marie: he captures pivotal events in history and more personal is nbc's ron allen with a look. reporter: they are unique behind-the-scenes, close-up images of a president, many never seen publicly until noa first daughter drops by the oval office to see her sad. twin sons, mom wiping away a tear. the year and gallery of the whwith -- with president obama day in and day out from the start. >> i probably take between 500 and 2000 a day. probably about a quarter million a year. somewhere in that. reporter: over seven years? >> a lot of pictures. reporter: part of souza's mission, to document history. president obama and the first fa francis, a handshake with castro. mr. obama therefore vice president biden at his son's funeral. >> he's president of the united states, but also a human being. i try to show his personhe loves babies. daughter ella before the halloween party. have you ever seen a president lying on the floor before? >> definitely not. reporter: the gallery reveals the obama administration wide open door policy for st>> a lot of them are children of working moms. he kn

nbc's ron allen has more. ron: they are unique behind-the-scenes close-up images of a president. many, never seen publicly until now. serious matters in the white house. a first daughter drops by the oval office. the president, with an aide's twin sons. the year and gallery of the photographer, there with mr. obama day in and day out from the start. giving nbc news a first look. and 2000 a day, probably a quarter of a million a year. somewhere in that range. ron: over seven years? >> over seven years. a lot of pictures. ron: his mission is to document history. president obama and theheirst family greeting pope francis, a handshake with castro, a smile after the iran nuclear deal. mr. obama there at vice president -- vice president biden's son's funeral. >> he is a human being. i try to show his personality. there are a lot of pictures with kids in my gallery. he loves babies. ron: that is the national security's -- advisor's daughter. >> have you ever seen a president in an elephant suit? ron: it reveals the obama administration's wide open door policy for chi>> they are children

ron allen shows us some of the natsot: pictures they are unique.... behind the scenes....close up images of a president....many never seen publicly until now..... serious matters inside the white house... a first daughter drops by the oval office to see her dad. the president with an aide's twin sons....mom wiping away a tear.. the annual year end gallery of white house photographer pete souza....there with mr obama day in and day out from the start....giving nbc news an exclusive first look... sot: q/a i probably take between 500 and 2000 a day over 7 years? over 7 years, so yea alot of pictures part of souza's mission...to document history... president obama and the first family greeting pope francis.... a handshake with cuba's castro a big smile after the iran nuclear deal.... mr obama there for vice president biden at his son's funeral. sot: souza he is the president of the united states, but he's also a human being. i try to show his personality as best i can. that's deputy national security advisor ben rhode's daughter have you ever seen a presi

nbc's ron allen is at the white house tonight with more on the president's address. ron? >> reporter: good evening, kate. this may be a defining moment for the president. widely criticized for underestimating the threat of terrorism. the president will try to reassure the public that that the u.s. and its coalition partners are stepping up the fight against isis in iraq and syria. we expect the president to tell us the latest about what happened in san bernardino, what he knows about any connection to isis, and how this latest attack fits into the overall fight of global terrorism. earlier today, the attorney general spoke about that on "meet the press." >> this indicates the evolving nature of the threat that we are seeing. we have come from a time of the large-scale planned al qaeda-style attacks to the encouragement of loanne wolves, to the encouragement of people to act on their own. >> reporter: the administration especially concerned about extremists using social media. they expect the president to talk about tightening the visa process getting into this country. fi

ron allen has the pivotal events in history captured.. and more personal natsot: pictures they are unique.... behind the scenes....close up images of a president....many never seen publicly until now..... serious matters inside the white house... a first daughter drops by the oval office to see her dad. the president with an aide's twin sons....mom wiping away a tear.. the annual year end gallery of white house photographer pete souza....there with mr obama day in and day out from the start....giving nbc news an exclusive first look... sot: q/a i probably take between 500 and 2000 a day over 7 years? over 7 years, so yea alot of pictures part of souza's mission...to document history... president obama and the first family greeting pope francis.... a handshake with cuba's castro a big smile after the iran nuclear deal.... mr obama there for vice president biden at his son's funeral. sot: souza he is the president of the united states, but he's also a human being. i try to show his personality as best i that's deputy national security advis

