Warns of Growing Threats to New York: Terrorism, Cartels, Drugs and Foreign Influence

0:00 Speaker 1 Well, Sunday morning, we have a new United States attorney in New York. And, well, with us today is Jamie McDonald, and he assumes the role of U.S. attorney and took the place of Jay Clayton, who now is in charge of Director of National Intelligence, which is the whole world.

0:20 He did such a great job in New York. Now, Jamie McDonald, congratulations on the new job. But you got big shoes to fill. Jay Clayton did such a good job, President Trump made him in charge of the whole world.

0:36 Tell us about the challenges that you face as the United States Attorney in New York.

0:42 Speaker 2 Thank you, John. So you and Jay talk about national security, but we think about New York security as national security. New York security is a component of national security. We’re here on 9-11 weekend. 9-11 happened in our backyard. We had our civil division office was at 100 Church Street at the time, right across the street. In a lot

1:03 of ways, the way that we think about our national security practice in the Southern District, it starts with 9-11, but it actually preceded that. Our office charged the blind sheik in the 1993 first World Trade Center attack. When the first plane hit the building on 9-11, our AUSAs were down on the ground within five minutes. You got

1:25 to remember, This was a period before cell phones, we had beepers, and our AUSAs took a phone booth, took pay phones, had two open lines, one to the FBI, one to one police plaza, and started working those cases.

1:41 Of course, when the towers came down, they evacuated and we set up a separate office to be able to continue to work. And the office’s commitment to national security has continued from then on. We’ve seen some changes. We now see not just terrorist activities and terrorist efforts, but foreign influence. We see the financing. We see the drugs.

2:05 And we’re working closely with all of our partners, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the intelligence community, to ensure that we’re on top of it from a national security and New York security perspective. But, of course, safety and security for New Yorkers includes so much more than just that. It includes parks. It includes jobs.

2:24 keeping violent criminals off the street. It includes ensuring that our children are safe, that other types of predators are taken off the street. And so those are the challenges that we face, and that’s what we’re committed to confronting.

2:39 Speaker 1 Well, President Trump has put you and made you the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District here, which is the most important U.S. Attorney’s position, I guess, in the entire country. You have like over 800 people, maybe more now, That’s a lot of people to take care of. And Jay Clayton did such a great job. Like I said, you’ve

3:00 got big shoes to fill. What percentage of major criminals are left in New York? Because I know a lot of them went running.

3:11 Speaker 2 You’re right. A lot of them have gone running. And the trends are good in the city. The trends are good, but there’s still more work to do. There’s always more work to do. You’re right. I do have big shoes to fill. But we’ve still got the AUSAs in our office working day and night to ensure that violent criminals

3:28 are taken off the street, that our public spaces are safe, that any foreign influence that is seeking to come into our city or our country is detected, prosecuted, and deterred, and that our everyday New Yorkers are safe to go about their daily lives.

3:47 Speaker 1 Understood. What is... You know, New York has always been the target. So I guess that is one of your responsibilities. And you have many agencies to work with, and you have Jake Clayton, who’s now DNI, the Director of National Intelligence.

4:07 We all want to protect New York and Washington because they’re always the targets. You get reports every morning?

4:15 Speaker 2 I get reports every morning and every night.

4:18 Speaker 1 And, you know, and. I mean, all it takes is one mistake, and we’re all afraid of that one mistake.

4:27 Speaker 2 You’re right about that, and that’s the reason we need to be vigilant, and that’s the reason we can’t just look at it from one perspective. We’ve got to be looking at it from every perspective, the influence perspective, the financing perspective, the efforts to infiltrate our city and our country with dangerous drugs. One of the things that we’ve seen,

4:49 It’s been a decade since I was in the office as a Lion AUSA. One of the things that we’ve seen is more organized efforts by cartels and foreign entities to get dangerous drugs into our city, to get it into the country. So we’re thinking about all of those things.

5:05 It’s attempted terrorist acts or plans that we’re working to thwart. It’s financing efforts. It’s getting drugs into the city. And we’ve got to work. to combat it all, and we are.

5:20 Speaker 1 Now, the governor in New York State has declared that local law enforcement, local sheriffs are not allowed to deal with ICE. But you still have to do your job and make sure that our city is safe. My personal opinion, my personal opinion was I don’t mind the governor’s the governor going after major criminals and going after major criminals

5:51 and being a little bit softer on the busboys and the waiters and the bartenders that may be not here 100% legal. But what is the position of the U.S. Attorney’s Office?

6:04 Speaker 2 John, our focus is on getting dangerous criminals off the streets and keeping New Yorkers safe. And to do that, we work with the intelligence community, as you’ve talked about with Jay, with the FBI. We work very closely with the NYPD. We work with DHS. And to the extent that there are dangerous criminals on the streets, we want

6:23 to work with every one of our law enforcement partners to ensure that they’re taken off the streets and that New Yorkers are safe.

6:30 Speaker 1 Now, what else would you like to tell us? This is 9-11 weekend. And there’s so many people crying still, there’s so many people that were hurt. Give us your internal feeling. You’ve always been a New Yorker?

6:48 Speaker 2 I’ve been in New York for the past 15 years.

6:51 Speaker 1 And tell us your feeling about 9-11 weekend, how you feel.

6:55 Speaker 2 9-11 weekend, I think, brings to bear two things to think about. One is remembrance. It’s important that we remember what happened and that we remember the heroes, including in our office, who responded that day. But the second thing, John, is vigilance. I think we’ve got to remember it so that we remain vigilant and so that we do all

7:19 of the things that’s necessary to ensure that the nation and New York continues to be safe.

7:24 Speaker 1 Jamie McDonald, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District in New York, the most powerful U.S. Attorney’s Office in the country, thank you so much. And thank you for keeping us safe, and God bless you, and God bless America.

7:37 Speaker 2 Thank you, John.