that's why we have the epa. i remember fishing with my dad as a boy, my dod and sister ate the fish as well. that river along with countless other polluted rivers and streams and lakes in all 50 states are subject to public health advisories cautioning citizens against eating the mercury-laden fish found in them. most of the mercury in our fish come from air pollution. we also know that mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that threatens the health of this generation and generations to come. the epa recently issued health protections to clean up the toxic air pollution from the coal plants, to allow communities to eat the fish from our lakes, rivers and streams without the concerns of mercury poisoning. that's why we have the epa. too often when state and local communities are pinched for cash they shortchange clean water and air protections. and oftentimes they're ignored, corners are cut, and they save dollars now but inflict costly damage later. in the city of flint, michigan, these cuts can have even a tragic im

that's why we have the epa. that's why we have the epa. some of my colleagues described me to serve deference as the members of the leadership teams. supporting the republicans, democrats, nominees and subsequently every epa administrator demonstrated clearly they would connect to furthering the overall mission of protecting the environment. i'm also committed to a full and fair confirmation process with respect to the nomination to president elect is offered to him having said that i will share with my colleagues today at too much of the environmental views of the role of the epa are troubling and in some cases deeply troubling. the epa administrator with whom i served seven years in the states recently said she can't recall ever having seen an appointment someone so disdainful asides but the agency does. it's hard to imagine a more damning statement in a position of trust that you have been nominated. today is the opportunity to show its wrong. coming to the hearing today i fear that she's gotten it right. thank you. >> thank you very mu

the epa has uncertainty. we talked a minute ago with the senator about the amount of investment that's gone into the infrastructure because of the 2005 law. law. those individuals need to have certainty and confidence that the rfs will be enforced and administered pursuant to the desire of congress. >> but if you were to do that you would actually have to answer yes because to move the program from refiners to blenders is one of the ways you can actually undermine the rfs standards as intended by congress which you just said was intended to increase the amount of biofuels blended into the fuel supply of the united states. this is my problem. on one hand your track record shows you someone who opposes the rfs were here in front of congress and in meetings with senators, you are giving these bag answers that sound right but really opens all sorts of back doors for you to oppose renewable fuel standards. that is troublesome because all across the midwest, for those of us who have fought to strengthen national se

epa's hard work.truck me and i believe the rule of law does matter. and i am heartened by your passion for that. the regulatory overreach of the epa has contributed to economic devastation in my state of west virginia and my region. data from the mine safety and health administration shows that 60,000 coal jobs have been lost between 2011 in 2016. thousands are west virginia. we are in a desperate situation in our state right now because of this. whitfield herring and west virginia where our wb you economist said that the coal industry downturn had resulted in six of our southern west virginia counties being in a great depression. for the past eight years the epa has given no indication that it all but cares about the economic impact of the policies. even the congress has said very clearly in the clean air act and other environmental statutes we expect jobs and economic factors to be taken into account. that is part of the law.in october a federal court held that the epa had failed to evaluate the job

as the epa administrator. the role and what you are seeking do you believe that this is a adequate way to communicate and what are your views on making agency communication more transparent and assessable. >> this is a common theme. as i met with many of you on this committee was expressed to me a concern about the lack of response by the epa in response to inquiries let alone the time response. i think it's very important to listen not only to the voice of the american people but to listen to members of congress and listen to members of this body with respect to the issues that concern them. that something i take very seriously the ranking member have asked the questions in terms of your role as the attorney general with regard to fracking issues in oklahoma. but also with regard to clear air attainment levels. what you're trying to portray at the time and i i would like you to expand on this even different role you a different role as an attorney general than you would be with the agency within the state who

epa is required to regulate mercury because epa determine that mercury emissions from power plants pose and otherwise risk of options to reduce this risk are available. it seems contrary to legal argument you supported in the past. is that correct. >> i agree with his position that mercury is something that's very dangerous. >> thank you very much. are you aware that the last three administrators have publicly stated that the epa is required to regulate mercury from powerplant because of the health wrath risk. >> i believe it should be regulated. >> thank you very much. >> according to the epa my time is about to expire. thank you very much mr. chairman. >> thank you senator carper. >> senator in half. >> thank you mr. chairman. i don't think you had adequate time to answer some of the questions that were asked. is there anything you would like to add to elaborate. >> yes, thank you. i do want to say to his concern, with respect to president-elect statement throughout the campaign am i believe there is a very important role the epa has and we talked about in your office. i believe there

