more often than not, if a story is here on this show before it is anywhere else, it is in your local paper. support your local paper. and people's lawful right to bear arms. >> to the campaign trail where hillary clinton's not so secret weapon is working on her behalf. while donald trump and ted cruz fight for headlines. the latest on the armed anti-government protesters standing their ground on federal lands. plus a frightening scene out of china today, of a bus engulfed in flames.

the incredible scene of a race against the clock rescue at sea. and be careful where you stand after it snows. wow. "first look" starts right now. good morning, everyone, thanks for being with us, i'm shannon mulaire. president obama is taking his most aggressive action on gun control to date and bypassing congress in the process. in just a few hours now, the president will outline the first in a series of executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence in the country. which includes limiting the so-called gun show loophole. the white house says that everything president obama is doing is constitutionally sound, although critics say he is overstepping his power. speaker paul ryan called it a dangerous level of executive overreach. nbc's tracie potts joins us live from washington this morning with more. good morning, tracie. >> hi there, shannon. good morning, everyone. the president does want to focus in on those gun shows, where people who want to see restrictions call a loophole allowing sales without background checks at those

shows. and he also wants to add more people at the fbi to deal with increasing background checks. >> gun violence in this country. >> reporter: after getting the okay from his attorney general and fbi director that it's constitutional, later this morning, president obama plans to announce new measures he's taking on his own to tighten gun laws. >> it's not going to prevent every mass shooting. it's not going to keep every gun out of the hands of a criminal. it will potentially save lives. >> reporter: the president's executive orders will partially close the gun show loophole requiring more people who buy weapons at gun shows to get background checks. >> unfortunately, we need things in place now. because people have just gotten out of control. >> reporter: republican candidates accuse president obama of gutting the second amendment. >> president obama's executive actions limiting gun rights will restrict our law-abiding citizens, not the criminals or the terrorists who target them. >> we don't beat the bad guys by

taking away our guns. we beat the bad guys by using them. >> but you know what the president will be doing in the next week is an executive order. the next president on the very first day could wipe it away. >> reporter: the political stakes are high. the president is doing several public events this week to gain public support. but some think that the president wants to do will require congressional approval, shannon. he wants to add 200 atf agents, alcohol, tobacco and firearms. and he's also asking congress for $500 million, half a billion dollars, to deal with mental health. something that they tried here on capitol hill, and failed to do so far. >> all right. tracie potts live for us in d.c. tracie, thank you. now to the campaign trail. and one month from this morning we will likely know the winner of the iowa caucuses. candidates are hard at work blanketing the early states. yesterday alone democrats and republicans racked up 15 campaign stops in iowa, plus 12

in new hampshire. in all, more than 100 events just this week. the latest poll from iowa shows ted cruz surging ahead of donald trump. for the democrats, hillary clinton has a nearly ten-point lead over bernie sanders. but it's a total flip in new hampshire, sanders holds a two-point lead over clinton and donald trump leads cruz by more than double. those two are jockeying for position. trump took a swipe telling supporters that not a lot of evangelicals come out of cuba. and the response from ted cruz -- nbc's hallie jackson has exclusive access inside the cruz campaign. >> politicians behave a certain way when they're panicked and they engage in attacks, personal attacks. that's human nature. i understand that. i'm not going to get drawn into that muck. >> so mr. trump's -- >> i'm going to keep the focus on the issues that matter. >> meanwhile, bill clinton is now officially part of the 2016 campaign.

