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Mahmoud Abbas Wraps Up Speech To Leaders At U.N. General Assembly; Abbas: "The Entire World Is Responsible For What Is happening To Our People In Gaza And West Bank"; Abbas To UNGA: We Will Not Allow A Single Centimeter Of Gaza To Be Taken By Israel. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired September 26, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": You've just been listening to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaking at the UN General Assembly. He spoke for a little less than 30 minutes. He spoke at time quite critically of the United States, certainly of Israel, but also the international community, saying that it is the entire world who is responsible for what is happening to our people in Gaza and the West Bank.
Let me bring in CNN's Nic Robertson now. Nic, did you hear anything new in that speech.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah. I heard him lay out details about what he called the day after in Gaza, the day after the war ends. Of course, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been under huge pressure from allies and partners around the world to spell out what he'll do the day the war ends in Gaza.
And we got a real detailed analysis of it here from Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority President, laying out what he wants, and some of the interesting details in there, and just to backup ever so slightly, unsurprisingly, heavily critical of Israel, calling it a transient state and that it shouldn't be allowed a representation at the United Nations, and he also criticized the United States for the support that it has given to Israel for the war in Gaza. So, laying out the things that you would expect.
But, here are some of the details that I picked up on what he was talking about in terms of the day after in Gaza, which set sort of, if you will, a set of Palestinian parameters for what it may look like, and this was an interesting one, because this is clearly in contention with what Israel is looking at as its negotiations with Hamas, not with the Palestinian Authority, but with Hamas over Gaza.
So, the Palestinian Authority President saying that not a single centimeter of Gaza should be given up, that Israel's withdrawal should be a full, full withdrawal, that there should be no buffer zones. We know the United States has been critical of Israel's proposals to put buffer zones around Gaza for security. But, these buffer zones would be, if you will, inside Gaza, rather than outside, absorbing Israeli territory. So, that was a very strong point, I thought, from him. He talked about the need to get humanitarian aid, and he talked about the need for protection for UNRWA and other UN officials in there.
He also spoke about what's been going through the International Court of Justice and their ruling in the summer about Israel's occupation of the West Bank, and the ICJ has come down firmly in the favor of the Palestinians. And he said that what the ICJ has said should be acted upon within 12 months, and that is that all settlements should be closed, the 600,000 settlers who he said are in these areas should leave. He called for a peace conference within two -- within a year, where there should be announced a two-state solution. A Palestinian state, he said, should be announced at that peace conference a year after the end of the war in Gaza, and he went on to give detail about that. He said there should be an international peacekeeping force between the Palestinian state and the Israeli state.
There is so much in there that clearly is at a massive variance with the views of the Israeli government. It doesn't seem that this is a plan and a proposal that can go down, if you will, in face value, and he said that at the beginning. He said, look, we welcome people to come and pour over this and amend it, but this is the position that we're starting from. And he said something that he said earlier this year on a visit to Turkey to -- when he was speaking to the Turkish parliament there. He said, I'm going to go to Gaza. And when he said that a few months ago, I don't think people really thought it carried weight or meaning, because they think and party doesn't want to go to Gaza, because he is not particularly believed to be respected there.
Nevertheless, he reupped that position here when he said, we welcome other countries to come with us to Gaza, to go visit, to look at the level of destruction there. So, he is clearly continuing with the narrative that as Palestinian Authority President that doesn't have a political representation inside of Gaza, but has this sort of pan- Palestinian view. He wants to go there and lead an international delegation there, and it's not clear at all that Israel will allow that either, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah, which makes what we hear from Netanyahu tomorrow especially interesting, especially in light of Mahmoud Abbas' comments. Nic, stand by for me.
Let me bring in CNN Senior United Nations Correspondent Richard Roth, who is at the UN. Richard, you have witnessed many of these speeches at the UN. Give me your sense of what you heard, and also sort of the context in which this happens with Netanyahu apparently just landing here in New York and set to address the same delegation, the same assembly tomorrow.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Usually, the two men speak on the same day. Prime Minister Netanyahu is still scheduled for tomorrow morning. He is a very dramatic speaker, and no doubt President Abbas knows this, and was laying out all the points he can ahead of Netanyahu's verbal assault. He asked the General Assembly countries to stop sending weapons, which is primarily also the United States, to Israel. And he -- as Nic mentioned, he questioned Israel's right to be a member of the General Assembly. The General Assembly is solidly behind Israel. It doesn't have voting that is enforceable, though. There has been large majorities and resolutions condemning Israel over the last year inside the General Assembly Hall.
So, he gave a forceful speech. He had a lot of applause when he walked out, and a lot of applause at the end. I think I heard perhaps someone in the public gallery, or the delegates' gallery, yelling, "Free Palestine", I think at the end there. So, this is going to be watched for tomorrow.
