but that's what scott pruitt gets. we can't tell these days when the president starts to praise somebody more or less, whether that person is nearing the exits or not. what does it look like, what does a scott pruitt resignation look like? is it a resignation, a firing, a moving of scott pruitt somewhere else? >> i can tell you all of us are holding our phones close to see what's going to be tweeted. but, you know, the general thinking i think around this is -- and look, we've talked to people close to mr. pruitt who think he could be gone as early as tomorrow. we've talked to people who think he will stay until he wants to leave. however it happens, we're told pretty consistently that, you know, the president will let him leave with dignity, perhaps in a way that he wants to leave, perhaps after a regulatory victory. one thing to note is that the epa intends to submit a new version of the clean power plan. that was former president obama's signature climate plan, to the white house for review this week. that's a prett

pruitt to tell him the time had come. the president also told reporters he's narrowed his supreme court picks to about five people. a source familiar with the selection process told nbc news it's down to three, these three. at tonight's rally in grape falls the president was teasing up his big reveal. >> as you know there's now a vacancy on the supreme court. and if you turn in monday at 9:00, i think you're going to be extremely happy. right? and they're all great. they're all great. >> now, from there you can say things went off the rails. among other things the president went after maxine waters, elizabeth warren and the nfl. >> we turn away thousands of people. they never say i'm a great speaker. i've broken more than john elten records. and by the way, i don't have a musical instrument. i don't have a guitar or organ. no organ. elton has an organ. yes, she's a low iq individual. pocahontas, they always want me to apologize for saying it and i here by -- oh, yeah, i want to apologize. pocahontas, i apologize to you. i

they love scott pruitt. they feel very strongly about scott pruitt. and they love scott pruitt. >> i bet they do. the president standing by his man tonight, publicly expressing confidence in the epa administrator, scott pruitt, now under fire amid mounting ethics scandals, including his $50-a-night condo rental arrangement, courtesy of a top energy lobbyist. that comes at the same time that "the new york times" reports certain epa officials were penalized for questioning pruitt's spending and management. according to that paper, some of those officials had very close ties to the trump white house and to republicans on the hill. also new, "the washington post" reporting tonight two epa officials confirmed that pruitt endorsed the idea last month of giving big pay raises to two close aides. nbc news has also learned that president trump as recently as last week had been considering replacing attorney general, jeff sessions, with scott pruitt. but administration officials tell us that's unlikely now, given recent reports about pruitt's conduct. and today

pruitt's security detail broke down the door of it condo when it was believed pruitt was unconscious. using private e-mail to talk to oklahoma's attorney general. also the news that pruitt bypassed the white house to give big raises to two of his favorite aides. you'll remember scott pruitt got in hot water over a $50 a night apartment he rented for a lobbyist in d.c. and now we know he once bought a house with the lobbyist. 2 silver if you wanten pens and journals that came in for the price of $1,560. can you go lower? how about, oh, i don't know, getting a government employee to try to buy you a used mattress. pruitt directed agents of his security detail to drive him to multiple locations in search of a particular location on offer at ritz carlton hotels. that must be some special lotion. in the wake of some of those scandals i spoke last month to eric lipton of the new york city and elena plot. and it was elena who was called a piece of trash by the epa spokesman. what happened in this phone collin which you were told that you were garbage? >> as one does when you're a reporter yo

pruitt did not do very well. he did not look like he had full control over his agency or over the facts behind all of the various scandals he's faced over the last few weeks and it seems like every day there is a new story. today multiple stories targeting all the negative headlines. i talked to a white house official earlier this week and they said obviously the president doesn't like these headlines, but at the same time the president realizes it's going to be difficult for him to continue shuffling his cabinet. he's gotten rid of two cabinet secretaries who have three confirmation fights ahead of us. if he keeps getting rid of cabinet secretaries, he's going to have a very hard time filling those positions in a senate that is 51 republicans and 49 democrats. the so the president's hands are somewhat tied in this situation. he is hearing from his outside advisers, from his base. he said yesterday he was just in west virginia and the people in west virginia love scott pruitt. so that's probably what's driving hi

