Governor Cuomo: "Anti-Semitism has come to New York in a big way - 42 incidents in the State in just two months...And it's not just anti-Semitism, it's increased KKK activity, anti-LGBTQ, it's another virus like the coronavirus, it's the virus of hate. And we have to stand up loud and clear, make the statement, we don't allow it, we don't tolerate it and not just in words, but in deeds, in action. And this is a form of terrorism and I've proposed a domestic terrorism law. If you try to kill a number of people based on race, color, creed - you are a terrorist and you should be treated that way."
Early today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo was a guest on Long Island News Radio with Jay Oliver.
AUDIO is available here.
A rush transcript of the Governor's interview is available below:
Jay Oliver: We got swirling news galore these days, why is today any different than any other, that's for sure. But certainly here in the State of New York there is a lot on the plate, especially for the man who runs the show, he is Governor Andrew Cuomo. Always good to have him. Sir, how are you? Thanks for coming on here on a Friday.
Governor Cuomo: Good to be with you Jay. You're right, swirling news all over the place.
Jay Oliver: I don't even know where to start, but I'll start. I know you're getting tough on hate crimes. A presser sent out yesterday, new legislation called 'No Hate in Our State' and it will pretty much make the prosecution of these crimes, Governor, very much a top priority, if you can elaborate a bit.
Governor Cuomo: You know Jay, you're right, we have a whole set of issues going on. But one of the problems we have is just this internal scourge of hate that's all across the country. And we've watched it, the gun violence, we've seen massacres in Synagogues. And I'll tell you the truth, as a native New Yorker I sat back and I said, "You know, that can't happen here, it just can't happen in New York. We're too diverse, we grew up with each other, et cetera." So to see these anti-Semitic situations all across the country, it was just unbelievable to me that it could happen here in New York. You know the Jewish community is such a big part of New York. All my friends, everyone I grew up with, two of my brothers in law are Jewish, my niece is Jewish. But, anti-Semitism has come to New York in a big way - 42 incidents in the State in just two months. We had a stabbing in Rockland County. But 42 incidents - swastikas all across the State. And it's not just anti-Semitism, it's increased KKK activity, anti-LGBTQ, it's another virus like the coronavirus, it's the virus of hate. And we have to stand up loud and clear, make the statement, we don't allow it, we don't tolerate it and not just in words, but in deeds, in action. And this is a form of terrorism and I've proposed a domestic terrorism law. If you try to kill a number of people based on race, color, creed - you are a terrorist and you should be treated that way. Whether it's anti-Semitism or anti-African American, but change the law to do that. And part of my legislative proposal is also more funding for security for religious institutions. I want our public schools, Jay, to teach kids about diversity and different cultures and the history, the Holocaust for our Jewish brothers and sisters and slavery for our African American brothers and sisters. Because we're not educating them as to the different cultures and if you understand the cultures then you're not afraid of them. You know, we tend to fear differences unless you understand them and appreciate them and respect them. So we have a comprehensive package to do it.
And I had a meeting yesterday with primarily Jewish organizations, but it was a very good discussion because this one pains me personally. I know the pain it has caused the Jewish community and the fear, I know from my own family, I know from my own nieces who've cried to me talking about this, how can it be? Especially for younger people, just how can they be this angered just because somebody's Jewish? And the point they made to me yesterday was we all have to be cognizant of our tone because it starts small, you know? A person doesn't just walk into a Synagogue with a machete, it starts small. It's the humor, it's the jokes, it's the insensitivity. And we all have to be conscious of it, even I can speak for myself, Italian American. The New York Post puts on the front page a picture of my father, God rest his soul, as the Corleone, the mafia family. A newspaper up here in Albany called the Times Union, Casey Seiler, talks about my family likening it to the mafia movie, the Godfather movie. You know, it's that insensitivity, that ethnocentrism, not appreciating or understanding the sensitivity of different cultures. What the Muslims are going through in this country now. So we all have to take a step back and look at our own actions and our own behaviors, I think, and have a little more understanding and empathy and let's make sure we're educating our kids about how important it is to understand different cultures and respect them.
