pruitt. you might say he's a carbon copy of mr. pruitt. and if you look at his history, the history of mr. wheeler, you find a very cozy relationship. between the nominee, mr. wheeler, between mr. pruitt, the current administrator, and an army of lobbyists for the coal industry. in fact, mr. wheeler, as we've noted, has been a lobbyist for that industry, and if you look at his relationships, you find that, as he was advising murray energy, murray energy was at that time a top donor to scott pruitt's super pac. this is before mr. pruitt became the administrator of the e.p.a. he had a super pac. and murray energy, for whom mr. wheeler lobbied, was one of the top donors to that pruitt super pac. and the relationship between pruitt and wheeler and bob murray gets even cozier when we see that bob murray was a co-plaintiff in eight of the 14 lawsuits that pruitt brought against the e.p.a. before pruitt became the administrator. so i want to get this right. you have mr. wheeler, who was the lobbyist for mr. murray, and mr. murray joined with prui

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

secretary pruitt: if i may. i think what's important with respect to the scientific transparency, it doesn't apply to only certain studies. it applies to all third party studies. every type. many members on this committee i'm sure would be very concerned if a.p.i. went out and did a study, didn't provide the methodology, data, provided conclusions to the e.p.a. and the e.p.a. acted on rule making with respect to methane or other issues, there would be tremendous concerns about that. it applies to all third party science, irrespective of the source. it just simply says data, methodology, conclusions matter and the american people need to be able to consume that. mr. cramer: it seems to me. i appreciated the inquiry earlier, maybe you could elaborate, how personal data can be protected and is protected. nobody's asking for the names of pollution m of every source that's ever happened in the world. not asking for personal data. we're asking simply for the science to be revealed. you can protect the personal data, r

they feel very strongly about scott pruitt, and they love scott pruitt. the. >> randi kaye joins us now, so scott pruitt has had some problems with those working for him at the epa as well. >> he has. the "new york times" is reporting that a handful of epa officials were reassigned, demoted. their concerns had to do with epa spending on office furn tire, first class travel, demands for a bullet-proof vehicle. one of those epa employees was an early hire in the trump campaign but was placed on administrative leave without pay after raising concerns about pruitt. the a spokesman for the epa told the new york times that the agency disputes those allegations. >> randi kaye, thank you very much. during that shot on area force one, the president thinks between 2,000 and 4,000 american troops will be deployed across the border. now a texas sheriff is not thrilled. why he's against the move when we continue. when you say you need a heart transplant... that's a whole different ballgame. i was in shock. i am very proud of the development of drugs that can prevent t

they love scott pruitt. they feel very strongly about scott pruitt. and they love scott pruitt. >> let's get more on breaking news from one of the correspondents who broke the story, cnn's pamela brown who joins us from the white house. explain what you learned about the president and pruitt. >> reporter: we've learned as recently as this week, the president floated replacing attorney general jeff sessions with embattled epa administrator st scott pruitt. even as pruitt faced this growing list of negative headlines about ethics concerns. at one point, it was said that the president was trying to protect pruitt. this reveals how confident he remains in pruitt, despite a dizzying number of ethics issues. pruitt has remained in trump's good graces for the most part. though a source familiar with the matter said the president's confidence in him has faltered some earlier this week in light of some of the ethics issues that continue to surface. he is hesitant, however, to fire him, because he likes entertaining this idea of replacing sessions with him even

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

they love scott pruitt. they feel very strongly about scott pruitt, and they love scott pruitt. >> and so which is it? should you be happy if you're scott pruitt? the president says when he travels, he hears great things about you, he's a good man, he's doing a fantastic job, or do you look at past people who have been called good men who are now former trump administration officials? in the case of pruitt, i would make the distinction that they're more frequent and the president connects him to the job performance. doing a fantastic job. >> and there is a real chorus of conservative activism hind pruitt. they're reacting both to reporters and i'm sure the administration that they don't want to see pruitt go. that suggests perhaps the president is listening to such things, that he'll end up staying on, at least longer than one might think. i talked to a senior administration official yesterday who made no bones about the fact they are looking into this. they are at looeeast saying the is a process beyond jus

