Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Is A Guest On Inside City Hall

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul was a guest on NY1's Inside City Hall with Errol Louis.

A rush transcript of the Governor's interview is available below:

Errol Louis: Good evening. Welcome to Inside City Hall, for Thursday, August 26, 2021. I'm Errol Louis. We begin tonight with my first guest, a public servant from Western New York who is now the most powerful elected official in our state.

Kathy Hochul began the week preparing to become governor, and since taking the oath of office on Tuesday, she's made it clear that a new administration is in charge. Governor Hochul is my guest tonight on Inside City Hall. Welcome to our NY1 studios. Thank you for joining us.

Governor Hochul: Glad to be back, Errol. Thank you for having me.

Errol Louis: We have not been having guests. You are the first.

Governor Hochul: I'm the first, making another 'first' here.

Errol Louis: Let me start on the news that has dominated this afternoon, which is the atrocity, the terrorist bombing in Afghanistan. I saw shortly before we came on the air, you're ordering flags to half-staff on state buildings.

Governor Hochul: This is devastating. I spent time in Afghanistan as a member of the House Armed Services Committee. I went into the homes of Afghans. I knew the people who were interpreters there to protect our troops, so this is very hard for us, but our men and women in the military have been under extraordinary duress and my heart goes out to them, and we're going to be waiting to hear the news on identification, but yes, our flags will be at half-staff and sending love and prayers to all those families when they hear the news.

Errol Louis: I have to ask the question we've been asking since September 11, which is, are there any known connections or threats to New York that we should be aware of?

Governor Hochul: Not threats at this time. However, I am keeping my very close hands on this because we are approaching the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I'll be at many of these, hard to call them ceremonies, commemorations I'll call them, and so we are going to be making sure that our security is beefed up in all of our vulnerable locations. Again, I used to be on the Homeland Security Committee as well, so I have a background in making sure that we identify any threats and address them and eradicate them before anything could happen.

Errol Louis: You talked about making New York a place where some of the refugees, over 100,000 or so have already been airlifted out, but that New York might be a home to some of them. What's that going to look like?

Governor Hochul: I want them to come home here. The Statue of Liberty is in our harbor. It reflects our values as a place that welcomes people from around the world, but particularly these people who have been allies of ours, people who fought side by side and helped our troops do what they conduct under terrible circumstance. So you think about our cities, particularly the upstate cities, places like Buffalo, their population grew in the last Census only because of refugees, people from Somalia, Nigeria and Thailand, and it makes communities wonderfully diverse and there's a home for them in the city, there's a home for them in Utica and Rochester and Syracuse, and I will ask my team to do whatever we can to be the first in line to say, come to New York. We want you and we'll give you a far better life. So I've identified various entities that can help us and the not for profits, the social services, there's Catholic relief services and Jewish relief services, a lot of people I'm bringing to the table to say, we stand ready, we open our hearts to all of you, come to New York.

Errol Louis: For agencies and even individuals who want to participate in that kind of welcome process, which agencies should they reach out to?

Governor Hochul: We have the Office of New Americans, which was established to help people with language barriers when they come here and resettlement, and so we're prepared, and I want them to know there is no place like New York. Come here.

Errol Louis: When you were sworn in earlier this week, governor, you said, I want people to believe in their government again. What exactly did you mean by that? Have New Yorkers lost faith in our government?

Governor Hochul: I feel they have. There've been far too many distractions. People want to know that the people that they elect, they take an affirmative step and say, I'm voting for you and what are you doing for me?

I've been an elected official for nearly 30 years. I know what that bond of trust is all about and they're saying, I'm hearing a lot in the news but you're not talking about me. You're not talking about the fact that I don't have the ability to pay my rent and I don't have the money that should be coming, I'm worried about my kids going to school and are they going to be safe, are we talking about someone who may have been displaced, someone who worked on Broadway and the their job is not back? So, people just want to know, there's people in office who are in positions of power who get their needs and their concerns and are working toward them. They don't want to hear all this other chatter, and for me, I'm a very focused person. I will not be distracted, and people should understand, I've got their back.

