joining me now chris jansing. and mark murray and colonel jack jacobs and ayman mohyeldin. ld, if he didn't have respect after the hearings be able to earn respect. >> he never really seemed to recover from what was a poor showing in that conformation process. in addition, there have been a number of what white house officials see as

lester. >> nbc's chris jansing tonight, chris, thanks. our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more now on today's release and what was behind it. andrea, should we view this release in the context of a bigger picture? >> reporter: lester, good evening. officials say no. the top spy to america's mysterious armed missions the cia has not been able to penetrate does not signal a diplomatic opening. general james clapper, i'm told, did not meet with north korea's mercurial young leader kim jong- jong-un. but they tell me the u.s. spy chief was carrying a brief message from president obama to him. i'm told the message was short and to the point. the general was the president's personal envoy just to bring home the two americans. u.s. officials are saying this does not mean a warming of relations. they say that will not happen until north korea stops violating agreements to get rid of its nuclear weapons program and stops launching missile tests. in another big obstacle, by the way, to normalizing relations north korea has

our senior white house correspondent, chris jansing, live at the white house. good evening. >> good evening, brian. tonight president obama made his case for the most sweeping changes to immigration policy in nearly three decades. pushing the envelope as far as white house lawyers advised him he could. it was a personal, pragmatic and historical argument for giving legal stats us to nearly five million of the estimated 11 million people in the u.s. illegally. >> are we a nation that tolerates the hypocrisy of a system where workers who pick our fruit and make our beds, never have a chance to get right with the law? or are we a nation that gives them a chance to make amends, takes responsibility and give their kids a better future? >> reporter: so who benefits? immigrants in the u.s. illegally for more than five years, but whose children are residents, will be able to work, get a social security number, but they are not eligible for social security benefits or obamacare. more dreamers are eligible too, the undocumented immigrants who have grown up in this countr

>> chris jansing on the north lawn of the white house. chris, thanks. >>> the mystery of which american special forces operator, which navy s.e.a.l. killed osama bin laden may be a mystery no more. a former navy s.e.a.l. has stepped forward to take the credit. but his story doesn't like e but his story doesn't exactly line up with one told by one of his colleagues. and the navy tonight is incensed that either man is talking at all, traditionally something special forces do not do. our report from nbc's cynthia mcfadden. >> reporter: s.e.a.l. team 6 has -- the elite navy unit that took down osama bin laden, has been glorified in films like "zero dark thirty." but today three years later the team is embroiled in a war of its own with two former s.e.a.l.s. breaking their code of silence, each telling a different version of the historic event. >> i'm not telling secrets or breaking rules. but we're going to have a lot of fun. >> reporter: robert o'neill has been on the speaking circuit. >> you don't need a plan to execute, you just execute. >

brian. >> chris jansing from the north lawn of the white house. chris, thanks. we have some graphic results to show you from last night. here's how we mean it. new york daily news turning hope to nope. "time" offers the face of change, both using the obama campaign iconography. chuck todd watched it all last night fueled by at least two hours of sleep. he's back to talk about what happened. i did hear from democrats today. they think the president needs new people around him. >> i heard from democrats today said they thought the president made a mistake not accepting more responsibility today at that press conference. what's amazing here is this was a horrendous night for the democratic party. the president isn't talking about changing his style or white house staff. the same people that led congress today, harry reid and nancy pelosi, both have announced they're going to do it again. so there is some concern among democrats that there's no accepting of responsibility. and this, by the way, we're going to quickly pivot to 2016 very quickly. and the democrats, i

brian. >> chris jansing on the north lawn for us tonight. chris, thanks. >>> there's new fallout tonight from the sexual assault allegations surrounding bill cosby. just this afternoon nbc's entertainment division announced they are no longer moving forward with a new sitcom that cosby was supposed to be in. that news comes as other companies move to distance themselves from him as another woman has come forward with allegations. we get our report tonight from our national correspondent kate snow. >> reporter: the new nbc sitcom was being produced by the team behind the cosby show, this time the elder comic would star as a patriarch of a multigenerational family. but today nbc pulled the plug saying only, the cosby project is no longer in development. last night netflix said it was postponing the launch of a standup comedy special that was supposed to air the day after thanksgiving. and a canadian comedy network has also scrapped plans to air a cosby special. >> it was quite a validation that the voices of the victims are finally being heard

