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>> private bank accounts held by vladimir putin, so maybe. but im joking but im not joking. >> but you understand the point i was trying to make, right? which is that who had leverage in that deal? exxon had leverage over putin. putin wanted exxons investment in their country. why? because it helps him to bring investment to his country. >> margaret, even john mccain, lindsey graham and marco rubio said theyre not on board. are they going to stand in his way. >> none said theyre going to lay dow...

>> that doesnt preclude him from being -- >> no, not at all, especially in an era where theres international business, and he has done admirable things like, you know, copped to global warning being a real think which the president-elect hasnt done, even as head of exxon. what i think is really demands answer is the fact that this appointment comes days after a reescalation of serious questions about russian influence on the election. the fact that the individual has been given the highest civil...

A murderer, a thug, a kgb agent. >> reporter: tillerson has had close relations with putin for years, even receiving the russian order of friendship. he created a massive oil partnership with the russians a few years ago. and as secretary of state he would be well positioned to push for a rollback of sanctions that derail the deal, possibly making millions for his old company in the process. and unless he divests his shares, for him too. exxon recently granted tillerson more than 2 million share...

Of the planet. and this choice. the fact that --. were going to get to rick perry in a sec. you have tillerson. the conversation should be front and center. and on the business side. one of the great concerns that people have had over the last ten years is the corporation stash billions of dollars overseas out of the reach of the u.s. treasury. apple does it, to be fair. all big corporations do that. exxon has $41 billion overseas stashed in the treasury. so what do you think of that policy of c...

To step back and make sure this is about our children and the future of our planet. its not about defense and economics and higher interest rates or not. were talking about the survival of the planet. so this choice and the fact that donald trump is a climate change denier, were going to get to rick perry in a second, youve got pruitt and youve got tillerson, i think this should be front and center in the senate confirmation hearings. i want to throw in one quick other thing, which is on the bus...

And one thats as informative as it is instructive about why tillerson ended up being the pick. weve all covered this very closely. we knew all the players in the game. rex tillerson was not one of them until a couple weeks ago. and heres the reason why. they simply had not found the right candidate. and because of that according to transition officials, a call was placed by vice president-elect mike pence to steven hadley and condoleezza rice. steven hadley, former national security adviser to g...

Responsibility is to champion exxon mobil. hes going champion america now. >> all over d.c. people are lining up. james baker and continued lisa rice who called him an excellent choice with broad international conspiracy and former defense secretary robert gates who sites his great integrity. in fact those three power players actually suggested tillerson to trump. they also worked with tillerson and exxon at paid consultants. it is that sort of coziness and the oil giants vast economic influence...

Nominated, pruitt, who is hostile to the epa and does not believe in the epas mission, if you combine those three together i think we should be very concerned about whether the united states will have an agrefls position on climate change. >> tillerson has said in the past that he actually believes -- >> its a nice thing compared to donald trump who denies it and rick perry who denies it that he actually acknowledges. but its about the conduct of his company, which did not reflect that. >> marga...

Change. >> tillerson has said in the past he actually believes -- >> nice compared to donald trump who denies and rick perry who denies it. but it is about the conduct of his company which did not reflect anyway. >> first of all i think it is really important to note that the reason he was a friend of russia, right, is that he brought an enormous amount of capital investment to russia. he as the ceo of exxon mobil had leverage over putin in these negotiations. putin wanted exxon to come. and he ...

And obviously condoleezza rice was very involved in the iraq war. so its interesting that he looked to these people for advice. i think that -- i agree that we sort of have to wait and see for the hearings. but one of the issues i think to be concerned about with both trump and tillerson is they see everything through an economic lens. so for them its about making deals with businesses. but thats not really what diplomacy is. diplomacy often governments will work against their economic interests...