thinks trump has benefited from the country's anxieties. >> i think somebody like mr. trump's taking advantage of that. that's what he's exploiting during the course of his campaign. and the battle for ramadi. an anti-isis fighter gives msnbc an exclusive first-hand look from the front lines of this strategically important city. good day. i'm luke russert in for the great andrea mitchell. we begin with breaking news from the 2016 campaign trail. six weeks into the first nominating contest in iowa, and the republican field, well, it got a little smaller. up against a deadline in his own state of south carolina, senator

lindsey graham announced that he is dropping out of the 2016 presidential race. graham conceded while he may not be the republican nominee any time soon, he's made enormous progress on shifting the foreign policy debate. >> this is an election with the heart and soul of the republican party. this is no longer about 2016. this is about who are we as a party, where do we want to go. >> let's get right to our daily fix on this big news. joining me, chris cillizza, msnbc contributor and founder to the "washington post" fix blog. sheera center of the boston globe and katy tur, and hallie jackson, in new hampshire where five other republican candidates are on the trail. thanks so much for being on the show. chris, we start off with you. lindsey graham really staked his campaign on being the national security candidate, definitely an expert in that regard, had the backing of john mccain.

i suspect now with him out of the way, he is an establishment guy, this really puts the focus on where those defense hawks are going to land as they move forward. >> yeah. i think that's exactly right. look, lindsey graham's candidacy didn't have much of a chance from the start. it never got off the ground. this is not terribly surprising though i would say i think a better candidate with a more sort of interesting and cohesive world view than many people still in the race just showing you politics isn't entirely fair. ted cruz, marco rubio will be the two most obvious, maybe chris christie, if you see him as sort of a viable first level candidate will be the obvious beneficiaries of lindsey graham. i do think it's important in terms of actual support among voters, you are talking about marginal levels for lindsey graham nationally and in the early states, including south carolina as it relates to the presidential race. he might help, as an endorsement in the presidential race, but his supporters going away won't

change anything in any real way. >> he has said recently that he's not necessarily going to endorse right out of the gate. he does have that backing of mccain. mccain now is free to go somewhere else if he chooses to do so. hallie jackson, we just heard from marco rubio about the graham news. i want to play that and get you on the other side. >> well, look, i want everybody's support. anyone i can get to jump on board, we would love to have their support. it's probably premature to ask for that. he just got out of the race. let's give him some time to get through the holidays. certainly lindsey supports national security, he's someone whose support we welcome if it makes sense for him. >> safe to say they would definitely covet lindsey graham's endorsement but this does open up the field for marco rubio to be the national security candidate if he wants to be at least in terms of the establishment. >> yeah. i think that chris hit the nail on the head when he talked about the impact of graham stepping out of this race, is not necessarily because of his

supporters, a guy who is polling in asterisks just doesn't have a lot of supporters to give. but it is significant especially when you talk about rubio, and rubio today acknowledged that he and lindsey graham do have similar views when it comes to national security, both of them more hawkish. rubio saying he will miss graham for his humor on the campaign trail. but the significance is not just when you talk about national security. it's also opening up potential other endorsements for rubio from folks in the senate who may have wanted to defer on that out of respect to senator graham. additionally, in making some moves in south carolina, people who for the same reason down in that key early state, a state where rubio is making a play, a place where a lot of folks think he can be strong since he's simply not seeming to be able to dominate iowa or new hampshire the way we have seen other candidates be able to do. lindsey graham getting out, if he were to endorse marco rubio could open doors in south carolina. the question of course is if and whether lindsey graham will endorse at all. >> i think he will hold the

cards a little close to the vest, but my goodness, if any republican candidate wanted a secretary of defense, i'm sure lindsey graham would be on the hot list. let's switch gears a little bit. katy tur, donald trump and hillary clinton going tit for tat over the weekend. i want to play this and get your response. >> i worry greatly that the rhetoric coming from the republicans, particularly donald trump, mr. trump has a great capacity to use bluster and bigotry to inflame people and to make them think there are easy answers to very complex questions. we also need to make sure that the really discriminatory messages that trump is sending around the world don't fall on receptive ears. he is becoming isis' best recruiter. >> she has always been whether it's whitewater or the e-mail scandal, she always lies. and now to be saying that we're just right in the perfect spot with respect to isis, i don't think that's a lie. i really don't think she knows