pruitt under pressure. calls for the right and left as the ethics scandals pile up against him. >>> storm watch. a major announcement coming from stormy daniels' lawyer about the man she claims threaten her to keep silent. >>> order to the border. national guard troops are deployed to the mexico border to help secure it until president trump gets his wall, but who's paying for? >>> also new developments from munster, germany, where a truck plowed into a crowd of people, killing two and injuring dozens more. >>> we'll start this hour with new reporting from axios this afternoon. jonathan swan reporting white house chief of staff john kelly threatened to quit acourting to sources familiar with the event. kelly reportedly blew up at the president at an oval office meeting the same day. a senior administration official tried to pour cold water on the report and said calling it a threat was "probably too strong. it was more venting frustration." this coming amid the president reshuffling his cabinet and escalati

is this larger than pruitt? >> of course it's larger than pruitt. i think it's dawned on the white house that it is. that pruitt is the latest in a long line of pictures that you just put up on the screen. i just literally got off the phone with somebody who is close to the trump circle and should know, and i asked him -- i said, sarah huckabee sanders today at the press conference said in answer to a question about pruitt that the president believes that pruitt has done a good job. and i said, she didn't say he is doing a good job. well, it's a key distinction in trump world, in these end of days dramas that we've seen repeatedly. and he said, good catch. there's a difference. >> yeah, there is. >> and another person told me yesterday and i reported yesterday that inside the white house at the very top, they're saying it's not a question of whether with scott pruitt. it's a question of when. and i think that's partly not just because pruitt -- and i actually think the red flashing lights going through the city is every bit as much of a symbol in th

they love scott pruitt. they feel strongly about scott pruitt. they love scott pruitt. >> the president's backing is so strong sources tell cnn he floated replacing attorney general jeff sessions with scott pruitt as recently as this week. sessions is a target of the president ever since he recused himself from the russia investigation. the president endorsed pruitt despite the headlines and allegations he sidelined top aides who pushed back on spending. more from cnn's sara ganim in washington. >> reporter: good morning, rene and dave. bad headlines continuing for epa administrator scott pruitt. this time reports that he sidelined officials after they pushed back or raised concerns of the pricey travel and overall management of the agency. two sources with the knowledge of the matter told cnn that career and political appointees who disagreed with pruitt were iced out. a story reported by "the new york times." in one case, an official was reassigned when he refused to drive pruitt through town with lights and sirens to avoid heavy washington tra

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

they love scott pruitt. they feel strongly about scott pruitt. they love scott pruitt. >> the president's backing is so strong sources tell cnn he floated replacing attorney general jeff sessions with scott pruitt as recently as this week. sessions is a target of the president ever since he recused himself from the russia investigation. the president endorsed pruitt despite the headlines and allegations he sidelined top aides who pushed back on spending. more from cnn's sarah ganim in washington. >> reporter: good morning, rene and dave. reports that scott pruitt sidelined officials after they pushed back or raised concerns of the pricey travel and overall management of the agency. two sources with the knowledge of the matter told cnn that career and political appointees who disagreed with pruitt were iced out. a story reported by "the new york times." in one case, an official was reassigned when he refused to drive pruitt through town with lights and sirens to avoid washington traffic. others were raising concerns about his spending and frequent

scott pruitt running this agency. we have since learned there was an effort to buy him a $100,000 a month private jet membership to have a private jet on standby at taxpayers' expense whenever he wanted to go anywhere and he used an emergency contingency provision in the safe drinking water act meant to hire scientists in the event of a drinking water emergency, he used it instead to hire lobbyists and spokespeople and to give big raises, 30, 40, $50,000 raises to young staff members he brought with him to -- from oklahoma. we then learned that one of those staffers who he gave a $30,000 raise to, she had among her taxpayer funded responsibilities, the job of shopping for potential apartments for scott pruit in washington d.c. and as you no doubt have come to know, that has since led to revelations that at least for the first year in office, where scott pruitt lived in d.c. was in a swanky capitol hill townhouse coowned by an energy lobbyist who charged scott pruitt a princely sum of $50 a night to stay there but he o

