>> scared enough? let's play hard ball. good evening. had enough? that's the election after world war ii. >> we've prevailed over much greater threats than this.

>> we've prevailed over much greater threats than this. we will prevail again. >> well, did you notice the president's tone and demeanor there? it stands in sharpest possible contrast to what we're hearing on the campaign trail particularly on the republican side. they have responded with a combination of talk and declared war on the president's manner and et cetera. >> we're going to bomb the [ bleep ] out of them. i don't care. they've got to be stopped. >> we will carpet bomb them into oblivion. i don't know if sand can glow in the dark but we're going to find out. >> they'll realize we're already in world war iii. if he doesn't understand we're already in the war, it's another example of why he's so unfit to

be a president of the united states. >> you've been a great service to the american people. >> david's comments to the washington post is the senior political reporter. ron is the contributor. ron, i want to start with you in seattle. the republicans think too cool for school is our problem. >> people are anxious and scared. what's not happening here and i have to say the supplies to both sides it seems to me to some extent more to the republicans. it's about what it would really take if we and mostly us alone or even us with some allies really wanted to defeat isis and

wipe them into oblivion as ted cruz was talking about. do they talk about carpet bombing and how wildly inappropriate it would be to fight isis in the middle east. this is a complicated problem and the american people need to know how complex the dynamics are in the middle east. they need to know what that all means before they make any judgments about what we need to be doing. >> david, it looks to me like we've been bombing people of the islamic faith since the first of the iraq war. we did it in afghanistan. the world sees pictures of us bombing the hell out of it,

whatever bad word he wants to use there. all types of arabs, that's what we've been doing. that's the solution, that's more tv pictures up in the world of how much the united states is willing to kill arabs. >> bombing and bombing and tough talk it would have been done a long time ago. i think president obama's problem is his demeanor is mr. cool, detached, not hot, red hot temperament and has left the public feeling unprotected. >> i think that the white house made a decision this week they have to look more engaged. they want to change policies. that's exactly, that's a new thing. this week, the president went to the pentagon and it was basically a phototoe opt. today the president went to the counter terrorism center, same reason to be seen by the public being engaged and monitoring the

situation. i think it reflects a correct assessment, the public is scared. it's radicalism. you got to call them by certain names and they'll melt. >> they're focussing on red rick and red rick alone. chris, i called and reached out to some of the most preimnant national security experts and they said there's no material difference between what they're proposing in terms of the actual strategy and what's happening right now. there might be tweaks. >> so they're showing the noise. >> yeah. it's like shock. remember how good that made us feel? it was the rhetoric, ron, the strong man, the brass knuckles verses the professor.

>> i remember fdr said once they'll do what you're doing and do it for nothing and not cost you anything. nobody's talking about a draft. the way to keep them fighting is back door draft. that's how we're fighting the wars. fourth and fifth tours of duty. we're not going to have a draft. that would mean making republicans fight the democrats. we're not going to raise taxes and nickel. they're not offering up a more fig rous campaign against the enemy as we can identify it. they're offering up some of the more rational players like jeb bush are as we just heard opposing what barack obama is opposing and hillary clinton. it means boots on the ground for years and years. what we're going to do is just enough to be able to say we're doing something but not enough to take care of the problem. >> i wonder if it's going to

make a difference. what we're going to do is just enough to be able to say we're doing something but not enough to take care of the problem. >> i wonder if it's going to make a difference. we're seeing a brand of no cost toughness. no cost toughness emerged from the campaign trail and there's no better example than trump. >> i would bomb the [ bleep ] out of them. i would blow up the pipes and i would blow up every single inch. there would be nothing left. >> you have to take out their families. when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families.