what she's doing. >> katy, obviously we know donald trump likes to attack his fellow republicans in his quest for the nomination but really going after hillary clinton here in a forceful manner. he's done this in the past but i don't recall to this level. is this where donald trump wants to be? does he want to bring on a fight with clinton this early on? >> reporter: what we have seen lately -- sorry, it's getting loud in here -- what we have seen lately is donald trump has been going after hillary clinton more and more. i think he's trying to set himself up for the general election campaign, pushing himself forward, assuming he will get the nomination and starting to attack who he assumes will get the democratic nomination. i think both candidates are playing to their base. hillary clinton's base does not like trump. they see him as dangerous and a liar. donald trump's base certainly does not like hillary clinton. when he talks about her here at these rallies he is very harsh. the crowd goes wild. it's one of his biggest applause lines. that and donald trump -- that and president obama, excuse me,

and bombing the hell out of isis. the crowd goes crazy. they sell pins that say hillary for jail. he certainly is speaking directly to his base. the idea that she's lying about things like benghazi and being shot at, that will play well and we can expect to hear more of that on the campaign trail today when he's in michigan. remember, donald trump has had his own run-ins with the truth, if you will. certainly for the thousands of muslims celebrating in new jersey, that video has not surfaced of thousands of people doing that. also, politicifax gave him his one and only truthful rating for the comment he made over the weekend to "meet the press" that putin has 80% approval ratings in russia. so donald trump has had his own issues with the truth. that certainly will be used against him in the general election if he makes it that far. it's already being used against him in the primary. remember, this electorate certainly on the republican side is very angry. that's why you are seeing thousands of people show up his

rallies and will probably show up at this giant arena in michigan, grand rapids, tonight. >> he certainly tapped into something, without doubt. what that looks like in terms of poll share, i want to go to you, sheera. donald trump behind in iowa, however, leading in new hampshire and south carolina, according to these latest cbs news polls. let's talk about a state that borders where you are right now, new hampshire. this seems to break down to be either donald trump's launching point or the state where the establishment is going to fight to the bitter end to stop him. from where this race is, we are about six weeks or so out, how do you see this shaping up? do they have to coalesce around one person or does donald trump run away with an independent-minded electorate? >> you are absolutely right about the role of new hampshire in the presidential primary. for several cycles now, new hampshire republicans have considered themselves corrective, iowa republicans

will pick a very conservative candidate, then new hampshire republicans will come in with a more establishment. they would argue a more electable pick for the general election. but that is not what polls are necessarily showing right now at all in new hampshire. donald trump has had a consistent lead in new hampshire primary polls for something like 25 of the most recent polls, and looking at those similar polls, it does not seem like he's the most electable candidate in november as well. so i think that's the answer here. republicans need to coalesce around one, maybe, maybe two, depends if donald trump gets 20% some or 30% some in the primary if they want to defeat him in new hampshire. i think new hampshire is the only place where they can really do that. if donald trump gets second in iowa to ted cruz, it's really going to rest on new hampshire because once he continues on to the south, there's no stopping him. >> chris cillizza, we will finish it up with you. is there perhaps then some truth to what scott walker said months ago that other people that don't

have a foreseeable path to the nomination need to get out to stop trump? that last poll, john kasich is at 8%. that's not grand on the scheme of things. however, that could be very important if it gets to be a very close race with an establishment guy versus trump. >> yeah. look, it's simple math here, right? trump is probably not going over 30% in any state or nationally, maybe nationally a little higher but he will tick back down. but the issue is 30% doesn't win in a two-way race but it might in a three, four, five, certainly an eight-way race. the issue is that everybody, kasich, jeb bush i would put in that category, they think if this happens and this happens, at some point you have to realize the quadruple bank shot unless you are steph curry often does not go in. so it's just a difficult conversation to have, particularly someone like jeb bush, for example, who expectations were so high. he carries the last name. he entered the race as the

front-runner. who tells him now is the time to pull the plug? it's hard for me to imagine. but i think they will come under pressure, particularly the establishment folks. kasich and jeb, i think, are the two biggest examples. look, if you don't do anything here, we may have a president trump or at least a nominee trump. are you comfortable with that? that may ultimately be the i tipping point. >> i would not want to be the guy to tell establishment powerful men with egos it's time to step aside. thank you all for your time today. we appreciate it. to some breaking news out of afghanistan. u.s. officials tell nbc news that six american service members were killed in a suicide bomb attack near bagram air base. jim miklaszewski has the details for us. we were unclear whether or not every casualty here was american but it seems that is the case? >> that's right.

