going to be a lot more coming out when more of this essay emerges in the coming days thanks to all three of you, jeffrey toobin, don lemon, ana navarro. good conversation. you can catch more of this and later subject, later tonight, special report with don lemon that airs only here on cnn. 10:00 p.m. eastern. i recommend you check it out. 10:00 p.m. eastern. other news we're following, leaders of the republican establishment are promising to crush tea party challengers in this midterm election year. we're getting an early test of that today as three states hold primary contests, including north carolina, where voting ends soon. our political reporter peter hamby is in north carolina for us. set the scene for us, peter. >> reporter: hey, wolf, you're exactly right. look, outside groups, the republican establishment that galaxy of party committees, operatives, business interests, who really above all else care about winning and taking over the u.s. senate are really spending heavily here in north

carolina. this is the marquee race of the day. republican senate primary. republican thom tillis is the state house speaker, has the establishment support, and the goal for him today is to clear 40% and avoid a runoff election, which would happen in july and really pit him against a grassroots sort of tea party challenger and we'd see a lot of party infighting. that would be expected. so he's trying to avoid that, the republican party is trying to avoid that. over $2 million of outside money from the chamber of commerce, american cross roads have come into the state to prop him up, so this isn't just your tea party versus establishment sort of narrative, though, wolf. there's a couple candidates running against tillis, but they aren't really great candidates, haven't raised a lot of money, so that narrative has its limits, but we'll be paying close attention. >> peter, thanks very much. peter hamby is in north carolina. that's it for me. remember, you can follow me on twitter, tweet me, tweet the

show @cnnsitroom. join us tomorrow in "the situation room." watch us live. dvr the show so you won't miss a moment. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." let's step into "crossfire" right now with van jones and s.e. cupp. >> great news, wolf, i am so happy because president obama is going to go around the republican congress and finally get something done about climate change. it's a great day. >> well, there's a reality check, van, politically and economically it's ill advised. the debate starts right now. >> tonight on "crossfire" -- superstorms, fires, floods. the white house warns more weather chaos is on the way. >> longer, hotter, drier droughts, and it will only get worse. >> can washington come together with real solutions? on the left, van jones. on the right, s.e. cupp. in the "crossfire," bill nye the science guy and nick loras of the heritage foundation. what's worse for america's

economy? the dangers of climate change or the solutions? tonight on "crossfire." >> welcome to "crossfire," i'm s.e. cupp on the right. >> i'm van jones on the left. we have an economics guy and science guy. today we have even more proof, climate disruption is not some crazy far off liberal concoction. climate change is a real and present danger. it's already happening right now. millions of you at home are facing water shortages. there's floods, there's heat waves this year, and a new white house report out today details the real life impacts of us dumping mega tons of carbon pollution into the atmosphere. for instance, in north carolina they are having to raise u.s. route 64 by four feet in part so it won't get swallowed up by the rising ocean. in alaska it's worse. they are moving an entire village called nutoch away from the eroding shoreline. if that's not scary enough for

you, if we wait until the end of the century, miami, tampa, charleston, new orleans, will all be flooding. i guess we're going to have to move them, too. is that your strategy, the republican strategy, to start moving cities, or are we going to do something about it? >> you have to be careful, you're about to become the new face of the preppers. sounds like a cottage industry there. in the "crossfire" tonight, bill nye the science guy is with the planetary society and nicolas loras with the heritage foundation. bill, let me start with you. even if what van and the white house are saying is all true, the scare tactics have not worked. >> before you go on -- >> let me finish my question. >> let's talk about the facts. >> no, let me finish my question, bill. i want you to take a look at this polling. only about 36% of americans think global warming is a serious threat to our way of life. now, again, let me pause it.

