picture to get about this couple is that they are somehow radicalized. not sure if they are just completely isis inspired or somehow isis directed. it seems to be that the fbi would be leaning to the prior of just being inspired and wanting to connect themselves to isis. but also, trying to figure out which was the person more radical than the other. was it the wife who was pakistani born? met her husband in saudi arabia. and then came to the u.s. on that fiancee visa. or was it the chicago-born husband of syed farook who as i talked to people in his community and mosque, a quiet, young guy and never imagine this is something he was capable of but as you point out the big clarification from the assistant director of the fbi l.a. division is the fact that they are investigating this now as an act of terrorism, based on the connection that is they've been able to make, especially given the access and the investigators' finding so much ied, bombmaking material in the garage of that redlands, california, apartment they leased. the media granted access today because the landlord was given the right and the access to his property back. he let some folks in there. but the investigators have found hordes of materials in that garage, components for making bombs. whether it's, you know, pipes, elbow pipes, you know, soddering equipment. kate, you name it. they were able to find it there all to coordinate what they were producing there which was these bombs which were then utilized or attempted to be utilized in the attacks that happened here on wednesday. but it's back to those weapons, too, kate. the big deal about how they were able to achieve the weaponry they had, not so much about the ammuniti ammunition, massive in terms of an arsenal, weapons, two handguns farook bought for themselves and the two legally purchased rifles. who provided this couple with this type of equipment? that's what i asked the assistant director. take a listen. >> the rifles, is someone detained that gave them the rifles? >> there is a person of -- there is -- we don't know -- okay. let me go back on that one. there's some differentiations there. there is a person that we know of their location who sur chased those weapons. i'm going to let atf answer the questions on the guns because this whees they're here to do. >> a person in custody? >> person is not under arrest at this point. >> so they are in custody to be questioned? >> they're not under arrest at this point. >> reporter: so, kate, i know you're like me trying to read through the body language there and what the wording of the assistant direct or the was trying to convey to me with my questions. so, we know that they have the location pretty much on lockdown about who the person is that provided the rifles to the farooks so logically the next question would be are they in custody? are they detained? are they being questioned? he kicked the ball to the atf. we are trying to get a hold of the atf to tell us in regard to that person. but again, if they know the location of the person, it would seem logical they've been able to find that person. >> right. >> reporter: but again, i have to get over to the atf pfo and find out if they can confirm what the assistant director was alluding to. >> right. and he never said that they didn't have him in custody. he simply said he is not under arrest. which may be a distinction worth noting. >> reporter: correct, yes. >> just a couple other things. we heard about cell phones, two cell phones that have been discarded by the couple in a trash can near their apartment and calling it a digital fingerprint. >> reporter: yeah. that's something that is very interesting to investigator inv and also, the extreme length that this couple went to, to try to destroy that, kate. you know, to try to make sure that they didn't leave behind any type of footprint, fingerprint, whatever you want to call it, about their connectivity to their own marriage to pull off this type of operation. obviously, again, we have that one other person that we're going to find out from the atf who would have been the one that legally purchased those rifles. what did they know about any of this. but, yes. those cell phones that were destroyed trying to piece them back together to get information, to be able to pull off anything from those devices will be of a big assist to the fbi as they have taken point on this investigation. you'll remember that it was the san bernardino police department originally that did take the lead on this as they were helming the investigation. the fbi came in to assist and then things started to turn a little bit, most people thought they took point because of the fact that this was leading everyone to believe this was some type of act of terrorism, to be investigated as an act of terrorism and the fbi would be best suited to do that. but yes. they did make clear that this couple tried to destroy their devices, make it a lot harder for them to figure out who if anyone they had contact with outside of this community that would have known about anything that they were planning. >> all right. thomas roberts out in san bernardino, thomas, thanks so much for all of your coverage. let's go to nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel live in london for us watching all of the developments between san bernardino and overseas and there are a lot of pem today, richard. walk us through. what do we know at this point about tashfeen malik, her post on facebook and any connections to overseas? >> well, at this stage, it seems like most of the dangerous activity, most of the radicalization, most of the plotting, if you will, happened in the united states. and this is the exact kind of scenario that intelligence officials, law enforcement officials, have been warning about and been warning about very vovocally. a groum of people and seems like we have a cell here, a husband and wife team and at least one other person that provided weapons, perhaps other members of the cell, trying to destroy the communications, you don't destroy your cell phone and rip the hard drive out of a computer unless you're trying to hide who you have been talking to. so this was a cell. it was a cell that was operating in the united states. it was able to amass weapons. and then, i think that key -- key piece of information here is the facebook post. so this couple destroyed their cell phone, threw in it a waste paper bin. pulled out the hard drive. but then on the day of the attack, malik, apparently, according to her facebook page, which is now taken down, facebook says, posts a statement saying that she supports the amir of isis, al baghdadi, the so-called caliph. that's a calculated act if you destroy the phones and destroy the hard drive in your computer. her international background, she'd spent most of her life in saudi arabia. she -- pakistani family. moved to saudi arabia when she was about 2 years old and then five or six years ago, came back to pakistan to study a degree to get a degree to become a pharmacist. and then met her husband farook and moved to the united states with him and went through the -- all of the different security processes required to get that fiancee visa which is a rigorous process. so there's not an indication that this was a sleeper cell, that this was someone who was planted by isis, that this took years in the making. it's more likely that it was someone in the united states, unhappy with the way they were living, what they were seeing and became radicalized there and was part of a cell in the united states. and by the way, that is exactly the scenario that people -- intelligence, law enforcement, have been warning about. and they have warned specifically that the united states has a unique danger because of the easy access to weapons, firearms. that it's not like a lone wolf in a country it's hard to get guns can carry out an attack as devastating as this one. but it's -- it is still at the end of the day the work of amateurs. if you compare this to paris, there's an enormous difference. paris you had teams of skilled assassins who were operating with a coordinated plan, with a mastermind. the group back home clearly involved. isis clearly involved from the get-go. and these were trained killers who had a plan and operated according to plan. by comparison, this couple didn't seem to know what they were. they had bombs that didn't go off. left most of the ammunition at home. they attacked one target and perhaps going to another target but if you compare it to paris, it was clearly a much less professional kind of operation. >> richard, just to check one other thing, there are reports that isis now that this facebook post has come out that perhaps an isis supportive media outlet is claiming at least some responsibility or not responsibility but claiming, saying, yes, that was one of ours. >> well, not exactly -- i think that's a key distinction. after paris, moments after paris, isis starts claiming responsibility. we did it. this was our operation. and then, after -- a few days after paris, it seemed like every isis member in raqqah, the isis actual in syria who could speak french or english or foreign language put out a video and bragging and threatening and videos celebrating this. this case, isis has been very far behind. they have been following media reports. initially, the initial messages from isis supporters talked about three attackers. because if you remember on very early when this news broke, there was talk about three shooters. now they're talking about two attackers. and they are not saying it was one of us. they're -- isis supporters are just saying this seems to be the act of isis supporters. >> right. >> which is also reported in the news media so it could be just circular reporting but very, very different from paris when immediately you had slick videos and everyone basically in isis back home in syria beating their chest telling the world how, you know, what a great job they had done. >> richard engel in london, thanks so much. >> thank you. terrorism expert malcolm nance and ayman mohyeldin with me here in the studio. thank you for being with us. let's start with you, malcolm. you're nodding along at some of this. some of the things at the news conference is news and some of it filling in the dots we were presuming for hours. >> yeah. you're absolutely right. well, for the most part, the fbi has got to keep a lid on the intelligence they want to get out. i mean, we now know some point she was radicalized and they were both radicalized. i don't believe that there was a plot and isis or al qaeda actually married her into the organization and so -- into this -- >> purposefully sent her. >> of course. that's very hard to infiltrate an agent like that and takes a great period of planning. i believe richard is right. they were radicalized after the announcement of the caliphate and operated in isolation as she would. she came from saudi arabia. he kept her in the house. wouldn't allow her outside. no one has actually seen her and that would be indicative of someone who's a little more orthodox