on how their words live on certainly he's a great man. my 10-year-old is learning one of his speeches in school and to hear the words they really do ring true today. we need him today just as many as any. take some time to reflect. it's a good day to do that. a lot of news. let's get to you the "newsroom," miss carol costello. >> thanks so much. "newsroom" starts now. good morning. thank you so much for joining me. i'm carol costello. this morning a new scandal overshadowing new jersey governor chris christie and his possible bid in the next presidential election. latest embarrassment now surrounds his lieutenant governor, kim guadagno. she's accused of strong arming the mayor of hoboken.

>> she made a direct threat to me. she came and when the lieutenant governor comes, pulls you aside in a parking lot and says these two things are connected, i know it shouldn't be and they are and if you tell anyone i'll deny it. she felt almost guilty about saying it. she knows it's wrong. that's exactly what they are trying to do. >> that was mayor zimmer. she said she turned over her journal and other documents when she met with federal prosecutors for several hours yesterday. just minutes from now the lake tahoe governor guadagno will address those comments. cnn investigative correspondent joins me now with some details first on cnn. chris, what is the lieutenant governor expected to say? >> reporter: good morning. what i'm being told by a source is the lieutenant governor is expected to quote, categorically

deny these allegations. dawn zimmer said funds for hoboken would be withheld unless she backed this project that governor christie supported. she recalls a much different discussion. guadagno discussed the redevelopment of hoboken and said zimmer is the one who pressed for sandy funds during that discussion. this source tells me the lieutenant governor told the mayor quote you can't tie those two things together. in these two events you have the mayor of hoboken saying she believes that -- she believes that going forward here -- that -- let me break it down. mayor of hoboken believes the lieutenant governor forced her to take this redevelopment deal, the lieutenant governor saying that in this case that's not the case that the mayor was the one who brought up these funds.

>> the question -- i mean there are so many questions surrounding there. mayor zimmer says she has this diary. no one knows when that diary was written opinion you spoke to mayor zimmer what, january 11th. did she ever bring this issue to you then? >> reporter: that's right. i was asking the mayor about her endorsement whether she felt there was any redry ambiguous because she didn't endorse the governor and she said no that's not the case. she thought that while she wondered if that was the case she didn't have any reason to believe there was retribution here. she didn't bring up this redevelopment project at all or say she had other reasons to believe there might have been retribution for anything else. so that was new development this weekend that when i talked with her on the 11th she didn't mention it at all. >> we'll see what the lieutenant governor has to say in 45 minutes. thanks so much. as i said lieutenant governor is expected to address united way volunteers at any moment. once she does we'll bring you her remarks live. with all the worries about

security would you send your family to the olympics in russia inone u.s. lawmaker telling cnn he would not. >> i would not go. and i don't think i would send my family. i don't know how you put a percentage on it, but it's such a rich target in an area of the world that has, you know, they've almost broadcast that they are going to try to do something there. >> this morning despite temperatures well below zero the olympic torch reached volgograd in russia. that same city was hit by two terrorist attacks last month and the possibility of an attack during the games has many worried especially since a wurj report this morning claims the united states will send fewer security personnel to sochi than in past olympics. cnn phil black has for for you. >> reporter: mounting concerns in russia this morning as the olympic torch relay makes its way through the bomb stricken city of volgograd.

two extremists in this video claiming responsibility for two back-to-back suicide bombings last month. that claimed 34 lives. and warning that more attacks could come during the sochi olympic games. in the hour long video the purported suicide bombers are seen constructing explosives and explaining their motives, all before heading to their targets, triggers in hand. the two men apparently part of an islamist militant group vowing to prepare a present for the olympics and all the tourists who will come over. members of congress are very concerned. >> if something does happen what is the evacuation plan and emergency response plan that would take place? >> reporter: others worried about americans heading to sochi. >> i would not go and i don't think i would send my family. i am very concerned about the security status of the olympics. i do believe that the russian government needs to be more cooperative with the united

states when it comes to the security of the games. >> reporter: russian president vladimir putin deploying a security force of 40,000 police officers and soldiers to the region. in an interview with abc news putin says that he'll do whatever it takes to keep athletes and visitors safe. and pledging that russia has adequate means of security. security around the olympic venue on high alert. metal detectors and bomb sniffing dogs visible as the games get under way in just over two weeks. carol, russian officials say they are not changing their plan for the sochi games because of the volgograd attacks. they believe they have necessary everything in place. but that doesn't mean they have taken anything away from what happened at this train station behind me. the lesson is even if you lock down sochi successfully there's still many other potentially

vulnerable targets across the country and we saw a reaction of that this morning when the olympic flame arrived at this train station here. there were many more members of the police, members of the security forces than there were members of the public here to welcome the torch as it began its relay through this city. >> all right. phil black reporting live from volgograd, russia where it's very cold. it's 6 degrees below zero. moments ago we learned syrian opposition is stepping up its threat to pull out of the peace talks in geneva. opposition is upset that iran accepted the united nations invitation to attend those talks. the opposition is giving the u.n. until 2:00 p.m. eastern today to rescind the invitation or for iran to meet three conditions including pulling troops from syria. if the talks do go on as scheduled it's the first face to face meeting between the syrian government and the opposition. american missionary jailed in north korea for more than a

year now is speaking out this morning. kenneth bae urged the united states during a news conference in north korea, mind you, to cooperate with the reclusive nation to secure his release. he also admitted on camera to committing serious crimes against pyongyang, a north korean court sentenced bae to 15 years of hard labor for committing hostile acts against the state. the year of weed rolls on the heels of colorado legalizing pot sales and most americans support legalizing the drug. president obama broke bad and talked in a historic way to "the new yorker". he said quote, i smoked pot as a kid and i view it as a bad habit and a vice not very different from the cigarettes i smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my life. i don't think it's more dangerous than alcohol. end quote. mr. president, you might want to update those talking points on whitehouse.gov that say pot is

still addictive. brianna, good morning. >> reporter: pretty wide ranging interview that president obama did with "the new yorker". he talked about his 2014 priorities. he talked about edward snowden, sports and marijuana where he said recent laws in colorado and washington state are quote important for decriminalizing a commonly used substance and worries this is a slippery slope that could lead to more dangerous drugs being made legal. president obama getting real in the pages of the "new york" about his battles in the white house and opening up on a personal level, telling the editor in an interview if he had a son he wouldn't let him play football for fear of concussions. he also revealed new details of his own views on marijuana, calling pot use a vice but adding i don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol.

five years ago today obama was sworn in, vowing change no matter the obstacle. >> with hope and virtue let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come. >> reporter: come those storms did. last year alone saw a controversy over nsa spying, a government shutdown, and the botched roll out of health care reform. now battered by those struggles a more realistic obama, describing himself as swimming upstream, admitting he may end his second term without accomplishing some of his biggest goals. obama likens himself to a relay swimmer in a river full of rapids. he says at the end of the day we're part of a long running story we just try to get our paragraph right as he talks about reducing income in equality. it's a goal that he's recently made a hallmark of his second term. >> we want to restore the essential promise of opportunity and upward mobility that's at the heart of america. >> reporter: obama also revealed that like other presidents he'll

write a memoir of his time in the oval office and the first lady has already begun working on hers. and president obama when talking about income kom come inequalit middle class kids don't get locked up for smoking spot and poor kids do. african-american and latino kids are more likely to be poor and don't have the resources to avoid harsh sentences. the super bowl is set, peyton mng broncos will face the smaux. this morning wilson's teammate richard sherman is getting the attention with a rant. after saving the game for seattle. listen. >> i'm the best quarterback in the game. that's result you'll get. don't you ever talk about me! >> who was talking about you?

