lester >> all right, pete williams, thank you. >>> late today, tennessee's governor signed into law a bill that restricts transgender students from competing in school sports. a similar bill was just signed by the governor of arkansas stephanie gosk on the growing controversy. >> reporter: the supporters of the new law in arkansas say banning transgender athletes from sports physiological advantages over female athletes >> reporter: the ban comes just months after president biden signed an executive order on gender identity, declaring children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they'll be denied access to school sports. but 26 states are considering transgender bans in sports and three have passed laws >> i now have a confident, a smiling, a happy daughter >> reporter: a missouri father pleading with his state assembly to let his daughter play sportsea don't take that away from my daughter >> reporter: but in connecticut, three young women are suing the state for allowing transgender athletes to compete selena telling me in 2019, she missed out on a regional compet

pete williams, i want to start with you. i have to say, i think perhaps -- well, i'll need to ask you the biggest revelation that you took away from this, is it the 2,000 cases, is it him admitting how much white supremacist groups are sort of at the top of all of this racially motivated violence? what stood out to you, pete? >> yeah, not the white supremacist part because that's been very clear from the beginning as the fbi began to file these charges, and they're now up to well over 200 cases that have been charged -- i'm sorry, approaching 300 cases that have been charged and many more under investigation. the 2,000 number was a revelation. that's double what it was a year ago. and that's a huge increase. that's an enormous commitment of manpower. so i think for the fbi director to say, look, we were, you know, we were warning people, expect violence around the election, it could be around the election, or something afterwards, or the inauguration, and then we had this specific one specific piece of intelligence from norf

new video that appears to show the chemical spray attack on the police officer who later died pete williams has more >> reporter: the videos obtained by the "new york times" show the moments before and after prosecutors say officer brian sicknick was hit with a chemical spray outside the u.s. capitol the day of the riot. he died the next day, but the coroner has not yet said what caused his death the two men accused of assaulting him can be seen in the videos julian khater of new jersey wearing a trump knit hat and george tanios of west virginia with a red baseball cap prosecutors say khater reached toward a backpack tanios was wearing and said "give me that bear" expletive. but tanios said "hold on, hold on, not yet, not yet. it's still early." prosecutors say that's a reference to a can of this brand of bear repellant spray that tanios bought before coming to washington nine minutes later the video appears to show khater raise his arm and spray something toward sicknick and two other police officers all three fall back, cover their eyes, and prosecutors say cry out in pain. that night cap

capitol riot with more here's pete williams >> reporter: fbi director chris wray told congress that after receiving an unverified report january 5th that extremists were talking about attacking the capitol the next day it was immediately passed on. senator amy klobuchar recalled the d.c. police chief saying it was just an e-mail >> do you think it's enough just to send an e-mail >> well, it's more than just an e-mail. right? >> reporter: he said it was also briefed to capitol and d.c. police in person and he said the fbi warned for months that there could be violence surrounding all aspects of the election wray said the fbi is working on the domestic extremist threat, revealing that a surprising 2,000 investigations are now open nationwide but acknowledging there's more to do >> we are focused very, very hard on how can we get better sources, better information, better analysis so that we can make sure that something like what happened on january 6th never happens again. >> reporter: and despite claims from some conservatives, he said there's no evidence the capitol riot involved fake tru

lester >> pete williams, thank you. >>> up next, keeping everyone safe as baseball begins. >>> baseball is back in less than 48 hours under new covid protocols. here's steve patterson. >> reporter: the unmistakable symphony of late spring, the sounds of baseball ushering in renewed hope. >> it's great to be back it's therapeutic. i think we've all needed it. >> reporter: the covid pandemic reshaped america's pastime in 2020, a shortened season with cardboard cutouts instead of fans in the stands but this year, baseball's back with a new normal major league baseball issuing a 108-page health and safety manual with protocols each team must follow to play ball >> the manual is written in pencil, and we have to be adaptable, and one of the things we learned last year is that if you can't be flexible, you can't play in this environment. >> reporter: players are now required to wear contact tracing wristbands and face coverings in team facilities and in the dugout players are also restricted on where they can and can't go. >> guys are sticking to that and just trying to stay on our best behav

