a dish this good... makes you this hungry. it's the highlight of the season, and can't last. so hurry in. hello, everyone, i'm alex witt here at msnbc world headquarters in new york. it is 1:00 in the east, 10:00 a.m. out west and here's what's happening. rallies are under way both here in new york city and in more than 130 cities worldwide calling on lawmakers to ramp up the russia investigation. we'll bring you a live report in just a moment. first, new reaction this morning from former british far right leader, nigel fa farage pushing back on a report that he is a person of interest in the fbi's russia investigation. he was a supporter of trump during the campaign. >> have the fbi been in touch

with you? >> no, of course they haven't. i mean this is just hysteria. what you've got in america is a group of people who simply cannot accept the fact that donald trump won the election last year. do i think that russia played a big role in the leaking of those 40,000 e-mails from hillary clinton? i suspect it is far more likely that that leak, which went through assange, far more likely came from within the democratic party itself. >> and if the fbi did get in touch with you, you said they haven't contacted you yet, but if they did get in touch with you, you'd be happy to kwaup with their investigation? >> i wouldn't have much to say and the meeting wouldn't last very long. this is not going to happen. it is a complete fabrication. it is hysterical nonsense. >> also new today, russian president vladimir putin also suggesting russia has been framed as the perpetrators who meddled in the u.s. election. here's a clip from the sitdown interview with my colleague, megyn kelly, airing on her new show tomorrow night.

>> translator: hackers can be anywhere. they can be in russia, in asia, even in america, latin america. they can even be hackers, by the way, in the united states. very skillfully and professionally shifted the blame, as we say, onto russia. >> all right, let's go now to the white house and nbc's kelly o'donnell standing by for us. kelly, another good day to you. of course you know we have fired fbi director james comey returning to capitol hill thursday. he's expected to be what may be blockbuster testimony in the russian probe. there are some conflicting reports about whether or not the president is seriously considering using executive privilege to keep him from testifying. what are you hearing? >> reporter: well, i don't have any white house or administration sources that say the president will exert this opportunity, executive privilege, which is intended to protect any president's conversations with top officials and the fbi is in the executive branch. it's intended to allow for

unfetterred, unfiltered advice to a president without concern about it being drawn out in public later. so that's the background on executive privilege. so no sources are saying he will do it. what is notable is the white house is not saying it's off the table. in fact they're keeping this sort of up in the air, because they say they need to review the possibility that of course is their right, but it's no surprise that james comey, who has testified on capitol hill a number of times related to the russia investigation, we've known for quite a while that the senate intelligence committee wanted to bring him forward after he was fired. this was worked out over a period of weeks with his own lawyer, with also the current head of the russia investigation, robert mueller, former head of the fbi. he's been named special counsel. so many building blocks have put this together, and the white house has not yet determined what they're going to do. this has been a persistent question. here's how it played out in the briefing room friday. >> is the white house going to evoke executive privilege to

prevent james comey from testifying before the senate intelligence panel next week? >> that committee hearing was just noticed and i think obviously it's got to be reviewed. >> so that is not a no? >> i'm just saying i don't -- literally my understanding is the date for that hearing was just set. i have not spoken to counsel yet. i don't know what that -- what they're -- how they're going to respond. >> reporter: other white house officials have given a similar answer. one of the challenges to trying to assert this privilege is that president trump has talked about his conversations with james comey in an interview with our colleague, lester holt. he's talked about it on twitter. he has sort of opened the door to scrutiny or at least information about his relationship with james comey. that makes the argument for privilege, protecting those conversations harder to make. and if they were to assert it, it effectively goes to court and that could elongate this whole process. will it be blockbuster

