. >>> joining me now to discuss, steve adler, democratic mayor of austin, texas, where protesters gatheredweekend. mr. mayor good to see you. so people chanting things like "you can't close america." "let us work," what's your response to them? >> i think everybody wants to open up the economy as much as we can, but the first priority has to be people's lives, and public safety, which means it has to be done in a way that protects those things. you know, i was a little concerned about the demonstration that we had here yesterday. fortunately, there weren't that many people. but i'm concerned there could have been a virus in that group, and that's how the virus spreads. people who are asymptomatic passing it, not knowing that e have it passing it on. participants in that were acting pretty selfishly and putting the community at risk. >> understandably, people are exhibiting frustration, anxiety in a lot of different ways, but where do you think this is coming from? to go out and protest, to be in close quarters, when there are stay-at-home restrictions, everyone understands why stay at home

i'm joined by austin mayor steve adler. this is what the governor says.cities and towns and cities like yours. i have seen you quoted expressing displeasure with this. take me through -- you're saying 25% cap paacity at restaurants, movie theaters, i understand that bars are closed. there are a lot in usa certainly. are you uncomfortable with all of this or some of it? >> i think that everybody is scared. obviously the economy is hurting, and people are looking to see what happens next. but no one knows what is going to happen with the gov nor's order. we have been successful in stopping the virus almost completely. by getting to a place where we have 90, 94% of reduction in virus transmission. we don't know what's going to happen now that the governor is doing this. but we do know from the model is if we drop below 80%, we're going to be back to the second surge we talked about earlier. we have to watch it carefully. i wish we mated another week or two to get contract tracing in place. we are going to monitor it now. we will continue to do the things we

let's get insight from mayor steve adler of austin, texas. good to have you on the show. i hope your family is healthy and you're doing well. >> we are. thank you. >> so let me get some different angles of the context. cdc projections say texas should be looking at opening up sometime in mid to late june. no sooner. are you worried about taking any action that contradicts the cdc? >> sure. we're absolutely concerned. we have lots more questions than we have answers. we don't know exactly what the governor will do. he said he is going to put public health first and he's going to be guided by science and data. we'll hold him to that. that's what we want to see. but as far as the plans he's hinted we don't know the timing. there's so many questions. not only what he'll do but what we know. what we can try. what works, what doesn't work. we need more testing and be able to learn from whatever it is that happens. >> do you feel the need to tell constituents and the governor, wait. they tell you the middle of june. don't do it too soon. we're a huge state. the scale is real. th

joining me now is the mayor of austin, steve adler. thank you for joining us. to get your reaction to the governor choosing to begin opening the texas economy in phases. >> you know, there are a lot of people that are hurting. so everybody wants the economy to be opened up. i was encouraged he said that the first criteria is public health. i was encouraged that he said he was going to be governored by the science and the data. the governor is saying all the right things. we'll hoed him to that as we see what it is as it develops. >> so what is the difference between saying the right thing and doing the right thing? what is it you will be looking and watching for? >> huge difference between saying the right thing and doing the right thing. we have to define the virus, isolate it and then treat it. that's what the shelter in home policies were all about. that does not change as we go forward. that will not change all the way to getting a vaccine. so when we're taking a look at how it is that you might slowly gradual in steps reopen the economy, the emphasis still

we have the mayor of austin with us now, steve adler.elcome to the program, it is good to have you here. are you trying to establish accountability and hold these youngsters liable in some way? >> i think the most important message for our community right now is to continue to learn. this is a virus that is incredibly infectious and it can be passed by somebody who is asymptomatic. doesn't know that they have it. and, that's really the lesson that we need to learn from these folks on spring break coming back. stuart: your honor, i understand we got to learn, i understand we got to learn from it, i got it, but are you going to prosecute them? you are going to investigate, you think in terms of prosecution? >> no, i don't think anybody is going there yet. i don't think we're at a blame place. right now these steps we're taking in austin are being taken around the country are not going to work because we enforce them. ultimately there are too many people. they are going to work because the culture and the norm adopts them. that is what we n