00:00As I've said before, carrying out a lawfully imposed sentence is among
00:07the state's most important responsibilities and most serious responsibilities.
00:14And the people of Tennessee have determined their capital punishment is
00:17the appropriate sentence for the most heinous of crimes.
00:21The people of Tennessee expect that those sentences will be carried out in a manner
00:27that's not only legal and constitutional, but effective.
00:34And that didn't happen.
00:37I'm highly disappointed, along with Tennesseans, about what happened last night.
00:44I immediately took action to call for a thorough and comprehensive and
00:52third party review and investigation into the protocol.
00:58That investigation will be thorough and it's going to take time.
01:02And therefore, the last scheduled execution for this year will not take place.
01:09My responsibility is to uphold the sentences that Tennessee juries have handed down,
01:15even when it's difficult, and that is exactly what we intend to do in the days ahead.
01:24There will be a stay of hers and all executions under my watch by the end of the year going
01:34forward.
01:36There are very few answers this morning.
01:38It's very early.
01:40There are a lot of questions.
01:43The people of our state deserve to have those questions answered.
01:49And that's what this investigation is for.
01:52So far as we know, the Department of Correction followed exactly the protocol
01:56that was outlined and vetted and approved by the attorney general's office.
02:00At this point, that is all we know.
02:04We will, which is the very reason why we will have an investigation.
02:09What I think should happen while I'm the governor is that we should determine the steps forward.
02:16We should find out what happened and make those changes necessary
02:22to do what the people of this state want done.
02:25Do you have any more updates on the state of Crystal Pike right now?
02:29I can't, I don't know the update on her health condition.
02:36Thank you, Governor.
02:37When asked about taking one governor at a time on the appointment of the senator,
02:41what did you mean by that?