but how is he handling donald trump's attacks? for that we go to nbc's andrea mitchell, and katy tur. >> reporter: bill clinton at a popular restaurant in manchester. living up to a famous snl parody. >> say you going to finish these fries? >> reporter: both clintons taking nothing for granted this time. can hillary win this one? >> win here? sure. but it's going to be hard. >> reporter: back in his element despite donald trump's attacks of the former president's past womanizing. to counter hillary clinton's charge that trump is sexist. >> how the hell can she do that when she's got one of the great women abusers of all time sitting at her house. >> reporter: bill clinton following a campaign decision not to take trump's bait. as much as clinton clearly wanted to. how do you feel about the kind of campaign donald trump is running, sir? >> the republicans will have to decide who is going to be nominated. >> reporter: hillary clinton in

iowa also refusing to engage trump. >> i've adopted a new year's resolution. i'm going to let him live in his alternative reality and i'm not going to respond. >> reporter: hillary calls bill her not so secret weapon. but he's occasionally misfired. in 2008 for ridiculing barack obama. >> this whole thing is the biggest fairy tale i've ever seen. >> reporter: this time vermont senator bernie sanders is giving hillary clinton a run for her money in neighboring new hampshire. ahead there, and raising $33 million in the last three months. only $4 million less than clinton's $37 million 33 all this as both clintons try to stick to their game plan, ignoring donald trump. andrea mitchell, nbc news, exeter, new hampshire. >> amazing! >> reporter: i'm katy tur on the campaign trail with donald trump where he continued to swing at hillary clinton by targeting her husband bill. >> i don't really care about monica lewinsky, other than i think that, you know, hillary

was an enabler. >> reporter: following up on lines he honed over the weekend. first to a massive crowd in biloxi. >> her husband was paid a fortune for speeches, paid by people that were doing business with the state department. >> reporter: then again on sunday. >> i'm the only one willing to talk about his problems. >> reporter: and now the billionaire is starting to put his money where his mouth is. spending $2 million in iowa and new hampshire on this first tv ad. >> donald trump calls it radical islamic terrorism. >> reporter: it's a 30-second summary of trump's campaign hits. fighting radical islam, banning muslims, cutting isis off at the head, stopping illegal immigrants, and building a wall. but if that doesn't look like the mexico/u.s. border, you're right. politifact found it's morocco. the campaign response? no expletive but this is what our country is going to look like if we don't build a wall. by playing to fear trump is hoping for a boost, especially in iowa, where polls have him losing to ted cruz.

>> if i come in second by two points they'll say oh, this was a terrible defeat. it's not that terrible. >> reporter: and he's tamping down on expectations should iowa slip through his fingers. >> he's someone who has said he's going to win and if he doesn't win he fails. then he becomes the most dreaded word in the trump lexicon, is loser. >> and tonight hardball's chris matthews goes one-on-one with hillary clinton in her first national tv interview of the new year. that's at 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. south carolina police officer charged with shooting an unarmed man is free on bail this morning. after being denied bond in september, a judge ruled yesterday that michael slager could go free on house arrest after posting a half million dollar bond. the judge expressed concern that it was taking too long to bring slager to trial. cell phone video showed the north charleston police officer shooting walter scott eight times as he fled following a traffic stop on april 4th.

a grand jury indicted slager in june for murder. his trial is scheduled to begin october 31st. armed militants continue their occupation of a national wildlife refuge headquarters near burns, oregon. a standoff continues even as the people they support, dwight ham monld and his son steven, have turned themselves in to authorities. ammon and ryan bundy, the leaders of the group citizens for constitutional freedom are sons of cliven bundy known for his standoff with the federal government in 2014. the group broke off from a larger protest supporting the hammonds who served time for setting fires that spread to government land but thad their sentences extended by a judge who said the initial sentence was too short. their lawyer has told police that neither ammon bundy nor anyone in his group speak for the hammond family. the fbi is working to bring a peaceful resolution to the situation. meanwhile, schools as far as 30 miles away are closed for the week due to safety concerns.

