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welker at the white house, thank you. >>> for the first time the u.s. is publically acknowledging china's test of a suspected hypersonic missile the nation's top general mark milley saying in an interview the test was very close to, quote, a sputnik moment referring to the soviet union's 1957 satellite launch that surprised many americans. milley called the test very concerning. >>> a school board in virginia is at the center of a firestorm. parents demanding resignations after they say a sexual assault on campus was covered up now it is a hot button issue in the state's very tight governor's race here's catie beck. >> you failed. you failed you failed you failed. >> reporter: in loudoun county, virginia last night, parents reach a boiling point. >> resign or be removed. >> reporter: many parents demanding new leadership after they say a sexual assault at a county school was covered up by administrators to advance a transgender bathroom policy. >> all of you must go, and we will take back our schools. >> reporter: a judge finding this week a 14-year-old

lester. >> all right kristen welker, thank you. >>> we're learning of new concerns on that movie set in new mexico before alec baldwin fired a gun that killed the cinematographer and wounded the director officials expected to release new information tomorrow miguel almaguer is in santa fe >> reporter: tonight with our first look on the set of "rust," inside the very church where actor alec baldwin fatally shot cinematographer halyna hutchins, we could soon learn if criminal charges will be filed in the apparent accidental killing investigators say before baldwin pulled the trigger, assistant director dave halls announced the gun was safe for use, usually a job handled by the armorer, hannah gutierrez. what's your take on what's going to happen here >> i think, miguel, that somebody is going to jail. you have a woman who has died, and someone was injured from a gunshot on a movie set where real-live ammunition should never be >> so was it loaded with a real bullet or -- >> i cannot tell you that. >> reporter: also at the center of the investigation, whether the deadly round fired here

here to start us off is kristen welker at the white house. leann caldwell on capitol hill, senior business correspondent stephanie rule and the congressional economic policy reporter tony rahm. so kristen, let's talk about these meetings that have been going on at the white house all day. what are we learning about the nature of these meetings? are they negotiations? are they trying to get close to a deal? where is the president in locking down support from all of these lawmakers? >> reporter: garrett, i think they are trying to get close to a deal, but the white house press secretary was pressed repeatedly on whether the president was going to press lawmakers to come to a final dollar amount today in these meetings and she wouldn't say that that was the goal. instead, sheen continued to use that word progress. so what does progress look like. we know that it the president met with senator sinema, senator manchin separately. now he's meeting with progressives. he's going to meet with moderates later on today. the fact that all these lawmakers

kristen welker, jonathan lemire, and garrett haake, thanks so much. it's going to be a couple of busy days if not more, as we watch whether or not the speaker's optimism is well placed. >> the stunning news out of new mexico involved alec baldwin and the death of a star filmmaker. one person dead and another wounded after the celebrated actor discharged a prop firearm we're told during the filming of a new western. here's the investigation into the incident ongoing as a baldwin spokesperson describing the shooting as an accident. joining me vlad villegas and dan danny cevallos. alec has tweeted his sorrow, this is a star filmmaker killed. a mother of a child. and alec baldwin is also the producer of this film, not just the star of it. >> reporter: andrea, that's correct, we have this tweet moments ago shared by alec baldwin. very emotional. i will read it. he says there are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding this tragic accident that took the life of halyna hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours. i'm fully coopera

. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with peter alexander, kristen welker, and dylan dreyer. >>> and welcome to "today," thank you so much for joining us on this saturday morning. we want to say a very hardty welcome to my friend, hallie jackson, who is here today, she is sitting in for peter this morning who is getting over a cold, fortunately it is not covid. >> nowhere else i'd rather be on a saturday than here with you. >> dylan is off this morning, on maternity leave. we'll catch up with her. >> i can't wait to see rusty and misty the other new baby. >> her new book, that will be in the 8:00 a.m. hour, we're excited about that. >>> we want to begin, we're going to talk about our top story, which is, of course, the ongoing debate around booster shots. we'll talk about, of course, what we talked about at the top, which is the shooting in houston. >>> but we begin with the fda advisory panel recommending anyone over the age of 18 who got the johnson & johnson vaccine should get a booster. in just a minute we'll talk to one of the doctors who serves on that panel. we want t

