>> Major funding for Chat Box with David Cruz is provided by the members of the New Jersey education Association, making public schools great for every child.

Promotional support is provided by insider NJ, a political intelligence network dedicated to New Jersey political news.

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♪ >> Hi, everybody, welcome to Chat Box.

I am David Cruz.

So glad to be back with you for our new season.

We begin with our very special guest, the governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy.

>> I am having an out of body experience, we are actually in person.

We have been doing these five remote for several years, so it is good to be here.

>> We have annex of questions, some from viewers and some for me.

I have to start with this report from the Department of Justice.

It is a stinging indictment of how the state cared for veterans at mental Park -- Mendel Park.

You call it a appalling and disturbing, but the conditions persist.

>> I said a part of the report as dire as the reality was in spring of 2020, in many respects part of that report the concerns me the most is the ongoing issues, so we have been cooperating with the Justice Department and we have continued to from day one.

I want to give a big shout out to our legislative leadership, because they have been good on this in terms of helping us think through solutions.

If we are not taking care of our veterans, who the heck are we taking care of?

I also at the same time do not want folks to think we have been sitting on our hands.

The report comes up to the present day, but the bulk of it focuses on 2020 and 2021.

We have done a lot since then, put a lot more money into it, converting from doubles to singles, establishment of a patient advocate, 26 hours of training for anyone on infectious controls.

Lots of steps, but unequivocally clearly not enough.

>> It is also possible, probable a lot of this predates your administration, but according from the report, it says your administration systematically violated the rights of residents.

>> It is powerful.

You read something like that, and it is hard to say anything other than it is completely unacceptable, particularly for veterans who have themselves out in defense of our country.

As I say, we have done a lot, but it is quite clear from that report there is still more work to be done and we will commit ourselves to giving it.

>> People want to hear you take responsibility for it.

>> The buck stops with me.

>> Particularly charges that some of the staff at these facilities were uncooperative with investigators.

That signals a culture problem, does it not?

>> I do not know how many times I can say it is unacceptable.

Again, if you look at it today, I would say it is a very different reality than it was years ago.

The Center for Medicaid and Medicare have given one of the two homes of five-star rating this year.

The other has gotten a five star rating each month this year, so they have clearly made progress, but it is abundantly clear they have to make more progress.

>> Whose job is it to fix this?

Obviously it is part of your administration, but lawmakers now say they want to have hearings.

Is there any benefit to that, and to they have to wait until November?

>> They have to wait until they are in session, so I cannot speak for the legislative calendar.

They have been very good, forceful, they have spoken their mind as they should, and we will need to work them.

All options have got to be on the table.

You say we are the only ones that can figure this out is the height of arrogance.

>> It has been suggested may the state get out of the veterans own businesses.

>> I mentioned this recently, and I think in government you have got to be clear on what business a given department is in and what it is not in, and the life and death example may be this.

This is an existential question.

Just because you oversee the National Guard, and they do that well, and because you will receive Veterans Affairs away from health care, they do that really well.

You are not a health care operator.

It is like the analogy with not life-and-death, a more mundane example, NJ transit.

Are you in the bus a business or the real estate development business?

Let's figure out how to get expertise into the latter.

>> Let's talk about the Biden administration floating this idea of relocating some of the migrants who are taking up a lot of resources in New York and perhaps moving them to the airport in Atlantic County, you are against it.

I know the state has a progressive record on immigration and migrants, from Afghanistan to the Ukraine, and I preempt this and say that only because I know you have.

You have a great clock eating answer to this question.

>> It happens to be true.

>> But I want to ask you two specific questions.

What are the conditions under which New Jersey would accept migrants from New York?

Are you just philosophically against it?

>> I will say this.

I will skip our record on immigration, which is the best in the country.

The Afghan situation, Covid crisis in the spring of 2020.

In each case, we worked incredibly closely with the federal government, and in each case we had the resources, the cooperation, a plan in place that allowed us to execute.

Take the Afghan example.

We took more Afghan refugees than any state in America.

We did it through the joint base, with the military.

The plan made sense.

