thank you, pete williams. thank you, james dale. >> thank you. >> you bet. >>> when we return, let me finish with the most powerful republican in the u.s. senate who could be taken down by his own party. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. [ female announcer ] going to sleep may be easy, but when you wake up in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. it's hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you can't get back to sleep. it's an effective sleep medicine you don't take before bedtime. take it in bed only when you need it and have at least four hours left for sleep. do not take intermezzo if you have had an allergic reaction to drugs containing zolpidem, such as ambien. allergic reactions such as shortness of breath or swelling of your tongue or throat may occur and may be fatal. intermezzo should not be taken if you have taken another sleep medicine at bedtime or in the midd

thank you, pete williams. thank you, james dale. >> thank you. >> you bet. >>> when we return, let me finish with the most powerful republican in the u.s. senate who could be taken down by his own party. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. executor of efficiency. you can spot an amateur from a mile away... while going shoeless and metal-free in seconds. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. now this...will work. [ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. just like you. go national. go like a pro. i wish my patients could see what i see. ♪ that over time, having high cholesterol and any of these risk factors can put them at increased risk for plaque buildup in their arteries. so it's even more important to lower their cholesterol, and that's why, when diet and exercise alone aren't enough, i prescribe crestor. in

thank you pete williams. when we return, let me finish with the most powerful republican in the u.s. senate who could be taken down in his own party. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. omnipotent . you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro. [ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles military families face, we understand. our financial advice is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings retirement advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa. ♪ if loving you is wrong ♪ i don't wanna be ri

pete williams, david gregory, this is a beg deal. richard was just reappointed again, a recess appointment, just yesterday by the president. he succeeded elizabeth warren in this very important consumer protection board, and this was his show of force to wall street that he was naming mary joe white from the southern district of new york, who you know well, of the big tough prosecutor. small in stature, big in the clout that she wields, and also richard cordray that had beaten up on bank of america in his role as s.a.g. in ohio. this is a huge setback for the white house. >> back to the drawing board on some of these things. particularly at a time with mary joe white that he wants to send a different kind of signal about how wall street is going to operate. >> in winter meeting bobby jindahl said we can't be the stupid party any longer. there were some moves by republicans in virginia, michigan, ohio, pennsylvania to change the electoral college, and permit proportional voting by the electoral college, which would have, if it were do

our justice correspondent, pete williams, broke this story this afternoon. he's with us from our d.c. newsroom with more. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, the boy scouts are on the verge of ending their policy of banning gay young people from the program. if approved, it would mark a huge change for an organization that has actively resisted this in the past. >> the scouts fought hard against james dale, who was virtually a scouting poster boy, eagle scout, assistant scout master by age 18. but after he publicly declared he's gay, the scouts said he's no longer welcome. he sued and the u.s. supreme court ruled a decade ago the scouts had the legal right to exclude gays. today dale says he's shocked that the policy might be changing. >> i think fair-minded americans know that discrimination is wrong. and that the boy scouts were out of step with america by excluding gay young people and telling nongay children that discrimination was an american value. >> reporter: if approved, the new policy would end the national ban on gay scouts and scout leaders.

pete williams, nbc news, at the supreme court. >>> we are back in a moment with a neighborhood scare and a call to 911 and what it turned out to be. >> norfolk, 911, what is your emergency? >> i guess a lion. >> somebody in norfolk called 911 because they thought they had seen a lion roaming in their neighborhood. turns out it was a lion dog, a labradoodle groomed to look like a lion. he's a dog with a mane. his owner says he's supposed to look like the mascot at old dominion university. >>> monopoly has announced they're going to retire one game token. for example, those of us who are race car people will vote to retire either the wheel barrow or the thimble, perhaps. parker brothers is opening it up to a vote. and from this, a new replacement token will be selected, so vote early, vote often. >>> tomorrow president obama set to nominate his long-time chief of staff, jack lew, to be the next treasury secretary. so far, the only huge controversy surrounding the harvard educated two-time head of omb is his signature, which has been affectionately compared to a 6-month-old less loose w

