♪ this would be so easy if you had progressive. our mobile app would let you file a claim and help you find one of our service centers where we manage the entire repair process. things will go your way if you hold on. [ sighs ] someday somebody's gonna make you wanna turn around and say goodbye. ♪ say goodbye no, you just made it weird. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." third time's a charm, but for whom? the democratic presidential contenders squaring off in the debate. but was it a game-changer? >> the rhetoric coming from the republicans, particularly donald trump -- >> somebody like a trump comes along and says i know the answers. >> especially from someone as untried and incompetent as donald trump. >> playing the trump card. the one republican candidate mentioned again and again at the democrats debate. what's behind the strategy? it's called supersaturday for a reason. the big numbers behind the last

weekend before christmas. it is now justifiably called epic. where does "star wars: the force awakens" land in the history of film? with a welcome to all of you, thanks for joining us. donald trump fresh off a big rally in iowa last night is hitting the sunday talk show circuit dhfgefending his new al vladimir putin against allegations the russian president had journalists killed. >> mr. putin, you're saying he killed people. i didn't see that. have you been able to prove that? do you know the names of the reporters? you've been hearing this, but i haven't seen the name. now i think it would be despicable if that took place, but i haven't seen any evidence that he killed anybody in terms of reporters. >> meanwhile, in new hampshire, the democratic candidates got

heatod another headline-grabbing topic, gun violence. >> guns in and of themselves in my opinion will not make americans safer. we lose 33,000 people a year already to gun violence. arming more people to do what i think is not the appropriate response to terrorism. >> it is crazy to allow people to own guns who are criminals or mentally unstable. we've got to eliminate the gun show loophole, in my view. we have got to see that weapons designed by the military to kill people are not in the hands of civilians. >> isil videos, isil training videos are telling lone wolves the easiest way to buy a combat assault weapon in america is at a gun show because of the flop-flopping political approach of washington that both of my two colleagues on this stage have represented there for the last 40 years. >> whoa, whoa, whoa. >> we need common sense -- >> let's calm down a little bit, martin. >> yeah, let's tell the truth,

martin. >> i am telling the truth. >> okay. let's bring in "new york times" political reporter jeremy peters. let's start with the big question. who won last night, and, frankly, does it matter? hillary clinton is really so far ahead in the polls. >> she is, although if you saw the latest cbs news poll that came out in new hampshire, sanders is widening his lead there. now i think that points ultimately to a problem that hillary clinton has had. it's known and her campaign is dealing with it. how effectively remains to be seen. bernie sanders has a lot more enthusiasm behind his candidacy, especially in new hampshire. how does hillary engage more voters and get them more excited about her. after a debate like she had last night, it seems like she's just going to play it safe. she was less interested in engaging with o'malley and sanders as she was in deflecting toward donald trump and the

republicans. i think she has an eye on the general election and that's where she's going to stay. >> here's what she said about the fight against isis. let's take a listen. >> we now finally are where we need to be. we have a strategy and a commitment to go after isis, which is a danger to us, as well as to the region. and we finally have a u.n. security council resolution bringing the world together to go after a political transition in syria. >> we've got about seven or eight minutes so -- >> she's essentially echoing obama's position on the isis fight. does she have no choice but to do that and is that a winning option for her? >> well, she has been kind of walking this very fine line between embracing obama's foreign policy which a lot of americans are increasingly viewing with skepticism and charting her own course. now it's no secret that she has advocated kind of a more interventionist approach than the president has.

and i think, you know, when -- as you saw after the paris attacks, as you saw after san bernardino, that's more muscular approach to something she's not shy about embracing and to the extent she continues to do that, that's something she is doing with an eye toward the general election. >> okay. let's take a listen to what she also said about donald trump. here's that's. >> he is becoming isis' best recruiter. they are going to people showing videos of donald trump insulting islam and muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists. >> do you think that's a fair claim, jeremy, and is it verifiable? >> i think it's a perfect kind of claim to make in front of an audience like that. the more that's she can combine donald trump to the republican party, even though the establishment is rejecting him and so, so nervous about the fact their whole party will be tainted by his demagogic

language, she will keep hitting -- beating this drum until she is confident that when republican -- when voters think republican, they think trump. >> stand by for a moment. i want to head to casey hunt in iowa for us. some gop contenders are criss-crossing parts of the country. some are still going after it. casey, what can you tell us about that? >> a good afternoon to you. jeb bush and donald trump had sparred in that republican debate but they took it to a new level on the campaign trail this weekend. donald trump bringing his family out to iowa, but not letting up on those attacks, even the week before christmas. 'tis the season for family and good cheer. >> merry christmas, right? >> in iowa yesterday, donald trump once again offering praise for vladimir putin. who this week called trump bright and talented. >> he's right. i am brilliant.

you know that. >> reporter: but trump didn't have such kind words for some of his republican rivals. >> bush. no, it was just sad. tough guy, right? he's tough. >> thanks, guys. >> reporter: jeb bush in new hampshire returning the favor. >> i've got to get this off my chest. donald trump is a jerk. >> reporter: the rest of the republican field keeping in that same holiday spirit. chris christie taking marco rubio to task for missing another big vote, this time on the bill that funds the government. >> senator rubio, listen. if you're going to say you're opposed to something, how about showing up to work and vote no? and that's the minimum you should have to do. >> reporter: rubio in south carolina again defended his absence. >> i'm running for president and that means sometimes i won't be able to get there in time to vote for some things. >> reporter: even with all that feuding the candidates found a way to remind voters of what's really important. >> thank you for supporting my

grandpa and thank you for being here on this beautiful day. have a very good christmas. >> the crowd loved trump's granddaughter but don't expect her to get the last word before the holiday. chris christie is on the campaign trail in new hampshire today and donald trump is in michigan on monday. alex? >> kasie hunt, thank you. let's bring back in "new york times" political reporter jeremy peters. jeb bush calling donald trump a jerk. does that suggest hints of desperation, or is it signs of energy and life? >> alex, i think it's the former, unfortunately for jeb. there's this kind of strategy he's been testing out for the last couple of weeks to try to hit trump in a way that he says other republicans are afraid to. unfortunately, i think voters have their minds made bup about donald trump. i don't think jeb bush saying that more and more really helps

him and quite frankly, there is an air of desperation. he is the gop front-runner. donald trump, in most of the polling in iowa, he's fallen behind ted cruz by double digits. why is he slipping in iowa? does it have to do with his ground game? >> that's a big part of it. my colleague tripp gabriel had a great piece for all of trump's talk that he has this unstoppable campaign apparatus, he isn't making the person connections in iowa. he doesn't have that grassroots level of support where people are going to go out and recruit caucusgoers for him. that's the peculiar thing about iowa. it's not like you go and cast your ballot at any time. you have to show up at an appointed hour in an appointed location and stay there for quite a while. it's requires a lot of grunt work. even though trump has some very smart people working for him in iowa, it doesn't appear they've done the -- laid the groundwork

