ben carson packed the young student center at keene state college. more than 200 people attended dr. ben carson: i am absolutely delighted to be back here in new hampshire. it' s not that cold here really. this is kind of nice. i was in iowa yesterday, and that was cold. kristen: carson' s last visit to new hampshire was one month ago. since that time, he has been slipping in the polls. despite that, he says he is the right choice. dr. ben carson right now, we : have some massively difficult things to do which will require not only intellect and wisdom, but also courage. kristen: carson discussed the national debt, the economy, and taking down the current administration. carson then attacked the leading democratic candidates. dr. ben carson: bernie sanders and hillary clinton will tell you the income gap is spreading because of the evil rich people,

we're talking about ben carson. carson is furious over a private meeting this week by gop leaders where they talked about the possibility of a brokered convention as carson is falling further in the polls. in new hampshire he's now polling at 6%. that's down seven points from mid-november. that's according to the polling at wbur. donald trump is still holding onto the top spot with 27%. let's bring in nia-malika henderson for more on all of this. what a statement coming from ben carson's campaign this morning. what more are you hearing about this statement and threat from carson. >> we just got this statement in our inboxes about two hours ago in. this comes after all those reports that the rnc and the establishment for republicans are thinking about what it would look like if there was a brokered convention, if donald trump or ben carson or any of these folks in the lead at this point were to pull this thing off and actually have more delegates or a tie going into the convention. you have ben carson who is in some

carson the same way that donald trump knows how to keep the attention on him, and so when ben carson came out with this, it is more about getting us to be talking about him, and any time you say that you are against a traditional gop establishment, your poll numbers go up. i don't think that ben carson or donald trump is truly concerned about a brokered convention. it would be unbelievable chaos, and i don't believe that the political bosses of the gop establishment could pull anything close to that off especially in the day now with med media, but if you are against the gop establishment, both of these candidates are and both of them have surged off of, this and they are both using it for their own political gain, and it is a smart political move. and it is farfetched at the same time. >> do you believe it is farfetched, angela? is there really a possibility of a brokered convention? >> well, anything is possible now, and what i fully believe is that there was a kitchen cabinet dinner of the gop establishment as ben just mentioned and i think that because of that, the gop is frantic

ben carson not among them. e we will ask ben carson what he thinks of trump's plan and find out how he plans to hang on to conservative voters as we approach the first real test of 2016. plus a year's long path to terror beginning well before she received the visa and not one apparent red flag. new details on how a married couple turned their extremist views into president deadliest terror attack on america since 9/11. >>> good afternoon, everyone, welcome to "the lead." from the very beginning of the post 9/11 war on terror, american leaders have taken great pains to emphasize the nation is is at war with a small group of terrorists twisting what the muslim faith teaches and not a clash between the west and islam. to do otherwise national security experts insist only helps recruit more terrorists while alienating potential allies in the fight. other experts point out that most of the worls 1.6 billion muslims want nothing to do with terrorism, but the republican presidential front runner donald trump has made

i give him the nod over ben carson who let's -- here's the problem for ben carson. history tells us that when these candidates have booms like carson did and they bust, only once that we know, newt gingrich, had a second act. >> he certainly did. chris stirewalt, have a great week. thanks, sir. >> you bet. >>> social media search may have prevented a terrorist from coming here into the u.s. and killing 14 innocent people. but our current policies protecting your privacy, are they protecting your privacy? and at the same time, are they having deadly repercussions? and what's responsible for those policies? >>> also this, an online retailer is pulling these fiery hover boards out of its warehouse. what they're demanding companies do now to prove that their products won't blow up in your face. that's today? we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. after the deliveries, i was ok. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. can i get my aleve back? for my pain, i want my

