mr. pruitt has taken at the agency? does he agree with the ex osh dent cost associated with the questionable activities that mrs head of the industry? there is a lot that andrew wheeler has yet to answer to if he were to take over as the head of the environmental protection agency. which brings us to the embattled e.p.a. administrator, scott pruitt himself. mr. pruitt's leadership at the e.p.a. has made that agency as toxic as a superfund site. administrator pruitt has consistently undermined the core mission of the e.p.a., to protect the environment, to protect the health, to protect the safety of all americans. he has put the interests of the fossil fuel chemical and auto industries above the needs of the public's health. perhaps the best example of scott pruitt's war on good, bipartisan policy is his full frontal attack on fuel economy admissions standards. last week administrator pruitt and the trump administration began the process of rolling back these historic standards. in 2007, i worked on a bipartisan basis to

mr. pruitt's actions have not -- it's absolutely clear that mr. pruitt's actions have not respected the rule of law and fortunately they have been blocked by the courts. now, mr. wheeler's environmental record is not much better. it gives no confidence that he will put teeth in safety first. mr. wheeler has called the paris climate agreement a, quote, sweetheart deal for china. he has fought limits on greenhouse gas emissions. he is a long-time lobbyist for murray energy corporation, one of the dirtiest coal companies in the country which also has a terrible safety record. murray energy is the largest privately-held coal company in the nation. that raises big questions about conflicts of interest. the e.p.a. is now moving to repeal the clean power plan. it would be a big win for big coal at the expense of the american people. mr. wheeler opposed reducing poisonous murky emissions from -- mercury emissions that scott pruitt wants to gut. in fact, i don't see anything in mr. wheeler's background that indicates he will act as our nation's top environm

mr. pruitt is out there issuing waivers to refineries. well, he's giving them to these petroleum companies saying that they're having hard types, they're having hard times. no they're not, they're making billions of dollars. so what's going on behind the curtain matters and how you conduct the office matters. and an administration that seemingly is clueless about

mr. pruitt, welcome to the people's house. your failures -- list of failures slong and wasteful spending is an embarrassment to government and very offensive to the taxpayers who pay all of our salaries. mr. cardenas: this administration is so packed with unethical behavior, at the same time you have to understand that your power directly i am pacts health and well-being of vulnerable populations in this country. seniors, our children, our sick and disabled. it's tempting to ask why you spend nearly $68,000 on hotels and travel from august through february just in five months, and $50,000 in modifications to your office, including a privacy booth that cost over $43,000, and an oversight of ornate wood working that cost over $2,000. but we already know some of these purchases were made in violation of federal law. when you appeared before the subcommittee in december, this subcommittee, you said that your phone booth is used for classified conversations and sensitive conversations with the white house. has this $43,000 phone boo

mr. pruitt's leadership, but we'll get to that later. today the senate is preparing to vote on the nominee to be the second-highest ranking official at the environmental protection agency, andrew wheeler. and as the number two at the environmental protection agency, andrew wheeler deserves the kind of scrutiny that reflects a position one step away from being the administrator. andrew wheeler has spent years protecting the coal industry. first, from here in the senate where he worked to prevent passage of climate legislation.

mr. pruitt. mr. trump left the door open saying, i'll have to look at them and make a determination. he's a good man who's done a good job, but i'll take a look at it. sources tell cbs news that last year pruitt asked to use licensed sirens to get through routine washington, d.c., traffic. his lead security agent told him it could only be done in an emergency. two weeks later that agent was reassigned. when pruitt first came to washington he rented an apartment from the wife of an energy lobbyist steven hart, paying $50 a night. 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

mr. pruitt. determinely four republican house members have called on you to step down. the voices are growing. just look at the critiques from former bush epa administrator and new jersey governor christie todd whitman who called administrator pruitt tenure a, quote, slap in the face to fiscal responsibility and responsible governments. said also that evidence is abundant of the dangerous political turn of an agency that is supposed to be guided by science. another form of republican epa administrator william wiley called administrator pruitt, quote, a third-rate idealog. both parties believed in the epa's pigs and understood that they had been given a sacred trust by the people of the country. unfor gnat he, this is not the case with you, mr. pruitt. you do not believe in epa's mission and forgot that you are here to serve all of the american people, and not just a select few or just yourself. the fact is administrator pruitt has used this as an opportunity to r enrich himself or his corporate fr