they need to. >> there's only 15 paid staffers. that's small by comparison. jeremy peters, thank you. good news for procrastinat r procrastinators. now may be the best time to get some good deals. ron mott was out at the mall today. what did you find? >> reporter: so the type as are long gone. some of them probably got their shopping done over the summer. now it's time for the reflt st us. a lot of the top-selling gifts are probably gone. know that going in you'll get the most out of the frenzied final days. with super saturday in the rear view, the drive is on to get last minute shoppers into stores. 17% of americans, nearly 1 in 5, hadn't even started to check off their list a week before christmas. but don't fret. there's plenty of time left if you get going now like these folks at new york's harold's

square this wgd. >> hectic. the lines are long. the selection -- there's a lot of selections. >> it's awesome. i love shopping. >> typical new york crowd. didn't expect anything less than this. >> why wait so late? good deals. as much as 40% of the season's sales come ten days before christmas. retailers extending store hours, offering free shipping and slashing prices on less popular items. >> most of the deepest discounts can be found in apparel. all kinds of apparel. not just those winter coat s an scarves and hats. even some home goods. >> reporter: here are some tips. order online and pick up at the store. you'll save time standing in lines. take advantage of free gift wrapping. let the pros handle that. be on the lookout for stackable coupons allowing mult pell discounts on a single purchase and if feeling overwhelmed, stop and pamper yourself with a relaxing massage because shopping won't feel good unless you do.

>> just be patient and enjoy being here in new york city and shopping. >> mind your manners. >> whatever your mood or strategy, it's really the thought that counts. >> another silver lining to all of this madness is the weather. a lot of parts of the country enjoying some spectacular late december weather. while you will have to fight the crowds, at least getting to the stores should be more enjoyable. >> true enough. to the weather now and the snow finally falling in a place best known for it. buffalo getting its first snowfall. smashing records for the longest time without any snow by weeks. buffalo would have had more than 20 inches of snow by nop. joining me now is the weather channel's psycmike sidle. unusually warm whether there, right? >> hi. it is. we're out here at a minnesota

vikings tailgate with the fans this morning. it's 36 degrees. the average high 26. it's their second warmest december on record. and they may end up with their number one. it was number one. the past three days have been cold here. this time yesterday -- nobody is complaining about the fact it's -- >> no, we almost wore flip flops. >> is anybody missing the snow? >> i don't think so. not yet. >> what about the frozen lakes? >> not bad for a tailgate in late december in minnesota, right? >> perfect. >> let's talk about the chance of a white christmas. here in minneapolis-st. paul, 72% of the time, 3 out of 4 christmases white. there is some snow in duluth. unless you are in the rockies or

northern plains, way up in northern main, you can pretty much forget about it. like the warm-up we've had here, 8 yesterday morning, 36 nou. it's going to warm up. the eastern part of the country will see a big recovery back to those temperatures we've seen so often in december. we're talking about record or near record warmth heading toward christmas eve and christmas day. it's all relative, you know. they could be out here in sub zero windchills, but not today. >> not today. >> look at this guy. doesn't have a jacket. these guys don't have jackets on. >> what is with these people? i'm listening to you say 36 degrees and i'm like, oh, come on. >> almost everybody is saying we love this. it's balmy. it's tropical. >> okay. very good. mike seidel, thanks. have fun with the kids there. should the u.s. tackle isis first. then worry about getting rid of syria's president? some answers next with former

ambassador bill richardson. corrs that were just totally pitch black. those things had to change. we wanted to restore our lighting system in the city. you can have the greatest dreams in the world, but unless you can finance those dreams, it doesn't happen. at the time that the bankruptcy filing was done, the public lighting authority had a hard time of finding a bank. citi did not run away from the table like some other bankers did. citi had the strength to help us go to the credit markets and raise the money. it's a brighter day in detroit. people can see better when they're out doing their tasks, young people are moving back in town, the kids are feeling safer while they walk to school. and folks are making investments and the community is moving forward. 40% of the lights were out, but they're not out for long.they're coming back.

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a quick headline to thel you about. air france officials say the suspicious device that forced an emergency landing in africa was a fake bomb. the flight from paris to kenya after a passenger found an object in the bathroom. all 459 passengers were safely evacuated. >> the plane just went down slowly, slowly, slowly. we just realized probably something was wrong. but the personnel of air france which is gratd, wonderful, so they keep everybody calm and really quiet. we didn't know what was happening. >> officials say that a number of passengers are right now being interrogated. the three leading democrats debating last night all agreed isis is an immediate threat to the united states that needs to

be neutralized. even in the wake of the resolution on syria, not all the candidates agreed the u.s. should have a role in ousting bashar al assad. >> i think we have got to get a foreign policies and our priorities route. the immediate, it is not assad who was attacking the united states. and isis is attacking france and russian airlines. the major priority in terms of our foreign and military policy should be the destruction of isis. >> we need to focus on destroying isil. that's the clear and present danger, and i believe we can springboard off dhthis new u.n. resoluti resolution. and there should be a political process. but we shouldn't be the ones declaring that assad must go. >> assad has killed by last count about 250,000 syrians. the reason we're in the mess

we're in that isis has the territory it has is because of assad. i advocated arming the moderate opposition back in the day when i was still secretary of state because i worried we'd end up exactly where we are now. >> let's bring in former ambassador to the u.n. and new mexico governor bill richardson. who do you think is right on this issue? does the u.s. have a responsibility to see that bashar al assad is ousted or is tackling isis the first priority? >> i think for now the first priority is getting assad out. he's killed 250,000 syrians. 4 million refugees. in a way, into the middle east and europe, and in a way, this has created isis. so i think the strategy should be continue that as a number one priority. recognize that the russians want to keep assad because they have

a naval base and want to do business there. see how these talks the u.s. is sponsoring on syria evolve. i think they are the best hope for some kind of peace, although there's some kind of problems. who is going to do the cease-fire and monitor it? what about ground troops? will there be a successful negotiation? i think the strategy of the president and what secretary clinton talked, about get assad out, has to be first priority because it's tied in to the entire survivablity of isis and the region. >> we have seen these short-term effects of regime change. it's not pretty for the most part. is there anything to bernie sanders saying that secretary clinton is too much into regime change? isis could be tackled first? >> well, i think senator sand ers is wrong that we should take

out the option of ousting assad. what he said was not good foreign policy. what you need to do is find ways to combine that strategy and see what is going to evolve. i think the worst thing we can do right now is to remain in a situation where we don't have a sensible policy. i would go one step further. i think what is needed eventually is a no-fly zone. this would test the russians and find wa way to open up the refugee corridors. what is needed is number one, ground forces. that has to be a multinational arab force. the saudis are talking about it. right now 80% of the air strikes that russia is doing is to protect those that are fighting assad. it's not regime change. so i think there's just a lot of confusion, conflicting

priorities, and hopefully this peace process will lead to some kind of strategy that eventually would cause a transition which is a transition where assad is pushed out a bit. not entirely. probably not going to be possible. >> i will say that your strategy, you have said that repeatedly on this broadcast. you're sticking to that. what happens in syria when bashar al assad is out? who fills the power vacuum there? >> well, that's going to be a big task because you've got the sunnis, moderate forces, those with ties to al qaeda. this is where the u.n. can play an important role. a peacekeeping mission. maybe u.n. maybe countries involved that can send troops there. it's a strategy that involves how you monitor a cease-fire, who the cease-fire components

are. what kind of peacekeeping force. who comes to the negotiating table. this is where i think the u.n. needs to play a more active role besides just sponsoring conferences. and that's going to be the big test. >> mrs. clinton made mention of that and isis as well, of course, in the debate laugh nig as well. >> we now are finally where we need to be. we have a strategy and commitment to go after isis cl is a danger to us as well as the region and we finally have a u.n. security council resolution bringing the world together to go after a political transition in syria. >> so opponents jumped on the first part of that. do you think it's more a matter of choice of words for her to say we're where we need to be in the fight against isis? >> maybe that was a little politics on her part but she was playing it safe. she's ahead.