ben carson. he made a comment about ted cruz. he is trying to really, i think, show again what makes him the outsider. dr. carson. what makes him the outsider and unique in the field while tweaking ted cruz. listen. >> you know, we all had different types of experiences. no question i have not spent a lot of time schmoozing asking for money and going to cocktail parties. i spent many a night in the operating room. cold sterile place with a child's life on the line. that's a different experience. >> when you arrive in des moines and you go down the drive and on the right is a huge place where the area is carson country. >> iowa is a great place for him. there are a lot of social conservatives there. people who were perhaps exposed to his book or movie early on during school. but he's losing a lot of momentum nationwide. that's why you heard him take that shot at cruz which is a bit out of ben carson's comfort zone. it was a good line. not typical carson. he is not comfortable flashing with other candidates. as cruz has risen in th

ben carson and marco rubio tied at 12%. they were both taken after trump proposed banning all muslims from entering the united states. trump has seen a bump. he has seen a bump in national polls since that statement which was widely seen as controversial. >> you could say more than a bump. if you go from 33 to 38 or 41, that is showing that people and the message is resonating with more people. it is once again proven political laws do not apply to donald trump. >> we don't have a graphic, but 60% of republican primary voters say they approve of the muslim ban. he is playing to the base. nationally, when you deal with democrats and republicans, it is the opposite. 60% against the muslim ban. republican primary voters, the one who nominate their president, they support it. >> he fires up the base. this is the story for him. in the fall and winter. he fires up the base and gets them going. with hillary clinton in the same poll, he does do as well. >> and behind us is the stage where it happens tonight in less than 13 hours. d

reaction now this hour just from ben carson. what can you tell us about this and the dinner that happened last night with the rnc? >> yeah, so, the "washington post" report talked about reince priebus, chairman of the republican national committee, ryan, the head of the senate. we talked with robert costa, the author of the article last hour, and he said it wasn't so much that they were plotting in terms of what a breck brokered conven would be like, how they would handle it, but rather the idea that the race might not produce a first-ballot nominee. but ben carson, of course, out with a blistering statement in the last hour or two, basically suggesting that this is a behind-the-scenes meeting of party elites that's trying to trample the will of the voters and he threatened even potentially to leave the party over a very strong response from ben carson. of course, ben carson has drawn so much of his support, or at least had drawn so much of his support before his numbers started slipping, from that idea that he's an outsider. so

ben carson has not collapsed. what stands out to me is that if carson can hold or slightly increase his vote it helps , donald trump at this point, because ted cruz and to some extent marco rubio are the two biggest threats, and they cannot grow. john: i agree with all of that. if carson manages to stabilize, it's good for trump. no doubt. mark: he is stable there. john: he has dropped. here is the number, 4%, marco rubio's tea party support. that is in south carolina. a report that said south carolina was nirvana for marco rubio. his whole appeal was both establishment and tea party. that looks like an establishment candidate, not a crossover candidate. mark: that is a problem he can fix a little bit. today, donald trump announced he was nixing his planned trip to israel to meet with benjamin netanyahu. on fox news this morning, trump explained his scheduling change. donald trump: he was very much, in fact i did a campaign ad for him and he is a good man, but i did not want to put him under pressure. he said we h

ben carson for many interviews has not had a real grasp to geopolitics. what are you going to do to get him up to speed in the learning curve is vertical. >> great to be with you. liz: thank you. >> i worked with several presidents and prime ministers, i can tell you the president of the united states i don't think any man or woman is prepared for the volumes of information needed on a daily basis to make policy decisions especially as it comes to foreign policy and national security. that's the reason the president of the united states has a national security council to filter the information, give him or her the highlights and take his vision and philosophy and information and create a policy out of it. dr. carson, certainly i don't think anyone would argue has a clear vision and philosophy where he wants to take america in the future, as well as help our allies, such as israel. so the team he's put together including general bob dees, myself and others, take all the national security information he would need, filter it to the fine points. give it to h

like hey, ben carson, you're a doctor. play that up, you know what i mean? trust me on this,ed crowd will love t they'll be eating out of your gifted hands, man. >> larry: sounds good. any other thoughts, my loyal friend? >> you know, larry, i guess the best way for me to put all this republican jewish thing is this whole thing, it's mishegoss sha anda, it's mesh nug-- meshuggenah and fakaktah. >> larry: my thowts exactly. and i will also add what does that mean? >> truth is, larry, have i no idea. my grandma, though, used to say those words a lot and i'm pretty sure none of them are good. but like i'm say i'm not a very good jew. >> larry: that's okay. rorie albanese. we'll be right back. but you're loyal. automated voice: to file a claim, please state your name. carnie wilson. thank you. can you hold on? ♪ hold on for one more day really? hey, i know there's pain. why do you lock yourself up in these chains? ♪ this would be so easy if you had progressive. our mobile app would let you file a claim and help you find one of our service centers where we ma

