captioning sponsored by cbs >> golodryga: on the "cbs evening news" for this thursday, shakeup in the trump cabinet, scott pruitt is out as head of the e.p.a. as ethics questions grow. the heat is on in the west as temperatures rise, wildfires spread. and the worst possible weather forecast for the 12 boys trapped in a cave in thailand. but first the headlines in 60 seconds. >> e.p.a. chief scott pruitt has resigned. >> he has resigned? >> mr. pruitt is the subject of at least 13 federal investigations. >> this is not a surprise, it's really been a long time coming. >> how did an ordinary british couple become exposed to a military grade nerve agent? >> residents here are once again on edge. >> all we want to know is are you safe.

>> at least 17 people killed, 31 more injured in a fireworks explosion near mexico city. >> the hazmat situation, at baltimore's johns hopkins hospital after vials of tuberculosis were broken. prepared for the meeting, trust me, we'll do just fine. >> wildfires spreading >> here in northern california the battle against wildfires begins here at cash creek where water dropping helicopters are constantly filling up. >> teen life guards were a summer staple but now with too many openings, they are being replaced with a different age group. >> you are part of a nationwide trend. >> it's great. >> golodryga: good evening, jeff glor is off tonight, i'm bianna golodryga. this is our western edition.

the growing cloud of scandal cost the head of the environmental protection agency his job. scott pruitt, the target of more than a dozen government investigations into his ethics and spending was forced out today. the president the president announced in a tweet that he had accepted his resignation. for the past year and a half pruitt worked tirelessly to roll back environmental regulations. he will be replaced at least temporarily by his deputy, a former lobbyist for the coal industry. more now from major garrett at the white house. >> reporter: speaking aboard air force one, president trump said there was "no final straw" that lead to scott pruitt's resignation. he said the embattled e.p.a. administrator came to him a couple of days ago and said he did not want to be quote a distraction. questions about pruitt's success of office spending, first class air travel and the treatment of staff had washington investigators working overtime. ubuitt was the subject of a house oversight committee ivvestigation, 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 inrt because the unrelenting attacks on me personally, my family, are unprecedented and have taken a sizeable toll on all of us. ar i think your actions are an embarrassment to president trump. >> reporter: in late april a house committee grilled pruitt on many questionable decisions including the construction of a secure phone line in his office that cost taxpayers $43,000. >> and i think frankly that the expenditure of $43,000 on secure communication should not have exen made and i would not have made the decision if i was aware ve it. >> reporter: pruitt was also under scrutiny for renting an n artment from an energy lobbyist using his position to alp find his wife work, asking his aides to carry out personal tasks and flying first class at taxpayer expense. something he told cbs news as the takeout was because of security concerns. >> these threats have been unprecedented from the very beginning and the quantity and

type are unprecedented. >> reporter: until just recently president trump had stood by seuitt, largely because he nvlled back obama-era environmental regulations and supported withdrawing from the e ris climate accord. >> the e.p.a. is doing so well, people are really impressed with the job that's being done at the e.p.a.. thank you very much, scott. >> golodryga: and major joins us now, as we see the president the president said that pruitt's deputy andrew wheeler will serve as acting administrator, what do we know about him? >> reporter: he worked at the e.p.a. in the early 1990s focusing on toxic pollution control then he went to work for republican senator james inhofe, swell-known climate change teeptic. most recently he's been a coal industry lobbyist and vice anesident of something called the washington coal club. environmental groups describe wheeler as sort of a scandal free replica of pruitt, conservatives say they expect wheeler to continue the deregulatory work in washington. >> golodryga: i want to switch

to another to another topic, supruse the president said today he will announce a supreme court pick monday at 9:00 p.m. eastern p.me, what are you hearing about who may be on his short list right now. >> reporter: we were told the president has confined his list down to three. raymond ketheledge, amy coney barrett and bret kavanagh all sitting on federal appeals court. there are various factions in covor of all three. the president said will make his decision on sunday, announce it to the country on monday evening here at the white house. the president said it was unlikely he will conduct any additional interviews about this while is he in new jersey over the weekend. >> golodryga: given their young age, either candidate could sit on the bench for decades to come. major garrett, thank you. in another personnel change the president hired former fox news executive bill shine to be deputy chief of staff of communications. the white house touted shine's media experience. he rose from a producer for sean ewnnity to deputy to fox news c.e.o. roger ailes. shine was fired last year over his handling of the sexual

harassment scandal at the cable network. at midnight eastern time, trade tensions between the u.s. and china could escalate into a anade war. president trump confirmed today $34 billion in tariffs will take effect at that time on hundreds of chinese imports including auto parts and medical devices. china is expected to retaliate quickly slapping tariffs on hundreds of american products including beef, pork, soybeans and cars. w ght now a cargo ship, the peak pegasus is loaded with u.s. soybeans racing across the yellow sea. eae crew hopes to clear customs in china before beijing imposes a 25% tariff on those soybeans. just as a week-long heat wave is letting up in the midwest and northeast, temperatures are rising to dangerous levels in the west. take a look at this map. excessive heat watches and warnings are posted tonight in parts of california, nevada and arizona.

