OFF TO THE RACES: Widen open in New Hampshire
The Wall Street Journal sums up the state of play in New Hampshire. The verdict: It's still wide open.
Several of the Republican candidates got personal Tuesday to address concerns about addiction. NBC's Alex Seitz-Wald and Kailani Koenig report.
Pete Williams looks at the legal answers to Trump's questions about whether Ted Cruz is a "natural born citizen."
NBC's Andrew Rafferty sums up what Trump said about the matter on Tuesday.
The New York Times writes: "But try as he might to hold down expectations, Mr. Cruz has plainly become the candidate to beat in the caucuses. Barring new and damaging revelations, many Iowa Republicans now think the only thing standing between him and a victory on Feb. 1 is a groundswell of first-time or infrequent voters turning out for Donald J. Trump, of the sort that materialized for Barack Obama in 2008."
BUSH: He spoke on the 700 Club about his promise to appoint conservative judges.
He's apologizing for saying that he received an award from the NRA that does not exist.
CHRISTIE: He's hitting back at Rubio, telling the Washington Post that the Florida senator can't "slime his way to the White House."
And he's out with a new ad citing Rubio's attacks and urging Republicans to "keep your eye on the ball."
The Des Moines Register lists "7 reasons Chris Christie is poised for an Iowa bump"
CLINTON: She's counting on ground game in Iowa, the Wall Street Journal writes. "With less than a month before the first ballots are cast, Mrs. Clinton is hoping to rewrite her history in Iowa as the caucuses are again taking on an outsize importance to her presidential aspirations."
RUBIO: He told an Iowa audience: "Who knew there was a fiancée visa? Most Americans didn’t.” The Wall Street Journal: "But Mr. Rubio did know. The 2013 immigration bill he co-authored would have made K-1 fiancée visas available to would-be spouses of all legal permanent residents, not just citizens as is the law now."
SANDERS: He took on Hillary Clinton over Wall Street, saying "The reality is that Congress doesn’t regulate Wall Street. Wall Street and their lobbyists regulate Congress."
And he's pushing back on Clinton's assertion that she's the electable Democrat in the race.
TRUMP: NBC's Ali Vitali reports on his latest victory line: "I'm winning with the smart people, I'm winning with the not-so-smart people, too. I'm winning with everything."
POLITICO: "Trump, who once derided Jeb Bush for lacking energy, has done fewer campaign swings than any of his top-tier rivals — 100, versus Bush’s 172 — and while others have only increased the pace, Trump has barely expanded his schedule; next week, he’ll stage a rare Sunday rally."
OBAMA AGENDA: Democrats re-embrace gun control
Perry Bacon Jr. writes on how Obama's executive actions show how the Democratic Party has re-embraced gun control.
North Korea says it tested a hydrogen bomb. From the AP: "Pyongyang's announcement Wednesday was met with widespread skepticism, but whatever the North detonated in its fourth nuclear test, another round of tough international sanctions looms for the defiant, impoverished country. The test likely pushed Pyongyang's scientists and engineers closer to their goal of building a warhead small enough to place on a missile that can reach the U.S. mainland. But South Korea's spy agency thought the estimated explosive yield from the explosion was much smaller than what even a failed H-bomb detonation would produce."
TIME Magazine has a good rundown of the possible diplomatic fallout from the announcement out of North Korea.
"The Obama administration's best-case scenario for political transition in Syria does not foresee Bashar Assad stepping down as the country's leader before March 2017, outlasting Barack Obama's presidency by at least two months, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press."
PROGRAMMING NOTES.
*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: Today at 12p ET Andrea Mitchell interviews Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Victor Cha on North Korea’s claim it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) to preview the Benghazi hearings, Vali Nasr to discuss Saudi Arabia and Iran, former RNC General Counsel Ben Ginsburg on the possibility of a brokered convention, the Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus and Chris Cillizza, NBC’s Hallie Jackson and Kasie Hunt on the 2016 trail, plus NBC’s Pete Williams on the latest on the San Bernardino investigation.