she's mastered foreign policy. she doesn't want to upset president obama's backers that are substantial in a primary voting process. a lot of bernie sanders supporters, too, don't want to get too aggressive. she didn't mention the no fly zone but appropriately said the best hope is this u.n. plan on syrian peace talks that is going to evolve over the next month. so i think she was putting forth good foreign policy but a little politics, too. you can't blame her because she doesn't want any erosion in her support and she is leading substantially. >> former secretary and governor and ambassador, bill richardson, thank you. he had a three-hour conversation with the president after the san bernardino shootings. a man who lost his boyfriend in the massacre tells me what's the president said to him and the rest of the families this weekend. (phone ringing)

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now to today's number ones and the dominance of the ultimate number one "star wars." the force awakens delivering on its box office promise in record-breaking fashion. they say it's drawing even better than expected. check out the latest numbers which are still changing. for the weekend, it's earned between $238 million and $244 million in north america alone. another record, friday's opening haul of more than $120 million. would you please tell her that you're not really santa claus, that there actually is no such person. >> well, i'm sorry to disagree but not only is there such a person but here i am to prove it. "the miracle on 34th street" comes in third of the 25 best christmas movies ever made. it follows a christmas story at

number two. it's so popular that a rival cable network plays it for 24 hours at christmas and the very best christmas classic? >> do the -- there they are. bert, what do you know about that? "it's a wonderful life" tops the list. it's broadcast on tv allowing generations to enjoy jimmy stewart's portrayal of george bailey. technology empowers us to achieve more. it pushes us to go further. special olympics has almost five million athletes in 170 countries. the microsoft cloud allows us to immediately be able to access information, wherever we are. information for an athlete's medical care, or information to track their personal best. with microsoft cloud, we save millions of man hours, and that's time that we can invest in our athletes and changing the world.

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bernardino shooting victims shai shared a private and emotional meeting with president obama. ryan reyes was there. he lost his partner of three years daniel kaufman. daniel ran a coffee shop in the building where the shooting hand. training the developmentally disabled clients who worked there. ryan, thank you for joining us. i can't even imagine your sorrow. i'm hopeful that you took something positive away from your meeting with the president. talk about what happened on friday. >> okay. basically what happened on friday was he met individually with each family for five to ten minutes. and he discussed that, you know, the entire nation is mourning with us and stands behind us and anything that we need, feel free to ask. he assured us that he's doing his best to prevent something like this from happen again, and

terrorism in general. he then opened it up for a more conversational style talk with him where we were allowed to express any questions, concerns or suggestions to him. i personally did not have anything to ask him. i was pretty satisfied with what he had already said. i just stressed what i've been stressing all along that we need to work on muslim relations in general as far as the nonradical groups are concerned. instead of ostracizing them, we need to be working together with them because they are just as desperate as we are to put an end to all of it as well. >> the tenor of that meet, was it positive? i'm sure there was a somber note to it, but do you think everyone took away what they needed? i'm glad you did. sounds like you did. >> y i did. i'm pretty sure that some of the other families did as well. as he was finishing up with the

families, we were told we could leave. so i was fifth in line as far as families that were visited, and it seemed like the families that left before i did were leaving pretty, you know, calmly and -- i'm not going to say happily because, obviously, nobody is really happy at the moment. but i didn't see anybody getting overly upset. i think everybody is coming along well with the process, with the grieving process. it seems like people are finally starting to heal. >> as best you can. when the shooting started you got conflicting reports for almost an entire day. eventually you learned about daniel being among those that died. did you know in your heart as other relatives have said of their loved ones who perished

that they just knew something terrible had happened? >> i had it in the back of my head that something bad had happened and that he was likely not going to make it, just because once it was confirmed what building it was and knowing that that was the building that the coffee shop was in and that he was on his lunch break when it had started. that, you know, was really always in the back of my head, even though i was really holding out that hope. yes, we did get that confirmation and it was falsely confirmed. i don't blame anybody for giving me the false information. they were trying their best. i know there was a lot of confusion, and i thank everyone that was trying to find out the information from the bottom of my heart. but, yeah, it was always in the back of my head that, you know,

he -- chances are he didn't make it because he would have reached out at some point and, of course, we just never heard from him. >> ryan, we are so sorry for your loss. the thoughts of this nation are with you, and there are a lot of people here in new york sending you a lot of love and hugs long distance and hope you get through this holiday okay. thank you for talking with us. >> thank you. up next, academy award winning director tom hooper talking about his latest film "the danish girl" and why the 1920s period film speaks volumes about society today. unfortunately, many people who spread it may not know they have it. it's called whooping cough. and the cdc recommends everyone, including those around babies, make sure their whooping cough vaccination is up to date. understand the danger your new grandchild faces. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about you and your

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director tom hooper's "the danish girl" tells the real-life story of a 1920s danish artist. and her struggles among life whiling by the first ever to undergo reassignment surgery. >> i'm your wife. i know everything. >> every morning i promise myself that i'll spend the entire day as a man. >> but i think lily's thoughts and dream her dreams. >> the most likely explanation is a chemical imbalance. >> i trusted you. i came to you for help. >> it's never been attempted before. >> it could kill you.

>> it's my only hope. >> i love you. >> you're the only person who made sense of me. and made me possible. >> director tom hooper joins me now. what a film. and welcome to you. >> thank you very much. >> so the title of this film, does it refer to gerta or lily or meant to be ambiguous? >> i think it refers to both characters, both to gerta. eddie who transitions to lilly by the end of the movie. you can take it both ways. >> you absolutely can. this film took years to bring it to the screen. you wanted to do it for quite some time. did you keep getting side tracked or was it about finding the perfect actor in eddie redmayne? >> i fell in love with this

beautiful story seven years ago. late 2008, in early preparations to direct "the king's speech" and i just wanted to move audiences in a way that's this story moved me. i looked up these characters on the internet. i was astonished how little information there was and it felt -- it got interesting, the history marginalized the creative pioneers and i wanted to bring their story to the world's attention if i possibly could. it's taken me so many years to make the film. my producer has been fighting for 15 years to get this made. what's fascinating is seven years ago it was considered a difficult film to finance. risky film to make. now people are saying it's timely. it's in the zeitgeist. that's an incredible change in a culture in seven years. i think it's because of

television like transparent, orange is the new black, caitlyn jenner. there's been a popular embracing of the importance of transgender stories which has graced a very different context for the film as well. >> aside from all of that as you set yourself to prepare for this film, what's was the most dau s daunting thing to tackle? >> i think it was capturing the extraordinary nature of this love story. that this wife gerta who has this ability to unflinchingly look at her partner, her husband and see the true identity of her partner and to support the emergence of lily, even if it means risk losing her. in 1920s, the word transgender did not exist. they pathologized it as something that required locking

up or lobotomizing. it was the love in this marriage that helped it to emerge. the biggest challenge was making sure we caught incredible strength of the unconditional love in this marriage. >> i've seen the film twice and loved it even more the second time and i wept throughout it several different times because it is a love story. am i wrong? it's a love story, pure and simple. >> you're my new favorite audience member. i think in marriages, long relationships, you know, partners change, and dynamics shift. but this is kind of one of the more extreme journeys a marriage can go on. and i think the way it's met by this love is what moves us. and i think it's that's the true nature of love is when you put someone ahead of yourself. >> she did that.

