i'm pete williams. sitting in for gwen ifill. tonight on "washington week." the president takes to the road to put out wildfires over health care reform. >> the way politics works sometimes is that people who want to keep things the way they are will try to scare the heck out of folks. pete: how fear about an end of life provision has become the viral talking point in the reform debate. the start of the school year also means flu season is just around the corner. >> younger individuals and pregnant women appear to be much more vulnerable to serious disease. pete: the government's plan to get ahead of the swine flu virus. hillary clinton spends 11 days in africa. but was it a lost in translation moment that overshadowed her mission? >> you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state. i am. pete: questions of substance and standing for the secretary of state. and while u.s. troops draw down in iraq, the fighting intensifies in afghanistan. on the eve of presidentia

and back to pete williams. pete, there's a lot in here but at the same time there's a lot we don't yet know. >> right. among the things we do know is what holder wants to look at. some of these allegations of abuse and a few others that are still classified that are said to be even worse, about ten in al where interrogators appear to have gone well beyond the bounds of what the cia was authorized to do. we don't know what they are because 44 of the report's 109 pages are like this -- they're all or mostly blacked out. we don't know what those other cases are. it does seem clear that eric holder would not call for an investigation, though, in three other categories -- the cia operatives who did follow the rules, the bush administration officials who came up with this enhanced interrogation program, and then the justice department lawyers who approved it, brian. >> and, andrea, this is going to amount to another examination, more material out there representing the united states. let's talk about legacy, the legac

we begin here tonight with our justice correspondent pete williams at the supreme court building. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, judge sotomayor watched the vote at the federal courthouse in new york about half an hour away from the public housing project where she grew up. and around the country hispanic groups were celebrating. sotomayor! sotomayor! sotomayor! >> reporter: huge cheers in los angeles where hispanic supporters joined to watch the historic senate vote. here and at similar gatherings around the country pride in having a supreme court justice from the nation's fastest growing minority, now 15% of the population. >> i was just so elated, thrilled. i had to jump up. this was a moment we have been waiting for our entire lives. >> the yeas are 68, the nays are 31. >> reporter: her confirmation was a bulletin on the network telemundo. she was confirmed by a wider margin than the last supreme court justice, samuel alito nominated by george w. bush but got fewer votes than the other bush nominee, john roberts. who was supported by half the senate democrats. sotomayo

he could face a long prison term and will be sentenced in october, brian. >>> pete williams in virginia for us tonight. pete, thanks. >>> one of the most e-mailed stories on the entire "the new york times" website tonight has to do with a hot topic, wherever two people sleep together, and that is should the bedroom be warm or cold for sleeping? it turns out the ideal temperature, this is science here, for sleep is actually pretty cool, between 60 and 68 degrees. hope we're watching at home. people who have a hard time falling asleep, might benefit from turning the ac up or the heat down. it's what the experts are saying. i'm just saying. when "nightly news" continues in a moment -- it's not quite "the russians are coming" but are the russian subs off the east coast? the cold war is over after a and then there are the indicator-light warning, radar-sensor-linking, blind-spot-penetrating side mirrors of the all-new ford taurus. so what doesn't show up in your mirror, can still show up on your mirror. we speak car. we speak innovation. introducing the all-new taurus from ford. drive one. i

nbc's justice correspondent pete williams joins us from the supreme court tonight. pete, good evening. >> lester, good evening. there's never anything quite like what we saw here today. how it happened where it took place, how it was covered, even when on a saturday. this was a day of firsts. >> good morning and welcome to the court. >> nearly everything about this sayceremony made history. as her mother salina held the bible and her brother juan stood by, chief justice john roberts led her through the oath. >> i sonia sotomayor do kohl let mely swear -- >> reporter: formally making her the first are hispanic supreme court justice. >> so help me god. >> congratulations and welcome to the court. >> friends and family members applauded and she hugged her mother who raised her as a single parent after her father died when she was 9. where she was sworn in today was symbolic, too, a formal conference room at the supreme court. and for the first time, cameras were allowed in to report record the event. just before in a private ceremony, roberts led her through another oat

joining me live, nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. once again, pete, this is going to be historic in that we get to watch the supreme court justice taking the oath live, but it's the supreme court. it's the location that's different, right? >> right. live at the supreme court. we've never seen this before. and the reason is that usually, they take one swearing-in in private at the supreme court. they have to take two oaths. the other at the white house. this time they're doing both at the court and televising one of them. she'll have some supporters on hand to watch this, and both the white house, and the courts say the reason they're doing this is that it was president obama's idea to make the point that justices are supposed to be independent, and not beholden to the presidents who nominate them. and to make that point, he'll even stay away from today's swearing-in. we will be able to see it live on television. not from the courtroom at the supreme court building, from one of the conference rooms. she will take her seat on the court

