communities. >> there could be an issue they could maximize. >> very complex issue. >> listen folks we had lots to talk about this hour. thanks for joining me. that's it for the lead today. i'm jim sciutto for the lead today. i turn you over to jim acosta sitting in for wolf today right next door in the "the situation room." happening now, breaking news, epa climate changed. scott pruitt resigns as head of the environmental protection agency as ethics scandals swirl around him. under counted, health and human services secretary raises the estimate number of migrant children separated from their families from about 2,000 to under 3,000. >> get off my lawn. president trump tweets undocumented immigrants should be treated like trespassers and turned back at the border. >> and rescue delayed, a medical assessment reveals soccer team trapped in a cave in thailand

are not well enough to undergo a rescue. >> i'm jim costa in for wolf blitzer and you are in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. we are following breaking news, epa administrator scott pruitt out. under dozen ethics investigations. and we'll talk more about ben cardin and analysts are also standing by. but first let's head straight to the white house, kathleen collins is there. kathleen, president trump tweeted the news this afternoon. he broke the news pruitt resignation a short time ago. >> jim, quite stunning, it is a headline a the lo of people did not think they would she. because the epa chief has been drowning in ethics scandals for months now. but now today, 24 hours after the president said he thought scott pruitt was doing an outstanding job at the epa, we are now learning he is no longer in the administration. but it didn't come in the form

of a firing, but a resignation. >> scott pruitt epa. >> embattled epa chief scott pru at this time out tonight after months of ethics scandals and questions about his conduct. president trump tweeting aboard air force one, i have accepted the resignation of scott pruitt as the administrator of the environmental protection agency. trump praising pruitt's work rolling back regulations. long ago of come ser tifs but making no mention of the scandals against him. writing, within the agency, scott has done an outstanding job. and i'll always be thankful to him for this. ethics questions have mounted for most of pruitt time in the administration from expensive security detail to costly first class travel. his housing situation in washington and even his wife's desired chick-fil-a franchise. pruitt back in the news this week. cnn reporting that whistleblower

pruitt and his aides scrubbed his schedule to hide contacts with industry representatives. throughout it all pruitt held on. but trump canceled by republican officials that pruitt was making gains rolling back regulations stopped short of letting him go. >> i'm not happy about certain things, but he's done a fantastic job running the epa. >> reporter: just yesterday pruitt appeared to be in good standing with the president. attending the white house's july 4th picnic on the south lawn and receiving a shout out from trump. >> administrator scott pruitt. >> reporter: but flt frantic world. trump administration, 24 hours could mean the difference between a job and a farewell. at the same time, another department secretary facing a huge challenge. racing to meet a deadline as the crisis on the border gets worse. health and human services

secretarial e secretarial f alex a sar saying 3,000 kids have been separated but saying it's closer to 2,000. >> multiple data sets has identified under 3,000 children in total, including approximately 100 children under the age of five. >> the white house facing a deadline from a federal judge to reunite all families in three weeks. and children under five by tuesday. aides now refusing to say how many families, if any, have been reunited. >> we will comply with the courts deadlines. we will do as much as possible up until the deadline set by the court to ensure that we have confirmed that these are in fact the parents. >> reporter: now, jim, we have gotten a hold of scott pruitt resignation letter to president trump. in it he tells the president that his confidence has blessed him personally and says it is

extremely difficult for him to resign, but says, quote, the unrelenting attacks on me personally, my family, are unprus dented, and have taken a sizable toll on all of us. he makes no mention of the scandals specifically. and i should note that the epa inspector general said those investigations into his behavior will continue to go forward despite this resignation. jim. >> scott pruitt doesn't seem to take any responsibility for any of this. kaitlan collins at the white house. thank you very much. let's bring in sara began gannon, these been all over this. i spoke to someone saying two words, thank god. you have been busy following scott pruitt. tell us what were the most glaring scandals for this had min straightor? >> you are talking about 14 different probes he was up to. the long list of headlines. see them here on this screen. hard to keep up with.

