congratulations to your family, sir. may all of your achievements be this riveting for your kids. best new thing in the world. truly awesome. a grand jury has decided. plus the nfl tells odell beckham jr. to take a week and chill out. a 13-year-old leads police on a high-speed chase. and comedians in cars getting coffee. s "first look" starts right now.

and good morning everyone. thanks for being with us, i'm shannon mulaire. donald trump's christmas themed rally had him in a giving move. no presents but plenty of vulgarities and offcolor jokes to go around. the front-runner went after hillary clinton and we'll get to that in just a minute. but after pushing back against allegations that russian president vladimir putin has killed journalists, some sarcastic humor. >> by the way, i hate some of these people. but i'd never kill them. no, these people, honestly, i'll be honest. i'll be honest. i would never kill them. i would never do that. let's see -- no, i wouldn't. i would never kill them but i do hate them and some of them are such lying, disgusting people, it's true. >> trump's opponents have been hitting back but their attacks haven't put a dent in his lead. nbc's katy tur reports.

>> reporter: the biggest casualty so far in the 2016 political season? the truth. and polite fact says donald trump has told the most falsities of any of the candidates. his only true statement on their truth meter was about vladimir putin's poll numbers. >> he's got an 80% approval rating. >> reporter: the majority range from false to pants on fire, something his opponents keep pouncing on. >> i think you have a pathological liar there. >> i've got to get this off my chest. donald trump is a jerk. >> reporter: even president obama is acknowledging trump tapping into palpable voter anger and fear. >> i think somebody like mr. trump's taking advantage of that. that's what he's exemployeding during the course of his campaign. >> reporter: across the country, crowds are responding by the thousands, even waiting for hours in the cold and rain to see the man turning politics on its head. >> all right we're joined now by nbc's tracie potts who is live in washington.

okay, so who is donald trump going after now? >> reporter: not only donald trump but a lot of others, too, with a 25 point national lead among democrats, hillary clinton is finding herself in the crosshairs of several republicans. >> reporter: donald trump in a blue state focusing on hillary clinton. >> she's a liar. >> reporter: on lindsey graham dropping out. >> i'm extremely sad. >> reporter: and a new attack on the media. >> i'd never kill them. i hate them. >> reporter: jeb bush, a frequent target of trump. >> his family is so ashamed. >> reporter: bush says. >> it's not funny anymore. >> reporter: bush too taking the aim against clinton. saying we're making the right moves against isis. >> no, we're not. we're not in the right place. >> reporter: chris christie who is way behind in the polls tells new hampshire that his party needs to focus on clinton and not on each other. >> i'm saving my brawl for september 2016 because it's going to be my job to make sure hillary rodham clinton doesn't get within 10 miles of the white house. >> reporter: and marco rubio also drawing distinctions. between democrats and republicans.

>> the democratic party is controlled today by radical elements that lean to the left and want to see more government control over our che and our lives. >> reporter: today the top democrats are in iowa where voters will decide in just six weeks. and this is interesting, dr. ben carson in south carolina today, certainly going after those southern conservatives, who just found out that their home state candidate, lindsey graham, won't be on the ballot. >> that's right. tracie potts for us live in washington, d.c. this morning. tracie, thank you. six americans are dead following a suicide bombing in afghanistan. around 1:30 p.m. local time, a suicide bomber rode a motorcycle into a routine security patrol of u.s., nato and afghan forces. just outside bagram airfield north of kabul. the taliban has claimed responsibility. among those killed was detective joseph lem, a 15-year veteran of the new york police department, and air national guardsman. he has done three tours of duty in afghanistan. he leaves behind a wife and two children.

