with the russians. >> reporter: now, a key question tonight is whether some incoming members of president trump's national security team, like john bolton, can get him to take a tougher line on the kremlin. that's what we're watching tonight, wolf. >> we certainly are, brian todd reporting, thanks very much. that's it for me. thanks for watch for muching. watching. erin burnett starts now. "outfront" next breaking news, shooting at youtube headquarters. suspected shooter a woman. at least three wounded. she is dead. the shooting is under investigati investigation. plus more breaking news, rod rosenstein getting a new right-hand man in the russia probe. what does it mean for the mueller investigation? and trump saying he'll send troops to the mexican border. surprising his own pentagon. and mexico. let's go "outfront." and good evening, i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, we have breaking news. a shooting at youtube's headquarters in california. we have an active investigation under way at this moment.

three people were injured. the suspected shooter, a woman, according to police. she is dead at this hour. shots ringing out inside the sprawling complex this afternoon. more than a thousand workers were scrambling in a scene of cha chaos, racing for the exits. one witness we spoke to said he saw blood on the floor and the stairs. within minutes, police there, heavily armed officers, surrounding the youtube offices which is also on the same campus as google. police describing the scene inside as chaotic. now, the female shooter, and it was a woman, as we understand it, is dead tonight. they don't know whether it was self-inflicted or not. investigators are now running down every lead they can to try to figure out what happened, what the motive was, what the intention was. the president tweeting, "was just briefed on the shooting at youtube's hq in san bruno, california. our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. thank you to our phenomenal law enforcement officers and first responders that are currently on the scene." i want to go straight to dan

simon who is "outfront" there at the scene in san bruno. dan, what are police saying? >> reporter: well, hi, erin. first of all, this is still very much an active crime scene. you can see this whole area is cordoned off. you can see all these firefighting vehicles and all the police vehicles in the background. you can see the youtube headquarters as well. what we are being told by police is just before 1:00 p.m. local time, there were reports of multiple gunshots inside the youtube headquarters. when police arrived a short time later, they first encountered a person in the front of the building who appeared to have at least one gunshot wound. then as police examined the whole premises, they found a second person who appeared to have been dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. and then two more people apparently shot outside of the building at some other business. as you can imagine, a lot of rattled nerves here. i just spoke to a couple of youtube employees. they're still trying to process what happened. erin, i also spoke to a guy who

was at a fast food restaurant. he was in the drivethrough when he heard all the gunshots. he immediately got out of his car to see what was going on and then lo and behold, he saw a person coming out of the headquarters who appeared to have a gunshot wound to her leg. they took her inside the restaurant. they applied some napkins. they tried to help her. and then a short time later, paramedics arrived, took her to the hospital. let me give you an update on the three people who have been hospitalized. we are told that a 32-year-old woman is in serious condition. a 27-year-old woman in fair condition. and also a 36-year-old man in critical condition, erin. >> critical condition. all right. thank you very much, dan simon. and investigators are trying to figure out what was the motive here? as we said, the shooter, we understand to be a woman. we don't know what the motive was. we don't know why three individuals were shot. crime & justice reporter shimon prokupecz is "outfront" working on this part of the story. shimon, what are investigators telling you right now about the mot motive, why this woman was doing

this? >> certainly investigators believe there was some kind of personal relationship between this woman and at least one of the intended targets of the shooting. whether or not what kind of relationship that was, that is still part of what they're trying to confirm. and that's what they're working off of right now. they certainly identified her. they're working backwards now to try and figure out what led to this. sort of what sparked this shooting. what led her to bring this gun there today and fire off these rounds. it's not clear if the other people that were shot were just bystanders sort of that were caught in the middle of gunfire, or if, in fact, this shooter targeted them. but certainly, one of the things that investigators workere fair quickly able to identify and confirm is this wasn't a terrorist attack which, you know, they got in that building, they were able to clear it, they were able to figure out who the shooter was, who the victims were and get the situation under control fairly quickly. >> shimon, thank you very much. phil mudd joins me now, former

