NBC's Guthrie Smacks Down Cruz's Defense Of Patrolling, Surveilling Muslim Neighborhoods

Savannah Guthrie: You Cite NYC's Previous Muslim Surveillance, But “It Never Led To Even One Piece Of Intelligence, Not An Arrest, Not A Conviction”

From the March 23 edition of NBC's Today:

Video file

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE (HOST):  How would you define a Muslim neighborhood? Is there a certain percentage of Muslims that have to live there? And do you have to have any particular suspicion that they're being radicalized, or is it just the mere fact that they're Muslims, in your mind, means police officers should be securing and patrolling those areas? 

[...]

TED CRUZ: The entire Obama administration refuses to utter the words radical Islamic terrorists. And one of the reasons that America remains so vulnerable is that this administration is mired in political correctness, it will not acknowledge this threat. And so when it comes to law enforcement, proactive law enforcement. You know here in New York City, under Mayor Bloomberg, there was a proactive policing program, to work cooperatively with the Muslim community to prevent radicalization. To target and find out who may be affiliated with radical Islamic terrorism, who may be becoming radicalized and to stop terror plots before they occur. Mayor de Blasio, in an example of political correctness very befitting of Obama and Hillary Clinton, canceled the program, said we're not going to target the bad guys because they will not acknowledge -- 

GUTHRIE: You cite that program, but it of course has been disbanded. A former supervisor of that program said that in six years, it never led to even one piece of intelligence, not an arrest, not a conviction. In fact, the supervisor was quoted as saying that it involved paying undercover officers to sit in cafes frequented by Muslims, drinking tea and eating sweets at taxpayer expense. 

[...]

GUTHRIE: When you talk about patrolling Muslim neighborhoods, would you require some suspicion of radicalization before you patrol the neighborhoods? 

CRUZ: What I'm talking about is focusing law enforcement and national security resources on areas, on locations where there is a higher incidence of radical Islamic terrorism. One of the tragic reasons we saw this attack yesterday in Brussels is Europe's failed immigration laws have allowed vast numbers of radical Islamic terrorists to come into Europe. 

Previously

On MSNBC's Morning Joe, Bush CIA Director: Trump And Cruz's Responses To Brussels Attacks “Create A Clear And Present Danger”

Fox's Bolling Suggests “Taking Some Liberties” From Somalis In America In Response To Brussels Terror Attacks

Media Should Take Great Care Not To Smear Brussels' Muslim Community