OFF TO THE RACES: Trump doubles down
TRUMP: From NBC's Ali Vitali in Mount Pleasant, SC, last night: "Donald Trump on Monday night dug in his heels on his latest controversial statements — this time a proposal to shut down Muslim immigration to the United States indefinitely. The ban would include tourists and those trying to enter the country on visas — and even Muslim American citizens caught on the wrong side of the border."
Ari Melber writes that legal experts said the plan would be unconstitutional.
Perry Bacon Jr. writes: "Donald Trump's declaration Monday that the U.S. should bar any Muslims from entering the country was a sharp rejection of President Obama's speech a day earlier, when he pointedly urged Americans to avoid adopting anti-Muslim sentiments. And the proposal escalates an intense debate already happening in American politics about religious tolerance, Islam and terrorism."
The Philadelphia Daily News pictures Trump on its front page with his arm raised over the headline: "The New Furor."
Dick Cheney condemned Trump's proposal.
The AP talks to Muslims to get their reactions.
His New Hampshire chair says: "What he’s saying is no different than the situation during World War II, when we put the Japanese in camps. The people who attacked innocent people in Paris came through open borders. From a military mind standpoint, all Donald Trump is saying is to do what needs to be done until we get a handle on how to do background checks."
BUSH: A new super PAC ad from Right to Rise rips Bush's rivals as unprepared and calls Trump "reckless" and "impulsive."
CLINTON: Her plan to de-incentivize companies from leaving the United States would include an "exit tax." The Wall Street Journal explains.
CRUZ: One of his super PACs is up with new digital ads and mail pieces that highlight his "outsider" image and his faith.
And around the country...
Writes the Wall Street Journal: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear two cases that dispute the methods used to draw political maps, with a challenge from Texas having the potential to create the greatest upheaval in legislative districts since the 1960s voting-rights rulings."
OBAMA AGENDA: Why ISIS wants to drag the U.S. into war
Important analysis in the New York Times: "As the debate on how best to contain the Islamic State continues to rage in Western capitals, the militants themselves have made one point patently clear: They want the United States and its allies to be dragged into a ground war. In fact, when the United States first invaded Iraq, one of the most enthusiastic proponents of the move was the man who founded the terrorist cell that would one day become the Islamic State, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He excitedly called the Americans’ 2003 intervention 'the Blessed Invasion.'"
The San Bernardino shooters had been radicalized "for some time," the FBI says.
From NBC's Pete Williams: "The U.S. Supreme Court Monday handed a legal victory to advocates of banning firearms commonly known as assault weapons. By leaving a suburban Chicago gun control law intact, the court gave a boost to efforts aimed at imposing such bans elsewhere, at a time of renewed interest in gun regulation after recent mass shootings."
A story abroad worth noting, dateline Paris: "Ms. Le Pen led her far-right National Front to a first-place finish in the initial round of regional elections on Sunday, a huge step forward in her plan to transform a fringe movement into a credible party of government. The result left both Mr. Hollande’s Socialists and Mr. Sarkozy’s Republicans groping on Monday for ways to thwart Ms. Le Pen’s ascendance and increasingly worried that she is emerging as the candidate to beat in the presidential elections in 18 months. It also highlighted the appeal of baldly nationalist messages on both sides of the Atlantic at a time when traditional parties are struggling to address the insecurities of voters facing economic dislocation and a sense of vulnerability to terrorism."
CONGRESS: Trying to keep the government open
The House may end up working over the weekend and need a stopgap bill to keep the government open.
PROGRAMMING NOTES.
*** Tuesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: Joining NBC’s Andrea Mitchell today at 12p ET -- Homeland Security Secy. Jeh Johnson in an exclusive live interview on fighting terror, the San Bernardino shooting investigation, and Muslim outreach; an extensive interview with Sen. Bob Dole on the state of the GOP & 2016 politics; author Peggy Noonan; Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ); plus the Wall Street Journal’s Jeanne Cummings and the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza.