tourists stuck in antarctic ice. three rescue attempts later it seems they'll be hanging out a little while longer. the nfl regular season is over and the dallas cowboys do it again. the "it" isn't very good. highlights from the late game and everything else we can squeeze in on this monday edition of "way too early." good morning, everybody, it is monday, december the 30th. i want to point out a few other things in this show. britney spears, important stuff, started her stint in vegas. we'll have a clip for you in the cooler. if her music isn't your style and you're vigilant you may have had a chance to hear the new bruce springsteen album early. we'll explain also in "the cooler." breaking news of a second bombing in volgograd, the russian city rocked by a suicide attack on sunday. overnight at least 14 people

have been killed in a suicide bombing on a trolley bus, 28 more are said to be wounded. that comes on the heels of a bombing at the city's train station that left 17 people dead and more than 40 people wounded. the first explosion was caught on surveillance video. you can see right there in the middle of that building right there. lighting up the station's grand window with a giant cloud of debris to follow. russian officials believe a female suicide bomber detonated at a main security checkpoint after she was stopped by a police officer. of course, with the olympics approaching there are mounting questions about security surrounding the games. joining from us moscow, nbc news correspondent jim maceda. >> good morning. investigators in volgograd, which is a major rail and bus hub for southern russia, it's a city that you'd normally pass through on your way to or from sochi. investigators have issued a statement saying that this morning's bus bomb was carried out now by a male suicide

bomber. no one or group has yet claimed responsibility for either today's or sunday's attacks which have now killed at least 30 and wounded more than 60, according to russian investigators. but the strong suspicion, of course, is that this is the work of islamist insurgents from that restive north caucasus area. people are terrified now in volgograd. it's a city over 1 million people. there are reports that residents are just not going outside. they're too afraid to go out and go about their daily lives. police are calling these latest attacks acts of terror. and are connecting them to a public appeal, you'll recall just several months ago, made by that chechen warlord omaroff, an appeal to his men to kill civilians and disrupt the upcoming sochi winter olympics, an event which of course russian president vladimir putin has staked his own prestige and reputation on. now this latest wave of bombings

is getting close to sochi. volgograd is only about 400 miles from the olympic venue. and another car bombing which took place on friday and killed three was only 170 miles from sochi. so russian people, brian, are worried. putin and his security forces are worried as well. now, pute tip's deployed some 40,000 special forces, police, agents, around sochi. it's going to be a massive lockdown just to make those games safe. but the militants have shown that they can strike elsewhere and often in russia and at will. >> all right, jim, thank you very much. jim maceda reporting live for us from moscow. this is not the first time volgograd has been a terror target. october another bus was attacked by a suicide bomber killing six and injuring at least 2 dozen people. other news, this was a huge story out of the "new york times" over the weekend. the article is casting doubt on much of what we knew about the benghazi attacks in september of 2012.

the 7,000-word article claims al qaeda had nothing to do with coordinating the raid that left four americans dead and that a controversial anti-islamic video made by an american did stir up emotions that helped contribute to the violence. in the wake of the attack, u.n. ambassador susan rice appeared on "meet the press" claiming anger at the video was chiefly to blame. that assertion appeared to be discredited in congressional hearings. but now the "new york times" report says the video did play a role. instead of al qaeda the "times" investigation centers around a complex relationship with local militias and an eccentric militia leader who has yet to be arrested. still, some members of congress refuse to believe al qaeda was not directly involved. >> i think the intelligence to a large volume disputes that. do they have differences of opinion with al qaeda core? yes. do they have affiliations with al qaeda core?

definitely. >> the intelligence indicates that al qaeda was involved. i think the intelligence paints a portrait that some people came to murder, some people came to destroy property. some merely came to loot. and some came in part motivated by those videos. >> with just two days to go before health care coverage under obamacare kicks in, the white house reporting a major surge in enrollment. according to the centers for medicare and medicaid, more than 1.1 million people have signed up for coverage since october 1st. that is far off from the goal of 3.3 million by the end of the year and 7 million by march 31st. but 975,000 people signed up in december. that compares to 27,000 in october. officials say nearly 2 million people visited the website the day before the deadline. despite the increase in enrollments the white house is still facing pressure. supporters of the affordable care act are urging the administration to pick a ceo to

