andrew begins his second term. family members mourn loved one on the lost flight of airasia. on a much lighter note college football finds its championship matchup. this is "way too early." ♪ good morning to you. i'm in for thomas roberts. it's friday january 2 nd. welcome to the first "way too early" of 2015. he was one of the country's great liberal leaders, three time governor of new york mario cuomo died at the age of 28. his death comes on the same day that his son was sworn into a second term. nbc's new york's david ushery has more on the life of the liberal giant. >> mario cuomo was born in queens, the son of italian

immigrants who came to ellis island with the dream of starting a knew life for themselves. his parents owned a grocery store. he earned his bachelors's law degree, entering private practice in 1958. in 1977 he ran for mayor of new york city, lost to ed koch in the primary. cue moo wouz elected lieutenant governor in 1978. he once again faced ed koch in a primary but this time walked away vick tour yous. and with the help of his son he went on to defeat the. >> people and the passion of belief are still more important than money. >> cuomo was cat palted into the national spotlight two years into his first term delivering

an electrifying can note speech to the democratic national convention. >> there is despair, mr. president, in the faces that you don't see, in the places that you don't visit in your shining city. >> the address launched him on the the short list of front runner frs the democrat nom las vegas in '8 and '92. >> he's the italian stallion of democrat party politics at the moment. he has strong feelings about the roots of this country and the roots of the democratic party. >> he wavered over the presidency so long he earned the nickname hack let of the hudson keeping a plane idling on the tarmac while he debated on running for president. >> it's my responsibility as governor to deal with this extraordinarily severe problem. were it not, i would travel to new hampshire today and file my name as a candidate in its presidential primary. that was my hope and i prepared for it. >> cuomo ran for a fourth term

in 1994 in a nasty race that centered on a weakening economy and a heated debate over the death penalty and was narrowly defeated. dealing a major defeat to the democratic party and cuomo. >> we have enormous power here. we have a fantastic future potentially. i've surely made mistakes as governor, but i'm as proud as i can be of what we've accomplished together. cuomo reentered private practice in 1995 at a new york law firm and to this day as remained a visible force in politics. appearing by his son's side throughout his political career. >> this morning leaders on both sides of the aisle are reacting his to death, including chris christie. president obama called andrew cuomo last night and in a

statement said an italian catholic in queens his faith in god and faith in america to live a life of public service. we're all better for it. he rose to be chief executive 0 the state he loved, a determined champion of progressive values and an unflinching voice for tolerance within inclusiveness, fairness dignity and opportunity. in morning officials are hoping improved weather conditions will help with the recovery efforts of airasia. the focus is underwater detection. ships from indonesia, singapore and the united states are using high-tech equipment to search the java sea for wreckage. several planes are also searching the area. one of indonesia's air safety investigators warns it could take up to a week for the crews to locate the flight data and voice recorders. ten bodies have been recovered so far. more than 150 people remain

missing. funerals have bekbun. more than 100 people gathered in the rain for the elementary schoolteacher's funeral. she was traveling with her husband, daughter and mother-in-law on a vacation. well prosecutors are fighting a last minute attempt to move the trial for the boston bombing suspect out of massachusetts. the trial set to begin monday. but lawyers for tsarnaev believe he will not receive a fair trial in the united states. prosecutors say tsarnaev can receive an impartial jury and site other high profile cases. they also argue that the marathon bombing affected several hundred people and that they have a right as victims to attend the trial. the bombings left three people dead a and more than 200 injured. tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty. he could face the death penalty if convicted. the police chief of a georgia city is on

administrative leave of shooting his wife in what he claims is an accident. officials came to the home of chief william ma cull lum of peachtree city around 4:00 p.m. new year's day-e called 911. his wife was air lifted to a nearby hospital who, according to officials were was shot by her husband's service weapon in their bedroom. she's listed in critical condition. the chief has spent three decades in law enforcement but only at the helm as chief since august. he has not been detained or charged and officials say he's being fully cooperative with the state investigation. how about this story. two west virginia police officers are recovering after being ambushed and shot during a traffic stop yesterday afternoon. the lewis burg police officers pulled over the driver of a white suv after the plate registered as a stolen vehicle. while they were stopped a red chevy truck pulled up and that driver began shooting at the police officers wounding them. the driver of the second truck

