and i guess you could say the same about -- >> and donald trump has helped him. why? because ted cruz is a conventional outsider. so if you want an outsider now, you can go with a guy that seems like the safer outsider. cruz may be perfectly positioned. >> but have you been struck by how prepared rubio has been for all of these attacks, whether it's from immigration on cruz or foreign policy, he's got an answer for everything. it tells you they prepared their candidate well. >> you got the last word, congratulations. we'll be back tomorrow with more "mtp daily." erica hill picks up our coverage right now. our top stories on msnbc live this hour. ramping up the fight against isis. pentagon chief ash carter telling congress he's unleashing more special ops forces, to fight the terror group. >> we're at war. we're using the might of the finest fighting force the world has ever known. >> jim miklaszewski is live at the pentagon. a political storm brewing

tonight over climate change. president obama insisting it must be a 2016 campaign issue, whether republicans like it or not. the iowa caucus is now just two months away. >> america's already leading on many issues and climate is no different. >> chicago's top cop, fired. so what's next for the nation's second largest police force? plus, on this giving tuesday, the story behind one family's anonymous donation to the salvation army, generosity that has captivated the nation. and good evening to you on this tuesday. i'm erica hill. we begin tonight with the u.s. stepping up its role in the fight against isis. before leaving the climate talks in paris this morning, president obama spoke at length about increased efforts to fight the terrorist group. >> i am confident that we can continue building momentum and adding resources to our efforts to degrade and ultimately destroy isil, to disrupt plots

against america and our allies. isil is going to continue to be a deadly organization, because of its social media, the resources that it has, and the networks of experienced fighters that it possesses. it is going to continue to be a serious threat for some time to come. but, i'm confident that we are on the winning side of this. >> on the heels of those comments, a major announcement from the pentagon today. defense secretary ash carter saying the u.s. will expand its fight against isis, by sending special operations forces to iraq. >> in full coordination with the government of iraq, we're deploying a specialized expeditionary targeting force, to assist iraqi and kurdish peshmerga forces to put even more pressure on isil. these special operators will, over time, be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather

intelligence, and capture isil leaders. this force will also be in a position to conduct unilateral operations in syria. >> nbc's chief pentagon correspondent, jim miklaszewski, joins me now. so what do we know about this plan? >> despite president obama's pledge to the american people, that he would not put u.s. boots on the ground, that they would not be engaged against isis forces in combat on the ground, the u.s. military is preparing to send between 100 and 200 u.s. special operations forces and their supporting forces into iraq. not only to work with iraqi and kurdish forces, but to conduct raids, both inside and iraq and syria, to gather intelligence, rescue hosting ing aagehostage capture or kill isis leaders. now, to be clear, again, it's going to be a very small number but this is a huge step forward.

and quite frankly an admission by the obama administration that the current policy, the current strategy in iraq and syria is just not working as fast and as well as the u.s. military and the white house had hoped, erica. >> that is something we know has been bantered about for some time now by experts. jim miklaszewski for us tonight, thanks. while the pentagon prepares to send special forces into iraq, the debate over the administration's current strategy to defeat isis rages on, as we alluded to. senator john mccain telling msnbc's andrea mitchell earlier today more has to be done. >> you're not going to defeat them from the air. you're going to have to have people on the ground. we have to articulately lay down a strategy. and if that requires more american involvement, and i'm not talking about 100,000 or a surge, but more american involvement, then we ought to tell the american people that. they would support it if we said, look, here's how we win.

