think i'm favoring donald trump, even though i know him. >> and that's tonight's last word. brussel's on lockdown. america on edge. this is "hardball." good evening, i'm alex wagner in for chris matthews. for a third straight day the city of brussels resembled a ghost town. shops closed, schools shut. one worker told the associated press it feels a bit like a dead city. the prime minister warned about an attack similar to the paris assault and raised the threat level to the highest designation. there is a massive manhunt under way for salah abdeslam. since sunday, police carried out

at least 19 raids, arresting 21 people. today the belgium prime minister said schools and sundays would likely reopen wednesday. across the border in paris, there was unsettling news. an explosive belt was discovered in the suburb of the city. the assorted press reports the belt contained bolts and the same explosives used in the attacks earlier this month. britain's prime minister david cameron was in paris today to pay tribute to the victims of the november 13th attack. along with french president francois hollande, he visited the bataclan concert hall. the eagles of death metal gave their first interview. >> several people hid in our dressing room and the killers were able to get in and kill every one of them except for a kid hiding under my leather jacket. >> killers got in your dressing room? >> yeah. people were playing dead and

were so scared of great reason. why so many people were killed because so many people wouldn't leave their friends. and so many people put themselves in front of people. >> back in america, officials say there is no credible evidence of an attack similar to those carried out in paris, but a new poll shows 81% of americans say they think a massive terror attack is likely in the near future. those fears are especially high ahead of the thanksgiving holiday. late today, the u.s. state department issued a worldwide travel alert to american citizens, citing the risk of increased terrorism threats overseas. we begin with the latest from brussels with keir simmons. can you tell us more how they expect to safely open schools amidst this climate? >> good question, alex. the prime minister said today sitting in a news conference with his senior ministers flanked alongside him was they would continue the security

level at the highest level until at least wednesday. at the same time they wanted to start opening the schools, opening the subway stations, for example, you can see behind me here. people are asking the question, how do those two things go together? it's confusing. parents are saying, shall i send my children to school or not on wednesday begin the fact you are saying the security level is still high and you're still searching for a number of people in connection with this. one man was charged today, by the way, charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group and with the terrorist attack, that makes four people charged. salah abdeslam is still at large. they still don't know where he is. and they are searching for a number of others. it is a frightening picture here. that said, many people are still trying to go about their business. in the end, the problem is that

they have to get life back to normal. they have to restore confidence even if they aren't able to find what they appear to be looking for, some kind of terror cell somewhere in this country. >> thank you to keir simmons in brussels. now to paris where gabe gutierrez is live with us tonight. what can you tell bus this explosive belt found in the suburb of paris? >> good evening. it's very unsettling news here in paris. just a few hours ago reports came in that authorities had found an explosive belt in the suburb south of the city montrouge. that's according to the city prosecutor spokesperson saying that belt was found. forensic experts are going through trying to find out if it was tied to the paris attacks. the associated press is reporting that it did contain bolts and some explosives used in the attacks. again, we are still waiting for confirmation on that.

as forensic experts further their investigation. we did speak with several witnesses on the scene. there was an area students, there is a dormitory in and around that area. several students were told to leave their homes early in the afternoon. the entire street was cordoned off. this is a city that has been on edge since these attacks ten days ago that killed 130 people. you see the memorial behind me. this is a city that tried to bounce back. today french president francois hollande hosted british prime minister david cameron. they toured the bataclan theater, the site of the worst carnage from that attack. hollande is expected to meet tomorrow in washington with president obama before he meets with russian president vladimir putin in moscow later this week as he seeks to build a stronger international coalition to fight isis. back to you. >> thanks to gabe gutierrez in

paris. a new poll found more than 4-5 americans fear a large-scale terror attack in the near future. over the weekend, president obama urged americans not to give into fear. characterizing isis as a bunch of killers with good social media. >> we do not succumb to fear. that's the primary power these terrorists have, of course. the most powerful tool we have to fight isil is to say that we're not afraid, to not elevate them. to somehow buy into their fantasy that they're doing something important. they're a bunch of killers. >> joining me are evan coleman and timothy murphy. timothy, let me start with you.