than even more than the most orthodox but running a bomb factory, putting all these weapon systems together, possible they were acting as independent operators and quite possible they could have been directed and handled as agents in the united states. >> so you're saying something slightly different than richard said. perhaps they were directed to some extent. >> you can have a hybrid operation and you can have someone inspired and put out the call on the network and gets back to raqqah. raqqah says these are special operatives. we need to handle them in a methodology so that u.s. intelligence doesn't get wind of them. let them go there. like the 1993 world trade cen r er bombing, they sent in an expert, a ringer to do the first attack and quite possible that there is someone either in the united states or has had direct communications to this team and gave them the inspiration and technical expertise to do this attack. >> ayman, when's the overlay here in terms of the geography? where she's from, she is from pakistan initially. lived for years in saudi arabia. is it possible that she was becoming more radical when she was overseas and then brought that here? >> that's a really difficult question to answer at this particular stage in the investigation because we don't know much about the communications here in the united states. we don't know what she was like when she arrived and what she was like living in saudi arabia. it would be a bit premature to assume she was living one way or the other. what we can jnly say is living in saudi arabia is a very conservative country, there's media reports out there from reuters and others that have been able to speak to relatives of her family saying that her family's extremely conservative, that even relatives that knew the father said over his course of lifetime living in saudi arabia he had even become more conservative, more extreme in his ideology. that's at least one characterization from that family inside saudi arabia. how's that translated over into the western society, much more open, a shock to the system you're living in a much more open society. the question becomes, how did they manage that? was that part of the radicalization process? part of the motivation in this attack? and there's so many questions to this that remain unresolved. one of the point relationally interesting from the fbi in that press conference is him saying that there were no trip wires triggered for the fbi and law enforcement. >> neither under surveillance or not even on a list. >> right. for me, having covered this aspect of the story inside the united states, i know that the fbi and local law enforcement first of all have a lot of pilot programs in some cities in the u.s. to deal with this issue, trip wires in place with overseas communication, local community leaders of muslim communities like imams and stuff and none of those filters, none of the trip wire that is they have in place triggered any alarm bells for law enforcement officials which means that the individuals as far as we know up until this point of the investigation law. >> widing citizens and she entered the country legally, may have acquired the weapons legally, all of the factors still went undetected to law enforcement officials and i think that's an unprecedented case for the u.s. in anies a suspect of terrorism. >> should we consider this a cell, malcolm? think of it as two people or perhaps a larger group? >> no. i think you need to think of them as a cell. just based on the intelligence received overall. one thing that we need to consider here is the organization that is now isis, the islamic state, is not just a bunch of young, amateur yahoos coming together to take parts of iraq, a hybrid of everything that we have ever fought between 2003 and 2011 that was al qaeda and saddam hussein's intelligence agencies with extensive, decades long operational intelligence and agent handling experience come together with foreign nationals who have had experience. for a mission in the united states, it would have been a special mission. you would want to inspire someone over here, then handle them very carefully with very tight operational and operational security controls and then allow them to carry out an attack in order not to have that compromised. >> if you had that much direction over it, wouldn't isis have claimed, you know, as we were talking about with richard, wouldn't they have put out videos? >> perhaps it's quite possible that isis right now is sitting back and we don't know whether tomorrow or the next day that you will have a video of her and her husband appear in an isis, you know, a newly announced -- you know, the land of the unbelievers. always possible. but at this point, we won't know until it manifests itself. >> i can save you anxiety. they'll claim responsibility. and prove that they had a tactical oversight to it which would take the investigation to a new level, they're going to claim it for their propaganda values and part of the statement out there. that's one thing to say isis claimed responsibility and another thing that isis is endorsing this. this is what isis wants. they want to inspire people to carry out attacks regardless of where they sit in the world. they want then at the end of the day to be able to say that people who follow us, people inspired by our message are carrying out these types of attacks and for us is the end game. >> malcolm and ayman, thanks so much for your time. the shooter's brother-in-law speaks out about the shooting and the child left behind. that's up next. this is claira. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for her she's agreed to give it up. that's today? we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. after the deliveries, i was ok. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. can i get my aleve back? for my pain, i want my aleve. get all day minor arthritis pain relief some neighbors are energy saving superstars. with an easy open cap. how do you become a superstar? with pg&e's free online home energy checkup. in just under 5 minutes you can see how you use energy and get quick and easy tips on how to keep your monthly bill down and your energy savings up. don't let your neighbor enjoy all the savings. take the free home energy checkup. honey, we need a new refrigerator. visit pge.com/checkup and get started today. we are learning more today about the couple at the center of wednesday's mass shooting in san bernardino. nbc's lester holt sat down with farook's broern, farhan khan and discussed the 6-month-old child. here's part of that conversation. >> what's the outcome? you left your 6-month-old daughter, you know, in this life. some people cannot have kids. god give you a gift of a daughter and you left that kid behind. what did you achieve? i don't know what message they would have left. >> are you angry at your brother-in-law for doing this? >> yeah. absolutely. very angry. very upset and angry. >> and for leaving his daughter? >> yeah. >> and what -- >> hits me every few hours that -- makes me angry that what he did now. >> becomes of her? right now, she is in protective custody. do you know what becomes of their daughter? >> well, we are working -- my attorneys are working. hopefully we'll go through the process and we can adopt her. that's the plan. >> for more on the mother of that child and her possible ties to isis and her husband, i'm joined now by senior video and digital content editor cal perry. you have been looking into the idea they met online, this couple. >> he put out a dating profile, a profile of himself online and coming from arab lounge.com. and it reads like any other dating sort of profile that you would see. there's absolutely nothing in this profile that would lead us to believe that he was headed for any kind of radical behavior and he says i want my partner for potentially snow bs boarding to go out with friends. when's fascinating is we know this fits with the pattern of what isis tries to do online. they try to identify people who are easily manipulated, easily influenced, people who are vulnerable, clearly someone who was lonely, was looking for a partner, put this information out on to the web and the question that investigators will have, clearly, is did somebody respond. >> is it typical that isis uses these kinds of ads and, you know, forums to link people together? >> not that we're aware of now. right? there's nothing in the past to suggest they're accessing dating websites but we know, for example, they have a 24-hour help desk. they're all over the online media, deeply entrenched in social media. not a surprise to monitor the sites and nothing concrete to show they are. >> thanks so much. coming up, new details about the san bernardino victims. staying in rhythm... it's how i try to live... how i stay active. so i need nutrition... that won't weigh me down. for the nutrition you want without the calories you don't... introducing boost 100 calories. each delicious snack size drink gives you... 25 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. so it's big in nutrition and small in calories. i'm not about to swim in the slow lane. stay strong. stay active with boost®. ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ [ birds squawking ] my mom makes airplane engines that can talk. [ birds squawking ] ♪ my mom makes hospitals you can hold in your hand. ♪ my mom can print amazing things right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] my mom makes trains that are friends with trees. [ train whistle blows ] ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ 14 people lost their lives on wednesday at shooting at san bernardino. we are learning more about the victims today. frances rivera joins me with that part of it. >> kate, they all came together at the office holiday party. we know how it ended. 