let's get to nbc's pete williams. pete, put a question of how the whole process worked in early voting. trump's lawyers say election officials in four mostly democratic polling places in las vegas illegally stayed open beyond the posted closing time and allowed people to vote who got in line after the polls closed. his lawyers asked the state court judge to set the ballots and voting machines from those precincts aside and reveal the name of all the poll workers. but in a brief hearing, the judge harassment. >> do you watch twitter? have you watched any cable news show? there are internet -- the vernacular -- trolls who could get this information and harass people who just want to help their fellow citizens vote. >> reporter: the lawsuit seemed intended to lay the ground work for a later challenge with at most a few hundred votes at stake. in pennsylvania, scattered complaints that when they pressed the button for democratic candidates. no comment from the state, but officials in one county said they haven't seen the

pete williams. pete, put it in perspective for us. >> well, lester, it's a question of how the whole process worked in early voting. trump's lawyers say election officials in four mostly democratic polling places in las vegas illegally stayed open beyond the posted closing time and allowed people to vote who got in line after the polls closed. his lawyers asked the state court judge to set the ballots and voting machines from hearing, the judge wasn't impressed and said it would lead to harassment. >> do you watch twitter? have you watched any cable news show? there are internet -- the vernacular -- trolls who could get this information and harass people who just want to help their fellow citizens vote. >> reporter: the lawsuit seemed intended to lay the ground work for a later challenge with at most a few hundred votes at stake. in pennsylvania, that when they pressed the button for straight republican, the machine lit up democratic candidates. no comment from the state, but officials in one county

let's get to nbc's pete williams. pete, put i >> well, lester, it's a question of how the whole process worked in early oting. trump's lawyers say election officials in four mostly democratic polling places in las vegas illegally stayed open beyond the posted closing time and allowed people to vote who got in line after the polls closed. his lawyers asked the state court judge to set the ballots and voting machines from those precincts aside and reveal the name of all the poll workers. but in a brief hearing, the judge said it would lead to harassment. >> do you watch twitter? have you watched any cable news show? there are internet -- the vernacular -- trolls who could get this information and harass people who just want to help their fellow citizens vote. >> reporter: the lawsuit seemed intended to lay the ground work for a later challenge with at most a few hundred votes at stake. in pennsylvania, scattered complaints that when they pressed the button for democratic candidates. no comment from the state, but offici

let's get to nbc's pete williams. pete, put a question of how the whole process worked in early voting. trump's lawyers say election officials in four mostly democratic polling places in las vegas illegally stayed open beyond the posted closing time and allowed people to vote who got in line after the polls closed. his lawyers asked the state court judge to set the ballots and vo voting machines from those precincts aside and reveal the name of all the poll workers. but in a brief said it would lead to harassment. >> do you watch twitter? have you watched any cable news show? there are internet -- the vernacular -- trolls who could get this information and harass people who just want to help their fellow citizens vote. >> reporter: the lawsuit seemed intended to lay the ground work for a later challenge with at most a few hundred votes at stake. in pennsylvania, scattered complaints that when they pressed the button for democratic candidates. no comment from the state, but officials in one county said they haven't see

we get the latest from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: the fbi says agents worked 24 hours a day to sort through the emails found on anthony weiner's laptop. >> so sad what's going on. >> reporter: though donald trump and his supporters say it's not possible to go through 650,000 emails in eight days. fbi officials say most of the process was automated. step one, check email headers to isolate those sent to or from huma then use a program like this to eliminate dupe capitals of the thousands of emails already seen on the clinton server. only a small number the fbi says had to be individually read. the investigation is over, but fbi director james comey is left with lots of explaining to do. >> hillary clinton is guilty, she knows it, the fbi knows it. >> reporter: donald trump supporters say she should have been prosecuted over the emails. she said the fbi should never first. >> the director himself has said he doesn't know whether the emails referenced in his letter are significant or not. >> reporter: fbi officials say comey wants to give a full accounting of his

and as our justice correspondent pete williams reports, this fight could be just the beginning. >> it's a pressing issue for the new president -- nominating a replacement from antonin scalia on the supreme court. with republicans keeping control of the senate, president obama's nomination of judge merritt garland which languished for eight months is now dead. trump released two lists of potential nominees, mostly federal judges, many in the conservative mainstream. replacing justice scalia with another conservative won't change the make-up of the court but there could be other vacancies coming. ruth bader ginsberg is 83, she turns 84 in march, though she will likely remain in a trump administration as long as her health permits. but anthony kennedy, a reagan appointee who has voted with the liberals on gay rights and abortion is 80. and steven breyer appointed by bill clinton is 78. if either of them were court would be more conservative and might revisit recent rulings against restricting access to abortion and favoring gay rights. >> with each of those, we have relatively recent decis

