. donald trump is very upset. very hard for him to deal with. i don't know what his relationship has been with women in his life but he has discovered that women go to the bathroom. it's been very upsetting for him. this is what i quote and i was there at the debate we had on saturday night. i've got to be honest with you.

i also went to the bathroom. >> good morning. it's wednesday, december 23rd. welcome to morning joe. where has the conversation gone? >> to the bathroom. >> it's christmas week. >> no toilet talk at the table this morning, gentleman. >> willie, richards. long national nightmare. >> it's 6:01. >> it's over. we had jeff greenfield come out and say this is the sort of thing that you said when it is beaten badly.

in 1984. >> your jeff greenfield point is a guy whose going to vote for donald trump. >> okay. thank you guys. >> that's all i have to say. >> we have msnbc analyst and democratic republican harold ford jr. also richard haas and in washington msnbc political analyst republican michael steel. he's wearing a poi-- >> thanks mika.

>> you're welcome. >> all right. can we get to the news? are you done? >> i wanted to look at his sweater. >> yeah, i know. i didn't actually. so let's start with politics. michael, we love michael. hillary clinton, donald trump feud continued yesterday on multiple fronts. let's start with clinton's claim that isis is showing videos of donald trump insulting islam and muslims in order to recruit more radical islamist. >> people around the world pay close attention to our elections. if you go on arabic television and you look at what's being blasted out with video of mr. trump being translated into arabic. no muslims coming to the united states, all other kinds of

derogatory statements, it is playing into the hands of the violent jihadist. >> i think that's a viable argument. i got tweets and other online social things sent to me from the campaigns trying to back up the first claim she made which is not a true claim. >> that's different than saying isis has taken donald trump videos and turned them into recruitment videos. >> you don't have to go too far when it comes to mr. trump. i think the larger point is right. this campaign is playing out globally. this is foreign policy. for better and often worse. >> i think you follow up on that we were talking to nancy gibbs who had not selected trump as person of the year in time

magazine. she was making it sound more like a local phenomenon. talking about how when you went abroad instead of talking about global warming, they wanted to talk about trump. instead of talking about isis, they would begin by asking you about trump. is this real? are we really going to have to deal with this man as your commander in chief? >> absolutely. it's the number one conversation around dinner tables all around the world. people forget that tv follows everyone else closely around the world. foreign students know us better than the american students know the rest of the world. everything that happens here is watch and we set an example and

it's an important part of the foreign policy. foreign policy is who we are as a society. >> what feedback do you get? >> the campaign makes people incredibly uneasy. so much of the rest of the world is dependent on us. >> they watch a lot of debates and look at the level of knowledge about the american foreign policy and it makes a lot of the rest of the world. >> they're not comforted by ben carson's command of foreign policy? >> there's a lot of things that are said including mr. trump and carson and others that make them uneasy. they wake up every day and they have to cast their lot upon us. this makes them uneasy. >> you had the ambassador and good friend on the other day and he indicated four years ago it was a different decision made about syria and the way america

approached that. for putin to be following this race and make the comments he did, it's obvious from one end to the other to build on richard's point there's absolutely no doubt world leaders and those who care deeply about foreign policy are following this race. >> it comes against the context of already a lack of confidence in the united states. more than anything else what this administration didn't do in syria had real ripple effects. >> let's have a word of the day.

he went on to say it's a shame that the bias media do so incorrectly to find the word for the public when they know the definition is wrong. it's a word often used in politics. he tweeted that npr said the word to the washington post which packs a question. what was he thinking 31 years ago? >> that was the only other instance although donald trump did use it four years ago when talking about a congressional house. >> you guys know way too much about this. continue. >> we actually read in an these stories. >> this is called research. >> as i've said before for every

hour i'm on television, that's five hours of prep. >> what are you going to do about all that bullying? not just because of people who want to be mean but mental and physical and diseases that people have that they're able to live with every day? >> can you tell me a little bit more about why that's on your mind? >> i have asthma and occasionally i've heard people talk behind my back about not wanting to be near me because i have asthma. i mean, people it's not

contagio contagious. [ applause ] >> that was really brave. i know it's odd coming from a person running for president but i really do think we need more love and kindness in our country. i think we are not treating each other with the respect and the care we shown toward each other. that's why we're standing up to bullies the way they are and we shouldn't let anybody bully his way into the presidency because that is not who we are as americans. >> i thought her tone was good. i thought that was a nice moment. you don't know what's

calculated, what's not calculat calculated. i thought that was a nice moment. i thought her tone was good. i thought she looked good in terms of real, wasn't perfect, the hair wasn't all in place. i think that was more of the hillary that hillary needs to show. >> you mention the hair not because she's a woman but because she's always so in her events canned in front of a tractor with a perfect lighting and at a table with perfect lighting and instead you feel she was a little beaten up and went through the debate and still might have all been set up but well done. she sounded tired but actually sometimes you have to be that tired to have a real voice and get rid of all that stuff, all the noise in your ear for the campaigns and think it's 1982.

>> by the way, i would say mitt romney. >> they're still standing and working it and she's good when she gets out there with people and she should get out there with real people, i think. they said this probably wasn't a completely exstetemporaneous an

loosely coordinated event because hillary clinton doesn't and there's security reasons she can't. remember new hampshire when her back was against the wall years ago and she got in there and got personal and real and she was great. and you saw a little shade of that yesterday and it was like please, no more. >> let's watch what jeb bush had to say about hillary clinton's feud with donald trump. >> this will enhance or victimology status. this is what she loves doing. trump is not going to be president because he says these things and it turns people off. for crying out loud, we're two days before christmas. lighten up, man. >> they do, it's a couple of days before christmas so i'm going to be a bit settled with

my words. they can be correct on little things like this. it can be cast off as stupidity. >> they can't degrade all women in a way they say sexual harassment or even rape.

she's talking about women being mistreated. i don't think she's going home with her husband. >> it's never been on the table. nobody would ever go there and for good reason. >> except for. >> except for. >> donald trump.

>> they'll beat you every time. people thinking that hillary clinton will have an easier ride to the white house against donald trump instead of ted cruz, they're wrong. >> this all comes after donald trump holds a commanding lead. trump is at 37% for the republican nomination followed by ben carson and ted cruz, 26 points behind. marco rubio at 8% and jeb bush at 7%. that is a bit of a blow out. >> it is. >> michael steel as you look down the list, i guess ted cruz jumps out too. he's been riding high in iowa.

jeb bush has still spent much more than anybody else and 30 points behind trump. >> jeb's problem isn't how many campaign adds he runs. it's really people looking at him and his candidacy right now, it's not a part of the g.o.p. conversation. so beyond that, when you look at someone like ted cruz or even a chris christie, the national polls begin to mean more to them than their placement. that's the starting point in the 30 day push before the bell rings on february 1st. >> and look at this. donald trump 37% outsider, ben carson outsider, ted cruz outsider. the only two d.c. establishment figures in this poll, rubio and bush are in single digits.

>> it's 59-15. you said it yesterday, a few days ago they're about 60%. i was looking at the republican friends a few nights ago for dinner and some of them were friends that have raised money and given to republicans over the years and they argue if trump is the nominee they'll veer towards a democratic nominee. if it's not sanders they'll veer and be comfortable there. seeing the front page of the newspaper rubio and bush not being able to generate. there's less and less confidence. we've all sited what we thought were tremendous stumbles throughout the campaign. >> did you see the special last night? you watched that. everyone showed it.