attorney general, in august of 2016, the epa inspector general found that the epa failed to follow through with its commitment to update the 2010 lifecycle analysis for corn ethanol and has also failed to perform its legally required comprehensive study on the environmental effects of the renewable fuel standards. the information on the lifecycle emissions is inaccurate and it's outdated. today's best available shows ethanol int and gasoline can significantly reduce greenhouse gases. however, the epa failed to update its own science with the most recent that is available and continues to rely on the outdated and inaccurate science when setting national policy regulatory policies. what are your thoughts on relying outdated and inaccurate science to the federal regulatory policy? >> i think it is the obligation of the epa taking steps to ensure it has the most up-to-date objectives and scientific data possible. >> let me follow up a little bit. the current process for considering the scientific information underpinning major regulations i believe is flawed and unbalanced. the scientific advi

epa will be in good hands.director of the environmental quality talks about the excellent work done and as work done in as "epa will be in good hands with scott pruett. i would point out that between 2004 and submit this for the record. the most recent employers. stuart: what we saw moments ago with senator cory booker, democrat of new jersey, putting questions -- he did not put a nominee for epa. he made an long statement about asthma and whether or not scott pruett had taken action against asthma and his home state of oklahoma as he was the attorney general of oklahoma. i don't believe that mr. pruett had a chance to respond. ashley: the chair could have given enough time to chose not to. >> democrats are complaining we don't have time to ask the questions. they're not giving the nominees time to answer. >> today lay a glove and don't let it respond? >> there was a surprise question on the man. how many cases of asthma are there in oklahoma? the very specific question. >> dr. ran paul questioning dr. tom pric

that's the bulk of how epa does its work. epa oversees over $6 billion in grants and contracts, everything from monitoring air quality to cleaning up polluted industrial sites, all of that according to these documents smuggled out to capitol hill today all grants and contracts are suspended "effective immediately. the agency has been effectively stopped. again, there's been no official announcement about this. we only know it because an employee has blown the whistle. the only reason the employee had to blow the whistle is because epa employees have been ordered to stop talking to make no public pronouncements on anything. in addition to this information about the contracts and grants being halted, this document was this document was smuggled to a staffer on the hill. "restrictions that are effective immediately and will remain in place until further direction is received." this is what epa employees have been told and they've been told not to talk about it. no press releases will be going out to external audiences. no social

at its core epa is a public health agency and the american people demand a strong and active epa to protect our common right to clean air, clean water and safe healthy communities for our families to live and work and to play. this fundamental and indispensable role is put into stock relief in moments like this when company's choose to break our nation's environmental laws and they admit pollution in levels that pose a threat to the health of american families. selling more than half a million cars with illegal devices is a violation that cannot go unnoticed or unanswered. today we mark another milestone in this landmark case that's delivered billions of dollars in clean air act protections. but don't be fooled into thinking that delivering pollution reductions like this is easy. it's not. it's a lot of hard work by men and women who work tirelessly to address these issues and it takes collaboration between the federal agencies and partnerships with states, tribes and local communities and in this case coordination even with our neighbor to the north canada. no, it's not easy but the work i

so you are applying for a job as administrator for the epa to protect oure environment. overwhelming sin tists say we have to act boldly and you are tell meg there nee telling me there needs to be more debate. >> no, senator. as indicated, the climate is changing -- >> you haven't told me why you think the climate is changing. >> senator, the job of the administrator is to carry out statutes as passed by this body -- >> why is the climate changing? >> senator, in in response to the co2 issue, it is constrained by statutes -- >> i'm asking you a personal opinion. >> my personal opinion is immaterial -- >> really? you are head of the agency to pro secretary t protect the environment and your feelings about whether climate change is caused by human activity is -- >> senator i have -- >> impacts, scientific community didn't say it impact, it is the cause of climate change and we have to transform our energy system. do you believe we have to change our energy system in order to protect our planet for future generations. >> i believe epa has an important role -- >> you didn't