pruitt should stay. and that is exactly why i'm concerned that the senate is not giving the deputy administrator nominee the scrutiny he should have. mr. president, andrew wheeler could become the e.p.a. administrator if scott pruitt is forced out or resigns. he should be vetted as if he were the nominee, and there are many reasons to question whether he belongs at the e.p.a. at all. just like mr. pruitt, mr. wheeler has spent his entire political career fighting e.p.a. regulations to protect the environment and protect public health. he has lobbied for many years on behalf of polluters that the e.p.a. regulates. the american people support clean air, clean water. mr. wheeler is out of step with the values and principles of american taxpayers. i know many republicans who support environmental protection, and we have had many decades of bipartisan support for public health, for environmental protection, clean air, clean water, folks don't want their kids to have toxic chemicals in their blood or in their

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

pruitt faces more e than a half-dozen investigations. among the scandals, he paid only $50 a night to live in a capitol hill condo owned by the wife of a prominent energy lobbyist whose firm represents a roster of fossil fuel companies. pruitt had a $43,000 soundproof phone booth installed in his office, which a government watchdog agency says violates spending laws and is illegal. pruitt had the epa spend $3 million on his security detail, including 18 full-time agents. pruitt routinely travels first or business class reportedly because he was confronted by economy class customers angry over his policies. on thursday, lawmakers demanded his resignation and pressed him on reports he has retaliated against employees who raise concerns about his spending habits. this is the new jersey democratic congress member frank alone. that ats been reported least five epa employees were recently reassigned, demoted, or otherwise retaliated against after ththey raise concerns abot your spending. is that correct, yes or no? >> i don't ever recall a con

he even floated replacing sessions with pruitt this week. what do you know about that? >> don, certainly a number of developments here today. but as for scott pruitt, we do know the president has been thinking about this for several week we know that jeff sessions, attorney general, is the most, you know, the biggest member of the cabinet with a target on his back. he is furious for him for more than a year for recusing himself in the russia investigation. one way around confirming a new attorney general is to appoint an acting attorney general. the only person who can be appointed as an acting attorney general is someone who has been confirmed by the senate already. so scott pruitt, the former attorney general from oklahoma, a member of the president's cabinet, could have slid into that role. so we know the president has been thinking about that as early as this week. but the question now, don, is that out the window given all of these allegations? we know the president is watching that interview on fox news. he is watching it, i'm told, ju

he even floated replacing sessions with pruitt this week. what do you know about that? >> don, certainly a number of devel developments here today. but as for scott pruitt, we do know the president has been thinking about this for several weeks we know that jeff sessions, attorney general, is the most, you know, the biggest member of the cabinet with a target on his back. he is furious for him for more than a year. one way around confirming a new attorney general is to appoint an acting attorney general. the only person who can be appointed as an acting attorney general is someone who has been confirmed by the senate already. so scott pruitt, the former attorney general from oklahoma, a member of the president's cabinet, could have slid into that role. so we know the president has been thinking about that as early as this week. but the question now, don, is that out the window given all of these allegations? we know the president is watching that interview on fox news. he is watching it, i'm told, just off the oval office in the study and di

i think when donald trump watches ed henry interview scott pruitt and determines that scott pruitt isn't up for the job. it is when donald trump gets jealous of the attention that scott pruitt is getting, or the fact that scott pruitt has carried himself in such a way to act as if he's the president, as if he's the big deal. i think that is the thing. look, donald trump is more than happy to create scandals and controversies that other people have to fix for him. what he's not willing to do is to lose political capital, defending somebody else, and their scandals and controversies. that's why i think that pruitt is very -- on very thin ice, very tenuous right now. >> matt lewis, generjen saki, t y you. >>> at least one state says it is welcoming the help. does your moisturizing romine does. an mvp? aveeno® skin relief. with oat oil and natural shea butter, it softens very dry skin and lasts for 24 hours. aveeno®. it's a game changer. a heart transplant... that's a whole different ballgame. i was in shock. i am very proud of the development of drugs that can prevent the rejection and pr

