hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's one o clo1:00 p.m. here in. up first, gearing up for an epic show down, joem -- how much is comey prepared to say about his meetings with the president. those are just some of the key questions the trump administration is facing on

russia right now. also the trump team pushing back against criticism for pulling out of the paris climate agreement. take a look at this. live pictures coming in from the white house briefing room. the press secretary sean spicer and the head of the environmental protection agency scott pruitt, they will be taking questions from reporters later this hour. we'll have live coverage of that coming up. but let's begin with the russia investigation and new and important developments. let's bring in our senior white house correspondent jim acosta. he's over at the white house. matthew chance is in st. pet peterburg russia. to get those sanctions against russia lifted. what more you tell us about that? >> wolf, we know that during the early days of the administration and really the early months of the administration this was a

key discussion going on behind the scenes inside the white house. but top officials have been sort of all over the place on this issue. keep in mind just last week during the president's foreign trip gary cohen, the president's top economic adviser he was asked what is the position on sanctions and he said the president didn't have one. he had to clarify and said no, we do believe in keeping the sanctions in place until russia changes its behavior in ukraine. that is essentially the position that's been taken by the secretary of state rex tillerson. we do know by trying to confirm a "washington post" report mentions this as well there is a discussion about the russian comp pounds that were expelled from during the last days of the omar administration. that was in retaliation that the obama administration took for russia's actions in the u.s. election. so the question becomes well, is this something that the u.s. is

preparing to do? i talked to a senior administration official earlier this week who said this still hinges on whether the russians change their behavior in ukraine, but it is something up for discussion. it's something they're talking about among many issues. it's been described as being on p a parallel track. some of those discussions are scheduled to take place this month featuring are some top state department officials. >> those two russian compounds on the eastern shore of maryland outside of washington out on long island outside of new york city. both shut down by the obama administration. still shut down now. matthew, you're in russia. listen to what president vladimir putin said when asked about the sanctions and about the trump team contacts with russian diplomats. listen to this. >> no agreement whatsoever. we've never even got down to. that our ambassador has met

someone. and what is an ambassador supposed to do? that's what he gets money for. that's absurd to accuse him of that. it's diplomatic service. it's astounding. >> matthew, what do you make of that response? >> well, i think, wolf, this was classic putin holding up his hands and saying there's nothing untoward that happened here and ridiculing any suggestion that anything nefarious did happen. the fact is there are lots of concerns about sanctions here. officially of course russian officials say that they were not the instigators of these sanctions. first of all, these u.s. sanctions are causing real pain to russia's fragile economy. they're having an impact on economic growth here. there's also the issue of the fact that these -- this is all extremely difficult for vladimir

putin. and he wants the sanctions lifted, wolf. and that's something that they're going to talk about publicly, privately there are these persistent rumors that a back room deal has not if not done then at least discussed with members of the trump team and trump administration. >> there are also some significant des kriscrepancies it comes to a meeting his son-in-law jared kushner had with the head of a russian bank under u.s. sanctions right now. walk us through the discrepancies. >> the head of the bank is sergei gorkov. he runs one of russia's biggest banks. he had a meeting with jared kushner, the son-in-law of president trump back in december at trump tower in new york. there's been a discrepancy about what the meeting was bcabout. the bank says this was about the bank's future business. they met jared kushner they say

in his capacity as the head of kushner's company, his family sprawling company empire. the white house had a different take saying this was a diplomatic meeting, that kushner was in that meeting in his capacity as a member of the trump transition team. we really wanted to get to the bottom of what it is that was actually discussed at that meeting. sergei gorkov is a very difficult man to pin down, but we actually caught up with him a couple days ago and tried to get some answers. >> mr. gorkov, quick question. what did you really speak to jared kushner about in new york when you met him in december? did you talk about sanctions? >> no comment. >> what was discussed? the white house says it was a diplomatic meeting, that kushner met you as part of the transition team. your bank says it was a business meeting. >> thank you so much. >> well, just to indicate how much of an issue the sanctions are for the russians, i was in a session here earlier today and

putin was addressing members of u.s. business leaders that have come here to hear him talk. he made a direct appeal to them to help restore normal political dialogue. he wasn't talking about politics really. he was talking about economics and sanctions in particular. that was the message that putin had to deliver to u.s. business leaders here a few hours ago. >> very interesting indeed. matthew, stan by. phil, the fired fbi director james comey is set to testify before the senate intelligence committee next thursday morning. how much do we expect to hear from comey about his meetings with president trump? >> well, a detailed retelling, wolf. tha that's a course familiar with james comey thinking. we've seen bits and pieces of the details of what those meetings entailed from jim comey's perspective, from memos that he took and drafted during that process. but i think the interesting