Errol Louis: How and why do you think we got to this place?

Governor Hochul: So many issues. I don't want to relitigate what's been going on in our State Capitol for a long time, or even previous administrations, and now certainly the reasons I became governor. People know that we're not talking about them when that's happening, and also, people are still knocked down from covid. There is still a psychological impact that's real.

Everybody thought, this time by now we'd be saying goodbye to the masks and now I had ensued a mask mandate my first day to make sure everyone is safe in schools. People are just tired or fatigued and they're looking at government as being dysfunctional. Why isn't the money out for rent relief? Why don't the excluded workers have their money coming in? Why are small businesses still waiting for assistance? So I've got my hands on all that.

Errol Louis: Okay, but before we close the door on that administration and open the door to the new one, the question is still out there which is, if nothing else, you said that you were not part of the inner circle, that you didn't see much of the behavior that was characterized in the attorney general's report for example. On the other hand, you could read the paper and look at the broadcasts like the rest of us and there were accusations and allegations going all the way back to December. There were questions about the nursing home deaths. There were questions about the book deal and so forth. Were you in a position to at least ask or inquire about those things?

Governor Hochul: I'll tell you, it's no secret that the governor and I were not close. He had his own tight inner circle. I created my own space and went out all around the state which is why I've been in every borough so many times, that the borough presidents say I should start paying taxes in their borough because I'm always there. I show up and I've done what I could as lieutenant governor who was not brought into those rooms and those courts. But it didn't deter me from doing hard work for the people of the state so I wasn't there. I'm going to have a very different relationship with my lieutenant governor which I'm excited about, to make them a full partner in government and that's going to be a whole new era.

Errol Louis: You know, in the not too distant past there are examples, both Republican and Democratic lieutenant governors who basically took on their governor's. I'm talking about Mary Anne Krupsak. I'm talking about Betsy McCaughey who when they had differences with their governor they kind of went at them. Was that something you ever considered?

Governor Hochul: No. I was elected to be lieutenant governor. I was honored to be in that position and I'm looking forward to continuing as governor. A lieutenant governor's responsibility, and I was elected not once but twice in a statewide election, independent of Governor Cuomo. We have to run separately in the primary. I was successful. That means that people put their faith in me to be prepared, if necessary, on day one, and that's exactly what happened just a few short days ago.

Errol Louis: The former governor and his lawyer, some of his top aides, they've really tried to cast doubt on the attorney general's report and the motives of the people who put it together and so forth. Some call that victim blaming. What do you say to that?

Governor Hochul: I have full confidence, since I had from the very beginning, in our attorney general, Tish James, who is an outstanding public servant and I trust her judgment and her professionalism and her confidence and the report that she spent a tremendous amount of time developing with outside assistance is credible and I support what she has accomplished.

Errol Louis: The new lieutenant governor, speaking of, the event in Harlem today, for a lot of different reasons, I was doing a broadcast and sort of came in a few minutes into it, but it looked like a political rally. It didn't look like the appointment of a government official which I guess technically is what it was.

Governor Hochul: It was so much fun. I always have fun when I'm in Harlem and those are so many of my close friends. So it wasn't intended to be a political rally but you make an announcement that just energized an electrified the crowd and having Reverend Al Sharpton open it up and convey his faith in me and my selection of lieutenant governor and Hazel Dukes, when Hazel Dukes is there, the president of the NAACP who I've known for years and years, when she's there it's just a party. It's a celebration. So I was really pleased to see that because communities of color in particular have been hit so hard by COVID and the unemployment and the rental relief chaos that's going on. It is fun to give them a good news day and to let them know this is evidence of turning the page to a whole new chapter, where we're going right to the streets, right to the people, and yes we celebrate.