i want to ask you, pete williams, about the decisions by er eric holder. but first, on the politics of this, and the fact that the president is saying, it's up to eric holder, he seems to be trying to run away from it. savannah guthrie, as a white house correspondent, you're watching the president say, it's eric holder's decision, it's not my decision, i want to look forward, i don't want to look back, but i'm hearing a lot from cia former and current people saying, he's trying to have it both ways. >> well, it's very interesting. i think it's one of the more perplexing issues that comes up with this. on one hand, you do have him saying, let's look forward, let's not go back. and yet to be so deferential to eric holder, such that eric holder can essentially go against that and recommend that there be at least a preliminary inquiry, you wonder what's going on here. and it's another one of those occasion where is it seems the president has struck this middle ground. so maybe it's a solomon-like decision, but now he's got a two-front war. on the one hand, som

pete williams, thanks as well. leave that topic there for now. >>> update on breaking news we brought to you moments ago. unfortunately, the new york fire department tells nbc news that a construction worker has, in fact, died in an accident on the throgs neck bridge. it's believed the worker fell or became trapped under a crane on the bridge. you see the picture there, a live scene. obviously, a sad and horrific thing to have happen. >>> coming up next, afghanistan seems to be stuck in political limbo as the death toll continues to rise for american forces on the ground. is it time to start talking about exit strategies? that's right, exit strategies in afghanistan. not talking iraq. nbc richard engel joins us live from kabul next. ♪ (laughing through computer) good night, buddy. good morning, dad. (announcer) oreo. milk's favorite cookie. people notice my devotion to family. people notice my love for animals. my smile. my passion for teaching. my cool car. people notice i'm a good friend and a good listener. peop

let's bring in nbc's pete williams into the conversation here. pete, we just heard from ellen, a friend of judge sotomayor, about the excitement. what happens next? she'll be sworn in saturday. >> we'll be able to see it. she'll have two swearing ins. that's the normal tradition here and pardon me while i watch for the president. one is the regular oath, then a separate, judicial oath. she'll get the constitutional oath in private with chief justice john roberts of the court, then in front of television cameras, she will take the judicial oath, which is much longer and ornate, and we'll be able to see that. which is a first. i don't think we've seen a supreme court justice take one of those oaths on cameras. it will be in one of the conference rooms of the court, but still, that's a first. then there may be some sort of ceremony at the white house later, but the one that counts is this one. she'll have her formal installation ceremony at the court a little later and then she'll sit with the other justices earlier than usual. >> here's the preside

nbc's pete williams. thank you and we will look forward to your report tonight on "nightly news." >>> here at home, federal and local police are trying to find out the identity of a man who was found dead in rock creek park today. park police a jogger saw the man's body floating in the water off of a path near beech drive. park police and d.c. homicide detectives are on the scene. investigators say the body is believed to be that of an adult male. michael's vick comeback from prison to the nfl came to a head last nature during his debut with the philadelphia eagles. vick entered the preseason game on the second play against the jacksonville jaguars. in all, he was on the field for six plays and went 4 for 4 passing for 19 yards. vick last played for the atlanta falcons in 2006 before being convicted for his role in leading a dogfighting ring. last night the eagles came from behind to beat the jaguars 33-32. >> let's hope the redskins can also come up with a win tonight. >> it is not going to be an easy ta

with nbc justice correspondent pete williams. pete, what's in it? >> well, it says some new things we hadn't learned before, and it makes very clear that these were techniques that were not authorized by the cia, that went beyond the scope of what was authorized by the justice department. for example, one detainee was -- a hood was placed over his head. he was naked, and an electric drill was revved behind his head. the same detainee, there was a gun held by his head and the gun was racked to make the sound of the bullet entering the chamber. another detainee was in a room, a gun was fired outside, and the detainee was led outside the room and there was a guard lying there to look like a dead detainee. to make the person feel like they were shooting and killing people. other detainees were told we could bring your mother in here, we could bring your family in here. khalid sheikh mohammed was told that, if anything further happened after the 9/11 attacks, "we're going to kill your children." in another technique the carotid artery was pressed on a de

