world right now sucks. the rest of the world has news that is terrible. but oregon, you are freaking excellent. best new thing in the world. we are sending you the sign. that does it for us tonight. world." we are sending you the sign. "first look" is up next. good morning, everyone. right now on "first look," breaking news. on the heels of the death of american aide worker kayla mueller, the "ap" is reporting thousands of new foreign fighters are joining isis. after 17 years, comedy central's jon stewart is leaving "the daily show." apple has just done something that no other company on the planet has achieved. plus tonight's powerball jackpot is approaching $500 million. and "saturday night live" gears up for a 40th anniversary extravaganza. well, good morning to you and thanks so much for joining us today. i'm betty nguyen. a deteriorating situation in yemen has forced the state department to relocate its already skeletal staff at the u.s. embassy and suspend operations there. the british embassy has taken it a step further, telling its

nationals to leave yemen immediately. meanwhile, the "associated press" has learned in an exclusive interview with u.s. intelligence officials that as many as 20,000 foreign fighters are pouring into syria and iraq to join isis and other terrorist groups. officials will testify before the house homeland security committee today that this estimated figure includes 150 americans. meanwhile, president obama is set to ask congress to authorize the use of military force to fight isis over the next three years. and for the first time the president discussed the death of isis captive kayla mueller and the government's position on ransoms. >> my immediate reaction is heartbreak. you know i've been in touch with kayla's family. so you know it's as tough as anything that i do having a conversation with parents who,

understandably want by any means necessary for their children to be safe and we will do everything we can short of providing an incentive for future americans to be killed. >> nbc's joe fryer has more. >> reporter: emotions are strong in kayla mueller's hometown a year and a half after she was taken captive by isis. relatives say they received a message from her captors, confirming her death. >> kayla has touched the heart of the world. the world grieves with us. the world mourns with us. the world wants to be more like kayla. and if that is her legacy and the footprint that she leaves on the world, then that is a wonderful thing. >> reporter: u.s. officials tell nbc news the family received a photograph of mueller that appeared to show her dead with trauma injuries but it's difficult to determine the cause of death. in a statement, mueller's parents say, "our hearts are

breaking for our only daughter but we will continue on in peace, dignity and love for her." her family also released a letter, handwritten by mueller last spring while she was in captivity. "i have a lot of fight left inside of me," she wrote, "i am not breaking down and i will not give in no matter how long it takes." >> i am in solidarity with the syrian people. >> reporter: 26-year-old mueller was working for aid groups along the turkish/syrian border when she was captured near aleppo in august 2013. in a statement, president obama says "no matter how long it takes, the united states will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for kayla's captivity and death." >> that was nbc's joe fryer reporting. well it was three years ago today that music icon whitney houston died. her daughter bobbi kristina remains in an atlanta hospital fighting for her life. meanwhile, her family is fighting back against a range of rumors about her medical condition. they include this "page six" headline -- "family to let bobbi

kristina die on same day as whitney." "us weekly" reporting bobbi kristina brown's relatives say she's progressing, as bobby brown says "god is hearing our prayers." an attorney for bobbi kristina's father did not cite specific rumors but issued this statement, saying "the false reports that continue to appear in print and on the internet are egregious, false and will be dealt with in an appropriate time. this is a criminal investigation and the integrity of that process requires silence." the 21-year-old has been in a medically induced coma for the last ten days after she was found unresponsive in her bathtub. we also want to bring you some breaking news. nbc news decided tuesday to suspend brian williams as managing editor and anchor of "nbc nightly news" for six months without pay. the suspension is effective immediately, and lester holt will continue to anchor the "nightly news." in a note to nbc staff, nbc president deborah turness said "while on i nightly news" on friday, january 30th, 2015,

brian misrepresented events which occurred when he was covering the war in iraq in 2003. it then became clear that on other occasions brian had done the same while telling that story on other venues. this was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in brian's position." she went on to say, "this was a very hard decision. certainly, there will be those who disagree but we believe the suspension is the appropriate action." reaction is pouring in after comedy central's jon stewart announced last night that he plans to leave "the daily show" later this year. >> i don't have any specific plans. got a lot of ideas, i've got a lot of things in my head. i'm going to have dinner on a school night with my family who i have heard from multiple sources are lovely people. >> going to miss watching him. well, celebrities, lawmakers and more are commenting on his

