it's now for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." thanks for being with us. good thursday morning, everybody. right now on first look, no easy pass. potential president candidate is caught up in a scandal involving political retribution. survivors search a navy helicopter crashes in the ocean off virginia. two are injured, two died and one is still missing. solar storm is preventing supplies getting to the space station. and people's choice awards go big for bullock own' tlim academy award winner meryl streep goes off on wall street disney. thanks for joining us. we begin with a bombshell.

dirty politics in new jersey. a bridge, a traffic jam and a political rivalry all involving governor chris christie. newly release e-mails and texts reveal suggesting one of top aides engineers a traffic jam. nbc's tracie potts is live in washington. this story gives a bridge over troubled water a whole new meaning. >> well, we're going to hear more about that bridge today and in the future. now washington may get involved, betty. federal officials are telling us that the justice department received a request to look into this, to see if any federal laws were violated. >> reporter: it appears the four day traffic jam that backed up over the george washington bridge last september may have been orchestrated to punish a democratic mayor who did not support republican governor chris christie. according to e-mails subpoenaed by new york lawmakers. >> none of this surprises me.

i'm embarrassed that people are involved and completely disheartened. >> reporter: this woman, a top christie aide tells one of the governor's high school buddies, time for some traffic problems in for the lee. got it, the official replies. it is wrong that i'm smiling, another says. someone else jokes the students stuck in traffic are children of christie's political opponent. >> he's got to come clean and say what he knew and when he knew it. >> reporter: last month governor christie denies having anything to do with it. >> absolutely unequivocally not. >> reporter: now with the embarrass, he has some explaining to do. >> either he doesn't know what is going on in his front office or that there is lying going on. >> reporter: in a new statement, christie says advertise staff misled him that the e-mails are completely inappropriate and that he knew nothing about it. and now that high school buddy who's also on the port authority, friend of governor christie's, he's been subpoenaed to testify in new york today

about these e-mails, his involvement in the e-mails but he is fighting that subpoena. >> thank you. north america seize the first ever bird flu death. a canadian died on january 3rd. the virus rarely passes person to person and health officials call this an isolated case. but they are tracking down everyone who came in contact with the traveler. the virus has been worrying health experts for a decade now. the world health organization confirmed 648 human cases of the avian flu mostly in asia so far this season. 384 of them have been fatal. drug companies are working on a vaccine. now to a desperate search and rescue mission off the coast of virginia. one sailor is missing and two are dead after a helicopter crashed. two survived, one is in serious condition. they were on a routine training mission when it made an

emergency water landing wednesday. the 99 foot craft is capable of speeds of more than 170 miles per hour. the cause of the crash is under investigation. one official says he has no concern about the helicopter's safety. federal authorities say they have busted up a sex trafficking ring of freeing sex slaves from a san diego street gang. 24 people have been charged in connection with the alleged prostitution operation that spanned 23 states and 46 cities. prosecutors are calling it modern day slavery. they say bms members branded women and girls with tattoos and bar codes after luring them over the internet with promises of a luxurious lifestyle. more arrests are expected. there is good news and bad news orbiting the space station. the first solar flair of the year forced officials to scrap a rocket launch for the third time. the supply vessel was kept on the ground.

there is hope that launch could happen today. >> at a cost of $3 billion br year, the white house agreed to keep the lights on in the international space station until 2040. this extends of life of the vessel by four years. let's get the latest sports from richard louie. good morning. it's only been a few days since winning the national championship. now the alleged rape investigation of florida state's quarterback, that is back on again. the lawyer for the woman accusing jameis winston and possibly florida state university will face a lawsuit. the florida state attorney decided not to charge winston last month. two years of college play and gone. texas a&m quarterback johnny manziel anunsing he's going nouo

the nfl draft. he's expected to be one of the first five chosen. how many millions will he get? >> a lot. >> new baseball hall of fame inductees. greg maddox who played for the braves and cubs, tom glavine who played for the braves and mets and frank thomas, two-time american league mvp. some of the greats. those who lost votes, many from the steroids era, barry bonds, mark sosa and palmeiro opinion in college hoops, george upsets number 21 mizzou in overtime. tied at 63, charles mann nailing a crucial two-point shot. georgia wins that one with that. wisconsin, badgers still perfect. 16-0. they defeat illinois 95-70. they keep their school best record. >> nice. >> over to the pros. the nets stopped the golden state warriors nine-game winning

streak. down to the wire. kevin garnett breaking up a pass there. the nets, 102-98. i cried. new york's jr smith was fined $50,000 for unsportsman like conduct. yeah, that thing there. >> you can't untie a guy's shoe, right? >> he did, twice. not once, but twice. in games against dallas and then detroit. smith known for off court antics, shall i say. he tweeted he does this every game. he's going to get a lot of $50,000 fines. >> the heat are karaoking for underserved youth and teens. they're singing. the event is hosted by miami's shane batie. it is $150 to be part of this. ♪

