it's thursday, january 28th and coming up on "early today," the exchanges were hot and heavy between the donald and the factor. but do iowa voters care if trump ditches tonight's debate? new details on the oregon shooting with police and a message from bundy, occupiers, go home. walmart closing 150 stores, devastating some communities, creating food deserts in others, without a grocery store to be found. plus police pay the price of excessive force during an arrest. long lines for 39 cents a gallon gas.

the heart of the water crisis in flint, michigan. "early today" starts right now. with four days until the iowa caucuses and donald trump is still not participating in the fox news debate tonight. host bill o'reilly pleaded with him to reconsider. >> will you just consider, yub want you to consider, all right, think about it, say look, i might come back -- >> well, even though you and i had an agreement that you wouldn't ask me that, which we did, i will therefore forget that you asked me that. >> o'reilly also tried to play the religion card but trump wouldn't have any of it. >> in your christian faith there's the tenant of forb giveinous give giveness giveness. don't you think that's the right

>> it it probably is but it's called an eye for an eye, i guess. >> no, no, no. if you're the christian, the eye for the eye rule goes out. turning the other cheek. right here. >> you're taking this much more seriously than i am. i'm going to have a wonderful time tomorrow night at 9:00 at drake university. >> so, tonight it's the donald going up against the rest of the gop candidates in the fox debate scheduled for the same time at a separate event. meanwhile ted cruz is doubling down on his challenge, asking his twitter followers to tell him to accept #ducking donald. and from the cruz campaign web page, which shows donald trump's head superimposed on scrooge mcduck. super pack supporting crews offering a donation of $1.5

to helping veterans. and "ted cruz wants to debate me again. can we do it in canada?" >> and katy terr. >> reporter: trump possibly betting at the risk of a no show is better than the risk of a poor performance. in response, trump's opponents are piling on, ted cruz not so subtly tweeting that trump's a coward. and iowa, locales want to get it over with. >> i don't think he's credible candidate. i wouldn't vote for him if he was the only one running. >> more drama, more pech lnt behavior. >> even beacher who is still deciding between trump and bush, says he's had enough.

>> if trump is running a risk, it's that some voters in iowa are going to say this is immature but that's relatively small, especially for people who are supporting trump who will see this as a move of strength. >> reporter: and there's still little signs the campaign has followed through on its get out the vote effort. turning now to the democrats and the increasingly close race between hillary clinton and bernie sanders. yesterday the vermont sanders took time off to a private meeting with president obama. and afterwards, spoke with nbc's lest holt. >> it was a private conversation but if there's anyone in the world who understands what campaigning in iowa and new hampshire is all about and putting together an extraordinary grass roots movement that took him to

>> and he went on to ad that his success in iowa is winning and he'll do that if there's a large voter turn out. and he's hosting a nonsanctioned debate this week and bernie sanders is not ready to commit to that debate yet. hillary clinton says that she is in. >> look, i'm ready for the debate and i hope senator sanders will change his mind and join us. and i think that the campaign should be able to work this out. i've said for a long time that i would be happy to have more debates and i hope we can get this done. >> now to the latest in the occupation of that oregon wildlife refuge. this morning a few antigovernment activists remain at the refuge. they have sealed off the facility with a series of check points. their leader sent this message

>> to those remaining that refuge, i love you. let us take this fight from here. please stand down. >> nbc's so i fry joe fryer has more. >> reporter: authorities are tightening their grip around the wildlife refuge, blocking roads and some remain not giving up on their armed occupation. >> peaceful resolution is what you keep hearing and that's what we expect. >> reporter: but many of the group's leaders are now occupying a jail cell. some were stopped boo i y the fbi and state police. one vehicle drove off and hit a snow bank and then finiken emerged brandishing a firearm. he was killed. another one a was shot in the arm and survived. several including the bundy

facing charges. and one had just returned home to see his family. three and half weeks have past since the armed group took control of the wildlife refuge and now they say those remaining need to pack up and go and they won't be arrested. >> if the people on the refuge to do so. and officer indicted on excessive force charges. caught on surveillance video in 2014, derrick price was arrested on a drug warrant and in the footage appears to surrender, at no point resisting the arrest but five deputies are seen kicking him repeatedly. he faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 if convicted. the four other deputies rizion resigned.

