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Cuomo Prime Time
NY, NJ & CT Issue Joint Quarantine Rules For Travelers; Biden Leads Trump In Wisconsin, Dead Heat In Ohio; Florida Hits New Daily Record High With 5,500-Plus New Cases. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired June 24, 2020 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: --says that they're determined to see the men prosecuted, convicted, and appropriately sentenced. Of course, the family has waited a very long time for this.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: Yes.
BLACKWELL: So many weeks for charges, and now this, and they say "Justice will come at the end of this trial."
COOPER: Yes.
BLACKWELL: They hope with that sentence.
COOPER: Victor Blackwell. Victor, thank you.
The news continues. Want to hand it over to Chris for CUOMO PRIME TIME. Chris?
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST, CUOMO PRIME TIME: All right, Anderson, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Hello everyone. I am Chris Cuomo and welcome to PRIME TIME.
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C. CUOMO: California, Texas, and Florida, the three most populous States in our country are now bursting with COVID cases, thousands of new infections being reported every day. The crisis is getting worse in this country in at least 23 other States.
Turns out the virus didn't take a summer break, just as we were warned.
Now, you will not hear the President, and I argue, any Republican leader within his earshot, say any of what I just told you. And it is all facts. But here's the truth that we have to now accept.
Masks matter. The resistance to masks is stupid politics, even worse, a symptom of a cancerous political culture that's making us even more sick than COVID.
Denial is not a strategy for dealing with the pandemic. You know who said that? The Governor of New York. One of the three States originally hit hardest, remember? New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, those epicenters, went from Oregon, Washington, California, then here.
But now, those three States on the East Coast are reporting the lowest numbers of infection rates. What did they get right that isn't happening in the States that are now in crisis? And those three States also have a big announcement all over the news today.
New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are jointly declaring restrictions for travelers, a 14-day quarantine for those coming to those three States from the eight States with the highest infection rates.
Now, this is going to be controversial. Why is it the best way to keep numbers down? Joining us now with answers is the Governor of New York, my big brother, Andrew Cuomo.
How are you doing, Guv?
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Good thing you gave me credit for that "Denial is not a life strategy." I was going to come right through that camera if you tried to steal that line.
C. CUOMO: Well I changed it a little. You did say "Denial is not a strategy for life." You've told me that many times. But I continue to do it. And I--
A. CUOMO: OK.
C. CUOMO: --just expanded it to pandemic.
So, here is the question for you. What do you now know for sure, from your experience in your State that you have to do, in order to get cases down that isn't being done in these cases where they're popping?
A. CUOMO: Yes, look, and you're right. And we talked about this early on, and you had the right questions. You didn't have the answers. But you're not in the answer business. I am.
There were two theories that were posed to this nation.
The President said basically, "Don't worry about COVID," the denial strategy. It was inconvenient. It got in the way of his economic story. So, "It was just the flu. It was going to disappear. Don't worry about it. Liberate the States. Liberate New York. It's all about the economy." That was option "A."
Option "B" was the course that we took here in New York, that it's not a political issue. This is a virus. And there's no political strategy to deal with the virus. It's not Democratic. It's not Republican.
And you have to use the science, and you have to use data, and you have to use metrics, and you have to do the testing. And there is no choice between a public health strategy and an economic strategy. Either you do both or you do neither. And I'm not going to sacrifice life for the economy. And it wouldn't work anyway.
Those were the two theories. We tested them, Christopher. You have some States who followed the President's thinking. And you have New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and some other States that did a science-based reopening. Science-based reopening worked.
You had to withstand the political pressure, you're right. But people stood up and they did it.
And look what you see now. You see 27 States that are going up with the viral transmission. You see the Dow Jones going down, why, because if you didn't take care of the virus, you're not going to have the economy come back.
And now that you started this reopening, and people see the virus going up, it's shaking the economy even worse than if you had started more gradually, but that the market could have confidence in what you were doing.
C. CUOMO: The two excuses--
A. CUOMO: So, New York took a very different track.
C. CUOMO: The two excuses--
A. CUOMO: Go ahead.
C. CUOMO: --that will be offered up, as a counter to the argument, is one is, "Look, this was always going to happen. New York got hit first, and then it was going to move around the rest of the country. That's all this is.
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And the only reason that these cases are coming up is because we're testing so much, and this is really just a false alarm put out by Cuomo and others who want to hurt the President. It's just more testing."
