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Transcript: Mayor Eric Adams Appears Live On CNN’s “CNN This Morning”

February 9, 2023

Don Lemon: Well, the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, joins us now. Mayor, good morning to you. Thank you very much for joining us.

Mayor Eric Adams: Good to see you.

Lemon: Good to see you as well. So can you tell us how many migrants recently have been given bus tickets out of the city to travel to Canada?

Mayor Adams: No, we don't send migrants to Canada, that needs to be clear. We are doing what other municipalities, particularly, the governor of Texas, was not willing to do.

We found, at the beginning of this issue, last year, when we spoke with migrants, we learned that they were compelled to come to New York City. We're sitting down, giving them healthcare, education, food, shelter, but we're also asking them, "What are your desires? What do you want to do?" Some stayed here. Overwhelmingly, the numbers stayed here, but there were those that wanted to go to other locations throughout this country and that is what we're doing. That's the right thing to do.

Lemon: So is the New York Times reporting inaccurate then, that you're buying bus tickets for migrants who want to seek asylum in Canada? Is that inaccurate?

Mayor Adams: Yes, it is. Yes, it is. We are not encouraging anyone to go to another country. If we speak with a migrant, interview them, find out their desires and make sure that we are assisting them like we've done. As you stated, in January 1st, 2022, Don, we had 45,000 people in our shelter system. In one year we had 43,000 that has gone through our system and one year, and we have handled each one of them in a humane way.

Lemon: I just want to understand that, I'm trying to figure out the distinction here, because you slammed the Texas governor, Greg Abbott's program, to bus migrants from Texas to New York. You said it was inhumane. I just want to play what Abbott said and why he was busing the migrants, and then get your response. Here it is.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott: They needed relief, and busing was one of the ways of providing them relief, and thus began the process of busing the migrants to cities that self-identified as sanctuary cities.

Lemon: Okay. So he's saying self-identified as sanctuary cities. You were saying self-identified as places where people wanted to go, and he's saying that he's sending them to places where they want to go. What is the distinction?

Mayor Adams: No, no, he didn't say that, Don. I heard him. I heard him. He stated he sent them to cities that self-identified as sanctuary cities. And not only did he send them there, he compelled them. They had to leave Texas. And that's a big difference than bringing people in, interviewing them, speaking with them and find out what were their original intentions and desires. And that's what we did in the city.

That is not what Abbott did in Texas, and what he did was inhumane. We are showing a level of humane interactions with our migrants. Nowhere else is what we are doing, actually taking place. Nowhere else.

Lemon: All right. I just want to get something else. This one relates to Mexico. The Washington Post is now reporting that the Biden administration is negotiating an agreement with Mexico that could allow U.S. authorities to carry out large-scale deportations of non-Mexicans back across the border for the first time. Could this be a breakthrough in addressing the problem?

Mayor Adams: I need to look through exactly what is being reported. I have not been part of those conversations with the White House. Our concerns have always been to have a decompression strategy that we could ensure the entire country participate in this national issue.

Lemon: All right. Thank you for responding to that. I want to play what President Biden said at the State of the Union about Tyre Nichols and policing. Here it is.

President Joe Biden: But what happened to Tyre in Memphis happens too often. We have to do better. Give law enforcement the real training they need. Hold them to higher standards.

Lemon: You're a former member of law enforcement. Biden said that it is time to finish the job on police reform. What do you want to see from Congress and the president, and how soon do they need to act?

Mayor Adams: I agree with the president, and as you stated, I wore the uniform. Not only did I wear the uniform, I was a victim of police abuse as a child of 15-years-old, being abused by police officers.

And I think we need to have real comprehensive police reform to make sure that we, number one, weed out those officers that are not suitable to do the job, and also give them the proper tools to do the job effectively.

But let's be clear, every time we take away tools from police officers that are doing the job correctly, we are emboldening those dangerous people in our country and city. The recidivism is a real crisis. There are bad people doing bad things. We just lost an officer, a few days ago, who was shot and killed. The gun violence, and the over-proliferation of guns in our country, is a real issue. So we must have justice and public safety, they go together.

Lemon: I've got to ask you about something you said in an interview yesterday and you said that woke Democrats are driving minority voters out of the party. What did you mean by that? And I'm wondering if that's really happening because the president of the United States, the leader of the Democratic Party, had the nation's attention during the State of the Union, and he said he did not want to defund the police. He wasn't acting as a "woke" person. He said he wanted to fund communities. So do you think that minority voters are going to listen to him? Why did you say that?

Mayor Adams: Yes. I think they are going to listen to him. And you know what has happened in this country? The numerical minority, they have hijacked the term progressive. I have been progressive all my life. Look at you. Look at the issues I fought for, from police reform, housing, education. But we've allowed a small number that are the loudest, and they've hijacked the true meaning of the Democratic Party.

We're not for defunding the police. We're not for attacking businesses. We're for jobs, we're for growth. 

And when you listen to those who have hijacked our narrative, and it's a small number on the fringe ends of our party, and I support what the president stated and what I continue to state. Right here in the city, we have a group that is... they're calling for removing members of their own caucus, if they don't sign a pledge to defund the police. That is not who we are as Democrats. And I'm going to continue to stand and state that we're pro-public safety and we're pro-proper policing.

Lemon: The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, thank you for joining us this morning.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

Lemon: Thank you.

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