pete williams from our d.c. newsroom tonight. pete, thanks. >>> president filled a big job today that does not require congressional approval. he named a veteran of his own staff, his new chief of staff in the white house. denis mcdonough comes from the foreign policy shop. he has been deputy national security director. his was one of the faces around the table in the situation room during the bin laden raid. he goes back to the senate days with obama. he replaces jack lew, nominated to run the treasury department. >>> mitt romney, who has disappeared from public life since the election, was spotted today having surfaced in washington. he and his wife were saluted by the marriott corporation. his staff did not allow any media at the event. he will also attend the annual bipartisan alfalfa club dinner saturday night. >>> with the president now six days into his second term, a whole lot of republicans across this country are thinking about how things might have turned out differently. especially if the rules for electing presidents

nbc's justice correspondent, pete williams, looks at a city on high alert. >> reporter: in the airspace above washington, helicopters and jets will enforce a virtual no-fly zone for 30 miles in all directions from the u.s. capitol. six miles of the potomac and anacostia rivers will be shut down, with 150 blocks of downtown washington closed to traffic, partly out of concern for car or truck bombs. >> we have to be prepared for everything, so that's the way we do. we prepare with all of our partners and try to come up with a plan for every eventuality. >> reporter: much of inaugural security will be visible for protection and crowd control, with countersnipers on top of buildings around the capitol and along the parade route. some not so visible, detectors monitoring the air for toxins and plain-clothed security teams at subway and train stations watching for suspicious behavior. at the ready near the capitol, thousands of doses of antidotes in case of a chemical or biological attack. no firm figures are available, but officials say all this security will cost about $120 million for hund

pete williams from our d.c. newsroom tonight. pete, thanks. >>> president filled a big job today that does not require congressional approval. he named a veteran of his own staff, his new chief of staff in the white house. dennis mcdonough comes from the foreign policy shop. he has been deputy national security director. his was one of the faces around the table in the situation room during the bin laden raid. he goes back to the senate days with obama. he replaces jack lew, nominated to run the treasury department. >>> mitt romney, who has disappeared from public life since the election, was spotted today having surfaced in washington. he and his wife were saluted by the marriott corporation. his staff did not allow any media at the event. he will also attend the annual bipartisan alfalfa club dinner saturday night. >>> with the president now six days into his second term, a whole lot of republicans across this country are thinking about how things might have turned out differently. especially if the rules for electing president

nbc's justice correspondent, pete williams, has more. >> reporter: beginning today in california and illinois, it's against the law for an employer to ask anyone applying for a job to reveal user names or passwords for social media sites like facebook. johnny says it happened to him at a job interview. >> it's rude and not respectful. someone has privacy. you expect them to respect that. >> reporter: though job placement experts advise leaving embarrassing photos off social media sites, an employer doesn't have the right to rummage through an applicant's past. >> it's like saying, i want the keys to your house to look around. >> reporter: as of today in washington state, nearly every home, apartment, dormitory and hotel room must have a carbon monoxide detector. the law was prompted in part by eight deaths during a severe storm six years ago that knocked out power. >> a lot of our people that live in this area felt they had no alternative but to bring something into their home to either heat or cook with. >> reporter: in florida, the law means it's now legal for drivers to warn of a

nbc's justice correspondent, pete williams, looks at a city on high alert. >> reporter: in the airspace above washington, helicopters and jets will enforce a virtual no-fly zone for 30 miles in all directions from the u.s. capitol. six miles of the potomac and anacostia rivers will be shutdown, with 150 blocks of downtown washington closed to traffic, partly out of concern for car or truck bombs. >> we have to be prepared for everything so that's the way we do we prepare with all of our partners and try to come up with a plan for every eventuality. >> reporter: much of inaugural security will be visible for protection and crowd control, with countersnipers on top of buildings around the capitol and along the parade route. some not so visible, detectors monitoring the air for toxins and plain-clothesed security teams at subway and train stations watching for suspicious behavior. at the ready near the capitol, thousands of doses of antidotes in case of a chemical or biological attack. no firm figures available but off officials say all this security will cost about $120 million for hundre

