news, even know the pants are already gone now, all you have to do is send us an e-mail, tell us who you are, where you're frommer and why you want to play with us. "weekends with alex witt" starts now. good morning, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." new today, remarks from the president after meeting with family members of san bernardino shooting victims. >> as difficult as this time is for them and for the entire community, they're also representative of the strength and the unity and the love that exists in this community and in this country. >> the meet with the family -- meeting with the family lasted three hours. details of what was said in a live report. also new, a victory for presidential candidate bernie sanders. it comes after the sanders camp sued the democratic national party in federal court. it will be a white christmas

somewhere, but it could also be a messy one. these are scenes from a huge pileup in the midwest. so where is the snow headed next? heightened security. why theme parks throughout the country are taking extra precautions this holiday season. once again, good morning to you. president obama and the first lady expected to arrive in hawaii soon after what the president described as a moving meeting that lasted nearly three hours with family members of san bernardino shooting victims. the meeting lasted close to three hours we said, and then right after the president offered these thoughts. >> we met some of these folks, despite the pain and the heartache that they're feeling. they could not have been more inspiring. and more proud of their loved ones, more insistent that something good comes out of this

tragedy. many of them are already taking initiatives to reach out, to speak out on behalf of community intolerance and treating people with respect. >> before leaving washington, the president held his year end news conference where he talked about among other things the fight against isis. >> the united states continues to lead a global coalition in our mission to destroy isil. isil has already lost about 40% of the populated areas it once controlled in iraq and it's losing territory in syria. our air campaign will continue to hit isil harder than ever. taking out their leaders, their commanders, and their forces. we're stepping up our support for partners on the ground as they push isil back. >> well, coming up in about 15 minutes or so, a look at the investigation into the san bernardino terrorist attacks including the very latest on the planned assaults that were never carried out.

developing overnight, a deal between the dnc and the bernie sanders campaign over voter files. the committee agreed to restore his access to key voter information after cutting it off earlier friday. sanders campaign had been accused of improperly accessing hillary clinton's data. debbie wasserman schultz said it's not the end, and we'll continue to investigate to ensure that the data that was inappropriately accessed has been deleted and is no longer in the possession of the sanders campaign. well, the sanders camp released its own statement saying that the recommendation to suspend it is outrageous. clearly they're concerned about their prospects in court. now what we need to restore is confidence in the dnc's record that this entire campaign, transparaphernalia it is at the

dnc is essential and we trust they have nothing to hide. the clinton campaign said they glad that the sanders campaign has agreed to the independent audit of the breach. and good morning, alex, so briefly give me the significance of getting a peek at your opponent's voter files. >> good morning, alex. yeah this is a stunning and fascinating issue that really roiled the primary just before the debate. these voter files, this data, is crucial to any modern campaign. it's the lifeblood of the campaign. it's what thigh use every sing -- they use every single to contact voters and organize volunteers and crucially which voters to contact and which ones to ignore. because you have only limited time and limited resources. so what the campaign staffers, including the top data directors

who was fired, they appeared to be looking for voters in iowa, new hampshire, other key states that the clinton campaign had been targeting. so that would help them know which ones they can ignore. and also, which voters the clinton campaign believes were in the sanders campaign. so this all came wednesday morning when a bug in a software system allowed them access to this data which they should have never been able to see in the first place. this was on a shared system, managed by the dnc. and it appears that once this bug happened and once they realized that the firewall that usually separates went down, they went in and tried to scoop up as much data as they can. still a lot of details we don't know but as you said it escalated very quickly. leading to the lawsuit, accusations that the dnc was

helping the hillary campaign and killing the bernie campaign. it was a death sentence getting locked out of the data. but a resolution just before the dnc and the sanders campaign were set to appear before a judge. so heading into tonight's debate, it threatened to be a standoff, it threatened to be acrimonious, still it would overshadow the other issues they'll talk about, but at least there's a resolution right now. >> i understand the one campaign staffer that you mentioned was fired, he said the reason they were going in there was to highlight the problem to be able to show and say, hey, look, what happened here. but weren't there four sanders staffers that went in this and tried to download the information? i mean, that's a lot more than one person going in and trying to highlight. >> right, alex, at least four. there could be more. but what we have seen so far, audit logs obtained by nbc news, it looks like four staffers. notably the sanders campaign itself has not taken up this line of argument, that the fired