A. CUOMO: Yes.
C. CUOMO: "Test less."
A. CUOMO: Right.
C. CUOMO: "And you'll be fine."
A. CUOMO: I got it. Yes. Good. Except it's factually bogus, right? You can say whatever you want to say, but it's bogus.
First, on the testing argument, that's what they're saying. "We're getting more cases because we're doing more testing." Oh, really? Then how come more people are walking into the hospital? What does it mean when you walk into the hospital except you are sick? All right, forget the testing numbers. Hospitalizations are going up.
ICU beds are going up. You have hospitals that are near capacity now. How do you explain that, but that more people are getting sick, right? So, it just - it makes no sense on its face.
Second, the argument about New York, we had a much worse hand than anybody else was dealt.
C. CUOMO: Why?
A. CUOMO: Remember what they did to New York. Because the Federal Government, back when this started, January, February, March, they were saying "It's coming from China. It's coming from China. It's coming from China."
No, Federal Government. You were too slow. It left China. It went to Europe. Nobody even saw it get to Europe. And then it came to New York from Europe.
January, February, March, 3 million people on flights from Europe landing in JFK. They brought that virus here. It took off like fire through dry grass. They did the European travel ban March 16th. It had already been here for months.
Our numbers went through the roof, not because it was endemic to New York, or our water, or our air, or our accent, but because it came from Europe and the Federal Government missed it.
We had to turn the curve. These other States, all they had to do was stop it from going up, when in New York, it was already up, Chris. We had to bend the curve. And God bless the people of New York. You're talking about masks now? We did that, two months ago.
New Yorkers heard the facts. They believed in government. They believed in the State government. They rallied together. They were community. They were together. It was beautiful.
C. CUOMO: You came on the show with a mask on, early on.
A. CUOMO: And they did what no other State in this country--
C. CUOMO: Do you remember that?
A. CUOMO: Well that was to cover my nose. That - that was different. That was different.
C. CUOMO: That would have been a hell of a mask.
A. CUOMO: But yes, we were way ahead of the curve.
C. CUOMO: But you came on. You were making it, even when people were saying, "Mask, oh, very controversial."
So now, you have the three States coming together, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut. There's been a lot of sharing of information and of responsibility. And now the move is making all these headlines, quarantine.
The eight States that you three Governors believe are not doing what they need to do. You're not going to let them expose your States to risk. They're going to have to have a 14-day quarantine, if they come to you.
Now, why is that a good policy, in light of the fact that when people were threatening to do that to you guys, early on, you didn't like it? You thought it was wrong, and you said, "I'm not going to close my borders."
A. CUOMO: Yes. Not to correct you on the facts, because it's your show and they're your facts.
C. CUOMO: But?
A. CUOMO: Your opinion.
But there are still facts. First, the Federal Government wanted to blockade New York, OK? Federal blockade hasn't been done since the Civil War.
They were talking about closing bridges, and tunnels, and saying "You cannot leave New York and you cannot enter New York." That was illegal. It was unconstitutional. And I said that would start another Civil War.
States do have authority over their public health, and they can quarantine. What we're saying in New York now, and also Governor Murphy in New Jersey, and Governor Lamont in Connecticut, look, we fought like heck to get our infection rate down.
We have the lowest infection rate, Christopher, in the United States of America. We went from the highest infection rate in the country to the lowest transmission rate.
C. CUOMO: And you don't think that's just time?
A. CUOMO: New Yorkers killed themselves to do that.
C. CUOMO: Because people will say "Oh, it's herd immunity."
A. CUOMO: Well no, of course not time.
C. CUOMO: "It moved its way through."
A. CUOMO: Yes. But they'd be wrong. There is no herd immunity. Herd immunity is 50 percent, 60 percent, 70 percent infection rate. We're nowhere near that. Highest we got was about 22 percent.
No, it's not time. You just let it go, it will continue to increase. That's what you saw in New York in that whole first phase. We shot up to 18,000 cases over 60 days. This thing communicates and transmits like no one's business.
No. If you don't get ahead of it - the only one that tried herd immunity was Sweden.