was hit and eventually taken into custody. but meanwhile the driver of the white suv took off hiding before finally turning himself in. but there's more. the two men claim to be father and son. and when police searched the back of the red chevy truck, they found two bodies of people police are calling victims from north carolina. well house republican leadership is standing with congressman steve ska lease after one of the most powerful members of congress after he acknowledged addressing a white supremacist group more than a decade ago. he says he spoke to many groups while trying too fight a state budget. in a statement he says in part one wf 0 the many groups i spoke

with was a group who views i wholeheartedly condemn. it was a mistake i admit. now there are new questions over whether he ever actually addressed the group at all. a long time political aid to david duke, the former founder of the group, he told a new orleans newspaper ska lease addressed a civic organization hours before the white supremacist group convened. that seems to contradict what knight told the washington post where he's quoted as saying i asked so lease to be the first speaker. >> the coalition closed down 2014 with 30 air strikes in iraq and syria, destroying several isis units. but as "the wall street journal" reports, the battle against isis will see a new focus in 2014. a top priority will be a ground offensive by iraqi forces to regain control of mosul. and there are fierce clashes near baghdad as u.s. troops train and advise members of iraq's army. u.s. soldiers are traveling at

night by helicopter to try to keep a lower profile. still ahead, u2's bono speaks out about the injuries that have sidelined the rocker. what he's saying about his future in music as advertise band prepares the hit the road in may. a preview of college bowl games come up up. and a check of your weekend forecast when "way too early" comes back.

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welcome back on this friday. time now for sports. let me say a big thank you to everyone involved who returned new year's day to its glory as one of the best sports days of the year all because of the inaugural college football playoffs. let's start with alabama and number four ohio state in the sugar bowl. buckeyes taking the lead in the third quarter after third string quarterback connects with devin smith. that was a 47-yard touchdown. ohio state 34-28. running back ezekiel had a huge game. the two-point conversion stretches the buckeye lead to 14. we're not done yet. bam macomb back and answers on the next drive.

ohio state is stopped on its next possession. there's one last drive, alabama needs a touchdown to tie it and it comes down to the final play with 8 seconds left. >> may be the last play. sims deeping with hail mary not answered. intercepted. ohio state is going to win it. >> that's it. it's the upset. ohio state wins 42-35 and they now head to the national champi. well now to the other college football semifinals, third ranked oregon and number two undefeated florida state in the granddaddy of them all, the rose bowl. the noles were sloppy and no batch for the ducks uptempo 0 fins. florida state was as close as 25-20 in the third quarter. but oregon would go on to score five unanswered touchdowns. mar kas mariota passed for 338

yards, two touchdowns and the ducks and florida state's 29-game unbeaten streak 59-20. oregon is going to meet ohio state in the national title game on january 12th. next monday. and not that i could ever get involved in such shady activities, but oregon is an early touchdown favorite. vegas believes that somewhere close to 74 points will be scored in the national championship game. that folk the over/under. now to number eight michigan state and fifth ranked baylor in the cotton bowl. spartans trailing 35-21. quarterback connor cook finds keith mum friday. they cap a three touchdown 21-point final quarter comeback for michigan state and they win it in the game of the day, 42-41. but that wasn't the play of the game. the play of the game was this.

390 pounds rumbling into the end zone. he's a 6'7" guard who was moving well. a little refrigerator perry flashback. now for missouri and minnesota. marcus mar fi, he rushed for 159 yards and rustle ran for 114, including the 7 # 78-touchdown in the fourth quarter. missouri beat minnesota 33-17. and finally number 18 auburn and number 19 wisconsin in the outback bowl. talking about running backs. melvin gordon ran for a record of 2515 yards and three touchdowns in the game. but this one came down to this. had a lot of leg on that 45-yard attempt but it was a little right. hit the upright. auburn loses in overtime. the badgers win it 34-31.

in the big teen how about a nice showing yesterday for all of haters. turning now to the nba, lebron james needs a little tlc. he's sat out the last two games and expected to miss the next two weeks after test results reveal left knee and lower back strains. and the university of michigan introduced jim harbaugh as the school's head football coach on tuesday. it didn't take long to break out the new merchandise. you can get your official number four jersey along with these beautiful khaki pants from the university bookstore. harbaugh is known for the khaki pants which his wife says he buys for $8 a pair at walmart. and remember the nfl is gearing up fir their big weekend, wild card weekend. the ravens visit the steelers on a rainy saturday. and on sunday the lt colts host the bengals. the panthers host the cardinals on saturday and the lions, they visit dallas on sunday.

