zwrr a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll puts cruz within striking distance of the front-runner. trump gets 27% of gop primary voters nationally, while cruz nets 22%, an increase of 12 points for the texas senator, while marco rubio comes in third at 15% and in iowa, cruz tops trump by ten points. trump, who has resisted attacking cruz, his one-time supporter is now letting loose. >> i'm more capable because i have a much better temperament, because i actually get along with people much better than he does. >> reporter: cruz stayed off the sunday circuit, merely tweeting "thank you" in response to the iowa poll. both surveys provide a snapshot of how likely republican voters are reacting to trump's remarks last week. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> reporter: controversial comments he defended again. >> we have a problem. i'm not looking to be politically correct. i'm doing this to do the right thing. >> reporter: the new poll is an indication of just how fluid the race is, potentially giving rivals an open

our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows the cruz surge up 12 points nationally among republican voters, closing in on the front-runner. both candidates will have a lot of work to do if either were to win the republican nomination. our poll shows hillary clinton still with a commanding ten-point lead over donald trump and winning a closer contest with senator cruz next november. joining me, nbc's hallie jackson and katy tur in las vegas ahead of tomorrow night's republican debate. katy, first to you on how donald trump is likely to handle this cruz challenge. trump has already lashed out at cruz over the weekend. >> reporter: yeah, he's mildly lashing out in terms of trump standards right now. over the weekend we saw him talking about cruz being a maniac, questioning what he's doing in the senate, how well he can get along. we also saw him questioning cruz's religion, subtly saying not very many evangelicals come out of cuba. these are two attack lines that we do expect to hear more from from donald trump in the coming days, and his campaign tells me that they will be giving more

the latest nbc news "wall street journal" poll gets 1%. but ted cruz is closing the gap with 22% and that's more than double the number of voters who chose him back in october. he is gaining gain among voters and perhaps most importantly, he's getting the voters from the ben carson camp. while donald trump says there is no reason for some of the candidates to even bother showing up, some voters are giving ted cruz a closer look. >> many of them don't have a chance. you say, what are you doing? just go home and relax. go home and relax. >> trump light and politically correct. >> a little more polished. he's been in this arena for quite some time. and i think he knows how congress works. >> but this man, marco rubio may be the republican that trump should be worried about because in the nbc news/"wall street journal" poll it shows that he is the best one to beat democratdemocra democratic frontrunner. donald trump loses that by 10%. that poll does have a margin of error of 3.3 points. so it really is all too close to call. you can make up yo

our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll on the republican race shows a serious three-way contest developing with new signs that ted cruz and marco rubio are on the move. rubio joins me exclusively. >>> also, a global deal on climate change. i'll talk to secretary of state john kerry about the agreement in paris and about fears of homegrown terror. >>> and joining me this morning for insight and analysis are veteran journalist and author of a new book about cyber terrorism, ted koppel. times." molly ball of the "atlantic" and jerry seib of the "wall street journal." welcome to sunday, it's "meet the press." >>> good sunday morning. expressing their opinion. we have two new polls on the republican race for president. according to what may be developing into a three-man race, let's get to these numbers. donald trump is back on top in our new national nbc news/"wall street journal" poll sitting at 27%. up four points since late october, the highest number he's had in our poll so far. ted cruz is surging, now in second, sitting at 22, more than double where he was in october. marco rub

a brand new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll tells us what americans think of that idea. 57% oppose that, only 20% support it. the trump camp may find validation in our new poll numbers. katy tur reports. >> reporter: just as the plans were coming into focus, donald trump abruptly backed out of his trip to israel today, tweeting he'll reschedule with benjamin netanyahu "after i become president". >> i didn't want to put him under pressure. i also did it because i'm in the midst of a very powerful campaign. >> reporter: the trip sparks blanket outrage across the middle east and strong pushback from within israel, as 37 members of the israeli parliament demanded the prime minister cancel the meeting. >> donald trump's decision to cancel or indefinitely postpone his trip to israel is being greeted here with a sigh of relief. his visit would have placed us in a difficult position. we are surrounded by muslim countries. >> reporter: the contentious candidate is polling strong. ahead double digits nationally. in a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, 42% of gop voters say they support

