Morning Headlines: Mayor Adams Defends Record After DOJ calls to drop Corruption Charges against him, Immigrants Rally in Albany, and Mets and Yankees Begin ...

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Speaker 2: Welcome to NYC NOW, your source for local news in and around New York City, from WNYC. It's Wednesday, February 12th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: Mayor Adams is touting his record after news that the Department of Justice is telling federal prosecutors to drop the corruption charges against him. Prosecutors at the Southern District of New York office accused the mayor of accepting bribes for free or discounted travel and illegal campaign contributions, but Adams says he never turned his eyes away from "what was important" despite those charges.

Mayor Adams: Hidden beneath all the shocking headlines, full of rumors and accusations, all the innuendos and insinuations, the real news is that the women and men of my administration have delivered for the working people of New York.

Michael Hill: DOJ officials, under President Trump, say the mayor's corruption case is interfering with his ability to aid the president's crackdown on illegal immigration and has maintains he never broke the law. Dozens of immigrants went to Albany for a rally yesterday at the Capitol. WNYC's Jon Campbell reports Mayor Adams was top of mind.

Jon Campbell: The Trump administration is planning to dismiss federal corruption charges against Adams. The mayor was supposed to go on trial in April. Now immigrant advocates fear the mayor is beholden to the president and has pushed for mass deportations. Yatziri Tovar is a spokesperson for Make the Road New York.

Yatziri Tovar: We feel now that Mayor Adams has sold out New Yorkers for his own benefit. This is hurtful and this is dangerous for our immigrant communities.

Jon Campbell: The Justice Department says the charges against Adams prevented him from devoting his full attention to illegal immigration, but the city's sanctuary policies were passed by the City Council back in 2014 and the mayor can't overturn them on his own.

Michael Hill: Jon Campbell will have more on that later this hour. The phrase winter weary baseball fans have been waiting for, pitchers and catchers report. Today, Mets and Yankees pitchers and catchers officially report to Spring Training in Florida. The Yankees train in Tampa and the Mets train in Port St. Lucie. The full squads will hit the field next week, then several weeks of exhibition games, and eventually in late March, the Major League Baseball regular season begins.

Last year the Mets made a surprising run to the National League Championship Series before falling to the LA Dodgers who dominated the Yankees then in the World Series. 33 with clouds now, a slight chance of snow by 10:00 this morning. Then after 4:00 this afternoon, a high near 38. Snow, sleet, and rain over night.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. This is NYC NOW, from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you this afternoon.

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