hallie jackson is waiting with us. hallie, before we talk about what we can expect, i want to show our viewers who weren't with us some of what president trump said within the past hour or so at cia headquarters across the potomac in langley, virginia. >> i can only say that i am with you 1,000%. they sort of made it sound like i had a feud with the intelligence community. and i just want to let you know, the reason you're number one stop is exactly the opposite. >> hallie jackson, to his wording there, did we sort of make it sound like he had a feud with the intelligence community? can you reflect or refresh our memory on what he said himself about the intelligence community? >> on both the twitter account and in the news conference a couple of weeks ago, brian, he suggested that members of the intelligence community using nazi-like tactics and put the words intelligence in quotes, for example. he went after john brennan all but accusing him of leaking information to the news media about interactions that were alleged

hallie jackson, nbc news, washington. hallie jackson, nbc news, washington. >>> up next, impressive linda. it seems age isn't slowing you down. but your immune system weakens as you get older increasing the risk for me, the shingles virus. i've been lurking inside you since you had chickenpox. i could surface anytime as a painful, blistering rash. one in three people get me in their lifetime, linda. will it be you? and that's why linda got me zostavax, a single shot vaccine. i'm working to boost linda's immune system to help protect her against you, shingles. zostavax is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults fifty years of age and older. zostavax does not protect everyone and cannot be used to treat shingles or the nerve pain that may follow it. you should not get zostavax if you are allergic to gelatin or neomycin, have a weakened immune system or take high doses of steroids are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. the most common side effects include redness, pain, itching, swelling, hard lump warmth or bruising

hallie jackson is there covering it for us. we expect him to do the standard turn on the dance floor, along with vice president mike pence and his wife. and then we do expect president trump to make comments at the salute to armed services ball, comments no doubt tailored for the audience there. we learned from hallie jackson that tony orlando was singing. and we learned that she had to google him to figure out who he was. >> she did seem to assume you knew who he was. >> who could he be? >> that is one of the groups of people he hasn't met with during the transition. i know there are veteran service organizations that were concerned about that. basically we all know this about trump but i will say it again, he talks a good game about veterans and the military but he failed to actually serve in it. and he didn't do a good job of fulfilling his promise to donate very much money to veterans. he seems to really like uniforms i think more than people in them. >> you -- this is the time is running out on making promises about fixing

we start with white house correspondent hallie jackson. >> reporter: instead of working to clarify or backtrack on president trump's false claims, today his press secretary tried to cement them. this time it's not candidate trump repeating false claims of widespread voter fraud. >> you have places where people walk in and vote. >> reporter: but president trump with the white house now officially endorsing a debunked conspiracy theory that millions of people voted illegally. >> it was a comment he made on a long standing belief. >> reporter: citing studies that don't back up his claim. the press secretary backing up his boss who told congressional leaders that illegals, people voting illegally, cost him the popular vote. if proven, it would be fraud on an unprecedented scale. something that could undermine an entire election yet the white house confident in his victory. >> why not say he will investigate if he believes and the administration's position is there was massive voter fraud. >> he said three to five million people could have voted illegally. we're here on day two, i think le

as hallie jackson explains, being the tweeter in chief races unique security concerns. >> reporter: it's a twitter transition like never before. a big platform and now big bull's eye. >> all of those accounts are vulnerable to hackers. it will be a high target. >> reporter: donald trump's online voice sometimes sarcastic, sometimes self-congratulatory. has seemed less predictable than, say, president obama's. meaning a hacker could tweet something outrageous but perhaps believable. >> one tweet can move markets and start wars. we have to be very careful that the account is secured. >> reporter: what steps should trump take? maybe two factor verification making it harder to sign in, plus password security like changing it often and using a unique one for each account. still, nearly 7 in 10 americans say they don't like trump's use of twitter. that also includes the future first lady. >> what's the one habit you wish he would give up? >> tweeting. >> reporter: even the president-elect likes reservations. >> i don't like tweeting. i have other things i could be doing. >> reporter: his own o

>> hallie jackson, thank you very much. chuck todd will have much more on the new president and the challenges ahead tomorrow morning on "meet the press." >>> while many here voiced displeasure are donald trump as president, there was nothing of the kind today in another country that seems to be embracing the new american president. bill neely is in moscow with the view from russia. ♪ >> russian celebrations for donald trump. a u.s. president welcomed here as never before. >> so help me god. >> they heard him talk of new alliances. and believe trump will mean better relations. >> it will be good for both america and for russia. >> in russia, i know that they respect him. >> this relationship will be more friendly. >> putin is ready to meet trump said his spokesman tonight. though it may take months. many see trump as a gift to russia. >> it looks like christmas gift. was very beautiful package and we don't know what's inside. >> the kremlin has not got what it wanted trump as president. but in here, they don't want to mak

