>> hysterics. president obama's set to deliver his final state of the union tonight. why he won't be spelling out a blockbuster vision for congress. and dramatic new video of that raid that recaptured one of the world's most wanted fugitives. [ gunshots ] more from el chapo's so-called safe house. plus new information on his extradition to the u.s. and how he linked up with actor sean penn while still on the lam. and nick saban and the crimson tide run away with yet another national championship. the question you just have to ask at this rate will he surpass bear bryant? it is 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. this is "way too early."

good morning, everyone. it is tuesday, january 12th. i'm shiba russell. we begin with breaking news from the middle east. a deadly explosion in istanbul, turkey, at the city's historic square, a popular area with tourists. it happened around 10:15 local time, that's a little more than two hours ago. the governor of istanbul confirmed ten people were killed. another 15 wounded. we are still awaiting video from the explosion site. but as you can see here, emergency vehicles are rushing to the scene. no word yet on what caused the blast, but turkey did suffer two major bombing attacks last year. to politics now and in one of her clearest breaks yet from president obama hillary clinton last night calls on the administration to end raids aimed at deporting central americans who enter the u.s. illegally.

>> i have come out against the raids. i do not think the raids are an appropriate tool to enforce the immigration laws. in fact, i think they are divisive, they are sowing discord and fear. >> will you deport children? >> let me say this, i would give every person, but particularly children, due process to have their story told. i cannot sit here and tell you i have a blanket rule about who or who won't ever be let into the country to stay, because it has to be done individually, by individually. what i don't like are the mass roundups and the raids that just pick people up and send them off in the middle of the night. and that should end. those were clinton's first comments about the policies since saying she had, quote, real concerns about it back in december. her opponents, martin o'malley and bernie sanders came out more forcefully against the raids when they were first reported. and sanders sent a letter to

president obama last week calling for an end to the program. and it all comes as the war of words between the two leading democratic candidates is escalating. in the wake of new polls that show the two essentially tied in both iowa and new hampshire >> i'm asking you to choose, to caucus for me over either of the other two. and part of the reason i'm asking you to do that is because we do have differences. >> if the democrats want to nominate a candidate who, in fact, is electable to become president of the united states, is going to, enfact, defeat the kind of right wing republicans that are out there, i think it is becoming increasingly apparent that bernie sanders is that candidate. >> and he would take it all together and send health insurance to the states. turning over yours and my health

insurance to governors like terry branstad. >> i voted against the war in iraq. secretary dateline voted for the war in iraq. >> there was a vote in the congress, do we give the guns lobby, the manufacturers and the sellers, absolute immunity from any liability or accountability? president obama and i were both in the senate, and we voted no. senator sanders voted yes. >> secretary clinton and her campaign now knows that she is in serious trouble. suddenly bernie sanders is no longer a nice guy and he's wrong on this and he's wrong on that and he's wrong on that. that is not surprising when you have a clinton campaign that is now in trouble, and now understands that they can lose. >> okay. meanwhile, vice president joe biden is making good on his promise to stay in the mix throughout the democratic primary. in an interview last night he

offered this explanation on why the democratic primary feels closer than many had predicted. >> i think that -- that bernie is speaking to a yearning that is deep and real, and he has credibility on it. that is the absolute enormous concentration of wealth in a small group of people with the middle class now being able to be shown, being left out. >> but hillary's talking about that, as well. >> it's -- but it's relatively new for hillary to talk about th that. hillary's focus has been on other things up to now and that's been bernie's -- no one questions bernie's authenticity on those issues. >> and they question -- >> i think they question everybody who hasn't been talking about it all along. but i think she's come forward with some really, really thoughtful approaches to deal with the issue. >> and with just two days to go

until the sixth republican presidential debate the main stage will feature even fewer candidates. fox business announced the prime-time lineup yesterday allowing the top six candidates in national polls, along with anyone playing in the top five in the latest iowa or new hampshire polls. the seven candidate lineup is the smallest republican debate yet. with trump at center stage flanked by rubio and cruz. carson and christie, bush and kasich now on the edges. the criteria sends rand paul and carly fiorina down to the undercard contest where they've been invited to appear alongside mike huckabee and rick santorum. but last night the senator from kentucky called the decision an insu insult. >> we do not think that anyone should really be able to characterize our campaign as anything less than first tier. we've raised $25 million. we have -- we're going to be on the ballot in every state. and we just announced the other day we have 1,000 precinct chairs in iowa. so it's a rotten thing to do to