[11:05:00]
There has been no agreement on this 21-day ceasefire proposed by the U.S. and France. No hint of it from Netanyahu or others so far.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And Nic, let me bring you back into the conversation, if I still have you, because one thing we also heard from Abbas there were comments about Lebanon. He said that Israel was launching this new aggression against the Lebanese people. Give us a sense of what the latest is there. And as Richard said, there doesn't appear to be, certainly not now, much optimism about this 21-day ceasefire proposal, with both Lebanon and Israel seemingly casting doubt about whether they would agree to it.
ROBERTSON: Yes. So, you have both the Prime Ministers of Lebanon and of Israel saying that they haven't agreed to it, Mikati and Lebanon saying that he was aware of it, but this was not something that he'd signed off on, and Prime Minister Netanyahu saying he had not yet commented on it. So, they both face political pressures at home not to jump into this 21-day ceasefire, which automatically tells you, particularly given the level of pressure for Prime Minister Netanyahu, where it's coming from within the right wing of his government, which he rarely these days goes against. In fact, I think we can count. I think it'd be very hard to find something to count on when involving either Hamas or Hezbollah, where he has gone against his government.
So, there are political pressures on both leaders that mitigate against this happening. And frankly, the participants in the fight, if you will, both Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Force, are fighting today. There has been multiple airstrikes by Israel inside of Lebanon, both along the border and further north and along the border with Syria as well, where the IDF says it's been targeting smuggling routes for weapons that are coming from Syria, but ultimately -- or previously coming from Iran to Hezbollah. So, that's been targeted.
Hezbollah this morning, according to the IDF, had fired at least 40 missiles into Israel this afternoon, just in the space of about 10 minutes. A couple of hours ago, they fired another 40 or so missiles into Israel. So, both sides are firing missiles, and the posture from the IDF is to continue to release video that shows troops training close to the border, prepared and ready by the border to crossover, and the Prime Minister has said that he is giving the continued authority for the IDF to do what they've agreed, which is to continue with full force. This is not the atmosphere in which ceasefires generally are born out of, and I don't think this one will be any different.
SOLOMON: OK. Nic Robertson, thank you. And Richard, let me bring you back into the conversation with the
caveat that I may have to jump to some breaking news. So, just excuse me if I have to jump in here. But, just give me a sense of what we can expect to hear from Netanyahu. You already said that he is known for impassioned speeches. After hearing what we just heard from Mahmoud Abbas, would you expect that to be even more so? And is there any hope that he would say something that would perhaps bring the region back from the brink?
ROTH: I don't think we're going to hear anything bringing the region back from the brink. I think you're going to hear strong, very strong denunciations of the Palestinians and from what happened on October 7th, and you will hear a gigantic --
SOLOMON: OK. Richard, let me jump in here.
ROTH: Got it.
SOLOMON: I'll speak with you soon.
I want to get to New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaking right now, following his indictment on federal criminal charges. Let's listen together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are black people in this city. (Inaudible). This is ridiculous. This is ridiculous. (Inaudible) but the people are with us. And this is not a black thing. This is a justice thing.
ERIC ADAMS, MAYOR, NEW YORK CITY: First of all, I want to thank you for being here this morning, and I want to thank the supporters of all ethnic groups that are here, particularly the men and women of the clergy that's here that have joined me here today. And we are not surprised. We expected this. This is not surprising to us at all. The actions that have unfolded over the last 10 months, the leaks, the commentary, the demonizing, this did not surprise us that we reached this day, and I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense before making any judgments.
[11:10:00]
In about 30 minutes, you're going to hear a story of the case that is in front of us. The story will come from the federal prosecutors, and I ask to wait and hear our side to this narrative.
From here, my attorneys will take care of the case, so I can take care of the city. My day-to-day will not change. I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do, and the 300,000 plus employees of our city government will continue to do their jobs, because this is what we do as New Yorkers. It's an insult to the hard-working people of the city that anyone would say that they won't do their jobs while this case proceeds in the background. They are dedicated public servant, and I have been one of them for many years, and they're going to continue to do their job, moving the city forward every day.
It's an unfortunate day and it's a painful day, but inside of all of that, it's a day when we're finally revealed why for 10 months I have gone through this, and I look forward to defending myself and defending the people of this city, as I've done throughout my entire professional career.
I want to now turn it over to the person who started me on this journey, Reverend Herbie Daughtry.
REVEREND HERBIE DAUGHTRY: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. You are mayor and will be too. Time come, still you will be our mayor. We are your supporters. Irrespective of what people say, he is still our mayor.
SOLOMON: All right. We were just listening to New York Mayor Eric Adams there, essentially getting in front of what is expected to be another press conference in about 15 minutes from the Southern District of New York, as they unveil what charges the New York City mayor is facing. A few things we just heard from Mayor Adams there. He said, in about 30 minutes, alluding to this press conference we're about to hear, he said, you're going to hear a story. I would ask that you wait until you hear our side of the narratives. My lawyers will do their job so that I can do my job. I look forward to continuing to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do. Clearly, no indication that he plans to step down at any -- a very defiant tone, you might even say.
Let me bring in a reporter who has been covering this case from the very beginning, CNN's Gloria Pazmino. She joins us from New York. Gloria, just give us a lay of the land. What did you hear and what are you expecting?
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, it's defiant. He is doubling and tripling down, and clearly not showing any signs that he is going to go anywhere and that he is going to fight this as hard as he possibly can. That's Eric Adams flanked by many of the city's clergy leaders, many of them from Brooklyn, and that's important because that is the base of Eric Adams. And if Eric Adams is thinking about the political implications of this, which obviously he has to be doing that right now, he is going to need their backing and their support. Those are the people who put him in office, and those are the people who have the power to keep him there, if he can survive this.
Now, he is calling the federal allegations in this indictment "a story", but the reality is that in 57, throughout this indictment, federal prosecutors allege several instances where the mayor either solicited donations, received donations, and in exchange received special benefits, luxury travel, luxury hotel rooms, luxury gifts and other benefits for him and for his staffers.
Another important revelation in this indictment, Rahel, is the fact that there appears to have been an effort by the mayor and his staffers to cover up what they had done as soon as they became aware that the federal investigation was underway. There are instances in this indictment where they detail an effort by the mayor and his people to delete text messages, to try and clean up the paper trail, and to basically obstruct the investigation.
So, the story that he is talking about here is actually very well laid out in this indictment. We're going to hear from the U.S. attorney in the next few minutes. We have been watching this, as you said, from the very beginning, for nearly a year, when we first learned that Eric Adams was being investigated for exactly what this indictment says, that he conspired with Turkish nationals in order to funnel campaign donations into his campaign in 2021, something that started not after he became mayor, but long before, and something that appears to have continued well into shi time in office, while he was raising money for his 2025 campaign.
[11:15:00]
That race is around the corner. So, this is not at all light on the details here in terms of what's contained in the indictment. And the mayor clearly showing that he wants to fight this. It is going to be a hard fight. And it is not a small thing for a U.S. attorney to indict the sitting mayor of any city, let alone New York City. And the actions of federal investigators in the last several months show that they are clearly confident in what they have on the mayor and the mayor's associates, even to the point of this morning, showing up at City Hall at six o'clock in the morning to issue yet another search warrant to seize the mayor's cell phone, something that his lawyer said they could have simply done by asking him to do so.
But, it certainly shows a level of assertiveness by the federal prosecutors that I have to assume is based on their confidence on the evidence that they have in this indictment.
SOLOMON: And that indictment is, if I'm not mistaken, 57 pages. And so, we will hear, as Mayor Adams says, their story, what they would claim are their allegations, credible allegations, I'm sure the attorney would say. We're going to hear from them in about 15 minutes, and we will, of course, bring that to you at home.
Gloria Pazmino, thank you.
Well, coming up for us, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Washington, where he is expected to reveal his plan for victory over Russia. We're going to have the details on his meetings with U.S. leaders. And we're also tracking Hurricane Helene, as it takes aim at Florida after pounding Mexico. Meteorologist Elisa Raffa has the details.
ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. It is a Category 2 hurricane right now with 105 mile per hour winds. It is still expected to intensify. We've got the latest track for you. That's coming up next.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. We continue to follow the looming threat of Hurricane Helene, which is quickly intensifying and now on the verge of Category 3 strength and is now centered southwest of Tampa, Florida. 86 million people across five states are under hurricane and tropical storm warnings. Helene is expected to be a major hurricane by the time it makes landfall later today. Helene could bring extensive flooding and wind across the Florida Peninsula, up towards Georgia, even Tennessee. Hurricane Helene already left a trail of destruction through parts of Mexico. Heavy rain and strong winds moved through the popular resort destination of Cancun.
[11:20:00]
Joining us now is Carlos Suarez. He is live for us in Gulfport, Florida. Also with us is Elisa Raffa. She is tracking the storm from the CNN Weather Center.
Carlos, let's start with you. We can clearly see the high water levels behind you. What are you seeing?
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Rahel. So, we are in Pinellas County. That is just to the west of Tampa. And while this storm is going to stay offshore here, we are no doubt going to feel its impact as much as the rest of Florida is going to. Part of what we're seeing this morning is already some of the flooding associated with this storm. This is the result of high tide, which kicked in this morning, and it's about to reach low tide in about an hour or two. And you couple that with some of the rain that we saw move in overnight. And so, this is some of the flooding that's already being attributed to what is happening southwest of where we are.
Here in Pinellas County, a mandatory evacuation order went out for folks that live in this part of the county, yesterday. Now, emergency officials late this morning were concerned that the number of folks that live in this low-lying area have not taken to that evacuation order, and a lot of them are still out here. In fact, much of them are showing up to where we are, taking in an otherwise sunny but cloudy day, as we expect some of this more wet and windy weather to move through throughout the day. But, this is the one thing that officials really don't want folks to come out and do, Rahel.
And so, as we move through the afternoon, of course, the concern becomes that as this storm stays to the west of us, but continues its track north, we're, of course, going to see the rain. We're going to see some of that strong wind, and then once high tide kicks back in in the afternoon and into the night, well, then we're talking about a storm surge that's being forecasted for this area of Florida to be anywhere between six to eight feet. And when you take all of those things into account, this is when you see most of this flooding. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah, six to eight feet is just really horrifying to think about.
Carlos Suarez, keep us posted and be safe. Thank you.
Let me now bring in Elisa Raffa tracking Hurricane Helene from the CNN Weather Center. So, Elisa, talk to us a little bit about what the latest is in terms of its intensity, but also its path.
RAFFA: Yeah. It is a Category 2 hurricane right now with 105 mile per hour winds, but it's sitting in incredibly warm ocean waters. So, we are expecting it to continue to intensify as it heads to the Big Bend there of Florida, sitting about 290 miles south of Apalachicola, again, will continue to work its way north. We have tornado watches that are filling in across the southeast, from
Florida up through the Carolinas, because we have this spinning tropical system. So, we do have some tornadoes that are possible coming onshore in the outer bands. You could already see a couple of warnings near Charleston, just north of Jacksonville, another one on the Florida Panhandle there, again, this threat, as some of the outer bands are already coming in with lightning and some heavy rain and gusty winds.
Here is the latest track. All that red is a hurricane warning from Apalachicola into Tallahassee and then even up to Macon, Georgia. We are looking at a major hurricane landfall, at least a Category 3 strength could teeter on that Category 4 strength, as it makes its landfall tonight. But, it's a wide hurricane. So, we're looking at impacts really across the entire southeast. We could be looking at tropical storm force winds even as far north as Metro Atlanta, incredibly worried about widespread power outages.
Storm surge, this is the catastrophic, unsurvivable part of this hurricane, of any hurricane, really. Look at these numbers here in the Big Bend of Florida, 20 feet of storm surge. That is six meters. Again, unsurvivable, catastrophic. This is the reason why you evacuate and get away from the coastline, is because of this ocean water that just comes in and wipes everything out with destructive ways. It is also a wide storm. Tropical storm force winds are already extending more than 400 miles, and will continue to take over a very wide area. It's a fat and growing even fatter storm. It's incredibly wide.
So, again, look at how far the tropical storm force winds will stretch from South Florida all the way up to Savannah and into the Carolinas, and that will continue to spread up towards the Atlanta area tonight and going into tomorrow morning. So, you can see where you have these incredibly damaging, possibly catastrophic winds there in the purple near the side of landfall. But, it's not just a Florida storm. The winds, again, stretch into Georgia with tropical storm force winds in Atlanta.
On top of this, we are looking at incredible amounts of rain, a large area with four to eight inches of rain across Georgia and the Carolinas, but we do have this pocket of rain totals in the Appalachian Mountains that are possible up to a foot. That would cause landslides in the higher terrain for parts of western North Carolina and North Georgia, something we are incredibly worried about and need to watch closely. Rahel.
SOLOMON: All right. Elisa Raffa, keep us posted. Thank you.
We just heard from North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, who gave an update on storm preparations as Hurricane Helene approaches.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROY COOPER, GOVERNOR, NORTH CAROLINA: An unusually dangerous storm that threatens to bring heavy rain and potentially catastrophic flooding tonight and tomorrow for central and particularly western North Carolina. When tropical weather crosses into our mountains, it can be deadly.
[11:25:00]
Just a few years ago, Tropical Storm Fred shocked our mountain regions with torrential rain, sweeping away homes, bridges and lives. With Helene, this can happen again.
And just last week, we were reminded of the unpredictability of severe weather in North Carolina, as a coastal storm brought 20 plus inches of rain on parts of southeastern North Carolina. With Hurricane Helene, we have to be clear here. Heavy rains and winds are coming. Beware and prepare. Travel will be dangerous, flooding is likely, and we are preparing for unexpected conditions. Our thoughts are with our friends in Florida and other southern states that are being hit first, and our priority here is to protect lives and manage the impact of the storm on our communities here in our state, as it arrives.
Helene is forecast to bring more than a foot of rain to parts of western North Carolina, which will likely cause significant flash flooding, landslides, damaging debris flows, slope failures across steep terrain, and river flooding. Even areas that don't typically experience it may see flooding. Cities like Charlotte and Asheville could see flash flooding despite not being in the storm's direct path.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: All right. We want to take you now to Florida. Joining us from Florida is Mandy Lemmerman. She is the Battalion Chief for Dixie County Fire Rescue. Mandy, welcome. I'm curious if you saw our correspondent there, Carlos Suarez, who is in Gulfport. But, one thing he said is that authorities were concerned that people were not heeding the warnings to evacuate. Are people evacuating there? Are people heeding the warnings there?
MANDY LEMMERMAN, BATTALION CHIEF, DIXIE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE: Absolutely. I did listen to that interview there that he had done, and a lot of the people were here for Idalia when we did a voluntary evacuation with this one. This is going to be catastrophic. Idalia was right at 10 foot. With the 20 foot storm surge we're expected to see in the Big Bend area, we did a mandatory evacuation that started yesterday, and we have had a great turnout with it.
However, we're still seeing people that are wanting to stay in the coastal communities, and we cannot urge the people enough that we will not be able to get to you. The task force teams coming in to help do search and rescue will not be able to get to you until it is safely able to do so, especially with that 20 foot storm surge. That's going to be inundation well inland that up to last week we've never seen before.
SOLOMON: A lot of Floridians have experienced many hurricanes before. Do you worry that that creates a sense of complacency that we've been here before? We're Floridians. We know how to get through this.
LEMMERMAN: Absolutely. One thing that it's not really a benefit, but does help in our situation is, unfortunately, this is our third storm within the last, what, 14 months. We just are fresh off of Debby with storm cleanup. So, for those that have moved into our area, they've been able to be around it and seen the devastation just from what a simple Cat 1 did, and also from Idalia recently as well. So, for our area, it's helped, but you do have that great influx of people just moving to this beautiful state of Florida, and I hope they heed their neighbors' warnings that, hey, this is something that for our area, we've never seen before. I've never seen in my life with them, numbers of storm surge.
So, I really hope people heed that warning and realize that emergency services and like law enforcement, fire rescue stuff, once winds get a sustained 45 miles per hour across the board, and that's sustained winds, that's not even gusts, we cannot go out and respond to calls until the storm has passed and those winds go below that. So, you won't have emergency services for that long of a time. So, get to a shelter or get out of the storm's path. I think every official anywhere can harp on that more and more and more upon anything else when it comes to hurricanes.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And beyond the shelters that you just mentioned there, what else is the county doing for people who were there and who feel like they're sort of trapped there?
LEMMERMAN: So, we did send out our mentor evacuation yesterday. That did not just include our coastal communities. That also included recreational vehicles, any low-lying areas, any substandard housing, things of that nature.
[11:30:00]
We opened up our general population shelter. There is also the special needs shelter in our neighboring county. And the biggest thing is the roads afterwards are going to be extremely with a lot -- just damaged with debris and stuff. So, ahead of time, we've already staged. The Florida National Guard has a camp right across the road from us, that as soon as the storm has passed and it's safe to go out, they're going to immediately start going with crews to try to push and open the roads, check with power companies, with our fire department crews, because we want to get initially out and see what critical infrastructure might be damaged, what roads we need to try to clear.
We want to get people back in their homes as fast as possible, but the public has to realize it's going to take a little bit of time for our initial crews to do that. So, you are -- please, begging people, pretty much begging, stay indoors. I know everybody wants to go out and see what damage there is, but let those crews get out and clear those roads, get power lines out of the way the best they can, before everybody just influxes back to the communities that we wanted to evacuate.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Mandy, is there one thing, I know it's all dangerous, whether it's the surf, whether it's the wind, whether it's the roads, I know it's all dangerous, but is there one thing that you are especially concerned about?
LEMMERMAN: Each storm is different, for sure, with either rainfall or winds. For this one, the storm surge is definitely the most catastrophic for us. Like I said, in my lifetime, I've never been through anything close to that. They said if -- for those that were here for the storm of the century in March of 1993, this will come to the closest you possibly could for storm surge, and it was at 15 foot then. So, that is going to be our top priority for what we are going to try to push out and get crews in from different USAR teams to go out and be doing door to door.
SOLOMON: Well, Mandy Lemmerman, we appreciate your time today. Certainly good luck. Be safe, and I'm sure I'll talk to you again soon.
LEMMERMAN: Yes. Thank you, guys,
SOLOMON: Yep. All right. Still ahead for us, New York's mayor says that he is innocent of whatever the feds end up charging him with. We're going to go live to New York with the latest on the latest on the indictment against him, in just a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back. You are watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
Any moment now, we will hear from the U.S. attorney in New York about charges against the city's mayor. The indictment was unsealed just about an hour ago, and here is what we learned.
