The Note: What the Candidates Are Saying About Obama's Address

ByABC News
December 7, 2015, 8:56 AM

— -- NOTABLES

--TRUMP, CRUZ AND PAUL: As President Obama declared in a rare Oval Office address to the nation last night that last week's mass shooting in San Bernardino, California was an "act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people," Republican presidential candidates were quick to weigh in. GOP frontrunner Donald Trump appeared to dismiss the speech entirely, tweeting: "Is that all there is? We need a new President - FAST!" Even before the president spoke to the country, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has seen his poll numbers rise in recent weeks, offered a pre-buttal of sorts. "The President should resist using terrorist attacks to try to take away the rights of law-abiding Americans," Cruz said in a statement. "Millions of Americans have chosen to protect themselves and their families by purchasing a firearm. This is their right; indeed protecting their families is their obligation." Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul echoed Cruz "Disarming more law-abiding citizens will not stop mass murderers and terrorists," he said in a statement after the president's address. http://abcn.ws/1PNXhpo

--RUBIO, KASICH AND BUSH: In an interview on Fox News, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called for a "substantial ground army" to take on the Islamic State. "You can't just defeat them from an air perspective," he said. He added: "Nothing we heard in that speech tonight will assuage people's fears." Ohio Gov. John Kasich was equally blunt. "The President's strategy is not enough. Without taking the fight to ISIS on the ground, ISIS won't be defeated," he said in a statement. "Since February I've been calling for a coalition to do that. We must stop delaying and do it." Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush called for "a war-time Commander-in-Chief who is ready to lead this country." http://abcn.ws/1PNXhpo

--ANALYSIS -- ABC's RICK KLEIN: President Obama Sunday night made what might be his last best effort to strip fear from a struggle against a terrorist threat that may well consume the rest of his time in office. Yet in this most political of seasons, Obama chose to engage in the debates that have consumed the presidential race. He used a prime-time address to renew a call for Congress to pass new gun-control laws, and rebutted suggestions by Republican presidential candidates that Muslims be subjected to special screening and treatment. "When we travel down that road, we lose. That kind of divisiveness, that kind of betrayal of our values, plays into the hands of groups like ISIL," Obama said. The president's message, delivered in a rare Oval Office speech, was designed to reassure the nation more than reassess the nation's strategy against ISIS. He declared the attack Wednesday in San Bernardino, California, to be "an act of terrorism," and warned of a "new phase" of terrorist threats. http://abcn.ws/1OOVhdm

--BEN CARSON ACKNOWLEDGES DIP IN POLLS DUE TO FOREIGN POLICY: In an interview on "Good Morning America" this morning, Carson said: "People feel that I don't have foreign policy experience and I understand why that would be the case because they listen to the narrative that only politicians can fix this but the fact of the matter is if you look at all the people who are running, how many of them have had foreign policy experience? The answer is: No, not, not many. Maybe Hillary. But here's the question: Who has experience solving problems? Who has many 2 AM calls where they have to make life and death decisions? Who has established new things that have powerful effects on people's lives? That's the kind of commander in chief I would be looking for, who also understands the importance of utilizing people around him." WATCH: http://abcn.ws/1NBa1NU

TODAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE: This evening Donald Trump holds a "Pearl Harbor Day rally" at 7 pm in Mt. Pleasant, SC. Ted Cruz is also in South Carolina today. This morning he is in Greenville where he is the latest GOP candidate to hold a town hall with Sen. Tim Scott. Iowa is busy today with Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum, and Martin O'Malley in the state. Chris Christie had a good morning with the important backing of Jeb Bradley, possibly the last big Granite State "get." Bernie Sanders is in his home state of Vermont this morning attending the 35th Annual Pomerleau Holiday Party in Burlington. This afternoon he is in Washington, DC. Mike Huckabee is in New York where he will appear on ABC's "The View" this morning.

THE BUZZ

with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

HILLARY CLINTON SAYS 'WE'RE NOT WINNING' FIGHT AGAINST ISIS. Hillary Clinton yesterday declined to say the United States is at war with ISIS, and said "we're not yet winning" the fight against the terrorist network, during an exclusive interview on "This Week" with ABC's GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS. "We're not winning, but it's too soon to say that we are doing everything we need to do," Clinton said Sunday when asked if the United States is winning the fight against ISIS, ABC's LIZ KREUTZ reports. "And I've outlined very clearly. We have to fight them in the air, we have to fight them on the ground, and we have to fight them on the Internet, and we have to do everything we can with our friends and partners to protect ourselves," she added. The Democratic presidential front-runner also said the United States is in "conflict" with ISIS, but declined to declare war, as some of her Republican counterparts have done. "We are definitely in conflict with ISIS," Clinton said. http://abcn.ws/1TOJgX6

CLINTON CALLS ON FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, AND TWITTER TO HELP WITH FIGHT AGAINST ISIS. Clinton on Sunday called on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to help aid with the fight against ISIS and their online radicalization efforts, during an exclusive interview with ABC's GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS on "This Week." http://abcn.ws/1m5mj6G