>> former secretary of state and current democratic front-runner hillary clinton also weighing in, not surprisingly, with a much different take. >> we're not putting american combat troops back into syria or iraq. we are not going to do that. in terms of thousands of combat troops like some on the republican side are recommending, i think that should be a nonstarter. >> joining us now, msnbc military analyst, colonel jack jacobs, and current white house middle east adviser and ambassador to morocco, mark ginsburg. and we hear the news from the pentagon, 100 to 150 troops. does this make a difference? >> well, it does make a difference if what you want to do is to merely degrade isis. but the white house has said its objects are to degrade and defeat isis. you can't do them both. and you can't do the latter, defeat isis, with only a small

number of special operations troops on the ground. it will go a long way to intercepting plots, but if you want to destroy isis, you can't do it with the number of forces or the type of forces that the president is talking about. >> ambassador ginsburg, you made the point that 18 months of air strikes have not resulted in what many people would have liked to have seen. we are seeing some more cooperation. germany today approving up to 1,200 troops. but as far as other countries in the region, places like turkey, jordan, without their support on the ground, will this make a difference moving forward? >> in the long run, erica, unfortunately not. this is boots on the ground mission creep. it's tactical in nature. it's not a strategy, ultimately, as my good friend just said, to defeat isis strategically. and when you look at the coalition that has been formed, even today, president obama, in a most unprecedented matter,

attacked president erdogan of turkey for not doing enough. turkey has been and remains a pivot point for isis as an underground safe haven for a transfer of isis forces, in and out of turkey across a very porous border. and germany stepping up to the fight does not include, necessarily, enough of what nato is doing. putting a few napkins and a few plastic forks down on the table does not a coalition make. and at the same time, erica, let me add, american forces on the ground, i'm deeply concerned about. a few, yes, but nowhere near what may occur, as a result of the president's commitment. and finally, where are the arab boots on the ground? that's the essential. this can't be a crusader mission against isis. it needs to be ultimately an arab fight against isis. and that's where the leadership and strategy needs to be placed. >> i want to bring in also to our discussion, steve clemens, which is editor at large for the

atlantic and msnbc contributor. as we're talking about these changes, steve, it is impossible to ignore the impact of paris. have the paris attacks, in any way, you think, shifted the mind-set and the appetite in this country for more boots on the ground in that region? >> i think, absolutely, that's the case, that paris reminded everyone of 9/11 and reminded them that in their local restaurant, in their local supermarket, in the concert hall down the street, and people living ordinary life, who are in no way connected to what's going on, that they're vulnerable. and that can happen anywhere in the country. and we've seen isis call for such attacks all over the world, all over the western world. so that fear is palpable and was visible and tangible in paris, and i think it changed the game and the inflection point for citizens in this country and also in europe, as to what they were prepared to do, to take on isis more seriously. >> hillary clinton today speaking out, saying the choice

really shouldn't be going after assad or going after isis. ambassador ginsburg, is she right? does it need to be twofold? >> ultimately, we understand that the situation in syria feeds the capacity of sunnis and sunni extremists to be gravitated towards this much bigger fight than really a fight against assad. it's become a sectarian struggle of sunni versus shiite. and assad is in many respects the magnet for that to occur, as long as he is there, sunni extremists will flock to isis. and at the same time, we have to understand, and we also, i think, see, as a result of paris, that we cannot accomplish one without accomplishing the other. defeating isis is not just an american responsibility, but the responsibility of countries that see isis not just as a regional threat, but as a threat also that will export terror ultimately to the united states. just today as you may have heard, erica, 56 americans have been already arrested in the last year alone, who may have

claimed or at least the fbi believes may have been directly involved in recruiting isis. >> colonel jacobs, when we look at what it will take in terms of the coalition, which we have discussed a number of times, ambassador ginsburg bringing up the need for some of the arab nations in the region, but when it comes to players like russia, it is, in many ways, a strange bedfellow. they do not have the same goals as the united states and france do. how do you align the two? >> well, russia, first of all, has an interest, not necessarily in propping up assad, but only probl propping up assad until such time it's all over and russia has a seat at the table to decide what the fate of syria is going to be. his interests -- putin's interests are diametrically opposed to ours and he has on his side iran. ours are completely different. but if we want to do is defeat isis, if that's really what we

