ght for you. [ male announcer ] with nearly 7 million investors... oh hey, neill, how are you? [ male announcer ] ...you'd expect us to have a highly skilled call center. kevin, neill holley's on line one. ok, great. [ male announcer ] and we do. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. no one saw this coming. stunning jobs numbers this morning. just 74,000 created. still, the unemployment rate drops to 6.7%. is the cold weather freezing out job seekers, or do these numbers just not add up? a deal to extend unemployment benefits in the senate is falling apart. is there room for a compromise to help 1.3 million americans? and the target security breach, nearly double the number of americans with credit cards are now impacted. 70 million. good morning, i'm chris jansing. now even after nearly two hours

of talking, 90 reporter questions and 20 apologies, still more questions today in an ongoing controversy for new jersey governor chris christie. a class action lawsuit was just filed over the traffic scandal. the feds and new jersey assembly are both investigating, and state officials are expected to release 1,000 more documents today. christie has got to figure out who to trust after firing michelle anne kelly. governor christie said he didn't know anything about the plan, even though e-mails and texts prove one of his top staffers were involved. christie may have kept his political ambitions alive yesterday, assuming none of the ongoing investigations reveal more damaging evidence. he even went to fort lee to apologize to the mayor, he was somber, sorry, and called himself sad.

>> i am responsible for what happens under my watch. i was blindsided yesterday morning. i am stunned by the abject stupidity that was shown here. i'm sad. that's the predominant emotion i feel right now. is sadness. >> i want to bring in our company, steve kornacki, host with "up with steve kornacki," and josh barrow, the politics writer for "politics insider." i listened to hours a s s and f analysis, he did well enough maybe he's bought himself some time. i guess if the question yesterday was, do people believe him, steve, is the question today, what happens with this drip, drip, drip of information that's clearly going to keep going? >> that's exactly it. it's a great, powerful performance that could be career

saving, even career enhancing performance if it's true. the wheels are in motion on multiple tracks right now, where you've got the state assembly, there was an issue up until earlier this week about whether the subpoena authority of the state assembly would be extended past next tuesday. not an issue anymore. that's going to happen. you have the u.s. attorney from new jersey talking about potentially opening up an investigation, looking into this, as well, so you have those three fronts. you also have every reporter, you know, reporter in new jersey, maybe in the country, now looking into this, so it's a question of does anything else come out, and i've got to say, the one thing i was struck listening to christie yesterday sitting there sitting saying this aide lied, putting it on bridget kelly. how many times did he call her a liar? >> but he didn't talk to her. he didn't talk to her. >> that was the strange thing. there were 117 days between when the executive director of the

port authority raised a stink until chris christie found out the order had come from his office. part of it seems to be when he fires these people, he doesn't seem to want to talk to them. he was saying yesterday, i don't want to talk to bridget kelly. shouldn't he ask her and try to figure out if other employees of his might be lying to him? >> where does the buck stop, because when you look at what the first e-mail is, this is a mid point conversation. this is not, hey, you know, i was thinking, maybe we should try to close down the george washington bridge. this was mid point in some string of either conversations, e-mails, texts, whatever. >> i see two plausible scenarios here, what chris christie painted yesterday, i was completely in the dark and blindsided about this until wednesday morning i think is completely implausible. i think the two plausible situations are, one, he knew this at an early stage, at the

beginning, he had knowledge of the specifics of this. i think that's possible and we'll see if it comes out. that's not been proven, but it's possible. the other plausible scenario is he had willful ignorance. there was so much reporting, so much suspicion, everyone in new jersey politics talking about this for months, that at some point, somebody as intelligent as christie is going to put two and two together and figure out the basics of the situation and something was up here. and a decision that is made on chris christie's part to be willfully ignorant, not to ask the kinds of questions josh is talking about, not to look into it and try to run out the clock. the day he was looking at would have been next tuesday when the subpoena authority expires. >> bridget kelly, you know her, is she someone to cook up something like this on her own? >> when crimes are committed, never saw it coming, but i'm telling you, the bridget kelly i knew, she was an aide to a relatively low-key assembly