testimony? hard to know. james comey has already testified under oath that he felt no political pressure coming from the administration when he was running the investigation. we later learned that he kept contemporaneous notes with his private meetings with the president, his dinner and other conversations they had. and what people want to get at. was there any pressure there. is there some secret we don't yet know. so there is great anticipation about what he could say. alex. >> thank you very much, kelly o'donnell at the white house for us as always. meantime in southern california, embattled congressman darrell issa is holding a town hall meeting. some loud protesters have gathered outside the event and constituents inside are asking some pretty tough questions about climate change and health care. beth fouhy is joining us from san juan capistrano outside of that meeting and they're still pretty loud out there, beth. good day to you. >> reporter: good day to you, alex. there's only about 500 seats in the auditorium where darrell

issa is still speaking. there are a whole lot more people than 500 showed up so they're still out here as you can see getting loud and getting proud on the issues that they care about. inside it's a little bit more subdued. he is taking a lot of questions on health care, immigration, climate change. there was a one notable moment, however, when a woman who asked him a question, she wasn't on camera, but she said to him i'm not a paid protester and that sparked a kind of interesting back and forth with the congressman. take a listen. >> i know you've made comments about people being paid protesters, but believe me, i have never done this in my life. i've never called a congressman's office before. >> i think you're misunderstanding -- you can disagree with a fact and that's fine. i -- okay. i have never -- i have never looked -- i have never looked at

anybody at any of my town hall meetings and said you're a paid protester. >> reporter: so you see there congressman issa is not afraid to get into it with the constituents that come here to these meetings. earlier we talked to some of the people who showed up who said why they were here and what they would ask congressman issa if they had an opportunity to do so. let's listen. >> 14 million folks are going to be kicked off the health care, by 2020 another 19 million and there's 23 million that won't have health care. how does that benefit us as a country. >> being a republican these days is like having a really harsh girlfriend. right when you think everything is going well, you get dumped on your head and then the next week you think everything is going good and you get dumped on your head again. >> reporter: yeah, so a lot of unhappy people here wanted to come talk to congressman issa, tell them what's on their minds. we're hoping when the town

meeting is over hopefully in the next half an hour or so we'll get an interview with him as well and bring that to you. thanks, alex. >> it's a pretty tough crowd inside and outside. orange county a bastion of deserve afternoon ideology. it usually goes republican. certainly with its elections to the house. thanks, beth, for that. meantime, the white house is deflecting questions about the president's belief in climate science. one count says mr. trump tweeted skepticism about climate change 115 times. many of his tweets coming during cold winter spells. joining me by phone, congressman mo bricks, congressman from alabama. we're glad you're here to join us. i do want to ask you, sir, do you believe climate change is a hoax? >> well, the problem is what the phrase "climate change" means. if you take it literally as a scientist would, climate change has been ongoing ever since the birth of our planet. at one point we were a planet

ice ball. at another point the heat was so great that people like you and me, we could not possibly have existed. and then you've had climate change over the eons in many different ways so the planet has changed and will continue to change going forward. >> but the general consensus or the american vernacular of that, climate change is something people are concerned about in general, about the heating up. we see the effects of what we're calling climate change. you see the heating up of the environment, you see the flooding, you see the horrific hurricanes and the tornados. things seem to be getting more intense. do you at least acknowledge that? >> well, what you just said about things becoming more intense conflicts with the climate logical data so, no, i disagree. if you look on the data on the hurricanes, i live in the gulf coast area. we've had milder seasons than we've had in years in the past. it's the exact opposite of what

you just represented. northern alabama, we have tornados. it's been milder than what we've had in the past. so that's a little bit conflicting with whatever information it is that someone has handed you. so the actual data conflicts with that, but i will agree that the climate has changed and will continue to change. we ought to be mindful of that. the key is to try to ascertain how much of that change is normal in accord with what history has shown us on the one hand and how much of it is man made. i think the real key is this. americans want clean air, clean water, proper disposal of hazardous waste. to me that's what we should be focusing on and have been ever since the 1960s when things were so bad. i'm all for the programs that help us have cleaner water, cleaner air and proper disposal of hazardous waste. that really should be the talking point. >> all right. i will say i was not going from season to season or year by year, more of a general consensus, perhaps decade by decade. moving on, sir, the paris