we get all the latest from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> okay. >> reporter: the fbi says agents worked 24 hours a day to sort through the e-mails founds on anthony weiner's laptop. >> so sad what's going on. >> reporter: though donald trump and his supporters say it's not possible to go through 650,000 e-mails in eight days. fbi officials say most of the process was automated. step one, check e-mail headers to isolate those sent to huma abedin while hillary clinton was secretary of state. then use a program like this, to delete duplicates. only a small number, the fbi says, had to be individually read. the fbi investigation is over, but fbi director james comey is left with lots of explaining to do. >> hillary clinton is guilty. she knows it, the fbi knows it. >> reporter: donald trump supporters say she should have been brought up the latest e-mails without looking at them first. >> the director himself has said he doesn't know whether the e-mails referenced in his letter are significant or not. >> fbi officials say comey wants to give a full accounting of his role in al

let's get to nbc's pete williams. pete, put it in perspective for us. >> well, lester, it's a question of how the whole process worked in early voting. trump's lawyers say election officials in four mostly democratic polling places in las vegas illegally stayed open beyond the posted closing time and allowed people to vote who got in line after the polls closed. his lawyers asked the state court judge to set the ballots and voti voting machines from those precincts aside and reveal the name of all the poll workers. but in a brief hearing, the judge wasn't impressed and said it would lead to harassment. >> do you watch twitter? have you watched any cable news show? there are internet -- the vernacular -- trolls who could get this information and harass people who just want to help their fellow citizens vote. >> reporter: the lawsuit seemed intended to lay the ground work for a later challenge with at most a few hundred votes at stake. in pennsylvania, scattered complaints that when they pressed the button for straight

we get the latest from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: the fbi says agents worked 24 hours a day to sort through the emails found on anthony weiner's laptop. >> so sad what's going on. >> reporter: though donald trump and his supporters say it's not possible to go through 650,000 emails in eight days. fbi officials say most of the process was automated. step one, check email headers to isolate those sent to or from huma abedin while hillary clinton was secretary of state. then use a program like this to eliminate dupe capitals of the thousands of emails already seen on the clinton server. only a small number the fbi says had to be individually read. the investigation is over, but fbi director james comey is left with lots of explaining to do. >> hillary clinton is guilty, she knows it, the fbi knows it. >> reporter: donald trump supporters say she should have been prosecuted over the emails. she said the fbi should never have brought up the latest emails without looking at them first. >> the director himself has said he doesn't know whether the emails referenced in

that's all under investigation. >> pete williams, appreciate it. what's next for america's relationship with cuba. i will talk with two lawmakers with different takes on what should be ahead. stay with us. bl run away! [ grunts ] leave him! leave him! [ music continues ] brick and mortar, what?! [ music continues ] [ tires screech ] [ laughs ] [ doorbell rings ] when you bundle home and auto insurance with progressive, you get more than a big discount. that's what you get for bundling home and auto! jamie! you get sneaky-good coverage. thanks. we're gonna live forever! you get sneaky-good coverage. thanks. ♪ i want a hippopotamus for christmas ♪ ♪ only a hippopotamus will do at the united states postal service, we deliver more online purchases to homes than anyone else in the country. and more hippopotamuses, too. ♪ so whatever your holiday priority, our priority is you. i am totally blind. i lost my sight in afghanistan. if you're totally blind, you may also be struggling with non-24. calling 844-844-2424. or visit my24info.com. >> more ah

let's get to nbc's pete williams. pete, put it in perspective for us. >> well, lester, it's aue qstion of how the whole process worked in early voting. trump's lawyers say election officials in four mostly democratic polling places in las vegas illegally stayed open beyond the posted closing time and allowed people to vote who got in line after the polls closed. his lawyers asked the state court judge to set the ballots and voti voting machines from those precincts aside and reveal the name of all the poll workers. but in a brief hearing, the judge wasn't impressed and said it would lead to harassment. >> do you watch twitter? have you watched any cable news show? there are internet -- the vernacular -- trolls who could get this information and harass people who just want to help their fellow citizens vote. >> reporter: the lawsuit seemed intended to lay the ground work for a later challenge with at most a few hundred votes at stake. in pennsylvania, scattered complaints that when they pressed the button for straight

there's a sing report and debunked by pete williams who i trust on this stuff. that's the new threat they're making. elect hillary clinton and taking down the administration. heck, the whole functioning of government. right here today republican operative woodhouse brought a pair of handcuffs to an interview calling them clinton inauguration jewelry. today bob good lat chairman of the house jush yair xharm and jason chaffetz wrote a letter asking loretta lynch to preserve all documents presumably for investigations of their own and congressman mccall has become the latest republican to float the "i" word, impeachment. >> assuming she wins, and the investigation goes forward, and it looks like an indictment is pending, at that point in time, under the constitution, the house of representatives would engage in an impeachment trial. they would go to the senate and impeachment proceedings and removal would take place. i would hate to see this country being thrown into a constitutional crisis because of hillary clinton's behavior. >> i'm joined by congressman adam sh