>> crabtree. don't you open up your mouth about the best. >> back over to you. >> i think he needs some anger management courses. >> he won the game. he should be happy. >> i know. >> richard sherman is known as one of the best quarterbacks. one of the best trash talkers as we're finding out today. he and crabtree went in the game. he made the game winning play and he's pumped up. that wasn't the end. they went into the post-game press conference and took on some of the fans on twitter too. take a listen. >> i would like to also say something to the a-hole fans that write on twitter and facebook and inis agram and talk crap. we appreciate the motivation. you helped us win this game. thank you very much. appreciate it. >> he's calling other people an a-hole. >> at least he was smiling in that one. he also apologized to erin andrews for yelling at her.

some people thought it wasn't very classy of him to go after crabtree like he did after the game. i guess that was in the heat of the moment. crabtree responded to this on twitter. he tweeted out during all this post-game madness, film don't lie. nfl net, espn, pull up the tape of that game and show me where this guy is the best best, #fake, #fake. sherman wanted to get that that's word in. he followed that with a tweet of his own, a lion dent concern himself with the opinions of a sheep. >> with that sportsmanship officially died in america. >> we'll have to see how loud sherman is talking when he takes on peyton manning and the broncos in the super bowl. still to come, governor chris christie and his second in mand at the center of a brand new controversy with a different democratic mayor. a live report from new jersey

next.

>> to union beach, new jersey. this is lieutenant governor kim guadagno. she's speaking to united way volunteers and she will mention the latest scandal surrounding governor chris christie and her alleged role of withholding sandy relief funds if hoboken

mayor didn't support her. "the list"en. [ applause ] >> now. it's martin luther king, jr. two things. first i'll talk a little bit about martin luther king and leapt you guys go out and pound nails. then i'm going to answer some questions that i suspect people in the back are here to hear me. i'm not going to answer any questions i'll make a statement to that. if you don't mind let's talk about dr. king for just a second. now most of you remember dr. king from his i have a dream speech. now what we now remember of dr. king because she heard him say the i had a dream speech on the lawn in washington, d.c. -- >> while the lieutenant governor makes her initial remarks, i want to bring in cnn's alexandra field. she's in union beach, new jersey where you heard the lieutenant governor will soon talk about this latest scandal. also joining me valerie hutle of

new jersey and melissa hays. good morning to all of you. first, set the scene for us? >> reporter: all right. lieutenant governor is now inside firehouse. you just saw her. we were not able to see her arriving. she slipped in possibly a back door but that firehouse is packed with people eager to hear what the lieutenant governor has to say. she laid out an outline of the program this morning. she's beginning her remarks talking about martin luther king, jr. day and this day of service. she also alluded to answering the questions that are on a lot of people's minds although will not directly take questions from the media, she will be making a statement. the goal of the program today actually has to deal with helping the victims of sandy, that as this controversy swirls concerning sandy funding for the city of hoboken. right now the governor is talking to volunteers who plan to head out to three or four different homes in union beach.

the lieutenant governor will be traveling to one of those homes and helping to make some repairs. her speech is under way right now. she's addressing to about 100 volunteers. we'll hear what she has to say about the allegations lodged against her. >> you'll continue to monitor her. when she makes her statement about this scandal you yell to us and we'll stop. i want to bring in the assembly woman right now because you're part of this panel investigating bridgegate. what do you want to hear from the lieutenant governor? >> quite frankly, these revelations that the mayor disclosed, i believe, saturday morning or friday morning, is shocking and disturbing but they are serious allegations, and serious enough that the u.s. attorney requested the mayor's c notes. at this time it's so new we're really a fact finding committee. we need the facts. i can't really comment or have

an opinion until we hear the information from both sides. >> melissa, the lieutenant governor's home was damaged by hurricane sandy. source tell cnn she was forbidden from discussing about the storm because of that. why would she allegedly do such a thing? >> i'm sorry. can you repeat the question? >> so, melissa, the lieutenant governor's home was damaged by hurricane sandy and because of that she's not allowed the say anything at all about it. it just defies credulity that this actually happened this latest scandal. >> you know, i didn't really expect her to say anything today. at an mlk day event. i think the governor's office has been denying everything on her behalf. they have been out there on this issue. i really wasn't surprised we didn't hear hearsay anything specifically. >> she said she was going make

some sort of a statement. first it sounded like she was going accept questions from reporters and then back tracked no i'm going make a statement after we talk about martin luther king, jr. on his special day for all of those people who have such questions. we're still awaiting that statement. i hope you stick around because once she makes that statement i want your insight once again. field field, new jersey assembly woman, reporter for the record. thank you very much. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪ aflac! got 'em. ♪ yeah, he's clean, boss. now listen to me, duck. i have an associate that met with, uh, an unfortunate accident. while he's been incapacitated, somebody's been paying him cash. now, is this your doing?

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all right. we're still monitoring the situation at the union beach firehouse. we expect chris christie's lieutenant governor guadagno to come out and talk about this scandal, the latest scandal surrounding allegations that christie administration withheld sandy relief funds because the mayor of hoboken would not support a redevelopment project that christie supported when lieutenant governor guadagno makes her statement to address this scandal we'll bring you back to the union beach firehouse. right now the united way is talking about building a playground and helping others reballed third homes after hurricane sandy. an american missionary

jailed in north korea for more than a year is speaking out. ken niece bae urged the united states during a news conference a short time ago to cooperate with the reclusive nation to secure his release. he also admitted on camera to committing serious crimes against pyongyang. paula hancock is in seoul, south korea with more for your. >> reporter: carol, he was escorted in and out of the room by two military officials. the u.s. imprisoned citizens kenneth bae said he wants to be freed and go home to his family. he's calling on the u.s. government to do their best to secure his release. he did say that he wanted to make another public apology to the north korean government and also said recent media reports made his situation quite complicated. the assumption is that this is referring to comments that have been made from certain officials saying that bae had not carried out any crime in north korea, in fact just last month the u.s.

