01/19/17 01/19/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! pres. obama: with respect to chelsea manning, i looked at the particulars of this case the same way i have the other commutations and pardons i have done. in light of all of the circumstances that commuting her sentence was entirely appropriate. amy: in his final press conference as president, barack obama defended his decision to commute the sentence of army

whistleblower chelsea manning. he bowed to speak out against incoming preresident trump if he sees the nation's core values at risk. we will look back at obama's legacy with professors rashid khalidi and eddie glaude. then as u.s. scientists officially declare 2016 to be the warmest year ever, the senanate holds a a confirmatatin hearing fofor epa director nomie scott pruiuitt, a longtime clime change denier. >> science tells us the climate is changing. human activity in some manner impacts of change. the ability to measure with precision the degree and extent of that impact and what to do about it are subject to continuing debate and dialogue, and well it should be. amy: and we will look at tom price, a critic of the affordable care act, medicare, and medicaid, who has been tapped by trump to be secretary of health and human services. he was repeatedly questioned about investing thousands of dollars in a medical device maker shortly before introducing

a bill to benefit the company as well as he was asked about his views on medicaid. >> did you propose to cut more than $1 trillion out of medicaid over the next 10 years? >> you have the numbers before you. >> is that a yes? amy: all that and more, comiming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. today marks president obama's last full day in office. on friday at noon supreme court , chief justice john roberts will swear in donald trump as the country's 45th president. on wednesday, obama gave his last press conference as president, during which he warned trump he will not stay silent if he sees what he called the nation's core values at risk. obama also thanked the press and spoke about the role they've played during his presidency. pres. obama: having you in this placeng has made this

work better. it keeps us honest. it makes us work harder. howhave made us think about we're doing what we do, and whether or not we're able to deliver on what has been requested by our constituents. amy: the incoming trump administration had proposed moving the press corps out of the white house and instead relocating them nearby to the old executive office building. trump had to back away from the proposal wednesday, after outrage among members of the press and those concerned about press freedoms. during preresident obama's s fil news conference wednesday, he also spoke about his recent decision to commute army whistleblower chelsea manning's sentence. pres. obama: it has been my view ,hat given she went to trial that due process was carried out, that she took responsibility for her crime,

that the sentence she received was very disproportional -- disproportionate relative to what other l leakers had receiv. amy: also on the office of the wednesday, pardon attorney has announced president obamama has denied clemency to imprisoned native american activist leonard peltier. peltier is a forormer member of the amamerican indian movement o was convicted of killing two fbi agents during a shootout on south dakota's pine ridge indian reservation in 1975. he has long maintained his innocence. amnesty international condemned the decision, saying -- "we are deeply saddened by the news that president obama will not let leonard go home." we will have more on president obama's speech and legacy after the headlines with professors eddie glaude and rashid khalidi. scientists with both nasa and noaa, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, have confirmed 2016 was the hottest yearar on record, totopping the previous record set in 2015, which h topped the previous recd

only a year earlier. this mararks the first t time in recorded human history that the earth has smashed previous temperature records three straight years in a row. scientists with the u.s. national snow & ice data center have also announced global sea ice levels are at their lowest point in recorded hun n history. the unprecedented warming of the planet due to human caused climate change comes as oklahoma attorney general scott pruitt underwent his confirmation hearing to be the head of the environment protection agency. pruitt has long denied the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change. dozens of people protested outside his hearing. at least three were arrested, including lakota water protector joann spotted bear, who was arrested while in prayer. this is scott pruitt being questioned by vermont senator bernie sanders. sen. sanders: so you are applying for a job as administrator for the epa to protect our environment, overwhelming majority of scientists a we have gotot to at only, and you were telling me that there needs to be more debate on this issue?

