right now on "andrea mitchell reports" deadly storms. severe weather across the country has killed more than 40 people. tornadoes, blizzards and heavy rain, sometimes all in the same state, with another day of wild weather ahead. >> damaging winds, risk of isolated tornadoes continue again today, as this front moves through tonight into tomorrow, and this is what i'm really concerned about. ice. power outages, dangerous travel, guys, from kirksville, chicago, detroit on into buffalo. retaking ramadi. iraqi forces claim a key victory over isis, but the fight isn't over yet. >> forces have been raiding buildings, hunting the remaining isis jihadists before making this morning's television announcement, hailing ramadi's liberation from the occupation

of isis terrorists. and game on. donald trump opens up a new line of attack against hillary and bill clinton. >> i think he is fair game because his presidency was really considered to be very troubled to put it mildly. but we have to fight fairly. she's playing the woman's card and it's like give me a break. good day. i'm kristen welker in for andrea mitchell. we begin with violent weather that has left more than 40 people dead across seven states. right now, 30 million americans are under threat as dangerous storms plow their way east, causing severe weather in much of the country. new mexico is in a state of emergency as snow hits, leaving several feet in its wake and shutting down major highways.

freezing rain and deadly flash floods are overtaking parts of missouri, where authorities put the death toll at eight. the governor has issued a state of emergency there. and in texas, at least nine tornadoes have hit just this weekend, leaving a 40-mile stretch near dallas decimated. the governor has delayed four separate county disasters, as thousands wait out the violent weather without power and in the town of garland, an ef-4 tornado barreled through a short time ago, leaving at least eight dead and others like this man stranded for help after flash floods ripped through the area. nbc's gabe gutierrez joins me from garland, texas. what's the very latest on the ground there, gabe? and how extensive is the damage? >> reporter: good afternoon. well, as you mentioned, eight people were killed in that ef-4 tornado that tore through garland. we are here at the landmark apartments just off i-30 here in garland and as you can see, it is a scene of utter devastation.

this brick wall just torn apart, these cars were tossed around during the tornado that struck here late saturday night. these apartments will take a long time to rebuild. residents have been coming here throughout the day trying to pick up the pieces of what's left. at least nine confirmed tornadoes here in texas came through here on saturday night. the governor has declared four separate counties states of emergency and these tornadoes cut a path of destruction nearly 40 miles in the suburbs of dallas. now, this is -- this situation here in texas, this is a state that has seen many tornadoes before, but not in december. since wednesday, we have had 29 tornado-related fatalities in five separate states. before that, there had been just ten all year. so damage assessment teams are out in force today as the residents struggle to clean up. >> gabe, of course, all of this coming amidst the holidays.

have other areas of texas been hit and can you describe the mood there as that community tries to start to rebuild? >> reporter: well, it's rather incredible. it's not just tornadoes, obviously, that have hit texas but this wild weather is extending through other parts of the country. in texas itself, they are dealing with not just the aftermath of these tornadoes but now has the floods. you mentioned the water rescue that happened in the dallas area earlier this morning. but also, places in the oklahoma and texas panhandle are on ice. places like lubbock and amarillo have been dealing with ice and snow. so the mood here, it's a sense of realization now. just in its second day after the storm, people are realizing this is going to take an extremely long time to clean up. the official death toll from just the tornadoes here in texas is 11 but as you mentioned, many more deaths over the past week or so throughout the country because of all this wild weather.

>> gabe, those scenes of destruction behind you just heartbreaking. thank you for that reporting. we really appreciate it. all of this weather is having a significant impact on travel across the country in what is one of the busiest travel days of the year as americans try to get back home from the holidays. nbc's kevin tibbles joins us from chicago's o'hare airport where hundreds are waiting to make it back home. i was just in chicago last week. very calm weather day last week, very different story today, isn't it? >> reporter: well, i guess. i don't know what you can say about this. it's kind of like you get what you wish for, whatever that thing is, because last week everyone was talking about how warm it is out here. now we have got freezing rain coming down, there have been about 200 to 300 flights canceled in the o'hare area alone. 1,000 nationwide. and this stuff is still wreaking havoc. we have had lines at security that actually went right out to the doorway starting before the

