if you're having all sorts of difficulty, if your wife says she's leaving you, she doesn't love you anymore, i don't care, get out and vote, right? you got to get out and vote. >> well the holidays are behind us, and the first presidential primary contest now just four weeks away. what you just heard only a taste of how the candidates are ramping up. plus iran erupts into protest after the execution of a prominent cleric by its main rival saudi arabia, setting fire to its embassy, and now a major move by the saudi kingdom. armed protesters who took over a national wildlife refuge in oregon say they plan to stay at the site for as long as it takes. we'll have the latest on the standoff. it is 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. this is "way too early." ♪

good morning everyone. it is monday, january 4th, the first monday of the new year. i'm shiba russell. tensions are running high in the middle thooeast this mornin after saudi arabia executed a prominent heeite muslim cler baeman over the weekend. saudi arabia is cutting ties with iran. the saudis have given iran's ambassador and other iranian diplomats 48 hours to leave the country. this weekend's unrest began after saudi arabia held its largest mass execution in decades on saturday. 47 were killed, including that shiite cleric nimr al nimr. his executions sparked a wave of protest. the pictures show the saudi

embassy in tehran set on fire after protesters stormed the building. there were no reports of injuries but up to 40 arrests were made. iran's president condemned the execution but said the attack on the saudi embassy was by no means justified. in tehran, crowds were seen burning u.s. tags to protest u.s. links to saudi leaders. ir iran's supreme leader says saudi's leader will face divine vengeance. john kirby says we are particularly concerned that the execution of the prominent shia cleric and political activist risks exacerbating sectarian tensions at a time when they urgently need to be retuesdayed. we turn to 2016 politics, there are four weeks left until the iowa caucuses and donald trump shared his first television ad with "the washington post." 30-second spot with a focus on immigration and isis. it opens on president obama and

hillary clinton and at one point shows the suspects from the san bernardino terrorist attack. trump rolled into the new year with a giant rally at biloxi, mississippi's coast coliseum filled with 13,000 fired up fans. trump also spoke about the size of the crowd and spent minutes berating the cameraman who provides a steady feed of the podium for tv outlets for not showing the audience >> these cameras back here right now, they will never show this crude. they'll never show this crowd. [ booing ] no, they're never going to show this crowd. they're never going to show it. turn it. turn it. turn it. spin it. spin the camera. spin the camera. i'd fire his ass right now if i could. true.

>> the challenge facing trump over the next few weeks is to convert his rallies into votes. and analysis of his support from the "new york times" finds his strongest supporters are self-identified republicans who are registered as democrats concentrated in the south, appalachia and the industrial north. their data shows his strongest backers are less affluent, less educated and less likely to turn out to vote. trump is relying on southern states, many voting on march 1st to catapult him to the nomination. trump was also featured in a new terrorist recruitment video that emerged over the holiday weekend. the video from the al qaeda affiliate al shabab features trump's call to ban all muslims from entering the u.s. when asked about it, trump brushed it off saying "they use other people, too." this follows the unsubstantiated claim that hillary clinton made in last month's debate he was being used in an isis recruitment video. trump addressed that as well. >> well she wasn't right because

it wasn't done then and it was al shabab, she said it was isis, it was al shabab and of course at some point they're going to do something. i'm the front-runner by a loot. what does that mean? we're not supposed to speak about the enemy? and they are the enemy, by the way. we're not supposed to speak about the enemy because if we do, we're going to be in a propaganda? everybody knows anybody is going to be in a propaganda. her husband is part of isis' propaganda, i think it's isis and they put him down as the degenera degenerate. they talked about all of his scandals. >> bill clinton returns to the campaign trail today in new hampshire. at one point the former president will be just 20 miles from trdonald trump's event in lowell, massachusetts. trump said he will not allow hillary clinton to campaign as a strong advocate for women, charging her with a role in her husband's scandals. >> she's got a problem. she's married to a person that's a serious abuser, and i mean, at the highest level, and she -- you know, she's into the an

