good monday morning, everybody. right now on "first look," the shocking details behind the murder of two new york police officers and the war of words that has followed. north korea threatens to blow up america's citadels and accuses of u.s. of being deeply involved in sony's "the interview." gas prices, they drop another quarter ahead of 98 million americans hitting the road for the holidays. plus, a texas landmark bites the dust. a nasty scare for lindsey vonn during the super "g" and might be this season's funniest "saturday night live." good morning and thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. here in new york city, two families are in mourning and police officers are taking extra precautions to protect their lives. this 48 hours since the

ambush-style shootings of two of their own. the cover of the "daily news," "we weep as one." new yorkers of all backgrounds gathered at the crime scene for a vigil. hours before the police chief described this chilling encounter the shooter had with two strangers just momented before he carried out his attack. >> he begins the conversation with them. they start speaking. and he asked them three things. he asked them for their gang affiliation. he asked them to follow him on instagram, and then he says "watch what i'm going to do." >> nbc's stephanie gosk has more. >> reporter: investigators now believe 28-year-old suspectish mail brinsley was motivated in part by rage towards the police. looking at instagram messages they say were likely posted by him in the hours before the shooting. a photo of a silver gun and references to the deaths of both eric garner and michael brown. they take one of ours, let's take two of theirs.

one hashtag read reads #shootthepolice. he killed himself after being chased by police and had at least 15 prior arrests including a felony charge for weapons possession. police say 40-year-old officer rafael ramos and 32-year-old officer lui didn't even see him coming. >> they were quite simply assassinated. targeted for their uniform. >> reporter: ramos's 13-year-old son posted a message to his father on facebook. "everyone says they hate cops, but they are the people that they call for help. i will always love you." the head of the police officers union in new york blamed protesters and weeks of demonstrations against heavy-handed police tactics. >> there's blood on many hands tonight. those that incited violence on the street under the guise of protests. >> reporter: the union also holds new york mayor bill de blasio responsible. officers your honor itted their

backs to him saturday night when he visited the families of the officers killed. in a statement a spokesman said "it's unfortunate that in a time of great tragedy, some would resort to irresponsible, overheated rhetoric." former new york mayor rudy jewel ye jew giuliani laid part of the blame at the feet of president obama. eric adams is a former nypd officer. >> it's time for us to ensure the safety of the public and the police, and we do that by toning down our conversation. >> reporter: adams supports police reform but is asking that the protests stop until both officers are buried. while eric garner's family is making a plea to their supporters. >> we want you to not use eric garner's name for violence because we are not about that. these two police officers lost their lives senselessly. >> reporter: that is a sentiment at least most people in this

city can agree on. >> and that was nbc's stiffepha gosk reporting. support for the fallen police officers and the nypd is growing. l.a.'s police chief wore a badge with a black stripe. nick mangold wore an nypd hat before the home game on sunday. giants' head coach tom coughlin wore a black stripe on his shirt and a pin in the shape of a peace sign. and on the basketball court, a moment of silence during the nets home game. well, a war of words could turn into much more if north korea has its way. it is accusing the u.s. government of being, quote, deeply involved in the making of the film "the interview." not only that, but it's threatening action. north korean officials say, quote, the army and people of the dprk are fully ready to stand in confrontation with the u.s. in all war spaces including

cyber warfare space to blow up those citadels. now, those citadels include the white house, the pentagon and the whole u.s. mainland. what north koreans officials call the cesspool of terrorism. but they still deny any involvement in the attack on sony. so what should the u.s. do? nbc's kristin welker has more. >> reporter: in an interview, president obama said his administration will review whether the cyber attack attributed to north korea amounts to state-sponsored terrorism. >> we've got very clear criteria as to what it means for a state to sponsor terrorism. >> reporter: the designation would mean even tougher economic and trade sanctions against north korea. still, president obama was measured in his language. >> no, i don't think it was an act of war. i think it was an act of cyber vandalism that was very costly, very expensive. >> reporter: words that drew sharp criticism from republicans who have consistently argued mr. obama's foreign policy isn't strong enough. >> it's more than vandalism. it's a new form of warfare that

