OFF TO THE RACES: Trump maintains his lead
A new NBC/SurveyMonkey tracking poll shows Donald Trump up 35 percent to Cruz's 18 percent and Rubio's 13 percent.
And Clinton leads Sanders nationally by a 17 point margin.
The big picture, from the Wall Street Journal: "With less than a month before voting begins, establishment presidential candidates, thrown off stride by insurgent rivals through much of last year, are urging voters to move toward conventional choices and end their flirtation with the field’s novices and outsiders. The efforts reflect the hope on the part of such candidates that the dynamic of the campaign will change now that the calendar has turned to 2016 and real choices are nearly at hand."
Alex Jaffe reports on the GOP establishment's fight on the airwaves in New Hampshire.
POLITICO: "In private conversations with several former aides, Mitt Romney, who in March will keynote the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising dinner, has expressed rising frustration about Trump’s prolonged lead in polls and has argued that the real-estate mogul could inflict lasting damage on the party’s brand."
NBC’s Danny Freeman looks at the role that candidate fatigue can play in the hectic weeks before the Iowa caucus.
BUSH: In a Medium post, he addresses his family's "heartbreak" when his daughter suffered from addiction. He'll speak at a forum on addiction in New Hampshire today.
CLINTON: After a relatively subdued Bill Clinton campaigned for his wife in New Hampshire, the campaign announced that he will stump for Hillary in Iowa on Thursday.
NBC's Kristen Welker reports that Clinton will unveil a new autism initiative in Iowa.
CHRISTIE: Notes the Wall Street Journal: "Mr. Christie spent 261 partial or full days traveling outside of New Jersey in 2015, or 72% of the year, according to administration figures. That included 71 days in neighboring New York and Pennsylvania."
A new super PAC ad backing him highlights his opposition to the closure of Gitmo.
CRUZ: NBC’s Hallie Jackson sat down with Ted Cruz for an exclusive interview. The Texas senator said that his rivals are “panicking” but he will not “get drawn into that muck.”
He’s out with a new ad on border security visualizing “if a bunch of lawyers or bankers were coming across the Rio Grande.”
FIORINA: In a TIME op-ed, she writes about the loss of her step-daughter to addiction. "If you’re criminalizing drug abuse and addiction, you’re not treating it—and you're part of the problem."
KASICH: He appeared to be unaware of the ongoing standoff in Oregon.
RUBIO: Alex Jaffe reports on the foreign policy feud between Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
SANDERS: The AP: "Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will pledge to break up the country's largest financial institutions within the first year of his administration should he win the White House next November. He plans to make that pledge in a speech in New York on Tuesday afternoon."
TRUMP: The Washington Post takes a big look at "political correctness" and how backlash against it is fueling Trump's rise.
NBC's Ali Vitali and Alex Seitz-Wald report on Trump's protester-punctuated rally last night in Lowell, Massachusetts.
His campaign had a particularly Trump-esque response when asked about a campaign ad's use of footage from the border in Morocco - not Mexico.
OBAMA AGENDA: Mr. Executive Action
The Washington Post wraps his executive action on guns: "The Obama administration on Monday unveiled a series of new executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence and making some political headway on one of the most frustrating policy areas of President Obama’s tenure. The package, which Obama plans to announce Tuesday, includes 10 separate provisions, White House officials said. One key provision would require more gun sellers — especially those who do business on the Internet and at gun shows — to be licensed and would force them to conduct background checks on potential buyers."
The AP: "While Republicans and Democrats are deeply divided on the issue, both parties see Obama's actions as an opportunity to generate enthusiasm among primary voters."
Analysis on the situation in Saudi Arabia, from the New York Times: "The United States has usually looked the other way or issued carefully calibrated warnings in human rights reports as the Saudi royal family cracked down on dissent and free speech and allowed its elite to fund Islamic extremists. In return, Saudi Arabia became America’s most dependable filling station, a regular supplier of intelligence, and a valuable counterweight to Iran. For years it was oil that provided the glue for a relationship between two nations that share few common values."
For now, the government is being cautious in its response to the armed protest in Oregon.