you know pete williams, the nbc justice correspondent. when it comes to the courts and the law, pete williams, frankly, has seen everything. and he is legendary for being completely unflappable. everybody else will have their hair on fire about something, and pete williams is like, eh, don't you remember this also happened in alabama in 1947? exclamation points turn themselves into semicolons and periods when they see pete williams coming. he's the calmest man on earth, mr. nonplussed. but today, from the court, he filed this. a very unusual display of passion today in the courtroom. i can't remember the last this happened and neither can anyone else around here. i mean, coming from anyone, that would be intriguing. coming from pete williams, that's like a flash bang grenade. he never says anything is a big deal. but what happened at the court today was kind of a big deal. at least it was strange. and it happened in the big death penalty case. this was the case about the specific lethal injection drug that was used in three different scre

nbc news justice correspondent pete williams joins us live outside the supreme court once again. pete, you were there to witness history. >> reporter: indeed so, wendy. it was a historic day. what the majority opinion here says by anthony kennedy is that marriage is a fundamental right and denying that rate to same-sex couples would deny them the protections of liberty from the constitution. he says theft same rights to dignity as anybody else, dignity a keyword for justice kennedy, one he used in a decision go years ago on this very day that instead of emotion of the lower court ruling led to the supreme court decision today. each of the four conservatives filed a separate dissent. chief justice john roberts sort of sounded the theme for the dissenters saying whatever your personal feelings about same-sex marriage are, is a decision that should be made by the people not by the court and the typically barbed comment today justice scalia said if he had

pete williams in boston tonight. thank you. >>> we're learning that federal hate crime charges will likely be filed against dylann roof. he's the man accused of carrying out the racially motivated massacre at a historic black church in charleston a week ago. the feds are considering bringing charges to back up south carolina's prosecution. that state does not have its own hate crime law. meantime, the people of charleston have begun formally paying their last respects to the nine victims of that massacre. a moving memorial today at the south carolina state house taking place just yards from the confederate flag that has provoked so much controversy in the wake of this tragedy. ron allen continues to lead our coverage from there. >> reporter: today a very solemn public tribute to a native son whose death along with his fellow worshippers has south carolina searching its soul. as the reverend clementa pinckney's bottle arrived at the capitol, passing under the confederate flag, the late state senator then lying in a pl

nbc justice correspondent pete williams has more. >> reporter: fbi agents say when they went to this house in staten island early this morning to conduct a search, the 21-year-old man inside lunged at them with this kitchen knife, repeatedly trying to stab an agent in the chest. body armor prevented serious injury. that man, fareed mumuni, was charged today with trying to kill a federal officer. after his arrest, prosecutors say he admitted being a fervent supporter of isis who wanted to join isis fighters overseas and said if he couldn't get there he would attack any police who tried to stop him. the latest in a surge of terror-related cases that has the fbi scrambling nationwide. >> there are more cases out there. there are more americans out there that right now the fbi is watching because they're concerned they may be isis supporters willing to take action

but first let's get to the court and our justice correspondent pete williams. pete set the scene for us. >> reporter: lester good evening. it's the most important gay rights ruling ever and it's the culmination of decades of legal battles. it comes from a supreme court that just 30 years ago said gay people could be punished as criminals. [ cheers and applause ] a huge cheer then singing as the decision reaches the crowd out front. ♪ yet wave ♪ the historic ruling struck down the bans on same-sex marriage still in effect in 14 states all of them in the south and the midwest. it was already legal everywhere else. justice anthony kennedy wrote the 5-4 ruling joined by the court's liberals. "the right of same-sex couples to marry is part of the liberty promised by the constitution," kennedy said, "which grants them equal dignity in the eyes of the law." after the decision was announced the crowd seemed to grow people wanting to celebrate and be closer to the supreme court. couples who fought the bans in kentucky were ecstatic. >> it's been a long path for us i

