Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Is a Guest on MSNBC's the Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul was a guest on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, reaffirming New York's commitment to women's reproductive rights and access to health care in response to anti-abortion laws in Texas and across the country

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

Lawrence O'Donnell: Thank you very much for joining us tonight, Governor. I really appreciate it.

Governor Hochul: Thanks for having me on. Been looking forward to this.

Lawrence O'Donnell: Governor, I want to begin where you just left off in your comments about the Texas abortion law. What can New York do for women in Texas? In the previous hour, Rachel was reciting specifics of what women are going through that are now part of the pleadings the Justice Department has brought to this case, traveling hundreds of miles, driving non-stop out of state for hundreds and hundreds of miles, trying to obtain services. With New York's distance from Texas, what can New York do?

Governor Hochul: I find it so heartbreaking to see women who happen to be living in the state of Texas who are denied these basic human rights, and these are issues that we fought for my entire life as a young woman. My grandmother fought for them and my mother fought for them and I thought by the time my 30-something-year-old daughter would be of childbearing age that this would all be settled, and women in Texas need to know we will help you find a way to New York, and right now we're looking intensely to find what resources we can bring to the table to help you have safe transport here and let you know there are providers who will assist you in this time of your need. You are not alone. Your sisters and brothers, enlightened brothers in the State of New York, will help you in any way we can.

Lawrence O'Donnell: That story you told about your first pregnancy and how six weeks is just an absurd line to place in any kind of law involving pregnancy is really striking and it seems it's the kind of thing that Governor Abbott and the men who are working on this legislation in Texas don't seem to know anything about.

Governor Hochul: They don't seem to care about it. I mean, all they want to do is control women's bodies in their state, and supposedly, and again this is theoretical, they claim to be states' rights advocates and are going to be more diffuse in terms of regulatory endeavors, making more hands-off decisions - except when it comes to women. What are they thinking?

I get so frustrated to think that there are women in our own country who have to endure this. As you mentioned, Lawrence, setting up this whole system of vigilantes. I can't believe this is even going on in our country and what's so disgusting to me is that our own Supreme Court - and we saw this possibly coming but actually the reality has hit us hard - that the Supreme Court will not stand up and protect the women of this country. So we're left on our own, state by state making our own decisions. And I think this is just the beginning of a trend and I'll continue to stand with women all across this nation using my platform, my voice to let them know that they can come to New York, but other than that I'm going to help women get elected all over this country who are pro-choice. I'm going to use my energy and my resources to make sure that happens, as well. That's the only thing that's going to make change. We have to wipe out men like Governor Abbott and what's going on in places like Georgia and Florida of all places, not to even get into the vaccine issue. It's so appalling what is going on in these Republican states and their people are suffering and I can't stand that any longer. We have to take a strong position against this and call it out whatever we see it.

Lawrence O'Donnell: I don't know how, what your perspective on this was when you were a Member of the House of Representatives or now as governor, but when I was working in the Senate and looking for allies on legislation, I always found that New York's package of concerns, which is massive compared to that of any state other than California, I always found that California was the ally. California was the place that had the massive scale of urban life you have in the State of New York. It has everything New York has and so it was never for me the neighboring states. It was always California. I was looking at that election last night in California and thinking about it in New York terms, knowing that you would be joining us tonight and wondering what you saw in that election in California last night and how it applies to New York State.

Governor Hochul: There is a direct parallel and to see Gavin Newsom's election, the fact that people have kept him in office is an important statement of the priorities that Democrats reflect and it's simple as we want to keep people alive by ensuring that they have access to vaccines, they get vaccinated, they use masks, they do smart commonsense things. That's all he was talking about. That became a polarizing issue in an election that never should have happened.

So we are in sync on these issues as we have been on so many, whether it's climate change or making sure that people have quality health care. We stand with California on so many initiatives, particularly when it comes to fighting this pandemic. So his election and rejection of Trumpism I think sends a message across the country that there are people out there that want their leaders and government, whether it's California or New York, they want us to stand up and take strong stands against the disinformation and the lies that are out there about this pandemic, tell the truth, tell people that they are relying on scientists and doctors and real professionals, not talk show hosts who've lost their minds. We're talking about real smart people who study this for giving us the guidance that we need to make sure we're protecting our residents. That's what Gavin Newsom stood for. That's what I'm standing for in the State of New York, and yes, we're getting sued and attacked and criticized. It doesn't matter. We're going to make sure we can keep our kids in school, keep people in work, get them back to work, and get back to normal. That's what people want from us and I think the election yesterday proved that.

Lawrence O'Donnell: Eviction obviously is a gigantic issue in the State of New York, especially in the City of New York with so many renters. How do you balance landlords' interests in needing to be paid so that they can meet their mortgage so they can continue to provide this housing that people then rent? How do you balance the landlords' needs versus the renters' needs in this crisis?

Governor Hochul: We have found that balance, and I thank President Joe Biden and our leaders, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand for delivering the dollars to New York State so we can help solve this crisis.

So many millions of people lost their jobs during this pandemic and in a place like New York City, Broadway for example, thousands of people work on Broadway, they were the first one to shut down and they just opened again last night in a limited capacity. So we still have strong industries, hospitality, many tourists haven't come back just yet but they should because we're open for business.