C. CUOMO: Yes.
A. CUOMO: And then they said, "Whoops! That was a mistake."
C. CUOMO: Yes. Fair point.
A. CUOMO: No. It's because we got control - we got control of it. So, we don't want to go backwards.
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So, we have to, one, make sure that we stay diligent, and the local governments do the compliance, et cetera. But two, we don't want people coming here, bringing the virus. All you need is one "Super spreader." New Rochelle, one person infected hundreds. And a lot of people come to New York and the Tri-state area from other
places. We just want to make sure we don't import the virus, because we learned that lesson, been there, done that, when the Federal Government failed to tell us that the virus was coming from Europe.
C. CUOMO: How confident are you--
A. CUOMO: That's what we're saying--
C. CUOMO: --that the United States didn't have to be in the position it is of having the most cases, of being so far behind other countries that are, frankly, not as developed as the United States, in terms of public health, or resources?
How confident are you that we did not have to be in the position we are in right now?
A. CUOMO: It's - it's not a question of belief. It's not a question of politics, OK? Otherwise, you fall into their trap. It's science. It's science.
Look at the numbers in New York. How did you go from the highest infection rate in the country to one of the lowest infection rates in the country? How did you do that? On the numbers, mathematically, as a matter of science, you got control of it.
We had two different messages and two different strategies. And you had half the country saying "It's the flu. It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Today, stop testing. Testing is the problem."
I mean, how ludicrous! People are walking into the hospital. How can you say it's testing? It is denial. It's a failure of leadership. It's all political.
He - the President wants to run on the economy. He thinks this is a problem for the economy. He actually created a problem for the economy, because the markets have no confidence that he is in control of this virus. And that's his economic problem now.
C. CUOMO: Well and also time is poison, economically. And the longer this goes, the more - I mean I know you know this with
your own budget woes in New York State. You're losing revenue. People need help. Time is a devil in this, and certainly, we've extended this beyond where we needed to.
Let me take a break.
When we come back, I want to talk to you about the challenges going forward, in terms of this feared second wave, although now, as Dr. Fauci says, "We're not done with the first wave, so how are we going to have a second wave?"
And also the challenges for your State and this country in dealing with this search for equal justice and equal opportunity, what will New York do? Next.
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C. CUOMO: All right, we're back now with the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo.
Good to have you, big brother.
The quarantine, 14 days, you say this is different than what they wanted to do to New York. Fair point! But the idea of enforcing this quarantine from those eight States, how do you enforce something like this?
A. CUOMO: When you land in this - they're basically South and Southwestern States. When you land in New York, you come through an airport. We know who you are. We know what flight you took. And we'll do random checks.
You can get pulled over by a police officer who could ask you questions. You could go to a meeting, and somebody could ask you, and call the Department of Health. So, there are a number of ways to enforce it.
We're not going - some States brought in the National Guard to do it. We're not going to do anything like that.
C. CUOMO: So, this is going to be a little bit of an honor system, and you're counting on people to do the right thing?
A. CUOMO: No - it's an honor system. But if you violate it, and an Inspector calls you, or shows up at your address, and you're not there, you break the law. You'll have a mandatory quarantine, and you'll pay a several thousand dollar simple penalty.
C. CUOMO: I'm saying it's going to be tough to enforce. But you can only do what you can do. I got you.
Another question. California, early on, was very aggressive. They did a lot of the things that you did in New York. Why are they still suffering?
A. CUOMO: Well, the - California started with smaller numbers, right? We started with that large spike from Europe.
They started with smaller numbers. I don't know exactly why they're seeing the continued increase that they're seeing. The - in California, it's slightly different. You have different counties with different strategies.
Los Angeles is doing one thing, San Francisco and the surrounding counties are doing something else. They're having different results, depending on the strategy. Los Angeles, I think, is driving the numbers right now.
New York, we did it differently. We had one strategy. It applied all across the State.
The local governments didn't make their own strategies, their own plans. I thought that was confusing. If you have one set of metrics that works, then everybody should live with that set of metrics, and that's what we did in New York.
C. CUOMO: Tale of Two Cities going on in this country. You have "Trump says" and then you have what "Reality says," very often. On several different levels, we see this, so I'd like your responses to them.
When it comes to Cuomo, the President says, "Hey, hey, don't give him so much credit. First of all, I did everything that he wanted. And that's why things went well for him in New York." Fair?
A. CUOMO: No.
No, look, the President - first of all, his posture with COVID is fundamentally different than my posture with COVID, right? He always saw it as an inconvenient intrusion.