believe it or not, he led in the last nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. he's dropped dramatically to 11%. here's the rest of the candidates who picked up at least 1% in our poll. jeb bush still stuck in single digits. then this bombshell out of iowa. cruise surging into the lead with 31%, a 21-point gain since october. trump is holding steady at 21% followed by carson who, here, too has crashed. he's down 15 points since october. then rubio and bush. so what we think we're seeing that's emerging here is perhaps a three-way race with trump and cruz representing the insurgents at the republican gate and marco rubio counting on becoming the candidate of the faction he acknowledge, the republican establishment. i caught up with senator rubio in greenville, south carolina and i asked him if donald trump had been good for the republican party and rubio's candidacy. >> obviously i don't agree with everything he says. there's a lot we have a difference of opinion on but we can't ignore he's touched on issues people are concerned about. if you look at the statemen

a new nbc news wall street journal poll has trump back in the lead for the republican nomination with 27%. there texas senator ted cruz. he has surged into second place with 22% followed by florida senator marco rubio with 15 and ben carson the front-runner last month's poll has slipped to fourth. >> anchor: patriots shaking off their losses last night as win over the texans putting new the tee ping a playoff spot last night down in houston. the team getting added support with a return of gronk . >> anchor: but really it was the patriots defense getting a lot of praise today. joe amorsino here to look back at a great night. >> reporter: eights d stealing the spotlight from the texans celebrated defense in the return the rob grokowski made a world of difference on offense. the pats right back on top with gronk the star of the show . >>> did you know you would be playing the game tonight? >>> i mean, just i don't know, never really thought about it. >> anchor: he is laughing about his one week absence now but rob gronkowski's return is no joke for the rest of the nfl . >>> he is a huge

according to a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, almost six in ten americans oppose his proposal, with only 25% supporting it. but among republicans, support for the ban outnumbers the opposition, 42-36. still his rivals are on the attack, and last night hillary clinton said she does not find donald trump funny. >> but now he has gone way over the line, and what he's saying now is not only shameful, and wrong, it's dangerous. >> even ben carson's getting in on the action. he wrote an op-ed in the uk's "the telegraph" saying donald trump may be afraid of muslims but he needs to face that fear. and just hours ago, after being endorsed by a key new england police union yet another bold proposition. a very strict executive action. >> anybody killing a police officer, death penalty. it's going to happen. okay? can't go. we can't let this go. >> but there could be trouble on the horizon. early signs of a fracture in the unofficial cease-fire between trump and the fast-rising ted cruz. nbc's tracie potts is in washington for us this morning. tracie could that detente between trump and c

survey of republicans, but in a general election matchup with hillary clinton, in today's nbc news wall street journall, trump fares the worst losing to clinton by ten. marco rubio does it best and rubio trying out a general election pitch in his new ad. >> this is about the greatest country in the world and acting like it. >> reporter: but it's ted cruz who is surging, polling first ahead of trump now in iowa and coming out strong in the latest nbc news poll. trump leads at 27, up four, but cruz is just five points back. apparently, picking up much of ben carson's support as carson drops a stunning 18 points. and in las vegas today, many republicans who like trump say they're taking a new look at the texas senator. >> i like cruz better than trump at this point. >> trump, like? >> yes. trump light and politically correct. >> he's more polished and he's been in this arena for quite some time and i think he knows how congress works. >> reporter: trump trying to slam cruz and also praised him in the eyes of some republicans for shaking up congress. >> you look at the way he's dealt with the senate where

the nbc news/"wall street journal" poll finds that 42% are in favor of using u.s. combat troops. that number is identical to the result in a new associated press/gfk poll released yesterday. the survey also found that just 28% of americans think the president has clearly explained the united states' goals in fighting isis while nearly 7 in 10 think he has not. president obama spent monday at the pentagon for an in-depth strategy discussion about how to defeat isis, and sought to explain the progress the u.s. has made so far. >> we are hitting isil harder than ever. coalition aircraft, our fighters, bombers and drones have been increasing the pace of airstrikes. nearly 9,000 as of today. last month, in november, we dropped more bombs on isil targets than any other month since this campaign started. we're also taking out isil leaders, commanders, and killers, one by one. the point is isil leaders cannot hide, and our next message to them is simple, you are next. but we recognize that progress needs to keep coming faster. no one knows that more than the countless syrians and iraqis