walmart will have shut down nearly all of its stores scheduled for closing, many in small towns. here to one of the many communities that will struggle to find fresh food after walmart leaves. >> reporter: in tiny oriental north carolina, population 900, everything changed when the giant came to town. >> it was bad. i mean, immediately it effected us. >> it kills me. >> reporter: for 44 years her family ran a grocery store here and then a walmart express came along and she closed her stores. >> i feel it's very malicious of them to leave this town in the state it's in. >> reporter: turning oriental into a food desert without a single grocery store. >> anybody here that wants to buy an onion has to drive a 40

>> reporter: the company plans to open 300 new locations around the world, closing stores is never an easy decision he says but it is necessary to keep the company strong and positioned for the future. >> they weren't really in the right location and the product mix just wasn't right. >> reporter: rebecca anderson was laid off when walmart opened up near the mom and pop store. >> we were all about the people and they were all about us and when walmart came, we were no more. >> reporter: many wondering what will fill the void now that giant is leaving town. >> all right, it's thursday. you made it most of the way through the week. bill karins is here. >> all eyes on florida once again. we had three to four inches of

winds 90 to 100 miles per hour. and we're going to watch the storms, again, isolated risk of severe storms. there are lightning strikes not far from the keys. and then we'll get another line this afternoon. so, a marginal risk of severe weather and then all down through the keys. so, isolated, severe weather, just like yesterday. and looks like fort meyers, will time you out, the worst of it around noon to 1:00 p.m. and then we'll continue to watch the line down towards west palm beach as we go throughout your late afternoon, if we get isolated tornados, likely near the miami area. so, keep an eye to the sky and your local nbc station as we go throughout to the early evening today. and the cold front will be gone by 8:00 p.m. and texas all the way to montana, nice little january thaw. now a closer look at your day ahead.

today. it's hard to believe it was snowing and wintry last week where today it will be in the 50s. even 27 at fargo this time of year is above average. no cold shots on the way. middle of the country, pretty big storm for you next week. big earnings and a few mood changes ahead for facebook. plus, want to own a brand new delorean. we'll tell you how next. seizing opportunity. so i' m going to take this opportunity to go off script. so if i wanna go to jersey and check out shotsy tuccerelli' s portfolio, what' s it to you? or i' m a scottish mason whose assets are made of stone like me heart. papa! you' re no son of mine! or perhaps it' s time to seize the day. don' t just see opportunity, seize it! (applause)

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>> around 250 law enforcement officers are searching for the three violent inmates, one of whom has been called animal lector from "silence of the lambs." because he's accused of torching a victim with a blow torch. in texas one generous gas station had gas for 39 cents. we haven't seen prices that low since 1969. governor rick snyder said replacing the city's pipes is not on his short term agenda. residents are desperate for hopes to fix the toxic system. and first rachel maddow talked about the economic impacts with a master plumber.

replacing that service line. how big a job is that? >> for something like this, probably three to five grand just to get the new line in there. without an upstairs, ruffle a oughly $4,000. and the plumbing will cost more than you could sell your house for. >> a pediatrician who helped expose the elevated led levels in children. [ applause ] >> you can hear the way she's viewed in this town. [ applause ] >> if we don't act for these kids now, we will see those consequences in 10, 15, 20 years. >> democracy needs to be restored in flint. when you're elected you are supposed to speak up and speak out on behalf of the people that got you there. >> we're going to do everything

however, it does not take the place of the state. the state has a rainy day fund. they caused it, they have to step up and fix this. >> democratic senators in congress say they plan to ad an amendment to an energy bill currently being considered. the delorean is coming back to the future. a facility in humboldt, texas will start manufacturing it for the it first time in three decades, using refurbished parts. a new model will cost just under $100,000. the first car expected to be completed in 2017. and soon users of facebook will have more ways to express their feelings after four months of testing, mark zuckerberg says

soon including symbols for angry, sad, wow, yea, and love. just ahead, tennis star, serena williams is on her way to winning her seventh australia open title. and check out this blind side hit. was it on purpose? you decide. sports is next. if you're looking to save money on your medicare part d prescriptions, walgreens says, carpe med diem. seize the day to get more out of life and medicare part d. just switch to walgreens for savings that'll be the highlight of your day. now preview the cost of your copay before you fill. you can even get one-dollar copays on select plans. feel a cold coming on? new zicam cold remedy nasal swabs shorten colds with a snap, and reduce symptom severity by 45%. shorten your cold