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started off their first debate making peace last night. bernie sanders cleared the air over a staffer's breach of data from the dnc database. >> not only do i apologize to secretary clinton, and i hope we can work together on an independent investigation from day one. i want to apologize to my supporters. this is not the type of campaign that we run. >> i very much appreciate that comment, bernie. it is important. we should move on because i don't think the american people are all that interested. >> let's bring in former vermont

governor, dnc chairman howard dean. hi guys. so howard, what do you think about that apology? was it enough, and why was this such a big deal in the first place? >> it was a big deal because taking somebody's data, which reveals what their strategy is, who their voters are is a big deal and data breaching is a big deal no matter if it's a bank or politician's names -- list of names. the extraordinary thing is that bernie apologized and it was not sort of an unwilling apology. he did it just right, and she accepted the apology. it was in both of their interest to move on. this doesn't help anybody. it certainly hasn't helped him. he suspended two more staffers today for this. and i thought he handled it very well and hillary handled it very

well. let's get to donald trump, republican target of choice by the democrats last night. let's listen to one comment hillary made about him. >> he is becoming isis' best recruiter. they are going to people showing videos of donald trump insulting islam and muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists. >> what's do you make of clinton's charges and has there been any evidence to back them up? >> those are pretty, pretty outrageous comments if you will. and to my knowledge there is no information to back at up. i hope that's not true. number one, i hope that's, obviously, people are not out there recruiting on this. and secondly, to make that type of comment, i'd assume she'd have specific examples. and if she does, i think the american people deserve to see that's. and if, in fact, that's true to show that to donald trump so he can dial down his rhetoric. i just hope that's not true because it's so over the top

that i just simply cannot believe it. i want to believe that it's not true. >> you want to chime in on that, howard? >> there have been a number of republicans who have said this, including people running against donald trump. jeb bush has condemned this behavior. john kasich has. a number of republican candidates have said something to the effect that this does not help their cause. the cause of getting rid of isis. and it only makes common sense. muslims have as much at stake here as americans do. most muslims live in places where there may be folks like this. their kids are more likely to be shot up and beheaded if they aren't the right sect or religion than our kids are. we ought to be befriending our population of muslims. they'll know when some kid goes off the rules, which imam is preaching hate and violence. that's a much better way to get

into this than carrying on like donald trump who is just trying to get votes and is putting the security of americans in danger. >> you talk about comments being outrageous. can you characterize which one had the more outrageous? donald trump or hillary clinton? >> let me agree with governor dean on his last point. the republicans have been very clear that donald trump's comments, whether appealing to women or building a wall or on latinos, are completely over the top and have no place in american politics. as we know, there are certain parts of the american people that are attracted to that hyperbole. no republican candidate has ever says what secretary clinton said last night with respect to recruiting islamic jihadists. that is a little bit, i think, over the top. i'll stand by what i said. if, in fact, that's true, secretary clinton should give examples of that and show that to the american people so donald trump can dial down the

rhetoric. there's a big difference between what governor bush has said and also what's secretary clinton said last night. >> i want to talk about what chris cillizza wrote about the debate in "the washington post" this morning. he could ought the dna saying there's no justification for hosting a debate on a saturday night six days before christmas unless the goal is to ensure that such debate is lightly watched and any mistakes made by the presumptive front-runner are lessened. why this saturday night essentially keeping hillary clinton and the other candidates from being seen by a large majority of the public. >> i don't know how these debates were put together. when i was the chair, which was the referee between obama and clinton, we went to the networks because they paid for the debate. they got to control when the debates were going to be. we didn't get to dictate that. they made the rules about who could be in the debate. we had nine candidates and the network said we're not going to have people on who are not over

5%. so i don't know what the rules have been this time and i don't know how this schedule got made. >> why, though, the disparity between approaches to debates, robert? if you look at the numbers. gop debates have been far more watched than the democratic one. so the approach, is there a difference, you think? >> absolutely there's a difference. let me go back for a few moments to your original question. communications pr 101. if you don't want people to pay attention to the news that you want to present, you release it on friday evening. you do it on saturday or perhaps maybe on sunday. and guess what? we had a presidential debate on a saturday at 8:00 at night. guess who is watching? no offense to our competitor network out there, probably maybe several hundred thousand people. democrats know what they are doing and i have to give them a big pat on the back. you say you do a debate, it's an open process but at a time least

convenient for the american people out there which is, of course, the majority of people out there i assume are either watching something differently on a saturday evening or perhaps maybe out and about with their friends, as they should be. let's move forward to the second part with the republicans. there's no dobt about it we have some characters on our side. no doubt about it there's a lot of fire and passion on the republican side. especially as it relates to donald trump. and ben carson and some of the others. and, look at the reality of it. the republican debates are during primetime, usually during the middle of the week. usually a tuesday, wednesday or thursday. primetime during middle of the week you'll have a higher quality of eyeballs and volume of eyeballs. >> quick last word to you, howard, about this. >> here's where i would disagree. in these two debates, hillary clinton has shined. she has proven she's ready to be president tomorrow. she -- her knowledge of foreign policy not only outweighs the

people she's debating with but anybody she's debating on the republican side. so the idea that these debates are stashed away on a saturday night to advantage hillary clinton, i think, is crazy. these debates are a huge advantage to hillary clinton, and i wish they were in the middle of the week for exactly the reason robert said. i'd like to show these performances off she's putting on. >> good to see you both. happy holidays this week ahead. thanks for joining me. >> same to you. a professor under fire for a shocking comment about the sandy hook massacre. was it a violation of good taste, and is firing him a violation of his right to free speech? you'll hear what he has to say about it next. to support an imt e that can change the way you live for years to come. how can you help? by giving a little more, to yourself. i am running for my future. people sometimes forget to help themselves. the cause is retirement, and today thousands of people came to race for retirement

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theand the kids always eat sky their vegetables.e. because the salad there is always served with the original hidden valley ranch. donald trump rips a rival. and a rival hits back. >> i've got to get this off my chest. donald trump is a jerk. >> decorum on decline.

is jeb bush lowering himself to raise himself in the race? and conspiracy theory. why a florida university's professor remarks about the sandy hook school massacre may get him fired. hey there, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." here's what's happening right now. it's a new day in the race to 2016. the fallout continues from last night's democratic debate in new hampshire. this morning on "meet the press," donald trump hit back hard against hillary clinton's assertion he was being used as an isis recruitment tool. >> nobody has been able to back that up. it's nonsense. it's just another hillary lie. she lies like crazy about everything, whether it's trips where she was being gunned down in a helicopter or airplane. she's a liar and everybody knows that.