ron allen joins us. he's in hawaii with the president, as you just heard there. e very striking images. and i thought it was very interesting when you asked peter sousa what was his favorite picture of the year, and it's always about the one that he's going to take next, not the one he's already taken. >> reporter: exactly. he's very active on instagram and social media. and you can see the pictures, by the way, at the white house website. and the most popular picture of the year was that picture of the president with rhodes' little girl in the elephant suit before the halloween party. just an amazing picture to see the president like that. but you have to remember, the white house is where the president works, but it's where he and his family live for now seven years, going on eight years or so. and those are the most striking images i thought, were just the behind the scenes, the casual impromptu moments. a lot of kids, a lot of families passing through the oval office. a juxtaposition, this place where we think of war and peace and all these serious matters are

now to honolulu and ron allen.he president's taken a lot of grief, certainly over his isis strategy, certainly having faith in the iraqi army as well. i imagine, this is something the president and the administration are pleased with. >> reporter: yes, pleased. but they're not declaring victory. and because they're watching the situation still as courtney and chapman were pointing out, there's still a lot of fighting going on. but for the administration, this would be a big victory, because it's essentially the strategy working. u.s. air strikes, hundreds of them over the past few months, 600 or so, and local forces, most importantly, iraqi forces, taking the city. taking ramadi back. now, it also on another layer is important to note that these government forces are primarily shi'ite forces and they're taking back a sunni town. so they can essentially say that isis is not winni ning in a sun area which is significant at that level, because that's been the big problem, trying to get the sunni-led government of iraq

ron allen is at the white house. what do we expect to hear from the president?>> this is obviously a big moment for the president and the nation. we expect him to try to reassure the american people that everything is being done to keep the homeland safe. we also expect him to explain what happened in san bernardino and what's being done to keep it from happen again. >> it is entirely possible these two attackers were radicalized to commit this act of terror. >> president obama in his weekly address all but saying the attack in san bernardino was terrorism. he called for stricter gun laws. >> this is a war. >> this is a very dangerous world that we live in. >> we are in the midst of the next world war. >> republicans running for president warning the commander in chief it's not up to the challenge of defeating the so-called islamic state. >> people come in and blow up people and shoot people and kill people. i don't rule out anything. >> donald trump now calling for a crackdown on the families of suspected terrorists. beginning with the relatives of tashfeen mal

joining me now is nbc news reporter ron allen. ron, what can you tell me about the police presence on the street? >> reporter: well, things are very calm, alex. there is a significant police presence. earlier today they were out in force but not interacting or confronting the protesters we saw gathered down the street here in front of city hall. they were keeping their distance. small groups were gathering. people were upset, anger. but there's a long way to go in this process. there are now going to be, we believe, six more trials because there's every indication officer porter will be retried. but of course things now get perhaps tougher for the prosecution because the next officer up is officer goodson, the driver of the car, who faces the most serious charges, the murder charges in this case. but this community is ready. you heard the mayor. the police chief is out, the department of justice is here investigating, the mayor said she's not going to run for a second term. opponents have some victories along the way here. but stil

nbc's ron allen has the story for us tonight.. a sign of a nation at war... president obama meeting in the white house situation room on saturday with his top advisers.. to discuss the san bernardino attack. the president in his weekly address.. all but saying the massacre was terrorism: sot: obama it is entirely possible that these two attackers were radicalized to commit this act of terror... this.. after days of criticism for saying the incident was possibly a work place shooting...and calling for stricter gun laws... and last month.. telling the nation in the wake of the paris attacks... "right now, we know of no specific and credible intelligence indicating a plot on the homeland." today, according to the white house, the president will update the country with the latest on the investigation... discuss the broader threat of terrorism... and argue that isis "will be destroyed." republicans running for president warning the commander in chief is not up to the challenge of defeating the so called islamic state.. ben carson, slipping in the polls, says he'll

here is nbc's ron allen. >> they are unique, behind the scenes, close-up images of a president. many never seen publicly until now. serious matters inside the white house. a first daughter drops by the oval office to see her dad. the president with an aide's twin sons. mom wiping away a tear. the year-end gallery of white house photographer, pete sue sdp souza. giving nbc news an exclusive first look. >> i probably take between 500 and 2000 a day. probably about a quarter million a year, somewhere in that. >> over seven years. >> a lot of pictures. >> part of souza's mission, to document history. president obama and the first family greeting pope francis. a hand shake with cuba's castro. a big smile after the iran nuclear deal. mr. obama there for vice-president biden at his son's funeral. >> he is the president of the united states but he is also a human being. i try to show his personality as best i can. there is obviously a lot of pictures with little kids in my year-end gallery. he loves babies. >> that's national security adviser ben rode's daughter, ella. >> have you ever