>> that one is getting into the middle eastern sensibility. say we're going after your family and children. >> what do you think about the impact we would have as the policy or how that's resinating with the people. i've looked aat the time polls. >> people can get mad and not cause danger to themselves. >> the problem is they can tell us they don't believe it's going to make us safer. what road does that lead you >> the problem is they can tell us they don't believe it's going to make us safer. what road does that lead you down as far as hate and the phobia? >> it doesn't make the traffic go faster. it makes them feel better sitting in their car to honk their horn. in some of those areas it's not a good idea.

similarly, if we're going to get through this, it's because we'll have muslim allies. the kind of rhetoric we're hearing from trump and others makes it much harder to get muslim allies in our communities or muslim allies over seas. the rhetoric may make people feel better. it's making the situational war. that's the dilemma president obama understands clearly and is trying to amp up without deviating from a policy. >> it's hard to say this is as good as it gets. >> he does need to do more. as you know, chris, i've felt for three years there's more

that he should be doing. right now, he's trying to resist the impulse to do things. major brown war in the middle east returning to iraq sending thousands of troops into syria. i think the country as really as frightened as people are. >> there's a moment for hillary clinton. she must convince voters she's stronger than obama. 30% of the country approves of obama's handling of isis. voters seen her between a caucus and hillary clinton. >> it is not enough to contain isis. we must defeat isis. break its momentum and it's back. is it fair people suggest you would be a more progressive commander in chief than obama? >> no. >> i always thought watching her position on the iraq war over the years, hillary not more than obama.

it doesn't mean she's hau kish, it means she's further over than him. >> hillary clinton is a political animal. with the country feeling an, about terrorist and isis and that sort of thing i think she'll tack a bit to the right and take a slightly more aggressive tone there. again, she's stuck with the same dilemma every other sensible person is stuck with here which is what exactly do you do about the situation? there's no easy answer. as far as the optics for her, though, i don't think too many people think of her as a big softy. >> i think watching her in the room or anywhere else. here's the view. journalistically, the morning after the 2016 election, i like to think ahead to type in what's

going to happen. if hillary clinton wens the presidency, which i think she has an edge it will say something like she's able to convince voters. she will be something. that gave them confidence. she'll have to fill in the blanks there. >> she would be as much of a, a word that people use to describe obama unfortunately, and she's got to project that strength and that's a problem for her right now. she's got a generation that will carry through to her presidency if she's elected. >> is that right? is that why you picked her. most people try to go for change. what's the words hillary needs to fill in there? >> people vote for security. she has to be the person that

makes you feel her judgment is good and she's tough and knows she's willing to use military power. hillary clinton has a good relationship. she has to find a way to project that to voters. >> i think we all know the situation. thank you and merry christmas in seattle. coming up, there's growing worry donald trump could tank their chances. he's going to win and be the nominee. republican senators in key swing states, purple states are afraid they might get dragged down from him. plus, the democrats debate for the third time this saturday night and hillary clinton may be the favorite right now but bernie sanders just got a big boost to his campaign and russian president putin praises donald trump for a bromance here.

anyway, to get an idea what a trump presidency might look like, look to putin's russia without the nationalism. finally, let me finish with the thought that everybody needs an attempt. this is hard ball, the place for politics.

especially, the pizza! about football is here... up your game with two large two-topping pizzas for only $7.77 each. better ingredients. better pizza. papajohns.com in new york with breaking news we now have the first charges related to the san bernardino attack. a former friend and neighbor of farook has been charged with inspiring to provide material to terrorist. he's in federal court at this hour in riverside, california. nbc news joins us now from washington. pete. >> these charges give us a much more complete picture of what the fbi believes happened here. they believe one of the sheeters radicalized markez and got him

interested in al qaeda and radical islam and the two began plotting as early as 2010 to carry out terror attacks in the area and plotting to throw pipe bombs in a community college and shoot people. plotting to throw pipe bombs on a busy state highway and stop traffic and shoot people in their cars. after that, the fbi says they continued to plot for unknown attacks and planning for shooting ranges. court documents say when he bought the two assault rifles used in the san bernardino shootings, he knew they were being bought for terror attacks and he bought components to make pipe bombs. now, the charges say he did not seem to know anything about the san bernardino attacks themselves. he's in court now. he faces these charges. the government also accuses him of a sham marriage defrauding