. >>> joining me for insight an analysis, nbc news chief white house correspondent kristen welker, democratic pollster cornell belcher, anna palmer, founder of punchbowl news and republican strategist brad todd. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >>> good sunday morning. happy halloween. we have a brand new nbc news poll out this morning still with some scary news for the democrats. the overarching message, dtqi (jjt)qq'ce in president bi and their optimism for the country. at least they have right now. just 22% of adults say we're headed in the right direction. a shocking 71% say we're on the wrong track and that includes a near majority of democrats who are saying that. president biden's approval rating stands at a dismal 4% versus 54% who disapprove. two months ago president biden was in positive territory. what's pulling down the president's numbers? look at this set of numbers, just 37% say he has the ability to handle a crisis versus a majority who

a colleague shouted to congresswoman jackie speier, kristen welker says, how close are youed to? turned and nodding implying the answer was yes to maybe having a deal today. this from a group of members of congress meeting with the president today. that seems remarkably ambitious. talk to us what's happening on your end from pennsylvania avenue? >> reporter: right, hallie. we're reading the tea leaves and body language, quite literally nap was the nod that could say how a lot of this stands. it was a member of congress just in a room with the president himself. >> right. >> reporter: we knew that the white house was having these meetings today among seen jer leadership with various committee chairs, and were told by the members themselves that the president ultimately ended up joining that meeting, and we heard a few different things, though, that speak to potential for a deal that's close but also warning signs as were el. hakeem jeffries, chairmanning of the democratic caucus started his caucus talking ar diversity in the caucus and means it in a good way but it speaks to the d

welker has the latest on negotiations >> reporter: the urgent scramble by democrats to reach an agreement on president biden's multitrillion spending plans that he wants to have finalized before he leaves for his high-stakes trip to europe with top negotiators shuttling back and forth between the white house and capitol hill, democratic leaders struck an optimistic note. >> an agreement is within arm's length and we are hopeful we can come to a framework agreement by the end of today >> reporter: but there are still a slew of unresolved issues between moderates and progressives, including how to pay for it now a newly suggested billionaire's tax who earn $100 million or more in three consecutive years, there are questions over whether it is constitutional and key moderate joe manchin is already blasting it >> i don't like the connotation that we're targeting different people >> while other democrats are raising questions about what could be cut out we learned negotiators have dropped paid leave from the package. >> it would be devastating for working women. >> reporter: key progressives t

chief white house correspondent kristen welker has the latest on this. good morning. >> reporter: hi, savannah. good morning to you. just moments ago, two sources familiar with the negotiations tell nbc news, the president today is expected to announce a new framework for his policies. the white house is signaling they expect all democrats to back it. but in an urgent effort to rally support, the president's first stop today, a trip to capitol hill. then he will speak to the nation before departing for europe. >> reporter: in a dramatic last-ditch effort to save significant policies of his president, president biden delaying his departure by hours for an all-important european trip to sell his plan. traveling to capitol hill this morning and later addressing the nation. the white house and lawmakers working overnight to reach an agreement on the president's $1.75 trillion climate and social spending plan. the president looking to travel with a deal under his belt. forced to compromise the plan that started with one of the most sweeping liberal agendas si

kristen welker is in arlington with more for us. >> reporter: hi, savannah, good morning to you. early voting is under way here in virginia at polling places like this one. and the race for governor is razor tight. democrats have won the last four presidential contests here. so this is state is increasingly blue, but republicans are trying to win it back, including those all-important suburbs. looming over all of it, president biden, his stalled agenda and former president trump. this morning, one week until the first big test of president biden's popularity and former president trump's staying power. the election for governor in virginia turning into a terry d republican glenn youngkin are crisscrossing the state in an urgent final push. >> my fellow virginians, this is our moment right now. >> together, we will kee bellwether for both parties. democrat terry mcauliffe and republican glenn youngkin are moving for a final push. >> my fellow americans, this is our moment right now >> together, we will keep virginia blue and move this great commonwealth forward >> mcauliffe is brin

nbc chief correspondent kristen welker has the latest. >> reporter: the urge to meet agreement on president biden's plans to be finalized before he leaved for europe. democratic leaders struck an optimistic note. >> an agreement is within arm's length, and we're hopeful we can come to a framework agreement. >> reporter: there are still a slew of issues between moderates and progressives. they're targeting the 700 wealthiest americans including amazon's jeff bezos and tesla's elon musk. but there are questions over whether it's constitutional. and key moderate joe manchin is already blasting it. >> i don't like the connotation that we're targeting specific people. >> reporter: we learned negotiators have dropped paid leave from the package. >> it would be devastating. it would be devastating for working women. >> joining us now, nbc capitol hill news correspondent leigh ann caldwell. good morning, leigh ann, you've had a busy couple of days. give us a sense what ee in there. >> the biggest blow, paid leave is not going to be in there. they're not giving up. they think there's some hope. the

. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with peter alexander, kristen welker and dylan dreyer. >>> and welcome to "today," thank you so much for joining us on this saturday morning. peter it's good to be with you. thinking about that william shatner story. at 90 years old, he would be the oldest person to go to space. i understand why he has a few jitters. >> think about that, he's 90 years old, which is hard to believe. but 90 or 19 this is no star ship enterprise. sounds like a journey coming up. >> it will be. we'll have fun with that later. >>> first we want to get to our top story this morning. that breaking news overnight, a federal appeals court reinstating that controversial and restrictive abortion law in texas. at least temporarily. nbc's monica alba is at the white house with more on what was a tough day for the biden administration, between abortion and also jobs, right, monica? good morning. >> reporter: good morning, that's right. the temporary ban on abortions in texas coming just one day after clinics there started to serve patients again. it's been a back and f

joining me on set, nbc chief white house correspondent and "weekend today" co-host kristen welker and senior congressional correspondent garrett haake. a lot of titles. kristen, right off of the annual fabulous "today" show halloween presentation. >> that was a quick change. >> very quick change. that was taped. >> so, garrett, let's talk about they came up empty. nancy pelosi's body language was so significant watching her day by day, the optimism and then sort of the fall bravado. >> we found ourselves in a groundhog situation from the end of september where the president came to the hill, a big push to pass something and the votes weren't there. there's a sense among democrats this is now a matter of when, not if they will get these pieces of legislation through. the progressives who blocked the infrastructure vote yesterday simultaneously endorsed the framework for the bigger bill here. they're not so frustrated they're not ready to move. the big question, joe manchin and kirsten sinema who had every opportunity yesterday and since to come out and endorse this framework and haven'

let me bring in kristen welker. it was interesting what the president said at the mlk tribute just now, because he talked about one issue that i'm not 100% convinced will be in this final bill. that's negotiating the prices on prescription drugs. so where are we as far as the white house is concerned? because it seems as if, like i said there does seem the number is close. the details of what that number encompasses is not. >> reporter: it's not close. and there is not a clear understanding of what specifically would be included if that piece makes it into the final bill, chuck. i think what you saw the president try to accomplish with the speech that he just delivered was to layout a set of principles and essentially what he hopes to achieve with this and he used, of course, martin luther king as a backdrop for the principles he says is guiding this process. that's something to see echoed behind the scenes at the white house. the officials saying, look, this is going to be big change as ali just said, that will be

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joining me now, nbc news chief correspondent and weekend today kristen welker. and garrett haake. and jonathan lemire. >> garrett, to you, the speaker of the house, at the hill, we're hearing details for the first time about the state of negotiations that the town hall. >> reporter: yeah, that's exactly right. the speaker sounding pretty optimistic there. even more optimistic, a notice from steny hoyer, speaker of the house, will aim to consider both the infrastructure bill and the build back better bill, a bill that doesn't yet exist by the end of next week. so, the house trying to move fast, trying to capitalize on this perceived mo

i want to go straight to the one and only kristen welker at the white house. her first day back from maternity leave after welcoming her daughter margot back in june. kristen, i'm thrilled you're here. john, i'm happy that you're here, but not as thrilled as i am that kristen is here. punch bowl news co-founder, i'm going to kristen first. i'm getting frustrated. we keep hearing about the meetings, the pictures, but is anything actually happening? any movement? movement is what matters to voters. >> well, first of all, thank you so much for having me and thank you for the warm welcome back. i appreciate it. it's so great to be back on your show. look, i think what you said at the top is accurate. there's a lot of talk. it's not clear how much progress there actually has been. what we do know is that there is a sense of urgency. there are more discussions than we have seen before. it's significant that senator manchin is talking to senator sanders. that is not something that we should overlook. as you pointed out, senator sinema will be here at the white house

nbc's kristen welker, thank you so much. joe, terry mcauliffe sure would like a massive infrastructure package to run on in the last few days. >> he really would. i think it's interesting everyone talks about donald trump and is he going to run again in 2024, how powerful he is, i find it very telling that barack obama can campaign in the state of virginia and it's seen as a plus, joe biden can campaign there, kamala harris can campaign there, and it's seen as a big plus. hugging obama, hugging biden, hugging harris, hugging everybody, it's great. and yet the republican candidate acts like donald trump is radioactive, will not let him get within 100 miles of any of his campaign stops. he won't say nice things about him now. so i think that tells us really all we need to know about donald trump's standing with the most important voters in this election and every election, that with swing voters, it's just not good. >>> let's bring in the third ranking democrat in the house majority, my good friend jim clyburn of south carolin