mr. pruitt's living arrangements. already looking into his frequent travel home to oklahoma in the beginning of the year on taxpayer -- on the taxpayer dime, which mr. pruitt has said he's since stopped. when he goes home, he travels -- pays for it himself. they're looking into his security detail. mr. pruitt has a security detail of at least 20 people, 24/7. and, you know, we're told that's many times more than any previous administrator. he cited several times death threats he's gotten and that came under question. >> what do you say as being the most egregious of the accusations or concerns that scott pruitt is facing, if that were to be proven true? >> well, i can't say what i find to be, you know -- but what i think that members of congress seem to be most concerned about are the use of taxpayer dollars. i mean, you know, what we heard from republicans at both of these hearings, we heard a lot of light questioning from republicans and a lot of grandstanding from democrats. but when republicans were concerned, the

mr. pruitt has a soundproof one in his office. >> thank you. ♪ ♪ wait, why does the e.p.a.inistrator need a soundproof phone booth. >> it's "the late show with stephen colbert." tonight, "fox & friends" freak out. plus, stephen welcomes rachel weisz ann dowd featuring jon batiste and stay human. and now, live on tape from the ed sullivan theater in new york city, it's stephen colbert! ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: woooo! thank you!

mr. pruitt for being here. i have the privilege the representing the whole coast of georgia and the sava thrks nah hashon -- savannah harbor, it supports the infrastructure and economic principles laid out by president donald trump. it's what he has been talking about when he talked about investing in the infrastructure in our country, is one of the most steady projects in the history of man kind, we started the project in the late 1990s, since that time, three ports in china have been started and completed but this has not been completed yet. back when you were hear in december, i brought to your attention the tier four emissions standards being required for harbor piles and their boats, unless we get the ships into and out of the ports, it does us no good to invest in the project, we have to have the pilots being able to get the ships in and out of the ports. the tier four emissions standards, i spoke to you in december about those, after months of my staff and your staff going back and fourth to discuss this

mr. pruitt. the letter said that the ten ethical investigationings into mr. pruitt amounted to, quote, an orchestrated political campaign by the president's enemies. heartland also supports a new proposed e.p.a. rule, and get this one, it's a new e.p.a. rule that will restrict the use of scientific studies in e.p.a. decision making that will restrict the use of science in e.p.a. decision making. the american association for the advancement of science, the american chemical society, the american lung association, the national council for science, and the environment are some of the 50 science organizations and higher education institutions that oppose the new rule, but the heartland institute is for this rule. and i want to be really clear about this. this isn't about someone having a conservative ideology or different view of what our energy future ought to be than mine. there is no left-wing equivalent of the institute that acts like this, brookings, the center for american progress, other left-leaning think tanks have dissents. others have legitimate academi

mr. pruitt was esidng rent. t' this is another step in the president's regulatory agenda. >> reporter: pruitt's saving grace may be that 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 environmental regulations, including mr. obama's signature vehicle emission standards and clean power plan. he also successfully advocated for the president to pull out of the paris climate accord. another factor working in mr. e uitt's favor: white house thficials say the president doesn't think he can get someone as effective as pruitt confirmed. that said, the president has been known to praise an official one day, and fire them by tweet the next. jeff. >> glor: julianna goldman, thank you very much. the pacific coast is bracing for another round of heavy rain. there is a chance it could trigger mud slides in california. meteorologist eric fish certificate tracking this wild weather, eric? >> it has been a very activ

mr. pruitt. you do not believe in epa's mission and appear to have forgotten that you are here to serve all the morgan people, not just a select few or just yourself. fact is you have used this office as nothing as an opportunity to enrich themselves or his corporate friends and president trump seems to be perfectly fine with all these actions so much for draining this one. when we met in december you pledge to be more transparent and promised to do a better job providing technical assistance and witnesses to hearings and responding to congressional requests. you have followed through on of these promises and what you have done is generate scandal after scandal and when confronted about them you repeatedly failed to take responsibility for your actions and blamed her staff and security and critics and anyone but yourself and you are accountable for your agency and all scandals in my opinion. there are so many out any questions that we need truthful answers to today but so far we've only gotten ha

