Was tuesday. And trump is going to put military troops on our southern border to protect america from scary caravans of people who want a job. So we could do a whole show just on that or any you know, a million other crazy things. But id like to take a step back with this show and listen to the reality visionaries, the people out here that can give us a deeper perspective and try to help us make stens of all this stuff because it can get overwhelming. So i want you to be very, very happy tonight. There is no brighter visionary on planet earth than the great al gore, and he is in the building right now. [ cheers and applause ] al gore is in the building. Thats going to be nuts. Also were going to hear from a top aide to dr. Martin luther king jr. He was on the balcony 50 years ago this week when the dreamer was shot down, but this man refused to let the dream die. On our show tonight, ambassador andrew young. [ cheers and applause ] its going to be an amazing show. Speaking of dr. King, the 60s actually taught us that cultural change could be just as important as political change, and weve got a modern cultural tsunami of the black panther. It is still shattering records. Its still making history weeks and weeks after its release. With us tonight, the young director of that blockbuster film, ryan coogler, also on the van jones show. [ cheers and applause ] so weve got a bad show. And i just want to hear from you guys. Because the daily news, the hourly news, the minutely news is enough to drive you nuts these days. These are some of the people that remind me to look past all this chaos. When you want to create real change, you want to do something great, it requires strategy, determination, hard work, and a longterm view. And i keep telling people, dont get distracted. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. In a democracy the main thing is simple. Winning elections. If youre concerned about american democracy, porn star scandals are not going to save you. Okay . Robert mueller is not going to save you. The republicans in congress arent going to impeach trump and save you, period. Trump is not going to selfdestruct. If you want to change the course in either party win elections. Facebook posts do not win elections. Angry tweets, yelling at the tv does not win elections. Fay bunch of politicians get fired in november that will send the loudest message that the nonsense needs to stop. Okay . This is probably the most important Midterm Election of our lives. Act like it. Police a please act like it. Nobody cares more about democracy than our next guest pf weve got a living legend, the winner of the popular vote in the president ial election. A global champion for the planet. Please welcome to the van jones show my friend, Vice President al gore. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. Living legend. That was a little bit over the top there. All true. All true. And im somebody, i spent eight years cursing the Supreme Court for in my view robbing you of being president. After 14 months of donald trump, though, dont you miss w a little bit . I mean, dont even you miss i got a kick out of former president george w. Bush saying hes making me look good. He had a great sense of humor about that. I want to get your assessment of the real threat to our democracy. I dont think we should overreact. I dont think we should underreact. I think we need to be very sober, very cleareyed. Some feel our democracy, were at risk of losing it. How do you assess the dangers were facing with this presidency . Well, its a great question. And by the way, van, just to lay it on thick a little bit for you, i really enjoy hearing your voice out there. I like the way you think and articulate values that i think its really important for the country to hear on a regular basis. And the question youve asked is a really important one, obviously. Id start by saying that our american system has an impressive amount of resilience built into it, and i would bet on american democracy surviving this bleak period for sure. But the challenge is stiffer than any we faced in my lifetime. I remember the early 70s when president Richard Nixon was authorizing burglaries and fire bombings and breakins and all that, and we survived that. But this is something different. And the constitution is under assault. The democratic norms that are not always written down but have always been observed for a quarter of a millennium now, theyre under attack. But i think well survive, it but its a stiff challenge. Do you think its more trump and far right extremists or do you think its more putin kind of pulling everybodys strings . Well, putin is a threat, and i think he appears to be trying to reverse the outcome of the cold war and i think russia has phantom empire pain. But i think there are other causes here. Fox news. The Rush Limbaugh variety of talk radio thats all over the country. You look at that Sinclair Broadcasting thats terrible. Wall of commentary last week, which was chilling. It had a totalitarian feel to it. Every anchor across the country is ordered to say exactly the same thing, regardless of their own opinion or local conditions, ordered to say exactly the sam thing. Does that kind of thing bother you . . Oh, very much so. And there was a specific deal made by sinclair with somebody in the white house giving them special access in return for them parroting the trump line. And then fox news has played a major role. Not everybody there. People like shep smith and others do an outstanding job by my lights. But the main message there is almost like a state propaganda channel. And you add all that together with Vladimir Putin and the hol hacking of our system, the stealing of emails, and then the very precise use of that information to try to elect donald trump. Was it responsible for it . Well, there are many separate factors, and its hard to tease that one completely out, but i expect well get a pretty good approximation of that before all the investigations are done. Well, mr. Vice