pulling out. donald trump says bye-bye to megyn kelly and the gop debate just five days before iowa caucuses. nbc news reveals not a single lead pipe has been replaced in flint. while frantic parents have their kids tested for lead poisoning. plus the an explosive and dramatic prison break. from the gunfire to barny miller and more. and a trip back in time to a biking festival that dates back hundreds of years. "early today" starts right now. i'm erika hill. eight people have been arrested in connection with an armed occupation of oregon wildlife refuge that began three weeks ago. one of the armed protester was killed. during a january 5th interview he said he had no suspensiones of being taken into the custody.

>> so you are prepared to die. better dead than in a cell? >> absolutely. would you like to be in a cell? nobody wants to live their life in a cell. >> nbc has more. >> reporter: eamon dundbundy has been arrested according to a statement from the fbi. the fbi confirmed on tuesday it and the oregon state police started what the statement calls to bring into custody a number of individuals associated with utility armed occupation. during the arrest, shots are were fired. one person was killed. the other person suffered non life threat engine injuries. eamon bundy and others started protesting the sentencing of two ranchers. but it turned into the occupation of the wildlife refuge on jan 2nd. proertsers saying they were angry over what call government

residents demanded it come to an end. >> it is time for you to go home. [ cheers and applause ] >> eamon bundy is son of controversial rancher cliven bundy who was involve in a standoff with the government over grazing rights. donald trump is pulling out. the gop front runner withdrawing from thursday's fox news debate. with just five days to go before the caucuses. trump who had threatened to boycott the debate because of the moderator megyn kelly was put over the wedge. saying we learned from the secret back channel that ayatollah and putin both intend to treat donald trump unfairly -- in response rager ailes mr. trump doesn't play games.

fundraising event for veterans and wounded warriors. he linked a poll to this instagram video asking with whether he should prepare it. >> megyn kelly is really biased against me. do you think she can be fair at the debate? >> on the democratic side, bernie sanders is taking time you have to campaign trail today for a sit down meeting be president obama in the oval office. nbc's tracy potts joins us live from washington with more this morning. >> reporter: so donald trump thips he can just skip this dpbt detective. he's got momentum in iowa. he's just gotten key endorsements including arizona sheriff who was very outspoken just like trump on immigration. fresh off two key endorsements donald trump is skipping thursday's debate because he

>> fox news, right? wonderful, wonderful place. fox news it's wonderful. >> fox i calls trump quotes terrorizations of megyn kelly near unprecedented. ted cruz who seems to have a lock on iowa is challenging trump to have a one on one. >> i want you to think how would you react if you were interviewing someone for a job and they said, you know, what i'm not willing to show up to the interview? >> by skipping trump is being a rebel. and it is the year of the outsider so he may be okay. some iowans may wonder why are you quitting. >> the democrats also fighting for an iowa win. of experience. >> i've been on the front lines your age. >> bernie sanders tells voters turn out will make the difference. >> if we have a large voter turnout we will win. and we'll win big. >> he's meeting privately with

>> the white house says this is a meeting they started discussing in december that is private, and that there is no agenda. >> tracy potts first this morning in washington. that thank you. in seattle two are dead after shooting a at homeless encampment. one woman dead at the scene. the other victim a male died at the hospital. three others wounded. one critical and two in serious condition. this all happened as seattle mayor ed murray was delivering a speech and addressing the city's homeless problem. he spoke again from the scene. >> you can't but wonder, i can't help but wonder, did i act too late? maybe i should have issued a state of emergency months earlier. we have tried to do the best that we can kbhichb the circumstances we have. but obviously i'm going to question did i -- was i good

>> no arrests have been made but police say there are at least two persones of interest as they believe this was a targeted not. although not because the victims for homeless. >> incredible footage from northeastern brazil shows an explosion destroying a the prison wall. moments later dozens of inmates are seen scrambling over a fence. 36 of the 40 escapees were captured within hours. two inmates were killed. police are investigating the explosion and what appears to be a man walking up to the walk minutes before the explosion occurred. it is now day five in the serge or three california inmates characterized aez extremely dangerous. police have released few details but the award leading to their arrest quadrupled to $200 thousand. they had a head start before they were believed missing. authorities believe two are at

and bill karins with your forecast. >> a huge storm south of alaska is going to brick a lot of bad weather to the west coast. south of allusioneutians here. and we had some rain yesterday, especially in the northwest and a little more this morning. scattered showers. snow levels are pretty high. temperatures are pretty mild once again. as far as the rainfall, the area of orange is up to five inches of rain. that is significant stuff and for that reason in washington state swe have a flood watch especially in the south slopes of the olympics. because of the high snow levels, jackson hole will be well. sun val veilley. and the cascades. i think you have a much better chance of heavier snows through sunday.