vice president joe biden said that he was being held for no reason. so what we heard from the u.s. citizen who is still being held in north korea today was basically he said i have committed a crime. i apologized to the north korean government and he also said that north korea does not abuse human rights. he said that he has been given a lot of humanitarian support. he had asked for the press conference to be held. but we have seen from recent events from u.s. citizens who have just been released from north korea that they have been making these apologies and statements under duress. at this point we have to take this at face value. bae is basically saying he does don't released and looking forward to spending time with his family. he's being detained in north korea since november of 2012. the north korean government said he carried out hostile acts against the regime itself. it's known he's a former missionary and assumption his

faith may have something to do with the reason he's being held in north korea. of course, back in april and may he was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years hard labor but, of course, he's only served three months of that for the last five months he's been held in hospital because of deteriorating health. so his family want him back as soon as possible. carol? >> we'll go straight back town none beach in new jersey on the jersey shore. we expect lieutenant governor guadagno any moment to speak about the latest scandal surrounding the christie administration. they cleared all of the united volunteer from the firehouse so that the lieutenant governor could make her comments. she's expected to categorically deny that she ever threatened to withhold sandy relief funds from a democratic mayor in hoboken, new jersey because that mayor would not support at that redevelopment project that chris christie supported. alexandra field is covering this from union beach.

set the scene again for us while we await the lieutenant governor's remarks. >> reporter: the decision was made because this is a small firehouse to let the volunteers out, let them get to the work of helping the superstorm sandy victims. while they have cleared out about 100 volunteers the lieutenant governor is now getting ready to make her statement. there are a lot of cameras and reporters inside. this is the first time we heard a senior christie administration official address the allegations that were made over the weekend by the mayor of hoboken, new jersey so, we're all waiting for her comments that point. we're told she will be making some kind of a statement. doesn't seem as if she will be entertaining questions at this point. certainly will be trying. a lot of people have a lot of questions for her considering the allegations that were brought against her by the mayor of hoboken. right now we're waiting for those remarks to begin. that as these volunteers are able to get to work here in

union beach, an area that was hard hit by superstorm sandy. lieutenant governor we're told will be leaving the union beach firehouse following her remarks and we're told they are will also be joining in with the volunteers. >> i got to interrupt you. here's the lieutenant governor. >> we'll join them as soon as we finish. what i want to do right now is address some of the suing begs made by the mayor of hoboken over the weekend. i am not going to take any questions. i will repeat that. i am not is going to take any questions. you know there are ongoing inquiries. i'm sure all the facts will come out at the appropriate time but right now i think in short you need to hear me say this out loud and i will. in short mayor zimmer's version of our conversation in may of 2013 is not only false, but is illogical and does not with stand scrutiny when all of the

facts are examined. any suggestion, any suggestion that sandy funds were tied to the approval of any project in new jersey is completely false. standing in union beach, as we are today, with some of the mayors whose towns were devastated by sandy, and also being a sandy victim myself, makes the mayor's allegations particularly offensive to me. the suggestion that anyone would hold back sandy relief funds for any reason is wholly and completely false.

i thought i had a good relationship with the mayor of hobok hoboken. in fact, just three months after this conversation she said we had occurred, i was walking on the streets with her. in hoboken. talking to her about urban markets. just three months after this conversation she said we had and five months before she went to msnbc. like i said i thought we had a good relationship. frankly, i'm surprised that mayor zimmer has chosen to mischaracterize the conversation i had with her about development and job creation in hoboken. i have devoted an extraordinary amount of time to projects, to bringing projects, to creating jobs and retaining jobs in hoboken. that is my job as the secretary

of state and as lieutenant governor i had visit hoboken no less than 13 times. i've worked on many more projects involving hoboken as part of that job. the example that stand out, the one that the mayor herself asked me to work on for her is the pearson education building, in the skyline on the waterfront of hoboken. mayor once told me there was an empty hole and she asked me to help her find her a company. we did. right now pearson education is on the waterfront, they've created hundreds of jobs, they created hundreds of construction jobs. so, yes, i am very surprised by the mayor's allegations, and i deny wholeheartedly those allegations. i proudly support and will

continue to support the creation of jobs in hoboken and all of new jersey and i'll continue to work on those projects, but i'm going to end and i mean end by re-emphasizing one thing. i deny any suggestion made by mayor zimmer that there was ever any condition on the release of sandy funds by me. i want to thank you all for coming out, for giving me the opportunity to speak. i look forward to the inquiry, i'm sure, absolutely sure that the facts will come out. [ applause ] >> all right. as promised she was accept nothing questions but she gave a very strong statement of denial, denial, denial. new jersey's lieutenant

governor, kim guadagno did not strong arm hoboken's mayor, didn't say sandy relief funds would be withheld. the whole matter is part of a federal and state investigation. good morning once again, valerie. i just want to have a bit of full disclosure here and the full transparency. you criticize governor christie for using state police choppers to get to his son's high school baseball games. he in turn called you a jerk. you're on the committee investigating bridgegate. with that in mind, do you believe the lieutenant governor's denial? >> well, quite frankly, when the governor called out me as a jerk, you know, that is certainly water under the bridge. we've moved forward and have had a very good relationship. he signed many of my bills into law. as far as what i heard today from the lieutenant governor,

there are no surprises there. especially that she did not take any questions from the press. but i'll tell you now this does not change the mission of the committee to investigate. it's a question now of what she says and what the mayor says. i take them both at this time, we must take their word, but when we have the u.s. attorney looking into this, i think the lieutenant governor is right we must get all the information and make sure that we get all the facts before we can see what the opinion is. >> going back to governor christie calling you a jerk you say that's water under the bridge, but those are strong words calling someone a jerk for criticism that was probably deserved. >> well, this governor has been known to call people out. he's used several words when he calls out the teachers and he's quite frankly can be very intimidating and very abusive in

his language. but this is the governor's style. and certainly that has nothing to do with me and being a member of the committee. we need to get the facts. i represent the people of ft. lee and district 37 whose lives were thrown into havoc the day or four days when we had the bridge traffic. i'm here to represent the constituents in my district and all of new jersey and get the information to make sure this is not an abuse of power, not a violation of the public trust and quite frankly we're looking at the culture of the port authority here as well. this port authority has a certain culture. they are inclusive. their budget is $7 billion, more than 26 states and we need transparency there. >> okay. let's talk more about transparent city, because the lieutenant governor says these allegations are illogical. if you look at some of the evidence they do appear

illogical. as recent as august of 2013 the mayor of hoboken, dawn zimmer sent a tweet out and said to be clear i'm very glad governor christie has been our clear. i'm not endorsing because of hoboken's nonpartisan mayoral race. then in 2012 again complimentary of christie. thank you president obama and governor christie secured ten battery trailers to work through the night. nowhere does dawn zimmer criticize the governor's administration for withholding funds. why would that be? >> this mayor of hoboken has done everything to help her city get back after they were devastated by sandy and, again, you know, she has cnotes in her

diary. but i'll tell you this mayor has been a reformer, she's been a supporter of governor christie which makes it -- which raises the level of concern and suspicion. >> but you say, assembly woman spontaneous notes in her diary but we don't know when that diary was written. could it have been written yesterday. >> exactly. that's why it's difficult to comment on this. until we get the facts. right now they are in the hands of the u.s. attorney at their request. so the u.s. attorney is taking it very serious lir and so will the committee looking into anything that's an impropriety of the violation again of public trust. >> let me throw one more thing. january 11th, cnn did an interview with mayor zimmer and she told cnn on that day she didn't think any sandy relief funds were withheld because of anything and this was after bridgegate, right? she could have come out at that point and said wow i think i've been affected by this too.

