Return to Transcripts main page

Cuomo Prime Time

Trump Vows To Pressure Governors To Reopen Schools In The Fall; Trump's Niece Paints Trump As A "Cheater" In Tell-All Book; Arizona Sets New Record High For Daily Coronavirus Deaths At 117, 90 Percent Of ICU Beds In Use. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired July 07, 2020 - 21:00   ET

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

[21:00:00]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: The news continues now. Want to hand it over to Chris for CUOMO PRIME TIME. Chris?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST, CUOMO PRIME TIME: Thank you, Anderson.

I am Chris Cuomo and welcome to PRIME TIME.

Sadly, today was not the day that this President decided to create a national response to a pandemic that is holding this country back and, literally, making us sick.

We just shattered our previous single-day record of Coronavirus cases, more than 55,000 infections reported just today. And Trump, just trying to play you once again, this time about schools.

Saying the tough talk, he's going to crank up pressure to get all schools open this fall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools, to get them open. And it's very important. It's very important for our country. It's very important for the well-being of the student and the parents.

It's going to be a much better climate than it is right now. We're on the right side of things. Deborah, I think, we can say that. A lot of work has been done. We understand what we're doing very, very well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: It's just not true.

Let's start with what matters most. Where's the plan? "I'm going to put pressure on the governors."

What about putting pressure on yourself? You are the biggest branch of government. You have the most resources. You have the most experts. Why aren't you doing this? If you're going to talk the talk, walk the walk. Don't put it on the states. "And we're on the right side?" He says we're at 130 dead. Don't forget

the thousand. A 130,000 dead.

Two facts, a key model now shows more than 208,000 of us will be dead by November. However, if 95 percent of the populations that are at risk, OK, if they wear masks, and history will never forgive this President for discouraging mask use until so late, but if we do it, where we need to do it, that mortality number could drop to around 160,000 or so. That's, you know, 40,000-plus lives that could be saved.

Also, we have to understand the tricks people play with numbers. Death rates are going down, but why? One, we're getting better treating the worst cases. Thank God.

And we have seen more young people getting the virus. Now, that's good for death toll because they don't get hit as hard, in general. But they can be just as contagious, and often they are asymptomatic, so they don't know they have it.

But then when they give it to old Aunt Betty, or somebody with diabetes, or somebody else, because they don't think there's anything wrong, they can be very dangerous as spreaders.

To be clear, the pandemic is doing anything but abating. The spread is increasing, in large part, because we have no national plan.

You don't have to take it from me. I'm just an echo. Fauci, other experts, in fact, all the experts in the government, the Head of the CDC picked by Trump, they're all saying it.

And mark my words, they will be silenced, even Fauci. But there will be no plan. But don't fear. Truth will never be silenced. We'll always know the numbers, and we'll always tell you the realities.

Trump says "Open the schools," and everybody should applaud. Who doesn't want that? Everybody wants the schools open. But talk is cheap. We need a plan. Silence! Except their backdoor plan to screw more immigrants.

He doesn't know plan to get schools open. But if they don't reopen, his guys say, then people who have student visas, they should stay home.

Boy, they thought about that. They don't think about how to reopen the schools, though. Why? Because the plan is deny, lie and divide. That's the plan. He did the same thing with reopening.

Remember? "I will insist!" When it came to figure out how, what did he say? "State issue."

"Testing! Tests for everyone! Hooray!" Then what? "State issue."

PPE, remember? "We're going to have the best PPE, the most, we're going to," he didn't get any. He got one place in Maine making PPE here. Look, we all want our kids in school. We all want to reopen. We all want to go where we want, and work as we want, and buy, and sell, and create commerce, and make memories. Life is so short.

But it all requires a plan. Without one, with something like schools, you get where Florida is, a State now hobbled by record cases, ordering public schools to reopen late next month, despite the Governor refusing to even release the county-by-county hospitalization rates.

You give me one good reason to hide the most important metric of case growth. Try it out. You know how to get me on social media. One good reason!

[21:05:00]

And Trump plans to go and celebrate him, this Friday. "Oh, you're doing great." "Celebrate the wrong way." That talk is toxic, and here is the antiseptic truth.

We are five months into this pandemic. Record hospitalizations, only metric that matters, why, because if you're sick, you're sick. 31 states with skyrocketing cases. Nearly 3 million sick in this country alone.

