. >> foroo closer at this very tight race, we go to nbc's bill neely. bill, good morning. >> good morning, frances. well, they are still counting the vot in israel's hotly contested election, but here at benjamin netanyahu's election headquarters, they say he's won and t he's won the right to be israel's longest serving prime minister. duelling election claims. benjamin netanyahu says he has won again and he is forming a government now. jubilation at his rival's heerquarters. formy chief benny gantz claims he's won, but it is too closto call. president trump's role perhaps decisive. the president was like a running mate, starring in netanyahu's election videos. >> he's tough. t's smart, he's strong. >> reporter: giftihe prime minister by moving america's embassy to jerusalem, recognizing the golan heights as israel's land.u but netanyahs damaged by corruption charges he's facing that he denies. he's never faced a closer election, and tonight his fifth term in office is far from a done deal. here at his headquarters, they may with celebrating, but it's is

our bill neely is in sri lanka and has the latest. >> reporter: today more bombs. three exploding in a vehicle as troops try to defuse them. two dozen people arrested. tonight the government is blaming the easter massacres on an islamist group with foreign help but warnings were ignored. ministers telling nbc news they had a tip-off that suicide bombers would attack churches. yesterday there was no security her why weren't the churches protected if you had a warning? >> well, how many churches to be but we inform. we inform there is a -- we never expected an attack of this magnitude. >> reporter: churches and hotel restaurants blown to pieces. at least four americans among the dead. deter kowalski just arrived at his hotel when a man at the breakfast buffet detonated a suicide bomb. just on friday he said and the fun begins. love these work trips. see you soon, sri lanka. among the dead a fifth grade student karen from sidwell friend school in washington d.c. and the richest man in denmark fashion billionaire lost three of his four children. the first blast at a ch

bill neely, our chief global correspondent in tel aviv. that is it for me. thank you for watching "velshi and ruhle." i'll see you back here at 3:00 p.m. eastern. now surprise, surprise, katie tur, still with us. >> still with you. >> i love it. >> do you? >> yeah, i do. i do. it's fun. >> i love it too. >> all right. enjoy your next hour and see you. >> see you in an hour. >> it is 11:00 a.m. out west, 2:00 p.m. in washington, faced with a surge in immigrants attemptings to cross the southern border and a protracted border over his border wall, president trump decided according to new reporting from nbc news, that the best way to stem the crisis is to reinstate a policy of separating migrant families. the very same policy that the trump administration last year denied even existed, the same policy that resulted in the separation of some 2800 families, the same policy that the president himself ended with an executive order back in june. two sources tell nbc news that it was kirstjen nielsen's refusal to make that reversal that set her at odds with the presi

bill neely, thank you. >>> back in this country after days of protest, today police released body cam video two of officers opening fire on a car near yale university in new haven, connecticut, with two unarmed people inside. and tonight the new video raises even more questions. here is ron allen. >> reporter: this newly released body cam video shows the moment police confront paul witherspoon and his passenger fired!nie washington. >> reporter: a hail of bullets. >> shots fired, argyle street. >> reporter: fired by two officers who said witherspoon and his car fit the description of a suspect and vehicle in an attempted armed robbery, and he made an abrupt move toward them. >> the investigation is still evolving. >> reporter: today connecticut state police, now leading the investigation, reveal they believe the driver may have been following an order to get out of his car. >> there are indications he was told to open the door, yes. or come out with his hands up. >> reporter: police say no gun was found at the scene, and washington and witherspoon haven't been charged. she was slightl