mr. pruitt, welcome back. as you know we scheduled this hearing to focus on the epa's policy and budget priorities some time ago but you surely understand the members on the sides of the aisle have a serious questions about management and operation of the agency and we expect you to answer these questions fully and truthfully. i'm concerned that the good progress being made on policy is being undercut by allegations about your management of the agency and use of its resources. these issues are too persistent to ignore and i know many members are looking to hear more clarity from you today. you have ample opportunity to provide us with any information that can help answer these questions. additionally there are numerous ongoing investigations into these issues and i want you to commit to the committee that you will provide us with the same information you provide to the epa inspector general and other congressional committees. having said that let me also say that i appreciate your good work to focus the epa on

mr. pruitt's resignation but did not sign the resolution. >> including ross as well as carbello. hite house is looking into pruitt's spending. there are other investigations we mentioned. you're not satisfied with that? >> no, i'm not. i'm certainly not satisfied with the white house looking into the investigation, because quite frankly, i'm not sure what that means. at a time when we should be more fiscally responsible, at a time when more and more americans are working harder and it seems like getting further and further behind, mr. pruitt purchased a soundproof phone booth for $43,000, takes a $120,000 trip to italy, has just been recklessly irresponsible in terms of his spending, and so we're going to hold him accountable and we need an investigation that we can believe in. >> now you are on the judiciary committee, the chairman of your committee pushed for james comey's memos to be released. republicans are saying these memos vindicate president trump. how do you see it? >> well, i think the memos certainly did not help president trump, and obviously, my colleagues on the oth

mr. pruitt, i don't understand why if you want to drain the swamp, why are they so corrupted? guest: it is a good question and points to something that should not divide us. i'm independent myself. every american has the right to expect a few things from the administrator. they will protect people and not polluters. they will serve with integrity. they would do what mr. pruitt raised his right hand and promise to do when he took that oath of office and fulfill his duties. he has failed in all three. it is time for him to go. host: you have come out and opposition to the secretary of state nominee of mike pompeo. why is that? guest: i'm not actually familiar with our position on mr. pompeo. host: would any other cabinet level -- cabinet members need to go right now? guest: the interior secretary should go as well. host: why? guest: he is trying to hand over public lands for oil and gas exploitation anyway that is inconsistent with the mission of these lands. right now, the fossil fuel industry has access to 700 million acres of public land. a third of the continental united sta

mr. pruitt's future with our nth american reporter. anthony, thragse for joining us. how much trufble is he in? >> under normal standds, he woul be in a lot of trouble. these are things that have felled others, even in the tru administration. price got knocked out of the health and human services positions. put there are a lot of people who like the job that pruitt has done. conservatives think he'sone into the e.p.a. and really pulled back regulations, cut t work force. he's getting people angry. i think environmental activists view him as a powerful adversary but now -- know he'touch to go against and he's going to be difficult to replace. there's a lot that could be trouble for him but a lot going for him as well. jane: neverthess, donald trump was elected to drain the swamp and he has firedeople for less so way -- why n't he act at the moment? >> we heard a vote of support from donald trump tod but on the other hand we heard administration officials say they couldn't commen his future and that is a telling remark because we heard that, say in r tillerson's case or

mr. pruitt had been properly vetted they may never have nominated him given what we've found out. and now we hear that the new nominee for v.a. secretary, the president's are personal doctor, is on hold because of some troubling allegations. how did he get through the process with all of these allegations, not even being made public. my guess, not proper vetting. i wasn't there, but it's speculative that maybe one day that the president, who we know acts on impulse, had this nominee in the room, his doctor, and said, hey, let's put you up without any vetting. so the president is putting forward nominees without appropriate vetting. it's our job to vet and we will not be rushed through particularly when this administration has such a poor record of looking at the qualifications and the problems that each nominee brings. more than ever -- more than ever with this president it's the senate's job to advise and consent, not be a rubber stamp. so the rules changed proposed by senator lankford is totally unmerited, inadvisable, and lacks any knowledge of history of the senate. you know,