speaking from the white house tonight to outline his plan our senior white house correspondent chris jansing is there for us this evening. chris, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. tonight in a ten-minute speech white house officials tell me the president will push the immigration envelope as far as his lawyers think he can go and make his case for acting alone. already both sides have launched aggressive campaigns to win the war of public opinion. at the washington offices of united we dream, immigration advocates are gearing up to defend president obama. >> we are giving a -- to what many think is the problem. >> reporter: tonight the president will propose the most sweeping changes to immigration in nearly three decades allowing nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants to stay in the u.s. legally. people like miguel who's son always worried he'd been arrested. >> it's an awful feeling to know that. to know that my parents the only thing they're doing is working to provide for their kids to provide food, to pay for the rent. >> reporter: under the president's plan the family c

we have two reports beginning with nbc's chris jansing at the white house. >> reporter: good evening, lester. the official u.s. government statement said simply they're on their way home. quite an understated admission. adding to the intrigue the man who helped win bae and miller's release is america's top spy, james clapper. he's on the plane with them right now on the last leg of their journey to freedom. the long nightmare for kenneth bae and matthew todd miller ended dramatically, like something out of a spy novel, the secret character to win their release is america's top intelligence official, james clapper. after abruptly canceling a meeting in new york, he flew to pyongyang for negotiations. >> this was the final step in a very well choreographed ballet. this was something that had been predetermined. so there was no real uncertainty when he arrived in pyongyang as to the fact that he was going to bring these two guys back. >> reporter: bae's family campaigned tirelessly for his return and said in a statement, we have been waiting for and praying for this day for two years. ou

let's go to nbc's chris jansing on duty at the white house. good morning to you. what can you tell us about this? >> reporter: well, i know that this conversation has been going on for the last several weeks between chuck hagel and the president. it started last month. he offered his resignation and obviously it was accepted this morning. he becomes the first casualty after that disastrous election for the democrats and the senate now being taken over by republicans. there were a lot of questions raised from the very beginning. he had what was widely considered to be a bad confirmation process, and he never seemed to quite recover, never made his way into the president's inner circle in spite of the fact that they had been friendly during the time that they both served on the foreign relations committee when they were both in the senate. hagel being the only republican on the foreign policy on the national security team here at the white house, and so the decision was made that they needed new leadership at the pentagon. chuck hagel -- >> i'll interrupt here. we h

let's start with nbc's chris jansing at the white house. o the immigration system in almost 30 years. and we also know it's highly controversial and the republicans are very unhappy about it. we've known for a while it's going to impact nearly 5 million of the 11 million undocumented immigrants here in the united states. but we're getting some more information abouo

a live report with all the details in just a minute with chris jansing. >>> and governor cuomo declaring a state of emergency and activating the national guard. this is, of course, as the state reels from a deadly weather emergency. troopers are using all terrain vehicles to search those stretches of interstate 90. these are from a truck driver who says he's been stuck since 1:00 a.m. tuesday. nearly 100 cars are trapped in that stretch, including one owned by a woman named katelyn bataglia. she spoke to a local affiliate this morning. >> we are like sitting ducks. we are stuck with 4 feet surrounding the car, front to back, nobody's getting out of their cars, nobody really can. so we're pretty much just sitting here waiting for something they shouldn't. >> look at those pictures. others are stuck inside like this dog here, bonny. sorry about that, bonnie. upstate new york is seeing more snow today, and could see 2 more feet tonight and tomorrow. this is, of course, after a record-breaking 5 feet that fell all around buffalo in the last 24 hours. we'll have a detailed report in a couple

but we begin at the white house with nbc senior white house correspondent chris jansing. chris, this is a major moment for this administration. what are you hearing about the speech the president will give tonight? >> well, reverend al, we're getting new details on what will be sure to be the most sweeping change to the immigration system in 30 years. it's going to be about ten minutes long. the president will lay out his justification and some of the details that will affect nearly five million americans. as you pointed out, some of the biggest winners, if you want to put it that way, are parents of children who are citizens. so they came over here illegally without documentation. their children were born here. now they have a chance to stay. they will be allowed to get a social security card. they'll be allowed to work. what they won't get is social security benefits or obamacare. there's also a big new path for dreamers. more dreamers will be eligible. it expands the age. there's no longer an age limit. their parents, however, will not be eligible. and there's expanded