>> it's like they should pay us $150 to listen to that. >> nba players can't sing. >> collin kaepernick gets video bombed. he likes to do his weekly press conference in different spots in the locker room. to get him back for doing it in the lineman's locker area, they played dunk into a trash bin right in front of him and the cameras over cap irnick's head. the niners play the panthers on sunday in the quest for a consecutive super bowl berth which they will do. >> all right, you're confident about that. we'll see. now that polar vortex that froze the nation seems to be heading back north to canada, it's time to assess the damage. the big chill is projected to cost the u.s. economy, listen to this, up to $5 billion. thanks in part to the 11,000 canceled flights this week. it wasn't just the airlines that had trouble, though, new york's hudson river was so frozen a ferry had to actually be carved out of the ice.

but some good did come out of this polar vortex. scientists say the subzero temperatures will slow invasive insects that are killing off different plant species. all right. i don't know what the invasive insects are, do you? >> i don't know. apparently we don't want them. >> i'm not a big fan of the insects. especially the insects. we were adding up the numbers. it's not going to rank in the top 25 coldest outbreaks in the country's history. it barely makes the list. it is pretty incredible that it wasn't all that bad compared to what we have been through in this country in our past history. this morning it's really warmed up significantly. still cold in minneapolis, chicago, wisconsin. the wind chills are still minus 15 and minus 29. it's warmer compared to the last couple mornings. a little bit of rain and snow and maybe a little icy conditions in arkansas. winter weather advisories from

springfield to paducah and little rock, be careful driving in those areas. we're right around the freezing mark in memphis and little rock. bridges and overpasses may have problems. the next story is rain. friday will be near the mississippi river and saturday for the east coast. >> all right. thank you. directly ahead, priority number one, national security is front and center at the white house. plus, a dramatic crash landing caught on tape. those details next. [announcer] word is getting out.

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welcome back, everyone. the girl declared brain dead by judge and doctors is improving according to family attorney christopher dolan. he wrote that she had procedures including a trachoetomy. he also said the new doctors are optimistic about her health improving. in response to outrage over nsa spying revelations, president obama met a top intelligence chiefs wednesday with reforms on

the horizon for the intelligence community. the meeting served as a way for the nsa, cia, and fbi to voice their concerns. police in omaha placed a toddler in protective custody after racial slurs and obscenities were directed at him by off camera adults. now the boy then repeats the words and raises the middle finger. new video has surfaced when shows a small plane crash on to the racetrack right there in iceland and burst into flames. two of the three people died in the crash which police are still investigating. three years after being shot in the head at a campaign event if tucson, gabby gifford celebrated life by going skydiving over southern arizona. she landed beautifully. the people's choice awards kicks off the 2014 season of hollywood's best hosted by the ladies of two broke girls.

>> would this interest you? it's an invitation to host the people's choice awards? >> yes, look, max! >> open bar? doesn't matter, i'll bring my own. >> brit my spears won her first people's choice award in her 15-year career. sandra bullock led the evening with four awards and justin timberlake won three awards. meryl streep got the best actress award for "saving mr. banks" but streep set, he was supposedly a hideous anti-semite and he was certainly on the evidence of his company's policies a gender bigot. i could just imagine walt disney's chagrin having to cultivate pl favor for the 20 years of work. it must have killed him to encounter a woman". macy's is planning to splash or slash 2500 jobs, close to

five stores will be closing and add eight macy's and bloomingdales stores to the list. the effort will save the company $100 million a year. world wrestling entertainment will launch the own 24/7 streaming service for under $10 a month and that includes a pay per view events. day and date please. for about a million dollars can you own this piece of calendar that's made from 22 pounds of pure gold. a jewelry store in japan is selling the 2014 calendar complete with images of mickey and mini mouse. fast food restaurants are offering big deals right now. pizza hut is giving 50% off for any pizza ordered online. burger king giving free coffee with a sandwich and ihop's pancakes, all you can eat pancakes is back. scrambled politics is just ahead including anthony weiner back in the spotlight. plus what chris christie's growing bridge scandal can meet for presidential hopes.

