Fox meteorologist whose in-laws died of COVID-19 blasts Gov Cuomo for releasing his book amid the pandemic saying it makes her grief worse - as he blames Republicans for the controversy because they need to distract from a 'botched' response

A Fox News meteorologist whose in-laws died of COVID-19 has blasted New York Gov Andrew Cuomo for releasing a book about the pandemic saying it has made her grief worse.

Cuomo's book titled American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic was released on Tuesday.

Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean, whose elderly in-laws died from the virus, on Tuesday criticized the Democratic Gov over the timing of his book.

'I don't know any governor in the middle of a pandemic that should release a book, especially this one,' Dean told Fox & Friends.

'I have to tell you it just makes our grief worse to see him promoting a book like this and dodging the questions when he's being asked.'

While Cuomo was praised by some in the early days of the pandemic for his calming briefings, he has also been criticized heavily for the high number of deaths at New York nursing homes.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's book titled American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic was released on Tuesday. Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean, whose elderly in-laws died from the virus, on Tuesday criticized the Democratic Gov over the timing of his book

What else does Cuomo's book say: 

A recent AP investigation found that the state's death toll of nursing home patients, already among the highest in the nation, could be significantly more than reported. Unlike every other state with major outbreaks, only New York explicitly says that it counts just residents who died on nursing home property and not those who were transported to hospitals and died there.

So far, Cuomo's administration has declined to release the number. The governor has called criticism of nursing home deaths politically motivated.

In his book, Cuomo blamed Republicans and some media outlets for the controversy surrounding the issue of nursing homes. 

Cuomo's book, American Crisis, was published today. It is marketed as lessons in leadership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic

'The most painful aspect of the COVID crisis has been its devastating effect on our elderly in nursing homes,' he wrote. 

'By early spring, Republicans needed an offense to distract from the narrative of their botched federal response - and they needed it badly.

'So they decided to attack Democratic governors and blame them for nursing homes.

'On April 25, conservative columnist Michael Goodwin published a piece in Rupert Murdoch's New York Post aimed at New York with the headline, 'State lacked common sense in nursing homes' coronavirus approach'. It was an orchestrated strategy and a Fox News drumbeat. 

'It wasn't just me. Phil Murphy in New Jersey, Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan, Gavin Newsom in California and Tom Wolf in Pennsylvania were all in the Republican crosshairs on nursing homes. As the states with the most deaths were Democratic states, the Trump forces saw us as an easy target.'

Cuomo, who has generally been praised for flattening the curve of his state's coronavirus infections, has faced increasing criticism over his handling of nursing homes, particularly a controversial March 25 order that sent thousands of recovering COVID-19 patients from hospitals into nursing homes at the height of the pandemic. 

That order was reversed in May. 

In his book, Cuomo says he unfortunately didn't communicate exactly what the order did and did not mean. 

'Unfortunately, although I tried, I never successfully communicated the facts on the situation,' he wrote. 'The Trump forces had a simple line: 'Thousands died in nursing homes.' It was true,' he wrote.  

'But they needed to add a conspiracy, which was that they died because of a bad state policy that 'mandated and directed' that the nursing homes accept COVID-positive people, and these COVID-positive people were the cause of the spread of the disease in the nursing homes. 

'It was a lie.'  

Cuomo spoke of his family in the book, particularly his father: The late former fellow New York Gov. Mario Cuomo . He revealed that on days when he is having a difficult day, he'll wear his father's shoes

Hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest, who repeatedly praised Cuomo's handling of the coronavirus crisis during the interview, asked at one point who was the favorite son. Early on in the pandemic, Cuomo and his brother Chris repeatedly sparred with each other over who was favored more by mom Matilda

Despite the criticism he has faced regarding the nursing homes, his press briefings at the beginning of the pandemic earned him praise from some who suggested he was a calming voice amid lockdowns and widespread deaths from the virus.

He also faced calls from some to run for president in 2024. In his book, which covers Cuomo's take on the COVID-19 pandemic, the Democrat denied a presidential bid. He said he would run for re-election as governor but had no intention of running for president. 

Cuomo also spoke of his family in the book, particularly his father: The late former fellow New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.

He revealed that on days when he is having a difficult day, he'll wear his father's shoes.