. >> nbc senior white house correspondent chris jansing is live at the white house. there's been a lot of speculation from republicans about what might be in this executive order. do we have any sense of specifically what the white house will announce, what the president will announce? >> reporter: we know the white house is going to brief key democrats tonight. they've been invited to dinner here at the white house. harry reid, dick schumer, dick durban. i have been talking to some immigration officials and people who have some knowledge of the plan. and it seems to fall into line with what the president said he was going to do and what white house officials have been telling me he wants to be aggressive, but as aggressive as he can be, given the legal parameters that he's been given by his justice department as they've been looking into just how far he can go. so, we want it ko tovr as many as 5 million people. and we should keep an eye on expanding the doca program, the deferred program and not necessarily parents of dreamers, which is something a lot of democrats

to the white house we go, chris jansing is standing by. chris, you heard chuck talk about the challenge. it's a late night on the north lawn. i assume it's lights out. if not, just figuratively. literally behind you. tomorrow is a new day and these initial moves are going to be watched very closely. >> yeah, and to andrea's point, as well. i talked to a high-ranking democrat in the house who called what happened tonight an implosion. so you had these calls that were made tonight on the house, senate and also governors on both parties. but tomorrow really is kind of the day of reckoning for the president. you heard him earlier today when he was in one of these radio interviews suggesting that the real problem here was that the map was stacked against him. they knew this was coming. i think they hoped it wouldn't be this bad. tomorrow, senior officials tell me he's going to lay out what he plans to do. not just for the next two years, but very intensively for the next couple of months during this lame duck session. and then friday, in another

let's turn to our white house correspondent chris jansing. what are you hearing about potential replacements? >> there's a short list. michelle folonoi who was the highest ranking civilian at the pentagon and also the highest woman to ever hold such a position in that male dominated organization, she is kbed to be somebody who has a lot respect for the pentagon and the hill. also jack reid, the senator, he was an officer in the 82nd airborne in the army. and ash carter. a former harvard professor. his time at the defense department goes back many administrations. i am told we should not expect that that new person will be named today. in fact, it would be very difficult for them to get the bowl rolling in such a way they could have confirmation hearings before the end of the year and the republicans take other the senate so that pressure is not on. of course with the thanksgiving holiday, this is a short week. >> we will watch as you will too. of course, we'll have more on nbcnews.com. tonight on nbc news with brian williams. for those of you

chris jansing is there. an interesting timing for this announcement that happened during sweeps and a lot of them watching the big bang theory and now the president on the road with this announcement rather than in washington. who is he selling this to? >> there is this huge battle in the court of public opinion. he is not going to change minds. john boehner is not going to be won over, but he does think there is a case to be made. he had to win back a lot of these pro immigration groups and latinos. they were frustrated. he said from the beginning of his presidency this this was something he wanted to do. now that he has finally done it. there is the political reason and the last time they did an action, they were eligible for it and they like to see that number or better this time. they are working with the immigration groups to get people informed about how they can participate. >> we will be watching this all day. chris jansing, thanks for the update. we will hear from the president again this afternoon

good points, chris jansing. country plunging. the weather channel's mike seidel has more from minneapolis. >> reporter: in the twin cities, they are bracing for the arctic shock. not half bad here at the mall. the shoppers coming out. also a big football game in town. under cloudy skies with a breeze and temperatures in the mid to upper 30s today. the average high is in the mid-40s. we're a little cooler than average. take a look at the jet stream, a big kink coming down all the way down to the gulf coast. that's going to usher in the arctic air. then on monday, we'll have a snowstorm. it will start late sunday in montana. we have winter storm watches out there. that band of snow will stretch across the plains into the midwest. in minneapolis/st. paul, looking for 5 to 8 inches of snow. and snow all the way into parts of northern and lower michigan. chicago will miss out on the snow this time. the cold will come in beginning tuesday and tuesday night. we're talking about very cold temperatures. here we could dro