nbc's bill neely has more. >> reporter: tonight, duelling election claims. benjamin netanyahu says he's won again, and he is forming a coalition now. jubilation at his rival's headquarters. former army chief benny gantz claims he's won, but it is too close to call. president trump's role perhaps decisive. the president was like a running mate, starring in netanyahu's election videos. >> he's tough. he's smart, he's strong. >> reporter: gifting the prime minister by moving america's embassy to jerusalem, recognizing the golan heights as israel's land. but netanyahu was damaged by corruption charges he's facing that he denies. he's never faced a closer election, and tonight his fifth term in office is far from a done deal. here at his headquarters, they are celebrating, but it's israel's president who will decide who can try to form a government, and that could take six weeks. lester? >> all right, bill neely tonight on israel, thank you. >>> and here at home, a monster storm is on the move. tens of millions under a triple threat. floods already in the pacific

nbc's bill neely reports from colombo. >> reporter: another explosion in the capital. another bomb that went off a few hundred yards behind me. s as army experts were trying to defuse it. it was in a vehicle parked outside this church, one of the targets yesterday. clearly this threat is not over yet. this is st. anthony's church where more than 70 worshippers were killed yesterday when a suicide bomber walked in during easter sunday mass and detonated his explosives. families had prayed together. they died together. hundreds here killed and injured. among them two americans confirmed dead. one injured. and one american unaccounted for. the fbi is on the ground here helping local investigators. police here say of this identified the terror group behind this. it is a radical islamist group but it has no history of such terror attacks and the government is saying it couldn't have done this without the help of an international terror network. so yesterday three churches and three luxury hotels targeted. another explosion here today. this island clearly tense and the threa

nbc's bill neely has all the details from tel aviv. >> reporter: this is being seen here in israel as a rather desperate move by a prime minister who is in the race of his life, running neck and neck with an opponent who has never been in an election race in his life. on national television, benjamin netanyahu promised that if he was reelected he would annex 10%, territory seized by the war, it is home to about 400,000 jewish settlors. the problem is that it's also seen by palestinians as part of their future state, their homeland, and they're angry about benjamin netanyahu's pledge. the palestinian negotiator saying this throws the region potentially into chaos and into a cycle of violence. >> and this man, mr. netanyahu, should be held accountable to all the actions and policies that he's pursuing to destroy the two-state solution. >> reporter: benjamin netanyahu running a very close race with a man he used to give orders to, because benny gantz who leads the new blue and white party used to be the chief of staff of israel's army. a well respected man, but totally inexperienced in p

let's begin our coverage with nbc bill neely in tel aviv. we're starting to see exit polls coming out. as we expected. elections in israel are not generally won with a clear majority. can we learn anything from these new polls? >> yes, ali, good afternoon. what we can learn is that this is too close to call. before i give you some of these numbers, let me just explain a little bit because it's not like america. it's not a first pass the post system. two headlines. number one, which is the largest party? benjamin netanyahu's party or benny gantz's party. his former chief of staff, the man he commanded. and the second figure is who conformed a collusion? governments are coalitions, but going back to the first figure. 19 out of 20 governments in israeli history are formed by the largest party. so, having said that, here are the exit poll results. i've got three of them, actually. they all show, well, two out of the three show that benny gantz's party is the largest. one says 37, 33, 37 gantz and 33 netanyahu. and another one says 37 good, aa an

bill neely covering a crazy election night.hank you very much. >>> before i run, really fast, since you're here, there's no queen in england. the queen says you get to form the government first and then you try. there's none of that in israel. they literally tomorrow are going to be horse trading, correct? >> yep. it's going to be an absolute debacle. this is the problem with the israeli political system. it's gross and all of the sausage making is going to be out in public. honestly, it's the only real true democracy in the middle east and you look at it like oh, my god. but it looks like bibi will get it again. >> i think it's going to be a crazy 10 to 14 days for sure. thanks for the quick lesson there. >>> coming up -- congress hearing on white nationalism and internet hate speech on the internet and it's immediately attacked by hate speech on the internet. speech on the internet why accept it from your allergy pills? most pills don't finish the job because they don't relieve nasal congestion. flonase sensimist is different