and you see layers and layers and him being on the frontline of the fights. >> constant fighting and usually winning. it's you know, following up what you were saying at the beginning of the year he's talking about jeb and all those smart money men. >> these are people behind jeb. >> throwing their money at jeb and we heard marco. marco is going to be the guy and you know, it keeps moving around. some people were talking about kasich and they're losing faith whether it's in jeb or marco or whether it's in kasich. you talk to these top money people but the only people that have any excitement right now, i'm just talking the money class, the people that fund these campaigns are chris christie's people. they're the only people who

think things might be going in our direction and there might be a path. everybody else like you said. >> some of the bush supporters think there's a path too. the main take away is a lot of people are saying if trump gets it, they would find themselves in a clinton camp. >> michael. >> yeah, you know, that's sort of the new normal for a lot of establishment republicans of the money class who say we'll find a like-minded democrat or someone like that. the ranking republicans do see a pathway for someone like a ted cruz or even to a certain extent a chris christie. that's really the big push you're going to see in the next 30 days is getting in position

to rack up the numbers early by guys like chris christie and ted cruz. ted cruz is in the seat in many respects. he's got to polling going in his direction and the money in his direction and his ground game i've been hearing is incredible. what does that do for the ranking file conservatives? what it says is we can pull off a trump and find a nice, soft place to land like a ted cruz and that's what he's banking on. >> what else he has is a media going on. still ahead, an unflattering portrait of ted cruz's family. we'll explain why a political cartoonist heard on online outrage. plus the front page of the new york times spotlights. more than a million people tried to enter this year alone and many didn't make it. we'll break down the top

international stories of the year with richard haas. first, here's bill with a check on the holiday forecast. bill. >> it's harm and humid and we're going to get thunderstorms today. yesterday we dealt with rain in south carolina and had minor flooding problems there. we didn't see a lot of damage to a lot of homes in our area. let's take you to the concerns today. obviously, tornados will be the headline. we have one tornado watch in southern portions of arkansas. thankfully, no tornados in the earlier hours. let's talk about the area at risk. this risk of severe storms includes about 16 million people. memphis, little rook, just outside of shreveport and jackson, mississippi are areas of concern.

make sure you pay attention through this afternoon and this evening. so the forecast for christmas day itself, a lot of people wondering about that. we want to see the extreme warmth slowly ending. the only chances of rain and thunderstorm on christmas day will be areas of louisiana, back up to carolinas and virginia. just light snow in the inner mountain west. be careful in new england, there's a lot of dense fog out there. give yourself extra time. you're watching morning joe. we'll be right back. you totaled your brand new car. nobody's hurt, but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do? drive three quarters of a car? now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement, you'd get your whole car back.

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tncht washington post has retracted a political cartoon over the way of presidential candidates children. they tweeted out a peck chur of ted cruz and his two daughters

as monkeys with a caption he uses his daughters as political props. >> imagine the greatest christmas stories told by the senator who once read green eggs and ham from the senate floor. >> all of the other reindeer couldn't afford to hire rudolph. >> act now and you'll get a. >> look, the speaker is melting

before congress. >> cruz tweeted. >> that is funny. i'm not a fan of him but it's funny. >> what was the rule broken? >> i don't know. i guess nobody ever uses their kids in campaign adds. maybe that's what they're suggesting. marco rubio chimed in calling it disgusting. >> he can do it on a saturday night live skit but you can't. it's the rule we have with some words too. >> i've seen it time and time again when you have a candidate that people don't like, editors don't like and the main dream

media don't like. they'll do this. barack obama never did anything like this, did he? let's see if he did. he works every day to be the father he didn't have and takes his responsibilities as dad very seriously. he puts our girls first. >> i love you both more than you can imagine and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with

us to the white house. >> very cute. and we await the washington cartoon post mocking barack obama's children. >> people look for moments of bias in the media. you can't be selectively offended by cartoons. if that had been a democrat, they would lit the house on fire. leave kids out of it but this depicti depiction. >> it's outrageous.

>> to the paper's credit. >> goodman, by the way. >> he pulled it down. >> i'm saying their argument about the push back to cruz. >> this is the editorial page editor. it's generally been the policy to leave children out of it. i failed to look at the cartoon before it was published. >> i would look at the person in the cartoon and say you can't have one standard for harsh conservatives you don't like and have another standard for progressive presidents and democratic candidates you do

like. >> okay. coming up, we're done. is there an iowa ted cruz and a new york ted cruz? why what the presidential candidate said behind closed doors that could prove problematic to iowa evangelicals. new reporting next on morning joe. here's a little healthy advice.

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watch now with xfinity on demand- your home for the best entertainment this holiday season. cruz contradicts an earlier statement when talking to someone who tells the senator he supports same sex marriage. let's check it out. >> how big of priority -- >> my view on gay marriage, i think if someone wants to change the marriage policy in your state, te state,. >> would you say it's a top priority for you? >> no, i would say defending the

constitution is a priority and that cuts across the whole spectrum. people of new york may well resolve the marriage question differently than the people of florida or texas orthopedic ohio. that's why we have to allow. >> i don't know. that's slightly different from what he said publicly. let's bring in mike allen. do you see a problem here? >> what's fascinating is we're use to seeing the ted cruz across the south. right now, the last day of his

christmas tour and people like the high decimal cruz. what we're hearing is him navigating a different crowd. this is a fundraiser in midtown manhatt manhattan. someone who says i'm against your view on gay marriage, it's one place we differ is it a top priority for you and he says no. we see the senator navigating a crowd that's not entirely friendly in a different tone volume than we're use to seeing. >> do opponents think they've got something we're going to be using in the next month? >> opponents think they're going to try to make a case.

he's trying to get the carson voters falling away and this is going to be an issue important to them. >> let me ask you quickly before we go to christmas break, you're asking the leaders in iowa, new hampshire, the early states what their thoughts are. are those leaders still in denial on the republican side that donald trump is going to play a major roll and win the nomination? >> denial has gone dramatically down. what i remind them of when they say trump is going to fall and we're going to have a final between rubio and cruz. what i remind them is you're out of time. donald trump has been the leader since mid-july.

>> i don't know that the republican establishment is going to be so fortunate. mike allen, thank you very much. >> merry christmas. thanks for a great year. >> merry christmas. we'll see you after. >> next up first he favored with the kremlkremlin. now trying to win over washington. we'll explain that and talk about the future of the syrian dictator next. 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.

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43 past the hour. yesterday, iraqi troops made

advances in the city and new york times reports isis has lost 14% of the territory they held in january this year. meanwhile, the international organization for migration says 1 million have crossed into europe this year. officials say this year saw the highest migration flow since world war ii. joining us now secretary of defense for russia, ukraine and pentagon dr. evelyn. >> it's a little shocking. already this summer i was hearing from the greeks were saying this is not over. that we need to be really prepared to do more.

>> now they're reaching out to washingt washington insiders. what are you hearing about that and what is he trying to do? >> i think it's not surprising. i don't think it's going to sway the president. maybe he's shifting his policy somewhat. i don't think outside influencers are going to change the president. >> on iraq, a little bit of good news there. 14% of the territory taken back. what we're beginning to see is the confidence on the side of the forces. it's not just the iranians and the militia. a little bit of good news hasn't been much. in terms of syria, you're seeing

a movement and people saying if we get rid of him things collapse. they're reaching out to people in washington saying he can't, his leading can't be the beginning of political process transition. >> he said the president knows what he wants to do. what is it he wants to do as it pertains to this. >> it's clear that the president is still fird idad has to go. how a-- that assad has to go. i guess i would hope the president wouldn't allow a situation where assad can run in the future. >> it's the king from the shakespeare play. it's the reason that the ir

iranians and russians don't want him to go. the saudis and russians want him to go from the first minute. >> is there not somebody that can take assad's place? >> that's a great question. >> this would be somebody else who has the confidence of the community without all the blood on his hands. ultimately, we'll get to that point and we're not there yet. >> there's a lot of talk about how to defeat isis and clearly getting rid of their territory and ownership is a huge part of that strategy. i read the news portion of this coming into this interview saying that you know, about 14% of their territory has been over

taken since january of this year. is that a lot, an acocomplishm t accomplishment? >> i think it's an accomplishment. there's more than needs to be done. it's not just about the military or regaining territory. i think we need to do more about the ideology. >> how much territory do they have? >> the isis, i don't know. any territory they have is a problem. we got to go after it step by step. >> the missing piece in our

strategy is we can't find anyone to take and hold territory on the ground in syria. >> money in their territory. thank you very much. >> thank you so much. >> good to see you again. still ahead we'll bring in chuck todd and robert costa for today's political story. also ahead it's a good thing this world class skier is as fast as he is. he may have been taken out by a drone one second slower. what? morning joe is back in a moment. 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®

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a little sports. the odell beckham thing with the players. seattle, arizona, new england each had seven players selected. carolina cornerback josh norman who shares the honor with giant's receiver o dell beckham jr. they've been in the headlines after abunch of clashes in sunday's game. the altercations led to a one game suspension. he taunted receivers with

baseball bats and slurs. he said the team will no longer be using the bats as pregame props. >> i'm going to end up hearing it. to avoid the situation, let's eliminate it. that's what we're going to do. they really went after beckham in this case and he was suspend suspended. a drone carrying a broadcast camera filming the whole thing and it missed the four time defending champ by a half second. he didn't find out about the

near collision until the end of the run. he managed to reclaim the overall world cup lead. mat were of time before something happens bad with a drone? >> yeah. too many people doing it and way move our ability. this is an accident waiting to happen. >> totally agree with you. amazon and other companies wanting to make them deliver packages, please don't. let's not. >> coming up at the top of the hour, new reaction to donald trump's personal attack on hillary clinton. bernie sanders goes for the knock out. chuck todd joins us plus crystal on the biggest political questions of 2015. later this morning former arkansas governor joins us buckley from little rock. morning joe back in a moment.