I thought as - I saw it as one of the greatest public health threats in modern political history. And I thought we ought to take it very seriously, and address it head-on, and stand up and tell the people the truth.
And that's exactly what I did, every day. I gave them the facts. And then I said, "Here are the facts. You tell me what you think. Here's my opinion." But I just told the people the truth, and I believed they would do the right thing, if they heard the truth, and they did.
I think the President's strategy was different. He wanted to minimize. He was going to market "This is not really what it appears to be," and it was distortive.
It was not true. And it was counterproductive because denial is not a life strategy. And the virus is going to catch up with you. And it's catching up with 27 States right now. So, we had a fundamentally different posture.
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The President did help New York. He sent the Army Corps of Engineers to build the Javits Center. Thank you very much. He sent 4,000 ventilators. Thank you very much. The Army Corps of Engineers came and helped us build alternative facilities. Thank you very much. So he - he was of assistance.
C. CUOMO: Sent the ship.
A. CUOMO: There's no doubt. Sent the U.S. Navy Ship Comfort.
C. CUOMO: Right.
A. CUOMO: Thank you very much, Mr. President.
C. CUOMO: Nursing homes, people died there. They didn't have to. It was mismanaged. And the operators have been given immunity. What do you have to say about that?
A. CUOMO: The - several statements that are not correct. But that's OK. It's your show. You say whatever you want to say.
The nursing homes were the most tragic situation. You had senior citizens. They were the most vulnerable to this COVID virus. They were in a congregate setting. And we lost lives, all across the country, in nursing homes. There is no doubt.
And we have to figure out how to do it better the next time because there will be a next time, either a second wave, or another disease. And if it is a disease that preys on the old, and the weak, it's going to go to the nursing homes and the rehab centers.
New York is one of the best cases in the nation for the number of deaths in nursing homes. The New York Times did a report, said we were 35th out of 50 States. We did a report, in the State, that we're going to issue that says we're 37 out of 50 States.
So, comparative to the other States, we did well, because it is a national crisis. But it's - it's false hope. We lost a tremendous amount of senior citizens.
In this State, about 38 percent of the deaths were senior citizens. Now, we knew that the vulnerable population was senior citizens. But we still have to find out how to do a better job if this virus comes back in a second wave. C. CUOMO: And giving the operators' immunity?
A. CUOMO: The operators have very strict laws in this State. And if they violated the law, they're going to be held fully accountable. We have an ongoing investigation now with the Department of Health and the Attorney General to make sure every operator was following the law during this crisis.
C. CUOMO: So, in terms of what we need to do going forward, you've made a good case of what works in New York.
Could work all over the country in terms of masks, and calling on communities, and being straight, and telling them the cases, and not playing with testing and contact tracing as a bad thing. More information is never bad.
How do those translate into the other virus that is attacking our country right now, which is division?
The idea of systematic racism and systematic inequality for the Black community is something you've addressed early on here. Do you believe there is any real chance for change on a national scale?
A. CUOMO: Oh, yes. Look, let's make sure we have the formula right, OK, if you want to take COVID, and you want to extrapolate to Mr. Floyd's murder.
The formula for COVID was, "Tell the people the truth. Have a credible source that tells them the truth or develop credibility, and tell them the truth, and then social action."
The way we're battling COVID is, "Here are the facts. I'll give them to you every morning, but then social action. We have to do something. Testing, tracing, stay home, masks, social distancing, hand sanitizer, disinfect the trains."
On the Mr. Floyd's murder, you have a galvanized public. In a way, I've never seen it galvanized before, and I say thank God. I said from day one, "I stand with the protesters."
Why did it take so long? 30 years ago, Rodney King, Amadou Diallo brutalized, Eric Garner, six years ago? I don't know. But it's here now. And it's a precious opportunity, if you have the social action.
People want change. They don't know how to make it happen, and they don't exactly know what the change is.
What we're doing in New York, because I want New York to lead the nation on this, Chris, we have 500 police departments in the State of New York. I sent them all notice.
You have nine months to come up with a plan that reinvents your Police Department as a collaborative. Local electeds, community activists, everybody sit at the table and reinvent the Police Department, so that there's trust and respect from the community to the police and vice versa. Take this moment, which is beautiful, and this is when change happens, but you need the vehicle to have the actual social action. And that's what we're going to do.