let's turn to pete williams at the supreme court. pete? >> reporter: this is a victory for the power plant industry. the supreme court said the epa is wrong when the epa said it did not have to consider a cost versus benefit analysis when it decided what pollutants to regulate. the industry said that calculation had to be done first. look at the sort of dollar value of the public health benefits versus what it would cost the industry. the epa said it didn't have to do that and today by a vote of 5-4, the supreme court said oh yes, it does. this is by no means the last word on this. the supreme court still gives the epa fairly broad discretion to decide which pollutants to regulate, but it has to do the cost versus benefit analysis. justice kagan writing for the center today said this is a mistake, it reduces the epa's authority, and if the epa had been able to do what it wanted to it would have saved many many lives. >> and pete as the final of the third decisions have come down as far as this term already looking ahead as far as the supre

speaking of pete williams, here's pete williams with more breaking news. this out boston. possible terrorism suspects shot and killed a man outside a drugstore this morning. officials were investigating whether the man had become radicalized by isis social media messages. how serious was this? what do you think led to the shooting? >> it was serious that this man had been under surveillance several days perhaps several weeks. he was in his early 20s. they went to arrest him this morning as he was preparing to board a bus in the roselyn dale section of southwest boston. he pulled a big knife on them. they told him to drop the knife. he instead moved towards them. he didn't drop it and he was shot. they say he was preparing some kind of an attack perhaps today. the fact he was carrying this large knife may be an indication that in fact he was planning to do something today. we're not sure what his intended target was. there had been rumors in boston among the police officers that he was targeting police officers. we've not been able to confirm that. there are others that are

i think we can really close a chap i. >> that was pete williams reporting. tsarnaev goes to prison on death row while the case goes through automatic after peels process that could take years. >>> week after nine were shot and killed in a south carolina church, more charges for the man accused of pulling the trigger. this is on top of nine count miss state court where he could get the death penalty. two public defenders will represent roof at his itrial. in alabama, governor robert bentley ordered the four rebel banners to be taken down nachlt debate continues in charles charles in the very room the massacre happened. >> in jesus name we pray a, amen. >> one week after a gunman shot and killed nine at a bible study inside the ame church worshippers were back for another bible issue dirks a show of faith and support. >> it's been a beautiful gathering for all of us. the love pouring out from everyone coming around we can't even ask for more. >> earlier, a horse drawn kas yacht made the long slow solemn journey to the state capital. inside mourners paid final

our pete williams has late details. >> just after 7:00 aime officials say, a boston police officer and an fbi agent approached a man they wanted to question in a terrific expert when they say he drew this knife, came at them and refused to drop it. >> we saw the video, it appears that the law enforcement officers were backing away before they exercised deadly force. >> reporter: the man was identified as osama rahim. age 2669 roslindale section of boston. officials say he had been under investigation for weeks by a jttf, a joint terrorism task force. >> the subject had been under 24-hour surveillance. this investigation had been working side by side from minute one with the jttf partners, including the boston police department. >> reporter: officials tell nbc news, they were concerned rahim had become radicalized by isis-inspired social media and was actively considering an attack on police officers in boston within the next few days, in a city still traumatized by the terrorist bombings of the 2013 boston marathon. although they had no warrant for his arrest, they wanted to question h

we get the breakdown from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: in a decision applying to the 200 million americans who use social media, the court said that just because a message causes genuine fear, that doesn't make it illegal. the court overturned the conviction of anthony elonis, an amusement park worker who posted threats on facebook after his wife left him and took their two children. he said put it in your pocket. is it thick enough to stop a bullet? two years before the mass killing at sandy hook he wrote, enough element schools in a ten-mile radius to initiate the most heinous school shooting imaginable. the obama justice department argued messages like his are illegal if a reasonable person would consider them threatening as his wife did. but today eight supreme court justices said that's wrong. they said what matters is what the sender intended. users of social media can still be convicted, the ruling said, if they mean to threaten or realize their messages will be seen that way. only justice clarence thomas would let the conviction stand based on the fear

our correspondent pete williams that has details on this investigation. >> reporter: investigators were back at the scene where a boston police officer and an fbi agent shot the man authorities say was plotting to kill police. 26-year-old of boston as the fbi released new details. we have learned that three weeks ago based on social media postings and messages, the fbi put him on 24 -hour surveillance. they were watching as he went online ordering three knives with long blades from amazon. they say they met last sunday and talked about a plan to behead a victim. they say he changed his plan saying in a wiretapped phone call that he wanted to attack police tuesday or wednesday adding i'm just going to go after them those boys in blue because it's the easiest target. alarmed by that call the fbi decided to break cover and question him before he got on a bus with one of his knives. officials revealed that when five boston police officers and fbi agents approached he drew this knife and refused to drop it. hoping to calm community leaders, boston police showed them surveillance video of the

