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NYPD Commissioner: 'I Don't Believe' White House's Claim that Islamic State Can't Attack U.S. Right Now

November 16, 2015

New York City police commissioner Bill Bratton said he disagreed Monday with the Obama administration's contention that a terrorist attack like the one seen in Paris Friday wasn't possible right now in the U.S.

Obama national security adviser Ben Rhodes said that while the Islamic State, which took responsibility for Paris, desires to attack the U.S., the White House doesn't see a "specific, credible threat against the homeland," according to the Wall Street Journal. Appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Bratton said that wasn't the way he approached security for New York.

"And do you disagree with the White House, who this past weekend seemed to say that an attack on the United States wasn't possible?" host Joe Scarborough asked. "They said they didn't have the capability to attack here."

"Oh, I don't believe that," Bratton said. "We work every day based on the premise that they have that capability. What we just saw in Paris, why do we think that wouldn't happen here?"

President Obama has faced criticism after saying the morning before the Paris attacks that IS was "contained" during an interview with ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos. CNN's Jake Tapper took Rhodes to account for Obama's remarks Sunday on State of the Union, telling him, "I shudder to think what ISIS looks like uncontained."

Ccoordinated terrorist assaults on various locations around Paris killed at least 129 people Friday night, and more than 350 people were injured. It marked the worst violence seen in France since World War II.