Take all these phrases, "Defund the police! Demilitarize the police! Escalation! More visibility! More transparency! Civilian review!" OK, what does that mean?
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And let's do it community by community, because the New York City Police Department is a little different than the Albany Police Department. And every community has to come up with a Police Department that it wants, right?
The police were not sent down from heaven. They're not in the New Testament.
The Police Department is whatever Police Department the people want because they pay for it. You know, we have it a little backwards now. "Well the police are this way and that's the way it's going to be." No. It's going to be the way the people want it to be. They are public servants.
So, sit down, community, and put everyone at the table, work through these tough issues, but then design the Police Department you want. But you actually have to do it, so we can capitalize the moment, and actually have change, rather than just a lot of energy.
C. CUOMO: But you know that the minority communities can't do it for themselves because they don't have the power. So, how do you get the powerful to align with the interests of the un-powerful? How do you get the "Haves" to work with the "Have-nots?"
Because, you know, as you've been telling me my whole life, you know, the policing is a function of high crime. High crime is a function of high poverty. High poverty is a function of low opportunity.
So, you come back to those type of things, it becomes just as much about class as it does about race in some ways. Of course, you have unique problems within the Black community and policing culture.
But how do you get the "Haves" on board with the "Have-nots?"
A. CUOMO: Look, you have a moment here. I say in nine - first you need a process. I say in nine months, every local government with every Police Department, 500 in New York, sit at the table, give me a plan in nine months, as a collaborative.
C. CUOMO: Or else?
A. CUOMO: The - or else, you get no funding from the State, which is a big "Or else."
C. CUOMO: Yes, big "None." OK. A. CUOMO: So, they're going to have to do it. And then I say, "Don't just give me a plan. You have to pass it into law, which means you have to go pass the legislative body in that local government."
And with all, the energy, Chris, that is now generated, all that community activism, all those protesters, within nine months that energy is still going to be there.
And I want to see a legislature, in any local government, pass a new plan, redesigning their Police Department, if the community activists and that energy isn't part of the process and isn't satisfied. It's not going to happen.
C. CUOMO: Me having you on the show is an unusual thing. We've never really done it. But this was an unusual time. And they were unusual needs. And you stepped up in an unusual way that really was created by a vacuum of power on the Federal level.
And you're not the only one. There are other governors. And you've been very good and collaborative with Hogan down in Maryland, and Whitmer, and DeWine, and the ones up in the Northeast region. But these unusual times have demonstrated some unusual characteristics in people.
And, of course, I won't always be able to keep having you on this show. It'll never be seen as fair in people's eyes. And we both get that. And that's OK. You've got plenty of people to talk to.
But I want you to know that, you know, June is a big month for us, right? We got Mom and Pop's anniversary on the 5th. We got Pop's birthday on the 15th.
And this is what he always wanted. He was proud when you became Governor, because of what he'd know - he knew you'd do. Remember that whole talk he gave us about, "I'm not pride - proud. I don't believe in pride. Pride is deadly sin, and blah all that."
What he wanted to see is what you do with the opportunity. And everything, that he ever said matter to him, about public service, is what you demonstrated right here, and right now, during this period, when your State needed it most. And I hear it all the time.
Not everybody likes you. Not everybody likes me. Everybody seems to like Pop now. That's the benefit of being out for a while and maybe gone.
I just hope you recognize what even I'm able to recognize, being spawned from the same wolf pack. I hope you are able to appreciate what you did in your State, and what it means for the rest of the country now, and what it will always mean to those who love and care about you the most.
I'm wowed by what you did. And, more importantly, I'm wowed by how you did it. This was very hard. I know it's not over. But obviously, I love you as a brother. Obviously, I'll never be objective. Obviously, I think you're the best politician in the country. But I hope you feel good about what you did for your people because I
know they appreciate it. Nothing's perfect. You'll have your critics.
A. CUOMO: Thank you.
C. CUOMO: But I've never seen anything like what you did.
A. CUOMO: Thank you.
C. CUOMO: And that's why I'm so happy to have had you on the show. And I hope you know that.
A. CUOMO: Yes. Look, we're not very - we're not big on sweet talk. But what Dad was all about was making a difference.
C. CUOMO: That was pretty sweet.
A. CUOMO: That was sweet.
C. CUOMO: You made a difference.
A. CUOMO: I wonder who wrote it.
What Dad was - what Dad was all about - well you just stole my line.