our justice correspondent, pete williams, broke this story this afternoon. he's with us from our d.c. newsroom with more. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, the boy scouts are on the verge of ending their policy of banning gay young people from the program. if approved, it would mark a huge change for an organization that has actively resisted this in the past. >> the scouts fought hard against james dale, who was virtually a scouting poster boy, eagle scout, assistant scout master by age 18. but after he publicly declared he's gay, the scouts said he's no longer welcome. he sued and the u.s. supreme court ruled a decade ago the scouts had the legal right to exclude gays. today dale says he's shocked that the policy might be changing. >> i think fair-minded americans know that discrimination is wrong. and that the boy scouts were out of step with america by excluding gay young people and telling nongay children that discrimination was an american value. >> reporter: if approved, the new policy would end the national ban on guy scouts and scout leaders.

pete williams, nbc news, at the supreme court. >>> we are back in a moment with a neighborhood scare and a call to 911 and what it turned out to be. ♪ aww man. [ male announcer ] returns are easy with free pickup from the u.s. postal service. we'll even drop off boxes if you need them. visit usps.com pay, print, and have it picked up for free. any time of year. ♪ nice sweater. thank you. ♪ your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. for their "destination wedding." double miles you can "actually" use. but with those single mile travel cards... [ bridesmaid ] blacked out... but i'm a bridesmaid. oh! "x" marks the spot she'll never sit. but i bought a dress! a toast... ...to the capital one venture card. fly any airline, any flight, anytime. double miles you can actually use. what a coincidence? what's in your wallet? [ all screaming ] watch the elb

pete williams from our d.c. newsroom tonight. pete, thanks. >>> president filled a big job today that does not require congressional approval. he named a veteran of his own staff his new chief of staff in the white house. dennis mcdonough comes from the foreign policy shop. he has been deputy national security director. his was one of the faces around the table in the situation room during the bin laden raid. he goes back to the senate days with obama. he replaces jack lew, nominated to run the treasury department. >>> mitt romney, who has disappeared from public life since the election, was spotted today having surfaced in washington. he and his wife were saluted by the marriott corporation. his staff did not allow any media at the event. he will also attend the annual bipartisan alfalfa club dinner saturday night. >>> with the president now six days into his second term, a whole lot of republicans across this country are thinking about how things might have turned out differently. especially if the rules for electing presidents

nbc's justice correspondent, pete williams, has more. >> reporter: beginning today in california and illinois, it's against the law for an employer to ask anyone applying for a job to reveal user names or passwords for social media sites like facebook. johnny says it happened to him at a job interview. >> it's rude and not respectful. someone has privacy. you expect them to respect that. >> reporter: though job placement experts advise leaving embarrassing photos and postings off social media sites, privacy advocates say employers don't have the right to rummage through an applicant's past. >> it's a little bit like an employer saying before i'm going to hire you, i'd like the keys to your house to be able to go in and look around or maybe i'd like to take a look at your diaries. >> reporter: as of today in washington state, nearly every home, apartment, dormitory and hotel room must have a carbon monoxide detector. the law was prompted in part by eight deaths during a severe storm six years ago that knocked out power. indoor use of generators or charcoal fires created a build-up of

our report from nbc's pete williams. >> reporter: the "new york times" says hackers have been attacking its computer system for the past four months. even managing to get passwords for individual reporters. the paper says its own security experts and the fbi traced the intrusions to hackers in china who it says were employing techniques associated in the past with hackers from the chinese military. another newspaper, "the wall street journal" says it too was hit by chinese hackers who apparently wanted to monitor its china reporting. no attempt, the journal says, to steal customer data. in beijing, any suggestion that the chinese were involved, quote, irresponsible. but "the times" says the hack attack coincided with a series of stories it posted on its website, which reported that relatives of china's prime minister had amassed a fortune worth several billion dollars through business deals. >> we first noticed the unusual activity on our network shortly after we published our article about the outgoing chinese ruling family. >> reporter: security experts and the fbi say china has been