it's understandable that the president would be urging americans not to succumb to fear, but that seems a daunting task given those poll numbers, the amount of fear in the atmosphere. also this state department issued travel warning. what do you make of that? >> i agree with the president. we don't succumb to fear, right? we also need to be more vigilant. we need to be on the same footing today as we were after the 9/11 attacks. this is serious and happening in countries all around the world. my contacts tell me in the law enforcement intelligence communities, they are on that footing similar to after 9/11 to make sure this doesn't happen in this country. people should go about their daily business like the government is telling you to do. the risk, although the risk is low of it happening, there is the probability of something happening here directly inspired from abroad or some of our home grown radicalized youth in this country. >> belgium's minister was asked how salah abdeslam could remain

at-large. he said he must have support on our soil. what did you read in that statement? >> not on his own. obviously, there is a network of folks he is connected with, friends with, or perhaps sympathetic to what his mission are. these people decided to help hide him. he's obviously not doing this by himself. it's difficult to imagine someone that is the subject dragnet the size of searching for him would slip through without assistance from others. everything we know, he received assistance from others. that's how he managed to get to belgium in the first place. >> i'm going to read from a "new york times" op-ed last week. he explained the brussel neighborhood of molenbeek which emerged as a hotbed of extremism is in part of the administration dysfunction of the belgian government and a lack of arabic

speakers at the security service and a failure to recruit former radicals or people from muslim backgrounds. do you think we are going to see europeans become more comprehensive in their intelligence gathering? >> i think they have to. we have to do the same thing here. what they are facing in belgium is not unlike what you are facing in other european countries and not unlike what you are facing here. we have, the fbi says there are investigations in state in our country. we have 250 foreign fighters documented traveling to syria. it's not unlike europe. what we've seen in the past, they occurred somewhere else. they made it to our homeland. we can talk about not being integrated enough into society. that's where these individuals are radicalized. same thing is happening around the world.

while we are doing that, we need to have better intelligence collection and sharing among all the intelligence agencies cooperating in this fight against isis. >> the sheer multiplicity of this threat almost seems impossible to conquer. we have investigations around the world, all 50 states, the travel warning including boko haram. >> unfortunately it's only because of what happened in paris people paid attention. it's extremely important to understand more americans die from ordinary things like going out in the street than they do from terrorism. that doesn't stop us from going out in the street. there was a crazy rumor this weekend isis was going to target the philips arena in atlanta and try to attack a world wrestling event? people have got to be reasonable.

they cannot let paranoia take hold of them. the reason isis keeps releasing these videos, they released seven videos in the last eight days. they keep doing this because they want to create a drum beat. they want to spread fear. they want to spread paranoia. it's one thing to take into account a serious threat and take reasonable precautions. it's another thing to go out and start denying refugees any right to come here, to start talking about not going shopping, these are not reasonable reactions to this kind of threat. there is a threat. this is not the end of the united states. it's important to put this into proper context. >> i want to hit one last point on the isis propaganda machine which is more sophisticated than folks realize. "the washington post" interviewed former prisoners and former media. camera crews fan out every day.

their ubiquitous presence distorting the events that fighters and executioners often perform multiple takes and read their lines from cue cards. does this sound like something you ever heard of? >> no. it's risen to a level. as they had people join isis in syria and iraq with 20,000 foreign fighters, we have not as a whole of government, ngos or communities really gotten together and help counter this narrative isis has been able to send across the internet from syria and north africa. we have yet to respond to that in a powerful way to counter that message.

there is not just one solution. responding to this to help turn the tide. >> thank you. >> thank you. coming up, fear and loathing in the republican party. 2016 front-runner donald trump says thousands of people in new jersey were cheering after the september 11th attacks. it is just not true. it never happened and yet donald trump is only getting stronger in the polls. plus, did u.s. military intelligence cook the books on isis to paint a rosier picture about the fight against the terror group? the pentagon is investigating and now president obama is pushing for answers. >> and a look inside the mainstream republican party's campaign to stop donald trump. finally, the "hardball" round table tells me and you something i don't know. maybe it's a lot of different things. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

deep red louisiana elected a democrat as the state's next governor. john bel edwards brought in 56% of the vote defeating long-time u.s. senator david vitter, a republican who finished at 44%. vitter held the seat for a decade and was re-elected after a 2007 prostitution scandal. vitter says he will not run again when his seat comes up next year.