We were partners in that process, and it was virtually flawless.

There is no scenario, sadly that I see that is similar in this case.

And if I am right, and I believe I am sadly, it is beyond us.

So I do not want to lead folks onto thinking that we have got some secret sauce that we can figure this out.

The shame here is that at the federal level that we have not achieved comprehensive immigration reform.

That is the shame.

Bipartisan, there is no good reason why we have not.

It has three elements as clear as we are sitting here.

We have to secure the border.

Compassionately, responsibly, the border must be secured.

We secondly need a pathway for the 15 million or 20 million folks who are here who need some pathway to an acceptable status, and thirdly, we need a smart, 20 first century legal immigration system.

Shame on Congress.

Shame on administrations from both parties that would not achieve that.

If we had, we would not be having this conversation.

>> So the federal government is incapable in your mind of creating any kind of conditions under which you would accept the plan to relocate.

>> Capable I am not sure is the right word, but Congress knows what it needs to do.

I just kept down as chair of the National Governors Association.

I had a dinner the other night with bipartisan governors.

The NGA has been full throttle on that comprehensive solution.

We are trying to give air cover to Congress.

Everybody wants it.

Sadly I think it is a political football some folks like to play with, but in the meantime, individuals are being treated like pawns, and America is a weaker, not stronger in the absence of that reform.

>> This reminds me when you talk like this when people say you were going to run for president, would you said you would not do and you will never do.

>> Notwithstanding my heritage.

>> This president has talked the talk on immigration, and now he has thrown his hands up, and not to compare yourself to the current president, but if you were to run for president what would you say about immigration?

How does one secure the border in other words?

>> I am not running period.

I think the president has done a remarkable job both on the Mystic policy and on foreign relations.

You saw what he did in India in Vietnam.

They are playing chess, and the other folks are playing checkers.

What I would say is what I just said.

We know with the elements of reform are.

I would sit with the leadership in Congress from both sides of the aisle and get this thing done.

It is straight-ahead.

We cannot avoid securing the border.

Folks in my party, not all, but some would say we do not want to do that.

It is not reasonable, responsible.

We need a pathway to citizenship for the 15 million or 20 million.

There are folks in the other party who say that is not the right thing to do, and they are wrong.

Thirdly, we need something really smart.

The national Governors Association, the business Roundtable reached out and said I hear you guys have some bipartisan consensus on what you -- what we should do.

The BRT was led by Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple to give you an idea .

>> Let me get if viewer questioning here.

The RWJ University Hospital nurse striped into its second month now.

You were so vocal during the Rector strike, and you say you are a friend of labor.

Why are you so quiet on this issue?

>> I am not quiet at all.

Whether my team for me personally have been in touch with besides, I want this thing to end.

I have said it loud and clear both in public forums like this and private conversations, get into a room, locked the door, throw the key away, and figure this out.

I have also said we are a proud labor state, and using a baseball analogy, the tie goes to the worker in this case, but let's get this thing figured out.

>> This debate over dead whales and increased offshore wind activity.

No proof that one really has anything to do with the other, but a growing number of people are more skeptical about wind now.

Why are you losing this argument?

>> We are not losing it, because this will happen whether we like it or not.

The fossil fuel industries are funding a very well organized campaign.

They do not want their infrastructure replaced.

>> Changing minds back to what had a lot of popular support.

>> It was overwhelming support.

It is still a significant majority, and I believe it will stay that way.

We are the most densely populated state in America.

We do not need to debate climate change.

Look at the flooding, the fires, everything happening to us.

New Jersey is as exposed as any place in America.

If you can get clean, renewable energy and create thousands of union jobs in the process, I will take that every civil day of the week.

We are worried about the whales.

Leave that to the experts.

There is no cause and effect we have seen.

>> Are you still bullish on Orsted.

They delayed their project until 2026.

$2 billion in the red.

>> They are not alone.

The whole industry, particularly supply chain and inflation and other issues have been challenging.

That delay is questionable, by the way.

What they have said publicly versus what we are reading privately is a little bit different.

