the month long occupation of federal land in oregon comes to a violent end with several arrested and one killed in a shoot-out with police. it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. this is "way too early." good morning. it's wednesday, january 27th, i'm erica hill. breaking news this morning, one person is dead, eight others facing federal charges after authorities raided a group of armed protesters who had taken over government land. after more than three weeks of occupying malheur wildlife refume are -- refuge are behind bars. they were arrested in a traffic stop. two people were shot during the

incident, one has died. authorities closed several mimes of highway 395 as they investigated. another member of the group turned himself in later in the night. rancher lavoy finicum died, and his daughter confirmed his death. saying we all thought it would end but not like this. my father stressed they would not pull a gun on them unless they pulled a gun. in an interview with msnbc earlier this month, finicum said he preferred death to jail. >> so you're prepared to die? better dead than in a cell? >> absolutely. dude, would you like to be in a cell? nobody wants to live their life in a cell. >> joining us now by phone is reporter lauren martinez who's in oregon this morning. lauren, can we expect to learn more from officials? >> reporter: hi, good morning, yes, we're expecting a press conference at 10:30 at the

chamber of commerce. the fbi special agent -- is expected to make a statement as well as dave ward. lavoy finicum, a key leader in the occupation, a real face since here since january 2nd when it started is dead. finicum and several others including militia leader ammon bundy they were arrested in a traffic stop just 20 miles north of bern yesterday after 4:00 p.m. after that, a couple of separate arrests of militia members had been made. but not a full raid by the fbi or local law enforcement. on the refuge yet. within the last hour, we're about a quarter mile from the refuge right now. and there's a blockade leading up to the road up there and militia member jason patric from georgia, he came out and spoke

with us for a little bit and he actually got an agent -- an fbi agent named chris who's been negotiating with ammon on the phone. so they went back and forth for quite a while. i mean, chris kept saying they have only a short window to get out of the refuge and asking that really to leave through the main entrance. but the militia member, patrick, doesn't believe that they can leave safely. so the situation is -- it's still developing at this time. >> all right, we'll be looking for that update later on this morning. thank you. turning to a volatile day in politics. donald trump has withdrawn from the seventh republican debate scheduled for tomorrow night in des moines. the billionaire businessman spent yesterday locked in a back and forth with fox news over the participation of moderator megyn kelly. trump says she has treated him unfairly. the candidate tweeted this poll asking if he should participate.

>> megyn kelly's really biased against me. she knows that. i know that. everybody knows that. do you really think she can be fair at a debate? >> the network's response, quote, we learned from a secret back channel that the ayatollah and putin plan to treat him unfairly if he becomes president. he plans to replace his cabinet with twitter followers to see if he should go to those meetings. in response, trump pulled out of the debate. >> me, they're dealing with somebody that's a little bit different. they can't toy with me like they toy with everybody else. so let them have their debate. and let's see how they do with the ratings. i told them, i said, give money to the wounded warriors. give money to the veterans. they'll make a fortune with the debate, let's see how many people watch. when they sent out the wise guy press releases done by a pr person along with roger ailes, i said, bye-bye. okay?

i have done six debates. i have done six. according to every single poll, i have won every single debate. i have done six of them. and now you say when does this stop? how many debates do you have to do? the republicans go on forever and ever and ever with debates. we have people on the stand that have zero, that have one, that have nothing. so it's time that somebody plays grown-up and when i see a press release written by a child like i just saw, what do i have to do? why do i have to make fox rich? let me make wounded warriors rich and the veterans rich. >> trump will hold another event to raise money. ted cruz challenged trump to square off one-on-one. >> we can do it with no moderator whatsoever. we'll do 90 minutes, donald and me.

he can lay out his vision for this country and i can lay out my vision in front of the men and women of iowa. i want you to think how you'd react if you were interviewing somebody for a job and they said i'm not showing up to the interview. i think i'm more important than the people who are going to hire me. if someone did that, didn't show up at the interview, you know what you'd say? you're fired. >> trump picked up a major evangelical endorsement from jerry falwell, jr., yesterday. he spoke glowingly at liberty university last week. trump received the support of controversial figures like arizona sheriff joe arpaio who was found guilty of racial profiling in a civil suit for his crackdown on undocumented immigrants. john rocker also endorsed trump. as for senator cruz, he won the support of tony perkins who said the endorsement was personal not on behalf of his organization.