i watched when the world trade center came tumbling down. and i watched in jersey city, new jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as this building was coming down. thousands of people were cheering. >> welcome back to "hardball." defending his call for the surveillance of mosques, donald

trump said on saturday he remembers thousands of people in jersey city actually celebrating the 9/11 attacks as they took place in 2001. it is the latest in a pattern of alarmist and controversial rhetoric we have heard from trump since the paris attacks. when he was asked about it on abc yesterday, he dumbled down. >> the police say that didn't happen and all those rumors have been on the internet. did you misspeak yesterday? >> i saw it. >> you saw it with your own eyes? they say it didn't happen. >> people were cheering on the other side of new jersey where you have large arab populations. they were cheering as the world trade center came down. it might not be politically correct for you to talk about it. >> facing pushback today, trump demanded an apology and cited "the washington post," law enforcement authorities detained and questioned people allegedly seen celebrating the attacks. as "the washington post's" own fact checker writes, of course, a number of people obviously

does not equal thousands, and allegedly indicates there is no video footage or proof celebrations actually took place. after investigationing the origins of trump's story, "the post" concluded this appears to be another case of trump's overactive imagination. trump maintained his lead over the gop field even as a political debate turns to issues of national security. he is ahead of dr. ben carson by ten percentage points. trump is in columbus, ohio, for a campaign rally. katy tur is there. we know the donald called you. what does he have to say? >> he called me late today. when i asked the campaign for official comments and all the pushback he's been getting from news organizations and politicians and police officials saying they had no evidence of that happening in jersey city or even northern new jersey in the aftermath of 9/11. he called me to defend his claim saying that he is sure he saw

it. he cited that "the washington post" article you mentioned, saying that tailgate parties to him equal thousands and thousands of people. i said that it was allegedly, they were detained for allegedly celebrating. he said allegedly to him means confirmed, basically. he told me he did see it on television. i asked him repeatedly where he saw this video. give me one place you saw this video. he said he couldn't remember, but he does know he did see it because he told me he has what he calls the world's greatest memory. he said he's seen it since on youtube. he might have seen it on fox 5 in new york city. he also said a number of people have been tweeting him telling him he was right and they saw it, too. he's definitely not backing away from these claims whatsoever. he even mentioned ben carson, whom he's accused of being a liar. carson walked back his own

claims saying he is confusing new jersey with the middle east. i asked do you think you are confusing video from palestine, from gaza, palestinians cheering after 9/11? he says absolutely not. he did see that in new jersey. it's getting loud because donald trump is about to take the stage right now. >> we'll monitor that event as it progresses. thank you for that update. ben carson told reporters he also remembers seeing video of terrorist sympathizers celebrating in new jersey on 9/11. >> did you see that happening on 9/11? >> i saw the film. >> in new jersey? >> yes. >> you saw i saw the film what film are you referring to? >> the news reels. >> news coverage from the time of 9/11? >> correct. >> hours after making that statement, carson's campaign

walked it back saying, "dr. carson does not stand by the statements reported today. he was hearing and thinking something differently at the time. he does, however, recall and had his mind focused on the celebrations in the middle east. he is not suggesting that american muslims were in new jersey celebrating the fall of the twin towers." i am joined by eugene robinson of "the washington post" as well as heidi przybilla of "usa today." why does carson's campaign feel the need to walk this back? >> i'm going to try to hear and think about your question rather than something random that crosses my mind. obviously, they walked it back because it's not true. it didn't happen. he couldn't have seen it, the film or the news reel or whatever it was he thought for a minute that he saw. he couldn't possibly have seen. and maybe just a little ray of

