good morning. breaking overnight it is news that the families of the passengers on board air asia flight 8501 did not want to hear. indonesia officials say they are 95% pieces of debris and bodies floating in the sea are from the missing airbus. as night begins to fall, a separate desperate attempt to recover them. rescuers recovered three bodies and located three others. this is in the waters of the island. crews are earlier spotted a life jacket part of the plane, and

other objects. indonesia president is on the way to meet with families. the grim news comes as yous were beginning to wrap up the third day of search and rescue efforts. the u.s. sent the destroyer uss sampleson to assist in the search. indonesia officials agreed to allow families to fly over the area. they tweeted this somber message to the families. joining me now is former corporate pilot anthony roman on the phone. mr. roman, can you tell us what to expect now that night is falling? >> the aircraft have spotlight and other night vision equipment, however, it complicates the search patterns. at this juntture, what they're going to be doing is calculating

the current patterns and speed so they can calculate from the current debris field that has been found where it is likely the main body of the wreckage is. now, based on the preliminary reports of the debris and bbc is reporting that six bodies have been found and three have been recovered, it does not offer any clue just yet as to what may have happened to the aircraft. did it break up in flight? did they lose control? did it enter the aerodynamic stall or lose power to the engines and glide to the ocean? all of that will be answered by locating the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, which after the recovery of the bodies that are

viewed during the search would be a priority. so first, it's search for survivors, then recovery of the bodies, then locate the main debris field and the black boxes. >> and talk about that debris field. because originally it was a smaller area then it went to about the size much california. the weather hasn't been very good over there. how are they about to pinpoint this area for the rescue mission? >> well, it appears that the area in which they found the initial debris is only six linear miles from the point of last contact with the aircraft. we know the aircraft was in an area of severe to extreme weather, and the early indications from the air-traffic control recordings that the pilot attempted to diveeviate from

the flight path and lost contact with them three minutes or so after that request for deviation for the left of their flight plane and to 38,000 feet. >> how will the weather affect the rescue mission if it was a bad night when the plane went down. how will it affect the mission now? >> the weather not only provides the obvious obstacles in terms of wind and rain it also affects the sea state, and in this circumstance the java sea in this particular area is only 100 to 150 feet deep and the wind pattern from the storm, you can get very high gusts gale force gusts that ss and sometimes

hurricane force gusts depending on the level of thunderstorms in the vicinity. this is the monosoonl season in this area of the world, and it's also known as the intertropical convergence zone in which there is generally bad weather more often than not throughout the course of the year. because of the shallow name of the sea and the high gusts that can be encountered during these storm squalls, it does increase the speed and change the direction of the current, so all of that will complicate the search. >> we will be following this as the day goes on. mr. roman, thank you very much for your time. we appreciate your input. thank you for joining us. and now moving on overnight nbc news confirmed michael grimm will resign from congress.

the republican makes that decision following his guilty plea for felony tax invasion. cameras caught him threatening to throw a reporter off a balcony and break him, quote, like a boy for asking questions about campaign finance misconduct allegations. big problems for the third most powerful house republican. in louisiana in 2002 steve gave a speech to a white sprem sis group. it was formed by former ku clux clan. doesn't deny the speech but didn't remember speaking at the event. he said at the time he was making many appearances to oppose global tax plans and when people asked me to speak, i went and spoke to any group that called. i didn't know who all of these groups were and i detest any kind of hate group for anyone to

suggest i was involved with a group like that it is insulted and ludicrous. so far some bayou politicians are sticks by him including louisiana governor bobby jindal. but democrats demanding more answers. and a scary scene in phoenix after an suv plunged into a canal. the suv was left flipped and submerge submerged. inside a man scared and trapped. after a few tense moments relief. firefighters pulled the driver okay. he was cold and shaken but okay. this is 44 seconds of pure fear. new video of a tornado that shredded mississippi last week. >> woo hoo! >> this video was shot on a phone by will boosman who was working at the auto parts store. in seconds it goes black then

