Rush Transcript: Governor Cuomo Is a Guest on NBC's Today Show with Craig Melvin

Interview

Earlier today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo was a guest on NBC's TODAY Show with Craig Melvin.

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

Craig Melvin: We're joined now by one of the speakers featured at the Democratic convention this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Governor, always good to have you, thanks for your time this morning.

Governor Cuomo: Good to be with you, Craig. Thank you.

Craig Melvin: Mr. Biden last night, capping off a week of Democrats making their case, a week filled with stark warnings. Last night, talking about this battle for the soul of the nation. We know that he loves a crowd, but had to do it virtually. How do you think he did? Did he stick the landing?

Governor Cuomo: Oh yeah. I think he did a great job. First, as someone who's been before an audience in a situation like that, it's hard without an audience. There's no energy, there's no give and take. I think he did an extraordinary job. What I like about it is I've known Joe Biden many years - that was Joe Biden. That was not a speechwriter, that was no one putting words in his mouth. Those words came from his heart and his soul. I thought he captured it very well.

This is not a complex election, let's be honest. These are two very stark choices and they are about character and they are about the soul of the nation and they are light and dark and unification and division - lifting us up and taking us down. That's what this is about, this election. Facing COVID and handling this beast after 6 months.

Craig Melvin: Vice President laying out his plan to respond to the pandemic on Thursday night. Let's turn to the fight against coronavirus in New York. Thirteen straight days, if I'm not mistaken, with the positivity rate of less than 1 percent. Schools set to open in New York City especially, the largest school district in this country. Schools have to open in a few weeks, it's the largest school district in this country. Outside Chicago, Houston, LA - they've decided to go all virtual. How confident are you that New York City schools are ready to be open?

Governor Cuomo: First, fingers crossed on all of this. We've gone from the highest infection rate in the United States to the lowest infection rate, as you know. If there's any state that can reopen schools, it's us. We did a record number of tests yesterday, just about 100,000 tests. We test way more than any other state and we are down at a .7 infection rate. That's very low.

We've been reopening for 14 weeks, Craig, and our infection rate actually went down. So you can handle this beast if you're serious about it. On schools, we have the infection rate that says you can open schools. It then becomes a question of school district by school district. It's how you do it. Sure, you can, it's how.

It's like when we reopened the economy. You have to be smart, you have to have protocols in place. We're working that through school district by school district. What I've said from day one is if the parents aren't happy and confident and if the teachers aren't confident, then you don't have a school district reopening. You can't open a school district without parents and teachers. We're working through that now and we'll make different decisions in different districts. From my point of view, as long as they're safe and smart, whatever local district wants to do, our infection rate is low right now.

Craig Melvin: If you had school aged children in New York City, would you send them to a New York City public school?

Governor Cuomo: Well, they're still working out what the plan would be. I would have a lot of questions. Parents do have a lot of questions. This is a risky proposition no matter how you do it, Craig, let's be honest. You're bringing a lot of people into a congregant setting. Do you have the testing, do you have the tracing, do you have the social distance requirements? How are you going to handle it? We have seen schools open. We have seen colleges open and get into trouble in one week. So there's a lot of questions to answer before but that's the dialogue we're having now and again, if it's not a smart plan, then it shouldn't happen and we have 700 school districts. I'm sure we're going to have 700 different answers in New York.

Craig Melvin: Governor, yesterday, you signed this bill expanding and protecting mail-in voting throughout New York City. As you know, governor, the president has continued to rail against mail-in voting, says it's rife with fraud. What do you say to folks who are watching and listening who are concerned about the idea of mail-in voting?

Governor Cuomo: Yeah, I don't get this rife with fraud. I think this is a setup. I think the President is frankly anticipating losing on Election Day and then we're going to hear him say, oh, there was fraud in the election. The President is very good at always establishing a conspiracy. I think that's the conspiracy he's setting. We do things through the mail in this country. We pay bills through the mail. We operate through the mail. I think mail-in voting makes tremendous sense, especially now. I don't want people on lines on election day when we fought so hard to get this virus under control so we're making it easy to do mail-in voting. We have now 10 days of voting so you can vote, mail in a ballot within 10 days and we also have COVID, fear of COVID, as a legal reason for an absentee ballot. I think that makes the most amount of sense.

Craig Melvin: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Thank you, Governor. Enjoy your weekend.

Governor Cuomo: Thanks. You too, buddy.

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