i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet? good morning, everyone. a live holiday washout. a wave of severe weather sweeps the southeast that causes hundreds of rescues. the death toll from this week's storms is now up to 15. president obama and the first lady spend the holiday visiting troops in hawaii.

capturing the key city of ramadi. and in 26 politics donald trump spends a low key holiday in florida, but there's no holiday off in his war with hillary clinton. we begin this hour with yesterday's tornado in the south. this one roiping through the birmingham, alabama area it hit just as many families were sitting down to their christmas dinners. >> reporter: the twister came out of nowhere. residentses saw the funnel cloud from afar one minute and the next it was at their door step. >> take cover, take cover. >> several homes were destroyed. >> tore the whole wall down in the back. >> reporter: some people even had to be rescued from underneath the wreckage. >> wires being down, there's nobody in it, move on. >> reporter: victims found themselves hopelessly searching for anything that could be

saved. 10,000 customers lost power, as if that wasn't bad enough, residents throughout the state have been dealing with more than a half foot of driving rain. rescuers saying motorists attaching ropes to them to help them out of the raging flood wares. al the same twister was spotted southeast of birmingham in southeast of tuscaloosa causing damage. 15 people are now confirmed dead, volunteers there are still searching for the missing. >> we are just out of here deciding to go through the mangled up mess, through the trees and just as a disaster. >> a disaster this holiday weekend for those who lost all their own, but for people who came through the storm alive, something to be grateful for. >> what's really important, is your family, your friends and just having a gift of life. >> now while the south has been

recovering from a series of deadly tornadoes, much of the northeast has been experiencing a record-breaking heat wave. kristen dahlgren is live for us in new york's central park where it looks like it could be another mild day for folks out here in late december. >> it's december 26 and it's in the 50s in central park, i have seen a lot of people running in shorts in central park. a lot of people struggling with this holiday weather, new york is just not one of them. >> reporter: it was all about ice cream in new york. >> what's christmas normally like, at christmas? >> white? >> reporter: how about this career? >> sweaty. >> reporter: temperatures soared to a record 66 degrees best

christmas ever? >> best christmas ever. >> reporter: in this bizarre world. near usually frigid providence, rhode island, it was a good day to hit the lingings. >> it's amazing, we spend half our christmases in florida so it's kind of like being in florida. but there was no celebrating at eastern ski areas where no snow meant no business. there was also not much holiday joy for fedex, the shipping giant skewers on social media when packages weren't under the etree in time. i don't thinker rate is an accurate word right now. thanks for ruining a 12-year-old's christmas. fedex employees volunteered to work on christmas as the company blamed heavier than usual volume

and severe weather outbreaks. >> really just a strange holiday in a lot of places, now 50s today, not going to be a record, but nothing to sneeze at. tomorrow we could get back up into the mid to upper 60s, which would be another record. and listen to this, if the forecast holds out, it's not expected to get below 32 degrees for the rest of the year, that would mean no freezing days in the entire month of december. that hasn't happened since they started keeping records. >> wow, that's pretty impressive, and in the introduction, i was saying that the temperatures felt like it was september. it didn't even occur to me that we're actually at the end of december. what kind of weather can we expect for today as millions of americans start heading home from their holiday trips. let's go to bonnie snyder with that forecast. >> this is a very vigorous weather pattern. we still have very strong weather -- this is a dangerous area because we have the flood

watch in effect. it extends all the way down to dallas, all the way up through st. louis. this is a widespread area, we still have unfortunately flood warnings in effect and that is for areas into northern alabama. let's take a closer look at the rainfall amounts over the next 24 hours and what we can expect is definitely a lot of rain developing across a good portion of oklahoma and into arkansas, to the risk for severe weather in texas, but i want to explain a very vigorous storm system that's developing across areas of new mexico and into texas. this storm will be a major snowstorm developing across the country, what we're looking at are blizzard warnings now in effect for new mexico and into texas. the national weather service is describing this as historic and likely to be a once with in a 30-year storm. and you can see that unfortunately, we're looking at blinding winds as well as really cold temperatures and heavy snow developing there by the foot. not to say we're not going to see snow in other places,

milwaukee, and later on monday into tuesday that, snow is coming to new england. we'll be talking about that later on. >> bonnie schnieder, it looks like folks are now getting the all clear. president obama paid a christmas visit do a marine corps base yesterday. >> merry christmas, happy new year, happy hanukkah, we just want to hope you guys are having a great holiday. >> nbc's kelley o'donnell is joining us live from honolulu. good morning to you, kelly. >> good morning, aman. where it is about 3:00 in the morning hawaii time and of course there's that time difference between us and where you are in new york. and so this is still sort of a very early morning feeling, there is still some celebrating christmas that may be just getting back here in waikiki beach. but for the president and his family, they have been having a lot of family time, spending

that together, we're told that they enjoyed their holiday, and part of their tradition here is to go see the men and women in uniform and their families at the marine base in hawaii, and they were able to do that, spend some holiday cheer, spend some personal time, a bit more of a personal visit than you might finding other times. in the president's message to the troops, he said things you might expect, he said that holiday greeting, i think more kind of sentimentally talking about their service, their sacrifice and especially referring to the attack on u.s. service members in afghanistan, the deadly attack that took six lives this past week. and he acknowledged that in talking to the men and women in uniform along with mrs. obama. here's what he had to say. >> when you're deployed overseas, it's tough. and even though we have been able to reduce to the number of folks who are deployed in places like iraq and afghanistan,

there's still folks over there every single day and it's still dangerous, as we saw this past week. we had some outstanding brave men and women who were killed. >> and of course the u.s. military has a very strong presence here in hawaii as the pacific command is headquartered here, so you have a number of branches. the president also on christmas made phone calls to members to all the different on services branches, to extend holiday wishes and make that personal connection. he's got another week before he heads back to washington and so we expect that perhaps some of the sort of outings that we have seen so far, some golf, some hiking, that may be part of his day, but that time with the troops was kind of a poignant and really special part of his time. he also said he would be looking forward to seeing them again next christmas as this is a part of a family tradition that goes

back many, many years. >> kelly o'donnell live for us in what can be said an early morning, middle of the night live shot. iraqi forces consolidated their positions. now the city only two hours away from baghdad was captured by isis fighters back in may. and this week, as government forces advance to take the city back, they actually faced suicide bombings and attacks by militant snipers, here to help us take a closer look at this conflict is former british military officer michael kay. >> in ramadi, the battle is intensifying, it is the capital of anbar province which is to the southwest of the country, to the west of baghdad. what we can see at the moment is we have got islamic state territory east of the river. now ramadi is a strategic position you've got the

euphrates river running right down the middle and you've also got some communication running east to west. we have got to the islamic state east of the river, and they have now pushed the iraqi security forces which are here, these contested areas here, they're pushing the islamic state into this area. now if you go to the next slide, syria, iraq, the reason why ramadi is so strategic and we must remember that it was heavily contested in 2004, and 2006 by u.s. forces including navy s.e.a.l.s, including u.s. marines and they were going up against insurgents such as al qaeda in iraq, these lines of communication, they come from baghdad, take you into jordan and they take you into syria. and as we know, syria in iraq is the capital of the islamic state. that allows the islamic state to consolidate forces.

if the islamic states controlling ramadi, and they have since may, they control the border here and they control the border here, now that's important, it's important because they can get fighters from raqqa. they can also toll and tax any industry, any goods that are coming across the border. so this is why ramadi is so strategically important. it's also got a number of sunni tribes, over 40, part of the anbar awakening counsel. they're absolutely key. and to influence those and to give those sunni tribes the stability will enable to the iraqi security forces to be able to drive the islamic state out. so a lot going on in ramadi at the moment. >> michael kaye, thanks for breaking that down for us. up next, we'll turn to politics. we'll break it down for you. when heartburn hits

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donald trump took a break from the campaign trail for christmas. the controversy over his remarks didn't take the holiday off off. trump's heading off a firestorm on monday when he used vulgar la language to describe clinton's loss to obama in 2008. trump was crude in mentioning a specific male body part. he set off another controversy regarding clinton's late entrance on stage at the last democratic debate. >> where did hillary go? they had to start the debate without her. phase two. i know where she went.

it's disgusting, i don't want to talk about it. no, it's too disgusting. don't say it, it's disgusting. we want to be very, very straight up, okay? >> in telling the des moines register, it's not the first time he's demonstrated a penchant for sexism. >> i really deplore the tone of his campaign, and his tone of rhetoric in going off groups of people with his hateful, incendiary rhetoric. so nothing sort of surprises me anymore. i don't think he has any boundaries at all. >> when you complain about a penchant for sexism, who are you

referring to? i have a great respect for women, be careful. and a former aid to george h.w. bush, and former aid to president bill clinton, david french. joe, let me beginning with you, right now, generally speaking, who is benefiting more from this ongoing feud between these two front runners. >> donald trump benefits greatly from it. this is a nonsubstantive kind of argument between the two front-runners and all it does is bring more attention to him. the people who like donald trump like donald trump because he ense encapsule ates for people his -- donald trump plays very well to those voter who is care about those issues and people who are angry about the economy not being strong, so this kind of an argument really benefits him. it's in keeping with the personality that people know he has from his days on reality tv. >> i want to play your reaction

to jeb bush, take a look at what he said about this ongoing feud. >> he's great at being the victim, this whole enhancer victimology status, this is what she loves doing. trump is not going to be president because he says these things. it turns people off. i mean, for crying out loud, we're two days before christmas. lighten up, man. >> on one hand, he's not coming out completely, you know, criticizing trump, he's criticizing him, but not necessarily rejecting to the comments he's made and at the same time he's saying this is what hillary clinton wants is to play the victim in this case, that benefits her coming out and playing the victim. >> aside from the krooegs of a new term i never heard, victimology. i don't understand -- >> we looked it up. i had that same initial question. news to me. look, a campaign is really a contrast between two people ultimately. and so if these are going to be

is standard bearers for their -- i agree with you that the supporters of donald trump are going to support him still after this, what it does for hillary clinton to say this is the republican party of today, if you don't like that, come home. let's not forget the turnout that's so, so important in the general elect shung. donald trump is going to bring new voters to the election. is hillary clinton going to be able to inspire turnout as well. he's going to be able to inspire people who normally don't go against the polls, more as a vote against the republican party than for her. that can't but help hillary clinton's chance for winning. >> this new krrk nn poll that just came out this week, shows trump solidifying his national

lead. 39%, that's double the second candidate. >> this is going to fade by september, maybe october, november, and you see the numbers are getting stronger and stronger, so he's got real sea legs here, he's not going anywhere. for him the question is whether or not he has ground game to support it. because what really matters in iowa, like in the iowa caucuses and in south carolina and all these others on supertuesday who have ground game, making sure people go to the polls and vote. >> we're seeing real ground game in iowa because of the 2k3wr0u7bd ground work. is donald trump -- trying to get the establishment candidates to make a big play for new hampshire? >> i was very surprised to see my friend john pedestriwho says

going to be the nominee when you get to the actual mechanics of voting in the primary and the actual caucus, that is -- no one's actually pulled a lever yet, no one's actually pulled a lever in the caucus setting. important the polling for trumps translates into actual votes for trump. >> hillary clinton came under some contribute civil herself in the last debate that she suggesteded that isis was using donald trump in recruitment videos in trying to recruit radicals and jihad itselves around the world. we're going to play that sound bite, where after to the debate she kind of modified it. take a listen to this. >> if you go on arabic television as we have, and you look at what is being blasted out with video of mr. trump being translated into arabic, no muslims coming into the united

states, other kinds of derogatory, defamatory statements, it is playing into the hands of the violent jihadists. there is nothing they want more than to be able to claim that the united states is against islam and against muslims. >> that was a little bit different than what we heard the night of the debate, where she sounded a lot more explicit in saying that isis was using videos in recruitment, she says this is playing into the isis narrative. did she have to walk that back? >> i think the point is made and it's a really, really important point. this is a former secretary of state, former u.s. senator, former first lady, she knows what she's talking about. if we as the united states want to win, we need to play it smart. extremists feed off each other, they need each other, the extremists over there want to point the to the extremists over here and say you see, we're

right, and vice versa, trump wants to point to over there and they feed off each other. it takes someone like hillary clinton to say don't be stupid, we don't want to play into their hands, this is important to stalk about in a presidential race. these have impact in our lives. we'll be following that as well and a few other things, but next, you'll need to write more than just a thank you note. what the government says you must also do before trying out your new gift.