He will not be sworn in for a little bit of time because what was important to me in making this selection, was that we also coincide the special election which I will call immediately for filling his vacancy, and by calling it another week or two from now, probably September 7, that I can align that special election with the election in November. That way you can have higher turnout. I know special elections tend to not have as much participation and it also saves taxpayer dollars. Why would we run the effort of having another one the week before or a couple weeks after, so that's the timing of it.

But I wanted people to know my selection, let him get out there, he's got a wonderful family, smart, smart person, Harvard MBA, private sector, public sector, and a heart that's aligned with mine in terms of what we're going to accomplish for the people of the state.

Errol Louis: And he'll get no sympathy from you if he ever complains about having to travel too much, right?

Governor Hochul: Not at all. But I'm going to bet his team with my team, there will be a different relationship.

Errol Louis: Are you going to give him a substantive portfolio of work?

Governor Hochul: Of course. There's a lot of work to be done and he's made a mark in criminal justice reform, tenant protections, and other areas and will help in getting the rental relief out. So in addition to what I want to give him which I had worked on, economic development which took me to every corner of the state, announcing new projects and getting engaged with local communities. So I said, what you're passionate you will work on. Carve out your own lane and I'll give you the authority and the power to get things done.

Errol Louis: Stand by, governor. We're going to take a short break. We'll be back with Governor Kathy Hochul in just a minute. Stay with us.

...

Errol Louis: Welcome back to Inside City Hall, and once again joined by Governor Kathy Hochul. Governor, where has the state gone wrong, or what have they done right about the pandemic? What's your leading strategy going to be?

Governor Hochul: Well, in the past as you know, the governor had executive authority to make a lot of decisions and he did. He executed with strength at a time, especially when we needed to combat Donald Trump and what he was doing in Washington in completely dysfunctional situation, so we showed a contrast to that, and so I think communication was important with the public.

What I'm doing though is taking some very bold steps and just using the authority that I have, and I don't have executive powers like the governor had, but I also know where I can make a difference.

That's why I said on day one, masks will be required in schools. We have to get kids back to school in a safe environment. That may not seem like a major pronouncement in some circles. There are parts of our state where that will trigger a number of protests. I've already seen this where people don't want to be told to wear masks. But we're not going to be Florida. We're going to have leadership from administration - this is what the experts are telling us will save people's lives and keep our children in a safe environment while they learn.

Errol Louis: Are you clear on your legal authority to do that?

Governor Hochul: Yes, I'm clear on that. But I also believe strongly that everyone in the school environment, including children above age 12, should be vaccinated. It's been approved by the FDA, so there's no emergency use authorization, so anyone who was concerned about that, that excuse is gone, and I know there's many, many teachers and I was just on a call today, Zoom call, with the leadership of our teachers unions. They also want teachers to be protected as well, teachers and students, and so I am strongly urging everyone to get vaccinated.

I'm trying to find a way to make this a requirement, but that's an authority I don't have. But I'm going to find a way to get this done. I think that's the best way, is to have everyone vaccinated. Just like you have to have vaccinations to go off to kindergarten, no difference, except we're in the throes of a global pandemic that is just not abating.

I have met too many people just in the last week who have told me a family member has tested positive. There's still a lot of anxiety and we can't unleash the full economic powerhouse of New York City and New York State until people feel comfortable going into the workplace, come back downtown, going to restaurants. So we have a short-term diversion here because of Delta. We're able to vaccinate but our numbers are not that great. We're better than a lot of states, but they're not great. The number of people or the percentage of people having a second dose is about 59 percent.

It means 40 percent are not fully vaccinated. But the other thing, Errol, we have to get the word out, anyone who got vaccinated eight months ago, particularly our senior citizens who are eligible, maybe last January or February, mark your calendar, you need to get the booster shot at the eight-month mark.

I called Dr. Fauci and said, what's the most important message you want me to convey? Get people that booster shot because we don't know what the future's going to bring. We all want to put this behind us. This is how we do that and if people get vaccinated, we don't have to have any conversations about shutdowns again because that is a nightmare I do not want to revisit again.

