good tuesday morning everyone. on first look, shocking details about the number of police officers ambushed in the line of duty as tensions temporarily calm while two new york officers are mourned. >> pope francis blasts the vatican for lusting after power in what he calls the terrorism. >> potential travel troubles ahead for americans hitting the road. good morning and thank you for joining us. here in new york city politics and rhetoric are being put on hold as the families of two slain police officers prepare to lay them to rest and for the first time since her husband's ambush-style shooting yesterday this tearful message from his

widow. >> we would also like to express our condolence to the officer and his family. this is a difficult time for both of our families. but we will stand together and get through this together. thank you. >> we are also hearing from the sister of the gunman. >> he was an emotionally troubled young man he was suicidal. if you have emotional issues and you're constantly going in and out of jail, you know, prison and clearly something's wrong he should have been offered help in the system. >> but he wasn't. >> but he wasn't. >> meanwhile mayor de blasio is asking antipolice propossess tos to stop demonstrations until after the officers funerals and the unions will hold off making

political statements about the shooting. the tension will not keep police officers from doing their jobs. >> i'm extremely optimistic because throughout my law enforcement career i have seen and witnessed moments like this and we feel as though we're not going to get past it but in reality we do. that's great. that's why they're called new york city's finest. we're going to answer the radio calls and respond regardless of the political atmosphere. >> pete williams shows us how they're trying to prevent copy cat incidents. >> police in pittsburgh have been told to patrol in pairs, extra eyes to watch for threats. >> the falmilies of officers throughout the city are upset, they're nervous, they're fearful for the safety of their loved ones. >> much the same warning to double up in newark and reading

pennsylvania. washington d.c. police got this message to stay vigilant and be constantly aware of surroundings. a similar message for police in boston. in northern virginia today police academy graduates said the new york shootings are on their minds. >> it makes me worry but we're all here to do a job. >> you're always scared. it's natural to be scared. it's just what you do when you are scared. >> over the past decade the number of police officers shot and killed on duty averaged 54 a year including the most recent deaths this year's number is below that, 49. but at the national law enforcement officers memorial in washington craig floyd cites a disturbing trend. the number of ambush killings is 12 so far this year, three times the average. >> there's a lot of antigovernment anticop sentiment right now. who is the most visible and vulnerable symbol of government in this country? the law enforcement officer

walking the streets of america. they said the officers wourld wear black on their badges, a symmetry beauty in king county washington. in pittsburgh police are asking residents to put a blue light in the window to send a message. >> although it may seem like the community is against the police there's so many people that love our officers. >> that was nbc's pete williams reporting. nbc also learned officer ramos was scheduled to volunteer from a chaplain training program hours after he was killed. christmas just two days away tis the season for frenzied travel. santa may be good at avoiding weather patterns but most of us are not so lucky. americans are in the path of a huge weather system. if you're traveling out of atlanta or chicago today good luck to you. cloud cover could slow things up in other major airports in the northeast. as for christmas eve every major

hub city in the east could be effected by wind and heavy rain but if you are one of the 1 is.1 million people hitting the roads we have good news for you. unleaded gas averages $2.36 a gallon. as we head into the holidays pope francis is issuing some pretty sering critiques aimed at his own church officials and the lust for power. he denounced what he called spiritual alzheimer's saying his higher ups are forgetting their true purpose. he also discussed what he calls the terrorism of gossip and criticized clicks within the catholic church. a baggage handler is facing charges for smuggling guns into new york. he repeatedly brought guns into the hartsfield jackson airport

in atlanta. then passed them off to someone to get them to new york. when he was arrested he had 18 guns on them. delta airlines is working with authorities in this investigation. after being shutdown for hours a couple of key north corr reeb websites are back online this morning. the country typically has severely limited access to the yesterday but for much of yesterday it had none. it's still unclear whether it was an intentional attack or router melt down. tracie potts is live in washington. so this internet black out comes a week after the fbi accused north korea of the hack attack at sony. >> and a few days after president obama said the u.s. government would respond. we don't know if it was something technical which often does happen in north korea to bring down their internet services. the state department is not confirming or denying that the u.s. was involved.