want to do, we can't do it without assistance in the region, without the major countries there, contributing on the ground. you have to be there for a decade or more, as general stan mccrystal says, and you've got to be there with at least 100,000 or more troops to seize and hold the terrain that isis has, to eliminate them. isis is a terrain-centric organization. it's got to hold terrain. that makes isis vulnerable. it's not just a terrorist organization. it means that if you seize and hold their terrain, you're able to eliminate them. but i haven't heard anybody with any interest in staying there with enough forces and i'm talking about the regional forces, for enough time to make sure that isis is defeated and stays away. that's going to take a great deal of diplomatic effort and i'm not sure we're ready to put the work in to get that -- make that happen, erica. >> and the point you make seems to be one that we keep coming back to, steve. we keep seem to be rehashing the same points, that there needs to

be the appetite for it. there needs to be the support. not just tfrom the countries tht have pledged support, but from those in the region. what will it take for that to happen? is it simply the fact this needs to hit closer to home, god for bid? >> i think mark ginsburg and jake jacobs laid it out, when something much bigger and more imaginative than we're seeing today. you have proxy wars going on between essentially the saudis and iranians throughout the region. that means you need to get theocratic leaders from the shiite dimension to come to a new contract throughout the region. no one thinks that's possible. we're looking at it within a military frame. and there's no way to diffuse or beat isis militarily in the long run, without basically getting these two paranoid sects to stop trying to destroy each other throughout the middle east, north africa region. >> we'll have to loof it

tonight, but there will be plenty for us to discuss in the days to come. appreciate you all joining us tonight. thank you. >> still to come on msnbc, chicago mayor rahm emanuel fires the city's top cop. is it enough to calm the outrage over thehe shooting death of a 17-year-old? we'll bring you the latest. plus, president obama weighs in from paris about last week's violence at a planned parenthood clinic in colorado springs. saying how people talk about the organization matters. more on that, straight ahead. and world leaders gathering in france for that summit on climate change. not everyone, though, agrees the issue should be center stage. the mayor of one city that experienced the wrath of superstorm sandy weighs in. for her she's agreed to give it up. that's today? we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. after the deliveries, i was ok. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously.

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a major move in chicago today amid protests and a federal investigation. the mayor getting rid of the city's police superintendent. so, what is next?

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that's nexium level protection. developing news now out of chicago where the city's mayor, rahm emanuel, just asked the superintendent of police to step down and announce a new police reform panel. this, of course, comes amid protests and a federal investigation into the 2014 shooting death of teen laquan mcdonald. the city released video of that shooting, of course, last week. now, the man charged with his murder, officer jason van dyke, is out of jail, on bond. today, rahm emanuel praised his police superintendent, garry

mccarthy, before explaining why he had to go. >> now's the time for fresh eyes and new leadership to confront the challenges the department and our community and our city are facing, as we go forward. >> nbc's john yang is in chicago tonight with more on what this means for the city there and for the mayor. john, good to see you tonight. >> good to see you, erica. you know, you heard mayor emanuel talk about moving forward, moving on. it doesn't look like that's going to happen. just a few minutes ago, illinois attorney general, lisa madigan, released a letter that she sent to u.s. attorney general, loretta lynch, asking for the civil rights division of the justice department to come in and investigate the chicago police department. in particular, look at its use of force, including deadly force, and try to determine whether or not there's a pattern and practice of discriminatory policing in the chicago police department. of course, this comes after the

dismissal -- emanuel's dismissal of the police superintendent, garry mccarthy. ever since that dash cam video was released last week, there have been mounting calls for mccarthy's dismissal, and emanuel acted after more and more came out, including tammy duckworth, a member of congress who was running for the senate, a democrat, calling for garry mccarthy to go. and today, there is increasing pressure on anita alvarez, the prosecutor in this case, appearing on msnbc earlier today, representative louise gutierrez withdrew his endorsement of alvarez and her bid for re-election in next year's election. he had said that he would support her and endorse her, but today, he said he called her and said he could no longer support her, because of the way she's handled the laquan mcdonald case. and in all of this, mayor