member name dave russeau. i cannot go back in time and think of that bridget kelly and reconcile her with what we're seeing in these e-mails. it strongly suggests to me there's more than bridget kelly cooking this up. >> so, the question is, what are people's perceptions and stephanie goss went out yesterday and asked people in new jersey, what did you think, and here's a few of the comments she got. >> he's a down to earth guy, and he tells it like it is. >> did you find him believable? >> no. >> can you tell me why? >> governor christie, he was a little bit too humble. almost thought he was trying too hard. >> i don't think he had trouble doing it. his whole political career is on the line. >> all sorts of things in new jersey, but what occurs to me, the rest of america may not know that chris christie is the front-runner by many

expectations for the republican nomination or the most talked about or may just sort of have him a little bit in their mind. this thing could be the first impression, big impression, that they have of him. >> i think that's what it is. people in new jersey already have strong opinions about chris christie and if you had a long list of reasons for liking him, causing traffic jams isn't going to change that, but nationally, people may have this nebulously favorable view of him, but now one of the first things they'll know about him is he shut down lanes on a bridge and for a petty reason, or his people did anyway. the damage is causes is not so much people's top issue in the campaign is going to be bridge access, it's that this, you know, it says something about his character that's simple and easy to understand. it's the sort of scandal you can explain to somebody in 15 seconds and that will be valuable in a primary campaign or general election. >> local democrats don't buy it.

here's what a couple of them said on "the rachel maddow show" last night. >> his words were appropriate, gee, i'm sorry, but he was four months too late, and i cannot believe that he -- that it happened only yesterday, that he noticed that this was a pretty big deal. >> it seems like the plan is, let's just fire the people or terminate them or have them resign and not ask any questions, which doesn't seem to meet the expectation the governor created today that he really wants to get to the bottom of it. >> joining me now, congressman bill pascrell, democrat from new jersey, good morning. >> good morning, how are you? >> you said yesterday before the news conference that the worst is yet to come. what do you think about what he had to say, do you still believe that? >> well, he's not the victim. the victim are the folks in ft. lee, new jersey. don't try to victimize yourself when you're being questioned. i have no idea when the governor knew what he knew, when he

discovered this. that's not the question. the question is, how did this get started? when you look at the e-mails, this was planned. this is not something we woke up one morning and said let's shut down the traffic in ft. lee, those cars and vehicles trying to get on to the george washington bridge. this was planned before even august. we do know e-mails in august reflect that there was obviously consent that this was going to happen. who started this whole thing? we don't know. we don't know at this point, and john has done a great job in his committee in finding out the truth. they can take the fifth amendment all they want. he's not going to be frightened by that, i can assure you. >> obviously, a critical question is, and i'm asking you, do you believe the governor didn't know anything about this, because i think, you know, as we've been talking about this morning, every reporter in new jersey and a lot of other reporters are looking into this. you have these committees looking into it, you have lawyers involved in the class

action lawsuit who are going to be looking into this. it's going to come out. >> and the u.s. attorney. >> he was une kwif call in his denial yesterday. >> he was not denying he was told by a staff, he wasn't denying that something occurred in the summertime and perhaps he had something to do with it or he didn't know, have anything to do with it. now, if you want me to believe that this was kept from the governor on purpose because they didn't want him involved, yet there was a culture that this comes up from, i could believe that. i had nothing to show to you that the governor did this on this particular day. i know what the governor didn't do, because i wrote a letter to mr. baroni when he was still with the port authority, assistant director, on september the 13th asking him, what in

god's name happened here? these people have been victimized. kids on school buses have been victimized, hours waiting to get through traffic. give us some answers. never got an answer from mr. baroni. to me, the whole port authority needs to be investigated. there is a bigger issue here involved. i have to pay tolls, you have to pay tolls to go over the george washington bridge. these people are unrepenting for what they've done to those folks who have to shell out $8 every time they go over the bridge. this is a whole ball of wax. that's a culture itself, the port authority, that needs to be investigated separate from the issue in front of us. we can't make up politics. this doesn't help democrats, doesn't help republicans. i don't care what the talking heads say on television. this is an absolute insult to the people of new jersey and ft. lee, and i agree with the mayor there's more to come. and it will come.

