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here's nbc's rehema ellis. >> reporter: for emmett till, time stopped at 14 years old. his cousin remembers he was full of life. >> i never seen him with a dull day. it just wasn't going to happen. >> reporter: but in 1955 when the chicago teenager made his first visit to relatives in mississippi, emmett was naive to the violent white supremacy that dominated the south. he whistled at a white woman, carolyn bryant. later her husband and brother-in-law stormed into emmett's family home. pastor wheeler parker was there. what was it like for you that night when those men came into the house? >> horrible. just pure terror. i thought i was going to be killed. >> reporter: he was spared. emmett was kidnapped, brutally beaten, shot and tortured to death. his mother insisted the world should see his mangled body. >> for him to have died a hero would mean more to me than for him just to have died. >> reporter: during the trial, bryant testified that emmett had grabbed her around the waist. the men were acquitted by an all-white jury only to later confess their guilt. >> here we

rehema, betsy devos a lot of attention over this nomination.so than people expected. >> more so than anyone ever anticipated. we decided to go to michigan, betsy devos' home state, where she is has been a fierce supporter charter schools and vouchers, to find out what people think about her there. those who are critics say her record there is proof she's unfit to lead all of the nation's schools, but people who are favor -- in favor of school choice call her a fierce champion. >> reporter: in public schools sierra cooper's grades were on edge. then she got into a charter school. >> i'm passing classes with as and bs. there barely got as. bs, cs and ds. >> reporter: her mother says hope academy says it gives her hope. >> i should take the money given to public school to a charter school just because the education, you want the best for your child. >> reporter: as michigan students rank among the lowest in country on standardized test scores, the state opened the door to charter schools as an alternative more than 20 years ago. >> it was born out

nbc news correspondent rehema ellis, who covers education, joins us now. we're waiting for the final roll call, of course, as the final votes come in. but, rehema, what's at stake here in terms of education policy and the issues you've been covering? >> well, that's what a lot of parents are wondering, exactly what is at stake and whether or not federal dollars that go to assist the states and local areas for their education programs are some of those federal dollars at stake? we should make it very clear that the majority of funding for traditional public schools comes from state houses and local governments. the federal government only contributes about 10% of that overall budget of about $600 billion. people are concerned about the impact that the federal government can have on local schools. i've talked to parents all over the country. we specifically went to michigan to talk with some parents there because that is the home state of betsy devos, where she has been a tireless advocate for school choice, pushing for charters and for vouchers. we met pare

>> fascinating stuff, rehema.ou so much. >> ntsb on the scene arof a deay plane crash in california. surveillance video captures the moment a small plane crashed into a home in california. nobody on the ground was hurt. the fbi and justice department are investigating a fifth wave of bomb threats at jewish community centers this year. dozens of centers and schools in at least 15 states were evacuated on monday. no bombs were found. meanwhile, clean-up is set to begin today at a jewish cemetery that was vandalized over the weekend, damaging at least 100 headstones. >> and the transgender sister of the singer who sang at president trump's inauguration scored a temporary victory saying they can use bathrooms that match their gender identity while their lawsuit against the school district court proceeds. last week the trump administration ended the ability for students to use booth rooms based -- bathrooms based on their gender identity. >> next, democrats are challenging the president's policies ahead of his speech.

we get details from nbc's chief education correspondent rehema ellis. >> reporter: betsy devos was approved by the senate committee by just one vote after a fiery discussion about her qualifications to be secretary of education. >> it is hard to imagine a candidate less qualified or more dangerous. >> i think she'll be an excellent education secretary because she cares about children. >> reporter: today, "the washington post" reported, answers she provided to senators seemed copied, almost word for word, from an obama administration official's old press release. writing, "every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment where they can learn, thrive and grow." >> many of the responses look copied and pasted from previous statements. >> reporter: adding fuel to protests that devos lacks experience, never having been a teacher, she never attended or sent her children to public school. earlier this month, she defended her commitment to improving education. >> for nearly three decades, i've been involved in education as a volunteer and advocate for children and a voice for

