Transcript: Governor Hochul is a Guest on CNN

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul was a guest on CNN. The Governor updated New Yorkers on the brush fires in Long Island, and the ongoing state of emergency to prioritize the deployment of resources toward fire suppression and necessary evacuations.

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

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

Jessica Dean, CNN:  And joining us now on the phone is New York's Governor, Kathy Hochul. Governor, thank you for being here with us. We just had Gloria reporting about this. What more can you tell us about the efforts to contain this fire?

Governor Hochul: Yes, Gloria's reporting was very comprehensive, and we've been actually preemptively preparing for this. We started speaking yesterday about the risk of fire because of the dry conditions, as well as there was an infestation of beetles that have taken down much of the trees, and so they're just sitting there — like timber — waiting for a huge fire.

So, we knew the winds were coming; the conditions are dry — no rain. So, we actually started putting assets in place. I'm so glad we did — that we are prepared for this, and that we have 80 agencies, and firefighting crews and individuals all over working to put up a wetline, as you say, because the wetline is our best defense against this spreading. Now, this is no guarantee. We're in a better place right now, but we are very concerned about the overnight and the increase of winds against the ground. This could be a multi-day event, and I'm also concerned about the air quality.

While there are no structures in harm's way at this moment — again, this could shift in a moment — but, the air quality is definitely compromised. That's why I'm shipping 100,000 N95 masks first thing in the morning, and I'm going to continue doing everything we can to put out the fire. You mentioned that I have four Black Hawks — each Black Hawk is able to dump 660 gallons of water, so that's part of why we've been able to get some control; but again, the control we have right now may not hold, and that is what we're focusing on, on the overnight.

Jessica Dean, CNN: And Governor —

Governor Hochul: I will also say this —

Jessica Dean, CNN: Go ahead, yes.

Governor Hochul: We just learned today — something very troubling is that Washington funding cuts are now affecting the National Fire Academy; literally today, canceled classes for first responders from all over the country, and these are the people we need on the front lines who are trained and experienced, and because of Washington budget cuts, they will not be continuing at all.

We know what happened with the California fires; the Palisades went on for three weeks. We've also dealt with horrific air quality because of the Quebec fires. New York City had the worst air quality on the planet for a number of days because of that impact. So, we're in a crisis situation and the cuts funding that train the people could save our lives is deeply troubling to me.

Jessica Dean, CNN: And Governor, I just want to be clear, do you feel like as of today, though, you have the resources you need federally to deal with what's happening right now on Long Island?

Governor Hochul: I'm not counting on the federal government for this; this is definitely driven by the state. I have my resources there — the state resources that are leading the charge — the county executives. You just heard from Ed Romaine doing an extraordinary job in Suffolk County. So, we are working on a command center right now, and I don't even know if there's going to be FEMA.

If this spreads — and we normally would be applying for FEMA reimbursements if a certain monetary threshold is hit — I don't know that there's going to be a FEMA by the time we would do any calculation of expenses if this got out of control any further.

So, yes, we are concerned about Washington — what’s happening even today with the cuts to the fire academy. I will be able to manage this at the state level with our local resources, but my gosh, this is so unpredictable. We've always been able to count on the federal government for training and assistance, and we can't count on it right now — that has to change.

Jessica Dean, CNN: And I do want to ask you, as you're talking, I just want to let our viewers know that we're watching new video that we're getting to, kind of, help them understand the scope of these fires. In terms of any additional evacuations, Governor, I know people who live in that area are probably concerned about that. Are you anticipating that? I know, as you mentioned, this is very minute-by-minute at this point.

Governor Hochul: We always have to be prepared for the worst. I've been speaking for hours about, “What does the evacuation plan look like?” We should be saying, “No unnecessary travel in case we need to have a mass evacuation.”

Right now, there are no homes or population areas that are in jeopardy, but it's about three miles from a community called Riverhead — and that's really the beginning of what people know is the Hamptons, and that has a larger population; many homes along the coast on the North Coast and the Southern Coast.

And, again, there's a lot of exposure and vulnerability. I cannot say we’re out of the woods right now. Things are looking more under control at this moment, but evacuations may be necessary. That's why we're putting out preemptive alerts; asking people to stay monitoring all the news reports; watch out for our social media alerts. So, if the residents are paying attention, we want to make sure we can get them to safety if necessary.

Again, all those images of what happened in the Palisades are so front and center in our minds. We need to be proactive, preventative and try to stop the worst from occurring with all the power that we have, and that's exactly what we're doing.

Jessica Dean, CNN: Yeah, and I know — as you said at the beginning of our interview — it's the winds that you all are really worried about, obviously the dry conditions, but in the coming hours overnight, you are very concerned about the winds and what that might mean. I do want to ask you, for people in that area, is travel impacted at this point? Can they go back and forth?

Governor Hochul: A number of the roads are already closed. The Sunrise Highway — which is a major arterial to get people from the western end of the island to the eastern end — that has been closed. There are side roads that are still open, but this Pine Barrens area is very large and luckily, thank God it's not populated in that area. It is a nature preserve, but it would not take much for the fires to jump outside that area and head toward populated areas — don't see it happening at this moment, but yes, I'm concerned about the roads and people being able to get away safely.

I will tell you all of our plans, including even sending ferries if people are out in the coastal areas and their passage out of the area is blocked. So, we have an “all the above” approach. We tabletop these exercises all the time with our local emergency partners, so we're prepared for this. And again, I give so much credit — at the moment we're in right now, better than it was a few hours ago — because of the great work of our first responders and the coordination we have with our local volunteer firefighters and the professionals we have at the state level and the county.

So, stay tuned. This is a very much evolving, ever-changing situation, and we'll be up all night watching what is happening.

Jessica Dean, CNN: And I know those firefighters do incredible and tremendous work, so we wish them safety and success tonight. New York Governor Kathy Hochul, thank you for your time. We really appreciate it.

Governor Hochul: Thank you.