What Dad was all about was making a difference. And he would say, "Who cares what they say," right? He lost his last election. People forget that. "Who cares what they say? It's what you know. It's what you did is right."
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What I did here was right. And whatever, you know, was a political no- win, as you said from day one, you have people on both sides, and you couldn't make anybody happy, so you just do what's right.
I did what was right. I'm comfortable with what I did. I think the facts bear it out. I think the numbers bear it out. I think we saved tens of thousands of lives. But I did what was right.
And you do what is right. You tell the truth. You get up every night, and you tell the truth, whether they like it or not. This is the truth the way you see it. And that's all you can do.
So, I hope he'd be proud of me. He talked to me a lot through this, by the way. A 111 days, I did a briefing every day. I couldn't sleep at night. I'd close my eyes, and I would say, "What would Pop say?" And he spoke to me. And he helped me tremendously to get through it.
But what you do is the same thing. You're doing the right thing. And that's all we can do. Love you. Go to work.
C. CUOMO: I love you very much. I appreciate you being on. I'll see you soon.
A. CUOMO: Thank you, brother, same. C. CUOMO: Unusual times, right? He's my big brother. I love him. Of course, I'm not objective. But let's call it straight. Look at the State. Look at the numbers. Look at New Jersey. Look at Connecticut. Look how they came together.
Yes, he's my brother. That's - there's no question. I could cry about it in a second. But the results are there for all to see. Was it perfect? No. You tell me what is. But look at the state our country is in.
And if you don't think this is going to be reflected in what happens in November, then you haven't been paying attention. We got new poll numbers for you.
And this isn't about President Trump being worried or not. This is about the state of what this country is demanding, OK? There are people who are going to be worried on the Republican side. Polls are just a snapshot of a moment in time.
But let's see where we are right now, next.
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C. CUOMO: You know, look, I mean, polls are a snapshot of a moment in time. They're just a suggestion. Trends are relevant, looking at specific States, relevant. But also, how they're playing within the parties will manifest in message, so that matters.
And, to that point, several high profile Republican Senators are acknowledging that they feel the same way they're seeing in the polls right now about Trump's reelection campaign. As Lindsey Graham put it, "It's been a bad couple of weeks."
New evidence from key Midwestern States, remember, States, not just national popularity, because it's about the Electoral College, Joe Biden, former VP, leading Trump by 8 in Wisconsin, up from 3 last month. Ohio, numbers are tight. Well within the MOE, the margin of error, Biden leading.
Important, why? Because Trump beat Clinton by 8 points there.
Florida, they're going to be in the election also. They're going to be big, right? COVID, it's not just a bad weeks. A couple - that's Senator Graham trying to play it down, because he's all about being nice to Trump. We'll see what happens if Trump loses, what song he'll sing then.
But it's not a couple of bad weeks. It's ignoring a pandemic, and having so many lives lost, where it didn't need to happen. It's about ignoring a mass movement in this country, the lives of with I haven't seen in my lifetime. I wasn't alive in the 60s. He's ignored them both.
Now, Florida is going to be in the spotlight. Their cases are popping all over the place. It's being ignored there.
Miami's Mayor is here. He knows this is serious. You know why? He's like me. He's a survivor. Let's talk about the reality, next.
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C. CUOMO: You're going to hear the Governor of Florida, who refuses to come on this show, along with all the other highly-elected officials, at the State level. They're going to mitigate what's happening in Florida. "We have our ups. We have our downs."
They're not telling you the truth. There's a new record-breaking single-day high in COVID cases in Florida, more than 5,500, about 1,500 more than the record they set last week.
Hospitalizations are up. ICU visits are up. Ventilations are all up in the past two weeks in the most populous county, Miami-Dade. But the Governor says he's not going to order mask wearing.
You tell me this isn't about stupid politics. You tell me this isn't about DeSantis being an acolyte of Trump. He won't come on and make the case. What does that tell you?
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced a City-wide mask mandate this week. He knows what the virus is like all too well.
You're looking well, though, Mayor. Welcome back to PRIME TIME.
MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ, (R) MIAMI, FLORIDA: Thank you so much, Chris. I really appreciate it. C. CUOMO: And I know you and I are still figuring out why we're not completely right, and that there's going to be a story to tell with this virus that you and I are trying to figure out ourselves. We'll put that into the future for some conversation someday.
