both democrat and republican sides of this race? it is way too early for this. good morning. i'm wes moore in for willie geist and this is w"way too earl early", the show that still has 90 hours of shopping left until christmas. and i'm glad you're up with us this morning. shoot me an e-mail or tweet me and let me know why in the world you're awake right now. or you can do what my six month old daughter does, well, she doesn't quite do it yet, but one day she will, she'll be able to text the word awake following her response to 622639. we'll read the best responses later in the show. the next 30 minutes will be your cram session for this wednesday, december 21st, and there is a lot going on today. including protests against the military in egypt that are

threatening to tear the country in half. we'll explain why the military is now apologizing on the people. plus you will never guess who is in the dress. one former famous athlete takes part in a local production of the nutcracker. and we'll reveal the man behind this the makeup. but first, let's get to the news live at 5:30 here at 30 rock here in new york city. rebs of congress are clearing out of washington despite the still unresolved issue of extending payroll tax cuts to 160 americans. right now neither side is blinking in the standoff. just ten days away from the deadline. house republicans rejected the into month compromise hammered out in the senate and instead they want to open brand new talks about a year long extension. democrats say that's just not going to happen. they're confident that the gop will bear the blame if workers are docked an extra thousand bucks from their paycheck next year. >> what is happening here today is shameful, it is a disgrace,

it is unreal, it is unbelievable. we can do better. it if we fail today, how will you face your neighbor? >> suffering of 160 million americans. in a surprise appearance in the white house briefing room, president obama jumped into the fray calling on the house republicans to get in line behind the senate's measure. >> i need the speaker and house republicans to do the same. put politics aside, put aside issues where there are fundamental disagreements and come together on something we agree on. and let's not play brinksmanship. the american people are weary of it. they're tired of it. >> house speaker john boehner has selected eight members of his caucus to take part in the

negotiations that majority leader harry reid insists are the not going to happen. >> i need the president to help out. president obama needs to call on senate democrats to go back into session, move to a conference and sit down and resolve this bill as quickly as possible. >> sounds like there will be interesting negotiations. the house speaker echoed the call in a letter to the the white house. the president, however, is show nothing signs of giving ground. now on a to 2012 politics. newt gingrich is trying to fend off attack ads from pro romney super packs while calling the former massachusetts governor disorder for comments me yesterday on "morning joe." romney insisted he doesn't have any sway over the negative ads. something gingrich flatly rejected. >> super packs have to be entirely separate. i'm not allowed to communicate with a super pack in any way

shape or form. >> so you're not coordinating in any way whatsoever. >> if we coordinate in any way whatsoever, we go to the big house. >> i don't object to being outspent. i object to lies. i object to negative smear campaigns. and i object to things that the candidate himself refuses to support. now, you can decide who is the leader and who is the politician. but his comments today are misleading, clearly false and are politics in its worst form. understand these are his feel running his ads doing his dirty work while he pretends to be above it. >> tough words. gingrich admits that the super pack smears are hurting him in iowa saying even he couldn't vote for the man portrayed in the attacks. still prol romney groups are not letting down releasing this spot yesterday. >> know what makes barack obama happy? newt gingrich's baggage. newt has more baggage than the

airlines. freddie mac helped cause the economic collapse, but gingrich cashed in. freddie mac paid newt $30,000 an hour. $1.6 million. and newt is the only speaker in history to be reprimanded. he was fined $300,000 for ethics violations by a republican congress. newt gingrich, too much baggage. >> but for now, the gingrich campaign insists on staying positive. striking different tone in iowa. >> is there anything more inspiring than american towns and neighborhoods brightly lit for the holidays? >> we take it as a sign of great optimism. it reminds us of the fire of freedom take burns bright in the america we love and a prayer that the goodness of our nation will be rewarded with peace and brotherhood. >> from our family to yours, merry christmas and happy new year. >> and former president bill clinton is weighing in on newt gingrich's candidacy, reflecting

on their time together in washington during the 1990s. >> you worked with newt gingrich. you respect him? >> i respect his ability to think and do and i eventually hammered out a really productive relationship with him. >> do you respect him as a man? >> i don't disrespect anybody who works with me in good faith. i think he was way more political than i would have been. he defended what he calls scorched earth politics and i certainly was the beneficial of it. >> was he an enemy of yours while you were in the white house? >> until he got to be speaker and until the government shutdown changed the public mood. >> and then you found -- >> we worked together for five years. >> that's a very well crafted answer. when it comes to the jen election, clinton predict its president obama will come out on

top in november. >> chances to be reelected are i'd say 50/50 at this point. would that be fair? >> i think they're a little better than that. >> why would you think that when most of the polls show his approval is low 40s and most people 60% feel the country is headed in the wrong direction? >> because his approval is up in the last few weeks and because of the payroll tax cut where he's for it and it looks like the house may not be. their approval rating is down to 11%. and let me also say, because i think he's out there running against himself now. as soon as he gets an opponent, it will be for the next four years who do you think is more likely to take us in the right direction. >> a new cnn opinion research poll shows president obama winning head to head match-ups with the top republican presidential contenders. the poll shows the president beating both mitt romney and ron paul by seven points. obama tops gingrich by 16 points and perry by 18 points.