12 of the 14 killed were san bernardino county employees. and beyond the names, the photos that are coming out today we're also learning more about these 14 lives. including bennetta bet-badal, a mother of three kids, 10, 12 and 15, an inspector with the health department since 2006 and according to a go-fund-me page, she loved her job, community and country and the greatest love for her husband, her children and large extended family. she was born in iran and fed to america at 18 and wanted to escape islamic extremism. and the persecution of christians that followed the iranian revolution only to be killed in california. >> she came here to have a better life, better education and everything else. unfortunately, it was taken away from her. >> and another one of the heartbreaking stories out of this is michael wetzel, 37 years old, a sup vising environmental specialist of the county, father of 6, school age and 1 baby. his wife renee said in a statement, he was my best friend and incredible father who was loved by all. i didn't know a better person. he loved his work, his family so very much. without him, this family will never be the same. >> anyway, my name is mike. this is our gingerbread carly in the nutcracker, kayden, kylie and and aly, of course. hi, aly. we'll start this advent devotion by reading luke. >> that was michael, heartbreaking to see him introduce his family members, just last sunday at his church where he led an advent prayer along with his children there. his church has been very active in helping him and the family, as well, raising about $60,000 to help the family and watching that video, kate an you see them and that baby, that family altogether, minus their father, and the tough task for their mom to talk to them and tell them that their father isn't coming home. kate? >> oh gosh. frances, my heart breaks for them. thank you for sharing that. in the wake of san bernardino, and paris, the presidential candidates touting their counter terrorism messages. what they're saying today. (vo) at the friskies playhouse, the cats and us are always busy. thinking of new ways to make treat time fun. that's how we came up with new friskies pull 'n play. with tender string treats cats can eat. that part was their idea. lucy always thought strings should be edible. chloe thought the same. and charlie, well, he's up for anything as long it's fun. new friskies pull 'n play with tender strings. the whole new way to treat 'n play. tand that's what we're doings to chat xfinity.rself, we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around. erectile dysfunction get and ya kkeep an erection. guys with talk to your doctor about viagra. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension. your blood pressure could drop to an unsafe level. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. ask your doctor about viagra. with the fbi now saying they're investigating wednesday's shooting as an act of terrorism, today republicans running for president making their case for why they would make the best commander in chief. >> yes, there are policy differences between me and ted cruz. he supported weakening the intelligence programs of this country. i do not. legitimate issue to have a debate over. he is supported budgets to cut defense spending further than barack obama proposes that we cut it. that's a legitimate policy difference nigh iowa, new jersey governor chris christie agreed that paul and cruz voted to make the country weaker but he and not marco rubio has the experience to lead. >> he has no -- no experience making decisions. you heard the speech i just made. he has not had to make executive decisions and it is much different than being one of 100 and a rote in a subcommittee. >> i'm goinged by steve kor knack i can. >>est it's interesting to see chris christie making that attack. marco rubio, his people think his selling point is youth, change, something new. chris christie trying to turn that image against him saying i have the experience. here's how rubio responded to that. >> yeah, he is running for president and i'm one of the other candidates. he won't say nice things about me. this is what happens when people run for office. >> and rubio also earlier today took on that issue of gun control versus terrorism. a lot of the conversation after that shooting in san bernardino initially about gun control saying that's completely misplaced. here's what he had to say about that. >> typical of the political left in america. they don't know any of the facts of this and jump to conclusion and as an opportunity to push through gun control agenda and even though no gun laws would have prevented this from occurring. >> something you're hearing from a lot of republicans right now. >> steve kornacki, thank you so much. fbi director james comey and attorney general loretta lynch updated the press about the situation in san bernardino. we are getting that tape in now. let's listen. >> good afternoon, everyone. thank you for coming over. i've joined eed the director's briefing. this will be his briefing. the news of san bernardino continues to evolve and obviously we now have seen the names and faces of those victims, of those the fallen and the injured and as always our hearts go out to them and let's keep them in our prayers. not just those who did lose their lives but also those who were injured in this, including our law enforcement officials. as we have always told you about this matter, it is an evolving investigation. we also told you we'd keep you informed about this investigation. just recently, there was a press conference in the local area with the assistant director in charge of the los angeles office providing more operational details, the director's going to give you a further briefing, as well. as you from that and indicating yesterday, the fbi has taken the lead in this investigation. they continue to work with our local part nerls who are outstanding partners also along with the atf and u.s. marshals, as well, as we continue to investigate this. there's been a lot of new information that's come to light and the director's going to give you more insight into that. thank you all for being here today. >> thank you, madame attorney general. let me begin by echoing the attorney general's remarks. our hearts continue to ache for the people lost and wounded in san bernardino and their families and we also want to say a word of gratitude and say how impressed we were with the response of local law enforcement in san bernardino. they were simply amazing. we all very lucky really good people become police officers in this country. and then i want to say a word of thanks to the folks we don't talk about much which are the people who rendered emergency care and aid, the emts, docs, victim specialists, they're the angels of the business and don't get thanks they deserve so thank you to them. we're here today because we want to make sure you understand that this is now a federal terrorism investigation led by the fbi. and the reason for that is that the investigation so far has developed indications of radicalization by the killers and of a potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations. and we are spending a tremendous amount of time as you might imagine over 48 hours trying to understand the motives of these killers and trying to understand every detail of their lives. we are going through a very large volume of electronic evidence, electronic evidence that these killers tried to destroy and tried to conceal from us. that we now have and are exploitding to try to understand them. we're keeping our minds open as we always try to do. i know that there are a lot of good questions that folks want answers for quickly. but i hope you know about our work. we aspire to do it quickly and most of all aspire to do it well and carefully. there's a lot of evidence in this case that doesn't quite make sense and so we're trying to be very thoughtful to understand it and to make sense of it to understand the full extent of what we have here. let me offer you, though, a couple of specifics on the investigation. first, our investigation to date, again, only two days old, so far we have no indication that these killers are part of an organized larger group or form part of a cell. there's no indication that they're part of a network. again, i quickly add it is early. we are still working hard to understand and i wanted you to know that so far we don't see such indications. second, there is nothing in our holdings about these two killers. i have seen reporting where folks focused on reports that they were in contact, at least one of the killers in contact with people who had been the subject of fbi investigations, either investigations that were closed or still open. i would urge you to not make too much of that. there were no contacts between either of the killers and subjects of our investigations. such of a significance that it raised the killers up on to the radar screen and looking very closely at the contacts and i would not want you to over index on that just yet. it is as i said 48 hours old. there is much about this that doesn't make sense to even -- for even those of us that do this for living. we have hundreds of people running down leads all over the world and tremendousing amounts of time sitting here trying to understand the electronic record around these two killers. let me close by saying that the attorney general and i have said before. we know that this is unsettling for the people of the united states. what we hope you will do is not let fear become disabling but to instead try to channel it into an awareness of your southernings, to get you to a place living your life and see manager that doesn't make sense, you say something to somebody. we look back over the cases over the last ten, 15 years, in almost every case we find that somebody saw something whether it was a family member or friend or a co-worker and didn't say something to law enforcement, wrote an innocent narrative over facts making them feel uncomfortable. please don't do that. we have worked very, very hard since 9/11 to get ourselves to a place where if you tell a police officer or deputy sheriff or call the fbi and say, you know, i saw something next door that seems off or i saw something online that seems off, it will get to the right people. and we'll investigate quickly and responsibly. we investigate in secret so that we don't smear innocent people. we don't bang or your neighbor's door. we investigate. if there was nothing there, no harm done. if there was something there, great harm may be avoided. so we would ask you, please channel that sense of fear into something healthy just an awareness of surroundings and let us do the work you pay us to do which is to investigate and fight terrorism while you live the lives that are so wonderful in this great country of ours. thank you for this. we'll take your questions. >> all right. the reason that went to color bars there is because they just said they'd make statements to the press and then closed doors for questions from reporters and i can tell you our pete williams with nbc is in that room and as soon as he comes out, we will be talking to him and find out what more he's been able to learn but that was tape that happened just a few minutes ago in washington with the fbi director. joining sme ari melber, legal analyst at nbc. we heard basically the same thing from the fbi in san bernardino. >> right. >> just about two hours ago saying they are investigating this as an act of terrorism. he used the word radicalization. he said this couple appears to have been radicalized. potentially inspired were his words by foreign terrorist groups. but he said he would consider them -- there's no evidence to this point to consider them as part of a larger cell. >> right. what we are seeing is a theory of the case. the fbi is not saying they've made these conclusions. indeed, while we know more than two days ago, the agent in the field as well as director comey saying they're investigating this as an act of terror and doesn't mean they're declaring it as such and this is a terror investigation based on what authorities determined and pete williams reporting throughout the day regarding the isis statement and other information that presents this picture so that's what they're looking at. they are not looking at yet according to what we just heard just now from director comey the kind of plot to suggest anything operational or connected, that is to say, other people, working in tandem, what in federal law is a conspiracy sy or we think of as a sort of militarized type operation. the home grown issue, of course, is one they've pushed for sometime. 