. Now, I do have to mention none of the states that are reopening have met the federal guidelines to do so. Do you know why? We've got a new metric, the most important metric.

Now we know in a world of unknown, I think there's something we can be pretty sure about. Do you know what seems to matter most now? You and your fatigue, having had enough of this, being more interested in getting back to life -- and I don't mean that to be frivolous -- but to get back to work and to help our families even if that means taking risks that may put our families at risk.

That's what seems to be going on right now because we know we're not doing what the scientists told us was the smart way to do this. So, are we just willing to take more pain to get more pleasure and more money for our families? I want to sleep on that part. I know it matters to a lot of people. I know there's fear and desperation.

So, how do we balance being sick of this with finding ways to not get sick with COVID?

[22:05:01]

We're going to try a new approach tonight. We have mayors of three of our biggest cities together. Let's see what a conversation of all of them can teach us about what needs to be done by all of them.

Also, Operation Warp Speed. Are we going to get a vaccine sooner? Did the government find a shortcut? There's a new timeline on the table. Our job is to test it. Together as ever as one, and now we've got one more. Wyatt Morgan Cooper. God bless. Let's get after it.

Man, it is so good to have news of love and somebody's life changing for the better especially, obviously, someone to matters to me. But he matters to you too. Anderson Cooper has been, you're a virgin, he's helping you through some of the worst times in our world for a decade. Great news. He's got a baby boy. Wow.

OK. So, what are we dealing with? Politics. Politics have become part of the pain of this pandemic. The president who said COVID was nothing is now spinning that all these deaths, over 60,000 that he said would never happen, all this death is a sign of success. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The testing and the masks and all of the things we've solved every problem. Our death totals, our numbers per million people are really very, very strong. We're very proud of the job we've done. When somebody uses a word successful, I mean, it really has been successful. It's been very successful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Tell that to the dead. Tell that to the families. And before you jump to the conclusion that this is about more, about Trump, no. The answer is less. The answer is less of this talk, less of the lies, less of the jumping leadership and mixed messaging.

And the latest iteration of that that I think you have to take at a discount is his decision to put the blame on China. And why do I say discounted? The president has complimented China dozens of times since January about their behavior in the outbreak and vis-a-vis COVID. Now the administration is planning to take broad action against them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: China is a very sophisticated country and they could have contained it. They were either unable to or they chose not to. And the world has suffered greatly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the - I'm going to hold him accountable, is that something you prefer to do now in the next two weeks or --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: No, I don't want to do that. I want to find out what happened. I think we'll be able to get a very good, very powerful definition of exactly what happened. We're working on it strongly now and I think it's going to be very powerful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Just know this, the criticism he just levied against China is absolutely applicable to him and to the United States of America, its government. OK? What he just said about China is every bit as true. They could have done more to control and contain. Why didn't they? We should be asking the same questions.

In fact, we are. Let's bring in White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins. What is the reporting on why coming back at China now?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, lately the president has been fuming internally about China, blaming them, saying they need to be held responsible. And so, our sources are saying basically his team is creating a list of ways that they could punish China or demand financial compensation for the coronavirus outbreak.

Now the question is what way are -- what ways are they looking at? We're being told possible sanctions, new trade deals. Even some people waived the idea or floated the idea of possibly cancelling U.S. debt obligation to China though we should know that two of the president's top financial advisers today said that is not something that is under consideration.

But basically, they are crafting a list for the president who has been fuming internally about China. But, Chris, the question is whether or not he's actually going to go through with these measures once they've crafted this list for him.

Because you saw what the president was saying today about China. But listen to what he was saying just April 1st, not that long ago, when he was pressed about China and their responsibility in this outbreak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: People don't know where did it come from. I think we all understand where it came from. And President Xi understands that. We don't have to make a big deal out of it.

The relationship with China is a good one and my relationship with him is really good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: So, of course the question now is does he go through these measures?

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: What changed?