sun came up today. the board which is just behind us here is filled with cancellations. the only real advice i have is that if you are going to be flying in and out of here today, check before you come to o'hare. the other thing of course is that power up, all the ereaders and electronic presents you got for christmas, because you will have time on your hands when you get to the airport today. >> how are the travelers there dealing with the delays? i can see the lines behind you. they must be incredibly frustrated. >> reporter: well, i have spoken to a few. one young lady who was on her way to syracuse, new york said she had her fingers and toes crossed that she was going to get home to see her family. she is just heading there. then another young lady that was on her way to denver said to us that she flew in on one airline from baltimore, when she got here to o'hare, her flight was canceled and she couldn't get another flight. all we can say is that we hope

she does get another flight by the end of the day because no one wants to be sleeping on a cot in o'hare airport ever, let alone over the holidays. >> great point. we hope all those folks behind you make it home. thank you for that report. we appreciate it. i want to bring in weather channel meteorologist chris warren. chris, bring us up to date. what can you tell us about which areas are still under threat? what do we expect over the next 24, 48 hours? >> there are multiple threats. just in a matter of minutes, two hours and into the next couple of days. here's a look at how things are playing out right now. in fact, the big threat we are looking at, a couple of areas here. this is the florida pan handle and southern alabama. two tornado warnings right now. if you are in this area, it does mean you do need to take cover right now. as far as the overall threat, the areas where we are seeing the threat for some of the strongest storms will be here in red. notice the extent of it today into the evening hours. this does include most of alabama, still the panhandle of

florida. you are looking at the big cities here from atlanta to chattanooga to nashville in the threat for some strong storms and there is a tornado threat again today. this is how it plays out. the timing for the storms. up here's the time, here's the line of the storms, out in front of the line itself we can see some of the strong storms. putting this into motion, atlanta probably the worst possible time, going into the evening commute. dinnertime, then a little bit later. we will watch the storm threat move into the overnight hours. central and southern georgia into the carolinas. then there's the heavy rain. we have seen water rescues and know the heavy rain has caused flooding in texas, arkansas, missouri, much of the south. more of that on the way. the yellow and orange shows the heaviest rain that's going to come down through the next few days. then there's the snow and ice threat. in the midwest right now, you have the snow in the blue. you get down here, this is the very dangerous weather, that purple. that's when the liquid water freezes on contact with the frozen surface. if it's a road it will turn it

into an ice rink just like that. that's the threat for freezing rain. then we will watch this move into the northeast. before it does, this storm expected where the snow comes down expected in some cases up to a foot, possibly a foot and a half. here's the snow for the northeast. also, northern locations, higher elevations, that's where you will have the coldest temperatures and the most likely spots for the snow. there's one other component with that. we talked about the ice. you can kind of think when you see all the yellow, this is what we're expecting as far as power outages because this is where the ice will come down. big portion of the plains into the midwest and also in the northeast. this is liquid rain freezing on contact to objects and what happens is that will build up either on power lines or tree branches and you get a little bit of wind, it makes the tree branches more susceptible to coming down. that's how you end up with the power outages. multiple threats over multiple states in the next couple days. >> folks in the path of all of

that extreme weather need to be careful. we know some presidential candidates, marco rubio, even canceled events today in iowa because of this weather. thank you so much for that update. we really appreciate it. now to breaking news from iraq. a victory for iraqi security forces in the ongoing fight against isis. the iraqi army has retaken a central government compound in ramadi, a key city 80 miles west of baghdad, from isis fighters while still encountering resistance from militants in the city's northern and eastern areas. nbc's keir simmons has been tracking this story overnight and joins me in london. just put this into perspective, if you would. what are the iraqi forces, the u.s. military saying about the significance of the iraqi military taking on this key part of ramadi? >> well, as you would expect, they are seeing it's significant. they are celebrating victory and one that is or has been rare in recent years against isis. i guess if you put it against

the fact that it was just some months ago that ramadi was overrun by isis, in a sense all they're doing is pushing back that embarrassment. on the other hand, there are some really important markers here. one is that ramadi is the capital of anbar province, a largely sunni province, and it was a sunni force that went into the city and retook these government buildings. that is crucial, because people widely agree that you are going to need iraqi sunnis on site and in the front line if you are going to push isis back again. now, as you mention, it is the government buildings that have been taken. there are still reports that there are isis fighters in parts of ramadi but it is clearly an important, significant move to have taken that central part of the city. colonel steve warren, the u.s. military spokesman in baghdad,