let's begin with nbc's ron allen at the white house. ron, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we expect the president to try to reassure the nation that keeping the country safe is his highest priority and we're expecting him to explain exactly what happened in san bernardino and to prevent it from happening again. president obama meeting in the white house situation room on discuss the san bernardino attack. the president in his weekly address all, but saying the massacre was terrorism. >> it is entirely possible that these two were radicalized to commit the act of terror. it was possibly to say a workplace shooting and calling for stricter gun laws and last month telling the nation in the wake of paris attacks. >> right now we know of no specific and credible intelligence indicating a plot on the homeland. >> reporter: today according to the white house, the president will update the country with the latest on the investigation, discuss the broader threat of terrorism and argue that isis, quote, will be destroyed. republicans running for president warning the commander in ch

you're frying to get a good picture tomorrow. >> ron allen, nbc news with the president in honolulu. >>> he has a ton of good pictures. we are working several developing stories in the newsroom right now. d.c. police are hoping someone will recognize this man. his name is melvin latney. the crime happened in november on southeast. pat collins is live there and his report is coming up in ten minutes. >>> hundreds of people could shut down the chinatown area of chinatown and they're upset no charges have been filed in the deaths of tamir rice and sandra bland. protesters are planning to meet at 7th and 8th streets this evening and we'll be monitoring the situation and we'll keep you updated. the mother of the affluenza teenager is back in the united states. where she >> a big blow to tcu fans. quarterback tre von boynkin won't be playing on saturday. that's because police in san antonio say he punched an officer. the officer was at the bar this morning toic bra up a fight that started after boynkin exchanged words with a bartender. texas christian university takes on the oregon ducks s

ron allen is with us from the white house. nice to see you with us. give us a little more context in terms of what we heard from the president on his final press conference of the year. >> it was a year ender looking back and looking ahead and looking from something of an elevated view of what was going on. the president didn't get involved in discussing the nitty-gritty especially the 2016 presidential campaign. he wasn't asked a question about. the questions came from print journalists and not tv journalists which was an issue for the press corps that was there. terrorism certainly an issue. the president saying the united states and coalition partners are going to defeat isis. on the domestic front he talked about how it is impossible to guarantee that there won't be more lone wolf attacks and how difficult it is to stop these attacks from happening and how important it is to be vigilant. if you see something say something. he also listed a long list of what he says are accomplishments as we heard in the sound byte about the economy doing well and

here's nbc's ron allen. >> reporter: unique behind the scenes close-up photos of a president. serious matters inside the white house. a first daughter drops by the oval office to see her dad. the president with an aide's twin sons, mom wiping away a tear. the year end gallery of white house photographer pete zusa there with mr. obama day in and day out from the start giving nbc news an exclusive first look. >> i probably take between 500 and 2,000 a day. probably about a quarter million a year, somewhere in that. >> reporter: over seven years. >> over seven years. so, yeah, a lot of pictures. >> reporter: part of his mission, to document history. president obama and the first family greeting pope francis, a handshake with cuba's castro, a big smile after the iran nuclear deal. mr. obama there for vice president biden at his son's funeral. >> he is the president of the united states, but he's also a human being. i try to show his personality as best i can. there's obviously a lot of pictures with little kids in my year end gallery. he loves babiebabies. >> reporter: that's depu

nbc's ron allen is traveling with president obama who is on vacation in hawaii. are also joined by msnbc national security and military analyst kevin barron, executive editor of "defense one." ron, start with you. any reaction yet from the white house? >> reporter: well, cautious optimism perhaps? the white house has not confirmed -- declared victory. the national security spokesman who is in charge of this operation is saying that they are congratulating the iraqi forces for retaking the government center of ramadi, but not the entire town as of yet. there are other reports suggesting that isis forces still control as much as 45% of the town. this is a significant city actually. it is hundreds of thousands of people. it is a key city on the road to baghdad about 55 or 60 miles west of baghdad, a road that leads in from jordan and from syria, coming in to the capital. so it is a place that's been contested for many, many years. it's been contested -- was contested during the war in iraq and it is being contested now. what's significant is that isis took control o

