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Al Gore talks about Ivanka Trump and climate policy

The former U.S. vice president Al Gore, in an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, said of his conversation Monday with the president-elect, “The meeting was a good one, I thought.  I -- we covered a lot of ground.”

Gore told reporters immediately after the meeting that the session with Mr. Trump was “lengthy and productive,” and “a sincere search for areas of common ground.”

Al Gore meets with Donald and Ivanka Trump 00:41

“I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued,” the former vice president said earlier Monday.

At Trump Tower, Gore also met with Ivanka Trump, on a topic that’s been important to him for decades: climate change.

“It’s no secret that Ivanka Trump is very committed to having a climate policy that makes sense for our country and for our world,” Gore told Hayes. “And that was certainly evident in the conversation that I had with her before the conversation with the President-elect.”

Although Gore said her commitment was “no secret,” publicly, Ivanka Trump has not said much, if anything, about climate policy. But there was a Politico report last week that said she wanted to make climate change “one of her signature issues.” A source close to Ivanka Trump reportedly told Politico, “Ivanka is in the early stages of exploring how to use her spotlight to speak out on the issue.”

The former vice president also weighed in on the Electoral College in the interview with Hayes.

“For me personally, in the last couple of years, I’ve come to the conclusion that the balance has shifted in my own way of thinking about it partly because I do think that we would have a chance to really encourage participation in our democracy if we went to a popular vote,” the former vice president explained, adding, “It will take a little time, but I’d be surprised if we didn’t eventually shift to a popular vote for President over the next decade or so.”

CBS News’ Sopan Deb contributed to this report. 

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