Problems in our marriage and i was i had a problem with alcoholism. And but the line was how can a mother of two such beautiful kids be an alcoholic. And that line spoke to the shame that mothers feel. And that alcoholics feel. And there was an anchor esme murphy who is an anchor woman for wcco, cbs affiliate who wrote a thing like imagine this is the best political aad this aad could actually help somebody. And two days after the oord aired we had a debate in a gymnasium. A lot of people there on the floor and the bleachers. When she entered that room, she got a standing ovation. And i cried when i saw the aad, Chuck Schumer cried when he saw the aad. And the add, it ad, extremely, not only would i not have won, i would have lost by a lot. Rose a consideration of President Trumps Climate Policy and a conversation with al franken when we continue. Funding for charlie rose is provided by the following. Bank of america, life better connected. And by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia news and Information Services worldwide. Captioning sponsored by Rose Communications city, this is charlie rose. K rose we begin this evening with the Trump Administrations Climate Policy. President trump is widely expected to withdraw from the paris climate agreement according to many. The president tweeted thursday morning that he would be announcing his decision over the whether to initiate a formal withdrawal or exit from the underlying United Nations trettee. Backing out of the agreement would be a major st in unraveling president obamas signature climate achievement. Experts say with a u. Withdraw will weaken President Trump on the world stage. Joining me to talk about all of this in washington amy harder. An energy and climate reporter for axios. Here with me is amy davidson, a staff writer at the new yorker. Im pleased to have both of them, amy here in the studio, give me a sense of what the Paris Agreement accomplished and why it was so difficult to achieve and so important to engage in Climate Control . Hunter 95 countries were involved in paris. And although it doesnt have penalties in the traditional sense that some contracts do, its a real commitment that each country is going to set a goal and try to achieve that goal. What the Trump Administration has said from the beginning is that this say terrible deal for america, its unfair to america. Theyve never been really specific about why. Rose the same thing they did about tpp and Iranian Nuclear deal. It seems more almost two things that work in terms of their animosity to paris. One is the general animosity to international agreements, to an idea that there could be an accord and International Cooperation in that way. And the other is this attitude, that there is something kind of phoney and made up about Climate Change and that its all just holding us back. That is something that the epa administrator pruitt has said. Thats something trump has said, that it show all is something that somebody else has made up. It fits into a lot of con spir tor yal thinking. Paris was supposed to counter that and show that countries could Work Together in some way. Specifically for the u. S. , we had a goal to cut our Carbon Emissions by about 25 from the 2005 level, by 2025. Now just to be clear about what is and isnt happening right now. Trump when theyre talking about formally pulling out of paris, the alternative within the administration seems to be to stay in paris and name only. But abandon every policy and every action that would help the u. S. Meet those goals. That has already been happening. In march, the Trump Administration issues an executive order that basically killed paris as something that the u. S. Really was working to make real. Rose let me go to washington. Amy, is there any chance that he might not withdraw . That is not what we are hearing. We are hearing that the president does intend to withdraw from the deal, to amys point i would say though, and a lot of businesses think this as well, the president has already effectively pulled out from everything that the former president obama was doing on Climate Change. So withdrawing from paris is really important for symbolic reasons because it will weaken the ambition of the deal. Theres no doubt about that. Obama was essential in getting that deal together. And without the u. S. , historically the biggest emitter of carbon in the world, it will weaken it. That said, he may try to Say Something that shows that his administration cares about Climate Change. Now the president himself has not indicated that he cares much about the issue. And a lot of his top advisors dont as well including steve bannon and the white house, and also the epa administrator. But the white house and the entire administration is actually pretty divided on the issue. You have the secretary of state who supports staying in. You have ivanka trump and Jared Kushner who really have been pushing even today. And you have most major u. S. Companies and Foreign Companies that want the u. S. To stay in. So i do think he has to do something to that large contingency of people. Its unclear right now exactly what that is. And jared gary koan i believe is also pushing to tay . Very much so. The what i was reporting today is the people urging trump to get out of the deal has been louder and more persistent than those urging the president to stay in, for example, you have large oil and natural gas and Coal Companies that have expressed support for the deal. And those people are influential with the administration. But they havent been as loud about staying in the deal as people like epa