i'm asking your personal opinion. >> my personal opinion is immaterial. to the job -- sen. sanders: you are going to be the head of the agency to protect the environment and your personal feelings about whetherr climate change is caused by human activity and carbon emissions is immaterial? >> senator, i have acknowledged the human impacts -- sen. sanders: impact. that is the kind of epa administrator you will be, you're not going to get my vote. amy: we'll have more on pruitt's confirmation hearing later in the broadcast. georgia congressman tom price also testified wednesday before the senate during his confirmation hearing to be the head of health and human services. price is one of the leading opponents of president obama's affordable care act. he supports privatizing medicare, opposes abortion, and has voted to cut all federal funding for planned parenthood. his hearing came only days after cnn reported price invested thousands of dollars in the medical device maker zimmer biomet shortly before introducing a bill to benefit the company.

price's legislation sought to delay regulations that would have changed the way medicare pays for hip and knee replacements, thereby cutting into zimmer biomet's profits. we will have more on congressman tom price's confnfirmation hearg later in the broadcast. confirmation hearings were also held wednesday for billionaire wilbur ross, trump's pick for commerce secretary. estimated $2.9n billion. if confirmed, he will be one of the richest people to ever hold public office. during the hearing, ross admitted he had recently fired an undocumented immigrant who had been working in his home since after rechecking all of 2009 his household employees' documentation status. former south carolina governor nikki haley also went before the senate for her confirmation hearing to serve as united states ambassador to the united nations. during her hearing, she criticized the u.n. for what she claimed was its bias against israel, and she said she supports trump's plan to move the u.s. embassy in israel from tel aviv to jerusalem -- a proposal which has outraged palestinians and much of the world community. more confirmation hearings are slated to take place today,

including for former texas governor rick perry, who trump tapped to head the energy department. governor perry famously attempted to propose to abolish ththe energy department, but thn could not remember the agency during a live televised debate in 2011, when perry was running for president. former g goldman sachshs execute steven mnuchin will also go -- have his confirmation hearing for treasury secretary today. mnuchin has faced criticism for his role at onewest, a bank which has been called a foreclosure machine that profited from the collapse of the housing market. on wednesday, homeowners who face foreclosure by onewest or its subsidiaries testified at a meeting held by massachusetts senator elizabeth warren. this is 84-year-old colleen ison-hodroff, who took out a reverse loan with the onewest subsidiary financialal freedom n 2006 on the home she and her husband, monroe, had been living in since 1963. >> my husband monroe passed us -- september 12,

2014. a mere 10 days later, despite what we had been told by financial freedom contacted me and told me that i needed to pay off the loan immediately. this was news to me. i was in no financial position to do so. since then, financial freedom has been trying to foreclose on me. i think this is an injustice in that an elderly woman was deceived and now financial freedom is trying to take my home. i hear that steve mnuchin was the leader of the bank that is doing this to me and other seniors. i do not think a man like that should be the treasury secretary and in charge of our economy. amy: speaking about her fight to save her home from foreclosure by a subsidiary of onewest, stephen mnuchin's bank.

hearing,today's mnuchin submitted a revised questionnaire which reveals he is the director of investment capital international limited, incorporated in the tax haven that came in islands. he admitted he is management post and seven other funds which he claims s he inadvertently failed to include on his f first questiononnaire. donald trump has announced he is nominated former georgia governor sonny purdue to be secretary of agile culture -- of agriculture. perdue ran a grain and fertilizer business before becoming georgia's first republican governor since reconstruction. environmental activists have slammed purdue for receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in subsidies that support chemical corporations and factory farming. the environmental working group said -- "it's certainly hard to imagine that a former fertilizer salesman will tackle the unregulated farm pollution that poisons our drinking water, turns lake erie green, and fouls

the chesapeake bay and the gulf of mexico." with perdue's nomination, trump has now named all his cabinet choices, which are overwhelmingly white male millionaires or billionaires. if all his picks are confirmed, trump's cabinet will be the first wiwithout a latino member since 191988. more controversies are surfacing about some of trump's other choices for top positions. "the washington post" reports south carolina republican congressman mick mulvaney did not pay $15,000 in taxes for a household worker from 2000 to 2004. meanwhile, the "new york times" reports billionaire wall street investor vincent viola, whom trump has tapped to be army secretary, was accused this past summer of punching a concessions worker in the face at a racehorse auction in saratoga springngs, new york. hundreds of people danced the night away wednesday at a queer dance party outside vice president-elect mike pence's rental home in chevy chase, maryland. the dance party was a protest against the former indiana governor's long history of pushing extreme anti-lgbt