pruitt claims he did not know about the raises. and he said he canceled the bonuses when he found out about them. pruitt is also under scrutiny for renting a apartment from a lobbyist that represents fossil fuels.>> this individual doesn't have clients that have business before this agency. -- >> he does not represent exxon mobil. >> is firm has -- >> they do not represent them at this point. >> eric? >> thank you. meanwhile democratic and republican lawmakers are calling for pruitt to resign. four for the president to dump him. the president recently has endorsed him so what is the latest on this? quite explained outcome of the white house and the president seem to be standing by the president. yesterday sources tell fox news that he met with president trump in the oval office and they discussed some of these controversies according to a source, the presidential pruitt he did a good job and he wants him to continue. the press secretary, sarah sanders, says the white house is conducting a review. she would not go into hypothetical

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

. >>> then another day, another scott pruitt scandal. >> i think scott pruitt is doing a great job. >> new signs tonight that pruitt's job could actually be in jeopardy. >>> and after year of president trump, guess what republican candidates are campaigning on? >> we don't need to investigate our president. we need to arrest hillary. >> when "all in" starts right now. >> good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes. while the presidential families gathered over the weekend to mourn the death of former first lady barbara bush, the current occupant of the white house was golfing, rage tweeting, and attempting it appears to influence the testimony of a potential witness against him. first lady melania trump attended the funeral on saturday, posing for a photo with the obamas, the clintons and two generations of bushes. but her husband stayed behind at his estate in florida where he had plenty of time to catch up on twitter and cable news, two of his favorites, and where he somehow seems to have come across this story published friday on his allegedly abusive treatment of longtime aide mic

i just spent -- they love scott pruitt. they love scott pruitt. thank you very much, everybody. >> can we talk about syria, mr. president? syria? >> clearly, jeff, it was hard to understand the audio, the quality not very good. they'll try to clean it up and get a better sense. one of the pool reporters did send us a transcript. let me read from the transcript precisely what the president said when he walked to the back of the plane and had this q&a with reporters. first question -- on amazon. so we'll see what happens, the post office is not doing well with amazon. we're going to see what happens. the playing field has to be level for everybody. i'm going to study it, we're going to take -- take a look at that. then the questions on stormy daniels started. question -- did you know about the $130,000 payment to stormy daniels? the president -- no. question -- why did michael cohen, the president's private attorney and longtime friend, make it? answer -- you have to ask michael cohen. michael cohen is my attorney. you'll have to ask him. question -

now the feelings were further deaned after pruitt -- deepened after pruitt did interviews with fox news as well as "the washington examiner," which senior administration officials said only made matters worse. one source said if more negative headlines about pruitt come out, that could be the final straw. >> i have seen a couple in the last few minutes. this idea that he maybe wants to replace jeff sessions at the justice department with pruitt, this underscores the president's focus and preoccupation with the issue of sessions and rosenstein and the russia probe. >> reporter: that's right. in fact, even if he's not tweeting about it, behind the scenes he's talking about it. that chatter continues about ousting both of them. multiple sources familiar with the thinking tell me and my colleague caitlyn collins, that his advisers have tried to thwart this by convincing him that by doing so, firing sessions, it would be damaging in the midterms given how popular he is with conservatives. the same advisers have argued that firing rosenstein could delay the completion of the special counsel,

there it doesn't seem like pruitt has risen to the level, trump is not happy with pruitt. pruitt has done his job. some of these other folks like tom price, health care had failed. he felt like he had failed. rex tillerson, he was upset with constantly. shulkin had embarrassed him. we'll see if pruitt gets there. being locked out of your $50 rental because you weren't paying the rent and you were staying too long. i don't know if that breaks his back. you heard hogan. he couldn't say whether he would be there or not. on the president knows. >> what do you think? >> yeah. i think we crossed a line in the last 24 hours from the swamp of corruption to the swarm of of that a athleticic. the getting locked out. changing the locks. trump typically pushes people out when they become story too much. in all the other cases, at some point he became disappointed and thought they weren't loyal to him anymore. it feels like he's staying up too much band width. >> i think pruitt has put enough policy points on the board for trump and for the conservative base that that is why he has hou