COLLINS: Exactly. He's gone back and forth so many times. If you talk to the people who speak with the president every day, they say he changes his mind on China very often. Where he says they've got a relationship. So, the question is, does he go through with these measures, and if he does, what does that do to the U.S.-China relationship.

CUOMO: Let me ask you one more thing because I know you know this stuff better than I do. So, why not avail ourselves of your expertise to the audience.

[22:10:02]

The idea of, so he says today I know it came from a lab, I'm not allowed to tell you that. Which he was obviously being sarcastic because he was telling us that.

Now this happens right after the intelligence folks said we don't have any reason to believe that this virus was a lab creation. What's the -- what's the --

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: Yes, this -- CUOMO: -- explanation of how those two thoughts go together?

COLLINS: There's no explanation so far. Let me just stress. This is a really rare statement that we got from the national -- or from the intelligence community this morning saying that basically that they did not believe the coronavirus was man-made or genetically mutated they said -- or genetically modified, they said -- but they are still investigating whether or not it came from animals or whether or not there was an accident in a lab and that's how this outbreak started to spread.

Then just hours later, the president is asked about this. He expresses surprise that the statement was even put out there. He kept asking the reporter who put this statement out there. The statement you see there that was the Office of the Director of National Intelligence speaking on behalf of all the intelligence heads of course.

And the president says that he's got evidence that it did originate in a lab. Though, of course, Chris, he did not cite that evidence. We've asked for this discrepancy. But it's really notable because you know who's running the Office of Director of National Intelligence is very -- a very close ally of the president. Rick Grenell, his former ambassador to Germany.

So, it's really notable we have not gotten an explanation yet. But what something to watch is that on Tuesday his next nomination to run the intelligence agency is going to be testifying on Capitol Hill in his confirmation hearing. So, he's likely going to be asked about what is going on here and what the intelligence actually shows.

CUOMO: Some more proof that the virus, COVID, is not the biggest illness that we're fighting in this society. Kaitlan Collins, as always, thank you for carrying me through this conversation.

All right. Now most states are beginning to open up. Tensions are running high in many of them. Why? The restrictions are creating frictions, all right? You have more than 30 million Americans have had to file unemployment claims since mid-March. That's nearly 20 percent of our labor force. Twenty percent.

CNN's Nick Watt has the scenes of building stress.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Armed protestors pack the capital's public gallery, a stand against Michigan's ongoing stay-at-home orders. Directly above me men with rifles yelling at us. Tweeted one state senator some of my colleague who own bullet proof vests are wearing them. Just one protest. We're told one assaulted another outside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, you do have a right to fight for your inalienable rights. God gave you those rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: More than 30 million Americans have now lost their jobs during this unprecedented national shutdown. Pain and frustration rising.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All but Texas now. All but Texas now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: By this weekend, more than half of our states will have started to reopen with restrictions. In Texas, the COVID case count isn't falling. Still restaurants and retail can reopen tomorrow at 25 percent capacity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIAN RODARTE, CO-OWNER, BETO AND SON: We're not going to make anything here. It's just for the staff to be able to keep providing for their families on the day to day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Tomorrow you'll be able to get a legal haircut again in Wyoming, in Utah for midnight Friday bars and restaurants can open. In Oklahoma, bars will stay closed but gyms and movie theaters can open.

On the flip side, Louisiana just extended stay home through May 15th. Ohio extended, no end date given. Boston extended its curfew through May 18th. Now, the federal social distancing guidelines were issued 45 days ago, advice that expires today. And now it's up to each governor to figure out reopening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And the new guidance that we've issued is for guidance for how they can do that safely and responsibly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: A draft of possible new CDC guidelines for businesses and institutions calls for a stationary collection boxes in churches, in restaurants disposable menus, plenty of sneeze guards, no salad bars. And in schools, desks six feet apart. Hard-hit New Jersey is taking its load, first to open, among other things, golf courses, but one per cart and stay apart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): We said you know what, let's open them up this weekend, but let's make sure everybody plays ball. So, this is a real test case for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Here in California, Orange County beaches opened last weekend but the crowds packed too tight. So.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We're going to do a hard close in that part of the state just in the Orange County area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: This Vacaville barber plans to defy the state's continued stay- at-home order. In Iowa, a gradual reopening but only in counties with low case growth and a nod to our grim new reality.