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aveeno® naturally beautiful results® you are looking at somebody whose had a lot of the terrible things said about me. i'm old enough it doesn't bother me. i think we all have to speak up and speak out about trying to create an atmosphere where bullying is not appropriate, it's not allowed. where people don't buy into it. the other thing i want to. >> welcome back to morning joe. still with us, we have former democratic congressman harold ford jr. former chairman of the

republican national committee, michael steel and joining the conversation political reporter for the washington post, robert costa. >> you look great. let's start with the latest rou reuters tracking poll. donald trump followed by ben carson and ted cruz behind at 11% each. marco rubio 8% and jeb bush 7%. it comes as donald trump is taking to twitter to explain his use of a word he said during a rally monday night many say was offensive. he used the world when describing hillary clinton's primary loss to prbarack obama d the republican front runner

tweeted yesterday once again main stream media is dishonest adding that the word he used is not vulgar. it is ashamed that the bias media is able to so incorrectly define a word for the public when they know the definition is wrong. he said it's a word often used in politics. as an example he tweeted that nprs neal conan said the word to the washington post. trump using the hashtag hip okay zamora si. members chose to respond by saying they wouldn't respond. communications director. >> he never responded, of course. >> this is the response and here it is. we are not responding.

>> let's go back. you had jeff green with a term used regularly growing up. here we got trump behind at 11. marco and jeb in single digits. what happens over the next week or two to change the dynamics of this race? do they shut down for christmas and the new year and do we not see an active campaign schedule again until the new year or are they going to plow straight through christmas? >> not much likely effects those polls because the campaigns are shutting down for the holidays.

you have campaigns targeting iowa, new hampshire in the next week trying to raise numbers in the individual states. >> and who right now fills the biggest need? a lot of talk about marco. do we expect marco to pick up the pace in the next week or two? >> i think we should pay attention to senator cruz's campaign in iowa. he got about 20% in 2012. it's not just an evangelical strong hold. if your rubio and looking for a place to get momentum, iowa perhaps has to be that launching pad. that's why rubio is going back there next week. >> donald trump is very upset.

hard for him to deal with. i don't know what his relationship with women has been during his life but hae has discovered women go to the bathroom. i was there for the debate on saturday night. i've got to be honest with you, i've got to be honest with you and lay it out on the table. i also went to the bathroom. this is the quote. this is the pathology. this is the guy leading in the republican polls. this is what he's saying. i know where she went. it's disgusting. this is hillary clinton going to the bathroom. it's disgusting, i don't want to talk about it. don't say it. it's disgusting. this is a guy who wants to be

president of the united states. >> and that, my friends, is the way you respond. >> i got to tell you watching bernie he handled this the right way and helped mrs. clinton. the fact we're talking about people using the bathroom or going to the bathroom is asin e asinine. i go back to your origin thing. this is a small thing compared to some of the things trump has said over the last several months. it still confounds people.

what happened january 4th to change those dynamics? >> two things. one an add campaign. no anti trump effort, no significant effort on the airways. two, marco rubio has had a laid back campaign for much of the year. january has always been a target to have an aggressive roll out ahead of the first eight. look at rubio trying to rise. >> do you expect cruz to go after rubio with a hard campaign add or his super pack to do that? >> already happening and i hear more is in the works. that rivalry is key. cruz needs to clip rubio. >> i seen where some of the radio host said trump's attack on cruz hurts him.

could that have an impact on evangelical support? >> i don't know because most of the talk radio guys have lined up behind cruz in a fight between cruz and trump. i don't know that will have too much of impact. >> rubio is having trouble getting a conservative vote. at some point does he pivot a little bit and become a case. >> which lane does he have? >> rubio's navigation is tricky. that's why he's trying to use iowa as a bounce. he knows new hampshire is crowded. he would like the see a balance in iowa going to new hampshire and finishing strong in the top three and be prepared for a national race. >> rubio has been pressured to pick a state by his financial supporters. is he going in?

are you reporting iowa is going to be that state? >> i wouldn't say it's a must win. there's a place for the candidate and no one has consolidated that lane in iowa. that's where rubio sees an opportunity not necessarily a must win. >> what is rubio's must win? >> it's a must survive. get him through the wen or take all states as the established favorite. >> joining us now from washington halley jackson. let's talk more about ted krrcr. he's wrapping up his fly around tour today. what's the state of the events and campaign? >> a couple of take aways coming off the campaign trail with ted cruz. i'm going to call them the three c's. ted cruz is a more confident energetic candidate.

i seen him on a bus tour back in august and he's noticeably looser. you can tell he's energized. these big numbers are coming out to his rallies. it's not donald trump numbers. the campaign estimated 2,000 people in knoxville yesterday. people are seeing his message and seem to be impressed by his performances. so they're coming out to see for themselves firsthand in these states like alabama, georgia, tennessee that often don't see a lot of those president rnl candidates coming around at this point in the race. ted cruz and his campaign seem to have a clear goal on how they'll win and they're not shy talking about it. they want to win iowa and win the south as one campaign aid said to me no duh. they used less polite language than that.

talking about the difference in the two campaigns, the rubio campaign can't articulate a strategy on how to win. for the cruz team we paint ours on the campaign wall. they know how they want to win and see the path to victory move forward. >> last night fox business network announced their criteria. to make the cut he says candidates must place in the top six nationally or place in the top five in iowa or notary public new hampshire. all polling data must be based on fox news. only six candidates are likely to qualify for the main event on january 14th. thank you very much. the sites calculations based on national and state polling available as of yesterday and the prime time debate stage would include only these six

candidates. marco rubio, jeb bush and chris christie. that would mean john kasich, carly fiorina would be up again. >> trying for the moderators to drill down and get to the bottom of each one of these guy's positions. >> some of these guys have wanted this for some time. people who care deeply for foreign policy have hoped you would have an opportunity to roll down each of these guys. chris christie often said he's given opportunity more to share his views and articulate himself. the six there, if you're a voting member in iowa and new hampshire and the early states,

fox business is going to give you an opportunity to hear more often from them and perhaps more substance from them. >> robert, what are we hearing from the campaigns on the news that broke last night there may be only six candidates on the debate stable? >> checking in with several of the campaigns, there's a lot of anxiety. there's a feeling among the strategist you make the undercard debate. it might as well be political debt. very few people have been able to emerge. being there in january, that's not where you want to be. the kasich campaign would be for that. carly also jumped up to the main stab stage and be back down. >> and with just 40 days to the iowa caucuses, more than $111 million has been spent during the 2016 presidential race so far with a third of that spending support of jeb bush.

marco rubio has spent the second most more than 18 million and meanwhile hillary clinton is the top democrat spending about $12 million. the smartest advertisers is the campai campaign's loudest voice, donald trump spending just $217,000. >> so we have a new poll that's just come over the wire, some cnn. it's a national republican poll. donald trump at 39%. ted cruz at 18%. ben carson at 10%. marco rubio at 10% and chris christie at 5%. what'se what's interesting is christie starting to ease up. rubio down a good bit. he's no doubt, he's lost the head to head with cruz thus far. >> governor bush. >> he's 5%.