u.s. officials tell nbc news that six american service members were killed by a suicide bomber as they walked a routine foot security patrol around the area of the bagram air base in northeast afghanistan. in addition to the six killed, two americans were also wounded apparently along with an interpreter. according to the officials, while they were on this routine foot patrol to provide security in and around the bagram air base area, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle came up alongside that security patrol and detonated the bomb, killing the six, wounding two others. now, according to officials, again, they emphasize that this was part of a routine security patrol, not outside the ordinary. they were not involved in any direct combat operations but

again, simply providing security for the base there. luke? >> jim, quickly, when i hear bagram i usually think of that being a more safe, secure area of the country. i know there's been news broadcasts that have originated from bagram. is it disconcerting to the pentagon that one of these bases that was thought to be so secure was victim to this type of attack? >> it wasn't the base itself. it was outside the actual perimeter of the base, as we understand it. you look, shortly after that, in fact, while we were on the phone with officials in kabul, you could hear the sirens going there in kabul because there had been a huge bombing there in the city, the siren fortunately was the all clear siren, but the entire u.s. and coalition base there in kabul had been on lockdown for that period of time. so with the kind of offensive that the taliban has launched, not only some full-blown frontal

assaults against some of the afghan military forces in some cities, one of their most effective weapons remains that single bomber who is willing to die to kill some of the coalition forces. >> indeed. jim miklaszewski from the pentagon, thank you for your report on this. we will keep you updated throughout the day on msnbc. up next, critical response. president obama responds to the critics who said he didn't react quickly enough to the attacks in paris and san bernardino. ♪ everything kids touch during cold and flu season sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox.

♪ (vo) some call it giving back. we call it share the love. during our share the love event, get a new subaru, and we'll donate $250 to those in need. bringing our total donations to over sixty-five million dollars. and bringing love where it's needed most. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

welcome back. president obama is in hawaii taking some time off with his family for the holidays but before leaving the white house on friday, he sat down with

npr's steve inske for a wide-ranging interview. first topic, the battle against isis. he discussed both the criticism of his administration's approach and his take on the media's reporting of it. >> i think that there is a legitimate criticism of what i have been doing and our administration's been doing in the sense that we haven't, you know, on a regular basis, i think, described all the work that we've been doing for more than a year now to defeat isil, so if people haven't seen the fact that in fact, 9,000 strikes have been carried out against isil, if they don't know that towns like sinjar that were controlled by isil have been taken back or that a town like tikrit that was controlled by isil has been repopulated by

previous residents they might feel as if there's not enough of a response. >> and we are joined by steve i inskeep. thanks for taking the time. i found that answer to be fascinating from president obama. ostensibly putting blame on the media that perhaps the focus was not necessarily on the entirety of the campaign against isis but more specific on certain incidents, also saying his administration should do a better job of pushing it forward. but he's facing backlash from that answer he gave, some saying he has the bully pulpit, he's the president, it's up to him to do that. give me your analysis of his answer there. >> first, this is a classic politician's thing to say, isn't it, my whatever i'm doing, my policy is great, my policy is right, and the reason it's unpopular is because we haven't explained it well enough yet. that to us from the outside can seem disingenuous, a little cynical. but in defense of the president,

he is talking about a situation where really, the media game is everything. this is a battle of perceptions. it's a battle of propaganda. and in our long discussion, the president was saying isis has been very effective in its use of propaganda, has been very he fekive in its use of the media. the media have pushed this story in a broad way, the president suggesting we have blown it up beyond proportions it should be, and arguing he hasn't been there in the way he ought to be to ensure the public is reassured. you can criticize it as side-stepping the flaws in his policy but really a big part of the policy in a were like this is the propaganda and is the public image. >> indeed. it also struck me that he spoke of the struggle in larger terms, this idea that isis could never take down the united states, does not have the power to do that, but by framing it in that context, he almost to some

degree showcases, he's unaware the fear is more not that isis is going to invade the united states and take over and raise their flag over the white house but more that i'm worried for my safety simply going to the grocery store or a work party like we saw in san bernardino. >> yeah. i think the president didn't quite go to what i'm going to say, but people who are familiar with his thinking suspect that he might even go to that point, to point out that yes, san bernardino was terrible, but many terrible things happen in the united states. the president defended a justice department official who a couple of months ago noted that more people have been killed by domestic terrorists in the last two years than by international terrorists. so he's tried to keep that in perspective. but this is really hard for any president to do. you remember president george w. bush after 9/11 saying yes, this is a scary time, but americans should go about their daily lives. you should go out, shop, you shouldn't be afraid to go to the shopping mall.