ben carson has not collapsed. is that if out to me carson can hold or increase his boat, it helps donald trump at point, because ted cruz and to some extent marco rubio are the two biggest threats, and they cannot grow. john: i agree with all of that. if carson manages to stabilize, it's good for trump. mark: he is stop -- stable there. john: he has dropped. teamarco rubio ke party support. his whole appeal was both establishment and tea party. that looks like an establishment candidate, not a crossover candidate. mark: today, donald trump announced he was nixing his planned trip to israel to meet with benjamin netanyahu. trump explain the change. , in fact iery much did a campaign advertisement for him and he is a good man, but i did not want to put him under pressure. he said we had a meeting and he looks forward to it, but i did not want to put him under pressure. of a veryin the midst powerful campaign that is going very well and it was not easy to do, so i would say lots of different reasons. i could have don

ben carson has taken to the stage, doing his walk-through. this is what we've been seeing from candidates all day, a better sense where they'll see timing lights, facebook questions, getting acquainted with the stage. there were a couple of candidates who opted not to go through this ritual, donald trump, jeb bush, rand paul. so it just depends on what kind of candidate you are. but like you were saying, this is going to be a very different kind of conversation today. it's going to be a conversation focused on national security. when we talk about ben carson, being here right on the stage right now, this is a big debate for him. a candidate who has seen his numbers slip in the wake of the paris terrorist attacks, in the wake of san bernardino and he has to be on the stage and prove to voters they can trust him as a commander in chief, if he wants to see his numbers go back up. >> he's been criticized his own campaign advisers for his grasp on issues but he put out a tweet with a video to his supporters saying he wants questions on internation

they're not running from ben carson to donald trump. they're running from ben carson to ted cruz. he is the one that's being able to make the case to the evangelicals, to the social conservatives and that's where we've seen his numbers come from in iowa. >> on national security ted cruz say little bit in the middle on this issue, not where rand paul is but closer to rand paul than a lot of the other candidates. >> he's very well positioned because he can get enough of that rand paul support because he has stood up against overreach in terms of surveillance and at the same time hasn't gone as far as rand paul. >> he's on the middle. i find him fascinating so watch. i don't agree with him on a bunch of stuff but i find him fascinating so watch and the case that he's making of being the outsider while being the insider, he's saying look i'm on outsider in washington. everybody hates me which i can attest is pretty much true, but you know, i'm also an insider in that i actually unlike donald trump know how things work, know how the bureaucracy and agencies work. i find him fascinating

ben carson was here a little while ago. i asked him, what is the biggest issue in the race besides national security? he said, homeland security. even ben carson has recognize that he needs to show that he is big on this issue. john: it will be interesting to see -- the last time we had a cnn debate, we were out in simi valley, california. they try to create conflict between the candidates. if foreign policy is the lion's share of the debate, there is not that much daylight, with the exception of rand paul and ted cruz, there is not much of a distinction between these guys. the question is, how much will this debate be about substance? how serious is it? or how much is it just a clash reacting to the taking clock? mark: and how much they try to project themselves. this many candidates still on the stage this close to the holidays i think it will be , tricky. in true las vegas fashion, we will discuss what is in the cards tonight for the candidates. starting center stage with the trump card. the front runner was here last ni