But as a government official, you can't act on anti-Semitism. They also said at the meeting they don't like the term anti-Semitism, or they think there should be a better term. It's anti-Jewish racism. It is racism to Jewish people. And that, I think, is a starker, harsher term, but it's also a better definition. It's racism towards Jewish people. It's not just wrong, unethical, immoral, it's illegal. It's illegal Jay, and I'm the Governor and I'm going to enforce the law.
Jay Oliver: Here's the thing, whatever you want to call it, all I know is I think of the number 42, Governor, that's 42 acts of anti-Semitism in the past couple of months in New York. And I know that is strictly unacceptable. Now, we speak to a lot of educators here. The thing I think many like, you know, as I said years ago, I think everybody should tour the 9/11 Museum and get a feel for what it was like back in the day. Same thing here as far as a Holocaust Museum, I think it's in Battery Park, but kind of mandatory for students now to visit this museum and really absorb the context of it all and really kind of feel what we have going on in today's society.
Governor Cuomo: Jay, 100 percent. Look, you even take 9/11, your point on 9/11 is so right. You know that's a generation ago already. You know my kid's 25 years old. 9/11, they have to be educated. The Holocaust, they have to be educated. Slavery, they have to be educated. You know, they think these things are almost incomprehensible, right? If you're a teenager, you're young 20s, it's almost incomprehensible that you had a terrorist attack in New York City, 8 million people. I went to Auschwitz as a sign of solidarity a couple of weeks ago, the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz - it was only 75 years ago that the world knew what was happening to the Jewish people and the world turned its back. And by the way, this country turned its back to Jewish refugees. So yes, slavery and what we did to people and how it was accepted and just a part of the commerce system. You know, we have to make sure we're not losing the lessons of the past, otherwise we will repeat them. Right? The old saying. So yeah, that's part of it also, and that's part of the legislative program that I put forward. So, we have so many priorities now, so many fights we have to win. But that is one of them because I'm afraid of that. You know, you talk about the issues that can really make a difference. We start fighting with each other, we turn diversity into a weakness, that's the fabric of this nation, that's what made America, America. And the anger and the hate all across the country, and even in New York, anti-Semitism in New York. I mean it hurts me to say it. I apologized yesterday to the Jewish community on behalf of the good people of the State of New York for what they had to go through and I want them to know the same thing I said to my family members, my nieces. This is not what New York thinks or New Yorkers think. We love the Jewish community. New York wouldn't be New York without the Jewish community. And we stand in solidarity in support of the Jewish community. And no good New Yorker would tolerate this for a moment.
Jay Oliver: Two cases, unacceptable in the last couple of months. That's why it is completely in play here as far as everybody getting together. We're talking with the Governor of the State of New York, of course, Andrew Cuomo. Alright, let's get to Coronavirus, Governor. It is real and I think the key word would be preparedness. I know a lot of people are talking about it. Some are in panic mode here but the feeling is among many, especially early on with this, hospitals are gearing up for any possible patients who need to be treated for this virus. Plans in place I guess for a variety of scenarios and that's all you can ask.
Governor Cuomo: Well, that's all you can ask. Let's talk about this because you're right. It is balance and what we say is important because you don't want to panic people, but you don't want people to think you're not telling the truth either, right or government is misinformed or taking it lightly. And I've spent a lot of time on this and I'm going to spend more time on it. It's number one on my list.
It is exactly what you said. It is preparedness. No expert can tell you what the trajectory is. None of them. There are scenarios. Some are the simpler situation, it's seasonal, it works its way out. And remember, we've gone through this before. Ebola, Zika, West Nile, Legionnaires disease, H1N1. We've gone through this. Picture it this way, you know how they show you the storm tracks when a hurricane is coming? It could hit South Carolina or it could Jersey, or it could hit Maine or it could hit nobody. So there are different tracks. It could be seasonal, it could move quickly or it could mutate and effect more people. Even the worst case scenario, you need a grain of salt with it. Because, first we've had 117,000 people contract the flu.
