hello. it's high noon in the east. 9:00 in the becwest. i'm ayman modine. >> you're being used in a recruitment video. >> hear how donald trump respond after his words were used in an apparent terror video. he's saying a lot more about that today. >> a takedown of a federal building takes up overnight. what's behind the protest and could federal authorities get involved soon. turmoil overseas. a live report from tehran after the saudi embassy is attacked. could this spark more violence in the region. the dream is alive if you're hoping to catch one of the biggest lottery prizes in history. it's still out there for the

taking. good morning. we begin with politics. new reaction from donald trump on his thoughts about being featured in a recent terrorist recruitment video. take a listen. >> does it concern you that you are being used in essentially a recruitment video by terrorist organizations? >> they use other people too. what am i going to do? i have to say what i'm going to say. you know what i have to say? there's a problem. we have to find out, what is the problem, and we have to solve that problem. >> he drew a reported crowd of 15,000 people at a rally in mississippi where he once again targeted hillary clinton. >> and just in case you have any question, all right, the last person that hillary clinton wants to run against is me. believe me. believe me. >> clinton is back on the campaign trail today where

moments from now she'll hold a town hall meeting in new hampshire. she and a handful of her rivals will be chris-crossing the granite state in an effort to ramp up support ahead of the primary, a little over a month from now. reports from holly jackson in des moines, iowa, and kristen welker in new hampshire. are we starting to see a political traffic jam there in new england with all the candidates coming through? >> it's a pretty good way to describe it, ayman. we are over the next three days, nine candidates will be campaigning here. you'll see a similar break-neck pace in iowa. and we're also starting to see the candidates sharpen their attacks against each other, including the two front-runners, donald trump and hillary clinton. donald trump trying to expand his reach throughout the south, campaigning in mississippi on saturday and taking fresh aim at hillary clinton. >> hillary clinton created isis with obama. >> reporter: trump again looking

past his own primary, engagingy in democratic front-runner. >> they said they would most like to run against donald trump. they do not want to run against me. they do not. and i'm going to win. >> reporter: but now clinton may have new fodder. after the revelation al shabab, the al qaeda affiliate based in africa, the same group responsible for killing dozens at a nairobi mall, is using trump's words in a new recruitment video. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on. >> clinton recently warned trump's statements about the muslims would be used by the militanted. >> he is becoming isis' best recruiter. >> reporter: trump defending himself. >> other people have called me and said you have guts to bring

it up because it's true. >> marco rubio and ted cruz both rising in the polls are ramping up their attacks on each other. before a crowd of thousands in south carolina on saturday, rubio slammed cruz for saying he'd carpel bomb terrorists. >> you can't carpet bomb isis if you don't know where they are. >> reporter: a rocky start to the new year for dr. ben carson. over the weekend, five staffers resigned. still no sign carson or any of the other scand dates are letting up with the first votes just weeks away. now on saturday, donald trump also vowed to veto president obama's executive actions on guns. those actions will be announced some time this coming week. and earlier in the ga on saturday, trump took to twitter to again slam former president bill clinton for his marital infidelities while in office. he'll be campaigning here in new hampshire. a campaign aide prubrushed asid

the criticism and said secretary clinton has no better surrogate than her husband. >> kristen welker live in derry, new hampshire. a very busy start to 2016 politically. >> for most of the candidates, iowa the place to be. donald trump and marco rubio will hit the first caucus state. ted cruz scheduled more than two dozen events there. let's bring in halle jackson. this is the start of the final push to the iowa caucuses coming up in over a month. we're seeing a lot of candidates put boots on the ground. six-day, 28-county bus tour. mike huckabee planning 150 stops here. for ted cruz, the campaign framing this as a way to show caucus goers that he is not taking their support for granted. the point to be made about ted cruz, he's got the money and organization to go long-term beyond iowa in a way we haven't

seen with past winners. there's a question about whether expectations may be too high for him. it's now expected he'll come in first place in iowa. what happens if he doesn't. the other big question, what about donald trump. he's set to be here later in the week. this nontraditional way of politicking. not the folksy intimate retail stuff. he's got those big rallies. the question for trump, he's counting on turning out caucusgoers who have previously not shown up. what happens if trump doesn't win? will he blow his top? there's some speculation that will happen. look what's happened for him already when faltering in the polls. the 49 other states he continues to win. there could be a sense if he comes in second here, a lorss, but still second place, he may dismiss iowa and move on and focus on new hampshire. >> halle jackson, thanks.

protests after saudi arabia announced the execution of a top shiite cleric. these pictures from reuters show the saudi embassy in tehran set on fire after protesters stormed the building. hassan rouhani condemned the attacks. the prominent shiite figure was among 47 detainees executed saturday. the u.s. is warning about unrest in the region saying in part, quote, we are particularly concerned that the execution of prominent shia cleric and political nimr al nimr. we're joined by ali from tehran. what's the situation on the streets right now? >> well, there were protests as well today. it's evening here so they've wrapped up. there was a large protest today. it was planned to be at the saudi embassy. because of the raid last night

which was impromptu, they canceled it and it was held at palestine square in tehran which is a popular gathering point for demonstrations sanctioned by the government. a crowd of 300 or 400 people there burning american flags, british flags, israeli flags and chanting death to saudi arabia. a prominent cleric was there whipping the crowd into a frenzy. this was the tip of the iceberg in terms of iran's response and they weren't going to let this issue rest. also big protests today in the northeast of iran. it's a major city there. a saudi arabian consulate there and crowds gathered there chanting death to saudi arabia. a big crowd there today and dispersed by water cannons during that's demonstration. they are planning more demonstrations as well in

tehran. today, iran's ruling establishment were quick to condemn the execution. iran's supreme leader, khamenei said saudi arabia will face divine revenge for the execution calling it a huge crime and a wrong deed. he also said this will expedite the fall of the house of al saud. also the revolutionary guard promised revenge on the house of al saud. rouhani in a more balanced statement condemned nimr's execution but it wasn't just the raid on the saudi embassy. >> why was nimr al nimr a popular cleric across the region for shiites? >> well, because i think he stood up for shia values, for the oppressed shia people that he felt were oppressed in saudi arabia. he was made a very popular

figure amongst people here. this was exacerbated by his execution. a lot of people we were speaking to today weren't that familiar with him but once he was executed saw this as a provocati provocation. and this really fanned the flames of discontent amongst iranians and they see this as the saudis trying to provoke iran into doing something that could lead them down a stray path. a lot of iranians saying this was done by the saudis because they were able to do the nuclear deal, and this is another way of circumventing that. >> live for us in tehran, iran. now to breaking news back here at home. this one out of oregon where a group of militia men have taken over a federal building at a wild life revolution. kristen, what prompted this? >> we're continuing to follow it. this group of outside militants vowing to stay at the malheur

national refuge until they can use it as free men. it's been closed and was empty for the holiday weekend. a rally on stay. hundreds were protesting a judge's sentence to send ranchers back too prison. they've already served time in jail but that sentence was deemed to be too short by another judge. ahman bundee is the son of clivan bundy known for his 2014 standoff with the federal government. >> it is the people's facility. owned by the people, and it has been provided for us to come together and, i night in making a hard stand against this overreach. this taking of the people's land and resources. >> he is stressing the protests are peaceful and pose no threat to anyone. a collective effort from multiple agencies is working on a solution.

the fbi tells us it's aware of the situation but is finding no further comment. >> kristen dahlgren, thanks for that report. we'll go live to oregon for a report from the ground to look at that ongoing situation. >> donald trump is taking on the clint clintons. the former president gets ready to hit the campaign for his wife. coming up, what trump said about the power couple earlier this morning. rush liquid fast relief to your tough cold symptoms. and they outsell mucinex liquid gels 2 to 1. alka seltzer plus liquid gels.