emanuel was trying to move forward, trying to come up with a solution in appointing this board, overseeing the police reform, but his problems are continuing to mount. erica? >> nbc's john yang in chicago. let's turn to nbc chief legal correspondent, ari melber. a couple things we want to point out here. obviously, the violence and complaints about the police department in chicago are nothing new. they have made national headlines. for years, "the new york times" recently, from 2011 to 2015, 97% of more than 28,500 citizen complaints resulted in no officer being punished, according to the files. we're hearing now, there's a call for the civil rights division of the doj to look into use of force. all that being said, does this new task force change anything in chicago? >> no. no. the legal term for the task force would be, it's a joke. and i think the people in

chicago obviously know that and i think the mayor, in a sense, indicated that, by going up to say, not, this is an important task force, let me really show that, but rather, i have to make other changes, which he did in, of course, firing mccarthy today, but there's a lot more there. you mentioned the complaints, 20,000 plus complaints, that's a lot of citizen complaints. another way to ballpark that, is over ten years, from '04 to 2014, the city paid out $520 million in settlements regarding police misconduct. again, a lawyer would tell you a settlement is not an admission of wrong doing. a journalist would tell you, where there's smoke there is some fire. and you don't spend $500 million because everything's working right. that's just those ten years. looking a to the national headlines, john burj was convicted of torturing 200 people. chicago residents. this is happening in midwest america. torturing people to give false

confessions. that was going up into the o '80s. but people say, is this new? what's going on? no, this is decades of police misconduct. >> so therein lies another problem, right? we're looking at decades, systemic, perhaps, issues here. so when you're getting rid of mccarthy, is this also doing anything, or is he the fall guy at this point? >> that's the other big question. do you make this change where a week ago, you and i were sitting here, like a lot of people, going into thanksgiving, hearing about the video, looking a to the video, feeling the shock, wondering what was going to happen. but that night when we were covering it, mccarthy was standing next to rahm emanuel and they were saying this is about one officer. and by the way, some officers do make mistakes. and when they do, it does not represent every officer. most officers, as we always discuss, never pull their weapon in the first place. so there are so many honest officers on the chicago pd and on others. but was it one officer, as rahm said last week? well, now two people are out. not only the officer in question, but the chief. what about everyone else, when we have all these allegations of

cover-ups, of a system approach, that doesn't deal with misconduct, even when it's on video or even when it's discovered. what can you do to change it? that's a long conversation, but some states don't have the cops investigate themselves anymore. when there's a police-involved shooting, they automatically turn it over to independent special prosecutors. in chicago, you have the cook county prosecutor, who by many accounts, myself included, people who have studied this said, she's taking too long in a way that's suspicious. >> the other issue of the video, which you and i watched as this happened, which you pointed out last week, going into thanksgiving, we're watching this press conference with mayor emanuel and with then superintendent mccarthy and rahm emanuel is asked about this video. >> yes. >> that we at that point were all waiting for it. and he said, well, i'm going to see it when everyone else does, which took all of us by surprise. he was asked about that again today. let's listen to what he had to say. >> we have two principles.

one is a desire for public information and two, also, the principle about the integrity of an investigation. how do you make it public without either compromising, tainting, or in any way hindering an ongoing investigation? >> so, he was making the case that he didn't watch the video, because he didn't want to hinder the investigation? >> it doesn't make sense, right? i mean, you can manage something with private aspects to it. that's what police, security officials, cia, a lot of folks do that. if you have civilian authority and civilian control of the police, you have to have a mayor who is on the job, eyes open, not willfully ignorant. it is true that there are times early on where you don't release everything, because there is an ongoing investigation. >> but not releasing it and not watching it are two different things. >> exactly. so rahm emanuel has not given a reasonable sounding or defensible explanation for why he refused to watch this for so long, why he at first said it was only one officer and didn't involve the rest of the department, and why he's changed

and fired the top cop. this is a larger question now that could affect mayor rahm emanuel's entire legacy and standing in chicago. but he's going to have to do a better job explaining both the past and the future. and i don't think task forces are going to cut it, given the nature of the problem. >> ari melber, always appreciate it. after friday's shooting at a colorado springs planned parenthood clinic, president obama is once again calling for steps to end gun violence. his comments and the latest from colorado, next. also, we'll tell you about a minnesota couple's eye-popping gesture on this giving tuesday.