element here and obvious very different element is actually getting it in first person. it's worth noting there are limits to what jim comey can and will say. not just because particularly in the open portion of this hearing. you just need to look at what's going on behind the scenes. they've been talking with bob mueller trying to make sure nothing he talks about, no area he goes into would run cross wise with the investigation that bob mueller is now overseeing. but the expectation is that those meetings with the president would not fall into that category and so because of that fact expect at least at this time that on that hearing in that public session on june 8th jim comey will go through in detail what exactly happened in those one-on-one meetings between him and the president. >> next thursday morning. we'll have live coverage. jim, phil, matthew, thanks to all of you very much. meanwhile the white house says president trump will decide whether to try and block the testimony of the fbi director he fired. here's what the white house counselor kellyanne conway said

this morning when asked about james comey's appearance before congress next week. >> does he want former director comey to testify before congress? we'll be watching with the rest of the world when director comey testifies. the last time he testified under oath the fbi had to scurry to correct that testimony. >> so he's not going to invoke executive privilege. >> the president will make that decision. >> let's bring in our chief political analyst gloria borger, justice reporter laura jared. first of all explain what that would mean, executive privilege to prevent if in fact they want to go down that road to prevent comey from testifying. >> the way this works is that the president should be able to enjoy full and frank conversations with his advisers and with his cabinet members without worrying that another branch of government is going to be able to discover those conversations. but the issue here, remember, is that james comey is now a private citizen. so if he wants to try to block this testimony, he would have to

have his lawyers run in to court and get an order saying that he can't testify. a pretty unprecedented step that doesn't happen every day, sure enough. >> i suspect it won't happen, but we shall see. gloria, there's been some question why comey didn't take action if he felt he was being pressured by the president to end the investigation into fired national security adviser michael flynn. listen to this exchange with a senator during comey's may 3rd testimony. >> so if the attorney general or senior officials at the department of justice opposes a specific investigation, can they halt that fbi investigation? >> in theory, yes. on. >> has it happened? >> not in my experience because it would be a big deal to tell the fbi to stop doing something that without appropriate purpose. we're oftentimes they give us opinions that we don't see a case there so you'll have to

stop investing resources. i'm talking about a situation where we were told to sto something for a political reason. that would be a very big deal. it's not happened in my experience. >> gloria, what are you hearing? >> what i'm hearing from a source who is close to comey is that what he felt at the time, wolf, was that he was disturbed enough after these series of meetings with the president that he decided to memorialize his notes and that each individual thing he may not have seen as an obstruction of justice. that if he had seen it as an obstruction, he will have done more than write a memo. we also know he had an ongoing investigation at the time. but taken in aggregate and after he was fired, he may well have come to a different conclusion. that's why his testimony next week is going to be so stunning and so interesting. because he originally believed that the president was being

inappropriate and that he could, i was told, school him or train him about the right way to interact with the fbi director. so he kept these notes. but if you look back on it now, wolf, was there a pattern here, particularly after comey got fired? we have to see whether what he felt at the time in those memos and whether he feels the same way now about what the president was trying to do. >> very interesting. you know, laura, let's get back to the legal issue of trying to stop comey from testifying. has the president, president trump, actually hurt his chances as some legal scholars believe of possibly trying to invoke executive privilege to block the comey testimony by talking publicly so much about his decision to fire comey? >> the short answer, wolf, is yes. the reasoning is this. courts say you don't get to use privileged testimony as a sword

in one context and a shield in another. so the president doesn't get to reference three alleged conversations where comey assured him that he wasn't under investigation as a sword in that context, but then now blocked comey from testifying in another. in other words, comey gets to tell his side of the story once the president has put these communications out there. >> you know, gloria, this is basically a case, at least so far, he said, he said, but comey's testimony sets the stage for a major political showdown. give us some context. >> jim comey is a controversial figure, wolf. democrats don't have a lot of love for comey. and now neither do a lot of republicans. and so he comes to that stage with people having a lot of preconceived notions about him. the president doesn't like him. after his last testimony we know that he fired him because he was so upset about that testimony.