>> hallie jackson, thank you. >>> as president-elect trump prepares to enter the white house, president obama is preparing to say good-bye. after eight years in office, tonight he will deliver his farewell address from his hometown of chicago. today lester had rare access aboard president obama's last trip on air force one for an exclusive interview looking ahead to his speech tonight. >> tonight you're going to talk to the american people. >> right. >> is this a hard one? do you know what you're going to say? >> i know what i'm going to say. i have to make sure i get through it properly. when you reflect back on eight years, for all the highs and lows and the one thing that's a constant is the incredible dedication of the people who got you there and who helped you do your job. everybody from the staff at the white house to the folks who made sure this airplane flies to supporters who would write me notes when things weren't going well to people who would say that the work we did made a difference. so i think that that sense of gratitude that i feel for those folks, i hope i'm able to

nbc's hallie jackson has that. >>> tonight an exclusive inside look at a top secret report on russia. one that went directly to president obama today. so what does it reveal? two top intelligence officials with direct knowledge of the report tell nbc news it details russian cyber attacks against not just the democratic national committee, but the white house, the joint chiefs of staff, the state department, even american companies. some hacks successful, others thwarted. the report explains moscow's motives to disrupt the democratic process and partly as payback, the intelligence analysts conclude of president obama's questioning of the legitimacy of president. it's not just because of last year's campaign, either. the report tracks russian cyber activity back to 2008 and 2012. it does not speculate on whether russia's interference affected the outcome of 2016. >>> president obama says today he has full faith in the conclusions of that report. president elect trump will get the same briefing tomorrow has seemed skeptical of the intelligence community so far. >> the president of nbc ch

>> hallie jackson, thanks. >>> another major controversy we're following tonight. new developments in the battle over obamacare as a new nonpartisan report says 18 million people would lose their coverage and that number would surge unless an immediate replacement was ready. president-elect trump has promised insurance for issue everyone but who will pay for it? tom costello has details. >> reporter: tonight, more pressure on republicans to come up with a viable replacement plan after the nonpartisan congressional budget office reported that if obamacare is repealed without a substitute, within ten years, 32 million americans will be without insurance and premiums for individuals could double. >> our job as a government is to guarantee health care to all people in a cost-effective way. >> reporter: but today paul ryan's office said this projection is meaningless because they fail to take into account what might replace obamacare. one option, creating a special insurance pool only for high-risk people with pre-existing conditions. people like brandy in arizona who h

hallie jackson is there covering it for us. we expect him to do the standard turn on the dance floor, along with vice president mike pence and his wife. and then we do expect president trump to make comments at the salute to armed services ball, comments no doubt tailored specifically for the audience there. anna marie cox, we learned from hallie jackson that tony orlando was singing. and we learned that hallie had to google him to figure out who he was. >> yes. and she did seem to assume that you knew who he was. >> i don't know. who could the guy be? >> i think it's sort of interesting we're expecting trump to do tailored remarks at the armed services -- salute to armed services ball. because he hasn't really listened to the armed services veterans very much. as i'm sure you know that that's one of the groups of people he hasn't met p during the transition. and i know there are various veteran service organization that's were pretty concerned about that. i mean, basically we all know this about trump but i'll say it again. he

hallie jackson is on on capitol hill. good evening. >> reporter: good evening. intending to help them pitch the public on whether the health care law should live or die, the battle that could stretch years now beginning in earnest. a rare simultaneous showdown just a few minutes and a few hundred feet separating president obama and vice president-elect mike pence rallying their troops for congressional combat. >> make america sick again? is that what the republicans want to do? >> we've got to fix this by replacing it with something better. >> reporter: for the gop, killing the law's politically popular, but policywise, it's a puzzle. >> we're going to get health care at a much lower price. >> reporter: and while donald trump is taking aim at the law overall today tweeting, "it will fall of its own weight," he wants to keep coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and let those under 26 stay on their parents' coverage. the catch? those popular pieces are paid for by the unpopular mandate requiring everyone to get insurance. >> you can't keep the good par

nbc's hallie jackson has more on the congressman's fiery remarks. >> tonight, a stunning statement from a congressional icon. going further than any democrat yet to publicly undermine donald trump. congressman john lewis with nbc's chuck todd. >> i don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president. >> you do not consider him a legitimate president? why is that? >> i think the russians participated in helping this man get elected. and they helped destroy the candidacy of hillary clinton. >> civil rights leader unflinching, despite president obama trying to tamp down this kind of rhetoric. reminding americans what democracy is built on. >> look, the people have spoken. donald trump will be the next president. >> president-elect trump's incoming press secretary pointing to the results. >> i think the facts speak for themselves. the election was a clear and decisive win for donald trump and an agenda of change to make america great again. >> lewis' statement, a siren a week from the inauguration. with fallout from election day still lingering. intelligence assessments, russia purpose

