the question now, could pruitt be the next cabinet member to go.wo days after firing one cabinet secretary, the white house is growing increasingly frustrated with another cabinet member, sources tell cnn. the focus now on epa administrator scott pruitt, following two damning stories in less than a day. first, cnn reporting that pruitt went to the rose bowl, the college football semifinal featuring his home teenageam, t oklahoma sooners. >> the best college football game! >> reporter: then took his family to disney land with his personal security detail in snow. pruitt also used that security for trips home to tulsa, oklahoma, according to senator sheldon whitehouse, after the democrat said he viewed documents that back up the claim. the white house has been a fierce defender of pruitt since he was confirmed. senator whitehouse's letter raises questions about the cost of the epa-funded security. >> if he wants to go to disney land, let me him put on some sunglasses. nobody knows who he is. he's not that famous. >> reporter: because of the unprecede

is pruitt's job safe? >> reporter: president trump says he believes pruitt is doing a good job. he said he thinks he's doing a fantastic job at the epa. sarah sanders said they are reviewing some of this. >> i think that scott has done a fantastic job. i think he's a fantastic person. >> no one other than the president has the authority to hire and fire members of his cabinet. it's a decision that he'll make. right now i don't have any personnel announcements. the president feels the administrator has done a good job at epa. >> reporter: sources tell fox news pruitt met with the president in the oval office yesterday and some of the controversies came up in their discussion. a source says the president told pruitt during that meeting that he's doing a good job at the epa and wants him to continue. but since that meeting there's a new report in the associated press about pruitt's security detail. according to the a a.p., pruitt has a full-time security detail that's he three times the size of his he predecessors and it's costing taxpayers about $3 million. the epa says it's neces

. >> two questions regarding scott pruitt. how long is the review going to take that the white house is conducting? >> i'm not going to lay out an arbitrary time line but we'll take it into consideration. >> years? >> obviously we want to get through this process as quickly as we can. but i'm not going to just make up a time frame here. >> and did chief of staff john kelly recommend that pruitt was fired? >> i'm not going to get into any private conversations. blake, welcome back. congratulations. >> thank you, thank you. appreciate it. i want to ask you about mark zuckerberg heading to the hill to testify. this administration has often talked about deregulation and the deregulatory efforts of the president and this administration has undergone but there's a question whether or not facebook should be regulated. does the white house have a stance on whether or not facebook should be regulated? >> no specific policy on that front but we're all looking forward to that testimony today. >> what does the president make of mark zucke

spicer: for mr.your questions pruitt on topic. i would note that he has a flight to get to, so we will try to keep this relatively short. mr. pruitt: it's good to be with you this afternoon. i want to first begin by saying the president made a very courageous decision yesterday, on behalf of america. he put america's interest first with respect to environmental agreements and international discussions. i appreciate his fortitude, i appreciate his leadership in this matter, the discussion of the last several weeks has been one of thoughtful deliberation. he heard many voices. voices across a wide spectrum of vantage points and the president made a very informed and thoughtful and important decision for the country's benefit. but we have to remember when it comes to the environmental agreement and international agreements with respect to things like the paris agreement is we have nothing to be apologetic about as a country. we reduced our co2 footprint to levels of the early 1990's, from 2000 to 2014 we reduce the carbon footprint b

last year, pruitt paid just $50 a night to rent a room in this d.c. apartment, apparently far below the cost of similar units. the owner? the wife of a top lobbyist, whose clients do business with the epa. >> this was like an airbnb situation. >> reporter: pruitt insists it was all done by the books. >> the ethics officials here at this agency reviewed the lease, reviewed the terms of the lease. >> when did they review it? >> they reviewed it as -- >> in march of this year, right, after you moved out? >> but that's what's important. they reviewed the terms of the lease. >> reporter: but now, the agency's top ethics watchdog says when they did that review last week, they didn't have all the facts. pruitt has been under fire for months for allegedly wasting taxpayer money. two of his top aides and personal friends reportedly received large salary hikes, even after the white house refused to sign off. one aide receiving a nearly $57,000 pay raise. but pruitt says it wasn't his idea. >> so who did it? a career person or a political person? >> i don't know