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this morning on "today," theworkplace emergency series continued with what you should do if there's an active shooter at work. all right, in sports, the serena williams finds herself pursuing her seventh australian open title. 6-0-6-4. she'll be in the finals on saturday. in hockey a blind side hit. they claimed he cross checked henderson into the boards. henderson gets up, looking a little dazed, no penalties were called and later he said the hit was unintentional and that he apologized to henderson. we'll see what happens when they rule on the seemingly dirty maneuver. and number five texas a&m loses

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rihanna's new album was accidently leaked by jay-z's streaming service. and nattily portman revealed she has not yet seen the force awakens but added she heard it was amazing. and harrison ford in an upcoming tv special. and tyra banks is a new mom. she welcomed a baby boy via surrogate. and she thanked her, calling her an angel of a woman. and amazon first ever super bowl ad will feature baldwin and dan merino. >> that's a good a-lister for your first super bowl ad. >> alec baldwin is a good one. i'm shannon mulaire and this is "early today." e trade is all about seizing opportunity. so i' m going to take this

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>> christa: good morning, everybody. great to have you here. it's thursday morning. we have lots to get to this morning. stories we're working on. developing in norton, a man is under arrest, accused of murdering his estranged wife and causing a dangerous crash a short distance away. this morning he's set to face a judge. >> christa: the hingham man in prison in iran talking about the day he was taken off the streets and what it felt like to be free. >> sarah: donald trump once again refusing to debate tonight on fox news. now his closest rival is laying out a challenge. >> christa: and the city of boston dropping its lawsuit against a resort casino coming to everett, what the city is

cards coming up. >> sarah: let's send it over the chris lambert with a check of the forecast. we're having a warm-up this week. >> chris: especially by the time we get into the second half of the weekend and early next week. we're talking about temperatures back into the 50s or close to it. this morning we're not close to 50 degrees. it's in the teens. 16 in norwood. 18 in bedford. 27 in boston. it's been nice the past few days with temperatures well above the averages. it is a colder start this morning. temperatures this morning compared to yesterday morning a good 15 to 20 to 25 degrees colder at this time. of course, you started off close to 40 yesterday morning. you don't see that happen too often in late january. at least we don't have much of a wind outside this morning. dead calm in a lot of the suburbs. only 6mph in boston. 7mph in worcester right now. mainly clear skies that. will be the case through the morning hours. i do expect us to enjoy quite a bit of sunshine throughout the day. maybe some low-level clouds trying to sneak in from the south as we get into the mid to late afternoon hours. clouding up overnight tonight.

tomorrow. another storm system north and west of us tomorrow. in between the two, just enough moisture gets in across southern new england to give us a few rain or snow showers out there for friday. don't expect a lot of precipitation out of it. a few towns get some heavier bursts of snow showers, there may be a slush yes coating to half an inch or so in some town, but i don't think that will be widespread at this point. kiddos heading to school. winter gear this morning, cold start, heavier jackets. we have light winds and the light wind and the sunshine will make it feel more comfortable this afternoon as temperatures warm up into the mid-30s by lunchtime. final bell on the way home from school, maybe a couple more clouds mixed in, temperatures close to 40 degrees. we'll talk more on that weekend forecast as "today in new england" starts right now. >> christa: developing now at 5:00 a.m., a man waking up behind bars accused of killing his estranged wife and then causing a bad car crash. >> sarah: also developing this morning, a key clue recovered, but right now in brookline, the search continues for suspects following a violent crime.