innocent victim. she was the one that would go along with him in this this whole game that they play. and you look at what happened with some of the people that he took advantage of and then she gets involved. so she's not like the innocent person sitting by the side, you and you know, with tears in her eyes. she's aer. that was very much involved. she was playing up the sexist stuff heavy and as soon as i brought this up, all of a sudden, as you probably noticed, it stopped. i'm the only one that's willing to talk about his problems. i mean, what he did and what he has gone through i think is frankly terrible especially if she wants to play the woman card. >> what does it mean to play the woman card in your view? >> she's playing it. she is pandering, she is pandering to the public and she's pandering to women. and when she did it with me, she talked about sexist and i said, me? i have more respect for women by

far than hillary clinton has. >> and yesterday at a town hall in new hampshire, clinton was repeatedly confronted by a woman, later identified as a republican state legislator, about rape allegations against president clinton. >> wait a minute, i'm not going to take your question because other people have been waiting. yes, right here, we'll bring you a microphone. here we go. here we go. [ inaudible comments from audience ]. >> okay, let me see. right back there, this man right there, here we go, right there. you are very rude and i'm not going to ever call on you. thank you. >> there you go. presidential campaigns are beginning to release their fund-raising totals for the final quarter of last year and

the money raised on the democratic side is looking like a close one. bernie sanders' campaign reported raising more than $33 million in the final three months of the year, just $4 million short of hillary clinton's haul over the same period. sanders' overall fund-raising total for 2015 was $73 million. he'll head into the new year just $10 million behind clinton in terms of cash on hand. the sanders campaign says its 2.5 million donations over the past year broke the record set four years ago by president obama's re-election campaign. small contributions made up the vast majority of all the money sanders raised. the average donation over the past three month was about $7. the volume of small donations means about 99.9% of his spearers may in fact give again because they have not yet reached the legal maximum donation. here's sanders talking about his campaign's fund-raising prowess yesterday. >> look, i think that people are

tired of establishment politics and establishment economics and one of you, the manifestations of that is the kind of incredible fund-raising that we've been doing in terms of small individual donations. we have 2.5 million small individual contribution style campaign that is more than any campaign in the history of the united states of america and i think that speaks to the enthusiasm and support that we're getting at the grassroots. >> all eyes are on oregon this morning after a group of protesters took over a federal wildlife refuge this weekend. the protesters at least one of which is armed are being led by ammon bundy, the son of clive bundy, known for his 2014 standoff with federal authorities over grazing rights. the protesters are vowing to stay at the facility indefini indefinitely in order to highlight ranchers rights. they held a protest saturday.

the attorney says there report to federal prison today but that hasn't stopped the standoff. >> we are here only to promote the constitution, the supreme law of the land, and to help the people reestablish their rights. >> the sheriff has warned people to stay away from the refuge. at least one local school district has canceled classes this week, citing security concerns. just back from vacation, president obama has gun control at the top of his agenda this week. nbc news has learned the president is expected to announce a new set of executive actions tomorrow in an effort to tighten federal gun laws. later today, he'll meet with attorney general loretta lynch to discuss what steps he can take legally in areas like background checks and the so-called gun show loophole. he'll also participate in a live televised town hall meeting on thursday to discuss gun violence in the u.s. meanwhile, republican presidential candidates are already speaking out claiming

the president is once again overstepping his authority with some vowing to undo whatever action he takes. >> this president is a petulant child. whenever he can't get what he wants because quite family the american people rejected his agenda turning the house and the senate over to the republicans, now this president wants to act as if he's a king, as if he's a dictator. the fact is if he wants to make changes to the laws, go to congress and convince the congress that they're necessary but this is going to be another illegal executive action which i'm sure will be rejected by the courts and when i become president will be stricken from executive action by executive action i'll take. >> there's an assault on the second amendment. you know, obama's going to do an executive order and really knock the hell out of it. you know that. no, you see it. they've announced it. so it will go through the court system for years, well it should be overturned, like so many of -- he can't get anybody to do what he wants him to do. you know, the system is supposed to be you get the democrats, you

get the republicans, you get -- and you make deals, right? he can't do that. he can't do that. so he's going to sign another executive order having to do with the second amendment, having to do with guns. i will veto that. i will unsign that so fast, so fast. still ahead here on "way too early" the nfl playoff picture is finally set. the matchups, plus complete highlights. and carly fiorina calls it tongue-in-cheek but twitter called it pandering. did the presidential candidate turn her back on her alma mater to score political points? those stories and a check on weather when "way too early" on this monday morning comes right back.