>> leann caldwell is in manchester, new hampshire, for us. she joins me now. hillary clinton did not mince any words about donald trump last night going after him more than she went after either of the other two democrats on stage with her. do you think this is shaping up to be a clinton/trump matchup? >> we'll have to see how the primaries take place and if trump can continue his lead and win any states. it's easy for hillary clinton to go after donald trump. that's one thing democrats can agree on. they don't like donald trump. i will say that she is the front-runner in the democratic party, in the democratic race. it doesn't serve her to go after her opponents. front-runners try to stay above the fray. she was armed with opposition research. not only against her closest opponent bernie sanders but even martin o'malley who is only

polling at 3% and still was able to defend herself and hit back against him on some instances. >> who came out the big winner last night, and does it even matter given that clinton is polling with her numbers so far ahead? >> clinton is far ahead except for in the state of new hampshire, where she is tied or maybe a little behind bernie sanders. >> they both had good nights last night. what came out of the debate is there are substantial policy differences between the two. as far as syria is concerned, clinton supports a no-fly zone over that country and also supports getting rid of assad, something bernie sanders does not agree with. as far as domestic policy is concerned, sanders supports single payer health care and college tuition and will raise taxes on the middle class slightly to pay for paid family leave for people who just had babies.

but to hillary clinton, she's said she doesn't support any of those and she said no new taxes for the middle class last night. there are differences. it was a substantial debate. but the one thing they can agree on is that donald trump, once again, is the big challenger in this race. >> leigh ann kald well, thanks for that. more on the road to 2016. we bring in "usa today" correspondent paul singer and "boston globe" reporter annie lynnsky. we'll go ladies first here. you were at the debate last night. what's the big take away for you and talk about the mood post debate. >> the takeaway for me was every one of these candidates had their best debate of the night. and that was apparent in the spin room afterwards where surrogates for each of the three candidates were downright giddy. you had sanders people saying he looked presidential on that

stage. a word they haven't said in the past. and then clinton's people, of course, were really happy. she was relaxed. she seemed to be having a good time. you saw a little of those flashes of humor that her staff says exists but we rarely see it on the camera. and omaley also is able to get some of his points in, particularly on gun control. he was up there showing he's able to compete on this stage even if the polls aren't reflecting his performance. >> paul, i want to talk about bernie sanders. this new poll out of new hampshire has him virtually tied which is down from his earlier lead. did anything happen last night in your opinion to alter that trajectory? >> i don't think anything was reset in this debate last night. i think all three candidates did their best work but that doesn't change the dynamic at the moment which is bernie sanders had a tremendous surge in the summer

but hillary clinton is having a strong comeback in the fall. i don't think there's anything last night that's going to change that. i thought everybody handled themselves pretty well. great moment was hillary being absent from her podium for a few seconds. i don't think there's a lot of take away from this. >> hillary clinton said that the u.s. is now where it needs to be on fighting isis. she certainly got some criticism for that. can you put her remarks in context? >> look. i think she is tied to obama's foreign policy, right? there's no way strategically that she can put too much daylight between herself and the president on this issue because she was secretary of state when the policies were initially being developed. so if she has got to be in a position of saying, look, those decisions made when i was secretary of state are now in a position of bearing fruit. and it wasn't an easy decision.

these aren't easy decisions when you are talking about going to war and talking about international diplomacy. so i think she needs to stay the course because she has no other option. she really, you know, has been part of the obama administration. and that's her great strength as a candidate but it was so interesting last night to see bernie sanders using that against her. using the same lines almost against her that the republicans have been using from she hadn't thought it through far enough. you could almost like close your eyes for a few seconds and think, is this a republican debate? that i found really interesting. >> speaking of the gop poll, let's turn to that. jeb bush, you heard him calling donald trump a jerk. does that get him anywhere? is that desperation or signs of life and energy? >> we see the same thing. we saw it last night. the lower ranking candidates

have to hit back at the higher ranking candidates to generate some attention to their own campaigns. jeb bush has been struggling to break out, going after donald trump is both a political decision. he has to give donald trump because he has to get on the front page with the, i attacked donald trump but he also believes that trump is bad for the republican party. the classic establishment view of donald trump being an outsider who is damaging the party. both what jeb bush believes and has to say at this point in a struggling campaign to break out of the pack. >> the fact is it's almost like he borrowed a line from donald trump in saying donald trump would say that and probably has. >> people listen to it apparently. >> regarding donald trump, he's finding himself defending not only his support of vladimir putin but putin himself. here are his comments that may have been -- saying that putin may have been responsible for the deaths of at least two journalists. >> as far as the reporters are

concerned, obviously, i don't want that to happen. i think it's horrible. but in all fairness to putin, you are saying he killed people. i haven't seen that. i don't know that's he has. have you been able to prove that? do you know the names of the reporters he's killed? you've been hearing this, but i haven't seen the name. i think it would be despicable if that took place, but i haven't seen any evidence. >> can there be any payoff for donald trump's continued defense of the russian president? >> i mean, look, every time i've said something about donald trump for the last six months, i have been wrong. >> you and everybody else. >> every time -- i know, right? every time that man opens his mouths, he says something that if i said it would end my career, it would end your career, yes he continues to rise in the polls. until that changes, seemingly he can defend the russian president killing journalists and that's okay.

i think the fear and the concern and the level of panic you are seeing on the republican side at this point is getting so intense. on the other side, hillary clinton would love to be running against donald trump. that is her dream. there are conspiracy theories about who -- how he got in the race. i won't even go there. but she would love to run against him and the republicans are terrified. >> i will tell you every democratic analyst i've had, they all say we'd love for hillary to run against donald trump. paul, same question to you about trump and putin. >> i never understand what's coming out of donald trump's mouth. sometimes i feel like he's off the top of his head. i don't know what he knows about those cases, why it came up. donald trump has this sort of unfiltered reaction to the world and stuff just comes out and people don't seem to blame him

for it and people like the fact he's unfiltered. a regular guy saying what i want and people seem to eat it up. hillary clinton would love to run against donald trump. and in last night's debate, she was talking more about donald trump than she was about bernie sanders and martin o'malley. any of us will be a better candidate than the republicans and by the way, here's donald trump. who can figure out how this works. it's working for donald trump. i dont know that defending putin hurts him any because i don't know that anything else he's said has hurt him. >> i don't have the answers. that's why i'm asking you. for the record, we don't know if president putin has killed journalists. we're trying to figure that out. very big thanks to the both of you, paul and annie. have a good holiday. >> thank you. weather is one of the day's top stories. and the weather in the northeast is feeling more like the onset

of winter. the high temperature in new york will be in the low 40s today. record heat is on the way to the region with high temperatures near 70 here in new york on thursday which kills any chance of a white christmas. but it might be possible or even likely in fact in parts of the upper midwest or rockies. to illustrate how warm it's been, buffalo had its first measurable snowfall of the season just yesterday. it is the latest first snowfall in buffalo since 1899. last year at this time, buffalo already had 30 inches of snow on the ground. almost a week after the third anniversary of the sandy hook shootings, a florida college professor is on the verge of being fired because he believes the massacre never happened. up next, why his letter to one of the sandy hook parents could be his undoing. agreed to give . that's today? we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. after the deliveries, i was ok. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again.