run the federal marketplace. three names mentioned as possible picks, former aetna ceo ronald williams, george halverson, former ceo of kaiser permanent day, and john kingsdale, head of mitt romney's massachusetts health care exchange in 2006. the new year will mean new challenges for many americans still struggling to find work because long-term unemployment benefits expired on saturday for 1.3 million people. the benefits usually worth about $300 a week. that number includes 213,000 workers in california, 102,000 in new york, and more than 90,000 in the state of new jersey. those are three of the hardest-hit states. some economists say not extending the benefits will create a dangerous economic ripple effect. >> they don't have the money to go to the grocery store, the hardware store. then those stores, because they don't have the customers, don't restock their she was, they don't order new things. and that works its way all the

way up the line. manufacturers don't have the stores to sell to. so jobs are lost all through the economy. >> the program costs about $25 billion a year. republicans oppose an extension of it in the bipartisan budget agreement unless the cost was offset elsewhere. by all accounts syria is most likely not going to make its tuesday deadline to give up its chemical weapons cache. al assad's government reportedly has not yet begun moving them and u.n. officials say the deteriorating security condition in the country is complicating things. syria agreed to hand over about 40% of its stockpile by the end of this year and the rest of it by the end of 2014. meanwhile, a journalism watchdog reports 70 journalists were killed on the job in 2013. 29 of them in syria alone. it continues to be troubled waters for a russian research ship stuck in layers of ice in antarctica. an australian icebreaker racing

to the rescue was forced back into open waters because of a blizzard. the icebreaker made it within ten nautical miles of the ship. a chinese icebreaker also tried to reach the 74 crew members saturday but could not break through the ice to get there. the crew remains hopeful that the ordeal will eventually be over and videos show they're trying to take everything in stride. >> hi, everybody. it's mary from apt artica having a wonderful time. you can see we have this wonderful, snowy wonderland. it's my birthday today. it couldn't be a better day. >> that ice is definitely out to get us. >> i think they're losing it. i hope they get to them soon. the ship has been stuck since christmas eve. we can joke because everyone is okay and they have ample supplies. business now, investors are expecting a quiet week. although there's a full week of economic data on the calendar. last week, stocks rallied to some all-time highs. friday was relatively flat. red across the board but only by

a little bit. cnbc live in london for us. happy new year, steve. >> happy new year to you. you and i are the only two left in the whole nbc organization on air at this time of day. look, here's interesting news about the housing market. 10 out of the top 15 metropolitan areas are back in terms of the value at record highs. this was in 2007. towns like oklahoma city, 13% higher. denver metro area, 6% higher. it's a schizophrenic market and this big sur i have a said at least 1,500 cities and towns still have property values 25% below their peaks of the last decade. so very mixed market on the housing front. good news for amazon, they had a few prechristmas delivery issues. it appears their prime service which you pay $79 for, it gives you two-day free delivery basically, it appears it's grabbing a lot more households in the third week of december, 1 million more customers signed up for prime service. it's estimated, the company's

secretive about this, estimated it's got somewhere between 20 million and 25 million u.s. households signed up for amazon prime, very good news for the company. >> a lot of people think prime service is part of the problem u.p.s. and fed ex had because amazon promised people stuff would get there quickly. a story about this huge tax increase on millionaires in france. but i'm trying to figure out are they taxing the companies or the people themselves? >> it's very confusing. this is francois hollande, president of france, who believes by taxing the rich you grow the economy. it was in his presidential campaign in 2012. the point is he got thrown out by constitutional court, now it's back on the table. because what he said is, if you earn over 1 million euros then the company that pays you that money will be taxed. up to 1 million euros, you pay the tax. over 1 million euros, the company will pay 50% tax to the government. then there's added on bits and pieces which take it up to a total of 75%. it's the company, not the individual.