we're involved in, and we need to react and react vigorously. >> reporter: north korea was taken off the terror list back in 2008 by former president george w. bush who was trying to strike a nuclear weapons deal with the country. that deal fell apart, but would a new terror designation matter to a country already steeped in sanctions? >> there already are dozens and dozens of sanctions on them going back to the korean war. the economic impact is not going to be very large, but the political impact could be. >> reporter: meanwhile, president obama continues to hit sony for not reaching out to him before pulling the movie "the interview." >> had they talked to me directly about this decision, i might have called the movie theater chains and distributors and asked them what the story was. >> reporter: on "meet the press," david boies, sony's lawyer, fired back. >> in the three weeks where sony fought this issue by itself, none of the second-guessers who are now out there saying oh, what a terrible thing this is, none of them were standing up to

help sony then. >> reporter: sony says it will release the film, and the president is vowing a proportional response. >> i think we need to be deliberate, look through what the options are, but we absolutely do need to respond, and we cannot -- we have to deter this kind of behavior in the future. >> that was nbc's kristen welker reporting. a memorial was held last night for a florida police officer killed in the line of duty. he was responding to a loud noise complaint when he was shot and killed in tarpon springs. the alleged shooter, marco peria, was reportedly playing loud music in his car when the officer approached him. officials say he fired seven rounds at the officer, then backed over him with his car as he fled the scene. he was wanted on a probation violation and is now in police custody on one count of first-degree murder. let's get down to business with landon doughty. good morning to you. >> betty, good morning. stocks are poised to build on last week's rally. today the dow and nasdaq rising

more than 2% thanks to the fed's decision to be patient about raising interest rates. look for data on the housing sector today. and unemployment and the consumer later this week. prices at the pump continue lower. the latest industry survey shows the national average at $2.47 a gallon. that's down 25 cents over the past two weeks. the lowest price, $2.06 in tulsa, oklahoma. today is the busiest day of the year for u.p.s. the company expects to deliver 34 million packages. u.p.s. has spent $500,000 to avoid last year's embarrassing and costly disaster when millions of packages weren't delivered on time for christmas. betty, back to you. >> uh-oh, better get delivered on time or someone's going to be upset. thank you, landon. "sunday night football" right here on nbc. seattle and arizona, a blowout in the making. the defending champion seahawks pound the cards 35-6. russell wilson and marshawn lynch led the hawks' offense. that puts the champs at 11-4.

another blowout, this one in big "d." tony romo almost perfect at 18 for 20, throwing for 4 of dallas's 5 touchdown passes. romo even broke troy aikman's team record for passing yards. the cowboys return to the playoffs for the first time since 2009. the steelers are back in the postseason after a three-year drought with a 20-12 win over kansas city. pittsburgh faces cincinnati next week for the afc north title. the lions faced a hungry bears team at soldier field. connects with alshon jeffery on the 20-yard pass to put the bears up. but detroit manages to claw their way back. lions squeak past the bears, 20-14. the falcons' julio down by the school yard jones had seven catches for 107 yards as atlanta eliminates new orleans from the playoffs with a 30-14 win. let's take you now to college football. a former florida supreme court judge cleared florida state

quarterback jameis winston of accusations faced in connection to an alleged sexual assault two years ago. the judge found evidence was, quote, insufficient to satisfy the burden of proof. at skiing's world cup super "g" competition in france, american lindsey vonn who has just returned to the circuit after right knee surgery had a run-in with a gate that took her out of the competition for the day. luckily, though, her knee is okay, and she will be back. that is some good news. well, drivers licenses for dreamers, hallowed ground in texas turned to dust, and an amazing sight of one monkey saving another's life.