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continuing our coverage now out of colorado springs. and friday's shooting at a planned parenthood clinic there. next week, formal charges are expected to come down on robert dear jr. he is accused of killing three people and wounding nine more in that attack. today, president obama spoke about the shooting and defended

planned parenthood. >> with respect to planned parenthood, i think it's clear, i've said it before, they provide health services to women all across the country. have for generations. and in many cases, it's the only organization that provides health services to improv riove women. making is sure we're talking about it factually, accurately, and not demonizing organizations like planned parenthood, i think, is important. >> nbc's blake mccoy joins us now from colorado springs. blake, good evening. what's the latest today in the investigation? >> reporter: good evening, erica. investigators are back out at that planned parenthood for a fifth day today, still combing for evidence, trying to piece together a timeline of events. we have many questions outstanding, including what type of weapon was used, how that weapon was obtained, how many rounds were fired during this five-hour shoot-out. i spoke with colorado springs police today and unfortunately, they say all of that information

has been sealed by the courts, so it may be some time until we have those answers. as for the suspects, robert dear, he remains in custody tonight on no bond. his second court appearance, as you mentioned, is scheduled for next week. and the big question there is whether prosecutors will pursue the death penalty. erica? >> we're also learning more each day about robert dear's past, correct? >> reporter: we are. as we've been reporting over the past few days, this is a guy who by all accounts was a loner, neighbors really didn't talk to him very much, he lived off the grid. but "the new york times" has a very in depth profile of robert dear out today. they sent people to his former hometowns in north carolina and south carolina and paint a picture of a deeply disturbed man. take a look at this quote from his ex-wife. this is from court documents, during his divorce proceedings, back in the '90s. she said, quote, he claims to be a christian and is extremely evangelistic, but does not follow the bible in his actions.

he says that as long as he believes he will be saved, he can do whatever he pleases. he is obsessed with the world coming to an end." so a lot of disturbing details coming out in that new profile, as we learn more about this suspect. >> adding to our questions in some ways. nbc's blake mccoy tonight, thank you. blake, thank you. still to come, climate change, as we have been talking about, now becoming a hot topic on the 2016 trail. how candidates are responding to president obama's comments out of paris. plus, this is an important anniversary today. a major milestone in the fight for civil rights. is it also an opportunity for some of those 2016 candidates to win the support of a major voting bloc? stay with us. 

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there's a reason why you have the largest gathering of world leaders, probably, in human history, here in paris. everybody els is taking climate change really seriously. and i think the president of the united states is going to need to think this is really important. >> president obama today with what sounds like a direct message to republican presidential candidates. a stand senator marco rubio strongly objected to. >> no matter how you feel about the issue of the environment and climate and changes to climate, there is no way any reasonable person could conclude that the most immediate threat we face to our security is as what the climate is going to look like in 25 or 30 years. no matter how you feel about it, it's just not accurate. >> moments before the president spoke this morning, new jersey governor chris christie also weighed in on climate change in an interview here on msnbc on "morning joe". >> the climate's always changing and we cannot say -- we cannot

say that our activity doesn't contribute to changing the climate. what i'm saying is that it's not a crisis. i don't buy the fact that it's a crisis. i don't buy the fact that it's a crisis. i just don't. >> why not? >> because i don't believe it is. and i don't think there's any evidence that it's a crisis. >> joining me now, the democratic mayor of hoboken, new jersey, dawn zimmer, who also serves on the national epa advisory committee. nice to have you with us. we should point out, you and the governor have a bit of a history of butting heads, back to superstorm sandy. you recently joined this advisory board for the epa. since joining that board, how has your impression of climate change and what you've learned, how has that changed. >> the biggest thing i've been focused on has really been working on a plan and working with the state. we won a big design competition, rebuild by design, so we're really focused on making sure to protect our city for the future. our city was devastated by sandy, devastated by irene. we've had eight significant flood events since then. so our homes were flooded, our

