>>> THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCED TODAY IT’S ROLLING
BACK PARTS OF THE ENDANGERED
SPECIES ACT, WEAKENING RULES
MEANT TO PROTECT THREATENED
ANIMALS.
ANIMALS. WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS SAY IT’S
PART OF THE EASE OF REGULATIONS
ON BUSINESSES LIKE MINING,
DRILLING AND OIL DEVELOPMENT.
THE "NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTS IT
THIS WAY, QUOTE, THE CHANGES
WILL MAKE IT HARDER TO CONSIDER
THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON
WILDLIFE WHEN DECIDING WHETHER A
GIVEN
GIVEN WILDLIFE WHEN DECIDING WHETHER A
GIVEN SPECIES WARRANTS
PROTECTION.
PROTECTION. IT WOULD SHRINK HABITATS.
WITH US TONIGHT TO TALK ABOUT
IT, JEFF CORYN.
WHAT WOULD BE THE REASON FOR
THIS?
THIS? TELL US WHY THE AVERAGE AMERICAN
WATCHING EITHER AT HOME OR
PERHAPS THEY’RE ON SUMMER
VACATION TONIGHT, THEY’RE
WATCHING AND WANT TO KNOW THE
IMPACT ON THIS -- OF THIS ON
THEM OR THEIR CHILDREN.
>> WELL, GOOD EVENING, BRIAN, IF
YOU’VE EVER LOOKED UP INTO THE
SKY AND SEEN A SOARING BALD
ENGLE OR A HUMP BACK WHALE OR AT
ELK, ALL OF THESE CREATURES
EXIST TODAY BECAUSE OF THE
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT.
WITHOUT THE ACT SIGNED INTO LAW
IN 1973 AND THE ULTIMATE EXAMPLE
OF BIPARTISAN, WE WOULD NOT HAVE
THESE CREATURES TODAY.
THERE WOULD BE NO BALD EAGLES
ALIVE IF IT WASN’T FOR THIS
INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT MOVEMENT
WHICH SAVED OUR NATION’S WILD
LEGACY.
LEGACY. >> I KNOW YOU’RE A
CONSERVATIONIST AND NOT A
POLITICIAN.
POLITICIAN. IT’S BEEN REPORTED TONIGHT THAT
MOSTLY DEMOCRATS ARE SCRAMBLING
WHETHER IT’S GOING TO BE THROUGH
COURTS OR CONGRESS OR A
COMBINATION.
COMBINATION. BUT YOU RAISE AN IMPORTANT
POINT.
POINT. RICHARD NIXONEN WAS PRESIDENT WH
THIS WAS PASSED AND IT’S TAKEN A
COMING TOGETHER OF A WHOLE LOT
OF PEOPLE TO ENFORCE IT, THE
FACT THAT AS YOU’RE DISCUSSING,
WE HAVE THESE ANIMALS ALIVE AND
AMONG US TODAY.
>> BRIAN, YES, I MEAN, IMAGINE
THAT, WE CAN LOOK TO RICHARD
NIXON AND THANK HIM FOR SECURING
THESE SYMBOLS OF WHO WE ARE AS A
NATION.
NATION. THE TRUTH IS, BRIAN, THE PEOPLE
THAT WILL BE IMPACTED THE MOST
WILL BE OUR CHILDREN WITH THE
LOSS AND -- WITH THE
EMASCULATION OF THIS INCREDIBLY
IMPORTANT ENDEAVOR AND I CAN
TELL YOU FROM MY HEART THAT
THERE’S NEVER BEEN A
PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION MORE
WILLFULLY NEGLIGENT WHEN IT
COMES TO THE STEWARDSHIP OF OUR
NATURAL RESOURCES THAN THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION.
ADMINISTRATION. THEY HAVE SHOWN THAT THEY PUT
POWER, POLITICS AND PROFIT ABOUT
PROTECTING NOT ONLY THE SYMBOLS
OF WHO WE ARE AS A COUNTRY, BUT
ALSO THE NATURAL RESOURCES THAT
WE DEPEND UPON.
THEY MADE IT CLEAR THIS IS NOT A
PRIORITY.
PRIORITY. THEY DENY THE PRESENCE OF
CLIMATE CHANGE.
CLIMATE CHANGE. I’M IN EUROPE RIGHT NOW.
EVERY DAY I HAVE TO TRY TO
EXPLAIN WHY WE’VE PULLED OUT OF
THE PARIS ACCORD.
THEY’VE TAKEN DIRTY ENERGY
INSIDERS AND HAVE PUT THEM IN
CHARGE OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS
LIKE THE EPA AND THE DEPARTMENT
OF THE INTERIOR WHEN IT COMES TO
PROTECTING OUR NATURAL
RESOURCES.
RESOURCES. DAVID BERNHARDT WHO’S NOW THE
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR,
EVERYONE TRY TO WRAP YOUR HEAD
AROUND THIS, WAS A FORMER OIL
LOBBYIST, THIS IS WHERE WE ARE
NOW, WHERE THE SON OF THE
PRESIDENT, A BIG GAME HUNTER,
CAN ACTUALLY SELECT THE
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, RYAN
ZINKE.
ZINKE. IT’S -- IT’S HARD TO WRAP YOUR
HEAD AROUND THAT THIS IS
ACTUALLY UNFOLDING, BUT
UNFORTUNATELY, BRIAN, WE HAVE A
RADAR SCREEN BLIPPING WITH SO
MANY DISTRACTIONS.
MANY DISTRACTIONS. THIS ISSUE, SO KEY TO THE
SURVIVAL OF THE NEXT GENERATION,
IS IN JEOPARDY.
>> 30 SECONDS, JEFF, DO YOU
THINK THEY HAVE UNDERESTIMATED
THE POWER OF THOSE WHO LOVE THE
NATURAL WORLD?
NATURAL WORLD? >> WELL, I HAVE TO TELL YOU,
BRIAN, I DON’T KNOW.
I NEVER THOUGHT IN MY LIFETIME I
WOULD SEE A PRESIDENTIAL
ADMINISTRATION REDUCE SACRED AND
PROTECTED FEDERAL LANDSCAPES
LIKE NATIONAL MONUMENTS.
BUT I BELIEVE IF WE STAND UP, WE
MAKE IT KNOWN, WE HOLD THEM
ACCOUNTABLE, IT’S NOT TOO LATE,
BUT IN THE BEST-CASE SCENARIO,
BRIAN, WE ARE THE LAST
GENERATION TO SECURE OUR NATURAL