some of the early ones we forgot about. but the big ones were his travel tendencies. he was spending $3.5 million a year on 24/7 security. first class travel. this was all unprecedented on the taxpayer dime. you know, some of the other things that people were focused on were his spending. how he was attempting to personally gain, that's the allegation, from his job as administrator of the epa. getting under market rate condo from a lobbyist who was lobbying the administration. you know, a soundproof booth that people said were just not necessary. fountain pens that he was buying. but some of the more bizarre things, you know, really made people wonder, having his staff run errands for him going to buy expensive lotion he wanted. going to buy a used mattress from the trump hotel. loorking for a job for his wife. one of the jobs he was looking for was a chick-fil-a franchise,

another one with a job over $200,000. some of these things were just weird. a lot of them were also glaringly, you know, a problem. people were scratching their heads saying, why are you focused on these things when they really wanted to focus on the deregulation agenda, which many people backed him for, including the president. >> scott pruitt managed to be swampy and tacky at the same time. what about the deputy administrator andrew wheeler, what do we know about him? >> this is it interesting, when he was confirmed the talk inside the agency and inside trump's constituency immediately turned to now he will probably go. he had the same agenda but without the scandal. he can do it probably more effectively because it will be quieter. harder to hit andrew wheeler

because there most likely not the same kinds of headlines and ethic scandals. and so you are still talking about a person who is former industry lobbyist. i couldn'ted -- counted a list 30 some administrations he lobbied for. that's what they are questioning him leading the epa. >> less swampy scott pruitt. and sounds like this was a huge surprise over to the rank and file at epa. >> yeah, a couple of people i have spoken to or colleagues this did come as a surprise. that they were planning meetings with scott pruitt. that they didn't get a letter. a lot of people heard about this the same way we did which is through the president's tweets. >> interesting. one of the more colorful figures to work in this town. thank you very much. let's get more on this with key

member of the for ten relations committee. senator cardin thanks for joining us. you said on the committee, let's begin with your reaction to the news. scott pruitt is out of a job. what do you think? we had heard earlier this week from senior official that people inside the white house thought he was reaching the tipping point. i guess that tipping point came fairly quickly. what do you think was the continuing point? >> well, jim, first, it good to be with you. ethics are not suggestions. these are staples of good government. and it was clear that scott pruitt had no appreciation for adherence to ethical standards. so i don't think it was one thing that tipped the scales. i think the cumulative impact of everything he had done that violated ethical standards was just too much for the public to take, but also too much for the people around the president, the republicans in congress, recognize that scott pruitt had

to go. >> and what does it say to you about there president's approach to goff nening that scott pruitt was able to hold on for so long. we were just showing all the various investigations that were going on. all the various allegations facing scott pruitt during his tenure at epa. the font on our screen right now is almost too tiny to read, senator carden, that's not the fault of our operators, it's the fault of the epa administrator for having racked up that many scandals. what does that say about the approach to president's governing that it took this long? >> it demonstrates that the president liked what scott pruitt was doing on rolling back regulations on clean water and clean air. what he did in easing the ability of oil and gas companies to get oil and gas here in the united states. and the list goes on and on and on. so he liked the fact that scott pruitt was carrying out president trump's agenda. and that was more important to him than the ethical issues.

it's amazing it took this long. >> and the president says scott pruitt deputy andrew wheeler will temporarily take over that position as administrator. former lobbyist for the coal industry. sara was just talking about the angst inside the environmental community about andrew wheeler coming on board and taking over that agency. do you think this anti-regulatory mission at the epa is going to continue on, is that scott pruitt may be gone, but the agenda is going to continue? >> well, quite frankly, i think the american people want the administrator of epa to be someone who wants to protect the environment. that's the mission of the environmental protection agency. and republican presidents and democratic presidents have historically an inter poed people to administer that agency that understand that mission t clearly with scott pruitt that was not the case. now we have his deputy administrator coming in, and