the federal government by agreeing to marry a relative of farook's to get her into the country. she for in return for the favor was paying him $200 a month. these are the only charges filed but they don't accuse markez in having any roll in the san bernardino shootings. >> he checked himself into the facility after the shooting. what do we know about that? >> we reported that and there's more detail. he's been drinking and had several beers and made a 911 call in which he said he thought it was his friend using the guns he bought that carry out the san bernardino shootings and he was extremely upset. >> do we know what kind of time he could be facing? >> the maximum would be 30-35 years in prison but on the other hand he's been cooperating with the fbi, indeed, many of the allegations here against him are based on statements he made to the fbi. authorities say they gave him

their miranda warnings and he chose to talk without a lawyer and that may effect the sentencing here because he was cooperating to help the authorities learn more. >> clearly, they were much more than neighbors. they had become friends and spent a lot of time together. is there evidence they had some sort of falling out? >> not a falling out. what the government says in late 2012 while they were in the midst of all their talk about plotting terror attacks, there was an aarrest and unrelated to them an arrest in southern california of people who wanted to get folks to go over to syria or afghanistan and attack american soldiers. they got cold feet and says the court documents say from 2013 on they basically stop talking about terrorism. >> nbcs pete williams action thank you very much. hard ball returns after this.

i don't believe he's going to be our nominee.

>> but you don't support him? >> i don't support what he's done. i don't think i'll have to worry about supporting him. >> that's not certain anymore. a lot has changed since then and every day it looks more likely trump could well be the man at the top of the ticket next summer. trump head winds are giving anxiety to republican senators up for re-election in states up there in new hampshire and wisconsin's johnson. he should probably lose anyway. he's already in trouble. not to mention the prospects in the wild card opened seats down in florida where right now there's a three-way republican primary fight. anyway, the washington post phil ruker and washington report are

states predicted where trump would struggle. they would injure republican lawmakers in the fights thus giving democrats the senate majority. here's why these senators are nervous about trump in 2016. in the 40 senate seats since 2004 rated by the toss up or lean race, the senate contest went the same way as the presidential contest did in the same state. david, the senior congressional respondent, david, do you believe the coat tails of a presidential candidate are strong enough to decide four out of five senate races or not? >> no. they're not strong enough. i think if you look at this map, it depends on the map we're dealing with. in particular because there's less ticket splitting than there

should be and you name the states. you're looking at wisconsin, illinois, new hampshire, all states that have gone democratic in resent years and this is where the battle is going to be fought. clearly, the top of the ticket could have strong coat tails. that's why trump is a huge liability for republicans. if they're going to be candid, they're really scared. >> why would a republican party pick a candidate down to the feet? you have voters and members of congress down for election. >> different points of view. >> that's correct. you got harry reed's open seat and congressional races that could go either way. in a state where 20% could be tis panic and others diverse, they're worried all the republican credit they have build up over the past couple of years could be for nothing with trump at the top. >> there you have it. is there a difference between how republican voters vote and what's god for the election. voters vote for trump. why would they do that?

>> it doesn't matter why they would do it, what the campaigns are preparing for is a possibility that the party is going to move in a different direction. that's why he's already reaching out to minority voters and reaching out to left people. >> he's running against dead people. these are terrible candidates. give me the establish candidate. let me tell you. >> that's rubio, right. they think rubio. >> let me tell you the biggest problem republicans are having. >> democratic presidents have no executive experience. you shouldn't have elected him president. he gives a good speech. you come along with rubio and say put him in there. >> it's the same. they are hypocrites.