the attack is the deadliest on americans in afghanistan since july of 2012 and comes days after the pentagon reported that efforts to train and conduct counterterrorism operations with afghan forces is getting more difficult due to an increase in insurgent attacks. the white house is calling the bombing cowardly and says the u.s. remains committed to the mission in afghanistan. we're learning more about the suspect behind sunday night's deadly car rampage on the las vegas trip. 24-year-old lakeisha holloway was reportedly living out of her car for a week prior to the incident. she told investigators that she was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol but was under extreme stress because security at several locations told her to leave as she tried to sleep in her car. she's currently being held in prison. a bail hearing is set for later this morning. prosecutors say they expect to charge holloway with murder with a deadly weapon, child abuse, and failing to stop at the scene

of an accident. holloway's 3-year-old daughter, who was in the car with her at the time, was not injured. a cousin of holloway told nbc news that, quote, it's not characteristic of lakeisha and her involvement is shocking. three people are still in critical condition. the person killed has been identified as 32-year-old jessica valenzuela of arizona. she was visiting las vegas with her husband. she leaves behind three young daughters. the engineers at spacex started the week on a high note. the company's rocket deployed 11 communications satellite into orb lit past night. after delivery the first stage rocket curved to earth, safely landing back on solid ground, eliciting celebrations in the control room. the landing followed several failed attempts to use floating pads for previous landings and nearly six months after the last falcon 9 exploded minutes after takeoff. meanwhile, on the international space station, astronaut scott

kelly and time copra conduct an emergency space walk to lock down a transport rail car. the car had stalled and needed to be secured ahead of a russian ship's redup ply arrive rival on wednesday. astronaut kelly is in the ninth month of his space trip. a federal judge has denied bail for enrique marquez saying he presents a daenger to the community. marquez a friend and former neighbor of the san bernardino terror attack shooters has been charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorism in addition to other counts. authorities say marquez purchased the guns used in the san bernardino attack a few years ago and allegedly consp e conspired to commit terrorist acts in 2011 and 2012. prosecutors say he and syed farook planned to use pipe bombs and guns to attack a college and a california freeway. neither plan was acted upon. marquez is also charged with legally buying the rifles and visa fraud stemming from his marriage which prosecutors say was a sham. he faces up to 35 years in

prison if convicted on all charges. a texas grant jury has decided not to indict any county jail employees in the death of sand california bland. the 28-year-old chicago woman was found dead three days after being arrested in texas by a state trooper for allegedly changing lanes without a turn signal. the traffic stop was caught on dash cam video and ended with sand california bland being arrested for assault. medical examiners ruled her death in custody was suicide by hanging, which her family questions. last night special prosecutors defended the grand jury process. >> we have left no rock unturned. in the grand jury, anything that they've asked for, we've done our best to give it to them. >> earlier in the day the family of sandra bland expressed concerns over the investigation. >> we don't have any information on what happened to my daughter. she left home excited about an

opportunity. she got that opportunity. and somewhere between a two to three day period, something horrible happened to her. >> the grand jury is expected to reconvene in january to consider whether the trooper who arrested sandra bland should face charges. all right, let's get down to business with cnbc's landon dowdy. good morning, landon. >> hey, shannon, good morning to you, as well. the irs says the 2016 tax season will start on january 19th, a day earlier than last year -- than this year, rather. even better you have until april 18th to file your taxes. traditionally the deadline is the 15th unless it falls on a weekend. but for 2016, tax day is affected because of emancipation day on april 16th, which is observed in washington, d.c. today is the peak shipping day for u.p.s. which expects to deliver about 36 million packages. u.p.s. and fedex could deliver a combined 947 million packages this holiday season. that's up 8% from last year.

the increase is due to online sales which account for 15% of all holiday shopping. and this one sounds good, mcdonald's is testing mac and cheese on the menu at a location in cleveland. it served a la carte for $1.75 ors aan alternative to fries in your happy meal. mcdonald's has been experimenting with several menu items including all-day breakfast as a way to boost sales. >> i do like fries with my happy meal but i'll take mac and cheese. >> i'll take both. >> landon, thank you. in sports the nfl has put the hammer down on giants star odell beckham jr. the wide receiver drew three personal foul penalties against the panthers as he tangled with panthers cornerback josh norman throughout the game. beckham was handed a one-game suspension and he stands to lose about $55,000 in salary for missing the game. he has appealed the decision. monday night football in the big easy the visiting lions matthew stafford sure did make it look easy. three big touchdowns in the first half alone while finishing

by completing 22 of 25 passes and no picks. the saints' drew brees rallied his team in the second half also with three touchdowns and no interceptions. bris also passed the 4,000 yard mark for the 10th straight season, and became the fourth quarterback to surpass 60,000 yards in a career. but in the end the lions won this one, 35-27. all right. just ahead, big news for bill and hillary clinton. plus, it's called the el gordo lottery. and it's worth over $2 billion. yes, billion, dollars. details on that next.