>> the leadership is not about making deals but about respecting the constitution. no one understands the constitution like ted cruz. he's argued before the supreme court nine times. he's written 60 briefs for the supreme court. the next president will nominate two to three supreme court justices. i believe ted will be the best one to select a conservative or a constitutionalist for the court. >> after months of unrest over the democratic debate schedule, "the new hampshire union leader" announced it will partner with msnbc to host an additional debate on february 4th. five days before the new hampshire primary. the dnc has said it will exclude any candidate who participates in the future unsanctioned debates. so will the candidates show up? in a statement released yesterday, dnc chair debbie wasserman schultz said we have no plans to sanction any other debates before the first upcoming caucuses and primary,

but we'll reconvene with the campaigns after the contests to review the schedule. the candidates are at odds over how to proceed. bernie sanders said this is unsanctioned debate so we don't want to jeopardize being able to participate in future debates but he said his stance would be different if it's sanctioned. hillary clinton said she'd be happy to participate in new hampshire if the other candidates would agree. and former government for martin o'malley's campaign says he plans to attend, calling the proposal a big victory for voters across new hampshire and the united states. bernie sanders is scheduled to meet with president obama in the oval office this morning. it is just their second private meeting in the seven years of the obama white house. sanders was in st. paul, minnesota, last night where a crowd of more than 14,000 turned out to watch him speak. about a third of them watching from a monitor in the overflow area. that event came hours after some 6,000 others gathered at a rally in nearby duluth. >> no president -- not bernie

sanders or anyone else can effectively address the crises facing our country unless there is a political revolution. [ applause ] if we stand up, if we fight back, yeah, we can take on, we can defeat the billionaire class. that is what this campaign is about. thank you all very much. >> hillary clinton meantime was at an event in iowa last night where she told attendees she's offering more than just slogans and rhetoric. >> you put my plans on my website and i do tell you how much it will cost because i do want you to know that i'm not just shouting slogans, i'm not just engaging in rhetoric. i have thought this through. i have a plan. i want you to understand it. because i don't think you can get what we need done in this

election or in the presidency unless you level with people. you tell them what you can do. and you let them then respond to it. >> governor chris christie is apologizing for comments he made about his response to the weekend snowstorm in new jersey. back on the road in new hampshire, he was asked about whether he had made the right choice to go back on the trail so soon. his answer sparked backlash at home in new jersey. >> why are you here in new hampshire campaigning instead of there helping serving the damages done by the coastal floodings from the storm? >> well, because it's already done. it's already done. >> okay. >> well, tell me why you think it isn't. what would you -- >> i mean, i have friends, family, calling me and sending

me videos and pictures all over the state. >> all over the state? there's been one county flooded in the state. cape may county. i don't know from all over the state since we have 21 counties where that's happened. second, i don't know what you expect me to do. you want me to go down with a mop? you know, the fact is that we have -- we had all of the roads cleared. we had new jersey transit back up. and for the people who did sustain some flooding, we had folks on the ground to evacuate them if they needed to be evacuated. no one needed to be evacuated. people left voluntarily. went to see family and friends like we asked them to do if they lost the power. we had 94,000 people without power and today we have 500. 500 from 94,000. if there was anything left for me to do, i wouldn't have come back. but, you know, if what they want me to do is just sit there and stare, i could do that. but i don't think it would make them feel any better. when the storm hit, i was there. i heard some people actually, you know, compare it to sandy.

i heard one crazy mayor down in south jersey say this is worse flooding than sandy. here's the one thing to know about that mayor. his town didn't get by sandy. so of course it's worse than sandy for him! >> north wildwood mayor, who's a christie supporter, shot back saying in part, i'm disappointed he'd lower himself as much as he did, having spent the entire event in north wildwood to safely rescue approximately 150 people from their flooded homes, my perspective is somewhat different than that of the governor as he campaigns in new hampshire. here's christie yesterday back in trenton. >> i take heat for all the things i say all the time. i called the mayor and i apologized to him. he's a long time friend. i got carried away last night at the town hall meeting, it's not first time that i have gotten carried away and said something

i later apologized for. doesn't happen often, but it happens. so i called patrick this morning and he accepted my apology. i understand he told the press i apologized. i felt badly about it. would i like to sleep on it, i woke up this morning, i didn't feel good about what i had said about him. so i called to apologize to him. and, you know, the fact is that he was very gracious in accepting it and we work together. we're continuing to work together and we move on from here. >> "the star ledger" reports that the town did sustain flooding in sandy hand the dunes replaced. in new developments this morning with peyton manning as he gears up for super bowl 50. could it be his last? and what about the implications he may have had human growth hormones sent to him. and we'll remember the legendary abe vigoda. those stories and check on weather when "way too early" comes back.