So, let's hone in on making the right choices with a former CDC Director, Tom Frieden.

Tom, thank you for being with us. Doc, what don't people get about this "No national plan" criticism because it seems to wash over people?

DR. TOM FRIEDEN, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR, PRESIDENT & CEO, RESOLVE TO SAVE LIVES: I think it's really challenging. You're right. We don't have a plan. We don't have clear leadership. There isn't someone directly in charge.

Chris, at my Organization, we work with countries all over the world. The first thing we say is "Have an Incident Management System."

Have one person, in charge, reporting to the Head of State. Come up with a plan, and then report publicly, on the website, on the dashboard, of the key indicators, every week, so that everyone's on the same page. So, we know are we getting better, are we getting worse?

How long is it taking tests to come back? What proportion of contact are being connected with, within four days of an indexed patient being diagnosed? How many people are getting disease when they're already quarantined?

What are - what's happening with our outbreaks? The U.S. is an outlier here. We're a laggard, and it hasn't always been this way. The U.S. has been a leader in the past.

So, I think you're absolutely right. We need a strategy. We need a plan. We need accountability. And we need to recognize that we're not going to get out of this for a long time.

As this is going on, there are hundreds of thousands of people being infected. If you think about how long someone stays infectious, could be a week, 10 days.

So, if you're talking about hundreds of thousands of people infected, you're talking about more than a million people infectious, today in the United States, walking around somewhere. And that's going to take a long time to recede.

CUOMO: The counter is--

FRIEDEN: And it's going to take longer, if we don't deny it.

CUOMO: The counter is--

FRIEDEN: At this time.

CUOMO: --"Ah, Frieden, these doctors and scientists, you know, they get all worked up over possibilities. But the reality is death numbers are going down here. It's got to be good. We have to be on the right side of things if that's true."

What is the truth?

FRIEDEN: Well it's certainly great that there are fewer deaths now than there were before. The problem is that you have to look at what's really going to happen.

What's really going to happen is with all the infected people, yes, it's mostly many young adults, where the increase is, but they're not going to stay just with young adults. It's going to infect other people.

There are vulnerable people in the ages of 20 to 60. We've seen this past week some tragic deaths of young people, didn't have prior illnesses, as far as they knew, and this is not a benign illness.

Yes, for most people, they're going to be fine. But some people are going to be really sick. And some people are going to die. The death rate will lag in increase in cases.

And, in this case, because it's younger people, for the first wave, of this wave, it's going to lag by a month, two months, maybe even three months. But the deaths will come. We have to take this so seriously.

We have to recognize that every case needs to be attended to, so it doesn't spread, so we can stop this, and get back to schools, and work, and economic growth--

CUOMO: Right.

FRIEDEN: --and healthcare.

CUOMO: So schools, you know, we're in the middle of the summer. But fall is going to come. In fact, it comes early, the school season, even before September in some months like - some states like Florida.

Now, what is the trick to reopening schools?

FRIEDEN: Actually, Chris, we're releasing a brief on this tomorrow. But I'll give you a preview.

CUOMO: Thank you.

FRIEDEN: We agree that the question isn't whether to open schools but how.

And that means, first, the single most important thing that can be done to get a school open is for the whole community to get together and control COVID, so it's not exploding in that community, because if you have exploding COVID in a community, you're not going to be able to open the schools. It's not going to happen.

Could you open schools today in Phoenix?

CUOMO: But they'll put pressure on them.

FRIEDEN: No, they can't.

CUOMO: They're going to put pressure, though. Didn't you hear him?

FRIEDEN: Well it'll be just--

CUOMO: The President said "I'm going to put pressure on you, Frieden."

FRIEDEN: How did that work out for Texas and Arizona and Florida? One step forward, two steps, three steps, four steps back.

The only way to do this is to do it smart, do it right, to make sure that we're protecting students, protecting staff, taking a series of measures, in addition to getting the - the virus under better control in the community, protecting students and staff, protecting the vulnerable, doing what we can to reduce the risk, recognizing it's not going to be zero. Risk isn't going to be zero.

[21:10:00]

But that doesn't mean we have to close. Nor does it mean we have to charge forward and open. We can't put people in harm's way knowingly. That's not an ethical thing to do, and it wouldn't work, even if we tried. People would refuse to go.