our justice correspondent pete williams. pete will be checking in with you throughout the afternoon. thank you, sir. steve patterson on the ground for us there in boulder. carmen best, carmen, thank you as well. and eddie randle from kusa in denver. big thanks to all of you. >>> we are also right now watching a senate hearing that had been previously scheduled on how to reduce gun violence in this country. we're going to check in on that hearing. and i'll talk to the man who ran president obama's political organization's push to change gun laws. also happening right now postmaster general dejoy laying out a plan that could mean even more delays in getting your mail, higher prices and fewer hours at the post office. but will dejoy even get to keep his job under president biden? we'll look at that. first, though, top health officials raising concerns about astrazeneca's vaccine trial data just hours after they revealed promising results. so what will it all mean for getting a fourth vaccine approved here in the united states? t

nbc's pete williams. pete, thank you for those insights. >>> meantime we're following developments in minneapolis this morning as jury selection is expected to resume at the top of the next hour in the murder trial of the former police officer accused of killing george floyd. that trial starts one week from today. now, 13 jurors have been seated and while a panel of 14 was expected, on friday the judge indicated jury selection might continue until a panel of 15 is selected. 12 jurors and 3 alternates. also on a friday, the judge said he won't delay or move the trial over the defense's concerns that the publicity around the $27 million settlement the city of indianapolis reached with floyd's family could influence the jury pool. george floyd died may 25th after he was handcuffed and pinned to the ground by police officers. chauvin was recorded kneeling on floyd's negligent as george floyd gasped for death. he's charged with second degree murder, third degree murder and manslaughter and has pleaded not guilt

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capitol the night before the january riot let's get more now from pete williams >> reporter: the fbi is hoping someone who sees this video will notice something that looks familiar in the mannerisms or movements. investigators believe this is who planted two pipe bombs a few blocks apart near the capitol outside the republican and democratic national party offices the night before the riot. this video may actually show the suspect placing the bomb near democratic headquarters at a park bench. the four new videos show the suspect between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., when the fbi believes the bombs were planted, wearing a face mask, gray hoodie, and black and light gray nike air max speed turf shoes >> we still believe there's someone out there who has information that they may not have realized was significant until now. >> reporter: the bombs were made of one-inch diameter metal pipe with wind-up kitchen timers attached. and this new detail. they contained homemade black powder as explosive material. the fbi and atf are offering a $100,000 reward for information that helps identify this suspe

pete williams following these new details.rtment memo opposing pretrial release for kelly miggs of florida. he is one of ten members accused of playing a leading role in the assault. this is what the new document says. on december 19, he posted a message on facebook saying that he organized an alliance between the groups and he organized and participated in some ten online discussion s discussions, led and plan the group's activities and paid for two hotel rooms in washington. the document does not allege that these groups formulated a plan to attack the capitol before arriving in washington. asked during the "60 minutes" interview if there was a premeditated plan, michael sherwin said, that's what we are trying to democrat. in several messages, he appears to contemplate some street protest action saying they would march with the proud boys and fall to the back of the crowd and be prepared to engage with any members of antifa. that seems to be a continuing thing they are interested in. in another of the facebook messages, hedi

going up that staircase. >> pete williams joins us now.alk us through what the likelihood is in your view that there are people who end up charged with sedition in this situation? >> i think one of the interesting things about this interview is that basically this is what we have been hearing from the justice department since late january. in a sense, although you could ask whether it's appropriate to be talking about it on camera or not, what the former u.s. attorney said is what we have been hearing consistently. they think they will eventually bring sedition charges. as i said, it's thought of conspiracy to overthrow the government. one of the elements of it is anybody who uses force to prevent, hinder or delay the execution of any law of the united states. of course, what congress was doing that day was carrying out the electoral counting act. there could be a fit here. stepping back a little bit, what would the significance be? it does carry a 20-year maximum sentence. so do some of the other charges that have already been filed such

point in the investigation, we're told by these officials that there is no sign of that, eamon. >> pete williamsete, thank you. >>> let's turn now to the capitol riot investigation. a democratic congressman is calling for any veteran, retiree, or service member who attacked the capitol during the january 6th insurrection to be stripped of all of their veterans benefits. in letters to the va and the department of security as well as the department of defense and the attorney, arizona congressman ruben gallego writes that rioters, quote, forfeited their moral entitlement to extra support by the people of the united states. and congressman ruben gallego joins me now. he is a member of the house armed services committee and a combat veteran of the u.s. marine corps. congressman, it's great to see you again. thanks for your time. why do you think that stripping veterans and active service members of their benefits is the right move right now? >> because it might actually be the only way we can stop a further insurrection. we entrust these men and women with a lot of training. and many times they leav