chris jansing joins me now to make sense of this. any idea why the president weighed in now?eporter: the fcc deadline is in a few days and something the president has been in discussion about. the president said in this spring he would take a close look at this issue. there has been major discontent from net providers, google and netflix and on and on about proposals made by the fcc. this will set up how the internet is viewed and used in the future. interesting to note the head of the fcc, tom wheeler, politics makes strange bedfellows was one of the president's supporters in 2008 and 2012 one of the telecom lobbyists and pushed back and said the fcc is an independent organization and will make their decision independently. >> the administration offered that estimate yesterday of how many people they expect to sign up for health coverage by the end of next year. that number surprisingly low. have they explained that? >> reporter: it is. this is a situation where we will start that open enrollment period again on saturday. look, these numbers are in a lot of flux. you talk to

we pick it up now with chris jansing who is covering the thanksgiving tradition. chris, i'm telling you, you have covered head of state and the current head of state, but nothi nothing, i think, the turkeys stay in better hotels than i do. i think that's a tragedy. >> $350 a night and, apparently, they kept the cooper family, this is from cooper farms, which is why i'm so interested in this story from my home state of ohio, they kept them up all night gobbling and how would you know which room they are in. kind of a state secret. if you walked by and looked, there was a little bit of maybe hay or something on the floor for the turkeys that was coming out from the front door of that room at the willard hotel. okay, their names. >> they trashed the hotel with hay. >> i dount wan't want to start vicious rumors. but, yes, extra work for the maids this morning for the hotel staff. they had things to do. mac and cheese, which would lead one to believe that they are going to be eaten, but neither will end up on a platter. there has been a contest to vote who will be the n

the president -- marine one is just lifting off and he's heading to chicago. >> chris jansing at the white house. we do hear it. thank you very much. after the break, lisa bloom dweflz into the details of darren wilson's testimony with the documents released overnight. the work ahead for law enforcement in the community as they deal with repairing a relationship teeming with suspicion and mistrust. >> i didn't do anything. i did not do anything. >> move back! clear the street! get out of the street or you're subject to arrest! >> we didn't expect to get justice here. we don't expect do get justice from the system. the system doesn't provide justice for anyone. ♪[ soft holiday music ]♪ can you help me up? [ snow intensifies ] [ sleighbells ring in the distance ] aleve. all day pain relief with just 2 pills. get back to being you. get ready foat the volkswagen engineered holidsign-then-drive event. right now, for practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a new volkswagen. like the sporty, advanced new jetta and the precisely engineered passat tdi. ah, th

joining me now chris jansing. and mark murray, and colonel jack jacobs, and ayman mohyeldin. chris, a loss of confidence. we saw the debacle that was hagel's conformation hearing but one would think over two years secretary hagel could, if he didn't have respect after the hearings be able to earn respect. >> he never really seemed to recover from what was a poor showing in that conformation process. in addition, there have been a number of what white house officials see as missteps including the way he characterized the threat posed by isis very different than what we heard from the president. recently he sent a letter to susan rice on another topic. there were some questions within the administration why he did that. if that should have been done. he was brought in, really, to look at winding down the wars in afghanistan and iraq. in fact, now there's a whole different set of circumstances on the ground there. new national security crises have come to the forefront. foremost of which is isis but ebola and others. they didn't feel like he was the person to do it. he never real

nbc chris jansing joins us live. what a pleasure to see you. we're not expecting to hear from the president until later this afternoon, right? >> yeah. a little before 3:00 eastern time. and aids new it was come. they new a defeat was coming for democrats. most the democrats i've talked to say they didn't expect it to be this bad. the phrase white house officials are using he is clear eyed. expected to do some outreach. he did last night. he called up republicans and democrats who won in the house, senate, and gubernatorial races and he's got a meeting set up for a leadership on friday. but there's some tough rowing ahead. they're focussing on some of the things they think they have in common. there is a space where there can be some policy agreement, infrastructure is one area, and maybe that would be finance with some sort of corporate tax reform. they're looking at the results from last night. look at the red states that improved a higher minimum wage. both sides talking about the economy. we know that is still upper most in the minds of vot

let's start with nbc's chris jansing at the white house. and chris, what details do you have about the president's plan? >> well, we know it's sweeping, it is the biggest change to the immigration system in almost 30 years. and we also know it's highly controversial and the republicans are very unhappy about it. we've known for a while it's going to impact nearly 5 million of the 11 million undocumented immigrants here in the united states. but we're getting some more information about who exactly. it provides a temporary reprieve for the parents of citizens of this country. so if they came here illegally, had a child, the child then grows up as a u.s. citizen, they could apply for this temporary reprieve. also expands the number of dreamers. those are the folks who also grew up here but are not legal, who were not born here, brought here usually as very young children and have grown up here, many of them who are of college age. it would not cover their parents, it would also not cover a farm worker, something that had been a big push. and a