[11:35:00]
Eric Adams, the mayor, is facing five federal charges, including bribery, wire fraud and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals. The investigation has been going on for months, something that he alluded to earlier when he spoke. Also earlier on Thursday, investigators searched his home. Adams says that he is innocent of the accusations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADAMS: These charges will be entirely false, based on lies, but they would not be surprising. I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target, and a target I became.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: OK. Let's bring in Gloria Pazmino, who has been covering the story from the very beginning. So, Gloria, just give us a sense before we hear from the Southern District of New York, what do we know about these charges on the foreign national that's apparently involved?
PAZMINO: Well, one thing that seems very apparent in this indictment, Rahel, is that federal investigators clearly have been looking into this for several years, and they are alleging that the conduct is not a recent thing. This is conduct that stretches all the way back to before the time that Eric Adams took office. So, this is a long- standing investigation, 57 pages. It looks like he is up at the podium now. So, let's take a listen.
DAMIAN WILLIAMS, U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: My name is Damian Williams, and I'm the United States Attorney here in the Southern District of New York. Today, we are announcing campaign finance, bribery, and conspiracy charges against Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City.
As the indictment alleges, Mayor Adams engaged in a long-running conspiracy in which he solicited and knowingly accepted illegal campaign contributions from foreign donors and corporations. As we allege, Mayor Adams took these contributions even though he knew they were illegal, and even though he knew these contributions were attempts by a Turkish government official and Turkish businessmen to buy influence with him. We also allege that the mayor sought and accepted well over $100,000 in luxury travel benefits from some of the same foreign actors who arranged many of the illegal campaign contributions. These benefits included free international business class flights and opulent hotel rooms in foreign cities.
The mayor had a duty to disclose these gifts on his annual public disclosure forms so that the public could see who was giving him what. But, as we allege, year after year after year, he kept the public in the dark. He told the public he received no gifts, even though he was secretly being showered with them. We allege that Adams accepted these benefits knowing that they were given to him because of his position. And in exchange for some of those improper benefits, he intervened in the New York City Fire Department's inspection process for a building owned and operated by the Turkish government, allowing it to open even though it had not passed the fire inspection.
The corruption alleging the indictment is, as I said, long-running. As we allege in the indictment. Adams' solicitation of illegal campaign contributions began in 2018. After he started raising funds for his 2021 mayoral campaign, he agreed to take contributions offered by multiple Turkish businessmen, several of whom he met in Turkey. Adams knew that these wealthy individuals could not legally donate in a U.S. election. Federal law clearly prohibits foreign donations. That's how we protect our elections from foreign influence. Yet, Adams directed his staff to pursue this illegal money to support his campaign for mayor. And as we allege, Adams continued to pursue foreign money in secret well into 2021, and it didn't stop with his first campaign for mayor.
As we allege, in 2023, the mayor rekindled these corrupt relationships, seeking more illegal campaign contributions from some of the same foreign sources to support his reelection campaign. Adams also took contributions that broke other laws. As we allege, he sought contributions from businessmen far in excess of what the law allowed. He also allegedly sought contributions from corporations which are not allowed to contribute at all in New York City elections. Many of those illegal corporate contributions were organized by the same people who organized the illegal foreign contributions. And Adams allegedly disguised them all in the same way, by accepting the money through so- called straw donors.
A straw donor contributes someone else's money, hiding the money's illegal source, such as a foreign businessman, a corporation or a wealthy New Yorker who has already contributed the maximum amount allowed. And as we allege, Adam circumvented all of these laws, taking contributions from exactly the sources the law prohibits, all to benefit his mayoral campaigns. Now, Adams has also personally benefited from the illegal conduct alleged in the indictment,
[11:40:00]
Adams solicited and accepted over $100,000 in luxury travel benefits for years from wealthy Turkish business people and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him. Adams started accepting undisclosed luxury travel benefits at least as early as 2016. He took these benefits nearly every year through 2021.
Here are some of the benefits that we uncovered during our investigation. In 2016, Adams flew to India through Turkey and received two free round trip upgrades for business class seats. That's the highest class on Turkey's national airline. Those upgrades were worth more than $12,000, and none of it was publicly disclosed. In 2017, Adams accepted free business class tickets for himself and his travel companions to France, Turkey and China, and he was put up in the Bentley suite in the St. Regis Hotel in Istanbul. All of that was worth more than $41,000, and none of it was publicly disclosed.
Also in 2017, he flew to China, again through Turkey, and accepted two free business class tickets for himself and a companion. Those were worth more than $16,000, and none of it was publicly disclosed. In 2018, he flew to Hungary through Turkey and accepted free upgrades for business class seats. Those were worth more than $12,000, and none of it was publicly disclosed. In 2019, he flew to Turkey and accepted a free upgrade to business class for his companion and a free stay in a lavish suite at the St. Regis Hotel in Istanbul. That was worth more than $9,000, and again, none of it was publicly disclosed.