but she didn't. that's why a lot of people are saying, it just doesn't make sense, it defies credulity. >> whether it makes sense or not this mayor has come forth. she said she would take a lie detector test whatever that is, that's up to the mayor. >> she shareholder take a lie detector test? >> yes, she did. these are the mayor's words. what we as a committee, a legislative committee is a fact finding committee. we need to get the facts. we cannot draw conclusions that point. it's much too early. we need to get all the information thaechb appropriate inquiries and this governor has said he would cooperate with the inquiries, you heard the lieutenant governor, i'm sure she will be cooperating with the ininquire rice as well and once we get all of the answers what we need is the truth. we need to understand what has happened remember what has occurred, is this a pattern and that's what we're there for as an investigative legislative body representing the people of

new jersey, getting answers because these are what we deserve. >> but you can see why some people especially republicans saying this is turning into a democratic witch-hunt and i want to play an interview done with former mississippi governor haley barrier. he was on "new day" and he addressed these latest allegations. "the list"en. >> i'll tell you what gives me concern about that the news media is willing to leak at any far fetched story with the basis in fact unbelievable. this is a lady mayor who asked for $127 of hazard mitigation money from the governor to give that to her from the federal money when the state was only receiving in its entirety $300 million. it is absurd to think that one town would get well more than a third of the total amount of money. i think you got this problem. a journal that's written can be

written any time. you know, i'm a recovering lawyer but i do still remember that from when i practiced law. and why was she sending out all these tweets that have been preserved on the internet that said one thing that was totally different from what she was saying and then she comes back and says well i'm hoping i'm putting enough pressure on him he'll fold and let me have my $127 million. >> i think what some people are wondering is how skeptical are these committees going to be during their investigation into these various scandals or will it just be kind of a partisan looking into these allegations? >> i just want to this that jumped out the me. he called her a lady mayor. she's a mayor like any other mayor. as far as the committee is a bipartisan committee and we are represented by special counsel.

and everything that yes were given to the committee will go through the office of legislative services which is a nonpartisan department in the state of new jersey. once that information is disseminated, our being special counsel will give us her information. nothing as far as personal information, anything that's related to getting the information and the facts he'll share with us and we'll share together on a bipartisan level. we want to work together to get information and make sure that we are doing our due diligence in a very fair and impartial manner. so far this committee has been that as an extension of the transportation committee. don't forget it started out sending subpoenas out for the massive toll hikes and we have many questions about the port authority just to also keep in mind that i had a port authority transparency accountability act that this governor has vetoed.

i plan on reintroducing this again. we need to get to to root of the problem, get to the bottom of it and find out the truth. >> thank you for answering all of my questions. we're back in a minute. e house . you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪

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a russian teenager is believed to be behind the ma machine house software on hacking target and other retailers. he's accused of selling 40 versions of the software to hackers. warning going out to other retailers be prepared for more breaches. george howell live in chicago with more on this. good morning, george. >> reporter: carol, good morning. no doubt that hack here with target caused all kinds of headaches for customers, caused real problems for target as well and now we know the person who made the malware made it so it can be used again and again and again. it's kind of like playing that old game whack-a-mole.

first target the security breach that compromised the confidential information of millions of americans. then we learned about neiman marcus the high end retailer disclosed it too had been hacked. we're waiting on how many people are affected. a report from the cyber watch group, intel suggests six more retailers have yet to tell customers they have been breached as well with the same malware. attacking their online credit card processing. so the question now, where should we look next? >> once it's identified then security community can rally around it and start put controls in place. the problem is the hackers know that so they manipulate or mutate this malware and then reuse it. >> reporter: according to intel crawler the source of the malicious software can be traced back to one place. a hacker close to 17 years old in russia. the report claims the very first

sample of the malware was created in march of 2013, hitting stores in australia, canada and the united states. >> let's say hypothetically a retailer has 40 million transactions by 40 million different customers. all 40 million may have been damaged in some way and under law they can be joined together in a class action lawsuit. >> reporter: legally the burden is on retailers to protect customer information. but from what we know now this could be the tip of the iceberg. experts say the teen who made the malware that started this whole mess shared it with other hackers. >> and was able to put that up on the internet for download for other hackers to then take and potentially use it for malicious harm and that's what we believe happened to target as well as neiman marcus. >> reporter: so the bottom line here we could see a lot more of this and, you know, if you find yourself the victim, the unlucky victim of credit card hacking the good news at least is

according to the experts, customers are not liable for the costs incurred with this but, carol, the bigger issue here is identity theft, having your personal information out there to be used by someone else so, you know, the best advice is just always to go to those banking statements and make sure you know exactly what's on those. >> that's the best advice. george howell. many thanks. a new scandal but the same question for chris christie what did the new jersey governor know and when did he know it? we'll take a look at the latest accusations that the governor's administration abused its power. y ridiculousness... from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. and only national is ranked highest in car rental customer satisfaction by j.d. power. (natalie) ooooh, i like your style.

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just a few minutes ago, we heard new jersey lieutenant governor ad meantly deny she refused hurricane sandy's funds. >> i'm very curious about how these new allegations that you with held hurricane sandy funds to punish the mayor of hoboken. >> let me ask you. how long is your drive to work? >> maybe 15 minutes. >> that's a nice commute. it would be a real shame if something were to happen to it.

>> governor, are you threatening me? >> i don't know. am i? >> cnn's aaron mcpike is in trenton. peter hamby is in washington. i want to start with you, erin. >> the lieutenant governor categorically denied everything. what are people saying in trenton? >> reporter: what they have been saying for the past couple of days. the christie administration put out a statement and a fact sheet saying this was completely false. as you mentioned, the lieutenant governor said it was illogical and particularly offensive as a sandy victim herself. >> peter, it is interesting. the governor is not exactly hiding. i guess you could argue he kind of is hiding and kind of not. he went to florida toe raise money for the republican governor there, rick scott. nobody really saw him.

i do have word that he was greeted warmly by republican supporters. they say this story has added to the interest in chris christie frankly in the financial class of the republican party. there were a number of fund-raisers in florida. most were for the re-election campaign of governor rick scott. christie is the chairman of the republican governor's association. if you talk to people, he said over and over, the focus is on winning in 2014. this is what he is supposed to be doing. he is the head of eye fundraising committee raising funds for campaigns. the most interesting event over the weekend was an event in palm beach at the home of home depot founder, ken langone and lead gop donor, long-time christie fan. he invited a bunch of financial supporters to his home to meet yis sti. this wasn't a fund-raiser, per se. i talked to people in the room.

there were some big names in the room. jack welch was in the room, al hoffmann, a big george w. bush fund-raiser, ray kelly, the former new york commissioner was in the room. folks say christie was upbeat. he punted on questions about 2016. he was asked over and over. he said, again, the focus is on 2014. his mood, according to people in the room, was actually pretty good. in is the first of many fundraising he will have. >> "newsroom" back in a minute. expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. so you have time to focus on the things you love. ink from chase. so you can.

