CBS and NBC aggressively promoted gun control, Monday. After lecturing Donald Trump to “consider” more restrictions in the wake of the Orlando terror attack, these networks pushed Florida’s governor to do the same. CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King scolded Rick Scott, “The horror of this. You now join the roll call list nobody wants to be on: Aurora, San Bernardino, certainly Newtown.”
She continued, warning viewers about Scott’s standing with the National Rifle Association: “You have a very good record, they say, with the NRA. Are you rethinking your position on banning so-called assault weapons?”
Over on NBC’s Today, Matt Lauer hit the same liberal talking points:
LAUER: And at the same time people are echoing your thoughts on ISIS and the need to combat ISIS abroad terrorism here at home, they're about guns again. They're talking about the weapons used for the most part in this killing, an AR-15 assault weapon that was reloaded numerous times and did extraordinary damage.
The same networks on Monday demanded Donald Trump “consider” more gun control in the wake of the terror attack. The morning shows also grilled Hillary Clinton about getting more restrictions. NBC’s Savannah Guthrie fretted, “After Newtown, after 20 first graders were killed, the President tried to pass universal background checks. Obviously that was not successful. Why do you feel you may be more successful if elected and in the next Congress?”
A transcript of the CBS This Morning segment is below:
CBS TM
6/13/16
7:16:06 toCHARLIE ROSE: Florida Governor Rick Scott is with us. He just, he just has requested an emergency declaration from President Obama. Governor Scott, good morning. It’s good to have you here.
FLORIDA GOVERNOR RICK SCOTT: Good morning.
ROSE: The world is looking this morning and feeling the pain of Florida and Orlando, Florida, and the people injured and dead. They have three questions. They want to know what happened, they want to know about the victims, and they want to know about the gunman. Tell me first about you seeking an emergency declaration.
SCOTT: Sure. I called a declaration, emergency declaration, yesterday to make sure we had all the state resources. We wanted to make sure we had the federal resources. The FBI has been here and worked very hard with local law enforcement. They've worked very hard and they’ve all worked together very well. This is clearly terror, and you just think about the families. This is — we go through e a list of people, there's a lot of Puerto Ricans. We have a big Puerto Rican community that moved here. I think I have a young lady, AJ Morrisey [PH] here from Hawaii to take care of her mother and grandmother. I was at Harry Potter the other day, and one of the victims worked there, Luis Gomes. You feel sorry for the families.
ROSE: The horror of this is the victims, and the horror of this is how long it went on.
SCOTT: You have to appreciate law enforcement. Fortunately, they had an officer off duty working at the time. ‘Cause, you know, we lost so many lives. But just think of how many more lives could have been lost. And just think of those officers that went into the building not knowing when they broke in at 5am, not knowing what was going on in there and put their lives at risk. We saw one get hit in the helmet. Two inches lower, you know, he would have been dead.
GAYLE KING: I do keep thinking, to Charlie's point, the horror of this. You now join the roll call list nobody wants to be on: Aurora, San Bernardino, certainly Newtown. And after Newtown, people thought, “Finally maybe something will change. We'll get these assault rifles off the streets somehow.” And here we are. You have a very good record, they say, with the NRA. Are you rethinking your position on banning so-called assault weapons?
SCOTT: Right now is a time to mourn and think about these families. We're going to have plenty of time to think about what we do after the fact, how we constantly try make our society a better society. I've got daughters. I even have grandchildren and I don't want anything to ever happen to them. So, how do we always improve our society? Right now we need to mourn with these families. We need to — All the names are being released. Fortunately, all these names are being released and the families are getting to know— think about what it was like yesterday not knowing.
ROSE: How are you letting them know that, in fact — we had on one victim there, “I want to find out about my friends. I’m trying to find out.” How can you accelerate that process?
SCOTT: Sure. All of us want information. Talked to the FBI about it. As family members reached out to me and I talked to family yesterday, they wanted information like we all want information. Like we would all want information.
KING: We all do.
SCOTT: As you know, they're putting out more information now, releasing a lot of the names. Every individual is a story and a family.
KING: And you said you know the street, you know the area and the people.
SCOTT: I'm on the street driving through Orlando a lot. I've had businesses here. So, it’s frustrating.
ROSE: Okay.
SCOTT: It's frustrating.
ROSE: Governor, thank you.