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dauntsing task of cleaning up after massive flood. the record-breaking swells left at least 50 people dead and thousands of homes and businesses damaged. >> everybody was overwhelmed when the water just kept coming. but devastated now. and people down the road had water over their roofs. >> the national guard is on scene to assist with cleanup. in some areas the threat is not gone idea. some rivers have yet to reach their quest. will the weather cooperate? joining me for that answer is msnbc meteorologist bonnie schneider. >> we're not expect anything more rain for this entire area through wednesday. as the floodwaters flow down stream we're looking for cresting to occur. it will take days if not another week or so for those floodwaters to recede. they were so high. another place dealing with rain right now is florida. we're getting hard-hit with

strong storms in the tampa area. this line of storms just north of the city working into daytona beach. if that's not enough. a big weathermaker for this week is out west. we've been talking about el nino. rain coming into eureka down to the bay area. this is just the beginning. a parade of storms. one after the other that's going to hit the west coast. storm one begins today through monday. this will bring beneficial rain/snow for california. they'll take wlats they can get. the problem is when it comes one after the other, number two will be a lot stronger. this storm on tuesday is likely to bring heavier rain and snow. we'll run the risk for flash flooding and mud and debris flows. it's going to get dicey this week. by the time we get to tuesday, heavier rain coming through los angeles and areas further north. it's something to keep close watch on. speaking of winter, big changes

are ahead. see the forecast for today has temperatures below freezing in the northern tier of the country. that cold air is on the move. by the time we get to monday, see those colder numbers work their way to the east. coming up in the next hour, an arctic blast probably headed your way. now to politics and donald trump ramping up his personal attacks against hillary clinton. >> you ever notice she'll do one thing, very short, then back in the plane. and you don't see her for like another week. and i say this, and i know it. we need somebody very smart. we need somebody very strong. not just strong. you have to be smart. >> trumps comments at a rally are the latest in attacks focusing on hillary clinton's aptitude and making jabs against former president clinton over his past indiscretions. they come at a time when former president clinton is about to become more prominent on the

campaign trail. joining me is eli stokeles from politico. you spoke with republican strategists who are concerned these personal attacks may backfire on donald trump. what are they telling you? >> the concern is this may help hillary clinton. hillary clinton never does better than when she's a sympathetic figure. never better than in the aftermath of the monica lewinsky scandal. what republicans are concerned is that you put hillary in this posture where she thrives as on the defensive a little bit and more of a sympathetic figure than perhaps a lot of people view her now. that's in the context of the larger general election. in the short term of this primary there's a concern this helps donald trump because it puts him and clinton in the spotlight. it marginalizes the other candidates and sets up this side by side. if he can goad her into

responding more, he's the one she's responding to and tarit allows trump to dominate before the final voting begins. >> i want to play a sound bite on what trump said about former president bill clinton. >> i think she's a flawed cand dairt idate. i'm the only one that's willing to talk about his problems. i mean, what he did and what he has gone through, i think is, frankly, terrible, especially if she wants to play the woman card. >> could his attacks against former president bill clinton also backfire or is there a question they could garner support from independent women who aren't crazy about hillary clinton to begin with. >> that's an interesting question that will define what happens going forward. in the short term what donald trump is doing is opening the door, giving cover torths

republicto other republicans. it's hard to imagine anyone going there and yet a lot of people concurring with his assessment that if hillary clinton wants to play the same democratic glait book play of the war on women strategy, this might make it a little tougher for her to do so. a lot of republicans do believe this is fair game and they may now be able to go harder at this because trump has opened the door. but bill clinton is a pretty good campaigner. one of the most popular figures in american life right now. he'll have something to say about this, too. it's been about two decades or so that americans have had a chance to come to grips with the messier aspects of bill clinton's private life. whether there's an appetite to go back to that or it seems stale, we'll be watching that for the next few weeks and months. >> we're talking about bill clinton joining the campaign trail tomorrow. one of them being a town hall. how much do you think his involvement will help hillary clinton? >> well, you know, he is the

comeback kid in new hampshire and still has to have some resonance up there with granite state voters. there's a state bernie sanders is doing quite well and would like to notch a win and make this a longer primary process. if bill clinton is going there to really kind of evoke a little nostalgia, remind people what it is about the clinton brand that is so strong and can be trusted in narrowing sanders lead in new hampshire and helping his wife consolidate demstratic support saying she's going to be the nominee. and you can trust the clinton brand because given where ha proval numbers are right now, i think that he probably is thought to be an asset, and i think what trump is trying to do is make him less of an asset and give the clinton campaign a little more pause about sending him out on the trail. >> very quickly on the republican side, which republican candidate stands to lose the most in new hampshire, you think?

>> well, new hampshire is the place where an establishment challenger, the anti-trump or anti-cruz is supposed to emerge. really the stakes are highest for rubio, christie and jeb bush. whoever doesn't finish first in that grouping in the establishment lane, going to be very hard for them going forward. usually the establishment voters are pragmatic and vote with their head, not their heart. it's going to be the one that gives them the best chance to win next november. all three of those guys have some flaws, and so that's why you haven't seen that establishment lane really coalesce behind rubio or one of those three people. that's what's the next month is going to be about. just be very messy if all three are around 10%, 12% and no one can really get momentum and become that clear alternative to trump and cruz. >> eli live in washington, d.c. national political reporter for

politico. appreciate your insight. coming up -- a look at huge cleanup efforts under way after days of deaf staths flovastatin.

in missouri, a huge clean up is under way after days of devastating floods. at least 15 were killed and thousands of homes and businessed damaged by the record-breaking swells. raegan medgie is in st. louis where the floodwaters have only just started to recede. what's it like on the ground out there right now? >> reporter: right now everyone is just trying to dry out. we're in eureka, which is old town eureka inside of st. louis county. that road is closed. and this area was under water a couple days ago. we have some footage of arnold missouri right next door. part of the region impacted by the flooded miramac river. this is the st. francis

episcopal church. if people have never been part of a flood, i'm going to show you what it's like days after the water receded. if you've been involved in a flood, unfortunately, you'll know what i'm going to be showing you. this is what's happening here in eureka, missouri. we're trying to rip out as much flooded, wet, drywall, doors, contents they can. so the workers with precision restoration services here in eureka are taking the drywall and removing it. when you are the victim of a flood, this is what you have to do. the workers here, this is drywall. the water was up to maybe about my waist. i'm about 5'4". you get special equipment to see where the water has risen and they cut above that line to get as much wet out. we're going to go back here. i'm going to try to dance around everyone that's working. they draw a line and have to go above where the water seeps up.

