this is "way too early." ♪ your love's got me looking so crazy right now ♪ ♪ >> hey, hey, everybody! good morning, i'm thomas roberts, tuesday, november 18th. welcome to "way too early," the show that doesn't like to judge love, until now. we've got the bride of chucky details coming up in the cooler, which are wild. he's 80, she is 26. i'll just leave you with that one. but we want to start this morning in missouri. a lot of news coming out of that state, where a state of emergency is now in effect as a grand jury decides whether or not to indict a white police officer who shot and killed an unarmed, black teen. democratic governor jay nixon issued the executive order in anticipation of possible unrest over the grand jury's decision. that action includes calling up the national guard to assist local law enforcement. violent protests erupted in august after officer darren wilson shot 18-year-old michael brown. governor nixon says he hopes those types of demonstrations

don't happen again, but he has a duty to keep the public safe. but the governor seemed to struggle in a conference call when asked if he is ultimately responsible for the response to possible protests. >> i mean, we're -- um -- you know, it, uh -- it, you know, our goal here is to, is to -- you know, keep the peace and allow folks' voices to be heard. and in that balance, i'm attempting -- you know, i am using the resources we have to marshal, to be predictable for both those pillars. i don't -- you know, i'm more, um -- i, i just will have to say, i don't spend a tremendous amount of time personalizing this, vis-a-vis me. >> the naacp is criticizing governor nixon for the state of emergency, claiming it's a premature move that threatens to increase tensions when there's no evidence of violence. meanwhile, the st. louis rams

are on the air with a commercial urging residents to remain calm. >> we're in this together, st. louis. >> one team. >> one team. >> that can accomplish anything. >> when we work together. >> together. >> all eyes are on us now. >> the whole world is watching. >> our children are watching. >> let's make them proud. >> proud to be a st. louisan. >> proud of how we move forward. >> together. >> together. >> together. >> together. >> one team. >> one team. >> one team. >> that's better. >> and stronger. >> when st. louis stands together. >> well, this morning, we know who one of the men is in the isis video announcing the beheading of an american aide worker. french authorities say one of the militants is 22-year-old maxime houshard, a 22-year-old who converted to islam, and officials say they've been tracking him for years. the parents of that executed aid worker, 26-year-old peter kassig, are also speaking out. they gave a brief news conference, where they asked others to join them in focusing on healing.

>> our hearts are battered, but they will mend. the world is broken, but it will be healed in the end. and good will prevail as the one god of many names will prevail. >> pray also for all people in syria, in iraq and around the world that are held against their will. and lastly, please allow our small family the time and privacy to mourn, cry, and yes, forgive and begin to heal. thank you very much. >> you really have to admire the strength of those parents. meanwhile, the white house is ordering a full review of how it responds when americans are kidnapped by militants overseas. however, secretary of state john kerry is defending this country's long-standing policy of not paying ransoms.

>> the united states has set a heart-residenting, but absolutely necessary, example by refusing to pay ransom for captured americans. all of the evidence shows that where and if a country is paid a ransom, there are many more people who are taken hostage. we'll bring you up to speed on this breaking news this morning out of jerusalem, where two palestinians stormed a synagogue, attacking worshipers inside. this attack left four people dead and at least six more wounded. according to israeli officials, the two men attacked congregants in the ultra orthodox neighborhood with axes, knives and guns before they were killed in a shoot-out with police. the men were said to be from east jerusalem. tensions there have been boiling over recently, fueling speculation over another infetada. >> people who have kmd to worship god in the sanctuary of the synagogue were hatcheted and

hacked and murdered in that holy place in an act of pure terror and senseless brutality and murder. this violence has no place anywhere. president mahmoud abbas has condemned the attacks while hamas praised them but did not claim responsibility. the senate is set to vote on the keystone pipeline, but it remains to be seen whether supporters can whip enough votes. senator mary landrieu is trying to arm-twist her way to 60 votes, and even if she gets them, the president is likely to veto this bill. landrieu is trying to use keystone to show she can deliver back home, and protesters, look at this, set up an inflatable pipeline in the front yard of her d.c. house. meanwhile, the version of her republican challenger, bill cassidy co-sponsored easily cleared the house and cassidy is bringing in support from jeb bush, phil robertson of "duck dynasty," and even sarah palin. the gop campaign committee indicated on monday that they're