agreement was nonbinding and scott pruitt said the u.s. will continue to lead the world in carbon dioxide reductions. so why did the president make such a big deal of rejecting the paris deal? >> well, i don't know that the president made that big of a deal of it so much as the media has made a big deal of it. but i agree with what the president did. president trump understands that you have to have a strong economy in order to have the money to pay for environmental controls that are very costly for us to have that clean air, clean water and proper disposal of hazardous waste. we cannot afford to put america at a competitive disadvantage by letting major polluters around the planet, such as china and india skate while we put further restrictions on our ability to compete in america that would cost us jobs. as we lost jobs, eventually lose us the economic ability to pay for very expensive clean air, clean water and proper disposal of hazardous waste measures. bear in mind everything we want to do depends on our ability to

do it and that ability is determined on the strength of our economy. so there has to be a balance struck so we can do the best we can with respect to both. you've seen tremendous improvement in the united states of america from an environmental perspective and i'm all for that. >> sir, your interpretation of mr. trump's statement on getting out of the paris deal may have been one interpretation. internationally speaking in terms of diplomacy, do you think he took a political gamble there losing with his base here in the states or his interpretation and how he is perceived around the world? do you think he did this with an eye on the re-election in 2020? >> i can't read the president's mind. i don't know what, if any, degree that was a factor. but i can say that the president did absolutely the right thing. and you mentioned early on that it's nonbinding and in some respects it is nonbinding, the paris accords. but still, we've got to be

mindful of our own economy. we've got huge deficits and debt that are out of control that risk insolvency and bankruptcy of what it took over two centuries of our ancestors to build, the united states of america. we simply cannot continue on the path that we've been on for the last 20, 30, 40 years. so i applaud the president's decision. at the same time, though, i think congress needs to do what we have been doing to ensure that in america at least we have clean air, we have clean water, we have proper disposal of hazardous waste and we see as much as possible a continued decline in carbon emissions. so we'll be doing our part. i wish the agreement was stronger. i don't think it was very well negotiated. i wish it was stronger so that it would force some of these major polluters to start doing their part around the planet. >> congressman brooks, the president has kept open the possibility of trying to renegotiate the u.s.' role in that deal and virtually every other country has said that is not possible given the complexity of what happened. where do you stand on that? >> well, i'm always open to

renegotiating so that we get an instrument that is more favorable to the united states of america and addresses some of these serious worldwide pollution issues. but the bill -- excuse me, the agreement that was reached under the obama administration simply did not cut it. it did not do the kinds of things that would need to be done because the voluntary noncompulsory aspect. even with china and india to the extent that they were referenced was somewhere way down in the future where they might do the kinds of things that need to be done to reduce their carbon emissions or that might make it a safer planet for all of us to live on. if we're going to do this, let's make it fair for all countries involved and force some of these other countries to abide by the standards that you have in europe and that you have in the united states where apparently we care a whole lot more about clean air, clean water and proper disposal of hazardous waste than some of these other nations have by their conduct or have by this informal agreement. >> all right, sir, i want to

switch gears here and remind our viewers you have said that no ties will be found between mr. trump and any russian activity. sir, if that's the case, why is the white house keeping the door open for mr. trump to invoke executive privilege to prevent director comey from testifying on thursday? >> i think it's a legal process at this point. i don't think that sean spicer or other members of the white house have thoroughly thought through the legal implications of executive privilege. i suspect, i certainly hope no executive privilege will be invoked. i think we need to get this behind us. i think the best way to get it behind us is to be as forthright, candid and honest as you possibly can be so that it's an open book. after everything is said and done, just based on what i've seen so far and the evidence is still somewhat nebulous in that regard, i think you'll see that there probably was an effort by russia to engage in the american elections in some shape, form or fashion. there might even be evidence that would suggest that someone who is affiliated with the trump