joining us now from tel aviv bill neely. bill, how are things shaping up there so far?> reporter: good morning. voting has begun and the closest israeli things in a decade. this really is all about one man, a referendum on benjamin netanyahu, the man who has led israel for the last ten years. many israeli are tired of him. he's facing charges on corruption. he's facing his toughest challenge from a man, the former head of israeli's army. but netanyahu has a trump card in his back pocket almost literally. he's been campaigning as if donald trump was his running mate. trump is on his posters, in his campaign video and just yesterday trump designated iran's revolutionary guard a terrorist organization. that's gone down very well here. trump is giving netanyahu gifts although just a few days ago he said both main contenders were good people. the poll is suggesting netanyahu is the one who will be able to put together a right-wing coalition and remain in power. it would be his fifth electoral victory and make him in just a few months time israel's longest ever serving leader

joining me, bill neely. and former undersecretary of state for diplomacy. richard stengle. ll, what is the latest out there 1234. >> yeah, good afternoon, katie, i'm at benjamin netanyahu's election headquarters, where he's hoping maybe even in about 15 minutes time to be throwing a bit of a party, that's when the tv exit poll results come out, it will give us the first indication of how things are going. poll results come out. look, this election is about two words. benjamin netanyahu. a referendum on his 13 years in power. extraordinary. that's about a fifth of the length of time that israel has existed and many israeli voters are fed up with him. and he has been panicking within the last few hours. he has issued a video saying our turnout is 20% less. if you don't go out and vote for me, i will lose. in the last few hours he also tweeted his thanks to president trump calling him, my dear friend. it is as if president trump has been his running mate. as you say, he has given him political gifts that no prime minister could have dreamed of. so, netanyahu has had plenty of h

nbc's chief global correspondent bill neely reports. >> reporter: another explosion this n the capital morning. another bomb that went off a few hundred yards behind me. as army experts were trying to diffuse it it was in a vehicle parked outside this church. one of the targets yesterday. so clearly this threat is noter yet. tht. is s anthony's church where me than 70 worshippers were killed yesterday when a suicide bomber walked in during easter sunday mass and detonated s explosives. families have prayed together. they died together. hundreds here kled and injured. among them, two americans confirmed dead. one injured and one american unaccountedor f the fbi is on the ground here helpg local investigators. police here say they have identified the terrorroup behind this. it is a radical islamist group. it has no history of such terror attacks and the government is ave done couldn't this without the help of an international terror stnetwork. yeday three churches and three luxury hotels. another explosion today. this island clearly tense andhr the tt here not over yet. bill neely, nbc n

nbc's chief global correspondent bill neely is watching all the action in tel aviv. n't even closed yet, but there could be closer than previous elections with netanyahu. bill? >> reporter: that's for sure. all the polls are suggesting with just two hours left to vote that this is the closest election in -- at least a decade, and certainly for benjamin netanyahu, he's in the fight of his life. and just an hour ago, he released a video telling his supporters, look, you've got to get out and vote. this is an emergency. he's claiming that the turnout for him is 20% less than that for benny gantz. he saying if you don't vote, we will lose. it seemed like more than electioneering, gantz has never run a political campaign before, has no political experience, no foreign policy experience, is circumstantial according to the polls polling -- is certainly according to the polls polling very well. >> and he doesn't have foreign policy experience, but he's a military guy. he has more strength as a centrist left person than previous challengers to netanyahu. >> reporter: that's ri

bill neely is in the country's capital of colombo. >> reporter: mass mourning after a mass killing. scores of victims buried today. this small christian minority targeted and now terrified. across the nation minutes of silence to mark the time the bombs exploded. this was the latest blast. three bombs exploding as troops tried to defuse thell debris sti scattered floor a church and this morning a startling claim. government minister said investigators believe these attacks were in retaliation for the massacre ofli musms in new zealand last month. but he offered no evidence. >> why weren't the churches protected if you had a warning. >> we never expecte a attack of this magnitude. >> reporter: ministers admit there were warnings of suicide bombin and apologize for not passing them on. >> were you given any warning? >> no. >> nobody said athing from the police? >> no. >> you had no security? >> no, now we have the tsecuri. >> late. >> yes, absolutely too tete. >> repor at least four americans are among the dead. police have made more arrests here. e government said one or two localup