the water looks like there's a better defined line where the water was. it rose a little more. this is on the other side. they have to cut up here. rip out everything. we'll go back here. and this could be -- this is a church but think about homes and businesses. what people have to do. so right now the last step in the process, this is called mitigating, removing everything. they take their carpets up, roll it up. again, we're going to be doing the dance. you guys are doing a great job. if you go back here, this is one of the -- this would be the bibeginning step. we went backwards. once everything is out, a little more and a little less. you can see that it's a lot of hard labor. this isn't happening just for today. the miramac river recede a few days ago. it's going to happen for days and weeks and hopefully everything will be dried out. rain is expected in the forecast here but only about a half an

inn inch for the rest of the week. >> raegan medgie live for us in missouri. a daunting challenge for the folks recovering there. we're following breaking news out of oregon where militia members have taken over a federal building at a wildlife refuge. we'll hear from a reporter on the ground right now. hands down, it was... that's who i was. after one week of chantix, i knew i could quit. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. some had seizures while taking chantix. if you have any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse or of seizures. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you have these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away

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i have heartburn. alka-seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. at ally bank no branches equalsit's a fact.. kind of like mute buttons equal danger. ...that sound good? not being on this phone call sounds good. it's not muted. was that you jason? it was geoffrey! it was jason. it could've been brenda. with alex witt. i'm ayman mohyeldin. republicans in their weekly address striking a familiar theme. >> as congress returns next week in one of our first acts of the new year, the house will vote on a bill that would eliminate key parts of obamacare. if this bill becomes law, patients will bea able to choos a health insurance plan that works for them. our bill eliminates the core of

obamacare. it repeals the individual mandate. if this bill becomes law you won't have to buy insurance or face a law. it will be your choice. >> joining me is matt lewis, author of the upcoming book kwd too dumb to fail." >> this will be the 6 2nd time the house has voted to repeal the affordable care act. would you choose this route if you were advising the house gop? >> i don't know if it's smart politics or not but it's not going to happen. sometimes politicians have to do things for symbolic reasons or to keep their base happy. we know that's premiums for a lot of americans will go up 7.5%. and, you know, that's going to, in an economy like we have now, that's going to take a toll. a lot of americans are spending more out of pocket expenses on health care. i'm guessing the timing has something to do with that. they want to go on the record clearly as opposing obamacare.

nothing changes unless they have the presidency and the senate and house. >> let me ask you about the affordable care act which some have described as baked in. it's already part of the fabric of american life. millions have enrolled. they've had a while to get used to it and rely on it. some supreme court decisions and other decisions that have reinforced it. is it still possible to rip it out of the american political landscape or everyday american use? >> i don't think you can rip it out. it would have to be surgically removed. premiums are going up. deductibles are going up. so people are going to be feeling some pain. but you're right. the problem, all of us have always known, those who opposed obamacase, once you have a big government program, it's difficult to get rid of it because poom rely on it and they expect to get it. it's possible to repeal and replace but you would have to

keep some of the most popular provisions of obamacare intact. that's the real challenge. you can't go back to a time when re-existing conditions would preclude you from getting insurance. >> the iowa caucuses, 29 days or so away. right now donald trump seems to be trailing ted cruz in that state while he still does have a commanding lead in new hampshire. do you think his support could erode in new hampshire if he loses iowa? are they two very different landscapes? >> i think they are very different. new hampshire almost takes great pleasure and joy in going the other direction and helping rescue somebody that did not win iowa. i think ted cruz is poised to win in iowa and the real question is, what happens then? does donald trump, the facade that he's a winner. befrg his poll numbers. if he loses iowa, does that deflate this impression that he's a winner? i would certainly say if he loses iowa and new hampshire,

which is possible, because the guy they might want to pluck might be chris christie they want to -- if he goes 0 for 2 then clearly i think trump would have that facade, this village he's built about him being this unbeatable candidate would be in grave danger. >> you on "face the nation," trump weighed in on being featured in an al shabab recruiting video. here's his take. >> does it concern you that you are being used in essentially a recruitment video by terrorist organizations? >> they use other people, too. what am i going to do? i have to say what i have to say. and there's a problem. we have to find out what is the problem, and we have to solve that problem. >> can you assess the damage to the gop for us on the position he's taking or the attitude he's taking with this? >> i think they 24 different issues. the fact a terrorist organization suis using the vid is irrelevant.

hillary clinton made that allegation. it was only a matter of time someone was going to make a video using trump a words to recruit others. his policy is a bad policy. i think obviously we need muslims to be allies of america's global war on terror. and it becomes very difficult to rely on that if there's a perception that you are discriminating against them. i think it's a bad policy. i wouldn't go overboard with worrying about this latest video, though. >> on thursday, a reporter asked jeb bush about the tamir rice investigation. here's what's he had to say. >> i think that chicago has a lot of work to do to rebuild trust. the level of violence is abh abhorre abhorrent. >> excuse me. >> in every community where you have these cases, the elected officials and the police chief need to engage with the community to rebuild trust. but the process worked. if there's a grand jury that's works at all the facts and

doesn't indict, maybe there's reasons for that. >> the journalist had to explain that it was cleveland, not chicago. whose fault is it that jeb has made a number of missteps on the campaign trail of this nature, and do you think this particular case is a significant example or not? >> i think -- you know, we all make mistakes. everybody messes up, and we can have a little grace for somebody who does that. but unfortunately, this is a microcosm of the jeb bush campaign which has been awkward and embarrassing. at the end of the day it comes down to the campaign. they need to be briefing and prepping candidates. the real problem is jeb bush. this is a guy who in 1999 might have been a great republican candidate. but he is not -- i think he's rusty and just out of touch with where the party is today. even if they go the establishment route it won't be jeb bush. >> matt lewis, appreciate your insight. back with the breaking news

out of oregon where an anti-government arm group is occupying a federal building at a wild life refuge. among them, ayman bundy. he's asking for more militia members to help them. >> this is not a time to stand down. it is a time to stand up and come to the county. we need your help and we're asking you for it. >> joining me over the phone, amanda peacher. let's start off with a little bit of what these militiamen are asking for. what are their demands? >> well, at this point, they haven't told a whole lot about what they are looking for or what their intentions are. but we do know that they are mostly anti-government and self-described patriots or constitutionalists who are from as far as utah, idaho, texas,

nevada and a new from oregon. we know that they are protesting the management of federal land, and they say that many of the federal lands that blf currently administers should be in the hands of private individuals. >> talk to us about the ongoing situation. first of all, do you know how many of these militiamen are in that building? what have they taken over exactly and is there any police presence there? is this a standoff of some sorts? >> we do not know how many militiamen are at the malheur national wild life refuge. we are not yet sure if they have entered the building or are simply camped outside. from what i can tell talking to the militiamen who are guarding the embarrantrance to the refer most of them slept outside either in the open or in their vehicles last night. so i haven't heard of them actually entering the building and overtaking it at this point. we do not know how many there

are. >> do we know if they are armed? do we know if they are armed? >> they do -- some of them do appear to be carrying weapons but they are not brandishing them in any way. i spoke to one militia man who said he was not here to shoot but he was willing to die. so i think that there are a variety of intentions coming into this and they seem to be resetting as a group and they'll give us an update around 11:00 pacific time. >> is there any police presence there? are local law enforcement officials treating this as a case of terrorism or not? >> we have not heard much from local law enforcement this morning. i have seen snow police cars up and down the long stretches of highways in this very remote area. i'm seeing nothing in terms of law enforcement at thus time. >> amanda peacher, oregon public radio reporter. we'll have more throughout the course of this program.