every day, you're going to see more e-mails. every day. i want to know what's in those redacted e-mails. what names are in those redacted e-mails? and we are not going to rest until we get the truth, and it's not going to benefit each party, because the people are going to say, there they go again. if you want to know something, people are right, as usual. >> new jersey congressman bill pascrell. great to have you on the program. thank you. >> pleasure to be with you. >> there are these other outstanding questions we've been talking about. he said he asked mr. baroni what happened here. it does raise the question, after two people at the port authority resigned, wouldn't you as governor start asking questions? >> willful ignorance keeps coming back to me as a motivation for christie. but the other thing i think just to keep in mind here is we may be at a moment when the political and media culture in new jersey is changing in a way

it hasn't since the moment chris christie was inaugurated. >> how? >> chris christie has been the most intimidating governor that new jersey has had, that new jersey politicians have had to deal with and the new jersey press has had to deal with since tom kean about 30 years ago, because of his popularity. his enormous public popularity and skills behind the scenes. he's had alliances with key democrats in the state that have helped him get major legislative things through and the question is, does that all break up now, do the democrats start turning on him and do the media start paying attention to stories they have not pursued because chris christ christie's so intimidatingly popular. >> for all of us that looked at him and the pros and cons of a possible presidential candidacy, one of the things you look at is the way he's gone into communities, he's forged these relationships with democrats and minority communities. we talked about when he got reelected the fact that you look at the numbers for the

percentages of blacks and hispanics who voted for him. this is not incidental to the big picture national politics. >> the other thing is, chris christie's pitch is i get people together and get things done. part of it is by compromising and part is fear and favor strategy he uses with officials. if you talk to democratic municipal officials who like christie, they really like him. i was in union city, new jersey, everyone's coming up to me being like, chris christie got us new sidewalks, a fancy new high school. the flip side, where you sort of pressure these municipal officials you don't like. it's possible to understand where people would have thought this was a good idea, because in some sense, it's just an extension of his overall strategy of putting pressure on these municipal officials and people need to understand the sausage making is what it is. a lot of these legislative

leaders and the president lost levers they used to have to put pressure on rank and file people. doesn't mean you should shut down bridge access lanes, but this is the negative flip side of the sort of positive thing chris christie has done in terms of actually asserting power and being able to force compromises through. >> he has meddled at a local level, he and his administration have meddled at a local level in a way they've never seen. >> absolutely. >> you can talk to republicans in new jersey who are way down the totem pole, we're talking about local council members, who will do something mundane and will get a phone call 30 minutes later from somebody in the governor's office informing them the front office is upset and telling them under no circumstances is this to ever happen again. sometimes they'll even receive phone calls from the governor himself. you never heard stories like this under anyone else. this is a new thing.

when i talked to a republican yesterday, how come you're not rallying around christie? we're confused. on the other hand, political payback is the m.o. of this administration, so it's plausible. >> steve kornacki, josh barro. this is absolutely fascinating. you're going to have a few things to talk about this evening. catch steve on his show on msnbc. let's check the news feed now, about 300,000 west virginia residents are being told not to use their water. no drinking, no cooking, no bathing. a chemical went into the elk river, contaminating the water supply. this morning, president obama has authorized fema to help coordinate emergency efforts, but there's nothing to be done to clean up the mess because the chemical has to dissipate from the water. right now we're waiting in a ruling in the case of melissa

alexander who fired a gunshot during a fight with her now ex-husband. prosecutors say alexander violated the terms of her november in-home detention when she ran errands. they want her thrown back in jail. after his epic news conference and adamant denials, can chris christie still win over the gop for 2016? we'll talk to the rnc's main message man next. ugh for you? have -- have you seen it? yes, i have seen it, and it looks -- you gotta look better. ladies, breathe. cascade kitchen counselor here. it's not your silverware. it's likely your detergent. see, over time, cascade platinum's triple cleaning formula delivers brilliant shine finish gel can't beat. it even helps keep your dishwasher sparkling. find something, mother? no. [ counselor ] cascade platinum is cascade's best.

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good news and bad news on the job front. the labor department is out with the latest jobless numbers for december. employers added 74,000 jobs. that's the smallest increase since january of 2011, but the unemployment rate fell .3 of a percent to 6.7%, the lowest since october 2008. let me bring in shaun spicer,

communications director for the republican national committee. good morning, shaun. >> good morning, chris. >> to an extent, unemployment benefits may have fallen apart in the senate. we know the food stamps support, raising the minimum wage are both stalled. we know what the republican talking points are that you folks want this paid, you don't think the economy, the president has moved this economy as well as it should be, but let's talk about these people who are being affected right now, the 1.3 million without unemployment benefits. with americans struggling to make ends meet, should the republicans embrace the push for some economic support here? >> well, i'd add in another group, chris, the 186,000 people last month who gave up looking for work. we have the lowest labor participation rate in 36 years. what that means is more and more americans, the lowest in 36 years, aren't looking for work because they are so discouraged. that's troubling and something