. >>> joining us now nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. this story was breaking late last night. it was a very short time before we had -- investigators 3r sharing not only a photo but a name of this guy. how did they -- how did they catch him so quickly? >> roughly 15 hours from the time of the shooting until he was stopped in north carolina. and the critical point was about 6:00 this morning when the police and the fbi decided to release surveillance pictures from surveillance cameras at the church. that turned out to be a key thing in this case. photographs of him entering, pictures of his car and the police put that out and asked for people to give tips and the tips poured in, almost immediately from friends, even from family members saying we believe this is dylann roof. and then, of course the critical thing when the driver in north carolina and shelby sees a car that she thinks matches his description, she calls her husband and 911. they stop the car and he is arrested. but you are right, it was very fast and it was because of their

lester. >> pete williams tonight. thank you. >>> now to the role reversal in washington that delivered a stinging defeat to president obama today on an issue near and dear to him. this time it came not from republicans but from dozens of members of his own party. for more, we turn to our capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. hi, kelly. >> reporter: hi, lester. and imagine this. house democrats, including their leader, nancy pelosi, rejected president obama's top economic priority, trade, and they did it right after he made a rare trip to capitol hill. the president wants to get a package of trade proposals that he says will get more u.s. goods sold overseas. and republicans want that, too. but many democrats fear those proposals could eventually cost american jobs. to try to win them over, they added a federal program to retrain displaced workers, but that wasn't enough. democrats blocked it in order to stop the whole trade package. and tonight, the president is calling on congress to try again next week, but he

>> pete williams outside the supreme court for us, thank you. >>> much more still ahead tonight. two more shark attacks adding to a sudden surge in swimmers bitten. what is it that's making this year more dangerous than years past? >>> also a game changer from the man who made trader joe's into a nationwide powerhouse. his new store selling food at huge discounts, often half the price. we'll show you how he's doing it. >>> there is growing fear at some of the nation's most popular tourist destinations as we head into a big week for summer vacations. so many families headed to the beach amid a spike in shark attacks, including two more over the weekend. here's nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: on a crowded beach with children just feet away -- >> they're really doing this? >> reporter: fishermen reeled in this seven-foot shark friday on north carolina's outer banks. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: the woman who shot the video tells nbc news it happened the same day a shark attacked a 47-year-old man about an hour away. >> subject is on the beach now. respond for a shark bite. >> repo

our justice correspondent, pete williams, has that story. >> reporter: the fbi's claim that it disrupted a boston plot to attack police officers is the main hallway talk in a meeting today of big city police chiefs in phoenix. officials say last fall's hatchet attack on a new york city police officer and this week's plot to attack police in massachusetts were both inspired by calls on isis social media to go after people in uniform including police. >> it's a continually growing threat to this country. >> it's a very big wild card. and law enforcement has to constantly look for new strategies to try to combat this. >> reporter: the fbi says that after ordering three knives online last week, usaamah rahim of boston ad first planned to behead someone in new york, pamela geller, who organized last month's "draw muhammad" contest in texas. >> i think it was more along the lines of wishful thinking. you know, we had 24/7 surveillance on him. and we were monitoring all potential targets. >> reporter: the fbi says rahim abruptly changed his mind tuesday morning and told a friend he would begin