thanks for that update. hundreds of police and mass shootings gripped 2017 headlines. we'll take a comprehensive look back at the violent and deadly year in the u.s.

the end of 2015 closed the door on a violent year in america. more mass shootings in the united states than there were days in the year. and "the washington post" reports there were nearly 1,000 fatal shootings by police officers across the country in 2015. that number was not easy to tabulate. there's no mandator i nationwide reporting rule for compiling statistics on police shootings. james comey said back in october the lack of data on police shootings is embarrassing and ridiculous. so it has fallen to newspapers such as "the washington post" to compile details on police shootings around the country. let's bring in wesley lowry who contributed to the "post" coverage and written many stories on police shootings. wesley, good to have you with

us. >> thanks for having me. >> this was a year-long study launched by "the post." why did the paper take on such a huge project? >> well, so what we saw in 2014 towards s the end of 2014 is t nation was gripped with these stories. whether michael brown or tamir rice, john crawford. there were so many of these police shootings happening and capturing the headlines and attention. they raised tough questions about police and race and law enforcement. as journalists we asked, what context can we put it in? police unions saying this never happens. civil rights groups saying gunmen are being gunned down in the streets, executed every day. there was no answer. the feds didn't keep the data. we decided we were going to do that. >> the paper compiled six takeaways from that study. we'll put those on the screen. does it look, bottom line, does it look like police are being

held more accountable in shooting cases now that there's greater focus and public awareness about what's going on or not? >> yes. we did an analysis at the beginning of the year. we looked back for a decade for every police shooting back to 2005. there were 54 cases a police officer had been charged, indicted for on-duty fatal shooting. that averaged out to about three a year. three or four a year. this year there have been 18 officers who have been charged in connection to a fatal shooting. we have seen that number move up. now again, being charged is very different than being convicted. there's still a question about, even in cases when a police officer is charged, will they be convicted of crimes at the same rate someone else might be. and we believe probably not but we have to wait and see. >> is that based on that the data is not yet conclusive? >> y exactly. you have cases like walter scott in north carolina. the officers have been charged but haven't gone to trial yet.

>> let's talk about a point you brought up. the racial component of police shootings. what did you guys find? >> we found that black men are -- and black americans in general are disproportionately represented when it comes to fatal police shootings and that black people who are shot and killed by the police are more likely to be unarmed and fleeing. also when you look at traffic stops, which account for 1 in 4 foughtal -- i'm sorry, 1 in 10 fatal police shootings this year, that is, in fact, one of the biggest causes of black men and women being shot and killed by police while most white men and women, it begins with a domestic disturbance or some type of crime being committed. when you look at the black population being shot and killed by police, many more begin with more routine police interactions. white people are killed many more in terms of raw number but

black people are disproportion atly killed by the police. >> are you going to continue this story in 2016? >> yes. our reporting led to the fbi declaring they need to keep these stats better but their program isn't starting until 2017. we'll continue doing our project next year. >> walter lowry, thank you for that update. the wife of bill cosby will testify in a civil case against her husband. what could happen when she takes the stand? santa has a magic snow globe for every family. and this year, look at what he put in our driveway.

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will testify in a deposition for a civil lawsuit filed against her husband in 2014 by seven women who alleged some form of sexual misconduct. her testimony will come one week after her husband was arrested and charged with aggravated insdents assault stemming from an allegation of drugging and sexual misconduct in 2004. a case reopened last year by newly elected prosecutor. one of cosby's attorneys who is

seen in this video escorting him to his arraignment has called their client the victim of political football and says his defense team will not consider a plea deal. cosby and his attorneys have long denied allegations of drugging and sexual misconduct. up until next week he'd not been charged with any crime. joining me is laura coates, not expected with bill cosby or any of his accusers. good to have you on. let's talk about the prosecutor and the challenges that's they will face. what challenges does the prosecution face in proving cosby guilty? >> in any of the sexual assault cases i've ever prosecuted and across the country, people have the same phenomenon. you have a hurdle of victim blaming in rape cases and sexual assault where the crediblility of the krm is always on trial. that particular level of credibility is also coming into question when you have delayed reporting. this particular case you don't have physical evidence. you don't have eyewitnesses.

all you have is her word against his. and certainly his word has been tarnished over the 50 or more people who have alleged to have had sexual assaults with bill cosby. but there still remains the fact the significant hurdle is they have to prove something that happened 12 years ago without physical evidence and when the woman reported over a year after it happened. >> one of my colleagues spoke with thomas mesereau yesterday. he, too, has no connection to this case. he made the point of how cosby's attorneys will attempt to attack the credibility of the accusers. >> this is going to be tried in a conservative part of pennsylvania. i grew up in new york in new jersey. you may see some conservative women looking at some of these women who 40 years ago were aspiring models in hollywood, playboy centerfolds, whatever they were and they may be questioning their mode us operandi, their values.

i think the defense is going to do a tremendous job investigating who these women are and who they were 40 years ago. >> if i can, what's your reaction, and what can prosecutors do to combat thus type of scrutiny. is this trial going to come down to a character assessment of the accuser and the defendant? >> it will come down to character. but his point would be much more appropriate if we're talking about the victim in this case having been one of the women he's talking about. we're talking about a woman who was in the athletic department at temple university. not somebody vying for public taejs. n attention. not a "playboy" model. someone lured under the pretense of having a career suggestion or career conversation and she was a mentee. his point is well noted that we attack the credibility of sexual assault victims in this country. however, what his point to is the fact the prosecution is going to have to try to portress the credibility of this victim

by adding testimony of the other alleged victims. not all 50 of them but certainly part of them. and the reason is you are able in some of these cases to say, look, this is a theme. it's a pattern of behavior. it's not an isolated incident. it's an aberration of character but this is a modus operandi. his thing to give somebody a substance and take advantage of them. that's their claim as a prosecution. it will come into play when trying to assess the credibility of those women who may testify. his point is irrelevant and lost on this particular victim. >> given that we've learned about what led this new prosecutor to bring the charge against cosby, what would you focus on if you were arguing this case before a jury? >> if i was the prosecutor, i would argue that we're not talking about the victims in the court of public opinion who came decades later to talk about bill cosby's alleged acts against them. we're talking about somebody who