Right now, the Governor says--
SUAREZ: Sure.
C. CUOMO: --"Well, you know, masks, tough to enforce, and, you know, it'd take a lot of resources, and that may not be the best use of resources." All the experts are saying masks are the best use of resources.
Your take?
SUAREZ: We implemented a mask rule in public this week because, like you said, we saw, you know, a record number of cases the last few days in Miami-Dade County.
And, to put the numbers in context, when we ordered a stay-at-home - we put into effect a stay-at-home order, the high watermark was 533 cases, while we had two days, this week, where we had 900 cases, which is, you know, twice the high watermark in late March, when we - when we issued a stay-at-home order, which we knew was incredibly effective.
If we don't want to go backwards, the only option that we have right now is to order masks in public.
And, in fact, tomorrow, we're going to be asking the City Commission, by emergency ordinance, to implement a civil fine if you're not wearing the mask in public, which will be a fine of up to $250 for failure to follow the law.
C. CUOMO: You know, look, you're a Republican. You're doing right by your community. Period! I shouldn't even have mentioned the first part. The "R" is irrelevant.
But it does seem that we are seeing politics be played here by your Governor and other Republican Governors. You have not seen a Democratic Governor take the same posture that you've seen of someone like Governor DeSantis, and it has a familiar echo to the President.
Are you worried that your Governor is playing politics?
SUAREZ: Look, this is an issue where it's an apolitical issue. It's an issue that's got to be driven by the epidemiologists. We have biostatisticians. We do confer with Department of Health at least once a week, every Monday.
And after we have those conversations, after we look at the numbers, after we look at the trends, that's when we make decisions.
And it was after this week's Monday meeting with - by the way, 15 mayors joined me in, you know, in having a press conference, where many of those cities also joined the City of Miami, in implementing a mask-in-public rule.
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We owe it to our residents, as your brother said, to be transparent with them. And we owe it to our residents to give them the best options that we have available, to try to stem the tide of, you know, of spread of COVID in our community.
And as you also said accurately, you know, in Miami-Dade County, hospitalizations are up. Ventilators are up. ICUs are up. Thankfully, deaths are not up. But we know that deaths are a lagging statistic that sometimes lag four weeks to five weeks after a spike in cases.
We're also hopeful that because it seems like a majority of the increase in cases is in 18-35 year-old range, we're hoping that that's not something that bleeds into the older population, which is of course more vulnerable and more likely--
C. CUOMO: Yes. That's - I'm with you on that.
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C. CUOMO: You know, we had these girls on - "Girls!"
We had these women on, young women, who were in Jacksonville. And they had gone out, you know. Again, the Governor and the messaging was, "You don't really need a mask. You're going to be OK." They go out. All 16 of them get COVID and seven of the people who were working in the bar.
The concern with the younger people is you're right that they're not getting as sick, and many can actually be asymptomatic. But they are more likely to spread it to people who don't handle it as well. And then you have a real problem.
What's your message to people tonight?
SUAREZ: My message to them is to follow the rules, to please, please do everything you can to wear masks in public in the City of Miami.
You know, it is difficult to police. There's no doubt about it. It's going to, you know, just like it was difficult to police, when we had a stay-at-home order, we weren't literally able to knock on every single door to make sure that people were at home.
But the reason why we put these recommendations in place is for our own safety and for the safety of others.
So, my recommendation and my message is to please wear a mask, when you're in public, so that we can do everything that we can to make sure that we reverse these numbers, and go from a situation where we've had record numbers, to getting things back under control, and continuing to hopefully open our economy safely.
C. CUOMO: Mr. Mayor, you are always offered a platform on this show, not just because you're a Republican, and I need voices from both sides, not just because we are "COVID Cousins," because we both lived through it, but because you have been straight about what's going on in your community, and you have not dealt with the politics at all.
And I respect that. And I'm sure your community does as well. I don't usually have better-looking men on the show, which is why I like having Andrew on. But, in your case, I have to make an exception.
SUAREZ: Thanks, Chris.
C. CUOMO: Mayor Francis Suarez, God bless. The best to you and the family.
SUAREZ: Bless you.
C. CUOMO: All right, ahead, we have news in a case that we've been following very closely, the Ahmaud Arbery murder investigation in Georgia.
