fbi director james comey made his surprising announcement before those e-mails had been examined. but tonight nbc news has learned that process is under way. our pete williams has been breaking developments in the story all weekend, and has late details for us. >> reporter: the fbi's been at it now for about 24 hours, starting the work just after getting a search warrant to analyze the thousands of e-mails congressman's anthony we weiner's laptop during a separate investigation of him. the big question, will these e-mails shed new life on the investigation into hillary clinton's private e-mail server? tonight officials say, no answer yet. the clinton campaign has huma abedin doesn't remember using it. so another question, how did they get there? it's possible computer experts say, she used it and forgot, or e-mailed him and unintentionally launched a backup. the answers are on one of these, a hard drive from a laptop has made an exact copy of the one on wiener's laptop. that company is being analyzed in a computer forensic lab like this one. >> this is a great way to preserve the data, intact, the way it was, and work off the copy, so you don't accidentally ruin the evidence itself. >> reporter: most of the process is automated, weeding out e-mails that aren't hers, narrowing those down to ones sent or received while clinton was secretary of state and then elimi duplicates of the thousands already seen in the clinton investigation. those left will be examined to see if they could contain classified information. but until the fbi has some results, officials say director james comey has no plans to say anything further or expand on what he told congress last friday about finding the abedin e-mails. that disclosure violated justice department policy, but tonight the department says in a letter to congress, it's committed to move hard drive is moving along without any technical problems. they declined to say how long it's going to take to get the answers. there's less optimism tonight it can be done before election day, but at this point, nobody knows for sure. lester? >> election day is the one everybody's watching, pete, thanks. eight days to go, both campaigns scrambling to respond to this late stunner. hillary clinton and her supporters questioning the timing by the fbi director, so close to the election. and the trump campaign seizing here's andrea mitchell on the trail in ohio. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. the clinton campaign seizing moments ago on a new report that fbi director james comey was reluctant to publicly blame russia for cyber hacking democrats this close to the election. they called that a jaw-dropping double standard given the revelations about top clinton aide huma abedin. this is the latest tonight top hillary clinton aide huma abedin not on the trail with clinton, as clinton intensified her attack on fbi director james comey, trying to rally the base and reassure undecided voters about the e-mail controversy. >> i'm not making excuses. i've said it was a mistake and i regret it. now they apparently want to look at e-mails one of my staffers -- and i am sure they will reach the same conclusion they did when they looked at my for the last year. there is no case here! >> reporter: just a few months ago, clinton and other democrats praising comey for not pursuing criminal charges against her. >> i'm grateful for the professionalism of the fbi. >> he's somebody with the highest standards of integrity. >> this is a great man. >> reporter: clinton supporters now taking shots. former attorney general eric holder writing -- good men make mistakes. in this instance, comey has committed a serious error. betrayal of long-standing fbi protocol. >> reporter: but the white house not joining the chorus. >> i'll neither defend nor criticize what director comey has decided to communicate to the public. >> reporter: tonight the clinton campaign saying it was blindsided by the fbi's announcement and expressing confidence in abedin. considered a surrogate daughter, bill clinton officialiating at her glamourous wedding to anthony weiner. and after wiener's sexting scandal, his documentary intended to revive his political career. >> it's a nightmare. >> reporter: now a new nightmare for the clinton team, what feels like a punch in the gut to staffers. concerned not so much about losing, but the impact on democrats in tight senate races. andrea mitchell, nbc news, cincinnati, ohio. >> reporter: i'm hallie jackson in michigan, where on halloween, donald trump's supporters may be walking dead, but tonight their candidate is finding new life on offense. weiner. >> reporter: the latest fbi story giving trump an opening. >> we can be sure that what is in those e-mails is absolutely devastating. >> reporter: but nobody really knows what's in those e-mails, not even the fbi yet. that's not stopping trump from hitting clinton on those messages and on the latest wikileaks release of stolen e-mails, which nbc has not authenticated, showing clinton's campaign may have been tipped off to a primary debate question by the now head of the democratic nationalmm if i did that? bobby, what would happen to me if i did that? electric chair, i think. >> reporter: trump getting back up from basketball coach bobby knight in michigan, one of several blue-leaning battleground states. his goal, force clinton to make a defense play. the problem, polling shows trump behind in these might-win states. yet he hasn't locked up the must-win, like florida and ohio, where margins are facing new questions about his charitable donations. with "the washington post" reporting on his 1996 visit to a school for children with aids. >> trump hadn't given them money. he wasn't invited to the fund-raiser, he was not donated at all and stole a seat on the stage that was reserved for another