within a year, wasn't immediate, but within a year reported to the criminal prosecutor in this case and she went along and was steadfast to have a civil suit. i'd focus on the fact that, frac frankly, when a woman is attacking someone for saying she's a victim of sexual assault, she doesn't say bill cosby has sexually raped her in the sense people are talking about. we're talking about a digital penetration and fondling of breasts and forcing of her to touch his then erect penis. so her credibility is even more heightened than the others because it seems as though she is trying to be as truthful and not exaggerate perhaps. and so i think my strategy as a prosecutor could to be say i've got a timely disclosure of a woman who had nothing to gain and everything to lose and she went and tried to pursue a case in criminal court and was confounded by a prosecutor who didn't care. >> former u.s. attorney laura

coates, thank you for joining us live from washington, d.c. what's the next move for law enforcement after a federal building in oregon is swarmed by armed protesters? we'll hear from a former atf agent at the top of the hour. plus this -- >> 22 witnesses at least. and there was one of them right there. and every one of us were called fabricators. liars. >> the real-life crime drama that has a lot of people binge watching. hear why so many are finding th "making a murderer" so compelling.. i am his sunshine. i am his advocate. so i asked about adding once-daily namenda xr to his current treatment for moderate to severe alzheimer's. it works differently. when added to another alzheimer's treatment, it may improve overall function and cognition. and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. vo: namenda xr doesn't change how the disease progresses. it shouldn't be taken by anyone allergic to memantine,

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hello. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." i'm ayman mohyeldin. we begin with breaking news. a large group of protesters has taken over a federal building at a wildlife refuge in burns, oregon. at least one of them appears to be armed. among the occupiers, ayman

bundy, son of clivan bundy. bundy said he and the others are occupying the building because, quote, the people have been abused long enough. >> it is the people's facility. owned by the people. and it has been provided for us to be able to come together and unite and making a hard stand against this overreach, this taking of the people's land and resources. >> clivan bundy is known for his standoff with the federal government. joining me, jim cavanaugh. also retired atf special agent in charge. jim, always a pleasure to have you on. let's look at this from a law enforcement perspective. they are saying very little. the oregon state police, the sheriff's office. even the fbi are involved but not yet clear how they are tackling or approaching this. what's the first step they're going to take here?

>> they'll have a command meeting and discuss their options. they are taking it slow. nobody is held hostage. nobody has been injured. this is a federal building but it's a small house basically out in the wilderness where the fish and wildlife service can manage the wetlands. the lands for migratory birds. it was a sanctuary in 1908. these militiamen are always looking for a confrontation. they pick places they can make a stand and a lot of constitutional language. they sabre rattle and call others to join them. what they want is that confrontation. they've gone there maybe with some generators and food. i think the numbers may be a dozen people or so. i don't think it's the 150 they're claiming. >> let's talk about various scenarios from a law enforcement

scenario. bundy says his group is planning to stay at the refuge indefinitely. how do you see this happening? >> it could be a long time depending on how the commanders in the government, law enforcement, want to deal with it. it could go on for a long time. the mistake i think was after the bundy ranch takeover and their obstruction of the united states district court order that the justice department didn't go out and pick off some of these guys. they committed a wide variety of federal laws opinion and they should have picked these guys off and arrested them and charged them with that. these guys are not going to go away, even if you waited them out. they'll come back and do this in some other location. there's a hard core people that have dealt with these militia men since the '70s. and in every intervening transmovement of them from timothy mcveigh to ruby ruj and on, we've dealt with these guys.

we know how they think. and they can be very dangerous. they have long rifles and scopes, lots of ammunition and when law enforcement shows up, they'll have some that want to get involved in a shootout. you have to be careful not playing into their end view and just take it slow. if there's a confrontation, it will be they forced an armed confrontation with the government because that's wlaha they are always trying to do. they'll claim they are the victim and the government is overreaching. the danger of just leaving them for too long is other like-minded militiamen travel and they are like a magnet bringing heavier weapons and it gets even more exacerbated. >> as a former law enforcement official, would you characterize this as domestic terrorism in the way the government then has to deal with it, or does this not fall into that purview? >> it clearly is domestic terrorism. there's a wide variety of laws they've violated if they broke into that building.

burglary of a federal facility. conspiracy. maybe were interstate transportation of firearms. there's lots of crimes. first thing to do is get some warrants. those warrants can be sealed once you identify the people in there. have those in your hip pocket. the other thing would be fbi, atf negotiators. talk in them. doesn't have to be at the perimeter. they want their message out. they are calling press conferences already. at some point you are going to have to control the message going in and out and the people going in and out. i think you have to do it slowly because there's no shots been fired and no hostages are held. >> jim cavanaugh, always a pleasure to talk to you. thanks for joining us. >> thanks, ayman. to politics and the iowa caucus less than a month today. ted cruz is among several candidates ramping up their ground game there. other competitors like coarly fiorina are counting on new

hampshire as their path. hillary clinton is in the granite state. she gave this message to voters. take a listen. >> one year and 17 days, we will have a new president. and that new president will inherit a lot of challenges, but will also have the chance to build on the progress that we have made together. and it will be essential that that new president be a democrat so the republicans don't rip away the progress that we have made. >> clinton has so far stopped short of addressing personal attacks made by donald trump which include comments about former president bill clinton's past indiscretions. kristen welker is in derry, new hampshire. what else is on clinton's agenda for us today? >> i think you are getting a preview of things to come. she has three events here today in total. expect her to be here quite a bit over the next month.

this is a jump ball here in new hampshire. secretary clinton, bernie sanders locked in a close race. if secretary clinton secures new hampshire, it could allow her to lock up the nomination earlier. this is do or die for bernie sanders. he has to win here if he wants to be a viable candidate. secretary clinton going after the republicans today. she took a swipe at donald trump who has said he would veto president obama's executive actions on guns. secretary clinton criticized that and then argued that more broadly republicans are backwards on a whole host of issues, including guns and the economy and the environment. now if you looka the polls, ayman, bernie sanders is leading in some recent polls. he's from neighboring vermont, and his message about economic evaluate taking on the big banks has really resonated with the progressive voters here. he is going to be quite aggressive as well in his campaigning. he has a number of events here

in new hampshire today. this could come down to the independence voters. they make up 40% of the electorate in new hampshire. if they come out in big numbers, that's could benefit bernie sanders. tomorrow, secretary clinton deploying her not-so-secret weapon. former president bill clinton will be here stumping in new hampshire on behalf of his wife. >> kristen welker live in derry, new hampshire. appreciate that update. president obama is back in the white house this afternoon. the president and first family returned from their two-week vacation in hawaii. he will begin his final year in office developing a plan of action to curb gun violence in this country. the u.s. is now calling on iran and saudi arabia to reduce tensions following the execution of a top shiite cleric. he's one of 47 detainees executed by saudi arabia on saturday. the cleric's death has sparked protests. these pictures from reuters show the saudi embassy in tehran set on fire after protesters stormed