In 2021, Adams solicited business class tickets to Istanbul, stays at luxury hotels and resorts, yacht tours and meals. As we allege, he asked to pay a nominal fee for all of this in order to disguise what we allege were, in fact, bribes. He canceled that trip at the very last minute, but the benefits that he solicited were worth more than $21,000. And later in 2021, Adams flew to Ghana, again through Turkey, and accepted free business class ticket upgrades and other gifts while he was on a layover in Istanbul. Those benefits were worth more than $12,000, and just like all the other benefits I've just run through, none of it was publicly disclosed.
Now, I want to be clear, these upgrades and freebies were not part of some frequent flyer or loyalty program available to the general public. As we allege, this was a multi-year scheme to buy favor with a single New York City politician on the rise, Eric Adams.
Now, this is a chart with all of the undisclosed travel benefits that we uncovered during the investigation. We just listed all out here. You see the year, 2016, 2017, 2017, 2018, 2019, and (inaudible), the destination, India, all the way to Ghana, the benefits, the free upgrades or free tickets altogether, the hotel stays, and the value, and if you just sum up all the dollar amounts here, you get to more than $100,000, and of course, as I said before, every single trip that we list here was undisclosed.
As we allege in the indictment, in addition to not disclosing these benefits, Adams sometimes created fake paper trails to try to cover up the travel benefits he solicited and received. Let me give you one example. Adams wrote emails to his staff suggesting he paid for his 2017 business class flights on the Turkish airline when, as we allege, he did not. Those flights were worth a lot of money. Just one ticket alone cost more than $10,000. But, months after taking the flights, Adams wrote an email to a staff member and told the staff member that he had left cash in her desk drawer and that she should send the money to the Turkish airline to pay for a trip he had already taken. As the indictment makes clear, that's just a clumsy cover-up.
Now, just because Adams received benefits for free, that doesn't mean that there weren't strings attached. As we allege, a particular Turkish government official behind many of the benefits Adams sought and accepted gave Adams all these things to gain influence over him. We allege that Adams knew that and took the benefits anyway. We allege that when the Turkish government official needed him, Adams also took corrupt official action in exchange for some of the luxury travel benefits.
In 2021, the Turkish government official was trying to open a brand new high-rise building in Manhattan that would house Turkey's consulate. There was significant time pressure, because the Turkish official desperately needed the building to be open in time for a visit from Turkey's President.
[11:45:00]
This building was important to the Turkish official, and it was important to Turkey. But, the FDNY's fire safety professionals wouldn't let the building open because the building hadn't passed an inspection. And not just that.
Some of the people of FDNY thought the building had so many issues and defects that the building was not safe to occupy. So, the Turkish official sent word to Adams that it was, quote "his turn", unquote, to support Turkey. And as we allege, Adams delivered and pressured the fire department to let the building open. The FDNY professionals were convinced that they would lose their jobs if they didn't back down. And so, they did. They got out of the way and let the building open. The Turkish official got what he wanted, and as we explained in the indictment, just four days after Adams held up his end of the bargain, he went right back to soliciting more travel benefits from the Turkish airline.
Now, I want to make three things crystal clear. First, the conduct alleging the indictment, the foreign money, the corporate money, the bribery, the years of concealment, is a grave breach of the public's trust. Public office is a privilege. We allege that Mayor Adams abused that privilege and broke the law, laws that are designed to ensure that officials like him serve the people, not the highest bidder, not a foreign bidder, and certainly not a foreign power. These are bright red lines, and we allege that the mayor crossed them again and again for years. That is the only reason we are here today. Second, this investigation continues. We continue to dig and we will
hold more people accountable. And I encourage anyone with information to come forward and to do so before it is too late.
And third, the Southern District of New York remains committed to rooting out corruption without fear or favor, and without regard to partisan politics. We are not focused on the right or the left. We are focused only on right and wrong. That is our duty, and we will fulfill it.
Now, today's charges are the product of a tremendous partnership. I want to thank our partners at FBI and the New York City Department of investigation who have been with us every step of the way.
And finally, I want to commend the outstanding career prosecutors from FDNY who are handling this case, Celia Cohen, Celia Cohen, Hagan Scotten, and Derek Wikstrom, and the chiefs of the Public Corruption Unit, Lara Pomerantz and Robert Sobelman.
It's now my pleasure to turn the podium over to FBI Assistant Director in Charge, James Dennehy.