you're trying to get a good picture tomorrow. >> reporter: ron allen, nbc news, with the president inolulu. >> lot of endearing images there. >>> we want to bring this breaking news from dubai. take a look at live images of what looks like a high-rise on fire. this is a residential building near the city's major new year's fireworks display set to start in about two hours from now. it's not clear what caused the fire. people have been seen fleeing that area but as you can see, pretty dramatic flames coming from that high-rise there. at least 20 stories up, and some debris even raining down. of course we continue to watch this and will bring you more details after the break. this is msnbc. our cosmetics line was a hit. the orders were rushing in. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 ½ months? that was a leap. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials. amex helped me buy the inventory i needed. our amex helped us fill the orders. just like that. another ste

let's begin this hour at white house with nbc's ron allen and tonight's prime time address by president obama. it's not something he does very often, as you well know, ron. what are we expecting to hear? >> third time during his presidency, chris, and i think we're expecting and hoping the nation certainly is, to hear the president explain what happened in san bernardino, and what this threat is, and what he's doing about it. there's every indication -- there's every indication that this was an act of terrorism, yet the president has been talking about this as a possibly being a workplace shooting, and calling for gun control, that was his initial reaction. so there's a feeling among his critics that this is perhaps another example of the president underestimating, not understanding, only reacting to the threat of terrorism. and so there will be a lot of pressure on the president to explain not only what happened but his response, and again, on the terrorism front, there are many aspects of this, first what's happening overseas in the fight against isis, the strategy that's been so ques

. >> joining me now, ron allen live at the white house and brian lovett from the center for hate and president has been questioned about why he wanted to do a prime time address when he had no real policy or strategy changes. how does the white house deal about the speech this morning? >> i think that they wanted do this speech because the president felt strongly that he needed to speak to the fire and anxiety that is in the nation following 9 attacks in san bernardino and before that in paris. i think his main objective was to try to reassure the nation that the situation is under control and that he is taking aggressive steps to combat isis and to deal with the threat of terrorism. now, whether he accomplished that or not, i guess we'll see in the response from the public and others. i think the president was mainly trying to speak to the general spun, to the american people, and not necessarily to us or to the political class and certainly not to the challengers running for president. because i think that they would say that of course they won't change those minds particularly in t

ron allen is at the white house. been notified. have we heard from him yet? >> yes, he has. he happened to be doing an interview with one of our colleagues at cbs news. the situation is very fluid. president just said. >> my hope is that we're able to contain this particular shooting and we don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are, but what we do know that there are steps we can take to make americans safer, and that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare as opposed to normal. we should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events, because it doesn't happen with the same frequency in other countries. >> the president there is sounding like this was a shooting incident, a mass shooting incident, not necessarily a terrorism incident, but again we don't yet. the president still waiting for word about what happened as these events continue to unfold. we know the president has been very, very concerned about this recently as yesterday in paris at that climate conference. at

. >> nbc's ron allen is at the white house and joins us now. ron, what are we expecting to hear from president obama tonight? >> well, i think we're expecting to hear the latest on the investigation, more about what secretary attorney general lynch had to say there. i think the american people want to know exactly what happened in san bernardino and what this means to america in the fight in terrorism. the attorney general also said that the threat has changed, saying that essentially this was an attack that we believe was probably carried out by a lone wolf, by an american citizen. it was not planned in a distant place like 9/11 over a long period of time, an elaborate plan like al qaeda planned. this is something different. what the american people want to hear, i believe, is, what is the administration going to do about that. as you know, the president has been widely criticized for being slow, for being reactionary, for underestimating the threat of isis abroad and in the united states. and so i believe now he is under some pressure to step

we want to go to ron allen of the white house. we have almost come to expect to hear from the president at times like this. he was incidentally being interviewed today and had some comments. what did he say? >> reporter: exactly, lester. i think we may hear from the president later, but at this point, things are so unsettled there, he's monitoring events, being briefed on what's happening out there. but yes, he was doing an interview with cbs news, our colleagues, in the moments after the shooting happened. hear some of what he had to say, not knowing a lot about the detail just yet. >> my hope is that we're able to contain this particular shooting and we don't yet know what the but what we do know is that there are steps we can take to make americans safer, and that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare as opposed to normal. we should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events the same frequency in other countries. >> reporter: the

we want to go to ron allen of the white house. we have almost come to expect to hear from the president at times like this. he was incidentally being interviewed today and had some comments. what did he say? >> reporter: exactly, lester. i think we may hear from the president later, but at this point, things are so unsettled there, he's monitoring events, being briefed on what's happening out there. but yes, he was doing an interview with cbs news, our colleagues, in the moments after the shooting happened. hear some of what he had to say, not knowing a lot about the detail just yet. >> my hope is that we're able to contain this particular shooting and we don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are. but what we do know is that make americans safer, and that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare as opposed to normal. we should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events because it doesn't happen with the same frequency in other