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unwanted gifts and spend gift cards. you may be nearly -- as blake mccoy explains, flying a drone may not be as simple as you thought. carolyn and josh got a new drone for christmas. minneapolis neighbors beware, their flying skills have some honing to do. the bishops are some of the 400,000 americans estimated to have received a drone this holiday. but learning to fly it is only one obstacle. with all this new activity in the sky, the federal government is clamping down. from now on, anyone operating a drone must first register it with the faa. the new rules apply to anyone over 13, you must giver your name, address and e-mail. the cost is $5, but that's being waved for the first 30 days. >> as soon as you start flying outside, you are in effect a pilot and there's

responsibilities that come with being a pilot and rules and regulations regarding that. is rules are staying below 400 feet and no flying within five miles of an airport. airline pilots report 100 droen sightings and close calls each month. in january, this drone crashed on to the white house lawn. and just this week this video went viral when a drone nearly crashed county d eed under a pr skier. >> before june, probably up to 500 students. >> reporter: so before you take your new drone to capture the wonders of the world or veer into your flabneighbor's tree, remember to register. up next how social movements on the left and the right help shape the conversation on the campaign trail this year. n woul. huddling with their man after the game is nice too.

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all right, a minnesota holiday travel and shopping came to a stand still when hundreds of black lives matter closed several stores on one of the business yourself shopping days of the year. their protesting last month's deadly police shooting of 24-year-old jamar clark. most were saying that it was just a preview of the big event at the minneapolis st. paul airport. it's been a landmark year for social movements across the country. fast food workers for example securing wages of $15 an hour in several cities and in new york state. but not to mention the culmination of a decades long fight with gay rights activists with the supreme court legalizing same-sex marriage. several states cut their planned parenthooded funding after an

ant anti-choice group released it's highly edited of planned parenthood employees and grass roots up sigsz to the reproductive help provider. gun rights activists as well. whether it called the for stricter gun control in the wake of several high profile shootings. perhaps the biggest story on the right, the growing coalition backing donald trump's presidential run. >> the beltway and all of them there, they know that people like donald trump that are on the outside that are looking in that work their way up, are the people that need to be running our government again. >> he ee's has no filter, he sa it like it is, he speaks the truth whether they like it or not. >> he can't be bought, he's buying his own way, he's paying his own way and he's not accountable to special interest groups, i think he's a person for the people right now.

>> all right, reverend joe watkins and david goodfield are both back with us again. or, david goodfriend. i apoll jay. let me ask you about this, the trump phenomena, 2015. as we were talking at the break, who are his supporters? it's really cuts across the spectrum here. >> the supporters are people that are an bring with the blimt establishment. so donald trump really has a strong following. as you can see from the clip we just played and i was saying during to the break, of course, that if donald trump's path to the presidency might not necessarily be within the republican party, it might be a third party candidacy, if he runs as a third party candidate, he'll take some republicans and some democrats as well. a lot of bernie sanders people will probably join with donald

trump. >> what does it tell you about the state of american politics that donald trump is surging in the polls the way he has been. >> it's easy for us to characterize donald trump and point to the outdoor landish things. it's important for us to acknowledge that there is a huge segment of the american population that feels left out and left behind and it does cut across parties, there's some ways that bernie sanders have more in common with some donald trump supporters than hillary clinton supporters. in many ways the democratic party in moving centrist, as my former boss bill clinton did, did communicate to some people who felt left out of the economy and we're more corporate interests. i personally wish the democratic party would get back to its working class roots. >> one of the things we highlighted, it's been a year of social movements, the black lives matter movement, the fast food workers movement, they have all impacted poll sicy proposal

do we see them able to shape policy propoed sals. >> they're moving numbers now and to not respond to them means you have to the pay the price for that which means you probably won't get elected. these are huge elections to shape the 2016 agenda. in addition to the economic issues, but these issues are going to help shape the agenda. >> if i can just add, there is a huge amount of influence among special interests, if you want to push back on that, get involved. and whenever you see, even if you disagree with somebody, when you see somebody actively getting involved in issues and letting their voice be heard, i think that's extremely important for our entire democracy. i might look at a gun rights supporter and say i don't agree with everything you're saying, same with black lives matter, that's an incredkrecredibly imp movement. >> it's only been six months

since the supreme court effectively legalized same-sex marria marriage. is that the end of the debate in this country or is it going to come back in 12016. >> i serve as a pastor of a church, it's going to continue on, it's going to be an issue. outside of politics, we have to learn to love everybody and love each over. when i get up at the pulpit on sunday, i preach we need to love god with all our hearts and minds and do it without condition conditions. >> thank you both, appreciate that. up next, has paul ryan's assent to house speaker braulgts about a new era of bipartisanship on capitol hill? you didn't tell me aunt alice was coming. of course. don't forget grandpa.

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lock and partisan brinkmanship, democrats and republicans worked across the isle to pass a flurry of big ticket legislation. congress enacting more new laws another any time during president obama's first term. the president signed a $1.8 trillion budget deal. the first transportation deal in a decade and the biggest revision in federal education policy in 14 years. a conservative mun any ousted speaker baker in october. but a bipartisan deal may be kept ongoing under the leadership of congressman paul ryan. mitch mcconnell telling people you can either do things one-party only and score points in the senate, or you can accept the fact that in order to do significant things, you have to have bipartisan support. reverend joe watkins and my good

friend david goodfriend. if i can start with you and talk about this record of accomplishment we have seen. first of all, is it a bit surprising that we have seen such a bipartisan effort if you will, within the last couple of months, particularly on some of these big ticket items that we just listed? >> the highway bill they always say there's no red or blue states when it comes to highways because everything is green. you're tag about according to gulf track more bills did get enacted and a lot of things are a little bit below the surface, so it's productive, but still with a lot of challenges to come. here's what's not worthy about how things got done at the end of the year here with paul ryan is that he needed democratic support to get to that magic number 218 to pass measures in the house. and here's what's kind of ironic, the more the hard right is resist stand to any kind of compromise, the more dependent

the republican leadership is on democrats. isn't it a little ironic? and the big thing to note that ryan did get done was this 1.2 trillion omnibus bill, look for next year for him to go back to a more traditional way of doing business and breaking things up into 12 appropriations bill that churn through the system. >> we look at some of the things a that did get done, what are some of the things that did not get done. what are some of the big issues that are still outstanding that congress needs to tackle do you think? >> the things that we did not do that the president was pushing for things to not do are really worth mentioning here. cutting off fnding for planned parenthood. limitations on environmental regulations, on labor regulations i on open internet rules, that's all things what republicans wanted to add to this end of year package that

the democrats held off. that dumpblts mean they're going to go away. the republican agenda was to make sure that we didn't have any government shutdowns. it wasn't out of somebody's goodness of their hearts. just as president obama is trying to leave a good legacy for his name, he's pushing some things forward. >> paul ryan is a very, very skillful players, he's somebody who has respect for those members of congress on the right and the far right and as well as folks in the center, or even left of center. maybe it's the beard, the beard is giving him a softer look, you might empathize with democrats, he's able to get some things done across the aisle. but that's the kind of spirit that it's going to take to get us to keep moving forward. >> to point that david was saying that there's going to be some issues thattal come back in 2016, and they're certainly going to challenge this bipartisanship. how are conservatives you think in the house reacting to paul

ryan's speaker ship going forward? >> they have to live with it. they want, you know, they got what they wanted and this is an electron year looming that will influence almost everything that goes on in the house. i think, you know, we have to make a distinction between pretty much mainstream contests who want to try and make government work, meaning they'll vote yes to some things, even if it's an element that they may december agree with and hard lines will always vote no. and the same is on the otherside too, where people will vote against some of these massive bills because there's provisions they don't like. i'll give you two examples going into 2016. one of the things when you want to play offense and defense. the democrats in the white house are going to try to prevent doing anything to undo the iran nuke clear deal. the one area where everyone says there are hopes for bipartisan compromise is sweeping criminal justice reform.

senate already passed a bill and there's an alinliance from the white house to congress, so i expect some legacy makes things to get passed that president obama will be able to claim as he leaves office. >> very quickly, last question to you in this segment. how does the republican party's record in terms of gets things done with the republicans and the democrats have an impacted on the race for to the white house in 2016. >> if the nominee the trump, it means nothing because he's running against everybody. and if it's hillary clinton, it means everything. a look at some of the newsmakers from this past year, and a look at who will be the people who we're going to be talking about in 2016. red 97! set! red 97! did you say 97? yes. you know, that reminds me of geico's 97% customer satisfaction rating. 97%?

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"the washington post"

reporter impressed in iran -- rezaian has been in jail for 100 days. he eerezaian is just one of the names to make the national headlines in 2015. kate lyn jenner who helped change america's knowledge of gender transition with her highly publicized gender transition. and donald trump who surprised everyone but himself probably on his quest to make america great again. his campaign for the white house certain to keep making headlines in 2016. now here to discuss the newsmakers of 2016 and what we can expect in 2016, he's also joining our panel, reverend joe watkins there's some names on the list that we can always kbh

expect to be newsmakers, perhaps none other than the former president of the naacp in spokane, but she really started a discussion about racial identity in this country. >> it was interesting just here before we were on how quickly that became a conversation. just even on the set. so certainly, you know, it is the topic that's sort of the center of american history, that's on a lot of people's minds and how you identify who gets to say who is what and what belongs to whom is certainly a very hot button issue. >> i wanted to get your take on this, the issue that she brought up, the issue of racial identity, something that's still in america is very important to americans how we discuss racial identity. >> you just can't determine yourself who you are. i mean that's what happened here. i mean you can't -- off you happen to be white, you can't just say, well, you know, because i really identify with

black people, i'm going to now self identify as black. you see what happened to her when she did that. it caused a firestorm. so we have a lot of issues. my daughter courtney is the grand maestro of all this, she understands this stuff better than anybody i think in the country. but we have a long way to go as a country, before we actually get to the point where we see each other as human beings and get past seeing each other's ethnicity. >> we all have these stories of misclassify indications, my father was mistakenly seated -- we repeat these stories in our family because there is such a tendency to want to categorize. we have to put people in a certain box in order to understand where people come from. what ilike to do is connect the dotted line between the story we're talking about now and the

kaitlin jenner story. i almost feel as though wile know we have arrived when we can't categorized anymore and the questions become relevant. >> that's an interesting point, we live in this period of true fluidity, you have a different set of facebook friends than you do on snap chat or whats app. especially for the general rigses co-coming up, there's a lot more flexibility btz how you define who you are. >> one of the things we're discussing about the jewish of same-sex marriage and kim davis, the kentucky county clerk who opposed same-sex marriage, she also rose to the national debate with here actions, was it important for this country, in terms of the traditional debate that's been going on for decades in terms of same-sex equality. >> i see that fight personally

les about values and more about individuals and institutions, this has been a tug against the beginning of the country, really, what is the role of institutions and personal freedom and certainly we have seen that become an issue, especially with the trump candidacy. really. >> let me check off one more for you, matt, adele, she's obviously breaking records left and right, she was on the cover of "time" magazine. why was she on the cover of "time" magazine? >> at the time we do most influential people for better or for worse. >> something donald trump was not happy with. >> we picked angela america mer. who's running one of the biggest economies and then we do what we jokingly call the person of next year, and adele has blown past

sales record in an era where nobody does that anymore. but she's really the biggest pop star in the world right now. and i think her appeal is so broad because she really makes music the way it used to be made. she's a craftsman. >> let me get your crack on who will be big for 2016. >> well, donald trump. >> that's an easy one. >> i think he dominates the news in 2016 because the question is whether or not he bolts from the republican party and starts a third party candidacy, and if he does that, that's of course going to be huge. he's not going to be ross perot, and people said clinton won because of the perot candidacy. but trump is so much larger than perot ever was. >> he has one way or the other the possibility to change the political landscape in this country? >> absolutely. >> we'll have a lot more coming up. we have much more still ahead this morning.