we're concerned about, obviously, as republicans, in the sense what we want is americans to have a job, have a job with benefits, be able to provide with families and their kids' future. >> you're not suggesting the democrats don't want that? >> hold on, chris. no, i think what our goal is, time and time again in washington we get our head wrapped around these short-term fixes. what are we going to do to spend more money to get this going, what republicans want, what we keep coming back to every month, every few months, let's throw more money at a problem. yes, do we feel for every american struggling to pay their heating bill or put food on the table or provide for their children's education, absolutely. those are struggles that no american should have to go through. but what we want to do is actually solve the problem and get them jobs so that they can live a life of dignity and care for their family and themselves and provide a better future for others. >> let's talk about jobs, shaun. let me -- i want to answer your

points, because you're making a lot of them. one concern that the democrats have, and that some economists have, and studies have, is that if you pull away these unemployment benefits, that's money that's not going into the economy. that's local businesses being hurt and at least one study suggests that 240,000 jobs will be lost this year if we don't extend unemployment benefits. >> yeah, but i would argue if you pass the keystone pipeline, you'd actually create tens of thousands of long-term jobs. >> apples and oranges. >> we have 150,000 jobs republican has passed to the senate, yet none have gotten any media attention and no one is asking harry reid, why aren't you passing ones that create 1,000 jobs here, 10,000 jobs here, why are we wrapped around the idea let's pass more and more bills to help people in the short-term, which i understand that. i think republicans are not only looking at how do we pay for this so we can help these folks,

but we're looking long term and that's what constantly gets missed by democrats and this administration. let's stop the talking point about how to extend benefits here and there and look at how can we give people good paying, long-term jobs with benefits like health care and they can create a career on. we keep getting wrapped around this and i think that's the wrong debate. >> let me switch gears, if i can. >> do we need to care about everyone struggling? absolutely. but we've got to stop worrying about next month and start thinking about how do we provide long-term jobs that will get these 861,000 people that gave up looking for work, how did we put them back to work and take these people struggling -- >> okay, sean. >> where's the attention to those bills and efforts to put those people back to work? >> let me get your thoughts now if i can on chris christie. i think this sums up what a lot of people have said about this. is there anything that ties christie directly to what

happened? the controversy will be fatal to his political aspirations, if not the issue this becomes a moment that fades quickly or leaves lasting doubts about the governor's character and temperament. do you agree with that? >> well, i think what i saw yesterday was a leader who got out and said there's a problem, there's behavior that's unacceptable. i'm going to take responsibility for it, i'm going to show you the actions that are going to result from it, and i think that's refreshing. i think the funny thing about it is guest after guest provides, you know, analysis, what happens if this happens, but i think people have to pause for a second, because what americans i think have been yearning for for politicians is someone standing up and saying, something went wrong on my watch, i'm going to acknowledge it was wrong, it was unacceptable, i'm going to show you what a leader does. time after time, i'm proud to say the republicans, especially our governors, that are doing these kind of things. as a republican, as an american, i'm pleased to see this kind of

leadership. it's something we're not seeing a lot in the democratic party, whether it's the gsa scandal, benghazi issue. >> outstanding questions there. >> scandal after scandal, the press corps seems to buy into they said it was nothing. governor christie is refreshing and i think it's important you see that's what happens when republicans deal with situations. >> if you step back for a second, though, and see what the political landscape out there is, and i made the point earlier, and you can disagree with it, for those that don't follow things as closely as we do in the political world, this may be for a lot of americans the first big impression they are getting of chris christie, and for better or worse, it's in the middle of a scandal. will this have an impact on 2016, sean? >> again, i'm not a chris christie spokesman, but as a republican, as you said, someone who follows politics closely, i

think what americans, for the viewer who tunes in for a few seconds, there was a problem and you see a leader saying, wow, it's refreshing to see a politician taking action and standing up to the plate and doing something, which is something that's been sorely missing, especially what i see the other side of the aisle, scandal after scandal. i look at this as a breath of fresh air and something you're seeing over and over again where we're standing up, acknowledging problems, and moving forward. i think we need more of that in this country, where leaders are willing to acknowledge something went wrong on their watch and take the appropriate action. i think most americans will reward leaders that do that. >> sean spicer, communications director for the rnc. thank you, sean. >> thank you, chris. one top republican says the scandal surrounding chris christie reenforces he's a bully, the other says if christie knows what he's saying, he's quote, toast. with friends like these, is his

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[ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups. . with investigations and a lawsuit now facing new jersey governor chris christie, the other issue is the impact this will have on the 2016 presidential race. >> listen, at the end of the day, chris christie --:is still governor. >> is going to win the presidency if he runs and everything goes right, and he stays chris christie. >> let's say there's something else that comes out, politically dead as presidential candidate? >> if it's serious enough. he's already got a big problem in that department because of the ads that can be made against him on this. >> let me bring in raul reyes and msnbc contributor and republican strategist susan dell persio. senator lindsey graham said the scandal reenforces a narrative

that's troublesome about the guy, he's kind of a bully. senator bob corker said if they are going to find an e-mail that links him to it, he's toast, isn't he? head of the governor's association, has been since november. not like they've been coming out in huge numbers saying, hey, this is a good guy, this is an honest guy. so what's going on here, susan? >> well, on the conservative side of the super conservative side for republicans, they've never liked christie, so there's no reason for them to show up and all of a sudden start defending him. otherwise, people want to see how this is playing out. a lot of times people respond too quickly. the way christie handled this press conference definitely indicates to me he has spoken to everybody and he did it with some sense of security, but there is nothing else out there that's going to come back to him or otherwise he wouldn't have done this the way he did. >> i think most people agree you're going to have to wait and see to see the real impact on

2016, but this was written, no republican figure had a better week, vis-a-vis, the downfall of christie's rival than senator rand paul. here's how he reacted when asked about christie yesterday. >> i don't know who e-mailed who and who works for whom. i have been in traffic, i know how angry i am in traffic. i'm always wondering, who did this to me? >> raul, do the democrats not have to cut the ads because the republicans are doing it already? >> as i see it, christie's problem at this point is twofold. number one, this is a scandal that's very accessible. this is not nothing like benghazi or the irs. it's something people have to wrap their minds around and figure out what's going on. >> you get stuck in traffic, you're not happy. >> he allegedly caused this huge traffic jam as retaliation, so that resinates with people. number two, any time you're appearing in public as a politician and saying something like, i am not a crook, i am not

a racist, in this case, i'm not a bully. that's an acknowledgment that the perception is out there. that is part of the narrative, and it's out there. going forward, as we know, elections are largely decided in the middle. that's going to be harder for christie to overcome. it was a local story and now that whole narrative of him being retaliatory and allegedly being a bully and all these things, that is part of the national narrative. >> it's easy to say, well, if he's not directly implicated, it's fine. if he is directly implicated, he's toast. but is it more knnuanced than that? >> second inaugural speech, pretty much an introduction to 2016 with the statue of liberty behind him, but more importantly, he's going to have the state of the state speech. between now and the end of the month, will he conclude his investigation he said he was going to have and how will he address it then? that's going to show if he has the chops to really go forward

and will he be accepted, can he move beyond. >> does he need to move quickly? >> absolutely he needs to move quickly, because already what i saw when i looked at his lengthy interview yesterday, i imagine myself with people not from the northeast who haven't had a close look at governor christie. is this a statesman, someone we want in charge? is this presidential material, and i think it's very troubling. there's a presumption of innocence and we must, at this point, honor that. but i think if he's had so much trouble and descent within his ranks so close, that makes people wonder, is this someone we want choosing a cabinet, as our commander in chief, as someone we want with the nsa, cia, and fbi at his disposal? >> resinates with people like us who are playing every nuance with this. let's face it, most people aren't focused on 2016, most are focused on putting food on their table, get a job, they are not focused on 2016 yet. >> as a measure of that.

he did do something progressives and democrats liked, he signed the new jersey dream act into law. that got almost no coverage, has been totally eclipsed by this. >> great to have both of you here. have a good weekend. >> thank you. much more on chris christie to come. next hour, thomas roberts will talk to senate senator barbara buono. checking the news feed this morning, seven venezuelvenezuel members are under arrest. the shooting has prompted protests, calling on the government to take control of the violence. did you see this new video, fidel castro, the first time we've seen him in public in nine months. castro attended an opening of an art studio looking frail, at times stooped over a cane. the 87-year-old has kept a low profile since he got sick back in 2006. amanda knox telling an

italian newspaper that if she's convicted in her murder retrial, she'll become a fugitive. knox is in seattle while closing arguments are going on in florence. she is, of course, accused of killing her roommate back in 2009. knox said she'll continue to fight for her innocence. last october we saw this photo dubbed as the salute seen around the world. wounded in afghanistan, josh hargus raised his hand after being awarded the purple heart in his hospital bed. they didn't think he was conscious. this is josh today learning to walk again. his left leg healed enough to be fitted for a prosthesis and the right one is soon to follow. josh talked about that salute for the first time with nbc's harry smith. >> i knew what to do. i felt stuck a little bit, so i started tugging on it and pulled it all the way up and presumed my salute as best as i could. >> josh's wife taylor is due