i even teased up my weather forecast there. let's get a look at your weekend forecast. the big highlight going through new year's eve and day with it was bitterly cold. now it's warmed up and raining. 60% of the country is still below freezing wu but bring the umbrella today in atlanta, little rock and tup 0 lo. a wet day and wet start to you weekend throughout much of the deep south. into tennessee through tonight. arkansas and st. louis. the rain will e eventually head up through the ohio valley. and as far as the snow goes our friends up in new england wuy haven't seen much this winter so far. you're under a winter storm watch, maine, new hampshire and vermont has a chance for snow and there will be a narrow band of light snow possibly north of chicago around milwaukee. and our friends, only people getting a lot of chevy snow will be up there along the canadian

border up towards fargo. the forecast icy this morning in areas of dallas. then towards the east it's a nice friday from d.c. up to boston. on saturday it's a rainy saturday for much of the seaboard. an sunday unfortunately the rain lingers for the start of the new year. coming up at the top of the hour we'll have much more on the life of former new york governor mario cuomo and the political legacy he leaves behind. first from getting a pay raise to getting behind the wheel. a look at some the new laws in the new year.

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right now let's get a check on the morning's other headlines with u2 set to begin his city tour in may, it's unclear what role bono will play if any. bono writes he's unable to move around physically and that quote, as i write this it is not clear that i will ever play guitar again. he's have to concentrate hard to be ready for the tour and that the website post is quote all the communication i can manage for the first half of 2015 beyond muttering and singing to myself. tickets for the upcoming tour are already sold out. well this season's flu

outbreak has reached epidemic levels and according to the cdc it's too early to say just how bad it will get. 36 states are now reporting high levels of flu activity. 15 children have died and thousands more have been hospitalized from tillness. officials say in of the viruses spreading this season differ from what's in the vaccine but they still suggest you get the flu shot. the outbreak is expected to continue through parts of the country where activity has not yet been significant. well the new year means fatter paychecks to some 3 million american workers. laws increasing the minimum wage are in effect in 20 states. pete williams has a look at some of the other laws hitting the books across the nation. >> in california and connecticut, any qualified state resident can get a driver's license. state officials say 1.5 million people could be eligible to apply. >> i have my passport. >> many have been applying ahead of time and advocates say it

makes sense because drivers should know state laws. >> people are driving with licenses from their countries other states with different rules and they are the no properly trained in california driving safety. >> one catch, the new licenses will be marked to show they cannot be used as a federally approved id to board an airplane. under a new law in illinois employers must supply accommodations to their pregnant workers, help with lifting and moderate working schedules. >> we shouldn't put women in a position of choosing between their work and a healthy

pregnancy pregnancy. most of these accommodations are no cost or low cost to employers. >> more states are limiting the use of drones are cameras attached. north carolina is the latest state to ban them for use by hunters or by animal rights activists to spy on hunters. similar laws are now in effect in alaska, colorado, montana and new mexico. and california bans using them to capture images that could only be scene without a drone by trespassing? new hampshire hikers skiers and hunters can buy a hike safe card and if they have to be rescued, they won't have to reimburse the state for its expenses which can run up to 50,000 dollars. and people are social security will see a slight boost in their checks within the year a 1.7 cost of living adjustment. that means the average retiree gets about $22 more a month. >> that was pete williams reporting. one more note, it's now illegal for new yorkers to throw away old electronics in the trash, including cell phones televisions and computers. pi must now be recycled. earlier in the show we told you about the life of former governor mario cuomo. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends cuomo hoped to join the ranks of

baseball. he was signed as an outif fielder in 1952 and used some of his signing bonus for his wife's engagement ring. his baseball career ended by being stuck in the back of the head with a pitch. protest rs are protesting against police in new york city. a flyer on the tum blr sigh saying it's called for a die in. traders will be back at work in the new york stock exchange for the first trading day of the year. the markets dropped the last few days of 2014. the dow closing below 18,000. harsh weather continues on portions of the west coast. the big chill in southern california continue this morning. and they're rushing for the stores for much needed supplies if they can find them all weekend long. that will continue only for another day because over the weekend they'll be in the mid 70s in southern cal. i wish you a great start to your

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>> a little rusty from the new year. "morning joe" will be back this coming monday. we thank you for being with us this morning for all of the day's news on "msnbc live." a lot happening. let's get to it. officials hope improved weather conditions will help recovery efforts for flight 8501. at this hour the head of indonesia's search and rescue agency says the focus is on underwater detection. ships are using high tech equipment to search the java sea. several planes are also searching the area. meanwhile, at least ten bodies have been recovered so far. more than 150 people remain missing. funerals have begun after the first victim was identified. more than 100 people gathered in the rain for the