president , part of the thing is youve got this kind of air pollution from some of the worst in media and then youve got real air pollution thanks to people like scott pruitt. I think weve got the worst epa person ever. How do you evaluate a scott pruitt . First on an ethical basis. This guy seems to be a kleptocrat of some kind. And thats before you even get to the bad stuff hes doing to the planet. Talk to us about scott prooit. What would you do if you were president and you had someone like scott prooit on youitt on . Well, as tim cook said the other day, i wouldnt be in that situation. Former governor chris christie, who was originally tapped to lead the transition, said last week he never should have been scott pruitt never should have been appointed in the first place because the judgment calls he made as attorney general in oklahoma were filled with the same kind of stuff that hes doing now. I will tell you that id be very surprised if 90 of the American People looking at the facts of that situation did not think there was the appearance of outright corruption there. And donald trump ought to fire him. It wont do any good for me to say that. If i told him to keep him on, maybe that would make him fire him. But honestly, rrdless of policy, regardless of ideology or his policies, the American People have a right to believe there is some modicum of integrity in the way our government is operating. And if someone who is making decisions on the levels of permissible pollution from a facility thats represented by a lobbyist who is giving money in effect, you look at the terms of that lease, its really, really obvious. Again, there are others who will determine the facts. But im surprised that donald trump has not listened to general kelly, who according to reports has been saying for quite some time youve got to get rid of this guy, hes making everybody look bad. Well, listen, its hard to make the Trump Administration look worse, but he really is doing that. And its not just these kind of crimes against americas pocketbooks and americas values. The Trump Administration has been doing serious damage to the environment. When we say the environment, what we mean is kids health. Yeah. Were talking about propollution, propoison, antihealth decisions coming from the white house. Theyve approved pipelines that are already leaking. They pulled us out of paris. And the air pollution makes people sick. And its well known. And by allowing much more air pollution in our cities and in our country, hell make more people sick. And by the way, africanamerican children are three times more likely to suffer from the diseases of air pollution, twice as likely to have asthma, because according to, you know, the principles of environmental justice, we know that the plumes of this pollution are way more likely to go into communities that dont have the political and economic power to defend themselves, and so thats where the first damage is done. Im so glad you brought that up. I actually have did my own research into this. Youre somebody whos been talking about this for a long time. I want you to see what i mound out on the same point. Okay. The political fight over Climate Change and the environment says either you care about the planet we have a moral responsibility to protect this earth for our children and our grandchildren. Or you care about american workers. We are lifting jobkilling restrictions on the production of oil, natural gas, clean coal and shale energy. But the truth is you can care about both. This is especially true if youre a racial minority or a lowincome person. Polluters are much more likely to build in black and latino neighborhoods and expose residents there to harmful chemicals and hazardous waste. In fact, a recent study from scientists affiliated with the epa also found racial minorities and poor whites are more likely be exposed to unhealthy air. The epa found africanamericans are reporting the highest rates of asthma. Native americans reporting the highest rates of asthma attacks. The Climate Crisis is actually affecting the pocketbooks of all americans. Increased wildfires and droughts are driving up the costs of everybodys groceries. And the costs of these climaterelated disasters keep pushing up the bill for taxpayers. That pulls money away from important stuff like education and health care. The worry is when you start thinking about cleaner solutions is that it might cost us millions of jobs we have right now. Manufacturers, people working in coal or oil. But there is a way to fight pollution and poverty at the same time. Good green jobs could put unemployed folks in the heartland and the cities back to work. Weatherizing homes, putting up solar panels, building wind farms. They also avoid the health and safety risks of working with dirty fossil fuels. Jobs versus the environment is a false choice. Youve been making this point for so long. I just want you tell us why its wrong to imagine that america cant have a Clean Energy Economy that is also a high employment economy. Look at the latest report from the u. S. Bureau of labor statistics. The number one fastestgrowing job in the United States for the last several years has been solar panel installer. Solar jobs are now growing nine times fast er than other jobs i the economy. What is the second Fastest Growing job . Wind turbine technician. What is the source of work that could be done by people in every community . Retrofitting buildings. These are jobs that are waiting to be filled, and the cost of the renewables is coming down. It saves people money. By the way, in kentucky, neighboring tennessee, the famous coal museum in kentucky just installed solar panels all over its roof because its saving them money. You create jobs, you make the air cleaner. When we come back, were going to talk about a lot of this stuff. Weve got a lot more with the Vice President when we return. Including how he tries to get through to climate deniers and skeptics. Plus were going to get his early take