CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Gavin Newsom

Interview

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BLACKWELL: All right, thanks to all of our correspondents there.

And, today, more than 50 major health care groups have issued a joint statement calling for all health care and long-term care employers to mandate employees be vaccinated against COVID-19.

They write this: "This is the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment of all health care workers, to put patients, as well as residents of long-term care facilities first, and take all steps necessary to ensure their health and well-being."

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has just announced brand-new vaccine mandates for certain people in his state.

And Governor Newsom joins me now.

Governor, thanks for being with us.

Your new mandate aligns with what we have heard from these -- these health care groups, but goes a step further. What are the new rules, and when are they applying?

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Well, those same health care groups are partnering with us today as part of our announcement, the private sector health care delivery system recognizing the urgency of this moment, aligning themselves with now the state mandate that we prove verification of vaccines.

If you can't prove, then we are mandating testing as much as two times a week in certain settings. So, this includes all 246,000 state employees, but also includes those long-term health facilities, acute facilities, as well as adult and psychiatric facilities that also will be joining our effort.

BLACKWELL: Governor, correct me if I'm wrong.

From what I have read from your office, there's a distinction between the health care workers and the rest of the state employees, that those health care workers' vaccinations will be verified.

Will the state also be verifying the vaccination of all state employees?

NEWSOM: Yes, that verification is across the board. It's just the testing requirement and a PPE requirement that will be additive, particularly in those non-congregate facilities -- or congregate facilities of high risk.

So, we will be doing testing twice a week. There'll be respirator, masking requirements, N95s in certain settings, more traditional surgical masks in other settings.

But the bottom line is no more self-attestation. We want verification. And if you can't verify you have been vaccinated, then you will have to submit to these mandatory testings.

BLACKWELL: Does this apply to volunteers and vendors and contractors?

NEWSOM: Yes, in certain instances. There's still some telework exceptions. There's some exceptions across the spectrum.

But we think this is a logical next step. I think your introduction, this is really a thing -- a sign of things to come. You're seeing it in New York City. You saw the VA today. I expect other states will follow suit.

And, again, what distinguishes what we're doing here is, it's not just a mandate for state employees. It's also a partnership with our health care delivery system and private sector.

And we're encouraging other employers across the spectrum, bars, restaurants and others that choose to consider following suit to do the same. And we think it's incumbent upon the work force now to really take it to the next level, safe work force, safe state.

[15:10:09]

BLACKWELL: So, let's talk about masks. Of course, L.A. County has brought back their mask mandate for indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

I want to put up on the screen the growth in cases. I have got the six weeks before the indoor mask mandate for vaccinated people ended on June 15, and then you see the six weeks or so since, and there, of course, is this growth in cases.

Is it time, Governor, to bring back a universal mask mandate, regardless of vaccination status there in California?

NEWSOM: Look, we don't even have to have that debate if we can just get everybody vaccinated that's not vaccinated, that's refusing to get vaccinated, that is living vaccine-free and impacting the rest of us.

It's like drunk drivers. You don't have the right to go out and drink and drive and put everybody else at risk, including your own life at risk. California has one of the highest vaccination rates in America, but yet we're still seeing an increase, because so many people, 25 percent in California, are refusing to get vaccinated.

So we're really trying to focus on ending this pandemic once and for all. Those nonpharmaceutical interventions, like face coverings and face masking, were necessary in the absence of vaccines. But with these vaccines, we can extinguish this virus once and for all and get it behind us, and not worry about getting our kids safely back into in person instruction or keeping our businesses open.

We're encouraged by the local determinations as it relates to mask- covering, mask-wearing, but, at the end of the day, the real focus here, get vaccinated, so we can end this pandemic once and for all.

BLACKWELL: I get that, but short of people getting vaccinated -- and there are lots of conspiracy theories about why people are not getting the vaccines -- but, short of those vaccinations, why not follow the lead of L.A. County and require those masks?

Because we know that the honor system didn't work, that the people who were unvaccinated kept their masks on, while those who are vaccinated took them off in malls and indoor facilities.

So, why back away from that, that option?

NEWSOM: Well, over half of -- over half of the state is in a jurisdiction that requires mask-wearing in California or is encouraged to wear mask coverings.

But you talk about conspiracy theories, it's in -- it's very direct misinformation, not just conspiracy theories. It's the misinformation being proffered by the Ron Johnsons and the vast majority, or at least roughly a majority, of Republican House members.

It's folks like Tucker Carlson. You need to call this out, these guys on the right that have been misinforming the public. And now people's lives are at risk, and the economy of this country is at risk, and our ability to educate our kids is at risk.

We need to be more direct about this. We need to call this out, I think, much more succinctly. We have lifesaving vaccines. We could end this pandemic, move away from the face covering debates, and address this once and for all. In the next few weeks, we can end this pandemic in the United States of America.

We have the one thing the rest of the world dreams of, and that's abundance, ubiquitous access of these lifesaving vaccines. So we need to be a little bit more aggressive in this space. And we need to call out the misinformation that is being proffered by certain groups, increasingly along an ideological spectrum.

BLACKWELL: And that's something we, of course, do here every day.

What are you doing about it there in California?

NEWSOM: Well, we're doing this -- the first state to take a bold step, not only with state employees, but also, as I said, with private sector employees, joining suit in the health care industry.

As I said, over half of California is covered.

BLACKWELL: Specifically on misinformation, Governor. I apologize if that question wasn't clear.

Specifically on misinformation, what are you doing about it?

NEWSOM: I have got a team of people at the Department of Public Health, a team of people specifically, every single day battling in the trenches to address the issue of misinformation, address the issue of hesitancy.

We have partnered with literally -- I'm not exaggerating -- 480 community-based organizations to push back against the misinformation. We're looking at social media sites. We're also looking at what's going on, on people's platforms, all stripes of platforms. And we're trying to get into people's -- well, we're trying to connect with people where they are.

And that includes, by the way, a $40 million commitment with family practitioners, CalVax grant programs, so we can deal with legitimate hesitancy and misinformation one-on-one with caregivers as well.

BLACKWELL: All right, California Governor Gavin Newsom, thank you so much for your time, sir.

NEWSOM: Good to be with you.

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