through epa's management system and the office of continuous improvement led by a stellar epa career employee, we are now tracking the time it takes to achieve permits. our goal thanks to the leadership of henry darwin is to make all permit decisions up or down in six months. if we are able to accomplish this, we will make a profound transformative change in how the epa -- its responsibilities. i am not suggesting that we approve all permits within a certain amount of time. i am suggesting that we make a decision, yes or no, up or down, within a set amount of time. >> during my time in private practice, i learned first-hand the importance of timely enforcement acts. companies must disclose pending enforcement actions in their annual shareholders report. they have to state a range. 5,000,002 50 billion. when -- do not show the enforcement actions, they can linger for years. this hurts the competitiveness of u.s. businesses. it also delays actions that may be necessary to prevent harm to the environment. let me be clear, i am not advocating for letting people off the hook or reducing f

of the epa.f defending scott prou it's actions during his time in office. they felt like he did not defend his actions very well. in public settings such as the interview with ed henry on fox. bottom line, a lot of allies of thes who who thought enough was enough. we believe there were enough people inside the white house who felt the same way. just the question, was basically here in washington you're always asked, does this person have the confidence of the president of the united states. and quite often in this town they say yes until the person is gone. bottom line, scott pruitt is out. i don't think anybody behind me on capitol hill is terribly surprised. after a series of bad headlines over recent weeks and months making him look bad and reflecting poorly on the trump administration. bottom line, there will be a new epa administrator picked by president trump the i think a lot of republicans on capitol hill will be breathing a sigh of relief. >> trace: mike, we talked about this, for color

but it didn't come in the form of a firing, but a resignation. >> scott pruitt epa. >> embattled epa chief scott pru at this time out tonight after months of ethics scandals and questions about his conduct. president trump tweeting aboard air force one, i have accepted the resignation of scott pruitt as the administrator of the environmental protection agency. trump praising pruitt's work rolling back regulations. long ago of come ser tifs but making no mention of the scandals against him. writing, within the agency, scott has done an outstanding job. and i'll always be thankful to him for this. ethics questions have mounted for most of pruitt time in the administration from expensive security detail to costly first class travel. his housing situation in washington and even his wife's desired chick-fil-a franchise. pruitt back in the news this week. cnn reporting that whistleblower pruitt and his aides scrubbed his schedule to hide contacts with industry representatives. throughout it all pruitt held on. but trump canceled by republican officials that pruitt was making gains rolling

of work he was doing at the epa. it's safe to say, neil, some of these things were lack of judgment. it was death by a thousand self-inflicted cuts. >> neil: i think they didn't like his methods. you touched on it, maybe you can bring me up to speed, the reports that he approached the president about firing jeff sessions and attorney general and taking his place. was there any truth to that? >> earlier this year, i guess earlier this year, everything gets a blur here at this white house, earlier this year, there were rumors that the president was going to get rid of jeff sessions. and appoint scott pruitt as attorney general. this was chatter among the folks here that that rumor was coming out of scott pruitt's office. last week when the news hit that he had personally asked the president in a meeting to fire sessions and appoint him, i reached out to administrator pruitt and he told me it's 1 hn% false story. this was a couple of days ago. he never had that meeting with the president, he supported jeff sessions and

of the epa.bt that andy will continue on with our great and lasting epa agenda. we've made tremendous progress and the future of the epa is very bright. hans, this is the question. there were always questions about whether the president respected the job -- the mission of the state department. there's clarity on the fact that the president does not respect the mission of the education department or the energy department, but there is probably no agency that is more in the sights of moving conservative and establishment conservatives than the epa because of the rules that they impose so that companies can't simply dump garbage into the river or put garbage out of their pipes. and the reason the president has stuck by this guy for so long is because he was doing god's work in deregulating the epa. >> you don't find a democrat or republican in this town that doesn't think scott prosecuuitt very effective in achieving the goals he and the trump administration set about. that was to deregulate a lot o

of the epa. i have no doubt that andy will continue on with our great and lasting epa agenda. we have made tremendous progress and the future of the epa is very bright. in his resignation, though, pruitt blames his ouster on unrelenting and unprecedented attacks that he claim targeted him personally. let's bring in nbc's hans nichols at the white house on this busy afternoon. so just last night the president was praising him. he praised him as we just heard in that statement he put out on twitter. so why now? why is scott pruitt gone? do we know if he was asked to leave or he decided to leave? >> we may have two hints on that. number one, today is the first day of the new deputy chief of staff bill shine. it may be that he wanted to clean house and stutterart afred this was one of his first acts, convincing president trump to finally let go of his epa director. we've also heard from congressional democrats saying that they had uncovered additional information, additional cases of scott pruitt ask