pete williams, thank you. and the crisis at the border.use now scrambling to deal with a surge of unaccompanied migrant children at the border. coming up, we expect to hear from president biden's special assistant and coordinator for southern border ambassador roberta jacobson, a veteran in the area. we'll bring that to you when it happens. this is "andrea mitchell reports," only on msnbc. reports," only on msnbc. the patented blend is clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels. boost glucose control products contain high quality protein and key nutrients to support immune health. try boost. if you wanna be a winner then get a turkey footlong from subway®. that's oven roasted turkey. piled high with crisp veggies. on freshly baked bread! so, let's get out there and get those footlongs. now on grubhub, buy one footlong, get one 50% off. subway®. eat fresh. as carla wonders if she can retire sooner, she'll revisit her plan with fidelity. and with a scenario that makes it a possibility, she'll enjoy her dream right now. that's the pla

no. >> pete williams live in d.c. thanks for the update only breaking news. >>> and the new details in the search for the pipe bomb suspect colonels as members of congress learn more about upgrades to the u.s. capitol and as they vote for the covid relief bill. joining us to talk about it, democratic congresswoman mad , madeleine dean. congresswoman, thank you for your time. i want to start with security at the u.s. capitol. you attended one of general honore's briefings on security improvements. what did you take away from that briefing? >> thank you for having me on. i did attend the 8:00 p.m. briefing. it's a bipartisan briefing. they had done three throughout the course of the day. and general honore, along with an entire school of generals and experts, presented their five weeks worth of findings. and number one, i want to compliment them on the way they dug in and took with such seriousness and solemnness their undertaking. but also to note that it was a five-week study. there's much more to be learned. they wer

nbc justice correspondent pete williams standing by with the details only. meanwhile, a task force led by retired -- excuse me, retired lieutenant general return he will honore briefs members of congress on securing the capitol as the white house is optimistic the house will pass the senate approved covid relief bill as soon as tomorrow and get relief checks in the mail. >> we expect a large number of americans to receive relief by the end of the month. in terms of the mechanics of it, the treasury has to work through that. >> joining us now to start the hour, nbc news correspondent dr. torres, tara palmieri, leanne caldwell and white house correspondent mike memeli. walk thrust the guidelines. >> were you surprised basically that they are not changing the guidance on travel just yet? >> to answer the last question, i'm not surprised. we'll talk about that in a second. these guidelines are very welcome. people have been getting vaccinated for months. the big question has been, now that i'm vaccinated, what can i do? the cdc answered them. and they took time

white house correspondent kristen welker, co-host of "weekend today" and nbc justice correspondent pete williams. pete, take us through latest on the security posture on the hill. why today is such an important day for these extremists and conspiracy theorists? >> some of these conspiracy groups, this is largely a qanon theory, say that march 4 sth the real inaugural, the true inaugural is the phrase they use. they're apparently basing this on the fact that until the 1930s march 4th was inauguration day, but the 20th amendment changed that and the 1933 was the last year for an inauguration on march 4th. but some of these groups have used it as a rallying cry saying donald trump was going the to come back and resume power. obviously that's not going to happen. but there had been some discussion among members of an unidentified extremist group talking about whether something should be done on this day, talk about the idea of it, and that was passed along to the capitol police. so they decided to impose the extra security. but the people i talked to about this all say it was strictly aspirational.

pete williams.ete, thank you very much for joining us. >>> and we've got some new reporting on the efforts governor andrew cuomo's top aides took to conceal the number of covid-19 deaths in nursing homes. >>> and one year into a health crisis that changed our world, ali velshi spoke with medical workers who were there from the beginning and are still fighting on the front lines of covid. their insights, next. network at a record pace. we were the first to bring 5g nationwide. and now that sprint is a part of t-mobile we're turning up the speed. upgrading over a thousand towers a month with ultra capacity 5g. to bring speeds as fast as wifi to cities and towns across america. and we're adding more every week. coverage and speed. who says you can't have it all? sure, your health insurance tells you to see a doctor but, um, look around. these days it's not that easy. you're telling me. but humana helps make it easy. human care gives you tons of ways to talk to your doctor: phone, computer, in person, o