so i think that it's going to be up to the congress here, the people who are asking the questions to try and get to the bottom of this for the american people about exactly what comey was thinking in these memos, when he wrote them, and that -- ask him did you believe it was obstruction of justice at the time or do you believe it's obstruction of justice now? and why were you so disturbed in your encounters with the president of the united states that you thought it was important enough that memorialize your conversations? it is a he said/he said, but james comey has his notes, wolf. >> we'll see if those notes show up next week during the testimony. gloria, laura, thanks to both of you. cnn will of course have live special coverage around former fib director james comey in front of the senate intelligence committee. that's next thursday morning,

9:00 a.m. eeastern right here o cnn. coming up, steve bannon front and center during the president's announcement of climate change, ivanka trump and jared kushner at home. plus does the president believe in climate change? it's a question white house aides can't seem to answer. you bet it will be a question for the press secretary sean spicer when he goes before reporters at the white house press briefing later this hour. we'll have live coverage. what is your nationality and i would always answer hispanic. so when i got my ancestry dna results it was a shocker. i'm everything. i'm from all nations. i would look at forms now and wonder what do i mark? because i'm everything. and i marked other. discover the story only your dna can tell. order your kit now at ancestrydna.com. com your insurance company

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he'll do an on camera briefing shortly. hasn't done one since tuesday. he'll be joined by the epa administrator, environmental protection agency administrator scott pruitt who strongly supported the president's withdrawal from the paris agreement. we'll have live coverage of that. meanwhile at least three governors so far are fighting the president's decision to withdraw from the paris climate accord saying they'll go green with or without it. one of them is the california governor jerry brown who said in part, and i'm quoting him now, donald trump has absolutely chosen the wrong course. trump is awol, but california is on the field ready for battle. close quote. republican congressman tom mcclintock of california disagrees. he supports the president's decision. a congressman from the public policy institute of california found that 89% of the people in

your state believe the effects of global warming are already happening or will happen. president trump as you know has called climate change a hoax created by china. his aides refuse to say whether he still believes that. listen to these exchanges over the past couple of days. >> does the president believe climate change is a hoax? >> this is not about whether climate change is occurring or not. >> does president trump still believe climate change is a hoax? >> you're going to have to ask him. you're going to actually have to ask him. >> can you say whether or not the president believes that human activity is contributing to the warming of the climate? >> i'd say i haven't asked him. i can get back you to. >> i'll ask you one more time. does he believe global warming is a hoax. >> you'll have to ask him that. >> congressman, have you spoken to the president about this? do you know if he still believes that manmade or at least man has a -- men and women have a role

in climate change, that it's real? >> well, i've not spoke tone him but of course climate change is real. it's been going on for four and a half billion years. global warming is real. it's been going on since the last ice age. the great debate is to what extent human activity plays a role and what should be done about it. >> do you thabelieve that human activity plays a role in climate change? >> when i look at the climatology of the planet, we know 150 million years ago carbon dioxide levels were about five times higher than today. we know that global temperatures averaged about 13 degrees higher than they are today. now, i'm not a history major, but i believe that that was before the invention of the suv. so as i look at the broad span of our experience on this

planet, it seems to me that that's still very much an open question to what extent human activity -- >> so you're want -- >> compared to natural processes that seem to be much, much stronger influence on both carbon dioxide levels as well as global temperatures. >> so you're not ready to go along with most scientists who believe human activity does play a role in climate change? >> i go out on to the internet and i see a ranging scientific debate. fred singer. so i have trouble accepting the notion that we're supposed to stop debating the subject when science loves a discussion. they love a debate. when somebody tells you the debate's over, that's usually not a scientist speaking. >> i'll take that you're not convinced what most scientists

have concluded. as you also know, workers in your state, they've benefited greatly from renewable energy. california has the highest rate of solar jobs per capita. would that not have benefited your state if the president had agreed to go along with the paris climate accord? >> oh, if there's a genuine market demand for these products, they're going to continue to do very well. my concern is when consumers are forced to buy overpriced products or when struggling families through higher utility bills and taxes are forced to send subsidies to these green energy companies. i'd like to see them stand on their own 2 feet for a change. and if what they say about their products is trure, they'll do very well. >> one final question. is it walk ard or embarrassing to you that 195 countries

support this paris climate accord? now three oppose it, the united states being one yesterday because of the president's decision. syria, opposes it and nicaragua because it doesn't go far enough. is that at all awkward that the u.s. is now with those two countries against 195 other countries? >> well, mother always told me that if all your friends are jumping off a bridge, you don't need to do so as well. i'll guarantee you this. when those other countries get into trouble, the 50 plafirst p they're going to come running is the united states. and the stronger over economy is, the better able we'll be to help them. >> if they ask for help, will you help them? >> absolutely. >> you'll give them money? >> well, we'll certainly try to persuade them that the policies they've adopted are directly responsible for the economic difficulties they're suffering. >> congressman, thanks for joining us.

