new york. the inauguration for him becoming governor, he's going to hold it on the new york side of ellis island. no big deal unless you are feeling sensitive about chris christie being the governor of new jersey tonight. the occupy sandy folks think so. weekends with alex witt starts right now. state of emergency. an unprecedented drought in california. what one of the biggest concerns could be, next. flurry of subpoenas. the people close to chris christie will be called upon to answer serious questions about the bridge scandal. who are they and what might they know? weeks from the sochi olympics. richard engel has reports. lighter in the wallet. a move could change your change. good morning, everyone.

welcome to weekends with alex witt. here is what's happening now. new reaction this morning to president obama and the changes to the national security agency spy programs. among the biggest reforms the president announced friday, the government should no longer store massive amounts of american's telephone records. >> effective immediately, we will only pursue phone calls two steps removed from a terrorist organization instead of the current three. and i have directed the attorney general to work with the foreign intelligence surveillance court so that during this transition period, the data base can be queried after a finding or in the case of an emergency. he also mentioned edward snowden. >> i'm not going to dwell on mr. snowden's actions or motivations. any individual that can take it into their own hands to publicly

disclose classified information, we will not be able to keep our people safe or conduct foreign policy. moreover, the sen sagsal way it game out shed more heat than light. good morning to you kristen. >> reporter: good morning, alex. president obama is hoping the changes he's announced to the government surveillance program will reassure critics at home and abroad. this morning, some argue the president punted on reform speaking at the justice department, mr. obama announced several reforms saying the government should no longer store mass phone records and calling on the attorney general to recommend and alternative method. records can only be accessed through court order and banned spying on foreign allies. reaction was swift. house speaker john boehner

accused the president of failing to adequately explain the necessity of the programs. they called for more restraint on the nsa. some of the intelligence community, including former nsa director, michael hayden expressed concerns security could be weakened. the data was put in place after the september 11th attacks. as a candidate in 2008, mr. obama was a critic of the program. now, he's learning how hard it is to reign in such techniques. meantime, edward snowden supporters say the president's announcement is an indication. snowden brought more heat rather than light to the debate and he defended the surveillance program saying change is necessary to prevent the possibility of future abuse. alex? >> kristen at the white house, thank you so much. also new this morning, president obama calling for both

parties to work together to expand opportunities for the middle class. >> prime to bring back more good jobs claimed by the e session and lost to competition in recent decades. that requires a year of action. i want to work with congress on proven ways to create jobs like building infrastructure and fixing the broken immigration system. >> president obama signed the 1.1 trillion dollar spending bill that funds the government. he signed it one day before federal funding would have run out. we are learning more details into the george washington bridge scandal that went to the heart of governor chris christie's administration. they release add list of 20 individuals and offices that received subpoenas in the last two days. joining me with the story is michael isikoff. michael? >> hi, alex. chris christie travels to florida on a political fund raising trip to put bridgegate

behind him, it's not going away. a special panel investigating the george washington bridge served 20 subpoenas including the chief of staff, kevin o'dowd, charles mckenna, the press secretary, and his communications director. also served, now fired deputy chief of staff, bridgette kelly, whose e-mail, time for traffic problems in ft. lee touched it off and christie's former campaign manager. they have both hired lawyers. most significantly, the panel dramatically expanded the probe investigating not just what caused the traffic jams in the first place. what the subpoenas call an attempt to conceal an abuse of government power. it's the reference by the bogus claim of christie appointees and the tie-ups were caused by a traffic study. one other, subpoenas demand e-mails, text messages and

documents be turned over in two weeks, by february 5th. that's just a start. the lawmakers expect there will be subpoenas for testimony. some called would take the fifth amendment. one that could stretch on for some time. alex? >> okay, michael isikoff in washington. thank you michael. florida congresswoman is trailing chris christie. we are going to ask why democrats are so interested in the governor of new jersey. what's being called the worst drought in nearly a century prompted jerry brown to take swift action. >> i'm declaring a drought emergency in the state of california. because we are facing perhaps the worst drought that california has ever seen since records began being kept about 100 years ago. >> this announcement comes as

more than 1,000 firefighters continue to battle this fast-moving blaze. this is east of los angeles. joe is out there with the latest. joe, you have this draught. that means a water crisis as well, right? >> that's rilgt. it's a big concern right now. the reservoirs are down low. the governor started urging residents of california to cut back on their water use by 20%. it's not a mandatory order. if things continue to get worse, you could see something more mandatory and already states and municipalities are putting strict water restrictions on their residence. this comes as firefighters continue to battle the stubborn fire outside los angeles. a rare january wildfire. it's really a symptom of this larger problem. the extreme dry weather that's affecting a number of states in the west, but especially california. the draught's impact is felt by farmers and ranchers.