Now this has a higher mortality rate than the flu. But it's not Ebola either right. It's not that contracting it is a very high probability of mortality. But if you take the worst case scenarios they are problematic and they are disruptive. And you have to be prepared for it and being prepared, Jay, is not as easy as it sounds, right. I talked to the Vice President yesterday, Pence, who the President put in charge of it. And I saw the President on a press conference and they said, "Why did you put the Vice President when you had the Health and Human Services Secretary." This is not going to be a Health and Human Services agency function. To be prepared, you have to mobilize multiple systems, right. Just start to run the video tape in your mind. People are coming in to the airport at JFK. They're coming from a place that may have the virus. You now have more countries that have the virus. So more people are coming in.
How do you test that volume - which is an issue right now - does the CDC have to do all the tests in Washington? How do they handle that volume? I talked to the Vice President, look we can do the test. We have the sophistication, but step one is making sure you have the testing capacity. Off the testing capacity, then what are the protocols? What does self-isolation mean? What does quarantine mean? Where will you quarantine a large number of people? Because you have to give time, 14 days, to see whether or not they become symptomatic if they may have been exposed. But you have 14 days where someone has to be in a place because they may not have the virus at all, but they're isolated in a place and you could have large numbers, where do you that? Capacity of the hospitals in the healthcare system. Making sure every local health department is doing the same thing. Nassau has to be doing the same thing as Suffolk, has to be doing the same thing as New York City. How do you transport people? How do you feed people in those situations? Do you have enough protective equipment? China, by the way, makes most of the protective equipment.
So, preparedness is a monumental logistical and management operation. Emergency management services. Emergency management it's a massive task and a mobilization task and how do you get all these local governments and all these counties to handle a situation that might affect thousands of people. So, if I'm a citizen I want to know my government understands the magnitude of the task and my government is competent to do it. Because, by the way, I'm not so sure of government competence on a good day and I have a big question mark whether a government can actually mobilize to do this. And I sent a supplemental appropriation to the legislature. One of the things we have to do, I don't give a darn about anybody's politics, we have to be ready. I asked for $40 million for additional equipment purchases now. I want to make sure we have what we need and I want it now before you have a world scrambling to buy proper masks and gloves, et cetera. I want to make sure we can hire the staff now. I want to make sure we have the protocols in place now. I want to make sure every local health department knows exactly what they have to do. I want that figured out now. So run all the traps and do it now.
We've been through situations like this before, but preparing for the larger scare is a serious undertaking. We can do it, but I don't want to minimize it and I want people to know we understand how extensive it could be and we're working on it day and night already.
Jay Oliver: I think you've got to take it seriously, you're certainly taking the steps so the thing that concerns me, the report of someone out in California, the Sacramento area, that was non-travel related that was diagnosed with this thing. That's very concerning. That's why you see the dip in Wall Street, everything down. I know one person in this city who traveled to Italy, the latest case, I think it's 27 or so, samples of 27 New Yorkers that have been sent to the CDC for testing. Twenty-six have come back negative. There's a result still pending, but that's the thing you gotta take it seriously, especially when the individual, Governor, is on the West Coast. They didn't travel anywhere. Overseas or anywhere, anything but contracted it.