departure. "today" host carson daly tweeted "wow, so bummed! jon stewart is quitting the daily show." senator elizabeth warren tweeted "washington is rigged for the big guys and no person has more consistently called them out for it than jon stewart. good luck, jon." even fast-food chain arby's got in on the fun, tweeting "jon feel free to reach out to us at careers @arbys.com. in texas, opening statements begin today in the american sniper murder trial. navy s.e.a.l. chris kyle and his friend, chad littlefield, were shot to death at a gun range in 2013. kyle's time in iraq is depicted in the hit film "american sniper." eddie ray routh has admitted to killing the two men. he's a former marine. routh's attorneys are planning to deny the accusation of murder on the grounds of insanity and that he suffered from post-traumatic stress from his time in iraq. a jury of ten women and two men will decide routh's fate. if convicted, he faces life in prison. time now to get down to business. cnbc's landon dowdy, good

morning to you. >> betty, good morning. apple reaches new heights, becoming the first company to ever end the trading day with a market value topping $700 billion. apple is already the world's largest publicly traded company. it continues to benefit from record sales of the big-screen iphone 6 and 6-plus. if you use tinder match or e-harmony your company's smartphone, you could be exposing yourself and your employer to hackers. ibm says more than half of the dating apps it's analyzed have medium or high security risk. hackers can send spam or install viruses and even remotely turn on the cam raleigh to eavesdrop on conversations. and checking the market stocks look to build on tuesday's gains after snapping two days of losses. investors shrugging off concerns about bailout talks in greece. the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 are all back in the black for the year. look for earnings today from pepsico, aol and time warner. betty, back over to you. >> all right. a lot going on today. thank you so much. now let's get you some sports action and frances rivera's up to bat. good morning. >> hi, betty. good morning to you.

let's begin this morning with the wildcats, who survived a close one on the road. top-ranked kentucky took on lsu. the tigers watch this they missed a three-pointer at the buzzer that would have given them the game. kentucky is now 24-0 with the 71-69 win, although coach john calipari wasn't so thrilled with freshman carl anthony towns who was called for a technical for doing just that hanging from the rim, and then this. >> carl decided to chin himself up and the reason i didn't call a time-out i told them all, i hope they beat us. >> were you paying attention to what he said with that photo-bomb? >> oh, was that the stink guy? >> video bombs calipari during a postgame interview as calipari was criticizing him. talk about awkward timing there. on the ice, you won't believe this shot. tim jackman of the ducks nets one from half ice. look at that. that is a wobbler that takes a few bounces. see it right there? slips right in to score for the

panthers. they go on to win it 6-2. the u.s. little league champs are under investigation. little league officials are investigating whether chicago's jackie robinson west team recruited top players from neighboring districts. doing so violates a rule prohibiting the use of players who live outside the geographic area that the team represents. a verdict is expected as early as today. and patriots super bowl hero malcolm butler is the owner of this brand-new chevrolet! that reward for his last-minute interception that resulted in the pats win over seattle. the truck was initially gifted to super bowl mvp tom brady, but he decided the rookie deserved the truck. so, how's that for regifting, right? >> oh, absolutely! he's really happy about it too. i'm so glad he got that truck. right. also, nfl great peyton manning is getting tips on retirement from nfl legend brett favre. he says manning should avoid asking himself what if. if he feels like he can play then he should play. there is nothing worse than getting haunted by the could

have would have shoves betty, right? >> didn't brett favre retire then come back then retire. so, as everyone knows, he does. coming up, a staffer for jeb bush's right to rise pac is forced to resign over insensitive comments. plus breaking news in the shooting of a san diego tv sports director. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. and the temperatures in northern canada are negative 35! get ready to fill out those thank-you cards. our canadian friends are sending that cold air our way. all of the details coming up. i make a lot of purchases for my business.

