CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview With Chicago, Illinois, Mayor Lori Lightfoot

Interview

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Joining us now, the mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot.

Mayor, thank you so much for joining us. I know you're incredibly busy right now. We appreciate the time you're going to share with our viewers.

As you know -- and you were there when the governor made the announcement -- your state of Illinois, the entire state, has now been given a stay-at-home order. You were there. I assume you support this move. Tell us why.

MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT (D-IL): I do support it. And we were involved in helping shape the parameters of it, in particular allowing for localities like Chicago to define essential services, essential business. So that's important.

Look, we are trying to do everything we can to save lives, pure and simple. And we know from the lessons of other countries like Japan and Singapore and South Korea that these seemingly extreme measures actually bend the curve and the arc of this virus, so we're taking these measures now to make sure that we slow the rate of this virus spread.

We believe that this is necessary to protect the public.

BLITZER: So what types of work and activities under this new measure would be allowed for the millions of people who live in Chicago?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, vital services, things like grocery stores, gas stations, things that we know that people need to be able to continue to go. All those things will be operational, also government services, essential services, public safety, police, fire, public health, emergency management.

All those things are exempted from this order, also, importantly, for families, day care. And the order actually provides for standing up more emergency day care. We're very concerned about relieving the stress on our health care workers and our first responders, and this particular order allows that to go forth.

BLITZER: Do you want, Mayor, to see this new provision enforced with any civil fines or is all of this simply recommended and voluntary?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, it's not recommended and voluntary.

But my hope is that we will educate people into compliance. The practical reality is, in Chicago, because of the measures that we had already taken over the last 10 days, many, many of our folks are already staying at home.

They're staying at home because they're over 60, they fall within a vulnerable medical condition, or they're teleworking because their employers have allowed for that.

So, you will see, if you came downtown in Chicago, most of our office buildings are close to empty. There's very little foot traffic on the street. But we do want to make sure that we're doing this in a way that keeps people safe, but allows them to get access to the basics.

Pharmacies are exempted. Restaurants can continue to provide curbside, walk-in service. But we want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to tell people, this is serious. And never before have we been so connected to each other and the individual decisions we make affect so many. So that's why this order is necessary.

BLITZER: It's very, very important, indeed.

The president says he doesn't see the need for something like this, stay-at-home or shelter-in-place recommendation, on a national scale all over the country. Do you agree with that?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, look, I really think that this has to be something that is enforced by governors.

But I will tell you that I have been very disturbed to see some of the images in states outside of Illinois, where they simply don't understand how serious and potentially deadly this virus is.

So there may be a point that we may need the federal government to impose this on a nationwide basis. But my hope is, governors and mayors all across the country will understand what they need to do to protect their public, to protect the vulnerable in their states.

And you just have to get people to stay at home, off the streets, because the spread is so, so deadly.

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BLITZER: And it will save lives, indeed.

What's the latest, while I have you, Mayor, from Chicago's hospitals? How are they doing on the critical equipment, the beds to treat patients?

LIGHTFOOT: Well, in Chicago, I think we're doing fairly well.

Keep in mind, we prepare all year round. And so in Chicago, our public health has a great stockpile of essential equipment, ventilators, PPEs. The thing we're having a little stress around, which we are going to look to see how we can alleviate it with the supply train, is the swabs for the test and the reagents, so the little liquid that goes into the petri dishes to grow the samples.

That's where we're seeing some stress. We also need to make sure that we are being rational in the use of PPEs, and masks and other sanitation equipment, so we're not just giving it out willy-nilly, but we're reserving it for our hospital workers and our first responders.

BLITZER: Which is so, so important.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for what you're doing.

LIGHTFOOT: Sure. Thank you

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