describing this as a proud moment for iraq. >> keir, it comes amidst this new video that we are seeing purportedly from the leader of isis, al baghdadi. i have been watching your reporting all morning. you suggested this could be an indication that he's trying to rally his troops because he believes the tide could be turning against isis or at least that this is a setback, a vulnerability. what do you make of this video? we haven't confirmed it, nbc news hasn't confirmed it but if it is authentic, what do you make of it? >> right. we can't know what abu bakr al baghdadi is really thinking. he's somebody we haven't seen publicly in video since 2014. this was an audio message that purportedly is him trying as you say to rally his troops. the timing is interesting, as we saw those iraqi forces move on ramadi. he does say, he does call on

people to come and rally to isis, if you like, which i guess you could see as a war cry. on the other hand, you could see it as an indication that he is concerned. he also says and honestly, isis say this in pretty much every piece of propaganda that they put out, he says that many, many isis fighters will be killed in the oncoming battle. he predicts an end battle with the west, if you like. so some of it is what we have heard from him before, but folks are looking at it and wondering whether it is indication that he is sensing some weakness in his own forces. another point, by the way, nowhere in this message does he mention the string of terror attacks across the west and in beirut, there in the u.s., in paris. as i mentioned, in beirut, we have seen all those attacks in recent months. he doesn't mention any of those which is raising some questions

about the timing of this. again, it is an audio recording. when exactly was this message recorded. there were reports that baghdadi was injured back in october. those again haven't been confirmed. in the message he says clearly i am still alive. >> really interesting point. thank you for breaking it all down for us. good to see you. >> you bet. coming up next, no limits. donald trump goes after bill clinton's past. ♪ and then santa's workers zapped it right to our house. and that's how they got it here. cool. the magic of the season is here at the lexus december to remember sales event. this is the pursuit of perfection.

[martha and mildred are good to. go. here's your invoice, ladies. a few stops later, and it looks like big ollie is on the mend. it might not seem that glamorous having an old pickup truck for an office... or filling your days looking down the south end of a heifer,

but...i wouldn't have it any other way. look at that, i had my best month ever. and earned a shiny new office upgrade. i run on quickbooks. that's how i own it. i have a massive heart attack oright in my driveway.d the doctor put me on a bayer aspirin regimen. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. go talk to your doctor. you're not indestructible anymore. we're always looking for ways to speed up your car insurance search. here's the latest. problem is, we haven't figured out how to reverse it. for now, just log on to compare.com... plug in some simple info and get up to 50 free quotes. choose the lowest and hit purchase. now...if you'll excuse me, i'm late for an important function. compare.com. saving humanity from high insurance rates.

let's turn back to break news from iraq. military victory in the key city of ramadi for a security force that's faced strong criticism for an inability to take the fight to isis on the ground.

new york congressman peter king serves on the homeland security committee and joins me now. happy holidays, congressman. thanks for being here this afternoon. >> you, too, kristen, thank you. >> i just want to get your reaction to this breaking news. what is the significance of this victory in ramadi? is it a sign that isis is weakening on the battlefield? >> well, it certainly is a sign the iraqi army, particularly the sunni forces, were able to capture a key city such as this or recapture it. so it is significant. i think it's the first of a long series. too early to claim this is a turning point but i give them credit for doing it. i hope mosul is next. again, i think it's important to note that all this is, really, is recapturing a city that was lost six months after the president began our counterterror efforts. yes, it is significant and i'm not trying to dampen the mood here at all but really, all we are doing is going back to where we were 15 months ago when the president began the counterterror campaign.