he was criticized and derided for that. in our interview with president obama we talked about the cold war when president eisenhower was trying to reassure americans the soviet union is scary but we have the advantage here, keep your chin up, and he was derided for a failure in leadership and for being out of touch. so what's happening to the president now has happened to past presidents and it's because it's a very complicated message. he is essentially saying be afraid but don't be too afraid. >> i like how you frame that historically. very prudent. another issue that does have historical similarity, and that is donald trump's rise and essentially using the fear of a portion of the electorate and the popularity of populism in this day and age. president obama had some very interesting perspectives to give on that. i want to play what he said. >> particularly blue collar men have had a lot of trouble in

this new economy where they are no longer getting the same bargain they got when they were going to a factory and able to support their families on a single paycheck. you combine those things and it means that there's going to be potential anger, frustration, fear. some of it justified, but just misdirected. and i think somebody like mr. trump's taking advantage of that. that's what he's exploiting during the course of his campaign. >> do you feel over seven years that you have come to understand why it is that some ordinary people in america believe or fear that you are trying to change the country in some way that they cannot accept? >> well, look, if what you're asking me is are there certain circumstances around being the first african-american president

that might not have confronted a previous president, absolutely. if you are referring to specific strains in the republican party that suggest that somehow, i'm different, i'm muslim, i'm disloyal to the country, that's probably pretty specific to me, and who i am and my background and that in some ways, i may represent change that worries them. >> kudos to you for getting president obama to speak about this, because he's been hesitant to do so in the past, to the level that he did in your interview. fascinating. opening up the idea that yes, he is treated differently, something that we have long heard from the white house but never i think in succinct terms directly from president obama as he did in that interview but also saying this is directly what is leading to donald

trump's popularity to some degree. >> yeah. he spoke very carefully, of course, even in this circumstance. he was fairly frank. but he never says in this conversation i believe that many of my opponents are racist. he never says anything that direct. and the president has said previously he tries to avoid that kind of language. but you hear him speaking there about quote, my unique demographic. there's no doubt what he is saying there. he is saying that the situation is different because of his race, in this time of tremendous change in the country and demographic change in the country, for some people, president obama represents that change which many people are worried about. and then of course, he made that news in the middle there by arguing that donald trump is exploiting that anxiety, particularly among blue collar men, something he hadn't said before. >> lastly, we don't have time to play the entirety of it, but i found it to be such an interesting answer. you asked him about the college protests that have been going on around the country, a lot of

them pertaining to black lives matter. president obama says in his response to you it's a healthy thing for young people to talk about what's going on and to stand up to authority, but also that he's worried if they are perhaps not listening to other points of view and that's a problem. expand on that a little bit, what he said to you. >> yeah. he said this is a problem on his side, on the left, as much as the right, he said. when people shut down other points of view. he wants people to argue with those with whom they disagree but not shut them off. he gave the specific example of affirmative action. president obama's in favor of affirmative action. other people may not be. you should not assume that people are just racist, he was saying, because they argue against affirmative action. let them state their case and argue against them if you don't believe it. i think it's something that may surprise some people that he would take that point of view. >> steve inskeep, thank you so much for your time. wonderful interview. you cut through so much of what i call the echo chamber we often

see in those types of features. great job. take care. appreciate it. >> thanks, luke. always an honor to be here. coming up, inside ramadi. iraqi fighters take on isis in a town where thousands of american troops battled just a few years ago. this is interesting footage. you will see it next. at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like ordering wine equals pretending to know wine. pinot noir, which means peanut of the night.

