Subject: Nightly, 5.11
From: "Kasnetz, Joel" <[email-masked]>
To: "Bauer, Nick" <[email-masked]>, "Dillon, Lauren" <[email-masked]>, "Graham, Caroline" <[email-masked]>, Veepstakes <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 May 2016 16:52:08 -0700

*         Completed Sessions and Christie dailies

*         Completed marijuana, student loan, and climate change sections of the Sessions top hits doc

*         Looked for flagworthy Bridgegate news.

*         Monitored Chris Christie presser today

No livestreams of Sessions' press conference today, which is disappointing, and our tracker got denied at the door. I haven't seen much coverage, otherwise.

BEST OF TODAY:

(MORALITY IS ONE THING, BUT RULES ARE RULES, MIGRANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN)

Jeff Sessions, Opposing Pope Francis's Position On Illegal Immigration: "I Don't Think The Golden Rule Can Be Used To Justify Violating A Nation's Immigration Laws. I Don't Know That He Meant That, But I Don't Think That's True." "Pope Francis implored Congress to act to combat climate change and to embrace immigrants in his Thursday address to lawmakers... Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) took issue with the pope citing the Golden Rule - 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you' - in the context of having compassion for immigrants. 'I don't think the Golden Rule can be used to justify violating a nation's immigration laws,' Sessions said. 'I don't know that he meant that, but I don't think that's true.'" [Huffington Post, 9/24/15<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pope-congress-climate-change-immigration_us_56042de8e4b08820d91bf69d>]

(REALITY OFFENDS THE HELL OUT OF SESSIONS)

ThinkProgress: "Jeff Sessions...Was More Than Surprised When Informed By Senator Barbara Boxer That Roughly 98 Percent Of Climate Scientists...Accepted That Anthropogenic Warming Was Real And Serious - He Was Outraged." "The Senate hearing on climate science this Wednesday, unsurprisingly enough, appears to have changed little with respect to the politics of climate change on Capitol Hill. Indeed, a significant portion of the discussion was dominated by debate over Dr. John Christy's particular brand of denialism, a well-trod debate. Nonetheless, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) was more than surprised when informed by Senator Barbara Boxer that roughly 98 percent of climate scientists, contra Christy, accepted that anthropogenic warming was real and serious - he was outraged:" [ThinkProgress, 8/1/12<http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/01/624821/sessions-i-am-offended-by-views-of-climate-scientists/>]

*         Jeff Sessions: "Madam Chairman, I Am Offended By That." Sessions: "Madam Chairman, I am offended by that, I'm offended by that - I didn't say anything about the scientists. I said the data shows [sic] it is not warming to the degree that a lot of people predicted, not close to that much..." Boxer: "The conclusion that you're coming to is shared by 1-2 percent of the scientists. You shouldn't be offended by that. That's the fact." Sessions: "I don't believe that's correct." [ThinkProgress, 8/1/12<http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/01/624821/sessions-i-am-offended-by-views-of-climate-scientists/>]