New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy on Gun Safety Order
GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): Will do business with vendors who we trust and who we -- who share the same gun safety principles as we do. And there's enough latitude for us to be able to be able to do that.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And have you felt that you've had to do all of this because, frankly, the U.S. Senate won't take any action?</s>MURPHY: Yes, I mean, without question. The ultimate answer here is national, federal legislation. And, you know, we're sick of hoping and praying. And the statements from the administration or Leader McConnell ring more hollow by the day. So the fact of the matter is, states have to step up and pass a lot of legislation, which we've done a series of executive orders. We have formed a coalition of like- minded states called States for Gun Safety. We're doing all of that in the absence of any action in Washington.</s>CAMEROTA: Let's get to this letter that these 145 CEOs of some of the, you know, best known companies at the moment have just sent to the Senate. So this is from the CEOs of Airbnb, Twitter, Levi Strauss, Thrive Global, Bain Capital, and they sent this letter to Mitch McConnell, and -- as well as the whole Senate, I believe, and it says here, here's a portion, we urge the Senate to stand with the American public and take action on gun safety by passing a bill to require background checks on all gun sales and a strong red flag law that would allow courts to issue life-saving extreme risk protection orders. What does it tell you that, you know, CEOs are having to step in where politicians haven't?</s>MURPHY: Again, I think -- first, it's a good sign. I think it's unfortunately, at the same time, a statement about the pathetic lack of any progress in Washington. You may -- you saw the business roundtable a couple of weeks ago change its sort of principles from shareholder only to the sort of broader sustainability stakeholder interests. I think this is another good example. That's where the world is headed. That's what we do in New Jersey. That's how we think about gun safety. That's how we think about the economy and society more broadly. And my guess is we'll see more of this particularly in the absence of activity -- any positive activity in Washington.</s>CAMEROTA: This letter is also notable for some of the big CEOs that didn't sign on. No Google. No FaceBook. No Apple. No Goldman Sachs. You have any idea why they wouldn't want to sign a letter like this?</s>MURPHY: I -- I have no insight. I haven't seen the letter. I have no insight. But I would just say, again, Alisyn, I think this notion of corporate responsibility broadening, particularly again, I can't emphasize this enough, in the absence of positive steps in Washington. How many more massacres, how many more day in and day out just drum beat of gun violence are we going to have to deal with and absorb as a society before it -- steps are taken constructively by this administration and by the Republican Senate? In New Jersey we're not waiting. We can't wait. We can't afford to wait.</s>CAMEROTA: You know, Governor, we only have a few seconds left, but does it feel to you as though something has shifted? This problem of gun violence and mass shootings has been so intractable it has felt for so long. You know, there's been this paralysis and this hopelessness. Does it feel to you like since this last spate of mass shootings that something has shifted?</s>MURPHY: It does, although we've had false</s>CAMEROTA: Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey, we really appreciate you explaining all of this to us. Thanks.</s>MURPHY: Thank you, Alisyn.</s>CAMEROTA: John.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're getting new details this morning about the rape allegations against NFL star Antonio Brown. Will the NFL take action before Sunday? Will he play on Sunday? That's next.