pete williams joins us now. what's the word so far? >> reporter: so far, it seems like the normal kind of day for elections in america. we have to remember these are come as you are process for people who put them on every four years. a lot of volunteers, people who have to be retrained and a lot of aging equipment but a flavor for what's going on, craig, problems where people go to check in at the polling places. in maricopa county, arizona, that's the phoenix area. they use little tablets like ipads to check you in to see if you're on the voter registration list. those weren't working so now they use paper poll books. this durham county, north carolina, a similar problem. they have to print a little bar code on your ballot so that when you put it in your machine, it pulls out the right choices. that wasn't working. a similar problem. the express vote system. in connecticut, broken voting machines in west hartford, new britain and farmington. we're told in farmington, one of the technicians took the power supply, disconnected it, shoo

we get all the latest from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> okay. >> reporter: the fbi says agents worked 24 hours a day to sort through the e-mails founds on anthony weiner's laptop. >> so sad what's going on. >> reporter: though donald trump and his supporters say it's not possible to go through 650,000 e-mails in eight days. fbi officials say most of the process was automated. step one, check e-mail headers to isolate those sent to or from huma abedin while hillary clinton was secretary of state. then use a program like this, to delete duplicates. only a small number, the fbi says, had to be individually read. the fbi investigation is over, but fbi director james comey is left with lots of explaining to do. >> hillary clinton is guilty. she knows it, the fbi knows it. >> reporter: donald trump supporters say she should have been prosecuted over the e-mails. brought up the latest e-mails without looking at them first. >> the director himself has said he doesn't know whether the e-mails referenced in his letter are significant or not. >> fbi officials say comey wants to giv

we get all the latest from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> okay. >> reporter: the fbi says agents worked 24 hours a day to sort through the e-mails founds on anthony weiner's laptop. >> so sad what's going on. >> reporter: though donald trump and his supporters say it's not possible to go through 650,000 e-mails in eight days. fbi officials say most of the process was automated. step one, check e-mail headers to isolate those sent to or fro huma abedin while hillary clinton was secretary of state. then use a program like this, to delete duplicates. only a small number, the fbi says, had to be individually read. the fbi investigation is over, but fbi director james comey is left with lots of explaining to do. >> hillary clinton is guilty. she knows it, the fbi knows it. >> reporter: donald trump supporters say she should have been prosecuted over the e-mails without looking at them first. >> the director himself has said he doesn't know whether the e-mails referenced in his letter are significant or not. >> fbi officials say comey wants to give a full accounting of his role

french police say a truck attack in july in nice was inspired by isis. >> our thanks to pete williams for that report. >>> a federal judge has ruled that diylann roof can represent himself at trial. however, the judge did warn the 22-year-old that the move was strategically unwise. roof sat mostly quietly during jury collection but did speak up after one potential juror said the death penalty is always the just penalty for murder. roof saying at this point, i think he should be struck, meaning as a potential juror. 20 potential jurors were called yesterday. another 24 will be called today. roof faces 33 federal charges, including for hate crimes for the june 2015 massacre. he faces death if convicted. >>> the south carolina man whom authorities say is a serial killer was charged to a total of seven counts of murder. he was arrested after investigators found kala brown who had been missing since august, held captive in a storage container on his property. authorities found the body of brown's boyfriend buried in a shallow grave. and he led investigators to the graves of two other peopl

we want to bring in our justice correspondent, pete williams. what's the latest you're hearing? >> well, despite a round-the-clock effort, they say investigators are nowhere near being finished analyzing the e-mails found on neath wiener's laptop. a there's no answer yet to one big question. how many of the already checked by the fbi in investigating the clinton e-mail server. fbi director james comey and attorney general loretta lynch had a brief private meeting yesterday. justice officials say they both agreed on the need to move quickly to get the work done. there's just no way to tell how long it's going to take, no progress bar at the bottom of the computer screen. they say it's impossible to know whether we'll have answers by election day. one week until this campaign is finally over, it all comes down to the map and mining the 270 electoral college votes needed to win. after a series of october surprises, the picture is in plucks as we hit the november home stretch. where do things stand right now? no one better to ask than our moderator of "meet the press," chuck todd. l

we want to bring in our justice correspondent, pete williams. what's the latest you're hearing? >> well, despite a round-the-clock effort, they say investigators are nowhere near being finished analyzing the e-mails found on neath wiener's laptop. a there's no answer yet to one big question. how many of the of tens of thousands already checked by the fbi in investigating the clinton e-mail server. fbi director james comey and attorney general loretta lynch had a brief private meeting yesterday. justice officials say they both agreed on the need to move quickly to get the work done. there's just no way to tell how long it's going to take, no progress bar at the bottom of the computer screen. they say it's impossible to know whether we'll have answers by election >>> so tonight with one week until this campaign is finally over, it all comes down to the map and mining the 270 electoral college votes needed to win. after a series of october surprises, the picture is in plucks as we hit the november home stretch. where do things stand right now? no one better to ask than our moderato