at the same time, at least 40 large wildfires are burning across the west. they have burned about 600,000 acres. more than 100 homes were destroyed in southern colorado and a large fire is threatening hundreds more in northern california. john blackstone is there. s> reporter: today firefighters in northern california endured back breaking work as they rushed to contain the unrelenting county fire in 90 degree heat. got to make your work tougher. >> it does but at the same time too we have our natural built in ouc. as are you probably sweating like we are. >> reporter: right now crews are fighting fire with fire to keep the massive inferno away from igmes. rois is an area that was burned intentionally, firefighters set y, alight to burn off fuel on nde ground. this is part of the band of containment that will eventually stop this fire. it's already scorched 90,000 acres and threatens more than a thousand homes and businesses and we're only days into the official start of the fire dason. >> it's fire season pretty much every day in california these days. >> reporter: cal fire's jeff adams say this new reality is taking a toll on thousands of

firefighters in what is shaping up to be one of the busiest years on record. >> bringing these men and women out to do this, and having them ek here for weeks at a time eiuses chaos in their home life and doing it year in and year out, it causes fatigue. >> reporter: in colorado firefighters are battling nearly widozen wildfires including a spst-moving blaze near aspen. more than 500 homes had to be evacuated, some of them burned. >> it came down in a big hurry and it was total chaos. >> reporter: adding to the misery in the west, high temperatures are expected to soar through the weekend. in los angeles, where the mercury is expected to rise over 100 degrees by tomorrow, residents are hitting the beaches to keep cool. as the temperatures rise as well here in northern california, no one is cooling off here in cash creek. instead, this water has become an essential part of the battle against the huge wildfire still growing in the mountains just a couple of miles to the west of t re. bianna.

>> golodryga: john blackstone in northern california. well, from fire to water, which bmains the enemy for 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped deep inside a flooded cave in thailand. with monsoon rains on the way the rescue effort took on new urgency on day 14 of their ordeal. ben tracey is outside the cave. >> reporter: it is a race against the weather. crews are drilling through rocks to make room for more hoses in ck effort to quickly drain more water from the cave before up to five inches of rain descends on the area. they have already pumped out more than 34 million gallons of water, but so far it's not enough to safely remove the 12 young boys and their coach who have been trapped inside for nearly two weeks. even with medical treatment, some of the boys are said to be gnowing signs of weakness and malnutrition, prompting rescue crews to pump oxygen into the edamber where they are trapped. thrtions of the potential escape route would require the boys to

swim underwater with dive masks to breathe but if crews can r ickly lower the water level so the boys can keep their heads above water, thai navy seals would float them through the flooded passages until they reach dry land and can walk out of the cave. tanawut is the father of the geungest boy trapped inside, an ea year old known as titan. are you worried about how they will get them out of the cave. he says i believe the seal team can make it happen. there is nothing they can't do. i have faith. the father says he does not blame the 25 year old soccer coach who apparently was with n e boys when they entered the cave on june 23rd, ignoring signs that it is prone to dangerous flooding. ree coach has reportedly taught the boys how to meditate to keep them calm and navy seals say the young soccer players are asking about the outcome of world cup games. once your son finally comes home, what is the first thing you are going to say to him?

he says i will tell him you are safe. m and your mother were waiting for you and we love you. ueght now it's taking rescuers up to 11 hours round trip to provide the boys with supplies such as medicine and food. if the cave floods again it will make reaching them much more ucfficult. bianna. >> golodryga: of course our thoughts are with titan and his itiends. ben tracy, thank you. ade trump administration today sed eased its count of migrant children who have been separated from their parents at the border. health and human services secretary alex azar says it is somewhere under 3,000. last week he said it was just over 2,000. azar says his department is ready to reunite those children with their parents. here's mireya villarreal >> reporter: just this week carl a devalazquez reunited with her daughter after being separated for over a month. immigration attorneys are quick to point out reunions like this aren't happening fast enough.