we heard you got a job as a developer!!!!! its official, i work for ge!! what? wow... yeah! okay... guys, i'll be writing a new language for machines so planes, trains, even hospitals can work better. oh! sorry, i was trying to put it away... got it on the cake. so you're going to work on a train? not on a train...on "trains"! you're not gonna develop stuff anymore? no i am... do you know what ge is? here's a lieat well,thy advice. live well, and take of what makes you, you. right down to your skin with aveeno® aveeno® daily moisturizing lotion with the goodness of active naturals® oat and 5 vital nutrients for healthier looking skin in just one day. healthy skin equals beautiful skin.

and for shower softness, add the body wash, too! aveeno® naturally beautiful results® but i think women would agree... watching football together is great... huddling with their man after the game is nice too. the thing is, about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension. your blood pressure could drop to an unsafe level. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. ask your doctor about viagra. available in single packs.

welcome back. ramadi has become the key battleground in iraq since isis forces overtook the city about 18 months ago. iraqi state tv is announcing their army will launch an attack on isis-held areas of ramadi in the coming hours. meanwhile, msnbc has obtained ramadi battlefield videos from an anti-isis tribal fighter in iraq that purportedly offer a glimpse into a critical moment for the country as it seeks to

prove it can beat back isis without significant assistance from the u.s. it's important to note msnbc did not shoot this video and does not know the circumstances surrounding or leading up to the events depicted. i'm joined by msnbc's cal perry, senior editor for digital and video content that will take us through this little bit. thanks for making the time. the first video you will show us is a major fire fight, the iraqi tribal fighter filmed last tuesday? >> exactly. believe this is last tuesday. this road runs east to west just east of the city of ramadi. iraqi state tv making that announcement that the battle would only increase for this city and when you take a look at this video, you can see how fierce the fighting is. it's important to note, these supply routes need to remain open if there's going to be a wider offensive like iraqi state tv has said there would be. we also know that there were leaflets today dropped to people who remain in ramadi urging them

to leave in the next 24 to 48 hours. >> great point on the supply routes. this next video, it shows anti-isis fighters retaking a school house in a neighborhood that isis has owned for the last six months. what is the significance here? >> we are used to seeing that black flag of isis flying over these neighborhoods, flying over some of the more focal points in these neighborhoods. this is a neighborhood in ramadi in the southern part of the city, and you will see here in just a moment, this is the iraqi army backed as you said by some tribal fighters. they are working their way through this school room by room, clearing it of isis fighters to get the iraqi flag to the rooftop so that they can unfurl it. again, we so often forget about the civilians that live in these cities and it's a message to them that the iraqi army backed again by the tribal fighters can stand up to isis.

this is something that is extremely important when you're talking about getting the local population to rally behind you and as you see this fighter, just crawling out on this rooftop gives you an idea of the gunfire that's sort of incoming on that position. >> i think what you just referenced is so true, is that you literally have in this film depicted two individuals willing to risk their lives to put up the iraqi flag, to show the citizenry that isis has been removed from this specific part of town. very significant stuff. i want you to talk us through this map. give some history about ramadi here. u.s. forces were there years ago, died there, in fact. what is the significance of this area specifically for the current fight and what's the history of it? >> ten years ago, actually, in 2006, there was a huge battle for ramadi with more than 5,000 u.s. marines. as you look at that map, you will see this the government complex, that's what was controlled by u.s. marines. that is still today under the control of isis fighters.

as you move a little to the northwest, you see the anbar operations command. that's where the iraqi army is basing their operations right now. but the hope is that they will be able to move into that black area in the coming days, in the coming weeks, and luke, this is really president obama's strategy to get these tribal fighters backing the iraqi army and that moment there with that iraqi flag, that's a moment of nationalism, a moment that iraq has really been void of in previous years. this is the hope for the future. >> indeed. we will see how it plays out. cal perry, we appreciate your time. take care. up next, dueling democrats. bernie sanders and hillary clinton seemed to move beyond the technical troubles during this weekend's debate during the dnc issues but is there more to come? we will talk to bernie sanders' campaign manager next. give the gift of the better network. save up to 50% on our hottest android smartphones like the samsung galaxy s6.

get the best deals and the better network. ♪ everything kids touch during cold and flu season sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox.