>> hallie jackson at the white house for us tonight. thank you. >>> there are reactions around the country this evening to president trump's actions on immigration. here in new york a massive protest has erupted against his wall plans and policy makeovers. and to the south, our gadi schwartz found a mix of responses in one of the places most profoundly affected along the border the president wants to seal with that wall. >> reporter: for over a thousand-mile stretch, the texas border has no walls, no fence. every day along the rio grande, border patrol agents intercept a surge of mostly women and children from central america crossing in rafts seeking refuge from violence. today the national border patrol council applauding president trump's plan saying now they can do their jobs. in the border town of nogales, arizona, the news of trump's wall spread on both sides of the 20-foot tall iron fence. on the mexican side, anger. >> nobody likes trump over here. everybody hates him. >> reporter: and today on the u.s. side, families coming to

. >> reporter: i'm hallie jackson on capitol hill where the typically tame hearing for education secretary turned fiery last night for betsy devos. >> if your family has not made hundreds of millions of dollars of contributions, the republican party do you think you'd be sitting here today? >> i do think that there would be that possibility. >> reporter: more concerning to some democrats are devos' qualifications or they argue, lack thereof, pointing to this response to a basic question on the best way to evaluate student test scores. >> i'm talking about the debate between proficiency and growth, what your thoughts are on that. >> well, i was just asking to clarify, then -- >> well, this is a subject that has been debated in the education community for years. >> reporter: devos' biggest stumble, on guns in schools. >> you can't say definitively today that guns shouldn't be in schools? >> reporter: i will refer back to senator enzi and the school that he was talking about in wyoming. i think probably there i would imagine that there's probably a gun in the school to protect from potential

>> hallie jackson also at the white house, thank you. >>> it's part of a very busy day in washington where thousands turned out on the national mall for the annual march for life, rallying against abortion. and this year, they were addressed by vice president mike pence. the first sitting vp to attend. nbc news national correspondent peter alexander was there. >> marching on the mall today, a movement with new life. thousands of abortion rights opponents like peggy carroll of maryland, here with 40 family members, optimistic about this moment. >> is there a new energy? >> there is a new energy. people are starting to realize that abortion is murder. >> speaking out today, vice president mike pence, making history as the first vice president ever to address the march for life. >> life is winning again in america. >> emboldened by republicans gaining control of congress and the white house, activists are unfazed by reservations about president trump's evolving position on abortion. >> are you confident as president he's seen this cause? >> we've seen his commitment to the life cause in

there were lots of headlines made and we've got it all covered beginning with nbc's hallie jackson. >> reporter: at trump tower, a moment months in the making. but it wasn't washington front and center. instead, moscow, russia, dominating the first press conference as president-elect. for the first time, acknowledging what intelligence officials believe about foreign interference in our election. >> as far as hacking, i think it was russia but i think we also get hacked by other countries and people. >> reporter: reports of a memo originally generated as part of opposition research outlining personal, lewd, unverified allegations against him. >> i'm also very much of a germaphobe, by the way, believe me. >> reporter: but a senior official tells nbc news, trump was never briefed about it, backing up his argument. >> it's all fake news. it's phony stuff. it didn't happen. >> reporter: trump says during the campaign no one on his team had contact with the kremlin. but his political stance towards russia has long been problematic, even in his own party, not that trump's changing his mind.

some for, most against. >> that was nbc's hallie jackson reporting. >>> to capitol hill where trump's cabinet picks faced a drilling. they went off betsy devos. the president-elect's pick to lead the department of education after she refused to rule out defunding public schools. >> the financial futures of an entire generation of young be people depend on your department getting that right. now, mrs. devos, do you have any direct experience in running a bank? >> senator, i do not. >> do you have -- have you ever managed or overseen a trillion dollar loan program? >> i have not. >> how about a billion dollar loan program? >> i have not. >> okay. >> i've worked -- >> you have no personal experience with college financial aid or management of higher education. >> and senator cory booker says he will vote no on devos's nomination. that is another one of trump's cabinet picks openly disagreed with him. this time congressman ryan zinke. he bluntly said he flat out disagrees with the president-elect's position on climate change. later today h.h.s. nominee tom price will face off against the

