bombshell fallout. new reaction today to the hoboken mayor's allegations against two aides of chris christie regarding hurricane sandy relief funds. securing the games. the latest on russia's efforts to crack down on possible threats to the olympics. a live report from nbc's richard engel ahead. is the retail nightmare worse than we thought? new reports today that more stores are involved in credit security. and could a 17-year-old be behind all of it? caffeine fix. which countries are the biggest coffee consumers around the world? the u.s. is not number one, by the way. you might be surprised where it lands. hey there, everyone. it's high noon here in the east.

9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." we have new details emerging today about the allegations a new jersey mayor has levelled against aides of governor chris christie. hoboken mayor don zimmer says that two officials held up hurricane sandy relief money unless she approved a redevelopment project. they strongly deny it, but now state lawmakers are calling for an investigation. joining me with more on this story, nbc news national investigative correspondent michael isikoff. with a good sunday to you, my friend, what are you hearing? >> hi, alex. general assembly leaders in new jersey who already served christie's office with 20 subpoenas say they now may expand their probe to look at new allegations christie withheld relief money from hurricane sandy when one mayor refused to play ball. and taps that state senate users are going to use their subpoena power as well. governor chris christie continues his weekend swing through florida while he faces fresh charges back home with

political retribution. >> i remember telling my inner circle, i can't believe this. i just received a direct threat from the governor of the state of new jersey. >> dawn zimmer, democratic mayor of hoboken across from new york city, says last may christie's lieutenant governor made the threat in a parking lot, telling her it is very important to the governor that she back a billion-dollar development project, or we are not going to be able to help you with funds to rebuild from hurricane sandy. >> and she said, "i know these things are not right, these things should not be connected, but they are. and if you tell anybody, i'll deny it." >> zimmer says she couldn't believe it. >> i'm stunned that he would use the sandy funds and hold those sandy funds over my head. when you consider what happened to hoboken, we were devastated. >> e-mails obtained by steve kornacki, who first reported the story, show the project is represented by the law firm of david sampson, one of christie's

top political advisers who chairs the port authority and who this week was subpoenaed by a legislative panel investigating the george washington traffic jams. >> the connection that we can make is that the project is represented by wolf and sampson, and david sampson is obviously very, very close to chris christie, but there's no evidence to suggest that sampson and christie are conspireing on this. >> zimmer, who refused to back the project, say hoboken received only $342,000 of the $100 million in sandy funding it requested. but zimmer did not speak out at the time. >> i probably should have come forward. >> christie aides shot back, calling the charges outlandishly false, and noting zimmer praised the governor last august, writing in this tweet, "to be clear, i am very glad governor christie has been our gov." colin reid said it's very clear politics are at play here as democratic mayors with a political axe to grind come out

of the woodwork. in his response, christie's spokesman says they've been helping hoboken get the help they need after sandy with. the city already having been approved for nearly $70 million in federal aid and is targeted to get even more when the obama administration approves the next round of funding. a spokesman for david sampson's law firm said in a statement its conduct in representing that development project was appropriate in all respects. one other point, alex. the christie camp is slamming msnbc for its coverage, calling it openly hostile to the governor. >> okay. we're going to try to pick up with that and try not make it hostile but we're going to still keep the conversation going. thank you so much for that. joining me now, jonathan alter. and susie kim. jonathan, i'm going to talk with you first. as you live in new jersey, you understand politics in the state is not always handled with kid gloves. but is it a fair assessment to

say that mayors and governors, they use power as they deem appropriate to get things done. >> yeah. of course they do. and there's always, in any state, but especially states like new jersey, there's a lot of politics that's involved with the way state aide is disbursed. but not in an emergency like sandy. that's what makes this story different. you would think that when it came to sandy relief, there would not be any politics involved. 80% of hoboken, new jersey, was submerged under at least some water after hurricane sandy. and you can see the pictures of it. it's devastating. at that point, as christie understood when he got together with president obama after the storm, to the dismay of republicans. at that point, politics should not come into play. it shouldn't come into play nationally and it shouldn't come into play locally.

and the indications are here -- and, you know, dawn zimmer, the mayor, is a good source, even though it took her a while to come forward. the indications here are that politics did come into play in a big way. she got a tiny fraction of what she requested from the state. >> yeah, a generator's worth of money. >> that's not some allegation. that's a fact that she requested $127 million from the state, she received $143,000 from the state. big difference there. now, it's true that a lot of the gap has picked up by federal aid. they could say well, this money was coming from washington. but for them to say that, you know, this is just msnbc nonsense is really a sign of i think some real concern on their part. what christie does, as his former education said, is whenever he's put on the

defensive, he goes on the offensive. so now they're going on the offensive against msnbc, even though, you know, "morning joe" and other shows at this network have been quite friendly toward governor christie. so this is a sign of some desperation on their part. >> we bring both sides on here. and to that point, i'm going to say michael isikoff made the point that $70 million of federal funding has been allocated. so that's what governor christie is saying. that has still yet to be finally approved, but it's supposedly in the pike coming this way. susie, besides denying that the hoboken mayor had these allegations here, another part of the response said, "the governor and mayor zimmer have had a productive relationship with mayor zimmer even recently saying she's very glad he's been our governor. it's very clear partisan politics are at play here as democratic mayors with a political axe to grind come out of the woodwork and try to get their faces on television." so, you know, jonathan even said this in a side bar here. is it legitimate to ask why the

mayor is just now coming out with this? i mean, after all, she had praised chris christie, even after these alleged incidents. >> i definitely think it's a fair question to ask. as some folks have pointed out, she has previously tried to connect the sandy aid issue to sort of endorsement question. i think there is a question as to why she's coming out now. there's also sort of the other question, though, as to whether this is just kind of opening up a floodgate. is it the case that the original gw bridge issue made it more comfortable for her to come forward. are there going to be more people coming forward. and if that ends up the trend, i think that could be more of a problem for christie. but also, you know, could it help explain that these folks feel more politically comfortable coming forward. but i do think it's a fair question to ask. >> in terms of a problem for christie, jonathan, we're looking at 2014 here. where this may run the gamut this year. but according to the alleged political aspirations of governor christie for 2016, is this good timing for that?