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welcome back to "first look." we are looking at a lot of wet weather across the country from the west coast to the east coast. we're looking at mainly showers, though, because temperatures are fairly mild. so today we'll have showers through the midwest and then moving up from the south.

we could even see a few strong thunderstorms down to our south in the gulf states. so here's a look at your monday forecast. temperatures very mild for this time of the year. actually coming in above normal. that will be the trend for the rest of the week. but unfortunately, so will the rain. so showers will continue from the midwest all the way off through i-95. that's a look at your monday forecast. back to you, betty. >> all right. thank you very much. well, some stories making news this morning. later today president obama is expected to announce u.s. attorney sally yates as his pick for deputy attorney general. she currently serves as u.s. attorney for the northern district of georgia and yates is also said to be close friends with outgoing attorney general eric holder. starting today, some 20,000 dreamers can begin applying for driver's licenses in arizona. it's all part of the president's program for young undocumented immigra immigrants. it had been stalled through legal wrangling, but now governor jan brewer is vowing to take the fight back to the supreme court. check this out. texas a&m's kyle field out with

the old. yes, this implosion kicks off a $450 million renovation project that will allow the stadium to hold more fans in its current capacity of 100,000. and you don't want to miss this. an heroic monkey in india. look closely. he is trying to rescue his friend who had just been knocked unconscious while walking on high-tension wires at a train station. for the next 20 minutes as dozens of passengers looked on, amazingly, the monkey was able to revive his buddy. good for him. well, the world-famous empire state building is officially in the holiday spirit. over 15,000 l.e.d. lights were synchronized to christmas music played on local radio stations this weekend. viewers can vote online for the best light theme to be redone on christmas eve. watch the beautiful display every night leading up to santa's arrival. if that doesn't get you in the spirit, i don't know what will. coming up, though,

republican infighting getting juicier by the day. jeb getting more w.-like by the tweet. and alaska senators get the ultimate cold shoulder. "scrambled politics" is next. ♪ you don't need to think about the energy that makes our lives possible. because we do. we're exxonmobil and powering the world responsibly is our job. because boiling an egg... isn't as simple as just boiling an egg. life takes energy. energy lives here.

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will get you to the loading dock. ♪ there should be a truck leaving now. i got it. now jump off the bridge. what? in 3...2...1... are you kidding me? go. right on time. right now, over 20,000 trains are running reliably. we call that predictable. thrillingly predictable. 18 minutes past the hour. as you know, it is christmas week. here is your first look at this morning's dish of "scrambled politics." a war of words between senators rand paul and marco rubio is heating up for the possible 2016

presidential candidates have been voicing their opinions over president obama's efforts to normalize relations with cuba. senator rubio discussed the foreign policy move on sunday, calling senator paul a "cheerleader for the president." >> rand, if he wants to become the chief cheerleader of obama's foreign policy, he certainly has a right to do that. i'm going to continue to oppose the obama foreign policy on cuba because i know it won't lead to freedom and liberty to the cuban people which is my sole interest here. and abc news/"washington post" poll shows hillary clinton's front-runner for 2016 is shrinking. 61% say they choose mrs. clinton, down from last month, 63%. meanwhile, v.p. joe biden is i adistant second with just 14% of the vote. senator elizabeth warren has 13%. one person vouching for senator warren, though, seems to be democratic congressman joseph kennedy iii. in an interview "with "the

boston herald," she said whatever warren wants to do, she's going to excel at. she has been adamant that she's not running for president, and i take her at her word for that. if things change, we'll see." well, we are still waiting to see if jeb bush will make a run for the white house in 2016. but as mother jones points out, he may have more in common than his brother than we knew. turns out the former governor of florida's first twitter follower was karl rove, the architect of his brother's campaigns. also w.'s former deputy chief of staff and currently a fox news analyst. in alaska, thousands jumped into ice-cold water this weekend in an effort to raise money for the state's special olympics. senator lisa murkowski and senator-elect dan selvin also jumped in on the action. they are probably still trying to warm up. 20 minutes past the hour. i'm joined by lynn sweet, wa washington bureau chief for "the chicago sun times."