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we're waiting for the white house press secretary sean spicer and the administrator of the environmental protection agency scott pru toyoitt to com and hold a briefing just one day after the president announced he was withdrawing the united states from the paris climate agreement saying he wants to renegotiate it. they should be coming to the lectern any moment now. we'll have live coverage once sean spicer and scott pruitt are there. the may unemployment numbers meanwhile are in. there were 138,000 new jobs added in the united states last year. that's lower than expected, but as cnn money chief business correspondent christine romans explains, the real news is in the unemployment level. >> wolf, here's a headline for you. the lowest unemployment rate in 16 years. go back to 2001 to find a

jobless rate that low. 14.3%. one of the reasons we've had strong job gains for months. some people dropped out of the labor market. that drove the jobless rate down. look at job creation. 80 months in a row, a record of private sector job growth. but you're seeing the pace of the job gains moderate. 138,0 138,000 less than they had been forecasting. job contains compared with last year and the year before you're seeing the pace of job growth slow. still good but slowing. here are the sectors. manufacturing lost 1,000 jobs. mining and logging gained. some were told were coal mining jobs. health care, steady performer. 24,000 net new jobs created in health care. the president has promised to create 25 million.

he's going to have to double what we got this month. >> let me bring in steven moore. senior economics analyst, former economic adviser to the trump campaign. steven, thanks for joining us. looking at those numbers, dropping unemployment rate, 4.3%, which is good but less than spec'd job growth, what's your major take away? >> well, i was a little disappointed with that number. it's not terrible, but we should be doing better. i'd like to see 200,000 plus a month. by the way, if donald trump is going to fulfill his promise of 25 million jobs he's going to have to get that number about twice as high. but i think christine romans made a very good point. we're very close to full employment in the united states with that low unemployment rate. by the way, the other statistic called the u 6, i don't want to get too technical, but that includes people dropped out of the work force, that's been dropping as well which is a healthy sign. right now when i talk to employers around the country, and i ask them what's your

biggest problem, more and more i hear them say we can't find the workers we need rather than, you know, the fact that there is unemployment. if you're look for a job, it's a pretty good time to be doing it. >> who gets the credit for that up swing? would you say the current president or his predecessor, former president obama? who deserves the credit for this dramatic turn around over the past eight years? >> well, look, the job growth has been steady but slow. and i do think the economy has underperformed under obama and i think it's one of the reasons that trump won. this is still some of the obama economy and until trump gets his economic program in place it's going to be hard for him to take huge credit although we did see it bounce up in the stock market after it's elected. there's a lot of confidence in the economy. you see it in the consumer confidence numbers, especially business confidence. they're spending more on heavy equipment and things like that.

and i have to just say, because yesterday, you know, we talked almost all day about this issue of the climate change treaty, and i have been making the point that the coal industry is on a little bit of rebound and it's interesting that one of the few sectors that did pretty well in that report was the mining sector. we are seeing a little bit of comeback in coal and oil and gas. >> there's still a ton of jobs in the solar. they're going up rather dramatically, right. >> those numbers have been going up. but the idea that a lot of liberals said there's no way that donald trump can bring these coal jobs back and so far so good. we'll see. these are just preliminary numbers and it's only been a few months. but so far the signs are pretty good. coal demand was up 16% so far this year which is a pretty good number. a lot more coal is being used for steel because around the world there's a lot more demand

for buildings and construction and so on. so i guess the take away is we've got to do better. this is a decent number, but i want to -- by the way, as we see more job growth, wolf, more demand for jobs, what we're hoping to see i think all americans are hoping to see is wage gains. we saw a little bit of a wage gain in this report, but it's been 15 years or so since we've had some really pretty robust increases in the wages for the american workers. >> one final question, steven. you think the president now is coming around and accepting these numbers? because as you know, during the campaign, he always says these numbers were phoney, don't believe them. when they say the unemployment number, which is now 4.3%, he would say it's closer to 15% or 20%. they're not including this. you think he's coming around and accepting the bureau of labor statistics numbers? >> well, i don't think we were saying it. i was part of that team when he was saying those thing. i don't think we were saying that the numbers were false.

