glass floor? i don't really understand it, but well done, sir, mr. secretary. "first look" is is up next. >> it's thursday, december 17th. and right now on "first look" an energized donald trump ramps up his political push toward iowa, with a whole new barrage unleashed on his opponents. calls for calm following the mistrial of the first police officer in the freddie gray case. will he be tried again? then anything but calm as spain's prime minister is sucker punched. plus what's your government spending $1.1 trillion on? an american legend hangs up her cleats. and the funniest mean tweets of the year. and much more on a busy thursday. "first look" starts right now. >> good morning, everyone, thanks for being with us. i'm shannon mulaire. the heated race for the gop nomination has entered a new

chapter. the larger battle between establishment and conservative now turning into smaller one-on-one feuds. never passing up a chance to make a grand entrance, donald trump slammed several of his opponents at an arizona rally but he took special aim at jeb bush and followed that up last night with jimmy kimmel. >> you think jeb bush is scared of you or just scared in general? >> i think he's scared. he's having a hard time running. he's really had a, you know, he was supposed to be because of the name, everyone thought he was the odds-on favorite. and, i defined him. he gave him this term, low energy. i said he's a low energy individual. we do not need in this country low energy. >> but there is a bigger growing contest we're watching and for that we go to nbc's hallie jackson. >> cruz versus marco rubio hammering each other on national security and immigration. >> does ted cruz rule out ever legalizing people that are in this country illegally now. >> senator cruz?

>> -- never supported -- >> do you rule it out? >> i have never supported legalization and i do not intend to support legalization. >> cruz's counterpunch aimed at rubio's support of a pathway to citizenship, part of the immigration reform he tried to pass in 2013. now, a liability. >> do you regret having been a part of that process? >> no. i went to washington to solve problems. >> so why run away from it now? >> we can't do it comprehensively. you can't do it in one big piece of legislation. my view on that is i personally do not believe that it is good for america to have millions of people permanently living here who can never become americans. >> our interview part of a fast-moving day on the campaign trail. >> it's a real good tete-a-tete between you and mr. cruz. >> in new hampshire and in iowa. do you always have the des moines register on the plane? >> only when we're in des moines. we're happy about the head line today. >> the lead story in a state where he's campaigned less than ted cruz. >> i'm motivated by reaching out to people. that's who i am and where i come from. i don't think anything is like the last five weeks before the iowa caucus. i feel very confident and optimistic about it. >> while rubio still trails his

republican rival in iowa, both still sit behind the front-runner nationally. in this republican race, there's donald trump, then everyone else. >> just like trump. >> just like trump? it's a little smaller. >> i know. >> that was hallie jackson reporting. and big news on the democratic side of the race. starting with hillary clinton. yesterday she earned an endorsement from one of the richest men in the world, billionaire investor warren buffett. he's an outspoken critic of income inequality clinton threw her support behind the so-called buffett rule. that's typically bernie sanders' m.o. but according to our own andrea mitchell he'll lock up his own key endorsement in just a few hours. perhaps the biggest of his campaign. the communications workers of america, representing about a half a million members. the judge in the trial of baltimore police officer william porter declared a mistrial yesterday after a hung jury

failed to reach a verdict. the case stems from the death of freddie gray who died a week after his neck was broken during a ride in the back of a police van. later today, the judge will meet with prosecutors and the defense to, quote, discuss a new trial date indicating he expects a retrial of officer porter. a sentiment shared with freddie gray's stepfather. >> we asked the public to remain calm, patient, because we are confident there will be another trial with a different jury. we are calm. you should be calm, too. >> state prosecutor marilyn mossbys who refused to comment, citing a court issued gag order. jurors began deliberating on monday and were not sequester. porter who pleaded not guilty to all charges including manslaughter is the first of six officers to be tried relating to freddie gray's death. and prosecutors considered the case a sign of how the other trials are expected to go. a few hundred mostly peaceful protesters took to the streets after the announcement. at least two protesters were

arrested. nbc news has confirmed the bodies of the san bernardino terrorists were buried in tuesday -- on tuesday, rather, in southern california, after the bodies were released by authorities. meanwhile, the fbi is responding to reports that shooter tashfeen malik posted jihadist messages on social media that weren't caught during a back ground check for her visa. nbc's pete williams reports. >> reporter: it's been an urgent question. why did the u.s. government give tashfeen malik a fiance visa to enter the u.s. last year if she had been posting pro-jihadist messages on social media before she got here? simple, the fbi director disclosed, she never did post any such messages back then. she sent only e-mails and direct private communications to her fiance in the u.s., syed farook. >> so far in this investigation we have found no evidence of posting on social media by either of them at that period of time, and thereafter, reflecting