mr. pruitt, it has been crickets. silence. no interest in seeing, hearing or talking any kind of evil. i think it is scandalous. the oversight committee has an independent role for the united states congress as an institution and we're not doing our job. i'm not hopeful that chairman gowdy will do anything with regard to administrator pruitt. that's why i think that's right has to go. i think the the ethical behavior built up to the point, he is no longer credible. the documents they've been show the hand over, do you think they will issue those subpoenas? so far we've had he several dozen subpoena requests. ethical lapses, travel, security clearances and the like. he has responded to not one. he's not issued a single scene that. a i think that's a record for a cheryl of our committee. when president obama was in office, they were working overtime issuing subpoenas and launching investigations, trying to make hey where there was none to be made. >> you've just written an opinion piece in washington. i can think of no better thigif for the american people than for the president to dump

mr. pruitt.i'd call a press conference tomorrow and say, okay, let's talk about your criticisms of me. >> brennan: he did -- i would do a full blown press conference say, okay, here are your criticisms. that's fair. i'm going to stop doing that. here is what i think is not fair. these people are hurting the president and i'm not saying he's not a good person. but the appearance of impropriety matters, you can -- >> brennan: the president and certainly scott pruitt have alleged that all of this is just politically motivated by environmentalist who don't like his -- >> some of it is. but all of it isn't. he either travels with 20 security folks or he doesn't. either flies first class every single time or he doesn't. i don't know whether the allegations about his apartment are true or not, they don't look good. in his position why do you want to rent an apartment from a lobbyist for god's sake. stop leading with your chin. these are unforced errors, they're stupid. a lot of problems we can't solve.

mr. pruitt for being here.s you know i've had the honor privilege of representing the first congressional district which includes the entire coast of georgia and savannah harbor. the savannah harbor project is a billion-dollar project arguably the most important economic development project in her state's history next to the interstate system. it supports the infrastructure and economic principles laid out by president trump and it is exactly that, what he has been talking about woody's been talking about investing in the infrastructure in our country. it is one of the most important projects in the history of mankind but we started this project in the late 1990s. since that time three ports in china have been incomplete yet this has not been completed yet. back when you were here in december i brought to your attention to the tear for initiative standards that are required for the harbor pilots and their boats and the problems it was causing us. do you understand the less we can get those ships in and out of t

mr. pruitt. if it turns out he lied in the interview he gave with fox news, my colleague ed henry, would that be problematic for him maintaining his job? >> i'm not going to get into hypotheticals but the president would expect all members of his cabinet to be honest and open with the public. >> michael. >> reporter: the president seemed to combine his reaction to the russia investigation, which we've heard him say before and this new investigation that has grown out of the raids in new york, his attorney. does he view that as one in the same investigation? in other words, does he think that's all kind of under the umbrella of the special counsel or does he view the russia investigation as separate from the probe into the payments by these women that is apparently being conducted by the u.s. attorney's office in new york? >> i think certainly that they are separate investigations, but i think that publicly they have been conflated quite a bit. >> yes, sarah. does the united states expect that in

mr. pruitt, and the expenditures and activities and his administration. he was going to do that investigation. and then we read last night that even for mr. mulvaney, policy appears to be for sale at the white house. >> i want to get to some other issues. the president has repeatedly called the former fbi director james comey a leaker and a liar, and now the justice department is actually taking a new look into the case. we know that one of comey's attorneys is patrick fitzgerald, former u.s. attorney, a special counsel in the scooter libby case. what does this tell us about the state of the investigation right now and about patrick fitzgerald joining comey's legal team? >> mr. fitzgerald is from illinois, a well respected attorney and someone who i am sure will do a good job. i think what it tells us in the larger picture is this, the administration, including those involved on the republican side of the house intelligence committee, continue to find other issues to investigate. in the meantime, they have dropped on the house side, the investigation of t

