Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live On MSNBC

October 15, 2023

[Video plays]

Mayor Eric Adams: We are not all right when Hamas believes that they are fighting on behalf of something and their destructive, despicable action that carried out. We are not all right when we still have hostages who have not come home to their family. We are not all right, and we're not going to say we have a stiff upper lip and act like everything is fine. Everything is not fine. Israel has a right to defend itself, and that's the right that we know.

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Nicole Wallace: That was New York City Mayor Eric Adams. That speech is getting attention the world over for bringing not just the Jewish community in New York together but rallying people to Israel's support the world over. Mayor Adams joins us right now. I've watched the whole thing a couple times now, and it feels like you gave voice to things that a lot of people were feeling and just hadn't said yet on the platform you gave it.

Mayor Adams: Yes, and clearly this impacts the Israeli people in Israel and Jewish people across the globe. But I needed for Jewish people to know that it impacted all of us. You could not have been a father or mother and not felt for those who lost their children, who were beheaded, who were removed from their homes. You could not be a son nor grandparent and not see the stoic look on the face of a Holocaust survivor as she was being pulled away.

This struck at the heart and fear of all of us, and I wanted to convey that in a very clear way to the people who are experiencing this directly, but indirectly, we are all feeling this pain. Hamas must be disbanded. They must be removed. They must be brought to justice.

Wallace: There was a sense on Friday that New York might not be safe, either, not just for Jewish citizens or Jewish institutions but that the city could once again be vulnerable. What is your understanding? I know there was never any specific threat, but what… Has that passed? What is your sense of the security situation in New York City right now?

Mayor Adams: I want to commend Police Commissioner Caban, he immediately had even those officers who were summoning to non uniform duties to wear the uniforms, because part of combating terror is what we call omnipresence. And we had officers at high‑profile locations that included houses of worship, mosques, synagogues, churches and other temples. But we also sent a very clear message that one will have the U.S. right to protest but you would not do it with violence.

And we monitored intel by looking at many of the social media platforms insights, there were things we did visibly, but there was also a very sophisticated intel operation that was taking place. And we wanted to send a very clear and loud message that New Yorkers, we won't live in fear. We're going to use every part of our law enforcement apparatus to protect New Yorkers in general, but specifically those of the Jewish community here in the city.

Wallace: This refrain that you invoked with great affect and passion that "we are not all right" has so many applications, right? I mean, our country and our politics are not all right, our sort of ability to knit together despite our political differences as a country. It just had a much broader message. And I wonder if you could say more and say a little bit about the response you got to that speech.

Mayor Adams: Well, I think you're extremely accurate when you think about it. You know, I hate to bring a religious philosophy to it, but there's a demonic spirit that I believe is criss crossing our entire globe. We see what's playing out in Ukraine, you saw what happened in South America where children are going through the Darién Gap when I was there; and then, you watch what happened in Israel.

There's a demonic spirit when you behead children, when you rape girls, when you pull people from their homes, when you want to execute individuals in front of their loved ones. There's a real demonic energy that is really something that all of us of faith, all of us that believe in humanity should acknowledge, and we must come together, unify around those things that we stand for.

And I was really troubled when I saw the Democratic Socialist Party hold a protest within a day or so after this horrific action holding up swastikas, calling for the eradication of Jewish people in these protests. This is not who we are, the overwhelming majority of human beings. We can't allow the fringe elements to drag us into a state that would take us out of who we are and the compassion that we bring towards these issues.

Wallace: I have heard from people on and off TV about how much they appreciated your comments, and it's a privilege to get to talk to you today. Thank you so much, New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Thank you for joining us.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.