all right let's get down to business with cnbc's landon dowdy. good morning to you, landon. >> hi there, shannon. good morning to you, as well. the consumer electronics show is the place to unveil all kinds of new devices, including even a smart bra. the bra is designed to measure a woman's biometrics such as heartrate and steps through a piece of clothing they wear every day. the bra could be in stores this spring for about 150 bucks. general motors teams up with lyft to create a fleet of driverless cars. gm is investing $500 million in lyft, and they're also rolling out a new service for human lyft drivers to rent gm vehicles instead of using their own. and a burger king is raising the stakes in the fast food wars. the chain will start selling a five-item meal today for $4 with a bacon cheeseburger, small

fries, drink, four piece chicken nuggets and a cookie. the new deal comes as mcdonald's launches its mcpick two promotion letting customers pick too many items for two bucks. it took three overtimes to decide the outcome of this one. down three with eight seconds, oklahoma misfires and runs out of time as the jayhawks language on in their first meeting of the season 109-106. great game. san antonio joins golden state as the league's only 30-game winner so far this season. the spurs routed milwaukee 123-98 as they improved to 30-6. and speaking of the warriors, green had a career night just incredible. he became the 15th player in nba history to string together three straight triple doubles, and the second in warriors history. golden state took the hornets 111-101. and one of the cutest things we've seen in a long time, check

out steph curry with his dad back in the '90s. >> what do you want to be when you grow up? >> a basketball player. >> that's going to take a lot of hard work and practice. you got to study hard, too. >> i know. >> we got to get you the right kind of ball. >> all right. >> and a look at him now. there are more like that on the web by the way. so check them out. maybe steph will fallly suit with his daughter riley who, if you remember, stole the show back in the spring. very cute. it is called the mysterious farrah-day and it is one of the coolest cars we've ever seen. details on that. plus a solemn morning in paris marking one year since the "charlie hebdo" attacks. details next. you're watching "first look." ♪ melodic, calm music

"hi this is conor. sorry i missed you. i'm either away from my desk or on another call. please leave a message and i'll get back to you just as soon as i'm available. thank you for patience at this busy time." join princess cruises for stargazing with discovery at sea. book now for savings up to $1,000 per stateroom plus up to $600 free onboard spending money. call your travel consultant or 1-800-princess. princess cruises. come back new. at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like reunions equal blatant lying. the company is actually doing really well on, on social media. oh that's interesting. i - i started social media. oh! it was my...baby.

every insurance policy has a number. but not every insurance company understands the life behind it. for those who've served and the families who've supported them, we offer our best service in return. ♪ usaa. we know what it means to serve. get an insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. ♪

welcome back to "first look." i promise you haven't seen anything like this before. this is a sudden avalanche sliding from the roof of a mosque in turkey. large chunks of snow, huge

chunks of snow fell on the pedestrians below. they had no heads-up at all. some actually were buried. a few even had to be rescued. two people were injured. dangerous stuff. well let's talk about the dangerous cold this morning. cold this morning by far that we've seen across areas of the eastern half of the country. windchill this morning, unfortunately, the leader if you want to call it that on the board is caribou, maine, feels like negative 18 this morning. burlington is negative 10. so northern new england is the worst. but it's cold all the way down to d.c. at 1. we're at 12 in norfolk, 14 in charlotte. so this is a cold morning. this is hat, gloves, heavy winter coat and scarf all the way down into areas of even atlanta this morning it feels like 19 degrees. but the good news is, we're warming up from here. no snow or ice forecasted in the east over the next couple of days. even dallas gets back up near 70 on thursday. into the 50s in areas like louisville and where it's really cold this morning we do warm it up. burlington gets up to 37 by thursday. and even new york city goes from 30 today to 45 in three days. but there is more cold on the way. we get a warm-up through about

the weekend. then saturday into sunday, another shot of really cold air invades the middle of the country. those are the temperatures. negative 8, negative 13 in minneapolis. so, this is a short-lived cold, shannon. we stay kind of mild throughout the country. then another cold blast starting next weekend. >> 'tis the season. bill, thank you. today in france, president francois hollande unveiled commemorative plaques honoring the 17 victims of terror attacks on the "charlie hebdo" newspaper and kosher market in paris. tomorrow "charlie hebdo" will release a special anniversary issue reportedly filled with offensive cartoons that are characteristic of the publication. at the consumer electronics show in las vegas, mysterious farrah day unfailed their super power electric car yesterday part of their so-called ufo line because they're, quote, not of this world. some say it's a cross between the bat mobile and a porsche. no word yet when the vehicle will go into production. all right stay with us. "scrambled politics" is next. use dulcolax tablets for gentle overnight relief

