Return to Transcripts main page

NEW DAY

De Blasio Defends Crime Rate; NYC Universal Pre-K; Former NYPD Commissioner Slams Mayor on Crime. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 9, 2015 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[08:30:00] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: The mayor says those two facts simply aren't related. We're going to get him to explain live ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Big cities across the country seeing a rise in crime so far this year and New York City is no exception. Mayor Bill de Blasio is defending his tactics, including the city's stop and frisk practice.

Mayor Bill de Blasio joins us now. He's also rolling out the second year of the city's universal pre-k program for all four-year-olds and we'll talk about that as well.

Mr. Mayor, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: My pleasure, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's start with the city - crime in the city and whether or not there's been a spike in violent crime. Yesterday, New Jersey's governor, Chris Christie, said that there has been a spike in crime and he blamed you for what he calls lawlessness on the streets. Similarly, former Police Commissioner Ray Kelly also blames you indirectly. He thinks that it's your policy of curtailing stop and frisk. Let me read to you what he said. He says, "murders are up. And if you have a propensity to carry a gun and there's a policy to de- emphasize stop and question and frisk, it's only common sense that you'll see more people carrying guns and more crime." What's your response to their complaints?

[08:35:15] DE BLASIO: Well, they're both wrong, Alisyn. Look at the statistics. Look at the facts. The NYPD data that shows crime the down over 4 percent overall this year compared to last year. Last year we had the lowest number of murders in New York City in half a century. Now it's true, we have a few more this year. Nine more precisely year to date in this city. That's nine too many. But I have a lot of faith in Bill Bratton, our commissioner. I have a lot of faith in the NYPD. They are driving crime down more and more. So for all the critics who are making up stories, look at the NYPD statistics. Crime is going down.

CAMEROTA: Let's do that.

DE BLASIO: And I believe it will go down further. CAMEROTA: Mr. Mayor, let's do that because there's a million different

ways to slice and dice these numbers. So let's look at the numbers. These are from the NYPD statistics. This is as of about a week ago. And while you're right, overall crime has gone down, violent crime, murder, rape, robbery, assault, has actually gone up. There were 205 in 2014 according to the latest statistics. There have been 222 so far this year. That's an 8 percent rise. Rape has also gone up by 5 percent. Robbery has gone up (INAUDIBLE).

DE BLASIO: Alisyn, again, I want to - Alisyn, simple facts, as of midnight last night, nine is the difference in murders between last year and this year. We're going to keep driving that down. And last year was the lowest number of murders in 50 years.

Bill Bratton announced a few days ago, safest summer in over 20 years when you look at all violent crime, key crime indicators, June, July, August, the safest summer in 20 years. I believe in Bill Bratton. I believe in the NYPD. I don't want to listen to politicians or folks with an ax to grind who are saying that something's happening. It's just not true. We were able to reduce stop and frisk and treat people more fairly while bringing crime down and we're not done. Crime is going to go down further because we're adding 1,300 more cops to NYPD. We're adding new technology, new training. And I'm convinced this city is going to get even safer.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's talk about one of your big initiatives that is re- launching again today, and that is universal pre-k for four-year-olds. What has that - what has that changed in the city over this past year?

DE BLASIO: Alisyn, this is an incredible day for New York City. For the first time in our history, every child who's four years old can go to full day free pre-k, any neighborhood, anywhere in the city. Sixty- five thousand plus kids will be going today for their first day of school. By the way, that's as many children as in the entire public school system of Boston or Seattle. That's just in our pre-k.

And I think it's going to have a huge impact on the lives of these children and families, really give them tremendous educational opportunities and frame their futures. I think it's going to make our school system better because kids, when they're four years old, and I speak as a parent who had two kids in full day pre-K, when I saw what it did for my children, Chiara and Dante, it wakes them up to learning. It prepares them at an age when they can learn really in a more powerful way than later in life. When kids are three and four and five, it's a perfect window for learning. We want every child to have that opportunity.

CAMEROTA: OK, and you're starting that and we see people waiting in line behind you this morning for that initiative.

Mr. Mayor, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. We will look forward to talking to you again.

DE BLASIO: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much. What's your take on everything that we've just discussed with the mayor. You can tweet us using the #newdaycnn or post your comment on facebook.com/newday.

Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Alisyn.