so epa stood that down. so we'll have more toxins. >> that's part of the thing for child's brain development. >> everybody eats. everybody drinks. and everybody breathes. and that's what i wish folks would focus on more, these ethics problems are outrageous. i'm glad he's gone. but his successor, as you pointed out, a coal lobbyist, very controversial company coal energy. the policies may well get worse. if that's possible. for those of us who like to breathe that's going to be a problem. >> those issues that paul described, with scott pruitt the ethics violations as opposed to policies. do they have political backing? is that a driving issue for vote? are voters aware? does this upset me? maybe this is going too far? i do care about clean water and air? >> certainly emanates the left, animates the right in a very different way. they hear increased and bad for the economy. that's why scott pruitt has been successful, some of the tipping points being laura ingram, conservative essentially saying he's the swam

accomplish atally the epa?e launched and set in motion a number of changes to obama era regulations governing climate change and air and water pollution. many of those are still in progress. frankly very early stages, but he has put them in motion. era initiative for ratcheting down carbon emissions from power plants across the country. there is a proposed repeal in the agency is putting the final touches on a proposal to replace it with a much more modest alternative. we have also seen him roll back limits on methane pollution from to wells and change the way epa regulates and oversees water pollution. >> i want to bring in here that the new acting epa chief will be andrew wheeler. he was the deputy to scott pruitt. pruitt, 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 do

epa chief scott pruitt stepping down.ve another breaking story on the president's long time personal lawyer michael cohen. let's bring in mj lee. you're learning more about michael cohen's mindset right now, including what he's recently told friends about a possible pardon from the president. what can you tell us? >> reporter: what we're being told by cohen's friends is that cohen currently does not believe that trump will offer him a presidential pardon. one friend tells cnn they brought up the possibility of a trump pardon in a recent phone call with cohen and that cohen's response was, quote, i don't think so, i just don't think so. according to this friend, cohen feels quite certain that he has been, quote, unquote, dismissed by the president. a second friend also tells cnn that cohen is operating under the assumption that he is not going to be pardoned. it's important to point out cohen is currently under criminal investigation in new york. but he has not been charged. we don't know what he might be charged with. we

of the epa. i have no doubt that andy will continue on with our great and lasting epa agenda. we have made tremendous progress and the future of the e palomino, a is very bright. mr. pruitt is the subject of at least 13 -- 13 federal investigations and a government watch dog agency concluded he had broken the law with his purchase of a $43,000 secure telephone booth. he was also under investigation for his 2017 lease of a bedroom in a condominium linked to a canadian energy company's powerful washington lobbying firm. and for accusations that he demoted or sidelined epa employees who questioned his actions. nbc's hans nichols joins us from the white house along with "the new york times" chief white house correspondent peter baker and with us on set careen john pierre senior advisor to move on.org and michael steel, former chairman of the rnc. hans, let's start with you. this news not surprising, but it seemed to take a crush of negative press for donald trump to push out someone with clear flagra

of the epa. i have no doubt that andy will continue on with our great and lasting epa agenda. we have made tremendous progress and the future of the epa is

this is what the epa saying about the scott pruitt story.l not be commenting on anonymous sources who are working to distract americans from the trump administration's accomplishments on regulatory certainty andal stewardship. there you have it right there touting what scott brings to the table. >> what we call a non denial denial. and you know, remember, even if scott pruitt became the attorney general for 210 days, what would the republicans in congress do? nothing. you know, poor old jeff flake come out and say this is terrible and the rest of them clear their throats but this is donald trump's party. he can do anything. and the republicans in congress will not protest. jeff flake not running for re-election. bob corker not running for re-election. everybody else will fall into line as they always do. >> that's another interesting element of this story is that here was scott pruitt floating to president trump you should b fire jeff sessions and here's with a toy do it and the president and the advisers said we'll take a pass and speaks a

embattled epa chief scott pruitt resigns. and despite the scandals, the president still coming to his defense. >>> plus, a shocking new admission. the trump administration now suggesting hundreds more children may have been separated from their parents at the border. do they have any idea how many kids they have? >>> and breaking news, michael cohen further distancing himself from the president. what is he scared of? let's go "outfront." good evening, everyone. i'm kate balduan in for erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, breaking news. 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 t