legislation. pence has opposed marriage equality and anti-discrimination laws to protect lgbtq people. native americans and their allies fighting the $3.8 billion dakota access pipeline have scored a series of legal victories. the north dakota supreme court partially granted a petition that will open the door forr out-of-state lawyers to represent the more than 600 people who h have been arrested amid the ongngoing resistance. also a federal judge rejected wednesday, the dakota access pipeline company energy transfer partners to block the army corps of engineers from beginning a lengthy environmental impact statement on the section of the pipeline slated to cross the missouri river. the ruling means the environmental impact study will now move forward, indefinitely halting construction of the pipeline. the legal victories came only hours before late wednesday night water protectors say , police deployed tear gas and rubber bullets against native americans trying to erect a tipi -- a tepee on backwater bridge,

a site of frequent police attacks. the royal canadian mounted police say more than a half-million dollars of damage was caused after people sabotaged an oil pipeline under construction in northern alberta. authorities say people used heavy machinery to dig up a section of the contested pipeline. in afrfrica, west africatrtroops are amasassing at gambia's bord, poiseded to intervenif president yahya jammeh does not relinquish power today. incoming president adama barrow won december's elections, but jammeh has so far refused to step down. he's been in power since 1994 and once vowed to rule for "a billion years." the united nations say more than 25,000 people have fled gambia to neighboring senegal amid the rising tensions. back in the united states, former president george h.w. bush and his wife barbara bush are both hospitalized in houston. the 92-year-old former president is in stable condition after experiencing respiratory problem stemming from pneumonia. he's currently the oldest living

u.s. president. barbara bush was hospitalized for fatigue and coughing. in indiana, republican legislators have sparked outrage after introducing a bill that will empower police to remove protesters blocking traffic using any means necessary. organizers and activists opposed to the legislation have dubbed it the "block traffic and you die bill." the bill is being pushed by indiana republican senator jim tomes, who has previously pushed other controversial proposals, including one to jail transgender people for using public bathrooms that match their gender identity. in financial news, jpmorgan chase will pay $55 million to settle a lawsuit with the justice department accusing the bank of discriminating against more than 50,000 homeowners of color between 2006 and 2009. the lawsuit accuses jpmorgan chase of violating the fair housing act and equal credit opportunity act. as part of the settlement, jpmorgan chase does not have to admit wrongdoing and no bankers are facing criminal charges. and in colombia, human rights defenders emilsen manyoma and

her husband joe javier rodallega have been assassinated. manyoma was a leader in bajo calima's human rights organization and has been documenting human rights violations in the region. she first began organizing against the paramilitary control of the region in 2005. she and her husband reportedly received a series of threats in the days leading up to their murders. last week, three other human rights defenders were killed in colombiaia. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. today marks president obama's last full day in office. on friday at noon, supreme court chief justice johnhn roberts wil swear in donald trump as the country's 45th president. on wednesday, in his last press conference as president, obama defended his decision to commute the sentence of chelsea manning and condemn the israeli occupation. he also warned trump he will not obama sees what he called the nation's core

values at risk. pres. obama: there is a difference between that normal andtioning of politics certain issues or certain moments where i think our core values may be at stake. category, if i saw systematic discrimination, being ratified in some fashion, i put explicit orgory peoplenal obstacles to being able to vote, to exexercie their franchise. i put in that category institutional efforts to silence dissent for the press.