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amazon is betting it knows what you want even before you click your mouse to order it. the internet giant now has a new patent in hand as it charters into new territory called anticipatory shipping. christine romans is here to tell us all about it. interesting. >> carol, it can read your mind. it can look at all the things you look at online and what your previous wish lists and shipping orders are and figure out what you want before you place the order. that would make shipping time so short. amazon wants to have this big pipeline of stuff moving all the

time and actually gauge what you want before you even order it. they filed for this patent. when you look at a picture, you can see they want to have these hubs where they are moving things they think you want scloeser to you and maybe even get there before you actually press the buy button. they can even see how long your cursor hovers over an item thinking maybe you are that close to pulling the trigger. >> what if i don't really want that stuff? >> maybe it is cheaper for them to let you have it than the shipping to send it back or maybe they are going to keep it very close. they are going to stage these things close to where you are so it would be easy for them to get it back to a warehouse. it is almost like thinking of it the way the utility thinks of water or electricity, the consumer goods we use. they are going to use their algo rhythms to figure out what we

want and get it to us quickly. >> kind of scary but fascinating. christine romans, thanks so much. the next hour of "cnn newsroom" starts now. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. can americans stay safe in sochi? the olympic games are just a few weeks away and security remains the number one concern. the games go on despite temperatures well below zero. the olympic torch reaches volgograd, russia. the same city hit by two terrorist attacks last month. the possibility of an attack has many worried specially in light of a new video that came out over the weekend. cnn's phil black has more for you. >> reporter: carol, it was three weeks ago, men walked into the train station behind me, approached the sec during the screening area and blew himself up, killing 18 people.

the next day, another man attacked a bus nearby killing another 16. now, a jihadi video has emerged with two men claiming responsibility for that attack and warning that those attacks are but a taste of what people should expect during the olympic games in sochi. >> two extremists claiming responsibility for two back to back suicide bombs last month that claimed 34 lives. warning that more attacks could come during the sochi olympic games. they are showing constructing explosives all before heading to their targets. the two men part of an islamist

group. members of congress are very concerned. >> if something does happen, what is the evacuation plan and emergency response plan that would take place. >> reporter: others worried about americans heading to sochi. >> i would not go. i don't think i would send my family. >> i am very concerned about the security status of the olympics. i do believe that the russian government needs to be more cooperative with the united states when it comes to the security of the games. >> reporter: russian president, vladimir putin, deploying a security force of 40,000 police officers and soldiers to the region. in an interview with abc news, putin says he will do whatever it takes to keep athletes and visitors safe. pledging that russia has adequate means of security. security around the olympic venue on high alert. metal detectors and bomb-sniffing dogs visible as the games get underway in just

over two weeks. russian officials say they are not changing or revising their security plan for sochi despite the attacks in volgograd. they believe they have already got everything in place when the flame arrived here at this train station. there were more members of the security service and police forces here to greet it than members of the public. it seems the lesson from the volgograd attacks is even if sochi is locked down successfully, there are still many other potentially vulnerable targets in other parts of the country. carol? the house intelligence committee chairman, mike rogers of michigan, is also suggesting nsa leaker, edward snowden, got help from russia before he fled the united states to russia last fall. >> i think there are some interesting questions we have to answer that would lend one to believe that the russians had at least something to do with, a,

either helping his capabilities. we noticed that a guy worried about privacy issues, spent a lot of time, as a recent dia report revealed, stealing information. the vast majority of which had nothing to do with the nsa program and everything to do with our military capabilities, army, navy, air force, marines, number one. there are some security things he did get around that are clearly above his capabilities. the way he departed and how he ended up in moscow, we still have some questions there. i can guarantee you, he is in the loving arms of an fsb agent right today. that's not good for the united states and not good for the information to be shared with nation states that actually hinders and will cost us billions of dollars by the way, bob, to try to rectify the problems he has caused in the military operations. >> edward snowden remains in russia. the russian president, vladimir putin, has invited snowden to

attend the winter games in sochi. new jersey's lieutenant governor denied the latest scandal to involve chris christie. the democratic mayor, dawn zimmer, says she was given this ultimatum, support a redevelopment plan backed by christie or her town would get short on money, shortchanged on hurricane sandy relief funds. the accusation drew a sharp response minutes ago. here is the entire statement. >> you need to hear me say this out loud and i will in short. mayor zimmer's version of our conversation in may of 2013 is not only false but illogical and does not withstand scrutiny when all of the facts are examined. any suggestion, any suggestion that sandy funds were tied to the approval of any project in

new jersey is completely false. standing in union beach, as we are today, with some of the mayors whose towns were devastated by sandy and also being a sandy victim myself makes the mayor's allegations particularly offensive to me. the suggestion that anyone would hold back sandy relief funds for any reason is wholly and completely false. i thought i had a good relationship with the mayor of hoboken.

three months after this conversation she had occurred, i was walking on the streets with her in hoboken talking to her about urban markets, three months after this conversation she said we had and five months before, she went to msnbc. like i said, i thought we had a good relationship. frankly, i'm surprised that mayor zimmer has chosen to mischaracterize the conversation i had about development and job coordination in hoboken. i have devoted an extraordinary amount of time to bringing projects, to creating jobs and retaining jobs in hoboken. that is my job as the secretary of state and the lieutenant governor. i have visited hoboken no less than 13 times. i have worked on many other

projects involving ho boken as part of that job. the one that the mayor herself asked me to work on is the pierson education building in the skyline on the waterfront of hoboken. she once told me there was an empty hole and she asked me to help her find a company to fill it. we did. right now, pierson education is in the waterfront, on the waterfront. they have created hundreds of jobs. they created hundreds of construction jobs. so, yes, i am very surprised. and i deny wholeheartedly, those allegations. i proudly support and will continue to support the creation of jobs in hoboken and all of new jersey. i will continue to work on the projects. i'm going to end and i mean end,

by reemphasizing one thing. i deny any suggestion made by mayor zimmer that there was ever any condition placed on the release of sandy funds by me. i want to thank you all for coming out, forgiving me the opportunity to speak. i look forward to the inquiries. i am sure, absolutely sure of the facts will come out. . >> the hoboken mayor, zimmer, says she turned over her journal and other documents when she met with several prosecutors for several hours yesterday. an investigation into this is ongoing. joining me now is michael crowley, the deputy washington bureau chief for "time" magazine. good morning, michael. >> good morning. >> you heard the lieutenant governor. she didn't mince words. she called the hoboken's mayors