their commitment to jihad, or to martyrdom. >> reporter: around the time of the shooting, investigators have said, malik did post a pledge of support for isis on a facebook time line. comey also said the fbi has found no indication that the couple was in direct contact with any foreign terror organization before the shooting, or that they were part of a cell. still unanswered, he said, what else were they planning? also, the secretary of homeland security said he'll begin issuing periodic bulletins to describe the changing nature of the terrorist threat nationwide, without raising the overall threat level, as the old system did, or waiting for specific threats. future bulletins may advise people to extext longer screening lines at public events like the super bowl, or at the airport when security is ramped up. >> that was nbc's pete williams reporting. president obama will be in san bernardino tomorrow for private meetings with the families and victims of the terror attacks before continuing on to hawaii where he'll spend the holidays with his family.

the obama administration has another e-mail controversy on its hands. "the new york times" says defense secretary ash carter used his personal e-mail account to conduct official government business. it happened during his first few months at the pentagon, in violation of defense department rules. the "times" cites white house and pentagon officials, and copies of the e-mails. the report says carter continued using his personal account for at least two months after the scandal erupted over hillary clinton's use of personal e-mail as secretary of state. the pentagon responded in a statement saying in part that secretary carter, quote, takes his responsibilities with regard to classified material very seriously, and that he has stopped such use of his personal e-mail, and further limited his use of e-mail altogether. well, politics can get rough. but things went a little far at a campaign event for the spanish prime minister on wednesday. mariano rojos' campaign event was interrupted when a teenager

punched him in the side of his head. the teen was arrested by local authorities. the 60-year-old prime minister was seen sporting a dark red mark on his face but a party spokesman said he was not seriously injured. he later tweeted i'm fine, on the way to a rally. we are getting a first look at what's inside the new $1.1 trillion spending bill, and new tax package expected to pass congress this week. nearly half of the spending bill is devoted to defense spending. including $111 billion for new military equipment. vice president joe biden will have a pay freeze. the secret service, which has had its share of controversy lately, will receive an increase of $268 million from last year. u.s. embassy security will also receive a bump in funding. the tax side includes about $700 billion in tax breaks, and makes permanent multiple tax credits, including a deduction for teachers who pay for school supplies in the child tax credit. it also sets guidelines for

levying taxes on hard kreider. the house is set to vote on the message, and tomorrow for the spending bill. the senate will bundle the two together before sending it to president obama. all right. let's get down to business now with cnbc's landon dowdy. good morning, landon. >> hey, shannon, good morning to you. big news in business the fed's first rate hike in a decade is already having an impact on consumers. many big banks, including citi and bank of america are raising their prime lending rates in response. the prime rate is the most widely used benchmark in setting credit card and home equity loan rates, so borrowers will have to pay more. but savers won't see any benefit as banks aren't raising interest rates on saving accounts or cds. and need a ride? you can hail an uber with facebook messenger. users sign up to uber, and just like with the uber app they can track their drivers and get a receipt. and the new star wars movie is about to redefine what it means to be a hollywood

blockbuster. as of wednesday more than $100 million in tickets have been sold ahead of friday's opening. fan dango says the force awakens accounts for 91% of all of its sales, shannon. do you have your ticket? >> that's -- you know, i don't. i'm not a "star wars" gal. don't hate me, everybody. may the force be with them. landon, thank you very much. sports now, legend calling it quits. abby walk back in her 184 goal, the most in international play for men or women, she walked off the pitch for the final time against china. in the game's 71st minute. the 35-year-old called it a career as china went on to win 1-0. wambach helped lead the u.s. to 2015 women's world cup title. she also owns two olympic gold medals and is a six-time u.s. female soccer athlete of the year. she'll be sorely missed. to the nba we go. golden state's clay thompson scored 27 of his 43 points in the third quarter. as golden state bounced back from their only season loss to defeat phoenix 128-103.

the streaking san antonio spurs still perfect at home with their franchise record 23rd straight home victory easily taking down the washington wizards 114-95. is america about to take a step toward more invasive wiretapping in the war on terror? we've got that story next. and as we approach the end of the year, a look at google's top trending items of 2015 in the movie category, jurassic world was top followed by american sniper, but no "star wars." interesting. top trending diets, 20/20, carb cycle, and failo. and in the dogs category, why do dogs wag their tail? and how to crate train your puppy. top trending searches of 2015 were lamar odom, jurassic world, american sniper, caitlyn jenner and rhonda rousey. stay with us, you're watching "first look."