storm here in the central proportion proportions. today's forecast, heavy rain and storms in florida. the worst weather in the country is in florida today. seattle mild, but. san francisco and l.a. beautiful today. salt lake city no complaints either at 41 and in s. and nice today and tomorrow. not until sunday you have a chance of significant rain. and we'll keep you posted on the sunday storm. a storm on the weekend. >> i it always happens on the weekend, right? >> seems that way. >> all the kids want is a day off school. thanks. surrounding lead pipes in the

and california's quickly eroding coastline. you are watching "early today"."thing i need to be predictable is to be flake free. because i have used head and shoulders for 20 years. used regularly, it removes up to 100% of flakes keeping you protected every week, every month, every year you ready ma? always life is unpredictable, so embrace it! head and shoulders. live flake free for life [music] no, no, no, no, people are both soft and strong... yey! which is why our products are too. angel soft. choose the one new revlon ultimate-all-in-one. our revolutionary mascara delivers 5 lash-transforming benefits. volume, length, definition, lift, and intense color. choose love

ibs-d. you know the symptoms when they start. abdominal pain. urgent diarrhea. now there's prescription xifaxan. xifaxan is a new ibs-d treatment that helps relieve your diarrhea and abdominal pain symptoms. and xifaxan works differently. it's a prescription antibiotic that acts mainly in the digestive tract. do not use xifaxan if you have a history of sensitivity to rifaximin, rifamycin antibiotic agents, or any components of xifaxan. tell your doctor right away if your diarrhea worsens while taking xifaxan, as this may be a sign of a serious or even fatal condition. tell your doctor if you have liver disease or are taking other medications, because these may increase the amount of xifaxan in your body. tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan on becoming pregnant, or are nursing. the most common side effects are nausea and an increase in liver enzymes. if you think you have ibs with diarrhea,

in flint, michigan, nbc news has learned no pipes have been emergency was declared there three weeks ago after dangerous levels of lead were found in the city's water. yesterday healthcare workers conducted testing on hundreds of children for lead exposure. msnbc's rachel maddow will lead a town hall in flint on the water crisis tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. an indiana principal being held as the hero after sacrificing her life pushing students away from an on coming school bus. two ten-year-olds were also injured in the crash. >> we lost a great educator today. >> we express our condolences to the entire community and to the township schools. in california, five of 20

apartments teetering on the edge' erodeing shoreline cliff still have not left. >> i'm about to be on the street. if the ocean if it wants us it is going to take this. we don't have to power to slow it down or stop it. >> the residents have to move out in a few days. the u.s. senate reopens for business this morning. after an intense weekend of blizzard and snow. yesterday morning there are a few formulates that ss sslet ss formalities that delayed the start. >> as we convene this morning you look around the chamber and the presiding officer, is female. all of our parliamentaryians are female. our floor managers are female. all of our pages are female.

and i think it is genuinely fabulous. >> the other senator on hand, susan collins of maine. another state with some snow experience. let's get down to business with some snow experience. >> good morning. only oprah winfrey could eastern $12 million in an hour thanks to a single tweet. the media mogul posting a tweet claiming she's lost 28 pounds while eating bread every day on the weight watch plan. watchers of apple today, they fell in late trading tuesday. apple also signaling it expects its first quarterly sales decline in more than a decade. and analysts are worried apple doesn't have another bloxer

buster product in the works. and drones for google. google says it could start drone delivery by next year. the nfl is reportedly investigating peyton manning over those allegations of human growth hormone. and with just two seconds on the clock, nowitzki saves the day in l.a. sports is next. so if i wanna go to jersey and check out shotsy tuccerelli's portfolio, what's it to you? or i'm a scottish mason whose assets are made of stone like me heart. papa! you're no son of mine! or perhaps it's time to seize the day. don't just see opportunity, seize it! (applause) does the smell of a freshly bound presentation fill you with optimism? do you love your wireless keyboard more than certain family members?

does printing from your tablet to your wireless printer give you a jolt of confidence? if so, you may be gearcentric. someone who knows that the right office gear helps you do great things. and there's one place that has it all. office depot officemax. gear up for great. with me, what you see is what you get. and i expect the same from my mascara. now, revlon introduces a new collection of mascaras that makes getting the lash look you want easy. so whether you choose ultra volume, super length, volume and length magnified, dramatic definition, or the ultimate all-in-one... the choice is yours. choose love a revolution in mascara.

