CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Mayor Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) about Stay-at-Home Order
Interview
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Let's go to Florida now. Again, this is not just a one-city or a one- state problem, we're seeing it around the country. Florida, cases surging. The highest number in Miami-Dade County. The city of Miami has now enacted a curfew starting tonight while the Miami-Dade County mayor has ordered public gatherings to be limited to no more than 10 people.
The Miami-Dade mayor, Carlos Gimenez, joins me now.
Mayor, thanks so much for taking the time. We know you got a lot on your plate here. So we appreciate you, you know, getting the word out with us. First question, Miami-Dade has issued these restrictions, stay-at-home order, et cetera. The state has not. Governor DeSantis has not gone there. Do local stay-at-home orders work or do you need broader state wide restrictions?
MAYOR CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): Well, there are differences throughout the state. I mean, we are the hotspot down here in southeast Florida. It's us, Broward and Palm Beach that have, you know, the bulk of the cases. And so there are some counties that don't have any cases in Florida. And so the governor is very supportive of the measures that we're taking down here.
We actually call measure safer at home. We allow our folks to do the things, the necessities that they need to do. And then we urge them to stay at home if they're not. The city of Miami has imposed a curfew on the city. The city is about 34 square miles of 2,000 square mile area, which is Miami-Dade County.
And -- but overall Miami-Dade has not put a curfew because our police chief said that it's not necessary, the streets are quiet. There's really no place to go because we shut down all nonessential businesses. There is no gathering places that people can go to. And then we've also put laws that said no more than 10 people can gather in any one place and also you have to remain at least six feet apart. And we're enforcing those laws. We're going into -- SCIUTTO: OK.
GIMENEZ: -- different stores et cetera, and saying, hey, you got to keep part, if not, we're going to shut you down. And so what's going on down then.
SCIUTTO: OK. I'm just curious how that distinction plays out in reality. Of course there is no wall around Miami-Dade County or the city of Miami. How do you keep people from moving outside of the city to other areas of the country that haven't been impacted because one thing that this virus has proven all over the world is that it does not know borders, whether they're borders of countries, towns, cities, states.
GIMENEZ: You're talking about coming from the city of Miami, Miami- Dade County and Dade County into the city of Miami, after 10:00, there's a curfew in the city of Miami at 10:00. Miami Beach has a curfew, too. And a couple of other cities --
SCIUTTO: But during the day. People are driving back and forth I assume during the day. They're going back and forth. They're visiting people, visiting family. I mean, I'm just curious how you control the spread if folks are moving around.
GIMENEZ: The folks -- every city, they're pretty uniform here. There is no lockdown here. There is no city that says stay at home. They may call it an order, but it's not. It really says it's an urging because people have to do the things they have to do. They have to get their groceries, they have to go get pharmacy. They got to go to a doctor, et cetera. So those essential services are open and people are free to go and partake of those essential services.
I mean, government can't feed everybody here, so they have to -- people have to take care of themselves. When they do go out, everybody has to stay six feet apart and then there are measures that we've taken to make sure that those things are happening. And then at night, certain cities have curfews. But in reality, it's only interconnected. It's going to be very difficult for one city to really enforce a curfew when in fact, you know, all the cities here is interconnected.
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And people really don't know what the boundaries are here. And so it's all one big community and, you know, greater Miami, which is about, again, 2,000 square miles, 200 of which happen to be inhabited and the city is about 34 square miles of that.
SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes.
GIMENEZ: And so, you know, we're trying to get everything, you know, together, but cities do have the right to do certain things on their own, although as county mayor, my orders are for the entire county. Cities can go a little stricter if they so desire. But they can't go any less lenient than what I've already ordered around the county.
SCIUTTO: Understood. Well, Mayor, we wish you, we wish the people living there in Miami-Dade the best of luck as we go forward in these next couple of weeks.
GIMENEZ: Thank you. Thank you very much.
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