As the death toll of the Wuhan Virus continued to climb in New York and set new grime records, many had started to criticize the state and local governments for dragging their feet in the beginning. Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News was the only evening broadcast program to direct criticism at something other than the Trump administration. A few hours later, CNN host Chris Cuomo used Prime Time to give Andrew Cuomo, his brother and governor of New York, a forum to bash those critics.
NBC correspondent Gabe Gutierrez began his Wednesday report be giving the grim reality of what was happening on the ground in New York:
Tonight in New York, the curve is flattening but the death toll is still rising. Coronavirus killing at least 779 people in 24 hours. The pandemic's deadliest day again but hospitals, ICU admissions, and intubations are leveling off. Authorities are urging New Yorkers to keep social distancing even as Passover begins.
“There’s now growing scrutiny over whether state and local officials here were slow to act. Other cities in California and Washington State adopted stricter stay at home measures and closed schools sooner,” Gutierrez added.
NBC had backup. According to a New York Times report, if New York had implemented strict social distancing guidelines anywhere between one to two weeks earlier, they could have reduced the death toll by “50 to 80 percent.” New York had 4,755 deaths as of April 8.
Now, throughout the crisis, Chris Cuomo has repeatedly had his governor brother, Andrew Cuomo on his show several times and rightly drew concerns about journalistic ethics. Those concerns proved legitimate, Wednesday, when Chris teed up Andrew to go after his critics in the media.
“Now, media coverage is going to look and see how we got here. You and the Mayor have been cited in New York for catching on slowly here. And that is something that they don't just talk about you guys, but that you are part of the mix of politicians who waited too long,” Chris, who had contracted the virus, prefaced. “With the benefit of hindsight, do you agree with that criticism?”
Andrew’s immediate response was to lash out at the press:
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Look, in these situations, Chris, they're going to criticize you whichever way you go. Right? I've been through too many emergencies, too many disasters. If you take a lot of action and then the storm doesn't come, they say you were overcautious, over preventative. So, they'll second-guess any decision. That's what the quote unquote, some of you guys in the media like to do. right?
Chris has had some pretty disgusting words for President Trump when he had his battles with the press. A blatant double standard in favor of his brother, who argued that people had criticized him for being “too prepared.”
Feigning objectivity, Chris playfully pressed his brother to present evidence he was “too prepared,” even wagering lunch for each piece of evidence. “That, compared to the projections, that the actuality never came to the projections that we were following--,” was all Andrew said in his defense before Chris interrupted to roll over in defeat. “Bring money,” Andrew told him.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
April 8, 2020
9:06:10 p.m. Eastern(…)
CHRIS CUOMO: Now, media coverage is going to look and see how we got here. You and the Mayor have been cited in New York for catching on slowly here. And that is something that they don't just talk about you guys, but that you are part of the mix of politicians who waited too long. With the benefit of hindsight, do you agree with that criticism?
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Look, in these situations, Chris, they're going to criticize you whichever way you go. Right? I've been through too many emergencies, too many disasters. If you take a lot of action and then the storm doesn't come, they say you were overcautious, over preventative. So, they'll second-guess any decision. That's what the quote unquote, some of you guys in the media like to do. right?
First thing I say to you is, look in a mirror before you open your mouth, right? So, before you want to talk about what others did, what did you do and when did you do it? Second, you're not going to be able to find a state in the United States of America that moved faster than New York State. We had our first case, 15 days later, I closed the schools. Nobody had called for that 19 days later, I closed down the state.
When you close down New York, Chris, you’re close down one of the economic engines on this globe. And no state did that faster than we did it. As a matter of fact, I took a lot of heat for moving as fast as I did. Now, they want to say, “oh, governor, maybe you did too many - you were too prepared, maybe you didn't need to do everything you did.”
You know, they're going to do that game all day long. But look, I react to numbers and data and science. We are looking at projections and models, by experts who analyze this data. And I follow the data, right? This is not about what I think politically or what I think because I think really I'm a doctor. I just follow the data. And that's what we did.
(…)
C. CUOMO: I will buy you lunch for every time that you can show one piece that showed you were too prepared for the pandemic. Okay? Any piece that you can show me that says, “Cuomo, you were too prepared for this pandemic. You did too much, too soon.” I don't think you'll find any piece like that.
A. CUOMO: What is the wager?
C. CUOMO: Whatever you want.
A. CUOMO: What is the wager?
C. CUOMO: That you were too prepared. That you did too much, too fast.
A. CUOMO: Oh really?
C. CUOMO: Yes.
A. CUOMO: That, compared to the projections, that the actuality never came to the projections that we were following--
C. CUOMO: I'll give you any context you want.
A. CUOMO: Good, okay. Bring money.
C. CUOMO: Look, that's a separate question that I hope you’re right about. I think you have to prepare more than the actual numbers. You’re right about that, all day.
(…)
NBC Nightly News
April 8, 2020
7:02:24 p.m. Eastern(…)
GABE GUTIERREZ: Tonight in New York, the curve is flattening but the death toll is still rising. Coronavirus killing at least 779 people in 24 hours. The pandemic's deadliest day again but hospitals, ICU admissions, and intubations are leveling off. Authorities are urging New Yorkers to keep social distancing even as Passover begins.
MAYOR BILL DEBLASO (D): We have to beat it back, not open the door again too early, for it to resurge and hurt so many people.
GUTIERREZ: There’s now growing scrutiny over whether state and local officials here were slow to act. Other cities in California and Washington State adopted stricter stay at home measures and closed schools sooner.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D): I think New York was early and I think the actions we took were more dramatic than most and frankly, we're criticized as being premature.
GUTIERREZ: Public employees are being hit especially hard. In New York City, 41 transit workers have died. So have 14 members of the NYPD, more than 2,000 officers have tested positive and more than 500 firefighters.
(…)