bill neely, nbc news, sri lanka. >> the u.s. ambassador to sri lanka s ad there was clear failure in the system. she adds the u.s. had no prior knowledge of a threat before the attacks. >>> our beautiful springtime weather may not be so wonderful iff ou are one othe many people suffering with seasonal allergies. your running nose and itchy eyes could be more than just a nuisance and they may also ivve a negat effect on your mental health. dr. winer joins us to talk about the connection between and mental health. and i don't think most people would put these together and i certainly don't think they would for the reason that is really the reason, the science behind this. tell me about it. how are they connected. >> so first off, when people think about time of the year to feel badly emotional and they think about the winter time. >> dark, dreary, no sunlight. >> cold and you're not going outside. >>easonal effective disorder. >> a lot of people don't realize, seasonal effective disorder just means a certain time of year contribut

. >> nbc news chief global correspondent bill neely has made his way to tel aviv and is there followingnal hours before election day for one of our key allies. bill, for folk whose have not been following this election as closely, mr. netanyahu's chances right now? what are they? >> reporter: i think 50/50, craig. it is neck and neck. the polls really very close, but, of course, the voting only begins tomorrow. just listening to that, it's not often that you hear any u.s. presidential candidate call a prime minister of israel racist. it's a pretty extraordinary statement and the come because benjamin netanyahu has pressed the panic button. he has said that he will, if re-elected, annex part of the west bank. not all of the west bank, but the jewish settlements. it's about 10% of the west bank with about 400,000 jewish settlers. he says the trump administration knew in advance that he was going to say this, and i have been speaking to one of his deputy ministers a former israeli ambassador to the u.s. michael oren who says really americans shouldn't be surprised by what benjamin netanyah

meanwhile, my colleague, nbc's chief global correspondent, bill neely, got the response from the kremliny what can be described as gloating here over the mueller report. over recently what is seen as the u.s. political class tearing itself apart. >> joining us now, we're lucky to have chris dickey, nbc and msnbc, contributor, in the house at 30 rock. it's good to see you on this easter sunday, chris. >> it's nice to be here. >> reflect on what bill neely is saying and the way russians are reacting to the mueller report. >> what the russians have been saying again and again, and they've been saying since the night the elections came in was putin has won. the reaction that goes out to the russian people is this is good for you. putin has won. they saw the mueller investigation, and trump would say this himself, as an optical of improving relations with the united states. he says there's no russian interference, which is a complete lie. and they also say this opens a new chapter in russian-u.s. relations. it may make it easier for trump to be much more friendly, maybe even start lifting san

for more, let's go to nbc news chief global affairs correspondent bill neely who is in sri lanka. >>, from the capital under curfew. the sri lankan government says it knows who carried out these attacks. it was seven local men, the suicide bombers, from a sri lankan islamist group who had foreign help. now, they say that this couldn't have been carried out, this attack, without foreign funding, planning and expertise, and that does seem to be logical because while this group that they've identified is an islamist group who has promoted the isis ideology for a long time. it has absolutely no history of terrorist attacks like this. remember, this was a sophisticated attack that would have taken months of planning. u.s. intelligence officials tell nbc news that isis may have inspired these attacks but that there is no evidence that isis or al qaeda, no evidence yet anyway, had any direct involvement in these attacks. so the question is, who are these foreign terrorist groups who helped the locals? why did these attacks take place at this time? and crucially, chris, why weren't they stop

