Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears With DSNY Commissioner and Incoming NYPD Commissioner Tisch on CNN's 'The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer'

November 21, 2024

Wolf Blitzer: New York City Mayor Eric Adams has just named a new commissioner to lead the city's Police Department. Jessica Tisch, who currently heads the Department of Sanitation, will take over at the NYPD next week. She'll be the first person to lead the Police Department under Mayor Adams and the second in less than three months.

Eric Adams and Jessica Tisch are joining me now for an exclusive interview. To both of you, thank you so much for joining us. Mayor Adams, I'll start with you. You ran for mayor saying you would make the city safer, and in fact crime is down in New York City, but why is someone who hasn't served as a uniformed police officer the right choice to lead the nation's largest police force?

Mayor Eric Adams: The right time, right place. We are excellent at crime fighting, in fact I think we're probably one of the best on the globe. I want the department to go to the next level, more than just catching bad guys, but how do we use the technology, the vision, to ensure that we continue to be the safest big city in America, and period, the safest city. And that is what Commissioner Tisch brings.
She was innovative when she was in the police department for a number of years under one of the commissioners that I really appreciated, Commissioner Bratton. She brought the body-worn cameras, she brought the new technology on how to communicate, and really she's planted the seed for some of the technology we're looking at now. I want this Police Department to be ready as we move deeper into this century.

Blitzer: Good point. Commissioner Tisch, the head of the Police Benevolent Association noted, and I'm quoting now, the challenges confronting police officers remain the same despite the repeated changes in NYPD's leadership. How are you going to address this?

Incoming Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch: Yeah, I'm a person who takes on, takes challenges head-on. I'm looking forward to working with all of our labor unions to understand the issues that our members have, and to put in place plans to address them.

Mayor Adams: You know, Wolf, what's interesting here is just like Mayor Bloomberg brought the uniqueness of being a businessman and his perspective when he turned around this city, I bring the uniqueness of being a former police officer. I know what that agency needs, and as I stated, we're doing a great job of bringing down crime ten straight months, over close to 10,000 guns off our streets.
But there's a missing component that if we're going to be this holistic approach to match the great things that police officers are doing, there's another level, and that next level Commissioner Tisch is going to bring that.

Blitzer: A lot of sensitive issues are certainly going to be coming up. And Mayor Adams, I know you've come out in favor of modifying New York City's sanctuary laws, which would seemingly make it easier for the city to aid the incoming Trump administration's mass deportation plans. Will New York City assist these efforts under your leadership?

Mayor Adams: I have been extremely clear prior to the election. Those who abuse their right to be in this country by violating and harming innocent people, they should not be here after they serve their time. I'm clear on that. I'm unwavering on that, and I'm looking forward not to be in a warring state with the incoming president and his team, but to be in a working state.

He's the president of the United States, and it's imperative that this country rallies together to deal with the problems that working class people are facing, and that is included- what voters have stated. Fix the immigration, secure our border, and make sure that we can protect Americans.

Blitzer: Commissioner Tisch, are you committed once you become the police commissioner, the NYPD leader, to upholding the city's current sanctuary laws, even if that conflicts with federal authorities?

Incoming Police Commissioner Tisch: We will always follow the law in New York City and certainly at the Police Department, but New York City is a city of immigrants. It's part of what makes us the greatest city in the world. The mayor has been very clear. If you commit a crime in New York City, regardless of your immigration status, we need to be able to take action, and right now in certain circumstances, we can't do that.

Blitzer: Mayor Adams, you currently face federal charges for bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. And at the same time, you've been accused of cozying up to Trump. Critics have noted that you've declined to criticize him or his most controversial cabinet picks in recent days and weeks. You were also seen greeting Trump at last week's UFC event in New York. Have you spoken with the president-elect, potentially, about a possible pardon?

Mayor Adams: First of all, think about that for a moment. Critics are criticizing me for shaking the hands of the incoming president of the United States. They're criticizing me for working together. When I reached out to the incoming president and stated we want to work together, the governor followed me and made a similar call. Senator Gillibrand followed me and made a call, and even television personalities called to do the same thing.

America is moving in a direction that realizes that working class people have been overshadowed by our petty differences, and we want to work together to do so. It's not about my status. I have lawyers who handle that. It's about me ensuring that I produce for the city.

Every time I spoke with the incoming president, I shared with him I'm ready to move our city forward to deal with these tough issues, and he welcomed that and stated he wanted to do the same.

Blitzer: Have you spoken to the president-elect about a possible pardon?

Mayor Adams: I don't go into private conversations, but that is not on my agenda. My agenda is fighting for the people of this city, and we need help from Washington, D.C. 220,000 migrants and asylum seekers came to our city, like other cities like Chicago and Denver, and they only gave us $200 million out of a $6.4 billion budget. That is unfair to the city. It's unfair to other cities in this country.

Blitzer: Would you accept the pardon if Trump offered it to you?

Mayor Adams: I don't deal with hypotheticals. I have a legal team, and they want to manage anything that's possible to deal with these charges that should have never been brought on me in the first place, and whatever we can do to resolve those charges, my legal team will handle it.

Blitzer: So can I assume that's a yes?

Mayor Adams: Nope, I wouldn't do any assumption. I will allow my legal team to handle it. I've got a great lawyer and a great team that, as I stated, I did nothing wrong. I should not have been charged. I handled the city and my actions appropriately as a former police officer. I'm going to continue to do so, and any questions dealing with the case, my legal team will manage that. My job is to manage this amazing city that I was elected to do.

Blitzer: So you don't even want to tell us whether or not the conversation about a possible pardon has even come up. Is that right?

Mayor Adams: Wolf, you're a great interviewer, but I can't be more clear. I've got a great attorney, and so he's going to do his job. I'm going to do my job as the mayor of the City of New York, and we're going to continue to see the success we're doing around business, around safety, around educating our children, and around what I was elected to do.

Incoming Police Commissioner Tisch: And I would just add, Wolf, that crime is down now 10 months in a row. In October, we saw a 26 percent decrease in crime on our subway system. The men and women of the New York City Police Department are out there doing their thing and delivering for New Yorkers. Their mission is to create safety, but also to make New Yorkers feel safe, and that's what this mayor is doing.

Blitzer: And Mayor Adams, speaking of crime, three people, as you know, and it was awful to hear about it and read about it. Three people were killed in a series of unprovoked stabbings in Manhattan on Monday. The suspect is a 51-year-old unhoused male who you've said has a history of severe mental health issues. What is your administration doing, mayor, to try to address the issues of homelessness and mental illness?

Mayor Adams: It shattered my heart when I got the first call of the stabbing, and then when the team shared with me, there was a second and a third, including the mother of an eight-year-old child. It goes back to the beginning of our administration. The success of our city has been overshadowed by random acts of violence, and many of them associated with those with severe mental health illness.
We need to have stronger laws that allow what's called involuntary removal. People who are in danger to themselves and in danger to others, we need to be able to take the action to involuntarily move them off the streets. We're getting a lot of pushback and a lot of fight against that on every level of government.

It's time for us to be serious about those with severe mental health illnesses and don't wait until they take the life of three innocent New Yorkers. That's what we're seeing often, when you see someone shoved to the subway track, random acts of violence, it is associated with a large number of people that are dealing with severe mental health issues.

Blitzer: Mayor Eric Adams, good luck to you and Commissioner Jessica Tisch, congratulationson your new assignment and good luck to you as well. To both of you, thank you very much for joining us.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. ​​Take care.

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