. >> tonight, scott pruitt is out. epa administrator resigning in disgrace among 15 ongoing investigations. >> i love. we love. >> what happens now and what tipped scott pruitt's exit. >> we put a bigger swamp creature in there. >> scotus decision winds down. >> the president's three alleged finalist for the supreme court vaktcy. >> he is one of the smartest people i've ever known and one of the nicest people i have ever known. >> i am chris hayes and the last time i was at this desk, i interviewed a die hard trump supporter. >> training the swamp and not only did we not drain the swamp, we put a bigger creature in there. >> 48 hours after that interview, after pruitt was spotted at the white house, the president accepted pruitt's resignation. exploiting his office for perks and personal gains. pruitt's extraordinary list prompted debates among historians. hard to think of any politician whose record is more extensive. trying to get his wife a franchise. the d.c. apartment he rented for $50 a knife with a wife of energ

everything pruitt touches turns to shame. so shady, so shady in fact that even fox news called him out. >> president trump said he would drain the swamp. >> descraining the swamp, renting an apartment from the wife of a washington lobbyist. i don't think that that is even remote plee fair to ask that question. >> why did you go around the not give pay raises to two staffers. >> i did not, my staff did and i found out about fla yesterday. >> is somebody being fired nor that. >> that should not have been done. there will be account able. >> a career person or. >> i don't know. >> you don't know who disd it. >> this is something that needs to be corrected. >> do you take responsibility for them. >> i'm taking it. >> trevor: that's all, folks. i bet pruitt didn't expect those questions from that network. like he was probably like my dude, we're on fox. what the hell are you doing? come on, you ask me how big trump's dick s i say enormous and then we throw to a reverse mortgage comergses, come on, buddy, what's wrong with you. now

now targeting pruitt. will president trump follow through on the pledge to drain did swamp and let pruitt go? >>> presupreme choice. president trump can finalize the choice. he narrows the list of candidates to sit on the nation's highest court. >>> and no labels? michael cohen changes the twitter bio, dropping a reference of being the personal attorney to president trump after years of defending mr. trump and saying he would take a bullet for him. can s the latest move a sign to cooperate with investigators? wolf blitzer is off. i'm jim acosta and you're in "the situation room." >>> and this is a situation room special report. we are following breaking news. the statue of liberty on liberty island evacuated just hours before the fourth of july celebration because of a protester who's climbinged on to the statue and refuse ds to get down. we'll talk with a member of the judiciary and foreign affairs committee and annualysts standi by and first more on the breaking news out of new york. national corresponde

according to fox news, pruitt tried to tamp down the firestorm, but senate lobbying records show pruitt's landlord represented several companies. pruitt's saving grace may be he's seen by the president and other white house officials as mr. trump's most effective cabinet secretary. he started rolling back more than two dozen obama-era environment regulations including emissions standards and clean power plants. he also successfully pulled the president out of the paris climate accord. >>> new york city police released vary lance video before a mentally disturbed black man was shot and killed wednesday in brooklyn. >> no justice. >> no peace. >> no justice. >> no peace. >> neighborhood residents demonstrated again last night. his family says saheed vassell was bipolar but well known by police in the neighborhood. the security video, which was edited by police, shows vassell walking down the street holding a silver object that looks like a gun, as you can see, pointing it at people. it turned out, though, to be a pipe. following a 911 call, officers responded. police say he took a shooting