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so i have a little bit of good and a lot of bad, but it's better than all bad, which seems like i've had recently. a little light snow today. this storm system is looking weaker and will develop later. so as we go throughout your thursday tomorrow it doesn't look like a big snow event. the storm does blow up to a pretty good-sized storm, but it's far enough off the coast that we're not going to nail boston with a lot of snow maybe like 1 to 3 inches especially out on the cape. so, that's that storm. unfortunately, the one behind it

on sunday does look to be bringing some snow. our computers are estimating that it may even be a plowable and definitely shovelable snow in eastern portions of mass and a light, fluffy snow across southern new england. again, that's saturday late in the day into saturday night, so when you wake up sunday morning, some very cold shoveling to be done. and talk about cold here comes the cold air, the windchill forecast. as we go throughout friday morning, this looks to be probably the worst of it with the first outbreak. negative 7 in columbus ohio 10 in atlanta. so, this isa very cold shot of air coming friday covering almost the entire eastern half of the country, but that's nothing compared to what we're going to deal with on sunday. friday, we get rid of this one, betty. and then sunday, this is a much stronger one much colder. sunday's going to be just, you know, with the windchill factored in, not a fun day from the great lakes southeast. i mean coldest in 20 years. >> looks like a one-two punch there. >> very good. >> okay, thank you. well we have breaking news overnight. an arrest in the shooting of a san diego tv sports director. police say the so-called armed

and dangerous suspect surrendered after s.w.a.t. teams surrounded his house in nearby el cajon. this was the scene, though earlier. knfb's kyle contrastkraska was shot and taken to the hospital, alert and responsive. sources tell nbc new york a rookie nypd officer indicted in the shooting death of unarmed man in dark stairwell. the family of the victim 20-year-old kyle girley, says this is the first step in justice. official charged are expected to be unsealed later today. from nbcnews.com, the new cto for jeb bush pac resigns. they say it was appropriate for ethan zabor to step away after buzzfeed found old tweets offensive to women and gay people. he made it official last night, tweeting "i only hope that my recent news won't dissuade future techies from entering politics regardless of political affiliations, backgrounds, and i've resigned my role at right to rise.

best of luck to everyone there, and i apologize in advance to whoever fills my position." all right, now let's take you to alabama. it is a tug-of-war between state and federal decisions on gay marriage. ahead of thursday's hearing that could settle the issue once and for all, a growing number of judges are following the federal ruling to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. in an interview with buzzfeed president obama said he thinks the federal decision on gay marriage will eventually win out. and talk about big money. tonight's estimated powerball jackpot now stands at a whopping $485 million. have you gotten a ticket yet? if not, you might want to. by the time the winning numbers are drawn tonight, the jackpot could easily exceed $500 million.

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19 minutes past the hour. here's your "first look" at this morning's dish of "scrambled politics." from "usa today," president obama calls putin on eve of ukraine peace talks. according to the white house, the president called the russian leader to discuss the violence in ukraine. putin is scheduled to meet with leaders from france germany and ukraine later today. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu took to social media yesterday ahead of his trip to the u.s. and he tweeted, "i'm determined to speak before congress to stop iran. retweet if i have your support." he later wrote, "i'm going to the united states not because i seek a confrontation with the president but to speak up for the very survival of my

country." a statue of former arizona senator barry goldwater will be dedicated in a ceremony at the u.s. capitol's national statuary hall. goldwater was the republican nominee for president in 1964 and was defeated by lyndon johnson. well 25 years ago today, anti-apartheid activist nelson mandela was freed from a south african prison after serving 27 years for treason and sabotage. he would later be elected president of south africa. it was basically a parade of current and former lawmakers during last night's episode of nbc's "parks & recreation." senator john mccain made his second appearance on the show last night. he tweeted several pictures and wrote "be sure to tune in to parks and rec tonight for another emmy-worthy performance." former secretary of state madeleine albright tweeted this pick with amy poehler saying "no one i would rather eat waffles with than leslie nope." booker and orrin hatch were

featured and even hosted a watch party with booker writing "some across-the-aisle bipartisan bonding with my staff and senator hatch's staff." a popular youtube channel called barackdubs likes to splice together videos of the president singing some of the most popular songs and the newest jam has the president channeling his inner taylor swift. ♪ >> i love you back. i stay up too late. got nothing in my brain. that's what people say, mm-hmm. that's what people say, mm-hmm. i go on too many dates. but i can't make them stay at least that's what people say, mm-hmm. that's what people say, mm-hmm. ♪ >> my favorite is the "mm-hmm." and that's your morning dish of "scrambled politics." all right, 21 minutes past the hour. i'm joined now by "politico" reporter katy glueck.