today the u.s. health and human services secretary alex azar confirmed there are still under 3,000 immigrant children separated from their parents in federal custody. about 100 of those are under the age of five. to comply with a federal court order, children four and under must be reunited with their parents by next tuesday. and those between the ages of five and 17 by july 26th. >> while i know there has been talk of confusion, again any confusion is due to a broken >> reporter: to speed up the reunification process deputy director for children's programs commander jonathan white says ayey're using d.n.a. testing to verify family connections. >> h.h.s. and in some cases d.h.s. health care personnel collects those via cheek swab, it is painless and harmless to the child. >> reporter: jonathan is executive director of raices a group working closely with families separated at the border. >> this is really an invasion into the most private data that

we have on ourselves, our d.n.a. and it's irresponsible, it is a sign of the ultimate incompetence of the administration. >> reporter: develasquez and her daughter may be back together but they are still fighting for asylum in separate immigration cases. now two out of a 300,000 case backlog. e haeveral cases we have heard of parents being detained in one state and their children being shipped across the country. bianna today h.h.s. confirmed they are trying to move those trents closer to their children in ice detention facilities, ayat way when they make that biological connection they can reunite those families a lot faster. >> golodryga: i know you will continue to follow this story, thank you. and there is breaking news in the nationwide manhunt for three sun suspected of kidnapping and raping two teenage sisters in northern ohio. one of the suspects was captured today, nearly 1300 miles away in lubbock, texas. jericka duncan is following the latest.

>> reporter: within the last few hours, authorities arrested david ramos contreras who had been on the run since last week. contreras is one of three ecspects who detectives say sexually assaulted two sisters ages 13 and 14. bowling green police lieutenant dan mancuso. >> based on the crime that they are accused of we would consider them violent offenders so they anuld be dangerous. >> reporter: investigators believe the men are in the u.s. illegally. u.s. marshals and ice agents have joined local police in the manhunt. the suspects allegedly kidnapped thd raped the girls last thursday. according to police, it happened here at this day's inn where the teens and their parents were staying at the same time as the men. police haven't been able to confirm the identities of the two men who are still on the run. >> they had fraudulent immigration paperwork, or identifications. >> reporter: police say the suspect arrested today was deported from the u.s. in october of last year and bianna,

he was actually hiding under a bed in texas. he is now going to be extradited back to ohio to face charges. >> golodryga: jericka duncan, thank you. n ming up next on the "cbs evening news," something new under the sun. a new wave of lifeguards. studies show that omega-3s are great for your health. but did you know that 98% of us don't get enough of them? that's why megared advanced 4in1 packs more omega-3 power into just one small softgel. it supports four vital areas of your body. your heart... your brain... your eyes... and your joints. give your body the omega-3s it's missing. megared advanced 4in1. one pill. more power.

some retreat to thet woods for solitude. i just go downstairs. i love you, but sometimes you stink. febreze air effects doesn't just mask, it cleans away odors. because the things you love the most can stink. and try febreze small spaces to clean away odors for up to 30 days. breathe happy with febreze.

come hok., babe. nasty nighttime heartburn? try new alka-seltzer pm gummies. the only fast, powerful heartburn relief plus melatonin so you can fall asleep quickly. ♪ oh, what a relief it is! >> golodryga: there is a nationwide shortage of lifeguards, young folks are passing up the job and now as carter evans tells us, older swimmers are jumping in. >> reporter: it may once have been the coolest summer job joer. but teenagers like lara wilkniss say summer lifeguarding just isn't in their plans. >> we would love to make money. ou would love to lifeguard and have fun and make friends but we have no time to do af we don't even have time to like build a resume, that is how booked we are in the day. >> reporter: that is a big problem for katy harker who .ires lifeguards. >> there doesn't seem to be enough millennials out there looking for lifeguarding jobs. there is a shortage of them.

>> reporter: but it turns out there were enough people in the job pool, they just hadn't been asked. >> both my kids left home. td just had extra time, i don't like sitting around being bored. ba i just got back into it. >> reporter: you are an empty nester now. >> yes. so it works in my schedule. >> reporter: deborah holland says when she showed up to become a lifeguard, she was two decades older than the next youngest applicant, that's changing. the evidence is found at the s ter's edge. or i think a lot more people my age are getting into physical activity and are physically fit. >> reporter: think of it as seniors coming to the rescue filling jobs of people who come to the rescue. >> our best experience has been working with seasoned lifeguards and veterans and people that are more mature that bring a level of seriousness to at s its life or death. so it is really important for anat. >> reporter: all lifeguards must to go through extensive training and pass a rigorous physical

fitness test no matter how old they are. these seniors say they are more than up to the challenge. bianna. >> golodryga: yes, they are. carter evans, thank you. coming up, deadly explosions at a fireworks plant. your rate after the other car got a scratch so small you coulda fixed it with a pen. maybe you should take that pen and use it to sign up with a different insurance company. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ back pain can't win. now introducing aleve back and muscle pain. only aleve targets tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. aleve back & muscle.

