washington, d.c. apparently the rnc caved. reince priebus bailed and they couldn't take the heat and they're hoping they refuse all comment about it, no one will notice. it's thursday morning, right now on "first look," combing through the wreckage in new york. the question remains why was an suv stopped on the tracks fem? outrage over the killing of the jordanian killing and people thought that putin hads a berger's. and a lot to tell you about this morning. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. service is back up and running right now. less than two days after a deadly train collision with an suv. investigators are also getting a clearer picture of what caused

that accident through the eyes of the driver who saw it happen. nbc has the latest. >> reporter: the charred remains of the suv were remained from the scene late wednesday. as investigators with the ntsb combed the wreck and in valhalla, new york. >> we have surveyed the scene and obtained detailed measurements of the area. >> more ambulances are required for a car versus train motor vehicle accident. >> reporter: emergency workers found a horrific scene. twisted metal, smoke and fire. >> smoke willowing out from everywhere. >> reporter: a sports utility vehicle was sitting on the tracks when the crossing arms came down. the driver, a mother of three, got out to check for damage. >> walks and gets back in the car, slight hesitation, and then moves forward and at that instant the train came. >> reporter: the collision so

powerful the electrified third rail ripped free. tearing through the suv and into the first train car. >> flames came up about a foot away from my face. and then after that happened, you know, people are screaming, crying. >> reporter: six were killed including the suv's driver. 49-year-old ellen brodie. >> it's really devastating. a devastating loss. not only to the family but to all her many friends. >> reporter: a loss shared by five other families. as the search for why the tragic accident happened continues. kurt gregory, nbc news. in jordan, outrage following the death of a jordanian pilot at the hands of isis militants. at the same time though the coalition battling the extremist group is showing strain. the king of jordan is asking u.s. lawmakers for more weapons and assistance to fight the terrorists and the united arab emirates has suspended syrian air strikes citing a lack of rescue resources. nbc's tracie potts is live from

washington. what's next for the u.s. and this fight against isis? >> reporter: what's next is holding this coalition together and the man who may be in charge of doing that very soon is ashton carter. he is seeking to be confirmed as defense secretary here on capitol hill. he told lawmakers it will be his number one priority to defeat isis, but he also said that what with we're doing right now isn't enough. >> we need partners on the ground to beat isis. >> reporter: but some of the partners are leaving senior defense and military officials now confirm. the united arab emirates has pulled its pilots from the fight against isis because they want more u.s. search and rescue teams closer to syria. in case their pilots go down. jordan is asking for more weapons. >> a lot of this requires important coordination. not just in terms of the work that we have to do with the congress, but with the jordanians to ensure that we're providing the actual assistance that they are requesting and that they need. >> reporter: anger is boiling

over in jordan after an isis video showing their pilot burned alive. turns out it happened weeks ago. >> isis is really trying to fracture the coalition. >> reporter: jordan isn't waiting for the coalition, they have executed two prisoners in retaliation retaliation. ashton carter tells congress -- >> the united states' involvement is i believe essential. it's necessary. but it's not sufficient. >> reporter: some lawmakers are skeptical the u.s. strategy is working. >> if you're not winning in war you are losing. >> reporter: the u.s. does have support from the british. >> we will not stop until the murderous isil extremists behind this are eradicated. >> reporter: but it's not clear that's going to happen any time soon. but there is one thing that is clear. democrats and republicans are completely united on the senate armed services committee. they all voted in favor of getting that military equipment to jordan as soon as possible.

betty? >> thank you very much for that. crews in taiwan are working against cold waters low visibility and time. right no the death toll from the tuesday night's plane crash is 31. but that number could rise. 12 people are still missing. meanwhile, investigators are still trying to figure out what went wrong. nbc's ian williams reports. >> reporter: the dramatic final moments captured by the dash cams of passing cars. the transasia twin prop plane clipping an elevated roadway before slamming into the river below. 58 passengers and crew trapped in the fuselage, half under water. rescuers rushed to the scene. a young child among the first of more than a dozen pulled to safety. a massive operation. painstakingly extracting survivors. an anxious crowd gathered on the river bank. on the elevated roadway, debris where the plane hit. and a battered taxi.

the same one that could be seen just ahead in this dash cam video. the driver and passenger stunned but alive. the video shows the plane narrowly missing the apartment buildings. fuelling speculation that the pilot deliberately swerved to avoid them. the plane went down just two minutes after taking off, from the airport. posted online the pilot's recorded distress call. engine flameout, he said. suggesting possible engine trouble. >> the propellers, this one is spinning at a faster speed than this one. you can see all four blades here and they're almost stopped or much slower than this one. this indicates that thissen engine is producing power and this one is not. >> reporter: the cause should be known soon, the black boxes have been recovered. the search continues for the missing. with the death toll almost

certain to rise. ian williams nbc news beijing. hackers have struck the second largest health insurance company in the u.s. officials are calling it a very sophisticated attack. anthem blue cross/blue shield says it affects 80 million former and current members. they say hackers got access to personal information like names, home addresses and social security numbers. but the company says so far, there is no evidence hackers got their hands on medical information, credit card, banking or financial information. anthem's president and ceo put out a personal statement on the separate website explaining the data breach. they have set up a toll free numbers for customers wanting more information and it will reach out to each person whose information was compromised. let's get down to business with cnbc's landon downey. >> good morning to you. the markets look to rebound after stocks faded late.