thes the same for ted cruz. republicans are having their own version of hope and change. this is the biggest position they're in line for trump. they have faith in the institutions and faith in government and think all the people that are smart and suppose to know everything we've been electing have messed it all up. why should i take a chance on somebody whose done everything? >> by the way, that's exactly what i think. i think they say they can't do worse than the ones in iraq. the patriotism. soldiers lives and to fight a stupid war. they did it. they never say they're sorry or made a mistake, they keep at it. jeb is out there selling w this weekend. i'm sorry, w is selling jeb to the money people. >> look, w still has a lot of play with the money people and jeb needs money. >> that's why trump is doing

well. i think a lot of this is also the republican voters had an unrealistic expectation on what 2014 could deliver and that's part of anti establishment background. >> what do they do? they're stuck. the base is as the party leadership is. >> the trump campaign, i think the biggest disappointment is that the governors erected in 2010 about 2014 didn't pan out as presidential candidates. they're left not by choice but because of how the race unfolded. >> do you think the democratic party will face that and hillary clinton will be as weak? i'm opening this question here. she'll come on and say yeah, i may be part of the democratic party that's been around for a long time but i have something to offer here. >> part of it is who she faces in the general election. she faces a weak candidate and

bad candidate or even a ted cruz who has the positions and conservative positions. he's going to be youthful and new and fresh and it depends. >> i think the democrats had much rather run against senator cruz because they're paying him as extreme. >> i think in a way hoping they're diminishing the guy because he doesn't deserve it, i think rubio is cute and young. i think people find him not too frightening. i think people look at cruz and think he's frightening. i think it will be easier for democrats. coming up, as they head into their weekend debate bernie sanders walks in with one endorsement. communication workers of america. now, if you're a republican that's not a big deal.

that's not a big deal.

>> i think what we are seeing is a lot of grass roots support in union after union throughout this country. that support has not necessarily tripled up to the leadership in some cases. i know about the cwa is that

your endorsement is not just a paper endorsement and not just a press release endorsement. we're going to have thousands of people on the ground knocking on doors and making phone calls and helping us as we do what needs to be done in this country and that is create a political revolution. >> welcome back. that was presidential candidate and bernie sanders with his endorsement. one of the largest labor unions in the country. 700,000 members strong. workers are in the tell con media and third labor endorsement. it does tail behind hillary clinton who has received 18 national labor endorsements. joining me right now is the president of the communication workers of america. mr. president thanks for joining us and thank you for putting the

show on. engineers who work here at nbc especially, let me ask you about this. why hillary clinton, i'm sorry, why bernie sander windshield hillary clinton leading so far? >> we did an exhaustive poll of our members since september and we had tens of thousands of our members vote in that poll and they voted for bernie sanders. they voted first of all whether we should endorse or not and they chose bernie sanders as the person we should endorse. >> give me the voice of the cwa and what he would say if he were here. >> why bernie because he's the guy that's going to stand up for the middle class and working people in the country better than any other candidate.

>> he's a progressive and social democrat. is he more progressive than hillary? >> i don't know but his stance on working people is what we want to hear and what most kwun i don't knows want to hear even though a lot of unions are backing hillary. we thought we needed somebody who was not ready for politics as usual and that happens to be bernie sanders. >> i love your activity here. thanks so much, mr. president. cwa endorsement was the only big announcement from the campaign today. the vermont senate received endorsement from a liberal. aids to sanders says he has more than 2 million contributions and more than 2 million people contributing. they expect to out pace president obama's re-election. heading into saturday's democratic debate in new hampshire is this democratic race really over or just

beginning? you've just got a new addition, new segment on hillary clinton. some people said she's winning but it doesn't feel like she's winning. how do you assess that statement? >> i don't think they want her to feel like she's winning. her campaign wants her to feel like it's an actual race and she's earning their votes and it's not inevident blt. for them, i don't think it's a bad thing he's get steam. i think it's bad if they lose iowa and new hampshire put a contest is a good thing and it excites the democrats. if you look at polls hillary is still very poplar. it's not an anti establishment thing. it's a debate they're having. >> do you think hillary clinton is exposing herself? i watch a lot, i understand why they do this.

