Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Press Availability Following Hillary Clinton's Foreign Policy Speech at the Council on Foreign Relations

November 19, 2015

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Up front, before I take questions, I thought this was an extraordinary speech by Secretary Clinton. I think this is one of the clearest explanations of the challenge we face from ISIS and other threats, with a very clear, strong set of proposals of what to do about it. I think the American people are going to be very reassured by Secretary Clinton’s speech because it gives us a roadmap – it gives us a clear way forward for dealing with a very complicated threat, an ever-changing threat. But what I appreciated was – Secretary Clinton was looking at the big picture, she was looking at the big picture of the world today, how the different pieces interconnect. She was looking at history, which we don’t hear enough of in our public discourse – she was talking about understanding what we’ve learned from previous conflicts, including conflicts that seemed intractable – Lebanon, Serbia and Bosnia, things that we thought in their time could not be resolved. And she was right to note that there is a pathway forward with enough of a resolute approach and enough ability to constantly persistently work a number of pieces. So, she showed real leadership, she was 100 percent presidential in the way she presented the vision, and I think it’s going to be something that will elevate the discussion. A couple of key points that I wanted to point out from her remarks: she was right to say there should be no substantial force of boots on the ground in this conflict – no American boots on the ground because that would be counterproductive and that’s been proven time and time again. I think it’s important, as you see, some candidates and others around the country, rushing to proclaim the values of putting American troops into combat. Secretary Clinton is speaking about real history – that that will only be counterproductive, that’s literally what ISIS wants and we cannot give that to them. She is right to call for Congressional approval because that is both consistent with the Constitution and the War Powers Act, but also sends a powerful message of unity and resolve to our enemies, and it’s reassuring to our allies. She is right to talk about the message we send to the Muslim world. I thought that was one of the most powerful parts of her speech – the need to reach out to the hundreds and hundreds of millions of law-abiding peaceful Muslims all over the world, and send them a message of our desire to work with them against the common threat that is ISIS. She is right to focus on the relationships we need to deepen with Muslim communities in this country and that, obviously, our allied nations need to deepen with their communities; most notably in France. She’s focused on local law enforcement – I want to say how much I appreciate that as a mayor. She understands that local law enforcement will often be at the core of stopping these threats, and I appreciated her willingness to, not only, note that but to support that and resource that. Finally, I thought she spoke with real passion about the private sector’s role. The fact that technology companies and social media companies must be held accountable – that a lot of their actions right now, sadly, and I would say, inadvertently, are helping terrorists to do their horrible act. It’s as simple as that – that the technology community and the social media companies must step up, must work with law enforcement – must work with national governments to end the kind of capacity that they have allowed terrorists to take advantage of. And that has to be an unrelenting demand on the part of all of us. So those are some of the things that I wanted to note that I felt were particularly powerful.

Question: Mr. Mayor, about yesterday’s video – the most newly released video. What, if anything, does yesterday’s video showing images of New York City change in terms of the city’s response?

Mayor: It does not change anything. First of all, as Commissioner Bratton and I said in Times Square last night, that video includes footage that had been put out previously. It does not change the reality one bit. There is no credible and specific threat against New York City. This is an effort to intimidate us. This is an effort to get us to change our ways, to become less of a Democratic society – become a society [inaudible] by fear. We’re not going to allow that to happen. So we are absolutely vigilant. As you know, we have 500 plus additional officers focused on counter-terrorism. It’s quite evident in Times Square last night they are on the job. But that video doesn’t change anything.

Question: What do you tell Americans who heard about this ISIS video showing Times Square and are now scared to come to come to New York City?

Mayor: Don’t let the terrorists win. Don’t be intimidated by terrorists who are trying to change our way of life. This is the best protected city in the nation. We are – have the greatest anti-terror capacity of any city in this nation, and I would say probably in almost any city in the world. We have a 35,000 member police force. That is more than the size of many large nations’ armies. We, as we said, 500 officers now – brand new force, a Critical Response Command focused entirely on anti-terror activities. It is imperative that Americans continue our way of life. And if people are planning to come to New York City, come to New York City – support New York City, support Washington D.C. Don’t run away because that’s exactly what the terrorist want.

Question: … your intentions of bringing and helping more Syrian refugees?