nbc's justice correspondent pete williams joins me now. pete, a lot has changed. a lot hasn't changed. the action has been at the state level, legislatures, governors, restricting access to abortion, particularly for federally funded or publicly funded abortion. >> i think for a long time after roe was decided the action was in the court to try to overturn roe v. wade, and that's clearly not gone anywhere. the action has shifted to state legislatures, and since roe was decided, something like 750 restrictions have been passed by the states. now, they range all the way from requiring women to get notification or counseling or have ultrasound treatments, restricting how women can be told that abortion is available. parental consent for minors to have abortion. restriction on the people who provide abortion. >> restrictions on when procedures can be performed and whether you have to have exceptions for the life and health of the mother. the action has all shifted to the states. >> how has the supreme court changed since the days of the burger court when she was first

pete williams, what are the legal implications here? does he have exposure? >> oh, yes, i think so. this seems to be a calculated risk. he will undoubtedly be sued. the clip where he testified in a lawsuit down therebying the people that were suing him may come back after him for money that was paid as a result of winning the tour de france. it seems unlikely he could be prosecuted for purge. the federal government could reopen its criminal investigation of him if he does, in fact, make statements admitting to this, and the justice department could join a false claim or whistle blower lawsuit that's been brought by floyd landis because of the fact that the tour de france team was sponsored by the u.s. postal service, and the claim is the deposit was defrauded. so, you know, clearly he is going to get sued. he is going to have more legal exposure, but it seems to be a decision by his team that they'll just face that and deal with it as it comes. >> and already individuals who are really hurt, ann. betsy andrew, the former family friend of armstrong's, talk to harry smith for rock cen

nbc justice correspondent pete williams joins us with the fallout of today's ruling and where this goes from here. explain how it came down and not so much about cordray but two other appointments, as well. >> reporter: three, in fact. it's a fight of the president's appointments. three members to the nation allay boar relations board. several groups suing the lrb, this specific case, a bottler in the northwest. he said they can't do that because the appointments were improper and therefore they didn't have a quorum. the court agreed with him sunny saying that a president can make recess appointments only during, quote, the recess. which the court said is the single break between the two sessions of congress and the president can only make nominations for vacancies that arise during those recesses. for both reasons, they say that the nominations -- recess appointments to the nlrb and cordray to the condition summer protection board unconstitutional. this is a big victory for republicans. a set back for the administration but let's broaden this out. presidents of both parties have done t

nbc's pete williams. thanks so much for that. >> my pleasure. >> and up next, we cycle on with a possible lance confession. are his sins forgivable? guess what toure says? the boys use capital one venture miles for their annual football trip. that's double miles you can actually use. tragically, their buddy got sacked by blackouts. but it's our tradition! that's roughing the card holder. but with the capital one venture card you get double miles you can actually use. [ cheering ] any flight, anytime. the scoreboard doesn't lie. what's in your wallet? hut! i have me on my fantasy team. what's in your wallet? hut! tintroducing a revolutionary. it new mascara. clump crusher...crusher. 200% more volume. zero clumps. new clump crusher from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl. your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i can't stop eating 'em! what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this s

joining me now to fill us in, nbc news justice correspondent pete williams and jimmy williams. pete, break this down for us. the court's ruling. why were the president's three recess appointments deemed unconstitutional? >> for two reasons. the court looks at the wording of the constitution and says -- it says these can be made during the recess, not any recess. the recess which the court says is only the long break between sessions of the senate. so these little brief breaks like for a holiday, the court says don't count. you can't do recess appointments during them. second, the court said you can only make recess appointments for vacancies that arise during a recess. that's the whole point for this phrase in the constitution. they say back in the days when members of congress could not get on a plane and come rushing back to washington and were in their districts far flung across the country in the early days of our republic, if there was a vacancy, the president didn't have to wait until congress came back to town months later. so for both of those reasons, they say these ap

