denial is at flood stage in appalachia among its political class. representative today respond to a question about climate change by saying the weather changes every day. i heard the head of the west virginia coal association say this was a political struggle and not a technical one and yet at the same time claim that there's no consensus on the science behind the epa's admissions. the fact of the matter is we are in a crisis in appalachia but it's not a coal crisis, it's a health crisis. those miners who have died of black lung, the heart failure cases, the fact of the matter is there are even more people who are dying who are simply innocent citizen who is live near things like mountaintop removal extraction sites who have the true cost of coal foisted upon them every day of their lives. and that's the conversation we need to be having. >> i think most people would be really surprised to see those numbers we put up before, 21,000 coal jobs in west virginia, because everyone thinks west virginia is a coal country, lots to people employed, big indus

we're in a crisis in appalachia but it's a health crisis.tioned, miners who died of black lung, heart failure. the fact of the matter is there are even more people who are dying, who are simply innocent citizens who live near things like mountaintop removal extraction sites who have the true cost of coal foisted upon them every day of their lives and that's the conversation we need to be having. >> i think most people would be really surprised to see those numbers that we put up before. 21,000 coal jobs in west virginia, because everyone thinks west virginia's coal country, lots of people employed, it's a big industry, and one trend people don't realize is twofold. natural gas has been killing coal much more than barack obama has, a., and, b., the coal industry has been reducing its labor force for years 'isn't that right? >> that's absolutely right, chris of the single largest engine behind coal job loss in appalachia has nothing to do with environmentalists or the obama administration and everything in the world to do with the move toward

from the national journal here, but i will quote the national journal who said, "mining jobs in appalachia fared far worse under the clinton, bush and reagan administrations than they have under obama." we have taken steps to approach our energy security -- energy and security needs. that includes increase production across the board. it includes aggressively investing in noble energy. it includes taking advantage of our natural gas deposits in a way that enhances u.s. national security and energy independence. and we will continue that approach. again, i would point you to all of the history in this country of actions taken by administrations of both parties to improve the quality of our air and the quality of our water. every time such actions have been taken, industry has said that doom is upon us and that jobs will be limited and the economy will crater. when these kinds of actions are done wisely, consistent with the science, the opposite has been true. >> speaking of sergeant bergdahl's parents being invited here friday, and his father's statement about the taliban's commitment to fr

brought together 23 different minority groups, four, five different hispanic groups, poor whites from appalachia and the poor whites movement. and the idea of the great society campaign was -- we knew segregation was about race, but we didn't even think voting rights was just a racial issue. and i to this day think that president johnson knew poverty and knew the poor and he had taught kids who came to school hungry. and those were the people he was most concerned. he was probably -- i think dr. king thought he was more concerned about the poor than the vote. and i think that he was probably wrong -- he was right in saying that we would lose the south, but we've had four southern presidents since the voting rights act. clinton, carter, bush and of course johnson himself, but we haven't lost the south. and the south is going to rise again. [laughter] [applause]. on november fourth we'll see another new south. >> all right. hooray! >> we tend to forget how intertwined the question of economic fairness and economic justice always was in the civil rights movement, the march on washington was the mar

>> shock, horror, people in appalachia where they mine coal don't really like -- >> no, they don't. we'll end on that note. if it's way too early, it's time for "morning joe." now it's time for "the daily rundown." chuck is abroad with the president, you'll hear from him too. have a good day. >>> crazy eights. a major mess in mississippi and eyebrow-raising rumble in iowa and a likely coronation in california. that's a far cry from the fight four years ago. just some of the big highlights as eight states head to the polls for the first primary of june. >>> also this morning, president obama faces new questions over the deal to bring home an american p.o.w. nbc news has just learned the u.s. army is preparing to launch a full high-level inquiry into the circumstances surrounding bowe bergdahl's disappearance in afghanistan. >>> plus, guess who else is voting today? syria. and there's actually more than one candidate on the ballot. but is it a real election if bashar al assad is expected to cruise to victory again? >>> good morning from washington. it's tuesday, june 3rd, 2014, and th

>> shock, horror, people in appalachia where they mine coal don't really like -- >> no, they don't.." chuck is abroad with the president, you'll hear from him too. have a good day. >>> crazy eights. a major mess in mississippi and eyebrow-raising rumble in iowa and a likely