NOTED: CLINTON LAUGHS OFF TRUMP'S CLAIMS THAT SHE LACKS 'STAMINA.' Clinton responded to Donald Trump's recent claims that she does not have "the strength or the stamina" to campaign in early primary states in an interview on "This Week." Before listening to the clips of Trump's comments, Clinton sat back and chuckled, "Oh, dear. A new one, huh?" "She'll do a couple of minutes in Iowa, meaning a short period of time. And then she goes home," Trump said Saturday at a campaign rally in Davenport, Iowa. "You don't see her for five or six days. She goes home, goes to sleep. I'm telling you. She doesn't have the strength. She doesn't have the stamina." Clinton watched the clip and laughed along with the crowd at Trump's rally, ABC's MATTHEW CLAIBORNE notes. When the clip concluded, Clinton responded, "Who can agree with anything he says that is, you know, subject to one second of fact checking?" http://abcn.ws/1NCyopZ

CLINTON CALLS SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTING SUSPECTS ISIS 'WANNABES.' Clinton yesterday referred to the San Bernardino shooting suspects as ISIS "wannabes," because of their social media activity online, and said social media companies should help track and shut down suspected terrorist communication. "We need to put the great disrupters to work in disrupting ISIS and stopping them from having this open platform for communicating with their dedicated fighters and their wannabes like the people in San Bernardino," Clinton said. The comments came during a question-and-answer session following her keynote address at the Brooking Institution's Saban Forum 2015 Sunday, ABC's ALI DUKAKIS notes. http://abcn.ws/1llOFK5

NOTED: CLINTON CORRECTS FLUB, THANKS TO JUSTICE BREYER. Clinton was able to quickly correct what could have been a disastrous word flub were it not for the watchful ear of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on Sunday. ABC's ALI DUKAKIS explains: http://abcn.ws/1NcB8ex

JEB BUSH SLAMS HILLARY CLINTON AS A 'FOCUS GROUP PERSON.' Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is "a focus group person," questioning her foreign policy plans in an exclusive interview yesterday on "This Week." Bush told ABC's George Stephanopoulos it is questionable to trust Clinton, saying she has flip-flopped in her support for a Sunni coalition in the fight to defeat ISIS. Clinton opposed the so-called "surge" in 2007, the U.S. strategy that boosted troop numbers and worked with Sunni tribes to fight al Qaeda in Iraq. "How can you trust her if she in fact was opposed to the very thing she was supporting?" Bush said. He went on to call her a "focus group person" who changes positions in response to public sentiment. ABC's LISSETTE RODRIGUEZ and CANDACE SMITH have more. http://abcn.ws/1IxVm5H

HUCKABEE DRAWS CHEERS AT FUNDRAISER FOR WEST BANK SETTLEMENT. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee got loud cheers last night speaking at a New York City fundraiser for a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, including sustained applause when he said it was not the president's job to prioritize protecting "the reputation of Islam," ABC's BEN GITTLESON notes. "I believe that the next president should never believe somehow that it is the job of the United States president as commander-in-chief to protect the reputation of Islam more than it is to protect the people of the United States of America from radical Islam," Huckabee told hundreds of attendees at a gala for Beit El, a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. His voice was hoarse, and he explained to the heavily Jewish, religious audience at a hotel in Times Square that he had laryngitis. http://abcn.ws/1XNWWqY

INSIDE THE 'MARCO RUBIO MUSEUM' OF A LIFETIME RUBIO SUPPORTER. Modesto Perez calls it the "Marco Rubio Museum." Perez is a longtime supporter of Marco Rubio who once helped the presidential candidate win a seat in the state legislature. According to ABC's INES DE LA CUETARA, the walls of his office in Hialeah, Florida, are covered with old photos of a baby-faced Rubio and some old campaign signs, including one from Rubio's 2004 race for the Florida state House of Representatives. "I am so proud of him," the 74-year-old said. "I always thought he would go far." WATCH: http://abcn.ws/1NCX0Pw

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

JEB BUSH APPEALS TO BACKERS, AS ONE TOP DONOR RUNS OWN ANTI-TRUMP AD. Jeb Bush has reached his campaign's nadir, at least in respect to polling. A CNN/ORC national poll found that he had the support of only 3 percent of Republicans. For the establishment candidate once assumed to be the presumptive frontrunner, this is not good, to say the least, ABC's CANDACE SMITH writes. The campaign unveiled six new advertisements all to air in early states in December and January; none went after other candidates, but continued to showcase Jeb's strengths, his national security plan and detailed why he's the best to take on ISIS. But one of Bush's top donors doesn't want to wait that long. Frustrated by a lack of movement in the polls, and especially the rise of Donald Trump, billionaire backer Mike Fernandez has taken matters into his own hands and is running his own anti-Trump ad, calling the GOP candidate a "narcissistic BULLYionaire." http://abcn.ws/1IMBRkO

WHO'S TWEETING?

@TIME: Democracy for America begins voting process on presidential endorsement http://ti.me/1Qq9Y8e

@KFaulders: .@RealBenCarson on @tedcruz carpetbombing: Wants to be more specific in targeting "b/c obviously we don't want to just kill ppl in general."

@nationaljournal: Why it's so hard to make a campaign donation with bitcoin http://njour.nl/s/125324

@nycjim: Shockingly, Trump distorted facts when he claimed to have "predicted Osama bin Laden." WashPost truthsquad. http://wapo.st/1YTpkVZ

@finnygo: #SCOOP: @marcorubio releasing NEW TV Ad in #Iowa Monday ahead of his return to IA this week. First Look at Ad HERE: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JxZXbFFuS1k&feature=youtu.be ...