ron allen in honolulu, hawaii, got the best assignment of the year. : thanks, kristin. enjoy the holidays. >> you, too. >>> for more now on the president's state of the union address and his final year in office, i'm joined by msnbc.com's senior editor, beth, thanks for being here. you just got new information about what we might hear in this unconventional state of the union. >> you're not going to believe it but president obama is still speaking in sports metaphors as his spokesman did. it is a fund-raising e-mail to his supporters headlined "the fourth quarter." and he promises that he made a point of telling folks to pay attention to what we do in our time left in the white house. interesting stuff happens in the fourth quarter. it's basically echoing this theme we've seen and he's raising money off of that theme. everything ron just said, we can expect the president in his last state of the union address to take a victory lap. really. who could blame the guy? it is his last time to trumpet what he feels are his biggest accomplishments, the afforda

you're trying to get a good picture tomorrow. >> reporter: ron allen, nbc news, with the president in honolulu. >> 2,000 pictures a day. pete is active on instagram, giving a behind the scenes look of the white house all year. one of the most favorited the president with a baby in a mini pope mobile. the number one picture of the year, the president with ella in the white house. year in photos at today.com. >> what a fantastic job. >> it's amazing. he's so be professional. he comes in, takes the picture and is out. can you imagine the stories he has to tell, not that he'd tell them. he's seen it all. >> thank you, sheinelle. >>> everything you need to know about tonight's celebration. mr. manners will help us dodge those embarrassing situations. >> i thought you were talking about these two. carson and and i sure had a lot on my mind when i got out of the hospital after a dvt blood clot. what about my family? my li'l buddy? and what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital but i wondered if this was the right treatment for me. then my doctor told me about eliquis.

. >> nbc's ron allen joins me now from honolulu where the president continues his vacation. ron, a fascinating interview there. what else did president obama shed some light on? >> reporter: well, it was interesting that the answer to that question was because of the question of the fact of president doing interviews with a 18-year-old chicago teenager who's turned his life around from a life on the street, authors, activists, people who the president says he's found he can call up and will take his call. imagine that. issues to shine a light on or people inspiring to him for one reason or another. that was interesting but most of the interview about more serious topics, about an end of the year interview that npr did with the president about his priorities and his accomplishments from last year. and much of the interview focused on this threat of isis and the question posed to the president, what was his response to the fact of polls and indications showing that so many people in the country do not have a lot of faith in his ability to take on the terrorism threat? there are

nbc's ron allen talked to white house photographer pete souza. >> there are a lot of pictures of theval office that are just moments, that are light moments, that are real moments, that are -- >> i mean, you know, look. he is the president of the united states, but he's also a human being. and i try to show his personality as best i can. and he -- you know, there's obviously a lot of pictures with little kids in my year end gallery. he loves babies. he loves to interact with babies. >> as you heard souza mentioned there, he captured plenty of intimate moments as well. you can watch his whole interview on the "today" show. >>> today the ymca in dupont circle will close its doors after 30 years. it's sold its building to a developer. some of its program and staff will be moving to the wmca on w street in the northwest. there's no word on whether another will be built in dupont. >>> your time right now, 5:57. we're following a developing story at this hour in missouri right now where the flooding situation, we're told it could get much worse. >>> we're also just getting word into the ne

i want to bring in ron allen. he is at the white house. ron, good morning.pect from the president today? >> well, jose, we're not sure exactly what he's going to say, but with each mass shooting in this country, the president seems to have grown angrier and angrier and more and more frustrated with what's happening. he said this should not be considered normal. he said there's a pattern of shootings that's unparalleled anywhere else in the world, and he has called for more conversation, stricter gun control, and essentially a reassessment of how the country thinks about all of this. and that this should not become normal. so, again, at this point, it's unclear exactly what happened in san bernardino, whether it was an act of terrorism, whether it was workplace violence, or just what. so i would imagine the president's going to choose his words fairly carefully, unless he can reveal something to us about it that we don't know. but clearly, he has been upset about all of this. he has said previously that his inability to get more common-sense gun control, gun

ron allen is standing by for us at the white house and ron, the president often uses this event to get expansive, to talk about the record of achievements as he sees it for the past calendar year and then take questions, some of which are off the beaten path. >> reporter: indeed. you never know what to expect. yes, we expect president obama to talk about the successes of the past year as he sees them. the climate agreement in paris, the trans-pacific trade partnership that he has formed with those asian nations. a long list that he has. he's about to sign the tax and spending bipartisan bill that just passed through the congress that the administration insisted they did not concede a lot to get. so a lot of good news the president has. but of course, everything now will be dominated by this issue of terrorism, the threat here, the attacks in paris and the attack in san bernardino, which has really changed perhaps everything, and the president's approval ratings in that area are relatively low, very low, based on polls and public response to how he's been handling this issue. and we kno