campaign in an unauthorized way may have consulted or met with the russians in that regard. now, whether that's something that is legal or illegal will have to be resolved. i don't think that the evidence will in any way, shape or form suggest that president trump was involved. so the democrats are going to be right in some respects that russia probably participated, but their primary target trying to impeach donald trump on this issue i think will fall flat on its face. >> so you don't believe the president tried to obstruct the investigation in any way thus far? >> well, let's look at what's happened. i don't know of any evidence whatsoever that the investigation by the fbi has io. if anything, under the trump administration it has sped up. so i don't know what transpired in the communications, but the fact of the matter is there has been no obstruction of justice. >> congressman mo brooks, we'll leave it for there for now, conservative republican from alabama. thanks for joining us on the

phone. >> have a good one. >> you too, sir. happening now, march for truth protests in more than 100 cities around the world, including right here in new york. also kansas city and seattle to name a few. ali vitali is joining us from washington, d.c. that's where the organizers there are hoping for thousands to attend this rally. let's talk about turnout, ali. how many do you think you're seeing? >> reporter: well, we did see about a thousand people here. it was certainly not any of those massive protests that you see and nowhere close to the women's march, nowhere close to the tax march we did a few weeks ago. still behind me there are some folks gathered in this area. what they're doing is taking a picture in the shape of words investigate trump and that's being taken from kind of a riser that's above the crowd that the organizers here have figured out. really the stunning thing about all of these protests is you've seen over the past few weeks, we had the tax march, you had the women's march right after the inauguration and all of these are part of this progressive push to resist the administration.

in talking to some of the organizers of these movements who did talk here today, really the key is they're looking to push back against what the administration is doing legislatively but also show their congressmen and representatives locally that they want to push for progressive change and push back against the trump agenda. that's what you're hearing from a lot of the people who come out and su sport these movements is that's what they're trying to show. they're here to resist and show their support against trump's policies. hillary clinton's comments this week about who's to blame for her election loss. we have new reaction to that, next. are allergies holding you back? break through your allergies. try new flonase sensimist allergy relief instead of allergy pills. it's more complete allergy relief in a gentle mist experience you'll barely feel. using unique mistpro technology, new flonase sensimist delivers a gentle mist to help block six key inflammatory substances that cause your symptoms. most allergy pills only block one. and six is greater than one.

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been leaking a lot of stuff. so here's what i worry about, that he'll just focus on his conversation with the president and not answer any other questions because of the investigation. that would be a hit job on president trump, and i hope this hearing didn't become a hit job on president trump. >> that is south carolina senator lindsey graham offering his own theory on what might go down later this week when fired fbi director james comey testifies before the senate intelligence commity. let's bring in elise jordan, msnbc political analyst and columnist for "time" magazine and peter emerson, a huffington post reporter who has worked for three democratic administrations. we'll go ladies first with you, elise. does this look to you like the republicans are trying to discredit comey before he even testifies? and take it a step further. does it signal to you that comey might have something damaging on the president? >> i think senator graham is just trying to set expectations for what to expect when comey comes and testifies, because,

you know, it could -- a lot of what he needs to discuss might still be classified. it's going to be interesting to see what he has to offer when he does -- when he provides his testimony on thursday. i think it's going to be one of the most watched congressional testimony of all time perhaps just because everyone is so eagerly awaiting what he has to say. however, he has been fairly measured in his previous public comments, so i do wonder how much he's going to feel -- you know, he's going to have liberty to disclose at this time. >> so, peter, the president can still try to invoke executive privilege, try to keep comey from testifying about their conversations. but would that potentially look even worse for him than if he does let everyone hear what comey has to say? >> i don't know how you can have perceptions get any worse than they already are. but, yes, that could make things a bit worse. i agree with elise. comey wants convictions.