fbi senior intelligence officer and cia counterterror official. juliette kayyem is with us, former assistant secretary for the department of homeland security. and bobby, former fbi special agent. thanks to all. phil, we understand the shooter was a woman. three people, she shot three people, obviously, perhaps including herself. we don't yet know whether she died of a self-inflicted gunshot or not. female shooters are rare. obviously, they're trying to figure out now a motive. what do you make of this? >> look, i wouldn't differentiate much at this point between a female and a male shooter. i want to see facts and within the next day, i would anticipate seeing a lot of facts. you're going to have interviews, not only of eyewitnesss but friends and family about what she knew, if there was, in fact, an individual there whom she targeted. obviously, we ought to know tonight why she targeted that individual. was it a personal relationship? was it a work relationship? i still haven't seen anything to indicate whether the shooter had a connection with youtube. female/male, to me, that wouldn't make a lot of difference right now.

the investigation ought to give us some idea on motive within, let's say, 12 to 24 hours. >> 12 to 24 hours are crucial. bobby, we do know of those injured, 32-year-old woman and 27-year-old woman and then a 36-year-old male who is in critical condition tonight. we don't know if those were the targets. it appears they were shot separately. so it doesn't -- at least from this moment, we don't understand there to have been some sort of a cross-fire type of an issue or shot by accident. but we don't know which of those individuals was the target, if, indeed, any of them were. >> right. i mean, although we do -- we are starting to hear that there was a personal relationship between one of the victims and the shooter, so we know that this was probably a shooting of a personal nature and so, which indicates a targeted victim, not a random victim, not a -- this wasn't an act that was calculated to take out the most people, injure the most people in the quickest amount of time. as in a mass shooting. so we're ruling that.

that looks like it can be ruled out fairly quickly. so the limited number of victims and the possibly limited use of that firearm would indicate there was a specific victim targeted in this case. >> juliette, what are investigators looking for right now to nail down the motive? >> well, basically her profile. what she knew, what she said to people, what her digital footprint is. who was she after, what were the aren't, what triggered it today? so the investigation will be pretty short. they have -- she's dead. they have her, and they will be able to determine where she purchased the gub gn. i think the real takeaway here since it was such a particular event, a focused event, is how did youtube as an institution, as a company, perform in terms of active shooter protocols for their employees, communications, you know, information to the police. this is -- this was tragic, but it wasn't a tragedy.

there's a difference. and out of that, youtube, but other institutions like youtube, especially a lot of these campuses for big companies like google and airbnb and others, to learn about how much they are informing their employees and how communication is working. i don't think we know that right now, but i -- but they should learn from this. so that -- >> yeah, i mean, that's the thing, when you think about it, phil, you know, we don't know, to juliette's point, to what type of gun the shooter had. obviously this was right outside san francisco. san bruno, california, right near san francisco international airport. we do know a massive office building, talking about youtube on the same campus as google, right in the heart of silicon valley in a sense. broadly. someone was able to get a gun there, which is a pretty incredible thing to begin with, phil. >> boy, this is a sad moment for america. let me explain why. if you look at the attack recently in broward county, immediately there questions about how we secure schools for our children. i live near schools in an urban area in washington, d.c.

i run by schools every day, there is no perimeter security but we're in an age in the 21st century we're asking whether we have to secure an entire school compound. middle school, grade school. i think the same question is going to start to pop up for commercial america. that is silicon valley, here on the east coast we've got obviously high-tech areas in places like boston. are we going to ask questions about not only securing airports, securing public buildings but securing the perimeters of large areas around schools and public facility? it's a remarkable transformation in america. >> pretty remarkable and tragic in and of itself, the fact we're sitting here having this conversation again, and obviously miraculous in a sense that it was not much, much worse, which, of course, early reports were that it very much could have been. thank you, all four, so very much. >> thank you. next, breaking news. deputy attorney general rod rosenstein with a new right-hand man. this is going to be someone right in the center of the rush s russia investigation. we're going to explain who h he

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breaking news, deputy attorney general rod rosenstein has a new right-hand man in the russia investigation. this is an important step, rosenstein picking the veteran prosecutor ed o'callahan. he will serve as the acting principal associate deputy attorney general. this comes on the same day that the first sentence was handed down in the mueller probe. justice reporter lara jarrett joins me "outfront" on the phone with the breaking details. what more are you learning? >> reporter: erin, o'callahan is a verne federal prosecutor. he's prosecuted terrorism cases, high-profile ones, primarily in new york, but he now lands in the thick of perhaps the highest-profile investigation currently at the justice department as the special counsel deepens his probe into former trump campaign associates. but he's going to have way more on his plate. in fact, unlike many people at the justice department, o'callahan is going to be responsible for managing all of the units at doj, everything from the criminal division, down to, you know, justice progress.

