but if the seahawks want to be the first team in a decade to win it two years in a row, they have to beat the patriots. and president obama set to have tax hikes on the wealthy. and we no know why the -- now know why the united states is so sure that north korea was behind the attacks on sony. three letters, nsa. this is "way too early." ♪ ♪ i found myself a cheerleader ♪ you don't like that song? i love that song. thank you, sir. we are cheerleaders this morning. who do you like, the patriots or the seahawks? >> seahawks! >> seahawks. >> seahawks. >> jen? >> patriots. >> all right. mixed bag around here this morning, everybody. yeah mixed bag.

good morning, i'm thomas roberts. january 19th. welcome to "way too early." we are a cheerleader for one team. we begin with the stage set for the super bowl xlix, seahawks versus the patriots and some seahawks fans had left the stadium when they won against the packers. seattle had trailed by as many as 16 points during that game. they had to overcome five turnovers, now they'll face off against the new england patriots who beat the colts 45-7. and here's some reaction from the wins. >> you know, we worked hard to get to this point. it's hard to compare year to year, every situation is different. so we have a lot of good teams in the past. you know, this one is going to have to -- you know, win a very important game to kind of leave our legacy. >> tom brady's got another one left in him baby. >> awesome. i mean it was the best

experience ever. i got to see a rout and my team win the afc championship. >> i have been in a lot of games and i have played a lot of sports and seen a lot of great games and a lot of sports and i think the resilience of our football team is unmatchable. >> we knew we'd win this game. we were down 16-0. we knew it was going to happen. here we are. >> all right. we'll have full highlights coming up in sports. that brings us to our twitter question for you this morning. who do you have taking the super bowl? seattle or new england? tweet us your favorite and most importantly, tweet us why. we'll share the best ones coming up later in show. try to keep it clean for us. jen thinks it's important. so let's get to it. president obama is expected to announce higher tax rates for the wealthiest americans. this is unlikely to draw applause from the republican-led senate and house at tomorrow's state of the union. the white house is branding the latest move as an infusion for the middle class. he's expected to propose a tax increase that would bring in $320 billion over the next decade.

the president will call for raising the capital gains tax and eliminating breaks on inheritance. the plan also adds new fees for the biggest financial institutions. the capital gains tax is already going up once on top earners under president obama. and after the bush tax breaks were allowed to expire. most of the money raised from the taxes and fees goes to tax credits for middle class families with two earners and triples the child tax credit but top republicans are panning the president's plan. >> this is a 20th century outdated model the president is following. the notion that in order for some people to do better someone has to do worse is not true. raising taxes on people that are successful is not going to make people that are struggling more successful. >> so on the eve of president obama's address a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll and when presented with a list of options 40% say the wordy

ride issed best -- word divided sums it up. overall, 38% chose positive descripships and there's plenty of blame to go around. 45% believe that president obama has been too stubborn with republicans in congress and 30% feel he's struck the right balance. 55% of americans believe it's the gop that's too stubborn. only 15% believe republicans struck the right balance between stubbornness and compromise. to the weather and the freezing rain that caught many drivers off guard over the weekend. there were hundreds of crashes including two big pileups. nbc's kristen dahlgren has that story for us. >> reporter: across the northeast, this is what the morning looked like. this car out of control in new york. a pedestrian goes down, the sidewalk more like a skating rink. hundreds of accidents clogged highways. near philadelphia, more than 50

cars were involved in a chain reaction crash that left one dead. >> and i hit the car, the car comes behind me and hits me. then i'm swinging around four or five times. >> reporter: our affiliate was at the scene. >> it took four hours before one lane was opened on i-76. there were so many vehicles involved in this crash rescuers brought in a bus to take three dozen people who were injured to local hospitals. >> reporter: icy roads were blamed for two more fatalities in pennsylvania and one in connecticut. >> this happened quickly. we went from temperatures in the 20s and 30s and then rain falling on that changed it over to ice on the roadways. >> reporter: it hasn't been the east seeing problems this weekend. just take a look at these pictures from oregon saturday. that's a chevy silverado flattened between those two semis with caleb whitby inside. incredibly the 27-year-old

walked away with just two band-aids after the pileup involving more than 100 people. >> i was protected. that's all i can say. somebody was watching out for me. i just closed any eyes and held on to the wheel. and it happened to be that everything in the entire pickup was smashed to the bare rim. >> reporter: an icy mess from coast to coast. leaving many happy to be home safely tonight. kristen dahlgren, new york. >> so the national weather service is warning of below freezing temps overnight in some areas, and bill karen will have the latest in a few months. and the secret service is investigating shots fired near vice president biden's home near delaware. the vice president and his wife dr. jill biden were not home at the time. officials say the incident occurred on a public road outside of the security perimeter already in place. the secret service says one agent saw a vehicle speeding away from the scene. a man was taken into custody less than an hour after that shooting.