we have spoken with some ranchers who say because there's so little rain, there's no grass to feed their cattle. they are forced to sell part of their herd in order to stay afloat. with no rain coming in the future, they need a lot of precipitation to help get back on track. in the end, of course, the big problem is that the jet stream is stuck up north. they are not getting any snow or rain down here. really, right now, the snowpack in the sierra nevada provides a lot of water to a good chunk of california. that snowpack is incredibly low. >> in regard to the fires, are they getting under control? i have a friend that lives there sending me text pictures. they are horrific. the entire mountain behind her ablaze in flame. >> last night at the news conference, they said they are making progress. the winds have died down a bit. the conditions are making it easier to fight the fire. last check last night, it was

30% contained. they felt they were getting ahead of it. the fire is in a better situation. the santa ana winds fueling the fire have died down. >> at least mother nature is helping out that way. joe friar from los angeles. there are two other weather extremes. dangerous surf in paradise. beach goers had to be rescued. from the beach to the bitter cold, the polar vortex is expected to come back next week. dylan dreier is here with the forecast. good morning. >> good morning, alex. we are talking about another polar vortex. this one is not as intense as the last one. we are going to see things cool down over the course of the next couple days as we get into next week where we see temperatures below average. not as far below as it was when we had the big cool down and the arctic air mass last time. we are going to notice a chill.

right now, 39 degrees in new york city. it's cold in minneapolis and chicago. right now around 11, 12 degrees. the rest of the country is seeing temperatures above average this morning. it is going to stay above average through this afternoon. a couple spots of wintry weather. in the northeast, central and northern new england we see most of the accumulating snow in massachusetts. it is mostly rain at this point and starting to lift to the north. eastern pennsylvania and parts of up state new york see snow. minneapolis and rochester, minnesota, we will see snow. we are looking at three to six inches. they are quick, move in and move out of here. we have seen quite a few of those recently. scattered snow showers in and around boston. temperatures around 40 degrees. it mixes with rain. 22 in chicago with one to three inches of snow. 43 in atlanta. dallas looks nice at 63 degrees

today. the warm air moves up to denver by sunday. 60 for a high. 59 in kansas city. cool in the northeast. the coldest air holds off before that moves in. alex? >> thank you for that. other headlines, police say a driver struck a pedestrian in a parking lot as she tried to flee after a hit and run accident. it was caught on tape in a parking lot there in a walmart in arizona. the car being chased spins out of control, hits a shopper returning to a parked car. it was take ton the hospital with serious, but not life-threatening injuries. there is word this morning the security breach that compromised credit cards for target customers is part of a larger scam. a cyber security firm that works with the secret service said other retailers were probably hacked as well. the malware was at six other addresses. we don't know which ones.

neiman marcus said their customers rr compromised s. ax chemical spill that left hundreds of thousands of people without water is filing bankruptcy. many lawsuits by businesses forced to shut down for days. it was tainted after a chemical leaked and wound up in the river contaminating the state's largest water system. a new jaw dropping comment from vladimir putin with less than a month to go before the sochi games. is comparing bridgegate to watergate fair? bought a prius. so this time around we were able to do some research and we ended up getting a ford... which we love. it's been a wonderful switch. it has everything that you could want in a car. it's the most fun to drive... because it's the most hi tech inside... i think this c-max can run circles around the prius... the biggest difference would definitely be the acceleration of the car... if you can get someone to test-drive a c-max... they would end up buying this more times than not.