claims that sandy funds would be withheld false and illogical. was she believable? >> it was an impressive performance. she was very poised, firm and articulate. it is not as important as the facts. i will say that there was a lot of commentary over the weekend yesterday about the fact that the governor's office's original response to this story did not seem to contain a very direct, flat denial of the facts. there was a lot of bluster and attacking of msnbc, the network which had first presented the allegations. people were saying, wait a second. what about the core allegations? what we now have is a very firm, adament clear denial by the person involved, not hiding behind press releases. that's worth something. what we really have is he said,

she said. we will have to see where it leads. internal documents, e-mails from within the governor's office. i would say this is a good appearances, good theater here for governor christie's camp. >> on the other side, the person making the allegations, major dawn zimmer of hoboken. there are things out there that have some people skeptical, nearly republicans. she spoke glowingly about governor christie. august of 2013, she said, to be clear, i'm very glad governor christie has been our governor. on january 11th, in an interview on cnn, she didn't think funds were being withheld because of any political retaliation. she comes out and makes these allegations. you can see why republicans would be skeptical of these

allegations. >> you heard as part of the response that we just heard that apparently the relationship between the mayor and the governor's office went on and that she was not hostile, not even in private seeming to hold a grudge, complain threaten to go public. that does complicate the story a little bit. it is not crazy to think a mayor would not want to challenge a governor who was enormously popular who felt like people might not believe that. there is a crack in the armor and people are saying, what is this about and what is it capable of? it does complicate the story and i think we can't completely take the mayor's statements at face value. these journal entries, is there

any documentation inside the governor's office, e-mails, that sort of thing. we will have to see. >> michael crowley of "time" magazine, thanks so much for joining me. >> thanks for having me. >> the syrian opposition is threatening to pull out of this week's peace talks in jgeneva. a support of the assad regime accepted the invitation to attend the talks. the opposition has set a 2:00 p.m. eastern deadline for the u.n. to rescind the invitation or for iran to meet certain conditions. this is happening as we see iran engaging more with the west. let's bring in our chief national security correspondent, jim schiuto. he has more. why did they invite iran to the peace talks.

they have set the deadline for a few hours from now. they call it a deal breaker. the reaction from the u.s., very firm as well. u.s. officials saying they have communicated that this invitation should be rescinded. their position, they would only allow iran to participate if iran accepted certain conditions. here is how strong the language is the state department is using. a statement from marie harf saying, we remain deeply concerned about iran's contribution to the assad regime's brutal campaign which has contributed to the growth of extremism and instability in the region if iran does not fully and publicly accept the geneva communique. it is spo toeto support a trans government away from assad.

iran saying they would go to these talks but without preconditions. it is a real problem. other things the u.s. have demanded is to pressure syria to stop bombing civilians there. this was another demand in the weeks leading up to these talks, something iran has not publicly agreed to do. in the last 24 hours, the war goes on in syria. 155 people killed yesterday alone. >> jim sciutto, reporting live from washington. well americans be safe in sochi. the u.s. is making rescue plans if an attack should happen. more on that after a break. [ female announcer ] season after season, no matter the occasion... your home's the place everyone gathers. so be ready with a stouffer's lasagna. it's the mouthwatering recipe that keeps them coming back. stouffer's. made with care for your family. and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it.

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visit floodsmart.gov/pretend to learn your risk. a safe, secure sochi. the russian government is trying to convince everyone they are doing everything possible to keep terrorists out of the olympic games. the u.s. is not bringing a lot of security compared to past olympics. there are apparently major roadblocks to an evacuation if something were to happen. let's bring in our law enforcement analyst, tom fuentes in washington to talk us through this. good morning. >> good morning, carol.

>> so you you were part of the security detail during the 1996 games in atlanta. how worried should we be? >> i think we should be very worried for a couple of reasons. the difference between this and other olympics has been that for the other countries that have hosted in the past, including the u.s., the threat was always external. we always worried about a terrorist group coming in from the middle east or north africa or some other dangerous hot spot in the recalled would. the problem this time is that you are talking about terrorist groups based 300 miles away in chets nia. they don't have to enter the country from halfway around the world. that's the difference this time. you have an internal group that's russia based and they have already promised to do a terrorist act and disrupt the olympics. they have already carried out a

couple of terrorist attacks killing about three dozen people in volgograd. this is different this time. it is a very serious situation. >> there are a couple of things happening surrounding aul of these incidents. president putin spoke with abc saying they are going to have a steel ring of security around the games. some american lawmakers are concerned that russia is not being as forthcoming about their security plans as need-be. they are not cooperating. we had lawmakers come out yesterday on cnn and say, hey, i wouldn't send my family to sochi for the olympics. >> that's a tough thing. the olympic games are different in the sense that the people that compete spend a lifetime preparing at the olympics. they start, three, four, five years old. now, they only have a window of one, two, or three olympics

depending on how good of a shape they are in and how competitive they can be. if you have a child that has spent 15 years preparing to be a gold medalist, it is hard to say, it is dangerous, i wa rather you don't go. that makes it a little hard to do in this particular case. as we've seen in other parts of the world r, the threats are everywhere. you can make an argument for not leaving your home. just have pizza delivered every day and that would be fine. for a situation like this, you do have to rely on a great extent with the russians. again, getting back to whether they are cooperative or not, i think the question isn't whether they are cooperative, it is whether even if they share everything they have, is it enough and do think know everything we would like them to know. sochi is beautiful, a resort

town on the black sea. it is sort of remote. i wonder why that particular city was chosen by the russians. evacuating people out of that area will be difficult because it is so remote. teas true. i don't think they pick olympic develop us based on the planning of getting people in or out based on terrorism. there is other logistical concerns that are considered. the summer olympics are ten times larger than any winter olympics. you can have 25,000 athletes competing in the summer games and two or three thousand in the win iter gam winter games. they are always going to be smaller. they can use smaller towns. you are picking towns that are basically ski resorts that they have access to nearby mountains that enable skiing. they can build the skating stadiums and the indoor events. so oftentimes it is going to be in a town that isn't huge

compared to having the games in atlanta or los angeles or beijing or a larger city like that for the summer games. >> tom fuentes, thanks for your insight. we appreciate it. >> you're welcome, carol. still to come. a security firm is pointing the blame for the massive hack attack on a russian teenager. how can we be so sure. zain asher is following that story. good morning. >> reporter: if it was carried out by a teenager, how can companies better protect themselves. i'll have that story coming up. and drop offs s begins with arthritis pain... and a choice. take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. all aboard. ♪ and better is so easy withrning you cabenefiber.o something better for yourself. fiber that's taste-free, grit-free and dissolves completely. so you can feel free to add it to anything. and feel better about doing it. better it with benefiber.