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welcome back to "first look." two storms on the maps. one in the pacific northwest with snow in the high elevations and a lot of rain on i-5 from seattle southward down through oregon. also heavy rain now just south of the atlanta area. that could cause some isolated flooding this morning on 75 and 16 and maybe even as we go throughout the afternoon hours. a little bit there in areas of western north carolina. as far as the rain it now extends far to the north. all the way up through pittsburgh. everyone on the east coast needs to have that umbrella handy during the day today. let's time it out for you, as we go through 1:00 p.m. this afternoon. the heavier rain shown in yellow from roanoke through central virginia and then the rain picks up in intensity over the philadelphia area. approaching new york city right around 1:00. about a half inch to an inch and a half for most areas. by the evening rush hour at 5:00 p.m. the rain is mostly confined at that point from new york city northwards. we clear out right along the coast. by 11:00 p.m. tonight that's all gone. the other story the cold air spilling into the northern plains. that will move across the country this upcoming weekend. it's been so warm this weekend

actually will be kind of cold in the great lakes and the northeast. >> all right, bill. thank you for that. chicago police officer jason van dyke has been indicted by a grand jury. he's charged with fatally shooting 17-year-old laquan mcdonald in october of 2014. van dyke is facing six counts of first degree murder and one count of official misconduct. this indictment is the first time in 35 years that a chicago police officer has been charged with first degree murder for an on-duty fatality. in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in san bernardino and paris senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is calling on the senate to review the wiretapping authority of the nsa. the agency's ability to collect phone records became limited after the passage of the usa freedom act earlier this year. you may have seen this video showing a cyclist being struck head-on by a moving train in poland. luckily the 26-year-old man didn't suffer any life threatening injuries. he was reportedly fined $180 for ignoring the light.

darth vader or donald trump? who wins in a head-to-head election? these are important questions. plus, conservatives give speaker ryan a pass. "scrambled politics" is next. citi history matter to you? well, because it tells us something powerful about progress: that whether times are good or bad, people and their ideas will continue to move the world forward. as long as they have someone to believe in them. citi financed the transatlantic cable that connected continents. and the panama canal, that made our world a smaller place. we backed the marshall plan that helped europe regain its strength. and pioneered the atm, for cash, anytime. for over two centuries we've supported dreams like these, and the people and companies behind them. so why should that matter to you? because, today, we are still helping progress makers turn their ideas into reality.

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even congressman mark meadows, who instigated the revolt to overthrow john boehner said, quote, i would give it an a-plus in terms of trying to reach out to the rank and file. a new ipsos poll finds donald trump would lose a head-to-head match-up with darth vader among millennials. among that group hillary clinton would lead the dark lord but she would lose to yoda apparently in a big way. in case you were wondering. larry wilmore will host the white house correspondents' dinner next year. the final nerd prom of the obama presidency will be held april 30th. hillary clinton was asked an odd question yesterday. would she rather be president, or beyonce? >> i'd rather be president, because i can't sing. as much as i wish it were otherwise, nobody would pay to see me sing or dance. even when i was a way lot younger. that just wasn't in the cards for me. so i want to be as good a

president as beyonce is a performer. >> smart answer there. then on the topic of childish political topics, jimmy kimmel unveiled a donald trump kid's book last night. >> now, here are some frogs i do not like at all, we must kick these frogs out, and then build a wall. oh, the places you'll go, on your yacht on your plane, with your suits from milan, and your wives from ukraine. oh, the buildings you'll build, oh, the wealth you'll amass, oh, the people around you all kissing your [ bleep ] there are two kinds of people, which one will you be? a loser like them, would you like to finish? or a winner -- >> -- like me. >> and that is your morning dish of "scrambled politics." okay let's bring in political reporter erin mcpike. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> one day removed here from the gop debate. who is riding the wave after their performance tuesday night?