pulling their tv ad money from the race following a similar move from democrats. louisiana is the last seed in play. yesterday, democratic senator mark begich conceded defeat to dan sullivan in alaska. president obama is poised to reportedly take executive action to keep millions of undocumented immigrants from being deported, but a new poll shows resistance on the part of many americans. 46% want the president to wait until the new congress is set. top senate democrats, including harry reid, backed the president taking action now, writing a letter showing their support. and president obama has noted that he's exercised executive action far less frequently than his predecessors. still, some republicans say that pushing the envelope could spiral into another shutdown attempt. and according to politico, senate and house leaders are looking for creative ways to use legislation to let members show their anger without risking government operations. well, one congresswoman's request to cast her vote from home is causing quite a stir on

capitol hill. illinois representative tammy duckworth, who is a disabled iraq war vet, happens to be eight months pregnant. pregnant. well, she requested the democratic caucus allow her to vote by proxy in leadership elections this week, because her doctor has said she should not be traveling at this time in her pregnancy. proxy voting is not allowed in the democratic caucus. and after duckworth's request was read aloud during a closed-door meeting last week, her request was denied. but the decision was criticized as political. in what's expected to be a very close race for the top spot on the energy and commerce committee, duckworth is supporting frank pallone of new jersey, while others, including democratic leader nancy pelosi, back california's anna ashoe. pelosi has defended the decision, saying she's not sure what all the fuss is about and reiterating her stance that making an exception for duckworth could set an unwanted precedent for future votes. so, this brings us to our

twitter question for you this morning. should congresswoman duckworth be able to vote by proxy in the democratic leadership elections? do you think that this is setting up a precedent that would be tough to follow up with? or do you think that this is a very special exemption? tweet us your best answer answers, @waytooearly. your thoughts coming up later in the show. all right, we're learning new details this morning about the doctor who died from the ebola virus at a nebraska hospital. hospital officials are telling us that dr. martin salia was in extremely critical condition when he arrived over the weekend from west africa. they say he was unresponsive, having difficulty breathing and that his kidneys were not functioning. doctors also say he tested negative for ebola when he first fell ill, which delayed the start of any treatment. but officials say they took every possible measure to keep dr. salia alive. we want to shift gears and talk about business news today, where there is news regarding another settlement in the bernie madoff case. this is big news. cnbc's geoff cutmore is joining us now live from london.

geoff, i understand that the victims here for madoff in the ponzi scheme won a small victory. so, explain how they might get some reimbursement. >> well, we're talking very big numbers here, aren't we? because the original amount that just disappeared or was involved was $20 billion. so, effectively, the court has been involved in trying to get as much of that back as it can to then pass on to victims of bernie madoff. and the settlement we've got here, it's just under $500 million that's going to be provided by two cayman island funds. and ultimately, that will fall back into a pool of just over $10 billion that will be returned to those who invested with the disgraced financier. so, yes, as you point out there, a modest step forward in compensating these people who have lost out as a result of what bernie madoff did.

talking about compensation or benefiting from some moves in the market, fascinating story about the airline industry. we've been looking at these numbers, and if you consider the benefit the airlines have received from falling energy prices, which make up about a third of their costs, 12 months to september, about a $1.6 billion improvement in their cost line. so, where is that money going? well, it's certainly not being handed on in cheaper fares, because over that same period, domestic airline ticket costs have risen 3.5%. so, the airlines still managing to put prices up, even as they're benefiting from lower energy costs here. the money, well, it's finding its way back to shareholders in the form of dividends, and of course, higher profits within the businesses overall. why aren't they cutting ticket prices? well, really, why should they at this point? they want to compensate their shareholders for some previously

lean years, and they also have new airline stock on order, so they need the money to pay for these new planes. back to you. >> well, unfortunately, they have people in a pickle, because it is the holiday travel season and people want to travel, get home for the holidays, so they've got supply and demand. geoff, i want to follow up with this question, because i was reading about this. i find it really fascinating. we've got this uber executive, who suggested that the company should start digging up and doing opposition research on journalists who go after it. they were very -- at least, anyway, he was very direct about one female journalist especially. >> yeah, absolutely. i mean, this ultimately came out of a buzzfeed report, and it relates to a dinner that took place. m.l. michael is a vp for the business side of uber. and apparently at this event, he talked about hiring teerams of researchers to investigate journalists' claims and even investigate the backgrounds of