[22:15:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KIM REYNOLDS (R-IA): COVID-19 isn't going anywhere any time soon. The virus will continue to be in our communities and unfortunately, people will still get sick until a vaccine is available.

WATT: Now we're told one might be ready in January. The White House now calling this Operation Warp Speed. They'll start manufacturing while it's still in trials.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Assuming it's going to work. And if it does, then you can scale up and hopefully get to that timeline. So, we want to go quickly, but we want to make sure it's safe and it's effective.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.

CUOMO: All right. Our thanks to Nick. And you're listening to Dr. Anthony Fauci there about the vaccine. That gives one level of confidence. Who is in charge of this ramped up vaccine effort?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know who's in charge of it honestly? I am. I'll tell you. I'm really in charge of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: That is bad. OK? Why? He does not know anything about anything that they're doing. And we are so dependent on a vaccine for our collective psychology, OK, our collective confidence about moving forward, especially in somewhat of a risky way that this has to be done right and you and I, we, have to believe in the process and what we're told.

Credibility is key. All right. Does this new earlier timeline raise questions? Yes. Does it make sense to people who do this kind of work? Let's get an answer from a real pro, next.

[23:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: No less than Dr. Anthony Fauci says, we're no longer talking about a year or two or three away from a vaccine. January is now within the realm of possibility for a potential vaccine ready for wide manufacturing.

Let's bring in Dr. William Schaffner back with us tonight. Dr. Schaffner, thank you. And based on what you heard from Fauci and what you know about why they feel this, do you buy the accelerated confidence?

WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: Well, Chris, first, let me also extend my congratulations to Anderson Cooper. Welcome, Wyatt Morgan. As my father used to say, isn't life wonderful?

CUOMO: It is today.

SCHAFFNER: Now that said, let's bet back to the hard reality here for a moment. I have my fingers crossed. You know it's like running the quarter mile. You want to run faster, but you have to run the whole quarter mile. You have to be assured that the vaccine is safe and is effective.

I mean, you certainly don't want to put an unsafe or an ineffective vaccine out to the populous. So, it's in everyone's interest to make sure we dot all the i's, cross the t's, do them rapidly, but let's try to do it correctly all the way.

CUOMO: You know Tony Fauci. I know Tony Fauci. I have complete respect for what he says. How do they speed it up though? I don't get it. I don't get what happened here. He and his guys have been telling me don't go to jumping to tough questions about why we don't have a vaccine. They take time. Be patient. This is science. This isn't politics. What changed?

SCHAFFNER: So, here's the big thing. They did a whole lot of little things. But the big thing that they're going to do is even while the phase three vaccine trial is underway, the big trial to show that it is safe and effective, they're so optimistic that they're going to lay a big money bet.

They're going to go to the companies and say start making the vaccine already before we have the results. And as soon as we have the result, assuming its good, then we can start delivering vaccine. We don't have to wait to then gear up after we get the result. We're going to lay a bit -- a big bet beforehand and hope that our horse comes in.

CUOMO: But where's the confidence for the bet?

SCHAFFNER: It has to be in Tony Fauci's mind and in his advisers that the vaccine under study is really going to pay off. All the previous data have to be so solid that he's ready to lay the bet.

You look at the record of the thoroughbred before you put down your money. And that's able to shorten very substantially the timeline. We'll be ready to go with some vaccine as soon as the results come in, assuming the results are safe and effective.

Of course, if they're not, then you just destroyed the vaccine. It's only money, and we'll start over.