so he really is going to have quite a bit on his plate, and in a statement earlier this evening, the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein praised him as a prosecutor with distinction, excelling for his work in new york, and saying that his experiences in a variety of roles throughout the department will be invaluable as we work to protect our national security, reduce violent crime, and promote the rule of law. i should note, erin, you know, even the proximity of their offices just is sort of telling in how closely these two men are going to have to work together. i'm told there's a separating door connecting their offices together and as one former person from the obama administration who had this position told me, essentially serves as a right-hand man to deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, something of a c consigliory, erin. >> "outfront" now, steve hall,

former cia chief for russia operations and richard painter, white house ethics lawyer under president george w. bush. richard, this appointment of the right-hand man, ed o'callahan to rod rosenstein, involving the russia investigation, also comes as the first sentence is handed down in the mueller probe. do you think that this new appointment makes mueller's position more secure or not? >> i don't know if it makes a difference. it's clear that rod rosenstein's taking this seriously and he has thus far not been willing to interfere with robert mueller. he appointed robert mueller. there's no indication here that he is going to try to interfere with robert mueller and the investigation. and that's what's important. that robert mueller continues to have independence to pursue the investigation. he already has indicted several people. he has people cooperating with the investigation. he is under attack in the right-wing media, fox news and

rest of it, with all sorts of false accusations. but i know robert mueller. he was the fbi director when i was in the bush white house. he's very well respected on both sides of the aisle. >> that's true. >> and it's critically important he continue to be independent of the political people in the justice department. >> well certainly it shows when you say that rod rosenstein is taking this seriously, that he is saying don't mess with me, and that's a message that he's sending loud and clear to anyone in the white house that may feel differently. you know, steve, because this comes on the day that the president declared that he is the toughest person in the world when it comes to dealing with russia. let me just play what president trump said. >> nobody's been tougher on russia than i have, so there are many things that i've done and not only the 60 diplomats, germany did four, france did four. we did 60. there's nobody been tougher on russia. >> and it's true, obviously,

steve, trump did kick out 60 russian diplomats, or spies, more than any other country. of course, we had measuore of t here than any other country. i suppose there's a relative analysis that should be conducted. it's the largest expulsion in u.s. history. related to the poisoning of the former russian spy in the uk. you know what i found amazing, this is not a change from the obama administration, it was the same thing, right? if you kick out diplomats, russia can replace them with new diplomats. so when you hear nobody's been tougher on russia than president trump, steve, what do you say? >> you know, in fairness, erin, there have been things this administration has done, expelling those diplomats. the sanctions. those are all good things. one thing you didn't play was also the part where trump says, you know, i really want to have a good relationship with russia, which is a theme that we've heard, you know, many times. and sometimes dealing with russia, erin, is a little bit like dealing with your teenager.

if your teenager comes home after breaking curfew and is drunk and has totaled the car and says it's not my fault, can you prove it? it's your fault then stomps off to their room. if you say i really want to have a good relationship with my teenager and don't take any action, i would argue you're not being a good parent. it's the same with russia. they have to understand the consequences. you don't just get to live in the international society and get the benefits of being part of the u.n. or wto and all those other great things without understanding there are certain behaviors and you need to hear it from the head of the family. donald trump needs to call o ut putin and say this behavior of yours, killing skripal, trying to kill skripal, is not good. >> of course, that's not what's happening, richard. the president who called putin and congratulated him on winning a rigged election when he was told in all bold letters not to do so. told to condemn him for the poisoning of the spy in the uk and neglected to do so. in fact, he discussed having a meeting with putin and the white house was even on the table.

