gas purposes. one thing we're not so great at is figuring out what to do with those holes when things go wrong with them. this leak is so big it's a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions for all the state of california. green house gas emissions for all of the state of california. four months to fix it? watch this space. >> "hardball" is up next. >> is this isis? >> this is "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews. the fbi investigating the san bernadino massacre as an act of terrorism. based on what we're hearing tonight, this could be the first successful isis inspired attack in the united states. chilling details about what may have motivated the attackers,

syed farook and his wife. leaving their daughter with her grandmother and commit this massacre. nbc news reports that malik seen in this photo pledged allegiance toing a backer al baghdadi hours before the attack. and a senior counter terrorism official tells nbc news that farook was in contact with isis sympathizers who delivered words of encouragement to him. late today attorneys for the farook family held a press conference describing the wife as isolated and conservative. >> she's primarily a housewife. she had only come over in 2014. >> she was a very private person. she was -- she kept herself pretty well isolated. she was very conservative. >> did not interact with her. the brothers did not actually ever see her face. they have never seen her face. she did wear a burqa.

she was totally covered. they knew her as sayd's wife. >> james comey spoke to reporters today seeking to tamp down fears of a terror cell in the u.s. >> so far we have no indication that these killers are part of an organized larger group or form part of a cell. there's no indication that they are part of a network, again, i quickly add it is early, we're still working very hard to understand but i want you to know that so far we don't see such indication. >> we know that this is very unsettling for the people of the united states. what we hope you'll do is not let fear become disabling. but to instead try to channel it into awareness of your surroundings, to get you to a place where you are living your life but if you see something that doesn't make sense, you say something to somebody. >> also getting unprecedented access inside the attacker's

home. the landlord allowed the press to tour the location hours after authorities raided it for evidence. it was a surreal scene actually. the baby's crib remained with toys, a teddy bear in its box, books and games, there was a computer, shredded documents and korans. we're getting a look at the homemade pipe bombs to detonate at the scene. new reaction from farook's brother-in-law that says that farook he knew was not radical the one he knew. we begin with the latest on the investigation. pete? >> chris, the fbi calls this a terrorism investigation, certainly as a new chapter. it doesn't change much. the fbi has been all out on this investigation from the beginning. the fbi director told us today that the agents investigating have developed indications that as he put it the killers were becoming radicalized and that

there's indications of an influence by a foreign terror organization. now, he wouldn't be specific about which terror organization, he didn't say anything about whether it was isis or any other. he did say he did not think the couple from san bernadino was part of any larger cell or network or group. and he said they have not identified anybody else who was involved. including the person who three or four years ago bought the assault rifles for syed farook. he did say that it's true that farook had been in contact with some people in los angeles who were in the past investigated by the fbi but he said there is nothing about that contact at the time that in any way elevated or suggested anything suspicious. there's one other piece of information about this that became public today. agents disclosed or should say investigators disclosed that the wife, tashfeen malik, posted on her facebook timeline just as the shootings were beginning, a statement of support for the

isis leader abu bakr al baghdadi. who was taken down by facebook a short time later. asked about that today, comey declined to comment. the fbi in los angeles said it was aware and investigating. chris. >> thank you, that was pete williams. i'm joined by nbc's blake mccoy who is outside the attackers' home. thank you. what are you able to find? we were out there watching it in the beginning today. what more has been discovered in the house? >> reporter: well, chris, we know the fbi wrapped up their search of the house overnight which is how reporters were allowed inside today. the landlord came up, took down the plywood and let people inside. it was mostly personal items found inside though we did see computer monitors, the hard drive taken by the fbi as you would expect. from court documents today we are learning that in the garage behind the apartment there was what's essentially a bomb-making factory.

they found 12 pipe bombs but we're learning that there were also materials to make more bombs. it appears they were making them on site. metal tubing, wires, powder. bomb making factory here at this apartment. we also learned today that near the site of the shooting where the 14 people were killed authorities were able to recover two crushed cell phones. they had taken those i away hoping to get some evidence out of this in their words they think that the computers and those crushed cell phones could have, quote, golden nuggets of information that could shed more light on a motive and who these people were corresponding with before they went on this rampage. >> blake, you're there, i'm not. try to put this together for me. we watched pictures there today of what looked like a regular american home, the baby -- the crib, the teddy bear, the toys and -- so westernized, raising this, hoping it seems to me to