pete williams, thank you very much. look forward to more of your reporting on this important development. today, a major breakthrough on immigration reform. leading senators from both political parties to agree on a path to citizenship combined first with stronger border security. joining me now for our daily fix, chris calizza, managing editor of post politics.com, chuck todd, nbc news chief white house correspondent, political and host of the daily rundown, and telemundo jose diaz ballard. first, chuck todd at the white house. the president is going to las vegas tomorrow and is making a speech and jay carney has just said that his policy prescription, they don't have specific legislation yet conforms with what the senate negotiating committee. this is an important development. >> that's the news right out of this briefing. >> would the president offer his own plan, a detailed bill he would want to move separately? as late as last week there was some speculation about that, congressional hispanic caucus met here with t

nbc's justice correspondent pete williams is joining me now. pete, good to see you, my friend. >> nice to be here. >> what is the difference between now and 2009? do you see significant difference in security? >> largely in crowd control because they're expecting about a third as many people to attend the inaugural here as were here four years ago when there were roughly 2 million people here. about 600,000 expected this time. give you a little metric. about 3,000 charter buses parked at rfk stadium four years ago. that's the approved parking space, people get off and walk to the capitol. this year, about 1,100 buses have made reservations. that gives you an idea of the relative size. that's going to be the biggest thing. there were five bridges that were completely shut down to regular traffic into washington four years ago. they're all open this year. that's one difference. a second difference is the planners say you'll see a lot more signs, people telling you where to go. they're going to use social media a lot more to try to direct people.

nbc justice correspondent pete williams is live outside the supreme court now. this is about getting blood tests without a warrant. give us some of the background on this case. >> this case comes from missouri, a man was pulled over after its police saw him weaving down the highway. he failed the sobriety test. he couldn't walk and turn around. he couldn't stand on one leg. they asked him to take a breathalyzer, he said no they asked him to take a blood test, he said no he was taken to the hospital in handcuffs, subdued him and forced to give a blood sample without a search warrant. the aclu is representing him. they have appealed that to the supreme court here, the lower courts threw it out and the aclu stays is a violation of somebody's right against unreasonable searches to do something as intrusive as a blood test without a search warrant. the state of monsieur very asking the supreme court to rule that police never need a search warrant in the drunk driving cases because the supreme court has made exceptions in the past for police not needing a search warra

justice correspondent pete williams joining me live now. here's the thing. four years ago security officials were bracing for a record 1.8 million people and they're looking for half that number and they still have a big job to do. are security officials anticipating a differentest is problems this time around? >> no, i think, in fact, they're probably anticipating fewer problems and it's going to be 2 million people and probably a third of that, 600,000 this time. so the big emphasis this year is crowd control because they had so many problems years ago. thousands of people got stuck in a tunnel. that tunnel will be closed this year, so there's no chance of that. they say they'll have more metal detectors and more people to guide them four years ago. better signs and use of social media and that's one emphasis this year and it will be an easier charge just because there is such a smaller crowd, but the security concerns are just as real, craig. they don't change from inaugural to inaugural. if anything they become more complicated every time. there's a thre

nbc's justice correspondent pete williams is here to help explain some of those executive actions. a big one that we know he's going to call for is this idea, pete, of basically ordering the justice department to prosecute people that fail background checks. explain why that hasn't been done before, and how it can be done. >> sure, first of all. the federal law makes it a crime for somebody to falsify, knowingly falsify information to their background checks, saying that they're qualified to have a gun when they're not. presumably, most people know when they've been dishonorably discharged from the military, whether they have the felony conviction, whether they have a misdemeanor, domestic violence conviction. whether they're a drug abuser. whether they've been judged mentally defective, any of the things that would make them unqualified. the fact is, it's a manpower issue. i think one of the things we'll have to watch here is to see whether the administration is interested in beefing up the size of the -- >> some statistics here, divine, what was it, 71,000 people, basically, laid