administrator pruitt who has gone on tv to talk about what a bad deal he thinks it is. And 22 Senate Republicans including the majority leader who doesnt usually sign letters. They sent a letter to the president last week urging him to withdraw. So its been a pretty coordinated campaign, in part done by the epa administrator who has really opposed the deal. I think one point that amy raised is really important, that its not just an outliar of the trump white house, but a lot of the big players in republican politics are also saying get out of paris, that this has become really part of what the message of the Republican Party including the institutional Republican Party. Rose where is the speaker of the house on this, paul ryan. Hes has not been a supporter of paris. Hes been known to make jokes about going back to wisconsin and seeing a lot of snow on the ground. So his real commitment to Climate Change, although hes more careful in his language than a lot of others in his party. Its not been. Rose and where is mitch mb con el. He signed that letter. I would also add though that the two sides of this issue, the only really two options that have ever really been on the table was to leave the deal all together or to stay in it but ratchet down or throw out all together what president obama committed to. So that is not staying in and being very ambitious with the deal at all. Its really just the lesser of two ef vils from the proclimate perspective. So no matter how, no matter how you slice it, it is not going to be good for people who want ambitious Climate Action by the u. S i would also add that its not great for our political discourse. That the serious proparis argument being made in, swn the white house including by people like i ivanka trump and jared curb mr is why bother leaving, words done mean anything anyway. You can say you are in paris but not follow the recommendations of paris, not compete your commitment. Make it look good, do a little marketing but dont actually do anything. Rose it is almost worse to me in terms of political discourse. Words dont mean anything, agreements dont mean, just say are you supporting but dont do anything to support. What amy said, the parameters that were talking about are so constrained and so degraded in a way that it is a depressing moment. The people ive talked to in business and other negotiators of other countries, they say that this is going to hurt, of course, the u. S. Standing on climate issues and set the entire world back on Climate Change. Its also being to have an impact on a host of diplomatic issues. So that is something we should watch for in terms of the broader impact, how this will affect trumps relationship with a lot of european leaders. China is looking to step into the void. I anticipate countries like india might actually lessen their ambition on this front given the u. S. Has weakened its position, but i dont think countries like china are going to retreat. And china correct me if im wrong, both of you, but china has made some recent strides after being a significant po lawsuiter, because they wanted, they were pressured by the United States. And because they wanted to see this agreement work. Well, they have and they havent. I think china sees this as an opportunity not so much to save the planet from Climate Change, although there could be an aspect of that. But it is an opportunity to assert itself as a leader, to say, you he know. If the u. S. Is leaving there is a vacuum. And a lot of countries are saying we want a major power to be a gawrn tor, again, as amy says, of countries not cheating, of the statistics being realment and china saying well do it. Rose thank you, amy. Amy, thank you so much. Good to have you. Back in a moment, stay with us. Al franken is here, he is a twoterm senator from minnesota. Before entering politics he was a comedy writer and performer on snl. He also hosted a progressive radio talk show on air america. He has recently emerged as a forceful challenger of the Trump Administration. His tough questioning of cabinet nominees during confirmation hearings went viral. If there is any evidence that any one affiliated with the Trump Campaign communicated with the russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do . Senator franken, im not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign an i did not have communications with the russians. I think if im understanding your question correctly around proficiency, i would also corelate it to competent tensee and mastery so that you, each student is measured according to the advancement that they are making in each subject area. Well, thats growth, thats not proficiency. So in other words, the growth theyre making isnt growth, the proficiency is an arbitrary standard. If they reached a level, the proficiency f they reached a like third grade level for reading, et cetera. Im talking about the debate between proficiency and growth, what your thoughts are on that. Governor. Senator. Thank you so much for coming into my office. Did you enjoy meeting me . I hope you were as much fun on that dyes as were you on your dias, as were you on your couch. Well. May i rephrase that, sir. Please, please, please. Oh my lord. Rose there it is. Washington post wrote at the dawn of the approximate presidency, the trump presidency, that stretches the limits of late night parody and the moment with a party is trying to find its voice, the former comedian and satirist pay be having a breakout moment as a political star. Out with a new book, a mem memoir called al franken giant of the senate. Im pleased to have all franken back