he wants indictments and he wants convictions. so i'm certain he's going to do whatever he needs to do to protect mueller's investigation and the fbi's ongoing investigation. so lindsey graham may actually be correct. and i agree, as elise said, they're starting to set it up so that when comey doesn't disclose a lot of conversations maybe outside of the white house but with other potential targets of the investigation, it doesn't come across as leading directly into the oval office. >> well, five days and counting until that. meanwhile we have several outlets which are suggesting that ivanka trump is the source for at least some of the many leaks coming out of the white house. elise, do you think there's anything to that or do you think it's a bit farfetched even for trump opponents to latch onto that. >> i think this is such a leaky white house that you wonder if it almost has a roof over it, the leaks are just pouring and gushing at this point. an so i think to pinpoint ivanka trump is just yet another example of finger pointing. you look at this administration

and there's so much internal strife. that's absolutely what you don't want because you're not getting anything done because they aren't able -- the white house staff is not able to work on policy with as much freedom as they should because they're having to defend themselves so frequently in the press just because there are so many warring factions. >> this week, peter, hillary clinton opened up about her election loss. she did not hold back from blaming her own party from its role. let's take a listen. oh, i guess we don't necessarily have that sound bite. let me just say that she said, here's the quote, i inherit nothing from the democratic party. it was bankrupt, it was on the verge of insolvency, its data was mediocre to poor, i had to inject money into the dnc to keep it going. peter, isn't it time for secretary clinton to take some responsibility here? ultimately it was her campaign. >> one of the biggest donors at a democratic party last week said really secretary clinton

could probably volunteer to become director of the peace corps, move overseas and try to let go of all of this. it's really sad to me that she continues to blame others and takes no responsibility. there is some truth to what she says in that the democratic national committee and the personality itself is policy driven unlike the republicans which is much more like a business. at the end of the day she disinherited millions of americans who didn't come out and vote or didn't vote for her. so at the end of the day her campaign did as much damage to herself as she claims the party did. >> you know, the president actually responded to secretary clinton. he did so pretty quickly. he was tweeting, here it is. crooked hillary clinton now blames everybody but herself, refuses to say she was a terrible candidate. so, elise, why bother keeping this rivalry going? you're the president now. what does he get out of it? >> this is something that he excels at. he loves partnering hillary clinton and it helped bring him

to the white house. this is familiar terrain for president trump and so i imagine it's comforting for him to go back to it and to avoid all of the crises that has ensnared his administration and his distracting from the agenda. >> guys, i just want to talk about something regarding climate change. there's been so much question as to whether or not the president actually believes in it. you've probably seen the back and forth. there were three, if not more reporters in the white house press briefing that were trying to press not only scott pruitt, epa head, but also sean spicer. does this president believe in climate change or not? apparently the president -- rather nikki haley has given an interview and this is to cnn in which she says that he does believe in climate change and that humans have a role in it. this is an interview that's going to air on cnn tomorrow. i'm curious your reaction to that, elise. >> you know, if you had to judge the administration by what comes out of nikki haley's mouth or

general mattis' mouth, you wolf a lot more reassured about the policies that this administration would implement. however, a lot of the time, they are saying talking points that are diametrically owe possessesed to what donald trump might be tweeting. so while someone like nikki haley is comforting in her words, it's been the word for way too often for this administration that president trump's surrogates definitely are not speaking for the president. >> and, peter, your thoughts? >> well, i was just reading a number of quotes from the president, not that we can believe anything he says at this point, but he has said multiple times that co2 carbon is not the primary cause of climate change. so haley is now contradicting what the president himself has said on numerous occasions, including in the speech that he gave when we withdrew or he withdrew the country from the paris climate accords. >> all right. we're going to leave it as a wrap because there's a lot of back and forth and it's hard to keep track of everything, isn't

it, guys? >> political exhaustion, groundhog day. >> you got it. elise jordan and peter emerson, good to see you. thank you so much. vladimir putin's performance at that forum yesterday has drawn countless headlines and reactions. "the washington post" david ignatius observed putin grew aggressively sarcastic and peeved. the thoughts of michael mcfaul. does he think that putin was trolling the u.s.? we'll be right back. ♪ art. it can be sculpted, bringing to life beautiful detail.