the epa wa nts to it is the utilities agency. the epa wants to cut regulations to save money. look at other news. westlock has admitted a glitch in its network. people whom you have usually blocked they have been unblocked cabrera lee. the company says it would be informing those affected, about 800,000 of them. let's look at those markets because after days of losses particularly on the shanghai composite, we have seen the shanghai composite, we have seen the nikkei gaining some today. that is really as it tracked wall street shares higher. wall street doing reasonably well because there were gains in technology shares like apple, which helped offset some of those resource stocks that have been dragged down by oil prices. and that is it for this edition of asia business report. thank you for watching. you are watching bbc news. 12 boys and their football coach and synchronised days in a cave in thailand have been found alive. and the most senior catholic priest ever to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse has been sentenced to 12 months detention by an australia in cou

more from cnn's kaitlan collins. >> scott pruitt, administrator of the epa. >> reporter: embattled epa ethics scandals and questions about his behavior. president trump announcing on twitter, i have accepted the resignation of scott pruitt as the administrator of the environmental protection agency, praising pruitt's work rolling back obama era regulations at the epa, but making no mention of the dozens of ethics questions fac

scottruitt is out at the epa.o his resignation, and we'll be le >>> we're in weather alert mode right now on day 7 of this heat wave. >> and it's bringing in new concerns to the region tonight, flooding for some parts. amelia is in the storm w ♪ wit we need to know for tonight. amelia? >> well, for tonight g if yous can hope over to max 2 we'll be tracking a line of thunderstorms that's moving thrgh the area. you can see this line here. still back in far western maryland, the panesndle of virginia with heavy rain. this is moving 25 miles per hour so i'v outlined thetorm chances for tonight. based on where you are you have a better chance that this line moves through your area before fizzling out. a very high chanc along i-81 through winchester. en areas like frederick, leesburg, warrenton will s like see scattered thunderstorms tonight, a chance there at about 6 a%, but once we get into the district, the storm threat toetty low at 20% to 30%. the chance fors really north and west of washington where we are eseeg a

wanting justice, we're learning that embattled epa chief scott pruitt personally asked the president to carry out a stunning job switch. what did pruitt hope to accomplish by getting jeff session fired and taking over his job? backing the intelligence. a top republican directly contradicts the president's doubts about russia's election meddling, making the case in a new report that the intel agencies have been right all along. why is the senate intelligence committee releasing this information now? >>> conspiracies and attacks. the president heads into the fourth of july holiday by launching new fireworks on twitter from harley davidson to iran, who he's targeting tonight. >>> and survival. the rescue of a dozen trapped boys could take months as crews scrambling to form an escape plan. will the boys be forced to make a dangerous dive to save their own lives? >>> we want to welcome our guests in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer is off tonight. i'm jim acosta and you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> and we are following breaki

an epa administrator who they thought could destroy the epa. talking to tom cole of oklahoma and other house republicans today and senate republicans as well. people like jim imhof, they say it is now have with these scandals. jewel jet yet and her colleagues have done a great job of painting a picture. even republicans who like him have said enough. >> there is some sort of anti trump voices saying this is a witch hunt to coin the term. the people that surface this were people close to pruitt. i wanted to ask you juliet about the acting administrator wheeler. former coal lobbyist. >> and frankly part of the case that many republicans making is the idea that once andrew wheeler got confirmed, a skilled policy expert who can advance some of what pruitt was working on. no doubt that mr. wheeler would be well prepared to pursue a number of reversals. and he served in the epa and on capitol hill as you mentioned and worked for the private sector in many industries that are looking for changes. >> final question, there have been real problems fillin

epa is doing really, really well.e really impressed with the job that's being done at the epa. >> just last month president trump had nothing but praise for the outgoing epa administrator, scott pruitt, despite the mounting scandals, the president stood by pruitt because of what he had done to cut regulations. today is scott pruitt's last day on the job. let's have a little look back at some of what he did while he ran the agency. pruitt announced the repeal of the obama administration's clean power plan, which limits carbon pollution from major power plants. that is believed to be a major cause of global warming. he also suspended the clean water rule, part of the clean water act, known as the waters of the united states rule. it defined the rivers, streams, lakes and marshes that fall under federal protection and penalized landowners who violated anti-pollution laws. critics called it a massive power grab by the federal government. pruitt would revoke obama-era standards requiring cars and light trucks to average mo