came out today thousands of people to run the race for retirement. 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

the final democratic debate of the year is in the books and while national security issues were front and center, senator bernie sanders made a point to address the data breach into the clinton campaign's voter information file. >> does secretary clinton deserve an apology tonight? >> yes. i apologize. >> secretary clinton, do you accept? >> 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. >> following the apology, sanders has also suspended two more staffers for the breach. but just how much damage this will do to clinton or sanders, that remains to be seen. joining us is senator sanders' campaign manager, jeff weaver. thank you so much for the time. >> hey, happy to be here. really appreciate it. >> i want to read what nbc news'

first read put out this morning about this episode and here it is from the dnc. as a result of this after action analysis, ngp band, the vend orthat deals with this campaign data, found that campaign staff on the sanders campaign, including the campaign's national data director, had access, proprietary information which voters were being targeted by the clinton campaign and in doing so violated their agreements with the dnc. so it raises the question does the sanders campaign still have this summary data, proprietary information and if so, is it going to give it back? mr. weaver, do you still have it and are you going to give it back? >> we are involved in an internal investigation right now. obviously if we have any data, we will certainly turn it back. we don't want it. you may know that back in october, there was a similar problem with the dnc's firewall which we noticed where campaigns had access to each other's voter i.d. information which we

alerted them to and told them that they had to get it fixed. you know, we certainly didn't make any use of data in that case and we are not going to make any use of data in this case. we have our own models and modelers, one of the best in the country and we will rely on that. clearly what the staffers did was wrong, absolutely. we will figure out everybody who was involved, one person has been fired, two more have been suspended and the question is here, you know, did we respond forcefully and do the right thing. the answer is yes. we are continuing to do that. we are going to continue this investigation until we find out exactly what's going on. we had a little bit of trouble doing it in part because we were shut out of our system by the dnc. so that made it difficult for us to do our investigation earlier. there were a number of documents released by the dnc, technical documents which i know people in the media had, the clinton campaign had but that were not provided to us until late saturday afternoon right before the debate. so you know, we were held back a little bit in this but we are going forward. we will find out the truth and deal with it. >> but it's fair to say you do

not know at this time if your campaign still has the summary data and proprietary information rer referenced? >> i can't tell you for sure because we are not done. we have certainly not found anything to date. we are continuing to look and will leave no stone unturned. we requested additional technical information from the dnc that will help us in that investigation. we are moving forward but we are committed to leaving no stone unturned and finding whatever there is, if there is anything. we will certainly turn it back over, 100%. >> you think the dnc has treated you fairly? are they tipping the scales for hillary clinton? >> well, i think in this case there was a severe overreaction by the dnc. cutting off a grassroots campaign from its list of its supporters from its list of information it needs to go door-to-door to call people on the telephone, when we are so close the an election, when we were completely cooperating with them, really was overkill. it really amounted to a death penalty for our campaign which

is why we had to go to federal court. we certainly did not want to do that. we wanted to handle this event like what happened back in october when we discovered a problem with the dnc's firewall. we went to them, told them about it, it was done quietly. we went to them again -- we were in communication with them this time. we certainly didn't go to the media. i don't know who did. but you know, this could have been handled in the same way but some people decided to escalate it in the public arena -- >> do you think there's favoritism from the dnc for the clinton campaign? >> well, certainly some have raised that. given the debate schedule, that's been widely criticized as having been truncated debate schedule. we had debates scheduled on saturday, so saturday night, the saturday before christmas, i think if you look at the -- at least the initial information about the viewership, the viewership was a fraction of what it is debates. it makes it very very difficult for campaigns of candidates who are not as well known nationally to get the word out to tell people about their agenda and where they want to take the country when you have -- >> i want -- >> -- so few debates.

>> i want to ask you about the agenda because it has shifted to being a foreign policy election at least right nu where we are. not necessarily bernie sanders' strength. his campaign themes have been economic inequality. hillary clinton said regarding isis we are where we need to be, echoing the obama administration. does the sanders campaign feel the same way, we are where we need to be regarding isis? >> well, i think senator sanders has laid out the smart approach to how to deal with isis, to build an international coalition, to put troops on the ground from the neighboring muslim countries backed by the western democracies, united states, russia and others. that's the strategy for winning. that's the smart strategy that will defeat isis without dragging in u.s. soldiers on the ground and spending large, large amounts of u.s. taxpayer dollars. so we need a strong foreign policy that's also a smart foreign policy. i think that's the kind of foreign policy senator sanders laid out in the debate.