at this table, welcome. Thanks, charlie, great to be here. I hope im as much fun behind this table as i was on that couch. With rick perry. Rose well, i did notice, when rick perry campaigned, this time and wore the glasses people say he was trying to look differently. But obviously the glasses have continued. You know, i found him actually very prepared for our meeting. He prepared, he knew my stands on Energy Issues stance on Energy Issues and i found him actually to be, he was the longest governor in the history of text as and they did a lot of wind energy. Very popular down there. Very popular. And brought a lot of wind. I think texas is the largest wind electricity producing state. And so i actually, i didnt vote for him because i didnt like some of his answers on climate. And, but, i called him to call him i wasnt voting for him, and we said lets get dinner. And i. Rose you had din we are him. I did not have dinner. We said lets get dinner. That doesnt mean were going to have dinner. We just said well, i hope to do that. I hope to do that. I asked him to become a student of climate. And so i think it will take a few months to do that,. Rose we might need that. Because there are reports and seem to be more and more evidenence that the president wt althoughghit, drawawm the paris climate. Yeah, i think that would be a big tragedy in terms of our leadership, in the world. This ask something that 195 countries signed on to. Every country in the world, i believe, but syria and nicaragua. The whole world know this is happening. We met in i went to paris. That Global Warming is happening. Yes. If we dont address this, and if we address it, were going to create so many jobs in renewable energy. And we want to be a leader. I want to be selling that, that technology to china, instead of them selling it to us. Theyre choking on their fumes over there. This is an opportunity, wind and solar have become cheaper than coal. This is something we have to do. And the cost of not doing it are so tremendous. Rose alternatives are becoming much cheaper and certainly cheaper than coal. Yes. And natural gas, of course, has replaced coal. So these coal jobs. Rose but not fossil fuel. Well, theres fossil fuel for driving cars, et cetera, like that. I think that will change. But china is like putting, if you produce cars in china, or ship cars to china, a certain percentage of them have to be electric. Theyre spending hundreds of billions of dollars on energy technology, on research. We should be doing that. And i, in this latest budget that the president offered, we see cuts in that research. Rose the epa is run by a man who said that he wanted to dismantle it. I know. Rose an enemy of the epa. Pruitt is awful and theyre dismantling the scientific review boards there. Theyre getting rid of the scientists and replacing them with industryfriendly scientists. This is a disaster. And im fighting as hard as i can. I write in the book that i dont i have three grand children now. And i dont want them in 50 years to say to me grandpa,. Rose why didnt you do more. You were a senator, you knew Climate Change was happening. Why didnt you do more. And also, why are you still alive cuz i would be 116 then. Rose they would ask that too, wouldnt they. They would, they would say what are you doing a live. And i would say it is all the money we invested in nih. Rose my first question is why are you alive, and my question is way back when, 2017 you had a chance to do something and you didnt. Yeah, well, im fighting as hard as i can. You know, i blame the Koch Brothers. Significant freed and roy. Rose theres a lot of blame to go around, is there not . Yeah, but they you know, the Republican Party john mccain in 2008 was for putting a price on carbon. And we cant get our republican colleagues now to acknowledge Climate Change. And to do something about it because theyre afraid of being primaried by someone from the right that the Koch Brothers will put ten, 20 Million Dollars behind. So this is making it very and i know there is a debate going on in the Trump Administration. And i dont know why today we had an announcement early in the morning and why it was being drawn out. And i hope that the news weve heard isnt true. Rose when you look at the, what it says about americas leadership if you withdraw, and what it means for china, emerging as a global leader, not just a country interested in getting its own house in order, how do you see that playing out . Again, i see it just in terms of jobs. Just in terms of the investment in this technology that we need to deploy. And i dont know what happens in this administration. Im hoping that we have an administration that understandings what that 9 97 percent of climate scientists, 100 percent of those have been Peer Reviewed say this is happening. No one knows us better than the Defense Department. And their quad ren yal review. They keep saying this is an enormous threat to us. And that if sea level, when sea level keeps rising, were going to have millions of climate refugees. And if you think what happened in syria which in no small part was caused by draught, if that, that will look like nothing compared to what were going to see. So we see the Defense Department doing some of the best stuff in Energy Efficiency and renewable energy, making jet fuel, et cetera, et cetera. Rose there is going on in washington a series of probes into whether there was any connection between russia and the Trump Campaign team or the Trump Administration. Have you seen any evidence of collusion so far . We have a special prosecutor now. And when im glad you showed the