it's not clear whether this person is committed to protecting the environment. that's the real problem. >> and at some point the senate will need to confirm a new administrator. i remember when scott pruitt was coming on board, he was sort of famous for brazenly stating that he wanted to demoll tish the epa. you are a member of the committee that oversees the epa. what do you think he wants to put forward? do you think he's capable of someone with more moderate view coming forward? >> scott pruitt not only stated that, but filed lawsuits as attorney general of his state against the epa and against the policies of the epa on clean air and clean wart. -- water. i want to see someone that comes in here and be protector. that's why we have it. to protect our environment for future generations. we don't want someone to do the bidding of oil and gas industry

or any special interest. we wanted the interests of the epa administrator to be the public interest for a clean viern, for clean air, water, recognizing important for public health and important for hour economy. >> let's turn to immigration. because big news on that even before scott pruitt stepped aside earlier today. government is bound by a court order to reunite families separated at the border. yet the health and human services secretary says none of these kids have been rurnds to their parents or very few that we know of. what is it going to take to make this administration take this seriously? and do you have any confidence that all of these kids are going to be reunited with their parents? >> i have major concern as to whether this is going to be done in the proper way. we already heard from the president that he's telling the parents they have a choice, either to take their child with them, when they are deported or not, that the president will not allow the parent to make the

solemn proceedings here in the united states. so it's a horrible choice. it's been now weeks and parents have been separated. we don't know where they are. we don't know how many are, in fact, still separated. secretary a sar said it's somewhere around 3,000. this is outrageous. so, no, i have little confidence that president trump is doing the right thing when it comes to keeping families together. we still have seen the children separated from their parents. fortunately we have a court order. let's make sure this court order is it adhered to. >> and if it's not, what happens then? >> well, you know, the court has a way of enforcing orders through contempt. but i think the american people are already outraged and they expect that parents and children will be reunited. it should be done in humane way, not in the a way that requires a parent to make a decision about the safety of their child.

the families should be together. and be able to make these decisions together. >> all right. senator ben cardin, thank you for coming on with us on a very busy thursday during this holiday week. thanks for joining us. we appreciate you. >> my pleasure. >> and breaking news continues, what was the tipping point for epa plagued chief? plus the human health services suggest they may have 1,000 more migrant kids separated from their families than previously reported. a basketball costs $14. what's team spirit worth? (cheers) what's it worth to talk to your mom? what's the value of a walk in the woods? the value of capital is to create, not just wealth, but things that matter. morgan stanley

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following multiple breaking stories, including today's resignation embattled scott pruitt. let's bring in legal experts.

chris, go to you first. we'll show it up on screen. pruitt's problems we don't have enough time in the program to read through them all. i don't know which ones are more egregious. what do you think is the tipping point is? >> don't overlook the hand lotion. i'll tell you i was just in the room where that screen is. that is gigantic screen. that is not small. so speaks to how many there are. the thing about it i'm more baffled why it took so long than why today. scott pruitt did everything we know president trump didn't like. including get bad headlines repeatedly. i guess it's some combination of what we think, which is someohe someone that does president

trump's thing. i think there is some element donald trump is a guy who says zig, he'll zag. everybody has been saying why does this guy still work here? i think there is some things to say you think he's bad we'll keep him around. >> let's go over the resignation letter from scott pruitt. unrelenting attacks on me, it's taken a toll on all of us. another section how he finishes the letter to the president my desire and serious to you has always been to bless you. as you make important decisions for the american people, i believe you are serving as president today because of god as providence. i bloo e i believe same providence brought me into your service. to lead the american people. thank you again, mr. president for the honor of serving you. and i wish you god speed.