you specialize in covering the environment and epa. we're seeing a similar line with these nominees saying one thing opposite of what they said in some cases prior to being nominated for these positions. >> one of the reasons they do that is obviously they are trying to get as much support as they can. certainly in the senate environment and public works committee. it's interesting, i was talking to a scott pruitt supporter yesterday who said he really expects this to be a party line vote. but for any nominee, they'd like to get the opposing party, in this case, the democrats, as much support as they possibly can. but scott pruitt in particular, the epa nominee, he's really come under fire. you have the environmental defense fund which has never opposed a presidential epa nominee for the first time in its history opposing scott pruitt because of what they feel are his anti-environmental stances. >> he's sued the epa 14 times. >> 14 times. and on issues cory booker, the senator from new jersey, was just questioning him and he sued the e

against epa.tail this and its role in carbon dioxide production. we have talked about federal communications and immigration and trade and international security. we can talk about what he did on monday. on monday, president trump signed an executive order cancelling funds for groups that offer abortions or abortion advocacy, even if they use their own funds to do so. this means that aid agencies working in foreign countries will lose millions of dollars in funds. today we've heard that the netherlands is launching a global fund to try and cover the lost funding. the country's foreign ministry said "where decisions are taken that are bad for women in developing countries we should help those women,". "it's not about the politics, it's about those women." pai is a global reproductive health organisation and says "this is a policy denying women life—saving services — it will cut off funding for groups providing hiv testing kits to teenagers, it will cut malaria programmes". but donald trump and his

>> it's easy for him to criticize the epa.t's a complicated job running -- and his history is entirely in opposing environmental protections and opposing the interests of american citizens. so, why we would have any confidence that after decades of his behavior, he would change when he had -- he's being brought in as the chief opponent of the epa somehow to become the head of the agency that is protecting our environment. that seems to me to be a complete contradiction and has to be intentional. >> tom steyer, always good to have you on the show. appreciate it. >> jake, thank you very much for having me. >> the president-elect putting the finishing touches on an inauguration speech he wrote himself, according to aides. what kind of tone will mr. trump take on friday? that story next. when you're close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment? if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. taltz is proven to give you a chance at co

i mean, the one time scott pruitt ever got responsibility for running anything remotely like the epa he destroyed it. he closed it down. he's had one dress rehearsal for this and it did not end well for oklahoma's environmental protection unit which is the closest thing to an epa that oklahoma had. it was in his office when he got control of that office. he shut that down. i mean, it's remarkable to have this particular hearing for this particular guy to run this particular part of the government on the day that we learned we just had the third straight hottest year in human history. it's also remarkable that when they were looking for somebody to fill the environment job in the new administration they went to the one state in the country famous above all others for manufacturing its own man-made earthquakes because of that state's refusal to regulate oil and gas and the way it deals with its waste water. i mean, the big picture view of the epa nomination is kafkaesque that they would find this particular guy but in the granular details aired out in today's hearing, it showed up just

scott pruitt is not qualified to lead the epa. there's never been a person even on the republican side, who wants to do such violence to the mission of the epa. >> are you as of now a no on all three? >> i'm a no on all three and those and betsy devos, oh, boy, that was a rough performance to watch i was talking to a friend of mine not in politics, that went viral all over the internet. millions and millions of views of a health education labor and pensions meeting. something is happening across the country and it's not late october of last year but now where people are realizing that a lot of these nominees will do violence to the agencies they want to run. we have a nominee for the education department who basically will not commit to public education. who doesn't understand the law at its most basic level and won't commit to not privatizing public education. >> so you're a no on all those three. i remember hearing early reports democrats were goingo oose one or two to focus their fire against. obviously civil rights groups feel

did you not disclose to the epa? we make all disclosures, all the software that goes into the vehicles is disclosed. there's a part of the regulation that requires the nonoperation of some of the control mechanisms to be disclosed and to be vetted by the epa. this is governed by practice. by historical practices that have been in place between us and the epa over a number of years. we have had discussions now with epa on the matters since september of 2015. it's been more than a year and a half. we have made tons of material available to them. we continue to discuss the issue, and we are in the process now presenting a more complete set of control strategies that remedy all of their concerns, so the issue could have been settled and should have been settled, i think, in my view, in a more efficient way and more business-like manner as opposed to elevating this to suggestions that we're trying to defraud anybody. >> why are they coming public now calling you just short of saying there's defeat devices in the vehicles.

