Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Appears Live On CNN's New Day

April 21, 2020

Alisyn Camerota: New York State reported the lowest single day death toll in more than two weeks. Intubations and hospitalizations are on the decline for the sixth straight day in this city. Despite that, New York City is taking steps to cancel public events through June. Joining us now is New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Good morning, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, Alisyn. 

Camerota: So, it sounds like all the data is pointing in the right direction. I mean in terms of hospitalizations going down, the death toll going down, the intubations going down. And so why cancel big events that people were looking forward to through June? Why not just through May?

Mayor: Well, Alisyn, we have to be clear, we're dealing with a really ferocious enemy in this disease and we've lost well over 10,000 New Yorkers and we've got almost a thousand people right now in ICUs fighting COVID in our own hospital system. There's so many challenges we still face. And I think the bottom line now, Alisyn, is we're going to overcome this. There's no question, but we have to do it the smart way. We have to be careful to not allow this disease to reassert itself. This, to me, is the bigger point here. Fight it back, make sure that it cannot reassert, make sure we can actually restart our economy once and do it the right way, protect lives, save lives, don't jump the gun. Some countries went too fast and they found themselves back on their heels. We're not going to take that chance here after everything we've been through.

Camerota: You know you made this announcement yesterday and you talked about all of the things that you and fellow New Yorkers are missing right now and will be missing. And you said things like playing sports, watching sports, community gatherings, family gatherings. You talked about the street fairs, the festivals, the parades, outdoor concerts, all of the things that New Yorkers look forward to in the month of June and beyond. And you've talked about three big parades that people look forward to. The Gay Pride Parade, Puerto Rican Day Parade, the Salute to Israel Parade. What beyond that? So, I mean, since you're talking about family gatherings – beyond those three things, what else is being canceled through June?

Mayor: Yeah, Alisyn, we're talking about things like street fairs and outdoor concerts, outdoor plays. I mean, look, you're talking about in New York City things like this gather thousands of people at a time in a very close space. And I'm not talking about small family gatherings, I'm talking about the kinds of things that literally go contradictory to everything we're talking about now as to how we protect people. Why are we even able to discuss progress in New York City and New York State? Because people practice social distancing, because they did shelter in place, and we've got to stick with it until this disease is beaten. You're talking – and it's so sad, but we're still talking about hundreds of people dying a day. We got to make sure we get this right once and for all. And I think that's the point for the whole country. Alisyn, we have one chance to restart the right way.

And what I'm amazed at is sort of the dissonance between Washington, D. C. and New York and so many other places, where we're fighting the battles still on the ground and you have people in Washington acting like it's all over. It's not over. When the president tweets, you know, ‘Liberate Michigan’ or something like that, it's a misunderstanding of this enemy that we are facing. The president needs to focus on getting us the testing so we can make sure we beat back this disease once and for all. He needs to focus on the stimulus that will help cities and states back on their feet. He's doing this kind of false optimism acting like it's going to be easy to come back. It's not going to be easy, but we will do it. But I'll tell you, if we jump the gun, we're going to regret it.

Camerota: Well, I want to get to the stimulus in a second, but first, what do you think about what Georgia and South Carolina are doing? South Carolina is – some of their retail stores are open for business today. As of yesterday, the governor there made that decision for different stores like clothing stores, furniture stores, etcetera. South Carolina on Friday, as you know, is going to open gyms, it's going to open nail and hair salons. So, what's your take on that?

Mayor: Every place is different, but I would say to leaders, governors, mayors all over the country, make sure you get it right. If you're going to relax some of those standards – where are the facts that back that up. I'm sure everyone has their own information, but make sure that the trend really shows that there's very, very few cases happening anymore that you can contain them. One of the things we're saying in New York is when we go to a situation where we're going to open up more is when we have the number of cases that we can actually trace each one individually, know who came in contact. If someone, God forbid, tests positive, who have they been in contact with so we can trace those people, test everyone, isolate and quarantine the people that need it. Really keep this disease contained. That's what we're going to need to do to be able to allow bigger and bigger gatherings and less and less social distancing. But I'd say to any governor, any mayor, make sure that you're certain that if you're going to bring people back together, you're doing it with the right, smart standards. You're going to keep telling them to do things like social distancing and wearing those face coverings. You do not want to miss on this one.

Camerota: Yeah. Do you worry that what the choices they're making in, say South Carolina and Georgia, are going to have some sort of ramifications for New York? What if somebody from – what if it spikes in Georgia? What if people from Georgia come to New York?

Mayor: Alisyn, I'm thinking about this as an American. I'm worried for all of us that if some of these re-openings are done the wrong way, it's going to affect all of us. Look, the notion here is this is the worst health care crisis in a century. You get one chance to beat it back. So, if any state or any city jumps the gun – and my first concern, of course, is for them and their people, but we all as Americans should be concerned because of course that could lead to the disease reasserting in a lot of other places. It's the kind of enemy you should never take for granted. So, when you open up again, you better have the facts on your side and you better do it slowly and carefully and make sure it's not coming back.

Camerota: You on Sunday, asked President Trump if he was telling New York city to “drop dead” a la President Ford. What gives you the impression that President Trump wants to drop dead? And how much money exactly are you looking for from the federal governor?

Mayor: So, I've asked President Trump repeatedly, not just to help New York City and New York State, but to help all cities and states get back on our feet. We have lost now over $7 billion in revenue. That's our projection of how much is already gone because of this crisis. That is the money we use to pay police, to pay firefighters, teachers, sanitation workers, health care workers. That money ain't coming back. The only place it can come from is the federal government. They gave $58 billion to the airline industry to bail them out. How about bailing out America's cities, America's states, and you're not going to have – this is the part that's amazing to me, Alisyn, and why I'm so shocked by his silence – you're not going to have a restart and an economic recovery if the cities and states that lead the American economy are back on their heels and can't provide basic services.

And I said this to the president. I said, I know you want to restart, I want to restart, we can't do that if we cannot even function as cities. I heard dead silence, had a number of conversations with him, have heard nothing back, and he's a New Yorker. He was – now he lives in Florida, but he's literally said nothing about how to help the place that's been the epicenter to get back on his feet. So, what I think the president should be thinking about is two things and only two things, testing so we can actually all beat back this disease and the stimulus to allow our cities, our states, our economy to fully recover. These are the two things he has dropped the ball on and he's not even talking about – when you ask him how are we going to get cities and states going again? He has nothing to say about it. You know, he wants to talk about immigration. He doesn't want to talk about what's actually happening on the ground with the people he's supposed to be serving. And I think history is going to judge him very harshly and put him in the same camp as Gerald Ford and even Herbert Hoover who ignored what the depression was doing to people and failed to bring the country back. That's where this president is now and he should kiss his re-election goodbye if he thinks he's going to be able to convince the American people to want four more years of a guy who can't even get the basics right.

Camerota: Mayor Bill de Blasio, we really appreciate your time. Thanks so much for being on.

Mayor: Thank you, Alisyn.