Governor Hochul: “I want people who will put the city first, who will understand that I have done more to help this city than anybody in a long time. Investing money — I'm literally paying for overtime for our police officers, NYPD, to be on the subways, and guess what? Subway crimes are way down. I'm working on getting more homeless off the streets, building more housing. No one has ever taken this on the way I have — to reduce the cost of living here in this great city.”

Hochul: “We want you to come back and work for us. I will hire you. I need you. We have 7,000 openings in the State of New York, and we value public service. Public servants take care of our people. That's what it's all about.”

Earlier on March 3rd, Governor Kathy Hochul was a guest on CNN’s “The Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer. The Governor spoke on the New York City mayoral race, her “You’re Hired” initiative for those impacted by the Department of Government Efficiency’s layoffs and on how the Trump administration’s tariffs on Canada affect New York State residents.

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

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

Wolf Blitzer, CNN: ?New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is now plotting a major political comeback, announcing over the weekend his candidacy for mayor of New York City. Cuomo resigned from office back in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal — he denies all those allegations.

Joining us now is New York's current governor, Kathy Hochul. She served as Lieutenant Governor during the Cuomo administration. Governor Hochul, thanks so much for joining us. When Cuomo stepped down, back in 2021, you called his behavior, and I'm quoting you now, “repulsive.” Do you think he is fit to serve as New York’s mayor?

Governor Hochul: First of all, Wolf, congratulations on the new show, delighted to be on your first episode. Also, here's what I'm going to tell you about the mayor's race — and this is the position you're going to hear today, all the way up until the election's over for the primary in June — I will work with whomever the really smart voters of New York City decide they want to be their mayor. That is not up for me to decide. I don't even vote in the city.

But I will say, also, I will support people — ultimately, after they're elected — who support my agenda of increasing public safety, dealing with the homelessness crisis, people with mental health problems, closing down illegal cannabis shops, making our streets safer.

So, I'm looking forward to working with whomever wants to partner with me to lift this city up. But in the meantime, I'm not focused on the politics. I have a state to run, I've got multiple crises — many of them emanating from Washington. I was with children yesterday who are severely ill, where parents are terrified of losing Medicaid. So, I will say this will all work itself out, but I'm focused on governing the State of New York, nothing else.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN: The Governor of New York, as you well know, and the Mayor of New York City have to work together very, very closely. If Cuomo wins that race and becomes the next mayor of New York, would you be able to work with him despite some of that history?

Governor Hochul: It's up to the voters, Wolf. I'm not injecting my voice into this election. There's a lot of people that have put their names forward. I admire anybody who wants to run for office. I'm in my 16th election — I know how challenging it is, but I want people who will put the city first, who will understand that I have done more to help this city than anybody in a long time. Investing money — I'm literally paying for overtime for our police officers, NYPD, to be on the subways, and guess what? Subway crimes are way down. I'm working on getting more homeless off the streets, building more housing. No one has ever taken this on the way I have — to reduce the cost of living here in this great city.

My agenda is broad-based. It's very supportive of the city. I had to work with Bill de Blasio as mayor, I worked with Eric Adams for the last number of years and, whatever the voters decide, I will respect that.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN: Governor, I want to turn now to President Trump's sweeping efforts right now to slash the entire federal government. You hosted a roundtable this morning with workers hit by those federal job cuts. What kind of impact is this having in my home State of New York?

Governor Hochul: It is absolutely devastating. Some people are on the verge of tears. I gathered about ten people who, unceremoniously, were dumped, some of them on Valentine's Day. People that were working to fight consumer fraud, making sure that the huge corporations that are trying to evade taxes have to pay it; people who take care of our veterans; people who are making us safe — all of them were just dumped.

And I know the Trump-Musk administration doesn't have regard for them — they think they're disposable, that they make no contributions, but guess what? These are people who keep our skies safe. They're the ones who are researching, making sure we can have cures so our kids don't get sick; taking care of vaccinations. Countless ways that these are highly valuable people, but in New York, we're saying, “You get fired by them? In New York, you're hired.”

And just literally today, you'll start seeing in Washington at Union Station, you'll see ads that show basically this message, that you want a job in public service? We respect you, we want you to stay and so here it is.

We want you to come back and work for us. I will hire you. I need you. We have 7,000 openings in the State of New York, and we value public service. Public servants take care of our people. That's what it's all about. Come onboard. We'll hire you.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN: On another very sensitive issue, Governor, I want to get your thoughts. President Trump is now pushing ahead with plans to slap 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting tomorrow. Canada, of course, borders New York State. You and I grew up in western New York, right on the border with Canada. How is this going to affect New York State, which has such close economic ties with Canada, especially Ontario?

Governor Hochul: It'll be devastating. You know the synergy there is to us in Western York. It's not another country, it's just our neighbors across the bridge. And the jobs, the people who go get their education back and forth, the close connections, but also the businesses that thrive in New York and in Canada because they're our largest trading partner. $5 billion worth of trade across our borders every single year. That's going to affect the cost of steel and aluminum as we're trying to build up.

We're building Micron, the largest semiconductor manufacturing plant going on right now, the largest [private] investment in [New York State] history, going on in Syracuse, New York. I have to keep that going.

And for our businesses to think that some of their commodities, their products, are now going to cost 25 percent more, how is that about reducing people's costs? We were promised lower prices on day one, Inauguration Day. Not only is everything going to go up, even eggs — eggs now cost $11 in New York City, up 20 percent from what they've been on Inauguration Day.

This is not the trend. This is not what people have promised. And I encourage the administration to look closely at how they can keep the promise of reducing the cost of living for every American, but particularly people who are hard hit here in New York.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN: Yeah. Very hard hit indeed. Governor, the Trump administration has already delayed the implementation of these tariffs before. Do you foresee that happening again?

Governor Hochul: I hope so. I hope they understand that what is a good sound bite is not going to help in reality, especially the businesses and the people who voted for you. These are people in the North Country of New York. It is a predominantly red area. They voted for you, Mr. President, and now their jobs in manufacturing are on the line. And I'd be terrified to know that the damage that could happen is people losing their jobs in New York and all across America. We can't let that happen. So continue to delay. Let's work this out, let's find a solution, but let's not drive up the cost on people all across this country. That's the last thing we need right now.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN: The President has repeatedly tied his proposal for a lot of tariffs to the flow of drugs crossing the border, including the Canadian border, into the United States. Are you seeing evidence of significant drug trafficking from New York's border with Canada?

Governor Hochul: There was a time when there was a spike, but I have deployed more people on the border, the Canadians are working closely with us, the Border Patrol — it is a fraction of what is being talked about. It is a problem, of course, we don't want a single drug to come across the border. But it does not justify the cataclysmic impact the tariffs will have on the State of New York.

So, we can solve the problem at the border. We don't want drugs coming over, we don't want gangs coming over, we don't want human traffickers coming over, we get that. We'll work with you. We'll work with the federal administration on this. But this is such an extreme remedy that is going to have a ripple effect across our entire economy, and especially in a place like this state.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN: New York Governor Kathy Hochul, as usual, thank you very much. Appreciate it. We'll continue this conversation down the road.

Governor Hochul: Sounds good. Thanks, Wolf.