timesd epa more than 14 when he was the attorney general of oklahoma.e 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 -- d

charles: congress grilling trumps epa pick.homa's attorney general actually sued the epa 13 times. joining me now to discuss nicholas loris and ed facility. add let me ask you this is an interesting one in the sense that they are trying to box through it in with respect to global warming and by the same token saying hey you don't think the epa should exist and the president doesn't think global warming is real why should he run his agency? >> yeah. [inaudible] but here's the real issue. under president obama over 500 regulations a year were put in place by the epa. that's over 4000 charles, 4000 regulations placed on business in violation of the constitution and the epa statutory authority. i mean don't take my word for it. take harvard law professor lawrence trott who was an old obama mentor who said this was a serious executive overreach and he had serious constitutional concerns with the action of the epa under obama. charles: of course necklace the interpretation from the supreme court for the clean air act i guess makes th

they plan to address the epa concerns, including software plans.say they will meet with the incoming administration, big news just crossing the bloomberg. fiat chrysler shares down 17%. on the bottom of the stoxx 600, look at the big declining industry. it is the autos. look at the individual autos, just two out of the entire group are rising. daimler down 3%. this news is infecting the entire auto industry across europe. or unlucky 13ky for the ftse 100? looks like it will be lucky 13, i am talking about the winning run for the benchmark share gauge in london. 13 days of gains, that is the record. 12 was a record. 13 means we have had 11 straight all-time highs, it's also is a record before today -- is a record. before today we had the best performers where the miners. all that 19 stocks on the index rose. the ftse remains overbought according to the 14 day. 13 days of gains, who would have guessed it? as martin gilbert told me, where else do you put your money? vonnie: i am starting with gold because we finally saw it rake threw the -- break thro

>> epa is very political. communicating their message trying to convince people that what they're doing at epa is the correct thing. >> reporter: so while a pause in communications may be standard operating procedure during a transition, i spoke with several past epa official who is say there are parts of trump's transition approach that do appear to be extreme, for example, telling employees they're forbidden from speaking to members of congress. a former republican new jersey governor christine todd whitman who also served as epa administrator under george w. bush, told me today, pointed out that this communications lockdown does come within a context, a context of donald trump's war on the media and the distrust of the press. i am also told by epa spokesperson that the agency is in the process of reviewing all the material, what will be allowed on the agency website, what will not be allowed and the litmus test is what fits with the administration's views. >> thank you very much. >>> next, jeanne moos remem

however, again the epa says fiat chrysler did not disclose the emission software. late today new york attorney eric schneiderman says -- denies that it has installed software that is designed to get around emission laws here in the united states. nonetheless, chrysler executives will be in california next week to mote with executives from the california air resources board phil lebeau, "nightly business report," atlanta. >> wall street stocks fell just an investors start to gear up for earning seasons. the three major indexes dropped sharply early in the day with the dow at one point losing 180 points but those losses were paired by the end of the session. blue chip dow index closed down to 19,891. nasdaq lost 168 and the s&p 500 off four. with today's decline it appears as if the bill ragly in stocks since the election is taking a somewhat extended breather. >> the markets are weak today going into earning season and for a very good reason. i've called the market a coiled spring several times in the past week because the market's are essentially priced for perfect

far more than that according to the epa. we'll see how this plays out. >> phil, i'm trying to think about it in a broader context here. you have this fiat story. whether it's comparable or not to vw i think you just drew a strong point that it is not. exploding airbags at takata, gm faulty ignition switches. is this normal stream of bad news and problems? is there a quality control issue? what's going on with the automakers? >> no, because you're looking at three different scandals or potential scandals. it's too early to call what's going on with fiat chrysler as a scandal. when you're looking at volkswagen that has essentially shown to be a case where you had executives accused of hiding information from regulators. when you look at gm's ignition switch prices, that was a case of incompetence essentially. even the ceo mary barra said there was gross negligence and incompetency competence on the part of their executives. it looks like there's no control but the fact of the matter is, sara, if you look at the quality ratings