So, what it means is keeping vulnerable students and staff out, means making schools as safe as possible. It means being creative, continuing tele-school, where it's possible, for high school kids, for example, except where you have very low case numbers. It means figuring out how to increase distance in schools. It means

masking everyone in the school. It means making sure that teachers don't congregate among themselves. We are seeing outbreaks in schools--

CUOMO: Right. FRIEDEN: --in some places. So, it's not without risk to open schools, but it's also not without risk to close them, because really bad things happen--

CUOMO: Absolutely.

FRIEDEN: --to education, health, social outcomes.

CUOMO: I'll tell you, and I'm no scientist, but I am a parent. And I will tell you, this remote schooling thing, it is not one-size-fits- all, and it's going to create big, big imbalances in this society.

So, we have to figure out different ways to help communities get back to some semblance of normal. But you're right, the key is how. Tough talk! Not enough!

Doctor Frieden, thank you.

FRIEDEN: Thank you.

CUOMO: All right.

If conditions are what they are today, in Florida, the Superintendent of Florida's Miami-Dade County says he won't allow that new order to reopen schools next month to take effect. But how would they even know what's safe when the State won't give out hospitalization numbers county-by-county?

Have you heard what Florida's teachers are saying about this? You will, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: LET'S GET AFTER IT.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Fact one, all of us want to open schools, and we want to do it safely. Fact two, the hard part of this is how do we make it safe? Trump has nothing for you on how.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So we're going to be putting a lot of pressure on open your schools in the fall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: How about putting pressure on himself, for a change, to do his job, as a self-described Wartime President? Come up with a plan. It didn't work with reopening. It didn't work with testing. It didn't work with PPE. You have to do more than talk.

Without a smart plan on schools, you get Florida, mandating all brick- and-mortar, you know, obviously, physically-built schools, open five days a week, starting next month.

This, from one of the worst hotspots, in the country, where the Governor still won't reveal county-by-county hospitalization numbers. He gave some of the most tiresome answers I've ever heard to a direct question today on that because he doesn't have a good answer.

You know who agrees? Fedrick Ingram, President of Florida's largest Teachers' Union, and Tracy Merlin, an Elementary Teacher.

These are the people that we're setting up to go in there with the kids, right? The parents, we're not going to be in there with all these kids that we don't know, every day. We got to make it safe for them, so let's discuss the issues.

Fedrick, Tracy, thank you very much for being with me.

FEDRICK INGRAM, PRESIDENT, FLORIDA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: Thanks. Yes.

CUOMO: So, in terms of the state of play in your State, where is the Union's head in terms of your concerns about going back to school?

INGRAM: So, Chris, thank you for having me. And I appreciate being on your show.

But let me tell you what we have here in the State of Florida. We have 7,347 new cases today. We have 63 deaths of COVID-related deaths. And we also have 50,000-plus over the last seven days. We are not going forward. We're going backwards.

And we have a Governor who has tethered himself to the President of the United States, who is uniquely defined by his Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos.

We've been given no guidance, we've been given no regulations that makes sense, to reopen our schools. And, in the middle of a pandemic, we're being told that we now have to reopen schools, come hell or high water, brick-and-mortar being one of those options.

And so, what we want from our Governor is to lead. We don't want him to follow this President nor Betsy DeVos because there's zero credibility there.

CUOMO: Tracy, the good news is, they'll tell you, "Mostly they're younger people, like you, getting sick. And you don't get so sick. So, the death rate is going down. So, don't worry, you'll be fine."

TRACY MERLIN, FLORIDA ELEMENTARY TEACHER: Well, first off, Chris, it is an honor and I'm humbled to be here.

I'm used to having an audience of my 20 second graders in a classroom, so this certainly is a way to amplify teacher voices. And we need that right now, because, for so long, teachers have been left out of decision-making tactics.

What I will say is that we are in Florida. We are the Land of the Unfunded Mandate.

There are things coming out of Tallahassee that are expected to take place in our classrooms, in our counties, in our schools, and there's no money behind it. We can't work off of empty words.

We need to have specific plans in place, so that I am not exposing myself to this pandemic.

