Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live on CBS2's "CBS2 News at 5PM"

November 15, 2023

Kristine Johnson: An FBI investigation, running the city and trying to find money in the budget.

Maurice DuBois: Mayor Eric Adams joins us now to talk about it all. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thank you so much for allowing me to be on.

DuBois: Yes, sir. Sources are telling us and others that your budget cuts upcoming here are going to include canceling or freezing the police academy class. So, a) is it true; b) is this going to go on indefinitely; and c) most importantly, will public safety be compromised? We're talking about potentially losing thousands of officers on the force.

Mayor Adams: Well, you know, I have made it clear from the days of running and even my days of borough president, public safety is a prerequisite to prosperity. We're going to make the announcement tomorrow of the entire budget modification. You know, we have to balance our budget by law two years out — this is the law — and we know what happened: 142,000 migrant and asylum seekers, no real help coming from the federal government.

We need more assistance on all levels of government, and it's going to impact. And I say it over and over again, this has been one of the most painful areas in my public life on some of the cuts we have to make.

DuBois: But again, well, it impacts public safety. Will the police academy classes be frozen?

Mayor Adams: Maurice, we're going to announce exactly what is going to happen tomorrow. I am not going to do anything that's going to impact public safety in this city. I've made that clear over and over again, and you're seeing, because of the initiatives we've done on our Subway Safety Plan, crime is down, five out of seven major categories crime is down, our shootings are down, homicides are down. We're removing guns off the streets. I'm going to stay laser focused on keeping the city safe.

Johnson: Mayor, we understand that you've already canceled the new class of 250 school safety officers; and just recently, you also said that perhaps parents need to step up and volunteer. So, what exactly does that mean? What are you asking parents to potentially volunteer for?

Mayor Adams: No, and I think the way that was reported is not trying to put the burden of public safety on the backs of parents, that's not what I'm saying. We have many different teams, crisis management teams that we have part of our anti‑violence initiatives.

And we would like to see some of our block association community groups, we used to do this at Boys and Girls High School under former Assemblywoman Annette Robinson, we were creating a safe corridor at Boys and Girls High School for young people. Parents would come out and volunteer.

And you see around our schools every day parents picking up their children, they want to play a role and ensure the public safety. The obligation is for the school safety officers and the police department, but right now this is an all hands on deck moment. I cannot make it any clearer to New Yorkers as I've been stating for the last over a year now.

DuBois: Okay. Mayor Adams, the FBI investigation into whether your campaign got illegal donations from Turkey and whether Turkey benefited from political favors. It's ongoing right now. So, one of your lawyers last week said your team discovered someone, an individual, had acted improperly. What exactly does that mean? What did they do? Who is it?

Mayor Adams: Well, and I say this over and over again. There's one thing I learned from being in law enforcement is don't ever do anything that's going to impede an investigation. We are fully cooperating, and  we identify something was improper, we immediately make that notification proactively. And that is what we did in this case, because I tell my team all the time, Maurice, follow the law. We must follow the law.

DuBois: What did they do?

Mayor Adams: Maurice, the investigators can answer that question. They will do that, and I'm giving them the authority, the right to do so. I am going to just cooperate as much as possible, and that's what I have been doing over and over again.

And when you look at what has been reported, you guys know more than I do of what has been reported about doing my job as a borough president, I will always do when what constituents call me, I respond to those goals of service. And that is what I have done and I will continue to do.

DuBois: Just one more thing on that. How concerned are you that this investigation could literally take you out?

Mayor Adams: I say it over and over again. I sleep well at night. You know, that is one of the things that people hear me say over and over again. I sleep well at night because throughout my public career, I've always told my team and everyone, we always have to follow the law. And that is what I'm going to continue to do, and I know that no one can state that we participated in any type of donor scheme or any type of improper behavior.

We followed the law, and I'm going to continue to cooperate and I'm going to continue to navigate the city out of the crises that we have as we continue to do every day.

Johnson: Mayor, real quick, yes or no. Do you feel you're being targeted?

Mayor Adams: I cannot speculate on that. And if anything, that would infringe on the role that the reviewers have to do. I can't speculate that. I have to be really laser focused on the city and navigating the challenges that we're facing.

Johnson: All right. You didn't say no, but real quick, before we go to commercial, health, personal health, mental health, very, very important to you, and as part of our announcement today you announced a new mental health program, TeenSpace. Very quickly before we go to break, could you please tell us a little bit about that?

Mayor Adams: It's an amazing shift in allowing our children to use their devices, 13 to 17 years old, we're seeing an increase in suicide, depression and other serious mental health issues. We're saying that we're going to use a telemedicine medicine method so they can get in contact 24 hours a day with a mental health professional when they need it. This is a huge lift for our young people.

Johnson: All right, mayor. You should join us every afternoon. Think about it.

DuBois: Please come on back. Thanks so much.

Johnson: Thanks so much.

Mayor Adams: Thank you very much.

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