the building. iran's president has condemned the attacks. the iranian student news agency says 40 were arrested. there have been no reports of injuries so far. nbc's ari arouzi has more from tehran. are there still protesters on the streets, and is the embassy in the hands of the government or still with the protesters? >> ayman, there were protests earlier today but they've all wrapped up. the protests today were meant to happen. sanctioned by the government, meant to take place outside the saudi embassy. because the hard-liners knew there would be a huge security presence they did an impromptu demonstration last night at the embassy which allowed them to raid the embassy because there were no police there. today there was a big gathering at palestine square, a popular gathering point for protests sanctioned by the government. several hundred protesters

showed up chanting death to america, israel, saudi arabia. hard-line cleric there was whipping the crowd up into a frenzy saying this is only the tip of the iceberg from iran's reaction towards saudi arabia. and there's a lot more to come. there were also demonstrations in a city in the northeast of iran. demonstrations there got so big this afternoon that the crowds were dispersed by fire cannons, by water cannons used by the police. now iran's ruling establishment was also very quick to condemn the -- to condemn the execution. iran's supreme leader ayatollah khamenei, the highest ruler in the land, says saudi arabia will face divine revenge for nimr's execution. while the powerful revolutionary guard vowed rivenge on the house of al saud. hassan rouhani had a more balanced statement saying the

execution violated human rights and islamic values but the embassy siege was by no means justifiable and he's ordered the interior minister to identify the attackers and bring them to justice. now all of this shows that there's major, major tension between iran and saudi arabia. it's essentially a sectarian divide which is concerned the state department and they issued a statement today. let's take a listen to that. >> there are more protesters well planned tomorrow, ayman. the hard-line students said they were going to come out and protest the saudis and their actions here. they said this was a provocation by the saudis. this was done intentionally by them to proeficaveicate the ira. and we'll have to see how this plays out over the next few days.

>> ali arouzi live in tehran, iran, with that update. donald trump accusing hillary clinton of playing the so-called woman card. what could be the strategy behind his words. plus, what's being done to clear up a dangerous situation in china. rush liquid fast relief to your tough cold symptoms. fast, powerful liquid gels from alka seltzer plus ...of fixodent plus adhesives. they help your denture hold strong more like natural teeth. and you can eat even tough food. fixodent. strong more like natural teeth. fixodent and forget it.

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can't find you anywhere! don't settle for u-verse. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. i don't like it. i don't like anything changing our second amendment. there's plenty of rules and regulations. plenty of things they can do right now that are already there. they don't do them. >> i'll be rescinding a lot of executive order. the new president if he comes in, first day, first hour, first minute you can rescind them. >> that was donald trump weighing in on his expected

executive action on guns. let's bring in azi, a senior reporter for politico. really good to have you with us. is there a grain of truth in what donald trump was just saying as we heard there about the executive actions and his ability to just rescind them, and how effective would that be? >> there's a grain of truth in it. executive orders last as long as the executive wants them to last. if a mayor, governor or president signs them, it's up to the next person to decide whether or not to rescind them. a lot of times in a campaign it's very effective to say i'm going to rescind this. once you step into the office and you have your legal team and your associates tell you, hey, that might not be such a good idea. it's very easy to say it sometimes takes a bit of a second kind of reality when you are there. they last as long as you want them to last. >> you've covered new york area

politics for some time. two candidates in the race. chris christie and donald trump. arguably both used to the new york-style of politics. chris christie, obviously, new jersey. donald trump in new york. are they bringing new york area politics or the way you'd campaign in the new york area on the national level? is that going to work for them? >> it clearly worked for pataki. he was not so much a new york city political creature as the hudson valley kind of character. trump and christie do bring a sort of unique style of campaigning. they both are trying to connect with voters in a more emotional -- trump says things that may not be factually accurate. oftentimes they're not accurate. but they resonate with people's emotions. they resonate with people's ames. there's a feelging there's uncertainty about the economy. there's people who are scared because of terrorism issues. and he speak to that. chris christie built his entire

career on being blunt, direct, confrontational. he does not do this gentile appeasement that's seen in retail campaign events. what they are bringing is the sense that i am with you. you can trust me. we can worry about the details later. i'm in agreeance with you. >> a lot of headlines about hillary clinton tend to focus on her time as, you know, secretary of state. her time at the state department in terms of her governing style. sometimes it's lost she was also a u.s. senator from new york. >> yes. >> theis there anything to be gleaned from her management style as opposed to just focussing on her time as secretary of state. >> during one of the debates, she said i went to wall street and told those guys, knock it off. cut it out. and there was one of my colleagues at politico wrote a lengthy article describing her work.

she would sometimes describe her strong stance against wall street. it didn't exactly line up with the words she said at the time, 2007 and 2003. one of the parts of her legacy in the senate that's often forgotten is she worked very effectively across the aisle. she made deals with lindsey graham and she also made deals with newt gingrich. with newt gingrich, specifically a deal to help modernize and put in digital format medical records. something that's not necessarily a partisan issue but modernization of records. she became so effective at working with republican senators there was a memo issued saying, stop working with her. she's going to be the democratic candidate for president. this is not helpful for us. when she puts her head down, she can work and find ways to make friends across the aisle in a way that belies the fact she also likes to point out that she's -- that republicans are her favorite enemies at times.

she knows how to campaign and also work across the aisle. >> azi, appreciate your insight. >> appreciate you having me. now to missouri where the death toll from the deadly floods has risen. the national guard has been called to help clean up the thousands of homes and businesses damaged by the floods. the full destruction for many hasn't hit home. >> it's still sort of like i'm in a dream, like thinking how could this be happening to us? >> we are tough. we are tough. and we will get through this, and we will come out better on the other side. >> now the threat isn't over yet. floodwaters are expected to head down stream along the mississippi toward arkansas and tennessee. some of the coldest air is hitting much of the country. bonnie schneider is here with

more on that. how cold is it going to get for some folks out in the midwest? >> not just the midwest. in the northeast we'll be feeling a big difference. a record warm december. now it's january. new year and brand-new weather pattern. the cold air is finally coming in. if you've been waiting for it. and you'll feel it. in boston, your high 27. in new york city, 31. we don't even get to freezing. in washington, d.c., mid-30s. buffalo, 15. a mere 15. not even 20. this is the first of several waves of arctic air that will start to work in through january. a lot more to come into the missmiss middle of the month. thunderstorms through florida. a stormy day in the tampa area and gainesville. a lot of people traveling this weekend making for a rough go through daytona beach with heavy downpours and gusty winds. watch out if you are in florida. it's a little unstable.

we're getting rain. we need the rain. it will be light and widespread in terms of rain and snow in the area. this one comes in on tuesday. and it's going to be more intense. so what we're looking at is heavier rain as well as heavier snow. we could see a foot or more in the sierra. keep in mind the risk for flash flooding in those burn areas like in southern california. as we can see for today, not too bad. rain moving through. by the time we get to tuesday evening, much more heavy rain and that risk for flooding and debris flow. there's the cold air. the beginning of it for sunday. by monday, it plunges further to the south and sinks in on tuesday where the cold air spreads much wider further off to the east. we'll be feeling those changes throughout the first part of this week. it's a new month and brand-new weather pattern is new here.

