The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Andrew Cuomo on "American Crisis" and COVID-19 Lessons

Episode Date: October 20, 2020

New York governor Andrew Cuomo reflects on the chaotic early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, his state's concerted efforts to rein in the spread of the virus and his book "American Crisis." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17th. Governor Cuomo, welcome back to the Daily

Social Distancing Show. Good to be back. How are you? I'm doing a lot better now, and I think a lot of New York is as well. It has been a trying time. The last time you were on the show, I mean, we were going through one of the most chaotic periods that most New Yorkers have ever seen, figuring out how to fight the coronavirus. I think the question I have for you is, how are you doing, and from your perspective, how is New York doing? I'm doing much better than I was doing. I think we're all doing better than we were doing. And look, it was frightening.

There's no other word besides that. You know, we were right up on the edge. I think we were closer to the edge, Trevor, than a lot of people realized. New Yorkers, God bless them, went from the lowest, from the highest infection rate in the United States to the lowest. And that was all New Yorkers. That was all social action. You want to talk about social action, that was it.

And we're much smarter for it. And we now do more testing than any state in the United States. And we are looking at this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this no other state is analyzing this situation. We're tracking this virus on like a neighborhood level now and attacking it on a neighborhood level to make sure that we stay ahead of it. Well let's talk a little bit about that because you know we have seen throughout the country that any part of the government that seems to be fighting to prevent the spread of COVID-19 invariably clashes up against some people or some communities who feel th. th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi thi the the the the the the the thi thi. the the thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. te. te. to truuuuuu. tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. tr-i. tr-I. to be fighting to prevent the spread of COVID-19 invariably clashes up against some people or some communities who feel like their rights are being infringed upon. You're currently in a

dispute with the Orthodox Jewish community in New York where some of them have said we can't go to our church services, we can't you know practice our religion and we feel like we're being targeted by the state. Now, I know you've disagreed with that, but what exactly is going on there? And as a leader, how do you convince people that you're trying to do something for their good even if they feel like they don't want to do it for themselves? No, you're exactly right, Trevor. That is the question from day one. That's, I'll wear a mask, I won't wear a mask, right? The mask has become the symbol of that. There's a school of thought that says this is not the problem you make it out

to be. I'm not worried. I'm not going to succumb to this. And I don't want government telling me what I can do or telling me what I can't do, right? There's a very real school of thought there. The alternative school is this is real, it can kill you, and what you do affects me, and it's not about just you in life anymore. There is community, there is interconnection, there is responsibility to other people and we have to act intelligently to protect ourselves. I now have a situation specific where when you do this, all the testing, we can test, we can target down to literally the block level where the cases are coming from. And we have identified several small communities and there happens to be an ultra-orthodox

Jewish community that has not been following the rules for cultural reasons, religious reasons, and they have like five times the infection rate that the state has. And we've imposed restrictions. And it's not comfortable, and especially when you get involved in religious tensions. But it has really nothing to do with religion. It's a public health law. And I apply it all across the board equally. I've had issues

with fancy fundraisers in the Hamptons. I've had issues with Sweet 16 parties, with Catholic gatherings, Jewish gatherings, right. But it's that same tension. Some people just deny the virus and they don't want government telling them what to do in any manner, shape, or form period. Your book has come at a time when you have been looking back and even processing the present of what's been going on. You led people and people appreciated your tone and your tenor. People appreciated your, I guess, you're being vulnerable with them, you're being forthcoming with them. But there are some people who would say, oh, but Governor Cuomo, is this the the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time the time to to to to to to to to to to to to to to come to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to. to. to be to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. too. too. their. their tho. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. too. too. too. too. to. to. to. to, you're being forthcoming with them. But there are some people who would say, oh, but Governor Cuomo, is this the time to celebrate with a book?

How do you see the book and what are you trying to achieve? I see the book as a caution sign. I think, Trevor, we're at half time at best in this game. And I'm trying to say, let's look at the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the half the half the half the half the half the half, the half, the half, the half, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, tomk, tome, tome, tome, tome, tome, tome, tome, tome, tome, tome, tome, tome, tomorrow, tooomorrow, tooomorrow, tooomorrow, tooomorrow, tooomorrow, tooomorrow, tooomorrow, tooomorrowrying to say, let's look at the first half. And let's look at what happened. Because we have to play a whole second half. And we scrambled in the first half. We didn't win, but we didn't lose either, right?