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a russian teenager is believed to be behind the software used to hack at neiman marcus. it is going out to other retailers, be prepared for other attacks. zain asher is following from new york. >> a lot of fingers are being pointed at this 17-year-old russian teenager. i want to make this clear. cnn has not independently confirmed this. we are still talking to security experts all the time to try to

figure out who was responsible for these attacks. i want to make it clear. what we are hearing is that a 17-year-old may have written the malware, may have written the malicious code and sold it to cybercriminals underground who ended up carrying out the attacks. the first version of the malware was created back in march. what is that? almost a year ago. dozens may have been sold around the world. we are told that once this appears online, hackers can use it as they please. even when companies do try and protect themselves, packers can create various mutations of it. it may not just be target and neiman marcus. other retailers may have been impacted in this breach as well. other retailers could be affected by this too. what can consumers do to protect theflselves? >> i have been speaking to a few good guy hackers this morning. what can companies really do. they need to invest in stronger

end point security systems, better anti-virus on point of sales systems. better intrusion prevention on the point of sales systems as well. here is an interesting point. there needs to be better information sharing between retailers. if target comes out and says, we were hacked. this is the piece of malicious code that was used to hack us so they can protect themselves and others as well. retailers are going to be very hesitant to come forward this this situation. why? >> because they want to protect their reputation. they don't want lawsuits. they don't want their sales or share prices to be impacted. it may not be just target and neiman marcus. it is going to be interesting to see how long it takes for others to come forward as well. >> zain asher, live from new york. still to come, false, illogical and not able to withstand scrutiny of the facts. that's how the new jersey lieutenant governor claimed she

with held funds from the local mayor. what this means for the christie administration next.

good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. just about an hour ago, chris christie's lieutenant governor strongly defended herself against some serious allegations of political retribution. the democratic mayor of hoboken accused lieutenant governor kim guadagno of withholding funds from hurricane sandy. major zimmer's version of our conversation in may of 2013 is not only false but it is illogical and does not withstand scrutiny when all of the facts are examined. >> and it is those facts about the money involved and the mayor's previous support of christie that former mississippi governor, hailey barber, told cnn, make him question the

validity of mayor zimmer's claims. >> it gives me concern that the news media is willing to leak any far-fetched story with the basis unbelievable. this is a lady mayor that asked for $ for $127 million for her area when the state was only receiving $300 million. it is absurd to think that one town would get well more than one-third of the total amount of money. i think you have this problem. a journal that is written can be written any time. i'm a recovering lawyer but i do still remember that from when i practiced law. why was she sending out all these tweets that have been preserved on the internet that said one thing that was totally different from what she was saying and then she comes back

and says, well, i'm hoping i'm putting enough pressure on him that he is going to fold and let me have my $127 million. >> larry sabato is the director for the center of politics at the university of virginia. matt cats is a reporter for wnyc radio, covering the christie administration. i want to talk about you about what hailey barbour just said. she is coming out with these allegations. what do you make of that, matt? >> she told us over the weekend that it took her some time to come this this point. she said it was a pretty difficult thing to do. she has come to believe that there is some sort of connection here. it leaves her open to attacks, both from christie's people and his surrogates, like haley

barbour. democrats and the so-called liberal media are piling on. i spoke to christie's people after the bridgegate scandal was broke. they said their biggest hope was that democrats could be seen as overreaching. what happened over the weekend allowed them to go on the offensive and attack her and democrats and the media like they hadn't before in this scandal. it is interesting what this does. it is damaging to him. it also gives him more ammunition to fight back. >> larry, let me ask you about democratic overreach. chris christie was in florida raci raising money for the republican governor. republicans greeted him warmly. it seems that they are rallying around him with every new scandal that comes up. >> some of the part elites are.

i like haley barbour a lot. but he is a christie advocate. they think he is a moderate candidate that could win the election. they are worried about some of the other candidates. they think they are too con sieve ti conservative to win. what is really coming across and what is damaging to christie, it is that new jersey politics is being projected probably correctly as mean, tough, vicious, vizentine. people are asking, is this what we want to transfer from the new jersey governor's office into the oval office at the white house. that's what's hurting christie in the long-run if he runs for president. i assume he will. >> let's talk about the people of new jersey because they are the ones being directly affected

by all of this. is that happening in new jersey, because chris christie's opinion polls seem to be pretty high still. >> people in new jersey have a certain degree of understanding about the way these things work. they have also seen christie himself when he was federal prosecutor, send over 100 politicians to jail for taking $5,000, $10,000 bribes. so there is a certain degree of tolerance for low-level corruption. what happened over the weekend, though, in addition -- first, you have the traffic jam thing. that got people -- raised people's eyebrows. what happened over the weekend was almost a little bit worse than that. because you're messing with sandy money. sandy had a tremendous effect both physically on the coast and other areas on other inlying areas but also on the psyche of the state. there is an allegation that the

governor was messing around with that money, it is almost more damaging. there is no smoking gun. there is no e-mail from christie saying, you give us this development or we are taking away your sandy money. where as with the bridge scandal, there was a snoeking gu smoking gun. if this turns out to be true, it is almost worse. messing with sandy money is beyond the corruption new jerseyans are accustomed to. >> larry and matt, thanks for being with me. i appreciate it. we're back in a minute. yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief!

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it was perhaps the most anticipated "saturday night live" of the season. for the first time in more than six years, a black woman became part of the snl family. welcome sasheer zamata. >> get out of here. you are embarrassing me. >> i wanted to stop by and gossip with the ladies. >> no, dad. i told you to sit in the bathroom all night. go away. ♪ >> all right.

snl, as you know, hired zamata after much criticism over its lack of diversity. she is only the fifth black woman to be part of the cast in nearly 40 years. comedian actress, kim colts joins me now. welcome back. nice to see you. can you hear me? oh, no, we are going to have a technical problem on my most anticipated segment. we are going to fix that all up and then we'll talk about snl. we'll be right back. for cross-country, classical. and for jumps, i need something...special. so i use my citi thankyou visa card for music downloads and earn two times the points... plus a little extra inspiration. [ ♪ music plays ] the citi thankyou preferred visa card. earn two times the points on entertainment and dining out with no annual fee. citi, with you every step of the way.

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at a company that's bringing media and technology together. next is every second of nbcuniversal's coverage 0f the 2014 olympic winter games. it's connecting over one million low-income americans to broadband internet at home. it's a place named one america's most veteran friendly employers. next is information and entertainment in ways you never thought possible. welcome to what's next. comcastnbcuniversal.