scott pruitt. poor judgment bad. secretary treasury steve mnuchin, bragging about debt soouner brands ms. mnuchin was wearing. the best people. accused spousal abuse bad. fired white house secretary rob porter. critics say the administration has taken most of it on himself. take dr. jackson. the president all but showed h imthe door. >> what does he need it for? to be abused by a bunch of politicians that aren't thinking nicely about our country? i really don't think personally he should do it but it's totally his decision. >> the president said he wasn't aware of the allegations. the question is why? how did he get the job? the president was impressed by his press conference, the one where he talked about just how incredibly healthy the president is. >> he has a lot of energy, a lot of stamina, hands down. he's in the excellent range from a cardiac standpoint. his overall health is exexcellent. his heart exam, like i said, was in the excellent category for his age and sex. i think he will remain fit for duty for the

is this larger than pruitt? >> of course it's larger than a pruitt and i think thit's final dawned on the white house that it is. i just got off the phone from somebody who's close to the trump circle and should know. i asked him, i said sarah huckabee-sanders said today in the press conference said in an answer to a question about pruitt that the president believes that pruitt had done a good job. and i said, she didn't say he is doing a good job. and well, it's a key distinction in trump world, in these end of days dramas that we have seen repeatedly and he said good catch. there's a difference. >> yeah, this is. >> and another person told me yesterday and i reported yesterday that inside the white house at the very top, they're saying, it's not a question of whether with scott pruitt, it's a question of when. and i think that's partly not just because pruitt -- and i actually think the red flashing lights going through the city is every bit as much of a symbol in their eyes of the swamp as taking the cheap ap

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

> because he likes scott pruitt and he loves loyalty and pruitt is doing the bad stuff in the epa but the other thing donald trump said he only hires the best people and thus from from his administration in his cabinet secretaries are the most corrupt and the most unqualified group of people we've seen in our nation's history. and the other thing, and i think in any other administration whether it is democratic or republican, he would have been fired already. he would have been fired by now. pruitt would have never lasted this long. we have to remember, pruitt is the person who lied during his hearing about private e-mail account. >> take a listen to senator john kenny, republican of louisiana talking about pruitt. >> some of his behavior has hurt the president of the united states. and it's hurt the president's credibility and the credibility of all of us. and it would be way cooler if he would behave. and ethics matter and impropriety matters and the appearance of impropriety matters. >> that is jonah goldberg -- that is the help me help you. john kennedy saying, please cut it out.

pruitt says he later rescinded them. to be clear, when you are talking about hiring friends and former business partners, it is not necessarily uncommon in politics except after this case, it comes weeks. there is an added scrutiny in his past business dealings and relationships. we did see today at least two public letters to the epa and inspector general calling for investigations. so we are likely to hear about this in the coming weeks. >> thanks very much. just ahead discussion about whether the minefield of ethical questions of scott pruitt will amount to anything in the long run. ♪ directv now gives you more for your thing. your letting go thing. your sorry not sorry thing. your out with the old in with the new, onto bigger and better thing. get the live tv you love. no bulky hardware. no satellite. no annual contract. try directv now for $10/mo for 3 months. more for your thing. that's our thing. visit directvnow dot com ( ♪ ) (sustained horn honk) advisor: (on phone) jane, this is jim from onstar, i've contac

pruitt faces more than a half-dozen investigations. among the scandals, he paid only $50 a night to live in a capitol hill condo owned by the wife of a prominent energy lobbyist whose firm represents a roster of fossil fuel companies. pruitt had a $43,000 soundproof phone booth installed in his office, which a government watchdog agency says violates spending laws and is illegal. pruitt had the epa spend $3 million on his security detail, including 18 full-time agents. pruitt routinely travels first or business class reportedly because he was confronted by economy class customers angry over his policies. on thursday, lawmakers demanded his resignation and pressed him on reports he has retaliated against employees who raise concerns about his spending habits. this is the new jersey democratic congress member frank alone. that ats been reported least five epa employees were recently reassigned, demoted, or otherwise retaliated against after they raise concerns about your spending. is that correct, yes or no? >> i don't ever recall a conv