nbc's bill neely has more from tel aviv. >> reporter: this was a big last-minute promise from benjaminanyahu in a close race. he says if he's re-elected he'll annex part of the west bank, seized by israel half a century ago, and home to nearly half a million settlers. a pledge aimed at winning votes from the ultra right who called for this for years. his deputy minister says president trump shouldn't be surprised by it. >> the assumptionen before pres obama and even the president bush that thosedereace agreemen angr at netanyahu's pledge. >> this is throwing the region as a whole into the cycle of violence, counterviolence, and chaos. >> reporter: netanyahu is under pressure, and he's using president trump like a running mate. >> he's tough, he's smart, he's strong -- >> reporter: trump features in election videos, president putin, too. but netanyahu's running scared. the man who's running him close is a man who used to obey his orders -- the former head of israel's army. benny gentz has never stood in any election before now. >> i am confident -- >> reporter: he says opinion polls and

bill neely is on the story. bill, good morning.veryone.on it is a nati here in sri lanka. scores of funerals taking place this morning of the more than 300 people known to have died in these bombings. but it's also a day of fear and of anger and of recrimination because politicians are blaming each other for failing to stop these attacks in spite of warnings. andn extraordinary claim this morning from the government tt the motive might have been global revenge. a government minister saying that the bombings were f retributionor attacks onin muslims christchurch, new zealand, last month. but he offered no proof of this. and a short while ago, there was a claim from isis that they were behind these bombings. they've claimed a lot of things in recent years and offered no evidence and indeed this morning they offered no proof that they were involved although the u.s. officials tells nbc news that the localro islamist g is inspired by isis. and also this morning, terroalert.ar police wng of vehicles in this city that may contain explosi

let's bring back medi hassan and bill neely. bill, how is that idea playing, the idea of prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying if he's reelected he will begin annexing the west bank? >> reporter: well, benjamin netanyahu often pulls out a surprise just 48 hours before voters go to the polls and he's done it again with this. needless to say it's not gone down well among the palestinians. what he was suggesting was not annexing the whole of the west bank, which would be an absolutely extraordinary move, but suggesting that the jewish settlements in a strip of the west bank representing about a tenth of the west bank, about 400,000 jewish settlers that that strip would be annexed or might be annexed if he is reelected as israel's prime minister. i mean, it is seen a little bit as netanyahu pressing the panic button because he is in a neck and neck very close race with a man he used to give orders to, benny gantz the former israeli chief of staff who is heading this new blue and white party and really giving netanyahu a run for hi

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bill neely for us in sri lanka. >>> now back to the mueller report. top democrats in congress raising the possibility of impeachment proceedings against president trump. kristen welker has more on that. kristen, good morning to you. >> craig, good morning to you. we're here live on the white house south lawn where the president and first lady are about to host the 141st easter egg roll. it's a tradition at the white house. it comes as president trump just returned from florida where he was celebrating easter and fuming about some of the revelations in the mueller report. the president back at the white house this morning after spending easter sunday with his family in florida. attending service and tweeting about the mueller report. calling it a hit job. the president repeatedly attacking the special counsel's findings. all while maintaining that he's never been happier or more content. mueller leaving an easter service in washington declining to answer questions from nbc news. >> sir, could i ask you a couple questions. will you testify before congre

privacy activists and technology expert bill neely told us regulating platforms like once stop is going to prove a tall order. i think it's very difficult to have some casual regulation that covers all sorts of card types of content that might be harmful that actually caters for the different nuances between different cultures and all the different sort of messaging platforms and communications media obviously you have some communications techniques some platforms that one to many and facebook or twitter would come to mind you have others that are more one to one the sort of individual communication that we see is far more private there are ethical dilemmas in terms of the extent to which we're going to truly don't know the extent to which we're going to monitor it and on top of that many of the platforms the focus of one to one communication all the very platforms that are in incorporating some form of group should at this time and encryption is going to make it absolutely impossible and therefore i think there are technical and legal issues here that are going to be very difficult to