reality penetrated that campaign and they realized that, gee, it actually didn't happen this way. so he took it back. it's a very weird episode that is kind of a side show to the main event which is trump doubling down on this paranoid, frankly, racist fantasy. >> heidi, let's talk about trump's fantasy here. the notion of backing down period has not only been something foreign to donald trump's campaign, his insistence on his version of reality seems to in some way have strengthened him. >> that is something you see time and time again, whether referring to hispanics or statistics he tweeted out today. i think in the case of this videotape, you can't prove a negative, right? you can't prove something doesn't exist. we all saw the footage of palestinians cheering after september 11th. i could see how he conflated the two. i don't think he would come out

with the urban legends that donald trump seems to seize on. has he apologized for fanning the whole birther movement around president obama, saying obama was born in kenya and is muslim? that's patently false. he's never back tracked on that as he hasn't for a lot of things he said that are untrue. i went back and looked at the poll fact checker. this is the 14th of 15 untrues that are so untrue they are determined pants on fire untrue. >> it's clear donald trump book marked the far corners of the conspiracy internet, either with this or previous moments in the trump campaign. trump supporters at a rally in birmingham, alabama, got in a physical altercation with a black lives matter activist this weekend. that scuffle which occurred while trump was speaking was

captured on video by a cnn reporter. trump reacted on fox news sunday and suggested the protester deserved what he got. >> the man that was, i don't know, you say roughed-up was so obnoxious and loud, he was screaming. i had 10,000 people in the room yesterday, 10,000 people and this guy started screaming by himself. i don't know, rough up? maybe he should have been roughed up. it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing. >> donald trump later retweeted after that a chart of inaccurate murder statistics that falsely allege african-americans are responsible for the majority of homicides against whites. not only are the figures completely wrong, but the source on that graphic, the san francisco crime statistics bureau does not even appear to exist, eugene. >> no. it doesn't exist.

the figures are totally wrong. look, this plays to trump's core base in the republican party. it really does. this sort of paranoia, the us versus them, us in this case being older, whiter, not college educated voters versus black people, muslims, foreigners, whatever. it obviously plays very well for him. >> heidi, i wonder because there is at least some glimmer of bipartisan efforts to reform the criminal justice system and outreach to african-american communities, whether the rest of the gop stands idly by in a moment like this where trump is further alienating black voters? >> that's been the issue all along. part of why trump has been able to kind of propagate these myths. his competitors don't go after him. i think part of the reason is many of them assume that by this point he would have imploded and they would have positioned themselves to kind of pick up

his core supporters, but you are starting to see some of them, for example, on the muslim comments he made about 9/11, marco rubio is starting to say that's just not true. you would hope on this one, particularly given the source -- not only does that agency not exist, but it looks like the person who put this information out there is actually a self-described neo-nazi sympathizer. that's shocking. >> not where you want to get your news and information from. thank you both. a new investigation looking into whether centcom officials painted a better picture than what was happening on the ground. the reporter who uncovered that story. this is "hardball."

one of the things i insisted on the day i walked into the oval office was that i don't want intelligence shaded by politics, i don't want it shaded by the desire to tell a feel-good story. we can't make good policy unless we've got good, accurate, hard-headed, clear-eyed intelligence. >> welcome back to "hardball." president obama wants to get to the bottom of reports u.s. military officials may have altered intelligence reports on isis after "the new york times" revealed the inspector general is widening a probe into that matter. there is special concern that analysts at u.s. central command were ordered to make it seem like u.s. air strikes against isis were more effective than they were in reality. congress is also investigating the matter. joining me from washington is "new york times" national security reporter michael schmidt who co-authored that story. scoop upon scoop, my friend. let's talk first about what the practical effect of these

altered reports may have been. white house is greatly pushing back on the notion that this intelligence informed the president's decision-making. >> dozens of analysts have come forward at centcom which oversees our military operations in iraq and syria and said we were providing assessments that weren't making it into the final product. our assessments were not as rosy as the intelligence rising up going to policy makers in washington. >> there is the interpretation and analysis of those reports. congress is investigating and some of the dod documents on the rise of isis capabilities of missing. you say some of those documents may have been deleted before they had to be turned over to investigators. if anything, that seems like perhaps the most suspect ingredient in all of this. >> so this is what's going on. the inspector general for the pentagon is doing this