we were saying they were misleading. i do think that u 6 number that does include people who are in part-time jobs to want a full-time and people who dropped out, i think that's the biggest factor we're all kind of scratching our head wondering what's going on. you have job growth and demand for labor and we're still seeing so many millions of americans on the sidelines. if we're going to get the economy moving again, we've got to push those people outside of the labor force who are employable, able bodied, we've got to get them in the labor force. >> steven, thanks as usual for joining us. >> they can care. have a great day. >> coming up, we're waiting once again for the white house press briefing to begin. scheduled to begin any moment. a lot of the issues certainly will be asked by reporters, climate change, fired fib director james comey upcoming testimony next thursday morning. executive privilege among the topics likely to be raised by reporters. we'll see if we get answers when we come back.

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once again looking at live pictures from inside the white house press briefing room. sean spicer any to do an on cam briefing. he'll be joined by scott pruitt. they're walking in right now. here's sean spicer. >> good afternoon, everyone. epa administrator pruitt is here today to deliver a brief statement on the president's announcement yesterday and answer any questions you have regarding the paris climate accords, a decision that the president reached yesterday. as always i ask that you keep your questions for administrator pru o pruitt on topic. i would note that he has a flight to head to, so we're going to try to keep this

relatively short on his end. with that, secretary pruitt. >> it's good to be with you this afternoon. i want to first begin by saying that the president made a very courageous decision yesterday on behalf of america. he put america's interest first with respect to environmental agreements and international discussions. i really appreciate his fortitude. the discussion over the last several weeks has been one of a thoughtful deliberation. he heard many voices. voices across a wide spectrum of vantage points. and the president made a very informed and i think thoughtful and important zegz fdecision fo country's benefit. when it comes to international agreements with respect to things like the paris agreement, we have nothing to be apologetic about as a country. we've reduced our co 2 footprint to levels of the early 1990s. from 2000 to 2014, we reduced

our car pbon footprint. when we look at issues like this we are leading with action and not words. i also want to say that exiting paris does not mean disengagement. in fact the president said yesterday that paris represents a bad deal for this country. it doesn't mean we're not going to continue the discussion to export our innovation, to export our technology, to demonstrate how we do it better here is i very important message to send. he indicated he's going to reenter paris or engage in a discussion with a new deal with a commitment to putting america first. the president said he's going to put the interest of american citizens at the head of his administration. that's in trade policy. that's in national security. that's in border security. that's in right sizing washington, d.c. he did that with respect to his decision yesterday on paris. so with that we'll be happy to answer any questions you might

have. i don't know your names so i'll point to you. >> thank you for taking our questions. hoping you clear this up once and for all. yes or no. does the president believe climate change is really and a threat to the united states? >> you know what's interesting about all the discussions we had through the last several weeks have been focussed on one singular issue is paris good for our country. that's the discussions i've had with the president. that's been my focus. the focus remained on whether paris put us at a disadvantage. and it did. it put us at an economic disadvantage. you may not know this, but pair r ris set targets at 28 and twi26. it was a failed deal. even if all targets were made, it only reduced the temperature by less than two-tenths of one

degree. that is what the president focused upon to how it impact d us economically and there were there were guide environmental objectives were achieved. >> the m.i.t. scientists who helped with that report said, quote, trump badly misunderstood the findings of that report and in fact if we take no action temperatures could wise 5%. specifically what other science? >> there were other studies that were published at the time. the m.i.t. study was something that as you indicated showed two-tenths of one degree. what's clear about paris is if you go back and look at the criticism that was being levied against the paris agreement, it wasn't just from folks in this

country who want it to be ratified or were critical of the processes. the environmental left was very critical of paris. in fact, james hanson is an individual who said at the time it was a fake and a fraud and the general counsel said the same thing. if you go back and read the media accounts, there was much chryst simp criticism because it did not hold -- china did not have to steak steps until 200030. india did not have until 2$220 trillion. in this country we had 26 to 28% in green house gases which represented the clean power plant and the entire climate action agenda of the past administration. yes, sir? >> i'd like to go back to the first question that was asked