CUOMO: Right. I mean, look, I know I'm a journalist but I trust Tony Fauci. I've known him most of my adult life. I trust him. I don't think he would sleep on the science of anything.

But I'll tell you what scares me, doctor, and help me. It's the uninitiated. Obviously, I'm not a clinician. Seems to me they don't know what the hell they're talking about with this virus in general, why it gives people such different symptoms, why it affects some people in such weird ways, why it's killing people in weird ways, how it's even transmitted. And when you're really contagious, you know, the thing seems to be more of a mystery than ever. How do we go from that to you figure out how to kill it faster than ever?

SCHAFFNER: Well, we don't kill it. We prevent it. Right? We prevent it from starting it, from starting our infection. And we have the whole history of infectious diseases. We have previous laboratory work. We have the work in the monkeys. And then we have the work in the phase one trials with the people and the phase two, studying larger groups of volunteers. And then we do the big effectiveness study.

[22:25:06]

And while that effectiveness study is underway, we'll put our money down and start manufacturing the vaccine s because then we'll have it available, assuming its's safe and effective, to prevent as much disease as possible. We'll have it ready to go out into arms in people in this country and eventually around the world.

CUOMO: Schaffner, you really want to put some action on January?

SCHAFFNER: A little bit of money. And a lot of hope.

CUOMO: All right. I'll bet you lunch, and I'll bet it doesn't happen because you're the smart one so people should be betting that you're right and I'm wrong, all right? And we'll see where it is between now and January. But I'm going to need your help a lot more between now and then because there's so many questions we're going to have along the way.

So, Dr. William Schaffner, thank you.

SCHAFFNER: Fair enough. You're on.

CUOMO: Done.

All right. We've got to get back to our lives again, absolutely. And not just because we're being selfish, OK? Look at the unemployment numbers. People got to pay mortgages. They've got to pay rent. They've got to pay bills on their credit cards. And nobody's making those go away. Yes, we're getting checks but nobody's making them go away, not all of

them, OK? We've got a very special opportunity tonight, OK? And the opportunity is to have the conversation of how to do this the right way to balance these interests with mayors of three of America's largest cities, Atlanta, San Antonio, and San Diego all at the same time.

Let's have a conversation. You know, it doesn't have to be a tit for tat all the time. Let's all get together, same table or same boxes, and let's see what works in one place and what they have as questions for each other, next.

[22:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Re-opening is largely going to be a state operation. You've got the governors on top. But except for what we see happening in Georgia, they are relying heavily on the mayors of the big cities. Why? The mayors know better in their cities. They understand the need. They understand the challenges.

So, tonight we decided to do something a little bit different. OK? Let's try to really get together here. All right. We have the mayors from around the country, three of our biggest cities, different parties. Let them compare notes. Let them talk. Basically, I just want to give them my show's time to see if they can use it to basically have a Zoom conversation. Keisha Lance Bottoms. You know her from this show and elsewhere. Obviously, the Mayor of Atlanta. OK? Ron Nirenberg, San Antonio. And Kevin Faulconer, San Diego. Welcome each and all. How are we doing with the cams? Can we see? Can we hear?

MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D-GA), ATLANTA: Thank you for having us.

MAYOR RON NIRENBERG (I-TX), SAN ANTONIO: Yes.

MAYOR KEVIN FAULCONER (R-CA), SAN DIEGO: Yes.

CUOMO: All right. First of all thank you for taking the opportunity. And I mean what I said. Less me, more you, good thing. Just as a kind of jumping off point, what's going on in Atlanta which had nothing to do with the mayor, right, the governor did not give her any notice, any input, or any ability to change it. I just want to jump from Atlanta to San Diego where you guys are taking a very different approach. And Mr. Mayor, what do you want to know from the experience of Atlanta's mayor about which way you're headed?

