one of the reporters on the story joins us live from capitol hill. i listen to some of these lawmakers. some were trump s biggest allies when he was last in office. what is your sense of why they aren t ready to support him yet? why are these lobbying efforts so far not being successful? reporter: it is interesting because this is trump s base of support on capitol hill, maga members, members of the freedom democracy and we interviewed two dozen of them and most of them were reluctant to commit to donald trump for president right now. some said they want to wait to tee h see how the field develops, and others were gushing about some of donald trump s potential rivals. congressman ralph norman is already officially endorsed nikki haley, the former south carolina governor, and chip roy, a conservative said he was impressed by governor ron desantis a founding member of the freedom caucus here on
$225,000. for a coy mpany the size of norfolk southern, a multibillion-dollar company that are wildly profitable, that is not a level that will get their attention. reporter: norfolk southern posted record profits last year. the railroad spent $1.8 million on lobbying. the top lobby for the industry insists that safety is a top priority, but in an interview on cnbc, norfolk southern ceo evaded a question about its lobbying efforts. looking forward to having discussions with our regulators an with elected officials on how we can make norfolk southern a safer railroad. we want to keep the pressure because this is not a one time thing. this will happen again. and any class one railroad is vulnerable. this could happen anywhere if they don t change their operating practices.
norfolk southern or any of the major freight railroads, the multibillion dollar companies that are wildly profitable, that s just not at a level that s going to get their attention. reporter: norfolk southern posted record profits last year approaching $5 billion. according to open secrets the railroad spent $1.8 million on lobbying armed with three dozen lobbyists. the top lobby for the railroad industry insists that safety is a top priority. but in an interview on cnbc norfolk southern s ceo evaded a question about its lobbying efforts. i m looking forward to having discussions with our regulators and with elected officials on how we can make norfolk southern a safer railroad. it s important to keep the pressure because this isn t a one-time thing. this is going to happen again. and any class one railroad is vulnerable. this could happen anywhere if they don t change their operating practices. reporter: the transportation secretary s visit to east palestine s happening on the
received their licenses in the mid 1970s. constellation and energy owns and operates them. reporter: the average reactor age in the u.s. is more than 40 years. the partial melt down in 1979 and disaster in chernobyl led to lobbying efforts that raise costs and slow nuclear construction. the last reactor opened in 2016 in tennessee. instead of investing billions to build new plants, energy companies are giving tax credits rp to keep older plants runnin all has been replaced. reporter: nuclear offers steady power generations that renewables and some fossil fuels can t match. nuclear power plant in maryland, rich edson, fox
2014, said let s put them on the cars that have explosive carcinogens, for example. the industry, the railroads, the chemical companies, they fought it hard. they gutted it. the final version is high flammable trains would need brakes by 2023. ironically h in 2018, the trump administration elaine chao was the transportation secretary rolled it back entirely. this will be the sort of topic, i m sure, of the class action lawsuits that are now being filed. response from norfolk southern so far, $1 million charitable fund, $1.2 million financial aid to families. 100 plus air purifiers and air monitoring services and tests. what do you think, bill, i mean you just outlined what seem to be failures on so many levels. really successful lobbying efforts, right? and this decision by the trump administration reverse what the obama administration had wanted.