'Since he died, when I have a special or difficult day, I wear my father's shoes: literally!' Cuomo wrote in his book.

'It sounds ridiculous, I know. My father wasn't a material person and we didn't have many objects to remember him by after his death, but he loved shoes and I wear the same size as he did. My mother gave me my pick.

'My daughters were particularly fascinated with the 'filling your father's shoes' psychological angle, but I wanted them to know how important he was to me and how much comfort I still take in feeling that he is with me,' he wrote. 'I only hope that my daughters can get that sense of comfort from me when I'm gone. 

'I am not sure my father would support everything I do in his shoes, but he would appreciate what they mean to me, and he would love that I still shine them the same way he taught me.'  

During an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan to promote the book, Cuomo spoke of his family again when he described his CNN brother Chris Cuomo as his 'mini me'. 

In the wide-ranging interview, Cuomo joked that he was his mother's favorite son, spoke of how widely watched his daily briefings were and said he has given New Yorkers 'unbiased facts' throughout the pandemic.  

Hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest, who repeatedly praised Cuomo's handling of the coronavirus crisis during the interview, asked at one point who was the favorite son.

Early on in the pandemic, Cuomo and his brother Chris repeatedly sparred with each other - either during the governor's daily briefings or on the younger Cuomo's CNN show - about who was the favored son. 

'I was my mother's favorite son before my brother was born. I was the first born, I was the first loved. He came along, I don't begrudge him as a second son... You know, as a mini me, that's fine. The first is the best,' Cuomo said on Tuesday.   

His interview came as New York, the initial epicenter of the US outbreak, has experienced a spike in hospitalizations in the last few days

There has also been an uptick in cases in New York state, which Gov Cuomo has blamed on cluster outbreaks in New York City

His interview came as New York, the initial epicenter of the US outbreak, has experienced a spike in hospitalizations in the last few days.

There has also been an uptick in cases in New York state, which Gov Cuomo has blamed on cluster outbreaks in New York City.  

Cuomo announced on Monday that there were 878 New Yorkers hospitalized with the virus, which was an increase of almost 60 patients since the previous day.  

His press briefings at the beginning of the pandemic earned him praise from some who suggested he was a calming voice amid lockdowns and widespread deaths from the virus.

'I don't know that I was calm and cool, I was exhausted more than anything,' Cuomo said when asked on Tuesday about the effect his briefings had. 

'People wanted the facts... so they could protect themselves. I wanted to give them the facts, unbiased, forget the politics, here's where we are, here's what we have to do. 

'People were locked up... I think the briefings gave them a sense of continuity and they knew what was going on one day at a time.' 

Cuomo said that at one point there were 64 million people watching his briefings. 

'I was telling the truth and telling people how I felt and being honest about my emotions because I wanted, that connection was important for me, and people would understand the information and they would do the right thing,' he said. 

In one part of the book, Cuomo spoke of how his own staff were forced to quarantine at one point when one of his press secretaries tested positive for the virus.

He names the employee in his book as press secretary Caitlin Girouard.

Cuomo recalled his top aide Melissa DeRosa, who appears alongside him at briefings, called him frantically at 5am on March 20 to inform him.

He recalled DeRosa saying: 'We have a situation, but I want to start off by saying that I'm calm, everyone is calm, it's all going to be fine.'

Cuomoe wrote: 'The tone of her voice suggesting that the person she was trying to reassure was herself.'

De Rosa then laid out that Girouard hadn't been feeling well the previous afternoon and was given a coronavirus test after developing a fever.

'The belief is that if she got sick, it happened over the weekend when she was in New York City,' DeRosa told him. 

'I've carefully retraced your movements in my movements for the past four days, and the reality is that neither of us has been near her, but I've spoken with Dr. Zucker, and he thinks, again, out of an abundance of caution – just out of an abundance of caution - was we have to quarantine every single person in the press office and a handful of the advanced staff who she came Into contact with. 

'So there it is – you know everything I know.'

Cuomo said he responded: 'OK, deep breath. I'll be in the office in 15 minutes.'

The governor dropped the news of the positive test at the end of one of his briefings.

He did not name the employee at that time. The reporters who attended Cuomo's briefings were given the option to take a test, which were rare at the time, or quarantine.