The journalists on CBS This Morning on Tuesday asked Andrew Cuomo just one single question about his disastrous decision to send COVID patients into nursing homes, a move that needlessly killed thousands. Because one must be gentle with the New York Governor, Gayle King then proceeded to gush over his "hard truth" telling and the Democrat’s refusal to “sugarcoat” things as he handled COVID
Here’s the best that co-host Tony Dokoupil could manage, gently wondering if Cuomo would “do things differently”:
It would seem that one of the bigger mistakes we can all agree on was back in March the state of New York sending sick COVID positive seniors back to nursing homes, thousands died in those nursing homes, no matter how you count it. A big portion of the overall death toll. Knowing what you know now looking back, I've got to assume you would do things differently.
After that question, King swooped in to change the subject and promote Cuomo’s book on “leadership lessons”:
I felt in real time we were learning what you were thinking and the decision-making process. You said, “Listen, there's no blueprint for any of this.” You said you had to develop trust and trust leads to truth. So 19 days in when you ordered that lock down, how did you think or did you think people would pay attention to what you were saying? Because none of us had been in this situation before.
If these journalists wanted to be tough, they could have asked how it’s appropriate to write a book touting leadership when you made a disastrous decision like forcing nursing homes to take COVID-positive patients. Of course, they didn’t do that. Instead King hailed the Democrat as a “hard truth” teller who wouldn’t “sugarcoat” things:
You know, you gave us hard truths. You didn't try to sugarcoat when we needed to hear the truth. And you also talked about your own vulnerabilities.... You exposed a lot of your own vulnerabilities. I'm wondering as a governor of the state how you were navigating that and your own personal duties, too?
Perhaps Cuomo doesn’t have to sugarcoat things because he has media outlets like CBS This Morning for that. The network repeatedly covered up his nursing home disaster, before finally talking about it in August. In September, the governor publicly threatened physical harm to Donald Trump. CBS, alone among the morning shows, censored the news.
The effort to cover and spin for Cuomo on CBS was sponsored by Progressive insurance and Amazon.
A transcript of the CBS This Morning questions can be found below.
CBS This Morning
10/13/2020
8:00 AM TeaseTONY DOKOUPIL: Fighting the coronavirus, new cases are rising across the country including in New York. We'll ask Governor Andrew Cuomo what he's prepared to do to prevent the crisis from worsening?
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8:03:20 to 8:11:55
DOKOUPIL: Coronavirus cases in the U.S. are on the rise with 37 states seeing an uptick in daily cases over the past seven days. One of those states is right here in New York where Governor Andrew Cuomo recently unveiled new lock downs for nine so-called hot spots where cases are surging. New York reported more than 1,000 new cases yesterday. Granted, that's a big decrease from the high of more than 11,000 back in April when the state was the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S. Still, nearly 900 people in New York are currently hospitalized with the virus. Cuomo discusses what he learned in his new book American Crisis, Leadership Lessons From the COVID-19 Pandemic. And he joins us now. Good morning, governor. I want to get to it because we're at a delicate moment. Everyone seems to agree the fall is going to be challenging. What are you doing to prepare?...
DOKOUPIL: Governor, they are small, but people are concerned about the fall. As you mentioned, the markets are concerned, the rest of the country is concerned. The places that are restricted now, those hot spots, they have about six percent positivity rate and infection rate of six percent. Can we assume that will be your benchmark for deciding if a statewide shutdown is required?
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DOKOUPIL: But, governor, if the overall rate as you mentioned, other states are already above 5%, the hot spots are above six percent and they've got restrictions, would we see a second shutdown if the state level, the overall numbers get above six percent. Same standard?
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DOKOUPIL: It is a remarkable thing. I do want to talk about lessons learned. It would seem that one of the bigger mistakes we can all agree on was back in March the state of New York sending sick COVID positive seniors back to nursing homes, thousands died in those nursing homes, no matter how you count it. A big portion of the overall death toll. Knowing what you know now looking back, I've got to assume you would do things differently.
ANDREW CUOMO: Look, there's no doubt that we learned lessons. On the nursing homes, the first point is that's how we were introduced to this virus, right? It was a nursing home in the state of Washington. The virus preyed on the weak and it preyed on people in nursing homes and most of the lives lost, single greatest percentage is in nursing homes. That's true all across the country. There's also no doubt that we're in this hyper political environment so everybody wants to point fingers. New York actually, we're number 46 out of 50 in terms of percentage of deaths in homes. 46 out of 50. So, yes, people died in nursing homes. Yes, we've learned a lot of lessons, but 46 out of 50, it's not a predominantly New York problem. If we had to do it all over again, Tony, I would do things differently.
GAYLE KING: You make that clear, governor. You made that clear in your book.
CUOMO: I'm sorry?
KING: This is Gayle speaking to you, governor. You made it very clear about lessons learned and the mistakes you've made. But what I found so fascinating about your book, you took us through a tik tok from the beginning how it started, what we were learning I felt in real time we were learning what you were thinking and the decision-making process. You said, “Listen, there's no blueprint for any of this.” You said you had to develop trust and trust leads to truth.” So 19 days in when you ordered that lock down, how did you think or did you think people would pay attention to what you were saying? Because none of us had been in this situation before.
...
KING: Yeah, I felt though — many people felt you were the only one who was telling us anything. You know, you gave us hard truths. You didn't try to sugarcoat when we needed to hear the truth. And you also talked about your own vulnerabilities. You're a bona fide girl dad. You have got three daughters. Even they were saying, “Dad, what's the deal.” Your brother Chris Cuomo went through a very nasty battle. You had a mom who many people hadn't seen their mom. You exposed a lot of your own vulnerabilities. I'm wondering as a governor of the state how you were navigating that and your own personal duties, too?
...KING: A lot of us are still afraid. That put you at odds with the president of the United States. You write this. “The difference between Trump and a great leader is asking him not to act in his self-interesting is asking a skunk not to smell.” That's like poking a bear, governor. Are you getting ready for the incoming coming your way shortly?
CUOMO: Look, I've been taking incoming from day one, Gayle, all right?
KING: Yes.
CUOMO: I have no problem taking the incoming, but I think at this point I want people to have the information to protect themselves.
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