i mean, that seems like a lifetime away in politics. >> yeah. i mean, two years before the new hampshire primary. a lot can change. scandals, almost all scandals tend to fade with time, and then even now, there are an awful lot of people in the republican party who are supportive of chris christie. but it's interesting that he's down in florida now. the governor rick scott doesn't want to appear with him. senator lindsey graham is running for re-election in south carolina, has indicated that he doesn't want chris christie there campaigning for him right now. that could easily change. but with 20 subpoenas out and more expected, you could get a kind of a drip, drip, drip effect, where over time, the sort of rolling allegations, rolling developments in the story make it very hard for christie to put together an organization for a presidential run. he has plenty of time. >> yeah, he does. susie, "the new york times" is reporting that governor christie was on a conference call

wednesday evening with his most loyal donors. "trying to convince his listeners that he was moving beyond the george washington bridge scandal and getting back to work, according to two participants." christie is in florida this weekend. he's just doing the fundraising. but he doesn't have any public campaign events scheduled here. what is the sense from republicans -- what are they saying about this and how that party views governor christie right now? >> you have people coming out strongly defending him. you have some people taking a wait and see approach. but then you have the right flank, conservatives who already disliked christie, who are using this as additional ammunition against him. particularly with regard to sandy relief. i mean, the reason that some conservatives oppose just giving a huge amount of federal aid to hurricane sandy relief was precisely because of what the kind of thing that the mayor was alleging in hoboken, that this would end up being sort of a

horse trading -- you know, combination of cronyism and it wasn't worth throwing all this money into it. that confirms that conservative narrative, which is why i think this will continue to be a problem, not just because there are democratic mayors with an axe to grind, but because they're conservative opponents of christie who are eager to pound him with this. >> i want to get to you about david wildstein, the former appointee of chris christie's. here's what "the wall street journal" is saying. "alan zegas, an attorney for mr. wildstein, said friday that his client intends to comply with the broader subpoena within reason. mr. zegas said mr. wildstein wants to testify before the legislative committee, if mr. wildstein is granted immunity from federal and state prosecution. there is a story to tell and he is happy to talk about all he knows." do you think he will get immu immuni

immunity? >> i can't say for sure, but i would expect that he would, depending on what his testimony would be. and before they strike these immunity deals, they want to know what he knows. so that's going on behind the scenes with the lawyers right now. but i can't get out of my head, alex, this one scene involving david wildstein. on september 9th, 2013, at 6:00 a.m., he goes out to the george washington bridge. probably had to get up at 4:00 in order to get out there at 6:00 a.m. why did he go there? to make sure that the traffic was appropriately snarled. to make sure that the lanes were closed. and that his little plot had worked. this is a form of civic depravity. there's something really pretty twisted about that. and any light that he can shed on why he did that and why he felt it necessary to engage in this act of political

retribution would be i think very helpful in this story, because there is still a mystery at the bottom of this which is how could they have done this in the first place. >> okay. jonathan, thank you so much. susie, i appreciate that as well. we have breaking news to share with all of you from russia right now. a new terror threat coming from a group possibly connected to the recent bombings in that country. meanwhile, the opening ceremonies are just 19 days away for the olympics. russian president vladimir putin is ensuring the world that the games will be safe. >> translator: we have adequate means available to us through the interior ministry, armed forces units that will be involved in providing security. on the water and in the air. if necessary, all those tools will be activated. >> so for more on the sochi security threats, richard engel. he's joining me now from moscow on the phone. what's the latest? what are you hearing here? >> reporter: the latest is that there is a new threat, and it

came in the form of a new online video that was posted today. and in this video, it's about an hour long, two young men who say that they were the bombers, suicide bombers of attacks that took place right around the new year. they say that there will be more attacks. this is a typical martyrdom video carried out before the attack. in this attack, they explain their motivations. they say that this is retribution. that this is punishment for russia, for russia's stance in the caucuses, for russia's support of the syrian government. and they say that there will be more attacks coming. more "surprises in store." and that russian security forces and tourists attending sochi won't be safe. so we have this new video today, supposedly taped by the bombers

who attacked over new year's, threatening that there will be more attacks to come. we don't know how credible it is, but at this stage there's no reason to doubt that those two were responsible for the bombings over the new year, then they would be in a position to know if that organization is planning more attacks. so it is one more thing to be concerned about as these olympic games approach. >> richard, you've reported to us from sochi. i want to get your perspective on the extent of security that's in place there. how many cameras, how many police on patrol, the extent to which you feel safe, the check points, all of that. >> reporter: sochi is incredibly safe. it may be the safest city in russia right now. there are tens of thousands of security forces involved in securing the city. as demonstrated from vladimir

putin, the russian government takes this very seriously and has deployed intelligence units, army units, entire divisions of police there. the concern is this group of militants based in the caucuses, which is a few hundred miles, about 600 to 800 miles from sochi, isn't talking about only carrying out an attack inside sochi, in the olympic park, but anywhere in the country. and this is an enormous country. it's got lots of soft targets. lots of train stations or buses. and they are just saying they will carry out an attack during the games in order to harm russia and their foreign guests. there was also another dynamic, another thing to be concerned about. that there might be a major shift under way in the leadership of the militants that operate in the caucuses. there are numerous reports that the leader of this militant group, that by the way has already threatened in the past to carry out attacks during

sochi, now once again today saying that something is coming. there are numerous reports that the leader of this group has died, that he died from previous injuries and that he is -- they are now in the process of selecting a new leader. if that's the case, it adds another dynamic to all of this. because if a new leader comes and the old leader is dead, as often is the case a new leader has to prove himself and has to establish his credibility by doing something. so when you have a change in leadership and you have these new videos coming out, i think when you put them together, it is something that is significant. >> and i want to echo what you were saying earlier, richard. because some u.s. officials are saying it is exactly that lack of infrastructure in sochi, specific like the roadways, that's what makes this city so vulnerable to a mass transit attack. and that would be what would potentially disrupt the games. what have you found with regard

to going by the train stations and places where mass groups of people would be gathering to arrive and depart from sochi? >> reporter: it really depends on how far away that we're talking about. to get into the olympic park, it is like getting into a u.s. airport. you have to go through metal detectors. your bags are scanned very closely. maybe it's even tighter than most airport securities. they have the same kinds of imaging machines that can detect what you have on your body, under your clothing. so the security around the park and around the facilities that get to the park, the train station in sochi is very secure. the question is, what about all the other train stations that are part of this network, because people will be coming from all over russia to get to sochi. tourists and russians included, they won't just be showing up in

sochi. to moscow, take another hop on a bus. so in sochi, yes, i think security is very strong. but the entire country, no, it's not in lockdown. >> okay, richard, thank you very much for the comprehensive perspective from moscow. appreciate that. former governor garyson with h -- gary johnson on his thoughts on legalizing marijuana. i'm going to ask him next. ♪ nothing says, "you're my #1 copilot," like a milk-bone biscuit. ♪ say it with milk-bone. about the most track-tested is ever...

