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Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Appears Live on CNN's the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer

August 3, 2021

Wolf Blitzer: The breaking news this hour, President Biden says [inaudible] report on allegations of repeated sexual harassment. Let's discuss this and more with the New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio. Mayor de Blasio, thanks so much for joining us. What's your reaction to the findings laid out by the State Attorney General, Letitia James, today, and the Governor's vehement denial? 

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Wolf, it's disgusting. I mean, you read the pages of that report and what we heard in the press conference. My heart goes out to these women, first of all. They were put through hell by a powerful man who held their career in his hands, and he used that power to manipulate, to have his way, and they were put in a horrible situation, not knowing if they get to keep their job, what would happen to their futures, their reputations. This is textbook sexual harassment. And then, unfortunately, making it worse in some cases, even sexual assault, disgusting and troubling and unacceptable, and he needs to leave office immediately. 

Blitzer: You made it clear, Mayor, that you don't think the Governor can continue obviously to lead the State of New York. If he refuses to resign today – and today in his initial statement, he's making it clear he's not planning to resign – what exactly are you calling for?

Mayor: Look, his statement was laughable. His attempt to show pictures of him with family members as a defense was an insult to these women, an insult to the whole notion that a public servant is held to a high standard. He should resign. If he won't resign, he should be impeached as quickly as possible by the State Legislature. He can't govern. He can't govern. And Wolf, this was one investigation. There's a whole separate series of issues around the nursing home scandal, whether the facts of all those deaths in the nursing homes due to COVID was covered up. There's a scandal around the book he wrote with the help of State employees. There's a scandal around giving out vaccines to political supporters and withholding vaccine supplies from opponents. I mean, this guy is past the point of no return. He can't govern. He just has to go. 

Blitzer: If he doesn't go, and if he isn't impeached, should he face criminal cases? 

Mayor: It looks that way to me. You know, obviously, the Albany County District Attorney is looking at that right now. I mean, an assault on a woman – any assault on a woman, you should face criminal charges. But if you, on top of that, used your power and position to think you could cover up the assault, well, that sounds criminal to me. 

Blitzer: And what do you say to his charge that those who led this investigation were politically biased against him? 

Mayor: The people who worked for him, worked for him. They were public servants. A State trooper. I mean, you listen to someone like Charlotte Bennett. We've all heard her words, obviously. Incredibly earnest young woman, trying to do good in the world. This set of charges didn't come from the Attorney General or the lawyer she hired. It came from the people who worked for the Governor and were disgusted by his behavior. The investigators did their job. So, I go back to the original sin here. He did this to these women. Eleven women came forward. How much more evidence do we need before it's obvious that something is just profoundly broken? 

Blitzer: All right, let's turn to the coronavirus pandemic. You announced today that vaccines will be mandatory in New York City for indoor dining, fitness, entertainment venues. Can you walk us through how you decided on the details of this new policy?  

Mayor: Absolutely. And, Wolf, let me tell you the whole ballgame’s vaccination. The Delta variant is bearing down on all of us. Unless we want to go back to restrictions and the horrible, horrible impact that COVID had on our families, we got to get serious. That means vaccination. Only one thing will stop the Delta variant, vaccination on a much higher level. So, it's time for mandates. The voluntary approaches were great. The incentives are great. Mandates are what are going to really work now. We're just saying simply, you want to dine indoors in New York City, you want to work in an indoor dining establishment, same with a fitness club or gym, same with entertainment movie theater, you need to be vaccinated. Period. We're going to have the specific rules out in the next couple of weeks. We're going to implement, give time for businesses to get used to it, educate, support them. And then on the first Monday after Labor Day, the 13th of September, we're going to start sending out inspectors and holding people accountable. But the message is very simple, to save our city, to save cities all around the country, states, counties, every local government should do this. It's so straightforward. This is a way to make sure a lot more people will get vaccinated and save lives. And we're talking about indoors. Outdoors, there's obviously a little more freedom. That's great. But the message it sends is, go get vaccinated and once you do, you have so much more freedom, you have so many more option and choices. It rewards vaccination, which is exactly where we need to go. 

Blitzer: And it's so easy to get a shot these days. It's readily available. This was a curious development though. Why are you only requiring people receive one dose of a coronavirus vaccine? Because we know protection increases significantly after the second one. 

Mayor: This is a strategy, very clearly, Wolf. We're saying we want to encourage people right now. If you're not vaccinated, we're not telling you, you have to wait a long time to experience all the great things in life. Go down to so many places in this city, all around the country, you can go for free. Only takes a few minutes, get that first dose, get that card, you're in business. You can work indoors. You can come indoors for great food, great entertainment. And then, of course, go back and get the second shot when your time comes. But we want to reward and support good behavior. We don't want to tell people, “oh, you got to wait a month before you can have any fun.” We want people to know there should be a clear red line, if you're vaccinated, a world of opportunity and great positive things is there for you. You get to enjoy life. You get to have a lot of freedom. If you're unvaccinated, there's going to be fewer and fewer opportunities not only in this city, I think people are going to take up this all over the country. The President of the United States endorsed this approach that we started today. I think you're going to see localities pick up on this, and it's going to send a message – if you're unvaccinated, you're going to get left out more and more. And, Wolf, particularly for younger people in this country, they don't want to get left out of entertainment and restaurants and concerts and so many other great opportunities. I think this going to push our youngest Americans to cross the Rubicon and go get vaccinated. 

Blitzer: How will you enforce this vaccine mandate if somebody wants to go see a play or a concert or go to a gym, a restaurant? I know there are several ways people could prove they're vaccinated. Will it be up to individual businesses, Mayor, to turn away potential customers?  

Mayor: Yeah, we're going to support them in putting together rules and the right kind of enforcement. But the simple concept, when you go to a restaurant, you check in. When you go to a gym, you know, there's a front desk, you show your ID. You know, you go to a movie theater, you buy a ticket, or you put a ticket on the scanner. There's obvious check-in points. So, what we want to do is simply have personnel from each establishment check, either you have to have a vaccination card or one of the passes – the Excelsior Pass for the State, New York City has a COVID Safe app. Show that you have a vaccination. It's really not complex. One of the members of Congress, Adriano Espaillat, supported this move today, and he just took out his wallet and he said, ‘look, I keep my vaccination card right at my fingertips.’ It's as simple as that. And with that simple act, we're going to be affirming the power of vaccination. And I guarantee you – you know, people need a little extra push sometimes. There's a lot of people willing to be vaccinated. They just haven't focused or gotten [inaudible] you know, people are going to say, damn it, it's time to get vaccinated.  

Blitzer: It certainly is time to get vaccinated. So simple, so easy, readily available for free, and as you correctly pointed out, it just takes a few minutes. Mayor Bill de Blasio, thank you so much for joining us.  

Mayor: Thank you, Wolf.  

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