Audio & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul is a Guest on MS Now’s “Morning Joe”

Earlier this morning, Governor Hochul was a guest on MS Now’s “Morning Joe.”

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

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

Mika Brzezinski, Morning Joe:  Today, democratic Governor Kathy Hochul of New York is announcing. Her plan to fund Universal Childcare, a statewide initiative that would cost around $15 billion per year. This comes on the heels of the Trump administration freezing billions of dollars in funding for childcare subsidies and support for low-income families in several Democratic led states including New York, and Governor Hochul joins us now. You’ve got a lot of plans and we'll get to some of those later, but let's talk about this one now. So this is just happening in democratic led states. This is a concept I believe in his first term, family members we're getting behind trying to help women stay at work and have childcare.

Governor Hochul: No, and now he's at war with kids, let's just call it for what it is. You know, he singles out the five — some of the largest states happen to be run by Democratic governors, and he thinks he's screwing with us. But what he doesn't realize is that in a State like New York, these childcare funds and social services funds are administered by the counties. Of my 62 counties in New York, 47 are red counties. So now I have Republican county executives represented by Republican members of Congress who are also getting screwed in the process.

Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe: And talk about how freezing these funds specifically will hurt children.

Governor Hochul: Well the money is now suspended. This is a reimbursement program to cover childcare for almost 200,000 kids in New York.

Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe: So these kids are gonna go without childcare?

Governor Hochul: Well, the state will have to help out here, right? But it's a reimbursement program. They told us with this basically another hostage letter. I get them almost every week, some threatening letter withholding money for a tunnel or a bridge or whatever they just wake up and decide they want to attack us for on a given day.

But this letter, we received two days ago, says that if we don't provide volumes of information going back years, that are in the hands of counties within two weeks, it's going to be permanently suspended.

Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe: And like you said, in the hands of red counties. In the hands of counties that voted for Donald Trump. And just like Medicaid cuts, won't these funding cuts predominantly hurt people who voted for Donald Trump and their children?

Governor Hochul: Yes, that should be screamed at the highest levels of government in our State, but also in Washington. Republican members of Congress have to own this. You have an opportunity to go right into the President, or your speaker, and say “Don't do this, these are my constituents. They won't vote for me because this is happening.”

So you think you're hurting democratic governors, you're hurting a lot of kids, but you're also hurting your own politics. And that's what I want to make sure they're aware of. But why are they doing this to kids? Listen, just two months ago they stopped feeding kids. They suspended this right before — we were together Reverend Al, right before Thanksgiving. Stop feeding kids. Now they're saying, stop vaccinating kids. Then they say stop covering our kids' health care. And now take away their childcare.

Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe: Why, I'm sorry. Why is there a war on kids coming from this administration?

Governor Hochul: Why do I think there's a war on kids?

Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe: Yeah why is there?

Governor Hochul: Because they're stupid, I mean I don't understand this. I'm just telling you, I don't know why they are so hostile. I think it's this depth of cruelty. They think they're going to get to me, but the kids are the political prawns in this process, and they're not doing that calculation. Children are being hurt, and they need to know that. And that's why I'm saying it today, but also our governors are staying together. We'll go to court, we'll do what we can, but my God, you know how many cases I have against this administration ongoing?

This is a growth industry for lawyers. There's so many cases because literally on a daily basis, almost hourly, we're getting some sort of attack on New Yorkers. And I said, I'll work with you when there's areas of collaboration, we can do something together. Let's fix up Penn Station for example, we'll do some good things. But what has been happening is just beyond the pale and it's costing $3.8 billion for my State. That's $3.8 billion that was there one day and it's gone the next.

Willie Geist, Morning Joe: So let's talk about how you're helping children, Governor, rolling out a new plan along with Mayor Mamdani, I know you'll be joining him later today. Universal Childcare for two year olds. Can you explain the program a little bit. And we heard about the $15 billion price tag, who's paying?

Governor Hochul: Well, we are able to do this within the current revenues that we have been bringing in, and this is a multi-year process. It's not day one because you have to build the infrastructure. You have to have the people trained to do this, you have to have the location. So, this is our roadmap to continuing what has already started in the city with four year olds and three year olds. Now we get down to two year olds in a program that's going to be unveiled in a couple of locations. I'll let the mayor describe that because we've been working together on this, but I'm doing this statewide. I announced this in my State of the State a year ago, and said, we're on the path to universal childcare. Because this is why people who want to live in this State, who want to live in the City just can't afford it.

I had to give up a job I loved working for Senator Moynihan a long time ago because I couldn't find childcare. So this is personal to me. It's something my own kids are struggling with now, and I don't want any family to have to leave our state because childcare is $25,000 to $40,000 per year.

You're a minimum wage worker, it's just not working for you. So we're going to help those families, help lift them up and make this an important part of our affordability agenda. And I'm proud to work with the mayor on this.

Reverend Al Sharpton, Morning Joe: Governor, I think and as you said, I stood with you as other faith leaders did when they cut in terms of food for children — now we're dealing with this. Talk about how you and Mayor Mamdani announced this today. The contrast is cutting funds for children while we're talking about a long-term engagement in Venezuela and other places with billions of dollars. So how do we sacrifice American children but we are going to spend all this money on engagements that we don't see anything to do.