>> internet which is always sketchy in north korea was down more than 9 hours monday. was it the u.s. making good on a promise to deal with whoever hacked sony pictures? the state department won't say. >> some will be seen and some may not be seen. >> the u.s. believes north korea was behind the sony attack. they deny it but say they are targeting the white house and pentagon. the u.s. said there's no credible information about that. meantime one washington lawmaker is inviting sony to screen it's movie the interview at the u.s. capitol. >> we're not going to be deprived of seeing what's a good or a bad movie because of threats from north korea. >> samantha powers cited the sony attack and a long list of human rights abuses. >> silence will not make the north korean government end it's

abuses or make the international community safer. >> she's urging the united neighs to refer north korea to the international criminal court. >> this morning china is saying any suggestion that they were involved in the sony attack is irresponsible betty. >> tracy thank you for that. also this news to tell you about. anyone that's seen joe cocker performs knows he digs into his music. well he was a product of the british working class. a local favorite in clubs that grew into a soulful legend. on monday we learned he lost his battle with lung cancer at the age of 70. kate snow has a look back. ♪ >> the song we'll all remember most was a beatles cover atwood stock infused with that iconic voice and the way he moved those would become his trademarks.

easy to spoof on saturday night live. >> he was a good sport joining him on set in '76. by the 80s a new generation would know him for the grammy winning anthem in an officer and a gentlemen. ♪ and the song behind a steamy scene in the movie nine and a half weeks. his career was so much more than any one song. >> thank god god gave me a voice. it's one of the simplest instruments around really. >> inspired he often said by ray charles. >> he has taken some of the things that he's heard from me and put himself into it. ♪ >> just last year his final tour in europe before going home to rural colorado. paul mccartney said he would be before grateful for joe cocker

for turning a beatle's hit into a soul anthem. an unforgettable performer whose music lives on. kate snow new york. >> so many great songs. let's get down to business. good morning to you. >> good morning to you. the dow was aiming at 18,000 today after the index closed at a new record high on monday. investors overlooking a big plungein oil prices and steep drop in home sales last month. natural gas prices are slowing to the lowest level in two years due to mild weather across the country and more good news for consumers already enjoying the benefit of a 30% drop in gasoline prices. half of u.s. homes news natural gas for heating. google is showing off the fully functional prototype of its deliverless car. google hopes to begin road tests

in california next year. betty back to you. >> that's pretty cool. all right. thank you. monday night football bengals, broncos, peyton manning rallied the broncos to three touchdowns and a lead in the third quarter but ended with a season high of four interceptions including a pick six in the fourth quarter. bengals win it 37-28 and clench a playoff birth. >> the miami beach bowl was a high scoring thriller. memphis wins 55-48 in double overtime. getting their first ten win season since 1938. congrats to them. then a massive fight breaks out. several punches are thrown. blood was drawn. all of that before refs and coaching staff could separate the players. that's not how you want to see it end. college hoops, unranked temple upsets kansas putting an end to the 8-game winning streak.

the final peri77-52. he collapsed on the court. after about 15 minutes he left on a stretcher and was taken to the hospital. he appeared conscious but the cause of the collapse is still unknown. >> an nfl domestic violence is the ap sports story of the year. second the banning of donald sterling followed by lebron james coming home, jason collins becoming the first openly gay athlete and the giants winning the world series. also here's a reminder for you. today is the last day you can get express shipping from ups, fed ex and the post office ensuring that your gifts are guaranteed to get there by christmas. get them in the mail. and a rare siting in arizona this time of the year. a black bare remains on the loose around phoenix. the bear dodged traps. not to fear it's not believed to be a public safety threat. we'll be right back.

dad,thank you mom for said this oftprotecting my future.you. thank you for being my hero and my dad. military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa auto insurance could be one of them. if you're a current or former military member or their family, get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life.

good morning and welcome back to first look. we're talking storms once again setting up from the midwest all the way down to the gulf coast states and we do have a slight risk of severe weather that will extend from new orleans all the way -- all the way over to the western panhandle. so this afternoon we could see some strong thunderstorms start to break out right around early to mid afternoon. here's a look at tuesday's weather. it's wet up and down the east coast. severe storms stay to the south. snow stays out through the middle part of the country. kansas city looking at a little bit of snow as well as minneapolis, chicago it's a rain-snow mix but that season will lead to very heavy rain and very mild temperatures for the east coast tomorrow. that's the latest look at your tuesday weather. betty. >> break out the umbrellas. thank you. well, just last month he was easily reelected to congress. now though emotions battled republican congressman is about to plaed guilty to one count of

tax fraud. he'll appear in federal court in new york later today. in april he was indicted on 20 charges stemming from a federal investigation of a restaurant he once owned. >> the man that opened fire on a texas meteorologist in the parking lot of nbc's waco aphiladelphia yacht wednesday remains on the run this morning. the meteorologist is still recovering from gunshot wounds but he's speaking out about his near fatal encounter with the shooter. >> the man that shot me didn't say many words to me. there was no interaction whatsoever. he just started shooting at me as i was leaving the parking lot. i didn't know him. hopefully the description that i gave the texas rangers and the police, hopefully that description is going to help to bring this person to justice for what he did and the crime that he committed. >> and check out this video making the rounds showing the late robin williams working with costars of night at the museum. why was he doing this?