so what's your take, tougher? tougher than anyone in the world? >> i don't know what's going on with the russians. he encouraged the russians to hack the e-mail of his opponent, hillary clinton, during the campaign. he openly encouraged that in speeches. his campaign staff were collaborating with the russians, meetings in the trump tower. and this fellow over in london, the so-called professor, was meeting with george papadopoulos and it goes on and on. robert mueller is uncovering more and more collaboration are the russians then he sits down with the russian ambassador in front of russian tv explains why he fired james comey because of the russia investigation. he also releases some classified information to the russian ambassador in that same interview and he's high-fiving, you know, vladimir putin for winning that election. well, whatever kind of election it was. so the problem is we don't know what's going on with donald trump and the russians. we don't foe whether he's borrowing a lot of money from

the russians because he won't release his tax returns. he won't tell us where that's coming from. and that's the problem, it's a very dangerous situation for our national security right now. >> let me just play what he said today about getting along with russia. because as you point out, steve, it was a pretty interesting line and denigrating to everybody else. here's what he said. >> getting along with russia would be a good thing. not a bad thing. and just about everybody agrees to that except very stupid people. >> steve? >> i guess you got to call me stupid. there's no way around it. getting along with russia is not a policy. what you need to do is you need to look at what russia has done, what u.s. and, perhaps, even more importantly, western interests are vis-a-vis russia, then you need to take policies that sometimes might exclude russia, might push russia back, might send russia the message, look, you're not behaving properly so you're not going to get to participate in some of

these things. you know, this escalation, new missiles and all of that thing, that's a very typical russian thing because they know in the west we get nervous and start saying things like, well, we can't just leave russia out of this picture, we need to cooperate with russia. in fact, there's a whole lot of things russia really doesn't contribute positively toward. i would argue north korea is a good example of that. you know, we need to look at russia beyond just i want to have a good relationship with them, again, it's like saying to your wayward child, most important thing for me is to have a good relationship, no, you need to develop behaviors that the you want to see. >> all right. thank you very much. i like the line, call me stupid then. all right. thanks, steve and richard. i appreciate your time tonight. president trump's new plan for securing the border, sending american troops to militarize it. did he catch his own military advisers off guard yet again with this? plus the epa chief scott pruitt, the accusations are piling up. flying first class for government business, getting favors from a lobbyist and then the lobbyist gets a sweet housing deal and private planes and raises and -- but he's still

there. we'll be back. you wouldn't accept an incomplete job

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briefed on a border security strategy that includes mobilization of the national guard. that's troops on the border. this coming after the president announced he will be sending the u.s. military to secure the border with mexico until his long-promised wall is finished. >> i told mexico, and i respect what they did, i said, look, your laws are very powerful, your laws are very strong. we have very bad laws for our border. and we are going to be doing some things, i've been speaking with general mattes. we're going to do things militarily. until we have a wall and proper security, we're going to be guarding our border with the military. it's a big step. >> it is a big step. boris sanchez is "outfront" at the white house. the president's comments pretty incredible. putting military on the border? that's a big step. he's not try to minimize it and it isn't something to minimize. we understand the pentagon was caught off guard by this. never mind mexico which also was

caught off guard. it this is not a militarized border. what else are we now hearing from the white house? >> reporter: that's right, erin. it seems like there was some miscommunication between the white house and officials that cnn has heard from at the pentagon. sarah sanders, the press secretary, confirming this evening that last week the president received a briefing on immigration, what he's labeled an immigration crisis and he directed his aides to come up with a vigorous strategy to fighting that crisis. lo and behold, today, apparently the president was briefed on the potential option of using the national guard to protect the border. and that's what he meant by saying that we would protect the border are the miarrder with th. something he said he discussed previously with secretary of defense james mattirks. the white house went forward and said the white house is committed to getting something done on immigration law there are congress which is part of the reason we've seen the president take this hardline stance for consecutive days calling america's immigration laws weak, and then going as far

as to say that mexico has to do more and he would pull out of nafta if they didn't. we should also note today the president said that he spoke with mexico yesterday about immigration. we asked the white house to clarify that. they told us, in fact, the president had not spoken to mexican president enrique pena nieto but the message had gotten to the mexican president and we saw the caravan of immigrations. difficult to fact check that knowing part of this group of people was a political demonstration and only few of them actually had the intention of getting to the united states and then seeking asylum, erin. >> boris, thank you very much. appreciate it. let's go to the former assistant secretary for the department of homeland security, juliette kayyem is back. along with steve cortez. the president, let's give him credit for the fact he knows what he's doing is a big deal. pentagon didn't seem to know

