Election 2016

VIDEO: The president announced new executive measures today to reduce gun violence in the US. — Obama Tears Up Recalling Victims of Mass Shooting

Tearful Obama on Gun Control: Excuses 'No Longer Suffice'

Live Now {{item.hedshort}}

The Candidates

PHOTO: Bernie Sanders, left, speaks while Hillary Clinton listens during a Democratic presidential primary debate, Dec. 19, 2015, at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. — Clinton, Sanders Spar Over Electability

A Scuffle in Sin City

All three Democratic candidates met onstage in Las Vegas last night, and while each took turns attacking Republicans, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton also saved subtle jabs for each other. The two sparred over the issue of who would fare best in a general election matchup, ABC's LIZ KREUTZ and MARYALICE PARKS note. Earlier this week, Clinton urged Democratic Party voters to consider electability when making their choice. In Nevada she said voters will soon be choosing a president "who can get the job done, and not just on a few issues, but on all the complex challenges we face." She added that she has been raising money for Democratic state parties. "Right now I am not only running for president but raising millions of dollars for our state parties," she said. Sanders, on the other hand, conjured images of his large crowds from the trail and took swipes at Clinton. "Our job should not be simply to be running around the country making money from the wealthy. Our job should be to bring working people together in basketball arenas and football arenas by the tens of thousands, to answer their questions, to mobilize them so we have the fighting force we need to transform this country."

Mike Huckabee Talks to The Note About Completing the 'Full Grassley' in Iowa

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will hit the magic number today: 99. With no fewer than six separate campaign events (from Sigourney to Urbandale), Huckabee will have visited every single county in the Hawkeye State since he announced for president last May. "We methodically and systematically planned our schedule so that we would get to all counties," Huckabee told The Note. "We didn't just do a drive through -- we actually did town halls." He added, "I don't think anybody is going to say we're low-energy." The former Arkansas governor who won the Iowa caucuses as a presidential candidate in 2008 but who is lagging behind many of his competitors in the polls this year said he isn't putting much stock in the latest numbers. "The pundits who make these predictions at this point are wrong every four years," he said. Recalling 2008, he said: "I can’t think of anybody that said we were going to win. The question was: Would we come in a close or distant second? We didn't just win, we won the most votes in the history of the Iowa caucuses." ON CRUZ: When asked about the new questions being raised about Canadian-born Sen. Ted Cruz's eligibility to be president, Huckabee said: "I have not dealt with it at all. If that was going to be challenged, it would have been when he was elected to the Senate," Huckabee said in an interview with ABC News yesterday. Huckabee said the biggest issue for the Cruz, who currently sits at the top of the polls in Iowa, is whether he changes his views on issues based on where he happens to be campaigning that day. "If you hear me speak in Waukee, Iowa," Huckabee said. "It's the same as when I speak in Washington." ON IOWA: Looking ahead to the state's Feb. 1 caucuses, Huckabee pronounced himself "very optimistic that we still have a shot at this." His prospects beyond Iowa, he said, would be based on "where things cluster" in the final caucus standings. "We also know that if we don't come up near the top, then we have a hard time continuing," he said.

Analysis -- ABC's Rick Klein

Happy birther days, all over again. Donald Trump's decision to question -- just citing others' concerns, in typical Trump fashion -- Ted Cruz's eligibility for the presidency is a Trumpian sneak attack in that it's not at all sneaky. In fact, it's designed to explicitly undermine Cruz with the kinds of voters who are showing signs of settling on him. (And Cruz is learning anew how few friends he has among his colleagues with Rand Paul and even John McCain -- himself born outside the United States -- saying they're not sure if he can run for president, either.) It all speaks to the threat Cruz poses in Iowa and well beyond, and it can't be quieted with a birth certificate. Cruz's vow to not engage in fights with his rivals will be tested even more than his constitutional eligibility these last few weeks before voting starts.

Today on the Trail with ABC's Ryan Struyk

Today Donald Trump is going into enemy territory, holding a rally tonight in Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders' home state of Vermont, where he may have sold more than ten times too many tickets for the venue. Ted Cruz will spend the afternoon and evening with four events in Iowa on his bus tour, where he's favored to win the state. Ben Carson is also in the Hawkeye State with three town hall meetings. Rand Paul, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee are also in Iowa today. Marco Rubio, meanwhile, is aiming to pick up momentum in New Hampshire with a house party and a town hall today. Jeb Bush is also hosting two town halls there and John Kasich has three events. On the Democratic side, fresh off a series of speeches from the three candidates in Nevada last night, Hillary Clinton will rally her Asian American and Pacific Islander supporters in California. Her husband former President Bill Clinton is back on the trail today with two organizing events in Iowa this afternoon after his first. Minnesota Senator Al Franken is also hitting the campaign trail for the former Secretary of State, with four appearances in New Hampshire. Martin O'Malley has two events -- one in Nevada and one in Iowa.

FIRST ON ABC: New RNC Ad Aims to Showcase Diversity in GOP

The Republican National Committee is set to run a series of ads before and during next week's GOP debate highlighting a new effort to attract diverse voters in 2016. ABC News got a sneak peek at the "Where You Lead, Others Will Follow" ad campaign featuring a diverse group of Republicans that are already active in the party. The series features a former prostitute; a 9/11 firefighter in The Bronx, New York; the son of Haitian immigrants and a mentor from Queens, New York; a mother of a child with autism from Tampa, Florida; and a first generation Hispanic American college student from Pueblo, Colorado.

Constitutional Scholars Explain Why Ted Cruz Is Eligible to Be President

Donald Trump says questions about whether Ted Cruz is eligible to be President of the United States could become a "big problem" for the Canadian-born Republican candidate. But among legal scholars, there’s a consensus: He’s eligible to occupy the Oval Office. The Texas senator, who was born in Calgary, Canada, to an American mother, has been widely viewed as meeting the "natural born citizen" requirement of the United States Constitution. And most legal experts agree -- including former Solicitors General Neal Katyal and Paul Clement.

How Tiny Turtles and a Baby Jesus Ended Up in Jeb Bush's Pocket

It was close to 9 a.m. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush was in a local New Hampshire eatery, engaging in some old fashioned "retail politicking." He encountered Sherrie Morrow of Kittery, Maine and her son Zacharie, 13. They chatted with Bush and when they left, Zachary left with this: it’s a small metallic turtle. With it, he left Zacharie a piece of advice, a slogan that’s become his campaign's adage: "Slow and steady wins the race."