I actually still think there was a good shot they get this done on time.

I would not be shocked if there was a delay, but this is going to happen and it has to happen.

People try to paint this as something woke, those people are completely irresponsible.

They are knuckleheads.

This is about clean energy.

It is about protecting a state that is the most exposed stage of climate change and sea level rise in America, and it is about creating thousands of union jobs.

>> And you are confident Orsted is the company too?

>> I am.

>> School is back.

We heard this debate all summer long about states and parents rights.

Two points on that.

You are suing a couple of districts to stop them from disclosing information to parents about their child' is gender identity at school.

I know a lot of parents, both parties, who say they would want to know something like that about their child.

Wouldn't you?

>> I obviously do not agree with that.

The law is clear.

Let me step back and say not in the lot at a but what I believe.

I believe, and we have proven this, that parents have been, are, and always will be at the table.

This notion that we are blocking parents from having their voice heard is ridiculous and not supportive of the facts.

I have to balance that on the one hand and the Attorney General has to as well.

With protecting the most vulnerable of our precious kids.

And the law is clear.

It is not the job of a teacher or a staff member to so-called out a kid who is going through some gender identity process.

>> What do you say to parents who say I would like to know that?

>> I leave that to the parent and the child, which is the way it should be.

>> That is another question on this.

If your child is having those issues I did they cannot discuss them with you, that is a whole other conversation.

>> Is not a third-party's job to come in in the middle of that conversation.

The law is clear, and the one thing I do not think has gotten enough airtime, not only is the law clear, but the judge made the decision on our side to agree with the Attorney General was not once but twice nominated by Governor Chris Christie to our state Supreme Court.

This is not like we were playing a home game on this.

It is crystal clear what the law is.

>> Some of them are -- >> Like a variety show.

>> Wait until the band comes on in a minute.

Who should be making decisions about what kids should be reading in class?

Is that something that should be decided at the local level, or does the state have a responsibility to set standards on text?

>> It is a combination, but professionals should do that.

Should they hear through the various forum that exist like the parent teacher Association or bilateral conversations between parents and guardians on the one hand and educators on the other hand?

Yes, that at the end of the day these decisions should be left to professionals.

I worry you start going down a slippery slope with this, there is no going back.

I am the former U.S.

Ambassador to Germany.

Mein Kampf is banned in Germany.

It is ugly, painful, there is not a good thing to say about Kittler or -- Hitler or what he thought or what he wrote.

As painful as that book is, as odious and people at that individual was, to start down that road, it is a slippery slope.

There is stuff out there that frankly if I had to make the call I probably would not support myself, but that is not my job.

>> Jumping around as you like to do, New Jersey transit has not killed you, but the question is have you fixed it?

Two things on that.

Are you canning the annual infusion of cash from the Turnpike Authority as a dedicated line of funding for NJ transit?

>> The answer to the last one is yes, but that will not be enough.

Folks who deal -- view that as a temporary fix have not read the fine print.

The Turnpike Authority is able to do it, so it is not as able -- it is not as though we are throwing them under the bus.

It is many hundreds of millions.

We are going to be particularly when federal money runs out, there is a gap that is a policy matter will need to grapple with, and we will come up with a solution.

How is NJ transit doing overall?

Notwithstanding we had a derailment earlier this week, which in that line of business that stuff unfortunately happens.

Every metric suggests this is going meaningfully in the right direction, on-time performance, safety, reliability, customer satisfaction.

You look at NJ transit's role in the extraordinary summer of concerts we just came through.

Their performance was virtually flawless.

Everybody from Taylor Swift to the boss.

>> You mentioned this fiscal crisis.

Should we just tell people now, because nobody is watching, just between us, there are fare increases coming, are there not?

>> No news on that.

>> Many experts say regular fare increases should be considered.

>> This will not be forever and always.

We have done this six years in a row.

Remember what we did it.

The previous administration, fares went up 30%, and every one of those metrics went down.

How the heck could we then continued to go to the well for the commuter with that level.

Now that the performance is in a different place, it is at least at some point of consideration, but no news to make on that today.