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no specific evidence, no facts, just assumptions, allegations, and conclusions based on the allegations, nothing more. you know, if there is something specific, concrete, we could discuss that. >> let's bring in ambassador michael mcfaul who served as u.s. ambassador to russia under president obama. he's now a professor at stanford university and an msnbc rush affairs contributor. always good to see you. let's get right to what david ignatius wrote. putin looked aggressive and peeved during that forum. help us better understand the putin that you know, based on how he answered megyn's questions. i know you've had the unique advantage of listening to these comments in russian yesterday. >> well, i congratulate our colleague, megyn kelly. it's her job to make him feel uncomfortable and at ease

because she was asking tough questions he didn't want to answer. remember, this forum is his show. it's his celebration, his celebration, the russian davos in his hometown of st. petersburg. he likes a nice, relaxed atmosphere where he can show off his country and russian businesses. he wasn't allowed to have that happen and that's a good thing in my opinion. >> i want to take a listen to some of putin's responses. this one to the hacking question. here it is. >> translator: hackers can be anywhere. they can be in russia, in asia, even in america, latin america. they can even be hackers, by the way, in the united states. very skillfully and professionally shifted the blame, as we say, onto russia. a 3-year-old can perpetrate such an attack and they present it like this. they pass it off like this and these specialists can invent anything and then blame someone else.

>> you know, he kind of sounds like president trump. they use the same kind of language to fight these allegations. you noticed that too, it wasn't just me, right? >> oh, absolutely. it sounded exactly like candidate trump and then president trump in the discussion of what happened. but let's be clear. the evidence is overwhelming. our entire intelligence community agreed that it was the russians that hacked the dnc, that stole data from the dnc and mr. podesta. there's no discussion at all among experts on this issue that that's what they did. we shouldn't be surprised that vladimir putin won't attest to that. you know, he's sticking to his talking points, but nobody should take him at his word. and remember, he's done this many times before with respect to other russian activities abroad, so why are we surprised that he's doing it in this case? >> let's listen to some of his comments on nato. here they are. >> translator: squabbles around nato, do they help russia?

well, in a sense maybe they should completely be falling apart then. but we don't see that falling apart just yet. there's no longer soviet union. but the question is what for? >> do you think there's a threat there to countries that would consider joining nato? >> well, i heard two things in that remarks, and for me that was one of the most important parts of the interview. number one, he said very clearly that fights between nato allies is good for russia because russia wants to see nato disappear. and i think that is a shot across the bow for those that are fighting within nate oero, including our president. listen to what putin said. when you bring doubt within the alliance, you are serving his interest, not the interest of the alliance. second, yes, of course he's threatening. he's talking about sweden, he's talking about if you join this alliance, we will try to deter

you from doing so. he's done that before with other countries and he's repeating that threat again. >> all right, i want to get your reaction to senator john mccain's comments this week comparing vladimir putin to isis. take a listen. >> i think he is the premiere and most important threat, more so than isis. i view vladimir putin who's dismembered ukraine, a sovereign nation, who is putting pressure on the baltics. i view the russianing as the far greatest challenge that we have. >> so is that too much of a stretch or do you see it that way, that putin is a greater threat than isis? >> well, i don't want to get in the business of ranking threats, because i see them both as threatening, but i agree analytically with what senator mccain just said. russia, under vladimir putin, it's not russia all the time, it's under vladimir putin has decided that the west is a threat, they seek to dismantle western unity between our allies

in europe and us, that he's not afraid to annex territory in europe. that's something that we thought we got rid of after world war ii. that happened. and most audaciously, he violated our sovereignty in our presidential election. that's pretty threatening. if we can't choose our leaders independently and in a sovereign way, that's a pretty major threat to the sovereignty of the united states of america. so we need to take this threat seriously. we need to contain it. we need to deter it. first and foremost it starts by recognizing it as a threat, which sometimes when i listen to our president that he doesn't seem to recognize it as a threat. >> so on the heels of what you've just said, i have to ask you what went through your mind when you saw "the washington post" on the u.s. at least weighing the possibility of returning those compounds in new york and maryland to russia. there was a former diplomat on our air saying russia would get its compounds back and the u.s.