scott pruitt is not the only scott pruitt in town. we've talked about andrew wheeler who, you know, worked for robert murray and helped draft that 16-point plan of regulations he would like to see undone, all of which were then undone. there are other people with these ties and at this point, i think the folks in the fossil fuel industry, in the dark money groups, want to start thinking about scott pruitt as more of a liability than an asset. >> thanks to you guys both. eric lipton, investigative reporter for "the new york times" and jay michaelson, columnist at the daily beast for your reporting and analysis. with me now is democratic senator mazie hirono of hawaii. good to see you. tell me what your take is on this. every week we tend to be discussing some other senior administration official who's on the line for something. what's your take on scott pruitt? >> i don't think he's long for his job. however, he's just one in a long parade of administration appointees for whom the words "conflict of interest," "ethical violations," "br

pruitt? >> i do. you. >> up next, drew griffin has a look at the controversy surrounding this cabinet member, pruitt under fire, the battle at the epa, starts now. >>> the following is a cnn special report. >> we are going to end the epa intrusion. new energy revolution. epa is a disaster. it's killing us. our plan will end the epa. >> a campaign promise being carried out about this man. >> i think that scott has done a fantastic job. i think he is a fantastic person. i just left coal and energy country. they love scott pruitt. >> let me be very clear, i have nothing to hide. >> you are unfit to hold public office. >> some call scott pruitt the biggest threat to the environment. >> doing great damage to the agency and to human health. >> scott pruitt is completely accomplishing longtime decades long conservative agenda items. >> now one of the president's top cabinet members surrounded by scandal. >> pruitt is now facing 10 investigations. >> pruitt had a $50 a day condo. >> phone booth that resembles

we know that pruitt was in the oval office today. for a meeting where he's going to talk rolling back regulations. while they're pleading with the president, made his case. this is why i should still be in this job. he's lost a lot of allies in the west wing but still has unlike david shuk david shulkin. people who may not want to protect the the environment and they have been in the president's ear say iing this g is getting conservative stuff done. >> my experience sam is that politicians have to, they get their own scar tissue on their own. they don't want it from their own people under them. he's taking a lot of bad hit h from the media. he doesn't want that hanging on his administration, does he? >> no. we're reporting tonight actually that one of the subplots here is an increde amount of tension. >> the beast. >> the beast. >> the senior white house staff and senior epa staff in which part of the reason proouitt wen on is precisely because he thought he would get no air coverage from anyone else in the white house. >> then kell

scott pruitt is a crook. he's cost taxpayers millions and millions of dollars. >> what do you think the chances of that are? is this over? he resigns and it's over or do you think there's legal jeopardy for him? >> i think there's legal jeopardy. there's certainly legal jeopardy. does a politicized justice department follow up or will there be an independent investigation of some kind? there could have. he's damaged this country enormously. he's just been so blatant about his disregard for the law, as trump is as well. so i think trump -- i think what really happened is that he should have been fired in. in a normal administration he wouldn't have been appointed. but even in this administration he should have been fired months ago but he sees himself in pruitt. he likes the swash buckling, take what the hell you want and who gives a damn what the public says. they're both a great victims player. they cause themselves trouble and then blame somebody else. >> there was also the whole question raised by hans nic

they'll do it with pruitt.ir agenda is, they will swallow any kind of corruption, any kind of ridiculousness. it doesn't -- nothing will bother them as long as they get the policy they want. now, i spent 12 years on the appropriations committee. and what we would have done with what scott pruitt is doing now is the next budget would have prohibitions against spending money certain ways or it would have stuff cut from the budget, you know, to make up for what he has been spending this way. the congress is complicit in this by its silence. >> i was struck i think today cbs news had a story that republicans are ready to ditch scott pruitt because of the scandals, though they stand behind his deregulatory agenda. and i think that's what -- listen, when steve bannon, who's coming closer back into this administration, talked about s dismantdling the administrative state, or drain the swamp, they're talking about dismantling the protections that have made this a healthier country. there are two institutions interesti