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i like you too! at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card and talk to a real person. good morning, everyone, here's what's happening at this hour on msnbc live. others get ready for a deep freeze. wild holiday weather sweeping the country. candidates speak out about the obama m's planning for families that crossed into the area illegally last year. and as donald trump's run for the white house tearing the republican party apart. plus, pope francis tackles the migrant crisis and terrorism in his christmas message and calls for peace. and predicting the future, that's what to the -- we're going to talk about that. and we begin this hour in

alabama where many birmingham residents are spending this saturday sifting through the damage caused by tornadoes, the twister touched down last evening, destroying several building buildings. rafael miranda has the very latest. >> residents saw the funlt cloud from afar one minute and the next it was at their doorstep. >> take cover, take cover. >> several homes were destroyed. >> tore the whole wall down in the back. >> some had to be rescued from underneath in the reck cadge. >> instead of sitting at christmas dinner, people found themselves hopelessly searching for anything that could be saved. >> come on. >> 10,000 customers lost power as if that wasn't bad enough, residents throughout the state have been dealing with more than a half foot of driving rain, and

damaged homes. the first responders attaching ropes to them to pull them out of the raging floodwaters. even birmingham's mai your came out to help them direct traffic friday night. the same twister was spotted southeast of birmingham in vangsz and tus cloos can where it spawned more damage. a deadly outbreak of twisters i in:tennessee and alabama. >> we're trying to go through the mangled mess of trees and it's just disaster. >> reporter: a disaster this week for people who lost all that they owned. >> what's really important is your family, your friends, and just having a gift of life. >> last night's tornado was part of a very strange week of weather throughout the entire country. a week that saw some record high temperatures through much of the northeast including right here

in new york city. i think you had a front row seat to perhaps the warmest winter on report for us here, is that right? >> reporter: it really has been a strange, strange week here in new york with these temperatures, today we're not going to see a record, but yesterday on christmas we did. today it's still pretty warm out here, 53 degrees, so it feels a lot more like spring, seeing a lot of shorts and t-shirts jogging by, as we just saw there are parts of the country that did see some really rough weather over christmas, but new york definitely not one of them. forget the figgy pudding, it was all about ice cream in new york. what's christmas normally like, the weather? >> white. >> reporter: white? how about this year? >> sweaty. >> reporter: ice cream trucks doing summer like business as temperatures soared to a record 66 degrees.

best christmas ever? >> best christmas ever. >> new york christmas, never think this. >> reporter: and in this bizarre world, buffalo where there would normally be feet of snow, instead saw a lake day, complete with jet skis and sub what diving, near christmas island, christmas was a perfect day to hit the lakes. record highs were shattered for a second day. >> it's amazing, we spend half of our christmases in florida so it's kind of like being in florida. >> but there was no celebrating at eastern ski areas where no snow meant no business. there was also not much holiday joy for fedex, the shipping giant skewered on social media when packages weren't under the tree in time. i don't think irate is a strong enough word right now. thanks for ruining a 12-year-old's christmas. fedex employees volunteered to work on christmas after heavier

than planned volumes and severe weather outbreaks. people here in new york saying they'll take this as a gift, it may turn cold eventually. if the forecast holds, we could see record highs again tomorrow. and then they're expecting that be we're not going to dip ebelow freezing before the new year, that would be the first time ever since they started keeping records in december that we would not see a 32 degree or below day. >> i'm running out of excuses of why i'm not going out and joggi jogging, i used to say it's because of the cold weather, but i can't use that excuse anymore. we want to turn to msnbc meteorologist bonnie schnieder. >> brace yourself because we are looking at a really big dynamic pattern that will bring flooding from the midwest down to dallas.

look at all the range, we already have a completely saturated ground. so we're looking at very heavy rain, at least six inches possible for monday in st. louis. that's not it. we are also tracking a major winter storm. this is going to be a monumental blizzard for eastern new mexico and west texas. with that said, a blizzard warning will take effect tonight and go all the way through sunday. amarillo, cllubbock, the nation weather service the saying it's a once in 30-year event. the windchill will also be dangerously cold there. not a blizzard in minneapolis, but heavy snow if you're going to be traveling and driving in the upper midwest and into the plains states, we have snow for wisconsin as well. really cold temperatures, 17 in denver. all the record warmth remains to the east. eventually we are going to see some colder weather here. what we're looking for the rest

of the weekend are still some record high temperatures, but it really won't last because this is eventually all sliding to the east. and by monday, we're going to see temperatures much colder, relative to where we are right no in boston and new york. we're getting ready for the first significant snowfall of the season into new england. turning now to a growing political storm here in the united states and the plans that federal authorities announced on christmas eve to deport hundreds of undocumented families. border authorities are reporting a new surge of indocumented children trying to gain entry into the united states. tens of thousands of minors traveling alone across the u.s. border from mexico. now they're hoping to send some of those earlier arriving families home with a really big catch.

they have to find them first. authorities they're planning a e-many of those families failed to appear in court and were ordered deported. senator bernie sanders and governor martin o'malley have condemned the raids and the democratic front under has, quote, real concerns. sanders saying our nation has always been a beacon of hope, a refuge for the oppressed. we cannot turn back who we are as a nation. we need to take steps to protect children and families seeking refuge here not cast them out. caesar vargas is co-director of the dream action coalition. you know, a lot of discussion about these raids and i think it boils down to a question of, are these raids purely a optical or pr event driven by the government, or do they have a legitimate value? i mean we're talking about millions of people, but the

raids really, what kind of serious impact can they have on this crisis that we're seeing in the united states? >> you know, it's just one thing to hear the republican party talk about that they are against comprehensive immigration reform and the likes of donald trump who wants to pretty much create a massive deportation force, but as senator better thrnie sander said that it's troubling to hear that the obama m plans massive raids to locate, detain and deport families. these families are refugees escaping some of the most dangerous countries in the world. the reality is that senator sanders has said that he's committed to keeping families together. and we can not be a nation that gives life to donald trump's poisonous words of deportation.

we cannot tell children that they are going to be sent back. we can many not be this nation, we are a nation that seeks to provide refuge to those seeking refuge. >> how are you going to even practically speaking, is it even possible to round up to the many people they're anticipating trying to round up? >> the reality is that under president obama we had only 2 million deportation and just the fact that we're talking about deportations and raids, these are scaring feels apart. just to hear that police can come in the middle of the night, and take away my family or take away myself. this is not what we want in the holiday season. we want families to be together. not separated. >> do you know if these raids or the threats of these raids by the administration now, do you think they will have an impact on deterring other folks from coming into the united states if people see that they are rounding up individuals that are entering and being sent back, that it could slow down that

pace of immigration? >> we have two, we have the pull factors and the push factors, to the reality is that we have many of these children and families who many of them coming by themselveses are escaping some of the most dangerous countries in the world. these are children who are literally escaping, making the decision between either being killed or being raped and taking a risk to cross the border, probably risking their own lives. but for these children, they're not thinking about the american policy, of the administration, they're just thinking about 3w5ir9 lives, they're thinking about toys, they're thinking about santa, they're not thinking about being detained in the middle of the night. this is what senator sanders has said that he's comitted not only a path to citizenship for immigrants but to make sure that we are keeping and providing refuge to those people who are coming to our country seeking protection. >> why the sudden surge in terms of forecast who are coming into the united states rooigight now?

is thatting there overseas that's driving this kind of push factor? >> like in central america, honduras, guatemala and el salvad salvador, they some of the highest rates of murders, when gang violence is terrorizing communities, the government cannot control them. mothers are sending their daughters, their children to cross the u.s. alone at times and i met just a young girl, sonya, from el salvador who pretty much crosseded the border without shoes because she was escaping violence. this is something where we have to see that these people are not just coming here, these are people that are refugees and we have an international on situation to protect them. up next the fight for the republican party, how the 2016 campaign is revealing a widening divide. me out today to run the race for retirement. so we asked them... are you completely prepared for retirement?

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at the end of a week in which donald trump criticized a frongtd under using to the yiddish word for a particular male body part. the fifth-time they have lost the popular vote in the past six cycles. in part the gop concluded it's message was weak and that all members of the party needed to, quote, smartly persuade voters that republicans are not narrow minded and out of touch. that the party was increasingly marginalizining itself, quoting further from the report, we have become expert in how to provide ideological support to like minded people.

but devastatingly, we have lost the ability to be persuasive or welcoming those who do not agree with us on every issue. fast forward to the eve of the 2016 election, donald trump and republican leaders are openly in conflict. and republicans in congress spent just as much time fighting with each other as they do fighting with the democratic opposition. in a new article for the atlantic former george w. bush speechwriter david frumm writes, about the great republican revolt and he argues that the party's internal divide has as much to do with the gop losing touch as much as it does with the tea eparty and the conservative base. white middle americans are expressing distrust of every level of american society, not just the government, but unions, corporations. and when donald trump came along, they were the people who told the pollsters, that's my guy. let's bring in our panel.

reverend joe watson and david goodfriend, tow for joining us once again. you were mentioning last hour, donald trump has sea legs, he is really in this race, but at the same time, not exactly the same kind of ground operation we have seen from some other candidates, so are we in for some more changes in 2016? >> i think the race is still pretty fluid, right now in iowa, ted cruz is leading and he has a very, very strong ground operation, that's going to help him a great deal in iowa. we don't know who else milgtd surface in iowa because of a strong grouchbd game. chris christie is number two in new hampshire. he's not doing as well maybe in iowa, but in new hampshire he's doing very well. jeb bush may surface and do a good job in new hampshire. donald trump still leads the polls there, but whether or not the ground game is consistent with the polling will be anybody's guess. so expect some twists and some

turns, and some changes, the race is still fluid, it's not nearly over yet. >> and david you brought up a good point in that the key in getting out new voters and getting out voters just to come into the ballots, that's going to be very important, in the case of donald trump and others, are people driven by anger to vote in the polls? >> certainly some are. but getting back to the atlantic article, i think we have to go back to 1964 really to understand to the contemporary conservative movement. that's when bare goldwater lost to president johnson. we need to fund a conservative movement. and they were very successful on the messaging side. op-eds everywhere. they had fallen short from years ago. an actual voter to go to polls, the actual activist. the tea party was the foot soldiers. what we see now is this rift between even the koch brothers

who would reform judicial reform. and the food soldiers of the angry hard right conservative movement. there is a rift there. and those funders have kind of lost control. what's the result? donald trump, donald trump is the embodiment of that, he certainly is the embodyments of the strife in the republican party. but he's bigger than donald trump. it really goes to kwhornt the corporate moneyed interests that we have all seen funding this stuff and the grass roots passionate angry voters. that's really important that's a big development. >> if we're seeing this republican revolt, are we seeing, or can you envision a way that within this year we see the emergence of a new party or perhaps the end of the republican party? are there scenarios that are unfolding that could lead to the end of the republican party. >> we could see a market correction, as you might say in business. there's going to be some necessary change, in order for the party to be viable in

national elections, in order to win the white house again, that's what that report that which heard about a few months ago is about. we have got to be a bigger ten. if we're not welcoming the people who are not currently in the party, if the party isn't currently changing what america looks like. >> is it getting smaller from where you sit? >> right now we have some challenging pore the 2016 presidential cycle in terms of enlarging the tent. but going forward, the big question becomes where do we go from here in 12016 in terms of a party. in order for the party to survive internationally, it's got to welcome women, people of color, it's got to welcome people from the lgbt community. it's got to go to folks who -- >> i've got to give you republicans some credit. let's not forget, there are more republicans in office today than

at any time since 1920. >> we do well in state elections, we do well in the house and the senate , but we want to win the white house. >> gentlemen, thank you both for spending you're saturday morning with us, we appreciate your insights over the past 90 minutes. what pope francis's message will be for 2016. want bladder leak underwear that moves like you do?

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white fiat. we are joined now by katherine comings, professor of the university of notre dame. thank you for joining us. i have heard of 2015 being dubbed at the year of pope francis. he certainly had an impact on not just spirituality, but also u.s.-cuba relations. >> not just the trip here to is united states, which of course we paid so much attention to, but it was one of the five foreign trips he took outside of italy. so he's had a busy year. >> what would you say going forward, is the messaging going to be for pope francis, what are the themes that he's going to continues to, i guess, driver wherever he goes around the world in 2016? >> the overriding theme will be mercy. it's the extraordinary jubilee year of mercy, pope francis has prefaced that with some of these

actions she did in 2015, and that is going to be the theme for 2016. >> he certainly may not have shown it, but it's been a difficult year as well for the church. there's always still the questions of allegations and sexual misconduct monk the clergy, but also allegations of financial mismanagement within the church. what has hoe done on those two fronts and what messaging do you think he'll continue to have going forward. >> i think it will be a consistent message, that he reiterated last week, that the church is always in need leform. and any of these problems that have already surfaced and any new ones will be met with clarity, determine and firm resolve. he doesn't seem to be afraid of those problems and he's willing to deal with them head on. but there's no question they have complicated 2015 and will certainly add layers of complication to 2016. >> he's gained popularity in the past year, but where do you

think the church and in particular this messaging has fallen short so far? what areas do you think he has not touched on. >> there's the issue of women in the church and people have wanted to hear more from the pope about that, and that may surface in 2016. i think that's one of the questions and how he reacts some of the internal questions among vatican insiders, how he greets that, how he resolves that, how he faces that. he's a pope that doesn't seem to be afraid of conflict and he says all positions are on to the table, but he's also not afraid to call people to accountability as he did in his christmas message and as he's been doing all along throughout hiss papacy. sometimes there's a question of what exactly he means, particularly in those moments where he speaks off the kursz every cuff. he's a pope full of surprises. >> thank you very much for that

and happy holidays to you. >> thank you. 15 years ago, the c cia prae predicted what the world would be like in 2016, how much of that did they get right? we'll see right after this. have some degree of erectile dysfunction. well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension. your blood pressure could drop to an unsafe level. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. ask your doctor about viagra. available in single packs.