staffer has argued. so i think what's going on here, the fired staffer is probably trying to preserve his reputation. he would like to work again and the sanders campaign said what he did was unacceptable. so not really backing him up there. from what we have seen, from the documents we have obtained, from what the dnc has said, what the hillary clinton campaign has said and what bernie sanders' own campaign has said, this was an intentional breach to download the data. and they might not have been aware of how deep this breach was, but they did say this was an intentional attempt to take data. >> what about the accusations that the dnc is effectively trying to hand the nomination to the front-runner, hillary clinton? >> right. well, tensions have been simmering for a long time between the sanders campaign and the dnc. i mean, the fact that i'm even

talking to you on a saturday in new hampshire before the debate they say is evidence of the fact that the dnc is rigging the primary for hillary clinton, by putting the debates on a saturday when few people are watching. what happened last -- yesterday with this being data, they acknowledged there was an error, but said the punishment did not fit the crime. they said they fired the staffer, getting to the bottom of the issue and it was completely inappropriate for the dnc to cut off the lifeblood of the campaign. that's why they went to court. also politically this was the move for them. they were in a deep bind. they had a staffer who did something really unacceptable and so they found a way to kind of turn this around on the dnc and rally supporters to their cause. >> okay. alex, we'll speak to you again. thanks to you from manchester. the u.n. security council unanimously approved a resolution endorsing a peace process for syria. the agreement sets forth a timetable for talks between the

syrian government and the opposition. including a cease-fire and peace talks. the resolution does not address what role syrian president bashar al assad would be playing in the future of syria. astronauts on the international space station will likely take an unplanned space walk next week. they have to fix a rail car that stalled on the outside of the iss. the surprise space walk could occur on monday. kelly and kopra would be performing the repairs. a secret santa is spreading holiday cheer. dina bauer received a call from walmart saying someone had paid for the items she had placed on lay away. she said this act has restored her faith in humanity. >> right here on the receipt, who ever paid for it, wrote merry christmas. so this receipt will be with me always. just as a reminder of how

wonderful people can be. >> well, dina says when she went to pick up her order from walmart, the clerk told her she was just one lay away of many that had been anonymously paid off. that's pretty great. now, let's go to the weather. not so great in michigan with this 50-car pileup. there were hundreds of accidents, but no serious injuries miraculously. now the weather channel's reynolds wolf has a look at the weather across the country. good morning. >> alex, my friend, here's a look at your forecast across the country. i'll tell you some places still mild, especially in the south after the west got some action. and in the northeast we're finally getting some seasonable weather. we have the lake-effect snow machines cranking up, some spots getting up to a foot of snowfall. it will be ending this evening, but still a touch of some snowfall. 31 is expected in cleveland.

new york 41. warmer conditions the farther south you go. we have the winter storm warnings in everybody fekts and snow moving into the high sierra. great news for california. money in the bank with the drought you have had out there. the perfect tonic, not a cure all but good money in the bank. no question about it. alex, back to you in the studio. >> i'll take it. thank you. a lot of eyes on manchester, new hampshire, today. in a few hours the democratic presidential candidates will face off in their third debate. hillary clinton, bernie sanders and martin o'malley are set to take the stage. the big chill for retailers from all of this warm weather. how is that putting a damper on holiday sales. plus, "star wars" mania and whether the film lives up to the hype. >> a lifetime of fandom. >> i have dreads and i love to do it up for "star wars." >> you will go see "the force awakens."

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and as we go into the holiday season, even as we are vigilant about preventing terrorist attacks from happening, even as we insist that we can't accept the notion of mass shootings in public places and places of work and worship, we have to remind ourselves of the overwhelming good that exists out there. >> president obama there opening his christmas vacation on a somber note after meeting with the families of the san bernardino victims. nbc's morgan radford has more on this, and some new details on the shooting investigation. morgan, an early good morning to you.