as we were saying before the break, sasheer zamata made her debut on "saturday night live." the first african-american woman on the show in six years. kim koles joins me now. thank you for being with me. >> thank you for letting me come and play with you, miss carol. first of all, critique? what did you think? >> first of all, she is beautiful, funny, a sparkle in her eye. i think she has a beautiful smile and i can't wait to see more. they gave us quite a few tastes of her. she was sprinkled nicely throughout the show. i just have great promise and great belief she is going to knock it out of the park. >> she was featured in nearly every sketch in the first half hour. a lot was made at the end of the

show when drake, the host, gave her a big hug. most new cast members aren't treated that way. >> she is welcomed with open arms because the people have spoken. the people said, we want to see a sister on the show. there needs to be more diversity on the show. they came up with lots of auditions and they came up with someone who i think is going to be perfect for the show. i think she has a lovely sparkle in her eye. as a comedian, from comedian to comedian, i think she has got it. i really do. >> it was interesting, because as i was watching it, they had drake. his first sketch was about his jewish and african-american background. the whole first hour of "saturday night live" was about diversity. it was sort of like "saturday night live" saying, see, we fixed it, see, we fixed it. i had that feeling. >> you know something too, i think it was fortunate nor sasheer that drake was on the show. she would have an opportunity to be folded into more sketches. thab that's what they were

saying. to be honest, i don't think there is a whole lot of that. let's be diverse and do it the right way. i think they made a good choice. i don't think there is a whole lot of, hey, guys, let's get it together here. people spoke and they answered. >> i also think by treating her out of the norm, perhaps they put more pressure on her to be funny, funny, funny. >> i thought about that too. i thought to myself, whoever they hire, she is going to really have to be sort of the holy grail and speak for all of us. the truth is, i have a feeling this girl is going to be able to hold her own and be able to withstand the pressure of just be really, really funny. trust me, they would not have hired her if they didn't think she could handle it. i'm sure she will be able to. >> that's why i kind of wish that she was in a lot of taped segments. i kind of wished she was just in one really good, funny, live sketch. i know she was in that one but she didn't have a large role. i kind of wanted to see that

more than little tiny bits and pieces of her. >> with featured players, they are folding her in as a feature. i am using the term folder. they are sort of starting her offs a feature player. featured players don't get big, huge sketches to begin with. i think they gave us all a little taste, sort of a poo-poo pla platter. somebody is going to tweet and i am going to get in trouble for that. time will be the true test. she comes from a strong background. she is with the up right citizens brigade theater. she comes from good training. i can't say the name of where she comes from. >> she is good. >> up right citizens brigade. it is early for me. i'm sorry. >> it is early for me too. i get ya. thank you so much for being with us, kim coles. we appreciate it, as always. >> thank you.

he has been in more than a dozen movies, been featured on hit tv shows. now, he is out with two new films that are debuting athe sundance film festival. "the one i love" and "skeleton twins." mark duplas joins me live. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. how is it going? >> it is going pretty good. tell us about somehow getting two films into one of the most prestigious festivals in the world. >> well, it is always a tricky thing being as talented and awesome as i am. you have to be born that way, is what i've discovered in the long run. >> seriously, you have to be seriously taenlted to be able to do that. were you surprised by it? >> i was shocked. i came to sundance 12 years ago with a tiny, short film i made for $3 with my brother. they have basically made my

career. being able to show up here with two films with these amazing actors, elizabeth moss and bill hader and kristin wig. it's a big honor. let's talk about "the skeleton twins." they star two of snl's alums. >> kristin and bill have known each other for years. my brother and i are known for making movies that essentially take comedic actors and give them a lot of their first dramatic turn, as they were. we loved the idea of seeing bill hader and kristin do what we watched jonah hill do and go on to make "moneyball" and "wolf of wall street." they have that breakout potential to let people see them do something else they haven't done before. >> "skeleton twins," tell me what it is about, dramatic,

comedic? >> i would call it a comedic drama. it is about two twins who have become estranged and they are in a bad place in their lives and they come back together and figure out how to move forward with their lives. it has that comedy drama that movies like the kids are already or beginners have. it is a nice blend. >> before i let you go, i would like to ask you about snl and the newest cast member, the first african-american woman in six years. did you catch her debut? >> no. i have been at the sundance film festival trying to watch as many movies as i can but, no, i haven't heard about it yet. >> i won't ask you more, because it would be unfair. mark duplas, thank you so much for talking to me i really appreciate it and good luck. >> thank you. ♪ ♪

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>> translator: i would like to ask the u.s. government, for immediate help by taking actions, not just by making words so that my problem can be solved. i would like to plead with the u.s. government, press and my family by stopping worsening my family by making vile rumors about north korea that are not based on the facts. >> he is serving 15 years of hard labor for committing hostile acts against pyongyang. the united states says he is being held for no reason at all. president obama is telling "the new yorker" despite still viewing the drug of marijuana negatively, he doesn't think it is worse than alcohol or cigarettes. i smoked pot as a kid and i view it bad as the cigarettes i smoked as a young person through

a big chunk of my adult life. i don't think it is more dangerous chan alcohol. i encourages his daughters to stay away from marijuana, because it is a waste of time and not very healthy. we heard new jersey's lieutenant governor deny allegations she threatened to short change hoboken on relief money. she denied it. dawn zimmer was told if she did not support a redevelopment plan, her town would get shortchanged on hurricane relief funds. it drew a sharp response from the lieutenant governor. >> yes, i am very surprised by the mayor's allegations. and i did deny wholeheartedly those allegations. i deny any suggestion made by

mayor zimmer that there was ever any condition on the release of sandy funds by me. >> cnn's aaron mcpierin mcpike trenton. there is an investigation on these stories? >> reporter: this is more of a he said, she said kind of story. we haven't seen anything in the way of evidence or document yet where as in the bridgegate controversy, there are thousands of pages of documents. chris christie has his inauguration tomorrow. there is this big cloud of scandal covering it. i want to point out what's happening in the last hour since we last spoke. i'm going to step aside. a couple of demonstrations have formed. over here, you have occupy new jersey.

one sips says, jail christie. another one says, shame on you. the other one says, just recovery, not cronyism. over here, we have an education protest going on, a little bit separate. all of this is going on as chris christie gets ready for his second inauguration tomorrow. i want to read a couple of comments he has made. he said, part of politics is trying to have sharp elbows publicly in order to make a deal privately. that gives you a little bit of an idea of the broader context. he also said in reference to the bridgegate controversy, you know what one of the scariest things about being governor, every day, 65,000 people have letterhead with my name on it and i don't know what they are doing all day. lots of developments. he has to get ready for inauguration tomorrow. this is going to be another busy week. >> obviously, chris christie is trying to repair his image as

fast as he can. his aids are coming to his rescue. what are they saying? >> what is really surprising is the reaction to the mayor zimmer story. unlike the bridge scandal, here you have christie and his aides and allies coming out full bore criticizing democrats saying they are trying to plolitisize this scandal. they think he is like and they can score a political win here. democrats need to be careful about not overreaching with this scandal. if this is seen as a partisan scandal, it might wear on new jersey voters. remember rs christ remember, christie is taking a hit in the polls. he is operating from a reservoir of good will. here, in this case, christie and his team really see an opportunity if they can portray democrats as being too partisan and not telling the truth. they think they can see a grimmer of hope and escape this

swirling controversy, carol. >> peter hamby, erin mcpike, many thanks to both of you. we will be talking about chris christie and the two scandals surrounding his administration today. thank you for joining me. i'm carol costello. "legal view" with ashleigh banfield starts now. new jersey's newest scandal hitting the fan. the lieutenant governor firing back with the mayor of hoboken calling her claim completely false, illogical and offensive. also, this hour, a terror threat for the olympics. it comes from beyond the grave. a chilling video supposedly from the suicide bombers in the volgograd attacks psi