bill neely has the latest. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah, you join me at the scene of another about 30 minutes ago, about 200 yards down the road, unfortunately, police have moved us in this direction before that went off. i'm at the scene of a shaered church, where more than 70 worshipers died. dozens of tourists killed also in this here at st. anthony's church, one eyewitness described the scene after the atck, he said, on the ground it was a riverf blood. in the air ash falling like snow. r be morgan.rning that will worshipers at mass, the victims of mass murder, hotel restaurants blown to pieces, among the hundreds dead and injure two americans confirmed killed, one wounded. one unaccounted for. just before 9:00, the first blast at st. anthony's church in ki cmeter batured on a dash-cam video. inside, carnage, families praying together died together.e resc working and in blood stained pews. nearly half of the victims dead and injured were praying here at st. anthony's, church they

nbc's chief global correspondent bill neely joins us now from tel aviv. hey, bill. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, hoda. it is israel's closest election in about a decade. benjamin netanyahu has been israel's leader for about a fifth of its entire history, but today he's facing a tough challenge from a man he used to give orders to, and he's been campaigning as if his running mate is president trump. israel's prime minister voting today to save his job. he's the face of israel on the world stage, but benjamin netanyahu is fighting like never for, facing corruption charges, a tough challenger, and a referendum on him. >> this election's about the same thing every israeli election is about for nearly a quarter of a century. it's about two words -- benjamin netanyahu. >> reporter: his challenger is a man he used to command, the former head of israel's army, benny gantz. polls have them neck and neck. >> i'm absolutely confident. >> reporter: but netanyahu has a trump card, literally. president trump is on his campaign posters. >> he's tough, he's smart, he's s

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let's go live to bill neely, who's live in tel aviv. , explain this to me, at one point they both declared victory and that's not the case anymore. >> no. when i was at netanyahu's party headquarters last night and for a while they were very down because they thought gantz might have it. but it does look like -- here's the thing, in terms of parties, it's a dead tie. it's 35 seats to benny gantz's party, 35 to netanyahu's. but it's all about collisialiti building. when you take those figures into account, it looks like 65 for netanyahu and his allies and 55 for benny gantz. so it does lock like netanyahu will be able to put together a collision. those talks with the president won't start until next week, but it does look like netanyahu he has done it again. the big questions now are, what will he do with it? will he follow through, for example, on that promise to annex bart of the west bank? can he stay out of jail, steph, because he faces three charges of corruption? and what price will his right wing allies exact to be in his coalition

man to get states when someone does a one nine flag or seller and you know no one celeb mikey got bill neely. i gained domino one i gave him for the end of four pin no one come prepared. i gave my son a guy gagne annual day one hundred two new weekend kind of can tell you weekend yabba minded and have been a dyke. you know when he was on that. car dash about and you can go and buy new i mean the trial continues you can languish in a bank. and this were left school and went to live with endorse. there was soon tension the soul gets a bunch of adults he gives a new financial color is when i know when i'm down i'm so game a gun gives money to one of us and michael is one of the band and some x. in our girl you know to be two now and you know i knew when i didn't think. i know my mother's i know about calling. people. soon after his arrival in kurt youngest girlfriend had a baby boy. the child and his mother live near the hospital with relatives. who were that's my baby. his name with. his move. away from some life before the birth of his son leon to head for the baby girl with the school friend

reporting from moscow today, our own correspondent bill neely says the kremlin is paying close attention to the report. >> reporter: they are poring over every page of it and here is why. they want to know what the weaknesses are in the american political system. they want to know if donald trump gave orders to his staff, why did they ignore him. i remember being here just before the inauguration and an official told me they had already a 14-page psychological dossier on donald trump. they are looking for every opportunity to add to that dossier, to work out who is up, who is down in the white house, who gets listened to, who gets ignored. >> we are fortunate to be joined tonight by michael mcfaul, our former u.s. ambassador to russia. ambassador, first off, this is an ongoing act of electronic warfare. where is the outrage? >> brian, like you and i have talked about for years, it was a major, sweeping, systematic attack as the mueller report states. by the way, the mueller report doesn't talk about all of the different aspects of it as you rightly mentioned a couple of minutes ago, and