But we have a whole second half. The fall is coming. They told us the fall was coming. They said the infection rate was going to go up in the fall. This virus is not done with us. And this attitude of complacency or the fatigue, COVID fatigue, I'm tired of dealing with the virus. The virus isn't tired of dealing with you and it's alive and it's well and it's spreading. And more than anything, Trevor, inform yourself. You know who's going to keep you safe?

You're going to keep yourself safe. You have all this political noise, all this political chaos. Just know the facts. Get the information so you can keep yourself safe. And that's what the book is trying to do. It's trying to spur a factual conversation about how we get through this. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.

Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a look on Apple Podcasts starting September 17. As Governor Cuomo, one thing people always loved about you and still love about you is that you go, the buck stops with me and I'm a leader. Some people feel like in the book, it seems like you are telling us about the problems, this hap-athing, this happens,

this hapi, but it didn't feel like the buck was stopping with you. Now, when you look at that as a leader and you go, ha, we've got another wave coming up, things might get worse. What are some of the things you do differently? What are some of the mistakes that you acknowledge where you say we're going to do this a lot better next time? For me, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to, the the to, th. to, th. to, th to, th to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, th to, that, thi. me more responsible than I hold myself. It doesn't matter how distanced I am from it. I believe when you sit in the seat, you're responsible. You know? And I take total responsibility.

And a big part of that book is about, this is what happened, let's learn from it. When I look at that game tape and I see how the game progressed, I go through every play of how I could have done it differently. You know, in the very beginning, the federal government said that they were in charge of testing, and they were doing the testing and it was taking a long time. I should have said forget it. I don't care what you say. The state should have started the testing earlier. We got ambushed by the virus. We had no idea that it was coming from Europe for three months.

And everybody missed it. But that that put New York in the whole. They kept calling it the China virus.. the China. the China. the China. the China. the China. It. It. the China the China the China the China the China the China the China the China the China virus. It was the China the China virus. the China virus. the China the China. the China. the China. the the the the the the China. the China. the the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the ti. I. I. I. I. I. I. I was. I was. I was. I was ti. I was te. I was te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. I te. I t put New York in the whole. They kept calling it the China virus. It wasn't the China virus. It was the Italy virus and the France virus and the Spain virus. It came here from Europe. They said there was no such thing as asymptomatic spread. They said that you only spread it when you had symptoms, you had a

cough, you had a sneeze, etc. That was all wrong. It turned out that you could spread it even without symptoms. And that's how it got into nursing homes. The staff were walking into the nursing homes in February and March, no symptoms, but they were carrying the virus. And nobody... But how do you respond? You know, that's who you are as Governor Cuomo. When you talk to families who say, but Governor Cuomo, why did you force nursing

homes to take these people in? How do you speak to them? How do you console them whilst also reconciling with your actions based on the information that you had or didn't have? Yeah. It's a good question. And you're right. Part of it is you can only deal with the facts that you had at that time.

They told me that I was informed by all the experts that you have to have symptoms. And that's, they were wrong wrong but I based it on incorrect information. The unfortunate thing is Trevor there's then a heavy dose of politics that is injected into this. The states that happen to have the highest number of COVID cases happen to be Democratic state so you have this whole Republican disinformation campaign. We never forced anyone into a nursing home. We never forced a nursing home to accept anyone. That is just not a fact. And yes, there are a lot of... Well, the order, the order, I mean, look, we are now in a moment of respite. So going forward, are there ways to clarify the messaging? Are there, because the nursing homes thought they did have to take the people, you know,

and so that is a tough place to be in. Yeah, and the truth is, look, we have, we're still losing people in nursing homes. Part of it is never going to change, because this virus virus virus virus virus thapapapapapapapapap virus the the thia is thi preys on the week and the old. We still lose people in nursing homes. We now have the strictest guidelines in the country. All staff members for a nursing home get tested once per week. And nobody else tests every worker once a week. Having said that, it's still not a bulletproof plan. Because even if you get a test once a week, you can get that virus in between the tests and you can show up for work the next day, no symptoms, you don't feel anything, and you can bring that virus into the nursing home. It is an imperfect, whatever we do is going to be imperfect. It's really an impossible, impossible situation.