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pltresident obama is spendi this holiday in hawaii. he was raised in hawaii and has traditionally spent his christmas there as president. kelly o'donnell is with the president in honolulu this afternoon. good morning, your time. what's on the president's agenda, with a hello to you. >> good morning from this end. good afternoon, alex. we don't know yet what excursions if any the first family will have today. golf is one of his favorite pastimes here. he was able to do that with four close friends yesterday. and they go to the marine base here in honolulu. he's able to get out on the links and have some fun. that first day was an adjustment with the time zone but the president and his family are known to enjoy all of the things you'd expect in hawaii from golf to the beach to swimming and then some of the locals here

we've been following are anxious for the excursion where the president and first family go out for what's known as shaved ice. like a snow cone. it's one of the local favorites. and at some point during their 16 days here it's expected they'll head out for that. perhaps dinner tonight out. we don't yet know. the white house will tell us as the day rolls on. because of that time difference, still kind of early here. we don't know what the president has planned. chances are rest and relaxation are part of it. but there is no escaping the duties of the presidency, even when it vacation. he'll get his briefings and be in touch on any of the pertinent topics of the day while enjoying pleasant weather here in oahu. >> do you know if the president spent any time last night watching the democratic debate? >> i know that we did, but based on the time difference, we're five hours behind new york and manchester where the debate took place. at that time he was on the golf

course. so unless he was watching by smartphone or saw some clips after the fact, my best guess is that he did not watch it. chances are that's the kind of thing he can read up on later. if you're going to get away from politics on vacation, maybe the debate is not tops on your list if golfing is an option. we've asked the white house. we haven't heard officially yet. i'm going to use my powers of experience to say i suspect golfing trumped -- oh, and no pun intended there -- the democratic debate. >> yep, my money is on your perspective. good to see you. let's head to florida where a university is taking steps to fire a professor known. >> announcer: for his controversial comments about the sandy hook shootings. kerry sanders has the latest. >> reporter: james tracy stands by his controversial claims even though it may cost him his tenure. the florida atlantic university

professor's conspiracy theory is shocking. to some, disgusting. that the shooting deaths of 20 students and six adults at sandy hook elementary school three years ago was a hoax. the family of one victim, 6-year-old noah pozner says the professor even sent them a certified letter. that letter made public when it was published online by the florida sun-sentinel demands pozner's parents provide proof of your relationship to noah. at tracy's home saturday through the screen door, no apologies. >> do you accept the fact that that little boy died at sandy hook? >> i don't. >> you do not? >> because? >> we have a whole book on it. nobody died at sandy hook. >> nobody died at sandy hook? >> that's the name of the book. >> on wednesday, fau staff announced he now faces termination but would not comment as to why. that move coming less than a week after noah's parents wrote

an op-ed claiming tracy sought to personally cause our family pain and anguish. you suggested this little boy never existed. did you not? >> i asked for verification of the party, the family, their relationship to the boy. yes. >> and you don't think that was inconsiderate, obnoxious, uncalled for? >> i do not. >> reporter: legal expert kendall coffey. >> even the first amendment doesn't guarantee a job when someone has gone too far. here he crossed the line. >> tenure, no protection? >> tenure is no immunity. >> the professor has six days to respond to the university. because the school is on winter break, the decision on what happens next won't be official until january 4th. kerry sanders, nbc news, boca raton, florida. we're keeping you posted on the rush of holiday travel that's about to be gin. aaa estimates a record number of americans will be on the road. 100 million americans are

expected to travel 50 miles or more this holiday season. while gas prices won't be setting any record lows, they will be the lowest since 2009. today they've dipped to a national average of $2. that's 42 cents cle s cheaper t year ago. it's the final "saturday night live" of the year and two alums who have gone on to become bigger stars. >> i'm cuban. let's face it. i'm the only one up here you'd swipe right on. so why am i losing to this guy who is fast asleep right now?

it's a highly thercontagious disease.here. it can be especially serious- even fatal to infants. unfortunately, many people who spread it may not know they have it. it's called whooping cough. and the cdc recommends everyone, including those around babies, make sure their whooping cough vaccination is up to date. understand the danger your new grandchild faces. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about you and your family getting a whooping cough vaccination today. i accept i'm not the rower i used to be.. i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib,

a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. but i won't accept is getting out there with less than my best. so if i can go for something better than warfarin, i will. eliquis. eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, plus it had significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis had both. that really mattered to me. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. i accept i don't have to set records. but i'm still going for my personal best. and for eliquis. reduced risk of stroke

plus less major bleeding. ask your doctor if switching to eliquis is right for you. now to a homecoming with a holiday flair. tina fey and amy poehler returned has guest hosts. last night was "snl's" holiday show. sheinelle jones brings us the

highlights. >> reporter: amy poehler and tina fey have been getting laughs and making each other laugh for a long time. >> we've been friends for like -- >> 6 -- >> 20 years. >> plenty of new material. >> let's meet your second wife. >> say water. >> water. >> but make sure to bring back some old favorites. >> tina fey glasses. >> hillary clinton meets up with herself from 2008. >> hello. >> in 2008, i got a heck of a lot closer to the white house than this gal did. >> yes, i need to get back to 2008 and send a bunch of e-mail. >> no! >> there was a return to the weekend update desk and a string of musical numbers. ♪ let it snow ♪ i really can't stay ♪ baby it's cold outside >> including a video parody

celebrating their unique friendship with a special guest appearance from amy schumer. >> is this not a charity thing? >> their appearances timed to coincide with the release of their new movie "sisters." >> i like the story it tells. >> "sisters" is up against an unstoppable force. >> in our new movie "star wars." >> i'm through with chewy. >> "star wars" may rule the weekend but the boss owned saturday night. >> springsteen sang two songs but came back to close out the show with santa claus is coming to town. and with no hint or announcement, none other than sir paul mccartney dashed on stage to join the celebration. ♪ santa claus is coming san santa claus is coming to town ♪ >> there is the holiday right there for you. that was nbc's sheinelle jones

reporting. that's was bruce's first appearance on "saturday night live" since 2002 and only his third overall. as for sir paul, he's been a musical guest four times. last time in 2012. go figure. we're doing a top tech gifts segment just days before christmas. we'll check out the must-haves of the season. he's making a move in the polls. what do people see in ted cruz that could make him a serious contender? one of the nation's foremost polling analysts joins us next. . so we asked them... are you completely prepared for retirement? okay, mostly prepared? could you save 1% more of your income? it doesn't sound like much, but saving an additional 1% now, could make a big difference over time. i'm going to be even better about saving. you can do it, it helps in the long run. prudential bring your challenges

