Sen. Chris Murphy Leads 14+ Hour Filibuster in Senate on Gun Control; Gun Manufacturer Shares Jump More Than 60 Percent.
KOSIK: A filibuster in the Senate has come to an end with Democrats declaring victory in the first round of the gun control fight, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy leading the charge. After more than 14 hours on the floor, he finally left the podium overnight, announcing there will be a vote on closing the terror gap and universal background checks.</s>SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D), CONNECTICUT: I woke up this morning determined to make sure that this wasn't going to be a lost week. Ask yourself what can you do to make sure that Orlando or Sandy Hook never ever happens again. With deep gratitude to all those who have endured this very, very late night, I yield the floor.</s>KOSIK: Joining me now to discuss all this, Senior Media Correspondent, host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" Brian Stelter. Thanks for being here this morning.</s>BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.</s>KOSIK: You know, this was a heated filibuster, one lasted, obviously,14 hours; dozens of senators taking part, not just Senator Murphy. Listen to what other Senators had to say.</s>MURPHY: I am most of the time a team player but I've had enough.</s>SEN. CORY BOOKER (D), NEW JERSEY: What we're seeking is not something that is partisan. What we're seeking is commonsense.</s>SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: We need more than another moment of silence.</s>SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The members of this Congress will have blood on our hands.</s>SEN. TAMMY BALDWIN (D), WISCONSIN: Our thoughts and prayers for their deaths are important, but not enough.</s>KOSIK: So, Brian, this is called gun control, but I think reality out there is these are sort of baby steps because, you know, this is going to look to ban people who are on the terror watchlist from getting gun licenses. And it looks to expand background checks at gun shows and on the internet, but it doesn't do the one thing of banning assault rifles.</s>STELTER: The Democrats are seeking some incremental changes here, yes; some changes to loopholes, one of them involving the terror watchlist. Behind the scenes there are negotiations going on about how exactly to do that. This is a nuanced and very complicated measure about how exactly to handle people who are flagged as being suspected terrorists, or being suspected or terror ties, what they should be able to do in order to speak up and say, no, I am not. I'm innocent; I should be allowed to buy a gun. What sort of judicial process should there be in cases like that. That is what democrats and republicans are fighting about that here. When you see this filibuster, which, keep in mind, it's a talk-a-thon on TV. It was compelling and it got a lot of people excited online. There were half a million tweets at midnight about this, and finally it wrapped up by 2:00 a.m., but the reality is we're talking about very small measures here. We are not talking about sweeping or comprehensive changes to how this nation polices guns. This was relatively small, and, yet, because it is something, it's something that these democrats can point to, there has been a lot of excitement around it among, especially liberals or moderates who feel like there is no action, even taken after Sandy Hook, even after San Bernardino, even after other massacres. The question now this morning is, is Orlando different? Is, in the wake of this situation, the politics of guns, is it any different? I don't think we know the answer yet.</s>KOSIK: Yes, I mean, is it any different? Everybody thought there was all this momentum after Sandy Hook, when you saw dozens of children being gunned down, as well. It makes you wonder was this filibuster really just theater? Yes, baby steps are something; some gun control is something but everybody is talking about wanting to get that assault weapon ban in place. That is not part of this.</s>STELTER: Some conservatives would say this is theater and what's happening behind the scenes is more important. On camera, this talk- a-thon, was very compelling. It was very emotional at times and it does show that at the moment there is a lot of emotion and a lot of interest in this topic. You wonder though about the weeks and months down the road. You do wonder though, you look at "The Boston Globe" this morning, the front page editorial, we've have never seen this before, coming from a big paper, on the front page, the headline there: "Make It Stop."</s>KOSIK: This is a full-scale model - this is a two-scale model, rather, of the AR-15.</s>STELTER: Right, and you see a bullet as well. You see the impact from the bullet on the cover as well. So this newspaper trying to make a statement. We've seen even late-night comics trying to make statements about this gun violence issue. So these moments where you wonder is something different this time, and is the fact that we are in an election year a factor here? Hillary Clinton, very early on, supported this filibuster yesterday. We also heard from Donald Trump on this issue, maybe with a different stance on the NRA. So you have to wonder if, in a presidential election year, there could be movement, even incremental movement, on this issue?</s>KOSIK: Yes, and Trump coming out, in a tweet yesterday, saying he will be talking with the NRA. Meantime, you've got Clinton blasting Trump, again, reiterating his Muslim ban as his reaction to what happened in Orlando. Let's listen to what Hillary Clinton said.</s>HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: A ban on Muslims would not have stopped this attack; neither would a wall. I don't know how one builds a wall to keep the internet out. [Laughter]</s>CLINTON: So not one of Donald Trump's reckless ideas would have saved a single life in Orlando. It's just more evidence that he is temperamentally unfit and unqualified to be commander-in-chief.</s>KOSIK: And, meantime, as the drama continues politically, you have Donald Trump saying, listen, GOP, I can handle this myself. I don't need you. This as we saw unity in the party.</s>STELTER: Right; the story -- in some ways this story is a sick confluence of so many different political themes, whether it's gun, terror, hate and many politicians are choosing one or the other instead of talking about all of the above. Elizabeth Warren addressed that in one of her filibuster speeches saying this is about all of the things. This is about a terrorist who used a gun and he was fueled by hate to commit a crime. What we are seeing, perhaps, from other politicians is an unwillingness to accept that all of the above reality of this story and only focus on one part of it instead. When I interviewed Donald Trump by phone earlier this week he focused on the terrorism aspect, the radical Islam terrorism aspect of this story and said why isn't President Obama tougher on the terrorist. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, focusing more on guns as the issue, although she has also talked about terrorism as a factor.</s>KOSIK: All right; everybody obviously seizing on the moment. CNN Media Correspondent Brian Stelter, thanks so much.</s>STELTER: Thanks.</s>KOSIK: All right; Americans are buying guns in record numbers and if history is our guide, the mass shooting in Orlando will spur even more firearm sales. The FBI conducted 11.7 million background checks so far this year; that's compared to 8.9 million checks at the same point last year. Background checks are considered a close measure for gun sales and shares of both Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger jumped almost ten-percent the day after the Orlando shooting. Calls for stricter gun control laws have historically led to a spike in gun sales but that surge is sometimes temporary. Still, business has been good for the biggest gun manufacturers. Smith & Wesson quarterly sales jumped more than 60-percent. Sturm, Ruger grew by 30- percent. EARLY START continues after this break.