there is clearly with scott pruitt a pattern of graft and corruption. question is are they mere ethics violations or does it rise to the level of criminality? i they've all the things being investigated chick-fil-a probably does not rise to the level criminality. but the notion that he was staying in the lobbyist's apartment or condominium while at the same time being influenced by that lobbyist or client of that lobbyist does raise significant questions of pay to play. but brian, to your point of myself and former colleagues, i would say it's also fair at this point with scott pruitt to ask questions of his own personal integrity. every public official when they step foot in that job has to make a decision, are they going to use the office for their own enrichment, for the trappings of power they can surround themselves with or are they going to own up to a certain higher level of public trust, higher level of stewardship? in this case i think it's clear scott pruitt has chosen the former, not the latter. >> jill, how will you know a tipping point if a

pruitt did not do well. he did not look like he had full control over his agency or the facts behind all the various scandals he's faced over the last few weeks. seems like every day there's a new story. today multiple stories sort of targeting the negative headlines. i talked to a white house official earlier and they said the president does not like these headlines but at the same time the president does realize it's going to be difficult to continue shuffling his cabinet. he's gotten rid of two cab thet secretaries who have three cabinet confirmation fights ahead of us. if he keeps getting rid of cabinet secretary, he's going to have a very difficult time filling those positions. the president hands are tied in the situation and he is hearing from his outside add vvisors an his wasilla. >> the wall street journal and new york times reporting that john kelly asked the president or told the president that scott pruitt needs to go. the president has rebuffed him. does john kelly have any influence in this wh

-- administrator pruitt's staff.cy, i was trying to remember tonight where i saw the headline earlier this week that this hearing could be a litmus test for whether or not he keeps his job. what in your view transpired there today? >> well, i think he did a pretty good job of, you know, keeping the temperature of the hearing down and keeping his cool amid some tough questioning. but the fact of the matter is he did change his story on a few key things. you know, as in the clip we just heard, he changed his story on the pay raises he got for the staff. he also changed his justification for the $43,000 soundproof booth that he put in his office. he had said that that was so he could have classified conversations, and then he changed his story on that. and people that i talked to both in the white house and republicans close to it this week were saying going into the hearing, that, you know, if there were any discrepancies in his story coming out of the hearing, that could be a big problem because he was called to the c

and there are new and bad headlines for epa chief scott pruitt. melania trump back in public, and what the president thinks canada had to do with the war of 1812. the 11th hour on a wednesday night begins now. >>> good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. day 503 this was of the trump administration. and trump lawyer rudy giuliani is escalating his public attacks on special counsel robert mueller and his team in an effort to discredit the entire russia investigation. earlier today at an investment conference in israel, giuliani said mueller's team is trying hard to frame the president of the united states. >> they are a group of 13 highly partisan democrats that make up the mueller team, excluding him, are trying very, very hard to frame him. to get him in trouble when he hasn't done anything wrong. >> while in israel today, giuliani also sat down for an interview with pat robertson of the christian broadcasting network. during that interview, giuliani wept after former fbi director james comey and said robert muelle

pruitt claims he had no idea.fox news. >> now if you're committed to the trump agenda, why did you go around the president and the white house and give pay raises to two staffers -- >> i did not. my staff did and i found out about it yesterday and i changed it. >> both these staffers who got large pay raises are friends of yours, i believe from oklahoma? >> they are staffers here in the agency. >> friends of yours? >> they serve a very important -- >> you didn't know they got these large pay raises? >> not until yesterday. >> one of them got a pay raise of $28,000, the other $56,000. do you know what the median income in this country is? >> no. >> $57,000 a year. >> okay. >> so one of your friends got a pay raise that's the median -- >> they did not get a pay raise. >> they did. >> they did not, i stopped that yesterday. >> joining us now -- eugene robinson, pulitzer prize-winning columnist for "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst. charlie sykes, long-time conservative radio host, author, and msnbc co

pruitt, but it's not meant for everyday use. now, according to politico, pruitt racked up a large bill and even invited friends, prominent oklahoma republicans and representatives from the oklahoma farm bureau to join him there at the white house mess hall. >>> coming up for us after a break, the thousands of texans who went out in boats to watch the arrival of hurricane harvey and then needed rescue by the coast guard. the story isn't true, but the allegation came from the very top when "the 11th hour" continues. >>> last thing before we go here tonight, the moment that got the most attention when the president visited fema headquarters in washington yesterday was his decision to place his water bottle on the floor, followed immediately by mike pence's decision to do the same with his water bottle. even though the president was at fema talking about the start of hurricane season, it was noted that he said nothing about the loss of life in puerto rico. puerto ricans are, of course, american citizens just like the people of texas

