EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH MICHAEL BLOOMBERG AND GOV. JERRY BROWN

BLOOMBERG ON 2020: ANY CANDIDATE ‘BETTER DARN WELL HAVE A PLAN’ ON CLIMATE CHANGE

DEC. 30, 2018 – Today on Meet the Press, moderator Chuck Todd dedicated the full hour to exploring the critical issues and challenges of climate change – the science and politics of the climate crisis and the costs and damages to the environment.

Todd opened the special edition of the program by telling viewers, “This morning, we’re going to do something that we don’t often get to do – dive in on one topic.” “We’re going to take an in-depth look … at a literally Earth-changing subject that doesn’t get talked about thoroughly on television news, at least: climate change.”

“We’re not going to debate climate change, the existence of it. The Earth is getting hotter. And human activity is a major cause, period,” Todd continued. “We’re not going to give time to climate deniers. The science is settled, even if political opinion is not.”

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D-N.Y.), who has been on the front lines of dealing with climate change, a potential 2020 presidential contender, joined the program for an exclusive interview and shared that any future presidential candidate ‘better darn well have a plan’ on climate change.

“I can tell you one thing, I don’t know whether I’m going to run or not, but I will be out there demanding that anybody that’s running has a plan,” Bloomberg continued. “And I want to hear the plan, and I want everybody to look at it and say whether it’s doable.”

When asked about President Trump’s views on climate change, Bloomberg said, “It would be a lot more helpful if we had a climate champion rather than a climate denier in the White House. You know, I’ve always thought Trump has a right to his opinions but doesn’t have a right to his own facts. And the truth of the matter is this country and this world is in trouble.” Watch the full interview.

In addition, California Governor Jerry Brown (D-Calif.) joined the program for an exclusive interview and shared that he feels he hasn’t done enough as governor to combat climate change. “Not even close, and not close in California, and we’re doing more than anybody else, and not close in America or the rest of the world,” Brown said.

Brown added, “This is a revolutionary threat. And we’ve got to get off this idea, it’s the economy, stupid. No, it’s the environment. It’s the ecology that we have to get on the side of. And we only do that with wisdom, with investment, and widespread collaboration and working together.”

When asked about conversations he had with President Trump during his recent trip to California after the wildfires, Brown said he was not able to dissuade the President of his views on climate change. “He is very convinced of his position. And his position is that there’s nothing abnormal about the fires in California or the rising sea level or all the other incidents of climate change.” Watch the full interview.

The program explored the federal response to the climate crisis and the cost to the U.S. economy and also dived into the National Climate Assessment, produced by 13 agencies inside the Trump Administration, that issued dire warnings on the threat climate change poses to both the economy and to the lives of people throughout the world. Additionally, Chuck Todd cited a new NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll that found two-thirds of Americans believe action is needed to address global climate change and a record-high 45 percent say the problem is serious enough for immediate action.

A panel of experts joined the program to discuss the science and consequences of climate change and explore the controversial politics of the issue including: Kate Marvel, scientist at Columbia University and NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies; Craig Fugate, President Obama’s FEMA administrator; Michèle Flournoy, under secretary of defense under President Obama, responsible for national security threats created by climate change; Anne Thompson, chief environmental affairs correspondent at NBC News; and Congressman Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), co-founder of the Climate Solutions Caucus.

Watch the full panel.

Read the full transcript of Meet the Press this morning and follow the show on Twitter and on Facebook for the latest.

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