we get all the latest from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> okay. >> reporter: the fbi says agents worked 24 hours a day to sort through the e-mails founds on anthony weiner's laptop. >> so sad what's going on. >> reporter: though donald trump and his supporters say it's not possible to go through 650,000 e-mails in eight days. fbi officials say most of the process was automated. step one, check e-mail headers to isolate those sent to huma abedin while hillary clinton was secretary of state. then use a program like this, to delete duplicat duplicates. only a small number, the fbi says, had to be individually read. the fbi investigation is over, but fbi director james comey is left with lots of explaining to do. >> hillary clinton is guilty. she knows it, the fbi knows it. >> reporter: donald trump supporters say she should have been should never have brought up the latest e-mails without looking at them first. >> the director himself has said he doesn't know whether the e-mails referenced in his letter are significant or not. >> fbi officials say comey wants to give a full a

nbc's pete williams joins me next right here on andrea mitchell reports. stay with us. >>> senator jeff sessions will have to appear before his own judiciary committee colleagues to become attorney general. joining me now, pete williams, our expert on all things justice. he's controversial in some regard. civil rights, his immigration policy. we've seen statements from dianne feinstein saying they disagree on substance, but he'll have a fair hearing. >> i'd be very surprised if he can't concern firmed, but it wi a spirited hearing. he voted for the confirmation of eric holder to be attorney general but against loretta lynch. which he has described as lawless. so he's one of the harshest critics of the president on immigration. he voted against changing the don't ask, don't tell policy allowing gay people to serve in the military. he's been an opponent of another big project in the obama justice department, what is called sentencing reform, trying to do away with mandatory minimums. trying to keep low-level drug offenders from serving long sentences. he sai

we get all the latest from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> okay. >> reporter: the fbi says agents worked 24 hours a day to sort through the e-mails founds on anthony weiner's laptop. >> so sad what's going on. >> reporter: though donald trump and his supporters say it's not possible to go through 650,000 e-mails in eight days. fbi officials say most of the process was headers to isolate those sent to or from huma abedin while hillary clinton was secretary of state. then use a program like this, to delete duplicat duplicates. only a small number, the fbi says, had to be individually read. the fbi investigation is over, but fbi director james comey is left with lots of explaining to do. >> hillary clinton is >> reporter: donald trump supporters say she should have been prosecuted over the e-mails. she said the fbi should never have brought up the latest e-mails without looking at them first. >> the director himself has said he doesn't know whether the e-mails referenced in his letter are significant or not. >> fbi officials say comey wants to give a full accounting of his rol

let's get to nbc's pete williams. perspective for us. >> well, lester, it's a question of how the whole process worked in early voting. trump's lawyers say election officials in four mostly democratic polling places in las vegas illegally stayed open beyond the posted closing time and allowed people to vote who got in line after the polls closed. his lawyers asked the state court judge to set the ballots and voting machines from those precincts aside and reveal the name of all the poll workers. wasn't impressed and said it would lead to harassment. >> do you watch twitter? have you watched any cable news show? there are internet -- the vernacular -- trolls who could get this information and harass people who just want to help their fellow citizens vote. >> reporter: the lawsuit seemed intended to lay the ground work for a later challenge with at most a few hundred votes at stake. in pennsylvania, scattered complaints straight republican, the machine lit up democratic candidates. no comment from the state, but official

>> pete williams at the supreme court for us tonight, thanks. >>> it was a big night for republicans, not only in the presidential race, but also in the balance of power in congress. the gop holding control of both the house and the senate. nbc's casey hunt has a look at the new faces about to make waves. >> before tuesday, it was hard for donald trump to find a friend in washington. even in his own party. >> why don't you want to talk about mr. trump in. >> i choose not to. >> president trump is moving in down the street from speaker paul ryan and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. on wednesday, they started to come around. >> i think what donald trump pulled off is an enormous political feat. it's an enormous feat in that he heard the voices that were out there that other people weren't hearing and he earned a mandate. >> the american people have spoken. >> republican leaders were privately surprised their vulnerable senate incumbents hung on across the map. winning at least a 51-seat majority. >> god bless florida, thank you. >> and expected to win a 47-seat majority in the ho

we get all the latest from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> okay. >> reporter: the fbi says agents worked 24 hours a day to sort through the e-mails founds on anthony weiner's laptop. >> so sad what's going on. >> reporter: tugh donald trump and his supporters say it's not possible to go through 650,000 e-mails in eight days. fbi officials say most of the process was automated. step one, check e-mail those sent to or from huma abedin while hillary clinton was secretary of state. then use a program like this, toelete duplicates. only a small number, the fbi says, had to be individually read. the fbi investigation is over, but fbi director james comey is left wh lots of explaining to do. >> hillary clinton is guilty. she knows it, the fbi knows it. she should have been prosecuted over the e-mails. she said the fbi should never have broughup the latest e-mails without looking at them first. >> the director himself has said he doesn't know whether the e-mails referenced in his letter are significant or not. >> fbi officials say comey wants to give a full accounting of his role i