he was the deputy to scott pruitt.ruitt, injure wheeler is a former coal lobbyist. >> someone representing the coal industry. is it possible that prewitt found out about his recognition -- resignation via tweet? >> it is very possible. was never an inner circle guy. you didn't see him conversing with the president very often. i don't know the donald trump will continue a relationship but given scott pruitt's relationship -- interest in random rating himself i wouldn't be surprised if he figures out a way to do pretty well in private industry. >> what is the unfinished business for the administration at the epa? >> there is so much that they have only started doing in terms of the deregulatory initiatives. .hey have to finish they are working on the rollback on methane regulations and water pollution rule. there are still frankly some conservatives who are pushing the epa to take on the endangerment ending to redo the epa's landmark conclusion that carbon dioxide emissions were a danger to public health and welfare. wha

pruitt -- mr. pruitt chooses to defend and protect the needs of the biofuel industry over the needs of our children? that is not someone worthy of representing the american people. that is not someone worthy of heading this agency. and, you know, let's just stick to mr. pruitt's own words, not the words of oh, not the words of my constituents, but in his own words. this is what he said about the agency that he's been chosen to lead. mr. pruitt describes himself as, and i quote, a leading advocate against the e.p.a.'s activist agenda. he said this on his linkedin page. we bein accessed this in januarf 2016. on the role of the e.p.a., he said, an i quote, i believe the e.p.a. has a role to play in our republican form of government. air and water quality issues can cross state lines and can sometimes require federal intervention. at the same time, the e.p.a. was never intended to be our nation's front line environmental regulator. unquote. this was his testimony before the house committee on science,

scott pruitt is out. president trump telling reporters he has accepted the resignation of his embattled epa chief, saying it was very much up to him, pruitt. and that pruitt didn't want to be a distraction. it's a surprising resignation, given that just 24 hours ago, pruitt was with the president at the white house fourth of july picnic. the president even giving him a shout-out. >> we're also honored to be joined by members of my cabinet. administrator scott pruitt. >> but today, pruitt writing to the president this in part. "it is extremely difficult for me to cease serving you in this role, first because i count it a blessing to be serving you in any capacity, but also because of the transformative work that is occurring. however, the unrelenting attacks on me personally, my family, are unprecedented and have taken a sizable toll on all of us." the unrelenting attacks pruitt speaks of are actually a stream of scandals which he created. a stream of scandals being investigated by his own agency. the list

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

scott pruitt is out.dent trump telling reporters he has accepted the resignation of his embattled epa chief, saying it was very much up t

decision was up to pruitt. is that what your sources are telling you in the white house? >> the decision was not up to pruitt. there was no specific final straw per se. what tipped the balance, two things, the embarrassment surrounding kaitlyn collins story about how it was many months ago this had happened, pruitt had pitched himself as jeff sessions replacement again, appealing to trump's vanity and basically in a mold of sicnk cofancy you could see in that resignation letter. and scrubbing up from the meetings. that tipped the balance. a source from the administration officials said that focused people's minds because that brought it to a different level. this all did begin according to two of my sources, that report about him attempting to buy a mattress from the trump hotel. that brought it into a different area. >> it was a mattress. >> the best part of that is you will never say that to me on set again. it was the mattress that was the first one. i think it was a snowball effect. trump is willing to put

pruitt. we got the news of these top staffers' resignations today, the day after news broke that scott pruitt had directed yet another senior epa staffer to ask the chik-fil-a corporation for help getting his wife a chik-fil-a franchise. by way of illustrating life at this government agency right now, i want to show you the response when reporters got news of the first top staffer quitting mr. pruitt's staff today. this is from the atlantic.com, quote, when reached by foam, johan wilcox, an epa spokesperson would not comment. he said, quote, you have a great day. you're a piece of trash. consider not just what the trump administration has done to the epa, consider what they've done to the job of covering the epa as a reporter, on the taxpayers' dime. you have a great day. you're a piece of trash. joining us now is lisa friedman. she's a climate reporter for "the new york times." ms. friedman, thank you very much for join us. i'm sorry that your job has become marginally more hostile than it h

