'Release the ventilators!' Gov. Cuomo publicly begs Trump to stop hoarding 20,000 ventilators

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Tuesday pleaded with the president of the United States to release 20,000 ventilators that have been stockpiled by the federal government.

During his daily pandemic briefing, Cuomo said that New York needs an additional 30,000 ventilators due to the spike in coronavirus cases.

"The federal government has 20,000 ventilators, or thereabouts, in the federal stockpile," Cuomo explained. "Secretary [Alex Azar] runs an agency called HHS -- Health and Human Services. I asked the secretary, 'Look at the first word in the title of the agency you run. It is health. Your first priority is health. You have 20,000 ventilators in the stockpile. Release the ventilators to New York.'"

"How can we be in a situation where you can have New Yorkers possibly dying because they can't get a ventilator, but a federal agency saying, I'm going to leave the ventilators in the stockpile?" he added. "I mean, have we really come to that point?"

Watch Cuomo's plea for ventilators below.