we get all the latest from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> okay. >> reporter: the fbi says agents worked 24 hours a day to sort through the e-mails founds on anthony weiner's laptop. >> so sad what's going on. >> reporter: though donald trump and his supporters say it's not possible to go through 650,000 e-mails in eight days. fbi officials say most of the process was automated. step one, check e-mail headers to isolate those sent to or from huma abedin while hillary clinton was secretary of state. then use a program like this, to delete duplicat duplicates. only a small number, the fbi says, had to be individually read. the fbi investigation is over, but fbi director james comey is left with lots of explaining to do. >> hillary clinton is guilty. she knows it, the fbi knows it. >> reporter: donald trump supporters say she should have been prosecuted over the e-mails. she said the fbi should never have brought up the latest e-mails without looking at them first. >> the director himself has said he doesn't know whether the e-mails referenced in his letter are significant or

. >> kim: i heard pete williams from the justice department as far as is the reporter for nbc jarred kushner. he can't hold a cabinet position meaning he can't be attorney general or secretary of the treasury, but it is possible for him to be an advisor within the white house. did i understand that correctly? >> yeah, he can hold a staff position but he can't hold a cabinet position. they have said they haven't asked for any sort of security clearance for him in order to be able to participate in the been lots of questions about that even now on capitol hill. one of the top democrats from the oversight committee wants to know who have you requested or inquired about security clearances for. when it comes to carbomer a lot of people don't know what role >> dana: mike pence will be on capitol hill, we expect his arrival will be at any moment there. he's going to meet with house g.o.p. members in the afternoon. he's going to meet with senate majority and plans to get together with nancy pelosi and schumer mending fences and building bridges. he knows most of these guys on the hill. >> k

we get all the latest from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> okay. >> reporter: the fbi says agents worked 24 hours a day to sort through the e-mails founds on anthony weiner's laptop. >> so sad what's going on. >> reporter: though donald trump and his supporters say it's not possible to go through 650,000 e-mails in eight days. fbi officials say most of the process was automated. step one, check e-mail headers to isolate those sent to or huma abedin while hillary clinton was secretary of state. then use a program like this, to delete dupl duplicates. only a small number, the fbi says, had to be individually read. the fbi investigation is over, but fbi director james comey is left with lots of explaining to do. >> hillary clinton is guilty. she knows it, the fbi knows it. >> reporter: donald trump supporters say she should have been brought up the latest e-mails without looking at them first. >> the director himself has said he doesn't know whether the e-mails referenced in his letter are significant or not. >> fbi officials say comey wants to give a full accounting of his ro

we get all the latest from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> okay. >> reporter: the fbi says agents worked 24 hours a day to sort through the e-mails founds on anthony weiner's laptop. >> so sad what's going on. >> reporter: though donald trump and his supporters say it's not possible to go through 650,000 e-mails in eight days. fbi officials say most of the process was automated. step one, check e-mail headers to isolate huma abedin while hillary clinton was secretary of state. then use a program like this, to delete duplicates. only a small number, the fbi says, had to be individually read. the fbi investigation is over, but fbi director james comey is left with lots of explaining to do. >> hillary clinton is guilty. she knows it, the fbi knows it. >> reporter: donald e-mails. she said the fbi should never have brought up the latest e-mails without looking at them first. >> the director himself has said he doesn't know whether the e-mails referenced in his letter are significant or not. >> fbi officials say comey wants to give a full accounting of his role in all this, incl

joining me is pete williams and stephanie gosk. pete, to you first. >> the idea that he was inspired by anwar al awlaki, they say they don't know what videos he was looking at. obviously, he was familiar with those two terrorist organizations but what role they play, they don't know. now, we know and it was reported yesterday that the suspect in this case, artan bought a knife the morning of the attack at a walmart in columbus. now we've learned that he was here in washington, d.c., last week and bought a knife at a big hardware store, big home improvement store. whhe came here, why he bought a knife here is a complete mystery to the investigators, they say, why did he come to washington, they don't know. they also say that they are questioning family and friends trying to figure out his movements and what he was doing in the hours and days leading up to the attack. but this trip to washington is a complete mystery, they say. thomas. >> pete, thank you. stephanie, you were at this press conference in the last hour. other than what

==kris//take vo== also new-- nbc's pete williams is reporting the attacker is an ohio state student--- and somali refugee--- who was a lawful permanent u-s resident. meanwhile -- the university police says one of its officers saw what was happening and shot that suspect--- ending the threat. a shelter-in-place warning was