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through several different states right before christmas. really what's happened on this trip is he goes to places, the attention among republican candidates has tirned to him. he's talked about being the consistent conservative. did what he said he was going to, which is ultimately shutting down the government. this is ted cruz. what we've seen over the last couple of days is republicans turning the tide and saying, sorry, ted. you aren't as consistent as you said. several cand daits have pushed back. >> i think he should just admit he changed his mind. >> by running saying you are the only purist in the field. i think then your record will have a light shown on it. >> you have to ask whether they are sincerely changing their views or doing it for political purposes. >> this is the crazy part about this is ted cruz is now suddenly

atop the leaderboard in iowa, outpolling donald trump. this is where all the attention now settling on him. he's been the stallwart conservative in this race. it comes the same week in which marco rubio who knew the hit was going to be coming over his past efforts to push through a pathway through citizenship. now he's the one on the offensive and ted cruz on the defensive. we're going to see over the next couple of days, what are we going to look at in the month ahead toward the iowa caucus. >> vaughn hill yerks thank you. ted cruz has been making headlines in iowa. new polling puts the texas senator ahead of donald trump for the first time even as trump widened his lead. here to make sense of the numbers, patrick murray. with a big thank you and good to see you, your latest polling shows this dominant national lead for donald trump at 41%. how do you explain the slip in iowa? >> we share the same thing as

everyone else is showing. ted cruz ahead in iowa. it's a tale of two different electorates. the national polling is asking a wide swath of republican voters, most of whom will never vote in a primary because it won't get to them who they prefer. donald trump is bringing in a lot of new voters. in iowa we have a clear history of the evangelical candidate. the one who can get that back and doing well. a majority of iowa republican voters have been evangelical voters in the past. we expect that to continue if there's a trump surge with new voters coming in. ted cruz is doing well. now the reason why we're paying attention to ted cruz beyond iowa is because the rest of the field is so unsettled. >> when you look at the pairings of winning iowa or winning new hampshire and then going on to win south carolina, which one is the better indicator that you will be the nominee? >> and historically, new hampshire has always been the

better indicator. but this year is different. we used to have, you know, this kind of pattern that emerged out of the republican nomination process where there was an evangelical candidate, an establishment candidate like a ron paul who might get about 10% of the vote. that's been flipod the head. we've got the evangelical candidate. it was ben carson. now it's ted cruz. and the anti-establishment candidate in donald trump. instead of just getting 10% of the vote, he's tapped into something different. the problem about the rest of this race is that why don't have a single establishment candidate who has set themselves up as the foil to the other two. and in the past it would come down to the evangelical candidate would do well in iowa. the anti-establishment would take a few votes away. but the establishment cand daylight wou date would have the staying power. this is why ted cruz can do so

well because super tuesday as you just reported, all those southern states with these huge evangelical proportion of voters and the republican primaries down there, and he can get a significant proportion of the vote because the establishment vote is split. if it comes down to cruz and trump in those states. >> back to iowa, though. as i understand it, the voter that goes to the caucuses is evangelical, usually college educated in their 40s approximately. when you look at donald trump's supporters, they are being described as not evangelicals, not college educated and very young. how does that bode for his support to actually get out there and vote for him? >> there's two things here. i don't want to oversimplify it. there's a mix of support in donald trump's voter base. it does skew towards those with less education, but he has a wide swath of people.

the difference with donald trump is these are people who rarely take part in any partisan activity. such as a caucus or a primary. even in their state primaries they rarely take part in those things. can donald trump get them to do something they've never done which is basically say i'm going to go out there and take a stand against the establishment by sitting in a cold room for two hours in the middle of an iowa winter to hear speeches by local party leaders before i get to say i want to vote for donald trump? not sure that's going to happen but the only difference here is that donald trump has broken every rule that we know about how campaigns work so far. he could break this one as well. >> back to the predicting. let's say donald trump wins new hampshire and south carolina. there's a non-monmouth university poll out of south carolina that puts him now seven points ahead of cruz. so do you think it's a foregone conclusion if he puts those two together? >> no. it's still -- that establishment track, which is basically now

rubio, bush, kasich and christie, if somebody can emerge as the clear leader of that out of iowa and new hampshire, i think we'll see this race change very quickly. but if it stays as muddled as it is right now, we're looking at trump and cruz. >> i want to talk about the dems right now. the newest numbers show very little change since october. what do you make of that? >> basically, it was in the polling we had done in the spring and other polls, our own poll is that democratic voteders wanted hillary clinton to pass a series of tests. she had the benghazi hearing, a challenge from the left. she passed those tests. now we're seeing her climb back in the polls. the only place where bernie sanders is doing well is in new hampshire but we don't see any strength anywhere else in the country. >> always good to talk with you. a manhunt is under way in texas for the so-called affluenza teen. he witness missing last week with his mom. he received probation instead of

jail time after killing four people in a drunk driving crash in 2013. kerry sanders is following the story. what's the latest on the search? any word? >> they are still searching. this is day nine they are looking for ethan couch, the 18-year-old who was not only responsible for the deaths of four and injuring nine but put up this rather unusual defense of affluenza that he was so wealthy and an upbringing of wealth that he didn't understand his actions. that resulted in a controversial decision of a ten-year probation rather than prison time. now that he appears to be on the run, will he be found or when will he be found? they have the fugitive task force searching him for right now along with a county sheriff's office and the fbi. a $5,000 reward. why would he be on the run? it's possible because of this video. you see this video here that was posted on twitter of him playing

beer pong with some friends. if that is indeed him, and if there was alcohol, it likely would be a violation of his probation which could result in a resentencing. this is what's legal experts had to say. >> when somebody takes off who has a probation sentence, you have to wonder whether there is some concern about a violation that might put them back in jail. >> as the former u.s. attorney, you've seen that happen? >> we've seen many times where someone got a generous term of probation and blew it by committing a crime and getting put in prison for the whole time. >> so the question now is, where is ethan couch? is he with his mother? his mother may be with him, although there is no wanted poster for him. authorities believe she may be traveling with him or could be assisting him. they are yet to have a one-on-one kfrgconversation witr to get details from her. but it appears both ethan couch and his mother's passports are

missing. so it's possible they may have fled the country. alex? >> all right, kerry sanders, thank you for the update from dallas. another story is the record turnout at the box office to see the new "star wars" movie. deadline.com says "the force awakens" will earn from $238 million to $244 million this weekend. and that in north america alone. and it's still just an estimate because it could go even higher. that estimate is in the neighborhood of about $25 million more than expected and beats the old opening weekend record by roughly $30 million. the holiday shopping home stretch is the story we're following today and for the next five days. in a moment, the five best high-tech gifts worth giving. some gadgets that could make this a holiday to remember.