this. the sky appears as the ef 3 twister hit. half a dozen tornados struck that day. five people were killed as homes were just levelled. and let's get down to business with cnbc. good morning. >> good morning. the minimum wage is going up in 21 state os on new year's day. another 2 million people will benefit from automatic cost of living adjustments. 29 states with 60% of the u.s. work forces will have minimum wages above the $7.25 an hour. apple had merry christmas. the company accounted for more than half of all smartphone and tablet activations last week. december is one of apple's biggest periods as they

traditional release new phones in december. the the burger joint has 63 locations filed for an ipo. restaurant deals have been hot in 2014 like zoe's kitchen. they had strong trading debut this year. >> thank you very much. it's time to sports. my friend francis. good morning. >> hi, good morning. lots to bring you including this caught on camera during the second quarter of the liberty bowl. texas a&m scorch is seen shown hitting two different west virginia players while out of bounds. the head coach told richardson to stay in the locker room before being sent home. the aggies came out with a win 45-37. after parting ways with the 49ers jim harbough agreed to return to michigan to coach. you can expect an announcement today. black monday has come and gone. the jets dismissed rex ryan along with gm john izdick.

and the falcons released mike smith after seven seasons coming off a 34-3 blowout loss against the panthers. and the bears firing the coach and gm. patriots quarterback restructured his contract to free up $34 million. brady is slated to make $7 million in 2015. lions defensive tackle suh is suspended one game for stepping on packers quarterback aaron rogers left leg twice. he will miss sunday's playoff game against dallas. he has time to appeal that suspension. mononay davis is selected as ap's athlete pitcher of the

year. lauren hill and three time winner sabrina williams. >> we'll go with that. she's a great player. and directly ahead more breaking details on the sad news surrounding air asia flight 8501. as officials are 95% certain they found bodies ofy sies and debris aboard the airbus.

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welcome back to "first look." more coverage, of course on the debris found on the air asia flight. let me give you an update. we are looking at the cold outbreak across the country as advertised. windchill warnings in many spots. windchill warnings out there. 15 different states with warnings or advisories and the windchills as low as 10 in al bee kwir key. zero in chicago. not a lot of snow. a little bit across kansas.

driving on interstate 70 or 35 north of wichita. it's colder in new england today. bundle up. in the northwest not too bad. just chilly. the northern plains is where we see the cold. it will continue into new year's day there. not a lot of problems with travel for new year's eve or day. that's good news. thank you very much. and now we continue to cover breaking news on the indonesia plane. officials are 95% certain the bodies are from the missing 8501 airbus airbus. rescuers located three bodies and located three others. officials say crews had earlier spot the a life jacket, part of the plane, and other objects. the indonesia president is on the way to meet with families at the cryisis center.

indonesia officials agreed to allow families of those on board to fly over the search area as early as tomorrow. but now they are learning that tragic feat of the loved ones. and new developments on the greek ferry fire just hours after shuttleing the last of the people from the burning ferry. word of new casualties. the associated press is reporting one al bane began sailor is dead about another injured after trying to secure the bodeat. they were hit by a rope. ten people were dead and many more could be missing. survivoring passengering are telling authorities that fire alarms never went off. how do you measure up to russia's putin? a big push resignation? and america's most admired living people?

first look at scrambled politics. later today perhaps an attempt to close a riff between himself and police new york city mayor will hold a closed door meeting with five police unions. bold words from bernie sanders. the vermont independent calls income and wealth inequity quote, the great moral and economic political issue of our time. the disparity is a disgrace to everything this country is supposed to stand for. jeb bush resigned from another corporate board.

the third since announcing the exploring the run for the president. president obama is the most admired living man. followed by pope francis and bill clinton. hillary clinton is the queen on this poll. and new yorkers would like her as a new year's eve date as well. 37% of voters in new york state would like to spend the holiday with her over mayor bill de blasio or andrew cuomo. and in their latest merchandise stunt, the rnc is selling reagan bush '84 t-shirts. from msnbc.com obama answers boy's heartbreaking letter to santa. 13-year-old chicago student didn't ask for video games or sports gear. his request, quote all i ask for is safety. i just want to be safe. the president took notice and

