New Jersey whale-watching business offers drone tour

FAA temporarily bans drones over 22 areas in New Jersey due to security concerns

FAA raises alarm over number of laser strikes against aircraft in New Jersey

DEP: Drones not used to track missing radioactive material in NJ

Bill responding to drone sightings is blocked in the Senate

Authorities warn public against pointing lasers and shooting at drones, airplanes and helicopters

newyork

Matt Trapani

MTNJAGMABlock1219_2024-12-19-16-13-26

Welcome to Governor Murphy here on News 12 New Jersey, special edition of New Jersey Power and Politics. I'm Eric Lanz Kronner. As always, this is your chance to talk one on one of the governor. We're gonna tell you how to do that in just a moment, but first, let's all come back to the studio for our final show of this year, Governor Phil Murphy. Governor, it's good to see you. Eric, thanks for having me. Good to be back. Capstone on the very eventful 2024 and and and not slowing down. We'll talk about that in a minute. Let's talk about how you can get your questions in right now. You can do it in numerous ways on the News 12 New Jersey Facebook page. You can also get to us on X. Use the hashtag #Ask GovMurphy, or you can call us at 888-N NewS12NJ. That's 888-639-7126, uh, governor. New Jerseyans are continuing to demand answers about the drone sightings in the state, and the first I've heard this. Yes, I, I wouldn't be surprised if much of the show is dominated by this. Let's start with a couple of questions from our viewers. Why are they waiting so long to do something about the drones? It's crazy. Governor Murphy. I want to know what you're going to do about the drones. Everybody wants to find the answer. Can you tell us what is the truth, please? Absolutely. The problem is, is that, you know, there's, there's so much dead space for, for lack of a better word that there's, there's not enough in terms of information and answers and the information and answers that have been given have not been adequate for most people. Yeah, it's a phenomenon unlike almost anything I've had to deal with. Let me just. Give the punch line. I want to be crystal clear about this. I said this in a press conference on Monday and I want to repeat it today, and now we could say this based on very the most sophisticated drone detection systems on the planet that started to arrive in New Jersey last Friday and Saturday. There is no public threat here, period. I could say that unequivocally. Now the FAA today. I guess out of an abundance of caution said no drones flying over any critical infrastructure. We actually have a map that we can put up right now, Governor, I think there are 22 towns, um, I just got off the phone twice with the Secretary of Homeland Department of Homeland Security for America, Ali Mallorca. This is out of an abundance of caution. In fact, they were asked to do this. Uh, remember there are thousands if not 10s of thousands of drones that are up in the air every day that are commercial, that are hobby that may be law enforcement, maybe military, uh, and that includes in New Jersey, uh, and, and I, I might also say a month ago there may have been suspicious activity we did not have those sophisticated systems that we now have had. For the past week so I can have a a level of certainty and you've seen other states uh have this phenomenon in the past, parts of I, I won't get into the states because it's somewhat classified, but one state in particular a year ago and 2 years ago each had some suspicious unexplained drone activity. It came and went. Might we have had that same uh activity a month ago? It's possible. We probably will never know because we did not have those sophisticated systems, but we do know now I have a very, very, very high degree of confidence. Are we gonna stay at it? You betcha. This has been 24/7. You never say never. Most of those sophisticated systems remain in New Jersey, uh, but I want folks to know you should take a breath and know that you are safe. The part that should worry everybody out there is the vulnerability that we as a nation have to drone incursions. That's certainly something Chris Smith was talking about the congressman on the show last uh last week. It's a big issue. So we've got federal authority with this continuing resolution in Washington that theoretically could expire tomorrow. And then there's a bipartisan bill by Senators Peters and Johnson that would give states an enormous amount more authority right now this is a federal game. They own the airspace. They have the sophisticated equipment. Colonel Pat Callahan's done a great job with the state police, but there's only so much they can do. The bigger takeaway here, and by the way, Eric, this is a benign wake up call. Think of the tragic wake up call that we got on 9/11 in terms of our defenses as a nation. Thank God on this and the and the lives lost by the thousands. Thank God on this nobody's gotten hurt here. Nobody's gotten injured. Nobody's thank God passed, but we as a nation are vulnerable. We must address that. We must address it sooner than later and New Jersey is not immune. Governor, I, I want to talk about what you said about the FAA temporary ban. Uh, you're saying this was taken out of an abundance of caution. They cited special security concerns, so why not just say we're doing this out of an abundance of caution because just by saying special security concerns, it, it almost seems to contradict in some ways and and leave it too much open to interpretation. So the first reaction I had was, first of all, it took the feds too