would essentially get nothing. >> well, i've been to that compound in maryland. it's a fantastic piece of property. i understand why the ambassador wants it back. but having said that, you know, you don't have to be a diplomat to know that you don't give away something for nothing. it's just that simple. why would you lift the sanctions if russia hasn't changed its behavior? why would you give them back these properties if they didn't do something in return? even "art of the deal," even a businessman doesn't just give away something for nothing. i think it would send a very bad signal to our ability to lead, to defend american national interests if we took that deal. that's a bad deal for america. >> all right. michael mcfaul, always good to talk to you. thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. we want to remind you to catch megyn kelly's one-on-one with vladimir putin sunday night at 7:00 eastern on nbc. we'll be right back. beyond is a natural pet food

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president trump believes the climate is changing, and he believes pollute and thants are the equation. that is the fact, that is where we are, that's where it stands. he knows that it's changing, he knows that the u.s. has to be responsible about it and that's what we're going to do. just because we got out of a club doesn't mean we don't care about the environment. >> that is brand new reaction from u.s. ambassador to the u.n. nikki haley and it comes on the heels of president trump pulling out of the paris climate agreement. dozens of mayors are vowing to

uphold the accord on their own. joining me now, philip levine, mayor of miami beach. i'm curious your reaction to what you heard nikki haley just say that the president believes the climate is changing. >> i think it's somewhat encouraging. i wish president trump would come on down to miami beach. we're hosting the u.s. conference of mayors this month. all the mayors will be at miami beach from across america. during the big king tide at miami beach when you see the water rise, i bet if the president took his shoes off, walked down the road and got a little wet, he would convert and understand that climate change is real because we believe it in miami beach. the mayors across the country do believe that. >> you've got evidence there so what kind of changes have you made in your city to protect it against climate change? >> we've spent hundreds of millions of dollars. we're raising the roads, putting in pumps, raising our sea walls, building walls, but the right kind of walls. the walls that keeps water out

of our land. we're changing building codes, changing zoning because we're adapting. we're becoming a very resilient city. unfortunately, to have the federal government take actions against what we're trying to do, it's very disappointing and i can tell you for the people down here, we don't like to hear about it. >> it's disappointing. is it potentially debilitating? can you uphold the paris accord without the federal government participating? >> so what we're doing is we've gathered with other mayors across the country and signed an agreement basically where we've all coming together and said we are going to uphold the standards and protocols of the paris agreement. i know it's not just mayors, it's governors. and you're hearing ceos across the country. this is good for business. we want to encourage renewable energies. i live in the sunshine state. we want to utilize the sun, solar energy, wind power. you know, it's almost very strange to be focusing on yesterday's business opportunities as opposed to the future. i think folks like elon musk, who is tesla and just resigned

from the president's council is in agreement with that. >> so when those including the president believe that the deal was a job killer, he said they are just looking at the reduction in coal and gas and not thinking about what you could do with solar power in the sunshine state and the job there? >> no question about it. i think what he's doing is focusing on his core, his base. unfortunately, and i -- listen, coal has served a big purpose in our country for many years but like everything else in life, things change. that's like the president saying he's going to reinvest in the horse and buggy industry and forget about the automobile industry. the future is in renewable sources of energy. we live in the greatest state in the world, which is the sunshine state. we want to focus on utilizing and harnessing the sun. >> the governor has avoided giving his opinion on climate change. why do you think there's such reluctance to go on record about this? >> maybe it has something to do with campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry.