70 indictments in 2 years either for homegrown terrorism or attempts at foreign fighters, that is to say they would argue they have a track record of catching many of these kind of people even if they're radicalized at home and the big news, of course, kate, this is operating as an investigation of an act of terror. >> he also said he wants americans to be on the lookout. he asked at the end there, the fbi director saying in almost every case we investigate, people saw something and wrote it off or thought of a sort of happier way to look at it and didn't contact local law enforcement. and he really was pretty direct saying channel the sense of fear you might be feeling right now into action and being more aware of your surroundings. >> i think that's so important. seeing him there seated flanked by attorney general lynch and said something similar last night, this is a collective effort. we have brave men and women, of course, who risk their lives in the initial emergency response and investigating this and said last night, yes, work with our public officials. work with security. but don't take this on your own and certainly don't turn this into something that would bring out a discriminatory or ugh lie si ugly side and the muslim american community is with us. he said work with federal authorities. feeling afraid or concerned, don't be ruled by that. provide information to the experts. even if this investigation of an act of terror ultimately determines authoritatively you have an isis inspired event and we have as we've been reporting signs to that and hearing there it doesn't mean there's terrorists in the united states and should change their daily lives but be as vigilant as they always should be and work with federal officials and local law enforcement if they find or see anything. >> the fbi has set up a hotline. >> yep. >> it's 1-800-call fbi. they asked earlier this afternoon if anybody across the country has any information that they think might be a little bit helpful to call that phone number. the words of the fbi director were so far no indication these killers are part of an organized group or form part of a cell. is there a distinction saying we are now in a federal investigation of a potential act of terrorism? they will now be combing -- >> yes. >> making it a federal investigation means they can link with other kinds of governments. >> well, it is a great question. people forget sometimes, you have an emergency response to these events and then you have to have a discussion basically, a coordination of local and federal law enforcement and of a crime and simply, not as not important, but simply, an act of murder localized that's handed over to local authorities, local law enforcement. the thing that activates a federal role here and looking at just moments ago director comey and attorney general lynch with that pen and pad briefing, when federal agents then are involved, this means they have reason to believe, good reason to believe, there are federal crimes, those would be interstate crimes, right? could be an interstate conspiracy or in this case the federal crime of terrorism. and that is why as a legal matter the feds will be the lead here and they will continue forward. as a hypothetical matter, what if they determine wasn't that and just a violation of california murder statutes, then ultimately that would go back to the local officialment it doesn't matter a great deal what we just learned that based on the information collected this will be a federal-led terrorism investigation going forward. >> and in terms of the other people who might have been involved, i mean, we heard from local law enforcement an hour ago that they know who provided two of the guns, to farook, they were little cagey about whether that person is in custody or not. all they would say is not under arrest. but they know who that person is. there's been a lot of speculation about whether there were other people supporting them. i think what we heard from the director is not -- they don't see indications that there was a cell but there still might have been other people who indirectly or perhaps unknowingly supported their operation. >> right. i want to be precise about that. you used the word support. that is actually the legal hook in whether someone provided material support for terrorism and that would be the kind of support, it could be financial, operational. it could be violent, right? although violence would generally involve higher charges and the federal hook that you look at when you try to get people who may not have done the deed but are somehow supporting. as an operation at matter, put the law aside and listening to the director now, what you just pinpointed was it doesn't sound like the director is telling us, fbi director, that any of that type of support or facilitation rises to the level of a coordinated conspiracy or a coordinated group of terrorists. now, again, as we have said throughout reporting the fast-moving events, that could change based on later information they get but director comey, a very experienced former federal prosecutor and tried many terrorism cases is not coming out here to simply assert that because he thinks it to be true or might change. he has a level of confidence that he wants to say at this stage in the investigation two-plus days out, they think they have essentially potentially the inspiration, the idea out, they don't think they have group terrorism. they think they have potentially the inspiration, the idea that someone took themselves, and in this case, two people took it on themselves to commit this act. perhaps with some idea of supporting or being involved with a larger global terrorist activity. but not operationally. >> ari melber, thanks for staying with me. i want to go back to san bernardino with lester holt and chris jansing at his side. you've been listening to this, lester. you heard what the fbi director said, echoing what the fbi los angeles office assistant director said earlier. there are still puzzle pieces, still so many questions about who might have been helping this couple. >> well, helping and the real motivation. i was speaking to my colleague chris jansing as we were watching that noose conference. even director comey admitted some things don't add up. the 6-month-old child, who leaves their child in that circumstance and does something like this? and the fact that it was -- that the target ultimately is workplace. >> right behind us, we goes into a room filled with co-workers. they were the people who had given him all these presents, who celebrated the fact that they were having a baby. then there's also the question of who maybe was behind this? for most of the people that we've been talking to, we made the assumption it was the husband that was leading. but after that posting on facebook, the question becomes, was she the person in fact who was the first one who may have become radicalized. did she decide she was going to marry someone for the purpose of getting into the united states? all of those questions have the fbi director saying twice, you know, what is -- what is going on here? a lot of the evidence in this case just doesn't make sense. that's not an investigative level. but on a personal level, lester, it's hard to wrap your head around having a baby, six months later dropping them off and never coming back. >> i spoke to syed farook's brother-in-law. he's asking some of those very questions. i said, are you angry at your brother-in-law, especially at leaving a child? and he said, yes, and that nothing seems to add up here. i guess you can understand the reluctance to call this a terrorist attack at first, because it did have some of the earmarks of a workplace shooting, the fact that, again, these were people he knew. i think that's one of the difficult things that director comey was trying to get at. >> and he said don't give into fear, but that's a recognition how unsettling this is to people. when you have people who worked with them, who are so shocked by what's happened here. and frankly, you have an fbi or in the case of the paris attacks, officials who have no indication at all that these people were living essentially a double life under their nose. it is very unsettling and something they have to address. >> kate, all three of us were in paris a few weeks ago and watching that city go through, you know, that horrible experience. then we would often say to ourselves, wow, they have a problem in europe. the boarders, those sorts of things. we have this big ocean between europe and the united states. well, now we've seen that ocean is very, very small and that it can happen and originate here. it's very unsettling. >> and it's interconnected by social media. that's why all of this evidence that they're shuttling back by plane to quantico is so important, recovering that foot print on digital media that may give them an idea of motive. >> chris, for those who missed the earlier press conference, local law enforcement, the sheriff, chief of police, the fbi, they were talking about how difficult it's been because the couple seemed to destroy a lot of that digital evidence. they found two cell phones but they had been crushed in a garbage can. the hard drive removed. >> yeah, they dumped them in a garbage can. they made -- in selveral cases they made attempts to disguise what they were doing. now, the fbi has the best experts in the world. if anybody can recover it, i think the saying goes, thing. but we don't know how good they were at trying to destroy this evidence or if there was a cell phone that we believe was hers, but there was nothing on it, according to investigators that looked like it might have been -- so that has not been helpful to them. >> have we been able to learn anything more on the ground? there were questions about the person who provided two of the guns to the couple, and whether that person is in custody or not in custody, do we know anymore on that? >> i've not heard -- >> what they have said i think at the press conference was that there's no charges against that person. there's no reason to believe that they are directly tied to this and we had been reporting for a while that all of the guns were legally obtained. if there's any other connection there, they're not letting on. >> chris jansing, lester holt, both will be appearing on "nbc nightly news" and lester will have more of his interview with the brother-in-law of the shooter. thanks for being with us. much more on the investigation in san bernardino at the top of the next hour. now the fbi saying they are investigating this as an act of terrorism. stay with us. could you save 1% more of your income? it doesn't sound like much, but saving