the football clubs, soccer clubs, soccer not football, they're up in arms because the millionaires are the ones are going to bear the brunt of this. i say to those american and french soccer players playing in france, come over to london, it's much nicer. >> they all make a lot of money. most everyone in the first division probably makes a million bucks i'm sure. >> minimum, yeah. >> minimum, all right. thank you, steve, live in london. we're counting down to the new year. i mean in terms of "way too early," this might be the last show of the year. we want to know your favorite moment of 2013. this could be in the news or on this show specifically. tweet your best and most creative answers #waytooreflective. we'll put the answers on the air later in the show. still ahead on the show, the cowboys, they were flipping out over the chance to play in the playoffs last night in dallas. did their backup qb have the magic touch for a fourth-quarter comeback? that was a good flip. the boss' new album isn't

out for a few weeks but lucky fans got their hands on it early. where high hopes got leaked and was it really a mistake? [ female announcer ] it figures. on your busiest day, you see the gray. try root touch up by nice 'n easy. just brush our permanent color matching creme right where you need it. then rinse. in 10 minutes, zap those grays and get on with your day. nice 'n easy root touch up.

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get great gifts from the person who knows you best. you. that's powerful. verizon. get new year's countdown deals. save $50 on select droid devices, like the free droid mini. i mean, i would feel guilty sitting on the couch for a long time. what a finale to the regular nfl season. start in the nfc, two win and you're in games. in the night game eagles and cowboys. philly up eight in the court. orton finds dez bryant who's awesome for the score. cowboys can't convert on the two-point conversion. they get one more chance. dallas trying to get in field goal range when orton throws. an interception. that sealed the game for philadelphia. the cowboys lose to a division rival with a playoff better on the line in the last game of the season for the third straight year. jerry jones, owner and gm, he

can't blame tony romo this time but he can blame coach jason garrett maybe. chicago, bears leading in the fourth, jay cutler to brandon marshall, another amazing receiver. that gave them the 28-20 he'd. the packers answer on the next possession. this touchdown from eddie lacy cuts the chicago advantage to one. okay, that one-point lead would remain until the game's final minute. >> rodgers gets out. floats it. cobb! touchdown! randall cobb! >> that was a fourth down and just like the broncos against the ravens, how come you don't have a safety sitting in the back of the end zone reading "reader's die jooes"? it's crazy. packers win and they are in. those set up the nfc wild card picture for the coming weekend. saints head to philadelphia on saturday after trouncing the bucs for a wild card berth. the packers now that aaron rodgers is back will host the

49ers. talk about a raw deal. the niners have to face rodgers in green bay. >> i got both road teams winning in the nfc. >> give me a break. >> you heard it here first. a little wager? >> i'll smell a little wager. i smell one. afc, four teams in the running for one wild card spot. start with the dolphins hosting jets. miami down 17-7 in the fourth. brian tannehill picked off. less than two minutes to play after a new york field goal, tannehill picked off again. miami out of luck and out of time. jets win it 20-7. rex ryan will be back for the jets. cross the dolphins off the list, how about the ravens? baltimore trailing cincinnati in the fourth. joe flacco looking for tory smith. pick six, the super bowl champ ravens eliminated. they get crushed 34-17. so the ravens are gone. how about the steelers? ben roethlisberger tossing an early touchdown for the steelers and running back le'veon bell ran for 90 yards in total. they win 20-7 over the browns.

okay, the steelers are a life but they need some help. they need the chargers to lose. kansas city and san diego tied 24-24 with 8 seconds to go. 41-yard field goal. k.c. misses it. we go to ot. chargers look like they're going to punt away on fourth down. but they don't. direct snap to weddle who gets the first down. kansas city strips the ball. looks line they're going for the game-winning touchdown, right? so this would mean steelers are in. but the refs say no. say forward progress, play is dead, chargers end up winning on a field goal and they are in for the postseason. wash away pittsburgh's hopes, san diego is in. next week the chiefs head to indy on saturday to face andrew luck and the colts. luck became the first player in league history to top 8,000 yards in his first two seasons. they blew out the jags 30-10. bengals host chargers on sunday. whoo! and patriots got the bye, i want

to point that out. >> congratulations. shocking news there. >> listen, they're not even that good. >> oh, stop. >> they're not. >> you guys just -- patriots fans kill me. could be interesting. because a lot of those football games are going to be coming up saturday, sunday. as far as the forecast goes this week, things are really going to get interesting towards the end of this week if you're in new england especially. right now, all the cold is in the middle of the country. and it's going to stay that way. we're going into a period where it's arctic blast, snow storm, arctic blast, snow storm. that's probably going to happen the next week. as far as the temperatures go, really the worst right now from chicago to minneapolis. it looks like fargo, you're at minus 22 right now. things are just continuing to get even colder as we go throughout this week. i think the bottom line is, for this week, travel plans are okay on new year's eve, new year's day. there's the potential for a possible nor'easter as we go looks like on thursday night, friday, in new england. i know they just got done with that horrible ice storm, really bad. this one looks like it will be