pruitt, but it's not meant for everyday use.ccording to politico, pruitt racked up a large bill and even invited friends, prominent oklahoma republicans and representatives from the oklahoma farm bureau to join him there at the white house mess hall. >>> coming up for us after a break, the thousands of texans who went out in boats to watch the arrival of hurricane harvey and then needed rescue by the coast guard. the story isn't true, but the allegation came from the very top when "the 11th hour" continues. with tripadvisor, finding your perfect hotel at the lowest price... is as easy as dates, deals, done! simply enter your destination and dates... and see all the hotels for your stay! tripadvisor searches over 200 booking sites... to show you the lowest prices... so you can get the best deal on the right hotel for you. dates, deals, done! tripadvisor. visit tripadvisor.com >>> last thing before we go here tonight, the moment that got the most attention when the president visited fema headquarters in washington yesterday was hi

pruitt, but it's not meant for everyday use.arge bill and even invited friends, prominent oklahoma republicans and representatives from the oklahoma farm bureau to join him there at the white house mess hall. >>> coming up for us after a break, the thousands of texans who went out in boats to watch the arrival of hurricane harvey and then needed rescue by the coast guard. the story isn't true, but the allegation came from the very top when "the 11th hour" continues. what might seem like a small cough to you... can be a big bad problem that you could spread to family members, including your grandchildren babies too young to be vaccinated against whooping cough are the most at risk for severe illness. but you can help prevent this. talk to your doctor today about getting vaccinated against whooping cough. because dangers don't just exist in fairytales. ♪now i'm gonna tell my momma ♪that i'm a traveller ♪i'm gonna follow the sun♪ ♪now i'm gonna tell my momma ♪that i'm a traveller ♪i'm gonna follow the sun transitions™ light under c

if you don't believe us, ask the embattled epa administrator, scott pruitt.ng for him tonight. store starters, here's political, quote, white house chief of staff john kelly has considered the firing of embattled environmental protection agency chief scott pruitt in the coming month. and "the washington post," aides considered leasing a private jet to scott pruitt, and they estimated net jets of $100,000 a month proved prohibitively expensive. and then there were the condo for the low lodging price of $50 a night. there's a bad headline and accompanying bad story in the "new york times" today, quote, pruitt had a $50 a day condo linked to lobbyists, their project got approved. it's a praj to bring canadian tar sand oil to the u.s. it looks bad but they say it's patently false. and the last word on this goes to the epa defending the boss, they point out quote, from advocating to leave the paris accord, working to clean up toxic super fund sites that have been languishing for decades, administrator pruitt is focused on advancing president trump's agenda for reg

in response to the news today, the sierra club said having scott pruitt in charge of u.s. environmental protection agency is like putting an arsonist in charge of fighting fires. senate democrats added to that, including chuck schumer of new york, the next senate minority leader, who said pruitt will have to answer tough questions throughout the nomination process. donald trump can add yet another time magazine cover to his list for 2016. the magazine named him person of the year today. discussing that this morning on "today," trump shed light on his new relationship with president obama. >> it's got your picture and the sub-headline is, "president of the divided states of america." you referenced that a little while ago. what would you have written as a sub-headline? >> well, i think putting "divided" is snarky. but again, it's divided -- i'm not president yet. so i didn't do anything to divide. and i will say this. i've now gotten to know president obama. i really like him. we have -- i think i can say at least for myself, i can't speak for him, but we have a really good

. >>> later, a barrage of tough headlines for one scott pruitt. just tonight, just over the past few hours, leaving a lot of people to wonder how long the epa administrator can continue to administrate. "the 11th hour" starting off a new week, just getting under way on a monday night. and of course it's the really tough stains that nobody ever does ready? really? i didn't do it so when i heard they added ultra oxi to the cleaning power of tide, i knew it was just what we needed so now we can undo all the tough stains that nobody did dad? i didn't do it huh, he didn't do it introducing new tide ultra oxi; it's got to be tide racing isn't the only thing on my mind. and with godaddy, i'm making my ideas real. when i created my businesses, i needed a way to showcase it. ♪ with godaddy you can get a website to sell online. and it will look good. i made my own way. now it's time to make yours. get started at godaddy.com ♪ everything is working, working just like it should ♪ >>> fresh off a weekend at his mar-a-lago resort in florida, president trump sta

, do you support pruitt?crats and republicans calling for pruitt to be fired. >> there's a change coming. there's a change coming. > when "all in" starts right now.