JAMES DENNEHY, FBI NEW YORK ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE: Good morning, and thank you for being here today. The indictment of a sitting mayor is not just another headline. It is a stinging reminder that no one is above the law or beyond reproach, and it serves as a sobering moment for all of us who place our trust in elected officials.
Today's indictment sends a powerful message to every elected official in this country, public service is a profound responsibility and should be a noble calling. When that's perverted by greed and dishonesty, it robs us of our trust. It's a pact between leaders and their communities built on the pillars of trust, accountability, and transparency. When that pact is broken, the consequences ripple far beyond one office or one election cycle.
We know not all leaders are corrupt. We know there are countless public servants who wake up every day with the intention of doing right by their constituents, but we cannot ignore the shadow cast by moments like this. When trust is eroded, it takes years, sometimes decades, to rebuild. The weight of today's actions falls not just on the indicted official, but on every other public official who must now work harder to earn the public's confidence in them. It's important to remember, accountability isn't just about punishing those with alleged wrongdoings. It's about lifting the communities they've let down. It's about rebuilding, restoring, and reimagining what public servants can and should do.
[11:50:00]
It's up to us to demand more from our leaders, to hold them to the highest standards, and to remind them that the power of public office should never be abused. While some may be disappointed today, let me encourage you not to be defeated. The strength of our communities, our faith in one another, and our collective resilience are far greater than the alleged failings of any one individual.
In closing, I'd like to thank the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, and his office, Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber and the New York City Department investigation and her team, as well as my team, the Public Corruption Squad here at FBI New York. Thank you.
WILLIAMS: I'd like to welcome up Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber from the New York City Department of Investigation.
JOCELYN STRAUBER, COMMISSIONER OF NYC DEPT. OF INVESTIGATION: Thank you, Damian. Good morning. Today, for the first time in New York City's modern history, we announce criminal charges against the sitting mayor of New York City. As our highest elected official, the mayor should set the standard for all of city government and exemplify the integrity, transparency, and dedication to serving the public that all New Yorkers deserve. Instead, the indictment unsealed today alleges that Mayor Adams abused his power and position for nearly a decade as Brooklyn Borough President and as mayor, to enrich himself and his mayoral campaigns.
As charged, he sought and received illegal campaign contributions, luxury travel, and other personal benefits from foreign nationals as well as individuals and businesses. He allegedly took steps to conceal those illegal contributions and personal benefits, and involved city employees and campaign staff in that concealment. As the indictment explains, this kind of corruption has real costs to the city and to the public.
As alleged, the mayor's 2021 campaign falsely certified compliance with campaign finance laws in order to conceal those illegal campaign contributions, and as a result of those false certifications, received over ten million in public matching funds. The mayor's alleged acceptance and concealment of illegal contributions and personal benefits gave overseas benefactors, wealthy individuals, and businesses undue influence over the mayor, influence that federal and local laws seek to prevent.
And as charged, in exchange for certain personal benefits, the mayor pressured the New York City Fire Department to forego a required fire safety inspection before the opening of the new Turkish Consulate building. As the city's Inspector General, the Department of Investigation, a city agency, conducts its investigations confidentially and wholly independent of City Hall. We handled this investigation as we would any other, following the facts and seeking to hold wrongdoers accountable, no matter their role or title. Our unique access to city records and expertise in matters of city government make us a critical partner in the fight to root out corruption, working closely with our law enforcement colleagues at the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office.
If you have information about this case or about illegal conduct by any New York City official or employee, I encourage you to contact DOI by email at tipline@doi.nyc.gov, or by phone at 212-825-2828.
I want to thank the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI for their partnership on this investigation. And I want to recognize and thank the dedicated, hard-working DOI investigators who are handling this matter, Senior Inspector General Eleonora Rivkin, Inspector General Audrey Feldman, Deputy Inspectors General Arturo Sanchez and Trenton Sweeney, Deputy Commissioners Christopher Ryan and Dominick Zarrella. Thank you.
WILLIAMS: Thank you, everyone.
[11:55:00]
SOLOMON: All right. We've just been listening to officials there from the U.S. Southern District of New York, the FBI and the New York City Department of investigation, essentially laying out their case, as they see it, against the current sitting New York City Mayor Eric Adams. They accuse him of experiencing and benefiting from years of illegal luxury travel benefits that exceeded $100,000, free international first class flights. They say that Adams was secretly being showered with gifts, as he was publicly denying or publicly not disclosing this information he was secretly benefiting, enriching himself from these gifts. They say he had also allegedly engaged in a cover-up, something that Damian Williams, who you see here, the Southern District of New York attorney, said was a clumsy cover-up.
The sitting mayor now facing these charges, unclear when, in fact, he will turn himself in. We did hear from him a short time ago, in which he said, I am innocent. A lot more to cover.
Stay with CNN. I'm Rahel Solomon. Thanks so much for being with me today. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next.
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