that you didn't answer. does the president believe today that climate change is a hoax? that something he said in the campaign when the pool was in the oval office he refused to answer. >> i did answer the question. i said the discussions the president and i have had have been focussed on one key issue. is paris good or bad for this country. the president and i focused our attentions there. he determined that it was bad for this country. it hurt us economically. it didn't achieve good environmental out comes and he made the decision to reject the paris deal. yes, sir? >> given the fact that you and other administration officials haven't been able to outline the president's use on climate change, why should other countries believe that the president wants to negotiate a deal in good faith? >> as i indicated in my comments yesterday, and the president emphasized in his speech, this administration and the country as a whole, we have taken significant steps to reduce our

co 2 footprint to levels of the pre-1990s. how did we achieve that? because of technology, horizontal drilling. you won't hear that from the environmental left. we need to export clean coal technology. we need to export the technology and natural grass to shows around the globe, india and china and help them learn from us on what we've done to achieve good outcomes. we've led with action, not words. paris, truly, paris at its core was a bunch of words committed to very, very minimal environmental benefit and costs this country a substantial amount of money and put us at an economic disadvantage. yes, sir? >> does the president believe that or does the administration believe that any additional deal on carbon emissions, whether paris or a subsequent deal -- >> i'm sorry, i missed the first part of the question. >> does the administration believe any deal, whether a

revised paris agreement or another carbon emissions deal needs congressional approval? >> i think it's clear with respect to the paris agreement that there are concerns by the administration the president expressed this in his speech yesterday. i have similar concerns that it should have been submitted to the u.s. senate for ratification. i think it depends on the nature of the deal, what you actually negotiate. if we're talking about exporting innovation and technology to the rest of the globe, i will say not. i would say that's not something that needs to be submitted to the u.s. senate. i would say, however, that if you're setting targets, if you're setting emission targets that are enforceable domestically through regulation or statute, then very much so. the voice of american citizens across the country needs to be heard through the ratification process. >> obviously a lot of people from the white house are not willing to answer the president's view on climate change. so let's talk about your

personal views. in march, you said there is tremendous disagreement about the human impact and you would not agree that it is a contributor. >> i don't know if you guys caught my confirmation process or not, but it's a very intense process, by the way. but i indicated that, in fact, global warming is occurring, human activity contributes to it, in some matter. measuring from precision, the degree of human contribution is difficult. but does it pose an existential threat? you know, some people have called me a climate denier. in fact, many of you, i don't know if you saw this article or not, but the climate of complete certainty by brett stephens

talked about -- it's a very important quote from this article. anyone who has read the 2014 report of the ipcc, knows that while modest 0.8 degrees celsius warming of the earth has occurred since 1980. it's true of a sophisticated but fallible models of which scientis scientists peer into the future. what the american people deserve is a debate, a transparent discussion about this issue. and what paris represents, what paris represents is an international agreement that put this country at a disadvantage with very little benefit vi environmentally across the globe. >> why, then, is the arctic ice shell melting?

why are the sea levels rising? why are the hottest temperatures in the last decade essentially the hottest temperatures that we've seen on record? >> this has been since the 1990s, as you know. >> sir, when nasa says that 95% of the experts in this area around the world believe that the earth is warming and you are up there throwing out information that says, well, maybe this is being exaggerated, you talk about climate action s exaggera exaggerate fors, it seems that you are denying it and it's a significant threat to the planet. >> i said this in the confirmation process and i'll say it today. there is -- we have done a tremendous amount as a country to achieve reductions in co 2 and we have done that through technology and innovation. we will continue to do that and

to stay engaged. we are part, as you know, the u.n. ccc and that encourages voices by subnational groups and countries across the globe and we're going to stay engaged and try to work through agreements to put america's interests first. this is not -- this is not a message to anyone in the world that america is somewhat -- should be apologetic of its co2 position. we're making tremendous advantages. we're not going to agree to frameworks and agreements that put us at an economic disadvantage that hurt citizens across this country. yes, sir? >> you're putting your head in the sand. >> there's no evidence of that. >> thank you, mr. administrator. your fellow senator said that while he has confidence in the president in this, he is very nervous about lower level career government employees in the epa and state department in actually