good morning to you, katie. >> thanks for having me. >> president obama is expected to ask congress today for authorization to fight isis. now, the biggest sticking point could be that request that prohibits "enduring offensive ground operations." now, is that a term that is just vague enough that it could allow the possibility of a ground war? >> well you know that's one of the critical questions looking at what the white house is set to ask congress. you know some people especially among democrats, are concerned by, you know what they may see as kind of vague language, and other republicans are hoping that that kind of language does actually leave open that possibility that you just noted. but you know there is sort of a consensus among, you know some democrats and republicans that this does have some bipartisan momentum. >> yeah. well reports also say that though this request will also limit the fight to three years. so if it does pass the next president will inherit this which will likely become a big campaign issue in 2016

especially now we're getting this new report today, "ap" saying that some what 20,000 fighters have recently joined isis? >> right. well, you know certainly, this was always going to be an issue going into the 2016 campaign. we've already seen some of these potential contenders sort of weighing in on what's appropriate in terms of what the president asks congress for. rand paul of course sort of more the libertarian-leaning republican, has long been a champion of seeking congressional authorization on all kinds of foreign involvement. and of course you know, then we kind of have an array of others who span the ideological spectrum, but certainly, this looks to loom large for the next person seeking the white house. we can expect them to be asked about it. >> yeah, and the obama administration has made it pretty clear that it does not need congress's authority to fight isis. but in a way, though if we really look at this doesn't the president need this approval so that both enemies and allies know that the u.s. is really unified in this fight? >> well, sure that's one of the arguments for this. and of course you know even

some republicans like john mccain, who's, of course on the more hawkish side has kind of questioned, you know why the white house would, in his view sort of seek limits on what they can do. but at the same time, you know, others do think that if there is sort of a strong bipartisan message, that does go far in terms of perceptions as america seeks to combat this. >> all right, katie glueck joining us this morning. thank you so much. >> thank you. 24 minutes past the hour. just ahead, the latest celebrities to sign on to "snl's" 40th anniversary bash. plus what taylor swift asked jay z when beyonce wasn't around.

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all right, 27 minutes past the hour. let's get you some entertainment

news. taylor swift makes new friends. yeah, check it out. during a break at the grammys, swift is chatting it up shall we say, with jay z and kanye, and it looks like she is dead set on grabbing a meal with jay, yelling what might be "brunch," "brunch," "brunch!" >> that's your lip-reading skills. >> that is it. although jay seems to shall we say, "shake it off"? >> yeah sure brunch. >> yeah i'm right there with you. >> i'll call you. >> call my people. and check it out. justin timberlake instagramed this picture of himself and jimmy fallon working on information for "snl's" 40th anniversary show. i cannot wait to see what they put together. you know the show also announced miley cyrus is joining the special. former cast members jimmy fallon and seth meyers, they weighed in. >> i'm looking forward to the "snl" 40th. i know some of the things they're going to do and it's honestly staggering. >> there's still a few people who worked at "snl" that i've never met that i look forward to saying hello to.

>> the oscars have nothing on "snl" 40th. >> yep, jimmy just said it all. >> wow. >> don't miss the three-hour epic extravaganza celebrating 40 years of "snl." that's this sunday at 8:00/7:00 central on nbc. "way too early" is next. ♪ 17 years is the longest i have ever in my life held a job by 16 years and 5 months. in my heart, i know it is time for someone else to have that opportunity. and -- i'm not going to be here and try and sum whaup this place has meant to me over the years, but i couldn't do that and we have plenty of time and i've got a myriad of people to thank and we'll get to that over time. i'm not going anywhere tomorrow. but this show doesn't deserve an

even slightly restless host and neither do you. i don't think i'm going to miss being on television every day. i'm going to miss coming here every day. >> wow what a surprise. an end of an era. comedy central's jon stewart announcing that he will be signing off from "the daily show." then we have heartache for the family of kayla mueller, as they announce the death of this young woman at the hands of isis. and the $700 billion company, as apple finds itself in new territory once again. all that and much much more this morning. this is "way too early." ♪ want to be a billionaire so fricking bad, so bad ♪ ♪ buy all the things i never had, buy everything ♪ wow, apple continues to ascend. easy for me to say. hi, everybody. good morning. i'm thomas roberts. it's wednesday, february 11th. welcome to "way too early," and it is great to have you here. we want to begin, though with some housecleaning this morning and bring you some breaking news. nbc news deciding to suspend brian williams as m