businesses were flooded, our substations, everyone was out for days. and so we're committed, and i'm extreme lly committed and i thi it's a crisis for our city, we've got to keep moving forward and protect against the future storms coming. and climate change shows it's going to be more and more severe. i have an obligation to get it done. >> you talk about this being an obligation, we heard from senator rubio who said, look, terrorism, or climate change should not be the forefront right now. there's a poll out from suffolk university and "the boston globe" that shows that 42% of americans that say national security and terror is their top concern. this is something you're also, of course, intimately connected to, being across the river from new york city, dealing with terror. how do you balance those two immediate demands? >> i think they're both important, obviously, the threat to terrorism is an important issue that our country needs to focus on, but i think that the next president, and appreciate that president obama is taking the lead on this, and our next

president has to be focused on climate change. i just recently went to a rising tides conference up in new hampshire and it brought together representatives from 18 of the 23 coastal states. every single person going around the room, republican or democrat, talked about how their community is facing more and more flooding. and struggling with how they're going to pay to protect their communities. we're talking about our economy, we're talking about our public safety, and the longer we wait, the more of a crisis this is going to become. >> is there too much of a push to put the focus on one particular issue at this point? as opposed to spreading it out? because there are a myriad of threats at this point? >> i think right now, they're meeting in paris, and we have our world leaders meeting, and i congratulate president obama and the agreement with china and setting the stage for this pip mean, we can't keep pushing it off. we have to develop a plan and we have to address it.

you know, it's crucial to the future, really to the future of our country. and so for us, you know, from the residents in hoboken, you know, we're always worried about that next storm and i'm extremely committed to, again, moving ahead, we won this big design competition, $230 million. we're having a big community meeting with the state, hosted by the state, next thursday at the wallace gym, and you know, we're looking forward to working with the community and figuring out that plan and getting it implemented as soon as possible. >> dawn zimmer, thank you for joining us tonight and sharing our perspective. thank you. >> also with us tonight, david catanese of "u.s. news & world report." we've been talking a little bit more in the past few days about governor chris christie of new jersey, especially after that endorsement from the "new hampshire union leader." but as we move forward here, do these endorsements really matter? looking at where he's standing today in the polls? >> you know, the new hampshire union endorsement was, it used to be, a big deal.

i don't think it is a big deal anymore, in this new media environment, where people are getting their information from a bunch of different sources. it's always helpful to get an endorsement. i don't think it can help christie, but remember who they endorsed last time in 2012, it was newt gingrich, and he finished fourth in that primary race. so, look, i think newt gingrich -- or excuse me, chris christie is getting a bit of a bump right now. he's getting a lot more media exposure, because of this endorsement. and that's good for him. but we have yet to see a poll that shows him outside of single digits in new hampshire. and that's the most important thing. >> it's probably fair to say that this election cycle, thus far, has pretty much blown any history out of the water in many ways, in terms of what we're used to, for markers and bellwethers. but when you look at the field as a whole, there seems to be a real concern when it comes to the long-standing republican

guard about who their nominee may end up being. how much is that a focus for those folks tonight? >> well, i think there is starting to become a palpable sense of panic, if you're a member of the republican establishment, because you're looking up at polling, here it is december 1st. voting begins in two months now. you're looking up at polling and you still see trump. you still see ben carson. you now see ted cruz, who's an outsider. moving up. people thought after paris, what happened on national security and foreign policy, the calculation would change a bit, it still hasn't. and trump is drawing thousands and thousands of people, while you've got the more establishment candidates like a jeb bush, a chris christie, a john kasich, still languishing in single digits. they can still say that, hey, we're two months out. there's a lot of time, the time is running out. >> time is running out. we've got the holidays in between, what if trump is the candidate. how does the establishment handle that? >> if he starts winning primary

after primary and looks like he's going to be the nominee, i could see a movement by the establishment to try to string this thing along to the convention in july, where republican delegates, really members of the establishment, would then try to take it to the floor and wrest the nomination away from him. i know that sounds like an improbable outcome, but i think, you've got a lot of people nervous that he would take down the entire ticket, that he would hurt candidates across the board and lower ballot races, so i think if he began to get momentum throughout the spring, you could see that movement take place. >> we can also make the case, too, that if that did happen, it would not be the first improbable outcome we have seen in this election cycle. "u.s. news & world report"s david catanese, thanks for being with us tonight. >> thank you. coming up, 17 days to go until what, you ask? well, until the latest "star wars" movie, of course. director george lucas now opening up, answering some burning questions that have eaten away at "star wars" fans

