n 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 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 news president deborah turness said "while on "nightly news" on friday, january 30th 2015 brian misrepresented events which occurred while he was covering the iraq war in 2003. it then became clear that on other occasions brian had done the same while telling that story in 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 this suspension is the appropriate and proportionate action." "daily show" host jon stewart will step down from his signature program later this year. this was a shock to a lot of people watching as stewart took over the comedy central show from craig killborn some 15 years ago, turning it into the comedy

standard for criticism in the news and politics really launching a new genre of servicetv. he pointed out the hypocrisy of pundits and politicians in the press. and last night he broke the news addressing his audience. >> i love the people here. they're the best. they're creative and collaborative and kind and that's ill littive, but it's cheating because it's a "k," but you understand what i'm saying. i love them and respect them so much. >> we love you, jon! >> ah! [ cheers and applause ] anyway. ugh! ugh! what is this fluid? what are these feelings? you get in this business with the idea that maybe you have a point of view and something to express and to receive feedback from that is the greatest feeling i can ask for, and i thank you. >> you know as we all know jon

stewart could be bitingly funny, but at times very serious including when a grand jury chose not to indict a new york city police officer over the death of eric garner. >> i just -- i don't know. i really -- i honestly don't know what to say. if comedy is tragedy plus time i need more [ bleep ] time but i would really settle for less [ bleep ] tragedy, to be honest with you. damn! we are definitely not living in a post racial society, and i can imagine there are a lot of people wondering how much of a society we're living in at all. and that's our show. so, cha, cha, cha! >> you know alumni of the show include actors and comedians who have gone on to some of the biggest tv roles and movies including ed helms, steve carell and, of course stephen colbert. the show has won 20 emmys and has been nominated 56 times during his tenure. well the president is asking congress for military force in the fight against isis.

it would not include an enduring offensive combat role for u.s. troops and it wouldn't last longer than three years. meanwhile, the worst fears of those who knew and loved a young american aide worker captured in syria have been confirmed. kayla mueller died in isis custody, confirmed in a message from her captors to her parents. president obama reacted to her death in an interview with buzzfeed and defended the u.s. policy of not paying ransoms for american hostages. >> my immediate reaction is heartbreak. you know i've been in touch with kayla's family. she was an outstanding, young woman and a great spirit and i think that spirit will live on. the one thing that we have held to is a policy of not paying ransoms with an organization like isil. and the reason is is that once we start doing that not only are we financing their slaughter

of innocent people and strengthening their organization, but we're actually making americans even greater targets for future kidnappings. so you know, it's as tough as anything i do having a conversation with parents who, understandably want by any means necessary for their children to be safe. >> and in sharing this news yesterday, kayla's family gave an emotional tribute. >> 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. >> now, the family also released a handwritten letter in which kayla was able to have smuggled out and she wrote from

captivity, saying she's safe and unharmed but that the thought of her loved ones sends her into a fit of tears and her humility is incredible writing. "if you could say i have suffered at all throughout this whole experience it is only in knowing how much suffering i have put you all through. i will never ask you to forgive me as i do not deserve your forgiveness." and she signed that letter "all my everything kayla." well, that's not the only story that has the magnitude of the threat posed by isis coming into sharper focus this morning. the "associated press" reporting that later today, intelligence officials will tell the house homeland security committee about 20,000 foreign fighters have now joined forces with isis in iraq and syria. officials say that 3,400 are from western nations, including about 150 from the u.s. that's 50 more than reported in the fall and 100 more than reported a year ago. the already complicated situation in syria is particularly troubling, in part because officials say there's no permanent cia presence on the

ground. the "associated press" quoting one fbi official as saying "once in syria, it's very difficult to discern what happens there." homeland security committee chairman michael mccaul will reportedly blame the syrian war for creating the "largest convergence of islamic terrorists in world history." so a group of hackers reportedly linked to isis has struck once again. for about 15 minutes yesterday morning, a group known as the cyber caliphate took control of "newsweek's" twitter account. the group posted a photo of a masked man as well as the term "je su isis." the hackers also tweeted threatening messages toward president obama and his family and they praised cyber jihad. this is the same group that claimed responsibility for hacking u.s. central command earlier this year. "newsweek" says it is working on tougher security measures. it was not the only company to be hacked yesterday. the "international business times" reported that the same group appeared to have hacked its computer system and posted similar messages using a

reporter's byline. the u.s. will be closing its embassy in yemen. this is just a sign of how unstable that country has become once again. security becoming unpredictable in the country, where the u.s. mounts much of its counter terror operations. the uk announced this morning it is also suspending its embassy operations and removing diplomatic staff from yemen. the capital is currently being held by shiite fighters who captured the presidential palace forcing the president and his government to dissolve. now the country is trying to come to consensus, and the leader of the rebel group says he wants to share power. we turn to politics here at home and former florida governor and possible gop 2016 candidate jeb bush looking for a new chief tech officer for his potential political action committee. that's because ethan czahor has resigned from the right to rise pac just days after being hired. he faced criticism for old tweets which included offensive comments about women and gays. the bush camp initially stook by czahor