now, pruitt was such an unwelcome houseguest that one source told politico, "scott pruitt is the kato kaelin of capitol hill." i don't know, i see him more as the o.j. simpson of the environment. but wait, there's more. apparently, after taking over the agency, pruitt wanted to refashion the e.p.a.'s "challenge coin," a type of souvenir medallion. okay, let's take a look at the e.p.a.'s challenge coin. and scott pruitt is not wrong. that looks like non-consensual groping down south. but that wasn't pruitt's problem. he didn't like the e.p.a. logo, because he felt it looked like a marijuana leaf. the only way you could think that was a marijuana leaf is if you were high. "dude, did you ever notice how much that logo looks like pot? and look at all that water. it grows its own bong!" ( laughter ) so pruitt wanted to remove the e.p.a. logo from the e.p.a. coin and replace it with symbols more reflective of himself, like a buffalo, to evoke mr. pruitt's native oklahoma, and a bible verse to reflect his faith. i bet i know which bible verse he wanted. "and lo, abraham took isaac to the mou

." >> scott pruitt, sir, you support scott pruitt? >> i hope he's going to be great. >> reporter: president trump stopping short of endorsing his epa administrator scott pruitt today who was just the latest cabinet member to be under fire. >> what an exciting day. >> reporter: pruitt making carefully choreographed remarks at the epa today where he didn't take questions from reporters. last week, cnn confirmed pruitt was renting a condo for $50 a night connected to a prominent energy lobbyist whose firm represents companies under epa regulation and the owners were political supporters of pruitt when he was an oklahoma state official. and a series of new reporting raises more questions about the ethics of the rental. "the new york times" is reporting the epa approved the pipeline expansion of a canadian energy company at the same time pruitt was renting the condo owned by the lobbyist. the "times" says that canadian company is a client of the same lobbying firm. democratic senator sheldon whitehouse sending a letter to the epa inspector

they love scott pruitt. they feel very strongly about scott pruitt and they love scott pruitt. >> we begin an hour of turmoil on wall street. the president is threatening china with a whopping $100 billion in additional tariffs. the dow down, you see it there, around 330 points. investors are rattled about talk of a trade war. farmers are rattled, too. but listen here, the president telling a morning radio show getting tough with china is long overdue and that a roller coaster market is a price worth paying. >> we've already lost a trade war. we don't have a trade war, we've lost a trade war. i'm not saying there won't be a little pain, but the market has gone up 40%, 42%. we might lose a little of it, but we're going to have a much stronger country when we're finished. >> jeff zeleny live at the white house for us. jeff, the president surprised even members of his own team with this new $100 billion threat of a counterpurnch. do they share his view that an end will justify the means? >> several advisers her

scott pruitt is still in his job. she's gone. but we have new information with the senior counsel that may show this to be an even bigger problem than it's already understood to be. this information come from the committee where carper is the ranging democrat. a staffer on the committee tonight gave us some of the background of what led to this request from senator carper. just so you know, this is exactly how carper put it. "i write to request the inspector general conduct an immediate review of the epa efforts to prevent fraud related to employee -- i am additionally informed that ms. dravis was likely compensated as a full-time employee throughout that time. now we can report that what led to this sort of remarkable claim is that this committee, the environment committee in the senate, was contacted by multiple sources on this matter over a period of four to six weeks, multiple sources contacted the committee via calls, e-mails and in-person meetings, all raising the same issue about samantha drafis being the senior counsel at