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people around the world, regardless of their nationality should know the united states is not spying on ordinary people who don't threaten our national

security. we take their privacy concerns into account in policies and procedures. >> that was president obama during his speech on friday. he was outlying the changes in the surveillance program. they ordered new limits in accessing phone records from hundreds of millions of americans. it's leading it up to congress to decide who will store the vast accumulation of phone records. joining me now, lynne sweet and congressional reporter, ed o keith. good morning to both of you. lynne, are part of our conversations still being spied on? >> private conversations are still being collected. that's not going to change, alex. what is an issue now is president obama said he doesn't want the government to hold on to this meta data, but there's no solution where it should go. the phone companies don't want to keep it.

the president kicked the can down the road and said this is a matter for more study. >> how about the edward snowden angle. some suggested this speech vindicates him, he's the winner here. is that the case? >> certainly the leaks snowden shared with "the washington post" and other newspapers prompted this debate, prompted the president to review the strategy and admit that perhaps changes need to happen. the fact that the president addressed him and brought up his name, again, in this speech suggests what he's doing has, you know, to some extent validated what he's doing. the white house wouldn't use that word or say that. the president had to give a speech, mention his name, i think it does. lynne is right, kick the can down the road, he literally kicked it down the road to congress telling them, okay, you have an issue, you sort it out and bring it back to me.

>> i'm curious, do you think congress is going to come together on this issue and bring him back the place in which we want to store all the records and suggestions? are they going to get that done, lynne? >> on that micromatter in the whole shopping bag of things that are in it, the nsa spying, i suppose it's a possibility. the option is pay the phone companies for more storage, create a private third party which would have its own complexities and problems attached to it. first, they have to decide if they want to do this and not just fight to stop the program in its entirety. where obama is more of a problem is there's divisions within the democratic party and he has to deal with his left on this. as we know and as ed knows, because he's the congressional scholar here, you can't take one aspect in isolation and fix it. you have to put it together with

a package of proposals and there's multiple things obama wants congress to do. >> i'm going to get to outside panel with you in a second. ed, since you are the congressional guru here, are they going to get it done? what do you think? >> remember over the summer when the house voted to scale back this program? you saw the most conservative and the most liberal and the libertarian lawmakers get together and derail the program. that coalition still exists and is eager to have this conversation. i think if there's an acknowledgement that not everyone is going to get everything they want, there should be this and america wants the discussion they will be able to end the year without having done something. is it what both sides want? probably not. >> the president is calling for the advocates to weigh in on the new issues. should we be concerned about who is on the panel and will they have access to our information? >> i think it's more of a matter

if this is -- the whole point of this is to try and have a proceeding in fisa court. right now, grow in there, it's a government lawyer. it's like going before a local judge and getting a search warrant. the federal government says the reason they get their orders they want almost every time is they are very careful and only bring good cases to the judges. so, the thought is that you will have some public advocate, somebody who goes in there looking at privacy and civil liberties concerns. i think you don't have to worry about people -- i think that's the main first cut in what you are looking for outside input. >> okay. let's move on to governor chris christie. all the subpoenas are out. i'm going to have jason put up who is getting what. how many other shoes are there left to drop after all these subpoenas, what do you think,

ed? >> it's what do these people have to say? do they have proof it is tied closer to the governor? if that exists, this elevates the seriousness of the situation. otherwise, it's a new jersey matter and a matter for the inspector general in washington to look into and another case, not related to the bridge thing. beyond that, you know, it becomes a standard government investigation until the proof exists that the governor was more intimately involved. >> okay. lynne and ed, we are going to call that a wrap. see you soon. thank you very much. >> thank you, alex. here is the question of the day, do the new nsa spy rules justify edward snowden's leaks? i will read your tweets throughout the day on the show. meantime, the story behind the devil baby who scared so many and became a hit. [ male announcer ] this is the story of the dusty basement at 1406 35th street

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new jersey governor, chris dlis ty is going to be in florida. he is taking the trip after 20 subpoenas were issued thursday. at the same time, the democratic national committee unleashed new attacks online in ads targeting the new jersey governor. sthak is the big, big problem here. there's a culture here that told people this was okay. >> one of the legitimate criticisms is that every single organization is a reflection of its principle. >> well, joining me now is democratic congresswoman of florida, debby waszer man schultz. let's talk about what you and the dnc are doing. you are shadowing governor christie. what do you hope to gain?