>> shannon, the one to watch is chris christie, who is on the rise in new hampshire. and had a pretty good night on tuesday. you can see that some other establishment candidates are beginning to attack him, like jeb bush, and like john kasich, and marco rubio should be really worried about him, particularly in new hampshire, because he is well behind donald trump, and ted cruz in iowa. so chris christie is the one to watch. but no one really had a home run on tuesday night. and no one really flamed out other than maybe ben carson. so the field is largely frozen headed into the holidays with donald trump still very much on top. the debate averaged 18 million total viewers. it makes the debate cnn's second most watched program in network history behind the last gop debate which was 23 million viewers i believe. people are watching this. is it for trump as he would suggest? or is there something else at work here? >> it is certainly donald trump most of all. i would not say that it has anything to do with cnn, because it's all of these networks are having great ratings from all of

these debates. so donald trump is certainly the factor. but here is the more important part of that. it's going forward what it means. we heard from so many political analysts over the summer that donald trump could never get above 25% in the polls, that that was going to be his ceiling. but now he is pushing 40%. so, the more voters see of him, the more they like him. >> let me ask you this before we let you go, bernie sanders and hillary clinton both set to get major endorsements. sanders from the communication workers of america, clinton from warren buffett. how big of a deal, really, are these endorsements? >> the buffet endorsement is not at all surprising. why it matters is that he is working harder for hillary clinton than he has from really any -- for any other presidential candidate ever before. and for bernie sanders, this endorsement means a lot because it shows that he still has a lot of gas in the tank. that he's still the insurgent candidate and his candidacy is nowhere near over. >> still a long way to go here. you've got it. erin mcpike, thank you so much for joining us this morning. have a great day.

>> thanks, you too. >> just ahead, what would you pay for a 34-year-old piece of wedding cake? plus a preview of bear gris and president obama's trek in the alaska wilderness. do you know the secret to a happy home in these modern times?

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leading the news in "the new york times," chattanooga attack victims to be awarded purple heart. following the shooting rampage last summer at two navy facilities in tennessee, five service members will receive the award posthumously. one surviving marine will be awarded the medal, as well. if you like cake, and the royal family, you're in for a treat. a piece of wedding cake from prince charles and princess diana's 1981 wedding is up for auction today.

crafted by the head baker of the naval armed forces, it's made up of a classic british fruit cake with cream cheese frosting. bidding will start at $1100. >> how high do you think it will go? it's a piece of history? >> if you love "star wars" and happen to find yourself in paris, you're in luck. you can attend a light saber academy and become a jedi master. students learn a combination of fencing and martial arts. tonight, president obama joins bear grylls in a trek across the alaskan wilderness. the two will battle the elements while observing firsthand the effects of climate change. here's a sneak peek. >> as president, i am in what's called the bubble. and secret service makes sure that i'm always out of danger, which i very much appreciate but it can be a little confining. every once in awhile, if i do something unexpected, the phrase we use is that the bear is loose. so to be with bear in the woods, it doesn't get any better than that. >> running wild with bear grylls and president barack obama airs

tonight at 10:00, 9:00 central on nbc. the bear is loose. >> we want to see what he's going to eat, right? that's why we want to go. is he going to eat anything like wild or bugs? >> possible. i'm shannon mulaire. "way too early" starts right now. so i've ghost written a book that i put your name on. okay? and it's called winners aren't losers. it's for children. winners aren't losers, they're winners like me. a loser's a loser, which one will you be? winner's do deals, and winners get rich. while sad little loser just sit there and [ bleep ] >> it's a good seller. >> my daughter loves it. the dog is a loser and frankly i pity it, this dog did bad deals, this dog is an idiot. and poor mr. bear, he must feel like a loser, valeting that 2006 p.t. cruiser.

>> booked on jimmy kimmel donald trump gets the dr. seuss treatment but during a campaign stop out west, he read jeb bush the riot act. again. and disconnected. what the pentagon is saying about the defense secretary conducting official business on a personal e-mail account, even after the controversy surrounding hillary clinton. plus -- >> all night all day we will fight for freddie gray. >> baltimore on edge after the first of six cases connected to freddie gray's death results in a mistrial. it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west, and this is "way too early." >> good morning, it's thursday december 17th, i'm jonathan capehart. baltimore prepared for the worst