pruitt. reducing carbon emissions is the result of smart vehicle emission standards, clean air regulations, and our federal efforts to incentive investments in clean energy, including natural gas and renewables, most of which your epa is now trying to weaken or repeal. you often remind the people that you are a former attorney general and you say that you, your quote, know what it means to prosecute folks. but under your leadership, epa has slowed actions against polluters. and though you have touted epa's recent enforcement successes, saying epa has collected billions of dollars in penalties during your time at the agency, you conveniently forgot to mention that more than 90% of those penalties are from cases prosecuted entirely by the obama administration. you say that you are, quote, getting the agency back to basics. but actions like the one you took just last week, just last week, to reverse critical prosecutions against hazardous air pollutants show that your epa is actually move us bac

it sounds like scott pruitt is serving scott pruitt. >> what's your reaction to that, clarence?s your assessment of what he's doing and when you're hearing conservative commentators like that and saying scott pruitt is not serving anybody but scott pruitt? >> it's a different experience hearing eric bolling criticizing a fellow conservative like that. i can't say it's not well deserved. everyone knows about scott pruitt's attitude. he's a former attorney general who has one head for the law and another for ethics. he seems to be entirely blind or tone deaf to ethics. we've seen it repeatedly. and we have a situation where he is being confronted by a citizen out there in the regular dining world. and i've editorialized against this sort of a demonstration in public, i can't say that it wasn't well deserved in pruitt's case. >> so to be clear what do you make of what chrkristin did and what others have done in this administration? >> i'm old enough to remember the original sit-ins down in north carolina that started the '60s phase of the civil rights movement. you protested by sit

did not like the idea for pruitt here. do you see a continuation of these policies. >> of course. and that is why it is strange that pruitt was able to hang on as long as he could. look at this, this is our list of all the people in trump's orbit who have disappeared since he became president. long list compiled by our white house unit. >> departures from the administration. >> from the administration. cabinet officials to staff. this is an administration that bleeds people. they just go. remarkable that he hung on as long as he did. joins a long list of people who have joined in and since been departed. >> all right. thank you all for being with us. also coming un, set your dvrs because the president says he is planning to announce his supreme court pick on monday at 9:00 p.m. probably not coincidentlily there. sources say we should expect someone straight out of central casting. bob mueller faces a difficult addition. launches blistering attacks on everybody from german chancellor angela merkel to senator warren. this is

pruitt's nomination. this is from all sources. i received 1,880 letters opposing his nomination. pretty amazing. we don't get these kind of volume of letters, e-mails or faxes or letters. 1,800 opposed. other the past three months editorial boards across the country have expressed their own serious concerns about this tpho*eupl as well. i -- nominee as well. i want to share a few of those with my colleagues and the world this morning. back in december "the new york times" wrote these words and i will read them. this is december -- a couple of months ago. had donald trump spent an entire year sko*uring the country for someone to weaken the clean air and clean water laws to repudiate america's leadership role in the global battle against climate change, he could not have found a more proper candidate. that is a pretty bold charge. it goes on to say that he is a an aggressively bad choice. again, the e.p.a. wasn't created in a law signed by a democrat, it was by a republican. the clean air act clean water ac

president trump says pruitt chose to resign because he felt he was a distraction.lus, president trump holds a campaign-style rally in montana and unleashes on some of his favorite targets. new overnight, secretary of state mike pompeo has landed in north korea. he is hoping to fill in some of the details on the agreement between president trump and kim jong-un. ♪ >>> good morning, everyone. it is friday, july 6th. i'm ayman mohyeldin. we begin with new information about the ongoing rescue efforts to raise 12 boys and a soccer coach trapped in a flooded cave in thailand. we learned a tiefr who was once a member of thailand's elite navy seal unit has died during a rescue operation. rescue teams have been working around the clock for days trying to figure out how to get the group out of the cave, but clearly the conditions are too dangerous. joining us live from chiang rai, thailand, what can you tell us about the setback, janis mackey frayer? >> reporter: this is a reminder of the dangers that this operation involves in trying to take these 12 kids and their coach ou

