track the health consequences of pfoa, a chemical linked to health problems like kidney cancer, birth defects, and immune system disorders. and last month, the epa made a reversal on what s considered safe levels of exposure to radiation. epa guidelines now say radiation exposures of 5 to 10 rem usually result in no harmful health effects. that s the equivalent of 5,000 chest x-rays, according to the public employees for environmental responsibility. there are many industries that have been pushing hard to roll back these rules, some of them are in the nuclear industry, some of them are in the hazardous waste industry. some of them are in the chemical industry. and scott pruitt has been meeting secretly with literally scores of these corporal executives quietly behind the scenes. reporter: but the epa is pushing back on the idea that pruitt is turning a blind eye to
because he had a report in front of him. she says that made her cry and made her very angry. and cnn has learned that the head of the environmental protection agency, scott pruitt, is getting increased round-the-clock security at a cost of millions of dollars in response to multiple death threats. that comes as the agency faces sharp budget cuts, and pruitt faces crying questions about rollbacks of environmental protections and meetings with a fossil fuel industry. we re covering all of that much more this hour with our guests including the top democrat in the house oversight and government reform committee, congressman elijah cummings and correspondents and specialists are also standing by. let s begin with the widow of the u.s. soldier killed in niger speaking out about the president s controversial condolence call to her. jim acosta is joining us. there are two very different accounts of that call. reporter: two very different accounts, wolf, no regrets from
reporter: adding to the confusion, senators claimed over the weekend that they were unaware the u.s. had so many troops in niger in the first place. i didn t know there was 1,000 troops in niger. you heard senator graham, didn t know we had 1,000 troops in niger. did you? is. no, i did not. reporter: the pentagon and the white house, however, say they did notify congress about the u.s. mission in niger several times this year. via briefings and letters. today, approximately 800 u.s. troops are deployed to niger. most are helping build a drone base in agadez while others are supporting embassy operations in the capital. the military says that only, quote, a fraction are special operations forces. advising and assisting niger s military. with the american people need to know is with a relatively small footprint, we re enabling local forces to deal with these challenges before they become a threat to the american people and to help them to deal with the challenges so they don t
involved in what they called multiple casualties incidences. this official said the white house directed that the condolence letters then be september out, wolf. that s the explanation for the white house tonight as for why the letters were rushed out last week. interesting. thanks very much, jim acosta at the white house. let s get more on the breaking news about the ambush of troops in niger. jim sciutto was joining us, at the news conference at the pentagon with the joint chiefs chairman that ended a while ago. jim, new details, still, though, many questions unanswered. reporter: general dunford will to take all the hard questions and where he could answer, willing to answer including confirming that this unit was on its way back to its operating base when it came under attack. it was not freelancing, not following another mission outside of its original orders, but on many other basic questions, including whether the evacuating forces took the simple step of taking a head cou
tonight, the u.s. military is offering new details on the ambush in niger that left four american soldiers dead. know many basic questions remain unanswered. u.s. forces accompanied that niger unit on a reconnaissance mission to gather information. assessment by our leaders on the ground at that time was that contact with the enemy was unlikely. mid-morning on october 4th, the patrol began to take fire as they were returning to their operating base. reporter: according to general dunford, troops first requested air support a full hour after initial contact with the enemy. approximately 50 isis-affiliated fighters. my judgment would be that that unit thought they could handle the situation without additional support and so what we ll find out in the investigation exactly why it took an hour for them to call. reporter: a u.s. drone already in the air reached their position within minutes. french mirage jets responded next arriving about two hours after initial contact.