czahor who deleted the tweets and apologized, but then it was emerged that he praised dr. martin luther king jr. for not speaking gibberish or wearing "pants sagged to his ankles." zooczahor tweeted "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." a bush spokesperson said in part, "while ethan has apologized for regrettable and intensetive comments, they do not reflect the views of governor bush or his organization, and it is appropriate for him to step aside." okay let's turn our attention to business news now and a huge milestone for apple. that company continuing to ascend. cnbc's geoff cutmore joins us live from london. geoff, talk to us about what tim cook and apple accomplished on tuesday. the company is just gangbusters. >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. if apple were a country, it would be on the top 20 list in

gdp terms. apple at $700 billion now overtakes the annual gdp of switzerland. >> wow! >> reporter: go figure. this is one, large business now, and a lot of that is on the back of the iphone 6 sales here. clearly, this is an important milestone as far as apple is concerned. but you know what? there was another interesting announcement on the day that apple hit that big, round number. they're also going to invest a lot of money into a new solar farm. that will help power the california headquarters. so even as apple hits this big, round figure -- >> wow. >> reporter: -- the company wants to project itself as still responsible and socially responsible, and that's why they're building this huge 1,300-acre farm. >> i would live in both countries. if apple does declare sovereignty, i would live there, as well as switzerland. i think those are two great countries, potentially. >> reporter: can you imagine? i just wonder what the cheese

and the cowbells would sound like in the land of apple. >> i hope they have good skiing. >> reporter: you've got to wonder, don't you? i wonder if they'd also have coca-cola, because that's where i'm going to take you next. the drinks-maker reported a better set of numbers. the markets were happy with the figures. that pushed the share price higher but it is worth pointing out that the ceo in a conference call said this is a transition year for the business. they do expect to still take costs out here. and you know what's hurting coca-cola here it is the mighty dollar. even as the dollar gets stronger, it means it's tougher on those comparatives on overseas sales here. so a little bit of a drag coming on the dollar as far as coca-cola is concerned. back to you. >> and geoff, quickly, we see green arrows across the board from yesterday. however, oil prices continue to fall. so, what are the ripple effects from that this morning? >> reporter: yeah, i don't know whether you have the same gain

here. we've got a gain here called buckaroo, where you have this little plastic horse and you keep loading on mining tools, and at some point it throws it all off. and that's what we've had here with this oil story, remarkable volatility. we've been up we've been down we've come back up again here and it's making it very difficult for the energy traders to work out where this story is going. that's why we've had some hmm, days where the markets couldn't quite decide how this one works out here. today we look like we're going to have a flat start to the trading session in the united states. it's been a little bit mixed here. but just to take you away from energy for a moment we've got a big meeting in europe on greece. will they come to a settlement? and we have got another one taking place on ukraine and russia. that is also very much what the markets will be focused on today. back to you. >> all right geoff. thank you, sir. much appreciate it. still ahead on "way too early," it looks like a scene from "grand theft auto." more the on alleged carjacking

which police say led to a wild chase through the streets of los angeles. plus alex rodriguez calling a meeting with the yankees, but will he make it past spring training and into the starting lineup? what the pin-striped brass have to say about a-rod yesterday. that and a check on weather with bill karins when we come right back. stick around. ♪ we can't deal with ordinary love ♪ when mandela finally emerged from prison with his wife winnie, it was a moment to savor. for all of these years, nelson mandela has been the unseen symbol. now, here was the man with all of his regal bearing.

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the player makes a return with the yankees after a year-long suspension for his involvement with peds, those are performance-enhancing drugs, in case you were wondering. he met with steinbrenner and other high-level officials yesterday at yankee stadium. the two sides released a joint statement after the meeting, saying "alex initiated the meeting and apologized to the organization for his actions over the past several years. there was an honest and frank discussion on all of the issues as far as the yankees are concerned. the next step is to play baseball in spring training." rodriguez is expected to report to yankees spring training coming up later this month. that takes place in tampa. >> barnacle promised me that alex rodriguez would never step to the plate in yankee stadium ever again. and i was very happy about that. so we will see if barnacle is going to go down in flames. >> mike, what do you say about this? >> he's not here. he's still shoveling. >> oh, mike's not here. oh, mike. >> yeah. >> where the hell's mike? okay. college hoops. there we go. empty chair. yep, no white socks today from