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more signs pointing to peyton manning's possible retirement as nfl network cameras captured audio of the denver quarterback after the victory on sunday. speaking to bill belichick saying this might be his last rodeo. while manning gets ready for big game against cam newton and the panthers, the nfl is conducting an investigation of allegations made in an al jazeera documentary that manning had human growth hormones delivered to his home. the report has secret recording, of an intern working at an anti-aging clinic suggesting his wife received the hgh.

he has since recanted the story. peyton has denied it and called the report complete garbage. former new york giants safety tyler sash who died in september at the age of 27 due to the accidental overdose of pain medication was found to have an advanced degree of cte, a degenerative brain disease kaulz -- caused by repeated brain trauma. he appeared in 37 games at the university of iowa. according to his brother, he suffered at least five concussions in his career. time to get a check of your wednesday weather with bill karins. >> snow birds are complaining in florida, it's been wet and not the warmest and we're getting drenched in the sunshine state. it will continue, even -- they have had bouts of severe weather. remember a week and a half, two weeks ago they had the tornadoes that went through. this morning we could deal with

some severe weather this morning. and they have a tornado warning that's in effect and some strong storms headed across alligator alley. further to north, light rain in tampa. you'll get a break, but then later this afternoon we'll get another round of strong storms. a possibly of two to three inches too. this is the dry season in florida. typically they get the summer rains. but in el nino, they get storms like this. it's a very -- it's textbook i should say. marginal risk of strong storms in ft. meyers and west palm beach. no complaints the rest of the country. 35 in minneapolis. the average is typically 20. chicago chilly at 32. a little more snow melt, slowly but surely, new york to d.c. and even tomorrow, no big headlines. we are going to get wet on the west coast with another storm system, but the big story as we watch towards the iowa caucuses this is forecast for tuesday. a big storm in the middle of the country. and this is the possibly -- this

has the possibly of the snow on the north side of it and so tuesday for the caucus, a mixture of some snow, and looks like some gusty winds too. so that definitely could affect turnout. that's just a little storm, but a pretty big storm. >> a major one. keep an eye on it. thanks. still ahead as d.c. tries to get back normal find out which lawmakers made it into work yesterday and who was snow shamed. "way too early" is back. can a business have a mind? a subconscious. a knack for predicting the future. reflexes faster than the speed of thought. can a business have a spirit? can a business have a soul? can a business be...alive? does printing from your tablet give you a jolt of confidence?

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let's get a check on the other headlines. for that we head to the room and louis burgdorf. >> good morning. well, it's true. abe vigoda who became a cult figure since "people" magazine declared him the late abe vigoda died in his sleep yesterday at the age of 94. he is best known for his roles in "the godfather" and detective fish in "barney miller." it earned him his own spinoff. when people reported his death in 1982, he responded by quote, placing an ad in "variety" with him sitting up in a coffin with the magazine. >> what's the controversy -- that he died. people thought he died? >> but look at this. this fine paper is refuting is.

abe is here in the control room. >> abe is there in the control room? oh, my, it is! sorry, abe. so abe, you're anything but dead. >> thank you. >> and his death became a running gag that he gradually embraced when late night comedians invited them on the shows to prove he was still alive. >> in the past year or so, soda manufacturers have added lime to their products. there's coke with lime, there's pepsi with lime and many, many more. well, our next character is the latest variation on soda with lime. here's vigoda with lime. ♪ vigoda with lime, tv's fish is now more delish ♪ ♪ with a twist of lime, vigoda with lime ♪ >> in addition to his daughter, he is survived by three

grandchildren and a great grandson. all right, let's go to the u.s. senate. it reopens this morning after an intense weekend of blizzard and snow. there were a few formalities that had to take place to delay the start and lisa murkowski of alaska made a casual observation while speaking from the floor. >> as we convene this morning you look around the chamber, and the presiding officer is female. all of our parliamentarians are female. our floor managers are female. all of our pages are female. something is genuinely different and i think it's genuinely fabulous. >> the other senator on hand was susan collins of maine, another state that knows a little something about snow. now, finally marco rubio is out for some revenge.

how could you forget the video of him over the summer overthrowing the football and hitting that kid in the face in iowa? ouch. this time, presidential candidate teamed up with the independent journal review to give it another go and this time he completed the pass. feeling confident. he didn't stop there. >> dangers of flying footballs, that investigation should be bipartisan, it should be bicameral and it should be serious. >> man heels, you're telling me those are presidential? i'm feeling microaggressions. ♪ >> declined by 80 -- >> marco rubio, throwing footballs like crazy. >> now if you watch really closely there you see a few cameos, senator imhoff, ben carson caught a pass there along with other colleagues and reporters. i like that video. erica? >> all in good fun, right?

that's going to do it for us. coming up on "morning joe," awaiting donald trump's next move. he says he won't participate in thursday's debate but will he accept ted cruz's challenge for a one-on-one? and hillary clinton says she's in and martin o'malley will be there. the big question is whether bernie sanders will take part in the proposed new debate ahead of the first in the nation primary. that and much more coming up next on "morning joe." the biggest challenge for business today is not

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ladies and gentlemen -- >> could you turn that microphone off, please. i am paying for this microphone! [ cheers and applause ] >> you were there? >> you were not there. >> come on, you were there? >> yeah. >> were you really? >> yeah. >> well, you know, history is repeating itself. >> sort of. >> that's the story, right? in nashville, ronald reagan goes to the debate in nashua and he doesn't like the rules as they are set up because he thinks it's not fair to the rest of the candidates. he doesn't think it's a level playing field. so reagan just -- they tried to