. >> pete williams struggled. >> gwen was a dear friend, a former nbc colleague, pardon me. she was, gwen would want me to get this together. >> coanchoring the news hour on pbs with judy woodruff. >> we welcome governor palin and biden. >> the moderator of important political debates. gwen ifill shattered racial and gender ceilings and on camera, was nothing but unflappable and oh so well prepared. >> she not only informed today's citizens but inspired tomorrow's journalists. she was a powerful role model for young women and girls who admired her tenacity and intellect. ♪ everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. he wears his army hat, he gets awalks aroundliments. with his army shirt looking all nice. and then people just say, "thank you for serving our country" and i'm like, that's my dad. male vo: no one deserves a warmer welcome home. that's why we're hiring 10,000 members of the military community by the end of 2017. i'm very

pete williams has more. >> reporter: it's a pressing issue for the new president, nominating a replacement for antonin scalia on the supreme court, with republicans keeping control of the senate, president obama's nomination of judge merrick garland, which languished for eight months, is now dead. trump earlier released two lists of potential nominees, mostly federal judges, many in the conservative mainstream. replacing justice scalia with another conservative won't change the makeup of the court, but there could be other vacancies coming. ruth bader ginsburg is 83. she turns 84 in march, though she will likely remain in a trump administration as long as her health permits. but anthony kennedy, a reagan appointee who has voted with the liberals on gay rights and abortion, is 80. and stephen breyer, appointed by bill clinton, is 78. in either of them were to be replaced by donald trump, the court would be more conservative and might revisit recent rulings against restricting access to abortion and favoring gay rights. >> with each of those, we have relatively recent decisions. so the court

nbc news justice correspondent pete williams has a look at the big questions up for a vote. >> voters in california, which already has tough gun laws, will decide whether to require background checks to require ammunition. supporters say it will cut down abiding citizens are the people able to put their hands on ammunition and not others. >> it is an intrusion on gun rights and criminals will go elsewhere. >> nothing will stop them from driving across the border to arizona driving back over here. >> nevada and maine vote on requiring background checks for buying firearms at gunshot shows. it would allow police to temporarily seize guns from people deemed a threat. californians will decide whether to they have 741 inmates on death row but carried just 13 executions in 40 years. advocates say death sentences with all of the legal appeals cost more than life in prison. in nebraska, the opposite choice, whether to bring the death penalty back after the legislature repealed it last year. colorado decides if terminally ill patients can get drugs to end their own lives. but i don't want to s

pete williams thinks it is fine. i think the country for the good of public policy should deal with the reality. jared is going to be involved. let's figure out what the right standards are. what is permissible, what is not? let's not act like this isn't going to happen. he is going to be relying on jared for advice. john: that raises a bunch of things we don't know about the business ventures that are romantic when he have crazy stuff like them putting up profit making stuff for the president-elect. frank gaffney is the key issue here. is he involved or not? if he is involved it is poison. is involved a new his background and they didn't care or they fail to bet him. john: he is poison. if he is not involved, good. mark: but if he ever was. any involvement at all they need to learn. john: especially considering areas that gaffney is most obvious. mitch mcconnell was reelected. the bigger news was on the democratic side. we heard harry reid taking after donald trump. today his successor, chuck schumer was elected sen

pete williams, nbc news, washington. >> i want to tell you about a brief lockdown at the white house. it is over but yesterday, there was a scare when a secret service officer confronted a man with a gun who was walking along pennsylvania avenue. after a brief struggle, the man's gun was taken away and he faces several charges. the president was golfing at an >>> iraqi special forces say they're struggling to clear neighborhoods retaken from the islamic state group in mosul. progress has slowed because of civilians and the elaborate defenses built by isis. the forces entered the eastern edge of mosul on tuesday and are slowly trying to advance further into the city. >>> violence breaks out here in italy's prime minister. activists threw kobl stones, sticks and other items at the officers. protesters are opposed to a constitutional referendum that some fear will lead to an excessive centralization of power. >>> we're hearing from a man brutally beat by police. dash cam footage shows where officers kicked him and police thought he was a suspect that they were looking for. the police chi

pete williams now reports that despite earlier optimism the review would move quickly the process isn't moving very fast. amid a spate of leaks to the press raising further questions about the integrity and impartiality of the fbi, new concerns that cnbc reported yesterday, that comey kept the fbi from publicly blaming russia for hacks of democrats because he didn't want the bureau to appear partisan so close to the election. the clinton campaign is trying to stay on offense. robby mook calling on the fbi to give donald trump the same treatment it gave to hillary clinton. >> all that we're asking, so that reporting can be fair, is that the information get released. release whatever information they have, and then if you're in the business of releasing information about investigations on presidential candidates, release everything you have on donald trump. release the information on his connections to the russians. maybe there are investigations now into his taxes. >> trump's taxes may not have been legal. reports of the maneuver trump used conferred enormous tax benefits on him losing v