FAULCONER: Well, thanks, Chris. Thanks for having us all on. You know, and I think to your point, as mayors, one of the things that we're all working on is this is where the rubber meets the road, right? And when we're talking about businesses and reopening businesses, they're our cities. And so, our ability to not only clearly communicate, but our ability to say here's the rules of the road that we're going to establish when we're ready to reopen, I think is one of the most important things that all of us as mayors are working on right now to really set that criteria, to communicate that criteria, because as you have talked about people are ready to get back to work. But people want to do it safely.

And so, one of the things that we're really working with is how do we interact keeping small businesses going right now, one of the things we've been doing in San Diego is our small business relief fund and really ensuring that we have that foundation for businesses to actually have a job to go back to and employees when we get on the other side of this.

CUOMO: Right.

FAULCONER: And that is -- I mean, you get a lot of talk about Washington relief, you know, and Sacramento and, you know, California. But our revenue comes from a strong economy. And so that's incredibly important for mayors because we provide, as you know, the services -- police, fire, trash pickup, water. So, all of us as mayors are really seeing that downward trend in revenue. So, we want to get back to work but we want to do it safely. We want to do it with confidence. And we want to do it by data driven and with you are health professionals. That's really what I've been trying to stress here in San Diego.

CUOMO: All right. I got you Mr. Mayor on the hypothetical side of how you want to set it up. So, going from Mr. Mayor to madam Mayor, the reality that you're seeing Mayor Bottoms in terms of putting out message, having it resonate with people and having them follow still early where you are, but what are the indications about how successful you can be?

BOTTOMS: So far so good, Chris. We sent out a city-wide survey. We've already gotten over 10,000 responses thus far and overwhelmingly people are saying that it's too soon to open up. But we've also solicited from residents more feedback on given where we are and that the state is opening back up, what can we do to make people feel more comfortable, and what is it that we should be doing that we are not currently doing?

[22:35:11]

So, in Atlanta, we're continuing to extend in the gap, we are continuing to deliver foods to the doors of our seniors and we are providing foods to our kids in afterschool care and the small business loans are being passed out. And we're continuing to anticipate the day when we will get back to some semblance of normalcy. And as the mayor just said, it's about having something for people to get back to.

But all across the country, mayors are dealing with budget short falls in the same way that corporations and small businesses are balancing their books as well. So, you know, this now normal that we are in is going to definitely have an impact on the cities across this country.

CUOMO: I see Ron Nirenberg shaking his head. San Antonio, Texas obviously meeting a wave of aggressive reopening there. I'm not going to saddle you with what your lieutenant governor said, that they are more important things in life than living, which is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard in my life. You said nothing like that, but you do have to deal with people and their desperation. Listening to those two mayors, what does it mean in terms of what you're looking at with your own situation in San Antonio? Very important in a thriving city.

NIRENBERG: Well, absolutely, and great to be with you, Chris. And two people I come to admire and call friends here on the air with you. So, I think first it's a recognition that the American economy, the engine of the American economy is our cities. And if we're going to have a healthy economy, it starts with healthy people. So, we've really tried to be as clear and transparent as we can with the health data and the guidance from our public health officials about when it's safe to reopen.

And it is a challenge with mixed messages from our state government. I know Mayor Bottoms is dealing with that a lot. We've had that as well here with a reopening in Texas that really defies the gating criteria that public health officials have universally accepted as the right time to open. But the success of our efforts and we've had tremendous success here in San Antonio with flattening the curve and limiting the spread of the virus has really not been about mandates necessarily, but it's been about transparency.

And folks buying into the fact that if we are going to get through this, we do it together. We stay home. We limit our public gatherings. We conduct ourselves and social distance in a way that we're saving the lives of our neighbor. You have to have the public confidence to be able to get through this whether it's a mandate or not. And I've been very pleased that even in the orders that the governor has been in conflict with the cities, the citizens of our community are still minding the public health guidance. We need to spread more truth in this process.