but in any case, nbc justice correspondent pete williams. pete, thanks as always. we bresht appreciaappreciate it. >> okay. >> you can appreciate the tensions at cia. they don't want anybody going back and perhaps sending this message to their staffers, hey, there are certain things you can't do, but on the other hand you have to wonder if the people who were doing the right thing are happy about this, that others are being held accountable. >> we talk so much about focusing on the people who may have done the wrong thing and the morale, but if there's a cloud hanging over the department, certainly if you clear it away, doesn't that help those who are still there who always and continue to do the right thing? that's the other side of this you don't hear people talk about much. >>> coming up, the war in afghanistan hits a grim new milestone today as a top democrat calls for a time table for withdrawal. do we have an exit strategy for afghanistan? >>> also, republicans are now starting to talk about impeaching south carolina governor mark sanford, one of their own. c

pete williams, good to see you.hank you. >> reporter: my pleasure. >>> sarah palin is calling president obama's health care plan evil. the former alaska governor posted thoughts facebook friday and says, quote the america i know and love is not one in which my parent or baby with down sin dome will have to stand from front of obama's death panel so bureaucrats can disease based on judgment of their level of productive in society weather they are worthy of health care. the such a estimate is downright evil. town halls are turning into l little shouting matches. oxyge opponents claim think are trying to rash health care like they did in this meeting with representative john dingell. >> a couple of things that the bill will do -- >> i will be speaking with the representative about 20 minutes from now about what happened with him there. but joining me live now from washington, d.c., victoria mcgrain, reporter for politico. good morning. >> good morning. i understand you were at town hall meeting in new york. what was th

here's nbc's justice correspondent pete williams. >> good morning and welcome to the court. >> reporter: nearly everything about this ceremony made history. as her mother selena held the bible and her brother juan stood by, chief justice john roberts led her through the oath. >> i, sonia sotomayor do solemnly swear -- >> reporter: formally making her the nation's first hispanic preme court justice. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> congratulations, and welcome to the court. >> reporter: friends and family members applauded and she hugged her mother who raised her as a single parent after her father died when she was 9. for the first time, cameras were allowed in to record the event. just before in a private ceremony, roberts led her through another oath, federal law requires a special one for judges. the event was a big change from past swearing-in ceremonies for supreme court justices held at the white house. white house and supreme court officials all say it was president obama's desire to have sonia sotomayor's swearing-in at the supreme court and on camera. >> the president,

coverg the week, david broder of "he washington po," karen tumulty of time"magazine, pete williams of nbc news, and dad wessel of "the wal street journal >> celebrating 40 years of journalistic excellenc ve from ournation's capal, this is "wasington week wit gwen ifill" produced i sociation with naonal journal. rporate funding for "washingtoweek" is provided by -- it createshalf the electricity that fls our dreams. we have more of than anyplace on earth. d we're working on cleaner ys to use oal every d. there's re information at nmarg. >>orporate funding for "washinon week" is provided by bing, majr unding for "shington week" is also prided by the annenberg foundation,he compragse for public broadcasting -- he corporation for publ broadcasting and by ntributions to your pbs station from viewerslike you. thank you. once again, ve fom washington, moderor gwen ifill. gwen:good eveni. edward m. kenedy's passing this week unleshed a torent f mournin and analysis. scorse oredemption, accomplishme, legacy and inritance have dminated the trbts all ooted in the --the tributes all rooed in the

covering the week, david broder of "the washington post," karen tumulty of "time" magazine, pete williams of nbc news, and david wessel of "the wall street journal." >> celebrating 40 years of journalistic excellence. live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week with gwen ifill" produced in association with national journal. corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> it creates half the electricity that fuels our dreams. we have more of it than anyplace on earth. and we're working on cleaner ways to use coal every day. there's more information at nma.org. >> corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by boeing, major funding for "washington week" is also provided by the annenberg foundation, the compragse for public broadcasting -- the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. edward m. kennedy's passing this week unleashed a torent of mourning and analysis. scorse of redemption, accomplishment, legacy and i

>> all right, pete williams this morning. pete, thanks. >>> today, new figures from the labor department on the nation's unemployment rate and analysts say that nearly 15 million americans are looking for jobs. and that the numbers are likely to keep growing into next year. >>> last night the senate approved an additional $2 billion to extend the cash for clunkers program. the president hailed the vote saying the program is giving the economy a much-needed boost. >>> dramatic rescues in the philippines where flooding has killed at least ten people and triggered landslides. three villages are under water, and cut off. >>> twitter is tweeting again this morning, after hackers disrupted it for hours on thursday. hackers also slowed down facebook for a time. >>> and boxing great mohammed ali was on hand to help give an award to the new york yankees last night. but it was ali who ended up being honored by the crowd that began chanting his name as he neared home plate. one yankee player said seeing ali there was giving him chill bum