donor. >> reporter: tax returns would show how much he's given. he hasn't released them. for the next day days, looking to focus not on himself, but on his rival. >>s the prize is clearly within view and staying on message is an essential step to getting that prize. >> reporter: trump's aides see attacking ob cair as especially effective, which why he'll focus on that in suburban philadelphia, another area where he's making a play, but playing from behind. lester? so let's bring in our political director, the moderator of "meet the pr press", chuck todd. all along with race has seemed impervious to damaging moments how do you explain it? >> this has been a remarkably stable election because we have two nominees that were so well known, well defined, and frankly, already unpopular. so there's just not much more negative news, especially when it's negative news that reaffirms a belief that was already out there. when it comes to e-mails, hillary clinton herself said it at her friday night press conference. she believes a lot of it is baked in. and i think that's whhe showing. it's had marginal impact on enthusiasm, particularly republican enthusiasm. what does that mean? it's possible, lester, we are now headed for a result that looks more like a generic d, generic r, or the 2012 result, a little more of a traditional red-blue map, traditional turn-out on both sides. so if it did anything, it may have just bumped up republican enthusiasm just enough to keep things more competitive all the way up and down the ballot. >> eight days to go, very much. >> you got it. meantime tonight, as the fbi continues to review those e-mails, nbc news has learned of another situation involving the if anything. law enforcement sources say the feds have launched a preliminary inquiry into donald trump's former campaign manager paul manafort, looking into his business ties overseas. we get details on that from our senior investigative correspondent cynthia mcfadden. >> reporter: into the gasoline,em reid threw a match yesterday. in a letter to james comey criticizing his decision to notify congress of the newly discovered huma abedin e-mails, perhaps relevant to the clinton investigation, he drops this bomb. in my communications with you and other top officials in the national security community, it has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between donald trump, his top advisers, and the talking about? law enforcement and intelligence sources tell nbc new today, the fbi has been conducting a preliminary inquiry of donald trump's former campaign manager paul manafort and his foreign business connections. when nbc news asked the fbi to comment on the inquiry, the fbi did not respond. >> americans have every right to be concerned about what they see in terms of trump advisers and their closeness with the kremlin, trump's russia, trump's potential financial interest in russia. >> reporter: paul manafort was reportedly paid $12.7 million in cash by pro-russian politicians in the ukraine. and nbc news can also report what some call disturbing ties to two oligarchs. one ukrainian, one russian. both billionaires. american officials say both have ties to the russian mafia. >> i think it does raise serious concerns about the policies that trump would president. >> reporter: while an inquiry is a preliminary look and falls short of a criminal investigation, in this highly charged atmosphere, it has some arguing that comey is using a double standard. >> here where the director has discussed an investigation involving one candidate, it opens the director up to claims of bias if he doesn't discuss other potential investigations. >> paul manafort tells us tonight none there's no investigations going on with the fbi that i'm aware of. as for donald trump, his spokesperson told us, mr. trump severed his ties with mr. manafort many months ago. mr. trump has no knowledge of any of his past or present activities. lester? >> cynthia mcfadden, thank you. this evening, we're hearing for the first time the voice of a killer during the largest mass shooting in modern u.s. history. police in orlando have released the audio recordings from the pulse nightclub massacre between the negotiator. nbc's gabe gutierrez has late details. >> reporter: the chilling 911 call came in at 2:35 a.m. >> i want to let you know, i'm in orlando, and i did the shooting. >> reporter: by then, emar mateen's rampage was under way and hundreds of people were scrambling to escape the pulse nightclub in orlando on june 12th. >> i pledge my allegiance to abu bakr al baghdadi on lf killer at first speaking with an emergency dispatcher, then a police crisis negotiator. >> can you tell me where you are right now, so i can get you some help? >> no. because you have to tell america to stop bombing syria and iraq. they're killing a lot of innocent people. >> reporter: he falsely claims there are cars outside rigged with bombs. >> i'm going to ignite it if they try to do anything stupid. >> reporter: mateen bomber. >> my home boy tamerlan tsarnaev did his thing. >> you're annoying me with these phone calls and i don't really appreciate it. >> reporter: a s.w.a.t. team swarms in around 5:30, killing mateen. 