>> pete williams in washington. thank you. >>> there are new twists tonight in the prison break investigation in upstate new york as the massive manhunt for those two escapees appears to have hit a dead end. they could be anywhere by now. and authorities are telling us for the first time about an alleged murder plot discussed by the two men and the woman charged with helping them break out. a plan to kill her husband. nbc's miguel almaguer with the latest. >> reporter: joyce mitchell charged with helping convicted killers david sweat and richard matt escape from prison says the fugitives were planning to kill her husband lyle. that according to the district attorney, who says mitchell also used her cell phone to often call richard matt's daughter before she backed out as the getaway driver. >> i think she feared for her husband's life. she feared for her relationship with her family. she has not indicated to us at any time that she feared for her life from these two men. >> reporter: today lyle mitchell, who worked

by our justice correspondent pete williams. pete, thanks for being with me. this bond hearing at 2:00. the judge likely will deny bond. then what? >> well, he is being held right now, according to the court documents we've seen on what are essentially first degree murder charges, murder commit we'd malice aforethought is the phrase used in south carolina law. he will probably i would gegs craig, be prosecuted by the state first. although that decision has not been made yet because both the state authorities and federal authorities are looking at pursuing separate track here. but as a practical matter he can't be tried in two jurisdictions at the same time. the federal government probably will file charges. they haven't decided whether they'll pursue hate crime charges or whether they'll pursue terrorism charges. they're looking at that too. they're looking at all the available options. but even if they do file charges, you can only be tried in one court at once. as a practical matter it looks like that's going to be the state, although that decision hasn't be

and pete williams as well from the supreme court. and chuck, let me start with you. this caps a week of wins for the president after his health care victory, a big victory on trade in congress. how will this week be remembered when we assess his legacy? >> look, i think it's going to be potentially a transformational week. when the president was running for president, he said he wanted to be like ronald reagan more than he wanted to be like bill clinton. and he made that point by saying ronald reagan was a transformational president because he shifted the entire country's agenda from, say, the center to center-right. well, i think when you look at everything that happened in social change this week, from just the trade deal to same-sex marriage to the response to the charleston shooting you're seeing that potential transformational shift of the country that candidate obama said he wanted to lead and you're seeing that. and i think it's encapsulated in everything that has happened in this ten-day period. >> and now as you look at the presidential campaign especially i

pete williams, nbc news boston. >>> there was an enormous outpouring of grief today at delaware's state capitol where the casket of beau biden, the eldest son of vice president joe biden, was laid in honor. the biden family received the flag-draped casket outside, and hundreds of people lined up to pay their respects inside. beau biden, who served as delaware's attorney general for two terms, died saturday after battling brain cancer. president obama will give the eulogy at biden's funeral on saturday. >>> the already very crowded republican field got another player today. former texas governor rick perry announced he's jumping into the race for president. perry also ran in 2012 but dropped out when his campaign failed to spark much heat. it was, however, scorching inside the hangar where perry made today's announcement. this makes ten in the gop race for the white house with more expected like jeb bush, who is now set to announce his campaign -- his candidacy on june 15th. >>> now to one of the most talked about stories of the day -- the duggars. the parents that have come under so muc

our justice correspondent pete williams explains. >> reporter: shortly after oklahoma began pumping a lethal combination of drugs into the arm of convicted murderer clayton lockett something went wrong. he mumbled and wiggled around. 43 minutes passed before he was pronounced dead. death penalty opponents sued saying the first of three drugs failed to render him unconscious, exposing him to intense pain cruel and unusual punishment. but by a 5-4 vote the supreme court rejected that challenge. "the constitution doesn't guarantee a painless execution," wrote justice samuel alito. and he said the challengers failed to offer a less painful alternative. in a very unusual move four justices spoke up in the courtroom in what turned out to be a debate about capital punishment itself. justice stephen breyer supported by ruth bader ginsburg said it's highly likely the death penalty no matter how it's carried out violates the constitution. sonia sotomayor said lethal injection can be so painful it can be the chemical equivalent of being burned at the stake. on the other side antonin scalia said