When I started teaching, we were worried about kids' passing notes in school. We were worried about kids' chewing gum. Now, we're dealing with pandemics walking into our classroom, and shooters. This is a very harsh reality for teachers across the country.

And unfortunately, without the leadership that is needed, we're not getting the money. We're not getting the specifics. And there is no guarantee that we're going to be safe.

My whole path, ever since Marjory Stoneman Douglas, which is about 20 minutes from where I live, has been about the students' safety. And I don't think, as a nurturer, as a maternal teacher that I can guarantee that my children are safe without the proper things in place.

This morning, when I was looking on social media, teachers were posting about "Where can I get a living will?" Not "What are we going to do for science this year or social studies?" "Who is the person that I can reach out to for a living will?" That is completely unacceptable.

The other thing that I wanted to share with you is that we are teachers, who teach science.

[21:20:00]

My job, in my classroom, is to look at my students, and see what needs do they have, how can I improve what they're learning, take that information, and come up with a customized individualized plan for the children, so that they can make their learning gains.

We are giving a one-stop approach to how to deal with this problem, and it's simply not working. There are so many variables that have not been addressed. But the main thing is the funding and the safety.

I'm also a mom. I don't want my daughter coming home with any of that. I've been home since March because that's what we were told to do, to go home, to stay safe, get some fresh air, and exercise.

Let's start with a mask ordinance. Perhaps some of the scientific things that we're hearing about could help to make our community heal. CUOMO: So--

MERLIN: What about getting rid of testing? I'm sorry, Chris. I have a lot to say.

CUOMO: Listen, I love it. I love it. I love it.

And, you know, you're used to talking to the elementary kids. You just had to bring it down a few IQ points for me, and I'm picking up everything you're saying, as it's perfect.

But what - they'll come to the Union, and say--

MERLIN: And I'm glad you're feeling better.

CUOMO: --they'll come to the Union, and say, "You'll get your plans. You'll get your plans. But we have to reopen the schools because people can't go back to work without it, Fed, you know that. So, we're all going to have to feel this out. We're all going to have to find our way through. The President is pressuring us to do it. We're going to have to do it."

What's the response of the Union?

INGRAM: So, I'll say this. I'm a High School Band Director. I love my kids. And I will speak for all the teachers in the State of Florida. We want to be back in school. We want to be in front of our classroom. We want to be teaching our kids.

We don't do this for money. We do this because we love our kids, but we need to do this safety - safely. This is life or death. This is about somebody dying. This is about somebody getting eerily sick.

CUOMO: What's the average age of the teacher?

INGRAM: The average age of a teacher and - between 35 and 45 in the State of Florida - in the State of Florida. And Chris?

CUOMO: All right, so you start getting, you know, at the top end of that, you start getting a little bit more risk, but basically a healthy population.

INGRAM: Yes, but Chris, listen, let me add - look, let me just add this.

What if you have a healthy teacher that is in school that is taking care of elderly parents? What are you - what if you have a teacher that is in school that has a sick child at home?

CUOMO: Yes.

INGRAM: And what if you have a pregnant teacher, you know, somebody with some underlying issues, they could have anything. And so, we're not answering those questions.

CUOMO: No. INGRAM: Listen, there's high anxiety. There's high angst. People are angry because this is a one-size-fits-all kind of strategy.

And we need leadership. We need guidance. And we need to have our voices at the table. You can't come up with a plan in Tallahassee and think that that's going to be the best fit for everybody.

And, in fact, our nation is waiting on - on guidance. And we're not getting that anywhere in our Federal government, anywhere in our State governments. And our public schools, we know, are the cornerstones of our democracy.

CUOMO: Right.

INGRAM: And if we want hope for our kids, then we better attune to our public schools, and get this right. Our kids are depending on us to get this right.

CUOMO: There are - a lot of your kids are depending on this to eat, you know, Tracy, you know.

INGRAM: That's right.

CUOMO: We ignore this reality very often. But you have a huge population of public school kids. They need those meals, you know, the one or two that they get a day in that school, may be their best bet at nutrition all day long.

And the remote schooling thing, not only is it not address the feeding issue, Tracy, but I got to tell you, as a parent, that ain't one-size- fits-all either.

MERLIN: Absolutely.

CUOMO: It has been hard for us to have kids, even at these great elite schools that they go to, up here in New York City, we got crushed with this Zoom teaching thing, very hard for families.