he had been trying to get around officers who were securing the perimeter but police have not charged him with anything to do with the shooting itself. we now know more about why the u.s. government says it is confident that north korea was behind the sony cyber attack. the nsa apparently tapped into north korea's computer networks before the sony attack and evidence from that operation reportedly persuaded the president and other top officials that north korea was responsible. officials tell nbc news that the u.s. did not have any advanced warning of the sony hacking. earlier this month, james clapper said that north korea had become quote, sloppy at hiding its tracks. now we move on to belgium where the search is still on for suspects following last week's raid that police say foiled an imminent terror plot. the mastermind of the alleged plot on police officers is still in the loose.

and four others are in custody in greece. the police officers are seeking the extradition of one of the suspects and eight israeli men are facing charges are charged. officials say they tried to secure weapons and killed sheep to prepare for possible executions. it comes as british prime minister david cameron warns of a long battle to defeat islamist extremists. >> we face a very severe threat. we're calling it severe because we believe an attack is highly likely, but frankly we have been in this struggle against extremist islamist terrorism now for well over a decade and a half. so we know what it takes to win but it will take a lot of perseverance. this threat keeps morphing because it's the same fundamental problem extremist islamist terror and the threat has changed and altered but it is still faced on the fundamental problem of a poisonous death cult narrative

which is the perversion of one of the world's major religions and that's what we're up against. >> tensions are on the rise after five members were killed in hezbollah and among them the son of the late military leader who was assassinated back in 2008. sunday's strike happened in syrian territory near the israeli occupied golan heights. it comes days after the hezbollah leader threatened retaliation for the repeated strikes in syria. officials say 80 people mostly children were abducted from villages in cameroon. four others were killed in nigerian where dozens were injured. troops from chad were deployed to try and slow the militants and their momentum, and boko haram has widespread chaos and destruction. the militants already controlled

some villages in the area and is now threatening neighboring countries. so we turn our attention to presidential politics and voters who would like to see make a run for the white house in 2016. specifically on the gop side of things as we look at this new cbs news poll 59% of republicans would like to see mitt romney run for president for a third time and 50% say that jeb bush should jump in and 40% think huckabee should run again. those polls were less enthusiastic about chris christie saying he should run. on the democratic side of things, a whopping 85% of democrats think that hillary clinton should run. with only 11% disagreeing. vice president biden is her closest competition and 23% of democrats want elizabeth warren to jump in with 20% saying she should not.

today the nation will celebrate the birthday and life of dr. martin luther king, jr. yesterday, thousands of people joined the cast and the crew of the movie "selma" for a special tribute in alabama. oprah winfrey, oprah winfrey and the director were among those marching to the bridge. that's where police officers assaulted and tear gassed demonstrators during the historic voting rights marches of 1965. >> this is what i know for sure. everybody who crossed that bridge on bloody sunday, and then had the courage to get up and go again on tuesday, and then do the final march every single person who was on that bridge is a hero. >> dr. king was a man of words, but he was a man of deeds as well. and i just want to pray the

grace and favor of god over selma today. because you guys are doers. the march took place here. that was action that wasn't just words. our prayer is that this just won't be a spectacle for a moment, but that this will be a day beyond which selma is changed. incredible things happened here. and this place deserves to move forward. >> there was also a nighttime ceremony on the bridge. a musical performance by the great john legend and common. oscar nominated song "glory." back to our big story for you this morning. the seahawks versus the patriots in the super bowl. we have the full highlights of what happened on sunday coming up. plus pro golfer robert allenby kidnapped from a bar, drugged and beaten. he's now safe but he's talking

about the whole experience and how it went down. wait until you see the pictures though of the after-attack. that story and a check on weather when we come back. you can find a new frontier. there's nothing stopping you and a lot helping you. technology that's with you always. this is our promise.

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i know time for conspiracy theories and sports. and the nfl conference championships. we'll just talk sports not conspiracy theories. the patriots hosting the colts in the battle for the afc. new england was clearly the dominant team last night. quarterback tom brady threw for 226 yards and 3 touchdowns. running back legarrette blount rushed for 148 yards, took three trips into the end zone. with just a ten-point lead after two quarters, the pats ran away with it in the second half. they win it 45-7. brady and the head coach bill belichick head -- >> did you hear what happened? >> deflated balls? >> deflated balls.

>> somebody's balls are deflated today. [ laughter ] anyway, to seattle, the seahawks hosting the packers in the nfc championship. several early turnovers by the seahawks helped green bay jump out to the 16-0 lead. that score would have been higher but the packers settled for three field goals and seattle gets on the board in the third quarter. a fake field goal gets them into the end zone on a 19 yard pass from holder john ryan to gary gillian. but the scoring stops for the seahawks until two minutes left in the fourth quarter. >> from the 1, third and goal. at here's wilson, keeping it for the touchdown. good kick, up into the air. it is loose and recovered by seattle. here's lynch. lynch. marshawn lynch. beast mode. touchdown!

