Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Appears Live on ABC's 20/20

November 13, 2015

Elizabeth Vargas: Good evening, Mr. Mayor

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good evening, well, we definitely are on high alert here in New York City. And we have our counterterrorism officers out at key locations throughout the city including, obviously, the French Mission to the UN and the French Consulate. We are making sure that there's real presence there - and in other key areas around the city, heavily populated, heavily trafficked areas tonight to reassure the people of this key.

David Muir: Mayor de Blasio, I know one of the real concerns though is the chatter. And that we really so much, in this area, on intelligence. You know, Brian Ross was reporting earlier that, in France, there are many ISIS sympathizers that they're tracking. Hundreds have gone to Syria, but the larger number are still in France. And the concern here in America and in a city the size of New York City is that we have the intelligence before they can pull off a coordinated attack like this inside soft targets across the city.

Mayor: Look, we know it's a real challenge. We are very confident in the intelligence-gathering capacity of the NYPD - and we work very closely with the FBI, Homeland Security, etc. Now I can tell you, there's many situations where we've been able to track suspected people and get ahead of the situation. So, that capacity has worked to date. But, here in the city, we have invested in over 1,500 counterterrorism officers, trained specifically to deal with both trying to stop any situation like this - and God forbid we have one - we have the capacity to get them in play immediately to address a situation like this. The bottom line is, in general, we have seen that there's some kind of prior indication, but we're also living in an age where there's some lone wolf attacks that there's no warning for. So the ability to respond immediately with well-trained, well-equipped officers is a key part of our strategy.

Vargas: But we obviously saw in Paris, soft targets were attacked with great efficiency tonight. How, in this great city, of New York City, but in cities around the nation, do you protect all those soft targets? Those football games this weekend, those concerts that are taking place, every place in this country?

Mayor: Look, in our case, there's certainly be substantial presence at some of the key events, at some of the key places in this city. I think the bottom line is this: again, a lot of preventative efforts that happen every day. We've been vigilant as a city since 9/11. Literally, for fourteen years, we've lived in a state of heightened vigilance and we've continued to build our counterterrorism capacity. I think the answer is there's key locations, key events that naturally are going to get additional coverage. But it's also the ability to respond very quickly if, God forbid, something happens at an unexpected soft target. The fact is, we have officers ready to deploy very, very quickly - again, with sufficient armaments, sufficient training to address it. I think that's the model we have to depend on going forward. The intelligence work often, in fact overwhelming number of cases, will catch these attempted efforts and will give us the opportunity to stop them. But if we are going to be in an age where some things aren't seen in time, or when lone wolves are acting, the ability to have that immediate rapid response with well-trained, well-equipped officers is going to be crucial. New York City has that - I think other places are probably going to need that as well.

Muir: Mayor de Blasio, with just a few moments left though, what do you say to folks who are watching tonight who might just be feeling uneasy, worrying that it's only a matter of time, really here, when we know that there are lone wolves in this country as well? What do you say to them - and does it keep you up at night when you see what played out in Paris today?

Mayor: Look, it's something that worries me every day. But I also know that the track record of this country, and certainly of the NYPD since 9/11, over 14 years, has been extraordinary - identifying potential threats, stopping them before they could be achieved, constantly working to improve our capacity. I think, in fact, there's a lot of reasons that people should be confident in the security capacity of certainly this city and this nation. But look, again, with a lone wolf situation we simply have to be vigilant, we have to recognize - any suspicious activity should be reported to the police immediately. We said in New York City for a long time, "If you see something, say something". That phrase takes on a lot of meaning in the age of lone wolf attacks. And that means we have the chance potentially to stop them if our fellow citizens are able to report to the police things that they see. Look, tonight is a night to think about the people of Paris, who have gone through so much, not just with this horrible attacks, but what they went through in January. I was there in the aftermath of the January attacks - this whole world's heart is with Paris tonight. But I think the answer for all of us is to support our police and inform, everything we see, provide that information to the police promptly.

Muir: Mayor de Blasio, Mayor of New York City. Mayor, thanks for being with us tonight.