but if this is a sign of what's going to come in the future, it's very very significant and i give the sunni forces and the american military credit. >> well, congressman, i want to follow up on the skepticism you just raised. according to the latest cnn/orc poll, 40% of americans believe terrorists are currently winning so there's a lot of skepticism about the president's strategy and you said over the weekend that u.s.-led air strikes have failed to actually weaken isis. of course, that runs very counter to the argument that the white house has made. president obama making the point that 2,000 isis fighters have been killed and that air strikes are taking their toll on isis. do you stand by that statement that you made over the weekend, given this latest development? >> i certainly do. again, over the weekend, what happened in ramadi, all that did is bring us back to where we were 15 months ago. you don't win these wars by a body count. the fact is during the last 15 months, isis has also expanded

significantly into libya, into afghanistan, where they now rival al qaeda and the taliban -- >> isn't it significant that 2,000 fighters have been killed including a number of isis leaders? >> it would be significant except they recruited a lot more than that. they have thousands and thousands of foreign fighters going to iraq and syria to fight on behalf of isis. probably if we are doing a body count there are more isis fighters now than 15 months ago. and isis is also now expanded, really they were not until the last year or so attacking outside their own region but they have attacked paris, they have attacked the united states, they obviously have lebanon they are going into. this is a significant development by isis. listen, we can win this. it's not going to be easy. i think what the american people, why they have lost faith to a certain extent in the president is that he acts as if everything is going fine. he doesn't acknowledge these defeats we have had or the gains isis has made. that's why it puts a cloud over

everything he's claiming. >> congressman, as you know, the white house would argue that particularly in the week before he left for vacation, he really stepped up at least his public campaign to reach out to the public on this matter. but i want to turn to politics now. donald trump, the republican front-runner right now taking a new tactic, going after not only hillary clinton but former president bill clinton. i want to read you his tweet from yesterday. he tweeted out hillary clinton has announced that she is letting her husband out to campaign, but he's demonstrated a penchant for sexism. so inappropriate. i want to just get you to weigh in on this strategy. is this wise to go after a former president bill clinton? is this something that republican voters want to hear about or do they want to be talking about issues related to 2015? >> i think it's a mart tter of strategy, it may work in the short term because hillary clinton will be the democratic nominee. as long as he's fighting with her he's not fighting with other republicans and this will appeal to the republican base.

overall, i don't think it will be effective because the clinton administration is behind us. i think there are legitimate issues in the clinton administration that can be raised as far as budget issues, as far as military issues, that type thing, and i think if hillary clinton, if she oversells the issue of sexual harassment or sexual criticism of donald trump, then maybe this is fair comment. but i don't think the american people want to go there. the republican nominee versus hillary clinton, there's enough issues we disagree with hillary clinton on to focus on that. i don't think the american people want to go back to the days of what happened back in 1997 and '98. >> you raised the point about the long term. the democrats are ready to fire back. take a listen to what debbie wasserman schultz took andrea mitchell who moderated "meet the press" over the weekend. >> he had his problems in 2008. we saw what happened in that campaign. but if he -- donald trump is going to raise this issue as he

is warning of bill clinton's past and sexism, does that give you any pause as democratic chair? >> i think that donald trump or any candidate on the other side of the aisle would raise bill clinton as somehow a negative to their peril. i think every poll i have ever seen shows that if president clinton were a candidate tomorrow he would be re-elected. >> could trump's words actually backfire in a general election, congressman? >> if he overplays this part of it, yes. i think there are legitimate criticisms you can make of hillary clinton and president clinton. it should be done at that level. i think the more he talks about the side issues, the more it distracts people from the real issues and again, this may work with the republican base and the primary but if you go into the general election people want to see more than that. as far as bill clinton, yeah, bill clinton is popular. but again, he's not invulnerable. again, the side issues to me are not relevant. >> let's talk about the general election. you have criticized some of

trump's comments about muslims recently. will you support him, congressman king, if he's the nominee? >> well, i would support the nominee of my party but -- >> even if it's trump? >> it's a question of how strong the support would be. it's not just the issue on muslims. it's any other, for instance, where he's comparing the u.s. to putin or moral equivalency between putin and the u.s. where he says president bush knew about 9/11. all of that is crazy talk. to me, a republican conservative should not be endorsing those views. i knew guys like donald trump growing up. he and i are about the same age, he lives about 20 minutes away. he was a multi-millionaire and i was in a blue collar neighborhood. guys like him talked a lot. guys in my neighborhood talked and delivered. i'm not that intimidated by donald trump. >> you and i have discussed on this program whether or not you would run for president. you decided not to. i wonder now when you look at the scope of the republican field, how many candidates there