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joins us live from london with more on what the first week of the new year holds for stocks. >> hi, shiba. it's been an ugly start for the new year for stocks globally. dramatic sell-off in china and here in europe the main indices down about 2% and looking ahead to the u.s. open, the first day of the year stock futures are pointing to sharp declines more than triple digits on the dow at this stage and a few factors in play, the china factor i already mentioned, data to the light side but also the escalation and tensions between saudi arabia and iran really keeping investors on risk off mode here. keep in mind investors have a few key data points to watch today, the ism manufacturing report and later in the week on friday another check on the jobs picture. for now, back to you. >> nancy holgrave, thank you. joining us live from london. we want to switch over to sports now, and the nfl regular season finale, we begin with the packers hosting the vikings on sunday night football to green bay the vikings claim the nfc

north with a 20-13 win over the packers. running back adrian peterson ran for a score and cornerback captain munerland returned a fumble 55 yards to the end zone helping minnesota win its first division title since 2009. to denver now after falling behind the chargers in the third quarter, the broncos wring in quarterback peyton manning who has been sidelined since mid-november and manning leads the broncos to a 27-20 win that earns denver the afc's number one playoff seed. got to send it to the fans. to buffalo, the jets needed a win to punch their ticket to the playoffs. >> are we going to show this. >> we must show it bill. >> rex ryan plays spoiler keeping new york out of the post season with a 22-17 victory. i thought the jets would be on their way. >> um-hum. the steelers wrap up the afc's final playoff spot, slipping to the post season

after a 28-12 win over the browns. and in miami, the pats drop their second straight division game and miss a chance to clinch the afc's top seed, after a 20-10 loss to the dolphins. who saw that coming? and the nfl post season bracket is set. take a look at the afc playoff picture, the broncos and the patriots are going to break next week with first round byes. the texans clinch the afc south title with a 30-6 win over the jaguars, and in the nfc, the panthers clinch the number one seed with a 38-10 win over the buccaneers. they get a first round bye along with the cardinals. bill, how do you see the super bowl shaping up? who are your picks? >> a couple weeks ago i would have easily said new england versus the panthers. now you throw in seattle is playing well, arizona, who knows and then the afc is just up for grabs. peyton could be back for denver. they're the number one seed. >> you're not going to call anything now, you'll wait a few weeks? >> i got to think about it.

i'm still not over the jets game yesterday. >> happy new year to you, bill. >> happy new year to you and everyone out there. back to work, back to school. winter arrived in the east. how about the flooding? it's been going on for ten days. it shows you how long it takes all the water to collect and go down the mississippi river. we've been talking about this record-breaking flooding on the illinois river and areas of missouri for about the last week. it is going to take another two to almost three weeks for all of this water to finally make it all the way down into the gulf of mexico, so we still have more flooding to go, but thankfully the mississippi river is wider as it goes down past mississippi and louisiana so it's a slower moving river, it will still be flooded but not record-breaking flooding, not going to see the horrible pictures like we saw over the last couple of days. the story today the cold air, feels like winter. windchill negative 8 in northern vermont, 1 in binghamton. big cities down to the low 20s and the cold will be with us all day long but it's a quick shot of cold. it doesn't last long. we don't have a lot of snow on

the ground to hold the cold in. we'll get into the 30s today, northern new england only in the teens and single digits. by tuesday we already start to moderate the air, it's a cold tuesday morning. tuesday afternoon it will be a little bit better and then by wednesday, we're done. it's already above average once again, near 40 in cleveland, even northern new england will be above freezing once again so i'm sure the ski resorts will be making that snow as fast as possible over the next 48 hours because it looks like we'll get warm again right after that. there's a little bit of snow to deal with this morning. many areas of the ohio valley have a coating of know out there, only heavy snow coming off the eastern side of lake michigan and south of ashtabula. as far as the forecast goes the only troublesome weather if you're out there near to the lakes or out in the west, california the next two or three days two or three weak storms, much needed rain and snow. there's some good out there, finally fireplace weather in the east. >> i don't like it at all. still trying to get used to it >> that's the problem, getting used to it. still ahead the future of

