The Note: Sunday Preview -- Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush
— -- NOTABLES
--THIS WEEK ON 'THIS WEEK': In two live, Sunday exclusives, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush come to "This Week." And, the powerhouse roundtable debates the week in politics with ABC News contributor, senior advisor for Correct the Record, and former Democratic Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd, MSNBC political analyst and Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson, and founder of NewRepublican.org and chairman of Purple Strategies, Alex Castellanos. See the whole political picture Sunday on "This Week."
--TRUMP HITS NEW HIGH: Republican frontrunner Donald Trump dominates a new national CNN/ORC poll released this morning, leading by a whopping 20 points after climbing 9 percentage points since mid-October to 36 percent support, ABC's RYAN STRUYK notes. He now more than doubled the support of his nearest rivals, Sen. Ted Cruz with 16 percent, Ben Carson with 14 percent and Sen. Marco Rubio with 12 percent. This marks Trump's highest support and widest lead since he first announced his candidacy. Ben Carson, meanwhile, dropped 8 percentage points since mid-October, while Ted Cruz has climbed 12 points. http://abcn.ws/1YN9jRg
--BEHIND THE NUMBERS: Majorities of Republicans say Trump is the best candidate to handle the economy and the federal budget. He is also the most trusted candidate by far on illegal immigration, ISIS and foreign policy. And more than half of Republicans -- 52 percent say Trump has the best chance of winning the general election in November. http://abcn.ws/1YN9jRg
--ANALYSIS -- ABC's RICK KLEIN: John Kasich's mom wanted him to make Jewish friends, and Ben Carson seemed to mix up "Hamas" and "hummus." But as always, it was Donald Trump stealing the show at the Republican Jewish Coalition gathering in Washington Thursday -- and it was a show. First the crowd heard about his Jewish daughter -- whom, he lamented, he can't talk to on Saturdays anymore. Then came the quips: "You're not going to support me because I don't want your money." "I'm a negotiator, like you folks." "Is there anyone in this room who doesn't negotiate deals? Probably more than any room I've ever spoken." And: "Obama -- oy, oy, oy." The remarkable thing is that the crowd didn't seem to mind the stereotypes nearly as much as it minded him equivocating on whether Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of Israel. It's a window into the Trump appeal: He's playing by a different set of rules than his rivals. Going to a Trump event is like going to a roast -- you come expecting to be insulted. One could almost picture his rivals humming Tevye: "If I were a rich man..."
HAPPENING TODAY -- TED CRUZ TO ANNOUNCE '2ND AMENDMENT COALITION' AT IOWA GUN RANGE. At Crossroads Shooting Sports in Johnstown, Iowa, a used paper target is pinned to the wall with Ted Cruz's signature on it and a note that says "The fight for Liberty never ends!" Cruz visited the gun range back in June, just three days after the Charleston church shooting. Today, the Senator returns to the same Iowa gun range for a "2nd Amendment" campaign event days after another mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, ABC's JOSH HASKELL notes. "He'll absolutely make note of what happened. But, he is not going to back down or try to glaze over the importance of standing for our 2nd Amendment rights," Catherine Frazier, Cruz's national press secretary, told ABC News. "It's an appropriate conversation to have in the wake of this shooting with liberals coming right out of the gate calling for more gun control and policies that would dilute our 2nd Amendment rights." At the Iowa campaign event, in a state where the Texas Senator has seen momentum as of late -- in a dead heat with Donald Trump in last week's Quinnipiac University poll -- Cruz will unveil his "2nd Amendment coalition." The coalition is made up of over 24,000 members from across the country, 1,000 of whom live in the four early primary states. http://abcn.ws/1ToV69u
THE BUZZ
with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and PAOLA CHAVEZ
HILLARY CLINTON ON SAN BERNARDINO: 'WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION NOW'. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton opened her remarks at a women's economic forum in Manchester, New Hampshire yesterday speaking about the San Bernardino shooting. She doubled down on her position on gun control ("we need to take action now," she said) and once again called for preventing people on the no-fly list from getting guns ("How can anyone, anyone, with a good conscience disagree with that?" she said), ABC's LIZ KREUTZ notes. She also once again mentioned President Obama's remark that terrorism is not being ruled out, and notably stood up for Muslim-Americans. "It's important to remember, and I know this from the work I did as a senator...the vast majority of Muslim Americans are just as concerned and heartbroken about this as anyone else," she said.