>> there seems to be three elements. not taking any responsibility. blaming the immediate yachlt and tru -- media. and trump worship. and signed your faithful scott pruitt at the end. so i assume he considers himself faithful frebd of t faithful friend of the president. what do you think of him? >> leaned on his baptist faith. so that's why you see this related to god. his loyalty to the president of lavishing praise on president trump who it's worth noting and accepting scott pruitt resignation did not acknowledge all the wrongdoing. it's difficult to blame anyone else for your problems when you are the subject of 14 separate federal investigations. but, remember, scott pruitt is

someone that has a lot of political significance. so i think this might not be the last that we hear from him. and lavishing praise on president trump is a way to perhaps appeal to the president's base and keep himself relevant. >> and speaking of lavishing praise here's president trump. >> thank you scott, thank you very much. epa is doing really, really well. somebody has to say that about you a little bit. you know that scott. >> scott pruitt is doing a great job within the walls of the epa. we are setting records. outside he's being attacked by the press. i'm not saying he's blameless. but we'll see what happens. >> are you confident of him? >> yes. >> i think he's a fantastic person. >> scott has done a fantastic job at epa. >> you don't see any problems with his ethical?

>> i'm not happy about certain things, i'll be honest. >> i'm not happy about certain things. but he's done a fantastic job running the epa which is very overriding. >> not so fantastic anymore jeffr jeffr jeffrey toobin. >> i love chick-fil-a. >> all right. now the thing when donald trump talks about his presidency, he generally talks about two big achievements. one is sort of freeing the economy from bad regulations. and he talks about the supreme court. both of which are major achievements in his mind. and so, you know, scott pruitt was doing what he wanted. that is the override. he used the word overriding. now, finally, it got too ridiculous. the corruption became too obvious and too embarrassing and

too much of a distraction. but let's not kid ourselves. the fact that there are fewer regulations about clean air, clean water, emissions from factories, from automobiles, lowering the mileage requirements. this is what donald trump prides himself on. so not entirely surprising he was reluctant to get rid of him. >> and some of this is the responsibility of the president. he left scott pruitt in this position throughout all of this. >> yes. and ethics rules begin at the top. one thing we haven't seen donald trump say is whether or not he believes this behavior is acceptable. the president has actually backed them on this. and because this falls largely not within the realm of criminal prosecution, although it could be, but within those executive rules and regulations, that the president of the united states doentd think that ethics and good governance regulations are

important. then i this i we'll see a lot more of these scandals in the future. >> important to note investigations are ongoing. all right everybody stand by. president trump is arriving in montana. we'll see if he has more to say about that. also ahead top official refuses to say how many immigrant children are in federal custody but insisted the number is under 3,000. when will they be reunited with their parents? it's single-origin kenyan coffee from the nyeri highlands, 6,000 feet above sea level. but how do you really know that the beans journeyed to the port of mombasa and across the pacific? that you can trust they're 100% authentic? ibm blockchain. a smart way to track every step, ensuring this coffee did indeed come from 6,000 feet above sea level. and not a foot lower. ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> also breaking news in the separation of parents and children of immigrant families that arrived illegally in the u.s. health and human services secretari secretary alex asar says no children reunited with parents. let's go to miguel along the border in texas. miguel, what are you seeing there? i understand you have pretty heart wrenching video to show us. >> reporter: yeah, look, will is great pressure on the trump administration to get these families back together. that 3,000, that under 3,000 number he's talking about. what the administration is not saying is how many of that under 3,000 was due to families being separated under zero tolerance. we are seeing some reunifications but those are one

offs ordered by a judge where the individual happened to be represented. we are lucky enough to be represented by groups. we just saw one of those in logan airport. i want to show you a little bit of this. it is very difficult to watch. it is very difficult to listen to. this is a mother who had not seen her child for two months. she was in detention. she got la bond hearing. she passed her credible fear test, meaning that she past the first step of getting asylum. she got bond hearing. she was able to locate her children and help to get to boston. her child was in another part of the country and brought in. and that is what we see there. this is not what you are seeing a result of the trump administration and efforts to bring families back together. what they are saying is before next tuesday, those under five with their families will be