all snow. >> we got at least an inch of rain yesterday. all i kept thinking, man, if this was snow. >> good thing it wasn't snow or ice, a little break. coming up on "morning joe," the debate over exactly what happened in benghazi is back in the headlines. we'll dig into the new report that is bringing back questions we actually thought we had answered. we'll huddle around "the cooler." britney spears kicking off her run in vegas. miley cyrus had some front-row seats. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ]

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at the top of the show we talked about security concerns surrounding the olympic games in sochi, russia. if you want to sound smart tell your friends the effort to keep the olympics safe is unprecedented. a security ring stretches 25 miles inland from sochi and 60 miles along the coast, the black sea. in addition to that, they're going to use 5,000 cameras and even drones throughout the region as well as the deployment of special forces in the hills around sochi. set aside the news, let's talk britney spears. jen, you like her. she's taking her hits to the stage in sin city. ♪

♪ let the ring leader call the shots ♪ ♪ make it hot >> i wonder if she's singing or lip synching. the pop star opened her 100-performance stay at planet hollywood this weekend, 90-minute show, some big names came out to watch. selena gomez, mario lopez, and one somewhat well-known pop star seemed to be enjoying herself. ♪ ♪ >> the one in the front with arms waving would be miley sigh rules at the center of the front row. britney gave her a shout-out on twitter afterward, so she seemed to be having a good time. whether accident, leak or the buzzworthy promotion, bruce springsteen fans got a little treat over the weekend. his new album was available for download on amazon for a few

minutes this weekend. enough for a few people to put it up for download on illegal websites. it helped create some buzz for the official release on january 17th. the title track "high hopes" officially released last month. ♪ got high hopes ♪ i got high hopes ♪ got high hopes ♪ i got high hopes >> he still brings it. "high hopes," springsteen's 18th studio album cut from ten years' worth of recordings. can't wait until it comes out on the 17th. the wolf, a little bite at the box office. >> my name is jordan bellford. the year i turned 26 i made $49 million which really pissed me off, it was three shy of a million a week. >> martin scorsese "the wolf of wall street" starting leonardo dicaprio, $18.5 million over the weekend, put the three-hour movie in fifth place.

"the hobbit" sequel making just under $30 million. "frozen" $28.8 million. followed by "anchorman 2" and "american hustler." i've seen a couple of those movies. i haven't seen "the wolf" which i will see, even though it didn't do as well as people expected. still ahead on "way too early," the best tweets of your favorite moments of 2013. "morning joe" moments away. welcome back. how is everything? there's nothing like being your own boss! and my customers are really liking your flat rate shipping. fedex one rate. really makes my life easier. maybe a promotion is in order. good news. i got a new title. and a raise? management couldn't make that happen. [ male announcer ] introducing fedex one rate. simple, flat rate shipping with the reliability of fedex.

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so i got the windows nokia tablet. it's, well, impressive. it's got the brightest hd screen, super-fast 4g lte, so my son can play games and movies almost anywhere, and it's got office for school stuff. but the best part? i got the lumia 928 for my daughter for free, with the best low-light smartphone camera this side of the north pole. dad for the win. mm! mm! mm! ♪ honestly, i want to see you be brave ♪ this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups.

we want to know your best moments in 2013, whether in the news or on this show. we had some great answers. >> well, this was one of my favorites as well. john meacham reading hansen's top pick. >> actually it was the jonas brothers. it was one of our favorites too. here's a snippet. >> don't wanna. that would be want to. second-guess. this is the bottom line. it's true. i gave my all for you. now my heart's in two.

>> that was obviously the brain child idea of one ben mayer, producer. i know, very good job. natalie, what else? >> arthur says, big poppy thrk is our freaken city. >> this is our [ bleep ] city. stay strong. >> i was there for that. i was like did he really say that? it turned out, it turned around a lot in the city and the team. one from steve casen, bat kid. have a good one. "morning joe" starts right now. morning, everybody. it's monday, december 30th. i'm just here on set w