>> Another transit question, more local.

The bus service in Jersey City, the current operators are going to end the service.

It did I hear you say last night that a plan to rescue that service is under consideration?

>> I am not sure rescue is the right word.

ANC and Coach USA, we saw this earlier last year.

The fact of the matter is post-pandemic, we probably should not be shocked by this.

There is a short-term answer and then a longer-term.

I use the word existential again question.

The short-term issue is we cannot afford a transit desert, whether it is the western part of Jersey City or Wessex County, so we are trying to figure out something in the short term to prevent that from happening.

I do not have specifics, but folks watching this who were affected by this, if they are asking if we are aware of it, the answer is unequivocally yes.

>> That is the short term.

>> That is the short term.

The intermediate or longer-term question is which of this look like?

Who should be the operator?

Does a private-sector player makes sense given the ups and downs of commuting?

>> The election is less than two months off.

Publicans have been cleaning the Democrats' clock in terms of controlling the narrative this summer.

You may disagree.

>> I do disagree.

>> Why shouldn't Democrats be worried about the fall elections?

>> I think we are.

>> Let me rephrase that.

Why should you be worried?

>> First of all, there will be some very close vegetative races.

If folks are not aware of it, both chambers are up.

There is no governor on the ballot.

There are no members of the house and Senate, so turnout in an election like that will typically be very low.

Enthusiasm will matter.

>> Do we have that enthusiasm?

>> I think we do, and I was ask myself would you rather be playing our hand or their hand?

On the matters they get to the kitchen table, jobs, wages, benefits, opportunity for their kids, affordability, the list is long.

We are on the right side of history, and the other guys are not.

They spend a lot of times trying to figure out ways to get on the air, to get 101.5 listeners riled out -- up.

We even gave them the free advertisement.

The substance of the matter is on our side, but these will be close races, low turnout races.

We are taking these seriously.

>> Why the new lieutenant governor?

>> God bless Sheila.

What a loss, what an abrupt loss .

As I have said before, using a baseball term, Sheila was a five tool athlete, and lightning has struck twice.

No one will fill those shoes, but Tahisha is the real deal.

Great life story, Brown's high school, UVA law, private practice, former freeholder Director, Administrative Law Judge.

She has just done a lot of stuff.

>> And remain so.

>> In New Jersey the lieutenant governor has to have a department, and she is overseeing elections, the cenusus, business activity, she has done a great job.

>> Was whether or not she would run for governor part of your consideration when you were going through candidates?

>> No, that is a good question.

She got the job because she earned it.

She is just an outstanding individual and outstanding leader period.

>> 10th anniversary of Bridgegate this week.

I wonder how much time you were spending her back in 2013?

>> I had just come back as our ambassador in Germany that summer.

Bridgegate happened a couple of months after.

>> Here is the thing.

What were your thoughts then, and more importantly do you think Christie knew?

>> I have no idea.

I never asked him.

It may be the 10th anniversary, but there was a gap of several months between what happened and when the facts came out.

>> The hearings started early in 2014.

>> Shameful action by whoever did know.

I have no insight into whether he did or did not know, but that is using people as pawns, and that is never acceptable.

>> There for people to judge him on that as he runs for president ?

>> I think it is part of a portfolio of things.

You have to look at the whole body of work, and I personally would be focusing on the substance of the day in and day out leadership in his eight years in New Jersey.

I think he prosecutes the case against Trump really well, but he also was probably his biggest endorsement in 2016, so I wish he had gotten around to this earlier.

>> Governor, good to see you again.

>> I am honored to see one person.

>> That is Chat Box for this week.

You can follow me on X or twitter and get more exclusive content including full episodes anymore when you scan the QR code right there on your screen.

From all the crew here, thanks for watching.

>> Major funding for Chat Box with David Cruz is provided by the members of the New Jersey education Association, making public schools great for every child.

Promotional support is presided -- provided by insider NJ, a political intelligence network dedicated to New Jersey political news.

Insider NJ is committed to giving serious players an interactive forum for discussion and insight online at insidernj.

com.

♪