reunited in some form or fashion. there is about 100 of those kids they say. it sounds like, from what the secretary asar is saying, they will reunite those families in detention. we believe it is fort bliss texas on the base at fort bliss, massive strauling military bales. then the rest of those children will be reunited with their families in some way, whether the families are eventually bonded out. we are hearing about more people being granted bond here in texas, but not seeing them get out yet. we are likely to see if more are granted bond, because they are successful in their asylum process. likely to see more scenes like that in boston in days ahead. >> and the mother sobbing with her child under scores the pain that these families are going through. just incredible. what can you tell us about dna tests being required for parents

and children to make sure the right children are matched with the right parents? >> right. so the government is saying these are not being used in all cases. that in some cases they can use documentation. that's the way it used to happen. they would use documentation and figure out who was related to who. because of the pressure of the courts, they are saying they are having to go to dna tests. only be used, so says the health and human services secretary, only used for identification purposes so they can get them back together. but it is certainly angering upsetting groups and immigrants themselves because they are not quite sure what the government will do with this investigation in the months and years going forward. so it's controversial but for parents who want to see their kids again, it is the quickest way to ensure that they are those kids parents. jim's. >> miguel, marquez, thank you very much. we appreciate it. let's bring back our experts. i want to show that video again.

because it doesn't matter where these kids are coming from, where the parents are coming from, where you will i have in this country. when you see this video, it just touches your heart. you go through just watching this what these families must be going through. >> right. incredible. so i think there is a tendency to get caught up in the numbers and the policy. which is not an unimportant discussion. 3,000 kids who have been separated from their parents. 100 five and under. i have a 9 and almost 6-year-old. when they are out of my sight for five minutes at a playground, the pool, anything like that, if it's ever happened, i'm in full panic, and they are too once they realize they are alone. we are talking about days, weeks, months. i think what we need to do is keep showing things like that. not because it's easy to watch, but because it's hard to watch, because it puts a human face on that. the policy decisions, zero tolerance policy have impacts. by the way, jim, there is

deadlines coming up here. reunification deadlines, and executive order donald trump signed as it relates to how long you can keep a kid in a detention center. this is humanitarian crisis, human story, not policy story. we need to fix it through policy measures but that's knots the heart of that. >> and as i'm watching this, i'm seeing the child comfort the mother. the daughter was rubbing her mother's back almost to come fort mom. it's unimaginable what these families are going through. >> it's remarkable. and i've spoken with many people from the medical community who have talked about the psychological toll that these separations have taken, especially on these children. think about how young some of these children are, where when they've been away from the parents extended amount of time, they don't understand why. so some have come back and blamed their parents. there are some who infants and

toddlers who may not remember their parents whether they get reunited. so i think as chris pointed out this puts a human face on trump legacy. also think noting that they used these families as political pawns. trying to extract very conservative concessions on immigration. made it entirely unclear what legislation he would be willing to sign to move away from this particular policy. and so you are now seeing the ramifications of his inability to not only to get a deal on immigration, but also to be willing to use these families in the process as pawns. >> painful to watch, jeffrey toobin, just feels like a lot of people are going to be feeling ashamed of themselves after this whole saga is over with. that they put these kids through hell. they put these people through hell. >> you look at that scene and think about it and multiply it by now it turns out 3,000, not

2,000 times. and as someone who used to work in the government, i have a lot of respect for the government, but i also know how difficult it is to organize things. and when you think of how long it's going to take to reunify these families and how long it's going to be until there are polar scenes like this, after all, this scene is the good news. this isn't the scene of the kid crying himself to sleep. this isn't the mother and father tortured by being having no idea where their child is. you know, we are coming up on this deadline. and the interesting question is or what? what is the judge going to do? when clearly all the families are not going to be reunified. now i suppose they could hold people in content. but this just shows how powerful the government is. gentlemen, yujs can issue orders