our great and lasting epa agenda.endous progress the future of the agenda is very bright. scott pruitt had been a leader of the epa. he had had critics from both sides of the aisle whether it was for his misuse of epa funds, decisions that he had made but in particular a lot of it was it was again, as far as scott pruitt and the criticism coming at him from both sides of the aisle he needed to go a lot of it was because of miss spending and misuse of funds and now it looks like president trump is tweeting about this but i don't have the e-mail and i'm being told that president trump is tweeting right now i'll get that to you in just a moment but again as far as scott pruitt goes just to be clear this isn't completely unexpected. this is something that's brewing in washington. here is the tweet from the president i'm just getting it now. the same thing. i've accepted the resignation of scott pruitt he's tweeting basically what i read to you earlier a moment ago. that he's accepted the resignation of scott pruitt so he'

but because the flint thanks to congress and epa notification bill was passed, which whenever the epa knows about lead in water dishes they have to let the public know. >> host: we have to make sure that information, you're right, the epa assumes the local government want to inform their citizens. that leads to the question why do you think the state of michigan just tried to discredit your research? a push back so quickly. why? >> guest: i don't know. you have to ask them. i shouldn't have been surprised. everybody was being discredited in the story. the true heroes of the story, the people flint for 18 months they were raising their voices. they were going to town hall meetings with jugs of brown water trying to get someone to pay attention. it was amazing moms and activist and pastors who are contacting the epa and the state anybody who would listen to them. they were being dismissed and denied. the journalist journalists whog and things were being dismissed. the epa amazing whistleblowers are being dismissed. mark edwards is an amazing water expert, they called an essential magici

changes in epa that were important and roll back of obama era policy. way, not just journalists, even some conservative commentator like laura engel saying pruitt has to go. last night pruitt was at the white house enjoying the fireworks with the president. >> yes, you wonder about the timing. i know in time we'll find out more of the details. brian, thank you so much. back over to the white house we go. kaitlin to you, just covering white house day in and day out you do, can you talk about the relationship between scott pruitt and president trump. >> it's interesting not just between the two of them. but between scott pruitt and the entire white house staff. he was generally well-liked including by two very key figure ns this white house, jared kushner and ivanka trump when he first got his start here. he was very well liked by a lot of people in the white house. just in a relationship, personal level. but as the scandals came out worse and worse, and then ha running joke essentially in washington, the number of scandals against him. and just how ludic

a meeting with the epa is outlined in this email. cnn in a statement "our understanding is mrmr. wheel will not be involved in any decision on this energy decision." "under my ethics agreement with there agency," he says "i will have no involvement with efi for two years." despite his ties, he was already confirmed. and many conservatives including wheeler's former boss had suggested they would support him getting the job full time. but tonight environmentalists that hailed the news scott pruitt resigned, are not hailing the news that his temporary successorer could become his permanent replacement. >> it doesn't have all the scandals publicly that scott pruitt has. it it will be harder when the media spotlight's turned away and that's going to be an advantage for wheeler. >> reporter: in a tweet anouncing andy wheeler will be taking over. the president says i have no doubt that andy will continue on with our great and lasting epa agenda. >> thank you. >>> our next guest says scott pruitt's out because he wasn't corrupt enough. first

♪ >>> this morning epa chief scott pruitt is out amid mounting public outcry and multiple ethics scandalspresident trump says pruitt chose to resign because he felt he was a distraction. plus, 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 dang

the epa wants to cut regulations to save utilities money.sidents is, at what cost? facebook has admitted a glitch in its network. it meant that people whom you blocked may have been unblocked temporarily. the company said it would be informing those affected — about 800,000 of them, with a pop—up message. dell has agreed to buy out its own tracking stock for $21.7 billion in a move that will return the sprawling technology company back to public markets, five years after its founder took it private. the deal announced on monday will give michael dell and his financial partner silver lake greater control of vmware, the data centre company it already controls. tesla's heavily—shorted shares rose as much as 6.4 percent in early trading monday. but after several analysts questioned whether the electric car maker would be able to sustain the model 3 production momentum, shares ended up losing 2.3 percent at the close in new york. that's it for the business briefing this hour up next — newsbriefing. police on the scottish island of bute are attemp