suppositories for relief in minutes and stool softeners for comfortable relief of hard stools. dulcolax, designed for dependable relief when a moment turns romantic why pause to take a pill? or stop to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use is approved to treat both erectile dysfunction and the urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision,

or any symptoms of an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis and a $200 savings card. at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like ordering wine equals pretending to know wine. pinot noir, which means peanut of the night. thwith aches, chills,g. and fever, there's no such thing as a little flu. and it needs a big solution: an antiviral. so when the flu hits, call your doctor right away and up the ante with antiviral tamiflu. prescription tamiflu is an antiviral that attacks the flu virus at its source and helps stop it from spreading in the body. tamiflu is fda approved to treat the flu in people two weeks of age and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. before taking tamiflu,

tell your doctor if you're pregnant, nursing, have serious health conditions, or take other medicines. if you develop an allergic reaction, a severe rash, or signs of unusual behavior, stop taking tamiflu and call your doctor immediately. children and adolescents in particular may be at an increased risk of seizures, confusion, or abnormal behavior. the most common side effects are mild to moderate nausea and vomiting. anti-flu? go antiviral with tamiflu. senator lindsey graham suspended his presidential campaign over the holidays. so in honor of lindsey leaving the race for president let's take a look at some of his greatest hits. >> maybe we need to drink more in washington. if i'm president we're going to drink more. that's the first thing i'm going to do as president, we're going to drink more. i'm 60, i'm not married, i don't have any kids. >> drink up, lindsey, drink up, buddy. all right time now for your tuesday edition of "scrambled politics." we start with new interviews for

the benghazi committee. the most high profile closed-door meetings with former secretary of defense leon panetta and former cia director david petraeus this week. governor chris christie is counting his executive experience on the campaign trail in new hampshire. when talking about his meetings with the president of mexico he took a not so veiled jab at a fellow candidate. >> he's a very nice guy, seems to be a bright guy to me, i guarantee you one thing, i don't care who asks him, he ain't paying for the wall. he's not doing it. all right. that's something that sounds good, but it ain't ever happening. >> all right. and speaking of whom, the donald poked a little fun at new york sports fans on twitter yesterday, oh, they love that. woody johnson, owner of the jets is jeb bush's finance chairman. if woody would've been with me he would've been in the playoffs, at least. meanwhile, chelsea clinton is doing her part for her mom's campaign, politico reports she'll hold a fund-raiser at a new york soul cycle at the end

of the month. for $2700 you get your rear kicked for about 45 minutes on an indoor bike. sound like fun? you'll also get a photo with chelsea. hopefully before you sweat your brains out because after you might not look so good. there's also a $5,000 option which is surprisingly only slightly more expensive than it actually costs for one real session of soul cycle. we're just kidding. kind of. expensive. somehow about a vladimir putin perfume? it's for men. obviously. and it costs about $95. it contains hints of lemon, bergamot, black currants and fir cones. that's the key. one man said it smelled like a cheap perfume and they never heard from that guy again. just kidding. we're kidding again. lots of kidding. jeb bush left a trade mark on his exclamation point logo lapse so stephen colbert has some ideas for replacements. >> or maybe even jeb, semicolon. it's perfect for jeb, because you know it's smart but you're

not sure what it does or where it belongs. of course he could replace the whole thing with symbols. something tells me when he looks at how well donald trump is doing that's what jeb yells. or you know, one thought, you could try this. maybe just jeb asterisk. it would create curiosity. then people could check the footnotes and see, yep, he's still running for president. and that is your morning dish of "scrambled politics." political analyst and best-selling author, who else, ellis henican is here to join us. is that awe de putin you're wearing? >> makes you want to run around without your shirt on. >> right. something like that. i don't know. it's inexplicable. i don't know what it is. we have a lot to talk about this morning. we're going to hear from the president a little bit later today about this executive order. you heard hillary clinton make a comment about it. that whoever takes office next can basically wipe it out. why do this now? >> well, because it's all you can do, right? i mean we have a tripartite government. remember that phrase from