it doesn't look like ben carson's poll numbers have any hope of turning around. they continue to decline. ted cruz is overtaking him. that's true in iowa, that's true in many other states. and it doesn't look like ben carson at this point has any real hope of being the nominee. >> and jeb bush is taking trump on more, doing more selfies, spending more time glad-handing voters. plus he's pulling staff from some states to put them into early voting states, changing where he'd be spending ad dollars. will any of this help him catch fire? >> no. and dara, what's really going on there is jeb bush is having a lot of trouble. this is really the last gasp of his campaign. he's running out of money is what this suggests. they're pulling those ad dollars from a number of these states because the campaign doesn't really have the money to fund them. that's what that really says. jeb's super pac, right to rise, they do have the ad dollars to keep funding. those ads. but this is really just that the bush campaign is running out of steam at the end of the year. >> well, next we

ben carson... now down at 13 percent. (abc's this week) sot - ben carson / (r) presidential candidate "well, you know, poll he appeared on abc's this week with george stephanopolous? and doubled down on his threat to leave the republican party - if party leaders tried to manipulate the nominaton process using what he calls "back room deals." (abc's this week) sot - ben carson / (r) presidential candidate "if that is the case, then you know, i'm out of here." ========== on the democratic side - hillary clinton is getting some help from the president - t-v's president fitzgerald grant sot - tony goldwyn / actor, "scandal" "she has the most experience and has the right ideas to take the country where i believe it needs to go." actor tony goldwyn, from the hit abc show "scandal" - campaigning for the frontrunner. natsot - sen. bernie sanders / (d) presidential candidate "does that seem right to anybody? no!" her rival bernie sanders one of the few candidates out on the trail today? making at least four stops in iowa. critical

it was ben carson who sunk. is there a slot for ben carson or is he sliding out of the top tier? it'll be an interesting dynamic down the trail. >> there couldn't being timing debate because of everything going on. in terms of national security, that'll be the big topic tomorrow night. then all of these different fluctuations in the polls. what will you be looking at tomorrow night? >> well, again, this is another chance for marco rubio to shine in the debate. obviously, he's tried to make national security the key piece of his campaign. he's shown strong performances all the way through. i think it's interesting watching trump fall in the polls over the last couple weeks a little bit. he really is going to have to have a big performance tomorrow night and really show that he has command of these issues, that he can make people feel comfortable with him in the role as commander in chief. you have to wonder if that's why he's fallen a little bit after the paris attacks and the san bernardino attack. that dynamic between cruz and trump, obviously, trump is trying to have an argumen

ben carson had a lot going for himself but didn't know what to do with it. his biography put him on top of the polls among the leading contenders, but it's going downhill because he's not the john: worst politician. house majority leader kevin mccarthy who blew his chance to become speaker when he bragged congressional investigations into benghazi had damaged hillary clinton. you got that figured out, pat? the most define being political moment. pat: it is the paris and san bernadino massacres which have really turned the whole world at to the right. eleanor: i agree with that but i would also add all of the shootings of young unarmed black men, which have really altered politics in this country. tom: it has to be the paris attacks, the scale of devastation, the sense of loss and the effect it has had in political communities across the world. clarence: i would saber ber' time -- well timed denunciation it changed the tone of the democratic campaign. john: it was president obama's decision to skip the rally in paris after the massacre of the editorial staff

but what does it say about the mood of iowa previously, ted cruz, donald trump, ben carson, outsiders. >> that's correct. the base, it's not time to be part of the political establishment. at some point some candidate had to unify that and it looks like senator cruz has done that and is doing that and in fact continues then he's on a good track to win. >> now does the million dollar question that a lot of people have, donald trump's comments about muslims and banning them from the united states does that help or hurt donald trump in a place like iowa? >> i think it hurts him. i mean it's roundly denounced by all republicans except ted cruz. and republican caucus goers they are pretty conservative pretty activist, but they also want a winner, somebody they can see in the white house. so the collective, the cumulative effect of donald trump's comments they're entertaining, there are a lot of people that agree with them. but they also agree that the purpose of the exercise is to elect a president of the united states. and there are a lot of republicans who say they absolutely couldn't vo

ben carson has collapsed 15 points to third place at 13%. marco rubio is at 10% and jeb bush is at 6%.