. >> nbc justice correspondent pete williams is live at the supreme court. pete, there are so many things to dig into. first of all, 6-3 and the chief justice. those are surprising results. >> yes. everything about this is a bit of a surprise, an dree yachlt even -- andrea. usually the biggies come on the final dave the term. we think we have two more decision days left. the president, it was just june 8th as you recall that president when he was overseas at a news conference began the little rift about this case. he said it never should have gotten to the supreme court. they never should have taken the case. and now the supreme court has given him a big victory rescuing obama care for the second time. as you know in the opinion written by the chief justice, the same person who was in charge basically made the critical vote last time to bail it out on the tochlax question he said it is ambiguous about what the challenger said. he said the subsidies which are critical for the americans are available only for exchanges established by the state. but what the co

williams. you've been a busy man. >> yes, sir. >> what did we learn about the court this weekl i liberal court? >> you had the marriage decision saving health care reviving the housing discrimination law. saying that states don't have to put the confederate flag on their license plates restricting campaign fund racing in judicial elections and so forth. if you look at the last ten years, justice roberts running the courts. the decisions that stand out that will annoy him is that he's twice bailed out obama care. but liberal takes the fact that he's the chief justice who gafs -- dealt a huge blow to the voting rights act. what we see about john roberts and these two decisions is dissenting on marriage agreeing on obama care. he doesn't like to see the court as a political institution. he hates it when we describe a liberal block or conservative block of justices. he is concerned about the court's legacy and his own image. >> we know where three justices always are going to be on the right, alito

pete williams is at the justice department. pete, we heard from loretta lynch earlier that this is indeed being investigated as hate crime which gave the force of the federal government to local authorities as they pursued the suspect. what do we know now from justice? >> of course the federal agencies were involved from the beginning anyway to assist the law enforcement folks. fbi, atf, other federal agencies u.s. marshal service were all involved very quickly. basically the justice department's investigation is a parallel one that should be thought of as one that's kept in reserve. although the attorney general was careful to say that no decision had been made about how to prosecute, almost always in these cases the federal officials basically defer to the locals to carry out the prosecution. so now that there is a suspect, now that there is soon to be a defendant in this case almost certainly this will proceed as state prosecution. but we were here andrea at the justice department for a scheduled news conference about a mass

nbc justice correspondent pete williams joins me now. this was just -- media frenzy is the only way to describe it. but the bottom line is that despite all of the underlying issues here with which he's not charged, which, you know if proved would be horrifying to say the least, he's basically charged with a very arcane violation of the banking law and with perjury. and how does that stack up in terms of the normal kind of you know fbi case and prosecution? >> normally in these cases where somebody is accused of violating the banking laws they're accused of trying to cover up something that was illegal. now, what he may have ultimately done may have possibly been illegal at the time but can't be prosecuted now. nonetheless, the government believes it has a good case here. it was all coming to light because of the bank rules that say the banks have to tell the government, the treasury department, when somebody is moving around a lot of money because that's often a trip wire to discover money laundering. so he was making these $50,000 withd

i'm told that pete williams has much more on this. pete, are you with us? >> reporter: a very big victory for the administration. the subsidies are available nationwide. it doesn't matter the supreme court says whether you live in a state that has its own exchange or whether you got your insurance through the federal exchange, healthcare.gov either way, you get the subsidy. one other thing about the subsidy, the administration said for the average person it was about $270 a month. but for many people it was much more than that. and it made the difference between whether they could afford health insurance or not. so bottom line here big victory for the administration. this saves for the second time the obamacare law. it will go forward. congress can still change the law if it wants. but people who feared that the obama administration would lose here hoped that congress might make some changes, but that seemed unlikely. so the ball does not automatically go back to congress. the administration wins a big one here today. >> pete williams at the supreme court.

let's start with our justice correspondent pete williams. pete good evening. >> lester good evening to you. this is the second time the u.s. supreme court bailed out obamacare. this time even more decisively than it did three years ago and once again, the decision is written by the court's conservative chief justice, john roberts. >> reporter: outside the court, big cheers for the ruling. victory for the affordable care act, aca. the issue, who is entitled to federal subsidies that make health insurance cheaper. conservative opponents said the subsidies were not for everyone only for people who bought their insurance in one of the 16 states that set up their own marketplaces. millions of other americans that bought insurance on the federal marketplace, healthcare.gov couldn't get the subsidies. but by a vote of 6-3, the supreme court said that's wrong. the decision by chief justice john roberts joined by another conservative anthony kennedy, and the court's four liberals. the court says the three parts of the law are interlocking. insurance