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welcome back to "first look." winter has certainly arrived in the pacific northwest. this is in just outside of seattle area. drivers are dealing with blinding conditions with several inches expected to accumulate throughout the night and this morning. and this is in the rockies. winter storm is dutching up to three feet in the higher

elevations, five inches in the lower elevations. pretty impressive storm in the west and the east it's all about the warmth, severe weather and rain, heavy rain right now in areas near panama city, back up through georgia, areas of upstate south carolina charlotte's getting drenched and shortly in areas like raleigh, too. this is going to be the theme as we go throughout the next couple of days will be soaking rainstorms. today's forecast light rain likely d.c., new york and philadelphia, especially the first half of today. all the winter weather is in the west. then we go into wednesday. this is when the storm from the west heads into the central plains late in the day today, into tomorrow. severe weather is likely, and then a widespread outbreak wednesday afternoon. so as far as the severe weather threat goes this area of orange enhanced risk, even the possibility of tornadoes. we're at the end of december. this is very rare. so, from tupelo to nashville there's 35 million people in the slight risk of severe weather. so that will be wednesday afternoon, especially that will watch those stronger storms. then for christmas eve, we see

the record high in the warmth surging up the east coast, shannon we have the potential for one of the warmest december days ever in new york city and philadelphia. >> incredible, isn't it? all right, bill, thank you. the centers for disease control is investigating new cases of e. coli. the new batch of food illnesses have been reported in kansas, oklahoma, and north dakota. five people have been sickened with each eating at chipotle before becoming ill. this comes on the heels of the first e. coli outbreak months ago in nine states followed by 141 boston college students who caught the norovirus after eating at a local chipotle restaurant. chipotle staff took a beating yesterday after news of the most recent outbreak. check out this police dash cam video of a car speeding off after it was pulled over for erratic driving. the driver was only 13 years old, and his 8-year-old sister was also in the car. eventually he lost control of the vehicle and drive it into the grassy median. the duo attempted to flee the scene, but were caught by police.

christmas has comerly for chelsea clinton and her husband. she announced on twitter that she is pregnant. hillary's mom -- rather clinton's mom, hillary clinton, also took to twitter saying we're so excited to meet our second grandchild. and all over spain, people are hoping luck is their lady today. spaniards are super excited about the chance of winning a part of the $2.4 billion lottery, called el gordo. which is the fat one in spanish. like making your wallet fat. top prize per winning ticket is over $430,000. that will be nice. hillary clinton's new gop-themed ad with lots of grinch appeal. that's next. gs to the fast. and to help you accelerate, we've created a new company... one totally focused on what's next for your business. the true partnership where people,technology and ideas push everyone forward.

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all right time now for "scrambled politics." we'll start with a report out this morning from "the wall street journal." republican ben carson's presidential campaign burns through cash. an internal document reveals carson's team spent $9.5 million in october. $700,000 more than it raised. but the campaign is pushing back, telling nbc news the document in question is informal, and doesn't provide the actual amount brought in. and he's one of many republicans at the center of a new hillary clinton ad with a grinchy holiday theme. >> american families like progress a lot. but the grinches in gopville, it seems they do not.

together they shout with great grinchy zeal, that on health care their plan is -- >> repeal >> repeal. >> repeal >> repeal. >> on immigration they vow to build a war on the border. and as for reporting dreamers they would -- >> terminate president obama's illegal executive order. president obama got in a little golf late yesterday while vacationing in his native hawaii, hitting a chip shot and then doing a bit of gloating in front of reporters. you make a good shot, come on. keep an eye out for this next week, mr. obama with jerry seinfeld on comedians in cars getting coffee. have you seen this? they'll drive a baby blue corvette stingray split window coupe which is pretty cool. until you realize they'll just be doing slow laps around the south lawn of the white house. he's not allowed to go far. what are you going to do? here's someone not taking it slow, donald trump coming up tonight on msnbc, citizen trump, a documentary on the gop front-runner.