But until we get that, people who lost their jobs can't make that payment. They can't make the rent payment and can't make a mortgage payment, and therefore, no fault of their own, they're getting behind on their payments. The debt is accumulating. It's a tremendous stress point for them and landlords aren't getting paid. And many of these are not the big landlords we think about in New York City. A lot of these are small immigrants who have a business on the first floor, who are renting out to a family upstairs. They're not getting paid either.

So when I was first sworn into office three weeks ago, I found there was a huge backlog of these federal dollars not getting out to the people and I said, no more. My number one priority: I promise I'll get this money out. I'm very proud we got out almost $400 million to date and I'm continuing to attack this with a vengeance because people need help. The money came to us. We appreciate that.

We also added money for people who are excluded workers, our immigrant community. They didn't have any way to document their salaries, their incomes, so they haven't been paid any assistance from the government. We stepped up in the State of New York to make sure that there was money for them, as well. I'm working really hard to get that money out as well.

So with the pandemic, it's about getting the vaccines, making sure we defend all the lawsuits coming at us, make sure people wear masks, and also getting those much needed dollars out there for small businesses, child care organizations and institutions, as well as our landlords and renters. So we're working really hard on it and we're making great progress. We're not done yet, though.

Lawrence O'Donnell: You know, governor, you threw me a bit when you said three weeks ago when you took office because it feels like three months ago to me just because sitting here, we've gone through an awful lot of urgent news cycles about issues that did not involve the governor of New York. And I have to ask you, what does that passage of time feel like for you, those three weeks, but also, you've been near the seat of power for many years. Now that you are in it, what is your biggest surprise that you've discovered in this job?

Governor Hochul: I found that I was really prepared for this, Lawrence, and I didn't know until I sat in that seat and realized that the weight of the State of New York and the future rests on my shoulders.

I did work with people like Tim Russert, even as a teenager, working on Senator Moynihan's first race in '76. I have been preparing my entire life. I was an elected official for nearly 30 years and working in the private sector, working as Lieutenant Governor for nearly seven years. I've really been in a position where I was absorbing so much information and realized that I truly do have the ability to govern the state, and it was something that I didn't know until I was in that chair.

My first week on the job, within days, the entire New York City subway shut down. I had to race to the city, find out what was wrong, and get the trains running again. Ten days after that, we had a hurricane decimate parts of our cities, particularly New York City, Queens, we lost people's lives because they were trapped in their own homes, in basements they never should have been living in, subhuman conditions.

In addition to that, I had to get the money out that I just spoke about because there are people hurting in the state, and make sure we are continuing to protect people and get more vaccines out. All that has been going on, really most of that was in my first two weeks on the job, and I realized I do have the experience and confidence to handle it and that people in New York are willing to give me a chance. This is turning the page on
a long chapter and a lot of people, particularly in state government, are feeling liberated again.

I promised to create an environment that is safe for people, particularly women, who did not feel respected and safe in their own workplace, and I've said we'll focus
on ethics reform, so I'm excited about the potential to transform not just state government, but more importantly, people's image and perception of their state government. I want them to trust their leaders once again, and I'm committed to making sure that that happens under my watch.

Lawrence O'Donnell: Governor, what can you say to parents of school children in the state who are worried about the stability of the school year? Might schools be shut down? Might a new variant come along? How stable is the school system as we go into this second year of a school year under Covid-19?

Governor Hochul: I believe that most parents believe their children need to be back in schools and they're very pleased to follow our requirements that we have teachers vaccinated, that people who work in a school environment are vaccinated or else test out, which is critically important to identify whether or not they are either testing positive for the first time or some of the breakthrough cases, which are very rare. I want to point out that they're extremely rare. Until we can get vaccines for children up until age 12, right now we're trying to get more 12- to 17-year-olds vaccinated. I think most people do feel comfortable because there is a high rate of vaccination in our state, we have nearly 80 percent of [adults] who have had at least one dose. Those are good numbers, but we're not going to finish until we get everybody vaccinated.

I'm committed to doing this and there will be a few holdouts, but I'm balanced, I believe that most people feel confident that what I'm going to do is continue to be very aggressive in fighting this pandemic, that their children are safe under my watch because I'm a mom, and I'll do anything I can to protect children, my own and others, so the school environment is a safe environment.

Our administrators and teachers have worked really hard to make sure kids can transition from this surreal world of having their education at their kitchen table or in their bedrooms over this past year, and the effect on children has been so devastating that we have to do everything we can to keep them in a classroom, in that stable setting with their support system around.

Now, if a whole new variant comes and it's vaccine resistant, we'll be ready to handle that. We know what to do here in the State of New York. I just added, by changing the law, allowing basic EMTs to administer vaccines. I now have another 50,000 people ready to offer booster shots or people's first shots.

We're getting ready, but Lawrence, right now I'm feeling better about the situation. The hesitation, anxiety about the school year, we're already underway, and we hope to limit any shutdowns and not have wholesale shutdowns ever again. That is my objective, but again, I don't know what the future is going to bring, but I know in New York state we'll be ready for it.

Lawrence O'Donnell: New York Governor Kathy Hochul, I only wish that Pat Moynihan were watching tonight and that Tim Russert were asking the questions. Thank you very much for joining us tonight, a real honor.

Governor Hochul: Thank you.