ben carson is taking his campaign on a 3-day swing through the area. lukas voss caught up with him on the campaign trail thanks tim and jenna and dr. carson had quite the trip on his schedule today including a make-up appearance in spencer after it was canceled the last time due to the winter storm. he drew large crowds both in orange city and sioux city using his chance to address siouxlanders up close and personal. nats: clapping orange city. dr. ben carson took time today to travel through siouxland to campaign for his bid to be the next president of the united states. he was in spencer... before heading to storm lake onto orange city and capping of his day off in sioux city. the apperance at northwestern college was espeally important town hall style citizens to a chance the candidate. "h e was very comfortable and appreciated the interact with the "it personal it wasn't like a big gymnasium something." it's also dr. carson's favorite. "it gives a closeness and people can really get a feeling for who you are and get an opportunity to actually asked

ben carson, he joins us now from florida. you is seen those poll numbers, what do you think went wrong? >> well, you know, poll numbers go up and down. i wasn't excited when they're up, i'm not excited when they're down. you know, this is a very fluid contest and it's the reason we have it. we have opportunities for people to listen carefully, not to listen to the spin but actually to listen to what's being said. the people will make the correct choice. >> ted cruz thinks he knows what went wrong. in that piece, not only went after trump but questioned what voters think about you. >> who is prepared to be a commander in chief, who understands the threats we face? that's a question of strength but it's also a question of judgment and i think that's a question that's a challenging question for both of them. >> how do you respond to that analysis from ted cruz? >> well, you know, we have had different type of experiences. no question i haven't spent a lot of time asking for big money and going to cocktail parties. i spent many a

but it had to do with ben carson and the ben carson boomlet, which now appears to have evaporated if current polling is accurate. the "wall street journal" is reporting as of late tonight that in the month of october, when the ben carson surge was in full swing, when it looked like he was doing great, his campaign that month raised a total of $8.8 million, which is a great number. but they spent that same month way more than that. they spent $9.5 million that month. overspending, spending more than what you have raised, especially in good times, that can be one of those ominous signs that your campaign is going under. it certainly means you are no longer treading water. the campaign's chief financial officer told the "wall street journal" tonight about these figures. "i don't know who gave it to you, but they were not supposed to." everybody's been watching for the ben carson collapse somewhere other than the polls. these financial details from the "wall street journal" tonight may be the first real signs of it. we've got more on the republican race and much more just ahead. stay wit

ben carson. two major polls show cruz is mounting a major challenge to trump in the early, critical state of iowa, beating trump 31% to 21% in a politics poll. trump is still on top but cruz is biting at his heels. cruz at 22% in a brand-new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. we have the best political team in television covering the story. that is where we find my friend and colleague, john berman. >> reporter: hi, poppy. so much to talk about. the last debate, the last republican debate of 2015 with the race changing so much right in front of our very eyes. ted cruz vaulting up in iowa. you talk about the main stage, a debate that begins at 6:00 on tuesday night. some people call it the undercard. george pataki, mike huckabee, former pennsylvania senator rick santorum, and the current senator from south carolina who cares a lot and talks a lot about national security, lindsey graham. that begins at 6:00 p.m. i want to discuss with paul begala. i want to start with you here with the newest dyn

retired neurosurgeon ben carson can 10%. trump on fox news sunday slamming senator cruz. >> well, you look at the way he's dealt with the senate where he goes in there like, frankly, like a little bit of a maniac. you can't walk in the senate and call people liars and get along with people. he'll never get anything done and that's the problem with ted. >> cheryl: meanwhile carson threatening to leave the republican if there are signs of a broken convention. >> one of the reasons that i got into this because i heard frustration of people of dishonesty, and, you know, if that is the case, then, you know, i'm out of here. >> cheryl: dr. carson will be on mornings with maria. that's today at 8:28 eastern time right here in the fox business network. >> nicole: president obama set to visit the pentagon to discuss terror threat by isis. white house officials say the president is not expect today announce any major changes to the current u.s. strategy. also scheduled to visit the counterterrorism center later this week before leave