try to designate which candidates have a chance and don't, and so we will not participate in anything that's not first tier. >> and with the clock ticking and just 20 days until the first votes in iowa, new polls offer a snapshot of the race. in iowa, donald trump has rebounded to a statistical tie with ted cruz, 31-29%. marco rubio in a distant third at 15%, followed by ben carson at 7% and chris christie at 4%. and with just 28 days until new hampshire, another big lead for trump. 32% to cruz's 14%. tied with ohio governor john kasich. rubio at 12%, and christie at 8%. while only a third of republican voters are completely decided, nearly half of trump supporters, 46%, say they're locked in. president obama's final state of the union is set for tonight. early previews suggest the president will seek to move past an election season beset with partisan personal attacks. he's also not expected to spell

out many, if any, policy proposals or a legislative wish list. in the audience, everyone from michigan head football coach jim harbaugh to kentucky clerk kim davis. one seat will be left empty in the first lady's box for victims of gun violence. by the way, press secretary josh earnest joins us live later this morning on "morning joe." and msnbc's special coverage of president obama's final state of the union address begins tonight at 8:00 p.m. we are learning new details this morning about the capture of mexican drug lord joaquin "el chapo" guzman. the mexican television network has obtained what are believed to be new booking photos of guzman. they have not been verified by nbc news. guzman was arrested last week following a predawn raid and police chase. and this morning, we are getting a first look at the aftermath inside that safe house in mexico. this is where guzman's six months on the run came to an end. there are bullet holes along several walls and a secret

passageway guzman used as he tried to escape the raid. mexico has begun proceedings to extradite guzman to the u.s. but the process could reportedly drag on for up to a year. nbc news correspondent gabe gutierrez has more. >> reporter: dramatic video released by the mexican government showed friday's wade of joaquin el chapo' guzman's safe house in mexican marines closing in on the most wanted drug lord in the world, as el chapo makes one last-ditch effort to escape from this house with a top lieutenant through an underground trouble. they emerge from this sewer line about a half mile away, then police say they stole a car, and that driver called it in. and authorities were able to track them down. after his dramatic escape from a maximum security prison last july, guzman was on the run. but in early october, took a secret meeting in mexico with oscar winning actor sean penn, brokered by soap opera star kate

del castillo who once played a drug lord on mexican tv. castillo tweeted about guzman, and rolling stone says he reached out to her to discuss the idea of making a movie about his life. she connected with penn and together they traveled to mexico in october to meet with guzman, under you is veilance by mexican authorities in these photos not verified by nbc news. penn would arrange this video interview, and write an article for rolling stone describing the process as the clandestine horror show, burner phones, anonymous e-mails and encrypted messages. on that october day, as penn and tell castillo were meeting with el chapo, law enforcement sources say mexican marines were preparing to move in. but to ensure the two actors would not be harmed, the raid was called off. a few days later, when the operation did take place, el chapo had already escaped. it would be three months before authorities would track guzman to los noches. penn has detoured into journalism before filing stories after interviewing president

raul castro in cuba and the late leftist leader hugo chavez in venezue venezuela. if guzman is extradited to the united states legal experts say his admissions to penn could come back to haunt him. >> it's not at all clear that sean penn actually violated any american laws by this interview. it may not have been particularly ethical, but it wasn't necessarily illegal. >> reporter: penn told the associated press he had nothing to hide. a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid finally reached besieged areas of syria yesterday. including in the blockaded town of madaya. and that's where dozens are said to have died from starvion and where residents say they've been reduced to eating leaves and stray cats just to survive. u.n. officials describe what they saw as heartbreaking. harrowing scenes of desperation, including 400 people in need of immediate medical evacuation. convoys were also able to reach two other blockaded villages in the country's north after