everything that van and the white house have said is true, however, the scare tactics have not worked, and don't you need public consensus to move the needle on this? >> so, how do you want to get public consensus, by saying that it's not happening, that it's not serious, that shorelines aren't flooding? >> no, i want you to advise the politicians, because whatever they are doing, whatever van is doing to scare the public, is not changing public -- >> inform the public, but go right ahead. >> tell us how to use the science to actually change public consensus. >> get the message out. this is serious business. if you live in oklahoma, where tornados have wiped your town out a couple times, and you chose alaska, which is remote, generally, but remember hurricane sandy, the bottom half of manhattan was flooded. the economic effect of that alone is enormous, let alone the rebuilding infrastructure. and we're in the developed world where people can get on the highway and drive. you know, when you say moving a

highway four feet, doesn't sound like very much, but you're talking about millions of tons of road that have to be lifted and that energy has to come from somewhere, and that's just the start of things. when we start having crop failures and the drought that's in california continues, the economic costs -- >> you can look at these things and the climate realities and even this nca report says the trend on tornados isn't tern, the ippc report says the hurricane report isn't uncertain. i'm not a denier or skeptic, climate is changing, yes, manmade emissions are some part to that, but we haven't seen these trends. the observed data doesn't prove that. more importantly, the policy prescriptions, these green house gas regulations coming down, prohibiting building new coal-fire power plants will make us less equipped to handle these problems, whether they are more frequent or not. >> let's start with we don't agree on the facts. this third report came out saying it's very serious, you

say, no, right? there's the essence of the problem, s.e. the science, the researchers say yes. >> not all the researchers. even the ippc says there's no frequency or intensity when it comes to hurricanes. >> hurricane, smhurricane. >> it's increasing at a slower rate over the past few years. we've had arctic ice globally increasing. >> bill, isn't it a problem when science guys attempt to bully other people? i mean, nick here had to say, i'm not a denier. he had to get it up, i'm not a denier, because really, the science group has tried to shame anyone who dares question this, and the point i'm trying to make -- >> why is that bullying? >> it's not working with the public. >> let me ask you a question. first of all, i think the scientific community has been very patient. we have the same problem with cigarettes for years and years, cigarette manufacturers were

trying to convince people cancer wasn't caused by cigarette smoking. my father died having been a pack a day smoker. you're an economist, though. you have to make decisions, choices, you have to make predictions. we can actually get out ahead of some of this stuff. you're not saying there's no danger, are you? you want to make sure we use our money wisely and don't waste our money and come up with good, effective solutions. you mention the ippc. they say for .06% hit on global growth, we can stay below 450. >> 450 parts per million. >> we could have a sustainable global environment and instead of having a growth rate of 2.5%, it will be 2.4%. is that a good deal, from an economist point of view, is that a good deal? >> i don't think it's a good deal. >> you would not take a .06% hit? >> if you want to get back to

350.org, how do we get there then? >> you're saying you can't see how to do it, we shouldn't bother? >> i'm saying these huge policy prescriptions, things that will shut down fossil fuel use, drive up energy costs. >> this is a talking point. >> it's not. >> let's talk about cap and trade, then. the heritage foundation, your organization supported, if we had gotten -- >> no, no, no. not for greenhouse gas emissions. >> go to the next one. >> that would have been fully implemented, it would have cost american families about a postage stamp a day, a postage stamp and you guys were screaming bloody murder. >> maybe not the best solution. here's our problem, everybody, we have to agree on the facts. my understanding, listening to you just now, you don't think it's a very serious problem. you don't think 400 parts per million that we have this year is that big a deal, and certainly not worth shutting down -- >> we're not headed towards a catastrophic warning.

>> are you -- >> let me ask you a question here. are you willing to spend any money? we put out, when i was in the obama administration, we put out a proposal we support from the business community to do, postage stamp a day, you thought that was too much. for .06% you could solve problems. >> that postage stamp analysis is bogus. >> let's let nick answer a question. >> if you want to talk about the things states can do to prepare, they should be doing those things and you can look at people who have dealt with heat waves, for instance, which has been a problem, but heat rate mortality has decreased over the past several decades. >> answer my question. >> while greenhouse gas emissions are increasing. >> are you willing to spend any money to prevent this? >> i'm willing to deinvolve and decentralize to the ones impacted by the decisions, whether it's climate related or not. >> we'll come back. >> all right. i have one more question and then we've got to go to break.