oil prices remain in focus after crude plunged below $49 a barrel. unemployment and worker productivity and labor cost. a handful are reporting the january sales, including cost coe and gap and the parent of victoria's secret. stores are trying to clear out the remaining merchandise from the holiday shopping season. and twitter strikes a deal with google to show tweets in a search result. viewers can see the individual tweets when they search on google. twitter reports earnings this afternoon. to the latest in sports. anderson silva broke his silence. 24 hours after the news broke that he tested positive for steroids. in a statement provided by his manager, he denied any wrongdoing saying he had not taken any performance enhancing drugs. i'm an advocate for a clean sport. silva is under a temporary

suspension until he can be heard before the nevada athletic commission. another nfl investigation, this one called text gate. the nfl is investigating whether browns executives sent text messages to suggest play calls. texting during the games is a violation of league rules. the browns have not confirmed or denied the allegations. the team could face multiple sanctions including a fine loss of a draft pick or possible suspension for gm ray farmer. syracuse university has instituted a self-imposed postseason ban for the men's basketball team. the ban includes the acc tournament. a case is pending before the ncaa committee on infractions. now the university self-reported potential athletic department violations back in 2007. the school officials say no current athlete is involved. yesterday was national signing day. high school athletes announced therm -- where they were going to play for the next four years

and top prospect in the 2015 class, a defensive end chose auburn. cordell broadus committed to play for ucla. and the patriots had a parade. tens of thousands of fans lined the streets and they rolled down the road in a fleet of duck boats. charles clifford who broke the color barrier in golf as the first black pga tour member died. tiger woods took a moment to remember him yesterday. >> he fought and what he did, the courage it took for him to stick with it and be out here and, you know, i probably wouldn't be here. >> the pga rescinded the caucasian only clause after it was challenged. he received the presidential medal of freedom last year. just ahead, the hairstyle

that might make kids think twice about misbehaving. plus, the robot that can make things a whole lot safer for the military members at sea. another band of snow moving through new england this morning, making for a very slippery commute. already some school delays throughout the region but this may be nothing compared to what's coming. those details are coming up. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like mute buttons equal danger. ...that sound good? not being on this phone call sounds good. it's not muted. was that you jason? it was geoffrey! it was jason.

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well, welcome back to "first look." a little bit of snow in new england. just as the roads start to clear up a little bit, we get another one to two inches here. it's a pretty quick one to two inches mostly for the hudson valley through connecticut. if you're driving on the mass pike, through the snow. here through the poconos, an inch there. this is going to associate with a very strong cold front. again, this is the pattern. shot of snow big arctic blast. this blast has windchills now in the negative teen range from minneapolis to chicago.

a very cold morning in indianapolis. this cold air is going to rush to the east coast, so expect temperatures to dive lower as we go throughout the afternoon. also our friends in the sunshine state, a lot of heavy rain for you. cape coral all the way to port st. lucie today. eventually the storms will make their way out to west palm beach and miami. the light snow in new england, very cold day in the middle of the country. especially in the great lakes. chicago, high of only 14. we warm up tomorrow, it looks nice. the coldest air is in new england. then we wait and see what's going to happen sunday into monday. betty, this is the next chance of snow. it's looking like one shot of snow on sunday, then another one on monday. another foot total in new england. same areas that had been hit so hard. >> like groundhog day over and over again. >> yep. some other stories that we are following for you. crews are trying to find out why a single engine plane flew straight into the transmitter tower cutting it in half and

killing the pilot. a surge in smoking three decades ago has caught up with us. for first time the american cancer society says lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women in developed countries. breast cancer dropped to second place in part thanks to better early detection. the good news -- smoking rates in rich countries are leveling off or even dropping. move over robocop, it's time for robo firemen. the navy calls him safer. that is short for ship board autonomous firefighting robot. he can move in complex spaces and use sensors to see through smoke. time-outs could be a thing of the past. this may be a new way, publicly would you do it? they call it the benjamin button special. a barber gave his son this hair cut. he said his kid's grades

improved after the hair cut. jeb bush almost made a career change. are big plans in the works for "snl's" 40th anniversary? here's a hint. you betcha. know that proper allocation could help increase returns so you can enjoy that second home sooner. know the right financial planning can help you save for college and retirement. know where you stand with pnc total insight. a new investing and banking experience with personalized guidance and online tools. visit a branch, call or go online today.

