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 shot point blank in the head in

their police car saturday in brooklyn simply because they were members of law enforcement. >> today two of new york's finest were shot and killed with no warning, no provocation. they were quite simply assassinated. targeted for their uniform and for the responsibility they embraced to keep the people of this city safe. >> so police say the gunman, 28-year-old ismaaiyl brinsley was already on the run. he had a long history of run-ins with the law. 19 arrests in georgia and ohio as well as family disputes and a suicide attempt. police believe instagram postings just like this one hours before the shooting revealed his plans, a silver gun, references to eric garner and michael brown and a hashtag that reads #shootthepolice. just moments before he ambushed those officers, witnesses say he said, quote, "watch what i'm going to do."

the "new york post" reports the two con edison workers con fronted him as he tried to escape, but they backed down when he threatened them. however, their bravery helped police to track him down. the nypd is now taking added precautions in the wake of these shootings including officers only working in pairs and suspending patrols by auxiliary officers. and the murder of two officers has not done anything to repair the fractured relationship between city police officers and mayor de blasio. take a look. this video showing officers turning their backs to the mayor as he entered the hospital after both officers were pronounced dead. the head of the police union has frequently criticized de blasio for his response to protests against police in new york city. and for saying that minorities are justified to not trust law enforcement. the president of the pba used some very strong language to say that the mayor was at least partly responsible for the officers' murders. >> there's blood on many hands

tonight, those that incited violence on the street under the guise of protests that tried to tear down what new york city police officers did every day, we tried to warn, it must not go on, it cannot be tolerated. that blood on the hands starts on the steps of city hall in the office of the mayor. >> in response, a spokesman for mayor de blasio said in part, quote, it's unfortunate that in a time of great tragedy, some would resort to irresponsible, overheated rhetoric that angers and divides people. and former police commissioner ray kelly is also speaking out on the relationship between police officers and the current mayor. >> i think when the mayor made statements about he had to train his son to be -- his son, who is biracial, to be careful when dealing with the police, i think that set off this latest

firestorm, and quite frankly, the mayor ran an anti-police campaign last year when he ran for mayor. there's a bit of a residue. >> stop and frisk, is that what you think was anti-police? >> i think, yes, a lot of rhetoric at the time when the police had a 70% approval rating. obviously that's not the case now during the de blasio administration. >> the two murdered officers both leave behind families who will now be mourning an unthinkable loss and certainly added to the heavy burden considering this is the holidays. officer lui was just married two months ago and was his parents' only child. officer ramos was described as a religious husband, the father of two. ramos's 13-year-old son wrote a very touching tribute on facebook to his dad who turned 40 just less than two weeks ago. his son wrote in part, quote, this is the worst day of my life. today i had to say bye to my father. he was there for me every day of my life. he was the best father i could ask for. it's horrible that someone gets shot dead just for being a police officer.

everyone says they hate cops, but they are the people that they call for help. i will always love you and i will never forget you. rest in peace, dad. governor andrew cuomo also paid tribute to officer ramos after visiting with his family. >> his son said to me, you know, why? why? why my dad? why is my dad gone? what did my dad do wrong? and the truth is, his father did nothing wrong. his father did everything right. his father was a beautiful public servant, and he protected me and my family and you and your family. and we have to remember that this holiday season. and let's show the police officers the support they deserve. >> wow, can you try to imagine answering that 13-year-old boy's questioning about "why my dad?" meanwhile, the yankees silver shield foundation announced it's going to pay for the education expenses of officer ramos's two children. well, now to another disturbing story of a police

officer killed on duty over the weekend. this one in florida. tarpon springs officer a father of five and a former nypd officer himself was killed after responding to a noise complaint early sunday morning in the town north of tampa bay. the noise was coming from the car of the alleged shooter, 23-year-old marco antonio perreia wanted on a probation violation. when he saw the officer approaching him, he opened fire, striking the officer in the neck before running him over with his car as he fled the scene. perreia was apprehended a short time later on suspicion of first-degree murder. we now want to bring you the very latest on that massive sony data breach which the u.s. says officially blamed on north korea. president obama says his administration reviewing if north korea should be placed back on the list of states sponsoring terrorism. but he also used measured language when asked if the hacking should be considered an act of war. >> 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. we take it very seriously. we will respond proportionally, as i said, but, you know, we're going to be in an environment in this new world where so much is digitalized that both state and nonstate actors are going to have the capacity to disrupt our lives in all sorts of ways. we have to do a much better job of guarding against that. >> and "the new york times" reports the u.s. is now asking china to help stop north korea's ability to launch cyber attacks. while north korea still denies involvement in the hacking, it says the u.s. government had direct involvement with the making of the film "the interview" and threatened to, quote, blow up the white house and pentagon if there is any confrontation. meanwhile, david boies, the high-profile attorney hired by sony, insists the company will eventually release the film "the interview." >> you can't release a movie unless you have a distribution channel.

the theaters were subject to threats of physical violence against the theaters and against their customers. and quite understandably, a large number of them, a majority of them, decided no the to show the picture when it was scheduled. sony only delayed this. sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed. it will be distributed. how it's going to be distributed, i don't think anybody knows quite yet. but it's going to be distributed. >> but three theater industry execs tell "variety" that they are outraged and feel sony is trying to make theater owners the scapegoats for pulling the movie. and according to "the hollywood reporter," sony has hired judy smith, the inspiration for kerry washington's character on the show "scandal," she's the one that inspired olivia pope, the character, to help with the crisis management issue. well, fallout continues over president obama's move to restore relations with cuba, most notably between two potential republican presidential contenders. senators marco rubio and rand

paul have been going back and forth after paul said lifting the embargo was a good idea. senator rubio hit back saying his colleague, quote, has no idea what he's talking about. and here's how it all played out from there. >> i never start a fight, but i'm happy to finish a fight, you know. i think the remarks were a little bit rude and intemperate. >> 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/paul foreign policy on cuba because i know it won't lead to freedom and liberty for the cuban people which is my sole interest here. >> paul tweeted, quote, senator rubio is acting like an isolationist who wants to retreat to our borders and perhaps build a moat. they're not the only possible contenders weighing in. governor christie fired off a letter to president obama to voice his, quote, profound disagreement. he also called on the president to demand cuba return a woman who fled to the country after

being convicted in the 1973 death of a new jersey state trooper. christie writes, quote, i'm very disappointed that returning a convicted killer of a police officer was not already demanded and accomplished in the context of the steps you announced regarding this dictatorship. okay, we shift gears and put our attention to business news right now with a very strong finish last week for wall street and with the markets closing in the green on friday, look at that, posting the second best weekly finish for the s&p in almost two years. we look to see what's going to happen this christmas week. cnbc's geoff cutmore joins us live from london. geoff, what can we expect? will the trend continue as we get into the holiday week? obviously, we have days off with the market closing. >> absolutely. absolutely. it does seem as though the momentum is back with the bulls here. so we are expecting a slightly positive open to the markets. a couple of things just to point out to you. obviously it is a short week, so we'll only get a few trading sessions here to lift these indices. and the other one is we are

expecting final third quarter gdp. that will just be a print-out, really, of where we are in the growth number. so as long as there are no real surprises there, it doesn't look like there's anything on the horizon short term to destabilize this better tone to the markets. one thing, though, just keep your eye on the oil price because it hasn't all been good news as far as the markets are concerned as the oil prices fall. and the volatility has upset people. but it is just worth bearing in mind for all of us who are out there driving on the highways, it has been a definitely good-news story. and the lundberg survey says that we've seen at least 25 cents coming off the average fuel price over the last two weeks. that means we're now 5 1/2-year lows. and if you look around the country, i just wanted to get you some comparisons here. long island has the highest prices at $2.82 a gallon. if you want the lowest, you've got to go to tulsa. tulsa you'll get your gas for

$2.06 a gallon. back to you. >> wow! $2.06, that's really a good deal. as we look at this low number, let's talk about what consumer reports is putting out. they are saying they know what the best valued car is. what do they say? >> yeah, it's the toyota camry hybrid. i mean, even they admit that it's not exactly an exciting drive. and it comes in at quite a hefty sticker price. $29,000. but it's the operating costs and the reliability and the resale value that make this their top pick. so toyota camry hybrid. just worth pointing out, in the top ten, there are some u.s. cars. the buick regal, the chevrolet impala, and the chevrolet traverse make it into the top ten. the rest are pretty much all japanese. back to you. >> good to know. okay. the camry hybrid holding on to its sticker driver after you drive it off the lot at $29,000. great to see you, sir.

thank you. florida state seminoles quarterback jameis winston has been cleared of violating the school's student code of conduct after a hearing regarding a 2012 accusation of sexual assault. on sunday winston's lawyer posted a twitter part of the decision of the former judge who conducted this hearing. now, he wrote in part, in sum, the preponderance of the evidence is not shown that you are responsible for any of the charged violations of the code. winston was never arrested in the alleged 2012 assault but faced a code of conduct violation as the result of the accusation. given the time frame of an appeal process, the decision clears the way for the reigning national champion and heisman trophy winner to stay on the field for the remainder of the season. now, the seminoles will play oregon in the college football playoff semifinals coming up on new year's day. still ahead on "way too early," the seahawks make it look pretty easy against the cardinals in sunday night football. your playoff picture ahead in sports. plus, good news, winter has arrived, and that means the days are getting longer. but, will you be able to make it home for christmas?

yeah, the ugly kind of christmassy forecast coming your way. we've got that as "way too early" continues for a monday morning. stick around. ♪ love your curves and all your edges ♪ ♪ all your perfect imperfections ♪ [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. [ m'm... ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.® if every u.s. household with here's aa computerfor you:est.