mr. pruitt. it is mr. zinke. it is mr. mnuchin. it is the whole cast of characters mr. trump has put in place. he's got to clean this up and you don't do it by adding someone like mr. jackson to the mix. meantime, the pruitt mess that's taking place helps blind the american public to the fact that this is an epa administrator who is attempting to gut the clean air and the clean water act, who refuses to acknowledge that climate change exists, and refused my request to debate him on this issue. he never should have been there in the first place. >> i will say, sometimes it is extraordinary, given statements from the epa administrator himself to think about the positions he's in. but having said that, democratic congressman mike quigley of illinois, it is very good to see you. thank you. >> good morning. thank you. >>> an interview between robert mueller and the president is back on the table, but does it even matter at this point? that's next. delivery should look like this. handcrafted layers of clean food you can give your kids. tomatoes. even the picky ones. panera. f

mr. pruitt are going to feel good about that at the end of this. >> do you think he'll go?>> i don't think he lasts -- not because -- defense is he's ideologically aligned with everything the president wants to do. so is jeff sessions. his job is on the line hour by hour. nobody is safe. somebody that dominates the headlines like mr. pruitt, not safe at all. i asked a trump confidante about kelly. he says is kelly okay? is kelly safe? nobody is safe. nobody is okay. >> wow. nicole ellis, white house veteran, the house of "deadline white house" at 4:00 and hosting the "11th hour" and a special in-depth look at man you might have heard of, robert mueller. you're a very busy woman. especially today. breaking news in the mueller investigation, actually, beyond the breaking news i told you about at the top of the segment. somebody we haven't heard before who mueller's team is apparently questioning and we can apparently tell something about his direction based on this. just breaking news. we'll have that for you next. stay with us. miracle-gro guarantees results with rich pottin

mr. pruitt is alleged to have done, would you keep him on? >> he's been a little careless, but i want to point out to van jones, he may have forgotten that in 2010, it was revealed that the treasury secretary, timothy geithner, had lived for eight months free in a townhouse valued at over $3 million owned by a wall street sxexecutive. >> were you for that? >> i don't remember him complaining. >> this is the kind of stuff, you can't defend it, so you say, look what my little brother did, look what tommy did. this is the kind of stuff that's ruining the country. you know better than to pretend that the only thing wrong in the country is the democrats are bad or the republicans are bad. we have to have high standards for everybody. and this does not meet your standard, i know all about you. you have higher standards than this. >> what do you say? should he be fired, myron? >> no. van, i agree with you that there is a swamp here. and these kinds of things are tolerated, careless, just stupid things that people do because they want to have a first

mr. pruitt is out there issuing waivers to refineries. he's giving them to these petroleum companies saying that they're having hard types, they're having hard times. no they're not, they're making billions of dollars. so what's going on behind the curtain matters and how you conduct the office matters. and an administration that seemingly is clueless about that, this is the kind of results you're going to get. >> i think we've seen time and time again with that president trump it doesn't really matter to him until it matters to enough other people. until it makes him look bad enough that he has to do something. i was with him on his trip to west virginia last week and he actually came back and talked to reporters for a couple minutes. and there were all these questions about pruitt. asking about specific. >> right, it's reporting that's out there. >> right. and the president kind of brushed all of it off and said, i'm coming home from west virginia, coal country, they love him there. they love him there. >> that's the politics of it, rig

mr. pruitt and said, is there anything else, any more shoes to drop? do you have a sense that all of the pruitt dirt is out, or do you think that his conduct represents a state of mind? i mean, there was a point to that seinfeld clip and that was he seemed to have no idea his conduct is wrong. >> no, and he was pushing back. the way a cabinet secretary or head of a department would normally answer the question is your staff did something, would not be to say that was staff. i run this place, the buck stops with me, i'm in full charge, i take full responsibility. i'll either pay back or rescind or make amenities or make this right. scott pruitt did not do that. for john kelly -- i know how tough he can be on his people. come on, guy, get in line. for scott pruitt to disobey that and go on national television and make a fool of himself must have really ticked the president off. i think what they're weighing there is can they survive and can they deal with another high-profile departure? we've had rex tillerson fired, h.r. mcmaster fired. we've had the hhs

mr. pruitt has been doing a good job as a secretary of the epa. he's moving forward exactly as this president said he would -- >> what's the message that's sent that well, you know, ethics matter only when i like the job that you're doing and don't matter if they don't? that's the problem. what's the mixed message? >> which one of the challenges would you like to start with, he has too big of a security detail? is that suddenly the reason you fire someone? >> at what point though does that accumulate -- >> look, let's look at houmg dollars the epa can save. we'll nit pick little things, has too much people on the security detail. but what about the big picture of how he's taking care of the taxpayer's dollars with the epa. what about the regulations that he said he's going to clean up on that he is. what about the response directly back out to allow businesses to grow and expand? this president said we have to have tax policy, we've got it. we said we need regulatory reform, we've got it. scott pruitt is executing what the president wants him to s