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[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. the massive data breach that hit target credit card customers is getting worse. cnbc's mandy drury is here with what's moving your money. now they are revising the number upward significantly. >> they are indeed. now as many as 17 million customers, chris, have had their personal information, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, mailing addresses that have been stolen in target's data breach. target is now saying its sales have been hurt by the breach. they are cutting their fourth quarter earnings and sales and warned that their fourth quarter financials may include charges related to that breach, so the ceo, obviously, in the hot seat. they say they are truly sorry

customers have been able to endure this and customers will not be liable for fraudulent charges that occurred as a result of the breach and offered a year of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection to customers that shopped at target stores. you have three months to enroll in that program, so we're getting more details. it's obviously a developing story, but that's what we know so far. on a much less serious note, apparently, the polar vortex was good for love, because temperatures dropped, online dating went up. >> who wants to be alone in front of a nice crackling fire, chris? i certainly don't. so zoosk, that's a dating app, saw a massive increase in new members and messages during the so-called polar vortex in many of the cities hardest hit by this cold weather. here in new york and also in chicago, 41% more people than usual signed up for zoosk, while singles in boston signed up 34% more than normal. in portland, maine, very, very

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and a choice. take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. all aboard. ♪ maybe it's a job shocker, maybe it's an aberration, but the final unemployment report of 2013 shows just 74,000 jobs were added in december. most economists were expecting a gain of 200,000. at the same time, though, the unemployment rate fell to 6.7%. that's the lowest in more than five years. mainly because people gave up on the job search. and a drive home, the point of job market worries. check out this video from palm beach, florida. 5,000 people waiting in line to apply for 1,500 job openings at a new outlet mall. let me bring in "washington post" correspondent jim tankersly and peter maurici. good to see both of you, good

morning. >> good morning. >> economist mark zandi was "the daily rundown" and said every year there's an outlier, doesn't add up. that's what the white house is saying, as well. how do you read these numbers? >> you can't take zandi too seriously, he likes to flag for the white house. there is something wrong with this number, but not as much as he claims. you have to consider the fact that dollar stores, for example, are reporting very tepid holiday sales, now that the numbers are coming out, simply because their customers don't have enough money. last year it was -- >> although holiday sales overall were up. >> right, but at the low end, the dollar stores, sears, k-marts, they are flat or down. that's very, very troubling. what that indicates is they don't have enough money for necessities, some of that is higher premiums for health insurance they are anticipating and still the residual effect of those higher payroll taxes from last year. >> jim, for the year, 2.2

million jobs were added to the economy. unemployment went down from 7.9% to 6.7%. how do you read these numbers? >> i think the best way to read these numbers is over time. one month is not a great indicator of how things are going, but over time the trend looks a little better lately, but we still have a economy, and i feel i say this all the time, but it's true, we have an economy that's just not creating enough jobs at a sustained enough pace to really put as many people back to work as we need with anything close to the urgency that's required. >> let's look at where the numbers are, because there were some problems from some of the lower-end retailers, although overall, holiday sales were up. the housing market is rebounding, auto sales have been strong, consumer spending has been up overall. let me get a quick take from both of you, and jim, i'll start with you, are you a glass half full or glass half empty guy on this? >> half empty on this, only because this recovery has done this to us so many times. so many times it's looked like

we were about to have stronger growth, then something comes along and it looks like it's not quite right. if we get six months of sustained, much higher than we're used to job creation, then i'll be sold. >> would you agree with that, peter? >> no, not really. i did some analysis yesterday and again this morning looking at the three-month moving averages of job creation, and we get months that are aberrations, but not whole quarters. my feeling is the jobs market is staying about where it has been for the last 15 or so months at least and it's not getting better or worse. the economy continues to grow. it's proving to be quite resilient, but not growing at the pace we need and we need fundamental changes in order to get there. >> jim, jed as part of this 2014 message focusing on income inequality, president obama announced promise zones. let me just played that for you. >> they are neighborhoods where we will help local efforts to