scott pruitt is drawing attention. he has enemies because he's deregulating the epa which a lot of american believe it protects americans from the corporate america. why make all this noise about it. donald trump can't afford to have another cabinet secretary undergoing a cabinet secretary hearing. he's had so many because he's had to fire so many of his people. for the man who will bring us the back, he hasn't. he's created deeper swamp than we ever had. we need to sweep it clean nap can be the only reason. you couldn't have said it better. the role model is at the top. that's what's happened. it's okay if they cheat the taxpayers and kill the environment and make it to the point that all of us will suffer. science has gone out the window at epa and animals are in danger. people are in danger. we need to stop this. >> the fake media is pushing hard i'm going to replace ag jeff sessions with epa chief scott pruitt. who is doing great job but is totally -- you can replace those words with anything including about the ru

only pruitt has that authority.'t know how much of this whole plot pruitt knew about, but a white house official with knowledge summed it up nicely, "absolutely nothing scott pruitt did would surprise me." i'm alex trebek, here to tell you about the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54. alex, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80. what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan, available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan

president trump's embattled epa chief scott pruitt has resigned.orite of the president, has been the focus of a dozen federal investigations concerning his lavish spending, ethical lapses, and management style. the president accepted pruitt's resignation in a tweet, adding that he'd done an outstanding job. major garrett has the story. >> reporter: speaking aboard air force one, president trump said there was "no final straw" that led to scott pruitt's resignathe sd the embattled epa administrator came to him a couple of days ago and told president trump he did not want to be a "distraction." questions about pruitt's excessive office spending, first-class air travel, and the treatment of staff had washington investigators working overtime. pruitt was the subject of a house oversight committee investigation, five inspector general audits, seven pending inspector general reviews, and two government accountability office inquiries. in his resignation letter pruitt wrote he was leaving in part because "the unrelenting attacks on me personally, my famil

pruitt is in 13 ethics vehicles. the president is said to be concerned about the probe but has nothing to announce at this time. >>> next, risky rescue. why it could take tonths get a young soccer team trapped in a land.d cave back on dry >> plus, a local man takes out the trash only to find this creeping in his backyard. creeping in his backyard. >> and a dangerous hea wavet ♪ ♪ ♪ raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens ♪ ♪ bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens ♪ ♪ brown paper packages tied up with strings ♪ ♪ these are a few of my favorite things ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> now to the race againe t that has been watched around the world. all of it centering around challenging task of rescuing 12 boys and their soccer coach out of a flooded cave in thailand. they've been trapped there for more than a week. rescuers got in by scuba diving and took them food and water. ere are several options being considered to save them. one is bringing them oxygen tanks and showing them how to dive. but the tight spahe and t murky water m

pruitt. if my colleagues in the senate really want to stop pollution, we can start by keeping scott pruitt from going to lead the e.p.a. our environment should not be for sale, should not be neglected, and should not be turned aaside from being the core mission of the a. e.p.a. and i think we all should stand firm against the nomination of scott pruitt to lead that important agency. with that, mr. president, thank you. and i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. lankford: mr. president, it is an absolute honor to rise to speak in behalf of scott pruitt he has been a leader in the state of oklahoma and struggling to enforce the law in oklahoma as its written and as its consistent with the constitution. he's a statesman, he's a a dedicated public servant. as administrator of the earnings i fully expect -- as administrator of the e.p.a., i fully expect scott to be able to follow every law to do what's best for the present and for the fut