is it more about 2016? >> as a floridian, i thought it was important to roll out the red carpet for governor christie. as he campaigns for rick scott, running for re-election later this year. you know, the reason, all kidding aside -- >> little dripping with sarcasm, yes. >> no, no, i don't know what you mean. the reason it's important to highlight that chris christie has come to florida the day after 20 subpoenas were dropped on him including by the new jersey assembly, including his own office because of this scandal that, let's remind people, he closed four lanes of traffic on the busiest bridge in the world to exact retribution against a mayor who refused to endorse him. this is done by the staff that

is the closest to him that he considered family. while here, he's not having any public events with rick scott. it's clear that either rick scott doesn't want to be seen in public with chris christie or christie doesn't want to answer questions. it's probably both. let's focus on the important point. this is the governor who governors elected to lead them. republican governors have been saying and distancing themselves from the washington republicans saying they are different and the ones leading the way. well, the person they elected to lead them is someone who really has been time and again proven to be a bully and now that bullying left him in a scandal. >> from the present tense perspective, isn't this a state perspective? and the question being, are you really looking ahead to 2016? i want to put up here this new nbc news poll. the reaction nationally speaking, 70% of americans say

this scandal doesn't change their opinion of the governor at all. what is your response? you are getting ahead of yourself focusing so much on the governor. >> not at all. remember, chris christie was e lekted chair of the republican governor's association. this would, you know, you would be able to say this was only important to new jersey if that had not been the case. but, because republican governors have stressed and really tried to distance themselves from washington republicans and said they are leading the way, it's governors that are -- republican governors that are going to bring america and their states out of it, the guy they selected to lead them, that certainly casts a toll on their judgment. in addition to that, this is the guy tasked with helping governors across the country run for re-election and it's a guy who was willing to establish a culture in his office, in which

his closest staff thought it was okay to close down four lanes of traffic to mire his own constituents. not just restitution against a mayor who wouldn't endorse him. it prevents ambulances from being able to get their patients to hospitals and treatment, trap school kids on school buses and make them late to school, stop people from getting to work. this is all in order to make sure there was payback for a mayor who wouldn't endorse him. it's unbelievable. it's important to americans when the guy who all republican governors elected to lead them is the guy mired in this scandal. >> there are a number of theories as to what it was genesis of all this, that being one of them, it was political retribution. >> chris christie apologized to that mayor, specifically, so, he clearly thought his staff did

that as a result of the lack of an endorsement. >> i also want to talk to you quickly while we have time on the affordable care act. >> sure. >> the democrats are criticizing the exchange information act passed by the gop led house. it requires weekly updates about the implementation as well as the operation of obama care and the healthcare.gov website. it won the support of 33 democrats. last week, 67 democrats voting for another republican bill requiring officials to tell people if their personal info is stolen from the website. are you picking up a sign of nervousness among democrats if they are in a tough re-election race? >> not at all. democrats are united around the implementation of the affordable care act and, you know, we all just want, as democrats to have republicans join us and dealing with problems as they arise as we should be responsible lawmakers when any law has bumps along the way. instead, what republicans are

doing is they forced us to vote almost 50 times to either repeal or dramatically alter or under mine intentionally the confidence of americans in the ability for the affordable care act to be implemented properly. they shut down the government late last fall denying people afortable, quality health care and trying to repeal that health care law, costing the economy $24 billion. what republicans need to do is they need to stop the my way or the highway politics, work with the administration and democrats to smoothly implement the affordable care act and stop trying to take people's peace of mind away, which january 1st they finally have. they know they can get access. 6 million americans, so far, have been able to sign up for health care. >> it's getting to that matched number they are trying to get to, 7 million. >> exactly.

>> debby, always good to see you. thanks for joining me. unprecedented security for the super bowl. why is this different than the others? this week, officials air their greatest concerns. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents the cold truth. i have the flu, i took medicine but i still have symptoms. [ sneeze ] [ male announcer ] truth is not all flu products treat all your symptoms. what? [ male announcer ] nope, they don't have an antihistamine. really? [ male announcer ] really. [ dog whine ] but alka-seltzer plus severe cold and flu speeds relief to these eight symptoms. [ breath of relief ] thanks.