. >> joining me now is justice correspondent pete williams. s i was watching this hearing that testimony about that delay was pretty explosive considering all of the moves that the general made to get the national guard ready to deploy, get there, and help the kpol capitol. >> first, the district of columbia said we need help with traffic, but don't give us any more. we don't need any more national guard. that was in the days leading up. in the days leading up to the inauguration, and then the capitol riot on the 6th of january. what happened on the 6th the general told congress today is that when he gets this frantic call from the capitol police chief he calls the leadership at the army because the secretary of defense has to approve deploying the guard. there is nearly a three hour delay while the defense department discusses this all because general walker said today of the concern about the apeesh of the guard on the capitol because the military was finally approaching it at 4:30. he told us for the fi time that the guard was sitting on bus

let's start with pete williams >> they're beefing up security even more after fbi and dhs warned some extremist groups talked about the idea of removing democrats tomorrow it was an inauguration day until the 20th amendment changed it in the 1930s. capitol police are taking the intelligence seriously. congress continues to look for answers about what happened january 6th. the commander of the washington, d.c. national guard told in the hearing that he asked permission to deploy guards at 1:49 p.m chris miller approved it at 4:32 it was not until 5:08 the guard commander was told he had hundreds of troops waiting for the go ahead. >> what was the impact of sending the 155 around the 2:00 time frame >> that number could have made a difference and help push back the crowd. >> reporter: a pentagon official says the defense department was gun shy after it was criticized on its role of clamping down the protest around the white house. law officials say they know no activities to carry out the attack >>> andrew cuomo says he's not going to resign of allegations by three women the governor ap

. >>> pete williams has the latest on this. pete, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. the capitol police say they're acting on an intelligence warning that something could happen today, march 4th. congress isn't sure what to make of session today because of the security concerns but the senate will be open for business. >> capitol police say they're aware of potential threats and prepared for them today as a capitol complex already surround bid a fence topped with razor wire. in a joint intelligence bulletin, the fbi and homeland security side violent extremists have a continued perception of election fraud. and that some groups have even talked about the idea of taking control of the capitol and removing removing democratic lawmakers s march 4th which they consider, march 4th which they consider, quote, the true inaugural. but federal law enforcement ina. but f officials emphasize that the ed officials emphasize that the intelligen intelligence is strictly based on on talk, not any concrete steps to actually carry out such an to actually carry out such an attack. atta

particular airman >> reporter: the man got nowhere near airforce one which had more extensive security pete williams, nbc news, washington >>> it may feel like spring in some areas, part of the west are about to get clobbered with a major snowstorm. what are we looking at, al >> reporter: lester, we have all sorts of weather to talk about we got flood watches and winter weather advisories and especially in texas for damaging winds and hail possible snow, four feet of snow and some places may see more and heavy rain working its way into the mississippi river valley into the plains up to 3 or 4 inches and may cause some flooding as we get into the beginning of next week. >>> as more americans getting the covid vaccine, there are still deep racial disparity of people of color receives fewer vaccinations ron allen with our series of "life after lockdown." >> reporter: a small clinic, dr. griffin finally had her first batch of covid vaccines >> we tried weeks and weeks, thankfully we got them i lost two cousins to covid, it is frustrating to get people to realize how important it is. >> reporter: the cli

. >> joining me is pete williams and joyce vance. just legally, what's the import of having this sedition charge? what does that entail? >> well, it's -- i think, more symbolic than it is in terms of the range of statutes that the government has. i mean, it does carry a 20-year maximum sentence, but so do some of the other charges that have already been filed such as obstruction of a government proceeding. the element of the sedition statute that would apply here and you usually think of sedition of conspireing to overthrow the government and there was another part of the federal law saying anybody who conspires by force to delay, hinder or delatex kugz of any law of the united states and of course, that was the day congress was trying to carry out the electoral counting act, a law trying to decide who formally was elected president. so that's how that would fit. i will say i think it's a little unusual for somebody who is still a justice department employee to talk like this and say where they think the evidence is going to go, but

