and i will hand over to jeff merkley. >> thank you. i am honored to be here with this group of senators that are climate champions fighting for clean water and clean air and specifically to take on the carbon pollution that's having such an impact. but across the city there's another group, there's vice president mike pence and the epa director pruitt and they are standing up right now talking about how they are going to dismantle regulations on carbon pollution. this is a very big thing. carbon pollution is destroying the resources of the rural america, the forests, farming and fishing. the fire season in oregon is now two months longer than it was decades ago. the streams are former and smaller because of the smaller snowpack in the mountains. over on the coast, we have the difficulty of oysters being unable to reproduce correctly because the water is so much more acidic because the burning of fossil fuels into the carbon dioxide and it's making it hard for the fish to start their life, not to mention the coral reefs around the world

and i hand off to jeff merkley. senator merkley: thank you. i am honored to be here with this group of five senators who are climate champions, who are fighting for clean water and for clean air and specifically to take on the carbon pollution that's having such an impact. but across the city there's another group. there is vice president pence and secretary perry and secretary zincy and e.p.a. director -- zinke and e.p.a. director pruitt and they are standing up right now talking about how they're going to dismantle regulations on carbon pollution. well, this is a very big thing. carbon pollution is destroying the resources of rural america. it is destroying our forests, our farming and our fishing. the fire season in oregon is now two months longer than it was decades ago. the streams are warmer and smaller because of the smaller snowpack in the mountains. over on the coast, we have the difficulty of oysters being unable to reproduce correctly because the water is so much more acidic because the burning of fossil fuels has become carbon diox

. >>> democratic senator jeff merkley joins us. we'll get his take on the russian interference in the u.s. presidential election. yes says he'll be voting against judge neil gorsuch next week. we'll speak with him live right after this. talk about this. it's time. it is a big decision for us... let's take the $1000 in cash back. great! yeah, i want to get one of those gaming chairs with the speakers. oh, you do? that's a surprise... the volkswagen 3 and easy event, where you can choose one of three easy ways to get a $1000 offer. hurry in to your volkswagen dealer now and you can get $1000 as an apr bonus, a lease bonus, or cash back. but they're different.d kind it's nice to remove artificial ingredients. kind never had to. we've used real ingredients, whole nuts, and natural flavors from the very beginning. give kind a try. >>> senate republicans are pressuring democrats to stand down on threats to filibuster the confirmation of the u.s. supreme court nominee judge neil gorsuch. a group of senators along with former gorsuch clerk

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thank you senator jeff merkley. >>> we have breaking news from north carolina. lawmakers expected to vote to repeal hb-2. the transgender bathroom bill. gay rights activists say it doesn't go far enough. dave briggs has more. >> this is confusing. the democratic governor of north carolina working with republican lawmakers to come up with the compromise. hb-2 forced transgender people to use the bathroom that relates to the gender on their birth certificate instead of the gender they identify with. leaving the regulation of the bathrooms to state lawmakers. lgbt advocates say this is another version of the old law and would continue to allow discrimination against transgender people. leaving them with no statewide ant anti-discrimination ordinance and no ability to seek protection from local governments for years. time and certainly money are. essence. hb-2 cost north carolina millions as businesses and entertainers and sports league boycott the state. ncaa has threatened to leave the state out of hosting championship events through 2022 if hb-2 is not repealed b

. >> joining me now, jeff merkley. guess first response that it represents empowerment and competition. >> well, if empowerment means as a working family you'll pay more it's empowerment. as a senior you're going to pay more, than that's empowerment. if it means as a rich person you'll get an incredible deduction in your taxes, an average of about $200,000 for those who earn more than $250,000. i guess you have empowerment for the very wealthy. this is the worst possible plan for working america, for seniors and then for struggling families who are on medicaid expansion. this is a terrible plan, it's going to destroy the expansion of medicaid. >> i see where you are on this. what can you as a democratic member of the united states senate do to stop it? >> we're going to team up with the republicans from the far right who hate this and the moderate republicans who hate it and that gives us a majority and we can stop this bill. >> do you think, though -- they're saying they hit it now. but i heard -- i remember reading l

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. >>> coming up on "morning joe," we'll talk with senator jeff merkley of oregon who is one of the democrats who said he won't vote for neil gorsuch on the fight over the judge's confirmation. >>> so, traffic is bad in atlanta on pretty much any day that ends in the letter "y," but now a massive fire has caused what the mayor is calling a transportation crisis. dramatic video showing flames engulfing the section here interstate 85. it's right in the city during rush hour. the fire started under the bridge creating huge clouds of black smoke that could be seen for miles. fire crews were unable to reach the scene for hours due to the extreme heat generated by the flames. authorities managed to reverse traffic on that jammed highway before the bridge collapsed and somehow kind of miraculously no injuries and no deaths have been reported. now, atlanta mayor calls it a long-term crisis with all lanes on interstate 85 blocked indefinitely. what a mess. >> that looks terrible. >>> if you're waking up in the northeast this morning, you look out your window, you're probably not happy. if you're trave