. >> pete williams, justice correspondent for nbc news.r the update. >>> up next, rush limbaugh comparing democrats to nazis. >> does rush really believe what he says, and is he poisoning the national debate? that's ahead on msnbc. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah. onstar. standard for one year on 14 chevy models. on the inside. my inner-workings a work of art. a digestive tract that should be bronzed. and an immune system so stunning... [ low growl ] my vet thinks i'm the eighth wonder of the world. [ female announcer ] introducing iams with prebiotics. prebiotics work inside, clinically proven to promote strong defenses. healthy inside... healthy outside. [ dog ] oh hi girls, nice day, huh? i am an iams dog. [ female announcer ] learn more about prebiotics at iams.com. >>> familiar ron >>> it was a republican named lincoln who said a house divided cannot stand. >> in today's

. >>> a big day and on saturday as pete williams pointed out, very unusual, we will see one of the swearing ins for judge sotomayor an incredible weekend. >> even know tnknow -- though t was not unexpected, to see the gavel coming down, it's such an incredible thing to watch and witness. fascinating stuff. we will stay on top of more of the reaction. >>> tamron, those town hall meetings we've been talking about, it does seem they could now be getting even more confrontational. the afl-cio is reportedly gearing up to go to war with the conservative protesters who are making things difficult for some element lawmakers. "the huffington post" reports the nation's biggest union wants to bring in their members to help counter the protests. a town hall last night with two arkansas senators, here is what happened when congressman schneider said he would not support a single payer insurance plan. >> that's what obama wants. >> no, it's not what president obama wants. >> yes, it is. >> so -- >> how about barney frank? >> and watch what happened when republican congressman todd akin mentioned his demo

. >> pete williams, our justice correspondent. thank you so much. >> you bet. >>> moving on, today is president obama's 200th day in office and there's some good news on the job market after experts feared unemployment would inch closer to double digits today. but the white house still expects unemployment to hit 10% before all is said and done with this recession. it's the big story at the white house today. so we want to bring biin bill burton, the white house deputy press secretary. thanks for being with us. >> you betcha. >> for the first time in several months, more than a year, actually, we saw the unemployment rate actually drop. my question to you is, number one, does the white house take credit for that? is this white house policies in action? number two, if that's the case, how do you square that with the fact that you still expect unemployment to top 10%? >> well, savannah, we think that the report today is obviously the least bad report that we've had since this year started. and when you combine that with the gdp movi

pete williams, taking us through it. hitting perfectly at the top. and patricia millett. >> thank you. >>> there are some new details this morning surrounding that deadly wrong-way crash in new york. state police say there was no evidence that diane schuler was impaired just hours before the tragedy. we'll have more on that straight ahead. plus the wife of south carolina governor mark sanford is moving out. what are her plans? we'll talk about it coming up on msnbc saturday. when i really liked to be outside, i did not like suffering from nasal allergy symptoms like congestion. but nasonex relief may i say... bee-utiful! prescription nasonex is proven to help relieve indoor and outdoor nasal allergy symptoms like congestion, runny and itchy nose and sneezing. (announcer) side effects were generally mild and included headache. viral infection, sore throat, nosebleeds and coughing. ask your doctor about symptom relief with nasonex. and save up to $15 off your refills. go to nasonex.com for details, terms and conditions. home run! (announcer) he's sweet

nbc's justice correspondent pete williams is live in washington with more. od morning. it's rare for the supreme court to do anything on saturday, but this will be unusual in many ways. the first hispanic justice in american history will be sworn in, not at the white house, as is the normal practice, but at the court. a few dozen supporters on hand to witness the event. this was president obama's idea do it this way to make the point that justices are supposed to be independent even of the presidents who nominate them and to emphasize the point, he won't even attend today's swearing in. also open to live television coverage, another first of the court. sonia sotomayor will become the 11th justice, and third woman and at age 55, only chief justice is younger, he's 54. we won't actually hear from sotomayor today. she'll join the president next wednesday for a reception in honor of his supreme court nominee. >> thanks. >>> eunice kennedy shriver remains in critical condition at a cape cod hospital. the 88-year-old sister of president john f. kennedy and founder

pete williams joins us from washington with the full rundown. >> what the attorney general here saysnvestigation. he has asked a federal prosecutor to look into fewer than ten cases of what the attorney general says appear to be illegal interrogation that went way beyond the cia's rules. that departed significantly from what was allowed by the justice department and the cia in the enhanced interrogation. this is not cia operatives who followed the rules. this is not the justice department lawyers who authorized and not the cia people who came up with this plan. as you might imagine, dylan, this has been attacked by both sides. lawyers for detainees say it doesn't go far enough and it should good into the justice department and the cia who did the overall program. on the other hand, former vice president dick cheney says documents released yesterday show that the enhanced interrogation program actually prevented terror attacks and provided the bulk of information about al qaeda. here is part of his statement. he says -- the question i think,, i think, while the attorney general wants