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back in 2004, the cia produced a report about what things would be like in 2015. what to the cia got right and wrong is former cia officer matt zeller. chronnal kls his experience serving as an embedded adviser. >> matt, let's start off with some of the things the cia did get right. i'm going to try to make my way through some offense these. the digital and mobile decking to will transform the world as we know it. the technology not only led to making our lives easier, but it

also had a political consequence in the middle east with the arab spring. absolutely, there's no way america ---overthrowing governments causing mass movements of social awareness, thanks to the advents of such platforms as facebook, twitter and such app as whatsapp and isis's propaganda. the isis media has been thoroughly disruptive across the world, in terms of transforming movements and governments and even commerce. >> on the commerce side, we have seen our own vulnerabilities with hacking of corporations, data theft is a big issue now, that has been very common place and almost prevalent to see cyber warfare between nations as well. >> at this point it's a cost of doing business. which is fascinating because 15 years ago, how many people were

actually using e-mail around the world as a regular part of their lives, now you've got billions of people on facebook. i myself have actually had my personal information stolen in a hack. it's something as we go forward, we're going do see as a regular cost of doing business. >> let's talk about what the cia got half right. in 2000, the cia rightly predebited a biotech boom, where people would there are other predictions that kind of fell short in this particular area, artificially grown replacement organs, not common place, and the superrich trying to come up with a way to try and live longer. they also predicted that terrorists would try to engine near new diseases. >> the skin is not quite there yet, i think that's probably something for the next 15 years, be prepared to hear,s?

called biomomet aches. a chameleon will transform its skin to reflect what a colored object is. imagine if you can have that in your clothing, imagine with the download of an pp change to the color that you're using, that's bionomet aches. >> let's talk about some of the things that particularly with the issue of foreign policy, and this is one of the things that struck me the most. back in 2000, the cia predicted that russia would remain weak, but instead we see today putin who has a web of influence across europe and asia, we have seen him exert influence over the ukraine, certainly now in syria and one can say that

russia has emerged back on the international scene with a certain degree of power, no? >> the russians are a f fascinating country right now, they have certainly figured out u.s. poer abroad. there's a question, is the russian military there all the time? are they giving tacit supports, is it active support? hybrid warfare that awatched the invasion of iraq in 1991 and subsequently in 2003 realized that perhaps the future of warfare is not armies versus armies, but what you see playing out in you can crane and what they tried to do the in georgia in twaigts. 2008. the exception there is that russia is still a heavily dependent country on its energy sector. and there's a fascinating argument to be made that if europe would simply stop buying russian gas and oil, they probably wouldn't have the

economic mean toss support that type of warfare, particularly in sere where. >> let's talk about one of the failed predictions from the cia back in 2000, that north and south korea have never unified, there's never been a peace deal to create a palestinian state alongside israel. in your opinion, have either of these opinions improved since the cia put together this assessment back in 2007? certainly not on the ground, but maybe behind the scenes, are you seeing or hearing things different than maybe we see out here? >> i think you see with israel and palestine, unfortunately a tragic continuation of the status quo. in korea, it's fas naturing that north korea is the only dine that issic -- kim jong-il would have died as early as he did and certainly would never have predicted his youngest and least known son to assent to the power s of north korea.

that in itself is an exercise in futility. >> former cia officer, we're going to have to leaf it at that. thank you very much. up next, are the u.s. and other western countries doing enough to help refugees from syria and northern africa? (politely) wait, wait, wait! you can't put it in like that,

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and two people drowned and 12 were injured after trying to swim from a small piece of spanish territory in south africa. the united nations now estimates that over 1 million refugees enter the european union this year. nearly 50% are said to be syrians fleeing their war torn country. earlier this year, we saw heard breaking images of a drowned syrian boy washed ashore on a turkish beach. yesterday his father delivered a message on the uk ground. joining me now to discuss this is christi delafield,

communications officer. thank you for joining us this holiday weekend. that father's message was broadcast all over europe and certainly online. do you think the united nations is doing enough from you sit about this crisis? >> it's certainly a heart breaking thing to hear what that father was saying, we're in a terrible strait right now, there are more than 60 million people who have been forced to three their homes. this is the largest refugee crisis since world war ii, the humanitarian community is overwhelmed and woefully under funded. the bottom line is, syrians are worse off today than they were a year ago. and that is whether they are living as a refugee in a neighboring country or whether they're inside syria, our teams increase have seen no end to the large numbers of refugees making this terrible journey and it

really is because they are fleeing violence, they're seeking a better life. >> let's talk a little bit about some of the issues on the ground and certainly your organization has expanded it's aid operations to greece and the balkans to serve these refugees. what are you hearing from your people on the ground in terms of what needs to change to help these people more and more? is it just a matter of resources, is it political will what is it? >> it's a little bit of both. our team inside syria and it's one of the largest operations where we're helping up to 500,000 people every month with hot meals, clean water, we have seen intensification in the last month or so of air strikes, of fighting and that's led to fresh waves of displacement. we have seen families telling us for the first time this year that we're their only source of food and that's really terrifying. >> and what about those who are trying to make their way to

europe? i mean what needs to change to give a different dynamic, a different reality for these foe folks. >> we are still seeing numbers flowing into europe and that has continuesed. essentially what we're looking at is a system that's under funded. and that's why private donations are so important right now. it's really easy to go online, you can give through mercycorps.org. you can also call members of congress, call your members of congress, call the administration, the peace process is scheduled to get started again at the end of january with another round of geneva talks and we are really hopeful that we can see some movement there. because that is what is really needed is a solution to this cree s crisis, we know that the syrian cia sis is the main driver behind these waves of displacement. >> christy of mercycorps, thank

you to you and everyone who's working on the ground. we somewhere an inside look at the ringleader of the paris attacks who first made a move for himself by documenting his rain of brutality inside syria. could those pictures he took reveal important clues about future isis attackers? >> reporter: this a virtual diary of terror. photos and videos belonging to abdelhamid abbuy abwood. >> they offer a rare inside glimpse into the life of a terrorist. >> the material is extremely interesting and it gives us an insight about what life is about in the lands of isis. >> the photos and videos which first surfaced in 2014 show him

joking and posing like any other 20-something. >> the fact that he's doing selfies and videos is the ultimate glorification. >> sierrian prodemocracy activists secretly got their hands on his tomorrow. one who called himself ali appeared on camera concealed. >> it made you say, wait a minute, i have even this guy before? >> one of the videos shows a group of syrians gunned down in a house. recent reports say that isis terrorists are now targeting baby's with down syndrome. >> it's very obvious that he could never have carried any kind of weapons against them.

>> he was able to commit atrocities, honey his combat skills and plan terror attacks unscathed. he's seen wearing a go pro camera to document his reign of terror. he was able to travel in and out of sierraa several times exploiting syria's porous boarders. >> how come he was not arrested? he was not identified, this of course leads to the big failures of intelligence. >> reporter: those intelligence female yours are there for all to see in the video clips. his associates a s ars are seen to recruit for isis. . >> some of these same imimagines from his phone were shown on television in europe some 10 months before the paris attacks and authorities were still unable to catch him. >> the fact that his face was in public view all over europe and

he was still able to move is just incredible. >> incredible, that the failure to catch this avowed terrorist before he struck seems like history repeating itself. experts now say it's another wakeup call for the united states. >> we had several individuals that we were looking for before 9/11. that were hiding in plain sight and we missed them. we could never where saying that what happened in europe wiabbao could happen here. >> those states that have western or american passports can travel, fight in syria, then come back, slip under the radar as abbaoud did while they were planning their attacks.

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the force has awoken. the new movie continues to shatter records. "star wars: the force awakens"

earning at least $40 million yesterday from christmas day moviegoers alone. easily surpassing the record set by "sherlock holmes" in '09. if you're looking to use this long holiday weekend to catch up on all your favorite television series that you've been meaning to, the huge volume of shows to choose from could prove overwhelming. here to help us narrow down the choices is "pace magazine's" josh jackson. thank you for injoing us. >> thanks for having me. >> i personally just binge watched "narcos" which i was totally addicted to. perhaps not the right word. which series should we be watching? >> i really love "jessica jones" and "marvels 2" shows have been much darker than their counterparts on abc but they're both superb and they both have wonderfully charismatic villains.

plus, it's just great to see jessica jones, refreshing twist. >> amazon has also made some waves with their own original programming with shows such as "transparent" and "the man in the high castle." are they joining some traction? >> yeah, they're a little later to the party than netflix. netflix got really off to a quick start with shows like "orange is the new black. kwth both of those shows, "man in the high castle" and "transparent" have been buzzy shows. with "transparent," it's not just a groundbreaking show but it's a really entertaining one. season two just hit amazon. >> looking ahead to 2016, what shows out there are kind of generating some early buzz that you think we should all be looking out for? >> well, shows are coming from every corner of the internet. every cable channel that you wouldn't normally expect. and so you see places like tbs with "angie tribeca" which looks very funny.

even tvland has a sitcom coming called "teachers" that looks very, very funny. right now on sci-fi, one of the biggest budgets ever for a show on cable is "the expanse" which is just a great gritty futuristic sci-fi show. >> what have you been binge watching? i always like to ask the experts. >> well, i'm planning on spending most of this coming weekend catching up on season two of "fargo." i loved the first season. everybody be in our office has just been talking about how wonderful a show that is. if you like your thrillers with a lot of dark comedy, that's what i'd recommend. >> all right, josh jackson, we have to leave it at that. lots to get to. certainly encourage people to open that netflix account or amazon or whatever streaming services there are out there. that does it for me this hour on msnbc live. thank you for spend being your saturday morning with us. kristen welker is next. she'll have a lot on the latest, particularly about the severe weather stretching across the south.

plus, that fast-moving wildfire in southern california, mandatory evacuations are now under way near ventura. stay with us.

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he says it's personal this time... if you're a mom, you call at the worst time. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. where are you? it's very loud there. are you taking a zumba class? good morning, everyone, hope you had a great holiday. i'm kristen welker in new york. melissa harris perry is back next week. ventura county california firefighters are fighting a brushfire about 25 miles south of santa barbara. residents and campers in the area are under a mandatory evacuation order and officials have closed freeway 101 as they try to get that fire under control. federal authorities are investigating a fire in a mosque in southwest houston, texas friday afternoon. the council on american islamic relations has called for a hate

crime investigation. noting the uptick of crimes against muslims. no one hurt in that fire fortunately. yesterday, for the first time in more than a decade, the head of state of india visited the neighboring country of pakistan. indian prime minister modi made the surprise visit to his pakistani counterpart sharif yesterday on his way back from a trip to afghanistan. the two shared a meal and spoke for about 90 minutes. it's a significant meeting after 60 years of hostility between the two nuclear armed nations. now, let's get you more on the fires in california. blake, what is the very latest, how many homes are being threatened? >> 30 homes being threatened. 500 firefighters have been called in the middle of the night to battle this blaze. these early hours are critical for firefighters. because if they can contain the blaze now, obviously, it prevents it from spreading. this fire did break out

overnight in the ventura county area. the solomar beach neighborhood, we're told, has been evacuated, as well as nearby campgrounds. it's been a relatively quiet month here in california. two months really. we haven't had much fire activity. but the conditions are extremely dry with the drought conditions we've seen here in southern california. and also we have had the santa ana winds which kicked up this time of year. when you combine those dry conditions and those windy conditions, you can see that firefighters have their work cut out for them this morning. they're getting help from l.a. county and san bernardino county. trying to put all they can into this fire before it spreads out of control. kristen, since this has been burning overnight, we are still waiting on containment figures. firefighters say it is zero percent contained. >> blake, thank you for that reporting. another big story this morning, the wild weather across much of the country from

unseasonably warm temperatures along the east coast to severe storms in parts of the south. in birmingham, alabama, take a look. a christmas day tornado cut a path of destruction across two square miles, leaving downed trees and damaged homes. as of last night, 10,000 people were without electricity. heavy rains also caused severe flooding in parts birmingham. emergency crews conducted at least 24 water rescues last night. alabama's governor has declared a state of emergency. take a listen. meanwhile, in many northeastern cities, it was the warmest christmas day on record. in new york, the temperature reached 66 degrees. nearly 30 degrees higher than normal for this time of year. and there's some severe weather in the forecast for other parts of the country as well. for a look at what else we could be facing this holiday weekend, let's get right to msnbc meteorologist bonnie schneider. it has been a bizarre holiday weekend so far. here in the east coast, folks not even wearing their coats. >> no, unfortunately, that's

really the best part of it, because looking at the severe threat we have today, it is wide spread and dangerous. we have flooding expected from st. louis all the way down to texas today. look how much rain is in the forecast. we're talking at least 6 inches through monday. so very heavy rain expected. even severe storms in and around the dallas area as we go through the afternoon. if that's not enough, a vigorous historic winter storm is brewing just in eastern new mexico and west texas. the national weather service there saying they haven't seen a storm like this in 30 years. it will be historic. there's a blizzard warning for amarillo, into lubbock, eastern new mexico. the mountains there, we could see snowdrifts up to several feet. it's really incredible when you break down what's happening. sleet and freezing rain to all snow tonight. saturday night and into sunday. snowfall totals at least a foot or higher it and the drifts could be ten feet. imagine how big that is. we'll look at whiteout conditions because of the strong wind, blowing and drifting snow and dangerous windchills.