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5:53 now. let's get a check on the morning's other headlines. we head to the control room and louis bergdorf. >> good morning, shiba, happy new year.

presidential candidate carly fiorina is defending a tweet that sparked accusations of pandering online, before friday's rose bowl game between the hawkeyes and stanford's cardinal the republican presidential candidate tweeted "love my alma mater but rooting for the hawkeyes win today. it wasn't lost on anyone she was ditching her alma mater for the favorite team of those voting in the iowa caucuses in a month. yesterday she was pressed on the issue. >> oh for heaven sakes, dana, can't a girl ever have a little bit of fun? that was a tongue-in-cheek tweet which the people of iowa understand because i was asked over and over again in iowa, having attended a hawkeye tailgate i was asked. they knew my heart was torn. you would think, based on this reaction that i had said something really troefsi icontr you know like isis is a jv team or this demonstration was the result of a video. let's just say'biggest mistake i make is a tongue-in-cheek tweet about a rose bowl the american people will sleep safely when i am president of the united states. >> we should point out iowa

lost, iowa was trounced by stanford 35-0 and guess who was blamed, carly fiorina, even sparking #carlycurse. new jersey governor chris christie got an unusual question on the campaign trail in new hampshire. he's currently getting heat back home for his decision to extend new jersey's bear hunt and he was asked about it last night. >> what would be your federal policy on the environment, given the fact that you've authorized the bear hunt in northern new jersey and extended it for the past three years, much to the opposition of many of your constituents in northern new jersey. >> i saw a picture today of a big black bear sleeping in a tree in the middle of a neighborhood in summit, new jersey. what's happened is new jersey has been overrun by black bears. we've been overrun, they're coming into neighborhoods, they're coming into homes. i don't have a federal bear hunt policy. i haven't thought about it and

i'm not trying to make fun. i just, i'm being honest with you, i haven't thought about that but i would not back off for one second from what i've done as governor of new jersey. i think it's been the right thing. >> as for the bear kristi referred to, authorities let it be, it eventually came down and wandered back into the woods on its own. finally the fantasy sports sites draft kings and fan duel are fighting to stay in business in new york states after eric schneiderman amended the lawsuit against the companies last week asking they give back all the money they made in the state and what could amount to millions. lawyers for the companies will face off in appeals court today to determine whether they can continue to operate until the case goes to trial. new york's attorney general claims the companies are running an illegal gambling operation which of course they both deny. shiba, back to you. >> a really interesting development there. louis, thank you so much. happy new year to you as well. that does it for me and "way too early." coming up on "morning joe" donald trump rides into the new year in front of 13,000 in

mississippi, plus we'll have a look at his first television ad of the campaign. and bill clinton hitting the campaign trail in new hampshire, the former president will appear just 20 miles from trump's event with the two already locking horns. and presidential candidate mike huckabee says he'll hold 150 events in iowa this morning, he'll join joe and mika this morning to talk about it. that and much more coming up next on "morning joe." it's a fact. kind of like reunions equal blatant lying. the company is actually doing really well on, on social media. oh that's interesting. i - i started social media. oh! it was my...baby. i drive to the hoop. i drive a racecar. i have a driver. his name is carl. but that's not what we all have in common. we talked to our doctors about treatment with xarelto®. xarelto® is proven to treat and help reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots. xarelto® is also proven to reduce the risk of stroke in people with afib, not caused by a heart valve problem.

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and it hasn't been a pretty picture for her or for bill because i'm the only one willing to talk about his problems. >> you can't make america great again if you insult and demean people of america. >> let's look at people in iowa and new hampshire and south carolina. >> what if congress did something, anything to protect our kids from gun violence? i direct my team to look at any actions we can