nbc's hallie jackson has those details. >> reporter: for the trump transition, its biggest week yet. key cabinet confirmations stacking up in congress. two tomorrow, four wednesday, three more thursday. >> i think they'll all pass. i think every nomination -- they're all at the highest level. >> reporter: but among the most controversial, alabama senator jeff sessions. up for attorney general. his civil rights record under fire. >> there is some concern about jeff sessions -- >> no, i think he's going to do great. high-quality man. >> reporter: trump's team touting how seriously they're taking this. inside the nondescript transition office in d.c., some 70 hours of mock hearings. each nominee peppered with some 120 questions each session. >> the process is meant to prepare the nominee and also to scare them just a little bit. >> reporter: but nbc news has learned four cabinet picks with hearings this week have failed to finish required ethics reviews. according to a senate aide involved in the process. while the transition team insists all forms have been filed, the ethics office cal

hallie jackson just left this studio. what we don't see are members of both parties on the committee or their witness, their fellow senator the nominee for the department of justice. we see a large human hand there telling us something is not right with the shot. there's more of the committee table. matthew miller gets the remaining seat award tonight he's been in our washington studio seated since 9:00 a.m., prepared to talk to us and along the way he's been watching and listening to this heg. matt, what's bn omitted to your way of thinking so far and what have been perhaps the less dwelled upon headlines so far? >> i think one very big thing is when senator sessions said he'd recuse himself from any clinton investigation, it's a little bit of a red herring. there's no clinton investigation that we know of that's active. there's no reason to think there will be another one. whether it's appropriate for the president of the united states to direct prosecutions either of political opponents or really anyone. and whether it

. >> here is hallie jackson. >> reporter: an exclusive inside look at a top secret report on russia, one that went directly to president obama. so what does it reveal? two top intelligence officials with direct knowledge of the report tell nbc news that it details russian cyber attacks, the white house, joint chiefs of staff, the state department, even american companies. some hacks successful, others thwarted. the report explains moscow's motives, partly to disrupt the democratic process and partly as payback, the intelligence analysts conclude, for the obama administration's questioning of vladimir putn's legitimacy as president. it's not just last year's campaign either, they track the cyber activity back to 2008 and 2012. it does not speculate on whether russia's influence affected the outcome of 2016. >> when the president-elect receives his own briefings and is able to examine the intelligence as his team is put together and they see how professional and effective these agencies are, that some of those current tensions will be reduced. >> reporter: hallie jackson, nbc news, the

nbc's hallie jackson has more. >> reporter: a rare simultaneous showdown. a few minutes and a few hundred feet separating president obama and mike pence. rallying their troops for congressional combat. >> make america sick again? is that what the republicans want to do? >> we've got to fix this by replacing it with something better. >> reporter: for the gop, killing the law's politically popular. but policy wise? a puzzle. >> we are going to get health care at a much lower price. >> reporter: and while donald trump's taking aim at the law overall, tweeting it will fall of its own weight, he still wants to keep coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and let those under 26 stay on their parent's coverage. the catch? those popular pieces are paid for by the unpopular mandate, requiring everyone to get insurance. >> you can't keep the good parents of the aca and remove the rest of the law and still have it work. >> reporter: so what will the replacement plan look like? not even republicans know for sure. >> within six months we should be able to put p

our white house correspondent hallie jackson starts us off tonight. >> reporter: at the white house, a reset already after a rocky start. on his first full white house work day, president trump, most notably backing out of the transpacific partnership, a major deal that would have made it easier to trade with allies around the pacific to counter china. >> we've been talking about this for a long time. >> reporter: the move winning praise from people like senator bernie sanders, and from mark gliptus, a labor leader. >> 100% behind trump as far as the renegotiation of that specific treaty. >> reporter: an administration aide tells nbc the tpp move fulfilling a campaign pledge is the first step in renegotiating big trade deals including nafta with canada and mexico. >> when will you begin to renegotiate nafta? >> in the appropriate time. >> in theory we'll be keeping higher-wage jobs by pulling out of trade deals, but we might see the cost of goods increase. >> reporter: president trump implementing a hiring freeze for federal workers, except military members, and reinstating a reagan-

hallie jackson. thank you. >> congratulations, hallie. >>> in the meantime, hundreds of thousands descend on washington for the women's march on washington. it's largest of marches planned in all 50 states today. nbc's jacob rascon is at the national mall. jacob, what's happening there? >> reporter: sheinelle, thousands of people, women, men and children, gathered. many of them as you can tell wearing pink hats. after a rally with celebrity speakers, they march down independence avenue to constitution avenue. on to the elips. hundreds of other women's marches also planned around the country and world. yesterday, d.c. police arrested 217 people during protests that turned violent. a small group wearing masks in all black smashing windows and starting fires and throwing rocks and bricks. even injuring several officers. overshadowing thousands of other peaceful demonstrations against their new president. today, d.c. police say they are preparing for up to 500,000 people in the demonstration. sheinelle.