it's a war on the epa. >> but a trump transition source tells cnn the freeze will not impact all epa grants. we're told the 4.$1 billion the agency gives to states to implement clean water and clean air regulations will not be touched. but other discretionary grants will be frozen for review. >> the states, their budgets have been cut so much that i don't think that many of these safety programs will continue without federal funding. >> but marlow lewis with the libertarian think tank competitive enterprise institute welcomes the approach. >> it's a good idea for a new administration that is thinking about a new direction for the epa, to want to take a pause, a time-out, and just look at all of these things first before spending the tax payers' money. >> word about the agency freezing grants comes as details of an epa action plan was leaked to the media. the plan considered a wish list calls for more than $800 million in cuts to state grants, climate, and environmental programs. the action plantar gets regulations that limit carbon emissions from power plants and greenhouse gases fro

what questions would you like to ask the epa designate?ese are good poin -- thesed points to raise. as an attorney general who also sued the epa, i recognize where he's coming from. in alaska we have the cleanest air and what der in the country. but we need a federal agency that recognizes its limits with regard to the rule of law, statutes and the constitution. the fact that attorney general price has pressed the epa on these issues to make sure they are not an agency that's out of control with regard to regulations and hurting jobs which i believe they are. i think that's a strength of attorney general pruitt. so i intend to ask questions about the role of the epa in terms of keeping our water and air clean, by we all want. but also in terms of abiding by the rule of law. the current epa administrator and the obama administration do not have a strong record on that. i think scott pruitt is an inspired choice to be the epa administrator. arthel: as a member of the armed services committee, you were there for secretary of de nominee james

did the epa do anything wrong? ms. mccarthy: the epa worked very hard. representative chaffetz: i have another question for you. no, hold on. did the -- mark edwards has testified here twice. he does not have a dog in this fight other than he wants good quality health for people, and he wants good, clean water. and he happens to know the science behind the water. on those two hearings, did mr. edwards say anything that you think was wrong, or maybe inaccurate? do you think mr. edwards is that anything that was wrong or inaccurate in any of those testimonies? ms. mccarthy: i don't think he was at all informed about epa. he doesn't know how we are supposed to work in the system. he doesn't understand that the problem itself was a responsibility of the state. oversight was our responsibility. we took that seriously, and we conducted it. does that mean i don't have regrets, because i don't -- representative chaffetz: that is cheap. we just got regrets. that is cheap. that is cheap. ms. mccarthy: you have to look at the way the law works. representative chaff

the nominees for commerce, health and human services, epa administrator and u.n. ambassador. to face senators. you can see the four boxes on your screen. also the pardon predicamenpredi. obama's pardons. and george h.w. bush in the hospital in texas this morning. the 92-year-old admitted for shortness of breath. we'll have the latest on his condition. we have our team of correspondents everywhere across the country with all of this covered today, including right here on capitol hill. msnbc political correspondent kasie hunt watching the tom price hearing. kasie, let's talk about the congressman under fire over some of his stock purchases. democrats really fired up about this. talk to us about what's going on. >>. >> that's right, hallie. democrats are very, very focused on this.

scott pruett to lead the epa.d at least a dozen times as oklahoma's attorney general. and democrats are resistant to this particular nominee. they say he is not qualified to lead the agency he once tried to dismantle. back to you. >> thank you very much. president trump's every move is being watched by the world. how will a call to investigate voter fraud motivated by this fallacy of what determined the popular vote matter abroad. we'll talk to a former under secretary of state, next. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet? won't replace the full value of your totaled new car. the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, you won't have to worry about replacing your car because you'l

there are major revisions following our vision into the epa's plan. >> last fall, we found that the epa was considering raising the radiation in drinking water levels liar. today with this, that became a reality, this 111 page protect ed action guide manual. epa officials tell us these new guidelines were prompted by the massive tsunami in japan in 2011. a tsunami that wiped out the coolant system at fukushima. releasing tons of radioactive material into the environment. now the epa has made those guidelines fine will aand official many. these tags are too be used only in a major national emergency. according to the administrator for the office of water, the new tag is meant to promote a nonregulatory benchmark that can help state and local officials deal with an emergency for a short term period. they don't affect longer term, they don't affect any regulatory standards. we're very clear about that. >> there's no way that can't put people at risk. >> the director of uc santa cruz says the new tags contradict themselves in several places, leaving many questions about public safety. >> do