Of course, George Floyd matters. Of course Rayshard Brooks matters. They all matter. We forget the names, there are so many of these cases.
But in the new indictments, there is a step that's been taken by a community that is rare, and they reveal things that we must review, next.
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C. CUOMO: It took a Grand Jury less than 10 minutes to indict the three men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery.
The young man has been gone for more than four months. But remember, it took months for them to do a damn thing in that case, and it only happened because of the video that got put out. Four separate prosecutors went through this case before we got to here.
Let's take it up in Cuomo's Court with Laura Coates.
Counselor, good to have you back.
The time is going to work both ways, 10 minutes.
"Whoo! Damming facts! Strong case!"
"Nope! Bias jury! Too much media exposure! Can't be fair!"
How do you play it?
LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, SIRIUSXM HOST, "THE LAURA COATES SHOW", FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: Well, first of all, the idea that it took many months for us even to get to this point.
And it wasn't simply because COVID-19 delayed the impaneling of Grand Juries. It was because of a deliberate decision, on behalf of the original prosecutors, to say "No. We're not going to pursue these charges."
So, the idea that being a matter of bias is almost laughable when one of the very people, who is a defendant, now charged with these crimes, is the one who provided the videotape footage that shows what happened to the 25 year-old jogging man, Ahmaud Arbery.
And so, yes, you will have this issue when it comes to trial, Chris, about whether or not you're going to find a jury that can be unbiased, that has never heard of this case, fat chance of that happening. However, it does necessarily say they cannot be objective about the evidence they're actually seeing.
And at this very early stage, as you well know, we're talking about enough to - for probable cause in an indictment. They still have to prove the case with actual evidence that can go in and come into trial.
C. CUOMO: The - right. And that's going to - the "Beyond reasonable doubt" is the highest standard that we have. We'll see if they have the proof to know by what they show.
Now, I don't know if you could tell how slick I was. But I was looking up the definition of malice murder in Georgia, while you were finishing your answer.
Malice murder versus felony murder, OK, as you have explained very well, before on this show, felony murder is a specific list of grave felonies that during the course of that felony, someone dies.
Now, they also charged malice murder, which I saw as being the same as just intentional murder. But there is one line that I think you'll find interesting, Counselor.
Malice is implied when no considerable provocation appears, which is a nod by the prosecutor that don't even try to argue justification, and two, where all the circumstances of the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart.
Even if it does line up statutorily as intentional murder, boy, will those words speak loud to the community! COATES: They absolutely will. And it's a - it is a signal that don't try the self-defense claim, when you are talking about why there was a struggle that ensued.
Remember, one of the things that came out the preliminary hearing was that Mr. Ahmaud Arbery ran until he couldn't run anymore, and then chose to fight.
He was pursued by cars that were used in an offensive manner, according to the indictments as well. He was trapped. He was falsely imprisoned with no legal authority to do so.
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We're not talking about in a long list of cases where police officers are the subject of ire for their excessive force. We're talking about civilians here who have no, even colorable law, or colorable claim that they are acting under law. And so, you absolutely have the set- up.
But remember, the main difference between the two, a felony murder, and of course, malice is what your intent was. You don't have to have the intent for anyone to die in felony murder.
As long as you were doing something that was the wrong thing, in a felony, and just because somebody died during it, you're still accountable for their death. It's the same degree.
But the idea of intent here is what people are going to hang their hat on. They're going to say to themselves, Chris, "Hold on. I think a bad intent, I think premeditated murder. I think about hiring a hit man. I think about a long period of time that has to take place to develop this intent," when in reality, it can form in almost an instant.
It need not be something that takes a very long period of time. And they may have more than enough evidence now to suggest that it happened quickly that it was an intentional act in addition to the other charges.
C. CUOMO: And they don't have to prove motive for malice murder. It sounds like hate crime or biased crime statutory language. But it isn't. They just have to prove that you had the intent in that moment.
Look, we will watch the prosecution. But the story you and I are going to tell, my friend, is going to be the story of what these men thought they knew about Arbery and why they thought they knew it. That is what is going to be part of the bigger narrative of what must change in this country.
Laura Coates, I love you. Thank you for being back.
COATES: Love you too, Chris. Thank you.
C. CUOMO: We'll be right back.
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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Best part of the night introducing CNN Tonight with D. Lemon right now.