chris jansing standing by at the white house tonight. chris, what else have you learned from the obama white house tonight? >> let's look at this in the context of this being the last election where the outcome will have a direct impact on his presidency. the white house knows the clock is ticking to get something done, so they have been planning a post-election strategy, and the president kind of signalled today that that strategy may be based on losing the senate. okay, the first part of this bipartisan outreach that they're planning, they have invited congressional leaders to the white house on friday to see where they might find some places to work together and they think there are places. they also think that republicans if they do control both houses of congress, it's in their interest to show they can get things done. so some of the things they're talking about is corporate tax reform. that would fund some infrastructure changes, some infrastructure projects. early childhood education. a lot of republicans at the state level have s

let's go right to nbc's senior white house correspondent chris jansing. the white house says they're going full speed ahead with executive action on immigration. do we have a timeline as to when? >> we don't at this second but the president is about to go into a meeting with his senior advisers. they said all along these decisions would be made when he got back from his big trip. a lot of decisions to be made. the timing, of course, could be influenced by what we're hearing from congress. first of all, a letter from senate democrats came over to the president just today pledging their full support for this executive order while house republicans are trying to fight it. they're getting dozens of their members to sign on to put a provision in the upcoming budget that would say that there would be no coverage for any provisions for this immigration executive order. so, we're waiting to hear what comes out of this meeting. no public appearances for the president today. so, we won't hear from him directly. at least we don't expect to, joy. >> nbc's chris jansi

chris jansing is back at the white house. a lot of headlines out of beijing. what stands out as the biggest one in your mind? >> reporter: all of them are about trade and the economy. there was an announcement this morning about visas. that's important. these were one-year visas for chinese nationals who are coming into the united states, now for students, it will go to five years, ten years on some of the business and tourism visas. very important, the president said, will create billions of dollars in business for the united states. it's going to work the other way for americans going there. but i think you're right about the big meeting that's coming up. the bilat between the president and president xi. and there's a lot of focus on climate change, but also on can they come to some agreements that will open up closed parts of the chinese markets for the united states or ones that require chinese partnerships, that will be huge. the trade agreement, you talked about 11 countries. the white house has been sort of trying to tamp down expectations for a big tra

we get more on this tonight from our senior white house correspondent chris jansing. >> reporter: while president obama today worked on human rights in burma, at home, the outrage over immigration reform isn't waiting for his weekend return. >> i'll just say this. we're going to fight the president tooth and nail if he continues down this path. >> reporter: that path, the white house is now finishing a set of proposals to allow as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants to stay in the country legally, including parents of children who are american citizens and those with high-tech skills, all by executive order, without the okay of a new congress. >> we'd like for the president to recognize the reality that he has the government that he has, not the one that he wishes he had. >> reporter: but the democrats' midterm election drubbing clearly didn't discourage the >> president. what i'm not going to do is just wait. >> reporter: the white house and immigration advocates unmoved by some republican threats to hold the budget hostage if he moves on reform. >> backlash to president's action

chris jansing, senior white house correspondent.p $2.5 million. >> you still owe large two places you shouldn't. why do you want door number three? >> how else do i get out? >> if i give you this money and you don't pay me back, there are no rules. do you understand the gravity of this situation? >> i understand. >> john goodman, welcome back. good to see you. >> thank you, good to be seen. >> you grew your hair back. >> i did. >> it was liberating. >> it was. >> was that the first time you shaved your hair? >> no, i did it for broadway five years ago. >> you look good in that. i think that's great. you are never going to have to worry. i was looking at you as i walk behind you. >> i have other stuff to worry about. >> you are a guy who is known to make a huge impact on a movie with even a small role, which is a huge compliment. why did you like this role? >> because it was small. >> how much time did it take? >> i never played anybody like that before. real sharker, loan shark. leg break. and i wanted to work with mark wahlberg. >>