bill, president obama has warned we have to cut carbon emissions now or pay a billion dollar debt in the future. >> i think isn't it more like trillions? >> according to him, billion dollar debt. this is also true of other urgent issues. you can look at entitlement reform, which will bankrupt this country before climate change destroys us. heart disease kills 7 million worldwide. i want you to look me in the eye and tell me in good conscience that climate change is our most urgent, number one priority right now. >> climate change is our most urgent number one priority right now. >> that's what i thought you would say. >> here's the thing, it is anybody, anyone who's in government could make the choice, teachers salaries, new baseball stadium. >> we have to prioritize, of course. >> entitlement program reform, new sewers, potholes. anybody can do it. the problem is to do everything all at once. >> we have an endless supply of

money? >> china to do something? >> here's the problem, we don't agree on the facts, okay, we got to somewhere find someplace -- >> i asked you about priorities. that's assuming we agree, we have to prioritize. there's a lot we have to fix. first we need to take a break. >> carry on. see you soon. >> next, get your bunson burners going. i'm going to put bill nye through an experiment of my own. what will release more greenhouse gases in a year? all the cows in the united states, all the oil carried by the keystone pipeline, or 25 million cars? we'll have the answer when we get back. (mother vo) when i was pregnant...

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welcome back to "crossfire." surprise, surprise. today president obama is keeping his liberal elite base happy by trying to scare us with new reports on climate change. hint, your power bills are going to go up. but in spite of the fact a majority of americans supported the president still hasn't approved the keystone pipeline, which according to his own reports isn't threatening the planet. just look at the answer to our "crossfire" quiz. cows, that's right, cows are responsible for releasing more greenhouse gases in a year than 25 million cars or burning a year's worth of oil in the keystone pipeline. bill nye and nick loris are our guests. bill, shouldn't we all just become vegetarians? >> actually, there's a lot of studies about that. >> wouldn't that be -- >> keep in mind, 25 million cars is nothing. there's 25 million cars within

ten kilometers of where we're sitting. >> wouldn't it be a good policy directive, though? >> thank you for the distraction, though. >> wouldn't it be good to be vegetarians? >> that would be great. here's the deal, here's what i want you guys to deal with, i did this debate, maybe you heard about it in kentucky, a member of the audience asked the guy, what would change your mind? what would change your mind about the evidence of the age of the earth? it's a very good analogy. what would change your minds about the serious of 450 parts per million. >> the credibility of a science model. >> so you don't accept it? >> we've had this 16 to 17-year hiatus in warning that the -- it's not, though, because the climate models predicted a .3 degrees celcius warming in this time period. there's been 16 peer-reviewed articles that says climate sensitivity, what would happen is much lower. it's all recent research. do you know how huge the economic cost will be?

>> we're trying to talk about solutions, but you just want to talk about how he doesn't believe you. we're trying to address -- >> so here's -- >> let me give him a better shot. >> the pipeline, what's wrong with that is we will never run out of fossil fuels. that's the bad news. we will never run out. it's very bad news. >> here's somebody i think you actually respect. he says he doesn't respect the scientist, he doesn't respect the models. you said you don't like the models. >> i respect the scientists. >> don't like the models. how about the pentagon? how about our generals? the pentagon says that climate disruption is a national security threat and they say it's a threat multiplier, makes everything worse, including terrorism. do you disagree with the pentagon? >> i do disagree with the pentagon. yeah, absolutely. the greening of our pentagon has been a huge problem, the biodiesel fuels that cost ten times more than regular diesel. climate is changing over time, you know, our pentagon, the

department of defense is going to be able to adapt to these >> not to mention dod is a huge user of energy. we're going to take more away from their budget by driving up their energy costs? all these things make it nonsense for the dod to say this. >> at the pentagon? >> i'm not saying it's a conspiracy. i'm saying it's an attempt to get more money on the battlefields. >> oh my goodness. that's just terrible. >> first of all, our agency is saying the same thing. >> can i have a moment here? our military, people actually die trying to defend supply lines to try to get fossil fuels to the front lines. the investment our military is making in clean energy so we can have more security for our troops will save lives. it's very important that we respect that. it's not some crazy conspiracy. it's great for talk radio. we're trying to save lives, number one. but number two, do you therefore think the government should order our generals to stop