chief justice correspondent pete williams is here. a lot of passion and a very vocal debate among the justices. >> reporter: it's not unusual to hear the majority announce the opinion followed by the decent, but you had two decents and a rebuttal. four voices in what amounted to a debate today. the bottom licourt declined to stop what oklahoma was doing in its lethal injection procedure. all the states are having trouble getting a substitute for what was for many years the first drug in the lethal injection process that was supposed to render the prisoner unconscious and unable to feel pain. unable to get those drugs anymore, the state came up with another. the challenger said it wasn't effective and could feel this burning sensation. the court said today that there's no constitutional right to obtain free execution and that the challengers here failed to come up with an alternative that would be less painful. that's what set off this debate among the justices. it was steven brooiier and ginsberg who said maybe the court should look a

joining me from the supreme court is nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. tell us what we saw revealed

nbc's pete williams has been working this story all day. a couple of things are interesting. what do we know about the suspect? and is it normal for them to be monitoring someone and then to just approach them outside a drugstore like this to question him? >> reporter: he's from boston, 26 years old, his father had been an imam in the boston area but no longer lives there, now lives in california. but they say they got onto him because of what they considered disturbing compunctions he's had with others potentially inspire d by isis social media. they say in recent days he had talked about trying to stage some kind of an attack within the next few days. that was a tweet just yesterday -- communication just yesterday. at the didn't have an arrest warrant but decided to approach him. it was just after 7:00 at a bus stop near a drugstore in boston. they say he pulled out a knife, a large what they described as military-style knife, and came toward them. they hadn't drawn their weapons at that point, but they did then and they kept telling him to drof the knife. he didn't. so the

pete williams thank you so much for. we really appreciate it. >>> and for more on the political and legal aspects of this indictment, let's bring in msnbc analyst howard feinman and also defense attorney karen desoto, also a former prosecutor. welcome to both of you. >> hi there. >> karen, wanted to start with you. reaction to what we're just learning. dennis hastert pleading not guilty on all the charges. is that a surprise at snaul. >> no of course not. this is -- you waive reading of the indictment. enter a not guilty plea and then discovery or trying to hide all of the facts about this sexual abuse allegations because that seems to be the crux at this case whether there was extortion involved, who the individual is and detailings don't have to do with the charges in the sense that the charges are not as serious as these underlying salacious sexual details. >> absolutely. and will those other details, will those other things he's not being charged for somehow make the way into it. chicago tribune write federal prosecu

. >> nbc's justice correspondent pete williams has the latest. pete? >> jose good morning. boston police and the fbi say they stopped the man at the center of this plot as he was preparing to attack police officers here in massachusetts, calling them an easy target. they say he discarded the idea of beheading a woman in new york: investigators say that when boston police and the fbi shot 26-year-old usaama rahim tuesday they feared he was about to board a bus carrying a knife preparing to attack police officers. officials say the fbi, concerned about his jihadist social media postings, already had him under surveillance. newly filed court documents reveal the fbi was watching when he went on amazon twice last week and bought three military-style fives with long blades. four days ago, court documents say, rahim told two other people he planned to behead a victim in another state. law enforcement officials say it was pamela geller, the activist and commentator who organized last month's draw mohammed contest in garland, texas. in a written statement she says "they targeted me

pete williams joins us now. the president says this is the law of land for good. is he right? >> that will be up in congress in part if there is a republican president and the congress decides to try to veto it or do away with it. there are other legal challenges pending. there is one whether the bill started on the wrong side of the congress given that the supreme court said three years ago that it's a tax. but this does certainly seem to have a different character than the decision that came out three years ago that bailed out obama care on constitutional grounds. you'll recall that decision was all over the place, every justice seemed to go off in a different direction. this one is different first of all it's a 6-3 instead of a 5-4 division with justice kennedy joining last time. remember he was so strongly against the court's ruling three years ago. and secondly, the court seems to sort of accept the broad premise of obamacare here. doesn't really tinker with it. it's just this question of who is entitled to federal subsidies that make insurance cheaper. conservative oppon