CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Daniel McKee

Interview

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BROWN: That was reporter Marissa Sulek of CNN affiliate WSMV in Nashville. Just showing the devastation on the ground.

And now to Tropical Storm Henri. It made landfall this afternoon along the coast of Rhode Island near Westerly. Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee joins us by phone.

And Governor, thanks for taking some time out for us. I know how busy you are right now. You have been touring some of the damage this afternoon. What are your initial impressions?

GOV. DANIEL MCKEE (D), RHODE ISLAND : Well, Pamela, thanks for having me on again. Yes, Rhode Island, after hearing that clip on Tennessee, my heart goes out to them, our prayers do as well. We count our blessings here that it went from a hurricane 1 to a tropical storm, but still we had well over 100,000 people without electricity. And you're right, we did travel into Westerly. Sandy was a 2010 disaster for us, we didn't reach those levels but we don't forget.

And on Westerly, many of our businesses were down. The riptides and the waves and the water are very dangerous. So we're asking people still to stay home right now in Rhode Island. We're saying better be safe than sorry and especially out of the water because of the heavy current along our coastline. We've got about 400 miles of coastline. So we're in a spot where we're going to get into the recovery mode.

We were down to I think about 63,000 people without electricity. Very concerned about the fact that we got a heat wave coming in the 90- degree territory beginning Tuesday, that's why we're really putting a great deal of importance on getting everybody back their electricity so that we're able to keep the health risks down, and it's very important for us, especially coming out of the tail end of this pandemic, and now Delta surfacing again, stretching all our public safety and all our, you know, National Guard and all our first responders in all 39 cities and towns. We count our blessings that we're OK, but we still have some level of

recovery to do. I did speak personally to the president yesterday. We had a disaster relief proclamation that was signed by the president calling Rhode Island a place where we need to have federal assistance.

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So, yes, we are fortunate but we still have our challenges in the recovery, and as you said on our, you know, oceanfront right now, still very cautious and telling our people in the state stay in their homes so our first responders and our national grid utilities can get everybody restored back with their energy.

BROWN: And this is all going, as you pointed out, during a pandemic. You signed an emergency declaration over fears that Rhode Island's high rate of hospitalizations will only get worse. What will be done if hospitals become overwhelmed, Governor?

MCKEE: Well, I think that we're very fortunate that I don't believe the tropical storm is going to impact that, but we are -- you know, we are handling two emergencies at the same time, right, Pamela? We're handling, you know, a weather emergency in the form of a tropical storm and also the pandemic in terms of the Delta. Fortunately in Rhode Island right now, although we have some of the lowest death rates, the lowest hospitalization rates, the highest vaccination rates in the country, and we're also, you know, leading the country in many ways in our economic recovery.

We want to keep it that way, so when you get an emergency like this, it can kind of complicate issues in terms of the Tropical Storm Henri, and, you know, so we're very aware of that. And it can only complicate it in the way that -- you know, potentially, you know, like I say a hospitalization issue or a problem there compounding the issues that COVID is and the Delta variant, and we're focused on our economy.

We know that's a risk as well, if you can't keep your economy going strong people are at risk as well both financially and emotionally, so it's a great deal of work. We really appreciate the fact that the president took our call yesterday with governors from up the East Coast, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, as well as Massachusetts, and has pledged his support. And we're going to be very -- it's going to be very helpful to us.

I mean, back in 2010 alone, Pamela, we're still trying to recover some of the federal dollars that relates for the Storm Sandy, and hopefully we're going to be able to roll that all into one package that give our business community the relief that they need coming out of this pandemic and going forward.

BROWN: Certainly a lot of challenges in your state and states across the country.

Governor Daniel McKee, thank you very much.

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