5 to 10 degrees below zero. travel not advised. the snowfall forecast, another branch of the storm kind of breaking off into the upper midwest. we'll look at substantial snow as well. milwaukee, all looking at snow through the weekend. cold temperatures off to the west with 16 degrees in denver for saturday. still mild and unseasonably warm with 75 in atlanta and in new york city, getting a little bit better in terms of seasonable with temperatures in the 50s. we're still looking at the eastern warmth of those record high temperatures in the forecast for much of the east. keep in mind on sunday all this cold air will be pushing to the east as well. even though we're going to see temperatures shoot right back up in new york, into washington, 60s and 70s, it will get colder. not really in terms of freezing weather, but we are going to see temperatures drop by 20 degrees, sunday to monday in cities like boston and new york. and monday night into tuesday, we could be looking at the first

significant snow for new england. this is going to be a very activity weather pattern for much of the u.s. for at least the next four days. kristen. >> incredible it's coming this late in the year. all right, bonnie schneider, thank you. according to aaa, more than 100 million people are traveling during the holiday period between christmas and new year's. most of the travelers are hitting the road thanks in part to low gas prices across the country. the average cost of a gallon is less than $2, the lowest its been in nine years. at the airport, expect company on your return trip. nearly 6 million people are flying over the holidays. that's a slight increase over last year. of course, no matter how much you plan, there's always a chance that something could disrupt your travel plan. so how do you handle all those last-minute travel snags? well, here to help us break it all down, i'm joined by the news director for "travel and leisure magazine." let's start with the biggest concern on traveler's minds, delays, flight cancellations.

how much should travelers brace themselves and be prepared? >> right, well, first i should say that even if you think there's going to be a delay, it's really important to get to the airport early this season. do as i say, not as i do. and that means -- >> you don't get to the airport early? >> i'm the worst offender, it's really bad. if you have kids, this is something we do in our house because it can be very hardtop get out of the door on time. designate a timekeeper to make sure you're running smoothly. get there early, at least two hours for domestic flights, but be ready for delays. and that means charge up your phones. have some snacks. let the kids run around a little bit. because there's a good chance it will happen. >> great piece of advice. let me pick up on that point. let's say something goes wrong. you're cldelayed because of the kids. what recourse do travelers have? >> the airlines have sort of an unofficial rule called the flat

tire rule. because they do realize that things happen. people get flat tires, they get stuck in traffic, they miss their flights. what that allows most airlines to do is put you standby on a later flight without charging you a fee. which is a nice benefit. now, here's what you have to know. airlines have different rules. some of them ask that you call at least ten minutes before the flight is due to leave and let them know this is happening. most of them require you to go to the airport anyway because they want to know you're not just deciding, oh, you don't feel like taking your early flight. you have to go to the airport anyway and be there within two hours of when your flight was scheduled to depart. now, here's the other trick. since it's going to be such a crazy weekend for travel, flying standby is still going to be kind of a tight squeeze. >> would you advise against that? >> i would definitely advise against it if you can help it. things definitely happen. >> let's talk about one other scenario. flights get overbooked. >> lyes, they do.

>> what is the airline's responsibility to make sure you find a seat on another flight? >> the airline does have a responsibility and it's mandated by the federal government. so let's say you get bumped involuntarily from a flight. you don't want to get off. you're not one of the people who raises their hand for a voucher. if you get to your destination within one hour of when you were supposed to, you're not due anything. however, if you get there between 1 and 2 hours after you were supposed to land, you are entitled to 200% of your one-way fare. >> 200%, okay. 200% of your one-way fare. and you get that as a check. you don't have to take a voucher for that. >> very quickly, because gas prices are so low, you see a lot of people hitting the roads. what's the best time to travel? >> decide what time you want to travel and then throw that away. go much earlier or much later.

earlier in the mornings, late in the evenings. >> fantastic advice, thank you for being here. turning now to the issue of immigration, the obama administration reportedly is planning immigration raids throughout the country with the goal of immediately deporting hundreds of families who have fled violence in central america by crossing illegally into the united states. even as families and accompanied children continue to surge over the border. according to the department of homeland security, 23,000 parents and children were caught at the border during october and november of this year. more than double the number that crossed during this same period last year. joining me from los angeles is attorney and co-host of "changing america" on shift by msnbc. he's also a contributor for nbcnews.com. thank you for joining me. first, i just want to get your

reaction to this news. it has a lot of people upset. it has a lot of people talking. >> first of all, because it came on christmas eve, so obviously the optics really look terrible. secondly, it comes at a time where the u.s. government, the obama administration, is pressuring the european union to accept more syrian refugees fleeing persecution. while this sends a message that we don't want to do the same thing for some refugees in our own backyard. this notion of rounding up people and sending them home, that's the type of rhetoric that we tend to associate, at least for right now with donald trump and selveral of his gop candidates. i did want to be clear on one point from the obama administration where they discuss a great number of people being apprehended at the border. these were not people attempting to sneak into the country. they were coming to the border, a great majority of them, and presenting themselves to border patrol authorities, to officers, because they want to apply for

asylum and retfugee status. these are people, unlike the great majority of undocumented immigrants from mexico looking to work, these are people literally fleeing for their lives. they're coming from honduras, el salvador, guatemala. ranked among the top five for the world's most dangerous nations. >> let's get some perspective on how this happened. does this have to do with the court order to release families from detention centers? is that why we're seeing a headline about that right now? >> it is in part because of that court order. the u.s. government is no longer allowed to keep these families in detention. absent placing them in detention, the u.s. government does not have a workable plan for processing them in a fair and timely manner. a great majority of these people have been given -- previously been given orders of removal. they have been told to leave the country and they have not. you have to imagine, for these people, they are working through the u.s. legal system, through immigration system, with

language barriers. overwhelming majority of them do not have access to legal representation. they don't have knowledge of the laws or or rights, our treaties, refugees. to then, receiving what in spanish we call -- [ speaking foreign language ] which is just a document, many believe that is permission to stay. so they disregard it. added to the fact they don't know how our system works, and that's why we have people who have apparently disregarded these orders. the big problem is they don't have access to lawyers and they just are unable to access the system. to give you an idea of why this surge of people keeps coming, about a year ago, the united states set up a program in honduras, guatemala. to process people in their own countries. so they wouldn't have to make the dangerous journeys. in the last year, thousands people have applied for this program. the u.s. government has interviewed, personally interviewed 90.

ten have been approved. in one year's time, based on new year's time reporting last year, the number of people admitted to the united states under this program is zero. >> i want to get to the politics of this. you rightfully pointed out. i want to play a sound bite from president obama back in 2014 and then get your reaction on the other side. >> keep focusing enforcement resources on actual threats to our security. but that means felons, not families. that means criminals, not children. it means gang members. not moms who are trying to put food on the table for their kids. >> your reaction, does this complicate things for the democratic candidates? does it give a boost to a candidate like donald trump who's taking responsibility for this? >> well, so far, the democratic candidates have really expressed deep concerns over the obama administration's plans. i know that hillary clinton, martin o'malley, bernie sanders, have all released statements

saying they're troubled by it. deeply concerned. they want to know more about it. seems like the president's talking points do not match up with what the administration is trying to do. it does give credence to donald trump. that the way to solve our immigration problems is simply to deport people. but that's where we are politically right now. the fact is, this immigration advocates and retchy advocates have been really shocked by this announcement because it really caught them by surprise. people who deserve some type of protection, and that is not holding to what values -- if we were going to deport them. the only bit of good news is this plan is not final. it can be even reversed on his order. >> all right, thank you for that insight. still to come at this hour, who's up and who's down as one of the most unpredictable

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an entire season of deals certainly took shape this holiday season and it's not over yet. holiday shoppers plan to hit stores today and not just to return that unwanted ugly sweater. a new study says the day after christmas will outrank black friday and cyber monday in shopping activity. it was clicks over cashiers this year as online sales soared so much that fedex struggled to make timely deliveries. the national retail federation expects sales to increase 3%. that's a significa niegative

significant hike. so let me just start with this question. is black friday over? are we really seeing new trends? >> it's really not black friday. it's not even black friday weekend. it's actually black november. it's the entire month. >> good way to put it. well, let's just look at these shopping trends. 2015 compared to 2014. we're actually seeing an increase. look at this. 66% expected to shop today compared to 64% last year. >> when you look at what's going on, we have to keep in mind two things. this year was not a good year for hot items. consumers were hard pressed to figure out what to get. the things that were hot were the same items as last year. that means procrastination kicked in, gift cards kicked in, and gift cards means after

holiday sales as well as the weather being crazy all across the country. that drove a lot of extra sales going on post holiday as well. consumers are all about value. >> we're seeing a little bit of war between online shopping and folks who do it the old fashion the way and go to the mall or the stores. who's winning? online shopping's not new but there does seem to be an uptick this year. >> online really won this year. they will be the number one channel shop. for the first time, online will beat any of the other big channels that really consumers reach to. consumers took advantage of it because the deals were everyday, all day long. >> what are some of the hottest items this year? >> big screen tvs. i don't know how many walls consumers have to put these big tvs on but they keep finding reasons to upgrade. and then we also saw the resurgence of barbie. we saw anything star wars, you know, even the droid hover craft

video cameras attached to those. but things like the fitness bands also and headphones were another big hot item. items from last year that carried over into this year. >> what do these trends that you're talking about say about the overall consumer spending and where it's going into next year? >> the good news is the consumer's willing to spend. they just have to be motivated. this year, the motivation is price. so price becomes the driver or the lure. so the consumer, if you give them a good deal, they're going to come and take advantage of it. >> are people taking advantage of their mobile phones? >> the convenience of being able to buy over the phone and being able to compare prices and being reactive rather than proactive. if you look at your phone, you've got probably 10 to 20 to 30 different offers. giving you good deals. so consumers are just pushing a button on the phone to take advantage of it. >> what's your best tip for

2016? >> by in season. consumers are going to be able to take advantage. retailers buy so early. we don't buy that way as consumers. so don't be in a rush to buy something just because the stores put it out early. >> all right, thank you so much. have a great rest of the holiday. up next, donald trump looks to wrap 2015 on a high note but can the gop front-runner keep the momentum going into the new year? recent polls show there may be reason for the billionaire businessman turned politician to worry. the future belongs to the fast.

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leading her nearest rival by 24 points in the real clear politics national polling average. on the republican side, what has become a familiar story, trump leads by double digits. early state polls tell a different story for the republicans. the most recent iowa polls show texas senator ted cruz within the margin of error with trump. he remains well ahead of the pack. but rubio and christie have seen their support growing. in south carolina, the first in the south primary, while trump remains in the lead, ted cruz has also made major inroads. joining me now to break all of this down from washington, d.c. are the senior political responds. thanks to both of you for being here. i want to get you guys to start

on that point, donald trump. we see a tale of two very different polls. the national poll, but then iowa, where he's trailing ted cruz. >> the national polls, while they obviously point to a really good trend for trump, i would be particularly concerned about iowa. those south carolina numbers are probably the source of the greatest concern for him. if cruz wins iowa and we're looking at a very good ground operation for him and evangelical voter base there and the caucuses that really play to his strengths, that could lead to a very big bump in south carolina. if cruz wins, new hampshire's a jump ball, i'd be looking at ted cruz very seriously at the beginning of next year. >> katelyn, do you agree with that assessment? ted cruz has a strong one. there are reports trump has a lot of people on the ground but

they might not be the best people. what do you make of that and how do you assess his strength right now? >> oh, sure. i think ted cruz is pretty much the most organized candidate campaign we've seen so far. if he does have that momentum go, coming out of iowa, if he does, in fact, win that state, new hampshire will be very interesting to watch. you have the establishment lane fractured in new hampshire right now. we saw rubio and christie vying for that second spot. there is a question about whether cruz can have momentum and do well in new hampshire. it's really the southern states where cruz is best organized. from a delegate count perspective position to win. but new hampshire will be interesting too. as a test of trump's strength. i mean, he is leading there. and the establishment, kind of the more moderate republicans, are trying to figure out how to overtake him in that state, which is a must win.

they must do well in that state to kind proceed. >> we're talking about the strength of ted cruz. one thing we haven't seen is cruz go after trump. trump really hasn't gone after cruz that aggressively. does cruz really need to get more aggressive if he wants to win this? >> i don't think so. marco rubio would be the one i would point as somebody who needs to get aggressive. cruz is kind of like the toyota that is drafting behind the semitractor trailer on the interstate. he's try to keep trump from coming after him. i joked that rubio had the small mammal strategy. like one of those small mammals during the dinosaur era that didn't want to get stomped. cruz is so good at staying on trump's positive side that he probably ought to continue doing

what he's doing. >> let's talk about rubio, which glen raises that point. if you look at a general election matchup, he does pretty well against clinton if she were to win the nomination. there are concerns though among rubio supporters he's not campaigning enough in some of these early voting states. what are you hearing about that? he's obviously saying no, hey, look, guys, i am out there, i am shaking hands. >> he's certainly trying to calm concerns. help was in new hampshire and iowa, you know, the days before the holiday. he's going back to iowa on monday for a few days there, trying to make up some ground. but there is a big question about which state he is capable of winning. and if you look at new hampshire, where he is, you know, best positioned i guess out of all the other states, chris christie, you know, figures to give him a run for his money there. he spent really the most time on

the ground in that key early primary state. and so if christie is able to overcome rubio in that state, that raises questions about the future in this primary. >> i don't want to ignore the democrats. hillary clinton obviously has a sizable lead. if you look at new hampshire, bernie sanders leading her there, it gets a lot tighter in iowa what do you anticipate? can sanders pull out a win in one of these early voting states? >> i think the money's on him in new hampshire. i think iowa will be where hillary clinton makes or breaks it. i think a case where commanding national lead really does mean something. she's got a tremendous fire wall after those two states. watch for her to spend a lot more time in iowa. iowa is where it's going to happen for her. >> great conversation about my favorite subject, 2016. thanks so much. really appreciate you joining me. coming up, we will get you an update on all the storms threatening huge regions of the country right after this. stay with us.