but judges can't reunify families. and this is going to take a long time. >> and susan, you are watching this video with us too. what are your thoughts? >> look, i think it's important that we remember this is a self inflicted crisis. manner in which these children were separated from their parents was chaotic. efforts were not made to keep track of them. and there was never a reunification plan from the get go. that's why i think coming up against the deadlines judges will not be particularly patient here because they created crisis through their careless necessary. we think as we think about days passed filing deadline, or pass these court ordered deadlines, these are not casual filing deadlines. this is ongoing psychological trauma to nearly 3,000 children. >> and to be clear, just this was meant for whatever the administration says now, go back and look at what they said then, this is meant as a deterrent.

>> that's right. >> the reason it was put in place was as a deterrent. they did not forsee what it might not play out like. but it was not done accidentally. it was done purposely. >> and now these families are paying the price. who knows how long it will take for the families and these kids to recover from all this. just terrible. just awful. well, everyone stand by. we are just getting president trump's first comments on scott pruitt. just spoke to reporters on air force one. we'll have more on that in just a few moments.

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news. you see president trump arriving in montana for a rally later on tonight. he was just on air force one defending scott pruitt epa administrator. even though he accepted the resignation. there was no final straws. these are the words from the president to report irs on -- reporters on air force one. i don't want to be a distraction. and an according to the president scott pruitt felt he was a distraction. then wrapped up saying, quote, he'll go on to great things. he's going to have a wonderful life, i hope. >> jeffrey toobin, your thoughts. >> i hope he has a wonderful life, too. but he was totally unfit.

pros pros -- preprosterous embarrassment. he does have a con trarian streak that makes him want to hang in there. >> and chris sounds like he was pretty defiant the president about scott pruitt. >> everything that happens is what he meant to happen. that isn't unique to president trump. all say they knew what was happening five steps ahead. >> one thing i'll say is the idea that scott pruitt became too big of a distraction. the number of negative headlines, i have not seen the like of, both in terms of the raw number, and the breathe of them. he's been distraction for months on end. it wasn't just last week wait a minute he is getting bad

headlines. >> sort of babe ruth of scandal plagued in washington. >> and telling the president said there was no final straw and pruitt approached him offering his resignation. that implies had pruitt not doing so, he might have still been on the job chblt the president was willing to overlook more potential ethics violations than you have time to read on air. and this fits into a broader theme with all of his talk this president is not serious about draining the swamp. close to 200 appointees in this administration that have been federally registered lobbyists ks many of them are tasked with representing the same industries on whose behave they once lobbied. so you see that once again willing to turn a blind eye to the exact swampness that he had derailed on the campaign trail. and if it weren't for pruitt he may have still been on the job. >> thaungs for that. also tonight a new include f clue in a london police say the

pair was affected by handling affected item. fred, from moscow, this is interesting, but moscow denying any involvement in any of this. isn't that right? >> yeah, des piepite the fact t he poisoned a spy in london. russians are saying they have nothing to do with it. and lashed out at the british government. here's what happened. another two people poisoned from novichok. >> it is the actions of the london government that continue to undermine our security and that of the international community. it is completely unacceptable for our people to be either deliberate or accidental targets all for our streets, parks, towns to be dumping grounds for

poison. >> former it russian spy skripal and his daughter in march. the britt's blamed russia. u.s. and many other allies agreed and expelled dozens of russian diplomats. the crekremlin still fuming. >> continues to deny the very possibility of any russian involvement. you also know that the u.k. side has not provided any convincing evidence to support the baseless accusations against russia. >> reporter: now most couldcow back demanding to be part of the investigation. but the britt's say that won't happen. >> translator: we urge theresa may to stop creating obstacles what happened on the u.k. soil with the russian citizens. >> reporter: and russian state controlled tv launching a media blitz with guests claiming it's