an additional 1% now, could make a big difference over time. i'm going to be even better about saving. you can do it, it helps in the long run. prudential bring your challenges his day of coaching begins with knee pain, when... this is brad. hey brad, wanna trade the all day relief of two aleve for six tylenol? what's the catch? there's no catch. you want me to give up my two aleve for six tylenol? no. for my knee pain, nothing beats my aleve. i'm kate snow. here's what's happening at this hour. 4:00 eastern time, 1:00 pacific. we know that tashfeen malik, the female suspect in the san bernardino mass shooting, posted a facebook message, a statement supporting isis, supporting isis' leadership on wednesday morning, just moments before that attack. we also know the fbi now investigating this as an act of terrorism. authorities have seized tools, equipment, and components used to build explosives from the couple's garage. essentially the makings of a homemade bomb factory we're told. we will have reports from coast to coast as we move into this hour. we're going to begin with tashfeen malik's show of support for isis. we'll head overseas to foreign correspondent richard engel who is in london for us. what have we learned about her facebook posts and any other signs of support of isis? >> reporter: facebook says it's taken down that post. but it was a post that was apparently quite deliberate in a fairly public forum, saying that this was -- expressing support for the isis leader al baghdadi. what's unique about that is that the couple took other steps, it seems, to destroy their communications. there were two cell phones found damaged in a waste paper bin, hard drive taken from the computer. the fbi is now looking to find out more of the digital foot prints that the couple deliberately tried to hide. it's suggesting there may be more digital evidence that the couple did not want to reveal. but she did want to reveal that. she did want to say that she supported al baghdadi. when you make that kind of revelation and you go out of your way to destroy other kinds of communications, it seems to be what the -- why so many at the fbi are saying they're investigating this now as terrorism and they're investigating this as a group that was inspired by terrorists. >> richard, we haven't spoke on the you since we heard the fbi director come out and make a statement saying that there's no evidence at this point to suggest that they were part of a larger cell. explain the significance of that. >> reporter: well, he's effectively saying these are lone wolves, that these were not isis members, that this was not an isis team that was sent to the united states to carry out a series of attacks. compared to paris, paris you had a large, relatively large group of attackers who were coordinating amongst themselves. they were officially talking about eight attackers. but when you look at the actual numbers, there was 9, 10, 11 people, so about 20 people were vov involved in all of the logistics and procurement of weapons and the execution of the paris attacks. so a large, cohesive military type organization involved to carry out multiple attacks in a city. the fbi director's statements saying, and i have it in front of me, that we do not -- so far there's no indication these quil killers are part of a network. but the opening statement says this investigation has shown inspiration from terrorist organizations. so that's the distinction the fbi is trying to make. a group of people, a couple here, two people at least, who were inspired by it would appear isis, considering that's the facebook post. but that they were not an operational commando cell dispatched by isis, operated by isis or another organization. >> richard engel in london, thanks. tashfeen malik spent many years living in saudi arabia. she moved to the united states after meeting her fiance online. she came into this country on what's known as a fiance visa. josh earnest at the white house highlighted the screening process for foreigners who want to make a new home in the u.s. >> refugees seeking to be resettled in the united states are subjected to the most rigorous, intensive screening of anyone who attempts to enter the united states. >> that was josh earnest at the white house. malcolm nance joins me again now onset. he's trying to clarify there at the white house the process for someone getting in. there are going to be a lot of questions raised about how this woman, tashfeen malik, entered the country on that fiance visa, as it's known. >> fiance visas, if they wanted to infiltrate into the united states, they couldn't find a harder process to do it. the state department routinely disallows thousands and thousands of false fiance visas per month. it is very difficult to get one of these. you have to show an entire history of a relationship for a very long period of time. then they screen that person in multiple segments and then they double-check everything and they can, on a whim, kill it. somehow she got approved and came into the united states. i certainly don't think that's going to be a method that will play as a possibility that it contributed to the terrorism. >> i understand what you're saying, that it's a difficult bar, to get that particular type of visa. but if it turns out that she had radical ideas before coming to the united states, certainly people will raise questions about how she was able to travel freely here. >> sure, but at that time, she was a citizen of saudi arabia. living in saudi arabia, she could have just flown to the united states on a regular tourist visa and come into the united states. so much higher bar, but i'm not sure how it will play out in the end. >> hold on one moment, malcolm, because we want to go to pete williams who has been inside that press briefing with the fbi director, with the attorney general. they continued to ask questions after our cameras were turned off. pete, what did you learn? >> reporter: i can tell you what the fbi director told us. he said the reason they've decided to call this a terrorism investigation is, and he's very careful phrasing here, that they developed indications of radicalization by the killers, and a potential influence by a foreign terror organization. full stop. now, in questions he would not say whether that organization is isis or any other particular group. he said they are now beginning to exploit the electronic evidence, basically i think where most of this information is coming from is phone records, e-mail records, so forth. not so much the devices themselves, the computers and cell phones taken from the house. because those were damaged and it's going to take the fbi a while to get any data off of those. he said, and this is important, there's no indication that they were part of larger group or cell or network, and he said, there is no indication that they had been in contact with others about this attack. so no sign that there was an exchange of information between them and a foreign terrorist organization about this attack. he said on this question about whether syed farook was in touch with other people that the fbi looked at, what he said is, yes, they were in contact with people that the fbi had investigated in the past. but those cases were closed out. and he said there was nothing about those contacts at the time that raised them up in the fbi's profile at the time. a couple of other small points. there's been this question about where the rifles came from, because we know that syed farook bought the hand guns, but that he did not buy the assault rifles. the weapons, which appear to have done most of the killing. we know that someone else bought them and he says they have identified that person and that person is not a suspect. he couldn't say whether or not the couple here specifically targeted the group of county employees or had some other target in mind and decided to shift that to this group. in other words, he said they're just not far enough into the investigation to know that. he made the point they're only 50 hours into the investigation. but he did say -- he and the attorney general, loretta lynch, several times said that preventing these sorts of attacks requires people who see some suspicious to say something. i asked them, well, you keep saying that in the context of this attack. does that mean you think that people did miss signs that if they had talked to authorities about it, could have prevented this attack? all they would say about that is, it's reasonably likely, given past events. given past cases, past experience that somebody may have seen something that if they told the authorities could have helped prevent the attacks. >> pete, did we learn anymore about what's happening on the international side of this, connections with pakistan, saudi arabia, what kind of cooperation is going on between the fbi and foreign governments? >> reporter: he was specifically asked whether cooperation with pakistan and availabsaudi arabi important, but we know from talking to others it is important and they have reached out to those countries for help, especially looking into the background of malik, the wife. >> pete williams outside fbi headquarters in washington, thanks so much for the briefing. let me go back to malcolm nance who is still with me. you hear pete giving us a few more details what the fbi director was saying inside. anything that made your ears perk up? >> clearly, the fbi is playing this very close to the chest, and they're right. this is the initial stages of a very large investigation. for what they have right now, yes, they have two individuals, they have identified their radicalization. they essentially said the same thing in a sanitized forum, that they had contact in some way, shape, or form. now, they don't see any indications of a larger network, but that doesn't mean they weren't handled by a foreign entity, neighbor from afar. >> as pete said, we're 50 hours into this. it feels like days and days but it's still early. malcolm nance, thanks for your time and perspective. nbc's kerry sanders is outside the home of the two suspects. earlier today, the media was given access to the suspect's home after the fbi completed their search there and turned it back over to the landlord. the land lord let the media in. >> reporter: kate, you can see there's still quite a crowd of media out here, and they were all, including us, wanted to go inside and take a look. the owner of the apartment, doyle miller, said the fbi had given it back to him and he had given permission to follow in. so he got a crowbar and cracked open the area that had been sealed by the fbi and allowed us and others to go in and see where it was that these two terror suspects lived. let's take a tour now as we go inside. so we're walking up the stairs here, which i'm told is a two bedroom apartment. let's just take a look. here we come around the corner, and this appears to be the baby's room right here. you can see we have -- this is where the 6-month-old child was, and here's a computer. i don't see a whole lot of dusting here, but as you can see, the