>> cold one to say the least. thanks for that update. prince william talks about being a father and how he's more inclined to tear up now.

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with alerx witt." i'm ayman mohyeldin. protesters stormed the saudi embassy and set fires throughout the building. there were no reports of injuries but up to 40 arrests have been made. iran's president condemned the attack and said those responsible would be prosecuted. iran's supreme leader said saudi arabia will face divine vengeance for executing the cleric. let's bring in christopher hill, former u.s. ambassador to iraq. always good to have you on, sir. why such a strong reaction in iran. not just iran but some other protests, even inside saudi arabia where it is rare to see

demonstrations. >> there's an awful lot going on here. the saudis and iranians have a regional rivalry that has heated up in light of the u.s. deal or the nuclear deal with iran. secondly there's a proxy war going on in syria. so the stakes are pretty high. from a saudi perspective, we're seeing a lot of domestic stuff there, executing extremist sunnis and to balance the score. they execute a shia cleric from the east province which is the hotbed of shiism. the iranians have a very tough anti-saudi public opinion that they are trying to manage there. and they are trying to get through this. they arrested a lot of people for attacking the saudi embassy. they are trying to get through this. this is a real rough patch. from a u.s. perspective, we

desperately need the saudis and iranians to calm us down and work together on a number of issues, namely syria. >> let's look about why saudi arabia may have taken such a drastic measure. you alluded to some of those points. was this more of a message to balance the sunni extremists with some of the shia protesters or is it sending a message to the region, particularly to iran? >> i think it's mainly a domestic message. on the one hand, the saudis need to do more with this extreme sunni terrorism. they need to do more. they are under tremendous international pressure. so they've gone after some of these people, executed a number of them in that mass execution. at the same time, a lot of people in saudi arabia who may not like isis, who may not like their approach but the view is, well, at least they're doing something about the via which no one else is.

so at the same time, the saudi government says we're also doing something about extremism in the shia community. we've executed this cleric. so a lot of domestic issues going on. i would say that's primarily a domestic issue. but, obviously, it has these issues that have -- that are going to be big time with iran. >> foreign policy expert ian bremer tweeted last night the u.s. relationship with iran will be significant lie cloly closerh saudi arabia. do you see support that saudi arabia, particularly within u.s. diplomatic circles may be fade away a little bit? >> well, if you look at the literature in recent weeks and recent months, the comment by ian bremer very much reflects what a lot of people are saying. if you look at what the things we have in common with iran versus the things we have in common with the saudis, you can

make a plausible case for the idea of the u.s. will have a closer relationship with iran. and maybe more important lly is the fact that's what the saudis believe. they believe we've jilted them and gone back to our regional friend in the 1970s. beyond the issue of the nuclear weapons, there's a real concern in saudi arabia that the u.s. is switching partners. the u.s. has been very careful to say saudis, we still love you. we'll provide you with f-15s, we're going to support your effort in yemen which, by the way, has not been a very pretty picture. we've seen saudi tactical aircraft essentially doing the equivalent of some of the things we see in syria where they are dropping bombs on civilian areas. this has been a tough issue. you can see the white house really having a tough time the last couple of days with this execution, not really sure what to say about it. >> former u.s. ambassador to

iraq, christopher hill. always good to have you with us. >> thank you. now to 2016 politics. donald trump ramping up personal attacks against hillary clinton. trump accused clinton of playing the so-called woman card. >> she is pandering to the public and she's pandering to women. and when she did it with me, she talked about sexist, and i said me? i have more respect for women by far than hillary clinton has. and i will do more for women than hillary clinton will. i'll do far more, including the protection of our country. >> trump's attacks also come at a time when former president bill clinton is about to become more prominent on the campaign trail. his past alleged indiscretions have been focus of trump's attacks. joining me is jonathan alter. he's a contributor to the daily beast. good to have you with us. what do you think is behind

trump's strategy by saying hillary clinton is now pandering to women? >> trump's strategy is always the same. the best defense is a good offense. when hillary clinton criticizes him, he does the same thing he does to anybody who criticizes them. he hits them with a 2x4 as hard as he can. he hits back ten times as hard. that's his m.o. what's taken him to the front-runner position. if it continues, we're going to see ten months of hillary clinton against donald trump. of them sniping this way all the way until the november election. right now each is the front-runner in his or her political party. she gets, though, that trump is very vulnerable with women. she's also focused on women in this campaign a way she did not in 2008. and for him to accuse anybody of pandering is pathetic.

for him to accuse bill clinton of having women problems when he's been married three times and has a checkered past is pa the thetic. >> light talk about some of the personal attacks against hillary clinton. he's called her weak and lacking the stamina to be president. how do you think trump's criticism will go down with women voters? >> not well. there's already a gender gap in american politics in the last several elections. democrats have done much better with women than republicans. if trump is nominated, that gender gap will get even wider. combination of a woman on the ticket and trump, the republican spot. he's trying to neutralize that, trying to appeal to a relatively small number of women who are supportive of him. but, remember, trump is running in the republican primary. and the game there is, who can

take on hillary clinton the best? a lot of this is to show republican voters, i'm so tough, i'm such a critic of hillary that i'm your best nominee. i'm going to be the one who can take her out in november. >> some of trump's republican rivals have said former president clinton's alleged indiscretions in the past are fair game. you've covered that administration at the time those events were unfolding. will this help or hurt donald trump or any other republican to go after bill clinton's indiscretions? >> the american public as a whole didn't care about it in 1998, '99, 2000. bill clinton was very popular in realtime when all this was first coming out. so the idea that they're going to care about it, you know, 15, 18 years later is kind of preposterous. within the republican party, there are votes to be had on who

can be the most anti-clinton. they had roger stone was fired by trump but was one of his top people who has come out with a book about the clintons war on women. rehashing all of this old material. and you will see that come out. it won't help them take the white house, but it might help in winning that nomination. >> jonathan alter, we'll have to leave it there. thanks for your insight. >> what is it going to take to keep scenes like this one from happening? new perspective on what it will take to fix the country's infrastructure. stay with us .bu i'm on the move all day long... and sometimes, i just don't eat the way i should. so i drink boost® to get the nutrition that i'm missing. boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a great taste. i don't plan on slowing down any time soon.