investigation and they are trying to get their hands on every document they can. all the e-mails from the analysts and documents they were producing and what they ultimately turned out to be. what the intelligence was going up to washington. in the process of that, some folks told us that there are e-mails from people that were making changes that have disappeared. if that is true, that is a very big deal because you're basically destroying evidence in an investigation. all of a sudden something that turned out to be initially something about intelligence will likely become criminal. >> let's talk about how congress is handling this. at present, this is mostly driven by republicans in congress, right? >> that's right. the republicans look for everything they can on obama. they haven't been terribly successful in the scandal area. they see this perhaps as another chance. they think this may go all what it to the top. this was a white house that

wanted to see special intel reports. that's what they are saying that backed up their foreign policy decisions and their view of the world. we haven't seen any evidence of that yet. that's where this is going on the republican side. >> let's talk about the inspector general. when do we expect the results of his or her report? >> i don't think it will be any time soon. on top of looking at all the changes, what the inspector general has to do is look at what the intel was at the time. what was the cia saying? how is that different from what centcom was saying? were there significant differences? is there a pattern here? these documents are classified, which means they are harder to handle. do some of them have to be declassified if there is going to be a report made public? i don't anticipate getting an answer any time soon. >> then there is the practical matter of hindsight being 20/20. it seems more willfully ignorant to ignore perhaps signals that

maybe everybody would have ignored at one point, right? >> it's certainly clear the administration seemed like they were caught off guard in the summer of 2014 when there was beheadings and we found ourselves back on a war footing in iraq and syria. because of there there are a lot of questions. was the administration ignoring things? what intelligence were they getting? why didn't they anticipate isis was going to be as powerful as it was? there have been a lot of questions. republicans have wondered why hasn't the president had more accurate assessments? they point to his comments the other day where he says isis was contained, then there was the attack in france. that is the back drop we are looking at. >> thank you to the "new york times" michael schmidt. a new poll shows hillary clinton with the edge when voters choose who is best to handle terrorism. "hardball" round table is next.

sure, tv has evolved over the years.

it's gotten squarer. brighter. bigger. it's gotten thinner. even curvier. but what's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv.

our goal is not to deter or contain isis, but to defeat and destroy isis. it's time to begin a new phase and intensify and broaden our efforts, to smash the would-be califate and deny isis control of territory in iraq and syria. a more effective coalition air campaign is necessary, but not sufficient. we should be honest about the fact that to be successful, air strikes will have to be combined with ground forces actually taking back more territory from isis. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was democratic front-runner hillary clinton outlining her

plan to defeat isis in a speech to the council on foreign relations in new york last week. the republican party long held an advantage in national security issues a new poll out today suggests they might not have that edge in 2016. the poll finds americans trust hillary clinton to handle the threat of terrorism over all her gop rivals. clinton leads donald trump by eight points, ben carson by nine, ted cruz eight, marco rubio by four and jeb bush by three. while the former secretary of state is trusted more than the gop to handle terrorism, 40% approve and 54% disapprove the way president obama is handling the issue. even though she is closely linked to his foreign policy. why do more americans trust hillary clinton over barack obama and the republicans to handle terrorist threats? jay newton small is a correspondent with "time" magazine, clarence page with the "chicago tribune."

how and why is this happening? >> clinton benefits from two things here. the foreign policy shine of being this incredibly popular secretary of state under obama in his first term when he was more popular. secondly, this clinton nostalgia. her husband was president during a time when terrorism didn't exist or not in the same way it existed after 9/11. people felt safer, more secure at the time. i think a combination of those two things. her foreign policy chops and the clinton brand in terms of foreign policy overall. >> can she maintain her hawkish street cred? >> i think we saw back in '08 she knows how to maintain her hawkish stance. she got the image being more hawkish than barack obama. the public was more war-weary, especially democratic voters with two wars going on.