for more, let's go to bill kneel neely. >> reporter: this is a referendum about one man who has led israelen years. many are sick and tired of him. he's facing allegations of corruption and bribery and he's facing his toughest challenge from a man he used to to, benny gantz, the former head of the israel a say i am mr. security. mr. israes hims a safe pair of hands. but mr. netanyahu has a trump card in his pocket, almost literally. running as if trump is his running mate. yesterday, mr. trump handed him a gift by designating iran's revolutionary guard as a terrorist organization. the polls say mr. netanyahu has the best chance of putting together a coalition and winning a fifth election victory. >>> coming up, how go fund me is fighting the phonies. first, caught on camera. a wild crime spree in the streets of salt lake city. you are watching "early today." that's "gentle by design". with an extra purified active ingredient that's gentle enough for even young pups, like rosie here. boop. but tough on ticks and fleas. oh yeah. nope. not today! [grunt] sliced it. use with caution in dogs wi

as nbc's bill neely reports, moscow is focusing on other aspects of that mueller report. >> reporter: the kremlin criticized and condemned the mueller report but perhaps more surprising is its contention oat there is n proof in it as one official said, not a shred of evidence of any russian interferencen the 2016 u.s. election campaign. we know that simply isn't true. mueller said in his repor the interference was sweeping and systematic. but the kremlin denies there was any interference a says the report is a waste of money. it will worsen russian/u.s. relations. but don't think for a moment that the kremlin is simply smissing this report. it is pouring over every page of it because this report shows how president trump and the trump white house operate. the kremlin will be looking at why, for example, trump gave orders junior officials simply ignored thoserders and it's also looking at the report for clues as to what it might do if indeed it has anything planned for the 2020 u.s. election campaign. nbc news, moscow. >>> we have posted the full redacted mueller report on our nbc w if

bill neely is in moscow and now msnbc global affairs analyst hans. bill, let me start with you, new reaction from russia this morning on the report on election interference. what are they saying? >> yes, hallie, perhaps unsurprisingly the ministry have criticized and condemned the report. perhaps more surprisingly, they say it contains no proof, indeed. one foreign ministry official saying not a single piece of evidence that russia interfered in the 2016 election. now, we know from the mueller report, that is simply not true. mueller said it was sweeping and systematic. the kremlin saying, look, nothing new in this. no interference. it's a waste of money. it proves russia phobia in u.s. political circles. don't think for a minute, hallie, this means the kremlin is dismissing this report. they are poring over every page of it and here's why. they want to know what the weaknesses are in the american political system. if donald trump gave orders to his staff, why did they ignore him? i remember being here just before the inauguration and the official alr

bill neely is in moscow with the latest reaction. >> reporter: hi, phillip, from moscow.as been only what can be described is gloating here over publication of the mueller report, most recently over what is seen here asu.s. political class tearing itself apart over mueller. and there's been a lot of reference in newspapers and so on to, for example, senator elizabeth warren's call for president trump to be impeached. but don't think for a moment that russia is simply dismissing this report. it is pouring over its nearly 450 pages to find out how president trumpoperates, how the trump white house operates. it will be noted, for example, that when president trump gave an order to an official, that that order was simply ignored. so for the kremlin, that is fascinating detail. so they will be really interested to hear how their efforts to interfere in 2016, they have, if you like, a report from robert mueller detailing that and that will be interesting for them if, for example, they do want to interfere in the 2020 presidential election campaign. phillip, back to you. >> bill