mr. 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

mr. pruitt in? >> can i leave now, stephanie? no, here's the thing. i love ed henry for doing that. because i think scott pruitt came on thinking he was going to get a softball. and kudos to ed henry for pushing it. so he's trying to save his job. he's trying to put this off on staff doing this. unnamed staff at the top. all these things going on underneath him, we are giving you a rational response here. >> but, i will say one thing, he is doing some good things for the epa. if you're a republican, he's cracked down on the practice. >> some say this is the left just trying to push him out because they don't like his policies. you can put the policies in column a. and in column b, before you get to billioncy making, policymaking, there's proper conduct in the workplace and ethics. and how is this behavior going to be viewed as ethical? >> he should have known better. and i guess he's trying to pass the buck. whether it will fly, i don't know. but if it is only front and center, it is only a matter of time before trump gets rid of him. we can't afford to have this publicity on and on.

mr. pruitt a vote of confidence and here's what his press secretary had to say today. >> no one other than the president has the hire and fire members of his president. right now i don't havel any person announcements. the president feels that the administrator has done a good job at e.p.a., he's restored it back to its original purpose of protecting the environment. gotten unnecessary regulations out of the way and we're ntinuing to review any of the concerns that we have and i'll keep you posted if there's anything -- jane: a breach time ago i discussedr. pruitt's future with our north american reporter. anthony, thragse for joining us. how much trble is he in? >> under normal standards, he would be in a lot of trouble. these are things that have felled others, even in the trump administration. price got knocked outth of the hend human services positions. put there are who like the job that pruitt has done.ve conservathink he's gone into the e.p.a. and really pulled backegulations, cut the work force. he's getting peoplengry. i think environmental activists view him as a powerful adversa

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 stance right there, pointing the pipe at the officers. they fired ten times, killing him. >>> in a stunning admission facebook concedes

mr. pruitt clarified he did not -- oh, this is about the epa inspector general.he epa press book deputy general counsel had written in a march 30 memo that pruitt's -- condo owner for $50 a night, charged only when he stated there did not constitute a gift because for 30 days it would of equated to a monthly rent of $1500. it is described as a reasonable market value. yet in a new memo, first reported by cnn, he emphasized that he had evaluated the terms of the release only and did not see the activities that the document do not cover. he also certified he did not examine whether prewitt's arrangement violated impartiality rules, which would have inhibited him from having dealings with other employees at hart's lobbying firm. his colleague, a senior ethics attorney and agency veteran, said she learned of his unusual housing arrangement last week when political aides called her while she was at the movies and told her the outlines of the lease and asked for a ruling. she gave her approval based on the specifics they shared, only later did you learn other details f

mr. pruitt has a soundproof one in his office. >> thank you. ♪ ♪ wait, why does the e.p.a.inistrator need a soundproof phone booth. >> it's "the late show with stephen colbert."

mr. pruitt? >> mary bruce asking the questions, no answer there. mary bruce on the hill again for us. scott pruitt says he's the target of people trying to under mine president trump. how is the white house responding? >> the sources in the white house say this is a tough day for pruitt. but they say he was largely speaking to an audience of one, the president. and tonight it's his support that matters most. david? >> thank you, mary. >>> also from capitol hill tonight, the senate has confirmed the president's pick for secretary of state. mike pompeo. the cia chief who has had a security meeting with kim jong un. the white house just releasing this image. pompeo was sworn in today. he is already on his way to an nato meeting in brussels. by the way, it comes as a historic meeting set to take place between north and south korea in the coming hours. we're going to be tracking that as well. >>> there is still much more ahead on "world news" thursday evening. >>> a refinery explosion. schools shut down, evacuations. crews on the scene at this hour. >>> also, the major airline sued over th