Governor Cuomo: Yeah, you're right, Jay. Just one more second on this point because I want people to have the right expectations. We're now in what they call the containment phase. Containment is do your best to reduce the exposure. We're doing that. And you're right, as of this morning, 28 cases have been tested. We had 27 negative, one is still pending. But it is inevitable, in my opinion, or virtually inevitable. Just as a matter of mathematics and practicality. We will have people who test positive. You know I don't want to get into this game where every day "Oh thank God no one tested positive." And then when someone tests positive now everybody gets nervous. We will have people who test positive. You cannot hermetically seal the United States of America, or New York, you have everybody coming in here, the international gateway. We're going to have a case - I'm going to come on your show one morning soon, most probably, and say, "We have someone who tested positive," so it's virtually inevitable, and otherwise we're playing a game with ourselves, "Still nobody, still nobody, still nobody." You will have someone. You have tens of thousands of people who have already tested positive in different countries - it will be an airline employee - but one way or the other, we're going to have the virus, and you do everything you can on a containment strategy, but then you move to the second phase which is the mitigation phase, which is yes, we're going to have people with the virus. Now, how do you handle it? From testing and run every step: Testing, transit - we had the cruise ship come in, the CDC calls me a couple weeks ago and says, "Governor, we have a cruise ship, with people who may have the Coronavirus, and it's coming into your port." I said, "Okay." "Can you handle it?" I said, "Sure we'll handle it, we'll figure it out." So we just went through the mini-drill, Jay. Alright, so the cruise ship comes in, who picks them up? What transport? Where do we bring them? What protective equipment are the people wearing? How do we take the test? How do we get it back quickly? How are we sure the test is right? And now they're quarantined for 14 days, where do we do that? In a hotel? How about the hotel workers? All of that has to be figured out before the fact, but we will have people who test positive. I am willing to wager you today - I need to make some money, I just went through my daughter's calling, "I need, I need, I need," so I need to make some money - so I will wager you, Jay, anything you want, that in a relatively short period of time, we're going to have people who test positive. And don't be surprised, and don't be shocked and don't get nervous - that's what's going to happen.
Jay Oliver: It always happens in these types of deals, and as you said it's inevitable. It's absolutely inevitable. And again, preparedness, key, coordination, another keyword, it's coordinating with some of these other services to make sure things are in place.
We are talking with the Governor of the State of New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo - Governor, let me bring up probably the hottest discussed topic, not only on my show but probably the State of New York and that's bail. Bail reform and everything else - and I'll say this, I've never seen more Long Islanders outraged over it. They want to see something done about it - I know that you've been huddling up with the Senate Majority Leader up in Albany, you've got a budget to deliver April 1st. We've had many individuals from the Long Island delegation in Albany, recognize change needed, and they've said to me, "Listen, we're not going to vote on the budget until we see change."
So in essence, I'll ask you this morning - where are we at with that? How are you feeling about things? You've got outrage here on Long Island, and the big question is will we see change regarding bail reform - big question right now.
Governor Cuomo: Yes.
Jay Oliver: I like that answer. I should say, many Long Islanders kind of like that answer. I will ask you this, sir, can you elaborate a little bit?
Governor Cuomo: But sometimes it is a one-word answer, so the answer is yes, and this is another deep-breath issue, because a little perspective is important. The changes we made are right and good, I proposed a different bill than the bill that was actually passed at the end of the day, and my bill goes further and I think is better, the bill I proposed, but what we did was positive because look, it's inarguable that you shouldn't be making these decisions based on how wealthy a person is, which is how bail winds up being. If you can pay, you get out. If you can't pay, you stay. That's the bottom line, and wealth is often a proxy for race. That's statistically a fact. So the system was unfair. Okay, we're going to get away from the cash bail system. We only partially got away from it in the bill that we passed. I want to totally get away from cash. I want to say, it doesn't matter how much money you have, I don't care how rich you are. A son of a millionaire doesn't get to hurt somebody but then sleep in his own bed because daddy's a millionaire. It doesn't work that way.