. >> nbc's ron allen joins us live now from the white house. so, ron, we're expecting this to start 1:50 eastern time. so much to discuss, but we clearly know that national security is at the forefront, given the week that we've seen from the president. the strategy likely will not change, but the forceful rhetoric that we saw this week will continue. >> reporter: and the questions will continue, tamron. i would expect this press conference to be dominated with questions about domestic security and the fight against isis abroad, because that is certainly the concern foremost in most americans' minds now. and there is a lot of criticism, not just partisan criticism, but a lot of concern out there in the public expressed in polls that people are feeling insecurity and they are raising concerns about the president's ability to deal with this issue. his favorable ratings are very low on that issue and on a number of other issues as well. so, a lot of questions about that. and you're right, he is going to stop in san bernardino before heading off to

. >> let's go to ron allen outside the white house. the president we know, ron, has been briefed about the situation. >> reporter: yes, kate. we know he's been briefed some time ago and following the events closely and asked for updates. obviously, this is an issue that the president is very concerned about. just yesterday in paris at the conclusion of this -- the summit on climate issues, he was asked about the shooting at the planned parenthood facility in colorado. and his remarks were very his r were very telling. he said to the effect of, quote, i say this every time we've goning this one of these mass shootings. this just doesn't happen in our conditions. he went on to say we are determined to -- and yet in the united states we have the power to do more than what was -- that is unequalled. of course he was thank that it's incumbent for the state and local governments to do more. the president and his staff have been looking at various executive orders to further implement what some would kay sail measures. and hopes that the color

. >> ron allen is standing by at the white house with more on this. dday to you. >> than you, alex. this is as close as it comes to the president calling what happened in san bernardino as an act of terrorism, they have been parsing the words here for a number of reason, and essentially the president and the advisers saying that they want the fbi to conduct the investigation, and see what the facts say, and see what the motive is of these two attackers, and that is what they are focusing on. they are trying the keep the country calm, and to try to not rush to judgment. again, today, the president said that it is quote entirely possible that the two attackers were radicalized to commit this act of terror. and now the president has been criticized for focusing on the gun control issues the whole time following the san bernardino massacre, but today, he kept talking about the gun control saying that there are loopholes in the law that needs to be closed particularly when it comes to the terror watch list and boarding a plane. this is what the president ha

ron allen is at the white house. good morning to you. >> reporter: word that the fbi is treating the san bernardino attack as terrorism has intensified republican criticism of president obama, who they claim has been weak fighting extremism abroad and here at home, as talking tough about being strong keeps pushing donald trump further ahead of the pack. >> wow! >> reporter: donald trump with an enthusiastic crowd, explaining how he would deal with the threat of terrorism. >> if the people in paris, or the people in california -- if you had a couple of folks in there with guns, and that knew how to use them, and they were in that room, you wouldn't have dead people. other guys. >> reporter: at this iowa gun owners rights event, ted cruz blasting away. >> we will not defeat radical islamic terrorism, so long as the president is unwilling to utter the words "radical islamic terrorism." >> reporter: with america worried about terror striking at home, a new national poll taken after the paris attacks, but before san berna

nbc's ron allen joins me from the white house. and, ron, it is a rare time that we say this has bipartisan support here. we don't hear that word often regarding that town, but here we are with this case. >> exactly, tamron, especially on an issue so contentious and so emotional for families as education. this one is called every student succeeds, the bill. you're right, it's massive. and there's republican and democratic support for this bill, which is why in part the president's going to sign it in a short while. the headline of all this is that it is the end of what some are calling the era of the federal government policing or micromanaging the nation's classrooms. this is giving a lot of authority back to states, back to local school districts to determine how schools are run, how teachers are evaluated, how what will be done to poorly performing schools and how students and teachers will be evaluated and assessed. now, there's still going to be testing in reading and math, but those tests are not going to be as significant as