So we just heard your get the mayor's take of New York City on the crime spike in New York. He says there's not really a spike. Guess who doesn't share his opinion? Former New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. He's coming on the show to tell you what he sees in the numbers and to tell you about his new book "Vigilance" and the message for you in it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:42:57] PEREIRA: All right, here are the five things to know for your NEW DAY.

At number one, Jeb Bush telling Stephen Colbert his brother should have brought the hammer down on congressional Republicans and limited their spending while he was president. Jeb Bush set to unveil major tax reform today.

Donald Trump, meanwhile, among the featured speakers at a rally at the Capitol today against the Iran deal. That deal now has enough support to avoid a vote of disapproval by the Senate.

Hillary Clinton apologizing for using a private e-mail server during her time as secretary of state, telling ABC News and her Facebook followers she, quote, "takes full responsibility for the decision."

A British Airways flight bound for London erupting in flames on the runway in Vegas after an engine apparently caught fire. One hundred a seventy-two people on board evacuated using emergency slides. Thirteen people suffered minor injuries.

Two Texas high school football players could face criminal charges for this, blindsiding a referee during a game. League officials hold an emergency meeting today on the incident.

For more on those five things, be sure to visit newdaycnn.com for the latest.

Chris.

CUOMO: New York City Mayor, Mick, Bill de Blasio, fending off claims that crime has spiked under his administration. He says the city is doing better than ever. Somebody's not buying it. You know who? The city's former police commissioner, Ray Kelly. He joins us with his own take on the numbers, the reasons behind them and a message for you in a book called "Vigilance."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:47:51] CUOMO: All right. So we're really giving you both sides of a very important situation. Just moments ago we had New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on. He's saying that his policies are responsible for better crime statistics, not a spike in violent crime. The mayor says that this is a function of what's been done, in part, curbing stop-and-frisk.

Now, a critic of that position, former New York City Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, he also has a new book with a message for you in it called "Vigilance: My Life Serving America and Protecting its Empire City."

Commissioner, pleasure to have you here. I want to talk about the book, but I want to give you a chance to defend the murders.

The mayor comes on. Violent crime matters, you can slice it a thousand different ways. We often focus on homicides, especially when involving a weapon because it goes to all these bigger issues we have about how to keep people safe and what the right laws are. He says we're doing better. Last year is one of the safest years we've ever had in New York City. This year it's up. There are nine more homicides, but he's saying nine more homicide as nine. I mean, come on. You know, that's still so close to being safest. He says it's not good enough but it's certainly no cause for alarm. You see it differently. How?

RAY KELLY, FMR. NYPD POLICE COMMISSIONER: Those nine more homicides, more likely than not, are young men of color. That's who we see being killed in the city. So I wouldn't dismiss it. But murders are up from what they were last year. Shootings are up from what they were in 2013. Crimes of violence, those are the ones that count. I think the whole notion of stop, question and frisk is somehow illegal, it's simply wrong. It's been around since the common law was developed. It's codified in every state in the union.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: But you know is how it's applied. The criticism, Commissioner, was you guys were going to too many places where there were men of color and you were picking them, too, without proper selectivity.

KELLY: That was the allegation. It certainly was not proven to any extent in the lawsuit that went before Judge Scheindlin. The mayor had the opportunity -- the judge was removed from that case - The mayor had an opportunity to go forward with the appeal that Mayor Bloomberg started. He chose not to do it. So I think that was a major mistake. And he ran against the police department in 2013 in his campaign. Now he's in love with the police department. It's totally changed.

[08:50:11] CUOMO: Well, the mayor can't be at odds with the police. But he does have --

KELLY: He has been at odds with the police. Certainly in -- after the --

CUOMO: Oh, sure, look -- He's had his bad moments, there's no question about it, vis-a-vis the police perspective, obviously. Right? There are people who put him into office who say they like what he's doing. But the reason on that case, you know, the judge said these practices are inappropriate. The city then appealed. The mayor didn't want to carry that appeal because he agreed with the original decision and then they changed the practices. You're saying that was a mistake?

KELLY: I'm saying it was mistake and I think overtime it will be shown. I think it's a valuable tool that cops should have all over America. But I think you see the Ferguson effect kicking in here and in other cities throughout America. There was an article last week where 30 cities are experiencing increase in murder throughout the country. That's the Ferguson effect and police are --

CUOMO: What does that mean, Ferguson effect?