. >> for more on this, bill neely joins us live from tel aviv. we're joined by foreign affairs experts elise lavin. what's at stake for netanyahu. >> good afternoon, guys, this election is about two words. benjamin netanyahu, it's a referendum on not just his 10 years of continuous power. but he's been prime minister for 13 years, that is one fifth of israel's entire history and many people are fed up with him, he's fighting for his political life and it's a real fight, more than any he's had before. he's also fighting for his personal freedom, because he's been indicted on three counts of bribery and corruption. if he loses to the former chief of staff of israel's army, he will undoubtedly face those charges in the summertime. if he wins he may try to form some kind of coalition that will protect him from those indictments, maybe even pass a law that may prevent a sitting prime minister from facing indictments. so it's about his political survival, but also staying out of jail so it really matters to him. >> a lot of president trump's move towar

nbc chief news global correspondent bill neely is standing by with the very latest there. bill?if you like, that this election is all about. it's about benjamin netanyahu. it's a referendum on him. amazingly this man has been israel's leader for about a fifth of the country's history. many people, though, are sick and tired of him. he's been -- he's facing allegations of corruption. he may well be indicted on those allegations. but he's got a trump card in his back pocket, literally president trump. trump is very popular in israel and benjamin netanyahu has been playing on that. the two of them are together on benjamin netanyahu's election posters and election videos and, of course, president trump has been bearing gifts to mr. netanyahu, moving the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. recognizing israeli sovereignty over the golan heights and just yesterday designating iran's revolutionary guard as a terrorist organization. all of these very helpful to netanyahu and many israelis worried that they simply don't want to give up this unique and rather generous relationship for

joining us now from columbo, sri lanka, nbc news chief global correspondent bill neely. bill? up join you join me on a very somber easter sunday. there was nanother explosion, another bomb. army officers were looking at a suspicious vehicle, there was something inside that bothered them when suddenly whatever it was inside went off. now, the question is how 24 hours after the main attacks did this vehicle get through? it just goes to prove that the threat here is clearly not over. i think we can roll in, you'll probably see the moment of that explosion and it will give you some sense of what happened here more than 24 hours agriculture on easter sunday morning. i'm here at saint anthony's church where more than 70 worshippers died. a suicide bomber came into this church during a mass and blew himself up. and that was the case at many other locations, three hotels, two other churches. it's the biggest attack on christians in asia in living memory. and you know, this island had and the police say they know the group responsible for, there it's an islamist group. it little known,

bill neely there in sri lanka. thanks. >>> a story out of california now. a man drove his car into a group of pedestrians. this morning police say he may have done so on purpose. it happened tuesday evening outside of san jose. eyewitnesses say the driver did not slow down or swerve. the car hit people in the crosswalk and on the sidewalk. then hit a tree. eight people, including a 13-year-old boy, transported to local hospitals. some had serious injuries and police are still trying to figure out a motive. >>> now to a case that's sending shock waives this morning. for the first time a distributor of prescription drugs in the united states and former executives facing criminal charges for drug trafficking. kate snow has covered the opioid crisis for us extensively. this has a lot of attention when it broke on monday. who are these distributors? >> craig, savannah, good morning. distributors who are basically the middle man between drug manufacturers and your neighborhood pharmacy. one of the largest in the u.s. and two former executives are facing charges t

bill neely is following the story in tel aviv in israel where pollsters are just stumped on who will desperate move, appeal for votes from a prime minister who's in the race of his life. neck and neck with an opponent, benny gantz who's never run, an election race in his life. so in order to win votes benjamin netanyahu suddenly on television last night announced a promise that he would annex part of the west bank. now, that's land captured by israel in the 1967 war. so it's been under israeli military rule for half a century and is now home to about 400 thousand dollars jewish settlers and talking about 10% of the west bank. but the problem is that for the palestinians that 10% is part of what they've always seen as their future state. and they are angry. as for a peace deal, we need jared kushner's famous according to president trump deal of the century maybe just around the corner, an agreement, possible agreement nicknamed here the dead on arrival deal. before that, of course, comes tuesday's election. benjamin netanyahu running neck and neck with a man who he used to give orders