negotiations between rebels and the syrian government. in spite of the delivery international aid officials say there are no reassurances of future deliveries after the supplies run out in a month. secretary of state john kerry is pressing for full access to the city. let's turn now to business where oil's dismal start to the new year continued yesterday as the u.s. benchmark hit fresh 12-year lows. cnbc's jeff cutmore joins us live from london. jeff you cover the oil markets. are we past the panic time here? >> well, for a lot of oil companies, they clearly are still panicking, shiba. and particularly in the shale oil sector, where their cost of production is high. and that is the fear that we might see some bankruptcies in this space going forward. but morgan stanley putting out a new call on the sector. they think oil may go to $20 a barrel. but, hey, spare a thought for the motorists. at least you're going to get your petrol cheaper. i just want to move on one other story that i think is worth

looking at here. dalian wonder, it's a chinese company, they are buying legendary, the hollywood studio that makes movies. this is an interesting development. there is a quota of u.s. films going into china. it's about 35 for a year. this is one way that we could see more american-made movies turning up in chinese cinemas, soon. interesting deal. $3.5 billion they're paying for legendary. >> wow, it is, indeed. jeff cutmore thank you so much joining us live from london. coming up next, alabama can add one more to the trophy case. the crimson tide manages to hold off top ranked clemson, ending a perfect season and walking away with the college football title. we'll have all the highlights. those stories and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back.

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of the college football world. >> there's nothing else -- this is something i've dreamed of since i was little. >> what's the version of coach saban we're going to see after having won a national title? >> he's going to be excited for us, going to be dancing. >> after the semifinal react, could we get a smile? how about now? >> you got it, baby. you got it. >> alabama head coach nick saban all smiles there, after a hard-fought victory over clemson. it is the coach's fifth national title. his fourth with the crimson tide. let's go to the action here running back derrick henry gets the scoring started for alabama with a 50 yard touchdown run in the first quarter. the heisman trophy winner broke a school record in the game, becoming 'bama's all-time leading rusher. he finished the night with 158 yards and three touchdowns. however this was not a lopsided win. it was a back and forth contest down the stretch as alabama fought to keep pace with clemson

qb watson who threw for 405 yards and four scores in the game. though the crimson tide continued to answer with big plays, tight end o.j. howard hauls in this 35-yard td pass for the lead in the third quarter. but the biggest momentum swing of the game came with a big gamble by alabama. after tying things up with a field goal in the fourth quarter the tide decided to try their luck with a surprise offside kick and it pays off, 'bama gets the ball back, setting up another huge play. howard again this time a 56-yard reception to give the crimson tide the lead for good. and after the tide goes waynes a field goal 'bama's kenyan drake takes the ensuing kickoff 95 yards to the end zone. 95. to increase the alabama lead. clemson would score another two touchdowns in the game. but it's not enough as the tide outlast the tigers for a 45-40 victory, and a national title. there goes the red gatorade. their fourth in seven seasons.

nick saban one championship trophy short of matching bear bryant's mark for the most in history. just needs one more. what a game. >> yeah -- >> did you watch last night? >> too bad no one on the east coast could watch it. if you're watching us and you finished the whole game, hats off to you. it ended almost towards midnight. >> you don't have the sports package and you have to stay up late. >> i'm sure joe stayed up for the whole thing, though. alabama congratulations. special teams won it for them. let's talk about the winter blast. the icy, snowy weather that is now enveloped the country. we're in the peak of winter and it finally feels like it out there. we had a lot of areas in illinois where we had all the horrible flooding. we had areas that we're now watching the flooded rivers turning to ice. so you can just picture how much, you know, a lot of extra skating ponds out there probably actually pretty dangerous, too. as far as western new york, lake-effect snow, was heavy. some areas picked up as much as 20 to 30 inches yesterday. this was classic lake-effect