hard drive is gone. if anything is marked on the calendar, and i don't see anything. that's november. let's go over here to december, to see if anything of importance was marked on the calendar here. and nothing there. and it's just a typical sort of calendar. look in this bin. here you can see all types of things have been shredded. so the fbi must have decided that whatever was in here was not important. because even when documents are shred, they can be very painstakingly put back together. we're going to pass some of the reporters. here where the baby's crib was. we go into the room over here, we're coming over here to what may have been the main bedroom, and kind of overwhelming here with the number of crews that are here. we have a bedroom here and spread out on the -- spread out, we have two books that appear to be the koran. let me just lean over here and see. so we got a tour inside the apartment. what we did not get access to is behind the apartment in the garage. now, in the back part of the apartment, downstairs, similar to the wood structure you see that the fbi left here, they closed off the back and the homeowner, mr. doyle miller, did not want to crack it open. if he had, we would have gone out through a grassy area and into the garage. the reason the garage was somewhat interesting is the garage is where the fbi said they found the 12 homemade bombs, and that it was a bomb making factory. they removed all of the evidence out of there, as they did throughout the apartment. thus the reason we were allowed to go inside. but it would have been a curious peek there, as well. interestingly, as a reporter who has been doing this for three plus decades, i have never quite seen anything like that where, shortly after the fbi leaves a scene, that the media is invited in by the homeowner and literally more than 100 reporters and camera crew s trapsed everywhere, and people were wondering in off the streets with cell phone videos. even one woman who was walking her dog who went inside to take a look. >> it was a surreal scene. the thing that strikes me is the sense of normally inside that home. a crib for the baby, things that you would see in any home of parents with a 6-month-old baby. >> reporter: even boxes of pamper diapers there stacked up, which, you know, in my mind makes me wonder did they have a set date or not, because they had the supplies to go into the next two weeks or so with the 6-month-old there. but yes, very normal. but then again, remember what we saw is after the fbi and the local police, but mainly the fbi had been in there and removed the evidence that mattered to them. and so what we saw was much of the items that were left behind. but you are correct. what we saw looked like normal life and of course, that's the question that neighbors have. they had no idea. they didn't suspect anything. to them, it was just two people with a child and a grandmother who were very often in this apartment, never raising any suspicion, not talking to anybody in depth or detail. and just sort of quietly living a life. of course, we now know it was a quiet, secret life with terrorist intentions. >> kerry sanders at the rental home of the two suspects. thanks so much. still to come, the attack in san bernardino raising a lot of people's fears across the country and how fear is playing into the presidential election, when we come back. l day long... and sometimes, i just don't eat the way i should. so i drink boost to get the nutrition that i'm missing. boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a great taste. i don't plan on slowing down any time soon. stay strong. stay active with boost. now try new boost® compact and 100 calories. woù est...mon...hotel? we have a reservation. nous avons une...reservation. my wife needs new shoes. mon... preparing to travel can get complicated. switching your wireless service can be easy. just visit your at&t store and see. can i help you? oui. i mean, yes. it's this easy. they'll explain your options, answer questions. and that's how you shoot a panorama. magnifique. and right now, get three hundred dollars in credits for every line you switch. i can transfer contacts and photos, too. incroyable. see why jd power ranked at&t highest satisfaction with the purchase experience among full service wireless providers. and this is a good translation app. merci beaucoup. right now, aarp members can get a 10% discount on your qualified wireless plan. plus, three hundred dollars in credits for every line you switch. to make your appointment call at&t and switch the easy way. the san bernardino shooting now being investigated as an act of terror attacks in paris have many americans on edge, which experts in the field of psychiatry and political psychology argue is working to the benefit of certain candidates on the campaign field. joining me now, columnist and journalism professor thomas b. edsol. your column tackled this subject a couple of days ago. i want to ask you about the experts you spoke with in psychiatry. they talked about fear and i know they told you, particularly the fear that is coming both from inside the group and from outside the group, what do they mean by that? >> they mean external and internal threats. internal being inside this country, external being from outside, really isis. the internal threats would be the declining decent jobs, the idea for whites, that whites are going to be a minority, the various political correctness, particularly on conservatives. this network of forces together tends to push people farther to the right and in this case it's been working strikingly to the advantage of donald trump in the republican primary electorate. >> david berg from yale talked to you and said at some level deep within our primitive unconscious, those regions of the brain that process fear before the cerebral cortex can construct a story to explain it. so translate that for us in terms of the political atmosphere that we have right now. >> what he's arguing is that people instinctively tend to react to threats with either a fight reaction, i'm going to take this guy or this threat on, or a flight, running away. either way, they think one of those two is going to make them safer. people tend to react differently, flight or fight. he is saying the flight alternative is basically been eliminated. the ocean no longer protects us from foreign threats. the economy is here, can't get away from what the economy is doing to a lot of the jobs. globalization. so that really leaves only the fight option, and donald trump in this context, is the guy who apparently, with republican voters, i have to be careful to say, is the one that seems to be answering that call, suggesting he could be the guy to fight the toughest and the hardest. >> i want to play a little sound from one trump supporter who we talked to in virginia, explaining his support for donald trump. >> three concerns in this order. first is radical islam. who is going to do the most to fight radical islam? second, our veterans and their affair. who is going to help the veterans the most? and third would be illegal immigration. at this point, my battle is with radical islam and he sounds to me like he's going to do the most to combat radical islam. >> thomas, given the news today that the fbi is investigating the attack in san bernardino as an act of terrorism, can that only help donald trump further with voters? >> i think so. his latest poll numbers have shot up to 36% in the most recent poll, if i can say it on competitor cnn, which is really high, frankly. but what's interesting is they don't seem to be hurting hillary as much as you might think. democrats are not favored on terrorism and fear and threats. but she is seen as a tough woman. so far, she has been holding up sort of as the competitor, when people are asked, who do you prefer, hillary or trump? hillary or jeb bush? or hillary or marco rubio? she holds her own, if not doing better than the republican competitors. so it's a more complex than usual situation. >> thomas edsol, thanks for your time today. >> my pleasure. you mentioned that poll. that poll out today finds donald trump with his biggest lead of the campaign to date, while on the democratic side, which thomas referred to also, hillary clinton continuing to make gains against her rival bernie sanders. steve kornacki is back. >> let's start on the democratic side. this is, again, a cnn poll out just this afternoon. you see hillary clinton now basically doubling up bernie sanders, 58% to 30%. since the last time they took this poll, big jump for hillary clinton. what does that reflect? the obvious thing that reflects is they used to include joe biden in these polls. obviously he's not running, no longer included. the lion's share of his support has gone to hillary clinton and raises the possibility that this renewed focus on terrorism, on national security and defense policy, if that benefits hillary clinton in this race a lot more than bernie sanders, given her back ground as secretary of state and the lack of emphasis on foreign policy. as you say, on the republican side, the headline today is donald trump opening up a 20-point lead over his nearest competitor, ted cruz. a couple of things to note about this, number one, a lot of the cynics about donald trump, a lot of the people who sate this is not going to last or hold up, they've been saying he has a ceiling in this race of the mid 20s, 24, 25, 26%. well, here's a poll that has him at 36%. this is the highest we've seen him in a credible national poll. the other thing you see here, ben carson, he was challenging for the lead a moment ago. the focus on foreign policy and national security, that seems to have hurt him. he's fading out of this thing. and look, you can see ted cruz is bumping up and jeb bush started the year as a major force. 