pete williams from nbc has told us through his contacts at the fbi that a motive is still a long way off perhaps, although of course many people are starting to make the connection between religion and what went on here. this evening, there are a number of memorial services taking place on campus and one of the pastors has said to us that no religion could have had anything to do with what happened here. it was an act of hate and religion had nothing to do with it. chris, back to you. >> kevin tibbles, thank you. thank the lord more people were not killed. >>> remember the electoral college this weekend resigned instead of voting for trump. >>> in a strange coincidence today as cuba began its formal mourning period for fidel castro, there were scenes like this at several american airports. those are the pilots of american airlines flight holding u.s. and cuban flags marking the first day of regularly scheduled commercial flights from america to cuba since 1961. opening travel between the two nations is part of the diplomatic thaw initiated by president obama two years ago, something

pete williams from nbc has told us through his contacts at the fbi that a motive is still a long way off perhaps, although of course many people are starting to make the connection between religion and what went on here. this evening, there are a number of nememorial services taking place on campus and one of the pastors has said to us that no religion could have had anything to do with what happened here. it was an act of hate and religion had nothing to do with it. chris, back to you. >> kevin tibbles, thank you. thank the lord more people were not killed. >>> remember the electoral college this weekend resigned instead of voting for trump. does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment? if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. with taltz, up to 90% of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. in fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. do not use if you are allergic to taltz. before starting you should be ch

. >> pete williams, interesting reporting. we'll be right back after a quick break. if you have medicare parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. medicare doesn't cover everything. and like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide. it could help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. these types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. rates are competitive, and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. remember - these plans let you apply all year round. so call today. because now's the perfect time to learn more. go long. previously treated withd noplatinum-based chemotherapy, including those with

williams in new york. pete, to you first to talk about james comey. the fbi in the center of a fire storm now from both sides. the clinton people are just -- to say furious is to under state what happened the last ten days. when she said to us right after the last debate, i'm not going to respond to donald trump anymore. i will be looking forward, positive message and the next day, bam. they feel they lost a lot of momentum and ground. and may lose control of the senate because of this. >> well, the fbi did what they said they were going to do once the letter was sent to congress. they say if they can get the word out on what they found in the e-mails on anthony weiner's laptop they said they would not do a progress report. only say if they could finish the work. they said they finished and nothing they found changes their view that this is not a case that could be prosecuted. >> though the fbi director exonerated her in this arena, donald trump is just going to town. let me bring peter alexander in. peter

pete williams, nbc news, a republican campaign office is vandalized in illinois. police say explicit messages were spray painted on the rock island county office. a number of party leaders assessed damage inside the office. the chairman says it's just one more vandalism to add to the list this election season. we have had so much inappropriate stuff happen in this election that it's hard to en no suspects have been arrested. it is now on this sunday morning.a lot still ahead on live at daybreak...coming up in your wisconsin weekend.. how you can get tickets for the final night of 'china lights' for the season.plus, near record warmth this weekend but a much more seasonal 4cast down the road meteorologist brian niznansky is in next with your full over 80,000 wisconsin jobs lost to unfair trade. but senator johnson sided with corporate interests, calling for even more unfair trade, voting for special tax breaks for corporations shipping jobs overseas, costing taxpayers billions. and johnson's been exposed for using what looks like an offshore tax shelter for himself

pete williams says -- there was an initial inquiry a couple of months ago. is this becoming a battle of leaks? >> it is a battle of leaks. we can get to the substance of the allegations in a minute. i spoke to a senior fbi source who said brett and others were right, there was a big meeting at t beginning of this year. fbi and the justice department, some of the agents presented serious allegations against the clinton foundation, wrongdoing, financial issues. and they got pushback. not just from the obama justice department. some said that's just politics. i'm told some of the fbi superiors well said it's not quite there. by the way, that's not that unusual. this happens with fbi investigations on any number of issues. agents present evidence, they present facts, they present hearsay, they present everything, and then people above them have to make decisions. by the way, howie, that's what we do in newsrooms as well. you say i want the story on the front page. >> i'm your editor, i say, ed, you haven't got it. go back and do more reporting. what's unusual is

the timing of which --look, i will leave it to pete williams and you guys and everyone else. the important thing is clearly they found something. what did they find? 650,000 emails they got to go through. how many thousands are between clinton and huma abedin? we'll find out. >> with all due respect, you just did not answer my question remotely. >> it is a nonsensical question that does not apply to the campaign. john: ok. mark: jason, let's talk about the electoral college. rank the states from best to worst. florida, ohio, and north carolina? >> as we look at florida, it is tough because some of them are on percentages and some are on actual ballot returns. so let's take florida. you have had two polls in the last several days that showed mr. trump is leading by four points, which is great. the two things as far as ballots being returned, both the absentee ballots and early vote, republican returns are 7% higher than four years ago. democrat returns are 10% lower. and so usually republican start of going into election day with a deficit. we are 100,000 those closer to democ