so you know, i don't agree with the premise this is not his quote unquote, strong suit. i think we have seen throughout his career that he has had the judgment to do the right thing. when he looked at the data that the bush administration was pushing about the war in iraq, some people fell for it. he did not. he voted against that war. >> that was my question. we are unfortunately running out of time. are you going to reference that iraq vote in the coming weeks because that is a huge area of difference with hillary clinton. jeff weaver, thank you for your time. we appreciate it. >> happy to be here. up next, facing charges. syed farook's long time friend enrique marquez is in court today. what we could learn next. ♪ (vo) some call it giving back. we call it share the love. during our share the love event, get a new subaru, and we'll donate $250 to those in need.

bringing our total donations to over sixty-five million dollars. and bringing love where it's needed most. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. i use what's already inside me to reach my goals. so i liked when my doctor told me i may reach my blood sugar and a1c goals by activating what's within me. with once-weekly trulicity. trulicity is not insulin. it helps activate my body to do what it's supposed to do release its own insulin. trulicity responds when my blood sugar rises. i take it once a week, and it works 24/7. it comes in an easy-to-use pen and i may even lose a little weight. trulicity is a once-weekly injectable prescription medicine to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. it should be used along with diet and exercise. trulicity is not recommended as the first medicine to treat diabetes and should not be used by people

with severe stomach or intestinal problems, or people with type i diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. trulicity is not insulin and has not been studied with long-acting insulin. do not take trulicity if you or anyone in your family has had medullary thyroid cancer or multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2 or if you are allergic to trulicity or its ingredients. stop using trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of an allergic reaction, such as itching, rash, or difficulty breathing; if you have signs of pancreatitis such as severe stomach pain that will not go away and may move to your back, with or without vomiting; or if you have symptoms of thyroid cancer, which may include a lump or swelling in your neck, hoarseness, trouble swallowing, or shortness of breath. medicines like trulicity may cause stomach problems, which could be severe. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and any medicines you take. taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase your risk for low blood sugar. common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, decreased appetite, and indigestion. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney failure. with trulicity, i click to activate what's within me.

if you want help improving your a1c and blood sugar numbers with a non-insulin option, ask your doctor about once-weekly trulicity. and click to activate your within. just serve classy snacks and bew a gracious host,iday party. 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? welcome back. enrique marquez, the former neighbor and long-time friend of san bernardino shooter syed farook is due in federal court a short time from now for a

detention hearing. though police have said there is no evidence he was involved in the san bernardino attack, he has been charged with three criminal counts, including illegally purchasing the assault rifles that farook and his wife ended up using to kill 14 people in that attack. i'm joined by nbc's justice correspondent pete williams for the latest on this. it seems there's no direct correlation between these attacks and marquez, the idea that he knew anything about it. he seemed to be mentally disturbed right after it, checked himself into a facility. what do we expect from this detention hearing today and where is this case going now? where is the government seeking to bring this case? >> well, the case is going to trial. the question is shall he be held in jail until the trial. the government will seek to have him detained in jail pending trial. the part of the charges that they cite for this reason is the fact that the third charge which is the, in addition to the two you mentioned, which is that he

was involved in planning terror attacks in 2011 and 2012 and that he actually bought the rifles and makings of the pipe bombs for those planned attacks. they were never carried out. the government says they got cold feet because there were some unrelated terror arrests. what the government says in the filings before this hearing is that there is a danger to the community and a flight risk and for those two reasons he should be held without bail pending the trial. so he won't enter a plea today. that will happen next month. this is strictly about his detention. sometimes in these detention hearings, which tend to be rather short, the government may say additional things that go beyond what we learned about in the criminal complaint that was unsealed last week. >> another area of this case, tashfeen malik, the judiciary chairman in the house, bob goodlatte, saying the terrorist's immigration file shows some vetting steps were missed. i can tell you there's a real interest in what happened here,

specifically, and perhaps changes coming in the future. what do we know? >> his contention gets to this whole idea of the sham relationship. one of the charges against marquez here is that this marriage he had with his wife was a sham. now they're saying that tashfeen malik's background wasn't sufficiently investigated to see whether she actually had ever met her husband-to-be, syed farook. that's one of the conditions for granting a fiancee visa. you have to show that there is a relationship here, that you have met, you are serious about each other, you have interests in common. what he's saying is his initial research shows she was in saudi arabia, he was there, but that's not definitive enough to show they were there together, that they physically met face-to-face. they clearly met online. he's saying there wasn't enough done here. he wants to look further into it. >> the previous thinking was that getting those types of visas, the fiancee visas, were some of the most difficult to get. it seems perhaps they slipped