. >> scott pruitt, do you support pruitt? >> the tonight democrats and republicans calling for pruitt to be fired. >> there's a change coming. there's a change coming. > when "all in" starts right now. >> good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes. one of the most infamous members of donald trump's cabinet, the one living in a lobbyist's house in washington, d.c., epa head scott pruitt now appears to be hanging on to his job by his finger nails after a swirl of negative stories increasing the perception the trump administration as a whole is an ethical mess. according to politico, the white house has been actively considering firing pruitt behind the scenes possibly following the release of an inspector general's investigation noose pruitt's lavish travel which we've covered here but which for the record is not even the scandal of the moment. because this morning, the white house claimed that pruitt is still in the president's good graces. an administration official telling the news trump called pruitt to keep fighting and t

the white house said no, pruitt did it anyway. that kind of thing signals to trump not so much corruption as the threat of another ambitious person in the circle. >> unmatchable analysis, howard, thank you so much. i have nothing to add. great man, thank you so much for that great analysis. >>> up next, senator mitch mcconnell is sounding the alarm bell about a potential wipeout, you know, wipeout, like a tsunami coming at the republicans this november. but can democrats get enough momentum to actually do it for 2018? can they get to the 218 they need in the howwhite house to impeach this president? everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ i'm all about my bed. this mattress is dangerously comfortable. when i get in, i literally say, ahh. i

he hears that the president likes what pruitt is doing and that's what nfls his view of pruitt. if you look at the white house's own dashboard, the e.p.a. is right up there with some of the highest volume rollbacks of nip agenn the governor and that's something tt you hear the administration talking about quite often. t the white house said they're investigating this and whatever they find could be impermissible. robert: geoff, you were at the white house all day. what do you make of the meeting with the president and the advice falm gen kelly last week to get rid of pruitt? geoff: that's right. general kelly and other top white house aides have told the president it's time for pruitt to go.g as l a cabinet member stays in the president's personal good graces a lot seems to be overlooked. robert: we've seen ben carson have trouble.se thetary of housing and urban development. a lot of these outsider come to washington, join the cab net and they don't realize reporters realize it -- everything that's public information gets coverage. a lot of officials come in and don't realize ev

why not scott pruitt? >> it's unusual, but remember, it's only 1:00 on friday so it's still possible we'll get news on that. you mentioned john kelly being concerned that pruitt's headlines can get worse. i don't know that that can happen. let's go rapid fire through a bunch of headlines about scott pruitt that happened just in the last few weeks. scott pruitt gets more security than any epa head ever. why does that matter? security costs money. scott pruitt had security at the rose bowl and disneyland. scott pruitt, when he could have flown commercial, he flew private jets. pruitt had a $50 a day condo linked to lobbyists. he paid $50 a day, but only on nights he stayed there. reviewing scott pruitt's conduct. next one, pruitt's security diesel asked to use sirens and lights throughout d.c. i wish i could do that. you probably shouldn't abuse that when you're an official with the trump administration. and epa officials sidelined after questioning scott pruitt, essentially saying when the epa race question

is pruitt gone by the end of the week? >> no, i don't think so. i think as the press secretary there said, the president must be happy with what skroot scott pruitt is doing with the ep. a because he has been one of the most effective cabinet officers as rolling back the obama regulatory regime. this is the core difference between pruitt and say shulkin at the v.a. pruitt delivered results to the trump white house whereas vulgen was failing at the v.a. i think the president has to weigh the effectiveness of pruitt versus the optics of this. no one ha has been found to be doing anything illegal or unethical. richard accused him. there iss unfolding the investigation. but nobody has ultimately concluded he has done anything wrong no matter how bat bad the optics. scott do you have a maren -- amanda's mouth was just hit the floor when you said that. go ahead, amanda. >> well, like, here i worked in

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

that's cabinet chaos with scott pruitt too. this is potentially a big moment for pruitt. that's his tie on the screen. walk us through what's happening on the hill and the president calling out john tester in a really explicit way for bringing up these accusations against ronnie jackson. here is the president talking about tester, listen. >> for john tester to start bringing up stuff like candy man and the kind of things he was saying and saying he has a beautiful record, for him to be doing this to this man and this family i think he has to have a big price to pay. >> he says he is not even 100% these allegations were true. >> he says these are allegations at this point. he has said there is enough of a pattern here they need to be investigated. the president's comments are disingenuous. it was at the direction, the commit who said they needed to put off the hearing in the first place. tester is off with a statement this morning. it is my constitutional responsibility to make sure vert rans get a strong thoroughly vetted leader. you heard them mention the price tester mi