long to say anything. Then they started saying, which is the truth, that there's no public public safety threat. This, I have to say, gives you the impression that there isn't, but, uh, I, that's why I called Ali Mallorcas and I said I need to know is there some, is there anything that's happened here? And the answer is no. PSEG also had requested the band. They did this out of based on requests. I don't know how many of the entities like PSCNG that operates nuclear power plants in South Jersey. I'm not sure how many other entities asked for the coverage, but I want again, I want to reiterate, and this is based on sophisticated world class. One of these systems is on every naval ship we operate in the world. To detect in that case they can mitigate drones which we are not authorized to do inside the United States, uh, folks, we are, we are safe. um, that doesn't mean drones aren't out there that doesn't mean that we're gonna give up. You never say never. I promise folks out there that, but uh, I trust me, based on all the evidence we have. That this is a public safety is in good hands. You can understand why people still have doubts and they're skeptical. Uh, last week we saw the, the, uh, guidance that came out from the state division of fire safety, and they, they put out a whole list for fire departments and if, if you read each of them, they can be a little alarming whether it's don't approach it down Jones stay 330 ft back. Where your full PPE, but then you start reading more call your local law enforcement, FBI, the bomb squad, and it may impact your communications equipment. You start to put two and two together and start wondering, whoa, listen, I love our Department of Fire Safety. It's run by some great folks. I'm not sure I necessarily would have put that out, but we put guidance out all the time on things and that they were getting in fairness to them, they were getting inundated with questions, hey, what happens if something comes down? By the way, nothing has come down. Nothing is coming out. I think somebody's toy drone, uh, uh, got stuck in a tree, uh, but again, I, I cannot say this strongly enough, uh, and I, I don't blame for one second people being wigged out about this. I get it. Early on, I, I was as well, trust me, and there was a lot of legitimate. Uh, this, the, the, there's, there may be some folks out there who are jokers or who are trying to mess with us overwhelmingly, this is legitimate. This is, I'm doing it myself. You're looking up thinking you see something, right? And, and I get it. And I get also in the absence of a, it's, you know, if you don't have, it's like a math equation that where, where there's no specific answer. People rightfully get um unnerved. I think it's the, the job of public servants, including yours truly to tell people the truth. I promise you I'm telling you the truth, we're holding nothing back. It's also, uh, in a, in a, in a moment of uncertainty. Uh, creating hysteria like some of the mayors and others have done is just beyond irresponsible, literally making stuff up. That's the last thing we need right now. We need calm, honest, fact-based leadership. We're doing everything we can to do that, Mayor of Belleville. Actually, uh, had called you out in recent days for, for he, he said skipping out on, on a meeting of 200 mayors ashamed of himself. This guy tried to claim that there was radio radioactive materials that were being tracked down or taken by drones. He should be ashamed of himself. That's all I have to say about him. Uh, was there a reason that you weren't at that meeting? Eric, there are 9.5 million people in this state. You know why I was at the meeting? I was on with the feds because guess what? The feds control the airspace. They have all the systems. I was begging them for two weeks to get those systems in New Jersey. I was doing what you would want me to be doing as your governor. His point was, of course, that there were so many mayors, 200 mayors there that they, they really wanted to see you in person. Nice try. This is the same guy who made this crap up about radioactive materials. He should be ashamed of himself. Governor, uh, so now we have another issue which is. Aside from another issue, I know, I know, I know, I know. Well, listen, now it's become a safety issue for pilots. Uh, that's a real issue. You have the issue of laser of laser strikes and, uh, there was a spike of 269% compared to this time last year. Ridiculous. It's related. Folks need to know that that's a federal offense. It is a felony and the feds will act swiftly, uh, and I would not test the feds on this one. This is a, you, folks cannot do that. Please God, don't try to shoot something down. Don't fire, shoot lasers at things. I'm, I'm telling you it's safe to go out. I, you, you have to take my word for it. Do not do any of what I just said. It's against the law and law enforcement will do what's necessary, I promise you. All right, Governor, uh, believe it or not, we actually have many more topics to discuss in today's show. Yeah, uh, we're gonna take a quick break. When we come back, we'll get to more of your questions and some of the other topics this week on Ask Governor Murphy.

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The governor addressed the issue on News 12 New Jersey’s Ask Gov. Murphy program.

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‘Know that you are safe,’ Gov. Murphy says regarding mysterious drones

The governor addressed the issue on News 12 New Jersey’s Ask Gov. Murphy program.

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