through the cracks on this one. >> there are considerably fewer of them than other kinds of visas that are granted but because of this complaint that was unsealed last week, we now know a lot more than we did about the fact that she was well radicalized before she came here. and it also appears this whole idea that she had posted material on social media, that the government missed, isn't the case. the fbi director said last week there were no public postings. >> nbc's justice correspondent pete williams, thank you for your time. up next, deadly accident. one killed, dozens injured in las vegas. officials are expected to update giving us the latest information on what happened there last night. stay tuned.

just about anywhere you use sugar, you can use splenda®... ...no calorie sweetener. splenda® lets you experience... ...the joy of sugar... ...without all the calories. think sugar, say splenda® ♪ everything kids touch during cold and flu season sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. prge! a manufacturer. well that's why i dug this out for you. it's your grandpappy's hammer and he would have wanted you to have it. it meant a lot to him... yes, ge makes powerful machines. but i'll be writing the code that will allow those machines to share information with each other. i'll be changing the way the world works.

(interrupting) you can't pick it up, can you? go ahead. he can't lift the hammer. it's okay though! you're going to change the world. i work here at my namfive star auto care. in rocklin california. a lot of thought was put into the change to solar and we couldn't have done it without pg&e. pg&e is very committed to clean energy. working with five star auto care we looked at how we could make their business more energy efficient and save them money in the long run. with solar we have saved about 85% on our energy cost. with this extreme drought we're using the savings from our solar system to save every last drop of water. if you are looking for ways to save energy, your first step is to call pg&e. together, we're building a better california.

police in las vegas are trying to figure out why a woman steered her car on the a crowded sidewalk on the vegas strip last night. it killed one person and injured

at least 30. police say she did so intentionally two or three times with a 3-year-old child in the car. >> suddenly saw like people fly in the air so because the car hit them and it was like a bowling ball hitting pins. >> this is hysteria. i'm shaking still. >> we are expecting to hear more from officials in las vegas within the next few minutes. they are expected to release the name of the suspect and photo of the person they believe was in fact behind the wheel. we will keep you updated on this story throughout the day on msnbc as we get more details. scary stuff out there. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." "msnbc live" with thomas roberts is next. i'm luke russert. see you back here tomorrow. take care. 

i absolutely love my new but the rent is outrageous. 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. but i think women would agree... watching football together is great... huddling with their man after the game is nice too. the thing is, about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension. your blood pressure could drop to an unsafe level. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. ask your doctor about viagra.

available in single packs. today on "msnbc live" enrique marquez, the man charged with giving two guns to the san

bernardino shooters years before the attack is in court this hour. we have the latest. any minute from now the las vegas sheriff will be speaking on that fatal car crash last night. a woman driving her car into a crowd on the strip, killing one, injuring dozens. authorities saying it was intentional but not terrorism. we will bring you those stories happening live this hour. we begin with two major political stories. south carolina senator lindsey graham suspending his campaign for president. that announcement coming on the same day as the deadline to remove his name from south carolina's primary ballot. he explained his decision to supporters on a conference call this morning. his campaign released this video. >> i got into this race to put forward a plan to win a war we cannot afford to lose and to turn back the tide of isolationism that was rising in our party. i believe we made enormous progress in this effort. >> while graham is out, gop frontrunner donald trump is

engaged in a new war of words with democratic frontrunner hillary clinton. in what could be a preview of the general if they both become their party's nominees. trump demanding an apology after her remarks at saturday's debate. >> i would say this, matt. i will demand an apology from hillary, okay? you can be the messenger. i will demand an apology from hillary. she should apologize. she lies about e-mails, she lies about whitewater, she lies about everything. >> so our team is covering every angle of the battle for the white house with our political reporters. we see them there. let's start with msnbc's kasie hunt. was this a big surprise? >> senator graham had been talking as though he was still going to stay in through new hampshire when i last talked to him at the republican debate last week. so from that perspective, it's a surprise. but we did know this deadline was coming and everyone who had been talking with senator graham privately in south carolina expected that this mht