MERLIN: I agree with you, Chris.

And here's what I will say. Broward County did a great job about having meals disseminated to students who needed them. There were pick-ups that were available for the students.

But I want to address the parents' role during the online learning, for just a moment. As a parent, because I do have a daughter, it was OK with me, if she didn't catch every concept, because I knew she was alive, and I knew she was healthy.

It was more important for me to make sure that we kept her busy, that we tried to support her in any way that we could, instead of sending her into basically another epicenter. And so, what we have right now is we do have a balance.

But as a classroom teacher, and I know there are so many fabulous teachers out there listening, think about all those times that a child has been sick, and a parent hasn't been able to come and pick them up. Think about the times that they've forgotten their lunch at home, or they needed something, and it hasn't come back in.

We have so many questions about what does this look like. You know, if God forbid somebody has it, in a classroom, what does that look like? We can't even get a substitute teacher, not during a pandemic.

So, now you have a population that is relying on teachers. And I hate to say this, but if the teachers get sick, there's not even going to be an online learning opportunity for your children.

CUOMO: Right.

MERLIN: So, as much as you were frustrated, with having to wear the hat of being the educator at home, it gave a perspective about what the teachers do.

[21:25:00]

And so, if we need to be kept around, to help ensure that our next generation of kids come out, with the knowledge that they need to be successful adults, the first thing we have to look at is how do you have a safe classroom?

And we look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. The second element of the pyramid is safety.

CUOMO: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs!

MERLIN: I don't know about--

CUOMO: That's what I'm talking about. We're going to end the interview on that. That is - that is very, very - that's very tall-grass for this show.

But you are right. Maslow's Pyramid of Needs, that's - you have to be safe, you have to have security, but you have to have education. Obviously, that's going to be the building block for everything. We've got to get it right.

Teachers matter too much, and we haven't done enough for you, for too long.

Fedrick Ingram, good luck to you. Thank you for representing the Union.

INGRAM: Thanks.

CUOMO: And Tracy Merlin, thank you very much, for being the heart and soul of the teachers, who mean everything to our kids, all over this country.

God bless you both. We'll stay on the story.

MERLIN: Chris, thank you.

INGRAM: Thank you.

MERLIN: We're not disposable anyhow (ph).

CUOMO: All right, here's a description that you don't want offered of you.

"A sociopath with no concept of working for anything. A complete fraud who would mock their own ailing father and screw their own family." That is how Trump is described by a Psychologist who has observed him for decades.

"Oh, what does a Psychologist know?" Oh, yes, she's also his niece. Mary Trump says she had to write everything she knows down because she is scared about what her uncle is doing and may do.

What's in the book? CNN has it, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: LET'S GET AFTER IT.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: The scathing new tell-all from President Trump's niece is now set for release next week. But guess what? CNN already has a copy.

Mary Trump's book is called "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man."

In it, she accuses Donald Trump's father of creating a toxic family dynamic. Offers her view, as a Clinical Psychologist, on why she believes the President is a sociopath, who sees cheating as normal behavior.

She even alleges the President cheated on his SATs. White house denies that.

She writes, quote, "Unfortunately, even though Maryanne," his sister, "had been doing his homework for him, she couldn't take his tests, and Donald worried that his grade point average, which put him far from the top of his class, would scuttle his efforts to get accepted.

To hedge his bets, he enlisted Joe Shapiro, a smart kid with a reputation for being a good test-taker, to take his SATs for him. Donald, who never lacked for funds, paid his buddy well." While Mary Trump isn't publicly commenting, because of her restraining order, the White House, as I said, denied the allegation today, calling it completely false. Of course, what's their basis on it? Trump?

The book's publication next Tuesday comes two weeks earlier than planned, based on high demand, now that a Court has cleared the way for its release.

It is quite a damning portrait by someone who knows our Wartime President very, very well. It certainly does, at a minimum, tell you may be why he can so easily tell you something like "Coronavirus would magically disappear." If you're not tethered to the truth, it's easy to say.