i was only given the top five. so bob, this poll, this cnn poll looks a lot more like the reuter's poll and the other polls we suspected was an outlier. in the latest cnn poll trump up 39% to 18% for cruz. 10 for rubio. rubio having real trouble gaining momentum in part because it seems like ted cruz is for now won the battle between the two. >> based on my reporting, joe, and i've been covering joe for months. the numbers aren't surprising. though the coverage veers from one comment to the other about political correctness on trade, immigration and national security, trump has been with the heart of the g.o.p. baes for months and he hasn't veered from those policy positions. you see that conservative wing, the populous wing just general

ranking file. th they're rallying to trump. >> we have bush at 3% according to the latest poll. >> speaking on that point, do you sense that marco took a lot of jeb bush supporter remain silent and there were articles written by you and others, if marco continues to drop, does this give bush some light or opportunity to breathe fresh air and momentum in this campaign? >> it does. bush has resources to provide the race. if he has a better showing in iowa, new hampshire and south carolina, bush will be in the conversation. for him, it's about being there and being able to catch the wave. there's a new dynamic emerging next month. >> former rc chair. trump 39 and rubio down to 10 and carson down to 10, christie up to five and bush down to three. >> yeah, the thing i find most

striking about the numbers is the fact that when you look at what trump has been saying and selling, it's not logical. it's cultural. it's class based. it's emotional and so what does that say about where the g.o.p. base is right now. they're not in an i had logical mind set. they're looking at something different which is why the other candidates have not been able to cash in the way trump has. cruz is getting close to that. trump has laid down a marker in the race. >> wow. >> it's a good point. >> all right. robert, thank you very much. chris and chuck todd join us from washington next. you're watching morning joe. we'll be right back. l to support an important cause 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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tand that's what we're doings to chat xfinity.rself, we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20.

it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around. joining us now from washington nbc political news director, moderator of meet the press and host of daily chuck todd. also joining us chris from the set. >> chuck todd latest poll trump

39% and cruz 18%. >> add up the numbers there, joe. 10, 5 and 3. >> that's 18. >> there's your establishment. >> my god. >> look, the establishment adds up to 18%. >> look, i think the cnn poll doesn't let so many in their sample. that's why the numbers are that high. more importantly, it's the split.

you add up carson and trump and cruz and you get in the 60s. second hole in a row. >> do you agree? >> he some how totally turned them around. at this point any time they start a sentence with can dond trump do and i say it's possible. he is the establishment candidate out of all of them.

more than rubio and christie. the idea that the party is going to all the sudden say donald trump, ted cruz, ben carson, it's actually the guy who was the governor of florida 14 years ago we want. very skeptical of that. >> this is perfect timing for the lessons we've learned this year. number one, donald trump is here to stay. check. hillary clinton's best rate as a candidate is resilience and that's always been her best trait. super pacts are way over rated. >> let's stop there. let's say post citizens united, 2016 is shown money is overrated! yes. >> all the money jeb bush has spent, look at the money the other candidates have spent, it doesn't have a hundredth of an impact of donald trump sitting at his desk turning on a camera

phone going these people are losers linking it up to instagram and suddenly cramerica boom that drives him. >> that chart you guys are showing is the story of the race. >> right. >> jeb bush $38.1 million spent and he's going down. he's at 3. rand paul we've written off for months and months is at four. i've always thought money is a little bit overrated in presidential politics because there's so much of it. in a house race if you spend $5 million, that's a lot of money. if someone from an outside group spends that, you're talking about being the big spender. 5 million in the presidential election is nothing. the idea that super pacts are going to save people, it didn't save rick perry or scott walker. it's quiet clear that all the money being spent by jeb bush,

the dog doesn't like the dog food. it doesn't matter how good the marketing campaign is, the voters are not buying what's going sold by the campaign. >> you look at things that are sideways. the richest guy in the race isn't spinning money. he has conquered two battleground states, twitter and talk shows. you don't need any money to dominate those. you look at jeb bush. he's like the nice boy walking to school with his lunch. like the first day, trump stole his lunchbox and stole his lunch money and never got back. finally, the other night he's

fighting back and you say now, now you want to hit back. it's too late. >> chuck todd you wanted to jump in. >> super pacts failed then too. overall, it was proof that it's not that money is overrated, it's how you do it. the super pack way of spending money is an utter waist of money. the brothers have figured this out, by the way. >> guess what, they're being a smart business man. >> they said to us, it didn't work. the money that we put forward for candidates and ideas, it didn't work. can you imagine having jeb bush in a super pack right now, what you're thinking. >> this is ultimate fighting

now. do donald has turned this into a bar fight. every single time that you say oh no, that's it. that's the deal breaker. he said something and now he's gone too far. i was thinking about this the other night. tell me how great it would be if we switched parties and had a paid tribute debate with hillary and trump. >> what about the general election? this is what we've been talking about sometime quoting william who always advised never debate an amateur. they don't play by the rules and you always lose. donald trump verses hillary clinton in a general election is an ugly ugly battle for hilly clinton. >> can you imagine what the debate would look and sound like. she'll have all the facts but it wouldn't matter. >> he sayings this things he sh

say. >> some in hillary land are starting to think maybe we don't want this guy across the stage. >> that's interesting. right now, i think it's mutually beneficial. trump and hillary going after each other. this helps hillary in many ways galvanize especially in she can turn the remarks into sexism and

get some women feired up and obviously, trump is, you get your espn alert? >> yeah, i got my espn alert. that's like ron burgundy and the fight in the newscast. >> chris, another thing we've learned this year according to you. facts are overrated. >> that's pretty remarkable given what he has done over the

course of time that he's been a front runner candidate here. the whole i saw thousands of muslims celebrating in new jersey, look, this is a claim that's been debunked over and over again. >> every one of these issues, people discount facts if they don't square or fit with the larger narrative. >> i think michael steel said something good in the last segment. these are cultural issues, not

ideologies. >> can you remember, any of you remember a campaign where you spent that much time talking about who we think at first runner up and who can step up for any reason if this guy doesn't win. >> think about this. the height of myth romney's campaign, at least one of them. we were freaking out because he had a car elevator. >> chuck todd and chris, thank you both very much. coming up, dr. jeffrey sacks is here and he has peace in the middle east all figured out and

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we're learning more about the u.s. service member killed in a suicide attack in afghanistan monday. the airport has identified all killed. among them the first openly gay

american female officer to be killed in combat. her wife will continue to raise their young son. she spent years working to repeal is military's don't ask don't tell policy. yesterday marked the five year anniversary. staff sergeant lewis on his fourth combat tour. his family told nbc news he wanted to enlist in the marines at the age 17. his mother convinced him to wait and join the air force after he graduated. >> he just wanted to serve and take care of his country. he died doing his job and doing what he loved. he was a man who took care of business. >> the u.s. airman also killed -- joining us now the director of the earth institute at columbia universe dr.

jeffrey. his latest argument calling for self-government in middle east. he writes the year 2016 should mark the start of a new century of homegrown middle eastern politics focussed on the challenges of sustainable effort. the sunni-shia divide assads political future and lesser long term reports to the region and need for quality education and job skills that advance technologies and sustainable efforts. >> what's the first thing we as a country need? >> this is a century of intervention first by the british empire and french empire which took the empire and divided it up into pieces. syria for france and iraq for britain and then the united states came in after world war ii and we've been toppling governments and sent the cia into syria back in 1949 into

iran in 1953. we've got wars waging everywhere. it's a disaster that has not worked from this outside intervention. we keep saying why don't you govern yourself and we topple the next regime and next regime and that regime change. >> this in syria, you've been seeing it for sometime we are responsible in part for the chaos in syria. >> directly we're responsible in 2011. >> that was going to be a three week operation. we're five years later where 10 million people are replaced. it's a disaster a day. that was our misjudgment. same thing in syria. >> hillary clinton says in the campaign trail we didn't know. we discussed it four years ago. no, it's not going to be fast or possible. this is a big mistake. it's a repeated mistake. >> first of all, two things.