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to politics. new questions today from a key lawmaker about edward snowden and whether he acted alone when he leaked details of the nsa surveillance programs last year. here's congressman mike rogers on today's "meet the press."

>> i believe there's a reason he ended up in the hands, the loving arms of an sfb agent in moscow. i don't think that's a coincidence, number one. >> you think the russians helped snowden? >> i believe there's questions to be answered there. i don't think it was a gee whiz luck event that he ended up in moscow under the handling of the fsb. >> dianne feinstein also on "meet the press" there gave her reaction to government surveillance reforms announced by the president on friday. >> i think that what the president has said is that he wanted to maintain the capability of the program, that as chairman rogers said, it has not been abused or misused, and it is carried out by very strictly vetted and professional people. >> meantime, president obama is trying to reassure germany and other allies about the u.s. surveillance programs. he gave an interview with a german television network saturday, saying he won't let surveillance capabilities damage the ties.

new reaction today to the allegations against aides of new jersey governor chris christie. on "meet the press", the state assemblyman leading the investigations argued there are bigger issues at stake, while rudy giuliani turned the issue back on the assemblyman. >> new jersey politics is rough and tumble and that's not going to change. but abusing power should not be condoned. you know, everybody mistrusts government. and when things like this happen, it only gives them another reason to say there they go again. >> when you announced before you even investigate you don't believe the subject of the investigation or the turn who's the ultimate focus of the investigation, it would seem to me the assemblyman has an ethical obligation to step down, to recuse himself. >> joining me now is former new mexico governor gary johnson. welcome, gary. it's nice to see you. >> great to see you, alex. and i'm still waiting for you to come ski taos. >> i will, as long as you have some good weather, i'll get to that. >> all right. >> first of all, let's talk

about your position as a former state executive yourself. what is your reaction to these allegations, both the bridge scandal and now the sandy relief money? >> well, i'm going to take him at his word, that he wasn't involved in those things. but here's what i'm concerned with. he says he is concerned with democrats and republicans who have dangerous libertarian ideas. dangerous libertarian ideas. and then christie, taking him at his word, right out of the box, he said "make no mistake, i'm the hawk in this case." so what that means is we're going to be dropping some bombs and make more enemies to this country than what we currently have. back to christie and his staff, having been governor of new mexico, look, my close staff, i find it difficult to believe that my closest staff would go against basic tenets that i

would hold. i'll take him at his word right now. if it comes back that anything that he has said has been misleading or hasn't been true, then he is dead politically. but i think he's still alive and well based on the truth that i believe he has told. >> particularly with the relief money issue, some people assume that the quid pro quo, that's how state politics works. are these allegations just business as usual behind the scenes? >> that wasn't my experience as governor of new mexico. the whole notion of issues first, politics last, and so for me, that was not how it was for me. i really do believe it is business as usual when it comes to politics. >> let's move on to the president and state reforms. you said that they're disappointing but not

surprising. explain what you mean there. >> i'm sorry, say that again? >> will you talk about the nsa reforms that the president has proposed there? and i believe you said disappointing, but you're not surprised by that. >> i'm not surprised by it. i think that he had the opportunity to roll it back completely. of course, without congressional action, whatever he does can be overturned or heightened with the next president. so really, this is congress that needs to act. i'm not surprised by little if any action. and i would have wished that he would have rolled this back completely. i'm a flaming liberal when it comes to civil liberties, and nsa -- this is way over the line. stop spying on me. i was given an example the other day of santa claus. guys dress like santa claus going out and taking pictures of people and recording people on their cell phones and on their computers and people shying away from that. you know, santa claus, get away

from me. well, it's not okay for santa claus to do that, but it's okay for the government to do that? i mean, it's a great example. >> okay, but what does the nsa then look like ideally in your scenario? >> well, that it is an organization that can conduct surveillance when there is due process. when there is actually court oversight. and i really don't believe that when the fisa court grants the nsa the authority to monitor 110 verizon users that that qualifies as due process. >> isn't, though, what the president said -- that people aren't being spied on unless there is legitimate reason to do so, and then they go through due process? didn't the president say that is the way it operates now? >> well, he did say that. didn't he say something about health care and the fact that you could keep your own insurance policy and your premiums wouldn't go up.

and mine have tripled. so i don't know what that means either. i mean, i'm trying to do this tongue-in-cheek. but really, come on. what does it mean? makes us feel good, but the reality is this is a lot of data. and what are they going to end up doing with it? and won't there be a whole lot of abuse? it will keep you busy forever. it will keep people entertained forever, the abuse that comes as a result of this data being collected. >> okay. let me ask you quickly about marijuana. because you've said it a lot and you're here on the show and you've supported legalizing marijuana. do you think colorado has been a successful test run so far? >> oh, absolutely. denver has been a successful test run. many years ago, denver voted to decriminalize marijuana based on a campaign that marijuana is safer than alcohol. based on my own personal experience, marijuana is much safer than alcohol. i believe that it is going to lead to overall less substance abuse. and colorado has seen that. they're very enlightened.

i think we've reached a tipping point. colorado, the state of washington -- look, when it's recognized that colorado is a much better place to live because police will go out and enforce real crime as opposed to nonviolent victimless crime, that's what everybody else is going to follow. we've got tens of millions of convicted felons in this country, that but for our drug laws, would otherwise be tax-paying, law-abiding citizens. >> okay. >> prohibition is 90% of the problem. that is not to discount the other 10%, which is use and abuse, but that should be our focus, not prohibition. >> okay. former presidential candidate, new mexico governor and a future taos ski buddy gary johnson. thanks so much. >> come on out. >> i'll get there. thank you. >> all right. the new report about a massive data breach at target, was a teenager to blame for it? [ male announcer ] if you're taking multiple medications,

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welcome back. now to headlines at 33 past. 13 people under arrest in a protest over the acquittal of two former police officers charged in the beating death of a homeless man. investigators say the demonstration in fullerton, california, turned violent saturday when someone assaulted a camerawoman. the protest came after an orange county jury on monday found two former fullerton officers not guilty in the 2011 death of kelly thomas. reports out today say the malware in the data breeches came from a 17-year-old. some reports say it had been downloaded some 60 times, raising the possibility that other retailers have been hacked or could be hacked in the future. a new jersey state senator is now calling for an investigation into the allegations from hoboken dawn

zimmer that chris christie's aides held up hurricane sandy relief money. the chairman of the judiciary committee said in a statement "this latest evidence of government abuse supported by contemporaneous writings by mayor zimmer is broader in scope than the george washington bridge lane closings. the sci has the experience and subpoena power to investigate it." joining me now is heather howden. heather, welcome to you. first i want to read the response that we got from the governor's office. the quote is "the governor and mayor zimmer have had a productive relationship with mayor zimmer even recently saying she's very glad he's been our governor. it's very clear partisan politics are at play here as democratic mayors with a political axe to grind come out of the woodwork and try to get their faces on television." what's the latest you're hearing, heather? >> what's interesting about that statement is we really see now that the governor's office is pushing back at this story aggressively. so in the beginning, we had the

two-hour press conference. relatively quiet after that. last week we had jersey city mayor in his allegations about meetings cancelled with commissioners after he failed to endorse the governor. and now we have the hoboken mayor. so they are really fighting back at this point. they are spinning this as just partisan politics. they say that the mayor has continued to praise the governor publicly and that they're really questioning the timing of why she put this out now, which is a question some others raised. why didn't she raise this when these meetings first happened. >> and heather, are you hearing anything to answer that question? why eight months after the fact this is all coming out? >> you know, she has said that she didn't go to prosecutors or the u.s. attorney's office at the time because she thought they might not be able to help her. she was really worried about the sandy aid. there was a second round of federal funding that's about to be coming out from the gol government and she's supposed to

benefit from that. >> she's supposed to get $70 million, that's what you're hearing now? >> the governor's office said that she has gotten $70 million total in aid and that she will get more to come. but again, the timing is questionable a little bit. and i think she's going to continue to have to face those questions. she has said that she's willing to testify on this matter under oath. >> take a lie detector. yep. what about the mayor herself. what do you know about mayor zimmer and her style of her politics? >> she is one of the original group who was named christiecrats. democrats who have worked closely with the governor on matters. she is viewed as not really being part of what is referred to as the democratic machine. she's rather independent. she doesn't have a huge party base behind her in hoboken. she faced a really tough election, actually, this year to continue serving as mayor.

so she is rather independent and she has worked close wli the governor in the past. so just the fact that she's making these allegations, it's stunning politically. >> do these shed any light on the george washington bridge issue? >> i think what we keep coming back to is questions about development. so in this hoboken case, the question was, was she pushed to back a large development that would be on the waterfront to support -- that was supported by christie backers, david sampson, chairman of the port authority was involved in some capacity here. so we're seeing some things come up again. we're seeing real estate. there's a real estate development in ft. lee. some have speculated that those closures might have been tied to that. we're seeing chairman sampson's name raised again. it's continuing some narratives here about real estate, port authority, a grant they were given that continued to dog the administration.

>> we've been drawing so far from this hour from your report that david wildstein's lawyer said on friday, his client will talk to federal and state investigators if he gets immunity from prosecution. is there any indication at this point what information wildstein has and would be willing to share? >> i mean, his lawyer has really been -- it's been interesting, his tone on this. he is really pushing for this, which says to me that his client might be willing to divulge information about this that could be potentially damaging. so he has said repeatedly now he's looking for immunity from both federal and state prosecutors, and yeah, told me last week he has a story to tell. i mean, again, the question is what exactly is that story, but they were very deliberative in the documents that they put out in response to that subpoena. there's information there that's redacted. there's dots to connect that i think only really david wildstein can do that with authority, and so this immunity question is really pertinent. >> heather haddon, we are following your report very

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this is what membership is. this is what membership does. the house and senate are back in their home states until next monday, and that means another week of unemployment benefits being reinstated for the americans who stopped receiving checks last month. joining me now is john yarmuth. good to see you. thanks for joining me. >> thanks, alex, good to be with you. >> what are the chances of these benefits being reinstated? >> not looking real good right now, as you've widely reported, the senate failed in its attempt to extend the emergency benefits last week. harry reid said he's going to try again at the end of this month. hopefully they can get some action. and that will force speaker boehner to bring it to the floor on our side. the number is increasing in

about 70,000 a week. so they're now about a million and a half people who have lost their benefits. it's going to end up being about four million if we don't act. what's really more important than that even is those households include two million children already. so this is not just the actual former worker. the families are really suffering as well. >> i want to look at your state. the unemployment rate there is 8.2%. i'm sure you're hearing from your constituents. what are they saying about the benefits cut? >> i think most of my constituents feel that it doesn't make any sense not to do it. i mean, millions of dollars are disappearing from the kentucky economy and consumer expenditures every week because of this. nationwide, it's about $2 billion a month that's disappeared from the economy. so it's having an impact on families that are still working and everybody else because the business is not there. the numbers are nationwide. this could amount to about 250 to 300,000 jobs that will be lost if we don't extend the

