michael isikoff covers this for is as our national investigative correspondent. he is in washington for us tonight. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. there is a federal investigation into whether top penn state officials and board members may have covered up alleged child sex abuse by former defensive coordinator jerry sandusky, including possible payments of hush money. a grand jury subpoena demands the school turn over records of sandusky dating back to 1998, as well as the computer hard drives of penn state's former president and two other former senior officials. nbc news has learned federal prosecutors also requested files about sandusky from a family of the late coach joe paterno. sandusky is facing more than 50 counts of child sex abuse brought by penn state prosecutors. this new federal inquiry goes beyond that to determine whether there was obstruction of justice or fraud. penn state is fully cooperating, a spokeswoman said. >> latest reporting from michael isikoff in our d.c. bureau. mike, thanks. >>> still ahead as "nightly news" continue

michael isikoff joins me now, what else can you tell us about these new numbers?first of all, they do show the big republican advantage in this new era of super pacs, unlimited donations from wealthy donors and corporations. there were some filings last night, not just by the romney super pac, the main one, which has raised $30 million last year. there's also another big one, american cross roads, run by carl rove, over $50 million, and then you look at the comparable super pac for president obama and you get $6.7 million. far less. now, of course, president obama has the financial juggernaut of his reelection campaign, which is doing quite well, $140 million, hopes up to a billion. but in the world of the super pacs, they tilt heavily to the gop so far, and it's going to give the republicans a big advantage in the fall election. >> we've talked nonstop about the guy who single handedly kept newt gingrich going, sheldon ad lson, but tell us about the other folks. >> quite a few interesting characters, and we're learning more and more about how much money they gave

michael isikoff joins me from pennsylvan pennsylvania where sandusky spoke moments ago.>> reporter: an extraordinary scene on the steps here. after the hearing was over, jerry sandusky comes out with his lawyers and makes a plea to see his grandchildren. that was one of the issues in this hearing today. should his bail conditions be eased to allow him to see visitors including his young grandchildren? he was told one of his grandchildren said all he wanted for his birthday was to see pop. sandusky took a shot at some of his neighbors. that was another big issue in this hearing today. the neighbors complaining he's sitting out on his deck which overlooks a school playground. there was testimony from an investigator saying the school kids have been complaining that man is out there. one of the school children reported to a teacher who relayed that to the prosecutors. sandusky is saying these people know me, they have been in my house. he's talking about the neighbors and he says they have turned on me because of the allegations. it was a surprise to see sandus sandusky, gi

joining me is michael isikoff. the big report is restore our future, the big romney super pac.you learn? >> well, a lot of really revealing information about the big money donors that are bankrolling these romney super pac attack ads that played such a big role in florida. about a third of the 17.9 million they reported in the last six months, seems to have come from big wall street hedge fund moguls, private equity kingpins. we counted seven $1 million donations in that report that was filed last night, more than 60 $100,000 or more. remember the presidential campaigns are limited to $2,500 increments, and here in this new era of super pacs, you could get these giant checks, paul singer, elliott management, one of the really big money donors for the republican party, was one of those million-dollar donors, but take a look at some of these, you know, this overall super pac story, clearly tilts in the favor of the gop. >> it's unbelievable. i was going to say let's put up the graphic. the romney super pac, $30 million. crossroads, karl rove group $51 million in 2011 and the obam

joining me now is nbc's national investigative correspondent michael isikoff. all right.ent through this. you took a deep dive. what is it about, first of all, that scandal? i mean, we call it a bribery scandal but this was not just with money. this was a nasty scandal that wasn't going to embarrass the state of utah. it was the mormon church that felt embarrassed, too. >> right. well, look. the -- at the time people called this the mormon olympics. that's how invested the church was in the olympics. and it was a definite taint because what was called the bribery scandal involved money and lots of favors to the international olympic committee members to get a games to come to -- >> let's be clear. this is sex, food, all sorts of -- all sorts of horrible things. >> it was a very messy scandal. and romney at the time who was head of bain capital was brought in as the white knight savior to take over the olympic committee, save it. there was no question when he came in they were facing a huge projected deficit and there were a lot of concerns that the olympic, salt lake olym