3% for jeb bush. look a little closer inside this. this is very interesting. if you separate republicans between those who have college degrees and those who do not, this is basically a 50/50 split, donald trump is dominating with those who do not have college degrees. a much more muddled picture with the half of the party that does have college degrees. finally, there is this, the party establishment, the people on the republican side who say they don't want donald trumps their nominee, they are making an electability argument, warning republicans if you nominate donald trump, we lose seats in the house, we lose to hillary clinton. but if you ask republicans which of all these candidates running, which is the most electable, 52% are saying that donald trump has the best chance of beating the democrats. that electability argument right now is working in donald trump's favor. >> steve kornacki, thanks for breaking it down. ted cruz is in iowa where he's holding a gun rights rally at a shooting rain. i want to go to casey hunt. >> reporter: kate, good afternoon. we're just hearing the clapping that ted cruz is getting. he spoke to reporters for a little while ahead of this, answering questions about whether it was off key to be holding a second amendment rally in the wake of such a terrible shooting. he flipped that around and said that's on democrats. that the right answer is not to infringe on the second amendment rights of american citizens. he's been very aggressive in call thing a terrorist attack and accuses the obama administration of being weak, not calling it islamic radical terrorism. i pushed him on what specifics he would range or do to make an attack like this less likely. he did mention a bill that he has that would trip the u.s. citizenship from win who traveled abroad to join isis. but he's come under fire on that metta data program that gathered up all the data on american cell phone recording. marco rubio criticized him for it, and chris christie, also in iowa, criticized him, too. take a listen to what christie had to say. >> i wonder if they would change their votes now. i wonder if the political soup de jour that they engaged in would be something that they regret. but i can't completely blame them for their vote, because they had no way of really understanding, because they've never done it. >> reporter: pretty tough critique there from christie, going after cruz and rand paul for not fully understanding the decisions that they might be making. christie also has gone hard after marco rubio for the same thing, even though rubio voted the other way on that bill, tough talk saying he's just not quite ready or that he lacks depth in an interview with jeffrey goldberg. >> casey, thanks so much. coming up, the investigation into the san bernardino terror attack now expanding to pakistan. authority there is working with officials in the u.s. trying to uncover as much as possible about the woman expected of carrying out this week's massacre. there is cash all around you! people are nearby who want to pay for the things you don't use. wallapop makes it simple to sell anything! just download the free app; snap a picture of your item and it's instantly listed locally, free! wallapop users have profiles and receive reviews. so you'll always know just who you are dealing with. make some space and earn some cash! start selling. download the free wallapop app today. ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ [ birds squawking ] my mom makes airplane engines that can talk. [ birds squawking ] ♪ my mom makes hospitals you can hold in your hand. ♪ my mom can print amazing things right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] my mom makes trains that are friends with trees. [ train whistle blows ] ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ some neighbors are energy saving superstars. my mom works at ge. how do you become a superstar? with pg&e's free online home energy checkup. in just under 5 minutes you can see how you use energy and get quick and easy tips on how to keep your monthly bill down and your energy savings up. don't let your neighbor enjoy all the savings. take the free home energy checkup. honey, we need a new refrigerator. visit pge.com/checkup and get started today. as the attorney general and the fbi director said earlier this afternoon, so important to remember the victims in san bernardino, those who lost their lives, those who are still injured. francis rivera joins me with more on their stories. >> reporter: we know 12 of the 14 victims who died were employees of san bernardino county, but they come from different walks of life. but what they did have in common is their job, making sure that their community was safe and healthy. one of those 14 killed is 42-year-old daniel kaufman. he ran the coffee shop and he trained disabled clients for jobs in the outside world. after the shooting, his partner of nearly three years was told daniel was alive. this is the two of them together. but then he got word that information was wrong and daniel was actually killed. take a look at this photo. this is the photo the moment he found out daniel had died. a few hours ago, reyes spoke to thomas roberts and this is what he said. >> we all need to strive to be more like daniel. i honestly believe that the world is going to be a much darker place with one person like daniel less. so we all need to strive to be more like him, free loving, easy going, more supportive of each other, more willing to talk to each other. >> reporter: that was mr. reyes, whose partner was killed in the attacks. also killed and being remembered is this man, robert adams seen here with his daughter. he was 40 years old, an environmental health specialist. he married his high school sweet heart as they're shown here. her name was summer. robert always wanted to be a dad, and he did when the couple had this little girl, 20-month-old savannah. he said that he was always devoted to his daughter, cherished every moment being with her, and the family enjoying their time together. they were planning the first trip to disneyland next week. and then to this girl here, one of the younger ones, sierra clayburn. she's described as a beautiful person, a sweet heart with a small on her face. and her holder sister posted a tribute on facebook saying, you were taken way too soon. i am completely devastated. and sierra describes herself on facebook as creative individual with a fun outlook on life. life that was taken way, way too short. >> there are no words. when you see those pictures, francis, of the parents and their little children, it's so terrible. >> reporter: with the holidays coming up, they're planning those funerals now. >> really important to remember all of the victims. thanks so much. let's turn back to gabe gutierrez out in riverside, california. he's been covering the san bernardino shootings. gabe, i know there's a vigil planned there and i believe you have a guest with you. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. in just a few minutes, officials here from -- [ no audio ] -- several mosques that syed farook was known to worship at during his time in the san bernardino area. many people are expressing shock saying this does not exemplify what islam is here. i'm joined by mr. hamid kahn. thank you for joining us. what is your message today? >> well, the first thing is that on behalf of the government of pakistan and the people of pakistan, we would like to condemn this mindless act of violence. this is absolutely shocking. coming soon after the paris attacks, it just makes the world a very, very unsure place to live in. all of us who have children and families, all of us were peace loving individuals, we are deeply concerned at these random acts by individuals who are hell bent on perpetrating violence on their fellow human beings. >> reporter: what can you tell us about mr. farook's wife? >> she spent an extended period of time in the middle east, in saudi arabia. that is where she met the individual, and that is where they got married. she actually came to the united states on a visa, which was granted by u.s. authorities in saudi arabia. and i understand that she was able to obtain a green card during her residency over here. >> reporter: what is your reaction that federal law enforcement officials said today she may have posted a message on facebook declaring loyalty to an isis leader, how disturbing is that? >> that is indeed very, very disturbing. pakistan itself is one of the countries which is at the forefront on the war against terror. pakistani law enforcement, intelligence, police, and civilians, we have lost over 50,000 people in the last decade alone. that is a staggering number of people. we feel the pain of the families who have endured loss in this massacre, because in so many cities in pakistan, unfortunately, we have seen bomb blasts, terrorist attacks, and the state in pakistan has resolved to deal with this head on. we have currently a national action plan in motion, and the pakistan military and the intelligence agencies are spearheading an effort to root out that menace from pakistani territory. >> reporter: this is one of two mosques where mr. farook worshipped at over the last several years. leaders here say they are shocked by this, that this is something that he was mild mannered and a very devout muslim. what have you heard from the community and was there a warning sign he might have been radicalized at all? >> if he was radicalized, the only possible connection maybe was through his wife. otherwise, everybody speaks of a mild mannered individual, who was a bit reclusive, he wasn't very social. one very important thing i would like to mention is he did shoot a muslim lady also at that facility. she was shot four times. that lady also happens to be a co-worshipper here at this very mosque. so i don't think that there is necessarily a religious angle to this necessarily. that is just my analysis, because if there were, why would he attack a co-worshipper and a co-worker who was a muslim lady? to me it appears to be the deranged act of an individual. what it was triggered by, only he would know or somebody close to him would know or this ongoing investigation will reveal. >> you mentioned he may have been radicalized by his wife. certainly the investigation is ongoing. but what if anything have you heard that may have had -- may back up that theory? >> well, again, meeting the worshippers here and meeting with the community members, she was apparently very, very reclusive, and she was someone who apparently was a very extremely religious. as for this individual, he was devout. but he held a stable job. he was well adjusted, well liked. so it's very early on in the investigation. >> they married recently in saudi arabia. they met online. what have you heard about their relationship? many people here in the muslim community did not know about her, but what can you tell me about their relationship? >> i understand this individual went to a pilgrimage in saudi arabia and he met here. then undertook a second trip to marry her and bring her back over. they have a little baby who they left with the grand parents, the grandmother specifically, when they went out to carry out this absolutely terrible act. >> reporter: mr. hamid kahn, thank you so much for joining us. kate, let me throw it back to you. again, this service here is about to wrap up. the sermon is about to wrap up. other muslim leaders from the san bernardino area are expected to come out and address reporters, stressing the message that the muslim community does not, in any way, stand behind mr. farook, and they have been receiving many threats. they want the public to know that mr. farook did not exemplify islam in any way. >> gabe gutierrez, thanks so much. when we come back, we'll speak with a naval officer, an american muslim, who has deep concerns right now about islam phobia in this country, when we come back. at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like ordering wine equals pretending to know wine. pinot noir, which means peanut of the night. thinking of new ways to make treat time fun. (vo) at the friskies playhouse, the cats and us are always busy. that's how we came up with new friskies pull 'n play. with tender string treats cats can eat. that part was their idea. lucy always thought