nbc's justice correspondent pete williams is with us now. pete, what's the significance of this civil suit? >> well, certainly more trouble for the president, shep. this one basically takes the house impeachment article over the capitol riot and turns it into a federal civil lawsuit it says that the siege was a direct and foreseeable consequence of the months of claims by mr. trump and the others in the lawsuit that the election was stolen. they all spoke at the rally, all those who were sued, before the riot, and the lawsuit says they whipped up the crowd for violence like a similar lawsuit filed last month by congressman bennie thompson of mississippi and the naacp, this one also invokes a federal civil rights law that allows lawsuits against government officials swalwell's lawsuit says trump began accusing democrats of trying to steal the election well before the voting began he says after the votes were tabulated. he and the other named in the suit conspired to undermine confidence in the results. >> cops arrested a former aide in connect

nbc's pete williams is here. pete, what's going on?he surprise of exactly no one, hallie, the supreme court is not going to hear the last of the post-election lawsuits that were filed by president trump. the court has turned down, you may recall, that big lawsuit filed by texas, there was the effort to stop counting late ballots in pennsylvania, there was another wisconsin case, there was a pennsylvania case and today the supreme court disposed unceremoniously with the last of these, another challenge from wisconsin. so that clears the deck. it was obvious the supreme court was not going to do anything about any of these because if it was going to it would have taken these cases before congress certified -- or rather formally counted the electoral college vote on january 6th. this does clear the decks, removes all the trump cases from the document where he was utterly unsuccessful in all of these challenges, hallie. >> pete williams live for us there with the news on that final blow to the former president's court cases. pete, thank yo

joining me now is nbc news justice correspondent pete williams and georgetown law professor and formererview last night, there was a lot in there. for those that didn't see it, what stood out to you? >> what stood out to me was the fact that they said they don't know why the bombs didn't go off. it appears they weren't properly armed. these were the two devices that were placed near the capitol the night before the bombing. he said they were otherwise fully constructed, capable bombs. they were not hoax devices. they still don't know why they didn't go off -- were they supposed to go off at night, was there a diversion the next day? that question remains. i thought it was interesting he said the big question remains unanswered, that is, whose idea was it to storm the capitol and when did that plan come together? it can still be a conspiracy even if the plan came together that day or literally minutes before it started, but the fact is that the big question of whether this was something that was planned well in advance, days or even weeks in advance, remains unanswered. then, of course,

let me bring in nbc's pete williams on this one. pete, this seems to be so far the most direct known link yet between the trump administration and at least one of the rioters that was there. what more are you learning from the documents? >> he was a low level campaign worker, worked on the trump campaign and apparently as a reward for that he was given a low level political job working on south american affairs at the state department. frederico klein, 40 years old, came to the state department right after strump took office and resigned the day before the inaugural. he was working for the united states government at the time of the rally -- or the riot, rather. what the court documents say is that he repeatedly fought hand to hand with both u.s. capitol police and washington, d.c. police using a riot shield that he had taken from a police officer to try to keep them from shutting the doors on that tunnel that leads from the west front of the capitol inside. he used that riot shield, the complaint also says that he tried to prevent a

so joining me now is pete williams. and certainly the social media aspect of it. mary mccord, a former acting assistant attorney general for national security and an expert in domestic extremism. pete, let me start with you today, it was interesting to hear the speaker of the house suddenly downplay the decision today to not have a house session. it was implied that it had everything to do with the threat. obviously, maybe she's more worried about optics on that front. but have we learned more about any specifics of this threat, or are you starting to think this is under the umbrella of maybe we're being a little more precaution since we underreacted on january 6th? >> definitely the latter, chuck, no question about it. the intelligence that was gathered by law enforcement, i'm told, was of a specific group talking about the idea of doing an attack on the capitol today on march 4th. talking about an idea. in other words, aspirational. wouldn't it be nice if this happened? but nothing that went to anything concrete as a result. in other words, no sign that anybody w