CUOMO: This is too important. Can I grab you guys for another block? Can you guys stick around?

FAULCONER: Absolutely.

BOTTOMS: Sure.

NIRENBERG: Sure.

CUOMO: Thank you. Of course, it's really hard to say no on national television. So, I'm accepts -- no, thank you to each and all of you. Let me take a quick break and let's come back. And you know, there's part of the story that we're not really talking about, that mayors are uniquely qualified to address. And it's an aspect that's going to affect all of us. So, we're going to take it to a personal level. Let's keep the mayors. Please come back.

[22:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: All right. I want to keep the conversation going with the mayors because they're in a unique position to address the one part of this nobody's really talking about. It's what the rest of the year looks like for you, your family, and your daily life, OK? We have the mayor of Atlanta, the mayor of San Antonio, and the mayor of California. And obviously -- I'm sorry. Mayor of California. Imagine that. Also known as the governor of San Diego. Obviously California is making plans about when to reopen. Texas is opening in part tomorrow. Georgia has already opened in parts that affect Atlanta to be sure.

So, what I'm hinting at about daily life, really two main things for people that live in major cities like your own. OK? You've got mass transportation and then you've got the big one that nobody wants to touch, schools. And we know why. We know why the president, we know why nobody, governors wants to talk about schools. Because you get it wrong with schools you're going to pay a political price that's going to be hard to survive.

So, Georgia and Texas, school is closed. California, you guys are figuring it out what to do with the rest of the year. It's closed right now. But starting with you Mayor Bottoms. The idea of school and reopening, you can't reopen an economy and get people back to work if their kids aren't back in school because they won't be able to leave the house. Nobody can take care of the kids, especially in the populations that you guys represent. How do you deal with that?

BOTTOMS: So, I'll give you another layer to that, Chris. In Georgia, they're independently run school boards. Most of them are not controlled by the mayor. Its separate school entities. And so, when we were at the beginning of this pandemic, our governor deferred to local control and local leadership in decision making as to when to shut down schools.

So, that being said, I don't know what the governor will do as it relates to the schools of this coming fall. I know that the board of regents has already announced that they anticipate that college campuses will be open.

[22:45:02]

That's going to be very interesting. I think again, that's driven by economics because you're going to have young adults living in close proximity in congregate living spaces which is what we actually don't want in the middle of a pandemic. And so we'll see where we are. There's been a big push for us to get laptops and tablets and broadband connection out to all of our students. So, hopefully we'll be prepared for whatever the fall looks like.

CUOMO: Ron, Mayor Nirenberg, what I'm talking about, obviously the specific application is, we get a little break on school right now, because we're getting close to the summer. But if Texas moves as aggressively as it wants to, economically getting people back to work, where are the kids going to go? Still have another month or so to deal with?

NIRENBERG: That's right and I have an 11-year-old at home so I know that very well. You know, we have been working through childcare (inaudible), or essential workers since this began a couple of months ago. And so we have opportunities for child care even as Texas begins to open up. That is a big challenge. And one of the reasons why I think there was a push by some of the essential workers in the medical community not to close schools down, because you begin to close schools down you lose part of your work force that is supposed to be on the front lines fighting this battle. But we've been trying to make options available at the local level for people to have care for their children when they have to get to work.

CUOMO: Right. But you can't cover the need.

NIRENBERG: Not when Texas opens up and you know, there's much more activity with no schools open. That's going to be a huge challenge for us. So, one of the things that you mentioned that I think has been overlooked is the fact that we're talking about getting back to normal. But keep in mind, when we got back -- when we go back to normal, its areas of high poverty that are on the other side of a digital divide. And now these students can't even go to school because they're not able to access the internet.

So, you know, our focus right now is to get through this crisis in the most helpful way possible. But what keeps me up at night is this rush to get back to normal, a normal where we had 60,000 families a week that were getting food from the food bank line. You know, we have to work on establishing a more resilient, stronger, more durable economy that reaches every one. And equity has been a huge issue that's really become -- come to light in this whole pandemic response.