I'll tell you what is disappearing. ICU beds in states like Arizona. We have the Mayor of Phoenix here to let you, and others, across this country, know how they got in such dire straits, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: LET'S GET AFTER IT.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Arizona's Maricopa County is now in mea culpa mode, apologizing to its citizens for getting crushed by COVID-19. We'll show you the State map. See the red? The State hit another horrible milestone today with a record 117 new deaths in a single day.

But look at this. Maricopa County, most cases in the entire State, by far, ICU beds there are filling up so fast, experts worry, hospitals are days away from having to use crisis standards-of-care.

Unbelievable in the United States of America, can't happen. But how do we stop it? Joining us now is Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix, the largest City, of course, in Maricopa County, not to mention the State.

Mayor, I know how busy you are. Thank you for coming to PRIME TIME.

MAYOR KATE GALLEGO, (D) PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Thanks for having me.

CUOMO: So, what do you now know was wrong, and what do you need to make it right?

GALLEGO: Arizona was one of the last states to go to stay-at-home and our Governor was one of the first to lift the order.

When we - he lifted the order, we went straight to crowded nightclubs. We had advertisements with beautiful people saying "Re-claim your freedom." Our young people went out, and they are responsible for the largest growth in our cases. It's my own demographic, 20 to 44.

Right now, we are asking for help from our Federal government. There is a huge shortage of testing in Phoenix.

People have had to wait up to 13 hours, in a car, while it is hot. We are predicting highs that could be 117 degrees this weekend. Imagine sitting in a car, while you're aching and sick already, waiting for a test.

I've been asking FEMA to come in and do a testing surge. The Health and Human Services Department is doing one in Baton Rouge. I've invited them to Phoenix. We need a Federal partner.

CUOMO: And in terms of how to get out of this, in Maricopa County, I think it was on June 20th, the County effectively put in a required face covering rule. So, given the lag of this, you should be getting close, in a week or so, to seeing if that made any change.

GALLEGO: We know that face coverings slow the spread of COVID-19 and that was important. My City Council and I implemented one for the City before the County did. And we know it will make a difference.

But I have been concerned about the number of people, in my community, who traveled to parts of Arizona, where there isn't a face mask requirement. I hope people will take this seriously because we can save lives together.

CUOMO: Why Arizona? Others places reopened too soon. They haven't seen the kind of concentration that you and, of course, Texas is dealing with as well. Now, it leads to an ugly suspicion.

[21:40:00]

"Well, you know where those states are, right? They're on the border. Maricopa County, I mean that is illegal central," if you look at the language of the Fringe-Right. "Those are the people that are making you sick, all the people that shouldn't be here."

What's your response?

GALLEGO: If you look at what epidemiologists are telling us, it is tracked to young people going out, large gatherings. When Arizona opened, we went to Phase 3 right away, so that was crowded nightclubs, situations where you're very likely to have a high level of transmission.

We also had a huge problem with people who just assumed this would follow the patterns of the seasonal flu. We see rapid declines in the summer for flu, and people thought nothing is as tough as the Arizona heat, but it turns out COVID-19 is pretty tough.

CUOMO: So, what do you say to the Federal government? They watch the show all the time. What do you need?

I know that you reached out to FEMA. They're refusing to build a new test center, but they say they will increase your capacity in other ways. You say it's not enough. What do you need, and what happens if you don't get it?

GALLEGO: We need medical professionals. We need testing kits. We need supplies immediately. Our hospitals are already in dire straits. And they tell us that as - in the next two weeks, it is going to get to an unbearable level of crisis.

This is the United States of America. We can do better.

CUOMO: Does your Governor agree?

GALLEGO: We had a good conversation with the Governor's Head of Testing yesterday. I've been encouraging the Governor to request that surge testing. He has not yet done so, but I'm optimistic that he will see people suffering, just as I have, and partner with us. Testing is a solvable problem five months in. We can do better.

CUOMO: Mayor, you have this platform, as you need it, going forward, to make the case for what's happening in your community. We are a phone call away.

GALLEGO: Thank you for helping us raise awareness.

CUOMO: God bless and stay healthy.

GALLEGO: You, too.

CUOMO: All right, big questions we're dealing with in this society. The pandemic, systemic racism, the Declaration of Independent States, we hold "These Truths" to be self-evident that all men are created equal.