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touchdown, packers! >> bell already has one rushing touchdown. roethlisberger brings it down. now throws, touchdown! >> second and goal. lunges into the end zone. touchdown, patriots! >> manning, the long ball to beckham, and that's all she wrote for a touchdown. >> look at that. yeah, the new york giants win that one. those are just some of the highlights from yesterday. i want to go to arizona for the cardinals hosting the seahawks. seattle showing off its powerhouse offense, racking up 596 yards in this game. we have the quarterback, russell wilson, throwing a pair of touchdowns and ran one in himself. running back marshawn lynch in full beast mode adding a pair of rushing touchdowns including this big 79-yard run in the fourth quarter. yeah, look at that. look, look, look. the seahawks move into a tie with arizona atop the nfc west after a 35-6 victory.

okay, so off to dallas and the cowboys hosting the colts. the dallas qb tony romo tossing four touchdown passes in this game. running back demarco murray playing with a broken hand scoring a one-yard run. and then the cowboys right here clinching the nfc east after a 40-7 win over the colts. to oakland, the bills trying to keep their playoff hopes alive while visiting the raiders. with a pair of touchdown passes from the quarterback derek carr and four field goals. well, that would help oakland play spoiler. they win it 26-24. there you have it. let's get a check on your weather with domenica davis. it's going to be messy for some of us trying to travel and get around this week. >> pretty much what we saw on thanksgiving with that travel day, that's what we're going to see on christmas eve. we're talking a lot of rain but very mild temperatures. actually unusually mild temperatures for this time of the year. here's a look at the satellite

here. we have storms happening on both coasts. so a lot of rain throughout the country. and the majority of it is rain because temperatures are above average in most locations. here's a look at the satellite and radar for the east coast. rain starting to push up. so by afternoon, washington up through philly, new york and even boston, you're going to get in on some light showers today. that will be the case for tomorrow as well. the brunt of this storm really does come from the midwest to the i-95 corridor on christmas eve. we are talking wind-driven rain. a lot of it. but, thomas, temperatures in a lot of places are going to be close to 60 degrees along the east coast. so a very mild christmas eve. >> all right. so we should be grateful that it's not snowy and too messy. the rain we can deal with, right? >> yeah, way to stay positive. >> that's right. it's a monday. we're trying our best. thanks so much. coming up on "morning joe," more on the deaths of those two new york city police officers. and on the shooting suspect who traveled in from baltimore, the

motives, and also all the evidence being laid out via social media. it's very disturbing. we'll hear from former nypd commissioner ray kelly on the shifting views new yorkers have on the police force. don't go anywhere. much more "with a too early" when we come right back here for a monday morning. stick around.

hello, i'm dr. evil. i've preempted this program because i'm furious that north korea and sony pictures have both given evil organizations a bad name. i mean, what the "f," people? it's just so pathetic to see you two fight over a silly comedy. it's like watching two bald men fight over a comb. who cares? sony, north korea, it's time to get a trapper keeper 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. come on, sony. you thought it was a joke to have james franco assassinate

kim jong-un? the man single-handedly almost killed the oscars. think! think! >> i have to say, this made me really happy, and we don't stay up to watch "saturday night live." we watch it sunday morning with coffee because we're old. but it made me really happy to see mike myers making this cameo, and "snl" had a really good night. amy adams was the host. but mike myers making a cameo and bringing back dr. evil with the takedown of both sony and north korea. i want to bring you a check on the morning's other headlines for you and the new polling out there suggesting that hillary clinton is still the clear front-runner for the democratic nomination in 2016. but her support may be slipping. in a new abc news/"washington post poll, 61% of likely democratic voters said they would vote for clinton in a primary. that gives her a commanding lead over joe biden and senator elizabeth warren, but clinton's support has been on the decline since the beginning of the year. in that same poll, she's down from 73% in january to where she

is now. warren, on the other hand, has been slowly on the rise, up from 7% to 13% since june. nearly a dozen people were injured after a lightning strike in the stadium parking lot of the tampa bay buccaneers. and officials say this lightning struck the suv right there after sunday's game against the packers. no one was directly hit, but witnesses say it was strong enough and close enough to knock some people to the ground. seven people were taken to the hospital and listed in stable condition. at least four others were treated on the scene. all right. so if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends that florida is considered by meteorologists to be the lightning capital of the united states. so over the past 60 years, the sunshine state has experienced more than twice the number of lightning strike fatalities than any other state. and there you have it. that's going to do it for a monday edition of "way too early." stick around, though. "morning joe" is just moments away.

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two of new york's finest were shot and killed with no warning shot and killed with no warning, no provocation. they were quite simply assassinated. >> his son said to me, you know, why? why? why my dad? why is my dad gone? what did my dad do wrong? and the truth is, his father did nothing wrong. his father did everything right. his father was a beautiful public servant and he protected me and my family and you and your family. and we have to remember that this holiday season and let's show the police officers the support they deserve. new york city and the nation are grieving the loss of two police officers who were shot dead on saturday before the gunman took his own life. today's "daily news" headle