CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Grace Meng

Interview

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Joining us on the phone right now is New York Democratic Congresswoman Grace Meng. Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us. Elmhurst Hospital is in your district in Queens and they've been overwhelmed by patients. We've been seeing the video.

[17:25:00]

I want to read a tweet you put out this afternoon. You say this and I'll read it directly.

"A nurse at my Elmhurst Hospital who I don't know just called me crying. She said they need vents," ventilators, "but more so need doctors and also doctors who are ICU," Intensive Care Unit, "trained. She told me they cry everyday because they know they're going to die. They're begging. Please."

Congresswoman, tell our viewers what it felt like to be on the receiving end of such an emotional plea.

REP. GRACE MENG (D-NY) (via telephone): Well, Wolf, thank you for having me and thank you for covering this important issue. You know, Elmhurst is the epicenter of what is happening here in New York, and New York is at the epicenter of the crisis around the country. This is a warning to the rest of the country if we don't do things right.

I got this call at about the same time that we were on and near the floor of the House debating this bill, getting ready to vote on this bill. And I couldn't help but feel so helpless. She's not the first person who has reached out to me. And I know that our Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio and I have been working with the nearby Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, on this issue. They are trying their best. But we need the federal government, the Trump administration, to pick up the pace, otherwise we are going to continue to lose lives.

BLITZER: This is so, so important. I have a letter here that you and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote. This letter, you basically are begging the president to prioritize the transfer of ventilators and personal protective equipment to Elmhurst Hospital in Queens. Have you gotten any response at all?

MENG: Well, we just sent the letter. You know people have been pleading for weeks, you know, weeks since we knew what was happening in New York. Our governor has been begging. You know we have been asking for the president to do what he's finally did today, to invoke not by words but with action the Defense Production Act.

I mean, let's be part of the solution here. We were slow, we were delayed on tests, which led to lives lost. And now we're delayed on the PPE equipment which is continuing to lead the lives lost.

Our frontline health care workers, they are brave and they are compassionate, and totally willing to make this sacrifice and to help save lives. But we have to give them the equipment like we would with soldiers in any battle, to make sure that they're properly equipped and they're not further harmed than they need to be.

BLITZER: Yes. These are real heroes on the frontlines of this war. Is there any discussion, congresswoman, of actually transferring some of the patients at Elmhurst to other hospitals in New York or elsewhere, hospitals that perhaps have more resources?

MENG: Yes, our city and state are already doing this. Elmhurst is in a part of Queens, and it is in the heart of Queens. And it's a trusted institution, and that's why so many people are going there in the first place. But the governor and the mayor are -- have already begun the process to transfer non-coronavirus patients to other hospitals.

BLITZER: And we know that a U.S. Navy hospital ship is coming with a thousand beds for non-corona patients perhaps to be moved, to make room for the coronavirus patients in New York hospitals. What went through your mind, congresswoman, when you heard the president last night question whether New York really needs more ventilators?

MENG: You know, I -- day by day, I am just more and more heartbroken and horrified at the attitude with which he is treating fellow Americans. I've been so angry for weeks because first, you know we kept hearing weeks ago already from our health care practitioners that they didn't have the PPE that they needed. So, there has been more than advance notice to do what he needs to do to make sure that this is not happening and not worsening in the state of New York, but potentially in other states around the country as well.

BLITZER: Congresswoman Grace Meng, thank you so much for joining us. Good luck to everybody in Elmhurst, in Queens and in New York. We know you guys are at the epicenter of this crisis here in the United States right now. Thanks for joining us.

MENG: Thank you so much, Wolf.

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