and for me, at least, i would to in that category efforts roundup kids who have grown up here and for all practical purposes are american kids and send them someplace else. country, love this they are our kids friends and their classmates, and are now entering into community colleges , or in some cases, serving in our military, that the notion that we would just return early politics, punish those kids when they didn't do anything wrong themselves. i think that would be something that would merit me speaking out. it doesn't mean that i would get on the ballot anyway. amy: we begin today's show

looking back at obama's legacy and what lies ahead with the new administration. we are joined by two guests. here in new york rashid khalidi, , edward said professor of arab studies at columbia university. author of several books. his most recent "brokers of , deceit: how the u.s. has undermined peace in the middle east." and at princeton university, we're joined by eddie glaude, chair of the department of african american studies at princeton university. he is author of several books, most recently, "democracy in black: how race still enslaves the american soul." it is just out in paperback. , yoursor eddie glaude assessment of president obama's message in his last news conference, the last 48 hours that he was president, holding it in the press pool room -- something that has been threatened, to say the least, the last few days with the trump administration saying that were thinking of moving the press somewhere nearby. >> i think it was important for the president the kind of identify the threat that donald

trump poses to the fourth estate. he did it in his own unique, of course, centrist way, but the idea of calling attention to the fact that a free and independent press may very well be under siege as donald trump enters the white house i think is -- was an important gesture. want to caution, though, the way in which the president made this a point, he, of course, was not attentive to the corporate dimensions of the press that in some ways the so-called free press has been itsromised a big money, by own pursuit of profits. it is a critique that can only go so far. and i think the kind of point, to point our for direct our attention to the question of israel and palestine, the issues around the dreamers issues, communities igbtq

think was important as a way of, in some ways, framing his own presidency over and against what is to come. i have this year, though, sister amy, that he is positioning himself in some ways the voice of the kind of resistance post's presidency. i worry about that because of his containing and limiting voice. because president obama at the end of the day is just simply a centntrist liberal. amy: during his press conference, president obama decides the voting restrictions in place in the united states. obama: we're the only country making a harder to vote rather than easier. and that dates back. there is a negley history to that. that we should not be shy about talking about. i'm talking about voting rights. the reason we are the only country among advanced

democracies that makes it harder to vote is it traces directly back to jim crow and the legacy of slavery and it became sort of acceptable to restrict the franchise. amy: presidedent obama dismissed the idea of voting fraud as fake news. pres. obama: this whole notion of elections were voting fraud -- this is something that is coconstantly -- has constantly been disproved. this, this state news. the notion that there are a whole bunch of people out there who are not eligible to vote and want to vote. we have the opposite problem. we have a holdings of people who are eligible to vote who do not vote. amy: professor eddie glaude? >> to the extent of which voter

fraud, voter suppression tracing its origins to jim crow slavery, to its racialon underpinnings is right. it there is a reluctance to speak to voter suppression, the ways in which voter id laws are directly targeting black communities, what happened in north carolina, what happened in wisconsin, what happens -- what texas try to do, what pennsylvania attempted to do. and to speak specifically to the ways in which race and particularly the way in which black and brown communities are targeted today. there is a reluctance. you get this general claim about the assault on voting rights that we are making a more difficult for people to vote, tracing it specifically to jim crow and the institution of slavery, but a reluctance to name specifically the ways in which republicans across the country have targeted black and distincters in very

ways. the court was very clear in north carolina, what north carolina republicans were doing. instead of making that move -- again, i want to say he is right to give the historical backdrop to the question of trying to limit voting in the united states. that instead of pointing our attention to what specifically is happening around race and particularly with regards to people of color, today, he wants to say people have the right to vote but they do not vote. it is a kind of come on the one hand and the other, without him really going to the core of the problem. amy: president obama also warned of the dangers of rising inequality. pres. obama: i worry about inequality because i think if we in makingng sure everybody plays a role in this economy, the economy will not grow as fast and i think it will also lead to further and further separation between us as

americans. and not just along racial lines. i mean, there are a whole bunch of folks who voted for the president-elect becaususe they feel forgotten and disenfranchised. they feel as if they are being looked down on. they feel as if their kids are not going to have the same opportunities as they did. amy: professor eddie glaude, if you could comment on what he is saying and also where we have been and where we are headed. >> well, look. it is one thing for president obama to point to increasing inequality in the country and another thing for us to look at his policies. and we a says the last eight years, what we have seen iss you have a series of policies that really have benefited wall street and left main street behind. we have this policy in some ways it fits perfectly with increasing financial is asian of our economy that is really tailored for the top 1% and .01%. gains foris modest