about it, mexico didn't seem to know about it. he's saying i'm going to do something militarily and that's a big step and he's right. but i want to have you put it in context. we're talking about troops going onto the southern border. president obama put 1,200 national guard troops there while he was president. president bush sent 6,000 troops down there while he was president. is there a difference between then and now? >> oh, yes, and i think the president was confused. doesn't know the difference between the national guard bureau, which serves under governors, and, of course, active military which serves under him as commander in chief. and so the difference is not -- is a legal difference. a lot of people are hearing this word that essentially says we cannot use the active military for law enforcement purposes. it is a legacy of the civil war and it's what makes us a democracy that a president cannot, you know, deploy the troops and say you're now local police. and so the difference is important because national guard members, as many of us who have worked with them, i oversaw the national guard here in

massachusetts, you know, they went down to the border to support training and logistics. that's what they do really well, and active military, you know, what's their -- you know, first of all, it's unlawful, but secondly, what are they doing there? are they allowed to shoot to kill? how many are you sending? so the best thing to come out of today is what a lot of us suspected early on, which is the president was confused. that's the best way of putting it. and doesn't know the difference between active troops and the national guard bureau. >> i mean, what do you say, steve, active troops, he's s sayisa saying we're going to militarize the border. we're, to state the obvious, not at war with mexico. it's an ally of the united states. it's not a militarized border. >> an ally that's not acting like an ally, a neighbor who's not acting very neighborly by helping and ushering a caravan of would-be illegal immigrants to our border. juliette, to your point, the

president is not confused. you know who else is not confused are the american people. he ran unambiguously on this issue in 2016, it was perhaps the pillar of his campaign in 2016 that we're going to build a wall, that we're going to get control of our southern border and you talk about it, our troops not being law enforcement officers, you're correct. they're very national security. we have a national security issue on our porous and open southern border. it doesn't serve the economic or national security of the united states and the people spoke loudly in 2016 that they want that reality recognized and rectified. it's time we defend our borders. if you don't have borders, you don't have a country. >> i just want to make something clear here because i don't know, you know, why people voted for trump or why they didn't vote for trump. that's irrelevant. we're dealing with -- >> well, i know why. >> -- rules and policy. no, there's rules and policy here. so here's the deal. steve, are you actually saying that the national security imperative means the military

will be deployed at the mexican border and serve in mexico or the united states? because if you're saying it's the united states, it's unlawful. if you're saying it's mexico, that's what i call a war. so the fact i am giving the president an out here, right? he was confused. because the seriousness of what he said earlier today that got everyone worked up is because most people know the distinction between the use of the national guard to support border control, and active military going into mexico. and if you don't, that's a little scary. >> steve? >> what i'm saying, and i think the president would concur with me on this, is there has been a soft invasion of the united states. >> invasion? >> that was tolerated -- >> you're going to use the word, invasion? >> yes. it's not an army invading but it's a soft invasion of illegal immigrati immigration. and we have tolerated it. we've largely tolerated it because a lot of interest in the united states, big business, the democratic party, a lot of interest in the united states like this soft invasion. you know who doesn't like it? middle-class americans who have

their economic and national security threatened by that very force and they have demanded via the ballot box -- >> okay. man who used to run the southern command -- >> we get control of our border. >> okay. hold on. john kelly who is currently the president's chief of staff. and i'm curious as to how much longer that will be given what i'm about to play for you. this issue has come up before. trump wanted to militarize the border, using words he doesn't use invasion, but words like that, steve, john kelly came out very quickly and corrected the president last time this happened. okay? let me just play the president what he said and john kelly. here it is. >> we're getting really bad dudes out of this country and at a rate that nobody's ever seen before. and they're the bad ones. and it's a military operation. >> again, listen to this, no, repeat, no use of military force in immigration operations. none. >> so, steve, what do you say? is the president just overruling

john kelly and john kelly's basically out or does the president just not get it? >> well, no, i don't think it has to be either. i don't think john kelly's out, but the president has been -- look, again, he was given this mandate. he didn't assume this mandate. he was given it by the american people. and he was crystal clear on this issue. also, i think, let's ignore -- >> steve, we're talking about a military operation. don't make this about the wall or whether he's securing it. we're talking about putting troops on the southern border. that's what we're talking about. >> erin, i think most americans would be astounded to know we don't already have troops guarding our southern boarder ad here's the other issue we should pay attention to. people are fleeing these countries because these countries unfortunately are basket cases and my own father fled latin america. fled a corrupt, violent place to come to the united states. so i get it. i empathize. he also did it legally. i have great empathy and i want immigration. it has to be controlled. it's not a caravan who shows up when they want, where they want, to come into our homes.