>> reporter: good morning. governor jerry brown has declared a state of emergency to help this community recover. this comes 16 days after that initial attack and on the same day as the president's visit. president obama offering comfort meeting privately friday with the 14 victims who lost their lives in the san bernardino massacre. >> despite the pain and the heartache they're feeling, they could not have been more inspiring. and more proud of their loved ones and more insistent that something good comes out of this tragedy. >> reporter: words of encouragement to a community rocked by the attack. and now haunted by what could have happened. in a 36-page affidavit, prosecutors say syed farook and his long time friend enrique marquez planned to attack river side city college in 2011. >> especially since he was a student here, it's crazy you

want to hurt so many people you know. >> reporter: it didn't stop there. they planned to throw pipe bombs on a stretch of busy freeway with no exits to quote, maximize the number of casualties. then farook would walk between the cars and shooting drivers one by one, while marquez fired shots from the hillside. >> i take my daughter to school on the 91 freeway so it's scary. >> reporter: marquez was arrested on three criminal charges. he bought two guns for farook in 2011 and 2012. guns that were later used in the san bernardino attack. but prosecutors say there's no evidence marquez knew what farook and his wife tashfeen malik had planned. in fact, he called 911 when he realized what had happened. telling the operator, they can trace all the guns back to me. the operator at one point asks, you said he used your gun? marquez, yes. oh, my god. but the question remains -- how did these two go undeterncted s

long? >> our intelligence efforts are excellent, but we don't have an x-ray to a man's soul. >> reporter: marquez remains in custody ahead of monday's bail hearing, but alex, this community is still recovering with so many unanswered questions. back to you. >> so many. okay. morgan radford, thank you. well, a quick headline developing right now. the u.n. security council unanimously approving a resolution endorsing a peace process for syria including a cease-fire. the resolution makes no mention of the future role of syrian president bashar al assad seen here touring a church in damascus today. the affluenza teen is grabbing headlines again. this time for being on the run. could he be in another country? the latest on the investigation next. the great beauty of owning a property is that you can create wealth through capital appreciation, and this has been denied to many south africans for generations.

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are following. i'm sure you are too. the latest "star wars" film "the force awakens" is on track to make history. it earned $100 million in first full day in theaters and that tops the previous high of $91 million set by the "harry potter" film. and in today's three big money headlines, super saturday, bonus time and who's the boss? joining me to break it all down, "usa today" contributor regina lewis. with a holiday good morning to you, this season, it's good to see you. let's talk about super saturday. the holiday shopping, i got there. retailers have felt a chill from this unusually warm weather, right? >> absolutely. super saturday today, traditionally rivals black friday as the single biggest holiday shopping day. to your point, alex, some have estimated at $185 million in lost sales in november due to

unseasonable temperatures, crazy warm in philadelphia, boston, chicago, and there does seem to be a direct correlation. here you see the declines by city in outer wear sales. things like coats and fleece. you're not compelled to go out and get those things when it's 70 degrees out. so we'll see what happens. it's only now just starting to cool down. expect heavy, heavy discounting. if ever there was a time to buy a coat it's now. one bright spot is "star wars" out of your last piece there. they can see $5 billion in related merchandise. walmart loaded up the shelves. they have all kinds of price points for all kinds of ages. just genius, they can't miss. >> absolutely with that one. let's talk about bonus time. how many bosses are going to be offering bonuses? >> about 54% of them which is is a high. it's a trend we have been seeing since 2001. certainly increase over last year. and the percent of their budget they're putting towards bonuses

is also higher. but, a lot of experts caution this week there are some pros and cons. the pros for the companies are that it's temporary. they can keep their fixed costs constant and just give bonuses often tied to company performance which means they can take them away. that's the catch for the employees, don't bank on getting a bonus year over year because they come and they go. as opposed to a salary increase which is the gift that keeps on giving. especially if you get them year over year. some trade-offs there. >> how about this, who's the boss? some americans wouldn't mind seeing some successful businesses running the government. >> this is interesting, very clever. it was asked this week, who do you think is best suited to run the federal government, and apple topped the list. if you're hillary clinton and donald trump, watch out for tim cook. one in three people said that apple would be more qualified and disney and american express maid that list. it was made up of tendency to respond to consumers and ability to innovate.

hard to think of a federal government run program that works better than the genius bar, so you have to think. >> a great name. thank you, regina lewis, good to see you. big changes at some of the most popular theme parks in the country. what prompted the changes? that's coming up a gracious host, no matter who shows up. [cricket sound] richard. didn't think you were going to make it. hey sorry about last weekend, i don't know what got into me. well forgive and forget... kind of. i don't think so! do you like nuts? i tabut with my back paines, i couldn't sleep and get up in time. then i found aleve pm. aleve pm is the only one to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. i'm back. aleve pm for a better am.