it all comes down to that. he who pays the piper pays the tunes. it's coming from faufl fuel as opposed to alternative energies. >> as they say, follow the money. philip levine, good to see you, thanks so much. >> thank you. president trump has yet to issue a proclamation recognizing this being pride month, as president obama had done every year. but there's something even more concerning to the lgbtq community. we'll delve into that, next. bat. your privacy makes you my number 1 place... ...to go number 2. i love you, but sometimes you stink. ♪ new febreze air effects with odorclear technology cleans... ...away odors like never before. because the things you love the most can stink. and try febreze small spaces to clean away odors for up... ...to 30 days. breathe happy with new febreze. p3 planters nuts, jerky and whaseeds.at?

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june is pride month recognizing lgbtq rights across the country. bill clinton became the first president to issue such a proclamation for the month and so far president donald trump has yet to do the same. joining me is editorial manager brooke sepelsa. brooke, with a welcome to you. yet donald trump's daughter,

ivanka, sent two tweets saying wishing everyone a joyful pride 2017 this month. we celebrate and honor the lgbtq community. also i'm proud to support my lgbtq friends and americans who have made immense contributions to our society and economy. ivanka has also been criticized despite these tweets. first your reaction to the lack of presence from the president on this issue? >> well, it certainly is disappointing that president trump has not yet acknowledged lgbtq pride month, though he does still have 27 days so maybe he'll have a change of heart. but, you know, it doesn't bode well for those chances being on may 31st he acknowledged several other celebratory months this month, including national outdoors month, i believe. caribbean american heritage month, african-american music month, leaving out lgbtq pride month. so while there's still 27 days,

i won't be holding my breath for recognition from the white house, though i'm hopeful. >> all right. well, brooke, as you well know the supreme court struck down the bans against same-sex marriage a couple of years ago but there has been an uptick in the lgbtq rights being repealed in states like texas. so talk about that. >> so in the past five months, there have been more than 100 anti-lgbtq bills introduced in 29 states, which is worrisome to say the least. while most of these bills haven't gone mi, where i believe about six have passed. for example, there have been bills in alabama and south dakota that would essentially limit the options for same-sex couples looking to adopt. so not only is that bad for same-sex couples who are trying to start or build a family but it's also bad for kids. so these bills are unsettling to say the least. and i want to get back to a point -- >> go ahead.

>> i wanted to just address something that you mentioned earlier about ivanka trump's tweets about lgbtq pride month. there have been a significant number of people in the community who have been criticizing her for those tweets. basically saying that actions speak louder than tweets. though in my personal opinion, if anyone wants to acknowledge and celebrate lgbtq pride month, i applaud them regardless of who their father is or what their political association is. >> and we should make a point the defense department has issued a statement recognizing pride month, so there you have that. quickly, nbcout.com has a page called pride 30 recognizing rising stars in the community. quickly tell me about that. >> sure. so this month we launched our inaugural nbc out pride 30 where we're recognizing 30 lgbtq people from across the country who are making positive contributions to the community. so our list includes doctors,

lawyer, a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, educators, our first person that we profiled on june 1st was a transgender law enforcement officer. >> extraordinary. >> from seattle. so we've got some really great stories. if folks want to go to nbcout.com, you can see all 30 folks we're celebrating this month as we celebrate and recognize pride month. >> i'm sure they appreciate the recognition. brooke, thanks for your time for us. that is a wrap for me this hour, i'm al ex wit. sheinelle jones coming up next with reaction and darrell issa, speaking their minds about the health care bill and a lot more. ♪ nah. what else? what if we hire more sales reps? ♪ nah. what else? what if we digitize the whole supply chain? so people can customize their bike before they buy it.

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[ eerie musthe mummy...t ] has returned. you wish to see... what i have seen? you will... when... i... kill you. [ explosions ] [ intense music ] the mummy. rated pg-13. hello, everyone, i'm sheinelle jones at msnbc world headquarters in new york. as we speak, marchers in more than 100 cities nationwide are taking to the streets to demand an independent investigation into alleged trump