our special hosted by chuck and kristen welker is streaming on our channel nbc news now. >>> and turning now from the race to be virginia's next governor to the fate of new york's former governor. cuomo has been charged with forcible touching according to documents filed in albany city court yesterday. that's a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail or three years of probation. he's scheduled to appear in court next month. >>> according to the complaint, the former governor touched the alleged victim at the governor's mansion last december. the albany county sheriff filed the complaint but the county district attorney whose office would have to prosecute the case said he was surprised to learn what the office had done. this confusion between the sheriff and the da proves the case against the governor is political, his lawyer says. it was filed more than two months after the new york attorney general filed a 165-page report detailing assault or harassment allegations against cuomo by 11 different women. cuomo denied many of the allegations laid out in the report but resigned a wee

but quite notably in exchange with our own kristen welker a little flexibility in his wheels up time and maybe it could get pushed a couple hours tomorrow, if they feel the president's physical presence here in washington is something that is still needed in order to inch closer to an agreement. as leigh ann just spelled out all the massive pillars and questions are still unresolved on how to pay for it and on what stays in and what goes. the white house you're not saying we're going to be able to solve all of that overnight. it seems more like if anything by tomorrow morning, they're hopeful they could say we have a hand shake agreement on what we believe are some of the biggest outstanding issues. but the window of action is really shrinking here to just near hours before the president does leave for italy and scotland. i will note, though, hallie, he hasn't had much on his schedule today and the white house not ruling out any last-minute invites to lawmakers. last night senators manchin and sinema were here and is that something that could happen tonight? earlier they said they di

the president said it was a criminal policy in that debate with kristen welker. he said there would be a thorough investigation to our colleague of jeff bennett of the policy and that hasn't materialized yet. and a lot of those families, justice is not just reunification, it's what's going to happen to the members of the administration for putting that policy into place. >> it's so slow and what we are not realizing is those are human beings, those are people separated and they still have not been reunited. let's get this movement going. thank you both. hey, jacob, before i let you go, i just got your book, which i love. talking about this issue. will you sign it for me? >> it would be my honor. >> a real-life jacob soboroff autograph? >> thank you. >> thank you for putting the light on something that is oftentimes kept in the dark. >> morgan, thank you. >>> we're following breaking news overseas. a powerful earthquake has rocked the greek island of crete. the developments next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. you're watching "jose diaz-balar

. >> kristen welker, how important then is joe biden being the one who holds this group together? he's someone who ran as a moderate. i think a lot of progressives have been surprised how much they like the way he's handled policy issues so far. does he have to be if not the closer on this at least the glue to keep everyone together while they finish these socks. >> we asked progressives yesterday and they said in fact he is the closer here. >> kristen, we may be able to hear the president here. let's listen. >> i'm hopeful. i think we'll get a good deal. >> are you concerned about hypersonic missiles? >> yes. >> all right, the president wasting few words there asked about the progress on this deal, sounding optimistic as we've heard and asked about concern about chinese hypersonic missiles saying only yes. that is a full segment for another time, but, kristen it goes right back to what we were talking about here, the president as the glue guy on this deal. >> that's right. and from the perspective of key negotiators he is critical to this closing process. look, democratic leaders

with me is kristen welker and leighanne caldwell. how does the news affect efforts to get the outline of the bill in place by the halloween deadline for a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill? >> reporter: good morning, jose. it actually makes it much more complicated, because as the president and democratic leadership and members are starting to work on what is actually going to be in this legislation, the flipside of it perhaps the more challenging part is how they're going to pay for it. and now these democrats have had a huge stumbling block as senator sinema of arizona has not let down on her demand that they do not raise taxes on the highest income earners and they do not raise taxes on corporations above the 21% tax rate that's currently in corporations. now, this has become a huge problem, not only politically, but also practically as well as now they have to figure out other ways to pay for this estimated $2 trillion bill, and politically, they have to figure out how to fulfill a campaign promise that they ran on, whic

welcome back, kristen! >> this is julie and harvey welker from philadelphia, pennsylvania. we want to toast our beautiful and talented daughter and the world's best new mom. welcome back to the saturday "today" show. >> cheers! >> hi there, this is john and margot from washington, d.c. we love the "today" show. we love you, kristen. welcome back. miss you, mommy! love you. have a good show. >> i have a feeling we pretaped that john segment. we've got to check in and make sure everything is still kosher at home right now. congratulations to julie and harvey welker and ed and sue hughes as well, the grandparents, the first on both sides. >> i am just almost in tears watching that. thank you for that surprise. that was so wonderful. i'm so excited to be back. i have of course loved being on leave with baby margot and john but it is really special to be back at the anchor desk today. >> we're excited to have you back. we'll start with the news right now and get right to it. lawmakers headed home for the weekend without reaching any deal on the president's economic agenda. leigh

. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with peter alexander, kristen welker, and dylan dreyer. >>> welcome to today. thapgs for joining us on this saturday morning. reunited and it feels good. a good old fashioned cold. >> nice to have you back, and you're back on a busy day. >>> we want to start with the top story, the details released last night revealing what happened when alec baldwin accidentally shot and killed the cinematographer killing the director on the set. new court documents. >> reporter: court records reveal that alec baldwin was told the gun was cold or without bullets or, in fact, the gun was loaded. the district attorney's office said it's unclear if charges will be filed in this case. but we're hearing from experts there's likely more than one person to blame for such a tragic accident. >> this morning horror and heartbreak. the film industry reeling from a tragic mistake. with more details from the tragic and deadly accident. alec baldwin seen in anguish thursday after firing a prop gun on the set of "rust" killing cinemaing to photographer, halyna hutchins

. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with peter alexander, kristen welker and dylan dreyer. >>> welcome to "today" and thank you so much for joining us on this saturday morning. we are thrilled to have joe fryer here in studio while peter is in rome covering the president's overseas trip. a busy time for peter. great to have you here. >> i am thrilled to be here. i would also be thrilled to be in rome where peter is. peter, good morning, good to see you. >> bonjour for rome one of the world's great cities. we're traveling with president biden, only been here for about 36 hours but have already had four meals. we're off to a good start. there is some real serious business going on here as well. we'll cover that in a moment. >> the pictures of you eating pasta, i'm pretty jealous. we look forward to that and the headlines you have in store peter. we'll check in with you in a moment. >>> we want to get to our top story and the potential game changer in the fight against covid. the fda giving approval friday to the pfizer vaccine for kids between the ages of 15 and 11, which mea

. >> all right this is so fun we should mention weekend today friends peter alexander and kristen welker, they couldn't be here this morning. they have real jobs. but that did not stop them from joining in on the fun. take a look. >> i love it ♪ riding on a horse, duking wit your house hiding in a valley ♪ ♪ can't nobody tell me nothing you can't tell me nothing ♪ ♪ can't nobody tell me nothing you can't tell me nothing ♪ ♪ yeah, i'm going to take my horse to the hotel road, i'm gonna ride until i can't no more ♪ >> there you go. that's how you do it >> fantastic >> way to go >> cool. >> i love it >> we should mention two things. first of all, i don't know where i put the football but that football is a signed football from patrick mahomes. >> where is that football going to end up? >> with dell melvin. also, that trophy, that's the real lombardi trophy so huge thanks from the nfl. i think we have a bigger thanks to that big guy guarding the trophy and the super bowl rings all morning. >> exactly >>> mr. roker, you have a check of the weather >> your weekend outlook, we'l

kristen welker has more on than. >> reporter: president biden and democratic leaders had targeted today to try to reach a deal on his economic plan. at that town hall in baltimore, the president tried to intensify pressure on his own party. he addressed a range of other topics, the fallout and the attempt by the white house to clarify some of what the president said. this morning, the white house already walking back some of president biden's more off script moments from his town hall where he worked to unify democrats around his still struggling agenda and address the economic headwinds the country is facing, including the pandemic-related supply chain crisis, delaying goods ahead of the holidays. the president saying he would consider deploying the national guard to help. >> supply chain issue? >> yes, absolutely, positively i will do that. >> but you're talking about having national guardsmen and women driving trucks? >> yes, if we can't move to increase the number of truckers, which we're in the process of doing. >> reporter: the white house now saying using the national guard is up

welker has that story. good morning >> reporter: hi, hoda, good morning to you president biden had promised sweeping social changes, but with democrats locked in a battle, he's slashing his proposal nearly in half and there's no deal in sight it's a key test for a president who is already facing strong political headwinds. >> reporter: overnight with his economic agenda on the brink, news that president biden may be abandoning his original plan to pay for his massive social spending bill. mr. biden had planned to support the bill through increases in taxes, including the corporate tax rate now with key senator kyrsten sinema opposed to raising taxes on the wealthy and large corporations, top biden aides told democrats wednesday they would consider dropping the provision. but mr. biden still trying to sell the plan in his hometown of scranton, pennsylvania. >> this has been declared dead on arrival from the moment i introduced it. but i think we're going to surprise them. >> reporter: urging progressive and