responded in part. >> please know your security is our priority for me and everything i do as president. >> and a fun question from the washington post are you taller than putin? you can enter your height into a calculator and find a political personality at your personal altitude. if you're 5'5" your best comparison is angela merkel. and putin is just 5'7" by the way. that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. and i'm joined by political analyst and obviously a man taller than putin. best selling author. good morning to you. >> i have putin beat. i have a little bit to go for obama. >> take the extra height. >> i'm working on that. >> making headlines john boehner has two things to with. he was talking with michael grimm who just resigned. what do you think he said? >> go! why didn't you go already? the last thing that john boehner

wants is a congressman who is actually been convicted, plead guilty to a serious felony charge. he was fighting it. it's a little complicated to make him quit. you can threaten ethics investigations and force them out. but yeah it makes it easier. grimm is out of there and boehner is released in that case. >> we've had some politicians hold on before they finally leave office. >> hey let the people decide! >> send it back to congress but no he's out. >> okay. now moving on. john boehner is being called by new york representative e vef clark to investigate louisiana congressman steve ska lease because he was addressing a white spremist group in 2002. what is the story here? >> this is a big one. he's the number three guy in the house leadership. he's an important figure in a way that grimm, frankly, is not. he goes and speaks at the meeting in 2002. this isn't back in the '60s or something. of an organization that is run

and controlled by david duke the ku klux klan leader, but he's saying he didn't know who he's talking to. what the group stood for. i have to tell you, as a native of louisiana david duke is a well-known figure. he had run for governor in louisiana. hard to imagine that a local legislator would talk to a group run by duke and have no idea who he's talking about. so there are going to be more questions. not just for congressman clark. >> and also to say he didn't remember speaking. he couldn't really remember it. really? >> yeah. he said he thinks he was there and knows the hotel and i can say we'll have to gather more facts. let's find the agenda for the meeting. maybe there's video or tape recording of that meeting. there were reporters all over nauseous new orleans scrambling down trying to pin down the factual details of this. it's dicey. >> both sides are coming out to support him saying he's not a

racist. it shouldn't be an issue. what is it going to do his leadership abilities? >> i don't know. he currently has support. i don't think there's any suggestion that steve is some kind of white supremacist or something. but, you know, it's an uncomfortable position that the house leadership is trying to emphasize what an inclusive party what the republicans are. they have a couple of black members of the caucus now. it's just a, i would say an uncomfortable thing to happen at the unfortunate time. he probably survives but there will be more questions. >> all right. thank you so much. >> great to see you. >> and still ahead this morning. john oliver is back with his take on new year's eve celebrations. it is well worth sticking around for.

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we will have the latest on the missing air asia flight coming up next on way too early. before we go john oliver came out to remind everyone about new year's eve and how he's just not a fan of the holiday. >> new year's eve is not the death of a pet. you know it's going to happen but you are never prepared how truly awful it is. new year's eve is the worst. it combines three of the least pleasant things known to mankind. forced interaction with strangers, being drunk, cold and tired. and have to stare at ryan seacrest for five solid minutes. >> too funny. thank you for joining me. this is "first look" on msnbc. "way too early" starts right

now. good morning. i'm bill karins in for thomas roberts. it's tuesday, december 30th. welcome to "way too early." we begin with breaking news. let's get to it. the search for missing air asia flight 8501. indonesia confirms the debris from the plane has been found in the java sea. officials say there is red and white materials, the colors of air asia aircraft and the debris includes a plane door, oxygen tanks, luggage, and life vests. all visible. in a spokeman's for indonesia's navy 40 bodies have been recovered at this hour. crews on ropes are being lowered into the sea to search for additional victims. loved ones and passengers broke down in tears at the airport as their worst fears appear to become a reality. one middle age man collapsed while watching the news reports and taken out on a stretcher.

the airbus passenger jet with 162 people on board was heading to singapore when it lost contact with air traffic control. there were high winds in the area and the pilot asked for approval to change the flight's path and elevation. tony tony fernandez tweeted. let's go to nbc katie tur a little bit delay live from singapore singapore. singapore. >> the latest are what you said. it's been a sad day across southeast asia. three days of searching and they spotted debris off the coast. confirming relative's worst fears when they saw the debris. they saw the bodies about 40 so for a. they're going to continue working through the night to recover as much