are, do you ever have moments of regret that you didn't get into this race? >> i feel like marlon brando. i could have been a contender. i didn't have the money and what can i tell you? life goes on. the country will survive without me. when i look at what's going on in the debate, yeah, i can be the guy sitting there and i can be the guy in the white house next year recognizing kristen welker at a news conference. >> congressman king, we will leave it on that point. marlon brando. i like the analogy. have a great rest of your holiday. >> happy new year. up next on "andrea mitchell reports" demanding answers. family and friends of the two people shot and killed by chicago police speak out as activists step up their calls for reform. >> i want the mayor to understand that this is a message to you. you failed us before. but now's your time to step up. or step down. these are my dogs dusty and cooper.

i work for the dogs twenty-four seven. i am the butler. these dogs shed like crazy. it's like being inside of a snow globe. it takes an awful lot of time to keep the house clean. i don't know what to do. (doorbell) what's this? swiffer sweeper and dusters. this is nice and easy boys. it really sticks to it. it fits in all the tight spaces. this is really great. does that look familiar to you? i'm no longer the butler, i am just one of the guys.

why you got to shoot first and ask questions later? >> if you're afraid of these streets to the point that you got to shoot first, you need to turn your badge in. >> there is fresh outrage in chicago this morning after two unarmed people were shot and killed by police this weekend. today the victims' family and friends are demanding answers as pressure mounts against the city's embattled mayor and police department. police say 19-year-old quintonio la greer was shot by officers answering a domestic disturbance call and 55-year-old neighbor betty jones was accidentally shot during that call. the incident is under investigation by chicago's independent police review authority. nbc's sarah dallof is following the story from chicago. what's the very latest there? i know the mayor rahm emanuel has responded this morning again. he's vacationing in cuba.

what has he said? >> reporter: he responded very quickly in this case, issuing what he is describing as significant reforms. the first is that any officer involved in an incident in a shooting will be immediately placed on administrative duties. they will be kept out of the field for 30 days. in the statement the mayor says in part quote, we must take the use of force by our officers extremely seriously and this new policy provides more time to ensure a thorough examination of an officer's fitness to police our streets after they have fired a gun. the mayor has also ordered a review of the department's crisis intervention and deescalation policies. he says he wants to identify and address any deficiencies. according to relatives, la greer was a 19-year-old honors college student who was home on break, was experiencing some mental health issues within the last few months. he was reportedly threatening his father with a metal baseball bat which led to that 911 call.

when police arrived they say he was combative, resulting in shots fired. those shots also killed 55-year-old betty jones. she was a mother of five. police say she was accidentally hit and tragically killed. the weather today as you can see, it's a rough winter day with heavy winds and some sleet and snow that is likely keeping protesters away at the moment. make no mistake, there is a lot of anger and outrage in this community today. >> talk a little bit about that. we appreciate your braving the weather for us today. talk a little bit about how this has compounded what is already a very tense situation between the community there in chicago and the mayor and the police department. there were already calls for him to step down in the wake of laquan mcdonald. as i understand it, there are only more calls today. >> reporter: there are more calls today. the police department was already under heavy scrutiny

after the dash cam video showing the shooting of 17-year-old laquan mcdonald which shows him being shot multiple times by a police officer. the department also under a civil rights investigation for some policies and for some examinations of officers, things like that. so things were already tense. we saw shopping shut down on black friday by protesters trying to draw attention to this. this is just continuing to keep this community on edge as they call for reforms within the department and city. >> sarah, great reporting as always. thank you very much. coming up next, hello, mcfly. what does this character from the "back to the future" series have to do with presidential politics? we'll explain. you do all this research on the perfect car. gas mileage, horse power, torque ratios... three spreadsheets later, you finally bring home the one...

then smash it into a tree. your insurance company is all too happy to raise your rates... maybe you should've done a little more research on them. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. for my frequent heartburnmorning because you can't beat zero heartburn! ahhh the sweet taste of victory! prilosec otc. one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. don't let it conquer you.. with the capability and adaptability of lexus all-weather drive. this is the pursuit of perfection.