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." heading back to new hampshire now, where in a few hours the democratic presidential candidates will face off in what could be their most heated debate yet as the sanders campaign fends off rumors it improperly accessed clinton data. so kristen welker, how is this all going to play out? >> well, it's goesing to make this debate very interesting. that's for sure. really just a stunning turn of events over the past 24 hours, bernie sanders under fire. really for first time during this entire campaign cycle and now clinton is on the attack. her campaign accusing sanders of

stealing its private voter data. even though the legal issues appear to be resolved this morning, the gloves have clearly come off. overnight, a deal. the democratic party agreeing to give bernie sanders campaign access once again to a data base of potential voters. this after a firestorm of controversy. sanders facing questions about why one of his staffers took advantage of a computer glitch in the democratic national committee data files to access hillary clinton's voter list. this staffer was fired. >> i did not down load any voter file day. >> reporter: the sanders campaign sued the dnc. outraged, sanders supporters demanded that the dnc reverse course and accusing the party of trying to guarantee a clinton win. the dnc chair pushed back. >> i mean f the shoe were on the other foot and the clinton

campaign had accessed sanders campaign data inappropriately, sanders supporters and the sanders campaign would expect me to react in same way in which i would do. >> reporter: and the dnc gave into the sanders' demands before they were to appear in court on friday night. saying that i agreed to cooperate with the party investigation and that quote, we are glad that all parties are moving forward and that the candidates and the party can refocus on engaging voters on the issues that matter to them. while sanders gave clinton a pass over the e-mail controversy in the first democratic debate -- >> the american people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails. >> thank you. >> reporter: the question -- will clinton attack him tonight for the preach? the democratic front runner acting at times like the nominee already. >> as president i would work with responsible gun owner. >> reporter: now, the dnc is launching an independent audit. this morning a campaign issue says this, alex, quote, we

believe this audit should proceed immediately and pending the findings we expect further disciplinary action to be taken as appropriate. alex, expect this issue to overshadow at least the first part of tonight's debate. >> it will be interesting, the tone of it all. how much back and forth. thank you for the heads up to that, kristen welker in manchester. an nbc news/"wall street journal" poll finds that 40% of americans believe national security and terrorism should be the priority for the federal government. that is up from 21% in april. meanwhile, new details in the san bernardino case. enrique marquez a friend of syed farook was charged in a three-count indictment of plotting terrorist attacks with farook. four years ago, they planned to set off pipe bombs at a local college and shoot people as they fledz. another plot involved opening fire on drivers on the freeway during rush hour. those attacks were never carried out. marquez was also charged with

buying the assault rifles used in the mass shooting which killed 14 people. officials say there's no evidence that marquez was involved in attack. farook and his wife carried out the shootings. let's bring in the former homeland director in the state of new york. we see that the terrorism is the top concern of american people. and the theme parks around the country added new security measures during the holiday season. as we reach the peak of travelers and visitors, are we seeing fewer people on the streets or in the shopping malls? do you get a sense of fear creeping into the holiday cheer? >> alex this is the result of -- for the first time americans waking up to the fact that soft targets anywhere are potentially a target. and this is always a concern among security personnel, particularly after 9/11. but what we're seeing now only in paris and san bernardino, but

this was not some place in new york or l.a. this was some place outside, that was in a community. so now americans question, well, wait a minute, if i go to my local mall is there a possibility this could happen here? so there is more of a drum beat. even in places like new york, the terrorist concern is not everybody's top thing when they wake up in the morning. however, one event and i have seen it come right back to the top of their mind. like for example if there was a god forbid some type of explosion in the city, people are going to say is it terrorism? that's what the rest of the country is beginning to experience. i don't know if it's driving people away from the bricks and mortar shopping experience. i will tell you that in new york city, in the last couple of weekends, times square has been jammed. but nonetheless, it is a much more persistent concern as we have seen in the poll. >> you know, to your point, my son went to a midnight showing of the "star wars" film in the