our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll on the republican race shows a serious three-way contest ed cruz and marco rubio are on the move. rubio joins me exclusively. >>> also, a global deal on climate change. i'll talk to secretary of state john kerry about the agreement in paris and about fears of homegrown terror. >>> and joining me this morning for insight and analysis are veteran journalist and author of a new book about cyber terrorism, ted koppel. helene cooper of the "new york times." molly ball of the "atlantic" and jerry seib of the "wall street journal." welcome to sunday, it's "meet the press." >>> good sunday morning. 50 days until voters start expressing their opinion. we have two new polls on the republican race for president. according to what may be developing into a three-man race, let's get to these numbers. donald trump is back on top in our new national nbc news/"wall street journal" poll sitting at 27%. up four points since late october, the highest number he's had in our poll so far. ted cruz is surging, now in second, sitting at 22, more than double where he

our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll on the republican race shows a serious three-way contest th new signs that ted cruz and marco rubio are on the move. rubio joins me exclusively. >>> also, a global deal on climate change.

in the new poll from nbc news and the "wall street journal."ts him just a few points behind donald trump. cruz and the party's front-runner have mostly been friendly. however, this weekend, trump took a few shots at his new challenger. >> i don't think he's qualified to be president. >> why not? >> because i don't think he has the right temperament. i don't think he's got the right judgment. >> what's wrong with his temperament? >> you look at the way he's dealt with the senate when he goes in there frankly like a little bit of a maniac. you are never going to get things done that way. >> the bigger battle may be between cruz and marco rubio who have been hitting each other for weeks now. here's marco rubio from "meet the press." >> my argument is it wasn't just the intelligence vote. he talks tough on some of these issues, for example, he's going to carpet bomb isis, but the only budget he's ever voted for in his time in the senate is a budget that cut defense spending by more than barack obama proposes we cut it. my point is each time he's to

overnight, more brand-new numbers from our nbc news "wall street journal" poll. nbc tracy potts joins us from walk. good morning, tracy. figures. >> reporter: sure, gigi, these numbers tell us what would happen before every top candidate before hillary clinton if that would happen today. donald trump is still the a look, he would have a hard time beating hillary clinton if that election happened today, losing by 10 percentage points, ted cruz who is surging among republicans would lose to clinton by three percentage points. interestingly, those at the top of the field you see there for the republicans can't seem to beat her right now. but the next two candidates could, ben carson, despite a huge slip in our national poll would still beat hillary clinton by one point and marco rubio could beat herbie three points, which is really the biggest spread right now. so it's an interesting pick when you take a look at the fact that those that republicans are most supporting are least likely to beat hillary clinton or unable to beat hillary clinton, but those that are slid

according to a new nbc news wall street journal poll, 57% oppose and support for the ban out numbers the opposition, 42 to 36 p. and last night, hillary clinton says she does not find donald trump funny. >> but now he has gone way over ther saying now is not only shameful and wrong, it's dangerous. >> even ben carson is getting in on the action. he wrote in the uk's the telegraph saying donald trump may be afraid of muslims but he needs to face that fear. and just hours ago after being indorsed by a key police union, an, very strict executive action. >> anybody killing a police officer, death penalty. it's going to happen. okay. we can't let this go. >> but there could be trouble on thero horizon. unofficial ceasefire between cruz and trump. could that be over? >> reporter: it's kind of interesting. when cruz was asked about trump in recent days, including yesterday, he really tries not to take the bait but he was asked specifically about comments he made at a private fund p raiser. listen to what ted cruz had to say in response about that and whether or not he thinks donald trump ca