everyday, ordinary people. even if they tell job creation, we know, from one of my colleagues here at princeton, that 95% of jobs created over the last 15 plus years have been part-time and contractual work. people are working harder and earning less. there's wanting to point to inequality, but another thing to look to the policies that he has supported and pushed that has produced inequality. a second move that we have to kind of the very, very careful about is the way in which he always and gauges in this equivalency. we have to pay attention to the fact that are some white voters who voted for donald trump. of course there are white voters who have lost ground and suffered in this economy. at the same time, we have to be mindful that 53% of black wealth over the last eight years is simply -- has been wiped off the planet. it is gone. it is a lot to do with housing policy.

his failure in the last eight years to address the racial dimensions of the housing crisis. i really want us to say he is right to point inequality, but i'm not sure he is the right messenger appointed inequality, if that makes sense. now where are we now and where are we going? we have deepening racial inequality, deepening economic inequality, and neil fascist -- neo fascist about to be inaugurated, the billionaires and millionaires about to take over government. what we are in in some ways is a conjectural moment where crisis opens up space for us to put forward a more aggressive vision of what this country could and ought to be. we need to prepare ourselves for day one as donald trump ascends and attack the policies that in some ways barack obama's the administration,i clintonsm has made possible. amy: there was an interesting

sort of geography to and diversity to the questions that president obama answered them all clearly laid out in advance. eight reporters, five women, publication,get urban radio, and also he took a question from janet rodriguez, what house correspondent, and senior diplomatic correspondent. aboutked president obama the middle east and about particularly the israeli occupation. president obama in his answer warning the expansion of israeli settlements was making a two state solution impossible. pres. obama: i have said this directly to prime minister netanyahu and i've said it inside of israel, i've said it to palestinians as well. i don't see how this issue gets resolved in a way that maintains

and a as both jewish democracy. because if you do not have two states, then in some form or fashion, you are extending an occupation. functionally you end up having one state in which millions of people are disenfranchised and operate as second class residents. you can't even call in citizens, necessarily. and so -- so the goal of the resolution was to simply say that the settlements, the growth of the settlements, are creating a reality on the ground that increasingly will make a two state solution impossible. we have belieieved consistentnt with thehe position that has ben taken with previous u.s. administrations for decades now,

that it was important for us to send a signal -- a wake-up call that this moment may be passing. and israeli voters and palestinians need to understand that this moment may be passing. and hopefully, that then creates a debate inside both israeli and palestinian communities that won't result immediately in peace, but at least will lead tour more sober -- to a more sober assessment of what the alternatives are. amy: that was president obama yesterday. the last 48 hours of his presidency. rashid khalidi also with us, professor of arab studies at club university. your response to what he said and what he has done over the past eight years? >> he did what he is been dodoig fofor eight t years. he sins a signal to the most powerful country on eartrth, the soul, serious supporter of

israel, who without support israel cannot do anything, has yet again sent a signal that what israeli governments have been doing for decades is going ,o lead to a one state solution which palestinians come as he said, are disenfranchised, are not even citizens, and so on and so forth. we're the diagnostician in chief telling us about this problem, which he and previous presidents have done absolutely nothing to solve. the united states can, could, should act to stop this ongoing annexation, colonization, and so forth, which has led to disenfranchisement. his s analysis is impeccable, bt his actions are just not in keeping with his words and have not been over eight years in keeping with his words. amy: what do you think needs to happen? what opportunity did he miss? so much has happened in the last few weeks with john kerry's

inech -- you wrote a piece "the new york times" as well as in "the guardian" saying, t too littlele, too late. and now presesident obama, if he is approved, a to israel, who is very much, among other things, for moving the embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem, which nikki haley just said, who would be the next u.s. ambassador to the united nations. she also endorses in her confirmation hearing yesterday. >> the press elect team includes people like his son-in-law, his nominee for abbasid or to israel, and others, who are not just in favor of incendiary acts like moving the embassy, but are in fact major or political supporters of the israeli settler movement. we are not just talking about people who are rhetorically y in favor of this or that extremist position. amy: you're talking about jared kushner would be a top advisor,