49 people are dead, 53 wounded. among those killed, 30-year-old eddy justice, his best friend dmitrius, survived. >> he opened fire and people and people begged for their lives and cried out, please don't do this. >> reporter: a judge will now decide whether to release more than 200 other calls during the carnage. the deadliest mass shooting in u.s. history. gabe gutierrez, nbc news. still ahead tonight, the final moments before a deadly kdead ly car crash caught on camera. also, it might be we're back now with new concerns about a popular smartphone app used by millions, especially younger people. snapchat is once again under scrutiny for its speed filter that clocks your speed as you take photos or video. as nbc kerry sanders explains, a car passenger was recently using that feature right before a >> reporter: critical moments just before a horrific deadly crash, this ten-second snapchat video posted by a passenger in the car using a feature that records and displays their feed. first 82 miles per hour, then 115. less than ten minutes later, that same speeding car in tampa slammed into a minivan. five died in the crash. the driver and his passenger, and in the van on their way home from church, a 39-year-old mother, or 9 and 10-year-old daughter and 15-year-olcoin in are in th tonight. >> we do question how it happened, you know, why did it happen. >> reporter: the florida highway patrol says it remains unclear what roll snapchat played. >> had she not been doing the videotaping, the snapchatting at the time, maybe he might not have been performing this operation and driving so recklessly. >> reporter: when moving snapchat displays a do not snap and drive warning. using the speed filter while driving, with more and more accidents from georgia to louisiana to texas, all allegedly involving snapchat. one question. >> the only purpose in my mind is for folks and teens and kids to record themselves, show off how fast they're going. >> reporter: active snapchat users say eliminating the speed filter from the app won't make much of a difference, because users will simply point their phone at th of the victims in this crash are not commenting on the snapchat video, as they focus on making sense out of this horrible tragedy. kerry sanders, nbc news, miami. we're back in a moment with the police chase and deadly a massive explosion outside birmingham, alabama, today, sent a plume of smoke into the sky that could be seen for miles. at least seven people were injured as fire crews raced to contain the fireball at the scene. officials say it happened about a mile away from the site of a recent gas pipeline leak. the company has now shut down its main lines in that area. oklahoma has come to an end in a deadly shoot-out. the suspect, wanted in a series of violent crimes, including a double murder, led police on a chase last night before he was killed in a gun battle with state troopers. nbc's blake mccoy has more on how he was taken down. >> reporter: the dangerous fugitive oklahoma police had been desperately pursuing for a week, was finally spotted by don williamson has he on his property saturday. >> reporter: what followed was a final gun battle with law enforcement that left a sheriff injured and michael vance dead. the week-long manhunt began 150 miles away last sunday, following another police shoot-out that left two officers injured. >> i think i hit him twice. >> once in the shoulder? >> once in the shoulder and once in the lower abdomen area. >> reporter: vance posted his get-away on facebook. >> this ain't a joke, this ain't a prank. [ bleep ]. violent crimes, including the murder of his aunt and uncle. today an accomplice was charged accused of providing vance medical assistance, ammunition, and trading him an ak-47 when he was on the run. a seven-day manhunt finally over. we'll switch geers in a moment. still ahead it's the nice every kid loves. but for parents, finding the right costume can be a challenge. is brought to you by pacific life. helping generations of families chief tricker on treaters are out in force in neighborhoods across the country. and this year as many parents are keenly aware, kids are facing stiff competition to find the perfect costume. here's kevin tibbles. >> reporter: ghouls and goblins on parade at roosevelt elementary in burbank, california. >> this is a big day for kids. >> reporter: and folks, who could possibly be scared by awesome cuteness like this? little darlings all >> oh, you like the skittles. >> reporter: but preparing for fright night can be a nightmare for parents too. >> the older they are, the more demanding they are. so there is pressure. >> reporter: not too many years ago, costumes were cobbled together by mom over the kitchen table. >> who are you going to be? >> that girl. >> reporter: this year, americans will spend almost $7 billion on halloween, many migrating to chicago's fantasy costumes, where even parents were in a last-minute frenzy. >> it was last night that we had people here at 2 and 3:00 a.m., in a panic, trying to get stuff for their childrens. >> reporter: some in hysterics. are you under extreme pressure to produce a good costume? >> kind of. >> reporter: but the worst thing of all. they don't have the size. >> no. parents are for? we just have that magic that just makes it happen pch. >> trick or treat! >> reporter: so enjoy the little devils, whoever they are tonight. kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. >> have fun tonight, kids. that's going to do for >> announcer: howie mandel opens up about a condition that could paralyze him with fear. >> it's a battle i fight every waking moment of my life. >> announcer: can his phobia be fixed? >> and, driving her deep into di8ct >> dr. travis: this is a dangerous time for you. her? and, did a nanny feed a baby? to death? what police are saying today. how i suf-- surfing nurse survived a shark attack. >> dr. travis: welcome to the show, we have comedian, and television personality howie mandel. he's here for the doctors today. >> what an appointment i am having! and i said i want you to go to the doctors ternal. i said -a tomorrow. i said, okay. i am a hypochondriac, i had no idea they meant the tv show. [ laughter ] >> dr. travis: this is a good doctor's visit. >> i watch the show. i love the show. i have a problem, my problem is. i watch the everyone should watch the show. then i do a lot of self-examinations, calls. i have everything you talk about. [ laughter ] >> dr. travis: well, we all