ben carson: i did not see it. >> dr. carson, you called the shooting a hate crime. what exactly did you mean by that? ben carson: which shooting? >> the one today, 14 people dead. ben carson: it is hard to imagine that you would shoot a bunch of people if you did not hate them, right? you don't do that to people you love. >> thank you ladies and gentlemen for coming. rally innald trump manassas, virginia, attendees talk about why they support the candidate, and what brought them to the event. here's a look. >> here at the donald trump rally, we wanted to talk to some of the people in attendance. i want to begin with joe wolf who is here in manassas, virginia. why did you decide to come out tonight? >> i wanted to come out to see what the candidate had to say for number one. i am a supporter, i like what he has to say. i think he will turn the country around. we need someone to do something. >> who have you supported in the past? why donald trump in 2015? >> i have been a republican for many years. it is what he is saying. we need to close the borders. we need to sec

ben carson thinks candidate ben carson is [ bleep ] crazy. [ cheers and applause ] the diagnosis. with anti-muslim rhetoric from it hard to believe that it's 2015, but you can't blame people for not knowing what time it is when they are arresting kids for building clocks. and here's what i think we can all say to that. [ laughter ] this has been "a closer look." [ cheers and applause ] you guys, we have a great show for you tonight. he is the star of the new show "blunt talk" on starz. patrick stewart is back on the show this evening. the great patrick stewart. and he is the ohio governor, and a republican presidential candidate, john kasich joins us this evening. looking forward to talking to him. [ cheers and applause ] nfl network analyst michael irvin is on the show tonight. [ cheers and applause ] one of the greatest of all-time. and we will have music from george ezra. [ cheers and applause ] we'll be right back with more "late night." it's going to be a good one. one, two, three, four, can i have a little more? five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, i love you sail the ship ch

>> but there week ben carson got into a media mess of his own making. it is no secret he has been sinking in the polls over questions of his foreign policy knowledge. on wednesday morning, he invited "washington post" reporter to his maryland home to say he was unhappy with his campaign staffers some of whom were overpaid. ben carson said and i quote, "i'm looking at every as speaking of the campaign, everything on table every job is on the table, and three would not say if he would keep his campaign manager but changes could come the next day and made similar comments to associated press. the press secretary put out a statement declaring "dr. carson is back in charge," raising the questions who was in charge before? armstrong william whose sat odds with the campaign manager told the post to take what he said on the home and on the invitation seriously but after a lost back-and-forth discussions ben carson said high has 100 percent confidence in the campaign team and blamed the "washington post" in an interview with cnn's reporter. >> there must be some

shows how fascinating this timing is and also for ben carson. john, republicans are anxious about the economy, too. who would manage it better? the billionaire brass of donald trump or challenger ted cruz? here is the score from the tax foundation think tank. trump has the edge. 5.3 million jobs over the next decade. cruz is not far behind with 4.9 million added. cruz wins according to the tax foundation. cruz as the simple plan in the gop field. he would scrap the seven income tax brackets. he would kill the corporate and switch to a 16% value added tax. a fee on sales and wages. trump would move to three tax and reduce the corporate to 15%. tax foundation says cruz's plan is one of the best for boosting growth. >>> 42 minutes past the hour. president obama trying to reassure americans in the battle against isis what he says is working and what he still needs to be done. next. >>> president obama is calling on america's allies in the middle east to do more in the war against isis. the president is growing frustrated with countries like saudi ar

interestingly, ben carson. ben carson had been leading clinton all summer around into the fall in head-to-head polls. he's now fallen behind her. so again, a tough month all around for ben carson. there is that shake-up right behind donald trump on the republican side. >> and a very good month for hillary clinton. >> absolutely. hillary clinton -- we were talking not long ago about does she have to worry about bernie sanders here making this thing -- maybe not beating her but really stretching this contest out. these numbers are telling you she's really solidified her support. >> steve kornacki, thank you very much. >>> let's dig a little more closely into the democratic race. i i'm joined by alex. with hillary clinton, voters are not thinking she's honest or trustworthy. any movement on those numbers? >> definitely a lot of good numbers for her in this poll. one number that's not so good, honest and trustworthy numbers still haven't changed much at all. 60% saying she's not honest and trustworthy, just 36% say