pete williams has been on this, garrett haake. thanks to all.xas governor greg abbott saying his state is lifting its mask mandate and fully reopening. some local leaders say not so fast. the mayor joins me ahead. >>> as president biden promises enough coronavirus vaccines for every adult by the end of may, country superstar dolly parton will help fund vaccine research at vanderbilt university to the tune of $2 million. ♪ vaccine, vaccine, vaccine i'm begging please don't hesitate ♪ ♪ vaccine, vaccine, vaccine because once you're dead that's a bit too late ♪ -go talk to him. -yeah, no. plus it's not even like he'd be into me or whatever. ♪♪ ♪ this could be ♪ hi. you just moved in, right? i would love to tell you about all the great savings you can get for bundling your renter's and car insurance with progressive. -oh, i was just -- -oh, tammy. i found your retainer in the dryer. (noise of fridge opening) -oh, i was just -- -oh, tammy. guy fieri! ya know, if you wanna make that sandwich the real deal, ya gotta focus on the bread layers. king's ha

nbc's pete williams has been digging into this story. pete, it's been two months since this riot happened. why is the fbi releasing this video now? >> public health has been extremely important to the fbi in identifying the people at the capitol and they're hoping now public help can help identify this person. they've exhausted investigative leads. there's no clear video of the person's face. so they hope by showing these videos that show the person's mo find familiar. so there are several scenes, four of them in all. all of them on the fbi's website, fbi.gov. this one, for example, the person on south capitol street, later in the same sequence, put the backpack town and put on what looked like colored sunglasses and take them back off again and move on. the other video show the person at various places in the neighborhood. this one may actually show the person planting the bomb that was outside the headquarters of the democratic national committee because it was found under a park bench right near the dnc. both of those two headquarters

nbc news justice correspondent pete williams joins us now with more on this. d how it is or isn't related to the people that we saw break into the capitol on the 6th? >> this comes in a justice department memo that opposes pretrial release for a man named kelly megs from florida. prosecutors say he's one of ten members of the oath keepers who played a leading role in the assault. this is what this document says about context. it says that on december 19th megs posted a message on facebook saying that he organized an alliance between the oath keepers, the florida 3 percenters and the proud boys, and then between december 12th and january 4th the government says he organized and participated in some ten online discussions affiliated with the oath keepers, led and planned the group's activities, paid for two hotel rooms in washington. it does not allege that these groups formed a plan to attack the capitol before arriving in washington. and when michael sherwin was asked during a "60 minutes" interview last week if there was a premeditated plan, he's the man that

joining me now is justice correspondent pete williams. the fbi is releasing this video now. >> because they hope just as you said that somebody can help them identify this person. they just don't know who it is, despite looking at all the various components of the bomb. one-inch pipe they say, a pipe bomb with end caps like this, kitchen timer. one new detail, made with homemade gunpowder, black powder. they say the person was wearing a face mask, gray hoodie and distinctive shoes. nike air max with a yellow logo. this may show the person planting one of the bombs, the one outside the democratic national committee. the other was outside the headquarters of the republican national committee. the fbi is hoping that somebody will see this, recognize them and phone in a tip. they are offering $100,000 reward. the videos are on the fbi's website, fbi.gov. >> pete williams live for us in washington. folks look at that video. >>> we are keeping an eye on capitol hill with the debate on the covid relief bill. happening as we speak. more coverage t

. >> joining me now, nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. good to have you with us. constitutes sedition and how big of a step is that for the investigation? >> sedition, you usually think of conspiracy to overflow the government and there is another aspect of the sedition argument, anyone who uses force to obstruct the government's carrying out of the law. by force, to delay hinder execution of any law of the united states and of course on the day of the capitol riot, congress was trying to carry out a federal law, the electoral counteract, the formal counting of the presidential electoral vote so that would seem to be a fit. it's a serious statute. it carries a maximum 20 years in prison. however some of the other charges that have already been filed also carry a 20-year statutory maximum. so obstructing congress, for example. so i think if the government does end up bringing seditious conspiracy charges which is what we've been told by the justice department almost from day one they were considering, i think it would have enormous sim billion, symbolic value becau

i want to bring in our justice correspondent pete williams with us from washington.the laws at issue and talk about what's at state here. >> the laws at issue are two from arizona, one says if you vote in the wrong precinct the state cannot count your ballot and secondly it outlaws ballot harvesting, says only a voter, close relatives or a caregiver can deliver somebody's mail ballot in to be counted. the democrats challenged both these laws, they ultimately prevailed in federal appeals court, the state has appealed. the question is what's the test when challenging a law like this. it used to be under the voting rights act one of the most important pieces of civil rights law ever passed that when a stated that a history of discrimination wanted to change any aspect of voting it had to get permission first, either from a special federal court or the justice department. eight years ago the supreme court effectively turned the switch off on that part of the law so that leaves only the part of the law that's never been used before to challenge these kinds of voting restr