all a conspiracy against russia aimed at under mining improved relations with the white house with the upcoming putin >> and the upcoming trump and putin meeting. this doesn't look like an accident but is known behavior. >> reporter: with the preparations for the summit between president trump and vladimir putin well underway, it's the latest incident that has critics warning of the dangers of trusting the russian leader. a senior administration official now telling cnn that summit is indeed going to kickoff with a one on one meeting between president trump and vladimir putin. they want to touch on arms control, ukraine, syria and election meddling as well. >> there's also important news out of thailand where rescuers

are racing against the clock to pump water out of a cave where 13 have been trapped for two weeks. forecasters predict a new round of torrential rain to begin sunday which would raise water levels inside the cave. this dangerous and complicated rescue operation may be even more difficult now. >> it probably is going to get more difficult. that rain coming, the rising water levels, the limited options for extracting those boys, all complicating rescue experts. we're also hearing about psychological challenges ahead for the boys and the rescuers. according to one rescuer, these boys have reported hearing dogs barking, a rooster crowing and children playing somewhere outside the k outsi outside the cave where they're trapped. that information has rescuers looking for some kind of natural chimney to get the boys out that

way or possibly drill a hole in the mountain. experts say there are challenges. >> the big problem with drilling or finding a natural opening is of course it needs to be tied into where they are. they're in a very small target area. if they are several hundred meters below the surface, you can't just start drilling and poking holes in. you need to know the point out on the surface that you want to start drilling. >> reporter: another possibility, pumping water out of the cave, has so far failed. experts say that still could be the best option tonight. but it's rainy season so the caves could become even more flooded. >> if the water coming into the cave exceeds the amount they can pump, then it becomes not a viable option. >> reporter: tonight experts continue to say one of the best options is to teach each boy how to scuba identify, then have them propel their way out led by rescue divers. >> when you're cave diving, if something happens to your kbi

equipment, if anything at all happens and you can cannot correct that within a minute or so, you're dead. >> reporter: some of the boys can't swim. all of them have been zapped of strength and need to be given more food to build energy. then there are the psychological challenges. >> there are going to be emotionally tense moments. they have to be ready for them. >> reporter: this psychologist says the boys, already traumatized from being trapped, have to battle other elements to scuba dive. >> that feeling of claustrophobia, it is treacherous. the fear that someone will panic is absolutely legitimate. and then of course, that brings not only hazard to the child, but also to the expert diver. >> reporter: she says their young ages could give them the advantage in a rescue operation.

>> a young person might be more willing to -- they took the risk to go into the cave, so some kids may be more disposed to looking at this as the adventure of a lifetime. and they borrow the courage of the rescuer. >> reporter: after the boys are rescued, some or all of them may experience post-traumatic stress, nightmares, trouble sleeping, anxiety disorders triggered by darkness. the psychological trials are likely nowhere close to being over. >> rescuers are trying to set up phone lines inside this cave so these boys can talk to their parents. >> reporter: the advantage is the encouragement, the positive they can come from talking to a parent when you're in situation. the disadvantage could be that talking to the parents could make some of these boy overconfident, it could take away their concentration for the task at hand.

they've got to be concentrating here. this is a very complex operation. they've got to help their rescuers. >> thank you very much. we appreciate it. breaking news next. the latest on the resignation of the scandal plagued epa administrator scott pruitt. they taste like victory because he always gets the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed, when he books direct at choicehotels.com. or just say, badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com

happening now, breaking news.

scot-free. the scandal plagued epa chief calls it quits after more than a dozen ethics investigations. tonight the president is speaking out, still defending pruitt. the trump administration can't or won't provide hard numbers on immigrant families that have been torn apart. the president's health chief suggests that hundreds more children may be separated from their parents than first thought. no pardon expected. as michael cohen faces criminal charges, we're told he is not anticipating a rebrief frprievee president. and underwater, crews are racing to drain flooded areas of the cave where a dozen boys and their coach are trapped. tonight heavy rains may threaten the already dangerous rescue mission. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm jim acosta and you're in "the situation room."