choose, choose, choose. but at bedtime? ...why settle for this? enter sleep number, and the lowest prices of the season. sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. you like the bed soft. he's more hardcore. so your sleep goes from good to great to wow! only at a sleep number store, find the lowest prices of the season. save $600 on the #1 rated i8 bed, plus no interest until january 2018. know better sleep with sleep number.

start talking, kid. what else you know about that book? >> first you tell me how you got it. how, where and when. >> all right. take a seat. sit down! >> classic there. the biff and donald trump comparison is back to the future. in fact, it's actually front page news in new hampshire, where union leader publisher joe mcquade claims the republican front-runner is insulting the intelligence of voters, writing in part quote, trump has shown himself to be a crude blowhard with no clear political philosophy and no deeper understanding of the important and serious role of president of the united states than one of the goons he lets rough up protesters in his crowds. on february 9th we trust new hampshire republicans will send biff trump back to somewhere, anywhere but on the road to the most important elective office

in the united states. pretty harsh words there. joining me now for our daily fix, nbc's hallie jackson in nashua, new hampshire, the "the washington post" ann gearan and the huffington post's sam stein. hallie, i want to start with you and this union leader editorial. really tough words but do you get the sense that it's going to move the needle with republican voters in new hampshire? >> doubtful with people who already support trump. that's clear even though the union leader is a strong conservative voice in many communities here in new hampshire. the union leader came out last month endorsing chris christie, taking subtle swipes at senators rubio and cruz. it's no surprise that the paper and publisher would go after donald trump. the language particularly harsh, calling him a crude blowhard, predicting that new hampshire will be where the trump balloon deflates, if you will. this is not likely to be something trump will give much of a second thought. you may see him tonight hold up the paper, we have seen him do that before, probably take aim at the union leader.

this is not something that should be a surprise to anybody who has followed politics in new hampshire. let's be honest, it allows us to talk about hello mcfly and run biff sound bites on msnbc. not a bad thing. >> i hear you laughing, sam. hallie says he will probably use this to try to rally supporters. what do you make of this? >> i can totally see it. i really doubt this has much of an impact on trump, considering all the other things we said were going to usher in his doom as a presidential candidate. this seems relatively minor. first things first. the biff comparisons have been rumored for years dating back to the movie's release in 1989. this is not new stuff. we looked into it, too. it's very serious. secondly, donald trump is running against institutions, not just politics as usual, but institutions of government, the republican party, the political press. so for an editorial as old as

the new hampshire union leader to come out and criticize him like this almost plays into his hand in a scertain way. >> speaking of institutions he's now not only going after hillary clinton but former president bill clinton. i want to read you what he tweeted out just today. this is a trump tweet. quote, if hillary thinks she can unleash her husband with his terrible record of women abuse while playing the women's card on me, she's wrong. weigh in on this. the clinton campaign has already come out and said this is yet another example of trump being sexist. what do you make of this line of attack? could it backfire for donald trump? >> it could. it's really interesting, he is explicitly warning hillary clinton and saying be careful. in all caps, be careful. and that, i mean, first of all, the clinton people are just privately seething going nuts, they're not saying anything publicly about it, at least not in the last couple of days, sort of taking the attitude that this

is beneath them, and that's a strategy as well. but to your question about whether this could backfire for trump, in the short term, probably not. as with attacking the union leader editorial, this will -- he could use it as a prop. it will play into the strategy he's using in the short term of riling up the primary voters. long term, if he is the nominee or on the path to being a nominee, he will need the votes of moderate women of both parties, and that is an audience that is not likely to like any of this. >> sam, weigh in, if you will. we just interviewed republican congressman peter king. even he said republican voters really want to be talking about issues related to 2015. sure, this might get them excited, might get a few more folks to the poll but is this a smart strategy on the part of trump? >> no. it's not. and you talk to republican

strategists who actually have done polling of those moderate women voters and also non-moderate women voters, they tend to not get moved by attacks on bill clinton and the issues that he's had with women. they actually feel like hillary clinton is victimized in those attacks and it draws people sympathetically towards her. i agree with everything that's been said. there's a segment in the republican base that does think this is fair game, wonders why candidates don't go there when it comes to hillary clinton, and encourages it from the candidate. but if you ask republican strategists who look at the data, if this is wise, they say absolutely not. in fact, it could be very counterproductive. >> i want to play a clip from over the weekend. john dickerson interviewing steven colbert on "face the nation" about donald trump. let's take a listen. >> what's your view about the facts and their salience in the conversation? >> i'm a big fan of facts.