So get money off the table - just no cash bail. But then, what is the mechanism to determine if a person is a public safety risk or a flight risk? Those are the legitimate questions. That has to be determined by a judge - that has to be judicial discretion. If we let this person out pending trial - by the way, you're not guilty until trial, all you have is an accusation - if we let this person out, is there a significant risk they're going to harm someone or risk the public safety? A judge has to make that decision. Might they take off and we never see them again and they never show up for trial? A judge has to make that decision, but there have to be parameters about the judge's discretion and decision and it has to be based on facts and evidence and history and there has to be due process because it can't just be the judge says, "I don't like the way you look," you know. "I don't like the way you sound - I'm going to put you in jail." So that's the intelligent response.
This is a political issue, this is a political year, this is the wildest, hostile, political environment I have ever seen. Politicians are politicians - they're running for reelection, they don't want to take a position. They're afraid, they don't want anyone to protest them - you have had Senator Monica Martinez from Suffolk, I think has shown courage on this one. She has stood up and said - she said to me she's not going to vote for the budget unless there is a further improvement on bail in the budget. So good for her - at least she's not playing politics and she's telling people what she thinks. And she even put in a bill, which I respect, because everybody, well not everybody - some of them are trying to play it both ways, surprise, surprise.
But it has to be done, it has to be done, Jay. Politics, I understand. I also understand government, and I also understand my responsibility, and I also understand the buck stops on my desk. Coronavirus, we're going to be prepared. Bail reform, a public safety system that protects the public, we're going to have it. And that's why I said the answer is yes. We will - we made a major change. We now are studying the consequences of that change. And we will further improve the system and we will do it as part of the budget which gets done April 1 - people who aren't familiar say, "Why is this a budget matter?" The State budget is more than a budget - it's the largest single place of legislation that the State passes. It's the major operating document for the State. So this will be included in that. And we're talking through - I'm going to have a meeting. I'm bringing them all up to Albany, the DAs, the police, the advocates from all across the state. We'll have a public discussion. Everybody can state their opinion, the pros, the cons, the fears, the anxieties. Let's hear everybody out but then we have to make the changes and we have to get it done in the budget.
Jay Oliver: And Senator Martinez, right on our show, stated that regarding the vote. You know two other things we gather from talking about this on a daily basis, Governor, many Long Islanders feel it's not only about the judge's discretion, and again, key words here, public safety, I think everybody is in agreement that public safety should be at the top of the charts but besides the judge's discretion. Long Islanders feel the presumption of rapid disclosure, that should be reversed, you know this is regarding victim and witness information, very important stuff, and the other one is discovery. Many Long Islanders feel, slash the rest of the new discovery requirements at least to a level that crime labs and prosecutors can manage in a very timely manner, talking about 15 days plus 30, maybe should be extended to 90, that type of thing, but I think public safety according to many is a prime concern when it comes to this and I'm sure you're going to consider that.
Governor Cuomo: That is the number one concern. That is the number one concern, Jay. There is no number two concern. Public safety is not a second concern. Public safety is the primary responsibility of government. Now, public safety inherent in that concept is also fairness and righteousness and integrity. But there is no doubt. Look, the people are upset. When you make a change to a system you are going to have consequences and repercussions whatever the system is. If it's the human body and they put you on one medication they then say come in next week because I want to see what the consequences of that medication were. Expect that. You can't fear it or fear the discussion because then you never make a change and too often that's what society does and that's what the political system does. Why don't they fix the education system? Why don't they fix the healthcare system? Because as soon as you touch something then you have all the interests that are involved getting upset and making noise and politicians like to make everybody happy, right? So I don't want to discourage change and reform and improvement.
Yes, we fixed an injustice in the bail system. We have more work to do but that's the expected. There are very few situations that are as complicated where you come in and you make one adjustment that doesn't cause other adjustments. Franklin Delano Roosevelt who was a great governor, a great president, he talked about this often and he did it. He talked about bold experimentation. He was very big on make it better, fix it, give it your best, and then come back and try it again and try it again and try it again. And by the way, none of these systems will be perfect. And we have to get better at constant improvement and constant evaluation and adjustment. You have an education system that operates the same way it did 25 years ago. Everybody gives a speech, all these protests, demonstrations, interest groups, all baloney. They still give out the money the way they gave out the money 25 years ago, all politics, all politics. Healthcare system, we're still talking around and around on the health care system. We've made great progress in the state but there's much more to do. And yeah, when you get involved in these complicated systems and you go to make them better it is disruptive. Change is disruptive but without change there is no improvement.