one is the 1990 convention. if we had not done it, hussein would have controlled the oil in most of the region. interventions can make mistakes. a lot of what is happening now is because barack obama established red lines. i think all of this miss out the pathology of the middle east. this part of the world never come to terms. you can blame it on outsiders and europeans and the reality is this is a flawed part of the world that has been, is, because government and economies doesn't work and figure out to secular divide. you can blame it on us. the fact is if left alone, this part of the world will look the way it looks now. >> it's a funny way to talk about things, richard. when the rise like prime minister saying hey, maybe

that's our oil in 1953, maybe we can develop on that basis a poplar prime minister, the cia and the mi 6 topple when after world war i i go back a century in this and they said you promised us self-governess. we're going to divide you up this way and this way and it's the idea these people can't govern themselves so we have to topple them, topple them, topple them, yes, that's the american view. >> you say is it a bit -- to say tomorrow we're going to have them across the middle east and we'll have to watch what happened with -- >> i think elections is the

wrong starting point in the society to dwbegin with. what you have are very divided groups and ethnicities and elections become win or take all or just civil wars. so the idea that we keep going in and say we need elections in three months, six months, this is ridiculous. that's not a political solution for these places. >> the middle east right now is in someway the american middle east. i wou i would simply say it ain't pretty. >> it is opposed to the american east where you have iran, turkey, saudi arabia saying this outside intervention is destroying us all. they each learn it's not working

this way getting the united states to come in and bomb on their side and so forth. finally, last week at the u.n., the first glimmer was that the security counsel said let's find a way together. this was actually a step forward. holiday spirit. >> hopeful. >> give the sweater back up. >> it talks about the elections in syria and never mentions assad's departure. the answer is no. syria is far away from anything looking like a normal thing. i think more likely than the middle east, we're going to have one that no longer looks like a syria, an iraq. this is the new middle east and again, this is going to be a tribal middle east where nation-states are no longer dominating. >> dr. jeffrey sacks, i'm going to leave it right there.

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the judge also gave per submission to postpone a decision on whether he'll face a jury or judge alone. he walked off a military base in afghanistan in 2009. authorities in a dallas area are getting bomb threats targeting christmas eve services at two churches. they believe the letters came from the same suspects.

the police will have additional security at both locations. the state of virginia no longer recognizes concealed handgun permit permits. the state revokes 25 states with gun laws he says are too lax. the attorney general says the out of state agreements make it too easy for guns to end up in the wrong hands and virginia doesn't accept lower standards. the new policy takes effect february 1st. >> god bless. >> developing news overnight on a rescue mission in china. two dead and some still missing after a massive land slide. one bleak story, one man was pulled alive from the rubble some 60 hours later. he was reportedly coherent but his legs appeared to be crushed. twitter was buzzing last night over what many thought was a

shooting star in the sky over nevada and california. military officials say the streaking fire ball was caused by debris from a russian rocket reentering the earth's atmosphere, in other words, spats junk. or it might have been santa claus. still ahead, the nfl tries to sweep a medical find under the rug in the next hour. we're going to talk about the controversial new movie this holiday season plus we're inching closer. time magazine already turning the page on what to expect in 2016. that is next on morning joe. thousands of people came out today 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,

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"time" magazine is turning the page on 2015. it's over, done. their new issue is their annual guide to the year ahead. joining us is "time's" assistant managing editor who oversaw the issue. i love who is on the cover. >> one of the most striking covers i have seen on "time" magazine. we're not going to talk about merkel and the decision. let's talk about the year ahead. >> adele obviously the biggest pop star in the world. >> she is not like an internet, twitter crazed, pr developed. she sings and then goes to take

care of her baby. >> the thing about music right now. it's written to track a lot. people come up with the beats and then the words are put in to fit with the trackme. that's why you get a lot of catchy songs on the radio that make no sense. adele does the opposite. she makes music the way it used to be made. >> one of the things i haven't understood about the music industry for some times. bands like the eagles and zeppelin, all the throw-backs to the '60s and '70s, make millions and millions and millions of dollars still for record companies. and it's only an artist like adele that actually taps back into that vein, that she can get people like my daughter, and also get people like me. >> a line in the story that she is the easiest pop star to listen to with your

grandparents. there's truth there. she appeals to a lot of people. the songs are simple and straightforward but they have a lot of power. >> did she pose for this picture? >> yes. who knew dior made a coat in that color. >> i have one in my closet. >> the thing about putting this issue together is we're going to be talking about the campaign, we're going to be talking about isis. there is a lot of serious stuff coming in 2016. a small respite is that there is also a lot of good culture coming too. >> what does nancy pelosi have to say about paul ryan? >> she hedged her bets. she doesn't know him as well as boehner. we also have an interview with him in here. his leadership style is going to be different than boehner's. a lot less command and control. he's going to let the conference say what it wants to say much more. he knows that, for the

republicans to win, they have to offer some kind of contrast, and to do that they need to get on the same page. i think getting on the same page may be more important than getting things done, especially next year. >> you go to different areas. for the future. we talked music, politics. what about business? >> we have a profile of the new ceo of microsoft, the former ms in msnbc. regular guy. very steve jobs-like in his approach to technology. busting down barriers, being willing to let go of the past even if it's made you a lot of money. fascinating guy. >> any reason to believe they can make a dent on -- >> they're on a roll. i don't know if it's so much about making a dent in apple's momentum as it is taking shots that mike them look more hip. they have augmented reality. they have some cool tablets and laptops coming out. they've changed their game plan.

it's not the old microsoft. >> did anybody you speak to in the tech world, could they say with any certainty where we will be like with smartphones and other applications a year from now? >> their view is that the focus is shifting away from the particular device and more to how much you can access wherever you are. so sort of having the tablet, having the phone and having the access to data sort of is a given at this point and now it's sort of what kind of services you can deliver with that. >> in sports world, jerry west tells you about how basketball is changing. >> the story about curry is really interesting, especially for someone who doesn't follow sports as closely as most. he told us that he is changing the game much the way jordan changed the game and people who are growing up playing basketball are going to emulate him and it's a very different

kind of style. >> "time" magazine's the year ahead is on the stands right now. >> thank you. >> she was so 2015. >> 2016 is the year of my red pet petty coat. back in a moment. 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. accelerating innovation. accelerating transformation. accelerating next. hewlett packard enterprise.

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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? donald trump is very upset, very hard for him to deal with. i don't know what his relationship with him has been in his life, but he has discovered that women go to the bathroom. [ laughter ] >> and it's been very upsetting

for him. and this is what i quote. now, i was there at the debate we had on saturday night. [ cheers and applause ] >> i got to be honest with you. gotta lay it out on the table. i also went to the bathroom. >> good morning! it's wednesday, december 23rd. welcome to "morning joe." where has the conversation gone? >> to the bathroom. >> potty. potty talk. >> it's christmas week. >> it is christmas week. >> no toilet talk at the table this morning. >> we instead will be talking yiddish. willie. >> don't say willie. >> our long national nightmare is over. shclongate is over. we had jeff greenfield come out and say this is the sort of

thing you've said when you've been beaten badly. jake tapper retweeted a quote from a pundit in 1984 saying, ferraro and mondel -- >> this is taking too long. >> is trump vindicated here? >> don't ask me that. trump cited the same 1984 moment when that was used as a verb. >> right. >> your jeff greenfield point, he is not a guy, i wouldn't suspect, will vote for donald trump. he said that is a term that is used to show that you've defeated someone badly. >> beat somebody badly. >> that's all i have to say on this issue. >> we have msnbc political analyst and professor at the michigan school of public policy, harold ford jr. we have the president of the council on foreign relations, richard haass, with us. in washington, msnbc political analyst and former chairman of

the republican national committee michael steele. he is wearing a poinsettia. >> wow! >> it's christmas. >> it's a poinsettia! [ laughter ] >> fantastic! all right. >> thanks, mika. >> you're welcome. all right. can we get to the news? are you done? >> i -- i -- i wanted to look at his sweater. >> let's start with politics. michael. we love michael. the hillary clinton-donald trump feud continued yesterday on multiple fronts. let's start with clinton's claim at saturday's democratic presidential candidate debate that isis is, showing videos of donald trump insulting islam and muslims to recruit radical jihadis jihadists. >> people around the world pay attention to our elections. if you go to arab television and

look at what is being blasted out, with video of mr. trump being translated into arabic, no muslims coming to the united states, other kinds of derogatory, defamatory statements, it is playing into the hands of the violent jawedisjawed jihadists. >> i think that's a viable argument. >> oh, yeah. >> i got tweets and other things sent to me from the campaign to try to back up the first claim that she made, which was not a true claim. >> arab tv. that's different than saying isis has already taken donald trump videos and turned them into recruitment videos. >> it went too far. it's ironic. normally you don't have to go too far when it comes to mr. trump. normally he provides you all the ammunition you need and it may end up there at some point. what's said here doesn't stay

here. this campaign is playing out globally. this is now foreign policy. it has actually become part of american foreign policy, for better or for worse. >> i need to follow up on that. we were talking to nancy gibbs, who had not selected trump as person of the year at "time" magazine. she was making it sound more like a local phenomenon. we talked about how, when you went abroad, over the past several months, instead of talking about global warming they wanted to talk about trump. instead of talking about trade, they wanted to talk about trump. instead of talking about isis, they would begin by asking you about trump. is this real? are we really going to have to deal with this man as your commander in chief? >> absolutely. it was the number one conversation around dinner tables all over the world. it's part of a larger phenomenon. i remember during the o.j. simpson trial, that was topic number one. issues like hurricane katrina.