right now after paris, we certainly see the public opinion shifted toward the need for some kind of ground troops. that concession is no longer banned like it was before from public discussion. folks don't want somebody too hawkish. that's how hillary has an advantage over donald trump, for example and others who want to bomb the whatever out of isis. she has an image for more sensible experience with foreign policy and not that eager to get us involved in a deeper war. >> how did you read the numbers of hillary against the gop field? this is traditionally an area of strength for the republican party. >> it is one poll and comes on the backs, remember there was a democrat debate the night after the paris attacks where hillary had an opportunity to address these issues. she gave her speech last week. in hillary versus the gop,

voters aren't sure who is the gop. we have a huge field with more than 12 candidates, a new speaker of the house. it's not surprising at this point she might get a bump in terms of those numbers. we have to remember there is a year until election day. there is a lot of time once there is a nominee chosen to make their case. it is hard to see where hillary will be the one seen as more hawkish or trustworthy on foreign policy and defeating isis. >> if there is a deeper dive into foreign policy, hillary clinton has pluses and negatives. libya versus syria and her positions on both. where do you think she ultimately nets out? >> i think that will depend who the republican nominee is. if they don't have a lot of foreign policy experience, and the field doesn't have a lot of huge foreign policy wonks except for lindsey graham, her depth of experience applies to her deft hand as secretary of state and

seems more of an expert than barack obama on a lot of issues. if it's marco rubio, somebody less experienced versus jeb bush who has more foreign policy experience or has a lot more to say about it, more record on the issues. >> the round table is staying with us. up next, is willard mitt romney the republican antidote to donald trump and ben carson? a new poll shows him well ahead of the gop field for 2016.

unaffiliated is the largest growing group in pew's latest study of religions in america. the share of christian population is on deet klein. evangelical protestants are the largest of the group. nonchristian faiths represent the smallest share of the american public.

we are watching donald trump live in columbus, ohio where he's speaking to supporters. can we take a listen? two people. so sad. you know, it's sad. it's rude too. and you know part of the problem? we have 10,000, 12,000 people here. those two people will have their little line that oh, they were pickets. yeah, you can get them the hell out. >> that was donald trump addressing a protester apparently at a rally. we are back with jay, clarence, and mindy. shell-shocked by donald trump's unexpectedly long shelf life as a presidential candidate. the republican establishment finally appears to be playing proverbial hardball with the gop front-runner.

>> i have a great relationship with the blacks. i've always had a great relationship with the blacks. >> the blacks. >> well, i just don't respect her as a journalist. you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. blood coming out of her wherever. >> somebody's doing the raping don. you know, somebody's doing it. it's women being raped. well, who's doing the raping? >> it moves this way. it moves this way. >> how stupid are the people of iowa? >> the "wall street journal" reported on friday that a group called trump card llc is uniting donors and preparing to launch a guerrilla campaign against the real estate billionaire. a memo reviewed by the "wall street journal" reports one possible ad would link mr. trump's views and style to his celebrity foe rosie o'donnell in hopes of provoking a reaction from mr. trump according to the memo.

other possible tactics include using a trump impersonator to show him insulting people and attacking his business record in stark nasty terms. the goal, according to the memo, isn't to convert mr. trump's supporters into backing other candidates but to dissuade them from voting altogether. so is there still time to bring him down or does the donald hold the proverbial trump card? clarence, rosie o'donnell, and trump impersonators, can they bring this man down? >> well, we have certainly seen donald trump defy all our expectations. the punditocracy, all our expectations, saying well, that john mccain remark that'll kill him. he's like godzilla. he just gets stronger the mohr gets attacked. i'm questioning whether or not even this new attack from fellow republicans is going to make a difference. with a different kind of candidate, different kind of constituency here. a lot of these folks who are following trump so closely are folks who haven't voted that much before because they've been too cynical about the whole

process. this is something that will make a difference. those voters in ohio didn't show up for mitt romney in 2012, and that made the difference for barack obama's victory. if they do show up for donald trump, we may be further surprised as these primaries go along. >> mindy, i wonder if this has the opposite effect, the narrative of the gop getting together to keep trump out of the race. >> i think it's possible. i think a lot of people underestimated that donald trump is actually quite a talented politician. you know, at the beginning people said, well, he's a celebrity, he knows how to get attention. he's actually quite a talented politician. he's a smart man that knows exactly what he's doing. so i think it's really challenging. that's what's been challenging the establishment in figuring how the how to bring him down. you have to remember even this effort, we talk about the republican establishment, what you're talking about is one pac, one campaign's pac or an outside pac. there isn't a unified effort at this point where kind of all the

