Transcript: Mayor Eric Adams Appears Live on MSNBC’S "Morning Joe"

February 6, 2023

Mika Brzezinski: Let's turn now, after New York City's coldest night of the year, Mayor Eric Adams spent that night warming up with hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers in an unannounced visit to their temporary home inside the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. A video captured the mayor playing a World Cup soccer video with one of the men as others cheered during his overnight show of support for the recently relocated migrants.

Mayor Eric Adams: We're going to stay tonight with our brothers here and just let them know that we're all in this together. This is how you get through things.

Brzezinski: The mayor arrived around 11 on Friday night, slept on a cot alongside the migrants, ate breakfast with them, and left around 9 a.m. And Mayor Adams joins us now. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us this morning. What was the message you were hoping to send by spending the night with the migrants in your city?

Mayor Adams: It was a reflection of how people were there for my family. As a child, we moved from location to location. We slept on the floors of our relatives and loved ones until mommy was able to stabilize the family. And it also shows just the real impact of the uncertainty of housing insecurity. And I wanted to go there and show that the coldest night of the year, and you know what? Baby, it was cold out. We had a warm place for them. We were able to talk throughout the night. We were able to get up early in the morning, have breakfast and hear from them. And they are thankful, they're pursuing the American dream. They understood we had to move them from the hotel after opening 81 hotels, because children and families should be in hotels, and they were extremely appreciative of the city.

Brzezinski: Tell me more about what they shared with you about their stories, their journeys. And I mean, given the difficulty really finding a shelter for the migrants, many of whom were flown into New York to prove a point, I guess, what were they saying to you?

Mayor Adams: That's a great question, because there's really, I believe, a documentary, a book, a lesson for our young people. Number one, think about it, January 1st, 2022, we had approximately 45,000 people in our shelter system. In one year we received an additional 43,000 people in one year. And so we had to find housing for them, food, healthcare, educate the children, and when they spoke with me, they all said the same thing, "We went to work. We want to be part of this American experience." And they want to learn English. So we're going to incorporate, while they're there, English lessons. And they want to make sure to say to the American people, thank you. And people want to give the impression that some agitators wanted to create an environment that these men did not understand the role they had to play, but they were very much part of how we shifted from the hotel to the current location at the HERRC. 

Brzezinski: Eugene.

Eugene Daniels: Mr. Mayor, Eugene Daniels here. Good to see you.

Mayor Adams: Thanks.

Daniels: Recently in a political event that we had, you told my colleague that the White House needed to make sure that the city's mayors needed to get all of the support they need and deserve when dealing with these kinds of issues. Have you talked to the White House about your concerns about maybe the lack of resources that you're getting from them to deal with this crisis?

Mayor Adams: Yes, we have repeatedly throughout the last few months and we engage in real conversation. I just really want to take my hat off to Senator Schumer, Congressman Jeffries, and the New York delegation. They were able to get over $800 million in the omnibus bill. We're going to get $8 million from FEMA, but it's just so much more we need. We are projecting $1.4 [billion] during this fiscal year, $2.8 [billion] in the next fiscal year. This is a major financial impact and burden on our city and we are hoping that the White House understands, this is a national problem and it must be resolved. But again, it must be resolved in a real way. Congress must pass comprehensive immigration reform, something that the Republicans have really avoided doing.

Jonathan Lemire: Mr. Mayor, good morning, Jonathan Lemire. We wanted to shift topics and ask about a difficult story in your city right now, an off-duty NYPD officer who was shot Saturday night in the head. He is listed, last we heard, in critical conditions, still fighting for his life. Can you provide an update on his condition, but also, anything you could tell us about the circumstances of why he was shot and is there a suspect that has been identified or brought into custody?

Mayor Adams: Yeah. We are lifting the family up in prayers and right now the family is deciding their decisions and is still in the care of the medical professionals. He was out purchasing a car, like many of us do in America. He answered an ad and he was looking to purchase a car when it appears as though something went terribly wrong. But I bet you, you're going to find a common denominator. When we find the guilty person, I bet you he has an extensive criminal record. I bet you he's one of the 1,700 people who are extremely violent in our city and that is why we're pushing for real recidivous of reform to make sure we take dangerous people off our street. We removed thousands of guns off the street last year, but we have to deal with the dangerous people who have these guns.

Brzezinski: All right, New York City mayor, Eric Adams, thank you so much for being on the show this morning. It's good to see you.

Mayor Adams: Thank you very much.

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