But that's not the reality in America in too many different ways, as we now know, or you should know. So, let's turn to this virus, racism, and let's tackle "These Truths," with Angela Rye, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: LET'S GET AFTER IT.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CUOMO: Whether they want to, or not, Americans are facing a lot of hard truths about our country, aren't we, particularly over the nation's ugly ties to slavery.

On one level, you've got Republicans saying, "You know, the Democrats, they're the ones who started all this slavery stuff. They were about it. We were always on the right side, back in the day."

Does that make it OK today that Republicans are so quiet about Trump ignoring BLM, signaling (ph) to plead the case for Confederate monuments?

Now, for some in society, what do we do about the monuments? Some say "Get rid of all the statues, all of them, all the Founding Fathers, get rid of all of them."

All them? You really think you're going to get buy-in with the majority of this country, saying "We're going to get rid of all the Founding Fathers, and replace them with indigenous peoples, and other heroes that we choose today?"

Well, it is true. Most of the Founding Fathers, certainly too many, had connections to enslaving people. Or, is all this monument talk, a distraction from real changes that we need to have on the table?

All good fodder for conversation for a new segment called "These Truths" birthed by friend of show, Angela Rye, good to be with you.

ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS: Good to be with you, Chris.

CUOMO: So, the Founding Fathers. Trump, in his July 4th speech, accused protesters, who tear down statues, of wanting to wipeout history. Context?

RYE: Well, I dare not ever try to explain context for a Donald Trump speech.

But what I can tell you, for sure, is that history has already been whited out. What we know is that erasure has existed for indigenous people, for Black people and for all people of color.

And I can tell you, for certain, in my history books, thank God for my parents, who taught me, from the very beginning, about the power of my Blackness, and the importance of - in our mark in history, dating before the transatlantic slave trade.

And so, when we talk about whiting out history, what has already happened is that there's been significant erasure from the beginning of time.

So, when you talk about these monuments, and who American history has chosen to lift up, as our heroes, what is the truth, Chris, is that some of these people are history-makers, but they're no heroes of mine, right? And because they're history-makers, the question is do they belong in

a book, do they belong in a museum, or do they - should they be celebrated, commemorated and memorialized in a statue? And I think there's a big difference there.

CUOMO: I hear you. But this is also going to be a very formative principle of how you get a majority for change in this country.

Rushmore, where he gave the speech, you know, you know who's on Mount Rushmore.

The suggestion of "Hey, they all have to come down. Forget about Washington and Jefferson, forget about Teddy Roosevelt, forget about Lincoln. They all got to go. They're all wrong for one reason. Even Lincoln, he did the Emancipation Proclamation, but he didn't think Blacks were equal socially. He didn't want them around the house that way. They all got to go," you think you're going to get buy-in, in America, for any kind of formative change if you start there?

RYE: Well, and that's exactly the question.

So, so often, whether we're talking about on cable news, or we're talking about the debates that exist in the Halls of Congress, we start at the argument without starting at the same foundational principle just around education.

[21:50:00]

And so, if we start from the same educational point, which could very well be, did you know that George Washington was not only a slave- owner but one who believed that he was worthy of the very teeth that were in his slaves' mouths?

Is that someone who you want to commemorate on the dollar bill with a statue, with a holiday, and on Mount Rushmore?

CUOMO: "Yes" is going to be what you get from--

RYE: Right? Is that's the one who you're--

CUOMO: --85 percent of Americans. Because they're going to say--

RYE: And - and we--

CUOMO: --"What he did was wrong. But he was also the Father of the country. And you have to see your history in the context of where the people were then. They were highly imperfect. This is an experiment. But if you hold everybody to that standard, you'll have nobody." And then, I don't think you'll have any buy-in on something that is,

as we all - as we both know very well, the minority of this country cannot change what's wrong by itself. You need the majority to buy-in. That's a big obstacle to getting--

RYE: And--

CUOMO: --you know, White Americans, but non-White Americans also, to say we got to remake all our heroes in America.

RYE: But I do - I do believe that should be the charge.

I do believe that if, right now, we're in a society that has just, for example, talking about R. Kelly, right? R. Kelly has been canceled, right, given this new term that exists on social media because of his predatory relationship with underage women. Rightfully so!

You know who else had a predatory relationship with underage women?

CUOMO: Thomas Jefferson.

RYE: I'd give you Sally Mason (ph). Thomas Jefferson, exactly.