chris jansing. >> >> thank you, mr. president. i want to follow up on a couple things. start with immigration. are you concerned that if you sign an executive order on immigration before the end of the year, it will scuttle whatever chances there may be for there to be some sort of compromise on the issues that you talked about and i wonder that given this unhappy electorate clearly and they seem to be disappointed with both sides pretty much, why they punished the democrats more than the republicans by far? >> well, as i said, when it comes to the political analysis, that's your job. but what is also true is i am the president of the united states and i think understandably, people are going to ask for greater accountability and responsibility from me than from anybody else in this town. appropriately so. i welcome that. and, you know, the commitment that i will make to the american people and the way i've tried to conduct myself throughout this presidency i'm going to wake up every single day doing my absolute best to deliver for them. there are areas where we made re

but first, we start with chris jansing at the white house. we saw last night he's getting on a plane later today. is there a sense of tension at the white house or sense of relief? >> i would say the feeling here is unapologetic and determined. i had told you the day after the election. they were kind of shell shocked here. the president's take on what happened was very different. it was we still have this office for more than two years and it's our responsibility to take advantage of it. he was determined to do them. at a briefing with a number of senior white house officials yesterday who were intimately involved in the crafting of this plan, they feel confident they have the legal justification, that they haven't gone further than they can justify. they also feel they're going to take the republicans at their word. and i think you heard in what the president said yesterday. he is not in any mood to back down. he said if you don't think i have the power to do this if you think that i shouldn't be doing it this way, pass the bill. that's sor

. >> and i want to go quickly to the white house with chris jansing. rning. >> the president spoke for about nine minutes last night. did that give us any insight into how the justice dipt might proceed? >> well i think it was an indication certainlyious jose that this is still an ongoing investigation. if you listen to the president, it was very carefully worded. it was tightly focused in two areaed. one was a call for calm. on the second part it did not address specifically what happened last night. he talked about this as an example of race relations in general in america and what we should do moving forward. and there is a legal reason for that he can't say or do anything to give an indication that he was trying to influence that in any way. he never said what his reaction was to the grand jury decision jose. >> and he was asked if the he would be going to ferguson. any indication he may be think of heading over there? zbl well he hasn't ruled it out. a lot of people are speculating. maybe he would add on that trip. i'm told that's going to happen f

nbc's chris jansing reporting live. what do we know, chris, regarding this meeting on friday? what are you hearing will the tone and will the president assert himself regarding executive action as he did yesterday? >> you know, listening to the sound bytes it sounds like the honeymoon is over before it started but they do have this meeting tomorrow. both sides say they do want to find areas of common ground. it's in both of their interests. let's look at the president first. he's already being called the lame duck. his staff knows he's only got a couple of months to set the tone for the next two years. they're important to his legacy. they're important to getting things done for the american people. on the republican side they're no longer going to have the excuse and point the finger at harry reid and the democrats in the senate. they're going to show the congress. you list the things they say they're going to do. u thing it's important to point out the things that i're going to do. the president has said repeatedly by the end of the year, he's going to take some action on th

>> indeed, chris jansing.ave more on the president's plan coming up next on the "today" show after news 4 today. >>> 6:49. maryland officials begin counting absentee ballots. it will likely resolve tight races, including the race in the sixth congressional district. a vote canvas at 10:00 a.m. in gaithersburg. republican challenger bongino has not conceded. the 6th district includes montgomery county and parts of four other counties. >>> the massive air bag recall left millions of drivers without a key safety feature in their cars. bertha, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, aaron. yeah, they are just trying to get to the mom of this. safety regulators are ordering honda to hand over documents and answer questions under oath about potentially defective air bags. they were made by takata corp., which received a similar order last week. they are looking for internal memos and e-mails related to the air bags, field reports, warranty and legal claims. it's really unfathomable thinking you have an air bag that

nbc's chris jansing live at the white house. good morning. great to see you.n the president's short list? >> new name surprisingly surfaced last night. that's homeland security secretary jay johnson. he's worked at the pentagon before as general counsel. most recently he really earned a lot of respect here. one of the major architects of the immigration plan the president put forward. people say it could make it difficult for his confirmation hearing if nothing else it could make for tough questioning by the republicans. the president would have to replace the person at the top of homeland security. a couple of other names are out there. former number two, ashton carter worked at defense under a couple different presidents. he is actually a theoretical physicist. he was a harvard professor. he was number two and number three at the pentagon. the current number two who served in the marines is also on that list. don't necessarily expect anything this week jose. it's a short week first of all. there's no rush because it's clear the senate would not vote on this