pete williams, thank you. >>> and the president and vice president just wrapped another big meeting on gun violence with police chiefs and sheriffs from around the country. many of them from cities where recent gun violence and massacres have taken place. this comes just days before a big senate hearing on gun violence. critics are saying that the hearing is stacked with more pro-gun witnesses than gun control witnesses. we'll take a look at that allegation. >>> plus, president obama holds a first joint media interview with someone other than the first lady. and it, of course, is with secretary hillary clinton. >> friendships involve a sense of trust and being in the foxhole together and that emerged during the course of the months making very tough decisions. >> so the big question -- did the interview set the stage for a potential clinton run 2016? what do you think was the motive of that big interview? you can join our conversation on twitter. let us know your thoughts on the motive of the interview. [ male announcer ] there's a story behind the silver of philadelphia cream cheese.

chief nbc justice correspondent pete williams has more for us. >> reporter: in florida, federal agents held away boxes of material tuesday night and wednesday from the office of a west palm beach eye doctor. he and members of the family are big political contributors giving more than $33,000 in the past 15 years to u.s. senator robert menendez. >> this hearing of the senate foreign relations committee -- >> reporter: the new jersey democrat that took over as chairman of the foreign relations economy teet. menendez and melgin appeared last year for a media organization. the senate ethics committee received a complaint of a new jersey republican official who claims that menendez got rides on the private plane to a resort in the dominican republic and elsewhere without disclosing them. >> senator menendez accepted the flights, well, let's see, a flight to the dominican republic, there was a flight to puerto rico, a flight to washington, et cetera, from this doctor down in florida on his private jet which he had failed to report. >> reporter: in a statement, the senator called him a friend

pete williams has more on the new laws for the new year. >> reporter: in california and illinois, it's against the law for an employer to ask anyone applying for a job to reveal user names or passwords for social media sites like facebook. johnny velo says it happened to him. >> it's rue and disrespectful. someone has privacy, you expect them to respect that. >> reporter: though job placement experts advise leaving embarrassing photos off social media sites, employers also don don't have the right to rum paj through a prospective employer's past. >> it's like having the keys to a house and looking through diaries. >> reporter: indoor use of generators or charcoal fires can create a build up of co2 gas. >> a lot of people felt they had no alternative but to bring something in their home. >> reporter: in florida it's now legal to flash your headlights to warn of a speed trap ahead. the minimum wage goes up in ten states, where it's more than the federal rate of $7.75 an hour. washington has the highest of those states at 9.19 an hour. >>> as always, you can let us know why you're awake a

williams. >> it's unlikely he would be prosecuted for perjury, because the only statement he made under oath was seven years ago, beyond the statute of limitations. so it's more likely he would face civil lawsuits. >> reporter: for now, boundless questions remain for lance armstrong, whose answers have yet to come, if ever. ron mott, nbc news, boston. >>> the massacre at sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut, was a month ago today. while we're waiting for washington to weigh in on the subject of guns in america, it was an emotional day in that small new england town. nbc's anne thompson is there for us tonight. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. there is a new group here in newtown called sandy hook promise and the founders say it is not partisan or political. it is a group that wants the nation to listen, to think, and most of all, have a civil dialogue about how to keep tragedies like this school shooting from ever happening again. in newtown, pain has no timetable. >> on friday, december 14th, i put two children on the bus and only one came home. >>