muslims from the u-s doesn't play well with the majority of americans,according to a new nbc news/wall street journal poll-57 percent of american adults oppose the idea....with just 25 percent supporting it. even so....polls show trump in a solid lead in iowa over his next closest republican rival, sesetor ted cruz...who- in audio leaked thursday- was frontrunner and ben carson's campaigns.(voice of ted cruz) i believe that gravity will bring both of those campaigns down and i think the lion's share of their supports come to ustrump hit back on twitter, saying"he will fall like all others. (it) will be easy!"the cruz response twtwt- the establishment's only hope: trump and in a cage match. sorry to disappoint, donald trump is terrific.(jason johnson/political science professor) we're this close to iowa right now. i think a lot of supporters will still look at cruz as the viable opposition if trump drops out, but i don't think this has caused a riff between the candidates."the friction between the candidates was enough to prompt trump to hint at a third party run... and ben carson has made a similar t

new numbers overnight from our nbc news/"wall street journal" poll and revealing how the republican candidates stack up against democrat candidate hillary clinton and first nbc news national correspondent is in las vegas ahead of tomorrow night's gop debate. >> reporter: good morning. tomorrow night the marquee matchup will be between donald trump and ted cruz. it's almost a nightmare scenario for the republican establishment precipitously, ted cruz has risen rapidly, especially among very conservative voters, and the key question this morning is can cruz knock off trump? >> this morning donald trump and ted cruz are the duo dominating the republican field. the new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows trump still leading nationwide, but cruz gaining steam, up 12 points since october. with marco rubio at 15%. and in iowa cruz is now in control, up ten points over trump. with cruz surging trump is blasting the freshman texas senator for criticizing trump at a private fund-raiser tweeting i was disappointed that ted cruz would speak behind my back, get caught and then deny it. well, welcome

our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll on the republican race shows a serious three-way contest ng with new signs that ted cruz and marco rubio are on the move. rubio joins me exclusively. >>> also, a global deal on climate change. i'll talk to secretary of state john kerry ab

. >> a new nbc news wall street journal finds hillary clinton would chons cruz and trump in a matchup but lose to rubio. don champion cbs news. >>> pope francis is coming to mexico. the vatican confirms the pope will make a six day trip in mexico in february rarely, the on immigrant rights, cardinal shaun o'malley told the website press that he will join the pope. >>> it is 4:39, coming up this morning, a grinch trying to steal christmas twice, watertown neighborhood fought back and stepped up to light one family's home. >>> and taylor swift giving fans an early christmas present. >>> new england college trying to lure massachusetts students with cheaper tuition, we'll >>> only 11 days until christmas, i haven't started shopping, for those of you who haven't finished shopping you are not alone. >> taylor swift is singing a new tune. those stories and some intertrade news in money watch, good morning, hannah. >>> good morning, ladies, happy monday, the federal reserve is expected to raise 0 interest rate for the first time in 9 years, experts predict the rate percent. the hike means mo

the new nbc news/wall street journal poll shows that terrorism is now a permanent part of our life. trump is buoyed by his response in that initiative calling for a temporary ban on muslims coming to the u.s., but trump's got to look over his shoulder now at two different rivals. >> donald trump heads to las vegas with plenty to worry about each though he's hit a new high in one poll. 41% in today's monmouth national survey of republicans, but in a general election matchup with hillary clinton, in today's nbc news wall street journal poll trump fares the worst of the top polling republicans losing to hillary clinton by ten marco rubio beating her by three and he tried out a general election pitch in the new ad. >> this is about the greatest country in the world and acting like it. >> it is ted cruz who is surging, polling first in iowa and coming come on strong in the latest nbc news poll. trump leads at 27, up four, but cruz is just five points back, apparently picking up much of ben carson's support as carson drops a stunning 18 points and in las vegas today, many republicans who

stay with msnbc for much more on this new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. ave new results that are going to be released next hour on "andrea mitchell reports" and later today on "mtp daily." >>> the nation's first election since the terror attacks in france. the leader of what's called a national front party was a regional presidential candidate in the northern part of the country. after the attack, she renewed her call to end all immigration in to france and declared france must ban islamist organizations. in the first round of voting december 6th, she took more than 40% of the vote, along with her niece who was a candidate in the south. but in the second round ever voting yesterday, she and the rest of the national front party failed to win a single region. joining me now, eli from politico. obviously the headlines over the weekend were this far right party had been sent a very clear message that their voters were not willing to support some of this rhetoric. and people made the comparison to what we are seeing in this country. first talk about what went w

