CNN This Morning
November 4, 2022
8:11 a.m. Eastern
POPPY HARLOW: As someone who takes my kids every day on the subway in New York City very close to where you are this morning, look, yeah, homicides are down, but rapes are up, robberies are up, felony assault is up, and you talked about your opponent not having solutions. One thing that Lee Zeldin has said he would definitely do if he becomes governor is that he would, through an executive order, repeal immediately the bail reform law that was passed. You don't love that law the way it stands. You've wanted changes to it. Would you do the same as he is saying he would? Would you repeal it through executive order?
GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): Again, that is such a simplistic approach. It negates the fact that it's about how we support law enforcement, and he voted against -- he wouldn't support funding for the police. I tripled the amount of money for law enforcement. We're supporting violence disruptor programs. To say that you're just going to change one part of the system shows the naivete that it's not going to be a real solution. So we did make targeted changes to the bail laws, covering gun case and repeat offenders. That has all just been in effect for a few months now because of what I was able to accomplish in the budget.
I'm always willing to look at it again, but the data is not showing that that is the cause of this. There are individual cases, but compared to pre-pandemic and when this was passed, I don't think there's a real disparity. But that doesn't matter. We're dealing with people's feelings here, and I understand that. I'm a mother. You're hardwired to care about your children and your family's safety, so voters need to know that we have a plan. We're working on this.
And just putting up ads that say you have the answer when you really don't -- when you don't think that we should be getting guns off the street -- you want to give guns to every teacher -- you want guns in the subways. That is just irrational to think that that's going to make people safer than -- I just think people need to know really what's on the line here as someone who's been working in the trenches, rolling up her sleeves, getting the job done, and not just running around the state saying, "All you have to do is repeal a bail law, and all the crime will disappear." I think people are smarter than that.
LEMON: Kaitlin, I know you want to get in, but just a point of clarification here, and this is according to CNN and other fact checks. There is no evidence to suggest that bail reform is a major factor, and, you know, if that changes, of course, we will tell you, but so far there's no evidence linking bail reform to what has been taking place in some cities.