sued thedministrator epa 19 times. the list goes on and on.n thee had coverage networks yesterday up all the confirmation hearings that were taking place. there were four. scott pruitt, oklahoma's attorney general for epa. wilbur ross to head of commerce. nikki haley, the governor of south carolina, nominated to be u.s. ambassador to the united nations. priceen, as you said, tom , republican of georgia, who has been selected by president-elect trump to head of the health and human services agency. you can go to www.c-span.org and watch it there. we will show you moments from yesterday's confirmation hearings and the final news conference that took place for the outgoing president, president obama, faced the press corps one last time, took several questions about his commuting the sentence of chelsea manning, russia acting, etc. we will show you the final question he took and the answer , his view of the future administration. let's get to your calls about inauguration day. doreen is excited in connecticut. good morning to you. go ahead. host:

they're worried that scott pruitt will gut the epa.emocrats pressed pruitt on his fundamental environmental beliefs like climate change. >> the climate is changing. human activity contributes to that in some manner. >> in some manner. >> yes, sir. >> 97% of the scientists that wrote articles in peer review journals believe that human activity is the fundamental reason. >> i believe you can't measure with precision and is subject to more debate. >> environmental groups say that answer is leaving pruitt's epa enough room to do nothing to address climate change. republicans have charged for years that the epa under the obama administration with regulations on power plants and waterways have circumvented congress and they say pruitt is the right personal to overhaul the epa. shep? >> shepard: we'll speak with a journalist that has attended the most high profile hearing. that's coming up on "shepard smith reporting." >> shepard: continuing coverage now. president-elect donald trump's pick to fill out his cabinet and the hearings to confirm

epa, scott the headline "trump's epa pit splits on climate." the story says scott pruitt suited the epa 14 times and said he believes climate change is real despite comments from mr. trump over the years, including during the campaign that climate change was a hoax graduated by the chinese to reduce the cost and competitiveness of u.s. manufacturers. front page of the new york times -- for the 30the year the earth hit record heat. scientists report on wednesday the earth reached the highest temperature on record in 2016, trouncing a record year earlier. it is the first time in the modern era of global warming data temperatures have blown past the previous record three years in a row." robert, west haven, connecticut. you are excited about tomorrow. good morning and tell us why. for donald trump i think on to what he did, with him being in office. i don't know. not to at ease with that he has been playing with people too much. host: i think you called may be on the wrong line. we are divided between excited and apprehensive. are you going to wat

something epa official told me they adamantly deny. one group in washington has already filed suit in court over this proposal and new york state's attorney general's office has told me they have not ruled out filing suit to stop this as well. we'll stay on this story. guys. >> good work, steven. thank you. if you have a tip for steven or our investigative unit in general give them a call, 888-996-tips or send an e-mail to the unit at nbcbayarea.com. we'll be right back. no. >> but first suspected of robbing the same bank twice now, campbell police believe they have the serial robber in custody. investigators say he is responsible for holding up the same chase bank on winchester two times in the last two months. police add that the suspect only lives a block away from that bank that he is accused of robbing. >>> the effort to prevent freeway shootings in the east bay is ramping up in the city of san pablo plans to install three new surveillance cameras along that stretch of interstate 80. the cameras are designed to help identify peopl

epa. >> i think that epa is a lawless against going beyond bounds of what they are mandated to do, and failing in their core mission. you think back to colorado, they poisoned river and missed flint water poisoning. pruitt is not the typical republican appointee to that agency. they usually appoint soft democrats, i think that left understands there is a real threat to their epa activism. >> that administration has been so active with the epa. >> republicans proved a long time ago 35 years ago. tom kaine believed he could bring republicanism and environmentalism together, that pruitt vote will be very serious. in places like new jersey we have a lot of republicans and other states, environmental issues do matter. >> you mentioned the flint crisis, scandal. the president has been very vocal about he had no scandals in his presidency, flint water crisis i would say is huge glaring scandal. >> and the irs. maria: that is another one, and. ben huttobenghazi we could do ae list, what about tillerson? >> i think this tillerson did very well. he got through it. >> importantly, he used word as