we have rehema ellis who went to the home state of michigan to talk to parents about all of this.hat did they tell you? >> it depends. some say look what she did in michigan with vouchers which not serving children well. they say she is unfit for the job. we are talking to parents and they applaud her efforts. in public schools, sierra cooper's grades on edge. then she got into a charter school. >> i'm passing classes with "as" and "bs." >> her mother says this school makes best use of her tax dollars. >> i should take that money that would be given to her in a public school to a charter school because the education was. >> as michigan students rank among the lowest in standard test scores, the state opened the door to charter schools as an alternative more than 20 years ago. >> it was born out of a need. charter schools are not a bad thing. it say school of choice. >> reporter: today in detroit, 46% of students attend charters. many are run by for-profit companies. some get high marks, but do not get better markshan public schools. in michigan, betsy devos, the nominee for secret

rehema, thank you so much. to have you here. >>> for more on all the battles brewing on capitol hill and also the white house statement on iran, i want to bring in republican senator john barrasso of wyoming. thank you for taking time for us. i know it's a crazy, busy afternoon there. >> kate, great to be with you. thanks for having me. >> can i start with the breaking news this afternoon, and that is over at the white house, i'm sure you've heard by now, the national security adviser general mike flynn, came out and delivered what he called putting iran on notice. president trump said that when he was campaigning that they would dismantle the iran nuclear deal. are we seeing the beginnings, the first steps of that today? >> well, i hope we are because i will tell you, iran with a nuclear weapon makes the world less safe, less stable, less secure. and after president obama went around congress, ignored the will of the american people to do this iran deal, of great concern, and this is a deal iran basically has

we have rehema ellis here to talk about betsy devos. what are the major concerns? is it surprising to see both murkowski and collins come out and say no? >> when you look at her record and what they're concerned about, it's not that surprising. one of the things sean spicer called her an educator. many people in the education community who would dispute that, that have issue with that. she's someone who has been a tireless and strong supporter of education in terms of charter schools and vouchers. she really has devoted a good deal of her family wealth to trying to make certain that there are charter schools in her home state of michigan. and in other places around the country. but those people who are voting against her and voicing concern about her say betsy devos is someone who talked about public education being a dead end. that disturbs them because the majority of children in this untry are in public education. 50 million kids. and while there are many people who are very much in favor of choice being an option for parents, they're concerned betsy devos didn'

i don't think that they are going to be silent, not from what i'm hearing. >> rehema ellis, thank you so much for wrapping that up. that totally wraps things up for me entirely this hour. you can always follow me on twitter and facebook. kate snow takes it away. >> i have a feeling you a

. >> rehema ellis, thank you so much for wrapping that up. that totally wraps things up for me entirely this hour. you can always follow me on twitter and facebook. kate snow takes it away. >> i have a feeling you are not going home right this second. >> kate tur, thanks so much. i'm kate snow. >>> they are deciding whether to put his executive order back into effect. earlier today, he called tuesday's hearing disgraceful. this as president trump is slamming nordstrom on twitter for dropping his daughter's clothing line. we'll bring you the late tert from the white house in just a moment. we are also following a very dramatic day playing out in the senate. senator elizabeth warren silenced by republicans on the floor last night during debate over senator jeff sessions confirmation for attorney general. her democratic colleagues slamming that move. we are going to hear from senator warren in just a moment. we are expecting a vote on senator sessions confirmation. >>> the northeast bracing for a powerful nor'easter expected to dump a foot of sn

nbc news correspondent rehema ellis joins me from burlington, north carolina, where she spoke with residentshe political climate in that state. what are you hearing in north carolina are? >> reporter: in burlton people agree the country is divided but all say it's time to get back to the basics. >> i think in order for us to bring the country together generally speaking is we have to start acting as individuals and as human beings. so the way i see the divide is people generally speaking again are far too attached to their political parties. >> i just try to always point out the things that we can agree on, we love america, you know, there are things that we all would like to see a balanced budget. we'd all like to see less spending in government. you know, there are so many things that i found over the half that you just mention year these things and everybody comes together. >> i think americans now they're anonymous. they're behind that keyboard and nobody's home and they're locked in a room and they can say whatever they want to say, no matter how mean or no matter what it takes away fro