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welcome back. parts of the south are still cleaning up from powerful storms this morning. a tornado touched down in birmingham, alabama, christmas night, leaving a path of destruction across two square miles. heavy rain caused severe flooding. emergency crews are rescuing people from submerged cars. severe storms across parts of mississippi, tennessee and arkansas left at least 15 people dead. now, for a look at the latest threatening weather this holiday weekend, let's go to meteorologist bonnie schneider. a lot of folks having to evacuate during this holiday weekend. >> it's just so unfortunate. the timing couldn't be worse. we're looking at a widespread flood threat. we also run the risk of really heavy downpours and severe storms. look how much rain. there's a very high risk of flooding in northwest texas and parts of oklahoma for today. i want to talk about the severe

weather. a slight risk. an enhanced risk of tornadoes possible with heavy rainfall and when we're talking specifically about dallas today, you run the risk of urban flooding. in the streets. low lying and river flooding as well and damaging wents. severe storms on top of the rain. remember in the fall texas just got saturated with rain, so this is not good news. going to the other part of the state. it's amazing one state has so much diverse weather. amarillo, lubbock, under blizzard warning. will actually work its way into the region. we take a look. sleet, freezing rain, changing to all snow tonight. sunday, snow totals could be a foot or more. imagine this, 10 feet or even higher in eastern new mexico. we're looking at the potential for whiteout conditions. at 60 miles per hour. that will create a whiteout situation. this is for eastern new mexico, west texas, including amarillo and lubbock tonight and especially on sunday.

treacherous travel ahead for those heading back home, for christmas, returning from a busy holiday. so dangerous conditions there and cold weather. snow further off to the upper midwest. look for snow into minneapolis, sioux falls, as well as green bay and milwaukee to develop. chicago will get some sleet on sunday night. it's a real wintry mess. further off to the midwest and the west, we're looking at treacherous conditions and dangerous ones as well. watch for not only flooding but right here into central kansas and oklahoma, we're likely to see icing develop. i think that's the worst of all of them because you can't drive on ice. very dangerous. we could see power outages in this region. active weather throughout the day today, tomorrow, and even tuesday. >> important to stay off those roads. thank you for staying on top of all that weather for us. as bonnie just mentioned, obviously, a very different story on the east coast. new york city saw record high temperatures on christmas day.

as unseasonably warm weather took hold in the northeast. nbc's kristin dahlgren is out in new york city. it looks like spring there. what are people saying about all of this? >> they really are loving it. normally on december 26, you might be sledding here in central park. look behind me. you can see today people out here jogging in their shorts and t-shirts. they are really just out here -- they know winter will get here eventually but we have a few more days of this warm weather. today, it's hovering around 52 degrees. the average temperature in central park in april is usually 53 degrees. this really does feel more like a spring-like day. yesterday in new york, we saw record high temperatures. it hit 66 degrees. also saw records up and down the east coast. places like naples, florida, richmond, virginia, raleigh, north carolina, also saw a record high as we went through the day yesterday. so really unseasonably warm

temperatures. tomorrow here in new york, we could hit another high. expected to get back up near 66 degrees. so we could see another record. to put it all in perspective of just how warm this december has been, if the forecast holds out through the end of the year, december will not have had a freezing day. that's the first time that has happened since they began keeping records. >> unbelievable. i have to keep reminding myself that it's actually december. all right, kristin dahlgren, thank you, appreciate it. we want to turn now to some travel. while many of you are return from holiday trips, some of you may be planning a getaway. for some tips on last-minute travel deals, our guest joins us from santa barbara, california. thank you for being here. >> pleasure to be here. >> we know obviously types square, one of the hot tickets this year. what are some of the other places people can still book travel to domestically that will be a fun spot to go to for new

year's? >> tough to beat. p the drop of the big ball there on december 31st in the big apple. i think chicago's going to be a big ticket item. they're premiering chi town rising. this is a party that's meant to bring people out on to the streets. a variety of different 21 and over vip-style parties in downtown chicago, in the waterfront, there's a free family-friendly event there in the afternoon at millennium park. it's become quite the, you know, big high-profile and aed fforda thing to do on new year's eve in chicago. sort of regional rates as well. so that could be a great sort of big city alternative to new york city. if you're looking for hoopla, if you're looking for excitement, las vegas, tough to beat vegas as well. freemont street, the vegas strip, shut down to through

traffic. a destination for new year's eve. a lot of resorts showing their own fireworks show. the trick is the hotel rates on december 31st, it will spike three, four, five times regular rates. on the other side of that hoopla, on january 1st onward, rates will drop 50% to 75%. for people planning to head to these lucrative high-profile destinations, you'll tack a hke on the 31st but if you prolong you stay a couple of nights, that rate will become more affordable. >> any international hot spots you would recommend? >> i think the beauty of it is we're entering 2016 with a very strong dollar against currencies like the canadian luni, against the mexican peso. toronto, vancouver. you'll be able to stretch 25%

more than you were able to a year ago. so all of a sudden these big city parties on the other side of that northern border become affordable. people looking for a last-minute getaway to a mexico destination. you'll be eating and drinking quite well with just a few bucks and joining some pretty festive parties in new mexico. then of course there are some quintessential destinations on other side of the atlantic. for people on the east coast, not impossible to find some last-minute fare breaks on december 31st, on new year's day itself, to maybe travel over to europe. in cities like paris and london become sort of these quint esen chum destinatifendan essential celebrate the new year. >> should you surf online? >> stay connected online. a lot of these last-minute deals will be released to people who engage them on social media so sign up for alerts, follow these

companies on seesocial media. sometimes these sales are very short-lived. if you're connected, you're most likely to hop on some of these deals first. >> fantastic information. thank you so much. up next, we are off to hawaii for a check-in on the first family. still to come this hour, the will smith film "concussion" is now in theaters, but will it change anything for the nfl?

it has become a holiday tradition during the obama family's annual vacation, the salute to the troops and their families in hawaii. first lady joined president obama at the marine base there on christmas day. tack a look. >> we never take for granted what all of you do for the american people. you help keep us free. you help keep us strong. and whatever service you're in,

whatever branch, we are extraordinarily grateful for everything you do every single day. we hope you guys had a wonderful christmas. >> my good friend, nbc's kelly o'donnell, is traveling with the president. she joins us from honolulu. obviously, you don't get a whole lot of sleep as we see there and it's still dark outside. tell us about yesterday's tribute. it was especially poignant, right? >> it really was. to give you an idea of how important it is here in honolulu, it leads the front page of the star adviser. big picture of the president and the first lady. on the inside, some added good news for christmas. after his visit, there was a proposal between two of the service members. so that adds a little of the special nature of this. but of course it was an opportunity first and foremost to say thank you to those in uniform. but also to their friends and their family members and their children. many of whom were able to meet the president. this is a bit of a more informal

gathering then some of the events where the president might appear, as you know so well, kristen, where he does get a chance to mix a bit. he thanked them for their service for the sacrifices, the cost of long deployments on families. mrs. obama pointed out she knows so well there are missed birthdays and soccer games and special events when people do give their time and their lives to serving the country. of course here in hawaii, the military has a very big presence with a number of the branches represented here as part of the pacific command. so it was a fun day for the obamas, as well as those service members. and it has become, as you point out, as much a part their family tradition as stockings and carol singing and opening gifts on christmas day. >> i love that there was a proposal afterwards. let me ask you about another story i know you've been tracking which is a report the department of homeland security is going to crack down on immigration and some of the families here illegally.

what can you tell us about that, what's the latest there? >> we have been following that. although the white house is not really commenting. the department of homeland security tells us they are continuing with a program they called part of their normal operation. getting the word out during this holiday season that for recent border crossers who do not qualify for asylum or other relief to stay in the u.s., that there are a few hundred who will likely be forced to leave the u.s. they've already been through a court process. the word has gone out that their time to leave will come soon. kristen. >> all right, kelly. we're going to check back in with you next hour. great to see you. even though you're far away. see you soon. up next with will smith's new film "concussion" now in theaters. ♪ ♪

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"concussion" the movie was released in theaters. will smith plays the forensic neuro pathologist whose findings of football related brain trauma rocked the league. >> you know what history does to people trained physicians who ignore science. >> oh, wow, stop. >> 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. >> powerful scene there. the christmas release of the oscar hopeful hit theaters the same week the nfl faced its le t

latest incident involving head trauma in the game. odell beckham jr. was upheld on appeal, meaning beckham will not play in sunday night's game against the vikings. the suspension was over violations of the league's safety rules. one of those violations involved a direct helmet to helmet hit. also this week, congress delved deeper into the debate around concussions and america's favorite sport. on tuesday, a congressional committee announced it will be reviewing head injuries in professional football in the new year. the house energy and commerce committee is chaired by fred upton who called this a, quote, matter of public health. joining me now from hartford, connecticut, sports neurologist and associate clinical professor of urology at the university of connecticut. he's also a consultant for the nfl players association. thank you for joining me, doctor, i really appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. >> a lot of developments this past week. also set against the backdrop of this movie.

what do you make of it? what's your takeaway right now? >> well, i think it's raised awareness about concussion itself. and something that's really been an obscurity until recently. and now we have congressional matters and really something that we've always said in the science community is that this is a public health problem. and in order to solve a public health problem like any public health problem you need to educate the people it affects the most. whether it be cholera in haiti or hiv in africa. you have to educate people. so we have to get out and educate athletes, parents and coaches. much like we're trying to do now at the university of connecticut with our programs. so hoping congress will look into more funding to educate people about concussion. especially athletes. you brought up the idea of odell beckham. i mean, that just shouldn't happen anymore, where someone risks their own brain and their own head just to attack another

athlete. >> how does it happen? let me just follow up on that point. do you think it's a lack of information or are the players just overlooking some of these new rules? >> well, i think sports have changed. to now win at all costs. we've lost that camaraderie among players and that brotherhood among players. where the only thing they're thinking about is how i get myself ahead, even if i have to injure the other person permanently or injure myself. so that's an educational process that we're undertaking with the player's association. and hopefully with the cooperation and continued cooperation of the nfl. this movie really signifies a seminal event that occurred with the doctor's work that has really changed the tide and changed the relationship fortunately between the players association and the nfl. >> well, and you're obviously very familiar with dr. omalu's work. was it a blow to the nfl?

how was it received? and to what extent are things changing within the nfl? >> well, you have to understand, kristen, the nfl has denied as recently as 2010. they were publishing papers that said, you know, repeated head injuries were not a danger in the national football league. that's only five years ago. so it really has had to make a change. and that is ongoing. these changes that have come, really have come as part of the collective bargaining agreement of 2011. when the players association felt safety was most important. so it was a hard negotiation by people like dee smith who heads the players association to really promote things like restricted amount of time with full contact in practice. things like having an unaffiliated neuro trauma specialist on the sideline for every game. so those are hard fought battles, but gradually, the nfl has become somewhat more receptive to making the game

safer. >> all right, dr. anthony alessi in hartford, connecticut, thank you for breaking that down for us, we really appreciate it. countdown to the caucuses. just about to enter the final sprint to the first in the nation presidential voting. will it be the turtle or the hare? charmin ultra mega roll equals mega value.