including killing three people and hurting more than 250 others nbc news justice correspondent pete williams is with us now pete, no chance that he ever gets out of prison, that's a given, but execution, that's now up to the court? >> it is it means the death sentence for tsarnaev could be reinstated he was sentenced to death for his role in the bombing, but a federal appeals court last year threw his sentence out it said that the trial judge should have let defense lawyers ask potential jurors detailed questions about what they may have seen in news reports of the bombings it seemed likely the justices would take this case, shep, because past supreme court rulings have said that the way to weed out potential bias caused by exposure to news reports is just to ask whether the jurors can set aside their impressions or their opinions and base their verdict on the evidence that's presented in court. so if the supreme court overturns the appeals court and reinstates the death penalty, then the biden administration will have to decide whether to carry out the execution. president biden has said th

the deadly assault we saw on january 6th for more on why the risk is so high today, here's nbc's pete williams. >> reporter: security is already tight arounde after the fbi talked about extremist groups storming the capitol and removing some democrats. some conspiracy followers believe president trump will return as president on march 4th, what some consider inauguration day it was inauguration day until the 1930s. congress continues looking for answers about what happened january 6th. the commander of the washington, d.c., national guard told a hearing he asked for permission to deploy guard members at 1:49 p.m. just after the riot began chris miller approved it at 5:02 it wasn't till then he was told. by then he had troops on buses from armories with the go-ahead. >> what would have been the impact if you sent the troops around the 2:00 time frame >> i believe that would havee a >> reporter: the defense department was gun-shy about deploying the guard after it was criticized for its role on clamping down on protests around the white house last summer. as of today, they know of no activity to

were real pipe bombs, not hoax devices, and didn't go off because they weren't properly armed. >> pete williams at the capitol for us. pete, thank you. >>> let's move to the mounting crisis at the southern border. the biden administration is scrambling to deal with both the growing surge of migrants and the political fallout it's creating. president biden vowing to visit the border where yet another overflow facility is set to open. nbc's gabe gutierrez is just miles from mexico in hidalgo, texas. hey, gabe, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. more than 800 unaccompanied children have now been in border patrol custody for over ten days, far beyond the three-day legal limit. now, the biden administration is scrambling to find more space. this morning, at the southern border, more than 15,000 migrant children are in federal custody, and the homeland security secretary is trying to contain the fallout. >> the border is closed. we are expelling families. we are expelling single adults. we made a decision we will not expel young, vulnerable children. >> reporter: now, a new, temporary overflow

joining me now is msnbc justice correspondent pete williams. pete, do they know who did it, who sprayed him, and can they make the connection between that incident and his death? >> well, two people have been charged with spraying sicknick and two other police officers. they've been charged with assaulting police officers and assaulting using a dangerous weapon. the court documents don't directly say that it was, in fact, bear spray, but prosecutors have said one of the two men bought a can of bear spray just before coming to washington and that it was stored in the oert -- the other man's backpack and sprayed what they said is an unknown substance. if it was, in fact, bear spray, it would explain why the officers reacted like they did, because bear spray is not unlike mace, not intended to be used on humans, and it would explain the reaction. that's the main charge, thoug assaulting brian sicknick. he washed his eyes out with water, was off lines for a while, and then within 24 hours of the capitol riots, he was taken to the hospital and died h

nbc news correspondent is pete williams is following this story, here's a portion of his reporting on it. >> reporter: videos obtained by "new york times" show the moments before and after prosecutors say police officer brian sicknick was hit with a chemical spray. outside the u.s. capitol the day of the riot. he died next day, coroner not said what caused his death. two men accused of assaulting him can be seen in the video, julian khatter of new jersey, and george tanios of west virginia. says give me that bear, expletive, but tanios said it's too early. reference to the brand of bear prepellant spray he bought before coming to washington. nine minutes later video appears to show him raising arm to spray something at sicknick and other police officers. all three cover their eyes and prosecutors say cry out in pain. that night officer sicknick collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, died about 24 hours later. >>> meanwhile new federal court filings show prosecutors believe the leaders of the oath keepers and proud boys were in touch, did some planning and coordination before 1/6. o