snow. usually we get this november, december. but because winter's been so delayed this was our first really big blast of lake-effect snow for the region. snow, one of our first pure snowstorms. it's a small one, heading through the ohio valley. a lot of school delays out here. snowing pretty good in cincinnati, cleveland right now, pittsburgh, too. and eventually that's heading for new england and the northeast. so here's the timing of it. this is 10:00 a.m. the blue on here shows you where some of the nod rat snow will be. it's not going to snow long. two, three hours at the most. by 5:00 p.m., albany, burlington, the mass pike, areas north of new york city, a quick burst of snow. most of the main roads should be okay. watch out for a couple slick spots. and then the storm redevelops in the gulf of maine. this is a classic snowstorm for them, six to twelve inches. plowable snow in the ski resorts in maine and also northern new england are loving this. so the forecast. this is tonight in maine. this pinkish, reddish color here. that's over a foot of snow in those lake effect bands that

will develop late tonight. the big cities and i-95 not expecting much. i'll end with this, shiba. right now the windchill, minnesota, wisconsin, it's that time of year where everyone around the country wonders how they do it. it's like the opposite of phoenix. you know in the summer, how does phoenix do 110 every day? i don't know how they do it in the northern plains. >> people craved the cold weather and the snow and they'll get it. >> it's here. >> thanks, bill. up next, donald trump stops by "the tonight show" to talk politics. and a few other things. >> you must be really, really, really excited right now, because the powerball is at $1.3 billion. take a shot at it. what would you do with all that money? >> i don't know.

at ally bank, no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like working from home equals not working. numbers look pretty good, how's it on your end dave? oh, the numbers look so good. dave, dave's on it.

time now for a check on the morning's other headlines. and for that we head to the control room, louis burgdorf. >> the powerball jackpot has soared to a world record $1.4 billion. the lottery officials around the country are running into one major problem. the billboards were only made to display three digit prizes and since the jackpot has surpassed that. signs are a few million short of the right amount. the colorado lottery acknowledged the issue on twitter adding our jackpot signs only go to 999 million. we're going to have to get creative. now if a single winner takes home tomorrow night's grand prize the cash prize is estimated at $868 million. i would say it's time to get the

office pool going because as they say, hey, you never know. now let's go to donald trump. he returned to "the tonight show" last night. there were jokes and some serious discussion on immigration and gun policy. there was also this moment where fallon really made trump work for the job. >> i was wondering if maybe we should do a mock job interview. >> okay. >> with you. can i call you donald? >> you certainly can. >> how did you hear about the position? >> well, a lot of people in this big country were screaming, what's going on? and i said, let's see if we can do something. >> perfect. well you want to tell me a little bit about yourself? >> well, i'm an extraordinarily handsome person. i have a beautiful head of hair. >> i know. i noticed that. yeah. >> what are your weaknesses? >> that i never forget. when, you know, it's sort of interesting, i've said it, i'm too nice, too long, and when i become like somebody takes

advantage of a situation, i become too bad for too long. so i think i maybe have to have a little bit of a shorter memory. wouldn't be so bad. >> do you cry ever? >> yeah. when i was 1 i cried. >> now, finally, huion castro became president obama's secretary of housing and urban development, some said it was a calculated move by some to prepare him to be vice president in 2016. castro has endorsed hillary clinton and last night stephen colbert put him in the spot light. >> when asked if she got the nomination who she would consider for vice president she said, well, certainly julian castro would be someone that we would consider. and there are rumors that you're in vice president training camp. what -- what does that involve other than staying awake behind someone during the state of the union address? is there any likelihood, or any truth to the rumors that she would approach you on a scale of

one to stephen that's flattering to even be mentioned, but, i have to concentrate on the job i'm doing right now? >> stephen, it's flattering to even be mentioned. but i got to concentrate on the job that i'm doing. >> so she asked. she's already talked to you about it? >> no. >> julian castro there being a true politician. shiba, back to you. >> and a true grilling there, louis. thank you. that does it for me and "way too early." coming up on "morning joe," roll tide, roll. alabama wins their fourth national championship in seven years, and nick saban is now just one title shy of the all-time record. is it time to start calling the 'bama coach the greatest of all time? plus hillary clinton turns up the heat on bernie sanders now that he's pulled even in the first two voting states. that and much more coming up next on "morning joe." right now, all hp ink is buy one get one 50% off!

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