ben carson think? >> we have to stop listening to people who tell us that we cannot talk about god, we cannot talk about our faith. every coin in our pocket, every bill in our wallet says "in god we trust" but we're not supposed to talk about it. what in the world is that? in medicine we call it schizophrenia. a form of crazedness. >> seth: so to clarify, dr. ben carson thinks candidate ben carson is [ bleep ] crazy. [ cheers and applause ] with anti-muslim rhetoric from candidates like this, it makes it hard to believe that it's 2015, but you can't blame people for not knowing what time it is when they are arresting kids for building clocks. and here's what i think we can all say to that. [ laughter ] this has been "a closer look." [ cheers and applause ] you guys, we have a great show for you tonight. he is the star of the new show "blunt talk" on starz. patrick stewart is back on the show this evening. the great patrick stewart. [ cheers and applause ] and he is the ohio governor, and a republican p

money is not the problem for ben carson. the problem is does anyone actually want his message after a huge focus on terrorism and national security. >> all great points, mark. thank you very much. >>> coming up, "time" magazine names german chancellor angela merkel their person of the year. she, by the way, is the first woman to earn the title in 29 years. the reaction coming in this morning. >>> plus, officials believe they know what sickened dozens of people who all ate at the same chipotle restaurant. it is one of the stories we are updating this morning. ♪ ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ [ birds squawking ] my mom makes airplane engines that can talk. [ birds squawking ] ♪ my mom makes hospitals you can hold in your hand. ♪ my mom can print amazing things right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] my mom makes trains that are friends with trees. [ train whistle blows ] ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ you owned your car you named it brad.s, my mom works

ben carson. the matchups are really telling, you have all the activity on the republican side and you see the polls with hillary clinton. >> sandra: we are about to enter 2016 and this is when everybody has to ask themselves, can he or she hillary clinton, and this is what's going to happen. as we get closer into 2016 as the time frame shortness here everything is going to start about who looks good, sounds good but who can beat hillary clinton. >> the answer is no. >> maria: you think the answer is no? >> that's a foreigner. i actually think first female president is a really, really strong card. >> maria: well, that was certainly the thinking with the first african american, with president obama. first term, going into second term people were questioning, do we want to do this again. >> it's going to be interesting how that plays out. >> keith: rubio, first of hispanic decent. there's a lot of -- >> rubio and kasich. >> maria: i thought kasich hurt himself because he was interrupt august lot of

well, iowa is ben carson's big state. and iowa just a few weeks ago, ben carson had moved into the lead out there, but in the most recent poll, he had fallen to lead third. the big gain in iowa is coming from ted cruz. he's caught ben carson in iowa, pushed him down to third place. why is that? it's coming from evangelical voters, religious conservatives. they were by far, the strongest base of support for ben carson in iowa. he was winning big with them, but you see just in the last few weeks, ted cruz has jumped 14 points in iowa. with evangelical christians, ben carson down by almost the same amount of support there. you can see clearly, ted cruz is eating into that base for ben carson, a very troubling sign for ben carson. and the significance of the evangelical vote. nearly 60%. when you go to the iowa leadoff caucuses, nearly 6 in 10 votes will be by evangelicals, a smaller number in new hampshire. but in south carolina, it's 2 out of every 3. ben carson needs to get that number up among evangelicals, which means, h

ben carson was here a little while ago. i asked him, what is the biggest issue besides national security? he said, homeland security. he has realized that he needs to show that he is big on this issue. last time we had a cnn debate was in simi valley. they try to create conflict between the candidates. if foreign policy is the lion's , there ishe debate not a wild distinction between these guys. much willon is, how this debate be about substance? how much is it just a personality clash? and how much they try to project themselves. this many candidates still on the stage, i think it will be tricky. in true las vegas fashion, we will discuss what is in the cards tonight for the candidates . the front runner was here last night at a rally where he teased ted cruz then held back. >> trump, 41%. ted cruz, 14%. 41-14. i like him. here is how they announced, ted cruz surging. 41, ted cruz, 14. i said, wait, what is going on? bets are divided on whether trump will hit ted cruz tonight. do you think trump will feel under pressure? i