his son-in-law? >> according to the reports, major financial backers of the settlement movement. an american and is really politics with the arrival of trump is the completion of a convergence between the extreme right-wing settler, colonial regime that we have in israel and the segment of the american ruling class, if you want. jared kushner is a major real estate entrepreneur and he has used many, many of his family's millions to support not just charitable causes in israel him up at the settler causes among others. what we're seeing on a policy level, we're seeing on the media level, but we're seeing in terms of people who are making political contributions to both the right-wing parties in israel and american political parties is sort of a convergence of the two systems. but at a time when we're going to have the most -- we have to had the most extreme right-winig

gogovernment in n israel's hist, and having a president in favor of things that are sometimes to the right even of that right-wing, terms of what is designees -- amy: you feel president obama paved the way for this? >> i think every american president who has ststood by idy and just uttered words -- like the president has done in his press conference in the secretary of state did in his speech -- and did nothing to stop this trend he so accurately described, ththey are all responsible. he is certainly responsible. had resolution 2334 been passed in the first year of this president eight years, who knows what might have happened? amy: with that resolution is that caused so much furor. >> isn't everything israel has done and occupied territories is illegal. that it is a violation of the geneva convention. accusation --

acquisition is illegal. it laid out various parameters. none of this is new. united nations hasas said again and again this is a reiteration of security council resolution reiteteration of positions taken by every single american administration from president johnson to george w. bush in this one as well. it had that been laid down as a marker, , a slap in the face of the netanyahu government in 2009 when the president came at office, instead of monthly mollycoddling them. giving americansns so-called charities. ththe president couldd have reversed that on the first day he was in office, saying you cannot send tax-free money -- you cannot reduce your taxes too supppport illegal occupation and

colonization. he did not do that. the justice department or treasury could have done that. , enablingnance that people not paying taxes, by making so-called charitable deductions, support the settlement movement. there are many. amy: what do you thinknk is possible now? >> with trump as president? this should be a wake-up call for people in the united states who had some kind of idea of the nations to wake-up and realize the united states has helped to create a situation in which israeli jews rules over disenfranchised arabs. that this is not a light into the nation. this is not really a democracy. he called them "not citizens." go to the occupied territories. go to air amenities inside israel and look at what happened yesterday. shot in the face by border police because protesting the

demolition of a village in the south of israel. are talking about people who not only have rights, or in the occupied territories have no rights. both of whom live under an unjust discriminatory regime. we have fostered that. we have helped to finance and fun that come all the while our political leaders talk about how wonderful israel is, its values and our values -- these are jim crow values. the president talked about jim crow. what israel is enforcing are worse than jim crow values. i think we have to start talking and thinking in those terms and setting ourselves apart or understanding how to set ourselves apart from those kinds of practices that are discriminatory. amy: what do you think it was that led president obama to have the ambassador -- to have the united states abstained from this, at the very end of his two-year term? >> i can't speculate what was going on, white the very and.

i would have l loved to of seen this eight years ago. maybe it was his chance to get -- slight andate insults he has been receiving from the prime minister netanyahu over the past eight years, coming to congress. amy: netanyahu, famously, to say the least, disrespects him, yet president obama has been more dust than all the previous a all involved with resolulutions are critical of israel, but president obama did not allow that to happen. >> this is the first such resolution that has passed under obama. as you said them every previous american president has allowed or sponsored resolutions that are just as harsh as this were involved elements of this resolution. so maybe he was -- what he seems to be doing in his last few days, few weeks, few months, is to do some of the things that maybe he wanted to do but felt he could not do. it is a terrible shame.