KELLY: Police are more hesitant to engage. For 20 years, proactive policing has reduced crimes significantly in this country. That's now shifted, hopefully temporarily, but it's now changed somewhat. The police are not doing the sort of energetic enforcement that helped reduce crime and save lives throughout America.

CUOMO: Aren't we seeking a middle where they're energetic, they're confident in what they do, they're protected in their ability to do it and yet they're not overzealous, they don't overtarget and create community problems?

KELLY: Sure. Absolutely. But I think we've seen part of the pendulum swinging too far, at least right now.

CUOMO: Vigilance, beautiful word. How do you apply it? What does this book mean to everybody else?

KELLY: Well, vigilance is something that we all have to engage in, certainly in the post-9/11 world. The terrorist threat is going to continue for a long time to come. A lot of the grievances that are being fought over go back 1400 years, so it's not going to change in the short-term.

But this book is a memoir. It treats -- lots of different issues. I was born here in New York City. It talks about my childhood. Talks about policing in the '70s. I was in the department for over 40 years. Two terms as a police commissioner. I was in the Marine Corps in Vietnam. I was in the Clinton administration. I was in Haiti. I was on the interpol board as vice president. I did a lot of things. Boxing commissioner.

CUOMO: I know -- that I remember. That was a very interesting point in your life. When you started the job to now, everybody changes, everybody grows. What do you think people can get in here that was the best thing that you've seen happen and the worst thing that you've seen happen?

KELLY: Well, I think some of the messages in the book are that proactive policing saves lives. For instance, 9500 fewer murders in the Bloomberg administration than the 12 years before. I think proactive investigations in the area of terrorism save lives. CUOMO: Proactive means get after people who are suspicious, not

necessarily already engaged in criminal behavior.

KELLY: Well, it means devoting resources to doing investigations, certainly in the field of terrorism. New York was targeted 16 times during the Bloomberg years. None of them came to fruition as a result of good work on the part of the federal government, NYPD and sheer luck. And I think another other message is that the mayor is the chief law enforcement officer of virtually any city or town. That's where the tone is set. That's where the message comes. And everyone else follows that tone. I think you see it here in New York.

CUOMO: Often a difficult position for the Commissioner of the NYPD to be in because often the understandings and the realities on the ground and the men and women in blue are different than the reckonings of politicians.

KELLY: Correct. Absolutely.

CUOMO: How hard is it to balance the two? Take care of your men and women on the street, listen to what the politicians are saying who decide how much money you get to do it?

KELLY: Well, I certainly -- for me -- we had tremendous support from Mayor Bloomberg. He was behind the commissioners, if you will. If you did your job and you did your job well, he was going to be there for you. Not sometimes, but all the time. So it changes with the mayors.

CUOMO: Ray Kelly, "Vigilance: My Life Serving America and Protecting its Empire City." I hope it does well. It is a good read.

KELLY: Me too.

CUOMO: We recommend it. Commissioner, thank you. Thank you for being here.

KELLY: Thanks a lot.

CUOMO: Alisyn?

[08:54:41] CAMEROTA: OK, Chris, a little girl raises a lot of cash this summer at a lemonade stand. But you won't believe what the money is for. That's "The Good Stuff." It's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: This "Good Stuff" is perfect because school is starting. Listen to this. Fourth grader Chloe Crawford (ph), she knew that her North Carolina school didn't have all the stuff it needed and mainly because of money. So what does she do? They turn that sour news into lemonade. Literally they set up a stand. They raised more than - ready? -- $44,000.

CAMEROTA: What?

CUOMO: Yes. And that's not all. Listen to this.

PEREIRA: Holy cow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA CARLSON: And I would like to math their campaign.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Match the campaign? Yes. Barbara Carlson (ph), grandmother of two students at Summit Charter School, matched it. That's 88. And then it gets gooder (ph). Because of the donations, they keep pouring in now. See what happens? The butterfly wing effect, whatever you want to call it. A total of $110,000 for that school. Talk about an A for effort.

PEREIRA: You know how much lemonade that is? Especially when it's like a quarter a piece? My goodness.

CUOMO: The need is great. Communities are turning on to do it themselves all the time and this is a beautiful example. Thank you Chloe and grandma.

PEREIRA: All right. It's time for "NEWSROOM" and Carol Costello.