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welcome back. we are breaking news where the u.s. embassy and kabul says two americans were killed in an attack at a restaurant. it was filled with foreigners when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside. the two u.s. citizens were killed were from the university in afghanistan. the taliban is claiming responsibility. vladimir putin is in sochi to see the olympic venues. it's the russian president's comments about gay people that may have made a bad situation worse. richard engel has the latest from sochi.

hi, richard. >> reporter: vladimir putin is not known for tact. he's unapologetic about it. he came here to sochi to try, it seems at least, to do away with the controversy regarding russia's stance about gay rights and how open gay visitors will be able to be and gay athletes when they come to, if they come to participate in the sochi olympics. he came forward with what, i think he thought were conciliatory comments. they showed there are limitations to what russia seems willing to accept. they are still digging in sochi with just three weeks to go until the olympics. as vladimir putin moved to diffuse controversy and promo promoting homoaxiality. >> we are not banning anything. we have no punishment for such

relations. everyone should feel at ease, he added, but please leave the children in peace. in sensitive comment, but these are putin's games and his city. sochi isn't the most natural place to host the pinter olympics. there was no infrastructure here, it isn't very cold, more palm trees than snow. it's not far from the caucuses, the most dangerous part of russia, but putin likes sochi. it's like an american president hosting the olympics in martha's vineyard. putin denied the olympics are his pet project. it's not the way many see it in russia where putin is president and athlete in chief. >> a big sportsman. very active in judo. very active in skiing and his athletic abilities means he has something more than the country at stake. he wants the world to see he is

not only running a country, but one in sports. >> reporter: the olympics are companying. putin's prestige is on the line. he hosts the games in his favorite retreat and according to his rules. the games are coming and putin promised they would be safe and open. that's according to to russian standards. alex? >> thank you very much from sochi. before the olympics kick off, there's a major event closer to home here. the super bowl is two weeks from tomorrow. law enforcement officials from the numerous agencies held a press conference to discuss security preparations. >> we are fully integrated with the new jersey state police and law enforcement. our tactical teams have been training throughout the year for different scenarios to include active shooter, bomb threats and hazards related to chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear threats. >> joining me is kirstin todd.

she helped draft legislation that created the department of homeland security. nice to have you back to the show. i want to talk about the fbi agent just listed a host of potential threats. what is your biggest concern? >> honestly, the warmth. they are expecting ice and snow that day. the biggest concern is the escalating need to be aware of these events. i don't think there's anything of recent concern, any new threats, but it's with every event we have, we have to be more careful. this is the first visible, significant event since the boston marathon. we did have the world series. what's important to note is new york and the nfl, we saw it with the policies instituted in the fall, they are top tier entities taking security seriously and they are not going to leave any stone unturned. >> how secure are sporting

events? >> i think they become more and more secure. we learn from previous events and learn from thing that is happened. certainly, the nfl has done a tremendous amount with every year they bring in the department of homeland security, new policies. this event is going to be one of the most secure, if not the most secure event we have had on domestic soil ever. the events happening around it, super bowl boulevard in times square, super bowl events in a couple burroughs. it will demand security. >> does it worry you, given the number of events and the number of agencies involved coordinating all of that? do you ever worry there's so many people doing so many different things, who is in charge? >> if, again, if there were any city to take this on, any region of the country, it's new york

and new jersey. they are the best at coordinating all of those agencies. if we are going to have all of these opportunities or vulnerabilities, you want it in this area and all these agencies working together. the super bowl is a level one event, which was deemed after 9/11. it gets the resources from the federal government, the department of homeland security, fbi and faa. it works to the benefit in this case. >> i'm sure you heard richard engel's report in sochi. we got the super bowl and that's huge. it pales in comparison to sochi. how confident are you things are going to be smooth there? what's the outlook? >> these are the security olympics. richard said, this is a region in conflict. it is an interesting choice. we became, as a country, familiar with this country after the boston marathon bombings.

we saw the bombings at the end of 2013. there are other elements of security coming into play. putin and the country are doing a lot to create security around the olympics. some concerns are when you draw resources in an area, how vulnerable does it make the surrounding areas. nice to see you. thanks so much. >> thank you. your pact change could be in for a big change. that's next. and it's a shocker in a stroller. what is this viral video all about? kind of nasty, right? [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. with 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work.

