Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman Anderson Cooper Interview Transcript

Anderson Cooper:
Chinese researchers have shown how this virus spreads, and I just want to put up for viewers. This is a restaurant.

Carolyn Goodman:
Anderson, you are a tough [crosstalk 00:00:14]. This isn’t China. This is Las Vegas, Nevada.

Anderson Cooper:
Wow, okay. That’s really ignorant. This is a restaurant and the yellow circle-

Carolyn Goodman:
That’s ignorant to say?

Anderson Cooper:
That’s an ignorant, ignorant statement. That’s a restaurant, and yes it’s in China, but they are human beings too. That yellow is a person who-

Carolyn Goodman:
Of course they are.

Anderson Cooper:
I asymptomatic and infected, and all those other red circles are other diners who that one diner pass the virus to. All those other people became infected in a restaurant that had air conditioning, and they believe it was the air conditioning, which helped the virus spread to all those other members.

Carolyn Goodman:
You remember the Legionnaires’ disease in 1976 in Philadelphia. Came all through the air conditioning. You don’t remember because you’re younger, typhoid Mary, who I think passed away. Well anyway, during the late 30s, rode the buses, was a cook, and she was asymptomatic, and she spread it. A fear of getting typhoid, and she never showed a sign of it, and she lived most of her life quarantined. The reality was I think 58 people passed away from typhoid. So we’re aware of this. We learn from history. We’ve had Ebola, we’ve had the West Nile, we’ve had polio, we’ve had these horrific-

Anderson Cooper:
None of those were as infectious in Las Vegas. I mean, you didn’t have people with Ebola on a casino floor. If you did-

Carolyn Goodman:
Well, we don’t know that.

Anderson Cooper:
Well, yeah, you do, because if you had it-

Carolyn Goodman:
A neighbor of mine died from West Nile because the swimming pool on the next property was filled with mosquitoes, and the people who had abandoned the house left the pool full. So we live with this. This is part of life [crosstalk 00:01:59].

Anderson Cooper:
As mayor-

Carolyn Goodman:
Challenges.

Anderson Cooper:
All right, as mayor, are you not concerned when you see just that restaurant [crosstalk 00:02:06].

Carolyn Goodman:
Yes, I’m concerned every day.

Anderson Cooper:
How air conditions spreads this and other people become infected.

Carolyn Goodman:
Yes, from Legionnaires’ disease. That’s just what I said. We lost a lot of people in that hotel who had gone ahead and been in the hotel. [crosstalk 00:02:21]

Anderson Cooper:
There were steps, right? There were steps to take to stop that by changing the air filtering, if my memory serves me correct on Legionnaires’ disease. There are not yet the steps to take with this, other than social distancing.

Carolyn Goodman:
Right. So people do that. I mean, I love watching our people here. They’re so careful. We work every single day. I have not missed a day, and anybody who was in or comes into the office that needs an appointment or has an issue, they all are with their masks on or we always enforce social distancing. The office is absolutely pristine with germs-

Anderson Cooper:
You’re talking about your office?

Carolyn Goodman:
Well, hopefully everything in the building. We shut down the lobby. [crosstalk 00:03:11].

Anderson Cooper:
Look, Mayor, you love your city, and I get you want it to go back to work, and I totally get that. You hear from people; you’re in a really tough position. I get it, but it just seems really irresponsible given that a, you are actually have no responsibility or say over casinos or what happens on the strip, that you’re not out there doing anything about trying to improve testing, like your friend Mayor Garcetti is doing in Los Angeles or improve contact tracing.

Anderson Cooper:
You’re simply sitting there and saying, “Get back to work. Get these casinos open again,” and you have no idea or plan or you’ve done nothing to try to figure out, well, what’s the best way to make that happen? How far apart should a dealer be from the people? I mean, you’re offering nothing other than being a cheerleader, which I guess is what part of your job is, and I respect that. You seem like a very nice person, but I don’t understand, do you not have any sense of responsibility if you’re calling for something to at least try to work to make it [crosstalk 00:04:21].

Carolyn Goodman:
Okay, I speak with the owners of our city casinos every day almost, and they’re all in such pain of having to furlough or let everybody go in the casinos.

Anderson Cooper:
I’m sure the casino owners are very sad, I get that.

Carolyn Goodman:
Well, no, they’re very sensitive people. They care about their employees and having shut down their businesses here. These are people, not the strip hotels. That’s under the jurisdiction of the county. Our unincorporated county. Our jurisdiction here [inaudible 00:04:57]

Anderson Cooper:
Casino owners, they’re probably doing okay. It’s the people who are working on the floor who are the ones who are going to become infected and potentially die.

Carolyn Goodman:
You’re talking disease. I’m talking life. I’m talking life and living. These are people who [crosstalk 00:05:14].

Anderson Cooper:
Okay, that makes no sense.

Carolyn Goodman:
Well, it maybe doesn’t to you. It does us here in Las Vegas. They’ve had to release all these workers that have no other source of income to feed their children, and they’re also having to make a way to go ahead and help support the city. So at the time it opens [crosstalk 00:00:05:32].

Anderson Cooper:
Usually the ones releasing the workers are generally doing okay. They’re the ones who are going to have a lot more money. It’s the ones who are actually released who are really suffering.

Carolyn Goodman:
[crosstalk 00:05:41] wrong side of the fence. I am talking about the workers. I’m talking about the low income, middle income workers that are out free and without a dime in their pockets.

Anderson Cooper:
You’re actually talking about casino owners, your friends, but [crosstalk 00:05:54].

Carolyn Goodman:
No, I’m not talking about caisson [crosstalk 00:05:57] I’m the same. No. That’s been my focus from day one, if you go back to everything I say. It’s been always about putting our workers back to work. It is not about the casinos. It’s not about anything other than putting those who’ve lost their jobs in a city that wasn’t broken, and didn’t have disease, back to work. We’re 2.3 million people here. We have over [crosstalk 00:00:06:24].

Anderson Cooper:
Wait a minute, wait a minute. 3,900 cases in Nevada, 163 deaths, and that’s with social distance.

Carolyn Goodman:
Nevada, Nevada.

Anderson Cooper:
Yeah, in Nevada. You’re saying there was no problem in Las Vegas, like there was no disease.