>> scrubbed, yes, sir. >> of the official epa administrator schedule?ich happened quite a bit. >> reporter: cnn found more than two dozen meetings, events or calls left off pruitt's publicly-released calendar which is only released weeks after the events occur. what's missing? meetings with energy industry officials, lawyers, washington insiders who could potentially benefit from a friendlier epa. so he would meet with industry lobbyists, somebody from industry itself and decide later that wouldn't look good so scrub it off the calendar? >> sometimes later, even before we would put on the schedule "meeting with staff" that was the default button. >> reporter: want examples? internal e-mails show in april, 2017, pruitt has a briefing and attends a dinner at trump international hotel with coal company executive joseph pratt. it's not listed on the public epa calendar september, 2017, the official schedule shows pruitt met with former senator turned energy industry lobbyist trent lott but left off the meeting including the ceo of a shipping company and the

there is no agency that conservatives hate more than the epa. he is attempting to dismantle it. >> well, first i would say we have a handy guide of all the investigations on our site, if anyone needs to keep track. but, you know, you're absolutely right. the president very much enjoys the job that scott pruitt has been doing. he enjoys a strong relationship with the president. there are people in the white house, including chief of staff john kelly, who have urged and continue to urge president trump to fire scott pruitt. we're being told that, you know, he is -- you know, the president is increasingly getting the message from people around him that mr. pruitt could be a liability for him in the midterms. but you know, we've seen time and time again that president trump very much supports the regulatory rollbacks that mr. pruitt is doing at the epa. >> shannon, the list on "the new york times" is comprehensive. some of it seems unethical. some of it is just weird. some of it is both weird and unethical. when white house press secretary sarah huc

trump, he will still be running the epa, quietly.ust like they got rid of the supreme court justice, quietly helped him decide to retire, the same it is with getting scott down, to retire, or step and run the department quietly. host: monday evening announcement planned by president trump to announce his new nominee to go to the supreme court to replace the outgoing retiring justice anthony kennedy. morning,sta, this , "hington post saying according to advisors, the president's final decision remains fluid as he travels thursday to a political rally montana before heading to a golf course in new jersey for the weekend, with the president president while the has placed kavanaugh near the top of the list, he has asked several friends about whether his past work would be an issue for core supporters." a second person close to the president has said on thursday that "kavanaugh is on the short list. vice president mike pence met with kavanaugh on wednesday at his residence, saying that the session went well and underscoring the strong pro

let's look at his legacy at the epa. he made rules to appeal rules that eliminated gas emissions from coal power plants. he announced it in kentucky saying the war against coal is over. he suspended a portion of the water rule which gives epa authority over certain small lakes and rivers. some bristled because they were held responsible for run-off pollution. in a high-profile speech, he rolled back fuel efficiency standards. pruitt's justification, the standards were politically charged and too high. let's not forget the most important decision, lobbying president trump to withdrawal from the paris climate accord, a global agreement to fight climate change. you may notice a recuring theme here. pruitt took steps toward a number of impactful decisions without ultimately following through. that's where andrew wheeler comes in. he's a former coal lobbyist. as president trump said in a tweet, i have no doubt that andy will continue on with our great and lasting epa agenda. with me now is amy, energy reporter. good to see yo

bessey southerland, former director of science and technology in epa's office of water. and heidi shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the economic policy institute and former chief economist at the department of labor. so how we're going to run this panel this afternoon will be that each of the panelists will briefly introduce themselves, will briefly provide the initial framing of their perspective on these issues and then we have a number of questions which i posed at the beginning that we will discuss. so first, professor heinzerling. >> thanks so much. wonderful to see such a crowded room at lunchtime talking about regulation. so we've heard already from senator warren about deregulation and i guess my main message is an unsurprising one which is that the deregulatory impulse in this administration comes from the top down. as i'm sure you know, president trump has issued dozens of executive orders and presidential memoranda, many of these documents instruct agencies to reconsider existing regulations and to revoke them. these regulations aim to prot

are we looking at the permanent epa administrator or? >> depends on how much pressure he comes under from his president. wheeler is quoted that he did not want the job, never wanted the job. but a lot of insiders thinking he is more effective than pruitt was because he is low key and has the same agenda. i think this is a steving moment as well -- teaching moment as well in terms of what it means to drain the swamp. draining the swamp was never about corruption, it was about draining the agencies. if you look at donald trump's comments, he thought pruitt was doing an excellent job. he had rolled back wo two regulations. holding a lot of new regulations at bay and even folks like christine todd whitman had said when pruitt came in, that was going to be a danger. now you see a lobbyist like pruitt and now wheeler coming in to push through this agenda. pushing out civil servants, that is going to continue. that is not why scott pruitt was fired. >> quickly beth, on that point, democrats for policy reasons did not like the idea for pruitt he