mr. pruitt is going to go, it's because he should'vhe never been t in the first place. >> does he have to go? >> listen, i don't know how you survive this one. >> sreenasan: in sacramento overnight, a sheriff's vehicle hit a protester calling for justice for stephon clark. he's the unarmed black man shot by police in his grandmother's backyard on march 18.e officials say otester suffered minor injuries. protesters took to the streets on friday after an independent autopsy commissioned by clark's family claimed several shots fired by police hit the unarmed black father primarily in the back. sacramento police say they are still investigating, and the county coroner says it could be months before an official autopsy is released. pope francis addressed the violence in gaza during his sixth easter messa at saint peter's basilica today. the pope urged followers to work for an end to the acts of injustice in the world, saying the conflict in the holy land "does not spare the defenseless." francis also called for an end to the "carnage" in syria, and for peace in south sudan and the democratic r

mr. pruitt is going to go, it's because he should have never been there in the first place. >> does he have to go? >> listen, i don't know how you survive this one. >> governor chris christie there in a statement. a spokesman for the epa said, quote, as epa career ethics officials stated in the memo, administrative pruitt's housing arrangement for both himself and family was not a gift and the lease was consistent with federal ethics regulations. >> tens of thousands more teachers are saying they've had enough of being paid so little. a grassroots movement that sparked in west virginia then spread to arizona and kentucky has made its way to oklahoma. schools across the state will be closed today with as many as 30,000 teachers preparing to walk off their jobs. but they're demanding more than just money. nbc's may a rodriguez has more from oklahoma city. >> has the easter bunny come? >> reporter: for the teacher the past spring break got a nickname, spring broke. >> it's paycheck to paycheck literally. >> reporter: she's one of thousands of oklahoma teachers planning to walk off the job foll

mr. pruitt? >> mary bruce asking the questions, no answer there. and mary bruce, scott pruitt says he is the target of people trying to under mine president trump. how is the white house responding? >> the sources in the white house say this is a tough day for pruitt. he was speaking to an audience of one, the president. and tonight it's his spooruppor that matters most. >> the senate has confirmed the president's pick for secretary of state. mike pompeo. the white house just releasing this image. pompeo was sworn in today. by the way, it comes as a historic meeting set to take place between north and south career ya korea in the coming hours. >>> a refinery explosion. schools shut down, evacuations. >>> also, the major airline sued by the death of a passenger who became ill on flight. did the doctor on board ask the pilot to land the flight early? why didn't they? >>> a nfl prospect. and the racial tweets that just surfaced. we'll be right back. be right back. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats psoriasis differently. wi

mr. pruitt bypassing the white house which tried to block him authorized extensive pay raises for two closes that he brought with him from oklahoma to accompany him. we have the questionable rental of a condo in washington. it is from the wife of an energy lobbiest. all of those are mounting up. he has been gutting regular regulations and blocking scientific research with the result that you have a demoralized agency. >> and how in the world is the u.s. president standing behind all of this? >> well, because donald trump doesn't think through ethical or financial issues. he has issues he personally likes and those he dislikes. he department like tillerson so he fired him. there may be a second more practical ran here. some have said donald trump is considering scott pruitt to replace jeff sessions. if he gets tired of jeff session are or gets tired of the russia investigation. you can want dismiss pruitt and bring him back in so trump keeps pruitt around. >> it is continue usually bizarre the revolving door in the west wing and trump continues to want people who will stand behind him no mat

mr. pruitt is because he's executing these policies, and they're not the most popular policies with people, but he's exercising what people have said will take place. >> let's be honest, trump is not that idealogical when it comes to his picks. if he's perfectly embarrassed by someone, he's fine with letting them go. but congressional republicans care a lot about the administration's policy moves and they do like pruitt and want him to stay. there's been a lot of reporting suggesting that senior republicans in congress are prompting trump to stick with him. in the senate, mitch mcconnell is already worried about the confirmation of the new cia director and secretary of state who both face difficult confirmations. adding a new epa director to that would be even more difficult in an election year. >> even though we know the pattern has been that oftentimes when someone gets too much publicity, the president doesn't like, especially when it's negative, and that, too, could be the kiss of death. we're reporting on kelly's waning influence, and waving his frustrations at the job and threatening