i'm not sure they have any bearing on what person's popularity is because donald trump is like -- i'm not the first person to say that but i completely agree that he's my old character with $10 billion. he's completely playing on an emotional level and so beautifully. that's one of the reasons why i just can't do that old character anymore because he's doing it better than i ever could. >> hallie, weigh in, if you will. i know you have been talking to trump supporters for months now. colbert raises the point this is very emotional for his supporters. >> correct. something else that he said that we didn't play there, colbert talked about how he can kind of understand the appeal donald trump has when it comes to the part of the republican electorate that is angry, that is looking for a change, that wants to see something different than what we have seen for the last several decades, and that's when we talked about all the time. that is exactly what trump is tapping into. people here, whether it's the union leader endorsement, whether it's media calling out trump for, for example,

misstatements or things that he says that maybe aren't backed up by facts, that just plays into trump's hands more and more. you ask people out here about these things, people in new hampshire, people in iowa, we have been all over the campaign trail and they will look at you and say we don't believe you, the media. we believe mr. trump and want to give him a chance. >> really fascinating. i want to turn back to -- hallie is in new hampshire but of course, iowa gets the first shot at weighing in. ted cruz is leading there. what would a cruz victory in iowa mean for the donald trump candidacy? would it really take away from his momentum in a significant way? >> i don't think it would derail him. i think it makes new hampshire all the more important for him. new hampshire is not a given for him, either. so it's really interesting. he could go from what seems like a juggernaut now to maybe a slightly banged up car in february. again, all of us have been wrong over and over and over again

about when the trump train will derail so i'm not going to make some grand prediction here. but iowa is very very important for him. he has to look viable even if ted krcruz bests him in iowa. >> there are reports his ground game isn't as strong as he is making it out to be. do you anticipate that trump is actually going to turn a lot of this passion and energy and excitement we see on the campaign trail into votes? >> well, this is the $30,000 question or whatever value you want to put on it. you have to actually touch base with these voters time and again if you want them to go out and caucus for you. it's not enough to just be the candidate of the moment, to have a passionate following. there's an organization element to iowa that matters. you can sask howard dean about that. that's what happened to him, a lot of passion but not enough organization. it remains to be seen if trump's going to invest the money that he clearly has into building that infrastructure. so far, he does have offices

there. he does have staff there. but like you mentioned, there's not great data pointing to a great organizational infrastructure in iowa. the last thing we need to see is what does he do in the wake of a defeat? iowa could end up being an embarrassment or simply a loss for him. no one knows how he will react after being taken down a notch. that's sort of a great unknown for a candidate this volatile and unpredictable. >> sam, hallie and anne, fantastic conversation. thanks to all of you. coming up, rushing the passer. peyton manning becomes the focus of a potentially explosive report. the details and his response next.

our cosmetics line was a hit. the orders were rushing in. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 ½ months? that was a leap. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials. amex helped me buy the inventory i needed. our amex helped us fill the orders. just like that. another step on the journey. will you be ready when growth presents itself? realize your buying power at open.com

now to a big story rocking the sports world. nfl star quarterback peyton manning is denying allegations linking him to performance-enhancing drugs. a new documentary from

al-jazeera clams human growth hormone was sent to the mannings' home addressed to his wife, ashley, when the five-time mvp was recovering from neck surgery in 2011. an angry manning told nbc sports he will probably sue over the accusations. more from nbc's craig melvin. >> reporter: this morning, outrage from an nfl icon. >> it's completely fabricated. complete trash, garbage. >> reporter: peyton manning firing back denying allegations he used performance-enhancing drugs in an interview with espn. >> disgusted is really how i feel. sickened by it. >> reporter: in the documentary airing overnight on al-jazeera, charlie sly, a former pharmacy intern at the guyer institute in indianapolis claims manning was given human growth hormones when he received treatment there in 2011. secretly taped by al-jazeera, sly claims the star quarterback got the drugs illegally through his wife. >> in our time we would be sending ashley manning drugs,

