Transcript: Mayor Eric Adams Appears Live on CNN New Day

August 12, 2022

Brianna Keilar: Migrants by the bus load continue to arrive daily into New York City from Texas, straining shelters that were already dealing with overcrowding issues. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has accused Texas Governor Greg Abbott of forcing migrants onto the buses and using them as political pawns to draw attention to the influx of migrant crossings from Mexico. Adams said many of the migrants endured 45 hour bus rides with limited stops, even though he says some wanted to go to an entirely different state. Joining us now is New York City's mayor, Eric Adams, sir. Thanks for being with us this morning.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Great to be with you this morning.

Keilar: So this is a back and forth between you and Governor Abbott. And here is what Abbott said about it.

Governor Greg Abbott: I kind of feel like Clint Eastwood. Go ahead mayor, make my day.

Keilar: What do you say to that?

Mayor Adams: Well, first of all, it's unfortunate that he believes this is a Hollywood script and it's not. It is the lives of human beings. And to watch a governor lack coordination and show the humanitarian aspects of our country, placing people on the bus without adequate water, without adequate food, sending them to cities. And in many cases, they don't understand the language, that is just not who we are as Americans. And so I don't want to make his day. I want him to make the day of those that he's treating in this inhumanitarian fashion.

Keilar: You say they're arriving without having adequate food and water. How are they arriving in New York City to your knowledge?

Mayor Adams: The conditions are really deplorable. When I met a group of migrants on Sunday, it was clear that the conditions were inhumane. When you're on a bus for that long period of time and you can't stop as needed as much, and the lack of coordination crises really calls on us to coordinate. He has not coordinated with this city or state at all. And in fact, he denied he was doing this at first until it was revealed and he finally admitted he was sending people outside the State of Texas, not coordinated with any cities along the way.

Keilar: I just want to be clear what he's saying compared to what you're saying. I'm sure, obviously you have a different point of view. But he's saying that he wasn't sending buses directly to New York City, but that he heard you complaining about it and then he thought, okay, yeah, I'm going to go ahead and send some buses to New York. Are you saying he's lying?

Mayor Adams: Yes, I am. There's a document that he had migrants and asylum seekers sign that specifically state they would be going to New York and Washington D.C. So it's not only I'm saying he's lying, but his documents are saying he's lying.

Keilar: I want to ask you about something totally different, which is just this trio of health crises that you're dealing with here in New York. Polio case identified outside the city in Rockland County, New York. The concern of officials is that, yeah, this may be one case but there could be several hundreds. There could be asymptomatic folks who are carrying this. Is New York City prepared to deal with a polio outbreak?

Mayor Adams: Yes, it is so important. When I look over my life, my life has shown the importance of crises and building the right team. Our coordination between the Governor's Office and Department of Health and our Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. We are dealing with a trifecta. COVID is still very much here, polio, we have identified polio in our sewage and we are still dealing with the monkeypox crisis. But the team is there and we're coordinating, and we are addressing the threats as they come before us and we are prepared to deal with them with assistance of Washington D.C.

Keilar: Any worries about these new guidelines on monkeypox when it comes to how to administer medications?

Mayor Adams: Our team here in New York, the new manner of putting it under this skin, my doctors and healthcare professionals updated me on this new method. The federal government is stating, this allows us to double the number of vaccines that we can do. And we have to believe that the CDC and other government officials on the federal level is going to give us good advice and we are going to comply with the ruling.

Keilar: When it comes to COVID, the CDC is also out with some new guidelines. We're going to go ahead and put those up. In general, talking about removing social distancing, some quarantine measures, contact tracing limited to hospitals and high risk situations and then in schools, which obviously is so essential as the reopening, removing cohorting recommendation and also removing that test to stay recommendation. Do you think these are the right moves when it comes to New York City?

Mayor Adams: Well, I think the CDC, they have successfully showed us how to navigate our way through the COVID crisis. Now in New York City, we have done things that are different but we always comply with the CDC and we have been successful in pivoting and shifting as COVID has continued to pivot and shift. It's a formidable opponent, I said this over and over again. So we will follow the CDC guidelines, but in some cases because we have a transportation system, we are going to continue to do the things we believe is going to keep New Yorkers safe.

Keilar: All right, mayor. Appreciate your time this morning, Mayor Eric Adams. Thanks for being with us.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

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