tv shows the united states everywhere else. foreign students know us much better than american students know the rest of the world. everything that happens here is watched. we set an example. and it's an important part of foreign policy. foreign policy is not just what the state department does. it's who we are as a society. >> what feedback do you get? >> the campaign makes people incredibly uneasy because so much of the rest of the world is dependent upon us for security. >> about the possibility of donald trump being president? >> not only that. they watch the debates and look at the level of knowledge about foreign policy and it -- >> they're not comforted by ben carson's command of foreign policy? >> there are a lot of things that are said including mr. trump and dr. carson and others that make them uneasy. they wake up every day and they're dependent upon us. they depend upon our reliability

and seriousness and this makes them uneasy. >> harold. >> two hard-core examples. you had the ambassador on the other day. he said four years ago if a different decision had been made about syria and the way america approached it -- clearly people pay attention. two, for vladimir putin to be following this race as closely as he apparently has, to make the comments that he did. it's obvious from one end of the spectrum to the other, there is absolutely no doubt that world leaders and those who care deeply about foreign policy around the globe are following this race and our candidates closely. >> just to be fair, it comes against the context of already a lack of confidence in the united states, in part because of this administration, in part because of syria. more than anything else, what this administration didn't do in syria had ripple effects and this is reinforcing that. >> let's go to the yiddish desk. let's have an update on the yiddish word of the day.

>> donald trump is taking to twitter to explain the use of a word he used during a rally monday night that many said was offensive. when describing hillary's 2008 primary loss to then senator barack obama. the frontrunner tweeted yesterday, quote, once again mainstream media is dishonest. adding the word he used, saying, kuwait, it's not vulgar. trump also said it's a wordi quote, often used in politics. he tweeted that npr's neil conan used it in reference to the 1984 ferraro-mondale campaign. >> what was he thinking 31 years ago? >> correct me if i'm wrong. that was the only other instance where it was used. although donald trump himself did use it four years ago when he was talking about a

congressional race. >> you guys know way too much about this. continue. >> we actually read in on these stories that matter most. >> this is called research. >> as i said before, for every hour i am on television, that's five hours of prep. go ahead. >> members of hillary clinton's camp chose to respond by saying they wouldn't respond. communications director tweeted we're not responding to trump but everyone understands the humiliation this degrading language inflicts on woman should. she did speak at length about bullying after this question from a 10-year-old girl. >> what are you going to do about all this bullying, not just because of just people who want to be mean but mental and physical and diseases that people have that they're able to live with every day. >> can you tell me a little bit

more about why that's on your mind? >> i have asthma. and occasionally i have heard people talking behind my back about not wanting to be near me because i have asthma. i mean, people, it's not contagious. it's not going to -- [ applause ] >> that was really brave. i know it's sort of odd coming from a person running for president, but i really do think we need more love and kindness in our country. i think we are not treating each other with the respect and -- [ applause ] >> and the care that we should show toward each other. and that's why it's important to stand up to bullies wherever they are and why we shouldn't

let anybody bully his way into the presidency. because that is not who we are as americans. i thought her tone was good. i thought that was a nice moment. you don't know what's calculated and what's not calculated. i am just saying. i thought that was -- i thought that was a nice moment. i thought her tone was good. i thought she looked good in terms of real. wasn't perfect. the hair wasn't like all in place. i think that was more of the hillary that hillary needs to show. >> you mentioned the hair not because she's a woman but because she is also so, in her events, canned. >> right. >> in front of a tractor with perfect lighting and a table full of people all going "we love you so much." instead you got a feeling that she was a little beaten up. she had been through the debate.

had gotten to new hampshire. i'll say she sounded tired but actually sometimes you have to be that tired to have a real voice. and get rid of all that stuff, all the noise in your ear from the campaigns that still think it's 1982. >> by the way, i would say the same thing for mitt romney. there are times, you know, mitt romney always had goop in his hair. everything was always perfect. >> i'm just clarifying what you meant by that. you know. >> everybody knows. in case somebody -- surely the clinton campaign would never suggest anything. >> no. >> but mitt romney would have goop in his hair perfectly. sometimes he'd forget the goop and his hair would blow around and he would look like a real guy and less packaged. hillary looked less packaged there. it was a good look. >> a lot of republican candidates like chris christie have gone to new hampshire and worked it and gotten pulled at, tugged at, punched and confronted and they're still standing and working it and

that's what's made them better. she is good when she gets out there with people. she should get out there with real people. i venture to say this probably wasn't a completely extemporaneous and loosely coordinated event because that's just not how hillary clinton does it. there are some security reasons why she can't. but, again, remember new hampshire. back when her back was against the wall years ago and she got in there and she got personal and real and she was great. you saw a little shade of that yesterday. and i was just like, oh, please more! >> let's watch what jeb bush had to say about hillary clinton's feud with donald trump. >> she is great about being the victim. this will enhance her victimology status. that is what she loves doing. trump will not be president because he says these things. it turns people off. for crying out loud we're two days before christmas. lighten up, man.

>> victimology. >> i like that. lighten up, man. he said she is great at playing the victim. they do -- it's a couple of days before christmas, so i'm going to be a bit subtle with my words. the clinton campaign always needs to be careful when they talk about the mistreatment of women. because they may be running against a guy who is going to be waiting for them to talk about war on women or women being mistreated or women being degraded and then katie bar the door. it's going to get ugly. that's my christmas warning to the clinton campaign. >> i agree. they can't overcorrect on little things like this. it should be cast off as stupidity. >> they can't, like -- >> stupid. the whole thing is stupid. >> -- see a word and act like this degrades all women in a way that, let's say, sexual harassment in the workplace

would degrade women. >> equal pay. >> or equal pay or -- or harassment or even rape. you just can't -- you can't draw those -- >> not in this election. are you uncomfortable, richard? >> they need to be -- they need to be -- >> okay. just telling the truth. >> especially if they draw donald trump. the first time he talks -- she talks about women being mistreated, sit back and take notes. >> you know, they stage manage these events, as mika rightly says. a few days ago hillary clinton was asked at a town hall about exactly what you're talking about and a list of the names came out and she looked stunned for a second. i don't think she thinks that's on the table right now, about her husband. >> it has never been on the table. nobody would ever go there. and for good reason. >> except for -- >> except for. >> donald trump.

>> so don't overcorrect. i swear you're being helpful. >> the first time -- the first time she talks about war on women or talks about -- anita bro anitabroderick's name will be the first name that goes out there. we talked about don't go after an amateur. they beat you every time. they don't play by the rules. trump won't play by the rules. people who think hillary clinton will have an easier ride to the white house against donald trump instead of ted cruz are wrong. a sketchy cartoon lands the "washington post" in hot water. one director's investigation in nfl and head trauma. dr. bennet omalu joins us. plus. i thought hillary's best moment the entire night was when she was in the restroom and not

on the stage. it may have been her shining moment through the debate. presidential candidate mike huckabee joins us live. i hope he doesn't say that. this is just dumb. >> i think i'm going to go to the bathroom and just let you interview governor mike. >> so we'll talk to him. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> we're already tracking severe storms. a tornado warning is issued for the northern portions of arkansas and the ozarks. doppler indicated. it's not necessarily on the ground. the sun is coming up. that's near horseshoe bend. further south, a strong line of storms across central arkansas, the little rock area. when this line sweeps through, wind damage definitely and the possibility of a few additional tornadoes. that's one of the biggest stories. the tornado watch extends from areas of shreveport out wards to

memphis. it will be extended further east later today. as far as the areas at risk, we'll include areas of tennessee, kentucky and mississippi and alabama. in all, there are about 42 million people in the slight risk. moderate risk -- the enhanced risk includes 16 million, from chicago to new orleans. this is december. this looks like an april weather map. it has the temperatures that feel like it today. watch for the fog. we'll have significant airport delays this morning because of fog in new york city, around philadelphia too and rain on top of it. today is by far the worst travel day of the next few. then we get record heat tomorrow with a few thunderstorms mixed in. 72 in new york city. some of the warmest temperatures we've ever seen on christmas eve. easily breaking record highs. finally wrapping up christmas day, a little cooler in a few spots, storms in the southeast but at least we won't have the tornado threat that we have today. more "morning joe" when we come back. here's a little healthy advice.