i'm not sure it's to get a candidate ready forty big fight. it's going to be a close election. i remember george w. senior went out and fought with dan rather and found media people to take him on and he looks stronger. you get into the partner situations. hillary clinton doesn't seem like she wants to do that. your thought sns. >> are you saying bernie isn't a good enough debate partner for her? >> yeah. at the same time they're more than happy to lay back and let republicans do their thing. you're right. the danger is then she goes to the general election soft and weak with a big under belly. >> i think she looked great in the fist debate. not so good in the second

debate. i think it's a thing you have to learn. it's like playing the piano. before every baseball game they go out and practice for an hour. they practice every night before the game. these are pros. they shoot baskets in the nba. pros have to go practice every night. anyway, a reminder. we're going to have live coverage here. i'm coming to work 10:00 eastern to tell you what happened. coming up, by the way, donald trump and putin had the same kind of way of talking. talking. is that a good thing? why does trump, why does putin like trump so much? we're going to ask you to pick out who said what because you can't tell whether it's trump or putin who said this. it's going to be weird and scary. you're watching hard ball. place for politics.

welcome back. putin told russian journalist today trump has a bright personality and talented person. no doubt about it. it's not up to us to praise him it's up to the u.s. voters. as we can see it, he's an absolute leader in the presidential race. the admiration appears to be mutual while most try to out do each other talking about how tough they'll get confronting the russian leader. >> i think i would get along well with putin. i think so. people say what do you mean? i think i would get along well with him.

>> i would get along with putin. i'm sure obama doesn't like him much. i don't think he would be having the kind of problems you're having right now. >> i got to know him well because we were both on 60 minutes. we were stable mates. >> i don't think he's ever met him. tonight he's joined by the washington post. michael has comments with the daily beast. the white house reporter for the daily mail, what is this thing? are they going to the same russian health club and fights it out naked or something. >> when you read the loud what putin said it sounded like a trump press release. he's absolutely winning this race from what we can see. i think they're both aggressive

and playing off populist sentiment and have a lot in common. >> does this mean peace for man kind? >> the drama is more interesting. there's geo politics here too, chris. trump said he doesn't care if they get into nato and he said the ukraine fighting is europe area problem. putin loves to hear those things. >> what americans want to fight over georgia and ukraine? do we really want georgia? >> john mccain hasn't said that? >> yes, but do you think the average american wants to take part of the empire. you can start the gaem. we're going to play a little game tonight. it's like jimmy fallon stopped here. buzz feed had an online quiz asking who said it, trump or putin. i'm going to read quotes now and you're going to have to decide who said what. first off, there's an old german proverb to the fact that fear makes the wolf bigger than he is. that is true. who said that?

>> well, the answer is donald trump. >> next, the white house has mush for brains. it's putin. next quote. we're losing a lot of people because of the internet and we have to do something. maybe in certain areas closing to internet up in some ways. >> trump. >> trump. the answer finally got one right. one for the. next quote, partnerships must have loyalty and integrity at their core. three of us are wrong. another disaster. here's another one. terrorist are using civilians as shields. but we're fighting a very politically correct war. putin knows what politically correct means anyway. finally, you know what's bad? not bad but a tragedy, there's just one of me.

nobody else like me in the world. i think that's putin. okay. we got putin. two of us got putin right. it's getting very tricky. anyway, the round table is staying with us and they're going to tell us, all three of them, tell me something i don't know. that's coming up.

let's go back to the breaking news story we're following this hour. the arrest of a friend of the san bernardino shooters has been charged with three counts

including providing material support to terrorist. he's inside federal court right now. nbcs morgan is outside the courthouse and joins us now. you've been inside with this going on all day, correct? >> that's right. i was just inside the courtroom. we saw markez and learned this entire thing lasted just six minutes. the hearing has been continued and he chose not to enter a plea. bail will however be discussed monday at 2:00 p.m. pa tiff siff rancic time and the indictment will be january 6th. we saw him waiting and he was leaning back in his chair swiveling side to side wearing a gray t-shirt and the signature black glasses we've seen on all photos. to bring you up to speed on simple terms it's based on gun, marriage and terrorism. when it comes to the fwuns he said he bought to two guns for farook because he appears white