michaeli michael isikoff, let me ask you this. all this negative advertising, something like 92% of which is negative. $24 million spend down here in the last few days. who is paying for the romney piece of this? >> funny you should ask, chris. we just learned that restore our future held back the filing with the fec, which was required by midnight tonight until after romney gave his victory speech. they didn't want to step on it. they didn't want attention. easy to see why. $7.9 million during the last six months of the year. by far the biggest super pac. newt gingrich only raised 2.1 and the obama super pac, only 4 hnt $4 million. far below the ambitious goals they have set. then you look at the list and really see how with the super pacs we get the billionaire donors who can pump enormous amounts of money. seven separate million dollar checks came in from -- to that romney super pac. a lot of energy guys. bill coke of the coke brothers fame kicked in a million dollars. and then there's a strange one from idaho. a devout mormon

nbc's correspondent michael isikoff has the details. >> reporter: accused child molester jerry sandusky makes an appeal to see his grand children. >> one of them said that the only thing i want for my birthday is to be able to see pop. >> reporter: and i a kuss his neighbors of betraying him after they complain he's been sitting on the deck with his dog and frightening their children. >> now i can't take my dog on the deck and throw out biscuits to him. now all of a sudden these people turn on me when they've been in my home with their kids. >> reporter: the former penn state defense coach showed up in court on friday in terms of his house arrest while he awastes trial on more than 50 counts of child sex abuse. his lawyer asked the judge to grant sandusky more freedom to see his grand children, to meet with old friends, and to leave his home to accompany a private investigator to help identify potential witnesses in his case, but prosecutors strongly opposed the motion and want him confined inside the walls of his house. they say his repeated visits to his porch directly overlooking an

joining me now is michael isikoff. you've been going through all the numbers.been studying this. you are our super pac man. late night indeed because there were late filings, but the key things that jump out at you is this huge romney advantage. also when you look at the numbers, the advantage of romney and other republican super pacs against the priorities usa, which is the bill burton super pac on behalf of president obama. >> in the super pac arena, which under these new rules, thanks to the supreme court ruling, unlimited donations from wealthy donors and corporations to the super pacs, the republicans so far have a big advantage. we saw that last night. the $30 million to the romney super pac. over $50 million to american crossroads, the karl rove operation, whose only goal is to get obama out of the white house and defeat democrats in congress. then you look at this -- the democratic side. very little money relatively coming in. bill burton, who runs the priorities usa says 6.7 million total. that includes a secret money arm, by the way, which we don't kn

for "today," michael isikoff, nbc news, bellefonte, pennsylvania. >>> as mitt romney continues to battle for the republican nomination, the question of faith continues to be in focus. whether americans are becoming more accepting of his religion, mormonism. here nbc's kristin dahlgren. ♪ america ♪ ♪ >> reporter: the mormon tab ber knackle choir, until now the best-known voice of an unusual that for many remains a mystery. >> they see themselves as an embattled minority. >> reporter: in a recent pew study of 1,000 mormons nearly half face discrimination. >> when you are referred to as a cult, it is -- it is disappointeding. >> reporter: 62% say they feel other americans are uninformed about their beliefs. but is all that about to change? >> i believe in america and i'm running for president of the united states. >> reporter: with very high-profile members of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints in the spotlight many are calling this the mormon moment. there's the musical" the book of mormon" the twilight series written by mormon stephenie meyer and the most famous church member

. >> nbc news national investigate correspondent michael isikoff is looking at his record as head of the 2002 olympics. i saw him over the weekend with the leather jacket and the 2002 logo on it. tell us more about what you're finding out. >> good morning, kris. mitt romney has long been credited with helping save the salt lake city olympics from financial crisis. the last thing he expected was that he would find himself defensive over how he did it. >> is this a great show or what? >> for 2002, salt lake city olympics were a spectacular event, a key test of mitt romney's leadership. >> when it got into trouble, i said this is an opportunity to make a difference. >> he was tapped to rescue the salt lake organizing committee, engulfed in a bribery scandal, losing sponsors, facing a huge deficit. >> mitt described it like stepping into an empty elevator shaft. >> fraser bull objecting was his executive. he says romney saved the games, recruiting new sponsors, slashing costs, ending lavish board room lunches. >> bought a pizza for $5. cut it into eight slices, charged a dollar a slice.