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the "washington post" has retracted a political cartoon over the way it depicted a presidential candidate's children. this cartoon of ted cruz was tweeted out as an oreggan grind and the kids as monkeys. she wrote the senator had waived the unspoken rule of leaving candidates' kids out of cartoons. once he included them in this ad that aired in iowa during

"saturday night live." >> imagine the greatest christmas stories. >> it was the night before the shut down. >> a proven record presents a collection of timeless christmas classics read by the trusted conservative leader, ted cruz. favorites such as how obamacare stole christmas. and rudolph the under employed reindeer. >> all of the other reindeer couldn't afford to hire rudolph. >> act now and you'll get a leader who does exactly what he says he's going to do, in this case read festive stories like "frosty, the speaker of the house." >> the speaker is molting before congress. >> it's kind of funny. >> it is funny. i'm not a fan of his but -- it was hilarious. >> what was the rule that was broken? >> i don't know. i guess nobody ever uses their

kids in campaign ads? >> what? okay. >> that's what she's suggesting. >> attacking him and leaving his daughters off-limits. which we all agree on the. marco rubio called the cartoon disgusting. it was. >> here is the rule. he can do it on a "saturday night live" skit, but you can't. it's the rule we have with some words too. they're just very clear rules. >> it's not like the kids were out saying thing. they're children. >> it's a really funny -- >> when you have a candidate that people don't like, editors don't like, papers don't like, the mainstream media don't like, like ted cruz. they'll do this. where i -- i'm sure barack obama never did any alex -- he never did anything like this, did he? >> well, i don't -- well, can

you roll ex, please. >> let's see. >> what he's successful at is giving his children the kind of stability and continuity that he didn't have. >> he's a very hands-on dad. he works every day to be the kind of father that he didn't have. ♪ >> don't leave me! >> he takes his responsibilities as dad very seriously. he puts our girls first. >> sasha and malia, i love you both more than you can imagine, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the white house. >> that's very cute. and we await the "washington post's" cartoon, political cartoon, mocking barack obama's

children. willie. wow! >> people look for moments of bias in the media. you can't be selectively offended by a cartoon. if that had been a democrat or president of the united states, it would have been wall to wall coverage. leave the kids out of it, yes, but this depiction of the kids to me is what's disgusting. >> he did not waive the unspoken rule. what are you talking about, seriously. >> it's outrageous. >> the kids are 8 or 9 years old. how could they or how could he have used them in a way that would make a cartoonist or journalist believe they should be highlighted as monkeys. yesterday is my daughter's 2nd birthday. if i'm running and someone uses my daughter -- it doesn't make sense. >> fred hyatt, who is the editor. he pulled it down. >> he is a good man, by the way. >> their push back to senator

cruz is -- >> it's generally been the policy of your editorial section to leave children out of it. i failed to look at this cartoon before it was published. i understand why ann thought an exception to the policy was be warranted in this case but i do not agree. >> we're with fred hyatt. everybody here knows and respects him. >> great paper, doing great things. >> it is a great paper doing great things. sometimes things slip through. again, i would look at the person that did this cartoon and just say, you can't have one standard for harsh conservatives that you don't like and have another standard for progressive presidents and democratic presidential candidates that you do like. republican presidential candidate mike huckabee joins us live. why he says the states he's won is still anybody's game. the future belongs to the fast.

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lost faith in the republican party. he's renouncing his membership over last week's spending bill. he wrote, after all of the appalling facts revealed this year about planned parenthood our representatives in washington had a chance to put a stop to this, but they didn't.

graham compared planned parenthood to nazis and wrote, quote, that shouldn't have been all that was needed to turn off the faucet for their funding. nothing was done to trim this 2,000-page, $1.1 billion budget. he said it was why he was getting out of the gop. let's go to little rock, arkansas. former arkansas governor mike huckabee and richard haass and michael steele still with us. governor, let's begin with you. read an article talking about the revolution inside the republican party, and he quoted you at one point saying we need to nominate candidates who look more like the people our voters work with instead of like the boss who fired them. are we getting any closer in 2016 to achieving that goal? >> i am not sure. i do know that voters are very angry. you sense it on the campaign trail. i was just in iowa yesterday,

the day before. one of the things you see is a seething rage. and this budget vote last week that you just referenced from franklin graham's statement, it put a lot of people over the top because they just feel like that the whole purpose of working hard to get republican majorities in the house and senate was to make some significant policy changes. the republicans folded. they were given four aces, and they laid their cards down before they even anted up for the game. it was absolutely outrageous to see a whole litany of things, whether it was planned parenthood funding, funding for syrian refugee relocation. 400% increase in bringing in foreign workers to replace americans. i mean, all the republicans got was export of oil. what does that say about republicans? that the only thing they care about is exporting oil? they don't care a hoot about the values of the rank-and-file republicans? that's why people in the republican party are just bolting for the door. >> richard haass.

>> governor, what about defense spending and the rest of the spending we do, foreign aid and the like? what's your view about that? do you support that, in particular given how messy the world is, do you support an increase in defense spending? if so, where should it go? >> i think we have to have an increase. we have the lowest number of ships in the navy since before world war i. we decimated our military spending. 25% cuts since obama took office. overused the guard and reserve troops unmercifully. it's one of the biggest reasons our military is demoralized and truly in trouble. we have to rebuild the military, every branch of it. yes, we have to do that. that's an urgency. that ought to be bipartisan. richard, there was a time in this country when republicans and democrats agreed on the primary role of the federal government being that of national defense and protecting us. now, the sad thing is, gone are the scoop jacksons and sam nuns

of the world who are democrats who believed the country's defense was just primary. where are the john f. kennedys of the day? that is something that didn't used to divide this country, it united this country. sadly, you know, we seem to not even be able to agree on the primary function of our federal government which is to protect us. >> where would the extra spending come from? would you pay for that by cutting back, say, on entitlements or various types of discretionary spending? >> the key is economic growth. we have had an anemic economy largely because the federal reserve has played with the money supply and done it in such a way that it's kept the bottom 90% of american workers for stagnant wages for 40 years. the result is you have a flat-lining economy, less than 1% growth in the gdp. there is no way that we can continue on this path. we keep increasing the debt ceiling. we keep spending money, but we

don't grow the economy. the key is not just raising or cutting taxes or raising or cutting spending. the key is truly growing an economy and making it robust. we can't do it with the turcurr tax system. the fact that we tax capital and labor chases capital and labor off our shore. that's why there is $31 million of offshore capital that we need to get back. it's also why i support the transformation to the tax system to a tax on consumption as opposed to a tax on productivity. foreign governments are beating the daylights out of us because they don't tax capital and labor. that's just insane for america to keep on that economic path. >> let's go to michael steele in washington. michael. >> good morning, governor. 40 days left until iowaens go to

vote. is your plan slow and steady? it looks like the debate stage will be reduced to six. how will your campaign look at that? and how will you define success once the voting starts in iowa. >> you make the most important point, michael and that is that the voting has not started yet. when we look at polls based on 200 or 300 sample, we think we have a real answer. nobody saw eric canter getting beat. polls over the last few years have been so incredibly off-base in terms of how the people actually voted. look, i understand. our effort in iowa will be steady but it won't be slow. we're going to be full speed ahead in january because we know the path there. the path -- and i -- eight years ago i got more votes than anyone in the history of the iowa caucuses. nobody saw us doing that. we were moving up but most people thought we would be doing well to come in third, maybe