the latest cbs national poll shows newt gingrich and mitt romney tied at the top of the republican presidential field with 20% support each before ron paul is ten points behind the frontrunners followed by rick perry and michele bachmann who are polling in the single digits. turning now egypt. they're calling for a million man march on friday as pro democracy demonstrators demand an end to military rule. it follows a large rally yesterday led by female protesters outraged over the violent treatment of women by soldiers. just a warning, some of these images are disturbing. >> reporter: it was the largest women's protest anyone here has ever seen. thousands of egyptian women marched across tahrir square calling on their country men to join them and demand an end to the use of women demonstrators. this is what has sparked their anger. recent attacks against women

protesters captured on video. one woman seen beaten senseless by egyptian soldier, her limp and exposed body hen dragged away as another soldier storms on her chest. a man and woman walking by are then dragged into the violence. they, too, are viciously beaten. these shocking images quickly spread around the world, triggering international outrage and condemnation. >> women are being beaten and humiliated in the same streets where they risked their lives for the revolution only a few short months ago. >> reporter: the images were also broadcast on egyptian state television, helping uhe fight political forces against the ruling generals. the targeting of women has ended many across the society, and they organized this protest to send a clear message to the military rulers that abuse offal women at the hands of the security forces will no longer be accepted. 28-year-old pharmacist was shielding another woman when soldiers assaulted her.

she said they stormed on my face with their boots and clubbed me on my head. then they took me to a holding area with seven other women and threatened to rape me. the women's protest is part of a new uprising here, pushing the military to give up power. the military is pushing back. showing footage of what it said were thugs attacking soldiers insisting the soldiers acted with restraint and in self-defense. but in the same video, military personnel can be seen firing at demonstrators at close range when egypt's uprising began ten months ago, demonstrators trusted the military to protect the revolution. but for many, that trust is now gone. >> the country's ruling military council issued a rare apology for what it called violations of female protesters and vowed to punish those responsible for the abuse. today wall street will look to build on the dow's nearly 3% jump in yesterday's session.

let's take an early look at the markets as we get all up in your business this morning. jeff cut senator live in london for us. good morning, geoff. >> good morning to you. hassan take finally arrived? that's what the markets are asking themselves and 330 points on the dow isn't a bad way to go if he has turned up. some questions, though, about the sustainability of the rally. the data on housing starts was good. the best number since april 2010. and at a 9% gain, it hit the ball out of the park compared to expectations. so that was as positive for the u.s. here in europe, we are much higher on our markets right now. we've just had a refunding operation carried out by the european central bank for three year money. and again very high numbers. $489 billion euros taken by the european banking sector. right now that's being seen as a positive and that will push our markets higher at the open one imagines. back to you.

>> some good news. thanks so much, geoff. still ahead on "way too early," the ncaa side hines ohio state from a bowl game next season over ethical violations. so what does this mean for the team's new coach? and how is this for holiday spirit? a fedex worker is filmed hurling a delivery over the fence. that story and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. carnage tonight in lockerbie where a pan am 747 headed for new york crashed and exploded. no known survivors on the plane. they're still trying to determine the number of casualties on the ground. get the technology they love, on the network they deserve.

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let's get a check on your weather now from the hardest working meteorologist in the business. bill karins. >> i like you already, wes. i'm a little confused, thousand. i had willie had a rule that only angry bitter old men could fill in for him. merry christmas, barnicle. good morning, every. today is a very mild kay. no snow in the forecast really for any of us. we have showers that are heading across pennsylvania and into northern new jersey. a lot of steady rain over ohio. if you're anywhere east of the mississippi, carry the umbrella today. especially down in the deep south. traveling on i-10 probably the worst of it, thunderstorms and downpours heading for tallahassee. today's forecast, it's very warm. it doesn't feel like this time of year. temperatures in d.c., 62 degrees. 50s all the way up to boston. ski resorts is struggling to maintain whatever snow they