on the democrats who may challenge President Trump in 2020. As we go to break, you know i like to hear from everybody. And heres what you had to say about Climate Change. Im angry that the fossil fuel industry has been making billions of dollars off making the problem worse. Theyre profiting and my generation is paying the price. Decisions we make now will have major impacts on weather patterns and how extreme weather is in the future. Im so frustrated. I just want to find a used car without getting ripped off. You could start your search at the allnew carfax. Com that might help. Show me the carfax. Now the car you want and the history you need are easy to find. Show me used trucks with one owner. Pretty cool. [laughs] ah. Ahem. Show me the carfax. Start your used car search and get free carfax reports at the allnew carfax. Com. At ally, we offer low rates on home loans. But if thats not enough, we offer our price match guarantee too. And if thats not enough. We should move. Our home team will help you every step of the way. Still not enough . Its smaller than id like. Well help you finance your dream home. Its perfect. Oh, was this built on an ancient Burial Ground . Okay. Then well have her cleanse your house of evil spirits. Well do anything, spiritual chatter seriously anything to help you get your home. Ally. Do it right. You can do it. We can do this. At fidelity, our online planning tools are clear and straightforward so you can plan for retirement while saving for the things you want to do today. Whoo while saving for the things you wouldnt accept from any one else. Why accept it from your allergy pills . Flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. Flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. Most pills only block one. Flonase. The next generation, if they live in a world of floods and storms and rising seas and droughts and refugees by the millions escaping unlivable conditions, destabilizing countries around the world, they would be well justified in looking back at us and asking, what were you thinking . Couldnt you hear what the scientists were saying . Couldnt you hear what Mother Nature was screaming at you . Welcome back to the van jones show. We are here with former Vice President al gore. You just heard a clip from him fired up in his documentary. Youre fired up. Youre preaching. And i love it. Its called the inconvenient sequel truth to power. You can get it on dvd. Lirngs you have been a prophet on this. I remember you back when nobody was talking about this. You got the whole world to talk about it. And yet i think for a lot of our viewers, when we try to raise this stuff with our cousins and people we went to high school with, we sometimes just get shot down, shut down. What do you find are some of the arguments that at least can land with somebody whos skeptical . I know sometimes this feels impossible. But you must have found some things that work better than others. Well, the jobs issue we talked about earlier is beginning to make a real impact. And the fact that people can get electricity cheaper from solar and wind than they can from continuing to burn fossil fuels is also having an impact. And as i mentioned in that clip you showed, Mother Nature is joining this debate now. We had 320 billion worth of damages last year alone, from the hurricanes that hit and the other climaterelated disasters. And the scientists were proven right when they warned us this was coming. The fact scientists were right decades ago when they told us about what were going through now should make us pay more careful attention to what theyre warning us lies ahead unless we take action. But its certainly true, van, that you will encounter people who see the denial of the Climate Crisis as kind of a badge of identity. And if they depart from that view, they risk being excommunicated from their political peer group. When you encounter someone like that, one thing is to listen respectfully and try to understand what part of this is throwing them off and zero in on that, point them to what is happening with the weather. Actually, a lot of people are taking notice of this. And even they dont feel comfortable using language like Climate Crisis or global warming, theyre beginning to say hey, this weather is getting pretty off and we need we may need to do something about this. Weve got the Midterm Elections coming up. I think a lot of people spend time praying the fbis going to drag trump out of office in handcuffs tomorrow. But i think its going to come down to the vote. What would it mean for this whole conversation if for instance the democrats get their act together and take the house back in november . Oh, it would mean everything. And i really i know you have been also impressed with these Parkland High School the parkland, Florida Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students who have been so eloquent. And they havent wavered in saying register and vote. None of this is going to change until people vote in larger numbers and have that passion. I remember the marches, march for our lives a couple of weeks ago, i remember the 11yearold africanamerican girl who stood up and said, look, my and she had led a walkout from her elementary school. And she said my classmates and i may be 11 but just remember, its only seven years until we can vote. And there are millions who can vote coming out of high schools every month, every year. But keeping that determination and keeping your eyes on the prize, which is the ballot box. Why are democrats having such a hard time, period . I remember 2008 as a beautiful moment. And now here we are ten years later. We lost the house, the senate, the white house, Supreme Court, governorships al over the place, and people apparently didnt know the Democratic Party was in trouble until trump won, but weve been losing seats for a long time. What do you think is wrong with the Democratic Party right now . Well, first of all, there are some things right with it. I look at some of the new genera