19 minutes past the hour. here's your thursday morning dish of scrambled politicians. with an enrollment deadline quickly approaching, tens of

millions have signed up for obamacare or been re-enrolled. officials expect that number to go even higher as we get closer to the february 15th deadline. president clinton is losing two top aides. dan pfeiffer is stepping down in the coming weeks. and president obama's communications director jennifer palmieri also plans to step down. she may likely serve on hillary clinton's possible presidential campaign. from politico jeb bush said he thought a little bit about taking the nfl commissioner job back in 2006. he said team ownered reached out to him. he said after much flattery by owners he decided he couldn't abandon his job as governor. harry reid tweeted this picture with boxing champ manny pacquiao yesterday. he explained the eye injury and they talked about a possible match between manning and mayweather. pentagon 2008 study claims putin has asbergers syndrome. well, government experts concluded the russian president

has a neurological abnormality that quote affects all of his decisions. it cites a doctor who now says he would actually back off saying putin has asbergers. remember back in 2008 when sarah palin was regularly spoofed on "saturday night live"? well, according to "people" magazine she'll be returning for the 40th anniversary schedule. all right, i'm joined now by bob franken. good to see you. good morning. >> good morning, we can call this early thursday morning live. >> yes, we can. it is indeed that. i read an interesting article in politico that says the gop may have an edge in 2016 because historically some part -- the same party rarely wins a third term. i want to get your thoughts on that. >> well, it's easy to dismiss that as a kind of thing that sometimes history can be misleading when you factor in the existing facts of today. but it is probably true that there is an element of people

being tired of same old same old and looking for something new and the question this time is, whether the personalities involved really are going to make that history repeat itself. >> yeah. exactly. as we mentioned earlier, the president is losing two major staff members. what kind of affect will this have as he faces a gop-led congress? >> both of them dan and jennifer, were involved in the president's communication strategies and there are many people who say that one of the big problems of barack obama has had as president is the communication strategy. so it will be interesting to see if there's an improvement in that or if in fact they were so vital. the problem is that a president is outgoing and a lot of people don't want to stake their lives on a president who's soon about to become history. >> well it's not just two people who were in the communications department. these were -- one of them in fact was with him at the very beginning. these are not just top level officials within his administration. these are long timers for him as

well. >> well, and there are others in the administration who are also leaving who have been with him long time. either in official or unofficial capacity. it is the problem with being a lame duck. now, he's made it very clear he being the president that he's not about to go out and just sort of quietly leave office. but it's going to be a problem for him in that people without experience are going to be coming in and taking over. >> well i'll ask you about that. is it possibly an opportunity to bring some new people in with some fresh ideas on how to implement the president's priorities and then, you know, ultimately work on defining that legacy of his? >> well, it's going to about question of whether he's going to welcome people with fresh ideas. there have been some critics who say he isn't somebody who tolerates internal dissent all that well. we don't know that, of course. the other problem is that people do this, just joined the administration, because of resume building. they are looking ahead and they're not going to do anything that would be very difficult and

put themselves in professional harm's way by making any real radical decisions. >> that's a very interesting point. all right, bob, that's why we have you on the show. thank you. just ahead, we've got the trailer for "magic mike 2." and plus, an epic reunion on "the tonight show." before earning enough cash back from bank of america to help pay for her kids' ice time. before earning 1% cash back everywhere, every time. and 2% back at the grocery store. even before she got 3% back on gas all with no hoops to jump through.

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27 minutes past the hour. let's get to entertainment news. johnny depp murderarried his fiancee earlier this week. congratulations to them. all right, so the official trailer -- >> i'm so happy this is out finally. >> all we can say is wow.

channing tatum and the gang show some skin. >> nice. >> they're going to be in theaters. >> six packs plus. all right. so we're going to have equal showing here. speaking of skin jimmy fallon revealed the cover of the "sports illustrated" swimsuit edition last night. her bottoms down a little far. >> she wasn't done putting her suit on when they took the picture. >> hannah davis graced the cover. and fallon shared this with some familiar faces. >> hi zach. >> hey, kehl. i'm so excited for the big dance. >> listen, you and i have to talk. i'm pregnant. >> time-out. [ cheers and applause ] well, on the downside i'll probably be grounded for life.

but on the plus side i got kelly kapowski pregnant. >> so great. >> all right. "way too early" with thomas roberts starts right now. as i was on the ground, somebody had fallen on top of me and flames came up. of which about a foot away from my face. and after that happened, you know, people are screaming, crying. you know? there's no words to describe how surreal it is to be talking to you right now, because, you know i didn't act with it i wouldn't be there. >> wow. the harrowing details as investigators piece together the metro-north accident. okay step right up with

wisconsin governor, scott walker looking for minimal in the early race. lining up a coast to coast network of support, we have some of the latest moves from some of the likely contenders. then jimmy fallon's dream comes true. look at that! bringing back zach, kelly and those from "saved by the bell." we have it for you. ♪ don't you love that song? hi, everybody. good morning. "saved by the bell" get up, i'm thomas roberts. it's wednesday, february 5. welcome to "way too early." you have been saved by the bell. we want to begin this morning right here in new york city where new details are emerging about tuesday night's train accident. just north of the city that's left six people dead. investigators still trying to determine exactly how an suv ended up on a