raise this kid as american as anybody else. with all of thehe american paraphernalia of a working family. and yet, they are terrorists. how does it look like when you look at the house? you dethat dichotomy between the attempt, assimilate as americans to be like the rest of us and clear cut plan to blow us to hell. i'm trying to figure how you can see this. i don't see that coming together. >> it doesn't add up. we spoke with the landlord and said when they signed this lease in may, did you notice anything different? he said no. it was a couple. they had a new kid, seemed nice. he had five applicationings for this very apartment. he chose this couple. he wasn't forced to choose this couple. we know farook made about $70,000 a year, so certainly wasn't mar gainnalized. had a good job with the county. it's baffling and it's baffling to residents in this community,

as one neighbor told me if it can happen here in san bernadino, california it can happen anywhere. >> thanks so much. blake mccoy. for more we're joined by shawn henry, the executive assistant director of the fbi and national security analyst and terror project. gentlemen, thanks for joining us. shawn, what do you make of this? i don't know. i don't get it. they seem like they wanted to be an american couple. they had a kid. they are raising the kid like you know, joey smith or joey whatever. and i don't understand. at the same time they are planning a plot against america. >> i listened to the lawyers on the lead in to the show here and talking about you know, she is a regular house wife. regular house wives i know don't carry assault rifles and kill people. i'm concerned about -- >> you doubt the testimony of the relatives. >> well, she certainly is not a regular housewife. she was involved in a terrorist

act this week. she killed 14 people or was involved in the killing, the murder of americans. >> you think that kind of aggressiveness might be available to people when they hang out with somebody. >> you would think that would be -- >> carrying ar whatever. >> there was some training i would imagine, the way she was engaged not only at the scene of the murder but post, when she was engaged with the law enforcement officers. and she was engaged with them in a fire fight. my concern about this whole investigation is what are we looking at back in saudi arabia as well as pakistan. was she the one who came here and radicalized him? that's something i'd be concerned about and something i'm certain the fbi along with the intelligence services in both saudi and pakistan are going to work with. >> you think she could have agreed to marry whim a plan afoot to use him as terrorist? >> it is supposition but i think it's an investigative angle that law enforcement, the fbi should be pursuing. if he was on a dating site,

perhaps she was looking for a way to get to the united states i think it's something to pursue and to rule out. >> my question, your hunch here that this is part of a web, or simply what was single thing in san bernadino, california, out of nowhere all over this country, 350 million people this is the one thing we're looking at. it's all bitis or part of a series of attacks we're going to see? >> sure, i'll engage in a little supposition. i firmly believe that this could possibly be or some inclination of sort of an isis sympathizer here. i don't think this is indicative of organized support, there are certain links in the chain that are a bit missing we would expect to see. for instance, we like to see a claim of responsibility by isis and more formal fashion that these are our guys, these shooters belong to us, look what we've done and we haven't had that. >> thank you.

it's friday night here. coming up we have more information, new information about the presence of isis in this country and the tools the group uses to recruit americans like we've been watching here. and that's ahead. our coverage continues after this.

the investigation so far has developed indications of radicalization by the killers, and of the potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was james comey on the unfolding investigation in the san bernadino shooting today. the discovery that syed farook was in touch with sympathizers.

before thanksgiving isis released a video suggesting times square in new york was a target for the terror group. one of the many public attempts to inspire and recruit potential sympathizers in the country. much of their effort is less overt. a new study published on tuesday this week by the program on extremism at george washington university revealed hundreds of twitter users are vetting isis by spreading their message on line. they are identified about 300 people as american supporters of isis. and found that many have also threatened narrative through face-to-face relationships. people are getting together. not just on line but in person. 56 individuals have been arrested in isis related charges this year alone which represents the most arrests since the 9/11 attacks. i'm joined by deputy director on

the program on extremism and the brookings institution author of jihad joe, americans who go to war in the name of islam. start off with this. what was your reaction, if a woman in her 20s marries a guy sort of a mail order bride, they meet over in the hajj, they get married, come back, they are here a while. after a while they get involved in terrorism. start arming up, they got all kinds of explosives, semi-automatic pistols, these are the facts. how do you put it together? >> well, there's a lot we don't know about this case yet. we're really getting drips and drabs of information. i think it's premature to figure out what happened. i do think that you know, there does seem to be some connection to isis, nexis to isis here. i think it's probably pretty unlikely this was specifically

directed by isis, but again, you know, every day we hear something new and something that was reported yesterday is wrong so i don't want to get too far ahead of the fact. >> what do you make of the fact that the woman in this case tashfeen malik, she is so quiet, so humble, just a quiet housewife yet she is putting out facebook postings in the very moment of the crisis when she is involved in shooting those people. 35 people. that she manages at that time to take the time to put up a posting of herself and her devotion to the head of isis. what do you make of that? >> well, if the that is the case, that's what's reported so far, it makes sense. i mean if you're going to carry out terrorism often you want to have that attributed to the group you are supporting. so that doesn't always happen. in the boston marathon bombing there wasn't specific group they were supporting. so there was no claim. but it's more common that at