And so, the question is "Should we be celebrating and commemorating people who were that treacherous to whole groups of humans in this country?" And I would argue "No."

So, if 41 of the 56 signers, of the Declaration of Independence, could talk about "These Truths" that they hold as self-evidence - self- evident, and then go to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, oh, oh, oh, but there's a large footnote.

I wasn't considered human to them, so much so that a Dred Scott decision said so, so much so that we had to wait several years, after the Declaration - Declaration of Independence, for the Emancipation Proclamation to even be signed.

And I think that we have to have those types of grounding conversation that Chris, maybe it is that people will say, "You know, they're still my Founding Fathers." That alone, the patriarchal sentiment that exists in that, I think, also has to be reframed.

Why aren't there any Black women heroes on Mount Rushmore? We can't even get Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill after it being agreed to in the Obama Administration.

We're not talking about the indigenous people, who, land was stolen from, right from beneath their feet.

Sitting Bull should be on Mount Rushmore. Crispus Attucks, who was fighting in the American Revolution, before he was even deemed human, should be on Mount Rushmore. Frederick Douglass who really shaped the way Abraham Lincoln thought about slave--

CUOMO: Adorable. But the - the line was "These are great presidents." And, you know--

RYE: Oh, and I think - yes, I hear you. I think what I would say is they are - maybe they were great presidents to someone.

But who we really should be commemorating are the people behind the great - the great presidents, the people who pushed them to their limits, the people who had them reframe their thinking. That is what I believe this is about. And the truth of the matter is this country is built on a lot that's

not good. And we're in this time that is allowing us to reset and really think about what is right, what is true, and how we should go forward.

There's so much that we were taught in history books that is not accurate, right? And I don't think that we should hold up heroes, or demon-heroes, because it makes us feel better.

CUOMO: I think that--

RYE: That is not honest. And--

CUOMO: I think that where you wind up is, "As long as we don't let ourselves be consumed with this conversation," you're right we have to have the right operating premise.

But, you know, changing who is on Mount Rushmore will help, in some way. I think you'd have to add. I think if you do addition by subtraction, I think you're going to have problems.

But I think if you add to our understanding of our collective history, and who was positive, and who wasn't, and change our education, make it more fulsome, make it more honest and transparent about people, flaws and all, that's a good sign.

But we will continue this conversation, because the idea of "These Truths" is what we're playing with in Angela and I's conversations--

RYE: That's right.

CUOMO: --we'll keep having on this show, is what is true and what isn't?

RYE: That's right, Chris.

CUOMO: A lot of it is on perspective.

RYE: And it is--

CUOMO: End word to you.

RYE: It is. And I would just tell you that some aspects of what we're talking about in truth means it may hurt a little bit, but it's still right. And if it's right, how do we pursue the fullness of the righteousness of this conversation.

And the part of it is until we do some policy shifts, engaging in some major policy change, to go along with this symbolism that is also very meaningful, we're going to be right here, talking about the subtraction versus addition, because it's not just about the symbolism.

CUOMO: But that's what something everyone must agree on. We can't stay where we are.

RYE: That's right.

[21:55:00]

CUOMO: Things cannot stay the way they are. How do we move forward? That's a tough question. These conversations will help. I know there are people out there, who aren't going to like what Angela says. That's on her.

I know you're not going to like what I say. I'm going to test these propositions because that's how we have the conversation.

RYE: That's right.

CUOMO: So all love and respect between me and Angela. You should apply the same to your discernment of what's said in this segment. We'll see how we do, and we'll keep doing it.

Angela, God bless, take care.

RYE: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Ameri-CAN'Ts, OK, not everything is Ameri-CAN. We got to co-expose the Ameri-CAN'Ts also, OK, especially when it comes to how we move forward together, as a society, when it comes to racism.

There are things we cannot do, if we want to get to a better place. I'll point them out, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: LET'S GET AFTER IT.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Let me bring in my man, D. Lemon. We're both observing what's happening in this country, exposing what's wrong, trying to shine light on what's right.

In California, this is just wrong.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST, CNN TONIGHT WITH DON LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office has charged two residents with three misdemeanor counts, including a hate crime, and here's why. You know, they got a permit to paint "Black Lives Matter" there. They got a permit. They did it legally.

LEMON: Yes.