TRUMP SAYS SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTING APPEARS TIED TO TERRORISM. Republican Presidential frontrunner Donald Trump says the latest mass shooting in California appears to be connected to terrorism. "It looks like another case. We've got a lot of bad things going on. Radical Islamic terrorism," Trump said outside his soon-to-be-opened Washington Hotel at the Old Post Office. "I think it was terrorism." Police have not determined the motive in the killings -- which left 14 dead -- but have not ruled out terrorism, ABC's JOHN SANTUCCI reports. The suspects, Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, were killed in a gun battle with police. http://abcn.ws/1RqiQM1
BEN CARSON THINKS THERE'S A STAR OF DAVID ON THE DOLLAR BILL. (THERE'S NOT). Addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition Thursday, Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson told a story about how the Star of David came to be on the U.S. dollar bill. Only one problem: There's no Star of David on the dollar bill. Carson was telling the story of wealthy Jewish merchant Haym Salomon, who, according to folklore, is said to have been a major financier of George Washington's troops during the Revolutionary War. "Salomon gave all his funds to save the U.S. Army and, some say, no one knows for sure, that's the reason there's a Star of David on the back of the one dollar bill," Carson said in Washington, D.C. There is a conspiracy theory that a design of stars arranged above the eagle on the U.S. seal printed on the bill forms a Jewish star and that this was done as a way to thank Solomon for his generosity. ABC's JORDYN PHELPS reports that the Numismatic Bibliomania Society's Wayne Homren says there's no evidence to suggest any truth to support the theory that the stars were intentionally arranged to represent the Jewish star, let alone that it was done in Salomon's name. http://abcn.ws/1XD4jl4
AFTER SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTING, CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS DOUBLE DOWN ON GUN CONTROL MEASURES. Democrats in Congress are insisting that Wednesday's deadly shooting in San Bernardino, California, is a turning point in the gun control debate. "I think we are reaching a tipping point," Sen. Chuck Schumer told a group of reporters as he and fellow top Democrats announced they'd be forcing votes on two gun amendments attached to an Obamacare repeal bill Thursday afternoon. "What gives us the right to have moments of silence when we do nothing to act upon the causes of grief?" House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi added. Two suspects in the San Bernardino shooting, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, opened fire at a social services center late Wednesday morning, killing 14 and injuring 17. According to ABC's ALI WEINBERG, Schumer and Pelosi's comments are nearly identical to what they both said months earlier, after previous mass shooting events. But Democrats' efforts to pass gun control measures still face deep opposition from Republicans in Congress. http://abcn.ws/1Q3wVzJ
'PRESIDENTIAL SELFIE GIRLS' ENDORSE HILLARY CLINTON. The teenage sisters who became New Hampshire celebrities for taking a picture with every presidential candidate, have decided to use their newfound clout -- to endorse Hillary Clinton. Emma and Addy Nozell took an "endorsement selfie" with Clinton at the Women's Economic Opportunity Summit on Thursday in Manchester, N.H. For Clinton, it's a chance to appeal to young voters, which Bernie Sanders has courted aggressively. For the media-savvy Nozell sisters, it's one more step in their months-long march to political fame. What made these girls such a big deal? It started as a simple mission: snap a selfie with every presidential candidate who came through New Hampshire. ABC's BRAD MIEKLE has more. http://abcn.ws/1OJVXR9
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
HILLARY CLINTON ASKED ABOUT PAULA JONES. Hillary Clinton got an unexpected question during a Q&A Thursday at a women's economic forum in Manchester, New Hampshire, ABC's LIZ KREUTZ and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI note. A woman asked Clinton about the stance she took on sexual assault victims -- and brought up former Arkansas state Paula Jones, who charged Bill Clinton with sexual harassment while he was president. "Secretary Clinton, you recently came out to say that all rape victims should be believed, but would you say that about Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and/or Paula Jones? Should we believe them as well?" the woman asked. Clinton kept her response brief; "Well, I would say that everybody should be believed at first until they are disbelieved based on evidence," she said.
WHO'S TWEETING?
@PostRoz: Before Senate win, Rubio turned political 'juice' into personal profits http://wapo.st/1jBLFaG
@JenniferJJacobs: "Very high number of would-be caucusgoers who have yet to make up their mind," Iowa R tells @McCormickJohn. V true. http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-12-04/iowa-dominated-by-indecision-as-presidential-caucuses-near ...
@sherylstolberg: Hamas? Hummus? When GOP courts the Jews there is just one word for it: Oy. @jwpetersNYT http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/us/politics/donald-trump-and-ben-carson-face-a-foreign-policy-test-before-a-republican-jewish-group.html?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone ...
@jdickerson: Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggests the qualities of the next president. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-kind-of-president-we-need/2015/12/03/a4bd5e68-979e-11e5-94f0-9eeaff906ef3_story.html ...
@PhilipRucker: "Where's Syed?" Gripping, masterful narrative of San Bernardino shootings by @elisaslow @mccrummenWaPo @abbydphillip http://wapo.st/1LRBQfh
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