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home starts were actually down about 9.8% compared to november. homes, the amount of home that is were broken -- excuse me, they were 990,000 now. it seems like a lot. it was down from november. overall, for 2013, home starts were up 18.5%. according to the study that mint.com put out, spending on homes as a part of a household was up 10%. >> okay. losing a mint here. what is it about the possible change to the change? >> the u.s. mint is thinking about redoing the nickel and the penny. what i mean is in terms of production. right now, it took -- to make a nickel costs 9.8 cents and to make a penny, it costs 1.8 cents. they want to use different materials to basically redo the nickels. they are thinking of rolling out

the martha washington nickel. it will be smaller and different material. overall, it costs $113 million a year, annually, to produce this change. you know, the government is trying to figure out ways to cut that cost. >> yeah. it doesn't add up there. this third headline, devil baby, before you get to it, take a look at this video that's become a viral sensation. here it is. ♪ [ bleep ] [ screaming ] >> yeah, okay. explain. what is this? >> so, a company by the name of think motto came out with the

devil baby viral campaign for the movie, "devil's day". >> "devil's due." >> thank you. it came out yesterday. it cost $500,000 to 1 milli$1 m to produce this. the movie company is getting 10 to $15 million in free advertising because of this viral video. now, just a fun fact, the company that put this together, the co-founder used to be an "snl" writer. makes sense it's funny. >> it totally works. it's getting the job done as you did for us. thank you so much. new jersey governor, chris christie is going fund raising in florida. will donors be generous? we're gonna be late. ♪ ♪ ♪

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to you from ft. lauderdale this morning. the governor will start his day in orlando and then come over here. he's got meetings that were scheduled before all of the meetings began and he has this new job has the head of the governor's association chosen by fellow governors. this is an opportunity for him to meet and talk with the donor class of the gop. these are the folks that would be very important if governor christie were to consider a presidential run later. this is a way for him to test the trouble that his administration is in. this is a private meeting so we won't be able to get in there. politically this is important for christie baubz he has been a big star for the party in the

fund-raising and he now has that as one of the his tasks. back home, as you know, there are these issues that will continue to follow his administration for a long time to come. 20 subpoenas that go right to his office, his campaign, some of his closest advisers where the new jersey assembly is going to look for what really went on, who knew, what was it about, who tried to cover it up. so for chris christie he gets a bit of a break this weekend at least in the atmosphere here to enjoy slightly better weather and maybe some support from some of the governors who have been publicly saying they're still with him. >> do you think that the mez in new jersey is diminishing his ability to be able to help other governors nationally? >> reporter: that will be the real test. so far other republican governors have been supportive. they take him at his word that he did not personally know and

that he took quick action. these kinds of things have a way of putting a chilling effect on someone's star power. that's going to be a challenge for chris christie. the donors that are coming to see him, i'm told there are more signing up than originally planned. people are going to have to sort out how he handles it. he's certainly one of the most talked about politician misthe country so fund-raising will be a big task for him. >> kelly o'donnell in beautiful ft. lauderdale. joining me now with more is star led jed columnist. >> i think he wants to look people in the eye and convince them that he was blindsided by this. he has an effect when he looks you in the eye and says i don't know what was going on.

these donors are going to believe him. he came across as very believable in his press conference. i know a lot of reporters who are on the fence about this. i am. >> you and i were talking about the numbers. no change in opinion on him on a national perspective, 68%. and only 20% like him less than they did. couple of people like him more, 5%. >> it's a real jersey story and it has national ramifications obviously. he still has the star power. whatever you want to call it. >> any other shoes to drop. when you look at the list of 18 individuals, two agencies that have been issued the subpoenas, do you think there's more to come in. >> i think that it's going to be interesting to see the testimony of some of the people. i don't think -- you may have some of the people closest to him not taking the fifth. and in terms of other shoe to drop, i'm not really sure about

that in terms of other developments and things like that. i was expecting some of the sandy mayors to come out and say, well he was choking our sandy aid in exchange for support but that hasn't really happened. >> so looking -- you even saying that you're kind of on the fence as you look at this with all of the different reporters. do you think there is a plausible way that this does not circle back to chris christie directly? >> you know, jersey politics -- >> good luck with that. >> that's all you have to say. i think in the end it's going to come down to some kind of small town bergen county button of heads. i think the governor is going to come out of it clean. i may be naive but i do. and i don't think think, you know, as you look at the presidential race, i don't think it's going to stain him. it's a long way off. he does have the ability to

communicate with people. when you see him in public, like during the storm and after the fires and stuff like that, people really -- he reliets to people. they look at him as a regular guy. and i think that's a pretty amazing power. >> it's pretty clear he holds some very strong leadership skills. thank you so much. appreciate that. that's a wrap of this hour. join me for a two hour addition of weekends with alex witt at noon. coming up, steve kornacki talks with the governor of hoboken. stay tuned. ♪

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