CUOMO: Absolutely. School is not just about education. For too many kids it's about nutrition. They get one or two meals in the schools and maybe the only ones that they're going to have real access to. Real problem. Mass transit. You know, dealing in San Diego, it's not as -- you're going to have bus issues there, but that's hard because transit workers didn't have right PPE anywhere in this country. They're going down at a higher percentage.

FAULCONER: Yes.

CUOMO: That means you're going to have less transit, more people, more density. But how big a reality is that for you, Mayor Faulconer.

FAULCONER: Right. You hit the nail on the head, Chris. And look, it's about catching up with all of the PPE and our transit workers who do phenomenal work every day. And yes, it's the bus system primarily here in San Diego, but, you know, it's all about safety first. It's about testing. We have mandatory wearing masks now in San Diego, on MTS, and all of our public spaces.

And you know, look, as mayors, we're all dealing with the same thing. I mean, and the issue of just to go back because the issue of schools and child care is incredibly important. Child care is economic development. You have to have, you know, an ability for families to go to work to reopen. And so all of that we are trying to filter through the lens as mayors of safety first, certainly, preparation, but also really communicating -- you know, it's incredibly important. We're still under the stay-at-home order in California. But to communicate what those metrics will be when we can get open so you start to plan ahead, not just for schools but for businesses as well.

CUOMO: You know, I made a mistake. I shouldn't have put your party affiliations because I would have loved to have had people at home try to guess party affiliations, because they would not be able to tell you guys apart. And I think it's an important lesson for people. When you're dealing with what matters in cities, it is not about right and left. It's about reasonable.

And each of you have distinguished yourselves in terms of how you're dealing with the needs of your people. Mayor Bottoms, Mayor Nirenberg, Mayor Faulconer, I wish you each and all the best. This platform is available to you as the realities hit home where you are and you need to get information out that really needs to be heard by the country. You have an invitation here that is open. God bless each and all of you.

FAULCONER: Thank you Chris.

BOTTOMS: Thank you. You too Chis.

NIRENBERG: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, be well.

Now, our hardest hit city, there is no letting up on the love for the lifesavers. Why do we keep hitting this?

[22:50:06]

You've got to remember interconnectedness, our inter dependence. These are the people keeping us alive from this virus. So, let's pump up the volume for the heroes of the pandemic in NYC.

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CUOMO: I love it. I love it. Because that's what we have to be about. And you have to remember that as part of the balancing mechanism of this urge to reopen. Listen to their voices about reopening. They are begging us to do it as smartly and as conservative way as possible, because they are still overwhelmed in too many places. So, why are we great? You know why? We're great because we are good. We are good to one another. And I want to show you that goodness and doing right with our Ameri-cans. Right after this.

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[22:55:00]

CUOMO: All right. How about a double dose of Ameri-cans tonight? Best- selling novelist, Maureen Johnson says her mom ordered a flower delivery from a small local nursery. Castles in Bucks County Pennsylvania. When they dropped off the flowers. They also surprised mom with a bag of hot meals and several bags of groceries. Why? Because she promised she wouldn't go out and they got worried. She actually has plenty of food. But the nursery wouldn't even take money for it. That is caring. I love it. Sharing is caring. We tell our kids, we got to do it for each other. Wisconsin, the family owned Sassy Cow Creamery, now offers free milk

to anyone to take through its kindness cooler. One of the owner's daughters came up with the idea to break way the deal with the dairy glut, by the way. It's something that they are dealing with in New York as well. Unlike many dairies right now they don't have to throw out their product. Because they can pasteurize it there. That's the key. Processing.

All right. Let's take a break. The president is now drumming up plans to focus on China for causing this coronavirus. Is this about ducking responsibility? Or do we know something about China that deserves this type of action? Let's take it on in a bonus hour of Prime Time. Next.

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