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new perspective on how to fix america's crumbling infrastructure. the first highway funding will agreed on by congress in nearly a decade. the $305 billion funding pressure will affect roads and bridges in every state over the next five years. let's bring in philip howard,

the founder of common good. he's written a piece for the "atlantic" on how to fix america's infrastructure. congress finally passed this measure. how far is that going to go? is it just a drop in the bucket? >> it's about 20% of what we need. the civil engineer society estimates $1.7 trillion. not only to fix the pot holes which it still does but also to expand capacity, get rid of bottlenecks, build new power lines, water treatment plants, things like that which this bill doesn't do anything for. >> you recently wrote how bureaucratic delays build up costs in decade-long review and permitting procedures. more than double the effective cost of new infrastructure projects. how can that process be streamlined to be more efficient. >> it's really tragic what's happened in the name of environmental review, creating a

process that's bad for the environment because we prolong bottlenecks. other greener countries do environmental review in less than a year. takes us a decade often. it's really important to do what's needed to make decisions which is to create lines of authority. the reason it takes a decade is not because anybody is getting wiser during all those years of arguing. it's because nobody has authority to make a decision. >> is there a way to jump-start this modernization without a federal policy in place? >> well, federal policy has to change, but what i think is really possible now, the stars are aligned, is that the republicans, by getting the policy to change to cut back reviews to two years rather than ten years, could cut costs in half. and by doing that, get the democrats to agree that they would raise money. they -- the republicans agree to

raise money in exchange for the democrats cutting the red tape. >> partisan politics. is there a way to do this in a bipartisan way, particularly given the fact this incoming congress now with the new leadership of the house has been criticized for being very bipartisan? >> both parties have an interest in doing it. republicans won't raise taxes because government is wasteful. this would cut the cost of these government programs, the infrastructure in half. democrats want to save the environment and build new infrastructure. and they can still have environmental review. just a year rather than ten years. both parties can get what they want. it's one of those places where the country would be so much better off. both parties can claim credit. 2 million new jobs. help the environment. improve america's competitiveness. >> you see it as a win-win for both? >> oh, yeah. >> we'll have to leave it there.

next, the true crime documentary a lot of viewers can't stop watching. conquer the weather.

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millions of people are under a heavy smog advisory in china. the country has an orange alert in place in several cities and provinces including the capital of beijing. a city of more than 22 million people. the alert means people need to stay indoors and take precautions. just yesterday smog blanketed parts of southwest china causing road closures. hundreds of vehicles were stuck on the roads. joining me now with gordon chang, author of "the coming collapse of china." good to have you with us, sir. what's it like to live in cline n -- china now with the smog so bad? >> in bay sieijing with the ora alert, it isn't too bad. most people are not under mandatory restrictions. things get bad under a red alert and beijing had two of those

last month, school closed, construction stops, government offices and other offices are put on restricted schedules. cars are kept off the road. half of them every day on an odd/even license plate system. it gets to be onerous and people complain about it. >> i want to show you pictures from september when china staged a massive military parade. you see clear skies in beijing, that's obviously not it, that was it, right there. but to clear out the smog china ordered more than 10,000 factories and a number of construction sites around beijing to close or reduce output. so the government does know how to clear things up if it chose to do so, but is it willing to pay the price for that? >> certainly not because, you know, for the september parade which you just showed, factories were closed starting about 3 1/2 weeks before the event. you had these progressive closures not just in beijing but also in the provinces surrounding the capital, and eventually what they also did was they seeded clouds, they did all sorts of stuff. clearly they can clean the air, but to do that, they're not

going to have an economy, and so they only do this for specific events like military parades or when you have these big meetings in beijing. >> so we obviously know there was a climate deal signed last month in paris. very quickly, how effective is that going to be to tackling something like this in china? >> i don't think it's going to have that much effect. what's going to have an effect is if the chinese people take to the streets and push pressure from the bottom up. the thing about china is the manufacturing sector is contracting. that means less co2 in the air. ultimately that's good for china. >> gordon chang, thank you for coming in on, you know, to have this discussion with us. appreciate it. >> thank you. now to the real life mystery that's prompting a lot of binge watching on netflix. it's called "making a murderer," it examines the case of steven avery, a wisconsin man who was released from prison after being exonerated of sexual assault only to be arrested and convicted for the murder of a young woman. >> steven avery was a shiny

example of their inadequacies, their misconduct. >> avery is currently serving life in prison without the possibility of parole. joining me now with more is nicki novak, entertainment correspondent with young hollywood. always a pleasure to talk to you. >> good to see you. >> obviously, a lot of folks binge watching this one, myself included. >> oh, good. >> absolutely. why is this ten-part series so compelling? >> sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. i think if you had a hollywood writer write this story, nobody would believe it. here you have a man, like you said, that was in prison for 18 years, exonerated. i want to point out he had a $36 million civil suit pending when he was arrested for the murder of this woman. i think the fact this woman was murdered in such a horrific way also makes it all the more compelling and the evidence that came forward in this series about police misconduct has just riveted the nation. >> i have to be honest with you. i was really addicted to the show from the very first episode and in the first episode we

learn a lot about what steven avery was like. what was he like? >> i think, and this is what creates doubt, here is a man who did have a checkered past. he was arrested in the past for killing the family pet, the family cat, burning it alive. i mean, this isn't a man -- this man was also accused by the woman that was eventually killed of being a little bit creepy. she apparently didn't want to go to the property the day she went to the property. this is a man that definitely, you know, wasn't necessarily the most liked and apparently the police didn't like him at all to begin with, so it does paint a little bit of a picture there. >> and avery's nephew was also convicted of the same murder. he's also still behind bars. what's his story? >> well, his story is that he was a little bit mentally challenged. there are accusations that the police coerced him into confessing and that he really, you know, should be exonerated based on the fact that at the

time of his confession his lawyer wasn't even present. so there is almost a bigger case for his exoneration than there is for steven avery at this point. >> very quickly, how big of a hit is this series for netflix? we have seen these murder mysteries being rehashed, really popular, but how about this one? >> people are saying it is the most talked about crime series of the year. you've got celebrities tweeting about it. alec baldwin was live tweeting as he was watching the series. you have ricky gervais saying that the filmmakers deserve a nobel prize, forget the academy award or emmy. and he said it is the best do docuseries he's ever seen. and 98,000 people have signed the petition at change.org to have him released so people are definitely talking about it. >> do you think it will have an impact like the serial podcast did in. >> it's hard to say. what the filmmakers have come out and said is they hope it raises more questions and their

purpose in doing this documentary, which took them over ten years to do, was to sort of raise awareness and shed light and not necessarily to point fingers or to say whether or not he was guilty. >> all right. nicki novak, we'll have to leave it but that wraps up this sunday he had i guess of q"weekends wih alex witt." stay with us for breaking news. wow!

and this year, look at whate he put in our driveway. the lexus december to remember sales event is here. lease the 2016 es350 for $349 a month for 36 months and we'll make your first month's payment. see your lexus dealer. this sunday, the one-month sprint to iowa and this sunday, the one-month sprint to iowa and new hampshire begins. >> we are all in in iowa. we are all in in new hampshire. >> while donald trump takes aim at hillary clinton by attacking bill clinton's sexual peccadillos. >> that certainly will be fair game. certainly if they play the woman's card with respect to me, that will be fair game. >> it may be fair game, but it's never worked before against hillary. will it now? also, the battle to be the republican establishment's anti-trump or anti-cruz. john kasich and rand paul join me live. plus, anger in america. some surprising results from our any