all day strong. all day long. the chili pepper sweat-out. not cool. freezing away fat cells with coolsculpting? now that's cool! coolsculpting safely freezes and removes fat cells with little or no downtime. and no surgery. results and patient experience may vary. some common side effects include temporary numbness, discomfort,and swelling. ask your doctor if coolsculpting is right for you and visit coolsculpting.com today for your chance to win a free treatment. at&t provides edge-to-edge intelligence, covering virtually every part of your manufacturing business. & so this won't happen. because you've made sure this sensor and this machine are integrated. & she can talk to him, & yes... atta, boy. some people assign genders to machines. and you can be sure you won't have any problems. except for the daily theft of your danish. not cool! at&t provides edge to edge intelligence. it can do so much for your business, the list goes on and on.

that's the power of &. & this shipment will be delivered... i couldn't catch my breath. it was the last song of the night. it felt like my heart was skipping beats. they said i had afib. what's afib? i knew that meant i was at a greater risk of stroke. i needed answers. my doctor and i chose xarelto® to help keep me protected from a stroke. once-daily xarelto®, a latest-generation blood thinner significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. warfarin interferes with at least 6 of your body's natural blood-clotting factors. xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor. for afib patients well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® compares in reducing the risk of stroke. don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of stroke. while taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding it may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines.

get help right away for unexpected bleeding or unusual bruising. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. learn all you can to help protect yourself from a stroke. talk to your doctor about xarelto®. >> golodryga: near mexico city, at least 24 people were killed today in a series of explosions la a fireworks plant. nearly 50 others were injured. emergency workers are among the dead. at 2:33 today, newsrooms around the world observed a minute of silence to honor the "capital gazette" staffers shot to death exactly one week ago in their newsrooms in annapolis. in a temporary news room today colleagues lit five candles and rang a bell five times in remembrance of those who died. and we'll be right back.

>> golodryga: finally tonight, the world knows the young soccer erayers in thailand are alive because of two men who rescue people all over the world. here's jonathan vigliotti. >> reporter: their flashlights

e oke nine days of darkness, their distinct british accents e sie the silence. >> how many of you? >> 13. >> 13, brilliant. >> reporter: that is the voice of john volanthen, he and partner rick may have looked and sounded more alien than hero, but the boys and their coach knew help had arrived. out of their wetsuits, 47 year old john is an i.t. consultant, 57 year old rick, a retired firefighter, but both are known around the world for their self- taught hobby. considered among the best cave divers on the planet, nicknamed the a-team, is a skill john once compared to space travel. >> when people landed on the moon they had a map. in a cave, if you are beyond the known limit of the cave, nobody knows where it goes, you never know what will happen around the corner. or reporter: together, they designed their own equipment and use it to assist rescues in france and even mexico where

rick helped save six people trapped in a cave by teaching some how to dive. it is an achievement later honored by the queen. when the soccer team first went missing last month, thai officials called on the a-team to assist in the search. >> john and rick, they're calm, they're very collected, they're very organized, extremely disciplined and consummate professionals. t reporter: it took the men 90 g nutes of swimming and crawling to finally reach the boys they set out for but this rescue is far from over. the kids health will be critical as rick and john help the thai military develop an extraction plan. there may be no clear exit in sight, but they promised the kids they would be back. >> golodryga: i have a feeling they will keep that promise. that is the "cbs evening news," for jeff glor, i'm bianna golodryga. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by

media access group at wgbh ♪ kpix 5 news begins with the first legal test of california's sanctuary state policy. two laws protecting illegal immigrants survive a challenge by the trump administration. >> a federal judge did stop the state from enforcing the law related to workplace searches. kpix's political reporter was at the state capital when the ruling came down. melissa? >> reporter: yeah, we are here in the eastern district of california federal courthouse. it is here, today that a federal judge issued a 60 page ruling. this judge, john mendez is a republican appointee. he was made a federal judge by george w. bush. when the trumpet ministration came in asking for three loss to be suspended, he said no to two of them, and one he said

yesterday. >> my message to the president and attorney general is that -- senate bill 54 is unconstitutional. whether you like it or not, -- >> vindication for democrats when they learned about the ruling, in the case of the united states versus the state of california. senator kevin daley on, author of the sanctuary state law that was upheld today by the criminal court. >> this is a huge victory for the rule of law. it sends a clear message to washington. >> in march of this year, us government sued the state of california. it alleges that three california laws that relate to immigration actually violate federal law. then, the us government asked the court for an injunction. that is an order that would prevent those three loss from ever taking effect. in today's ruling, it was on that us government request for an injunction. today, the court said