pruitt did not do very well. he did not look like he had full control over his agency or over the facts behind all of the various scandals he's faced over the last few weeks, it seems like every day there's a new story, multiple stories targeting all the negative headlines, i talked to a white house official earlier this week, they said, obviously the president does not like these headlines, he realizes it's going to be difficult for him to continue shuffling his cabinet. we have at least three confirmation fights ahead of us. if he keeps getting cabinet secretaries, he's going to have a difficult time filling his positions. the president's hands are somewhat tied in this situation. and he's hearing from his outside add base. >> the wall street journal and the new york times reporting that john kelly asked the president or told the president that scott pruett needs to go, the president has rebuffed him at least as of now. does john kelly have any influence in this white house? >> it looks like kelly's influence i

in his own resignation letter pruitt praised him. he goes onto say, it's extremely difficult for me to cease serving you in this role first because i count it as a blessing to be serving you in any capacity bought also because of the transformative work that's occurring. however, the unrelenting attacks

the numbers for pruitt are pretty stunning.going investigations, one pending, and one complete. that's eight under the epa inspector general's office. two from the government accountability office. one from the house oversight and government reform committee. one from the office of the special counsel and from the white house. as for that completed investigation, turns out pruitt's $43,000 soundproof office phone booth was in fact a violation of spending laws. another break. and coming up, as we head into the shank of the broadcast, the closing moments of this week really, if you're a kid from l.a. as the bride is, then it's a destination wedding. a final word tonight about what is getting under way just a few short hours from now when "the 11th hour" continues. i was wondering if an electric toothbrush really cleans better than a manual. and my hygienist says it does but they're not all the same. who knew? i had no idea. so she said, look for one that's shaped like a dental tool with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. ora

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what staffers for scott pruitt are now telling congressional overseers. is the "the 11th hour" continues. >>> hi. i just wanted to urge you to resign because of what you're doing to the environment in our country. this is my son. he loves animals. he loves clean air. he loves clean water. we deserve to have somebody at the epa who actually does protect our environment, somebody who believes in climate change and takes it seriously. all of us who are putting our children. so i would urge you to resign or hopefully your scandals push you out. >> the last thing before we go tonight, that was epa administrator scott pruitt. and the woman who put that video on her facebook page says she confronted him in d.c. while he was having lunch. since he took over at the epa, like it or not, pruitt has been one of the most effective members of the trump administration at carrying out the job for which he was hired, assuming that you believe he was hired to essentially deregulate and dismantle the epa. but as the protester in that video alluded, to and as we have detaile

the numbers for pruitt are pretty stunning.oing investigations, one pending, and one complete. that's eight under the epa nonresponsive general's office, two from the government accountability office, one from the house oversight and government reform committee, one from the office of the special counsel and from the white house. turns out pruitt's $43,000 soundproof office phone booth was a violation of spending laws. another break. >>> coming up as we head to the shank of the broadcast, the closing moments of this week, really. if you're a kid from l.a. as the bride is, then it's a destination wedding. a final word tonight about what is getting under way just a few short hours from now when "the 11th hour" continues. at ally, we offer low rates on home loans. but if that's not enough, we offer our price match guarantee too. and if that's not enough... we should move. our home team will help you every step of the way. still not enough? it's smaller than i'd like. we'll help you finance your dream home. it's perfect. oh, was th

this about scott pruitt at the epa. brand new tonight. year, pruitt drew up a list of at least a dozen countries he hoped to visit and urged aides to help him find official reasons to travel. according to four people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. pruitt enlisted well-connected friends and political allies to help make the trips happen. >> youn'sw know, one of the thin in every administration is that -- >> diplomacy, right? >> well, the moral tone is set by the head of the administration. >> that's true. >> and the obama administration, he֖4> was as pure and holy as possible to be. in this administration, people look at donald trump, they think, he's doing all these things, look at all the thingsp$ he's done, i can do whatever i h want. in the case of scott pruitt, he's a one-man band in violating every ethical norm. >> a story a day. >> that's amazing. it's just amazing. >> a lot of it led by your newspaper. >> right. and also what's happening inside the epa, youoij know -- >> and that's the real )ut(

pruitt at the epa. again, relying on your reporting, does he continue to enjoy the blessing of this white house? >> it's a good question. i mean you saw sarah sanders today was asked about it and equivocated a little bit. she said they're certainly looking at those reports. but this is someone who on the whole, the president likes. it's not that they have a particularly warm or longstanding, close, personal relationship. but in a white house that has struggled to really do anything and certainly anything on the legislative front, the president believes that scott pruitt at the epa is successfully, through a series of rollbacks and regulations, promoting and enforcing his environmental policy. now, i do have to say there have been some great articles that sort of detail there's some nuance missing there because sort of in his eagerness to push stuff through, some of it has been done in a sort of shoddy and sloppy way and is not standing up to court challenges. so he is not actually doing all the things t