for years. what did he say? you'll have to stay with us for that. plus, a fitting story on this giving tuesday. a minnesota couple putting a check into the red kettle for the salvation army. this one, much more than just a drop in the bucket. stay with us. the pursuit of healthier. it begins from the second we're born. because, healthier doesn't happen all by itself. it needs to be earned every day. using wellness to keep away illness. and believing a single life can be made better by millions of others. as a health services and innovation company optum powers modern healthcare by connecting every part of it. so while the world keeps searching for healthier we're here to make healthier happen.

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get this, regular unleadeded in state now selling for about $1.80 a gallon. and in some cities and towns, those prices are even lower. it's a big break, considering the national average is above $2 a gallon. analysts do warn, though, this won't last. prices are expected to rise in february. that said, we are seeing some people lured into out showrooms in november. ford sales up slightly last month, but it's the sales of its f-series pickups which really show some movement, up 16%, crushing industry estimates. over at gm, overall sales were up 1.5%. chevy truck sales, however, jumped 10%, and sales of its crossovers soared 35%. a vastly different story, though, over at volkswagen, where sales plunged nearly 25%, finding the emissions cheating scandal that has angered both regulators and consumers. we know you're counting down. 17 days now until the release of

"the force awakens." "star wars" fans are looking for answers and they're getting some to lingering questions about some tweaks to the original, thanks to an interview with george lucas 19 washingtin "the post." lucas said he did revise some scenes. in one of them, hands solo was confronted by a bounty hunter. in the original, hans solo opens fire first, killing him. in the newer versions, those of you watching closely may have noticed rita shoot s first. lucas explained the change saying, "hans solo was going to marry lea and you look back and say, should he be a cold-blooded killer, should he be a cowboy, should he be john wayne? yeah, he should be john wayne and when you're john wayne, you don't shoot people first, you should let them have the first shot. so that cle ." mark zuckerberg and his wife are sharing two big announcements today. the birth of their newborn

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using #givingtuesday. and there is a look at another sign of the season. the tree outside of our studios here at rockefeller center. a live look at the tree, which tomorrow night will officially be lit. so be sure to stay with us for that. we're back with more. you're watching "msnbc live." and knowing right when my packages arrive. so that's two things. introducing real time delivery notifications. sign up at myusps.com i tried depend last weekend. it really made the difference between a morning around the house and getting a little exercise. only depend underwear has new confidence core technology for fast absorption and the smooth, comfortable fit of fit-flex™ protection. get a coupon at depend.com

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see gummies in a whole new light. finally tonight, marking an important anniversary that helped shape the civil rights movement. 60 years ago today, rosa parks refused to give up her seat on amonga montgomery, alabama, bus and helped spark the bus boycott in that city. today, hillary clinton delivered the keynote address for the national bar association, the country's largest professional organization of african-american lawyers and judges. it happened at the church where martin luther king jr. organized that boycott. >> even as we celebrate all that our country has achieved in the past 60 years, we must, in keeping with the legacy of those who have gone before, look to the future and the work that is left to do. maybe only with a few people, maybe, though, to start ripples that will change history. >> increasingly, civil rights

have become a major discussion on the campaign trail. with candidates using the issue as a way to court voters, specifically, the african-american vote. republican front-runner donald trump just yesterday meeting behind closed doors with a group of black pastors, some of whom endorsed him. joining me now, mark murray and nina parker. good to have both of you with us. mark, i want to take a look at some of these numbers and the trends. since the early '60s, really, as civil rights was becoming a major issue in these country, especially since 1968, as we look at the number of black voters who identify themselves as democrats, it was least 75%, from about 1964 on. increasingly, though, those votes are up for grabs. so what are you seeing as we head into the primary season? >> well, the african-american vote is incredibly important, not only in the primary season, which we are in for the democratic primary, where the african-american vote is incredibly important, but also for the general election, as president obama was able to do in his 2008 and 2012 presidential bids.