civics, three branches, they each have powers. congress is unlikely to do much. the president said here's my chance to act. i'm going to pull the trigger. >> but what will this do? i mean, essentially, i mean not to get into the specifics -- >> little stuff. >> is it more emotion here? >> no. no, there's some practical things they can do. they can tighten up the gun show exemption to the background checks. they can get some more resources in there to make sure that we know a little bit more about who's actually buying these guns, try to keep them away from crazy people. and from convicted felons. >> he's going to get some flak, though, we know. he's already getting it -- >> frankly, there's no idea that gun safety proponents can put forward that the second amendment's most ardent defenders will be willing to embrace. nothing. they won't agree to anything. >> let's get back to the campaign because that's the fun stuff here. talk a little bit about trump. he's campaigning in massachusetts. we're also seeing his first ads which are interesting because he's basically continuing what he's been talking about at his rallies, which is different than what some people use their first ads for. why that tactic?

>> well, listen, he has gotten so much attention, so much free media at this point he doesn't need to introduce himself the way that most candidates do. like early ads usually are these gauzy, biographical pieces that say, hi, this is me. donald doesn't need to do that. right, everybody knows who donald is. he's just going to hammer home the messages he's been hitting, right? the immigration, some of the economic feel beings. i mean this is just, this is just donald being donald. >> lastly, real quick, bill clinton, should he fight back against trump? >> you know, no one has figured out the answer to that. almost everything everyone has done is wrong. i would go with bill's instincts. but heck if i know what they are. >> all right, ellis henican, wonderful as always. >> stay with that perfume. >> i'm shannon mulaire. this is "first look" on msnbc. don't forget to like us on facebook. "way too early" starts right now. when a wildfire raged through elkhorn ranch, the sudden loss of pasture became a serious problem for a family business.

faced with horses that needed feeding and a texas drought that sent hay prices soaring, the owners had to act fast. thankfully, mary miller banks with chase for business. and with greater financial clarity and a relationship built for the unexpected, she could control her cash flow, and keep the ranch running. chase for business. so you can own it. chase for business. i drive to the hoop. i drive a racecar. i have a driver. his name is carl. but that's not what we all have in common. we talked to our doctors about treatment with xarelto®. xarelto® is proven to treat and help reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots. xarelto® is also proven to reduce the risk of stroke in people with afib, not caused by a heart valve problem. for people with afib currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. you know, taking warfarin, i had to deal with that blood testing routine. i couldn't have a healthy salad whenever i wanted. i found another way. yeah, treatment with xarelto®. hey, safety first. like all blood thinners, don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may

increase your risk of a blood clot or stroke. while taking, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto® may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. xarelto® can cause serious and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. if you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto®, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto® is the number one prescribed blood thinner in its class. well that calls for a round of kevin nealons. make mine an arnold palmer. same here. with xarelto® there is no regular blood monitoring and no known dietary restrictions. treatment with xarelto® was the right move for us. ask your doctor about xarelto®.

as we start off the new year, the election is on everyone's mind. and get this, according to a new poll, donald trump was the candidate americans would least want to have as their neighbor. eight makes sense, because he'd build a massive wall between your yards and make you pay for it. >> oh, yeah. late night returns, as the race for the white house heats up. donald trump answers questions about his new television ad. as marco rubio goes on the attack. and bill clinton, back on the campaign trail, as we learn more about hillary clinton's new approach to donald trump. when he attacks, will she attack back? and president obama set to unveil new executive action on guns today.

the usual suspects have already pounced. all except his chief gun rival, at least not yet. sit 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west, this is "way too early." and good morning. it is tuesday, january 5th. i'm shiba russell. it wasn't a question of if, but when, and former president bill clinton made his solo debut on the campaign trail yesterday. speaking at two new hampshire events in support of his wife, as she enters the final fringe of the first two nominating contests of 2016. here's the former president talking about the political climate surrounding the race. >> i don't fit anymore. first of all, i'm a