the numbers for pruitt are pretty stunning.tigations, one pending and one complete. that's eight under the epa inspector general's office, fro from the government accountability office, one from the house oversight and government reform committee. one from the office of special counsel and two from the white house. as for that completed investigation, turns out pruitt's $43,000 soundproof office phone booth was, in fact, a violation of spending laws. another break, and coming up, as we head into the shank of the broadcast, the closing moments of this week, really. if you're a kid from l.a., as the bride is, then it's a destination wedding. a final word tonight about what is getting under way just a few short hours from now when "the 11th hour" continues. ♪ ooh, heaven is a place on earth ♪ uhp. i didn't believe it. again. ♪ ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth? ♪ i want to believe it. [ claps hands ] ♪ ooh i'm not hearing the confidence. okay, hold the name your price tool. power of options based on your budget! and! ♪ we'l

so at this very moment scott pruitt's job is safe.e one point too until it wasn't. >> thank you, my friend. appreciate it very much. >>> coming up, without funding for his wall, the president's new idea to defend our southern border with mexico when we come right back. this is frank. sup! this is frank's favorite record. this is frank's dog. and this is frank's record shop. frank knowns northern soul, but how to set up a limited liability company... what's that mean? not so much. so he turned to his friends at legalzoom. yup! they hooked me up. we helped with his llc, contracts, and some other stuff that's part of running a business. so frank can focus on the beat. you hear that? this is frank's record shop. and this is where life meets legal. so let's promote our spring travel deal on choicehotels.com like this. earn one free night when you stay just twice this spring. allergies. or, badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com ♪ come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away. ♪ >>> i will build a great, great wall on our southe

so at this very moment scott pruitt's job is safe. shulkin's job was safe at one point too until it wasn't. >> thank you, my friend. appreciate it very much. >>> coming up, without funding for his wall, the president's new idea to defend our southern border with mexico when we come right back. does your moisturizing routine have an mvp? mine does. aveeno® skin relief. with oat oil and natural shea butter, it softens very dry skin and lasts for 24 hours. aveeno®. it's a game changer. >>> i will build a great, great wall on our southern border and i will have mexico pay for that wall. mark my words. >> 33 months now after the speech that launched donald trump's run for president. he's still trying to deliver on a fundamental campaign promise. but the president's wall has not been funded. without it, he announced today he has a new plan to secure the border. >> i've been speaking with general mattis. we're going to be doing things militarily. until we can have a wall, we're going to be guarding our board -- border with the military. >> t

pruitt doesn't understand is that the people who may actually be talk ing to him in coach are voters. and what so many of these people who work for donald trump don't understand, they don't understand the meaning of being a public servant. they think they are coming to feed at the trough in washington. they are the swamp creatures in washington. >> pruitt has cited threats to his security, either real or perceived that led him to have a security detail which the size and scope of also put him in the news. this is the nagging thing. we listed the issues the white house has. this is the nagging issue that stays in the news and rolling out. >> absolutely. again, the fact you had price earlier, you have two more now. so you have sort of three instances of this. i think it does raise the question -- it can happen in any administration. go back to george w. bush, his chief of staff was going to stamp shows and he was forced out. so we've seen things like this before. but when you have three and you have guidelines like rick just read, it does beg the question, are they really emphasizing th

pruitt. scott pruett's unusual housing arrangement during much of last year. they talk about it in detail. he paid a lobbyist a modest sum each night for staying in a capitol hill condo she coowned. it has generated a new round of scrutiny about the financial decisions of the environmental protection agency administrator. speak of protections, scott pruitt has been in the news for the security detail and the extraordinary arrangements he has around him including but not limited to his desire to sit in the pointy end of the airplane where the seats are wider. >> at least he's not icing anyone that we know of. >> there you go. no icing. >> look, this has been a problem for any number of the white house officials, the cabinet department officials. should sort of -- this self-dealing, this comfort with the old ways of washington that president trump says he was going to clean up, he said he was going to drain the swamp. to the extent it's been drained, we're just seeing the crocodiles and the alligators in there in a lot starker relief. i live on capitol hill. a $