have. forecast in the middle of the country, we clear it out a bit. snow heading for denver, that's one spot that will have a white christmas. looking for about six inches later tonight into tomorrow. and by tomorrow's forecast, we get rid of the rain in new england, but we have additional rain in the southeast. and as i mentioned, no snowstorms headed anywhere. a brown christmas for many of us about. >> a lot of people root for a white christmas tuuntil it come and you have to travel in it. thanks so much, bill. appreciate it. and in sports, the ohio state buckeyes will not be playing in a bowl game next season. under new sanctions handed down by the ncaa.football team is being punished for unethical con difficult after several players exchanged sports memorabilia from cash and tattoos. former coach jim tressel was called out for failing to report the players' conduct when he first learned about it. in addition to the one year bowl ban, the program will also lose

scholarships and face probation through 2014. in a statement, the team's new coach, urban meyer, said his goal would be to recruit great student-athletes who want to win on and off the field. and the nfl, john elway, is mocking down speculation that denver might be in the hunt for a new quarterback next spring. saying, and i quote, tim tebow is not going anywhere. he's going to be a bronco. the bronco's executive vice president raised serious questions earlier by offering a luke warm support of tim tebow, including criticism of his passing game. now, since then, tim tebow has won seven of his nine starts, has basically become this iconic figure in the nfl. and he's also put the denver broncos on top of the afc west wia 9-6 record. their next game is on saturday against the bills. and can you guess who the guy in the dress is?

none other than former yankees great and current dodgers manager don mattingly. or donny baseball as he's known here in new york. he took part in a local production of the nutcracker in his home down of evansville, indiana. the six time all-star joked that the video was bound to surface at some point during the season, but thanks to the internet, that the players tonight have to wait until spring training to start giving him grieve. t grief. the things go for kids. coming up on "morning joe," the iowa ad wars. newt and mitt change bashr barb. and when we come back here, we'll huld arouddle around the cooler and watch a delivery man ignore the directions to handle with care. nyquil: you know i relieve coughs, sneezing, fevers?

tylenol: me, too. and nasal congestion. nyquil:what? tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't.

earlier we told you about the standoff in congress over the payroll tax cut extensions. the brinksmanship on capitol hill could have a real impact on your wallet if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends that according to the associated press, if congress doesn't break the stalemate, payroll taxes will go up by almost $20 a week for a worker making a $50,000

salary. so enough of the real news. let's gather around the water cooler to talk about the best of late night and david letterman's take on rick perry. congressman barney frank and new jersey rocker bon jovi. >> let's check in now, the governor's mansion down there in austin and see how rick perry is celebrating hanukkah. turn on the feed. is it there? there they are. there he is. ♪ that's right. what a hip guy. we put together a special segment, it's called barney frank, oh, for the love of god -- barney frank, congressman massachusetts retiring, barney frank, oh, for the love of god. ♪ >> so, gentlemen, we are aware

of the importance and i would repeat what i said because i've found that not everybody listens to everything i say the first time i say it. >> listen to this. earlier today on the internet, bon jovi, somebody said, hey, guess what, bon jovi is dead. so first of all, let me say he's not dead and secondly, got a tremendous sense of humor. look what he posted on the internet in response. can you see that? heaven looks a lot like new jersey. there he is. bon jovi. that was cute. >> jon bon jovi is alive and well and we're glad those rumors are finally all clear up. and the grinch who stole christmas is going viral. surveillance video captured a fedex delivery man tossing a brand new flat screen television over a fence. the person waiting for the package, who was at home at the time of the incident, says all the guy had to do was ring the door bell on the gate.

fedex is, quote, shocked by the careless messenger and released the following same reading "this is an irresponsible act andle not be tolerated. he will be worked with according to our discipline area policies. this won't be his best day." still ahead on "way too early," doct why are you awake and morally questionable tweets,s test text e-mails are next. "morning joe" just moments away. slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] now there's a mileage card that offers special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret? ♪ [ male announcer ] the new united mileageplus explorer card. get it and you're in. ♪

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so at the top of the show, we asked why are you you awake? and mike barnicle is here who is doing the work has all your answers. >> jerry writes just back from switzerland and still adjusting to the time zone difference. go with himes moore. >> great to see you back on this side of the ocean.s for checkin. >> and on twitter, rolled over and expected to hear mike barnicle and was treated to the pressure voice of wes moore.

it's going to be a good day. >> thank you so much. it is going to be a good day after starting my day with your texts. greatly appreciate it. >> we have a third one here, wes. this is mike from boston writes, who stole my walker? what did you do with it by the way? i've been in here for 24 hours, i can't move. >> mike from fr boboston, i thi saw it on the other side of the control room. but you before you hit send on twitter, make sure you think about that one for a second. >> what's twitter? >> appreciate it, barnicle. "morning joe" starts right now. you worked with newt gingrich. you respect him? >> i respect his ability