journalists and potentially dig up dirt here. and it seems he was particularly upset about some comments that were made by sarah lacy, who is the editor of "penedo daily," and she wrote a column where she complained about massageny that she thought was exhibited in the uber business model. he was ticked off about that. he made those views made known, and ultimately, those views became public through this "buzzfeed" report. ultimately, the company has gone into disaster management mode. the company has come out and said those views do not reflect those of the company and emil michael himself has apologized for what was said. back to you. >> wow. okay, geoff. thank you, sir. appreciate it. still ahead on "way too early," you've heard of this, jose conseco shooting his own finger off, and then he loses it during a poker game. what the major leaguer plans on doing with it next. i remember when one of my dad's war buddies, he taught me about, he did the thumb trick.

blew my mind as a kid. he took his own thumb off. hey, look, i can take my thumb off. yeah. anyway, blew my mind as a child. anyway, jose canseco can do that for real. later, chef gordon ramsay gets punk'd. why the "hell's kitchen" star was feeling the heat in his own kitchen. don't worry, both my thumbs are here. that and a check on weather. jen, two thumbs up, baby! two thumbs up! we're back after this. stick around. ♪ >> the bodies of 383 men, women and children have been found at jonestown, a remote jungle camp in south america. all of them were americans, members of a religious cult called the peoples temple. most apparently died of poison, drunk from a large vat, although some had been shot to death.

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okay, time for sports, everybody. we begin with the steelers and the titans on "monday night football," and boy, what a game. pittsburgh down 24-14 at the start of the fourth, but the steelers began to mount a comeback on the heals of running back le'veon bell. he cuts the lead to four after punching in a 4-yard run. bell rushed for 204 yards in the game. so, the steelers take the lead with just under 9 minutes to play after the quarterback, ben roethlisberger, connects with antonio brown for a 12-yard touchdown pass. pittsburgh holds off the titans the rest of the way. a victory for them, 27-24. all right, so, we were talking about this. former major leaguer jose canseco has lost his finger again. canseco, who shot himself in the hand last month and had his fingers surgically reattached says it fell off during a poker game. >> how? how does that happen? how do you play poker and your finger falls off? >> these are questions that i do

not have answers to, but on twitter, he admitted it would have been better to amputate it and jokes about auctioning the detached body part on ebay. yeah. did i show you this thumb trick that i have? >> my grandfather used to do that. >> yeah. >> my grandfather also used to do the bending spoon trick, too. do you know that one? >> oh! thank god, i did it. jen is so unimpressed right now. she's like, yeah, capital maroney. so impressed. >> go pull some quarters out of jen's ear. cheer her up a little bit. >> i know. i'm like an old grandpa. speaking of old man winter and old grandpas. >> it's game on just south of buffalo, off of lake erie. new york state thruway is closed, vehicles are trapped on the roads. special weather statement out saying 4 inches of snow an hour. the hamburg area is one of those areas, see it on the map right there with the green over it. they've already received over a foot of snow in hamburg and could end up with another 2 feet by the time this is all said and done in about two days from now. so, pretty serious stuff. it's very localized. it's only about 15 miles wide.

it's avoided downtown buffalo, but it's just south of buffalo. and again, this will continue on through the day. two spots in new york state could get 3 to 4 feet, maybe even 5 feet of snow, watertown new york and just south of buffalo. other areas on the lakes are also getting that snow. grand rapids is one of them, and also, eventually erie and then down into cleveland. again, thomas, it is cold, but the good news, by the time get to saturday and sunday, almost the entire country will be at average or above-average temperatures. all of this cold is just going to go away. >> such a weird snap, you know? >> for two weeks, and then you know, then we'll see -- then we get into like a normal, how we should be. >> okay, all right. thank you, bill. much appreciated. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," president obama versus jonathan gruber? you heard president obama's criticism of the health care expert this week, but it's quite a leap from his comments a few years ago. plus -- >> oh, it hurts, because what they're saying is it was

intentional and i was fighting. and no, i wasn't doing that. i was just trying to get the football for my grandson. >> it was the snatch seen around the world. an explanation from the saints fan who did snatch that football from the bengals fan. but what he's saying this morning. can he explain it away? that when we come back and we huddle around the water cooler, after this. ring ring! progresso! i can't believe i'm eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sister's wedding well it's only 100 calories, so you'll be ready for that dress