. >> what we know and i checked with pete williams and law enforcement officials talking with us and saying there was a look at this and initial look at the clinton foundation within the fbbaseon allegation in a press or a book that's cited. there has not been any developments in recent months. >> why did comey send the letter to the democratic leaders on the hill -- >> that's a separate investigation, that's about the e-mail server, very much exist. >> but you are saying two things. >> no, let me be clear. what i am trying to say is there are two active investigations. that's a serious thing in the voters voters' minds. why are her numbers going in the basement? >> we are seeing wikileaks and developments that we learned are differently than what she said. we see that the fbi uses this serious potential wrong doing. i cannot predict that the fbi is doing. we don't know what they are doing until the investigation is done. it is wrong to sugar coat to say it is over and we are looking at it. that is not correct. >> we can agree to disagree. i did want to ask you about jennifer granhol

pete williams, thank you so much. donald trump did mead with bill deplasio and was the massive challenge of protecting the president-elect in the heart of mid-town manhattan. >> obviously the president-elect has to be protected. senate democrats just made it official electing chuck schumer as the new minority leader and they added new names to the team as well. we will look at what will help guide under the trump administration, next. ♪ ♪ ♪ is it a force of nature? or a sales event? the season of audi sales event is here. audi will cover your first month's lease payment on select models during the season of audi sales event. (bing) all finished.umm... you wouldn't want your painter to quit part way. i think you missed a spot. so when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day? aleve, live whole not part. painter: you want this color over the whole house? so dad slayed the problemt with puffs plus lotion, instead. with lotion to soothe and softness to please. a nose in need deserves puffs, ind

the timing of which --look, i will leave it to pete williams and you guys and everyone else. the important thing is clearly they found something. what did they find? 650,000 emails they got to go through. how many thousands are between clinton and huma abedin? >> with all due respect, you just did not answer my question remotely. >> it is a nonsensical question that does not apply to the campaign. john: ok. mark: jason, let's talk about the electoral college. rank the states from best to worst. florida, ohio, and north carolina? >> as we look at florida, it is tough because some of them are on percentages and some are on actual ballot returns. so let's take florida. you have had two polls in the last several days that showed mr. trump is leading by four points, which is great. the two things as far as ballots being returned, both the absentee ballots and early vote, republican returns are 7% higher than four years ago. democrat returns are 10% lower. and so usually republican start of going into election day with a deficit. we are 100,000 those closer to democrats than mitt r

pete williams now reports that despite earlier optimism the review would move quickly the process isn't moving very fast. amid a spate of leaks to the press raising further questions about the integrity and impartiality of the fbi, new concerns that cnbc reported yesterday, that comey kept the fbi from publicly blaming russia for hacks of democrats because he didn't want the bureau to appear partisan so close to the election. the clinton campaign is trying to stay on offense. robbie mook calling on the fbi to give donald trump the same treatment it gave to hillary clinton. >> all that we're asking, so that reporting can be fair, is that the information get released. release whatever information they have, and then if you're in the business of releasing information about investigations on presidential candidates, release everything you have on donald trump. release the information on his connections to the russians. maybe there are investigations now into his taxes. >> trump's taxes may not have been legal. reports of the maneuver trump used conferred enormous tax benefits on him losing

pete williams has the latest for us. we talked to you 24 hours ago and there was some optimism we might hear before the election. what's the status a day later? >> considerably less optimism on that score. the problem is they don't know housing this is going to take. it is taking longer than the initial thought over the weekend. the thinking was this would go fast. it's not going fast and not because of technical problems, but it's taking a long time to church through the e-mails and do all the sorting and analysis that has to be done by the automated systems. all the experts thought it would go fast and it has not gone quickly. the thing is there is no way to know how long it will take. they don't know how long it's going to take and can't say whether they will give us a progress report before the election. >> the election is seven days away and millions voting as we speak. thanks for the update and now back to the road to 270, specifically the battle for arizona. this is usually a red state, but this year very much in

nbc's pete williams has more on her-and legacy. >> good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> reporter: gwen ifill was one of the most successful african-american women in journalism. co18 or correspond of the pbs "news hour." >> their greater eventualer in will was on things like a tax return -- >> reporter: daughter of a minister, she started as a newspaper reporter in boston where she faced racism on the job. she moved on to the baltimore evening sun, was it post, and "new york times" before becoming a television correspondent joining nbc news in 1994, covering congress and politics. >> -- involving the president, the first lady, and their political supporters. >> reporter: then came the switch to pbs in 1999. >> "washington week". >> reporter: for what became "washington week with gwen ifill." >> we welcome governor palin and senator biden. >> reporter: widely respected for her reporting she mod dated the vice presidential debates in 2004 and 2008. president obama, one of the rising black figures she wrote about in her best-selling 2009 book, praised her