chris jansing it at the white house. kelly o'donnell is at capitol hill. chris, i want to start with you. this vote spares the president from breaking out his veto pen. you heard mcconnell keystone coming back early next year. what's the white house going to do? >> the white house knows that. they realize it's a new ball game with the senate majority being republican next year. but they also know it's not completely a veto proof majority. so they see this as potentially an opportunity and although they won't say this explicitly it could be a little bit of deal making going on. so the president will threat been to veto. he has implicitly said that and josh earnest and others of the administration have said that as well. if they can come to a deal on some things that are very important to the president, that's one possibility. at least in the short term it saves the president from that confrontation and moves it off into january, jose. >> and come january, kelly, republican controlled senate does that mean this bill is pretty much a done deal? and the other q

jose. >> chris jansing, thank you very much. in just a couple of minutes, we're going to go live to capital for the latest on the immigration showdown with congress. >>> a weather alert this morning. as parts of the deep south are waking up after a night of severe storms. tornado watches and warnings were posted from louisiana to north carolina. even a portion of florida. if it's not severe weather, it's a deep freeze. that same system is bringing cold along with snow and ice up through new england. nbc news meteorologist bill karins is tracking it. what are we looking at this morning? >> oh, a lot of extremes, jose. one of them was a very strong tornado. in the rural sections of north florida. north of tallahassee. it actually hit the prison there. the prisoners are safe but cars were tossed. there is a potential for additional tornadoes. we only have one tornado warning now to the due east of coappalachia. 1 to 2 hour delays from la guardia to newark to philadelphia. now, for the snow. we've watched overnight right around 2 to

nbc news senior white house correspondent chris jansing and nbc justice correspondent pete williams. t with you if we can. the likely new senate majority leader mitch mcconnell put it bluntly. he said her nomination should be considered in the new congress. so will the white house try to push this thing through in the lame duck session, can they? >> well, peter, yes, they could. they've certainly given no indication they intend to. pat leahy hasn't given any indication this is his priority. he said an nsa bill on surveillance is his priority in the lame duck session. i'll state the obvious, this is a white house that is politically damaged from the last election. they also think she's going to be confirmed. in spite of the one thing you raised, which is about this proxy fight for immigration. it's not just the two senators you name. there are at least three others who have suggested along the way sort of a litmus test for them would be whether -- would be what the attorney general nominee has to say about executive orders. but loretta lynch is somebody who is probably the least contro

>>> we go to chris jansing. we've got a few more details about what the president is going to say.r: look, this is going to be a pr war and it's going to be huge and the administration is getting groups behind it many of them are going to stage rallies. some of them are going to be holding viewing parties tonight. and the president himself who we've already reported is going to las vegas to officially sign this executive order. on the other side, they're saying this is

. >> nbc news senior white house correspondent chris jansing joins us live now. 16 congressional leaders gathering shortly. what is going to get done, if the question, if any. >> yeah. obviously they have a lame duck session coming up. and they have a trillion dollar spending bill they need to look at to keep government running. we heard from mitch mcconnell there's no government shut down coming. they're going to take care of some of that kind of business. the president has asked for additional funding for ebola, for example. but there's also obviously the long-term issues. when you hear both sides talking about what their real focus is, look, they saw what happened on tuesday and they see what the exit polls are. people are interested in the economy. the president thinks that after the jobs numbers today up 209,000 he has a good story to tell. but the republicans are also saying that is going to be their focus is job creation and the economy. so while over the last couple of days since the election we've heard some, i guess you can call it rhetoric over things like obamacare and immigr

>> all right, chris jansing at the white house.on's failure at times to sell its policies contributed to the midterm losses. but they're not giving up yet. >> it's not enough just to build a better mousetrap. people don't automatically come beating to your door. we've got to sell it. we've got to reach out to the other side, and where possible persuade. no matter how frustrating it can sometimes be, for any president to deal with an opposition that is pretty stubborn, and where there are really strong differences, you just got to keep on trying. >> and joining me now was one of the newest members of that opposition, florida republican congressman elect carlos caballo. thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much for having me. >> does this new class in congress have any intentions of trying to work with the white house? what are you hearing from your n newly elected colleagues? >> i'm confident that republicans in congress want to show that ee can move forward an agenda for this country that will lead to economic growth, job gr