Errol Louis: On that question of revitalizing the economy, one big impediment of course is the eviction moratorium that's set to expire in a few days. Now I've heard from you, you've said that there's going to be a process by which people don't need to fear immediate eviction. Explain that a little bit. But then also there is this underlying problem, I mean there is massive debt accumulating for families that presumably will never be able to pay.

Governor Hochul: I'm glad to have a chance to clarify this because there's a lot of anxiety out there. I've spoken to people who are just terrified being thrown out on street because they lost their job during the pandemic, they're still not fully employed, the deaths have piled up over this time. But here's the good news. We have a rental assistance program, federal funding through the state. In my opinion, it should have been released months ago. But it wasn't so now I'm going to clean this up. But that moratorium on eviction, which people are very anxious about because it expires in a few days, that does not matter if you've applied for the rental assistance because once you apply and qualify, you have a whole year where no one can convict you. So that's even better than a short-term moratorium. So people need to apply.

I just had a conversation, a meeting minutes ago, with the leadership of the Hispanic Caucus from the legislature, senators and assembly members. What can we do together to reach out to black and brown communities in particular, let them know the money is there, how to apply, make sure we have language access so that's not a reason not to, maybe even deploy the Census workers. I had this conversation with the mayor of New York and also the public advocate. What can we do differently, how do we micro-target neighborhoods where people are afraid to come forward, but they're missing out on this money that they can use to pay off the landlord, start with a clean slate and get on with their lives.

Errol Louis: How do you plan to deal with the big agencies, like the Port Authority, the MTA, SUNY, CUNY? Your predecessor famously got very, very involved in setting policy, reversing policy, making personnel changes, doing things that amount to micromanaging in the opinion of some of the people who got chased out of those agencies. Generally speaking, what will be your approach?

Governor Hochul: Very different. I believe in empowering leadership. I always seek out the best and the brightest, identify my priorities, my goals, make sure they are in line with them, and let them execute. The buck stops with me. If things go wrong, I'm there. But I'm also not going to be hamstringing people who feel that their creativity is suppressed and their ideas are suppressed and all of a sudden you have people just walking around with indecision when decisions need to be made quickly to make sure that our rides are getting the services they deserve.

The MTA is going to be far more liberated and I will not be filling positions with political allies because there's a lot of talent out there and I want a diverse population, representing the riders, which is a diverse population. It makes sense for me to be doing that. So I'm talking to people. I had a great conversation with the head of the MTA, very positive. I'm up to date on all the projects and talking to the Port Authority, so people are going to see a different era and I want people to know that I have the same big goals for New York. I dream big and I will act big, so there is no infrastructure project that I'm going to turn away if it's a big, impactful one that creates thousands of good paying jobs for New Yorkers, and we have to make sure that we have reliability in our service.

So I can do all that, but it's going to be a different way to do it and this is what I'm choosing to do, is empower people, not micromanage, let me handle other issues but I'll come back to this when there is something that needs to be resolved by me. Empower people to do the work they are trained to do.

Errol Louis: You said in a previous interview that the state needs to do more to help the New York City Housing Authority, NYCHA. What did you mean by that and what will that help look like?

Governor Hochul: When there's been an abject neglect there still people who live in squalor and in the wintertime they're cold, in the summertime they're too hot, this cannot be the case in the greatest city on earth, New York City. I'm going to be assembling a task force to work with the advocates and the leaders, everyone involved to identify, micro-target the problems, find out where they are and get the state and federal resources into them to start prioritizing this. Everybody deserves the dignity of not just a roof over their head, but a clean environment, a safe environment. And my lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin, will be tasked with leading this effort.

Errol Louis: Let me ask you about parole. We've talked about this on this program more than half of the people who are paroled out of state prisons to New York City go into homeless shelters where they are almost guaranteed to fail in some way. The mayor has said, among other things, that it's a lack of adequate planning, something that could be fixed if we do better discharge planning and reentry planning on the state side.

