some openly gay lawmakers have called for halting tpp negotiations with malaysia and brunei because ofheir laws targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens. the colorado congress member jared polis, whose openly gay has called on the obama administration to use the trade agreement to push for reform. he wrote a letter earlier this year saying -- "as negotiations over the tpp proceed, i hope you will seize the occasion by expressing to the governments of brunei and malaysia in no uncertain terms that their violations of basic human rights must end." john sifton, if you could respond to that, using the negotiations to change these countries, but also than the two of you disagree over what should be done with tvp. john, you're with the reform tpp crowd. peter, you're with the stop it and if. i would like to hear your views on this. john? >> first off, the problem with the idea of compelling the government of malaysia and vietnam to improve through the negotiation process is that has already been going on for four or five years, and they have been pushing these reform agenda

like vietnam, malaysia and brunei. this is significant. according to international law, a country's jurisdiction over territorial parts extends over 12 nautical miles. china is clearly outside the boundaries. in the images, you can see how far the island grew. the image on the left, you have to zoom in a little bit near the top of it, is from march 31st, 2014. the one on the right is from august 7th. that's dramatic progress in five months. here is the latest image. a close up taken on january 30th this year. tuesday, china announced that the land building part of the project should be completed within days. the next step is to build facilities, including military defense. china says it primarily intends to use the island for peaceful purposes, like maritime rescues and weather observations. no one is buying that because the islands in are in the middle of a productive finishing areas and a busy finishing lanes. >> critic accuse china of seeking economic controls. the british intelligence group says the fiery cross reef, another island in

will amount to a free trade agreement with brunei with a population less than omaha, nebraska, i might add, and new zealand, with a population less than louisiana. encouraging exports to these countries is surely desirable, he says, but the economic impact on the u.s. is unlikely to be more than a rounding error. that leaves three larger countries where the issues are more complex. japan, malaysia and vietnam. t.p.p. will also confer special status on foreign investors. allowing them to sue for financial judgment against host country regulations. he provide such deferential protection to nc companies is a mystery. creating a quasi-legal process outside the regular court system just for foreigners can go wrong in many ways. end quote. from my own reading of the t.p.p., without divulging the details, i would add the concern about private rights in disputes. the transnational panel, empowered with a living agreement, and, yes it's there, i've seen it with my own eyes. even of a the accord is signed by -- even after the accord is signed by member nations. there are also the possible except

. >> frank bruney at the "new york times" says what this decision means is we belong. >> absolutely. you are now equal in the eyes of the supreme court and in the eyes of the law. and what that message says to a young 17 year old struggling -- i heard from a 14 year old in iowa who is out to his class and family, and he is a political activist now, and he is saying what me and orethers are making a difference in his family. >> what has caused the momentum change? >> it's safety in numbers. more and more people are coming out. you have politicians, celebrities, sports figures, making it easier, and then people in families are coming out, and making it more comfortable, and getting accepted, not getting thrown out of their houses anymore, out to the street. you are seeing this now -- almost a badge of honor to have a gay son or lessbian daughter or a transgender member of your family. change is coming. i wish it would have happened 65 years earlier, but it will help generations there here on out. >> one of the arguments before the court was whether this was changing the institution of

and why do we have to have a trade deal with brunei? shari'a law. really? that's going to make our economy better? no. this is a wall street deal. this is a corporate deal. it's not for the betterment of raising wages in this country. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. will democrats be able to hold the line on fast track? go to pulse.msnbc.com/ed to cast your vote. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. for more let me bring in missouri congressman emanuel cleaver, and also with us tonight, congressman tim ryan of ohio. great to have you with us tonight. we are in no doubt the 11th hour of a huge decision that's going to affect our economy. i want to tell our audience tonight that this pressure is not going to end any time soon. this is the way the month of june is going to be. the president's going to be working the phone. he's going to be working the caucuses. he's going to be trying to get every vote until they get enough votes. so what's the drop dead date on all of this? congressman cleaver, i know

guess what brunei is in this deal. the president called him a good guy. speaking of the president, is this about his legacy? no, it's about your legacy. president obama has enough to be remembered on. he can be remembered on health care. he can be remembered on the economy. he can be remembered on the automobile loan program. there's a lot of good stuff. he can be remembered as the most obstructive president in the history of this country. you know what else he's going to be remembered for? turning and going with conservatives who want to do a corporate deal from wall street to do a trade deal that's going to gut your constituents' jobs. so tell me, how are you going to go home, how am i going to go home in the seventh district in minnesota and say gosh, i voted to give the president authority to take your job, because that is exactly what is going to happen. nancy pelosi doesn't want to embarrass the president. that's what's reported in politico. okay. i get that. but you know what? all of us in public life get embarrassed from time to time. the presiden

the only company with no value added tax is brunei. so even with tpp u.s.goods will be still subject to high tariffs. on the flipside the united states has no value-added tax. so foreign goods can just flood the united states market. tariff free. commentary tonight. i've covered this for over a year. at this hour i don't recognize president obama anymore. i don't know who this guy is. this is not what he campaigned on. i'm totally confused at everything he has done throughout this entire process. it's been a lot of generic talk and a sell job but no specifics and promises that have never been lived up to. the president, remember never mentioned a word about the massive trade agreement during the 2012 reelection campaign. in fact president obama made outsourcing and the actions of mitt romney closing down plants a focal point of his campaign. let it be said beyond a shadow of a doubt this is the biggest wind wall street has ever had when it comes to trade. t there's never been a bigger deal. also the biggest loss labor has ever had in this country. a real bl

sultan of brunei. sultan of brew -- brunei gets one vote. the president of the united states gets one vote. it appears from my reading of the document it is difficult to understand what they mean. i would say at the most fundamental level this congress should not fast-track any transnational union of which we are a part until we understand every word in it, we know exactly what it means and the president can answer. and i've asked i've asked him what it means this living agreement language, in a letter. no answer. i asked the president of the united states do you contend this agreement will reduce the big trade deficit we have, or will it increase the trade deficit? they don't answer. the only thing that advocates for this treaty say is that it will advance or enhance employment in the exporting industries. that's the only statement they made. why are they being careful about that? i've listened to them. no one has ever said much more than that. well in 2011 the president of the united states asserted, when he was doing the promoting the tra

we are saying we are fine to entering into a trade agreement with countries like brunei where lgbt individuals can be stoned to death. we are saying we are fine having a trade agreement that weakens protections against human trafficking and fine with entering into an agreement with vietnam which denies workers collective bargaining rights while throwing advocates into prison. we are not voting on t.p.p., we are voting on t.p.a., but we are setting the rules for governing the negotiations and removing ourselves from the process of improving and strengthening this trade agreement. the house should reject this proposal and stand with hardworking americans. we should oppose t.p.a. we should oppose the rule. we have for 30 years have trade policies in this country that have failed american workers. driving down wages. increasing inequality. and as a result costing jobs. a vote for fast track is a vote to abandon our responsibility to ensure trade works for our country and for american workers. i urge my colleagues to reject this rule, to reject the underlying bill, and vote no on t.p.a. the speaker