this is a man who came into office supposedly with fresh ideas about how to deal with the middle east. he appointed senator mitchell, who ultimately was undermined by people he had appointed and was not able to do what you wanted to do. from that point on, i think k it was s downhill for this presidet as farce the middle east is concerned. his legagacy is not a good one s fafar as arab-israeli issues. the palestinians and arabs -- and i would argue israelis -- should not remember t this man's legacy with any fondness. amy: rashid khalidi edward said , professor of arab studies at clever university, and eddie glaude chair of the department , of african american studies at princeton university, we thank you for this conversation. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: he died a few weeks ago but

it was just announced, nigerian musician. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. on wednesday, scientists with both nasa and noaa, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, confirmed 2016 was the hottest year on record, topping the previous record set in 2015, which topped the previous record only one year earlrlier. the unprecededented warming of e planet due to human caused climate change comes as oklahoma attorney general scott pruitt testified in front of the senane committee on wednesdsday during his confirmation hearing to be the head of the environmental protection agency. pruitt has long denied the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change. dozens of people protested outside his hearing. at least three people were arrested. this is scott pruitt being questioned by vermont senator bernie sanders. sen. sanders: some 97% of scientists who have written articles for peer reviewed journals have concluded that climate change is real, it is caused by human activity, and it

is already causing devastating problems in our country and around the world. do you believe that climate change is caused by the emission -- by carbon emissions by human activity? > senator, as s i indicated,n my opening statement, the climate is changing and d human activity c contributes to that n some manner. sen. sanders: 9 97% of the scientists who wrote aicles in peer-reviewed journals believe that human activity is the fundamental reason we a are seeg climate chchange. you disagree with that? >> i believe the ability to measure wiwith precision the impact is s subject to more debe on whether the climate is changing or that human activity contributes to it. amy: senator sanders went on to press pruitt to state his position on the relationship between human activity and climate change. sen. sanders: so you are

applying for a job as administrator for the epa to protect our environment, overwhelming of scientists say we have got to act boldly, and you're telling me that there needs to be more debate on this issue? i'm asking your personal opinion. >> my personal opinion is immaterial. sen. sanders: really? you are going to be the head off the agagency t to protect the environment and your personal feelings about whether clilimate change i is caused less you an activity and curb and omissions is immaterial? >> i have acknowledged to you -- sandersrs: if that is the kind of epa administrator you're going to be, you're not going to get my vote. amy: to talk more about scott pruitt, we are joined by wenonah hauter, the executive director of food & water watch. she recently wrote a book called, "foodopoly: the battle over the future of food and farming in america." can you talk about scott pruitt as the head of the epa, the

current oklahoma attorney general? >> well, scott pruitt has built his career on being a shill for the oil and gas industry. timesd epa more than 14 when he was the attorney general of oklahoma. he has helped organize more than a dozen attorney general's around the country to be part of a large right-wing national law firm to harass epa and other obama led federal agencies. when asked during the confirmation hearing about whether he knew how many children had asthma from the dirty air from power plants, he said, no. 10% of children in oklahoma have asthma. amy: i want to turn to oregon senator jeff merkley questioning scott pruitt about a 2011

letter. the oklahoman attorney general said it to the epa opposing regulations limiting emissions from the energy sector. merkley sasaid much of the lettr was largely written by the oklahoma company devon energy. >> you used her office as a direct extension of an oil company, rather than a direct extension of the interest of the public health of the people of oklahoma. do you acknowledge that you presented a private oil companies position rather than a position developed by the people of oklahoma? >> with respect, i just threee grief -- disagree. you were representing interest of the state of oklahoma. >> why do you need an outside will company to draft a letter when you have 250 people working for you? >> as i've indicated, that was an effort that was protecting the ststates interest in making sure we made the voices of all oklahomans heard on a very important industry to our state. >> but you only sendd it on

behalf of a single was, the e ol company. thank you. amy: wenonah hauter, , your response?? >> scott pruitt in writing my new book, what i found was he was allowing industries like devon, the giant driller and crocker come to ghostwrite letters harassing the environmental protection agency. amy: explain. >> well, devon benefits from drilling and fracking oil and gas. epa was trying to measure the amount of methane emissions -- methane is a greenhouse gas that is almost 90 times more potenent than carbon. underer the seal of oklahoma, he sent this letter that was 95% written by devon lobbyists to the environmental

protection agency. continental