Transcript: Mayor Eric Adams Appears on CBS News

January 31, 2023

Ed O'Keefe: You’ve seen the video, and you approached this obviously as somebody who used to get, as you said, beaten by police, became a police captain, and now essentially oversee the police. Did you watch the full video?

Mayor Eric Adams: Yes, I did. It was in sections. I think it’s right as you stated. People sometimes see that Eric was a former police captain. I was asked to go into policing. I was assaulted by a police officer that traumatized me as a 15-year-old child, but it was not until Reverend Herbet Daughtry and the killing of Clifford Glover, 10 year old shot by Officer Shea. Another young man, Randolph Evans, Arthur Miller. There was a series of these incidents that civil rights leaders came to me and said go inside police and fight from within. I did that. I followed that. But that is the origin of how I got involved.

When I saw the videos, there were several aspects that resonated with me. First, we have to be very careful on how we modify police practices because there are bad guys out there that enjoy taking away resources from police officers and dividing our communities. And we can't fall into that trap. We have to be extremely strategic to continue to solve some of the harmful acts that dangerous people are doing. But at the same time, police must reach the level of professionalism that we expect of them.

O'Keefe: How do you think the president's doing? Should he run for re-election?

Mayor Adams: Heck yes. Look at the field on the other side. You have to get on your knees every day and say God, don't let us go backwards. He's moving us forward. He cycled us through Covid. He cycled us through monkeypox. He's cycling us through the economic challenges. The guy is just leading. He's leading from the front. And having him for four more years is going to a blessing to this country. We are going to keep moving in the right direction.

O'Keefe: Then, why do you think so many Democrats say — publicly, privately to pollsters — I don't want him to run again.

Mayor Adams: Every Democrat I speak with is saying they believe that he's moving us in the right direction. And he's sharp as a tack when I speak with him. I'm seeing his energy is there. And you know what? We could only pray that at his age that we are still as sharp, movable as he is. He is a blessing to older Americans on how you could continue to contribute to the greatness of the country. He's a symbol of the resiliency of this country, and I'm proud to have him as president of the United States. And when I'm around him, I still feel that energy. I feel that excitement. And you know my mother used to say, look a man in the eye and you will know who they actually are. And when I look him in his eye, he is red, white, and blue all the way. And that's what we need.

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