OBAMA AGENDA: "The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it"
The president said in an address from the Oval Office last night: "The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it."
He's ordered the review of the fiancée visa program that allowed one of the San Bernardino terror suspects to enter the country.
More, from the New York Times: "President Obama’s speech to reassure the nation on Sunday night included no new strategy to contain or defeat the Islamic State. In fact, it was not intended to. Instead, Mr. Obama used a rare Oval Office address to make the case that his administration was ahead of the problem, not playing catch-up — contrary to the critiques presented by many of his former counterterrorism advisers."
And from the AP: "There were no new policy prescriptions, no fresh military strategies and no timelines. When President Barack Obama seized the spotlight for a rare prime time address Sunday night, he came with one major message: It's going to be OK."
And also from the AP, over the weekend: "The U.S. government's ability to review and analyze five years' worth of telephone records for the married couple blamed in the deadly shootings in California lapsed just four days earlier when the National Security Agency's controversial mass surveillance program was formally shut down."
OFF TO THE RACES: GOP field pans Obama’s speech
The GOP candidates panned the president's address, reports NBC's Leigh Ann Caldwell.
CLINTON: She writes in a New York Times op-ed about her plan to "rein in Wall Street."
She called for a greater focus on curbing the ability of ISIS to recruit via social media.
CRUZ: He's working to poach Rand Paul's supporters, notes National Review.
POLITICO notes: "With the Iowa caucuses less than two months away, Ted Cruz seemed to have an epiphany Thursday night on one of the state’s — and agricultural lobby’s — biggest issues in Congress. The GOP senator from Texas initially voted with fiscal hard-liners to retain $3 billion in crop insurance cuts that were made as part of a budget deal approved in October. After a visit to the Senate cloakroom, Cruz returned and flipped his vote to side with farming interests, which ultimately prevailed. The crop insurance votes were part of a debate on a highway bill, which Cruz opposed on a final vote, calling it fiscally irresponsible."
He's pledging in a new ad to "kill the terrorists."
RUBIO: He's out with a new ad in the key state of Iowa.
The New York Times writes that he is zeroing in on Ted Cruz, trying to halt the Texas senator's momentum.
SANDERS: He's out with a new plan to address climate change. Msnbc.com's Alex Seitz-Wald has all the details.
Writes the Washington Post: "Terrorism and gun violence have dominated the headlines in the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks and mass shootings in Colorado Springs and San Bernardino. But the Vermont senator is sticking largely to a script that has nothing to do with either — emphasizing income and wealth inequality instead, the same issues that generated an unexpected groundswell of support for him over the summer."
TRUMP: He seemed to forget about Muhammad Ali in his criticism of Obama's name-checking of Muslim athletes. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, too!
POLITICO writes that he's turning his focus to the general election.
And around the country...
Jimmy Carter says that a recent MRI showed no cancer on his brain.
Elizabeth Warren says she's focused on helping her party retake the Senate.
PROGRAMMING NOTES.
*** Monday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: Jane Harman – Director & President, Woodrow Wilson Center; Malcolm Nance – Exec. Director, Terror Asymmetrics Project; the Washington Post’s Anne Gearan and Chris Cillizza; and NBC’s Pete Williams, Bill Neely, Blake McCoy and Gabe Gutierrez.