unemployment benefits. and i think the most important thing is that, you know, we have unprecedented numbers of long term unemployed. there's never been a time in our history -- and this is when they kept records, when they've had this percentage of the work force unemployed for longer than six months. so it may be the new normal. it may be something that we have to re-examine as to maybe a new approach if this is the new normal. but right now, these people need help. >> in terms of re-examining, i want to take a look at something the president said in his weekly address with you. so let's listen to that. >> we are primed to bring back more of the good jobs claimed by the recession and lost to overseas competition in recent decades. but that requires a year of action. i want to work with congress this year on proven ways to create jobs, like building infrastructure and fixing our broken immigration system. >> but with all due respect, is this congress capable of a year of action as the president put it? >> well, i don't think there's anything in our track record to

indicate that we would be, although this latest negotiation on the spending bill for the next year does maybe give us a hopeful sign that when people get together and actually put their demagoguing and their political theatre aside, that we can come to an agreement. but everybody knows that these things are critical to do. the infrastructure spending. we know we need to spend money on job training. we know we need to spend money on education. >> but with regard to the infrastructure, these are projects that the president has been talking about since he first took office. and have they been successful? >> no. i mean, we wanted far more infrastructure spending in the american recovery and reinvestment act. the stimulus bill. republicans basically forced us to cut that way back. we could have done a lot in that arena, but we weren't able to do it. and, you know, this is something that historically, once again,

has never been controversial. both parties have been very, very strong supporters of infrastructure spending. highways, bridges, water systems. i mean, you see in some places where they have 100-year-old water systems and they desperately need to be replaced. this is a fundamental of life, of commerce, and we won't make that commitment. i don't think when congress is going to wake up. certainly on our side of the aisle, we recognize how important this is. we've got to convince a few people on the other side. >> democratic congressman john yarmuth. i always appreciate your time with us. thank you so much. >> thanks, alex. more on the breaking news in russia we told you about earlier. a new terror threat coming from a group possibly connected to recent bombings there. one a day men's 50+.

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administrationing for another arctic express with another plunge of bitter cold air that will send temperatures well below average. dylan dreyer is here with our forecast. i'm not sure we want it, but go ahead. >> i know. sometimes i'm just not the bearer of good news. we are going to see another polar vortex, but not as strong as the one that we saw last time. let's look at what's going to happen over the next ten days. you see the whitest of the white here on this graphic. you see it never really makes it all the way into the united states. so the coldest air is going to stay up into canada, but we are still going to get very, very close to some of the coldest temperatures. so today's high temps looks really nice. actually, above average for most of the country. 60 in kansas city. 37 in minneapolis. 31 today in chicago. upper 30s up and down the northeast. but then as we go into tomorrow, minneapolis is only going to top out around ten degrees. chicago drops to 27. and then on tuesday, it gets even colder. a high temperature of two in minneapolis. 24 in new york. 17 degrees in boston.

so it is going to be very, very cold, very much below average. but it is going to be about five to ten degrees warmer than it was the last time we had this polar vortex around. so just brace yourself, especially tuesday and wednesday. those will be the two coldest days. we do still have a couple of lighter snow showers, mainly across up state new york and into new england. we'll see about one to three inches, especially through northwestern pennsylvania and up into upstate new york. but the rest of the country looks pretty quiet today and temperatures should be mild. and then for martin luther king jr. day, that's when that cold air starts to work back into the northern plains. alex? >> thank you very much for the update. let's go now to today's number ones. a new report on wealth shows an increase of about 53,000 millionaire households in america last year. that raises the total number to about 6,146,000, or about 5% of all u.s. households. the state with the greatest concentration of millionaires is maryland, where 7.7% of households are worth at least a million dollars, not including home values.

new jersey is second, just ahead of third place connecticut. "time" magazine names white castle's slider the most influential burger of all time. it was first created in 1921 and led to the first burger chain in america. mcdonald's came in second, and in and out is third. with about 60,000 of the star bucks in the country, you might think the u.s. would be among the top coffee drinking countries on earth. nope, the netherlands is the java giant. folks there drink about 2.4 cups of coffee a day. finland second with 1.8 cups. sweden about 1.4. the u.s. ranks 16th in the world with just less than a cup a day. clearly they haven't met me. and those are your number ones. kidding me. driver: this is good. woman: vamanos. driver & passenger: vamanos. woman: gracias. driver & passenger: gracias. passenger: trece horas en el carro sin parar y no traes musica. driver: mira entra y comprame unas papitas.

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take a look at the week on wall street. monday marks the martin luther king jr. holiday. the markets will be closed, but all national parks will be free of charge in honor of doctor. king. the annual world economic forum

kicks off in switzerland. corporate and entertainment leaders from around the globe will attend to discuss economic conditions and solutions. a big topic this year, the impact technology has on surveillance. the southern leg of the controversial keystone pipeline opens this week. oklahoma oil producers say it will carry up to 700,000 barrels per day from oklahoma to the gulf coast. the pipeline's northern leg was from canada to the u.s. it has been imposed by environmental groups. and stand back pandora and spotify. we're going to see a new competitor. it's calls beats music and debuts on tuesday. rapper dr. dre is behind it. new allegations from the hoboken mayor against two aides of new jersey governor chris christie coming up. onus c. rock beats scissors! [ chuckles ] wife beats rock. and with two checks a year, everyone wins. [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call 866-906-8500 now.

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first target and neiman marcus. how a hack attack of at least six more retailers is possible and what's being done to protect your precious identity. the nsa debate on the sunday talk show circuit. is president obama doing enough to prevent unwarranted snooping? and remembering martin luther king jr. a new article sheds light on what you might not know about the civil rights pioneer. hello, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." it's just past 1:00 p.m. here in the east, 10:00 a.m. out west. here's what's happening out there. we have breaking news to share from russia. a new terror threat coming from a group possibly connected to recent bombings if that country. they promise more attacks during the winner games and say neither athletes nor visitors will be safe. with the opening ceremonies just 19 days away, russian president vladimir putin is assure the world that the sochi games will be secure. >> translator: we have adequate means available to us through