some point you're going to leave some bread crumbs to indicate why you are doing what you're doing. >> put it together as best you can. there are a lot of facts. a lot of rounds of ammo, pipe bombs, a lot of evidence. these people were up to something for a good bit of time. >> so the program on extremism we look to the american recruits in the states and wye looked at 7,000 pages of legal documents, 56 people arrested this year alo alone. we had a team looking on line action we found 300 americans that were active on line. this case is similar to others in terms there is not a profile for people. they are old, young, rich, poor, integrated, not, high school kids and college ed katd. >> you mean there are some assimilated nature, they want to be americans, they like our culture, they want to join it, at the same time they want to blow it up. i don't get that. you've seen cases of people who steam on the surface to be trying to fit into our culture? >> absolutely.

and the vast majority of the cases of people in the legal system are u.s. citizens. and they live relatively normal lives, they grow up here, they -- at some point they decide to make a radical shift. that can happen over weeks or months. >> what about the case after mole. someone here potentially comes as a mail order bride that meets through social media, answers this guy's quest for love if you will. and somehow from the time they marry, in mecca, they come back and radical itz. does it make more sense she came with a mission or she was radicalized while a quiet housewife in san bernadino, california. what is more logical? >> we've seen the role of women in terrorism. what is novel in this is that it was a woman that was a mass shooter. and it's possible she was radicalized before and came over but it's likely that she was radicalized here. we thought about it when you look at the isis cases it

becomes an echo chamber, reinforcing beliefs what you think your husband, your wife can reinforce. we see that on line and in person. >> thank you. up next, when we come back, donald trump on what's huge, these numbers, may have something to do with paris. i think so. he's up 20 points in the latest polling. 20 points. he opened up a spread, the threat of terrorism dominating. trump is getting stronger. got it. this is "hardball."

welcome back to "hardball." the country focused on the threat of terrorism donald trump is showing strength in the polls. a new poll out today shows trump surging 9 points since october, all the way to 36 points among republican registered voters. that's 20 points ahead of his nearest rival ted cruz who climbed 12 points to second

place. and with 16%. he rose 12. ben carson is dropping, down 8 points to third with 14 points. way off the mark. 52% of republicans, this is what i'm fascinated with. trump is the requested the best chance of winning next november. that's up 14 points since august with 38% said trump had the best chance to beat the democrat. we presume now is probably hillary. for more on trump's growing lead let's bring in april ryan, my friend all over the place, paul singer, washington correspondent. megan murphy for bloomberg news. all three of you take the time you need. up to a minute. or two. why -- what is the connection between paris and everything else going on, the weakness of the other candidates, the inability of dr. carson to talk foreign policy, is it trump's tough bully boy, is it as simple as that?

>> it's not simple. part of the problem is that we are in a time when there is a threat against this country and other world countries. and we have to really have someone there who knows foreign policy, knows how to be diplomatic when dployp massey is called for. >> is that what trump's got? >> no. i'm giving you carson and coming to trump. i'm telling you what i see. >> you're fighting the polls. >> whatever. anyway, no, but also you need someone to be hawkish when it's time to be hawkish. it comes to donald trump, donald trump according to a lot of people i talked to in washington, outside of washington, they feel he is a bully, they feel that he's -- has a lot of people who follow him that have bigoted ideas. you put those together yes, there is a section of this country that believes that he and this bullying attitude can push forth and do something on foreign policy but we're at a time that we need someone who understands -- >> you wouldn't vote for donald trump. >> i'm not going to tell you who. >> i'm teasing.

it's friday. why do you think trump -- let's put it in perspective. april is right, 36% of republican registered voters could be 18% of the country. could be. >> but i think -- >> that's all. >> trump benefits to some degree from paris attacks, my joke is donald trump is not burdened by self doubt and the american people at the moment are afraid. i mean people are -- my mother called me. you see what's on tv. people want to be assured that there is a strong man, a man who can sort of -- >> reagan. i got to tell you. when we had hostages, that sense of weakness drove a lot of middle of the road people to vote for a guy on the right. reagan democrats they are called. >> it's the culmination of a four decade long trend of the white working class in the republican party. what you see with trump this is when this might be the economic and idyllicling point of this party away from a sort of this

is an anti-free trade, anti-immigrant, anti- -- into this into someone they think is telling them the straight talk and is giving them a sense of connection back to an america they once knew. a strong america, america that provided for its families, america where you could seek a better opportunity, a better life. >> thanks for being with us. up next "your business" with jj ramberg.

>> how does a theme park get customers to celebrate christmas year-round? great ideas for making over your office and entrepreneurs flourish 10 years after hurricane ka tree that. that and more next on "your business." >> s