But public safety is job one. Senator Monica Martinez said the same thing to me personally. She said to me on the phone, I'm not voting for the budget unless we fix the situation. I said I respect that. What I didn't say to her is, don't worry because I won't do a budget without a reform to the situation. But people, the discussion is good, let's argue, let's debate, let's discuss, but rest assured public safety is job one and we will have a safe system when that budget is passed.
Jay Oliver: It's about dialogue and the proper dialogue can get things. So you're listening to the Governor of New York, his name is Andrew Cuomo. I'm going to throw a couple more at you. Appreciate the extra time this morning, Governor. I know it was back, if memory serves me correct, in early January where you unveiled a plan to reduce the risk of flooding across the state. I remember the heavy rains and the Lake Ontario levels and Oswego going back to [inaudible], big problem in the state and I know you proposed a Bond Act, Environmental Bond Act, it's probably going to be the nation's most aggressive program to reduce the risk of floods and restore wildlife habitats, $3 billion or so I think proposed, but certainly we have seen Mother Nature at its worst in the last couple of years. Something had to be done about it, right?
Governor Cuomo: You know, Jay, it is. There is no issues that we have to deal with and how we see them coming, we see them coming, the only question is do they catch you flat-footed. We went through Superstorm Sandy in Long Island, and then almost every week it's another flood, it's another hurricane, it's fires in California. The environmental degradation has happened, climate change has happened and it is now almost a weekly occurrence. Prepare for it and change and adjust to the new reality. We can't keep spending hundreds of millions of dollars handling these emergency situations, which are really no longer emergencies because they happen on a frequent basis so we have to repair the natural damage that we've done. It's watershed extremes, it's creeks, it's natural resiliency. We also have to pivot quickly and dramatically to renewable energy. We can't keep this rate of destruction of the planet because there will be no planet to leave to our children and that's not an overstatement. You know, you want to look at the worst case trajectory on coronavirus, look at the worst case trajectory on climate change. I don't think the planet lasts through my children's lifetime on the worst track trajectory. Everybody talks renewables, getting out of fossil fuels but you have to have the renewables built and online. We have the largest wind turbine program in the United States of America proposed off Long Island, solar panels, we get it. But you have to be able to build it and train the workforce and create the jobs. Right now it takes six years on average to site a new renewable project, six years to site a project. That's not going to work. The math doesn't add up. So we have the most aggressive plan in the United States of America to restore Mother Nature. We call it restore natural resiliency, and step two, aggressively transition to renewables as an economic development vehicle, generating the jobs, training the workers but actually making the transition where the renewables are online so we do have the alternative to turn off the fossil fuels.
Jay Oliver: Interesting. Talking with the Governor of the State of New York. His name is Andrew Cuomo. So, listen, I remember you announced it on this program first, your proposed meeting with the president of the United States a couple of weeks ago, governor, and I know you had high hopes. Give me the governor mindset. You walk into that White House, Oval Office, president of the United States, hopefully for a compromise of some sort, you have something in your mind as far as a possible solution. I want you to tell me, tell the audience, were you confident something could get done? I know you were doing your due diligence, trying to get this trusted traveler program in place. It was suspended we know. But give me an idea as far as the mindset and also the mindset in leaving the White House. How you felt. And where right now do we stand regarding this thing?