any more than we would do that in our own houses. right? >> can i -- >> we wouldn't tolerate that in our house. more or less in our country. >> i just think, steve, the pentagon gave you an out today. they corrected what the president got wrong. active military will not be utilized to invade mexico. and the national guard will continue to support border enforcement the efforts. . we have a couple hundred thousand -- a couple -- lots of border patrol agents. so let's -- let's just clean up on aisle 6 and you should accept it, steve. you should accept it at this stage. >> all right. thank you both, very much. i appreciate it. next, will president trump fire scott pruitt? epa chief. look, the list of violations and allegations of corruption is getting longer and longer. you know, renting an apartment for basically next to nothing for energy lobbyists giving them a sweet deal. that's one of several things today. stormy daniels asking the federal government to get involved in her case. the treasury department is now in the center of it. will they give up information on

the hush money she received?

tonight, two republican lawmakers are calling for scott pruitt to resign or be fired by president trump and this is coming after a whole lot of negative headlines about the embattled epa administrator now in trouble for extensive security, first-class travel, dolling out huge raises to staffers and getting a sweet housing deal from an energy

lobbyist that then got a sweet deal it seems from the epa. pruitt tonight being told privately the president has his back. pamela brown is "outfront." >> scott pruitt, sir, you support scott pruitt? >> i hope he's going to be great. >> reporter: president trump stopping short of endorsing his epa administrator scott pruitt today who was just the latest cabinet member to be under fire. >> what an exciting day. >> reporter: pruitt making carefully choreographed remarks at the epa today where he didn't take questions from reporters. last week, cnn confirmed pruitt was renting a condo for $50 a night connected to a prominent energy lobbyist whose firm represents companies under epa regulation and the owners were political supporters of pruitt when he was an oklahoma state official. and a series of new reporting raises more questions about the ethics of the rental. "the new york times" is reporting the epa approved the pipeline expansion of a canadian

energy company at the same time pruitt was renting the condo owned by the lobbyist. the "times" says that canadian company is a client of the same lobbying firm. democratic senator sheldon whitehouse sending a letter to the epa inspector general today requesting an investigation into the circumstances of the rental. pruitt was already under scrutiny for his first-class airfare. then on his around-the-clock security detail to accompany him and his family to disneyland and the rose bowl in january. according to a senior white house official, the surge of bad headlines is upsetting the president. what could be even more upsetting to president trump is a story first reported in "the atlantic" about pruitt aides who were given pay raises without approval from the presidential personnel office. and the source close to the white house tells cnn these troubling issues could cost pruitt his job. but according to another administration official, president trump called pruitt monday night to express his support, telling him to keep his head up and keep fighting.

>> this president has shown tremendous courage to say to the american people that america is going to be put first. >> reporter: one of the reasons may be that pruitt has fought for the president's agenda. rolling back environmental regulations he says stifle business and innovation. he also supported the president's withdrawal from the paris climate accord. continuing that deregulation trend today, pruitt announcing the epa will scale back vehicle emission standards. >> this is another step in the president's regulatory agenda, deregulatory agenda. regulatory certainty. i think this midterm evaluation, the auto sector, the importance of auto manufacturing in this country, the president, again, is saying america is going to be put first. we have nothing to be apologetic about. >> reporter: and the white house has launched an internal review into the allegations surrounding pruitt. i spoke to one white house official who said the hope at the beginning of this week in the white house among officials was they could get through this week without another staff shakeup of a senior official. but officials i've been speaking