>> closer to home, actually across the street from his home, the skating rink in central park had been closed for years. since 1986. >> they had spent over $20 million over a seven-year period. and then finally i said, this is ridiculous. this thing shouldn't take years to build. and i was able to convince everybody to let me build it. >> donald is the gifted self-promoter, went out there and pitched this as i got the project done that the new york city government couldn't get done. >> i think you see the same instinct coming out now that you did with the wolman rink with trump being frustrated at how inept and useless government is, and jumping in and saying, i'm going to fix this. >> all right. and if you're an "snl" fan or if you were just alive in 2008 you know how good tina fey's impression of sarah palin is. it even made a return this weekend.

it was good. well now palin's turning the tables with her own counterspoof on fey's hit show 30 rock. say hello to lynn melon. >> the only pc i need is right here. >> will she be able to round up a cost and produce a hit show? >> where's a new page? >> or will her writers ruin everything? >> nerds! >> and force her old friend to step in? >> okay, here's what you do. >> "star wars" didn't actually change cinema. >> and that is your morning dish of "scrambled politics." we want to welcome in political analyst and best-selling author ellis henican. you've got to have a sense of humor in politics, don't you? >> that's right. i like sarah turning the tables. >> fortunately she does have a sense of humor. let's get back to trump. we've got to talk about him. these latest comments that we've been talking about that are things we can't say on tv. >> can i say the word?

>> no! you can't say the word. >> please, come on. >> no, this is a family show. but with this latest information that we're getting out of him, these names calling him talking about the bathroom break that she took i think the question right now is, is it getting too personal? >> yes! of course it's getting too personal. once you start talking about that stuff, yes. but is it the political the personal? i guess we keep hearing that but donald has certainly taken it to a new level. very good point. >> personal yes, but also crass. i think at what point and we ask this question fairly often. >> pretty much every week. >> at what point do the people who are going to these rallies get turned off by this? >> you know, we're not there yet. we could come up with our list of 20 previous things donald has said and each time people say oh, my god he's crossed the line now. i don't know where the line is. i'm not sure there is a line. maybe for the people who love donald there will never be a line. >> if you're hillary how do you respond to this? there was talk about her, trump

demanding an apology from what she had said. do you think she would ever demand a apology from him? >> that's not the right tone. i don't think you want to seem offended. you just want to be dismissive. like look at that idiot, right? basically what you're saying is that really the kind of guy you want to have as president of the united states. and most people, even if they tell the pollsters they like him, you hope that when it finally comes time to vote, they say, eh, maybe isn't really the president. >> lastly and quickly lindsey graham bowed out. this expected? >> he's running out of money. he's got no support. but he's really good. he had stuff to say. even if you don't agree with him, he had stuff to say. like an old-time politician. >> ellis henican, thank you for joining us. >> no words, please. >> none. >> i'm shannon mulaire, this is "first look" on msnbc. don't forget to like us on facebook. "way too early" is up next. have a wonderful tuesday, everyone. ♪

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new details this morning on that suicide bombing in afghanistan. confirmation that six americans are dead, including a new york city police detective. and a woman is in custody accused of plowing her car into a crowd of people on the vegas strip. all while her young daughter sat in the back seat. now investigators are trying to figure out why. plus -- >> you look -- bye-bye. >> to one guy i said get him out of here now. >> never a dull moment at a donald trump rally. more protesters, not to mention trump's wild new comments on

hillary clinton. it is 5:30 on the east coast, 2 can 30 out west. this is "way too early." and good morning, everyone. it is tuesday, december 22nd, i'm shiba russell. in the latest sign of increasing violence in afghanistan, six american service members have been killed by a suicide bomber. their convoy was on foot patrol when a suicide bomber drove into the group on a motorcycle and detonated his suicide vest. this all happened near bagram airfield just north of kabul. at least two other american service members were injured. the taliban is claiming responsibility. one of the six americans killed has been identified as new york police detective joseph lemm.