the federal security service, the interior ministry, armed forces units that will be involved in providing security on the water, and in the air. if necessary, all those tools will be activated. >> nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel is joining me now from moscow. richard, just before we were on the air with you an hour ago, you were able to give us this breaking news update. what do you know about these new terror threats? >> reporter: we've been looking at this video and this is the last testimonial of what seems to be the two quite young suicide bombers who blew themselves up over the new years. this video shows them preparing the explosive devices. also talking to camera and saying that those two attacks over the new year's were just the beginning, that there will be more attacks and they specifically said there will be more attacks targeting russian forces during the olympics. they say that putin is not safe,

that his guests are not safe, and that they will organize a surprise for the olympic period. how credible this is is difficult to know, but if, in fact, these were the two suicide bombers who carried out that new year's attack, that it would suggest that they have inside knowledge of this militant group operating in the caucuses and could have information about its intentions and future attacks. >> yeah. richard, you spent a fair amount of time in sochi now. i'd like you to describe for people who are concerned about security there the extent of the security measures that you have witnessed. cameras, patrols, check points. is that everywhere in sochi? >> reporter: it absolutely is. sochi itself was -- or this part of sochi where the olympics are being held is very secure. or at least it seemed that way when we visited and we walked through the area quite

extensively. it's like entering an airport with metal detectors, bomb sniffing dogs. they go through your bags, make you turn on your laptops, use particle detectors to see if there's any explosive residue on any of your electronics or on your person. the security measures are quite tight, and tens of thousands of police and soldiers are being drawn in to protect the games. the problem is this is an enormous country, and the militants from the caucuses haven't said that they will specifically attack in sochi, in the olympic park. but carry out an attack targeting the olympics or targeting this country during the olympics. so it could be a train station, like the attack over the new years. it could be a bus station. really it could be anything if, in fact, it happens and the russians are going to great lengths not just in sochi, but around the country to try and prevent it. they are arresting known or

suspected militants, putting a lot of people behind bars. they are listening to phone calls. they are -- they've passed new restricti restrictions, new legislation recently in order to sweep up data that is coming in and out of the sochi area. so i think it's fair to say that putin is taking this very seriously. >> richard, i'm going to ask my director to roll in the video, the one that you have been seeing that was made by these two alleged suicide bombers before they blew themselves up there. in terms of what you're seeing, and you've seen these kinds of things before, how legitimate does this look? and what are we seeing? >> reporter: in the beginning part of the video, it's about an hour long video, you see them wearing gloves, assembling an explosive device, or what looks like an explosive device. then they put it on themselves, test the trigger. it is a trigger that they've

strapped to their arms. and then they give a long explanation to the camera justifying the attack that is forthcoming and saying that more attacks will be coming. it does look quite typical of many of these so called martyrdom videos that i've seen all over the world really. in iraq, in afghanistan. it has a similar kind of language, a similar demeanor. but what's interesting is these men do appear like they are preparing for an attack, not just because they're putting a bomb together, but because they're clean shaven. they're calm. they are not the kind of statements you get from a militant leader in hiding who might have a military uniform on or a long beard. these are people who are trying to blend in and look like ordinary russians. >> it is an extraordinary thing to witness, that's for sure. richard engel, thank you very much, from moscow. let's go now to the day's other big story. new jersey lawmakers are now

calling for an investigation into the latest allegations levelled against aides of new jersey governor chris christie. hoboken mayor dawn zimmer says that two officials held up hurricane sandy relief money unless she approved a redevelopment project. meanwhile, governor christie's in florida this weekend. he's on a fundraising drive for rick scott. michael isikoff and kelly o'donnell. we'll start with you, michael. here's a portion of the statement from governor christie's office. it says "the governor and mayor zimmer have had a productive relationship with mayor zimmer even recently saying she's very glad he's been our governor. it's very clear partisan politics are at play here as democratic mayors with a political axe to grind come out of the woodwork and try to get their faces on television." the christie aides are strongly denying these allegations, so how seriously are state lawmakers taking it? >> quite seriously. there are a couple points worth making here. number one, these allegations are particularly damaging

because they go to the core of governor christie's signature issue. helping victims of hurricane sandy. what the mayor of hoboken dawn zimmer has said is that the christie administration held up funding for her city, for sandy recovery because she didn't back this development project that was being represented by one of christie's top political advisers. now, what the pushback we're getting from the christie camp is, look, why didn't mayor zimmer say this before? she says, by her own account, that this threat she got from the lieutenant governor, from christie's lieutenant governor came last may. but in august, a few months later, she was tweeting how happy she was to have governor christie as her governor. she didn't come forward during the election campaign. actually, there was kind of a sideswipe today from barbara buono, christie's democratic

opponent last year, saying why did she wait until she smelled blood in the water. that's a question that dawn zimmer is going to have to answer. but third, this is probably the most significant, what state lawmakers are saying, they're planning to look into this and the resolution that authorized that special legislative panel is very broad, giving them power not just to issue subpoenas and investigate the george washington bridge traffic jams, but any other abuse of government power. that is open-ended language that essentially gives them carte blanche to look into this and any other allegation that comes forward. >> michael, we've been following the sunday talk shows. i want to play a clip of christie ally rudy giuliani. he was talking about assemblyman john wisniewski. let's look at that. >> when you announce even before you investigate you don't believe the subject of the investigation or the person who's the ultimate focus of the investigation, it would seem to me the assemblyman has an

ethical obligation to step down and recuse himself. >> i know that you interviewed wisniewski last weekend. how was he approaching these investigations? i believe he has just issued a statement to refute what rudy giuliani is saying. >> he's saying he's been investigating this for months, taking it piece by piece. it was only when the e-mails emerged that contradicted the public accounts of the governor's office that he escalated the probe, widened it, got the resolution giving him new subpoena power. so he's defending himself. but the fact is that he's made some very strong statements basically saying he doesn't believe governor christie's account saying it lacks credibility. and that does give fodder for mayor giuliani and other allies to take swipes at him. and remember, governor christie's language in that

state of the state is very significant here. he's saying he will cooperate with all appropriate inquiries. that gives him the out to say what wisniewski is doing isn't appropriate, it's a political witch hunt. >> okay. michael isikoff, thank you for that. meantime, while all of this is happening back home, governor christie spent this weekend in florida. he's been raising money for governor rick scott as well as the republican governors association. let's go now to kelly o'donnell, who is on the trail in palm beach with him. what sort of reaction has the governor received there? >> well, alex, this is a target rich environment. palm beach in january to meet important donors in the republican party. and because there are so many roots in new jersey and new york for people who make a part of their winter here, it's a familiar turf in many respects. i'm told that he was well received, and there was strong applause and support for him inside some of these events, and of course, again, we're talking about republican supporters who have turned out to contribute