? this morning jamie-lynn s rirks sigler sits down. and let's check sports as peyton manning gets ready for what might be his last rodeo. and the nfl is investing allegations that he had human growth hormone delivered to his home. base on an al jazeera report over a month ago that his wife received hgh while he was recovering from neck surgery a few years ago. blake griffin will miss at least 4-6 weeks with a broken hand after he punched a team

griffin has apologized to teammates and fans no word yet on if the team will take action. former iowa hawk eye and new york giants safety tyler sash who died in september was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy. on a scale of 0-4 sash's cte was at a 2. he suffered multiple head injuries from football dating back to high school. to los angeles where dick nowitzki nailed theno -- dirk nowitzki. 92-90 the final. and jerry richardson telling everyone from interns to executives to approximate packtheir bags. sending a all of them to santa clara, california to go to super bowl 50. now that is a good boss. >> just ahead, did hollywood

to play michael jax in in a new movie?

entertainment is next. in entertainment news this wednesday.

kosinski welcoming their second child. and joseph fiennes has stirred up some controversy after being cast in this latest role. over 30 years ago actor abe having vigoda. sadly has passed away at age 94. kevin tibal reports. >> he just had would have been those faces. kind of droopy and worn. and those were the sorts of characters abe having do played best. as phil fish on the '70s cop sit come barney miller. >> save your money. >> vigoda was also the double crossing mobster sal tessio in the gunfire. until he was bumped off. >> tell mike it was only business. >> he also gained note rite for not being dead.

declared he was no more. vigoda played it for all he was worth on late night television. >> go with your own kind. that's it, abe. >> he was also a favorite guest of the today show. and abe vigoda twitter feet even popped up with the sole purpose of reporting if he was dead or alive. it garnered 10,000 followers. he later appeared in a super bowl ad for snickers candy bars in 2010 with betty white. they were both 88 years old. >> that hurt. >> born abraham charles vigoda in brooklyn new york. his career spanned the stage, the screen, and television. he died in his sleep at his daughters home in new jersey. ab vigoda was 94. kevin tibles nbc news chicago. >> his daughter saying he just

>> loved his sense of humor. >> loved it. >> with mega ryan and tom hanks -- >> never saw it. was he in that too. >> yes he was like the tribe leader on the island. that's more like our generation or tbs or something zbri may thanks. this is "early today." hi, i'm here with some advice from the future don't buy makeup that settles into lines, it ages you. get simply ageless makeup from covergirl and olay. with b vitamins, and spf. it floats over lines and you look beautiful! and now there's simply ageless liquid makeup it helps you look younger in three ways. so in the future when you're older you look younger. simply ageless from olay... and easy, breezy beautiful covergirl!

leading the news, woman who held decade long protest outside

since 1991 he manned a encampment site in the square. she manned the antinuclear vigil the longest of any volunteers. she was believed to be around 80 years old. the cause of death is unknown. and from fortune you can now broadcast your crazy gopro videos through periscope. >> is this your video? >> it is. can you tell. can only broadcast with the hero 4 black or hero 4 silver cameras. users can toggle between broadcasting from the gopro camera to their iphone's camera. >> ethan couch could be back in the coming days. couch flowed mexico in december after failing to meet his parole officer. the fbi arrested a man in

tried to buy machine guns in order to attack a masonic temple. he was charged with unlawfully possessing a machine gun and firearms not registered to him. he allegedly tried to carry out the terrorist attack with two informants. in the wick of zika epidemic obama has called for treatments and vaccines to treat the disease. steer clear of 24 countries in latin america and africa. so far three in the u.s., one each in virginia, arkansas and hawaii are known to have contracted the virus after traveling abroad. on the shetland islands, the festal celebrates ss scandinavian vikings. the finale includes a 30 foot harbor. the festival is held each year on the last tuesday in january.

>> the vikings are angry. they don't get the credit they deserve for exploration and discovery. >> we're happy to share a little of that this morning. a look ahead bernie sanders is scheduled to have a private meeting with president obama in the oval office. the meeting was first discussed when the presidential candidate attended the holiday ball last month. happy birthday to bond girl, and stage and screen actor alan cumming and mimi rogers turns 60. >> breaking news in the valley. a horrific car accident. we are live from the scene with details. >> kim: bundy arrested after

done and what led to shots being fired. >> trump's biggest fan. we take a look at one little girl who adores trump. coming up she explains her fondness and how it started. >> breaking news at 4:30 this morning. spring mountain and rainbow. just a horrible crash. those roads have been shut down. avoid that intersection. there was a high speed chase. there may be a fatality involved. >> when you look at those pictures, it's hard to believe somebody made it out of that.

no wagner in site.