if you are getting close in 95% of the african-american vote, that is a way to be able to win and win by a very healthy margin, as we saw in his re-election bid in 2012. and it's important to note that the african-american vote dynamic really doesn't play out in the first two primary contests in iowa and new hampshire that much, but the next contest in south carolina becomes very important, and as you go down the calendar, march 1st, many southern states with large african-american votes, also on march 15th, when you end up talking about states like florida and ohio holding their presidential primaries. >> some of the moves we've seen from candidates, including drei donald trump, reaching out, is that more concentrated approach being seen as effective, mark? >> i think you have to look at why donald trump ended up holding the event he did yesterday. i don't think that was necessarily to court republican primary voters and all the data shows that african-americans really aren't republican primary voters, by and large, but more

to kind of dismiss a lot of the criticism that he and his campaign have received for having some racially tinged rhetoric, and whether it's been directed at african-americans and a lot of that goes back to 2011, when it comes to president obama's birth certificate, that donald trump was leading the crusade on, and some of the rhetoric that's been hurled at muslim americans. and so you almost look at what donald trump was doing to pretty much really shield himself from some of the criticism that he's getting from minority groups. >> senator, we've seen more than 30 members of the congressional black caucus endorse hillary clinton, including, of course, civil rights icon, john lewis. you have been a longtime supporter of clinton, but you are now backing bernie sanders. why? >> well, senator sanders speaks to the heart and soul of what is necessary to move this country forward. and when you talk about the african-american vote and why mr. trump would try to court the african-american vote, african-americans want their votes to be earned. and so anybody that talks about

inevitability on either side is wrong. the african-american vote deserves to be courted, just like anybody else's, and we can't count folk t out, when the senator talks about mass incarceration, he talks about being the next president of the united states of america, he will work hard to eradicate institutionalism racism. he wants to raise the minimum wage and revitalize the middle class. and erica, some places in this country, african-americans, there is no middle class. so senator sanders speaks to the heart and soul of what is necessary in this country. and i certainly believe that mr. trump is the eventual nominee for the republicans, that senator sanders is the one to trump the trump. >> how do you see this vote, then, splitting along party lines? because to your point, all of these votes need to be earned. >> yeah, absolutely, they do. and we cannot take the african-american community for granted or assume that the african-american vote will perform a certain way. you know, if folks who believe that the vote is going to go a certain way right now had their

way almost eight years ago, president obama would not be president obama right now. so the african-american community is looking for a candidate that speaks to the needs of the community, that will lift that community. and you know, senator sanders is the only candidate that has a comprehensive racial justice program right now, to deal with the four types of violence perpetrated against black and brown folks in this country. so this race is going to be a very good race. the fact that senator sanders is a new face in the african-american community will provide the opportunity -- he is the foot soldier, he is the servant leader that we need in this country at this time. >> mark murray and nina turner, we'll have to leave it there for tonight, but we appreciate both of you joining us. >> thank you. >> thanks to all of you joining us here on "msnbc live." i'm erica hill. we'll see you back here tomorrow at 6:00. "hardball" starts right now. donald trump leads and we're not in summer anymore. let's play "hardball."

good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. a good while back, i said that donald trump was still in this presidential fight come november, why assume he won't be in the fight come february, when we have the iowa caucuses and the new hampshire primary starting up the whole primary season. well, it's now december, december 1st, in fact, and donald trump is still right where he's been, on top. we're just two months away from the iowa caucuses, the first time republicans will cast ballots in a presidential contest and trump remains in the lead there, in iowa, with ted cruz close behind, but trump has a bigger lead in new hampshire. marco rubio and ben carson are distant runner-ups there. trump also dominates national polls, as trump said at a rally last night, if anyone wants to win the nomination of the republican party, they've got to come through him. >> christie hasn't hit me yet. he will. he has to. he has no choice. he's at two