strings should be edible. chloe thought the same. and charlie, well, he's up for anything as long it's fun. new friskies pull 'n play with tender strings. the whole new way to treat 'n play. his day of coaching begins with knee pain, when... this is brad. hey brad, wanna trade the all day relief of two aleve for six tylenol? what's the catch? there's no catch. you want me to give up my two aleve for six tylenol? no. for my knee pain, nothing beats my aleve. back now with our continuing coverage of the deadly massacre in san bernardino, california. here's the latest. we just heard from fbi director james comey on the decision to investigate the shooting as an act of terrorism. >> this is now a federal terrorism investigation, led by the fbi. and the reason for that is, the investigation so far has developed indications of radicalization by the killers, and of a potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations. >> this, after we learned that the suspect tashfeen malik, posted a message of support for isis on her facebook page or a facebook page the morning of the attack. let's go out to nbc's blake mccoy with the latest. blake? >> reporter: kate, the fbi did finish combing through the suspect's apartment here last night. you can see the windows and the door boarded up. this is a two-story apartment, the bedrooms upstairs. the big revelation is the discovery of a bomb making factory in the garage outback. we knew that thousands of rounds of ammunition were found in that garage. the capability to make many more bombs was also in that garage. things like metal piping, wiring, powder. so all of the evidence was found in the garage, an essential bomb making factory. near the scene of the original shooting where 14 people were killed, investigators found two crushed cell phones. so they have taken those cell phones that are working to see if any data can be gleaned from them. kate? >> blake mccoy, thanks so much. still ahead, new revelations about a potential motive behind wednesday's attack in san bernardino. the female attacker posting support for isis right before the massacre. le are coming out to the nation's capital to support an important cause that can change the way you live for years to come. how can you help? by giving a little more, to yourself. i am running for my future. people sometimes forget to help themselves. the cause is retirement, and today thousands of people came to race for retirement and pledge to save an additional one percent of their income. if we all do that we can all win. prudential bring your challenges® boy: once upon a time, there was a nice house that lived with a family. one day, it started to rain and rain. water got inside and ruined everybody's everythings. the house thought she let the family down. but the family just didn't think a flood could ever happen. the reality is, floods do happen. protect what matters. get flood insurance. call the number on your screen to learn more. how long have you had your car insurance? i ask because i had mine for over 20 years before i switched and saved hundreds with the aarp auto insurance program from the hartford. i had done a lot of comparison shopping. the rate was like half of what i was paying. [ female announcer ] $420 is the average amount drivers save when they switch to the aarp auto insurance program from the hartford. you know, it makes me wonder why everyone 50 and over hasn't switched. [ female announcer ] how much could you save? if you're age 50 or over, call now to request your free quote. customers also appreciate lifetime renewability. it's the hartford's promise not to drop you, even if you're in an accident. [ female announcer ] save $420 on average and get lifetime renewability. you've got to consider it. you've got to consider it. [ female announcer ] for your free quote, call the hartford at... or go to gohartfordauto.com today. get this free calculator just for requesting a quote. it's gotten squarer. over the years. brighter. bigger. thinner. even curvier. but what's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. back now and learning more about the female shooting suspect, the wife, tashfeen malik. for details i'm joined by our correspondent here in new york. we've learned bits and pieces about her, bits and pieces about him and about what they -- the fact that they might have been acting perhaps inspired by isis, the key piece of information today, her posting on facebook. >> yeah. certainly one of the most important developments is the fbi director coming out and saying so far in the first 48 hours, there's no indication known to the fbi that these two individuals were part of a larger cell group or organization within the united states or abroad. the indication here is that perhaps this pledge of allegiance she made was more as a result of her inspiration. again, you heard the fbi director talk about this in the beginning of his statement saying this is classified as a terrorism act, because we are seeing elements of radicalization and inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations. so he didn't come out and say that we have evidence of some kind of foreign correlation or direction of a foreign terrorism group. >> officials have been so worried about this for months and months we've been hearing about the possibility of lone wolf attacks. >> yeah, it's a major cause of concern. again, the other point that came out which is interesting from the fbi officer on location, in his press conference, he said there were no trip wires that were triggered for law enforcement officials. by that account, you have two individuals who were law abiding citizens, enter the country legally, no serious criminal record. >> don't even have a traffic ticket. >> and they went to great lengths to cover up their social media foot print. they've have had very little communication of any known terrorists. so when you've checked everything by the book, it's hard to have a triggering mechanism to say these two people need to be on the radar. the fbi director said they were not known to us, so they were not on any watch list or no-fly list or anything like that. so that's going to be a major challenge for these investigations, because it is a major cause of concern, these types of radicalized individuals. when we use "radicalized" here, you don't know what the motorizations were. as we know it, the more strategic planned terrorist cells in paris. they never traveled to syria or iraq as did the cells in europe. >> as far as we know. no training camps or anything like that. >> no battle experience, but they were still able to acquire the skills to make these explosives and acquire these weapons here on homegrown soil. >> thanks so much. here's josh lipton with the cnbc market wrap. >> u.s. stocks rose sharply on friday as investors reacted to a strong jobs report supporting a fed like in september, climbing nearly 370 points. the s&p rose 42 points, the nasdaq up 105 points that's the news from cnbc, first in business worldwide. but a few might shape the future. like turning algae into biofuel... ...new technology for capturing co2 emissions... ...and cars twice as efficient as the average car today. ideas exxonmobil scientists are working on to make energy go further... ...no matter how many tries it takes. energy lives here. ♪ it's the final countdown! ♪ ♪ the final countdown! if you're the band europe, you love a final countdown. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. his day of coaching begins with knee pain, when... this is brad. hey brad, wanna trade the all day relief of two aleve for six tylenol? what's the catch? there's no catch. you want me to give up my two aleve for six tylenol? no. for my knee pain, nothing beats my aleve. they come into this iworld ugly and messy. ideas are frightening because they threaten what is known. they are the natural born enemy of the way things are. yes, ideas are scary, and messy and fragile. but under the proper care, they become something beautiful. a professor at the naval war college warning americans about escalating fears of muslims in the wake of the san bernardino shootings. he writes -- >> he joins me now. thanks for being with us. >> thank you, kate. >> you write about your own experience as an american muslim. you write about what is happening right now in terms of the discourse in this country. what is your fear? >> let me just start by sharing my deepest condolences to the families of the victims. what i'm talking about is that there is no doubt a minority of american muslims that are extremists, that will go out and commit acts of terror. but the vast majority, we looked at different polls, we looked at fbi data, and all the facts on the ground say that the vast majority are law abiding, patriotic americans. what i'm arguing is that we should not be making them disenfranchised but working close with them. i an american muslim. i proudly wear the uniform of the united states navy. i teach the current and future leaders of the u.s. military. i'm directly involved in the war against isis. there are many like me who are either working in that direction or would like to work. it's very important to get the vast majority of american muslims on our side. that does not mean they get a free pass on the housecleaning they have to do. there is certainly a lot the muslim american community has to do. i'm doing my part. i'm not a religious or civic leader, i'm not doing marches. i'm wearing the uniform, teaching, i'm fighting the good fight. everybody else in the community needs to do that. there shouldn't be a religious test or an ethnic or racial test. there should be one simple test, which is the united states constitution. we take an oath, people like me in uniform take an oath to protect it. the immigrants who come in take an oath of allegiance to the united states constitution. as long as they do that, everything under that, that is permissible under the american constitution, they can do. >> there was a press conference just now from the fbi director in which he said that they wished people would be more forthcoming, if they had any information, if they had seen any signs or signals. do you think your community needs to perhaps be more in touch with law enforcement? >> i think many of them are, frankly. i looked at the extensive outreach program by the fbi that started way back in 2006, focused on somali americans in minnesota. did so well that it's expanded to the major cities. i talked to fbi personnel today before coming on your show, and they are showing resounding success on parents coming out and saying their daughters are about to get radicalized or get on a plane to go to syria. community leaders are coming out. and so many attacks have been prevented and thwarted because precisely because the american community is engaged. >> thank you so much. i'm afraid we're out of time, but thank you for being with us. that does it for this hour. thanks for being with me. i'm kate snow. "mtp daily" starts right now. ♪ good eving from washington. i'm chuck todd. and this is "mtp daily." we begin with the latest out of