he stepped out today as epa administrator. that's 14 by the way not counting the reports that he his security detail drive him around so he could buy a special kind of skin lotion, and it's not including the used luxury mattress he tried to wrangle from president trump's hotel in washington. on top of that, the scandals that is, not the mattress, he mentioned none of that in his resignation letter. and president trump called him a terrific. more from cnn's kaitlan collins. >> scott pruitt, administrator of the epa. >> reporter: embattled epa chief scott pruitt out tonight after months of mounting ethics scandals and questions about his behavior. president trump announcing on twitter, i have accepted the resignation of scott pruitt as the administrator of the environmental protection agency, praising pruitt's work rolling back obama era regulations at the epa, but making no mention of the dozens of ethics questions facing him. pruitt writing in a letter to the president, your confidence in me has blessed me personally. adding t

that same plan was sent to the epa.heeler now runs. >> the epa is in a rush to do things that will benefit these coal ash utilities. purely because of the influence of their trade associations and their lobbyists. >> reporter: and this week, the first set of proposed rules changes were finalized. among the changes, ground water no longer needs to be monitored if the plant can prove that it is not polluting the aquafer. our request to speak with the administrator was declined. he said, quote, our actions mark a significant departure from the one size fits all policies in the past and saved tens of millions of dollars in regulatory costs. duke energy is steadfast that testing has shown that none of the coal ash contamination has reached public ground water. >> testing continues to demonstrate the coal ash operations are not impacting private wells. >> reporter: it's something dani danielle has heard before. when you live next to a coal plant and an ash pond, even if it is your dream home, you're always living in a bit of

it is not listed on the public epa calendar.hedule shows pruitt met with former senator turned energy industry lobbyist trent lott. but left off that the meeting included the ceo of a shipping company and discussion of ships and their fuel source. in october 2017, a staff briefing appeared on pruitt's official calendar. e-mails show the actual meeting was with private attorneys representing a water district over a super fund site. >> we had at one point three different schedules. one of them was one that no one else saw besides three or four of us. >> reporter: two government 1k3er7 experts tell cnn altering, sanitizing official government records to protect the boss could lead to legal trouble. >> if somebody deleted, changed, scrubbed a federal record with the intent of deceiving anybody, it could be a violation of federal law. >> reporter: the most controversial deletion of all came after pruitt's $120,000 taxpayer funded trip to rome in june 2017. that trip included extensive interaction with catholic cardinal george pell wh

scott pruitt forced out at the epa. a flood of press speculation as michael cohen goes public with vo: your girls have been with you through every moment of your life. they were with you when you felt unbreakable. and with you when you had your heart broken. they were with you when you shared your love with the world. and with you when she became your world. they're still with you right now. but... how well do you know them? this wi-fi is fast. i know! i know! i know! i know! when did brian move back in? brian's back? he doesn't get my room. he's only going to be here for like a week. like a month, tops. oh boy. wi-fi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. in many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40's. howie: four out of the 12 boys trapped in a cave in tiled for 15 -- me in thailand taken to safety. rescuers planning to get three more boys out in the next 10-20 hours. more updates as we get them. [♪] media's mounting allegations against scott pruitt ranging from petty t

. >>> new scandals, new outrage at epa chief, scott pruitt. >> i would urge you to resign before your scandals push you out. >> a mom who confronted him in public speaking out to us. and safety, are they more dangerous in an emergency? the faa decides whether you need more room in the sky. >>> need a new ride? the deal that can get you a new set of wheels every two weeks. >>> those who serve, world war ii veteran and presidential candidate, bob dole, on a whole new mission. >> this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening. welcome to our viewers in the west. first, euphoria over their discovery alive inside a flooded cave in thailand. now comes new anguish and worry for the dozen children and an adult who remain trapped in that cave with few options to surface. not since the world held its breath in 2010 over the fates of 33 trapped miners in chile has a rescue drama so captivated the world. in this case, surrounded by water, the 13 kcave survivors, weakened by days without food, could have to make a marrowing underwater swim through narrow passages to reach freedom. nb