Governor Hochul: Yes, I agree with that. We can do better in that space and there should not be a flood of individuals who all of a sudden have no future, not trained for a job. I personally believe that the job training needs to start during their incarceration. I'm proud that we've released huge numbers of individuals released who had low level offenses and they should never have been incarcerated, which is why I'm so excited about finally getting the cannabis issue resolved and I'll be appointing people very shortly. We've lost five months on getting cannabis available because the money much of that money is going to be driven back to the communities that are most impacted by disproportionate, discriminatory, incarceration because of all that marijuana laws at the time.

So, I want to work on that, but I also believe that when people leave prison, we have to get them right into a pipeline with a job. I can make this connection. All the employers I'm talking to, the labor leaders are begging for people. We're going to create tens of thousands of new jobs in clean energy alone. I want the workforce to be diverse. I want to see more women in these jobs. They're going to be good paying. I want women to be able to be independent, take care of their children without stress, but also communities of color, there should be direct pipeline. I announced a program a few years ago, where we were taking people recently incarcerated, teaming them up with businesses and getting them trained for jobs. We do have a shortage of workers, so why not take advantage of this? But let's start while they're still incarcerated. They should have ready to work skills in them, ready to start, and so we can embrace them and say you've paid your debt to society, welcome back, let's get you working again.

Errol Louis: Before I let you go, so many of my viewers don't know you or are just getting to know you. So let me ask you a couple questions, they are serious questions. Your favorite restaurant?

Governor Hochul: Ted's Hot Dogs.

Errol Louis: The last movie you saw?

Governor Hochul: Oh, I haven't been to a movie theater in a long time.

Errol Louis: I didn't say theater, just any movie.

Governor Hochul: Oh, what have I watched?

Errol Louis: Rom-com? Action? What's going on?

Governor Hochul: Well, my poor husband has to put up with me watching - I watched "The Crown," I watched "Mrs. Maisel."

Errol Louis: You're a series binge watcher. I got it.

Governor Hochul: It was only during COVID. I did like "Ted Lasso." Have you watched "Ted Lasso?"

Errol Louis: I've heard about it, but I haven't seen it yet.

Governor Hochul: It'll lighten your heart. It's just a fun show.

Errol Louis: I could use a little of that. Are you moving into the mansion, the Executive Mansion, in Albany?

Governor Hochul: I dropped off some suitcases and I was in a hotel in New York City last night. I will be keeping a residence with my husband in Buffalo and traveling to the mansion. So, when I need to be in Albany I will. As I put together my administration, I need to be there a lot more, but I'm not going to lose touch with people. I'll be at the Syracuse Fair in a couple days. I'm going to be a going to many more events in the communities. People will see me and you might not recognize me, but that's me hopping around, making sure that everything is going good in the streets of New York.

Errol Louis: Yeah, your days of anonymity are coming to an end, I hate to tell you. Tell us a little bit about your kids. I've not met your kids. Your husband, fairly well known. i am your kids your for your husband's fairly well known as a U.S. attorney and so forth. What do your kids do?

Governor Hochul: My son, Will, followed in my husband's footsteps, my husband had been Barack Obama's U.S. attorney for eight years and my son got the bug. He was in a law firm and decided he wanted to do public service and I'm really proud of him. He's down in Washington and he's prosecuting large companies and banks that took advantage of the PPP program, bringing some of the first cases in the nation. So he's doing the right thing.

My daughter works for small company work with people disabilities to help them get trained and get all the services they need. She keeps reminding me, mom don't forget the disabled community and I will not. They will know that they have a strong advocate in me as well.

So, they're both good kids. They're married. They really they didn't tell mom around all the time, so I tell the stories of young women considering whether they should run for office. My kids have made every single event, but you're not raising kids, you're raising adults and as adults, my kids have good hearts and good social conscience with what their mother did running for office.

Errol Louis: Okay, and a bit of a bonus, a nice place for them to hang out in if they feel like coming up to Albany. All right, thanks a lot. We'll talk again real soon, thanks so much for coming by.