nbc's justice correspondent pete williams has details on this. hey, pete.d morning. >> reporter: hoda, the fbi will face more questions today about what investigators knew before the capitol riot. the fbi director says his agents did share information they had about the potential for violence. congress will seek more answers today about the riots from the fbi, national guard, and homeland security. the fbi director said tuesday that just after receiving an unverified intelligence report january 5th, that extremists were talking about attacking the capitol the very next day, word of it was immediately relayed to local police through in-person briefings and emails >> that information was quickly, as in within an hour, disseminated and communicated with our partners, including the u.s. capitol police. >> reporter: that explanation didn't satisfy some senators >> what i don't understand is why this chatter, raw intelligence, didn't prompt a stronger warning >> reporter: wray said it was part of a series of warnings for months that there could be violence surrou

nbc's justice correspondent pete williams has the latest on this. pete, good morning. >> reporter: savannah, this is the fbi's latest plea for public help. investigators say these videos show the person suspected of planting the bombs, and they hope that somebody watching the videos will notice something familiar in the suspect's mannerisms. investigators believe this may show the actual moment someone planted a pipe bomb outside the headquarters of the democratic national committee the night before rioters stormed the u.s. capitol. the fbi says these videos show the person who planted that bomb and another outside the national republican party headquarters. the two office buildings are a few blocks apart near the u.s. capitol, and the discovery of the bombs after noon the next day drew police away from the capitol, just before the first of the rioters broke through police barricades. the fbi says the four new videos show the suspect between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., when investigators believe the bombs were planted, carrying a backpack, wearing a face mas

. >> pete williams, live for us there in our washington news room. thank you. >>> coming up here on the show, what specifically investigators are now looking at in their search for concrete evidence. we're live in georgia with the latest. plus the new internal radio communications from the dc place that give a rare window into what officers were facing on the front lines of the attack on january 6th. hear the realtime tactics obtained by the "new york times"s coming up. >> multiple capitol injuries. >> multiple capitol injuries ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ excuse me ma'am, did you know that liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? thank you! hey, hey, no, no, limu, no limu! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ wealth is breaking ground on your biggest project yet. worth is giving the people who build it a solid foundation. wealth is shutting down the office for mike's retirement party. worth is giving the employee who spent half his life with you, the party of a lifetime. wealth is watching

that's why opr is looking at itt >> pete williams live in the newsroom. >>> we want to take you to capitoloversight committee hearing on an issue we have been talking about. this h is the hearing, it's virtual. it's how women are facing a biggerac share of economic pain from covid. that's exacerbating the inequalities that were there. the averageeq woman loses more than half a milliondollars in a lifetime. bringing in a soccer star who has been trying to bringa attention to disparities. >> for each trophy of which there are many, for each win, each tie, each time we play, less. it can and it does happen to every persondo who is marginalid by gender. we can change that right now. we just have to want to. >> with me now, heather buchet. good morning. thank you for being on the show. >> good morning. happy to be here. >> the white house wants to be shining a light on equal pay and on what is happening given that megan will be at the white house along with others to meet with president biden and the first lady.rs can you tell us about the tangible changess the white hoe wants to see out of thi

. >> pete williams on that breaking news there. the supreme court will hear the boston marathon death penalty case. pete, thanks as all. >> in the fall. >>> as we mentioned, we are keeping an eye on the white house covid response team holding a briefing. there you see dr. fauci among those answering questions. we will keep you posted on any headlines that come out of that briefing from our nation's top doctors. we just saw dr. walensky a few moments ago as well. >>> we will go to the southern border. we will take you there live where the biden administration is about to open a new facility to house thousands of migrant children. >>> the story that you won't see anywhere else on it monday, an all black militia group that's going to demonstrations across the country. a look at the group, its goals and why experts say it's very different from the far right militia groups that are on the rise. ♪ ♪ [sneezes] hey allergy muddlers. [sneezes] are your sneezes putting your friends in awkward positions? [sneezes] stick with zyrtec. zyrtec sta