NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: Interview with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Gov John Bel Edward
Interview
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CHUCK TODD:
And joining me now are governors of two states that have seen an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases. Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Governor John Bel Edwards of Louisiana. Governors, welcome to both of you. Governor Edwards, I solemnly want to start with you. Sadly, you had to report that you had a staffer die from coronavirus last night. I just figured I'd, I'd let you, let you say a quick word about that.
GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS:
Well, thank you. April was a tremendous asset to Louisiana. She was a valuable member of our team, someone that I was actually personally friends with and had gone to church with. And she died last evening about 6 o'clock. And, and this should be a reminder to everyone just how serious, how deadly COVID-19 is. And we need to do everything that we can to minimize the spread, slow the spread. Stay home, slow the spread and save lives. And, and, you know, that's my message to the people of Louisiana today.
CHUCK TODD:
Governor Whitmer, let me start with you. Tell me the situation in Detroit specifically right now and where Michigan is today.
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER:
Our numbers are climbing exponentially. We knew it was a matter of time, not if COVID-19 would come to Michigan. We took aggressive measures. We've been on the front end of aggressive measures that states have been taking, but we see this astronomical rise. We've got hospitals that are already at capacity. We're running out of PPE as well. I'm grateful we got a shipment from FEMA yesterday for 112,000 N95 masks, but, you know, we're going to be in dire straits again in a matter of days. And so we're keeping up the pressure and working 24/7 at the state level. And grateful that there are people who are doing that at the federal level as well. But this is not something that we should be fighting each other on. It should be everyone fighting COVID-19. Everyone versus COVID-19.
CHUCK TODD:
Governor Edwards, give me the situation in New Orleans, and, and in particular, I think a lot of folks are concerned about your -- some of the rural communities of, of Louisiana. How quickly do you fear that your system could get overwhelmed?
GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS:
Well, we have the coronavirus now in cases in 56 of our 64 parishes. So while the hot spot is down around New Orleans, it is statewide. We know that if we don't flatten the curve, we're on a trajectory currently to exceed our capacity in the New Orleans area for ventilators by about April the 4th, and all beds available in hospitals by about April the 10th. So we're doing everything we can to surge capacity. It is very difficult. We did get some PPE yesterday, like Governor Whitmer said. We've already allocated about 100,000 masks just yesterday to the hospitals. Ventilators are the short-term really big pressing issue that we're trying to solve for -- very difficult because every state is looking for these. There are only so many to be had. And so we're trying to get the, the public to slow the spread by following the mitigation measures while we ramp up our medical capacity. This is a very challenging public health emergency.
CHUCK TODD:
Governor Edwards, did what Dr. Birx said about the ventilator situation in particular, basically saying she's urging governors and mayors, do your own inventory, basically find anything you can, it seemed to be a subtle message that the federal government's struggling too.
GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS:
Well, that's -- well, that's true. Everybody's struggling to get these items, but that really isn't anything new. We've been doing that for many days here in Louisiana. We're inventorying all of our health care clinics in various settings to find any breathing device that can be used as a ventilator, perhaps it has to be retrofitted or modified in some way. We have EMT-type ventilators that really aren't designed to be used in hospitals, but they can be if necessary. We're also trying to see if there's certain ventilators that might be able to service more than one patient at a time, depending upon their acuity level. We're doing everything that we can, but we've actually only been able to procure 192 ventilators over the last several weeks when we've had about 12,000 on order.
CHUCK TODD:
Governor Whitmer, you seemed to imply late in the week that you thought the federal government or perhaps President Trump was punishing Michigan and your attempts to procure different medical items. Do you have any -- do you still believe that is happening? Or, or do you believe that you were mistaken?
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER:
No, you know -- here's what I said, what we are doing is placing all of these orders. We are contracting. We are trying to procure this in addition to the help we need from the federal government. And like Massachusetts, like New York, like California, like places all across the country, we're bidding against one another. J.B. Pritzker from Illinois observed that same thing. And then we get a notice that it's going, being directed to the federal government. And I think that's a frustration point that is not unique to Michigan. But it is certainly a part of the issue that we're all confronting. There's not enough ventilators. We need thousands of ventilators in Michigan. There is not enough N95 masks. We've got nurses who are wearing the same mask from the minute they show up for their long shift to the end of that shift. You know, we've got to slow the spread. And that's why the stay at home orders, asking people to do their part -- people need to understand the seriousness of this issue. It's a novel virus with no cure, no vaccine, highly contagious and deadly. No one's immune from this thing. No generation is. And that's why staying home and keeping this virus from being transmitted from person to person is really the best tool we have. But we've got to keep working to get all of these other pieces of equipment. And when we're bidding against one another, it's creating a lot of frustration and, and concern. And that's exactly what I was trying to convey, and the same thing that's been conveyed by others on both sides of the aisle.
CHUCK TODD:
Governor Whitmer, I'm just curious, the president seemed to direct Vice President Pence to not call you, not talk to you. But Vice President Pence is talking to you. Is your relationship with the vice president a good working relationship? And do you -- are you going to attempt to heal your relationship with the president?
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER:
I think everyone at the federal level and the state level, the states across the country are working 24/7. This is a challenge. This is a moment where the enemy is COVID-19. It's not one another. And that's why I'm grateful for the partnership that we've gotten. I've talked to the vice president a number of times. We're working with everyone from the White House on down through FEMA, DHS, the Army Corps of Engineers because it's got to be all hands on deck. We are not one another's enemies. The enemy is the virus. And it is spreading. And it is taking American lives. And that's precisely why we governors are, are banding together where we can to try to make sure that we are organized, we are learning best practices from one another, we're sharing information and we're protecting the people of our states.
CHUCK TODD:
Governor Whitmer of Michigan, Governor Edwards of Louisiana, and again, our condolences for your staffer, April Dunn, there, Governor Edwards. Good luck. Stay safe. Stay healthy. And as you guys said, we're all in this together, thanks very much. When we come back --
GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS:
Thank you, Chuck. I appreciate it.
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