executing what's deemed exit the paris climate accord. as the administrator of epa, what do you say to your own senator? >> what's important to know is that the president said unequivocally yesterday that the targets set in paris, the 26 to 28% targets are not enforcement and not complied with. the green climate fund, where the united states provided $3 billion in initial funding, that is not going to continue. that is going to be immediate. now, there are discussions that are ongoing with the justice department on the steps that we'll be taking to execute the withdrawal and the exit. that's something that is going to happen over the next several weeks. but as far as the targets that are concerned, the green climate fund, it's immediate and it's something that is clear. yes, ma'am? >> european leaders have made it very clear that the deal can't be renegotiated. so how does the president renegotiate a deal when the other parties aren't willing to

come to the table? >> well, as he indicated, whether it's part of the paris framework or a new deal, it's either approach. >> but they won't sit down at the table with him. >> but that's up to them, isn't it? the united states has a seat at the table. after all, we are the united states and leading with respect to co2 production. we've made tremendous progress. if nations around the world want to seek to learn from us on what we're doing to reduce our co2 footprint, we'll share that with them and that's something that will occur in the future and we'll reach out and resip crate wi resip indicate and do that. >> shouldn't you tell the american people whether or not the president believes that climate change is a hoax? >> as i indicated, there's enough to do with the paris climate accord and that's what our focus has been over the last several weeks. i've answered the question a couple times.

yes, sir. this gentleman right here. this gentleman right here. yes. >> thank you. isn't it of concern that the united states has broken a promise to 190 countries and the president did not address that particular point? and, second, you've several times raised that the lowering of co2 levels, isn't the reason because of blocking the smoke stack spews that are not allowed the kind of regulations that the administration is now opposing? >> as i indicated, largely, we have reduced our co2 footprint through innovation and technology and not the least of which is the hydraulic fracking. >> how does that help our credibility? >> truly, if it's a promise enforceable and going to obligate this country, then it should have been ratified as a treaty. right? the exposure here to us domestically was 26 to 28% targets that were part of an international agreement and there are provisions in the

clean air act that actually allow for lawsuits to be filed domestically to compel regulation to meet those kinds of percentages. this was as much about a constitutional and legal concerns as anything else and the president dealt decisively with that. but let's, again, the important thing here is it put us at an economic disadvantage. the world applauded when we joined paris. and you know why? i think they applauded because they knew it would put this country at a disadvantage. the european leaders, why they want us to stay in, they know it will continue to shackle our economy, though we are leading the world with respect to our co2 production. that's all i've got. i've got to head to the airport. thank you. >> why did you celebrate at a french restaurant last night? was that a symbolic gesture? >> thank you, mr. pruitt. earlier this morning, the may jobs report was released showing

that americans seeking jobs are having more success finding them than at any point in the last 16 years. there's a lot of positive signs coming out of the job market. over 600,000 private sector jobs have been added since the president took office. the unemployment rate which gives a broader look at unemployment and underemployment fell a full percentage point since the president took office in january. long-term unemployment is down by 187,000 since the president took office. and america's miners and drillers are getting ba beingac work with the seventh straight month. the president's not going to stop until every american who wants to work can find meaningful employment. that's why we're working tirelessly on policies that will keep the economy growing with a tax plan that will leave more money in the pockets of hard-working americans and making it easier for businesses to thrive and infrastructure initiative that will generate $1 trillion of investment and put americans back to work rebuilding our nation's crumbling roads and bridges,

repealing and replacing the job-killing obamacare with a system that encourages competition and drives prices down and a systematic regulatory reform to reduce unnecessary burdens on manufacturing and other key industries aiming for the roll backs since the reagan years. the president will focus more on jobs this month and holding events in washington and outside pushing his pro growth, pro jobs agenda. later this afternoon, the president will sign two bills that both were passed with bipartisan support that help protect those who protect us, our nations veterans and public safety officers. first, the public safety officer's benefit act which was co-sponsored by chuck grassley of iowa and senator gillibrand of new york will reduce the unacceptable backlog of families awaiting approval of survivor benefits that were killed in the line of duty.

the second is the american law enforcement hero's act, co-sponsored by senator john cornyn which also un nanimously passed the senate in adding veterans to their forces by prioritizing the department of justice funding to law enforcement agencies used to help veterans. the loved ones of those who have paid the ultimate price while protecting our communities, the president is glad to be signing these important bills today. also in washington today, education secretary betsy devos visited the eagle public charter school to show the administration's support for inclusive school environments and celebrated the launch of the department of education's new individual disabilities act effort. at the state department, secretary tillerson met with foreign minister of brazil and departing