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for this little serbian. you got a response to that? david wallsteen deserves an ass kicking. sorry. there, i said it. >> two more house democrats are retiring. they are congresswoman carolyn mccarthy of new york and mark mcintyre of north carolina. florida congressman apologized to the conference and discussed his return to the house of representatives after his cocaine arrest and rehab. >> it was really nice to go in and have a lot of handshakes and hugs and a lot of support of people would reached out and said that they're here for me. and i've been moved by that. it's been really nice. new this morning on msnbc.com, good signs for the health care law. a new report says that despite the complaints about the health care website and exchanges, enroll. including young people is right

on track. controversial toronto mayor rob ford, his approval rating has actually gone up to 47%. that is up 5% after he appeared to do a good job responding to a big ice storm. anthony weaner is getting a shot at stardom as an actor on a show about politics. he is making an appearance on "alpha house". it is about four senators who chair a house in washington, d.c. that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. let's dig deep near the new jersey bridge controversy. i'm joined in washington by bob franken, good morning. >> good morning. >> let's talk about this bridge over troubled waters. governor christie is outraged that a senior member of his staff is linked to the lane closures on a major bridge that snarled traffic and sparked talk of political retribution. is this a case of bullying or is christie really just unaware of what is going on if his

administration? >> well, first of all, i think that his denial of knowing anything would probably have little credibility with some people who never considered him to be mr. congeniality in any case. >> you have a good point there. christie said no one played a role in the lane closures and mocked reporters asking about the issue when it emerged months ago. >> i think that we have to sort of be honest here and say that this is just what you call normal every day new jersey politics. or it would seem that way in any case. you know, is it plausible that he didn't know that one of his deputy chiefs of staff was doing? if he didn't know, then i think there could be questions raised about how he administers his office. >> the traffic delayed the responses to four different medical calls. the disciplining staff members be enough? what effect is this going to have on any presidential hopes? >> well, i think that maybe he

probably needs now to make sure that he can continue his governor because i think that this is not going to go away. i suspect that we won't get an answer for him today on whether he's going to be a candidate for president in the next election. the question also is there criminal acts? are there criminal acts involved here? >> that's a good point. >> variations of malfeasance in that state, although probably they don't call much malfeasance from the looks of the politics there. nevertheless, there were people in danger. i suspect you could have some people charged with abusing their office. i think this is just beginning to start. this is a mess. >> bob, thanks so much for joining us today. >> thank you, betty. >> coming up, bill karins and richard will be here for first buzz including big coins now accepted in one of the most unlikely of places. hey mom. yeah? we've got allstate, right? uh-huh. yes! well, i found this new thing called... [ dennis' voice ] allstate quickfoto claim. [ normal voice ] it's an app. you understand that?

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we're going to talk about what's buzzing to day. we're going to start with bill karins. this, you know, it sounds funny from the on set, but it's really not. >> you have to put more in the category the unbelievable. >> right. >> they're calling it the first ever murder by atomic wedgy. this was in oklahoma, 33-year-old is being accused of murdering his stepdad in a drunken fight by grabbing his stepdad's underwear and pulling it over his head and around his neck. they're saying the blood force trauma and as fixation is what killed the man. >> don't try this at home. >> just a crazy story. unbelievable story. >> i never heard of anatomic

wedgy before. >> you never heard of that? >> speaking of underwear, i want to go to you, richard. you have folks who just ran around in their underwear. >> yeah, this is positive end of, i guess, underwear. a bunch of folks in france, there was a big sale going on for the name of this department store. going in your underwear, you get two items for free. they're not a lot of bashful people despite the winter weather being there. >> not a lot of men, either. >> the great thing is, though, you don't have to go to a changing room. >> no. just find clothes and go out. >> buy more than two items, so it's working and we're talking about it. this brand is from spain. they're doing this in france. >> plus 50% off. >> you know what? speaking of what you use to pay for things, they basically use, what, their underwear, well now big coin is really making a comeback because check these out. these little girls near san francisco, they have this

lemonade stand and taking big coin there. can you believe it? >> the big coin? >> yeah, they're using big coin. they made $70. it's the new form of the future, guys. >> bijtal payment. can you buy lemonade, cookies, anything else. >> all right this is "first look," "way too early" starts right now. newly released e-mails linked the office of new jersey governor chris christie to a controversial lane closure at the george washington bridge. >> one of christy's top appointee's at the port authority. time for traffic problems in ft. lee, she wrote. got it, he said. >> governor christy's team up 24 points in the polls were spiteful and petty, fine. but it doesn't make him evil. >> and later joked about kids that were late to school because of the traffic mess. >> this text message exchange, it is wrong that i'm smiling? i feel badly about the kids. i guess. and then, they are the children

of our opponent's voters. >> okay, that makes i'm evil. >> a little bit of traffic trouble. chris christie's staff was involved in literally blocking traffic. the question now, will the scandal block his ambitions for the white house? if you don't like your mobile service and another company said they would pay for you to switch, would you? one company says it will do just that. anthony weiner, on the little screen, no, he's not texting but acting. we'll tell you about the ex-congressman's next move. of course, this is "way too early." good morning, everybody. thursday, january 9th. also on the program, the big win frert people