growth hormone all the time, everywhere, florida. it would never be under peyton's name, always under her name. >> reporter: the five-time mvp says he did receive treatment at the guyer institute in 2011 while recovering from a neck injury but insists he never took banned substances. hgh is banned in the nfl but random testing did not start until 2014. the denver broncos say they support their quarterback 100% and the colts, manning's former team, calls the accusations utterly ridiculous. dr. dale guyer, the clinic's founder, is also dismissing the al-jazeera report, saying mr. sly has fabricated this whole thing for reasons i cannot fathom. posting a video on youtube, charlie sly is now retracting all the statements in question, saying they are all untrue. >> i am recanting any such statements. >> reporter: when asked if he would sue al-jazeera, manning told sports writer peter king yeah, i probably will. i'm that angry.

one of sport's biggest stars defending his legacy and finding support from his team and fans. >> explosive allegations, that's for sure. msnbc's craig melvin joins me now. so craig, who else was involved in this and what are we hearing from the manning camp today? >> let's start with who else is involved. a number of other high profile nfl players, among them julius peppers is also named. ryan matthews is named. and some high profile baseball players as well, including ryan zimmerman of the nationals, they are in washington. as for the manning camp, they went out and hired this morning ari fleischer, well-known crisis management guru. we have yet to hear from him on this but they are apparently really trying to get out in front of this in an aggressive manner. >> craig, we understand that the al-jazeera reporter also weighing in today. tell us a little about that. standing by the story, right? >> we reached out to them late last night. we had not heard back from them

and this morning, one of the reporters involved in this particular report came on our air, came on msnbc here, talked about one of the specific allegations. take a listen to what she had to say. >> the allegation that he makes, let's be clear what the allegation is and what it's not. what charlie sly says is the guyer institute shipped human growth hormone to ashley manning in florida. i have not heard anyone deny that. if it was not true, would peyton manning have come out and said human growth hormone has never been shipped to my wife in florida? >> so at this point we have not heard from ashley manning and yesterday, when asked about that particular part of the allegation, peyton manning told espn that it was his wife's medical history that should remain private and that that was a private matter. also, charlie sly here, the

intern at the center of all of this, again, he's recanted pretty much everything. the question now is why, why is he recanting. that's something we are looking at and will have hopefully more on that tomorrow morning on "today." >> i know you continue to track this story. thanks for being here. much more ahead on "andrea mitchell reports." ♪

(cell phone rings) where are you? well the squirrels are back in the attic. mom? your dad won't call an exterminator... can i call you back, mom? 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? we're always looking for ways to speed up your car insurance search. here's the latest.

problem is, we haven't figured out how to reverse it. for now, just log on to compare.com... plug in some simple info and get up to 50 free quotes. choose the lowest and hit purchase. now...if you'll excuse me, i'm late for an important function. compare.com. saving humanity from high insurance rates.

that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." i'll be back here tomorrow. remember to follow this show online, on facebook and on twitter. stay with us. "msnbc live" is next with more on the severe weather sweeping across the country. these are my dogs dusty and cooper. i work for the dogs twenty-four seven. i am the butler. these dogs shed like crazy. it's like being inside of a snow globe. it takes an awful lot of time to keep the house clean. i don't know what to do. (doorbell)

what's this? swiffer sweeper and dusters. this is nice and easy boys. it really sticks to it. it fits in all the tight spaces. this is really great. does that look familiar to you? i'm no longer the butler, i am just one of the guys.

good to be with you. i'm frances rivera in for thomas roberts. we begin with break news out of the southwest and midwest where

the death toll from weather disasters has climbed to 24. in texas, 11 people are dead and more than 50,000 without power in a state torn apart by tornadoes. in some parts, scenes of total devastation and heartbreak. >> it looks like godzilla came through and ripped everything apart. yesterday everything was fine, nothing out of place. today nothing looks the same. >> everybody was checking on everybody. people going up and down the streets checking, everybody is checking houses. the camaraderie with that was just amazing. in the suburb of dallas, crews this morning fought to save a man trapped on the roof of his car in flood waters. they were able to rescue him safely. elsewhere in the southwest, extreme cold, snow in new mexico and wind gusts up to 82 miles an hour. this picture of an iced-over windmill speaks volumes. the national guard activated,