. >> let's get to hallie jackson a few miles from the white house. that is where president trump is set to attend a prayer service this morning. hallie, good morning to you. >> good morning, craig. the president now waking up in the white house for the first time just a couple of miles from where we are. after that, this morning, first thing, heading here to the national cathedral for a prayer service. he will be joined by vice president mike pence. this is an inter-faith service and a long time tradition for new presidents dating back to george washington. like a lot of things that president donald trump does, a bit of controversy with reports of episcopalians with trump visiting the church with the comments about mexicans and muslims and others. the president, after he leaves here, will have a busy day. you heard kelly mention the possible visit to the cia that is unlikely to happen. we do know that there is, again, a lot of folks expected to speak at the service. including familiar faces from the campaign trail. cleveland pastor darryl scott is le

this morning but right now we have more news with hallie jackson. >> hello, i'm hallie jackson here on capitol hill. show down or dressing down? president-elect trump will meet with top intelligence leaders at trump tower at 12:30 today so two and a half hours from now. we're going to talk about what's inside this report and whether or not he'll trust it. details about russian cyber attacks and how long. >> and a chilling beatdown on facebook. four charged in what police are calling a hate crime. president obama now weighing in. and cross country threat. three nasty storms sweeping across the north, south and west. tens and millions of americans facing snow, ice and potential flooding. but up first, that meeting of the minds. intelligence officials showing their cards to president-elect trump, all of them heading to midtown manhattan to meet with the incoming and skeptical commander in chief, all of them making the case that russia intervened in the u.s. presidential election. that briefing happened just 24 hours after the first of what could be many showdowns on capitol hill. top offi

. >> joining me now from the capitol is hallie jackson and mariana is live in miami where congressman lewis address aid crowd at the mlk breakfast. hallie, let's start with you. democrats would like donald trump to call congressman lewis to smooth things over. is there any indication at all that trump might be open to doing that? >> reporter: no indication, katy. as you know, the president-elect can be at times unpredictable so you can never rule anything out. that said, look at what his team has been saying all morning long when asked about this up. heard it from incoming press secretary sean spicer a couple times this morning that essentially congressman lewis started it, so the thinking goes, why should donald trump have to call up and either say he's sorry or extend the olive branch. again, spicer and other members of the transition team are not ruling out that could potentially happen. obviously, they say the president-elect has open lines of communication to a lot of folks here on capitol hill. that being said, katy, this is one simmering on this mlk day holiday. you know, i wou

hallie jackson in washington, d.c., thank you. >>> when president trump takes office in 18 days, he has legitimative agenda already under way. the congressional karnld begins tomorrow. chuck schumer is already promising battles on eight of trump's nominations for cabinet posts. for more on that, i want to bring in robert costa and national political reporter with the "washington post." when you look at this and what we've seen now with the cabinet picks being pretty well established, which nominations do you think the trump folks are most concerned about? >> here on capitol hill, there's an expectation that tom price, the georgia congressman up for health and human services and rex tillerson, the oil executive up to be secretary of state, they're being heavily targeted by democrats because democrats see in price an ability to really litigate the affordable care act. a law they hope in many respects stays in place and with tillerson, it's not only an opportunity to go over his biography and scrutinize that, but to talk about the relationship between trump and russia because tillerson doe

let's go back to hallie jackson. who else is in the room? >> basically all of his top advisers, let me bring you in the room. there's a bank of elevators to my right here next to where the podium is set up. we do expect to see the president-elect when he comes down probably any minute from now. saw kellyanne conway and donald trump's son-in-law, taking on a senior advisory role and steve bannon the chief strategist and other members of the family. i believe standing behind me here you can see jared kushner. i see for example economic adviser gary koenz arudy giuliai as well. t this is a tumultuous 18-month campaign and eight days out from the inauguration, the president-elect has his top west wing team in place. they have gathered in the lobby. there's a blue curtain separating the members of the media from secret service and other personnel further back in the trump tower lobby but right now all of the trump advisers are standing to wait to see what the president-elect will have to say. there have been stacks of manila folders placed out on