California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Fighting COVID-19 and Leveraging Hollywood Support

He's the leader of the country's most populous state and one of the first governors to take aggressive measures against COVID-19, and now California Governor Gavin Newsom is speaking one-on-one with “Extra's” Billy Bush about fighting the pandemic.

Billy asked the Governor about California being one of the first states to issue a stay-at-home order. Gov. Newsom pointed out, “Forty million Californians stepped up and met the moment. The reality is it's one thing to say, another to do. We never had the peak, we never had the slope of growth that other states had. That said, we're not out of the woods; we're still seeing modest growth, we're not seeing the curve decline. We're just not seeing it increase like other states.”

Governor Newsom revealed to Billy when he first told his children that they weren't going back to school, saying, “I've got four kids under 10. My daughter asked me a few weeks back, 'Do you think I'll go back to see all my friends at school?' and I said, 'Honey, I don't think you're going back to school this year.' I told her that before I told everybody else that. It was one of those a-ha moments where I realized whatever I'm going to tell my kids, my wife, I have a responsibility to tell you.”

Billy observed that the Governor has leveraged some impressive Hollywood support, with notables such as Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson, Kim Kardashian and Julia Louis-Dreyfus doing PSAs for the stay-at-home effort. Gov. Newsom emphasized, “It's just wonderful, the spirit. These guys are soliciting us, not just the other way around. Across the spectrum, everyone who has been asked to participate in a PSA or some other way to communicate or amplify on an issue, all of them have stepped up, and it makes me feel good about our celebrities.”

One of the more popular PSAs has been with “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Larry David. How did he get Larry to participate? “We have a mutual friend and Larry's been very good to me over the years. And, of course, we expected nothing less from Larry than that very authentic video.”

Does Newsom watch the show? “I'm a human being... The answer is yes, obviously… it bleeds into you.”

Gov. Newsom is also rallying all California residents to volunteer in his “Californians for All” service initiative. Billy noted this is an opportunity for those who want to help to be matched with an organization or non-profit that needs help. Gov. Newsom stated, “I've long believed no one stands taller than when he or she is on one knee to lift other people up. That's the spirit of the CaliforniansForAll.ca.gov website. It is a volunteer portal to create a volunteer army to, as you say, match specific talents and desires and passions with need at the local level.”