money for florida governor rick scott in some of the events and for the republican party. so these are people who are already animated politically. they enjoy being involved. and they had an opportunity to see one of the most talked about figures in politics up close. and it just so happens to be at this time when he's facing so many political troubles at home. so part of what this new role for chris christie involves is this kind of travel. and he's got an ambitious schedule and plans for raising money for the rga. despite troubles at home, chris christie takes hold of his national place in politics this weekend. mixing with big donors at private fundraisers for florida governor rick scott. but no plans for christie and scott to appear together publicly. christie has kept his fundraising schedule. including a thursday night event for a new jersey senate candidate. >> the florida events were scheduled a long time ago.

only invite criticism. he's doing the right thing by going out and doing these. >> reporter: but it's tricky trying to balance business with ongoing damage control over the bridge scandal. >> if i were him, i'd hold back on the donor politics for a little while. just because it's going to fuel the fire of all this chatter about his political ambitions and now's not the best time to have that go on. >> reporter: this florida trip is a test of christie's star status, becoming chair of the republican governors association just eight weeks ago. are you getting encouragement? >> yeah, everybody's excited that i'm going to take over the chairmanship and i'm getting great response both from donors and from my fellow governors. >> reporter: the rga hopes to raise as much as $100 million this year with christie at the helm, and has more than $45 million in the bank. >> my focus is going to be raising the funds that are necessary to be able to get the story to these governors out. >> reporter: democrats say christie is now damaged. >> the pattern is continuing to develop. i think it's going to start to spiral out of control for

chris christie because this is a clear case of where there's smoke, there's even more fire. >> reporter: for now, fellow republican governors are standing behind christie. >> i think the bottom line is he stepped up. i think any of us as governor, democrat or republican alike, if there's a challenge in the administration, you step up, acknowledge it, deal with it. >> reporter: and surveys, including our own nbc maris poll suggest christie may have weathered the storm short-term. >> what he needs to do, get back to work being governor. get back to policy. get back to issues people care about. if i were him, i'd stay out of politics for a while while this kind of cools off. >> reporter: one of the big events say is at the home of the billionaire co-founder of home dep depot. why that's so important, it's an event for outreach to try to bring in donors to the republican party. maybe some of those folks will be people christie has not had an opportunity to get to know, along with the finance circuit, as it's called. and that could be more of a test

of how this scandal environment might be affecting his national stature. so that's something that may play out over time. he does have other events scheduled in texas and illinois next month. so at least at this point, his plans to be visible and visible nationally go on. alex? >> okay, kelly o'donnell, thank you for that from palm beach. appreciate it. tomorrow is a crucial day in that nuclear deal with iran. what's at stake. we're going to talk with bill richardson next. on your busiest, you see the gray. try root touch up by nice 'n easy. just brush our permanent color matching creme right where you need it. then rinse. in 10 minutes, zap those grays and get on with your day. nice 'n easy root touch up. did you run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life.

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tomorrow, the iran nuclear deal will be implemented. inspectors arrived in iran yesterday, and on monday they'll issue a report on the status of the country's nuclear program. in return, the u.s. and its allies will begin rolling back some sanctions. joining me now, former new

mexico governor bill richardson, who previously served as secretary of energy as well as ambassador to the u.n. mr. ambassador, i guess this name will go with this day. thank you very much for joining me. >> thank you, alex. nice to be with you. >> i'm glad you're here, sir. it's very early, but the nuclear talks so far, would you deem them as being successful? >> so far, but i'm very nervous. the reduction from 20% of enriched uranium to 5% has to happen. it's good the inspectors are there. the worry i have is that the hardliners in the iranian government, perhaps some of the religious leaders and other hardliners there that oppose this deal will get the upper hand and kill what i think could be one of the most far-reaching agreements that deal with persian gulf issues, energy, nuclear weapons. our allies, saudi arabia and israel are nervous about this. the congress is nervous.

but if it happens, and i commend secretary kerry for pursuing these talks, it would be enormously far reaching. the key, alex, will be the next six months, when we try to get a permanent deal. right now, it's just a temporary deal. $7 billion worth of sanctions are lifted. so it's just very early in the process. >> it is. i'm sure you've seen this interesting "new york times" article today in which the report is that parliamentary and trade representatives from europe have been flocking to teheran for the new year. they're trying to position themselves. how does that impact when going forward? >> our european friends, especially the french. our french friends, they like to do business. obviously iran can see the benefit of this. if it means that they're going to close their nuclear weapons

capability, europe, that has been part of the sanctions, especially the strongest sanctions on energy, on gasoline will start investing there. so this probably would be a good sign for iran. now, if iran doesn't come through with these reductions in enriched uranium, continues its nuclear weapons programs, a lot of those investments will dry up. >> let's switch gears. i want to talk you about the president's nsa reforms. what's your take on them? >> well, i think the president did what he had to do, a balance between privacy and security. he basically is not changing much of these intelligence programs, which as a former policymaker, i want to tell you they're very valuable. he basically said on the foreign courts, on the courts that are going to be formed, that he's considering making them stronger. have the congress have more input. in terms of the collected data

that comes from all those telephone monitoring, who's going to control it, maybe a separate panel. he's invited congress reviews. privacy of foreigners. issues of their telephones. foreign leaders. he's basically saying we need those changes. but in the end, i think the congress -- you know, i remember when i was on the intelligence committee in the house, the chairman came up to me, because i was asking him some questions. he said, you're on a need to know basis, but you don't need to know. so i think in the end, alex, there will be some reforms, but the structure of our intelligence, our nsa, our surveillance will probably stay the same. >> i'm curious your thoughts on how the revelations about foreign spying have affected our diplomacy with other countries. has it affected it, do you think germany in particular? >> well yeah. it upsets countries like