city on thursday night. and his enthusiasm was tempered because he was kind of quiet about it for a while, he said, mom, do you think i'll be safe? it broke my heart. i said to him, that phrase, if you see something, say something. but relative to the san bernardino case, as the economist points out, the fact that the couple turned out to have kept an arsenal at home and practiced on gun ranges, that was only alarming in retrospect. i mean, millions of americans do the very same thing. does the ready availability of guns in this country know when to make it difficult to say something? >> it's always the challenge. because the individuals who are conspiring to kind of -- to do these kind of attacks take on the things that we see all the time. in other words, that's nothing illegal about taking a gun that's legally owned and going to the firing range and firing it. there's just not in this country. the challenge of course becomes when that moment is when they go from aspirational to

operational. that's the hardest moment for security, for law enforcement, for privacy concerns. when do you -- when can you stop it? it's so much of an art as opposed to the science. that's always a challenge of intelligence. when does what is legal become deadly? and it's always a moment that you have to really pay attention to and try to get as much information as you can. as to what the folks are talking about. because obviously we don't have any way to read people's minds. >> the school systems in l.a. and new york receiving the terror threats that happened by e-mail, california chose to close, and new york decided to stay open. why the different reaction? >> you have to look at the threat, what's the capability of the individuals if you can discern that and what's the vulnerability? you have to have a process. new york state, sophisticated. been through a lot of things.

they have a robust intelligence capability. obviously what happened with the l.a. school district, they didn't really go through that process. and one of things that i really questioned is where was the department of homeland security or the fbi in talking to these different school systems? at the same time, you can't tell a local district what to do. but hopefully you can provide them with the best advice as to not scare the folks that they're there to serve. >> right. okay. michael balboni, thanks. let's get more on the increased security at the america's theme parks and nbc's kerry sanders is joining us from orlando to fill us in. >> reporter: alex, kids may no longer be able to annoy their parents with a toy gun because it's no locker allowed in -- longer allowed inside the disney parks. in fact, they don't sell it in the disney store or the parks anymore. kids can't bring them in. it's one step in the new security procedures that are now in full force. moviegoers for the "star wars"

premiere thursday night and the force was definitely with them. the police force. it's what happens when fantasy land meets 21st century reality. >> can't put masks on, so we have to improvise. >> reporter: you're okay with that? >> yeah. >> because security is -- >> it's to make people safe. >> reporter: it's the new normal, metal detectors, bags being searched and dogs being trained to search for explosives. >> i think it's sickening we as americans have to come to this point, but i'm fully in agreence with it. >> reporter: security experts say theme parks are soft targets, large gathering of people with until now low security. in the wake of san bernardino at california theme parks, heightened awareness. >> there's so many off balanced people with off balanced ideas that we have to protect ourselves. >> reporter: at universal a division of nbcuniversal, they

have used metal deterkt -- detectors before. now it will be more often. we are studying the best practices for today's world. >> i agree it's a sign of the times and we need more security. >> you like this? >> yes. >> reporter: so what this means is that you're likely to wait in line at the entrance before you get inside to wait in line to take a ride. alex? >> okay. kerry sanders, thanks for the heads up to that. let's go to a manhunt intensifying for that texas teen who gained notoriety for his so called affluenza defense. he's disappeared and authorities want to find crouch. and gabe gutierrez has more in texas. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. this case sparked a national outcry about crime, punishment and privilege. now police say this teenager is on the run and his mother is also missing.