Mayor: I think the speech was very powerful. I give Secretary Clinton tremendous credit for the clarity and passion with which she spoke about the Syrian refugee dynamic. As she said, it would be a travesty if people who are fleeing the effects of ISIS terror then turned back at our doors. We need a very thorough vetting process, that’s obvious, but look: one, we understand that we have to send a message to the world that we are a beacon of democracy inclusion. Two, and I use this example in my remarks yesterday, a very powerful, sad, historical parallel – in 1938, public opinion survey by Fortune Magazine, two-thirds of Americans said, no Jews from Europe should not be allowed in here even though they were escaping Nazi violence and persecution. We are not going to make that mistake again.

Question: … but for those of us who live in New York City – a lot of us are worried right now. What do you tell them?

Mayor: I would tell every New Yorker that we have the best police force in the nation. We have the greatest anti-terror capacity of any city in the nation, those are facts. It is clear the NYPD for 14 years has consistently stopped each and every terror attack on this city.

Question: Do you feel worried, ever?

Mayor: I don’t think it’s my job to be worried. It’s my job to be vigilant and make sure that we have the tools and the resources to stop terror in this city. This city has a tremendous track record – 14 years of stopping terror. We keep adding to our anti-terror capacity. Let’s be clear – let’s be clear, terrorism is in many ways psychological warfare. The goal of the terrorist is to get western societies to change their ways – to be less democratic, to live in a state of fear. We cannot let that happen.

Question: Mrs. Clinton talked about improved intelligence, and she talked about hotspots in Muslim communities where there’s recruitment. Are you concerned that that’s a borderline issue – where there’s profiling and where there’s just intrusions on people’s privacy?

Mayor: I think we have to have a very vigorous preventative approach to terror. The NYPD has a very substantial intelligence gathering capacity. We work constantly and better than ever with our federal partners, the FBI and others. But as Secretary Clinton said the best way to gather intelligence is to deepen our bonds with the communities that we seek information from. We’ve done a lot in this city to draw our Muslim community, which is a very large community closer to our city government; to our police. We’re very proud of the fact that we’ve done things like recognizing the two major Muslim holidays on our school calendar. That sends a powerful message of inclusion and support and embrace. That’s what helps people feel like they are fully a participant and accepted into society; that what helps people feel that they should in fact proactively provide information to the police that will help [inaudible] terror. And you’ve seen this even in the wake of Paris attack – family members of the terrorists who had long since renounced them; who were ashamed and embarrassed of what the members of their family had done that did not represent their values or their understanding off what Islam is all about. The vast majority of Muslim people are peaceful in this world, it’s an obvious fact. We have to draw closer that vast majority, and that will help us stop the few who aim to do terror.

Question: What did you and Hillary talk about after the speech? I saw you speaking to her and was this first conversation with her since she entered the presidential race?

Mayor: No, no, no. I had spoke to her previously, and the fact is we had a very good conversation. It was brief obviously, but I simply told her I thought it was an exceptionally clear articulation of her vision, and that I thought it was very important that she offered such an uncompromising statement on the refugee situation.

Question: Mayor de Blasio, in the context of the ISIS video, why did you think it was important to come to the speech today?

Mayor: Because I believe – first of all, I support Secretary Clinton and I want to hear first-hand her vision for addressing ISIS, and these other global threats. I believe she’ll be the next president of the United States and that’s going to have a big bearing on New York City so I wanted to hear first-hand how she wanted to address the challenge. Second, I believe she’s offering some of the best solutions, and it’s important for me to understand from someone who obviously served as our Secretary of State, the analysis and how we can best proceed in this environment. And it’s helpful to hear her lay it out in such clear terms, that’s going to help me to explain to the people of New York City some of the things that we need to do going forward.

Question: How confident are you that there is no one affiliated with ISIS currently in New York City?

Mayor: Again, we have a very, very substantial intelligence gathering apparatus. We work closely with our federal partners. I’m not going to go into details because I get briefings on the regular basis and it’s appropriate to keep those private. I’m very confident that the situation is being handled very effectively, and I am confident that a number of preventive measures are in place. And we know in the age of lone wolves there’s somethings that even the best intelligence services may not be able to detect. That’s why we have a Critical Response Command that’s in a position to immediately respond to any and all incidents. What Commissioner Bratton said the other day, I know a number of you picked up on I appreciate it, in Paris where there were five separate sites – we plan for the ability to handle two dozen sites simultaneously. We don’t predict it, but God forbid that day comes. But the point is the City of New York is ready with our own capacity to handle multiple sites should that moment come. But the best way to address this challenge is what New York City has done successfully for 14 years – to prevent terror before it happens and that track record is clear, and that capacity is very strong.

Thank you everyone.