>> pete williams on this story. pete, thank you very much. a former secret service special agent and analyst who worked on president obama's team. evie, nice to see you. >> good morning. >> it's the super bowl for the secret service. >> absolutely. >> when it comes to providing this level of security for this many people, is it the idea to make it as visible as possible or do you somehow want to be in the background to not take away from the pomp and circumstance of the actual event? >> you want to be both. you want to be visible. presence is a deterrence to the bad guys. but you also want to be invisible because you don't want the bad guys to see you. to do proper security, you want both inside and outside. >> for secret service agents, the mindset has to be that this is the day that something could be tried or this is the day that something could happen. you can never allow yourself to fall into a state of calm. >> no, never. whether he's doing this or going around the corner to get starbucks, an impromptu move, you always have to think lik

nbc's pete williams broke the story today on twitter and on msnbc. he joins us now with more on this major development of the pete, tell me more. >> they're going to vote next week, the national board of directors. what they say is they'll look at a policy that would end the national band, and end the national requirement that says no bay people can be admitted as either scouts or scout leaders. instead, if this policy is approved, then and it looks like it's going to be, it would be up to every individual scouting organization to decide for itself what policy to have, so you could well have some troops that will admit gale scouts, some that won't. the scouts say it would be up to parents and sponsoring organizations to decide where to send their children. >> do we know why they decided to make this move? >> they haven't said exactly why, but it's pretty clear. there's been a considerable amount of pressure on the boy scouts. you may remember that barack obama and mitt romney during the campaigns said that the scouts could change the policy. there ha

nbc's pete williams joins us next. >>> plus a state of chaos, the latest on the protests in egypt. >>> gun buyback programs are gaining new momentum this year in the wake of the newtown school shooting. people are pouring into police stations to turn in their guns for gift cards. >> hundreds of people showed up at an event in seattle. some folks were there for an entirely different reason. >> reporter: a full block away from a seattle police gun buyback. >> give you $200. >> the competition. >> i couldn't figure it out at first. >> reporter: it caused gridlock, and private buyers swooped in. >> it's a historical gun. >> i would rather see it turned back into the gun community, use it to promote the shooting sport. >> reporter: others at mitted it was for profit. there were plenty willing to make the sail on the product. >> i'll sell to whoever gives me the most money. wouldn't you? >> reporter: in a very public face. >> no cameras. >> i told you not to take my picture. >> these men wanted privacy. >> reporter: they were even prepared to get physical. eager buyers met with reluctant, t

pete williams, nbc news justice correspondent joins me now from the supreme court. first of all, pete, what do we know about -- do we know any more about levinson other than we see this visual evidence proof of life a couple of years ago. we got sources that this is proof of life and there was a revig rated attempt to try to get him out and find out what the iranians know, but we've had very few clues, if any. >> that's right, these pictures were sent anonymously to the family in late 2010-2011, but his wife put them out to get more attention and build further pressure on what she believes is the iranian government that's holding him and also the u.s. to do more publicly to pressure iran. iran put out a statement through its representatives in the u.s. yesterday saying that they investigated it and have found no sign that he's in iran, but, obviously, the family doesn't believe that. the officials i've talked to say there's simply no evidence he's anywhere else. and so the still -- i guess it's fair to say the assumption of the united states is he's still somehow be

nbc's pete williams looks at a city on high alert. >> reporter: in the airspace above washington helicopters and jets will enforce a virtual no-fly zone for 30 miles in all directions from the u.s. capital. six miles of the potomac and anna costa rivers will be shut down. with 150 blocks of downtown washington closed to traffic, partly out of concern for car or truck bombs. >> we have people prepared for everything. so that's the way we do. we prepare with all of our partn partners. >> reporter: much of inaugural security will be visible for protection and crowd control with counter snipers on top of buildings around the capital and along the parade route. some not so visible. detectors on monitoring the air for toxins and plain clothes security teams watching for suspicious behavior. at the ready near the capitol, thousands of antidotes in case of a chemical or biological attack. no firm figures are available but all this security will cost about $120 million for hundreds of federal agents, thousands of local police, and national guardsmen from 25 states. this second obama inaugural is expe