jeff merkley said, this is a stolen seat. and he will use every lever in his ability to stop it.epublicans publicly divided about obamacare, wiretapping, russia, right now they are clearly political united behind trump's scotus pick and united hind the new president. >> this was the single most important issue to them when they voted for me for president. i am a man of my word. i will do as i say. >> a man of his word. trump is saying his word is bond. for democrats, the question is clear. are they shook or ready to battle? up next, what are the key issues facing the supreme court? we have a special panel weighing in, tackling the worst nightmare for any nominee when passwords can come back to haunt you. >> both the judiciary committees explaining what she meant in speeches when she said a wise latina woman would reach a better conclusion than a white male. >> aren't you saying there that you expect your background and heritage to influence your decision making? >> it was bad because it left an impression that i believed that life experiences commanded a result in a case. let's t

there were guys like jeff merkley of organ that before there was even a nominee on the table said that democrats should oppose him on principle because of the merrick garland nomination last year. i think you also have people who object to him as chuck schumer will say, on the grounds they do not believe there is evidence he will be sufficiently independent in his assessments of the trump administration. i think you have those two things in confluence now along with this notion that maybe the best way for the democrats is to be pushing these fights. >> jon: the fascinating thing for me is democrats are talking about the possibility of shutting down the government no now. >> i think there is a sense, and people talk about this carefully, they do plan to stand for a clean funding bill next month when that is in front of the senate. that would mean pushing back on the idea of funding for the border wall, for instance, or if there's any attempt to defend any aspect of planned parenthood, they have spoken of really standing on that and putting the ball in the court of the republican leaders

. >> senator jeff merkley, thanks for being with us. >>> still to come, senator al franken is now going there. saying attorney general jeff sessions perjured himself. the latest on the tense hearing in the senate. what it means for the investigation ahead. >>> and it was candidate trump who promised health care for everyone and said the government would pay for it. we will show you how trumpcare stacks up to the president's lofty promises in just two minutes. go don't anywhere. off to ancest. my ancestry dna results are that i am 26% nigerian. i am just trying to learn as much as i can about my culture. i put the gele on my head and i looked into the mirror and i was trying not to cry. because it's a hat, but it's like the most important hat i've ever owned. discover the story only your dna can tell. order your kit now at ancestrydna.com. you need one of these. you wouldn't put up with an umbrella that covers you part way, so when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day? aleve, live whole not part. tell you what, i'll give it to you for half off. >>> what standard

and also, i have to thank my friend, jeff merkley for percival his incredible friendship and for hiship and incredible support to the state and country.untry. and finally tim came for all he's done on behalf of mercy corps and of course for his friendship as well. while the politics on the ground have changed, the one thing that remains constant is the suffering of the syrian people. and at this point, i want to thank the u.s. government, usaid, the state department fore years of leadership in supporting the people. we need to recognize the u.s. has been the largest supporter and a leader in upholding whatever aid there can be over these years. now if i may, the chairman referred to it and i want toed begin with the situation where recent events have diminished our ability to alleate the suffering inside of serious. we conducted one of the largest humanitarian operations from turkey with the permission of full cooperation of the turkish government over the past five years. as you all may know just a fewo weeks ago the turkish government revoked the registration to operate in turkey or d

and also i have to thank my friends jeff merkley for his incredible friendship and for his incredibleupport to mercy corps, to the state and our country. and finally to tim kaine for all he has done on behalf of mercy corps. and of course for his friendship as well. while the politics on the ground in syria have changed, the one thing that remains constant is the suffering of the syrian people. and at this point i really want to think the us government, usaid, the state department for years of leadership in supporting the syrian people. i think we need to recognize this. us has been the largest donor, the largest supporter, a leader in upholding whatever aid there can be for syria over these years. now if i may, and chairman referred to this end i want to begin with mercy course situation in turkey. where recent events have diminished our ability to alleviate the suffering inside syria. we have conducted one of the largest humanitarian operations from turkey to syria with the permission and full cooperation of the turkish government over the past five years. as you all may know, in ju

the argument that some law professors have made and are still making and at least one senator, jeff merkleyis insisting on that the constitution imposes a duty here on senators is simply absurd. i don't know if anyone here wants to actually defend argument or whether we can assume anyone here is actually going to embrace that. when it comes to norm, look, the senate -- the constitution realizes the confirmation process is inherently political. as expert michael gerhart said recently, this is -- there are no rules here. things are governed by politics. to be sure, there are practice ares that have developed over time, ask i think we can all agree in recent decades you've seen the clash intensify. and my modest point here is that you had a convergence of forces last year including especially this senate majority held by one party when the president of the opposite party was making a nomination and including the election year that fully explain what happened. and it really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. now, will this cast a shadow over what happens here? look, this is a fully political pr

a letter was sent to attorney general jeff sessions from senators richard blumenthal, merkley and warren they've posed some pointed questions they say they want attorney general jeff sessions to answer such as, quote, why was mr. bharara fired? two, which white house or justice department officials are responsible for the decision to fire him? three, was he involved in or conducting an investigation of secretary tom price at the time he was fired. secretary tom price was reportedly buying and selling stocks in health care companies while he was simultaneously sponsoring and voting on legislation that would affect the stock price of those companies. it's been previously reported that preet bharara's office was investigating that as a potential criminal corruption case when bharara was suddenly fired with no explanation. if bharara was investigating secretary price at the time he was fired, were you aware of that investigation? was president trump aware of that investigation? were other white house or justice department officials aware of that at the time mr. bharara was fired? then the bi