>> marshawn lynch -- >> how does a guy hit him in the head? i feel bad for him. >> seahawks recover. inside kick after a touchdown at the two minute mark and then they score again. but the packers aren't finished, they kick a field goal and send it to overtime. the seahawks would get the ball first. >> wilson. toward the end zone. it is caught! seattle's going to the super bowl! >> down to the wire here. the seahawks score in the first possession of overtime. they complete the comeback and they shock the packers 28-22. punch their return ticket to the super bowl with that the match-up for the big game all set. the seahawks will defend their championship against the patriots in super bowl xlix on february 1 on nbc. great games over the weekend. great games. >> yeah, that was -- i mean, one -- probably the sporting event of the year.

>> and a lot of the seahawks fans had left because they thought it was over. >> what the heck an i watching? >> what the heck with the weather over the weekend? >> that ice, it wasn't a lot of ice, but a thin coating but the way it happened was just -- it's pretty rare that the ground is so cold the air was warm enough. the trees didn't get ice, but it was the roads because it had been so cold the day before, and the night before, that when the rain fell, it froze on the ground. almost like if you were putting little drops of water into your freezer. it was amazing. it was covering from areas of pennsylvania all the way to southern new england. thousands of accidents and it only happened in two to three hours but a lot of people -- you couldn't see it. that was the problem. the water was over the top of it, not only the trees. it was really difficult. now of course we had the rain. it got better yesterday. now overnight some areas have dropped off a little bit. near the scranton area northern new jersey around 32 degrees.

buffalo to syracuse. a coating of light snow. we're worried about the black ice outside of philly and new york. not much happening over the next two days but a little bit of light snow on wednesday from pennsylvania up to southern new england and philadelphia and new york. looks like thursday morning maybe the next commute we have to worry about. much of the country, if you're on the southern half of the nation, congratulations. what a great martin luther king, jr., day. 68 in dallas. >> lovely. >> good stuff. >> we'll take it thank you. coming up on "morning joe" our panel sets the stage for tomorrow's state of the union. and we'll talk with a columnist who says he hasn't heard from anyone who says they want mitt romney to make a third run for the oval office. and a selfie that involves two beauty queens and an alleged photo bombing. we'll dive into that after this.

well, let's get a check on the other morning's headlines. pro golfer robert allenby said he's recovering after being robbed and attacked. later that night at a wine bar, he claims he may have been drugged before he was assaulted. >> i went to the bathroom. i came out and a group of guys said your buddies are downstairs because they're closing up. okay downstairs, and you come out the lift and you go out into the car park and that's where someone hit me and two hours -- 2 1/2 hours later i woke up on the street, in the gutter. being thrown out of the trunk of a car. i had been robbed. up so -- so the only reason i know that part is because a homeless lady told me. she said she saw -- i watched

"taken" and "taken 2" and it's like a spitting image. but, you know, i'm just very thankful that i'm alive. >> serious injures there. allenby said his wallet and phone were taken. so far, no arrests reported in that case. something as innocent as a selfie has sparked infighting among the pageant contestants. miss israel posted a selfie of her and miss lebanon together and after catching heat miss lebanon cropped out miss israel and in the caption she wrote she had been careful not to be photographed with miss israel. but that miss israel had tried several times to take a photo with her. she wrote, quote, i was having a photo with miss japan and suddenly miss israel took a selfie and uploaded it on social media. she denied that she photo bombed and she hoped for peace for

three weeks between them. don and trump said it was sad to see a long standing political animosity impacting the pageant and the pageant will be next sunday. now to the twitter responses who are you backing the patriots or the seahawks? our producer is up to bat, what are we getting on twitter? >> good morning, man. aidan says i'm going with the patriot because they have arguably one of the best qbs in nfl history. >> tom brady. >> tom brady. and lee says seahawks because i'm a jets fan. enough said. >> meanwhile you have your own opinion. >> i think the pats are going to win. >> i think i'm going with the seahawks because if we have the picture -- russell wilson, right there. he's the only one to visit here at "morning joe." we'll go with him. one more thing, alex, if you want to sound smart today the patriots victory gave bill

belichick his 20th postseason win, the most by any head coach. he ties with tom shula for the most appearances ever. that's going to do it for us. "morning joe" in a few minutes. ♪ your mom's got your back. your friends have your back. your dog's definitely got your back. but who's got your back when you need legal help? we do. we're legalzoom, and over the last 10 years we've helped millions of people protect their families and run their businesses. we have the right people on-hand to answer your questions, backed by a trusted network of attorneys. so visit us today for legal help you can count on. legalzoom. legal help is here.

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♪ wilson, toward the end zone. it is caught! seattle's going to the super bowl! >> up the middle. to the end zone. and a touchdown! unstoppable. >> the new england patriots leave little doubt tonight. they are the afc champions. >> okay. good morning. it's monday january 19th. martin luther king day. welcome to "morning joe." with us onset, managing editor of bloomberg politics mark

halperin, visiting professor at nyu, former democratic congressman, heard ford jr. cnbc sarah iseman is with us this morning. and in atlanta, msnbc contributor and associate professor at columbia university dorian warren. and in washington senior contributor for the daily columnist at "the week" matt lewis and columnist and associate editor at "the washington post," dave ignatius. my goodness.