there's a sense of relief inside the epa. even among those who perhaps don't agree with the policies that he's going to continue to pursue, but that this is probably going to be a different agency, and more like what you traditionally see in terms of a republican where the pendulum swings policy-wise but not with as much scandal and fewer headlines. >> and i was watching a former deputy chief of staff at epa, a whistleblower, he's described himself. he was on last week i believe with lawrence or with chris hayes, probably chris hayes. and he was amazing. this guy is a rock-ribbed republican, a trump republican. and he said he had to quit because it was so ethically disgraceful what was going on there, he could not stand what was happening, with one aide being forced to shell out $600 for housing for either pruitt or a member of his family during the transition, out of her own pocket, then covered by epa funds. i mean, that is really disgraceful behavior. >> that's what was surprising as this whole thing progressed. initially

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the head of the epa, scott pruitt, stepdown.is resignation follows a serieh of scandals the dogged his tenure. president trump announced it in his usual fashion, by tweet, saying "i have acceptethe resignation of scott pruitt. within the agency, scott has done an outstanding job and i will always be thankful to him for this." he has been the subject of numerous stories c which haled into question his conduct. for more on this most recentin shakeup, i am by the north america reporter. starting with you, this has been going on for a long time. why has he decided to resign now? >> i think you was pushed to the white house. 12 different investigations were in t tping point. there was a new york s timry about the firing of an aid that she disagreed about meetings wanted deleted from the public record. it was an accumulation of scandal after scandal, and the white house tolerates they liked the policies he was implementing at the w epa, but th ultimately the presidents this vision he said this was enough. jane: theres no mention of an

as the acting administrator of the epa. 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 on me personally and my family are unprecedented and have taken tolls. earlier he told reporters there was quote, no final straw, end quote when it came to pruitt's resignation. he said it was pruitt's decision to step down. but "the new york times" reports that on thursday afternoon around 1:30 mr. trump's chief of staff, john f. kelly, reached out to mr. 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 vac

they said it's about time and called him of the worst epa administrator in history. trump praised him until the end. lauren blanchard with the scandal that led to his departure. >> effective at friday the epa chief stepping down the following months of controversy and bad headlines regarding his management and use of federal resources. >> scott pruitt wrote in his recognition letter -- his resignation letter. the president told reporters the decision wasn't made by a scott pruitt who thought he had become a distraction. the chief has weathered months of the scandal. more than a dozen federal probes into his spending habits . first-class travel, excessive security expenses, inappropriately using federal resources and employees plus cozying up a to lobbyist. >> you do not want to give your opponents ammunition to use against you, which he did repeatedly. a >> trump has been supportive of scott pruitt despite bipartisan calls for scott pruitt to step down. bernie sanders and called him the worst epa administrator in the history of the agency. susan collins wrote his eth

it is not listed on the public epa calendar. september 2017.with former senator turned energy lobbyist trent lo . but left off that the meeting included the ceo of a shipping company and the discussion of ships and their fuel source. in october 2017, a staff briefing appeared on pruitt's official calendar. e-mails show the actual meeting was with private attorneys representing a water district over a superfund site. >> we had at one point three different schedules. one of them was one that no one else saw besides three or four of us. >> reporter: two government experts tell cnn altering, sanitizing official government records to protect the boss could lead to legal trouble. >> if somebody changed, deleted, scrubbed a federal record with the intent of deceiving the public or intent of deceiving anybody, it could very well be a violation of federal law. >> reporter: the most controversial deletion of all, came after pruitt's $120,000 taxpayer-funded trip to rome in june 2017. that trip included extensive interaction with catholic cardinal george

. >>> epa administrator scott pruitt is out. he resigned amid investigations. >>> and as the heat wave crests for much of the country, the west is heading into a dangerously hot weekend, raising the risk of more fires. >>> good morning from the studio 57 newsroom at cbs news headquarters here in new york. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. >>> in thailand this morning, one of the rescue workers trying to save a soccer team trapped in a flooded cave died. the former thai navy s.e.a.l. was taking supplies to the trapped boys, and he ran out of oxygen while he was underwater leaving the cave. officials are racing to pump water from the cave before more rain falls and say they have a limited amount of time to get them out. laura podesta is here with more. good morning, laura. >> good morning, anne-marie. the 38-year-old volunteer was working on a creative strategy. but his death shows just how perilous that kind of rescue could be. a thai rescuer died thursday night from lack of oxygen. the first death in the ongoing efforts