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good morning, everyone. i'm kristen welker in new york. this is msnbc live. melissa harris perry is back next week. the top stories we're following. more than 500 firefighters are battling a 1,000 acre brushfire this morning in ventura county. nearby residents are under a mandatory evacuation order. federal authorities are investigating a fire at a mosque in southwest houston texas friday afternoon. fortunately, no one was hurt there. yesterday, indian prime minister mohdi made a surprise visit to his pakistani counterpart sharif. the first time an indian head of state has visited neighboring

pakistan in more than ten years. for more on that brushfire out in southern california, nbc's blake mccoy is in los angeles. so what's the very latest? i know it's a fast-moving blaze out there, blake. >> the fire has been upgraded to 1,100 acres. that is according to the fire department. that is working to put these flames out. the flames broke out overnight. firefighters initially used infrared or night vision goggles to get a fire on where this fire was, where it was potentially spreading to. they've been attacking it overnight by dropping water on the flames. good news for firefighters here in los angeles this morning is the sun is starting to come up. as you can see from the picture there, it is helping firefighters get a handle on where exactly this blaze is spreading to. 30 homes being threatened right now. mandatory evacuation in effect for those 30 homes. an area called solomar beach, along the scenic pacific coast highway south of santa barbara.

these 30 homes are essentially a strip of beach homes surrounded by national parkland. so it's the national parkland that's burning. firefighters working to keep those flames away from the beach homes and keep those families belongings intact, kristen. >> all right, blake mccoy, we appreciate it. now to the other big story we've been following all morning long, this dangerous weather in parts of the south. birmingham alabama is cleaning up after a powerful tornado touched down christmas day. the twister damaged homes and uprooted trees across two square miles. heavy rain and flooding created dangerous road conditions. emergency crews were called out to rescue people from submerged cars. alabama's governor has declared a state of emergency. earlier this week, storms pounded parts of mississippi, tennessee and arkansas, leaving at least 15 people dead. for a look at what threats remain, let's go right to meteorologist bonnie schneider. what is the very latest of this

really dangerous weather? >> absolutely, what's interesting is multifaceted, flooding, severe storms, a blizzard. this is where we're looking at drenching rain. a very dangerous flood threat. st. louis, 5 to 7 inches of rain in the forecast through monday. the national weather service there has used very strong language so residents can be prepared. very serious flooding event. they say life threatening flooding is likely not just for st. louis but for the surrounding area. we're looking at flood risk for a good portion of oklahoma and arkansas as well. this indicates where we can see severe weather in terms of the potential for tornadoes, damaging winds, hail and with those heavy downpours we're running a risk in dallas for flooding. remember last fall dallas had a tremendous amount of rain. the ground is still stat raatur. you may know if you live in a flood zone, river flooding is possible. a dangerous day for a good

portion of northwest texas. also eastern oklahoma. even tulsa itself still runs the risk of storms. please stay alert and have that weather radio turned on. we're still talking about texas. now the other part of the state, the west part of the state, amarillo, lubbock, eastern nebraska. a very dangerous situation emerging tonight and into sunday. a blizzard warning in effect. this is going to be an historic storm. in fact, looking also again, what we're expecting, this is going to be a once in a 30-year event according to the national weather service out there in eastern new mexico. we're expecting sleet, freezing rain, and that will change over all tonight into all snow. snow totals we'll be measuring by the foot in many locations. the snowdrifts, because the winds are so fierce, they'll move that snow and pile it high. we could see snowdrifts up to ten feet. hard to imagine but that's what we're expecting here. da

dangerous wind chills. treacherous time to be traveling. also if you're driving across minneapolis and green bay, you're going to face snow. substantial. we're looking at 6 to 8 inches in some areas into central and northern minnesota. also into northern wisconsin, milwaukee looking at less snow. looking at the temperatures, still warm across the southeast. 75 in atlanta. cloudy with 51 in new york today. it will get a little colder as we go through monday. not as cold as this. 16 is the high temperature in denver. the warm temperatures for sunday will stick around. but mainly for the south we'll be looking for temperatures into the 70s. that cold air is going to come through. boston, new york city, from sunday to monday, a 20-degree temperature drop. we're starting off kind of high so it won't be as dram matt ek but you'll need the coat again. >> all right, bonnie, we know you've been working hard this holiday weekend to track all of it. thank you very much. to the other side of the coin now.

parts of the northeast. instead of a white christmas, it was a very warm christmas higher than normal temperatures broke cities in some records. kristin dahlgren joins us from central park. if i just looked at you, i would say it's spring. it's still very warm out interethere, right? >> yeah, and i'm probably wearing a lot more clothes than some people out here. we've seen people jogging shirtless. normally at this time of year, the high temperature is 40 degrees. we've already seen 54 degrees here in central park. yesterday, it got up to 66. while we are seeing some of the country with those really awful weather conditions on christmas, new york, definitely not one of them. it was all about ice cream in new york. what's christmas normally like, the weather? >> white. >> white. how about this year? >> sweaty. >> ice cream trucks doing

summer-like business as temperatures soar to a record 66 degrees. >> best christmas ever? >> best christmas ever. >> in central park, short sleeves replaced winter wear. >> never think this. >> and in this bizarro world, buffalo, where there would normally be feet of snow, instead saw a lake day complete with jetskis. in usually frigid providence, rhode island, christmas was perfect to hit the links. >> unbelievable. >> up and down the east coast, record highs were shattered for a second day. >> it's amazing. we spend half our christmas in florida so it's kind of like being in florida. >> there was no celebrating at eastern ski areas where no snow meant no business. there was also not much holiday joy for fedex, the shipping giant skewered on social media when packages weren't under the tree in time. i don't think irate is an accurate word right now. thanks for ruining a

12-year-old's christmas. fedex employees volunteered to work on christmas as the company blamed heavier than planned volume and severe weather outbreaks. now, i'm not complaining given what the rest of the country is going through. but today, probably not going to get much warmer than this. but tomorrow could get back up to 66, another record high. >> unbelievable. all right, thank you. for the very first votes of the 2016 presidential contest will finally be cast just 37 days from now at the iowa caucuses. according to the latest poll, former secretary of state hillary clinton is leading the race for the democratic caucus by 18 points over senator bernie sanders. the republican caucus race is much tighter. take a look. with senator cruz and trump tied at 31% each. and between now and february

1st, even more debates. two on the republican side and one for the democrats. joining us now to help count down to the caucuses, is the political news editor for "the washington post." thank you for joining me, really appreciate it. first, why the caucuses are so important. i think we have a look at the past winners. not necessarily predictive, particularly if you look at the republican side. you have rick santorum, george w. bush did go on to win the presidency. little bit different if you look at the democrats. barack obama, john kerry, al gore in 2000. so how much weight do we lend to the caucuses, and why are they so important? >> particularly for an exercise that only brings us something like 1% of the total delegate count. what they do do, they set the tone of the race early. what you see is some candidates who may seem to have the momentum. they start to drop a bit or they at least have to make some sort

of comeback. some candidates, if they're able to pull off what's seen as an upset, they get a boost. it does help set the pace. >> let's talk a little bit about the type of campaigning we see in iowa as compared to some of these early voting states. they are really into retail politics there. i've spent a lot of time out in iowa. they say we want to see the candidate, we want to shake hands with them. talk a little bit about why that retail politicking is so important. >> particularly in iowa. in iowa, new hampshire, both, you see people who say i'm not going to vote or make my decision until i've personally met each of the candidates. it's very personal. it's very, as you say, retail oriented. with candidates making stops. they famously sometimes make this pledge to make the 99 county tour where they'll go to each county and meet with voters. the reason that's so important is because of how the caucus system works. first, only party regulators,

people registered to the party, can vote. it's not a matter of showing up and casting a quick vote. you have to be there for a number hours. you have to be dedicated. you have to understand how the system works. if you're a candidate, you have to make sure you have someone organizing voters in each of the precincts. it's extremely labor intensive. >> of course we talk a lot about the evangelical vote. extremely important there. let's take a look at the percentage of the population. 57% of gop caucusgoers consider themselves evangelicals or born again christians. 28% of the entire iowa population. talk about the candidates. you think of ted cruz particularly doing well now. >> absolutely. the interesting thing of course, you look at a couple of weeks ago, the candidate who was the favorite of evangelicals at that point was ben carson. ben carson has lost some of that support. as ben carson has lost that support, you've seen it go to

ted cruz. evangelicals are the food soldiers in iowa. they know how to organize. they've been delivering caucus victories. ted cruz's campaign has been very effective in organizing on the ground. of course, it's interesting to note that for ted cruz's lead there, he actually hasn't spent that much time in iowa for the past few weeks. that's about to change. he's going to land in the state at the beginning of the month and he's going to spend six days barn storming the state. so he's going to be looking to. donald trump has also said, look, i'm going to be spending a lot of time in iowa. he told voters the last time he was there. you're going to see the two men clashing on the ground there in the weeks ahead. >> secretary clinton obviously in the lead in iowa but we have seen senator sanders giving her a real race and, in part, it is because he has been barn storming iowa. what do you anticipate? >> it comes down to the passion

of the supporters. one of the interesting things we've seen is in some of the polls taken in recent weeks, we saw in some of the polls that were taken, where the voter split was between votes taken and voters questioned before the debate and voters questioned after the debate. you saw a huge split. you saw hillary clinton start to pull away just a bit. democratic voters who were watching liked what they saw. how does that translate in iowa? that remains to be seen. hillary clinton has been spending quite a bit of time on the ground in iowa. when it comes down to the strength of the organization, she's someone who's been burned in iowa before. her campaign is determined not to be burned again. the question of whether the sanders campaign can mound an organizational challenge to the well-founded clinton campaign, we'll have to see. >> great insight, thank you. rebecca cinderbrand in washington, d.c. really appreciate it. up next, many unhappy returns. click it and ship it money, when we come back. day people are comt

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christmas may be over but the season of gift returns has just begun. the national retail federation estimates as much as 15% of holiday sales are returned. it appears they are being returned quickly according to a survey by american express. 8% of shoppers plan to hit the stores today to return or exchange gifts. returns are more likely for gifts purchased online. as many as a third of all internet sales get returned accord to a retail consulting firm. joining me from from los angeles is consumer and money saving expert andrea warrick. let's start right off with hassle-free returns. what is your best advice?

what should folks do on this day after christmas? >> you need to know what the return policy is. a lot of retailers will extend the return window and the deadlines will usually hit mid-january. some retailers have more flexibility. like nordstroms and kohl's don't have deadlines and allow you to return items without receipts. but store stores like apple only have 15 days to make returns so if you wait to long you could be stuck with the item or have to take the lower sales price which could be significant. review the receipts. look online. make sure you have the receipts as well. bring your i.d. because you need an i.d. to make a return without a receipt. >> the fact a lot of gifts are purchased online. so are there any unique policies, any unique rules for gifts that were purchased online that you want to return? >> a lot of online purchases can be returned at the brick and mortar store if one is

available. otherwise, you may have to ship those items back. if there is a return shipping fee. call customer service or open up a live chat. they may be able to waive it. if you just make an exchange, you often times don't have to pay that return shipping fee. >> what about mobile apps? are they helpful or is it easier to go to the store? >> if you shop in the store this weekend and you're making those returns and exchanges, use those mobile apps. because they will allow you to get, plus-size your exchange, get more value back on those return dollars. apps as retailers look to meet the end of the year sales goals. if there are any extra gifts you don't want to return or you're unable to return, you can always sell them. you can sell them online at sites like ebay. ebay is offering these pop-up selling stations and pop-up locations this weekend at westfield shopping centers across the country so you can

sell those items in person. makes it really easy. drop it off at one of those drop box locations and you get 100% of that sale. so it makes it really easy that way. >> are there any major return policy gotchas that folks should be aware of? >> with electronics, there may be restocking fee. that could be up to 15% of the purchase price. you don't want to get stuck paying that. make sure you hold on to all the original packaging. if you haven't opened up an electronic, don't, unless you're 100% sure you want to keep it. if something is just not working properly, speak with the store manager so you don't have to pay that restocking fee. >> what about gift cards? we had a big debate about whether these were great gifts, whether folks end up losing them. how can you return gift cards? >> up to 30% of gift cards don't get used. so while gift cards are a good gift, some people just forget about them or maybe you received

a gift card to a store or restaurant you don't really frequent often. so this is the time to sell those gift cards. you can sell them at your local grocery store through a coinstar exchange kiosk. you can sell them online. you can sell them at sites like gift castle. a lot of ways to unload those gift cards and get money back for them. >> fantastic advice. really appreciate it. have a great new year. >> thank you for having me. >> up next, the override apple. charmin ultra mega roll equals mega value.