Governor Hochul: Then there's no way out of it, and we'll be spending trillions of dollars in Venezuela. I don't know how much the price tag for Greenland's going to be. But it's absurd that those are his priorities despite what he promised would happen on his first day in office. Remember, prices were going to come down on day one? New Yorkers are getting hit so hard with the costs of tariffs driving up everything. Childcare is expensive, right? They're taking away something that has been a lifeline for these families. Federal dollars that go to the State. They just made them evaporate.

So they don't care, Reverend Al, they just don't care. But what they should be thinking about is the impact on our economy. The reason you need childcare. It's because you're going to work, you're going to a job. You're creating revenues, you're creating opportunities for your family, but also you're part of an economic engine that I want to support.

So this is good for the business community to take care of workers' kids. And the Trump administration is like “we don't care.”

Mika Brzezinski, Morning Joe: Well for Democratic led states, they're saying that but as you pointed out, there are Republican led districts in those states or districts that had Republican members of Congress. Like what’s going on in Elise Stefaniuk’s district right now?

Governor Hochul: Who knows, they haven't been represented in a very long time despite someone sitting there. No, that's a hard hit district. When I go up to Elise’s district and I do a town hall, I did a meeting there last year – the farmers are angry because the tariffs are raising the cost of everything. The small tourism towns like Lake Placid and Saranac Lake don't have visitors because we're at war with our best friends in Canada. So they're taking it out on us, they're not coming. And the cost of health care – our rural hospitals in those areas are on the verge of collapse.

Mika Brzezinski, Morning Joe: Good lord.

Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe: Is that a swing district?

Governor Hochul: I think it is. I think in the past, before Donald Trump, I would've said no. But there are so many areas where he has hurt these people, I think it's an opportunity for Democrats to take that seat. I'm working hard to help win back that Congress because I need a firewall to stop this insanity.

Jonathan Lemire, Morning Joe: So Governor, can we turn you to the incident in Minneapolis yesterday, and it comes with as the White House and the Trump administration suggested they're going to ramp up. Operations here in New York City as well. In fact, Secretary Neom Slated to be in Manhattan later today to talk about that. So give us your reaction to what you saw yesterday, but also your concerns that there could be clashes like this if ICE agents are met with protests here in New York?

Governor Hochul: This is exactly the chaos that the Trump administration wants, this is how they operate. They want to create this sense of, especially in democratic cities and democratic states, that there's just this lawlessness and things are out of control and they need to step in and save it. They are so wrong – New York is safe. Our statistics that I announced with our commissioner of police and the new mayor are staggering in how much we've reduced crime.

Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe: How much?

Governor Hochul: 60%, murders and shootings are down 60%. Subways have never been this safe. We've dropped dramatically in the number of – we have six to eight crimes on our subway every day. There are 4 million people on our subway, that's the population of Los Angeles. Imagine if the city of Los Angeles had only four to six or eight crimes a day.

Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe: Yeah.

Governor Hochul: This is a very safe place, and again I'm not saying mission accomplished. We're going to keep working on this, but their narrative that this is a place that's descending into hell and they have to come and rescue us is so wrong.

Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe: Nobody believes that.

Governor Hochul: So back to your question. We are concerned. I have a conversation with the president fairly regularly. I know our new mayor is having a relationship with him, which we hope will avoid the arrival of more ICE agents and National Guard, but we're prepared. And what happened — I am so sickened as a mom that there's a child that woke up yesterday, a 6-year-old, who had a loving mother and goes to bed an orphan. In this country, an American.

And I'm telling you, I'm going to stand up to defend rights, at least what I can do in New York. And next week when I'm announcing my State of the State address, I am putting in language that I want get through that says that New Yorkers who've had their constitutional rights denied by an ICE agent, whether you're a member of the media that was beaten up in New York City a couple weeks ago — or someone whose business has been ransacked because the ICE agents come in and make them lose money.

Or someone whose mother is murdered, that they would have a way to get recourse against those individuals, and let's start holding these people accountable. You come in with masks, they call her a terrorist? And I have a lot of respect for law enforcement, tremendous respect. But I've asked an ICE agent, why are you wearing the mask? When I was down there at 26th Federal Plaza, I said, “why do you wear the mask? No other law enforcement does this. Our police don't do it, our FBI agents don't do it. Why are you doing this?”

And they said, because we get doxed. Our family gets harassed, et cetera. I said, “why do you think you are more than anybody else?” Come on, you're just trying to scare people. You're terrorizing people yourselves, and I don't want to see that. So we don't need that here, we're doing just fine in New York. The mayor and I will stand together and reject any efforts to try and militarize our streets, but they never should have been in Minneapolis in the first place. That's the catalyst for this.

Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe: Democratic Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, thank you so much.

Governor Hochul: Thank you very much.

Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe: By the way, congratulations on congestion pricing. You had so many critics. It’s extraordinarily popular in Manhattan and New York.

Governor Hochul: Thank you.