statement about banning muslims from the u-s doesn't play well with the according to a new nbc news/wall street journal poll- 57 percent of american adults oppose the idea....with just 25 percent supporting it. even so.... polls show trump in a solid lead in iowa over his next closest republican rival, senator ted cruz... who- in audio leaked thursday- was heard questioning the frontrunner and ben carson's campaigns. (voice of ted cruz) i believe that gravity will bring both of those campaigns down and i think the lion's share of their supports come to us trump hit back on twitter, saying "he will fall like all others. (it) will be easy!" the cruz response tweet- the establishment's only hope: trump and me in a cage match. sorry to disappoint, donald trump is terrific. (jason johnson/political science professor) we're this close to iowa right now. i think a lot of supporters will still look at cruz as the viable opposition if trump drops out, but i don't think this has caused a riff between the candidates." the friction between the candidates was enough to prompt trump to hint at a third party run... a

." >> and in a recent nbc news/wall street journal poll there are some changes near the top. texas senator ted cruz has surged into second place, up 12-points to 22-percent. florida senator marco rubio is in third place.. up four points to 15-percent. and doctor ben carson has fourth place with 11- percent. the republican presidential candidates will face-off in debate this tuesday night in las vegas. cnn has just released the final line-up for the prime-time event. joining the main debate this time.. is new jersey governor chris christie. christie failed to qualify for the fox business debate last month.. but has since seen a resurgence in the polls. kentucky senator rand paul was in danger of not making the cut, but had a stronger showing in a fox news poll released this morning. the other candidates taking the main stage tuesday night -- donald trump, dr. ben carson, texas senator ted cruz., florida senator marco rubio, carly fiorina, former florida governor jeb bush. and ohio governor john kasich. in an interview on "meet the press".. florida senator marco rubio said he t

muslims from the u-s doesn't play well with the majority of t& americans, according a new nbc news/wall street journal poll- 57 percent of idea....with just 25 percent supporting it. even so.... polls show trump in a solid lead in iowa over his next closest republican rival, senator ted cruz... who- in audio leaked thursday- was heard questioning the frontrunner and ben carson's campaigns. (voice of ted cruz) i believe that gravity will bring both of those campaigns down and i think the lion's share of their supports come to us trump hit back on twitter, saying "he will fall like all others. (it) will be easy!" the cruz response tweet- the establishment's only hope: trump and me in a cage match. sorry to disappoint, donald trump is terrific. (jason johnson/political science professor) we're this close to iowa right now. i think a lot of supporters will still look at cruz as the viable opposition if trump drops out, but i don't think this has caused a riff between the candidates." the friction between the candidates was enough to prompt trump to hint at a third party run... and ben carson has made a si

our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll on the republican race shows a serious three-way contest developing with new signs that ted cruz and marco rubio are on the move. rubio joins me exclusively. >>> also, a global deal on climate change. i'll talk to secretary of state john kerry about the agreement

but in a general election matchup with hillary clinton, in today's nbc news/wall street journal poll, trump fairs the worst, losing to clinton by ten, marco rubio does the best, beating her by three, and rubio tried out a general election pitch in his new ad. >> this is about the greatest country in the world and acting like it. >> reporter: but it's ted cruz surging, polling first ahead of trump now in iowa and coming on strong in the latest nbc news poll. trump leads at 27%, up 4%, but cruz is just five points back, apparently taking up much of ben carson's support, as carson drops a stunning 18 points. and in las vegas today, many republicans who like trump say they are taking a new look at the texas senator. >> i think cruz is better than trump at this point. >> reporter: trump-like? >> yeah, trump-like and politically correct. >> he's a little more polished, he's been in this arena for quite some time, and i think he knows how congress works. >> reporter: trump trying to s"6 cruz, also praised him in the eyes of some republicans for shaking up congress. >> when you look at the wa