ben carson taking a dip. plus, now more voters are starting to view trump as a serious candidate. and this, new mexico governor susanna martinez is apologizing for a party she threw that ended with a visit to police. officers came to complaints about noise and someone throwing snowballs from a balcony. that and more at the top of the hour. >>> welcome to "the journal editorial report." the republican presidential candidates auditioned to become commander in chief this week. in their first debate since the terror attacks in paris and san bernardino. as the top nine contenders took the stage in las vegas on tuesday, some clear fault lines emerged in the fight against isis and u.s. intervention in the middle east. >>> the people that have been killed, the people that have been wiped away and for what? it's not like we had victory. it's a mess. the middle east is totally destabilized a total and complete mess. this is the biggest debate we should be having tonight is regime change a good idea? has it been a good idea? there are still people, the majority on stage that want to topple a

but when he wasn't, he compared ben carson to a pedophile. he actually said -- he actual think compared him to a pedophile in the fact that he had this disturbing violent past in his high school years. kennedy: there is any way of predicting what might happen in these early voting states? >> no. polling has been bad recently. it was bad in kentucky and bad in 2014. and it's been bad abroad as well. the british election was messed up by the pollsters. >> that sounds like something jeb bush would say. >> i don't think you can say jeb bush's 4% is because polling is bad. i don't think trump is going to win these states. when you have marco rubio at 16% and cruz at 19%. kennedy: what could ted cruz promise marco rubio to get him to drop out of the race? >> i don't know. i think ted cruz is going to come up. that's how canadians are. they are sneaky. you don't see them coming and suddenly they take over. if trump was smart he would try to ban canadians. kennedy: you start with the mexicans and move to the muslims. then america's top hat is canada.

how does ben carson think about that? i'm going to ask him when he joins me live. >>> a muslim family blocked from boarding a plane from london to the u.s. their destination was disneyland. the family claims it is because of their religion. a very busy hour. but i want to begin with politics. donald trump with a 21-point lead over ted cruz, who is in second place. and reports of a shakeup in the carson campaign. joining me now tonight is dr. ben carson. thank you for joining us. are you doing okay? >> doing well. nice to be with you. >> let's talk about the polls we just discussed. you are tied for third place. you are down four points since the last cnn poll in november. you have lost some ground. what is your reaction to that? >> polls go up and down. and i suspect there will be a fair amount of movement, particularly in the last few weeks before the iowa caucus. but you know, you have to be steady. you have to keep on message. and help people to recognize that you know, our nation needs real answers. we don't need rhet

ben carson, donald trump. they will both be center stage because donald trump clear front-runner still in the republican party primaries and ben carson also doing well. but still both men are saying they could leave the republican party. they would consider running as a third party candidate if it ends up being a brokered convention. why did this come up? there were stories last week that party insiders discussing the possibility to come to back rooms and brokering. cnn's tom foreman goes into the virtual conventional hall to explain what this means. >> reporter: hold on tight because with this many candidates in the race it could get messy and here's how. let's say you go into the early primaries and caucuses and nobody has a commanding lead anywhere. maybe candidate "a" wins over here and "b" over here and "c" over here and enough so three or four think they can keep playing the game and then state after state after state and it continues and then you wind up at the convention with no one in a commanding lea

ben carson. dr. carson, just this morning in new hampshire you said isis, quote, will destroy us if we don't destroy them first. that's a very different take on the isis situation than president obama who told npr that he feels fears about isis in the united states may be overhyped by the media and that isis does not pose an existential threat to the united states. you think that isis does pose a threat to the existence of the country? >> absolutely. i think it's rather naive to believe that they are the jayvee and that we have nothing to worry about. because we live in a different era. you know, he talked about them not being a big industrial power. we're not in the era now where you send, you know, big armies to fight, or you know air forces. we're in a place where you use a jet plane as a missile to knock down buildings, where dirty bombs can be used to extinguish large numbers of people. there are lots of different techniques that can be used, cyber attacks, attacking our electrical grid. you kno