CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview With Mayor Muriel Bowser

Interview

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BLITZER: I'm going to speak to the mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, in just a few moments.

But the Mayor of Washington, D.C., is with us, Muriel Bowser.

Mayor, thank you so much for joining us.

MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D), DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Thank you, Wolf. My pleasure.

BLITZER: I know you, like the mayor in New York, you both have your hands full with this crisis right now.

BOWSER: Yes. BLITZER: Tell us what's going on in the District of Columbia.

BOWSER: Well, we alerted our community to two positive tests for coronavirus in the District.

And this morning, I actually shared our Department of Health's recommendation that people who attended a prominent church in Georgetown in our city self quarantine, because a person self- identified as having the coronavirus in that church, the minister there.

And so it's very important for us that people heed those recommendations, so that we can contain the spread of this virus as best possible. But what we're looking for in the president is to follow the science. Listen to the medical professionals.

We know that Dr. Fauci has been very forthright and direct in his concerns, especially for vulnerable communities, people who are elderly or people who have an underlying condition, to really take heed to the recommendations coming from their health professionals.

BLITZER: I know you're studying closely whether to shut down some schools, whether there should be big events. The opening Washington Nationals baseball game is coming up. The Washington Wizards play here.

There are concerts. I know you're looking at all of that.

I want to bring in the Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio. He's also looking at all of these developments right now in New York City.

You got a lot going on, Mayor. Thanks so much for joining us.

What do you want to hear, first of all, from the president, who is about to walk into the Briefing Room at the White House?

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: Wolf, first of all, I just have to say, I'm out in Union Square Park. I think you know it well.

There's hundreds of New Yorkers around me going about their lives. That's some good news. People are really not being daunted by this crisis, which is good. We're giving out information to them.

But what I want to hear from the president and his whole team is really clear information about getting us the testing we need. We need automated testing, Wolf. We need FDA approval for it right away.

We also need more supplies. We have been asking for more surgical masks. We're not getting any information on that. We need more hand sanitizer, lots of place in the country too, all these basic supplies. That should right now be federally, if you will, rationed.

I think it makes sense for the government to step in and make sure the supplies get to the parts of the country that need it most.

But we have 20 positive cases in New York City. Clearly, this is a place that needs the support. We're not hearing from the federal government, Wolf, any clear sense of direction when we're going to get that testing approved, when we are going to get those supplies.

BLITZER: Stand by for a moment, because Mayor Bowser -- she is mayor of the nation's capital -- is with us.

I know you want to hear specific things. Are the tests, testing available right now in Washington, D.C., at the level that you think is required, whether at George Washington University Hospital, Washington Hospital Center, any of the major hospitals here in D.C.?

BOWSER: Well, our public health lab is doing the testing, so people are contacting their health care professionals, who are asking them to call ahead to get instructions from their health care professionals, and those referrals will be made to our public health lab.

I would agree with Mayor de Blasio that we need the federal government to step it up, especially with the -- how we procure supplies that support the testing that our public health labs are doing. We will need to have that support from them. And we need it right now.

BLITZER: Is it too early, Mayor de Blasio, to start thinking of some of the drastic steps that have been taken in other countries? And I mentioned earlier, in Italy, all 60 million people are now on lockdown.

In Japan, for the month of March, all of the kids that go to elementary school, middle school, high school, they have been told to stay home. No school for them. Is it too early in New York City to start thinking along those lines?

DE BLASIO: Yes, Wolf, it is. And I'll tell you why.

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We do not want to close down our schools. We don't want to close down our cities. We do not want to have people lose their livelihoods and not have work.

I think the goal here -- and I can certainly say we have been on the case here for -- since the end of January, as have many other American cities, preparing, unlike Italy, unlike Korea, unlike China, that the situation exploded upon them.

We have had a chance to prepare. I think we should try to stick to normal as much as possible, get people to follow those commonsense guidelines on how to handle the situation.

Most simple things, like, if you're sick don't go to work, don't send your kid to school, use hand sanitizer, do the elbow bump, instead of the handshake, these are real simple things.

But, Wolf, we are planning for all sorts of contingencies. We're planning for what would happen if the federal government didn't get us supplies. We're planning for what if our work force wasn't available in the numbers we're used to. But we shouldn't jump the gun. If we can keep our schools open, if we can keep our businesses open, that's what we should be trying to do. And we're not getting a lot of guidance from the federal government, but I can tell you that mayors all over the country, we want to see people keep their livelihoods and keep their normalcy. As much as we can protect that, we want to do it.

BLITZER: It's very interesting, Mayor Bowser. You have a special responsibility, as the mayor of the nation's capital. You have the executive branch of the government, the legislative branch of the government...

BOWSER: I do.

BLITZER: ... the judicial branch of the U.S. government.

You have to deal with that enormous challenge right now and make sure these individuals don't come down with coronavirus.

BOWSER: Well, we -- and we have the responsibility for 700,000 Washingtonians.

And the truth is that everybody could be affected in the exact same ways. So it is very important that people take the advice of medical professionals, if they have had an exposure, to call ahead, to self- quarantine themselves in the case of the exposure, and to make sure that they're not spreading germs.

The commonsense advice that we're hearing helps. And it helps with the coronavirus. It helps for influenza and any number of things. So we're very focused on that.

But I agree with Mayor de Blasio that we are approaching any changes to our regular operations, government services, schools, our special events, following the science, and making sure that any decisions we make will actually keep people safer.

BLITZER: Well, let's hope that happens, Washington, D.C. and New York City, for that matter, two of my favorite cities.

BOWSER: Thank you. Thank you.

BLITZER: Mayor Bowser, thanks very much for joining us.

BOWSER: Thank you.

BLITZER: I know this is an incredibly busy time for you.

Thanks for coming in.

BOWSER: Thank you. Thank you.

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