second. nobody saw us winning by the margin we did. four years ago rick santorum was in six place out of seven candidates, in low single digits and ended up winning the iowa caucuses. iowa voters are not to be taken for granted. i still believe that there is an interesting dynamic that will happen when these folks go vote as opposed to having a couple hundred phone calls. let me mention this quickly. we polled 5,000 people in iowa last week. 75% of them said they hadn't made up their mind. 58% said they haven't decided who they're leaning toward. so we still look at iowa as very fluid. it could change the entire trajectory of the race. >> governor mike huckabee, you're exactly correct. you could look back to 2004 in the democratic race. everybody said it would be a blood bath. we woke up the next morning and

saw that actually john kerry won and was on his way -- at least on his way to the nomination. so a long way to go. nobody has voted yet. good luck out there and hope you have a great christmas. >> thank you. merry christmas to you. >> all right. still ahead, the snow birds are staying. why some of the warmest states are seeing the biggest population booms and how that's impacting everything from business to the upcoming elections when "morning joe" returns. here's a little healthy advice. take care of what makes you, you. right down to your skin. aveeno® daily moisturizing lotion with 5 vital nutrients for healthier looking skin in just one day. aveeno®. naturally beautiful results®

time now for business before the bell. nbc's brian sullivan. >> relax. it's holiday season. no tie. he's just hanging out. >> how is it going? >> it's great, guys. the oil bust, a big story this year. opec saying it's probably not getting any better. they think demand will continue to weaken. they're not predicting 70 buck

oil until the year 2020. that's bad for states like north dakota. it goes into our second story, the census department out with their population shift data. guess what? it's a big political story too. states like north carolina are gaining population. a lot of these political swing states when they reapportion the electoral college votes, some states might add people. north dakota added the most people but the oil bust might hurt the trend. coal states tend to be losing states. if you're a pfan of the beetles. they will be available streaming as of tomorrow night. spotify, apple music. i'm going to say something that will get me in trouble about the beatles. sergeant peppers was not their best album. it was a derivative response to

pet sounds. i can't get on board the sergeant pepper train. >> no need to apologize. a lot of people say abbey road is the best album and the white album is a close second. >> you should take a vacation. >> if you could take a vacation to a desert island and could only take one album with you it would be abbey road. >> it would probably be led zeppelin iii. if it had to be beatles, which i hope it wouldn't, but if it was, it would be abbey road. >> hard-hitting business news this morning. >> it is. but the beatles going to spotify and apple music is big stuff. >> brian sullivan. up next the man behind will smith's latest hollywood role. we'll talk to the doctor who discovered a deadly brain disease in football players that pitted him against one of the most powerful institutions in the world. keep it here.

he does autopsies. he is not in the outcome business. >> he has no business. >> you know what history does to people, trained physicians who ignore science. >> well -- >> i am not done! >> history laughs. if you continue to deny my work, the world will deny my work. but men, your men, continue to

die. their families left in ruins. tell the truth! tell the truth. >> wow. that was a look at the new film "concussion" based on the true story of dr. bennet omalu the forensic neuropathologist wouho made the first discovery of nce. he joins us now along with peter landesman. >> i have to say, peter, i wasn't so sure when i first heard about the movie that it was going to do as well as it did. this is obviously something that's really impacting people, they're going to see this movie. it's getting great reviews. it's having an impact. >> it is. it's a strange thing. we weren't just reading about it

in the front pages of newspapers. we confront it every week, every sunday during super bowl season. football sunday. football is part of our national tapestry. this goes to the heart of it. what are we doing by watching and playing football. bennet's story, the classic american dream tale is an emotional ride to carry the issue. it's a strange confluence of events. >> what started with one diagnosis has exploded. >> it's real. >> i won't mention any names. but we were just talking about people that we see on tv now, and it's so sad seeing how it's impacting so many nfl players. >> you know, this is not an anti-football or anti-sports. this is about any human activity whereby your head is exposed to repeated blows. there is a significant risk of permanent brain damage. in children, in adults.

and it has this long latent period that sometimes could be up to 40 years later. so you could play football, ice hockey, boxing, mixed martial arts as a child, 7, 8, 9 years old. you forget you've played. and then years later, 15 years later, you begin to manifest, you know, symptoms like loss of intelligence. mood disorders. severe depression. alcoholism. >> we've talked about the impact on the game overall that could play out over the next few years. as a parent, doctor, small children, do you -- do you suggest football or do you stay away from the sport? >> well, you know, the op-ed i wrote in the "new york times," knowing what we know now like we've done with smoking, alcohol, even with sex, we had an age of consent before a child

could be allowed to engage in dangerous activities. as a modern society it's our moral duty to begin to discuss whether we should allow our children to become exposed to repetitive blows. not just in sports. high-impact contact sports. also. parents who have the habit of spaki smacking children on the heads. abusive spouses. we should begin to think about changes in behavior. again, i think this movie is about a great american story. when i was a child in nigeria, i believed america was the country that was closest to what god wants us to be as his sons and daughters. it's about the -- that one hope, one love, one joy. where we are evolving as a society. as we evolve we're becoming more

int int smart. >> as a doctor, about young kids, when you see brett favre, john elway, other nfl superstars who owe their life to the game of football saying they're not going to let their kids play football, that changes things. >> the scope and the size of the players over the last 15 and 20 years, they're so much bigger and faster and stronger now, that it's become much more violent, both when you watch it on tv obviously, but when you see it in person at a lower level down on the field. the sound, the impact of the collisions are frightening. >> a guy, 250 pounds, run a 4.640. >> a strong drug policy. the narrative of your story and the narrative of the movie, one of the reasons it really works and is so powerful is it's kind

of a detective story. with obstacles thrown in front of the investigator, you. and you're confronted by a powerful institution, the national football league. it's you against the nfl and you bringing it out on film. would you agree with that narrative? >> in a lot of ways it's a classic american tale. david versus goliath. one man against a giant institution to get to the truth. there is something deeply emotional and classically american about the story. you know, we -- i don't know about bennet. i played through two years of college football. i share everybody's pain. thanksgiving day i think about lions and cowboys and i do on christmas. i host super bowl parties. this is a complicated contradiction. it's a problem for all of us, even if we watch the game. are we complicit by sitting down and taking in the -- >> it's a religion. >> exactly. >> when you are watching the super bowl or the games on --

you basically just mentioned the games, the two days i actually sit down to watch nfl games still. >> what are we really watching? >> exactly. one in three. one in three nfl players may be suffering from this. >> that number is -- that's a conservative number elicited specifically by the -- that number is going to be very low. that number will at least double. the nfl has known about this for a very long time. every sunday we participate in a coverup. and they have done so for about 20, 25 years. i have to say that not as a dig but as part of the story. they knew how dangerous concussions were 20 years ago and they sat on it while players continued to feel the effects. >> yeah. all right. "concussion" is in theaters christmas day. peter landesman and dr. bennet omalu, thank you so much. >> pleasure. >> congratulations. >> we will be right back. the future belongs to the fast.

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rhetoric. so nothing really surprises me anymore. i don't know that he has any boundaries at all. >> sound this morning of hillary clinton speaking with the "des moines register." it's time now -- >> what do you think? >> i think, actually, she is doing the calculation or the math here about what could come her way if he wins. and, you know, i don't think anybody wants to see that. i certainly don't. >> i like that candidate clinton a lot better than the one that tries to be a politician. that -- i like that candidate clinton much better. >> what did you learn today? >> hmm. hmm. i learned that i've got a lot of last-minute christmas shopping to do. how about you, richard? >> that politicians are not going to be taking the week between christmas and new year's off. places like iowa and new hampshire will remain busy to the wild enthusiasm of the local citizens. >> i learned as mike huckabee said, we've got a lot of voting

left to do. nobody has started. we're 40 days off. long way to go. anybody can win. michael steele. >> this is an asymmetrical presidential campaign. we have never seen it before. buckle up! >> buckle up! >> it's way too early. what time is it? >> it's time for "morning joe." stick around because "msnbc live" is coming up right now. ♪ simply having a wonderful christmas time". fresh indications that donald trump continues to be running away from the rest of the gop pack. new national polling showing 39% of republican voters want trump as the nominee. numbers for the next three in the field. ted cruz, ben carson, marco rubio, would not reach the frontrunner even if you combined all three of their supporting numbers. meanwhile, hillary clinton is responding to trump's