Governor Cuomo: You know the president, I know the president from before. He's a Queens boy. I'm a Queens boy. Actually, we grew up in roughly the same neighborhood. And so I know him, I know him for years. And I try, we have different political philosophies on a very fundamental level. But for me, on the mindset, Jay, I don't have the luxury. I represent the people of the State of New York. It's not about my politics, my preferences, what I feel personally. I represent the people of the State of New York. We have Democrats, we have Republicans. And I've governed with Democrats and Republicans and my job is to represent Democrats and Republicans. So I work very hard to be open and accommodating and professional. In all of these situations, right, I would consider it disrespect in my position if I let my personal feelings get in the way of doing my job. And I take that very seriously. We talk about working across the aisle. I see it the other way. You don't have the luxury of putting your opinion first. You're an elected official. I don't care how you feel about the other person. Get the job done. Represent me. That's what a professional is all about. So anyway, I meet with the president, I've met with him, many times. I speak to him on the phone on these issues. The meeting on this one was the president and his homeland security people. And we're still working through the matter and there's pending litigation, so I want to be a little careful what I say, but the homeland security people, even from their public comments, they don't like the fact that we're not giving them all our state information. They are, we have undocumented people who have driver's licenses in this state, and their position is they want all the information. Our position is, we'll give you all the information for fighting crime, but we're not giving you any information for immigration purposes. And they fundamentally reject this proposal. They're suing other states have undocumented driver's licenses also—they're suing the other states. Because they want all the data. And this is now political philosophy or just partisan politics depending on how you want to view it, but that's their position. We're trying to work out a position but I don't have much flexibility. My position is I won't give you any information for immigration purposes, period. And I'm not going to move from that. Because I don't want them using our driver's licenses database to do immigration work and try to find undocumented people who are here, haven't committed a crime, they're living their lives, and they're going to now target them and have ICE go pull them out of their homes. There's a situation in Maryland where they think they were using the DMV database to do facial recognition. So that's where we left it, we're still talking about it, there's no resolution. The president was constructive. It was really the position of the Department of Homeland Security and we're still talking it through.
Jay Oliver: Is there another date? Is there a date in the future? Some sort of situation involved where another party will kind of come back and say hey, here we are with this, that, or is it kind of open in that regard?
Governor Cuomo: No, we're going back and forth, and every couple of days, there's, there's been ongoing communication, let's put it that way. The two positions are clear and we're trying to find a resolution. We haven't been able to do it yet, but that doesn't mean we won't, and we're still talking. But there are two very different positions. And I do believe that what the federal government did actually has nothing to do with the situation. They turned off this trusted traveler program. 200,000 people who have pre-clearance by the federal government to have an expedited entry because they travel and they prove they get a special card because they documented their citizenship to the federal government. They turned that off just as a leverage point. I said it was extortion. A nicer word would be leverage. But leverage isn't a beautiful word either. To get us to comply, and I don't like to be extorted, and new Yorkers are not people who take to bullying, you know, don't try to bully new Yorkers. We're fair, we're reasonable, but don't try to leverage us and extort us and bully us, it doesn't work well with us.
Jay Oliver: Listen, I appreciate the extra time this morning, you got a lot on your plate, we're going to follow you along the way, okay, and hopefully we're going to have you back on soon, and decipher more of it. Can't thank you enough here for your time this month.
Governor Cuomo: Jay, thank you, and thank you for the time, because look, these are very big issues, and they are complicated issues, and people are concerned. The level of concern is very high out there. You know, coronavirus, the anti-Semitism, everything that's going on, bail reform. So the dialogue is very important. Because I think the more people know, the better they will feel about it. We are getting prepared for coronavirus. I've spent my life in government doing this. We will do everything we need to do. I understand the fear about bail reform. We will not pass a budget that doesn't address the issue, Jay. So people should take a deep breath on that. And on the anti-Semitism, let's all look in the mirror and let's all be a little more generous, and loving, and understanding, and let's make sure our young people understand the history of these different cultures and what they've gone through.
Jay Oliver: Great way of ending this segment, thank you so much governor. Governor Andrew Cuomo, ladies and gentlemen, at 8:29, thank you sir.
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