pete williams went through all of this and we're told we don't know some of the worst cases that arerned on a drill and made a detainee think they were going to get drilled and somebody fired a gun in an adjoining room. have we heard of anything worse than that right now? >> yes, we have. >> what? >> threats, we will bring your mother in here, bring your children in here, kill your children, when the children were in custody of the u.s. military. so we will rape your mother in front of you. these are things -- this is not me talking. this is the geneva convention. >> we will rape your mother in front of you. who is suggesting that was said by an interrogator? >> yes, exactly. >> okay. when are we going toting that information released? >> we're not sure we're ever going to get that information released. there are a lot of lawsuits out there. some of the plaintiffs are still claiming amnesty, aclu, complaining what was released still has too many blacked out s.e.c.s. >> this absolutely fascinating. >> it's a mess, no question it's a mess. it's damaging moral at the agency. no question

. >> rob: this is also said by ted williams and pete rose.2t and throw you a round and tell you to think square. that is true. maybe stargell -- stargell suffered from kidney disease the last few years of died of l sort of blood cancer. wonderful man. >> bob: a true ader of men. breaking ball by bergma after the leadoff walk, he gets a couple of k's. to the ninth, harris, bard, gonzalez against matt capps. it seems i've got three times the bills i used to. and they're getting in the way of things i'd like to do. with the money bar, i can move my money around instantly, so when there's more bills than usual, it's no problem. and i use the wish list to put any extra money aside for anything i want. being in control of my money feels good. introducing the virtual wallet from pnc, a high-definition, online view of your money. pnc. leading the way.  >> bob: beautiful night in pittsburgh. i'm sure it's been that way in woodbridge, virginia, all week. it's a 5-4 game into the ninth inning. the potomac nationals would like you to join the pa

pete rose was sus opinioned. an interim manage are. they traded our close you are. we brought in myers. murphy was then traded. williams, another set-up man. he was let go. most. are anddy myers. liana were the new bullpen. basically we're all thrown together for the first time that year. >> bob: hmm... >> rob: it happens. >> bob: and that's a broken bat and dukes has a chance. but far to the left to cut it off. makes a good play. harris now for padilla. , well that ball crushes duke's bat. counsell in here. and maybe faster than mcgehee getting the ball. able to get the fast dukes out at 1st base. as we said earlier in the game. i mean. this was a lot of openings in the organization. hear basically given a starter's rein to open a slot for themselves for next year. doesn't seem. mine and skip the worth time of year for me. this is when i had moot best years. i didn't know if i had a job. i didn't know if they would be coming back to the same organization. i had eight 1-year contracts in my year. >> bob: there is incentive for you. nieves a base hit and run scored tonight. harris suffering from a lack of playing time l

from pete wilson to levee to stuart in prince william, these people are going to go down on the wrong side of history because they thought the short lead political gain was worth it. >> it just shows that you might think on some days, people in who are kind of hostile or questionable, then there's a rapid influx that inflames people. the interesting thing is that once the hispanic presence gets established, they become more integrated and people know this is reality and adapt to it. i think it is fascinating. standing in madrid communities are less hostile -- standing emigrant communities are less hostile. >> i think anybody who goes through, who is not from miami, and who goes to miami international airport to use their very hostile. when they leave the airport and the start eating the cuban food and get a taste for the music and the culture, they change their mind. but i do apologize for anyone who has gone through miami international airport. >> we only have time for a few more questions. the gentleman in the back? >> hello. i wanted to get the panel's view is this year's calendar

still, as nbc news justice correspondent pete williams reports, some advocates for children say more should be done to keep sexual predators away from children. >> reporter: shawn hornbeck was 11 when kidnapped, riding his bicycle in eastern missouri in 2002. more than four years later he was freed from a man who kempt him and a boy in a st. louis apartment. he told oprah winfrey he never gave up hope. >> i parade to god that one day i would be back with my family. >> reporter: in 1980, 14-year-old, steven stainer was reunited with his family seven years after he was kidnapped walking home from school. >> they wanted to know if i wanted to have a ride home. >> reporter: in salt lake city, 14-year-old, elizabeth smart was take een from her bedroom then found in the company of a religious fanatic and his wife. >> have issued an amber alert. >> reporter: in fact, most child kidnappings by nonfamily members end with the victims' recovery. of the roughly 58,000 children kidnapped each year nearly all are quickly returned safely. and about 115 cases, the child is held overnight or longer.