Once the virus makes it to this country, you're in trouble. And that's one of the lessons that I focus on. We knew, we knew that these viruses were developing. We had MERS, we had SARS, we had SARS, we had Ebola, we had dengue. We knew these viruses, what they call zootropic viruses, from animals to human beings. We knew they were coming out of wet markets in China. That's been happening for 20 years. How did we let our guard down as a nation where we just let it happen again we had no

notice all these agencies that are supposed to be international global health watchdogs but once that virus is in your house once it's in your country it's virtually impossible to stop the infection. Now more than ever New Yorkers are going to be looking to you to say, Governor, what is the plan going into the winter? What is the plan going into the time when the numbers might go up again? And I know as a New Yorker, I've been hearing a lot of people concerned because, you know, maybe Mayor DiBlazio says one thing, and then, what is the plan going forward and what do you think New Yorkers need to focus on considering COVID fatigue and all of these issues that we're dealing with? Yeah, on the first point it's important that

people get clear information and they have, they know who to listen to. And look, politics, a lot of people have a lot of different opinions, and you have mayors who say one thing, they, a lot of people have a lot of different opinions. And you have mayors who say one thing, county executives who say one thing. There's a lot of politicians in New York. First point is, the state is in charge. You can have an opinion, Trevor, about what should open, what should not open. But frankly, it's irrelevant. The state makes the law and the state makes the policy. And that's the way it is. The law says we make the policy for the entire state. Going forward, the fall, we do have to be very careful. Our infection rate statewide is very low.

Still one of the lowest, thank God, about 1%. We are doing this obsessive testing that gets us into these neighborhood clusters and we then attack these neighborhood clusters like firefighters stamping out embers. And that's what we're doing in some of the ultra-Orthodox communities, fundraisers in the Hamptons, bars, restaurants, etc. One bad situation, one bad party can create 30 or 40 cases, right? That's going to continue. And then we have to move to the next stage, which is the vaccine.

This is not over until there's a vaccine. We did a letter to President Trump. I'm head of something called the chairman, I'm the chairman of the National Governors Association. Vaccine, first you have to develop the vaccine, then Americans have to believe it's safe, and then you have to administer it. And how do you administer 20 million vaccinations in this state?

Who's going to do that? How long does it take? This is a massive logistical exercise that we have never done. And I want to know now from the White House, what are we, who is going to do what on this vaccination program? And what is the federal role? What is the state role? And let's talk this through and let's understand it.

And let's not have the same chaos that we had in the beginning. Before I let you go, and I appreciate your time today. On a personal level again, I just wanted to touch base with you as a human being. I last remember you being single and now the weather is changing, which means it's going to be a lot harder to go out for a date because you can't be inside with strangers. Have you taken the time to just at least, you know, have a socially distant meal with anybody just in life? Did you take the time? I know you were very busy, so I just wonder as a person if you've taken the time to do that for yourself. Trevor, on a human

level, on a social level, nobody wants to have dinner with me. I have. I have no offers. I have no offers. The only people have... You get us through the second or third wave, and I'm telling you a lot of those offers will offers. thoes.. thoes. And offers. And thoes. And thoes. And I's offers, thoes, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. throo. theeee. thean. thean. theean. throoooooooooo. to to to to to to third wave and I'm telling you a lot of those offers will come rolling in. Governor Cuomo, thank you so much again for your time. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you very much. The Daily Show with Covernoa, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show Weeknights at 11th, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central and the Commey Central. th. th. th. th. th. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. T. T. T. Thank. T. T. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. to. to. to. Thank. to. Thank. to. Thank. to. th. th. th. th. th. th. Thank, th. Thank, to. Thank you. th. Thank you. th. Thank you, th. Thank you, to. Thank you, to. Thank, to. Thank, to. Thank, to. Thank, to, to, to, to, th. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. t. t. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th., Twitter, and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.

This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. You're rolling? But that's all about to change. Like, none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 minutes, a second look.