good morning. >> good morning. >> we want to talk about the subject a lot of people will be discussing this week, former mayor rudy giuliani says the killing of two police officers was the result of anti-police propaganda. and he says even the president bears some responsibility. how is washington reacting to that? >> well, even though president obama's in hawaii on vacation, he issued a statement saying that the killings were outrageous. and this is happening just as he created a task force, police task force, in recent weeks headed by chief charles ramsey of philadelphia. and this is in the wake of ferguson and staten island. and, you know, the reaction that the president had is that he wants his task force to further explore what they could do in the wake of this. the message that somehow anyone is responsible for this other

than the shooter is one that will probably be very polarizing and controversial if it goes much further than this. and i know mayor de blasio seems to be troubled over it, but so far the reaction one is one of outrage. lynch, the obama nominee to replace eric holder as attorney general also issued a statement of outrage. and i thought it was interesting in that it went out nationally. it wasn't just for the press in the new york area, which is usually how a statement for a local prosecutor would be handled. so i think that the -- president obama and holder were supportive of athletes saying "i can't breathe," wearing those t-shirts. so i understand how there is now going to be backlash in the wake of this terrible assassination. >> people are definitely talking about it. there's a lot of harsh rhetoric going around on all ends.

lynn, thank you so much for joining us today. we do appreciate it. coming up, we will go live to the north pole to check on the progress of santa and his elves. plus, a sinister familiar face hijacks "snl" with a surprise appearance. and hear what dr. evil had to say about kim jong-un when we come back. dave, i'm sorry to interrupt... i gotta take a sick day tomorrow. dads don't take sick days, dads take nyquil. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep with a cold, medicine.

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♪ 26 minutes past the hour. on "snl" this weekend, mike myers' dr. evil had some choice words for sony and the hackers that attacked them. >> sony, it's time to get a

trapperkeeper and some loose-leaf because i'm about to take you to school. let's start with you, north korea, you're one of the most evil countries in the world, and your act of war is to kill a movie? it's easy to kill a movie. just move it to january. but back to the hackers. first of all, the name. when you guys were sitting around and pitching it, was one guy, like, i've got an idea. let's call ourselves the guardians of peace, or the gop. hello? way to go, a-holes. there's already a gop. and they're already an evil organization. >> all right. so in case you're not counting, christmas is just three days away. and as we speak, the elves at the north pole are working overtime to make sure everything is ready for the big night. all nine reindeer including one with a certain red nose are fed and ready to go. nbc's bob riddell has the latest from santa's workshop.

>> reporter: good morning to you and merry christmas to you, betty. santa has posted us outside his reindeer pen to make sure that all eight of them stay put. i don't know if you can tell, but these guys are some very rambunctious characters. they're desperate to take off for christmas eve, but they've got to wait. they've got to wait till wednesday night. but you can see they're already wide awake here at this early hour, just anxious to go. the one with the fur is comet. the one with the antlers, that's -- you've got prancer, dancer, vixen and cupid. and the other three are in the back, and we understand that rudolph is further north doing some test flights, making sure that santa's going to have an easy time come christmas eve. now, this season hasn't always been easy for santa. he's actually been facing a new hurdle this year, hackers. and when he gave us an exclusive

inside look into his cyber command center where he's got his cyber sleuth top guy on the job. and you can see he's prepared -- >> that can be tough for santa. i hope he gets it together in time. and that's going to do it for us. "way too early" starts right now. two of new york's finest were shot and killed with no warning, no provocation. they were quite simply assassinated. >> two nypd officers murdered in cold blood by an out-of-town shooter with a lengthy rap sheet. the shooter takes his own life but leaves behind a wealth of clues for his cop-killing rampage via social media. plus the insider reaction. new york city cops literally turning their backs on the mayor. the very icy relationship between bill de blasio and the nypd that has gotten a whole lot worse. and then on a much, much

lighter note, "snl" taking on the sony hack with a cameo by none other than dr. evil, giving the comedic smackdown to both north korea and sony pictures. this is "way too early." hey everybody, good morning. i'm thomas roberts. it is monday, december 22nd. welcome to "way too early," the show that has january fever. apparently i'm the only one. everybody else is still living it up here in december. anyway, it is the final couple of days before christmas, and boy, do we have a lot of heavy news to get to this morning. we begin here in new york city where a city and a nation is grieving the murder of two police officers gunned down, and then the gunman taking his own life. today's "daily news" headline sums it up, the somber mood in the city, "we weep as one." officers lui and rafael ramos