meet one national goal, that a child's course in life should be determined not by the zip code she's born in, but by the strength of her work ethic and scope of her dreams. >> can things like this, even on a small scale, help? >> sure, they can help on a small scale over time to cure some of the fundamental structural problems that our economy is suffering from, including mobility and opportunity, but look, these are not short-term solutions. this is not going to boost growth or job creation any time soon, and no one is really in washington talking about anything close to a suite of policies that would provide that kind of boost that it would appear we need. >> always good to see both of you, thank you, have a good weekend. >> take care. we'll be right back. chronic plaque psoriasis to another new stylist. it was a total embarrassment. and not the kind of attention i wanted. so i had a serious talk with my dermatologist about my treatment options. this time, she prescribed humira-adalimumab. humira helps to clear the surface of my skin

by actually working inside my body. in clinical trials, most adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis saw 75% skin clearance. and the majority of people were clear or almost clear in just 4 months. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. make the most of every moment. ask your dermatologist about humira, today. clearer skin is possible. i have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest.

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to politics now, a new report says for the first time in history, most members of congress are millionaires of the the center for responsive politics reports the median net worth for lawmakers is a little

more than $1 million. and they may be running out of pot in colorado, but house minority whip steny hoyer does not want to see legal pot in maryland, calling marijuana a threshold drug that leads to the use of more harmful substances, something the scientific community generally refutes. he's back, former new york congressman anthony weiner will appear in tonight's drama "alpha house." you may recognize tom brokaw, michael steele, jonathan alter, and, yes, yours truly. not really a dra marx it's a comedy. and i think that's my first and last comedic role. >> you had good hair in that picture. >> thomas, you're never happy on friday unless we're flashing back to bad hair days. why do i look so tiny next to you. >> you don't have anything today about a flashback. >> i don't, but i'm expecting you and patrick to cancel

whatever pathetic plans you had tonight and watch me on "alpha house." >> we will for sure, no plans other than ice cream and elastic pants. >> thomas, i'm going to miss these moments. thomas is now going to the 1:00 a.m. wakeup. what time will you set your alarm for? >> i think it's more like 3:00-ish. >> we'll miss you. >> thank you. i'm going to miss you too. you know i love you. >> love you, too. >> this woman has suffered this fool for years now. >> girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. >> you're the greatest, i love chris jansing. of course, we're going to take off where you have left off with chris christie in this deep damage control mode right now. can the new jersey governor recover from the bridgegate scandal that's threatening to derail a 2016 run for the presidency? we're going to talk to his former democratic opponent for governor, barbara buono. plus, breaking news in the

target credit card crisis, word the security breach has impacted up to 70 million customers, making it one of the biggest breaches ever. we'll tell you what you need to know. and these breaking dwromts in the melissa alexander stand your ground case. stick around. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups. 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? aflac? now, if i met with some such accident, would aflac pay me? ♪ nice. this is your stop. [ male announcer ] find out what aflac can do for you and your family... aflac? [ male announcer ] ...at aflac.com.

i am embarrassed and humiliated. i also need to apologize. i am heart broken. i am responsible for what happened. ultimately, i am responsible for what happens under my watch, the good and the bad. >> all right, so you watched it all right here on msnbc 24 hours ago. governor chris christie and his nearly two-hour-long marathon mea culpa. i'm thomas roberts. new jersey's boss in deep damage control mode, but just wait, because today we're expecting even more political hits for

chris christie, the latest this hour, the state legislature will release hundreds of pages of new documents at any moment and they include additional e-mails. there's now a state and federal inquiry and a class action suit has been filed by new jersey residents who say they were trapped like rats in that traffic jam on the george washington bridge and lost pay. since the news broke, christie has fired two aides at the center of the investigation and maintains he didn't know what was happening, so how are his fellow republicans responding? >> here's a guy that acted like a chief executive, held a press conference, answered all the questions you had of him, and he actually, something washington could learn from, he actually held people accountable and people close to him, that had to be hard. >> christie's apology tour took him to the town at the center of the scandal, ft. lee, for a meeting with that town's mayor. >> i'm here today to also apologize to the people of ft. lee, and -- terrible thing. we're