this morning, federal authorities are offering a reward for information leading to ethan couch's arrest after the 18-year-old failed to check in with his probation officer. >> it's our number one priority right now for our task force. >> reporter: infamously as the affluenza teen couch was sentenced to ten years probation for driving drunk near ft. worth in 2013. >> we need some ambulances, it's sad, flipped and -- >> reporter: the crash killed four people and injured nine. but during sentencing the unusual defense. the attorney said he did not understand the consequences of his action due to affluent upbringing. do you have any idea where he could be? >> no, no i don't have a specific idea. i fear he's gone a long way. i wouldn't be shocked if he's out of the country. >> reporter: why would he run? investigators have interviewed witnesses at this party captured on cell phone video who claim

couch was there. alcohol use would violate his probation although couch is not seen drinking in the video. >> i think that was the druggtr, what forced him to run, the fear that he would now finally be locked up. >> reporter: couch's attorney have no information about where he is because of the on uncertainty surrounding this matter, it would not be appropriate to make additional public statements at this time. the families of the crash victims want him found. >> i think everybody to a certain extent is sickened by this whole situation. they're not surprised. and they're just really sad. >> reporter: the local sheriff says that couch's father has talked to investigators but so far, no sign of his son or his wife. the sheriff says that couch has already violated his probation by failing to check in. and alex, if he's caught he could face up to ten years in prison.

>> what a story. okay, thank you so much, gabe gutierrez in ft. worth for us. another story, the rush to see the new "star wars" movie. disney says it will probably make more than $215 million this weekend alone, which would break the record for opening weekends. that's just in north america. "the washington post" movie reviewer will join me next to grade the film. good thing geico offers affordable renters insurance. with great coverage it protects my personal belongings should they get damaged, stolen or destroyed. [doorbell] uh, excuse me. delivery. hey. lo mein, szechwan chicken, chopsticks, soy sauce and you got some fortune cookies. have a good one. ah, these small new york apartments... protect your belongings. let geico help you with renters insurance.

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wars." when i was a child watching it. >> well, the financials super positive as well. it made $1 million in the first day in the theaters and could gross a quarter billion dollars through sunday. joining me is ann hornaday from "the washington post." are you smiling, a thumbs up fan of the film? >> i am. i was smiling all day. we saw it tuesday morning, and i went along with my afternoon and i realized i had been smiling all day. it really sends out of the theater feeling good. it's a lot of fun. >> i think in part the title of year you view may explain why. because you say it gets the nostalgia novelty mix just right. what do you mean? >> that's true. i think the job with the installment is to reclaim some ground that was lost during the prequel era. the -- >> yeah. >> the sorry time of the middle years. i think what abrams has done so

well is to call back the earlier players, like harrison ford. he has a huge role in this film, it's gratifying and he's wonderful to watch. while introducing the new characters and the superb cast of young actors who are going to bring this forward. so i think he needed to restore that earlier time which the viewer referred to and gave us a sense that we're back and sort of touch all of those pleasure points that we have the original movie and then establish ground for this new group to bring it forward. i think he did both things absolutely beautifully and seamlessly. >> to your point, mixing the old and new so well. let's watch this trailer, because it will demonstrate that for us. here it is. >> i was raised to do one thing. but i have gotten nothing to fight for. >> nothing will stand in our way. i will finish what you started.

>> so in terms of the casting, you had a lot to say about that, particularly with this john who played the storm trooper turned rebel fighter. talk about that casting. >> i thought he was just great. there are two -- there are -- there's a central die ad which is the john boy aceh character and they were wonderful. i mean, he has this intensity. he's just -- he's -- he drills down into whatever he's doing with absolute laser lock. then he's capable of great humor. i mean, there were a lot of amusing moments that he pulled off beautifully. then she is revelation. i was not familiar with her work and she is positioned to take a central, heroic role in the forthcoming stock stories and i think she'll do splendidly well.

she's competent, strong. she's warm. >> daisy -- >> yeah, daisy ridley. they have a lot of scene, this ever a lot of great chemistry. i think abrams had another task which is to find people who can -- it's almost like the "harry potter" era. you need young actors who can take it over time and age well. and they just promised to do that i think just exceedingly well. we have oscar isaac who i'm a huge fan of. it was great to see he's got this wonderful kind of cock-sure swagger that's fun to watch, adam driver. i think the people do promise to do even more interesting things. i think this film was rather simple just because i think it had to lay it out. the next -- i'm hoping to see more complexity. maybe a little more artfulness and innovation coming up. i think all the players can carry that off. >> it was a matter of bringing