to get sky letter a date for his high school prom. >> he's a nice jewish boy. >> you're a nice jewish girl. >> we don't sound too much like that. >> no? >> no, but yeah appreciate the effort though. >> thank you. >> yeah. >> look at this. >> he's a good kid. good kisser. >> great kisser. >> i don't know that personally. >> i've heard. >> i've seen. >> seen? >> just, you know -- just, you know, that time you and the monkey. >> well, hopefully the man worked. a powerful opinion maker is pushing for president obama to prosecute dick cheney. plus artificial insemination in havana? scrambled politics is next. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ]

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[ 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.® welcome back. 21 minutes past the hour. the new york times editorial board wants the president to launch a criminal investigation into the cias use of torture. they're demanding a probe into former bush officials. >> a new antigun ad is sparking a lot of debate online. the san francisco based production company created the ad and features a young boy bringing a gun out of his parents room and bringing it to school. he gives it to a teacher saying he doesn't feel safe at home. critics point out a gun should never be brought to school. >> from the l.a. times newly freed cuban spy's wife pregnant

with a little help from u.s. he was in a california prison after being captured 16 years ago. he was released as part of a prisoner swap and now he and his wife are expecting a baby in two weeks. he was allowed to artificially inseminate his wife as a good will gesture between washington and havana. >> yesterday he went bowling with a couple of friends. the white house will not divulge the president's score but we're hoping his bowling game has improved since the famous incident in 2008 the president scored a mere 37 points and of course at the time he said he hadn't bowled since he was 16 which is about the score at that time. so christmas came early for lawmakers in bolivia. the congressman traded in his suit and tie for a santa suit. he handed out gifts for his fellow lawmakers.

he's been dressing up like st. nick every year since 2003. getting you in the spirit of the holidaysful right now i'm joined by the political analyst not in a santa outfit but in boston this morning. >> did you say the president bowled a 37. >> even i can beat that. that's terrible. >> i know. he hadn't bowled since he was 16. yeah, likely. so let's start with this push by the new york times. it's getting a lot of play. the editorial board is urging the president to prosecute former vice president and others for the torture of terrorism suspects. is this something the president should consider? >> it's tempting. torture is against the law and violates four or five different treaties we signed over the year and if you look at that senate intelligence committee report some of the things that were done in our name do sound awfully like torture to most

americans. heres the problem though. if you want dick cheney to become a sympathetic figure just begin a process of actually prosecuting these former figures and you may find that a lot of americans actually rally around them so i say investigate but maybe we should be slow on the prosecution. >> i see. i want to switch gears and talk about cuba for a minute. it said monday it has a right to grant asylum to u.s. fugitives. this is a clear sign it won't extradite america's most wanted woman? >> well, we can hope and there actually are good signs coming out of cuba. very difficult to get into the head of raul castro. things are thawing. both sides are making nice gestures and i'm pretty optimistic about cuba right now. >> we'll see how this one plays

out. thank you very much. just ahead guess what today is. here's a hint. it's the most popular holiday made famous by a sitcom. we'll be back with the answer. oi forget my keys... it's just that... i feel like he's always watching us. yes, that is why we should use wink. ...look, it can monitor and manage our house but it won't start to develop human emotions. hey buddy. control your entire home with one simple app introducing wink it's like a robot butler, but not as awkward. into one you'll never forget.

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it is 28 minutes past the hour and we want you to get out your festivus poles. the holiday made popular by seinfeld is an alternative to christmas. >> it begin with the airing of grievances. i got a lot of problem with you people. now you're going to hear about it. >> can you imagine if we all aired our grievances.

it would be a long day. the holiday ends with the feat of strength. this is your first look on msnbc. way too early with thomas roberts is about to start. you don't want to miss it. take care. have a good one. take a moment when you see a police officer to thank them and console them. it is personal for them. take a moment to console them as you would one of the members of the families of officer ramos. >> a personal plea. new york city mayor calling for a stop in protests and politics until funerals have been held for two fallen nypd officers. what's his plan to repair a wounded city? >> it feels like a movie script for sure. north korea's internet outage.

was it a u.s. attack in response to the sony pictures hacking? a lot of questions today. and then on a different note we remember the legend that is joe cocker. the rocker passing away leaving us memories of a five decade career. this is "way too early." ♪ hi everybody. hi. good morning i'm thomas roberts. it's tuesday december 23rd. welcome to way too early. the show that will always attach that voice to the wonder years. remember that great show? everybody was tweeted about joe cocker yesterday. a big loss and a voice that we'll all remember. we all have an attachment too. we'll talk about his life in music. we begin in new york city as there appears to be a truce in the raging be