so as goes pruitt and zinke and carson. and john kelly is saying get rid of him and the president is completely disregarding his chief of staff. >> that relationship changed at least a few weeks ago where donald trump has wanted for a long time to be free to make the decisions, especially on administration, that he wants to make. he knows that the narrative and the media that john kelly was brought in to bring the president to heel. you've seen the succession of people that donald trump has moved out. he moved out mcmaster, he moved out rex tillerson at the state department. scott pruitt has a constituency, he's popular with republicans. mcmaster was never like a base guy. this is going to be trickier for trump. but john kelly, you know, he's sticking to the same message but if the president wants him to stay, pruitt may be hanging on. >> thank you very much. and next, donald trump unhinged today talking about conspiracy theories and mexican rapists. >> women are raped at levels that nobody's ever seen before. >> plus the p

scott pruitt only flies first class, but the reason he gave is pretty great. - pruitt says he needs first because of unpleasant interactions with passengers. - what might be an example of that? according to the security office, an individual who approached pruitt at an airport, yelling, "scott pruitt, you're effing up the environment." - [laughs] uh, you're fixing up the environment? what did that mean? first of all, whoever said that to him in the airport is a hero, okay? and, uh-- yeah, he is. [applause] and secondly--secondly, flying first class doesn't help you avoid angry passengers, right? because now everyone on the plane is walking past you. yeah, there's just gonna be, like, a line of people just being like, "you're effing up the environment." "you're effing up the environment." "you drowned my wife!" "aah! he's back! "why did i check my desk in? i should've kept it!" and here's the thing. it's not just overspending. everything pruitt touches turns to shady, so shady--so shady, in fact, that even fox news called him out. - president trump said he would drain the swamp. - i don't-

inmate robert pruitt charged with his murder. pruitt's attorney hints that his client was framed. there were others who would have more reason to want neagle dead. >> there were those who had a motive to have officer neagle silenced. he was in the process of writing a letter of grievance concerning several things. >> after neagle's murder three officers were arrested. >> officers martinez, he was in charge for gathering witness statements, asking what did you see type of thing. he got indicted the same day i did. >> martinez was caught in a sting operation carrying $60,000 of what he believed to be prison drug money. he was convicted and sentenced to eight years probation. did he not respond to al jazeera's request for comment comment. >> what other motive would there be for someone to kill neagle. >> some say that he was on to something that was been og there? >> can you elaborate. >> i don't knowin 2013 nine more employees were arrested for receiving bribes to allow drugs and cellphones to enter the prison. the federal indictment note agriculture of corruption. >> there was stil

off has been pruitt's biggest supporter. has started questioning and saying he wants investigations into pruitt's behavior which energy insiders and d.c. thought was a watershed moment. host: a few minutes before that hearing is scheduled to start, the members taking their seats in the energy and commerce hearing room, there is congressman shimkus in the chairman's seat. why is he in the chairman spot today? guest: it is a subcommittee, so he is acting as chairman today. democrataul tonko, the from new york is the ranking member. host: they will be running today? hearing -- they will be running today's hearing? i am mad and -- will wants to get questions in as well. gas -- wants to get questions in as well. airing thisl meeting again this evening on c-span 2. caller: good morning. think the lady left off a couple of points of interest. an ethics committee approved the lease for that suite. , the science issue, it was not that they had to use -- they had to reveal their base data and they had to be subjected to successful pee

for them, pruitt running this public health agency into the ground is a feature, not a bug of the pruitt tenure. they are just in it for the regulatory rollbacks. but i hope they recognize that a lot of pruitt's work is so sloppy that it will likely not ultimately stand up in court. i hope president trump understands that the guy he thinks of as hisreat deregulator isn't actually very good at deregulating. only time will tell how long scott pruitt can survive the mounting, swirling ethical ordeals of his own making, and we will also see how his industry-friendly regulatory record fares under the scrutiny of honest courts, but something tells me that i'll be back here in the not to distant future with more to say about the troubled and disgraceful tenure of scott pruitt. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask that the calling of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: over the past few days the issue of fa

pamela brown is "outfront." >> scott pruitt, sir, you support scott pruitt?e'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 tod