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okay, welcome back. time to huddle around the water cooler and this is the story where there is proof there is someone for everyone. louis. >> that is true, thomas. one woman's going all out to prove her loyalty to convicted mass murderer charles manson, even if it means exchanging vows. the 80-year-old cult leader obtained a marriage license to wed a 26-year-old woman whose intent on seeing him exonerated. she moved closer to him so it would be easier to visit him in prison and now says she wants to marry manson to get access to case information that's available only to relatives. the woman says she believes her fiance is innocent and she will get a new trial. we'll see how that turns out. >> i read this does not mean they get conjugal visits, just so viewers know. >> there will not be any manson kids. now to colbert and his take on bono's rehappen in central park. >> over the weekend, bicycles, or bikes, as the gang bangers call them, claimed their latest

victim. >> bono recovering from a nasty spill in new york's central park. the u2 front man injured his arm after falling off his bicycle. in fact, he's going to have to have surgery. >> that's right, bono broke his bono. it's a dangerous city, folks. they say giuliani cleaned things up, but new yorkers still live with the looming threat of the ground. that's why they call it the mean streets. >> mean streets, thomas. celebrity chef gordon ramsay is known to be a nightmare in the kitchen, now is accusing rival chefs of sabotaging his new london restaurants on opening weekend. he blames haters for booking 100 tables left unoccupied on his big night. the chef didn't name the culprit but says he'll now reconfirm every reservation and make sure it's real. >> that's awful! >> that's terrible. >> it is. >> now, let's do a follow-up -- >> shady, super shady. >>ay, the interception that took the internet by storm. you may have seen this video from new orleans, when the

saints fan snatched the souvenir football away from a fan of the visiting cincinnati bengals. twitter blew up with negative comments, saying the saints fan wasn't so saintly. now we're hearing from the two people involved. >> i think the pictures make it look ten times worse than it actually was. like, no bruises, didn't even notice me getting, you know, hit in the chin by any means. so, i don't think by any means he had any intentions to hurt me or try to do that. >> christie, i really didn't mean any harm. all i was trying to do was get a football for my grandbaby. i didn't mean to touch you or hurt you in any way. >> see, now we have everything in context. it was just a grandfather trying to get a football for his sgrs. >> a sweet grandpa. >> i think all's well that ends well. >> well, she did end up getting a football, too. >> she did. >> so, you know, everybody wins out in the end. and krista, the lady there seems forgiving. anyway, they all get their 15 minutes of fame here and everybody gets a football. louis, thank you, sir. much appreciate it. i want to get to your twitter responses this morning. we asked you earlier in the show

whether you thought congresswoman tammy duckworth should be able to vote in the democratic leadership elections by proxy because she's eight months pregnant and the doctors say that she should not travel at this time to washington during her pregnancy. our producer, just yin del gineo has some of the best responses. >> margo says "it's embarrassing to even have to think about this question and if it's morally correct. a big yes" in capital letters. then danielle says "i said yes without reading the story or the rules. shame on me. if the rules are no proxy votes and it has never been done, then no." >> yeah, a lot of people have been tweeting with #therealwaronwoman if this happens. >> we also had a viewer who liked your thumb trick. brian says "does that make you tom thumb?" >> it does. tom thumb for the day. parents, you can do this at home. coming up, a look at the stories in the day ahead. "morning joe" moments away. ♪ all this time i was finding

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senator mary landrieu says she has the 60 votes needed to advance a bill authorizing the construction of the controversial keystone pipeline when it comes up for a vote today. we'll be watching that one. an architect will [ music playing ] 6r7b8g9s at the g 20 summit, politicians took a break from saving the world. take a look at these three photos that have never shaken hands before. you put your, you put your hand on red and your left hand on yellow. hold on