CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Discusses Coronavirus In N.Y., What The State Needs From The Federal Government, The Democratic Primary Race, The CLEAR Act

Interview

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BALDWIN: Right now, New York State has the most confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country. At least 142 cases. That number shooting up from 106 just from this morning.

The state's Senators, minority leader, Chuck Schumer, and Kirsten Gillibrand are urging the federal government to loosen those restrictions immediately so more people across New York State can get tested as soon as possible.

In this letter to the FDA and the CDC, they're warning that the current testing capacity is not sufficient to meet New York's needs. They want more facilities across the state to be allowed to test for coronavirus. And they want automated testing so that more tests can be done and done faster.

[14:40:12]

And with me now, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

Senator, a pleasure. Thank you for coming on.

Let me dive right in and ask you, tell me more about this letter.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): The biggest problem we have right now is people can't get tested. Only a few people are able to get testing, if they qualify, by all the CDC standards. And it's simply not sufficient.

We need permission for every test center that can do tests. Every hospital, every research facility should be able to do tests, 24/7. So that if we need to test hundreds and thousands of people each day, we can.

Once you can get tests that are readily available, then people can have a sense of calmness. They know that they will know whether they're sick. They will know how to treat it. And then we also know the people who are sick can just stay home. It will make it easier for us not to have to close schools.

If you don't have a rapid test, I don't know how you're not going to have to close schools. And every school child has to stay home because the school is closed means a parent or a family member has to stay home with them, which means someone is not going to work, which means someone is not getting a paycheck.

It also shows the severe need we have for sick leave. We don't have national sick leave in this country. I believe that every worker should have two weeks mandatory national sick leave available to them. And I'm focused on legislation in the Senate right now to do that.

BALDWIN: Right, which is why we're worried because so many people don't get the paid sick leave and they're showing up to work when they're not feeling well, potentially exposing others. GILLIBRAND: Yes.

BALDWIN: Someone we did learn, Senator, who has coronavirus, tested positive, the head of the port authority in New York and New Jersey. And listen, there's not a lot of information around him. According to Governor Cuomo, may have could have gotten sick working around a lot of the airports. What's your number-one concern when you hear he tested positive?

GILLIBRAND: I want to make sure everyone in his family, everyone in his immediate circle can also be tested. We need to know how many people need to stay home.

And I just urge your viewers to use common sense. What we've heard so far about this particular virus is that it's a lot like a flu. It can be particularly dangerous for people who have suppressed immune systems or elderly patients.

So protect those who are more vulnerable. Make sure they don't go to places with lots of people. Make sure they stay home, help them. Bring them food. Bring them all the things they need so they don't feel like they need to go out to protect the vulnerable.

And if you're sick, if you have any flu-like symptoms, stay home. Let your employer know. Absent readily available testing, you don't know if it's a coronavirus or just a regular flu.

So what I'm working on, along with Senator Schumer and our governor, is getting permission from the CDC to test in all facilities. And we need the CDC to come up with a rapid test, just like when you go to a pediatrician's office and can get a strep test for your child or a flu test. You need a test for coronavirus for every school nurse, pediatrician and hospital and every community center, community health center.

BALDWIN: What about in Washington? Senator Ted Cruz, Congressman Paul Gosar have self-quarantined after interacting with an individual with coronavirus. What are you all doing? Are you going to keep lawmakers out of Washington for a few weeks? What's the plan?

GILLIBRAND: As of now, there's no protocol in place, except for obviously using your common sense. If you feel sick, stay home. But again, there's not a lot of tests available in Washington, D.C., either. And so families are struggling.

People are getting information about people in their school communities who may have been in contact with someone with coronavirus, that's very concerning to people.

And until, again, every pediatrician and every nurse and every hospital can do a test quickly, people don't know whether they're supposed to stay at home or not.

So I'm just urging caution, common sense. Imagine this is just a bad flu and you'll do exactly what you do if you have the flu. If you don't feel well, stay home. Make sure you blow your nose. If your child doesn't feel well, have your child stay home. Call their

pediatrician, ask for a test. If tests aren't available, stay home until they feel better.

The good news for parents is that young people tend to recover quickly and seem to be less harmed. That's not the case though for our seniors and anyone, again, who's immunocompromised.

So protect the vulnerable. Stay home if you're sick. And keep asking for tests and, hopefully, the CDC catches up with the needs of the American people and makes the tests readily available.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you - let's pivot to politics in 2020. Your colleague in the Senate, Cory Booker, has now officially endorsed Joe Biden. Senator Gillibrand, here's your chance. Have you decided?

GILLIBRAND: Well, I respect both my colleagues very much. And I know whether we have Senator Sanders or Vice President Biden, both of them will be able to beat President Trump. And so I stand ready to support our nominee. I may well endorse before the New York primary. So I'm just going to keep supporting my colleagues along the way.

[14:45:15]

I'm also focusing on making sure we can flip the U.S. Senate because, when we have a new president, we need to govern. And making sure we have a majority in the U.S. Senate will be one of the most important things I can work on between now and the time we actually have a nominee.

BALDWIN: OK. So what I'm hearing is we're going to get maybe news from you before New York primary.

Last question, the CLEAR Act. I know you introduced the CLEAR Act to reduce corruption in politics. What would this legislation do and what prompted you to say this is the time?

GILLIBRAND: Well, I think we need to get money out of politics. Because the truth is, if you think of any so-called unsolvable problem, I will show you the special interest group that's spending millions of dollars to make sure that problem doesn't get solved.

If you look at the gun crime epidemic, the NRA stands poised to spend millions to guarantee we don't get votes on the issue. You look at global climate change, the fossil fuel industry will make sure there's no votes to even just have energy efficiency, to invest in our renewables and green economy because they care more about their bottom line than the people.

So our job is to get money out of politics.

And we also want to pass anything in H.R.-1. We want to do ethics reform. We want to make sure the Supreme Court has ethical standards they have to abide by.

We want to make sure that voting rights are supported, that we don't have unfair gerrymandering, that Election Day could be a day off, that more people could be guaranteed a right to vote, have better voter registration online.

These are all the commonsense solutions that are in this bill for a full top to bottom voting rights, ethics reform, and money out of politics.

BALDWIN: Great.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, thank you for your time. A pleasure. And we'll see for the tests in New York. We'll see where --

GILLIBRAND: Yes.

BALDWIN: -- where your request goes.

GILLIBRAND: And keep demanding those tests.

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BALDWIN: Keep demanding those tests.

GILLIBRAND: Yes.

BALDWIN: Keep, keep, keep.

GILLIBRAND: Keep demanding.

BALDWIN: Thank you. Senator, I appreciate it.

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