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sales to fall in the coming year ahead. apple's reticence to release sales figures for the apple watch released in april is leading some analysts to question the watch's success and viability. the company's stock value is down nearly 20% from its high this year valued at $108 a share, compared with $134 a share 52 week high. with a substantial drop in the company's stock, negative reviews for the design of the company's recently released battery case and a disappointment in this year's offering of apple tv, the question for the company, has the shine worn off the apple? joining me is dan ackerman, a section editor at c-net, who reported extensively on apple and the tech world. hope you enjoyed all those puns. >> that's right, everybody's got 'em. >> let's look big picture. apple reported 22% revenue growth this year. at the same time, apple stock down substantially from 2015.

how do you square that discrepan discrepancy? >> it's been a big year sort of big picturewise. having these new wow products that really knock people out. when you've been doing it for so long, been on the top for so long, everyone's looking for a reason to knock you down. >> let's talk a little bit about the iwatch. during last sunday's "60 minutes," we saw charlie rose ask tim cook about this. take a listen. >> you think it needs improvement? >> think all products. i think the watch is no exception to that. we're going to continue to -- >> disappointed in some of the things? >> i'm not disappointed in it -- >> but you saw room to improve it? >> charlie, when we launch a product, we're already working on the next one and possibly even the next next one. so yes, we always see things we can do. >> so do you anticipate that the apple watch is going to get some

upgrades this coming year? you and i were discussing, i have a lot of friends who say we're waiting for the next generation of the apple watch. what do you make of that? >> the apple watch and this category is so new. the first apple watch, it's better than all the other smart watches out there but that's a very low bar to hit. everyone's caught in this annual upgrade cycle. the first one doesn't do something you want it to do, you feel the battery life is not there, you know you can wait a year and they'll be a new and improved one. >> let's talk a little bit about tv streaming. how competitive has apple been in that market? i believe they've sort of hit those plans now. >> for many years, sat unchanged. a lot of people liked it, sure. some people think in anticipation of having a live tv streaming service. some people are getting into this. definitely the future. the big bulky cable box is

something that is eventually going away. for now, it sounds like apple is delaying the streaming service because they can't get agreements with all content providers. that's the main reason to an apple tv box going forward. >> i want to pick up on a point you raised when we first started this discussion. which is sort of the pressure on apple. how much pressure to come up with the next big project, to diversify? >> you come up with the ipod and the iphone and the ipad , you know, you have all these new products. how do you keep doing that year in and year out? the apple watch is an attempt to do that for these wearable things. it's tough to do. things like the iphone is a very mature category. it's not, you know, the bar is sort of set really high to stand out there with a new phone. >> dan ackerman, thank you for your insights. still to come this morning, paris six weeks after the

attack. has the city recovered? you're watching msnbc live. an update on the dangerous weather expected throughout the country. ♪ (vo) some call it giving back. we call it share the love. during our share the love event, get a new subaru, and we'll donate $250 to those in need. bringing our total donations to over sixty-five million dollars.

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because we should fit into your life. not the other way around. welcome back, everyone. there could be a new border battle brewing. triggered by a new deportation crackdown by the obama administration. nbc's kelly o'donnell is traveling with the president who's vacationing in hawaii. i know you have been tracking this story. what can you tell us about this plan to ramp up deportations? >> well, it appears that this is a new piece of an ongoing program. when we talk to homeland security officials, they point out that secretary jay johnson, in 2014, laid out some of the parameters for how the administration would handle those who cross illegally or do not have the proper documentation. and there are different cases and different circumstances that may apply. in this instance, what they're telling us is there are likely a

few hundred recent border crossers from central america countries. so not mexico, but further south. they've been through a court process that has determined at one point or another that they made some sort of violation. it could be a criminal offense. it could be an offense related to the illegal migration issues. so some kind of -- whether it is a mine, nonviolent offense, something that the courts have determined would make them ineligible for permanent relief, being able to stay in the u.s. what also comes with this is these groups of border crossers and undocumented immigrants are treated as a group, if they have a spouse or children with them. so if there is one individual, let's say it's the adult parent who is determined to not be able to stay in the u.s., that same judgment would apply to children and spouse. and that has caused some reaction from democrats on the campaign trail. bernie sanders in particular has said that these are people

fleeing violence and fleeing hardship in central america and the u.s. should welcome them in. and hillary clinton is saying that she has concerned as well and wants to be sure there's a full and fair hearing. again, officials tell us from homeland security, these officials would have gone through some kind of court process. the biggest sort of impact in christmas tweeting came from trump who says he has taken sort of credit for all of the national conversation about immigration, and saying that now democrats are looking to talk about this issue and that the obama administration is now willing to deport undocumented immigrants and he says politics. so donald trump and his series of tweets really put out that donald trump style of trying to put his mark on this issue and saying it is the obama administration following him. again, officials tell us this has been part of a program that stretches back to 2014 and this

is the latest iteration of that program to deal with illegal immigration. >> as you point out, no surprise, it is resonating on the campaign trail. thank you for waking up so early, my friend, great to see you. now the severe weather impacting parts of the south this holiday weekend. a state of emergency is in effect across parts of alabama. a christmas day tornado left a path of destruction across two square miles of birmingham. also heavy rain and flooding made driving just treacherous. emergency crews were called out to rescue people from submerged cars. storms pounded the area, leaving at least 15 people dead. >> we are looking at a very dynamic storm system. this is our radar picture. just slammed with storms. lightning and heavy downpours. it's one piece of a larger puzzle we're facing with heavy

rain and flood threat. let's talk about what we can expect. a widespread flood threat that's going to impact many places like st. louis where we have 5 to 7 inches of rain in the forecast through monday. that is a lot of rain. with that, the national weather service in st. louis is describing this as a very serious flood event. life threatening flooding is likely. and not just in st. louis. we're actually looking at even more rain to develop across eastern oklahoma and into northwest texas, including dallas, substantial rain there. there's another threat for that part of the country into the central and southern plains. thunderstorms. with this severe weather threat, for today, unfortunately, we could look at the risk for tornadoes. they're possible today with hemply rainfall and the risk of urban and low lying flooding specifically in dallas. remember there was so much rain in this part of the country. well, unfortunately, it's a problem we're dealing with once again. a blizzard warning in effect for

eastern new mexico, west texas, including amarillo and lubbock. it's going to get so cold and treachero treacherous. this blizzard warning, a major catastrophic event. once in a 30-year storm. sleet to freezing rain in the forecast tonight. and then sunday not only is it all snow, but we'll look at totals up to a foot or more. drifts could be ten feet. that's because of the blowing and drifting snow. look how cold it's going to get in some spots like lubbock and amarillo. negative 5. just dangerous to be traveling. make sure you have an emergency kit if you're in this area for the overnight period. >> really good advice. thank you. there is a buzz in the air and we mean that quite literally. by some estimates, up to 1 million americans woke up yesterday morning to find a drone under the tree for christmas. the remote controlled aircrafts were this year's hot gifts but they come with sot safety headaches for regulators worried

about close calls for planes. which is why all those drones are required to be registered with the faa. unmanned aircraft are revolutionizing businesses. nbc's tom costello reports. >> spin up check. >> reporter: ski season is still weeks away when the annual lift inspection came in the form of a flyby. snapping photos and shooting video of the pulleys and cables that will carry 150,000 skiers this winter. then a close-up look at a nearby wind farm, looking for cracks in the turbines. a big improvemented an a cost self savings. this is the year drones have

gone from gimmick to revolutionary to indispensable. measuring the shrinking arctic ice pack and surveying offshore oil rigs. among the most common uses for drones, commercial real estate, along with film and photography. already, the faa has issued more than 2,100 exemptions for commercial drone use. kevin has invested in a drone and hd cameras to help real stores market their homes on the internet. >> we're sitting here on a 50-acre farm and you can't capture that with a photograph. >> reporter: california leads the country with the most operators followed by florida and texas. in marion, texas, usaa insurance are testing drones, hoping inspectors will no longer have to spend 45 minutes looking at roof damage. >> with a one-minute flight time to gather the data. >> reporter: the drone revolution is about speed, safety and spectacular imagery.

from weddings and ski vacations to mountain bike races and science too. researchers have been skrutennizing overhead use of endangered killer wales nursing their young off seattle. as we all get a new bird's-eye view of the planet we share. tom costello, nbc news, westminster, maryland. and coming up next, paris, six weeks after the attacks. looking for 24/7 digestive support?

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awareness of their vulnerability to terror. more than a month since that dark day, how is paris recovering? well, joining me now to discuss just that from paris is someone who's been living in the city since the attacks, christopher dickey, who's foreign editor for the daily beast. how is paris different from the attacks, now that we have a little bit time removed from them? >> i think people are going to stores. they're going out. they're getting around. there isn't that atmosphere that existed in the first days after the attas when people were looking over their shoulders really all the time. but in their heads, the attacks are still there. as somebody was just saying to me. people still feel the danger. and, in fact, the mood is not at all what it was, say, a year ago this time. >> talk a little bit about national security. obviously, it has been ramped up in the wake of the attacks. is it similar to what we saw in

the wake of 9/11? how would you describe it? >> well, it's not quite as draconian as it was in the wake of 9/11 or the immediate wake of 9/11. i was in new york when that happened. you know, the whole country shut down. there were no flights for about a week. nothing like that has happened. but there were about 20,000 police and soldiers deployed across france. they're guarding churches. they're guarding a lot of tourist sites. you see them in front of the big department stores. they're around. you see them and they're in full battle gear. i was at a famous landmark and there were soldiers in full battle dress with assault rifles and bulletproof vests ready to go if anything happened which, thank god, it didn't. >> given that presence, given that we're in the holiday season, what is the predominant mood there would you say? as you point out, very different

holiday than last year. is it fear, is it worry? how would you describe it? >> i'd say it's worry more than fear. but people are concerned. and there are reports coming in from other parts of france of ugly incidents that are making people i think very nervous about the future of the country, not just the future of this city, the capital. there was an ugly incident, series of protests and counter protests in a muslim prayer room vandalized. muslims in a town in southern france wanted to, in fact, go to church services and protect people or at least offer their assistance and the mayor denounced them and said we don't need muslims protecting us. what is this, the beginning of the lebanonization of france. so there's an ugly mood, i would say, against the festivities now. >> what have leaders there done

to diminish those types of ugly incidents you refer to? >> well, you know, he hasn't been completely successful in that. one of his initiatives, which is to say people who have dual nationality, one french and one other nationality, moroccan or true neegs, if they are involved in terrorism, might have their french nationality taken away from them, and that runs against the grain of the ideal, so he hasn't helped that much. he's going to war in a big way against syria and people aren't convinced that is protecting them either. >> to what extent has there been an impact on terrorism? >> it's been huge. when i was up there, i went to a cafe i went to christmas eve a year ago and it was packed. you had to stand at the bar to eat. on christmas eve this year, there were two or three people

inside and i was one of them. >> christopher dickey, thank you so much for that perspective. shifting gears, up neck, the lessons we learned from the box office of 2015. i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn because you can't beat zero heartburn! ahhh the sweet taste of victory! prilosec otc. one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. hi! so it says here i can redeem my cashback bonus for discovercash..

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for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. it is one tof the biggest movie weekends of the year, and luckily plenty to see. in "concussion" will smith plays a physician who is battling the side effects of playing professional football. and there is a tale of a woman who invented the miracle mop with jennifer lawrence. and "star wars, the awaken i ing" is still right on top." and now the ka cast could be part of a widening franchise. last year 34% of frequent

moviegoers were people of color, and only 17 of the top 100 movies had people of color as the lead. "creed h "creed" has crossed the $100 million, and so the numbers are showing that for hollywood, diversity sells. joining me is clay cain, entertainment editor the at bet.com. thank you, clay, for joining us. happy holidays. >> you, too. could movies like "straight out ta compte and "creed" help

push the envelope that people of color will be encouraged in hollywood? >> well, it is not just 2015 thi thing, but it is a trend. and if you look at the moviegoers, there is starting to be a trend of diversity selling, and in fact, when you look at the oscars and the nominations, the senate has more diversity than the voters. >> and now, let's look at this one. >> behind closed doors, is that true? >> how do you know all of this? >> i am his son. >> how significant that you see

these "star wars" and obviously rocky balboa and the familiar characters in the more diverse settings, and what is the impact of that? >> well, stallone hands off the iconic oscar-winning franchise to a black director, and black lead, and stallone gets it. right? he gets that while this is where we are going, and more diverse, it is going to bring in the various audience, and "star wars" and once upon a time, you had billy dee williams, and now john v ishilleg,a and while we that diversity sells, there is backlash. because he said, i am a confident black nigerian man and i am okay with that. for me, i don't want the go into

the movie unlesz ss it is a per piece and see nothing that represents me. my mother who is white, she wants the see diversity, and the friends regardless of the color, they want to see the color, and the monolithic tales are not as mark marketable anymore. >> and we talk about the oscars, do you an tticipate that this increased diversity is going to the translate to thewards season? and will we see any of the actors of color being nominated ultimately? >> that is frustrating, because you have movies out that nobody has heard of "the danish girl" and "the room" and "the carol" and these are very good movies, but not doing well, and there is not any the diversity, and the big movies with an impact crossing over to to a warsd season, and that is a problem will, but as f. gary gray said, don't put too much praise to be oscars, because they were 94% white and male, and i am looking forward to the future.

>> thank you for discussing that important topic for me. that is going to do it for me, and once again melissa harris-perry will be back next week, and for now we go the alex witt who will talk about the wildfires that are spread iing across thousands of acres. stay with msnbc, and alex for the very latest. the future belongs to the fast.

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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. >> hey, there, everyone. it is high noon here in the west, and it is 9:00 a.m. in the west, and high noon where you are in the east. i'm alex witt, and now, developing across large parts of the country, in fact, officials are warning that some of the storms are life threatening and it is coming in many forms. details and a live report. rarely seen images of the man who led the paris attack. this is obtained by msnbc news, and we will tell you