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kim commando is here with more ideas for us. so, kim, with a welcome to you, you wrote about this in "usa today." the first item is the gopro herie 4. why is that a good gift? >> everybody likes recording their activities with the gopro here iie iie iie hero 4, it has screen. for the outdoor enthusiast it's hard to beat this gift. >> that's really cool actually. let's move on to this hello barbie? why is this so special. >> well, what i originally wrote this story for "usa today," which i write two columns for them every week. hello barbie was out there. now after people have started really looking at it it's been called the worst toy ever. your little girl talks to barbie. when she's talking to barbie, everything that she's saying is being transmitted over the internet to mattel's partner by

the name of toy talk. if you look at toy talk's policies and privacy policies, it makes you want to step back because they say they aren't sure how they'll be using it, but it will be distributed to so-called third parties. >> there's a security issue with that one. >> yeah, instead of saying hello baby, say good-bye to barbie. >> got that. >> the next idea could be hot here given how "star wars" is doing. the rolling joy bb-8. >> this is a really great toy not just for kids. it's the first artificial intelligence droid. you can tell it what to do with your voice and there's a smartphone and tablet app you can direct its activities. when bb-8 gets near the edge it looks around. like where should i go? this looks like a clip. it's a lot of fun. >> that looks cute like the character in the film. >> how about the rif 6 pocket size cam.

>> let's say you have a movie, tv show, maybe even your video games on your phone or tablet and you want to project it in the room? with this rif6 cube you connect it up via bluetooth and suddenly whatever is on your phone or smartphone or tablet is projected on a wall or screen 120 inches wide. it's amazing. >> this looks pocket sized when we saw the guy adjusting it. it's tiny. >> it is. that's what makes it really convenient. if you are a business traveler. a lot of churches and ministries are also using them. >> what about for the inventors in your family. the littlebits gizmos and gadgets kit. >> i love this. it teaches little boys and girls how to be an inventor, a scientist. >> that's cool. >> there are 12 different projects that's they can make. there are buzzers and lights and switches. what they can make are really

fun things like an automatic bubblemaker or rc car. >> wow. all right. kim, i'm going to put you on the spot. you have to pick one. which one would you want for your loved ones to get for you? >> i think i'm going to pick the rif6 cube. i can get a lot of use out of that. then "star wars" is hot, the bb-8. >> thank you, kim komando. who could forget the young brooklyn girl pope francis blessed during his tour of the u.s.? the next chapter of her story next for you on msnbc.

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protect against another heart attack. brilinta worked better than plavix. and even reduced the chances of dying from another one. don't stop taking brilinta without talking to doctor. since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, heart attack, stroke, and even death. brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. don't take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers. a history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problems. tell your doctor about bleeding, new or unexpected shortness of breath, any planned surgery and all medicines you take. i will take brilinta today. tomorrow. and every day for as long as my doctor tells me. don't miss a day of brilinta. you all may remember the powerful young story of a young girl who was blessed by pope francis. it was the moment of a lifetime for julia, a 12-year-old beautiful girl from brooklyn, and we spoke with julia after her meeting with the pope. here is a little bit of what she

had to say. >> he put his hands on my head, and looking at him was like looking at the face of god. his face was so innocent and just so pure, and it was really so precious and magical, and he gave me -- he did give me a blessing. >> well, julia's back with us today here in studio along with her mother, josephine, and her father enrico. i'm so glad to see you. tell me how you're doing, sweetie. what is going on. >> i'm okay. on friday i got a pic line. >> yeah, that's some kind of little -- was it painful? >> yeah, a little painful but i handled it. >> i'm sure you did because you're a pretty stoic young lady. >> as i understand it, it allow s your antibiotics you need to be directly into your heart, am

i right? >> yes. >> it's the most powerful way to get this stuff to you. so that's some sense of progress. let's talk, enrico, about the challenges. we all know that health insurance for so many is a nightmare, but in your case in particular you guys are having some pretty tremendous struggles. >> we are pretty much abandoned by our insurance company. they pretty much -- >> denied "uss. >> they denied us three times. we were told julia's treatment is considered experimental which for me experimental means that there is some process that requires experimenting. it indicates that there is a problem. we were told that basically julia didn't need treatment. we're not sure exactly what they're trying to tell us. >> i remember you were diagnosed officially with lyme disease, right? >> it was a clinical diagnosis. >> ainical diagnosis but

there have been complications as far as the lifestyle. she has to have a special diet. it's not a clear cut case of lyme disease. >> she has to eat paleo and sugar-free otherwise she gets ill. and they're living upstate. they're getting separated from us, they're getting treatment from a doctor up there because we can't get our insurance to help us down here. >> do you feel like you are improving at all? have you made any progress? i know you're still in the wheelchair so that tells us something right there. >> i definitely have made some improvement with this new antibiotic. i'm starting to feel a little of the bottom of my feet where before i totally couldn't feel anything. >> that's great. >> it's great. this doctor in albany is like my blessing. he's my inspiration every day that i will get better and he's very smart. yeah, so i'm making some improvement and hopefully it

will stay like that and get better. >> absolutely. and just improve from there. as i understand it the antibiotics that have to be delivered through this pic line, they're expensive. aren't they $200 to $400 a day. >> they're very expensive. but people have reached out to us. we haven't had any help from the insurance company but there have been some pretty wonderful people out there. avante home health services have offered julia antibiotics free of charge. lenox hill have afforded us a charity pic line. a restaurant out in bay ridge, brooklyn, through a very successful fund-raiser for julia. >> this morning someone knocked on the door from a bakery in brooklyn and handed us a bag of money they collected for us from the community in the store. >> see, you know, the thing is i was thinking about when the pope blessed you, and i love everything you said and you were so inspirational and your

classmates were so supportive of you and all that. i have not forgotten a word of it. and when you think about the pope blessing somebody, you think miracles will happen and that something will radically change, but the reality is you are feeling some positive effects. do you want to attribute that to the pope's blessing? it's a difficult situation you're in but there's some sillsill -- silver lining. >> he showed me at the end of my journey, that i'm -- this happened to me for a reason and that i will go visit the sick and that this might have been like a horrible experience but like doctors telling me that you're going crazy and all of this stuff and that it's shown me that i don't want anybody else, a girl like me, to go through this. i had to miss so many events at my school. i had one vice president. i had everything going for me and then this happened but the pope showed me that this happened for a reason and that

maybe it was just because meeting him. >> you know what? i still think you have everything going for you and our thoughts and prayers are with all of you and i hope off warm and wonderful holiday season and we're going to keep following your story. happy holidays to all of you. we'll see you next weekend. yes. you know, that reminds me of geico's 97% customer satisfaction rating. 97%? helped by geico's fast and friendly claims service. huh... oh yeah, baby. geico's as fast and friendly as it gets. woo! geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. it's a highly thercontagious disease.here. it can be especially serious- even fatal to infants. unfortunately, many people who spread it may not know they have it. it's called whooping cough. and the cdc recommends everyone, including those around babies,

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this sunday morning, donald trump dominating the national polls now more than ever. >> something is going on and it's beautiful to see. >> but no one has ever won without paying more attention to early states like iowa. trump is rewriting the rules. can he rewrite history? donald trump joins me live. plus, last night's democratic debate. >> secretary clinton is too much into regime change and a little bit too aggressive without knowing what the unintended consequences might be. >> did bernie sanders pass the commander in chief test? he joins me this morning. and speaker of the house paul ryan says he and president obama don't agree on much.