with say as more revelations come to light, erin, they don't see how he can survive this much longer. >> all right. thank you very much, pamela. and "outfront" now, white house correspondent for american urban radio networks, april ryan. april, you know, the president ostensibly behind the scenes telling pruitt, don't worry, i got your back, but when asked publicly if he supports pruitt, you heard in pam's piece, quote, i hope he's going to be great. you know, i don't know what exactly that is supposed to mean. but he's not just coming out and firing him despite this rising list of infractions or corruption. >> yeah. erin, there's a lot of deep diving on this. bigger issue. what i'm hearing is this event involves general john kelly. general kelly wants pruitt gone. the president doesn't. and this is causing a further wedge between those two. the president is standing strong on pruitt and one of the reasons why he's standing strong is

because pruitt could wind up being a valuable asset to him in another position if he has to move him. and that position could be over at the department of justice. >> right. whether if possibly attorney general depending what happens to sessions. i mean, april, it's pretty incredible when you say standing strong with pruitt. again, another wedge with kelly as we were pointing out on the mexico story today, there appears to be one. it's not just pruitt, right? it's not just people that are already gone. it's the treasury secretary steve mnuchin overspending on travel, questions about flights. ryan zinke, travel again, an issue. also very expensive office furniture, doors. ben carson, of course, you've got that whole dining set. the list goes on and on. and they're all still there. >> yeah. well, tom price is gone. the former hhs secretary over issues of spending. and he even paid back his trips.

you know, there was word that kellyanne conway could have been on some of those trips, too, so bottom line is is that this president understands that he has a situation where other people could be fired. it does not look good, one, for him to keep having these losses of staff or as well, cabinet officials, but he also understands once again he's going to stand strong with those that he's -- that he's in lockstep with and particularly for pruitt, pruitt could serve in another position so he needs pruitt at this moment. >> all right. thank you very much, april. >> i know. next, we have breaking news in the stormy daniels case this hour. we got new reporting here on how she's hoping steve mnuchin and the treasury department are going to help her fight the president. and looking good. why appearance matters so very much in the trump white house. you know what they say about the early bird...

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moves. daniels' lawyer is calling on the u.s. treasury to release information surrounding the $130,000 hush money deal she made with trump's lawyer. >> we want this matter in the open, in the public. we want the public to have all of the facts on both sides. >> reporter: avenatti making a direct appeal in a letter to steve mnuchin. writing as secretary of the treasury, it is within your authority to release the sar information to allow the public to know critical information. michael cohen to be asking the

case to be settled in private rather than open court. >> we want this matter to be in the public, in the open. the public to have all of the facts on both sides. >> reporter: on monday president trump formally joined lawyers. be c this as there is a new development in the legal fight between the national enquirer and a former playboy play mate. >> you are saying they wanted to protect donald trump. >> i'm assuming so, yeah. >> reporter: the national enquirer's parent company is seeking to dismiss to get out of the deal where she sold the

rights for her story to them. in paperwork filed they argued the deal struck with mcdougal is protected by the first amendment. writing the first amendment protects the publisher's editorial right. mcdougal's attorney firing back on twitter. >> and mcdougal's legal team is vowing to formally oppose the motion. >> certainly what their goal is. thank you. and next, looking the part, jeanne moos. you wouldn't accept an incomplete job

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here is jeanne moos. >> when the president is casting around for appointees, where does he look? from secretary of defense mattis to his pick of doctors. >> he is like central casting. >> president trump looks at looks. >> i think he is nice looking, i think i am better looking than him. >> john bolton's mustache was too much in his face. president trump also had a change of heart when first announced he would hire a husband wife attorney team then decided he had too many legal conflicts plus the president was turned off because they looked dishevelled when they came to meet with him.

he complained about hillary. >> the primary reason i wanted mike, other than he looks really good. >> you should say you are so good looking. >> the president jokes about his own looks. >> they show me, young, handsome. i said why couldn't i look like that today. >> and flattered his new economic adviser. he said, you are on the air, i am looking at a picture of you, he said very handsome. >> next week he is replacing jeff sessions with matlock. >> he has seen a lot of stormy daniels on tv lately. but the president has griped to several people that daniels is

not the type of women he finds attractive. his smile suggests otherwise. jeanne moos cnn new york. thank you for joining us. ac 360 with anderson cooper starts right now. good evening. in the bay area california. san bruno just south of san francisco where authorities have briefed the media. dan, what is the latest? >> reporter: we are told that this investigation will last through the night. police cars and fire trucks. just before 1:00 p.m. local time police got the call