barnacle. college hoops. top-ranked university of kentucky remains undefeated improving to a record of 24-0 after a two-point victory over lsu last night. freshman forward karl-anthony towns scored the go-ahead basket and the wildcats fend off the tigers in the game. final seconds, score here 71-69. after the game though the kentucky coach, john calipari had some criticism for towns, who earned a technical foul for hanging on the rim. >> karl decided to chin himself up. and the reason i didn't call a time-out, i told them all, i hope they beat us. that's a hero's play! for no reason he did it. >> hey, what's up? >> hey. >> is coach going to be upset about that? >> a little bit. >> demonic look there. anyway, while calipari's criticizing towns for being immature, towns walks up behind him and -- >> yes, that's not good. >> -- looks a little immature. but anyway -- >> you show up the coach, you're, yeah that's not good. >> anyway, he walked away. let's get a check on your

weather. msnbc meteorologist bill karins to fill us in now. making sure no one's behind me giving me the stink eye. what's going on? boston. thomas, we're finally for once going to avoid a snowstorm. it looks like just a very minor event on thursday but then again, another snowstorm for boston it looks like saturday night into sunday morning. and then another one it looks like coming on tuesday. so, just you know take this little four-day period and try to do what you can to clean up. right now, some snow showers in the great lakes. as i said very minor event going across as we go through the day on thursday. boston and the cape may pick up 1 to 2 inches. going to be a light, kind of fluffy snow anyway. really shouldn't add anything to the weight load they call it on top of all the rooftops there. and very little elsewhere. so boston as i mentioned, the next snow threat like a big snow possibly saturday night. so, we have to watch that. and it gets very cold. so it will be very light and fluffy snow, too, so it could accumulate fast. still, the big headline out there, i think, saturday into sunday, that's the one cold

shot, but this next one that comes down sunday, thomas, is really going to be brutal. we could see negative windchills all the way down to georgia. >> wow. >> so just be prepared for that. yeah, sunday. so from valentine's day

welcome back everybody. president obama is weighing in on what he calls the patchwork system of laws after alabama became the 37th state to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. in an interview with buzzfeed on tuesday, he predicted that marriage equality will soon be the law of the land in the united states. >> my sense is is that the supreme court is about to make a shift, one that i welcome, which is to recognize that having hit a critical mass of states that have recognized same-sex marriage that it doesn't make sense for us to now have this patchwork system and that it's time to recognize that under the

equal protection clause of the united states same-sex couples should have the same rights as anybody else. >> we shall see what the supreme court does. an alleged gang member is in the hospital in california this morning, accused of carjacking and leading police on this wild high-speed chase through l.a. the monday evening rush hour pursuit lasted 45 minutes, ending when three lapd officers fired at the suspect when he allegedly tried to make another run for it. nbc's miguel almaguer reports. >> reporter: rush hour in los angeles. a high-speed pursuit for a suspect in a stolen car weaving across freeways through red lights and often the wrong way. >> this is just so dangerous, so, so dangerous. >> reporter: the drama televised live. >> we've got police chasing a suspect down there. >> reporter: the tense chase lasts 45 minutes. >> hitting vehicles left and right. >> reporter: four vehicles are rammed. ditching his mangled car, now he's on foot. [ sirens ]

a 22-year-old woman is carjacked. >> when i see him running towards me i kind of froze because i saw him trying to pull a gun already. him pointing a gun at me. i just got out of the car and ran. >> reporter: after attempting a second carjacking, the suspect is shot and wounded. >> the suspect is down. >> reporter: incredibly no other serious injuries in a city known for wild pursuits this is one of the most dramatic. >> wow! that was just amazing. miguel almaguer reporting for us. the suspect, 29-year-old aaron lorda, is in the hospital listed in stable condition. the lapd says he's a known gang member with a long rap sheet including convictions for assault, robbery and attempted grand theft auto. congressman aaron schock is beginning an internal review of his own spending on travel. his office is looking into whether he complied with house rules. "politico" reports he's spent thousands of taxpayer funds on private planes and his campaign bought him a $74,000 chevy tahoe and a $27,000 ford to drive

around in illinois. "usa today" reports in 2013 schoch spent $102,000 on travel from his congressional account. that's about $40,000 more than the next closest member of congress from illinois. only 11 members of the house spent more. in a statement, his office says that "congressman schoch and his team have a well-deserved reputation for constituent service. this is due to extensive travel throughout the district which is 205 towns, 19 counties. the congressman's staff has access to his vehicles so it is used frequently when he is both in and out of the district. for example, this weekend over 800 miles were driven criss-crossing the district for events. congressman schoch takes his compliance responsibilities seriously and procedures concerning this issue will be reviewed to determine whether they can be improved." now, this rounds out a tough couple of weeks for schoch including a flap over a remodel of his office. and now two men have been arrested for allegedly trying to break into his home. wow, some bad times. next on "way too early," a look at the stories you'll be talking about in the morning

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welcome back. let's get a check on the day ahead before we toss it over to "morning joe." security officials are expected to update the house homeland security committee on the threat posed by . >> a statue of the former arizona senator barry goldwater will be dedicated in the statuary hall. >> that will do it. "morning joe '80s starts right now. 17 years is the longest i have ever in my life held a job by 16 years and five months in my heart i know it is time for