and farook appears to be from the middle east. when it comes to the marriage it was immigration fraud. he was married to farook's extended family. the most chilling part of this entire document released by the department of justice happens to be about this terror attack that never was. in 2011 he had an attack planned with farook and there were two. one, they were going to attack the community college they both attended and secondly, he was planning to bomb a particular stretch of freeway and this freeway, there were no exits. their plan was to effect the most amount of casualties that they could. the plan was to be in the hills hiding with a sniper rifle where as farook would be going and firing in each car. even as the new details emerge, markez maintains he knew nothing about the specific attack.

>> thank you so much. back to hard ball right after this.

we're back with the "hardball" round table. tell me something i don't know. >> hollywood is embracing hillary clinton and she is embracing hollywood. and hollywood is doing this in more ways than writing checks. today in new york city drew barrymore and her husband are hosting a family holiday party. $2,700 ticket gets you, a spouse and your kids in. last weekend tony goldwyn, president fitz from "scandal," spent the entire weekend campaigning for hillary in iowa. and then on january 9th we've learned that lena dunham will also be in iowa for hillary. >> yeah, but after all that is said and done, michael bay's movie's coming out early next year blasting her. >> yeah, right exactly when she's going to -- >> that's going to hurt more than anything. go ahead. michael. >> i learned today that this week for the first time some serious republicans started talking about their nominee, paul ryan at a brokered convention. >> oh, really? >> i'm not saying it's going to happen. i'm saying they started talking about it. >> you want to bet?

>> i don't want to bet. i'm just telling you. >> francesca. >> yesterday president barack obama had a secret meeting with former new york mayor michael bloomberg and the white house ended up giving out details of that to reporters but wasn't originally going to. it wasn't on his schedule. apparently, the white house and president obama invited bloomberg over to talk about gun control. as you may know, the president may take executive actions on gun control next year. so i'd love to have been a fly on the wall in that meeting. >> maybe he wants an ad campaign to go along with an executive order. >> possibly. >> an ad campaign might make it work. without it he's out there all alone again. and bloomberg does have some money. thank you, anna, michael tomasky and francesca chambers. when we return with a simple thought that every election is an attempt to solve the problem represented personally by the president we happen to have. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

especially, the pizza! about football is here... up your game with two large two-topping pizzas for only $7.77 each. better ingredients. better pizza. papajohns.com

let me finish tonight with a simple thought that every

election is an attempt to solve the problem represented by the president we have. and this is the norm. and it makes perfect sense. for the voter it's a matter of figuring out what is the most important thing they want changed. is it a problem to have a president as we have now who tends to be cool in his manner, you know, the no drama obama thing? do we want our president to express outrage? do we want him to show anger in his voice and his face? do we want loud shouts of anger and contortions in his face? do we want to see the veins in the guy's neck start to bulge? then we've got the wrong man. just as we've got the wrong man if we want a politician in the white house who just loves the company of other politicians. this one certainly doesn't. just like he certainly doesn't show his reactions to things. somehow i think there are other areas of improvement we might like to think about. i'll keep thinking, but i believe barack obama has been right about the economy, right about war policy, right and courageous about health care, social justice, and a whole wide

range of issues. and so far i think he's been precisely the president we wanted when most of us voted for him. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in" with chris hayes starts tonight on "all in" -- >> i oppose legalization for illegal aliens. i always have, and i always will. >> ted cruz under fire. accused of flip-flopping on immigration. then the ceo who jacked up the price of an aids drug by 5,000%. >> for us to try to exist and make any profit i think is pretty reasonable. >> he's now been arrested for securities fraud. shkreli essentially ran his companies like a ponzi scheme. plus carly fiorina gets caught in a big lie. bernie sanders picks up a big union endorsement. and donald trump gets a big shout out from this guy. "all in" starts right now. good evening from new york. i'm alex wagner in for chris hayes. senator ted cruz is having a