>> it's been a series of embarrassing slip-ups by scott pruitt. in the last five days, we've done five different stories. it turns out the lobbyist was lobbying that rented the condo to him even more than we thought. there's a coal executive who gave him seats that you had to make a million dollar donation to get access to. the bed, to get the used bed, and now the resignation of his people and the chick-fil-a. that's five days worth of stories. it's just no wonder the press office there feels under siege. but we aren't making these stories up. we're just reporting them. there has been a bit of tension between the reporters and the press shop. we're trying to do our jobs. i would rather be writing about environmental policy. but pruitt keeps his focused on his management. >> alain na, let me ask you this. there is a sense in we keep having more and more stories. i'm going to read a partial list. there's a sweetheart condo deal, $3 million spent on a massive security detail unprecedented, use of security detail for personal trips, first class trave

scott pruitt is standing strong in his job. defense of scott pruitt. jimmy (shouting): james! he's survived record rain and a supplier that went belly up. so while he's proud to have helped put a roof over the heads of hundreds of families, he's most proud of the one he's kept over his own. brand vo: get the most out of your money, whether you're using quickbooks smart invoicing to get paid twice as fast or automatically tracking your mileage. smarter business tools for the world's hardest workers. quickbooks. backing you. ithe race for governort. has turned into a scam. gavin newsom's trying to elect a republican who was endorsed by trump. and villaraigosa's being bankrolled by a handful of billionaires. it's everything that's wrong with politics. and none of it is helping struggling families. here's my pledge to you. i'll keep our budget balanced. invest in affordable housing. fight for universal healthcare. and stand up to donald trump. as governor, you can trust me to do what's right- because i always have. a crazy bit of breaking news. scott pru sit still employed. he rem

part of the grandiose story around scott pruitt. yes this 20 47 security detail that former epa administers or administrators have not had an for which he is no reason. he uses these people to create a bubble around himself when he travels to put on screaming sirens and take them to his favorite restaurants in washington dc, to protect him from citizens who might come up to complain about what he is doing. as you say, to do where things like find his favorite moisturizer. -- to do where things like find his favorite moisturizer. amy: are going to take a break and come back to the latest news, and that is one of the top headlines today, top story of "the new york times," the trump administration after heavy lobbying by the chemical industry scaling back the way the federal government determines health and safety risks associated with some of the most dangerous chemicals in the market. we will be back witith robert weissman, president of public citizen. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace r

he ousted scott pruitt. this story matters for many reasons, but among them is the fact it shows reporting, pressure and accountability still can work in donald trump's washington. it may not be a coincidence that donald trump put this news out today, which is of course a traditionally sleepy period after july 4th. if donald trump has to cave, maybe he wants to do it during a holiday news week when he thinks fewer people may not notice. but that's just the optics part. the substance is far more important. and the substance tonight that i can report to you is scoot pruitt is out. donald trump tweeting it today. he told reporters while everyone knows the controversies with scott, within the agency, he said, we were extremely happy. that is largely false. he was under fire precisely because people within the epa blew the whistle on his contact from making an aid find a job for his wife to spending $40,000 on a soundproof phone booth to trying to get a discount on a used trump hotel mattress to the bizarre er ra

do you think that scott pruitt is on his way out? >> well, it's difficult to know right now. and we've seen this in the past. someone like a hud secretary ben carson really tried to navigate the murky waters of trying to weather the storm. there's no question from a conservative standpoint, this stings. wasteful spending, government spending, wasteful money, government money. all of that is stuff republicans had campaigned on they would get rid of. and so this really does kind of hit to the core of it. but then you put it in the broader context of the trump administration and this of course with the revolving door swinging round as fast as possible. you know, these shakeups are rumored to be every other day. >> and does this make it harder for president trump to promise to drain the swamp or do his supporters actually see this differently? >> absolutely, it does make it harder for president trump to drain the swamp. this isn't only hard from a conservative standpoint, the president trump's entire campaign was based on getting rid of stuff like this and getting rid of official