preparing for climate destruction? obama has made it part of the climate assessment. do you think that's wrong? do you think the government should order our generals to stand down and stop preparing? >> if they believe it's a threat and they want to prepare for climate destruction, they should have the authority to do. >> so but you don't think they should deep down? >> no deep down i don't think they should. i think they'll have the ability over time because the climate is changing over a slow period of time. >> actually, that's the problem. >> i think the capabilities they'll have to deal with these efforts as we're talking about an inch of sea level rise over a decade. >> they want you to believe that it's within a day. the readiness will be within a day. >> so here is the problem, you guys. it's not that the world -- >> real quick, bill. >> it's not that the world hasn't been warmer, it's not that the world didn't have more carbon dioxide, it's the rate that it's changing that we cannot keep up. >> the science guy the last word. but we will be back. we want you to stay here. we want you at home to weigh in on today's fire back question. you get in on it. is climate change a threat to america's national security? you can tweet yes or no

using #crossfire. we'll give you the results after the the break. we're also going to have the outrages of the day. now, you remember your mother telling you to keep your hands to yourself? i'm outraged because when a police officer didn't did not do that, groped somebody, the woman he groped is now in big trouble, when we get back.

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that corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. and yet, there's someone around the office who hasn't had a performance review in a while. someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization. i'm looking at you phone company dsl. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. okay. now it's time for the outrages of the day. here is mine. during the occupy wall street demonstrations a couple years ago, a female protester threw an elbow at a stranger who was groping her breast. it turns out the stranger was a

police officer. now, that's outrageous. but that's nothing compared to what happens next. the young woman was actually charged with assaulting an officer, which is a felony. and yesterday a jury convicted her. so right now she is sitting in jail. she is waiting for a judge to sentence her in two weeks. she could get seven years. seven years in prison. now, this should go without saying. but in america a woman should be able to exercise her right to protest without getting groped by police and sent to prison on a felony. now, i hope the judge fixes this. if he doesn't, the whole situation is truly outrageous. >> i don't disagree there. all right. today hillary clinton is taking on gunowners like me. listen to this fearmongering. >> at the rate we're going, we're going to have so many people with guns everywhere, fully licensed, fully validated in settings where they can be in a movie theater and they don't like somebody chewing gum loudly

or talking on their cell phone and decide they have a perfect right to defend themselves. >> the vast majority of gun crime is not committed against the gum chewer, and it's a pretty silly and irresponsible thing to say when thousands die every year in major cities where guns are illegal because of drugs, gang war, and mental health problems. so let's focus on those epidemics and not artificial strawmen meant only do gin up political support. by the way, she also claimed we'll soon have a country we'll soon have a country where anybody can have a gun any time anywhere. if i told you all the places i'm not allowed to bring my gun, including into my own home if i live in certain parts of the country, well, it would take me until november 2016. >> we will not argue about that, annie oakley. but we are going to check on our fire back results. is climate change a threat to america's national security? right now 61% of you say yes, and 39% say no. that's about where we are --

>> that mir -- that really does mirror sort of the general consensus on the arguments. what's your response to that? >> that's a start. we're getting there. >> okay. >> i mean we have to get to work on this problem as soon as we can, if you're asking me. and yes, we want to have private businesses come up with new energy solutions. we want to invest in science, basic research. but if we have a situation as we do today where we're disagreeing about the facts, on my side of the science, it's really difficult to establish reasonable policy. >> and i'm all for the basic research and pulling new energy economies out so long as they can be funded through basic research and through not the taxpayer and subsidizing loans and loan guarantees. i think having these types of conversations are most important because we do disagree on the facts. and rather than talking passage, we need to have the conversation about the climate realities. >> well, thank you for talking with each other today. and i want to thank you for being here. the debate is going to continue online at cnn.com/crossfire, as

well as on facebook and twitter. from the left, i'm van jones. >> from the right i'm s.e. cupp. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. next breaking news. more girls kidnapped in nigeria. u.s. senators now pushing for boots on the ground. plus, why did a pilot crash a plane into a home he once owned? was it an accident? and monica lewinsky breaking her silence, weighing in on hillary and the dress. why now? let's go "outfront." good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, breaking news. we are learning tonight at least eight more girls have been kidnapped by the terror group boko haram in nigeria, in addition to the