trump also barred all epa staff from awarding any new contracts or grants.imilar bans are in place at the agriculture and interior departments. could tying the hands of the epa effect the battle against climate change? jim axelrod has a look. >> reporter: at the university of pennsylvania, environmental professors like bettany wiggin, listened carefully to candidate trump talk about climate change. >> all of this with the global warming, a lot of it is a hoax. >> reporter: which is why she, her colleagues and her students are racing to back up other server's information available on government websites. temporarily restrictions announced today that epa employees can no longer post or blog from government accounts stoked their fears the administration will limit access to data as it rolls back environmental protections. >> i'm really worried the facts might become more difficult to access, so there is a kind of vulnerability of internet materials already. they become more vulnerable still when controlled by an administration who finds them inconvenient. >> re

trump's pick for epa is asked, does he believe climate change is a hoax? his pick for education, and her controversial answer about guns in schools. >>> two days to go. the president-elect with his speech. how long is it? what is the tone and will he speak to a divided america? and the boycott. at least 60 democrats now saying they won't go. and president obama tonight defending his move on chelsea manning. >>> the emergency rescues coming in. the baby pulled from rising waters.

how many letters to the epa?st have lawsuit if there's -- to the state. >> time is past but injury? clearly asthma is triggered and caused by air pollutants. >> kayleigh similar to what i asked. do you think have imsnakt. >> none whatsoever, democrats sealed deal for republicans when eliminated the fill buster for cabinet picks. and just need the votes. i think rubio will come around, mccain will come around, don't want to be the republican who stopped donald trump from getting his pick. and disagree that reason we're talking about replacement of obamacare not because of democrat but president-elect said not going to let people die on the streets. important. it's not democrats that changed conversation. >> he didn't say that until the democrats put a huge pressure on the -- >> said in the republican primary. >> and he got to washington and they were planning this repeal all along. if donald trump wants to work with democrats to protect americans from a radical congress, more power to him. happy to have him do it.

>> i would certainly want to get scott pruitt in the epa. the epa seems to me to be in the eyes of money and in the eyes of a number of judges, who have ruled on cases against the agency to be an agency in some ways out of control. an agency that many believe has overstepped its bounds, the four corners of the laws under which they are supposed to operate. to engage in a lot of regulatory activities the people believe were harmful to business. and in some cases, against the law. i would be very, very eager to get him in there. your national security people in place. rex tillerson's nomination looks like it will go forward. those obviously, those national security agencies. if i'd pick one after that, epa. >> tucker: i would too. brit hume, not in washington but of it. thank you for joining us. >> thank you, tucker. >> tucker: here's a fun segment. a uconn professor says if you voted for donald trump, it's probably because you are a white supremacist. he joins us to explain why that is. stay tuned. it's always lurking around. but i'm safe. i

this is not an epa accusation and investigation. the doj is likely working on a case, as well.s to these accusations from the environmental protection agency, comes down to this. 100,000 diesel vehicles that are being -- accused here of having incorrect emissions. 104,000, to be correct. 2014 to 2016 jeep grand cherokee pickups. essentially what the epa is saying, there is software in these vehicles that allows the emissions to be different from testing than in real-world conditions. similar, but not exactly the same as what we heard with the vw case. here is sergio marshion saying this is nothing like vw and saying the epa is way wrong on this case. >> there was never any intent and there has never been any intent of creating conditions that were designed to defeat the testing process. this is an absolute nonsense. anybody who draws a parallel between us and vw is illegal material. >> listen to that. smoking illegal materials. he went on later in the conference call to say he believes the epa is essentially throwing fee at chrysler under the bus, and ease confident that as his

you are suing the epa on as attorney general of oklahoma at the time you are the head of the epa? >> i'm not saying that at all. >> you are saying that. will you recuse yourself? >> council has indicated it will require review of those cases, then recusal. jonathan: confirmation hearings are scheduled tomorrow for rick kerry to head up the energy department -- rick perry two had the energy department. we have just learned the president elect has selected former georgia governor sonny purdue to be secretary of agriculture. alison: virginia has now executed gray. the u.s. supreme court refused to stop the execution despite lawyers questioning the drug choice for the lethal injection. gray was convicted of killing a family of four, including two young children on new year's day 2006. before tonight, virginia's last execution was in october 2015. jonathan: and developing right now -- >> why did they see her in the wheelchair? jonathan: outrage, searching for the gun man who killed a grandmother in her wheelchair. the police are hoping they will release surveillance footage to show the