typical traditional donors and all the organization that's are part of the party are focused on taking him down. i think it's important to remember that. it's also important to remember for those who don't want to see trump nominated, which is a lot of political insiders, is while he has a lot of support right now he does seem to have a ceiling. and a third -- winning over a third of republicans nationally is not enough if you can't go beyond that in these primaries. whether this effort takes him down or not there still is a path where just by the nature of the race and the fact that he does have this hard ceiling he'll take himself out. >> donald trump has not been shy about suggesting that he might run as an independent, and i guess i wonder does this rhetoric further inflame an already pretty volatile temper as far as that's concerned? >> certainly his goal here, i've never been convinced his goal is to be president. i think his goal is to get what he's getting which is a lot of attention, a lot of fame. and if that's your goal would

you really want one speaking slot at the republican nomination or the republican convention versus three primetime speaking slots on the stage in three presidential debates? that's always seemed more appealing to me. if i were him i'd get so much more attention, it lasts longer. we'll see what happens. it's certainly entertaining no matter which way he goes. if he becomes the nominee even more so. but it's hard to imagine that if he still hasn't seen these kinds of numbers the last week of january just before we go into voting, then the republican party has a lot to worry about. between now and then a lot can happen, especially with the establishment sort of coalescing with another strategy against him. so we'll see. >> it is a long strange dip. the round table is sticking with me up and next these three tell me something i do not know. you are watching "hardball," the place for politics. sure, tv has evolved over the years.

it's gotten squarer. brighter. bigger.

it's gotten thinner. even curvier. but what's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. we're back with the round table. mindy, tell me something i don't know. >> well, in what has been one of the most unpredictable presidential elections so far, i think we have more ahead, and specifically i think while everyone focuses on trump's support in the south, these big rallies in mobile, alabama, we actually will see trump could win iowa but he could win new hampshire and then you go on to super tuesday and you see him winning a state like massachusetts while you see a rubio or even a cruz wing a georgia or alabama and that will surprise everybody. >> clarence? >> well, the obama foundation announced today that they're going to have their headquarters in hyde park.

and if you knew that, i'll bet you didn't know that the address right at 53rd and harper i notice is a little less than a block away from 53rd and dorchester where barack obama and michelle robinson had their first date. he bought her an ice cream cone. and they had their first kiss. >> is that a coincidence, clarence? >> i wonder. i'm track that down. i want to tell you. >> jay, tell me something i don't know. >> alex, i was in belgium last week covering the attacks. i was in molenbeek and the city's now under lockdown. and some of my friends who are there spent the weekend not really taking the lockdown that seriously. and so there's a meme on twitter and social media about all the things they're taking photographs of during the lockdown. out to brunch, at parties. the belgium government was like look, you can't show these things. you have to take these things seriously. so then instead of showing people out to brunch and parties they started doing pictures of cats. so if you google belgium lockdown you'll find lots of pictures of very cute kitties. >> that is definitely something i did not know. thank you to jay newton small,

clarence page and mindy finn. that is hardball for now. thanks for being with us. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on "all in" -- >> i want surveillance of certain mosques. okay? >> gop front-runner donald trump is make up scary stories about american muslims. >> there were people that were cheering on the other side of new jersey where you have large arab populations. they were cheering as the world trade center came down. >> representative keith ellison the first muslim elected to congress is with me to respond. plus, a black lives matter activist -- >> get him the hell out of here, will you, please? >> violently removed from a trump event. >> maybe he should have been roughed up. >> i'll speak with an eyewitness from that rally. then who does america trust to handle the threat of terrorism? a new poll finds one 2016 candidate leading the entire field. and later, why the nra is blocking a bill to keep guns out of the hands of people on the terror watch list.