do you support scott pruitt, sir? >> i hope he's going to be great. >> reporter: overnight, the president called pruitt. his message, according to an administration official? keep fighting, we have your back. but privately, sources say the president is frustrated with all the controversy. white house lawyers are now investigating pruitt's living situation, after abc news reported on his alleged sweetheart real estate deal. pruitt renting a room in this d.c. apartment last year for just $50 a night, far below the cost of similar units. the owner, the wife of a lobbyist, who has energy clients doing business with the epa. today, new questions about that relationship. while pruitt was living in the apartment, the epa green-lighted a major pipeline project for a canadian energy company represented by that lobbyist. in a statement to "the new york times," the epa says any attempt to draw a link between the deal and the living arrangement is "patently false" and insists the lease on the apartment was "consistent with federa

pruitt must resign. let's bring in rick tyler and political analyst and jason johnson, politics editor at the root. also an msnbc contributor. rick, let us remind our viewers and our sirius satellite listeners of just a few of the issues plaguing scott pruitt. $50 a night condo lease. his use of taxpayer dollars for private travel. his use of a special hiring authority. spending on a soundproof phone booth. we just heard the president double down on his support for pruitt. but at this point, do we think that scott pruitt can actually stay on, even now especially considering john kelly seems to want him gone? >> i think john kelly's job is more in danger than scott pruitt. this is one of the cases where donald trump likes what pruitt is doing at the epa. i like a lot of the things that pruitt is doing at the epa, but the optics of these things really are inexcusable. but it looks like the president is going to weather this one out. >> 23 ethics issues, jason. huffington post reporting that scott pruitt ri

they love scott pruitt. >> now scott pruitt obviously has his own travel spending concerns. but if egregious waste of taxpayer money was a problem and a fireable offense for price, why isn't it for pruitt and the condo and the soundproof booth and the door that had to be replaced and on and on? >> victor, i think that you're right, part of the formula is the job that he's been able to do in terms of -- >> it's excusable for pruitt? >> i -- i'm saying that he -- the president said he's unhappy. he's saying he's going to look into it. there might be an i.g. review of the whole thing. he will be taken to the wood shed in one form or the other. i just don't think he will be dismissed over it. i want to point out also to my friend brent, though, remember richard winsar. you know -- windsor. you know the name, richard windsor. the alias that administrator lisa jackson used to conduct business with behind the scenes. to me that was a huge scandal. i didn't hear the outrage from the environmental community on that. here was a woman in public position using an alias name, richard win

pruitt's job may become tenuous again. look, if another story drops, if another wave of headlines hits, the president a certain point may grow frustrated and say the distractions are not worth it. remember, he has a number of confirmation hearings that have to happen on capitol hill in the coming weeks. and adding pruitt to that list is already -- seems untenable for a lot of the republicans here. >> peter, let me bring you in here. chief of staff john kelly urged the president to fire pruitt, according to "the new york times," with that suggestion falling on deaf ears. what do the past few weeks tell you about kelly's status in the west wing? >> well, kelly's status is -- seems precarious to some degree. it doesn't seem like the president is listening to kelly. we also reported that -- at the "journal" that some saying pruitt should go, he's a liability. it's not clear the president is listening. what's also interesting about the pruitt situation is that the entire staff at the white house, from what we're told, is also o

you don't need scott pruitt to do that. you can find lots of republicans who would do exactly what he's doing right now. so i don't understand why the president still keeps him in. and it is baffling to me that he is still at the epa. >> we were checking your twitter feed, and just a few minutes ago you tweeted at the president saying, "democrat wave continues to get stronger so now i'm thinking please don't fire scott pruitt, he's such a great symbol of the corruption and fraud, waste and abuse in your administration." i tried to read that dripping with sarcasm which i'm sure was your intent. the president's base doesn't seem to care. why is this an issue that could help democrats? >> one reason i wrote that tweet is i realized the president tends to do the opposite of what rational people tell him to do. so i thought i would do some reverse psychology and see if that would work. keep in mind, his base will do what the president tells them. he could tell them, look, wednesday is not even a day of the week, and they would s

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