mr. pruitt. >> reporter: sources inside the white house admit this was a tough day for pruitt, that he likelychange many minds. but pruitt was largely speaking to an audience of one, the president. and his support they say that matters most. mary bruce, abc news, capitol hill. >>> the white house has confirmed president trump will visit london may 13th. but several conservative groups are urging him to stay away from london because of the risk of major protests, crime and disorder. the mayor tweeted if he comes to london the president will experience an open and diverse city. he will also no doubt see that londoners hold their freedom of values and free speech very dear. >>> dr. ronny jackson is accused of giving out drugs without a prescription and wrecking a government car while intoxicated. president trump blasted the process this morning on fox news. >> he would have done a great job. these are all false accusation. they are trying to destroy a man. >> in a statement jackson called the allegations false and fabricated. >>> today's daily white house briefing looked a little different, does

mr. pruitt and also values him as a strong advocate for the president's agenda." proof of that even today. nbc news confirmed that trump and pruitt met earlier at the white house. so pruitt's job may be safe but that hasn't stopped the ridicule. these signs have been popping up around d.c. "luxury condo on capitol hill, $50 a night. live luxuriously for cheap, just like scott." and there are tabs at the bottom with the phone number for the epa public affairs office. joyce frank and the table are still here. you and i talked last night. i wonder how sustainable it is to have someone who even in the time of trump his ethical lapses are noteworthy. >> well, the ethical lapses are extraordinary. and it's not just one case here one case there. >> let's put them out. keep talking. we'll put them up. he likes to travel with sirens. he likes bulletproof stuff. >> he explored a private jet lease. he likes a bulletproof desk, a bulletproof suv. a new desk that looks like the president's desk. >> soundproof phone booth, not sure what that was for. first class travel. the pri

mr. pruitt's native oklahoma, and a bible verse to reflect his faith.ham took isaac to the mountaintop, where thanks to the lifting of burdensome regulations, they were able to dump sodium benzoate into the sea of galilee." as one e.p.a. official said, he would have turned it into a pruitt coin. well, if he really wants a pruitt coin, then we'll help him out. may i present, the official 2018 scott pruitt e.p.a. challenge coin. the border is 18 security guards holding hands to protect pruitt, who's inside the private plane pictured here. and on the other side, the new e.p.a. logo: a pile of burning tires. fun fact: one tree dies for every coin made. ( applause ) it's not made of wood. scott just personally poisons a tree each time they make one. we'll be right back with diane sawyer. ( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) don't make a first impression... or a lasting impression without it. ♪ ♪ don't turn your house into a home without it. ♪ ♪ don't go live... or even share a moment without it. and don't watch her dance like nobody's watching without it

mr. pruitt's security team. nds alone, i think scott pruitt is the wrong person to head the epa. >> so should he resign or be fired? >> well, that is a position that only the president can take at this point. the congress has no role as -- now that he's been confirmed. i voted against confirming him but i believe my position was the correction and has been validated by his actions. >> you voted for the republican tax reform plan in december for a number of reasons, but one of the reasons was that you had been assured by the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell that fixes to obama care would pass before the end of the year, in your statement you pointed directly to those fixes you supported the tax plan. having supported -- to help lower health insurance premiums i will cast my vote in favor of the senate tax reform bill. it's april now, you haven't gotten the health care reform you wanted. do you think that you were lied to in order to get your vote. >> no, i don't. i had a number of concerns about the tax bill

mr. pruitt. a lot of reporting about his conduct. apparently, he said hang in there. i do not know exactly what it means. in the presidency, things change. their report on the conduct of his financial route -- affairs is still pending. that he wouldrts make a recommendation. let's wait and see. >> you did help us. you had dealt's -- doubts but you helped us. great to have you. coming up, president trump is already mimicking his predecessor in one important way to we will go to washington for the story next. this is bloomberg. ♪ david: we turn now to mark crumpton. mark: special counsel robert mueller is defending and all -- the indictment of former campaign chairman paul manafort by releasing a secret memo, from deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, which gave mueller the already to investigate crimes related to manafort's political consulting work for the former president of ukraine. he claimed that mueller overstepped his authority. the turkish president welcomed russian president vladimir putin , who is on his first foreign visit since winning reelection last mon