back the old fans and introducing it to an entirely new group of fans which it seems to have done. we have another clip so let's play that. >> i was raised to do one thing. i have got nothing to fight for. >> nothing will stand in our way. i will finish what you started. >> okay. well that one was not the one we hoped to play. so nice you had to play it twice. but it's one of those things -- i have to ask you this quickly. jar jar binks and that whole thing, does that return or no more? >> no more jar jar binks. as i said in my review there's not a binks in the bunch. i'm glad you mentioned this because bb-8 the new droid is a charmer. abrams did well with the mechanical characters and he

brought back a couple of old favorites too. no. i think that it's to its credit. it doesn't focus so much on shiny new play things. it really does try to restore the original story line and characters. the original star wars made the future look a little used and harkening back to lucas' roots as a hot rodder, kind of had that lovely batina on it. and this movie has the same warm look that is really appealing. >> i can't wait to see it. looking forward to it. thank you so much. good to see you. in a moment, close encounter, but it's not a sci-fi sequel, it's a cautionary tale about drones.n' port an importane that can change the way you live for years to come. how can you help? by giving a little more, to yourself.

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if you're planning on getting a drone this christmas, be prepared because new government rules require to you

pay fee and register your new unmanned aircraft. the law will affect a lot of people. consumer electronics association estimates americans will purchase about 700,000 drones this holiday season. and that is creating new problems for the already crowded skies in this country. a new report details more than 900 incidents between drones and manned aircraft between 2013 and this year. let's bring in arthur hall from center for the study of the drone. he's also co-you and yauthor of report of drone sightings. just overall, give me a quick look at the kinds of problems that 700,000 new drones can cause. >> well, based on the reports that we analyzed in our study, there are sort of two different categories. one is what we call sightings which is when a manned aircraft spots a drone either within or near the flight path and about

doesn't pose any immediate danger, but it's still somewhat concerns. the other is the close encounters. we found about 300 p those. and that is when a drove comes close enough to a manned aircraft that it presents some potential danger of collision. and you don't have to go that high to potentially be within the flight path of a hand aircraft. >> so even if a small one, what kind of damage could be did done to an aircraft? >> so our report includes some simulations that were conducted by a team at virginia tech and they looked at what would happen if a drone of about that size was sucked into a regular turbo engine. and the results are pretty worrying. you'll have many broken blades, you'll have debris flying around within the engine at 700 miles an hour. we haven't actually had any live tests of strikes on test engines, so we can't definitively say what the

effects would be. but that is definitely, you know, something that no one would like to see happen in real life. >> in terms of where the incidents have been most frequent, you got the new york newark area, that is the top five, that's los angeles, miami, chicago and boston. clearly some of the most congested air corridors in the country. so what kind of conclusions will you you draw from these numbers? >> all the data points to what we found to be the drone sightings and close encounters are much more likely to occur in areas of high traffic density. so the faa prohibits drone users from flying above 400 feet and within five miles of an airport. those are the places where you're more likely to find manned aircraft. in almost none of the cases did we actually see kroen years using drones in a way that didn't violate faa regulations. so what we're seeing is these incidents are happening where aircraft are most likely to be. >> you wow. and as we said, about 700,000

expected to be purchased this holiday season, which is a big yikes. arthur, thank you so much. that is a wrap of this hour. next on "up," the expectations for tonight's democratic presidential debate. jonathan capehart in the house on "up" coming your way next. (phone ringing) you can't deal with something by ignoring .t but that's how some presidential candidates seem to be dealing with social security. americans work hard and pay into it, so our next president needs a real plan to keep it strong. (elephant noise) (donkey noise) hey candidates! answer the call already. type 2 diabetes doesn't care who you are. man woman or where you're from. city country we're just everyday people fighting high blood sugar. ♪i am everyday people. farxiga may help in that fight every day.

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and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet? the war between bernie sanders and the democratic party. good morning. i'm jonathan capehart. thanks for getting up with us. big developments overnight in the fight between the bernie sanders campaign and the democratic party. the details on that are ahead. we're also learning more about the president's visit last night with the victims' families and first responders of the san bernardino shooting. we'll be joined by a former white house staff member whoing a companied the president to newtown connecticut three