germany. they've been the most visible. brazil. they cancelled a state visit. these are important countries. yeah, so it has hurt. but, you know, spying happens -- everybody does it. so it's a question of having some safeguards. i think the president said we're going to have some safeguards, it's going to be limited. obviously if there's al qaeda or leaders that are hostile to us and we have a little built-in advantage by knowing what they're up to, that's healthy. so again, i think the president struck a good balance between privacy, especially the issue, alex, of the courts. there being a secret court that decides whether you can tap the telephone of somebody. i think that is a good safeguard. >> something interesting was said by house intelligence committee chair mike rogers on "meet the press." i'd like to have you listen to this with me. >> let me just say this -- i

believe there's a reason he ended up in the hands, the loving arms of an fsb agent in moscow. i don't think that's a coincidence. >> you think the russians helped snowden? >> i think there's questions to be answered there. i don't think it was a gee whiz luck event that he ended up in moscow under the handling of the fsb. >> now, i want to mention here that both "the new york times" and reuters reported last month that intelligence officials told them there was no evidence that snowden had any outside help. so putting all that together, what's your reaction? >> well, i agree with those reports that he didn't have any outside help. he seems to be wanting to be an international hero. i mean, he is at fault. i think he should be prosecuted. because he has hurt this country. and it's not just -- he is being praised for saying well, the nsa was doing a lot of surveillance. but there's some information, secret information that he's given to other nations that hurt

america's national security. so i'm not saying there's a russian connection. i don't know. i'm no longer in government. but it doesn't strike me as that's the case. but snowden being treated as a great american hero, i don't believe that. i think he needs to be prosecuted. i don't think he's a traitor. but to basically now ascribe all these russian motives, i'm not sure there's enough information to say that. >> i want to draw on your experience as former state executive and talk about the allegations that have been levelled against chris christie by a new jersey mayor. what is your interpretation? >> well, alex, when you're a governor, it's a very personal job. when you're a senator or a congressman, important jobs, but you with weather storms. you can be out there giving speeches. when you're a governor, everything you do is scrutinized, and you make decisions every day that affect lives of other political

leaders. you have a major say in projects. so, you know, it's gotten partisan. my view is that this issue is not over for governor christie. it's payback time. it's a partisan atmosphere. but i think if he stays and weathers the storm by substantiating that he didn't know anything about this bridge issue, that the primaries are two hours away, he weathers the storm. but this is a continuing problem to for him, and now all these other political leaders are coming out of the woodwork. so, you know, in a way, i can see what's happening. it kind of happened to me sometimes. because you're the focus of everything. a state like new jersey that has a powerful governor that controls a lot of the projects and funding and patronage, you know, you're the subject of this intensive scrutiny, and when you're down, it's payback time.

so i can see what's happening. >> okay. well, former governor, secretary and ambassador bill richardson, thanks so much. good to see you. >> thank you. so, this could be a harbinger of hollywood's biggest night of glitz, glamour, and golden trophies. what is it and why? next. music stops ♪music resumes music stops ♪music resumes [announcer] if your dog can dream it. purina pro plan can help him achieve it. nutrition that performs. winter is hard on your face. [ sneezes ] [ female announcer ] the start of sneeze season. the wind-blown watery eyes. [ sniffling ] the sniffling guy on the bus. and, of course, the snow angels with your little angels. that's why puffs plus lotion

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cast of "american hustle." >> the film took home the outstanding ensemble award, besting "12 years a slave", often seen as its toughest oscar competition. >> to be acknowledged alongside the other incredible ensembles that are here in this room tonight. >> in the individual acting prizes, there weren't many surprises, but there are now some definite oscar frontrunners. >> matthew mcconaughey. >> matthew mcconaughey continued his streak, following his golden globes win for his role in "dallas buyers club." >> oh, this feels good. >> while cate blanchett added another award for "blue jasmine." >> for those who voted for me, i thank you. for those who didn't, better luck next year. >> the year of lupita nyong'o continued, adding the supporting actress award for her first ever feature performance appearance in "12 years a slave." >> being recognized by fellow actors is an honor of the

highest order. >> while jared leto becomes the man to beat after his win for his supporting role in "dallas buyers club." >> thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much. >> think he's happy about that? sag awards were also handed out for tv. "breaking bad" was the big winner for drama in its final season. bryan cranston was also honored for best actor, while maggie smith won for best actress. and in the comedy series category, "modern family" won best ensemble cast. ty burrell won best comedy actor, and julia louis dreyfus won for "veep." so there you have it. >> no real surprises. although i was really pulling for jeff daniels. i knew he wasn't going to get it, but i met him a couple weeks ago and he's so cool. it's like go, jeff! thank you so much. there's new information today on how the target hacking happened, and stunning news about more retailers coming under attack, straight ahead. [ male announcer ] this is kevin.

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surprising new details in last month's vast security breach at target and neiman marcus stores. new reports that the mastermind came from a teenager in st. petersburg, russia. now the cyber security firm interpol says that at least six other retailers may currently be under attack by hackers. haley has been covering this and joins me now from washington, d.c. a big welcome to you. i'm curious why we haven't heard the names of the other retailers yet. do you know who they are, any idea if they could be as big as target? >> you know, they haven't released any information on that yet. i think probably they want to be sure that the retailers that are affected are truly being affected by this same malware and they have an interest in making sure they confirm all the details before they release any information. >> there are reports out there that it has been downloaded some 60 times. so this list of security

breaches, do you expect them to keep going? >> absolutely. you know, i think given how many times he's said to have been able to sell this and sort of -- certainly the value that they get out of an attack like this, i think the list -- we can expect it to keep on growing. >> how did cyber security firms trace this hacking to a 17-year-old russian national, and what do we know about him? >> well, we know that he is fairly well-known on sort of the underground marketplaces where this software is bought and sold. and they were able to trace him just by kind of looking at the transaction data, looking at the nature of the software that was used in this attack. kind of looking for signature authorship kind of tells. and so they identified him and sort of his communications and that's how they believe that they have identified him. >> reports that this hacking went on for months.

how did this go undetected for so long at target? >> you know, i think part of that is just because of the way that this attack was carried out. it targeted the point of sales systems, which is kind of where you go and swipe your card. and it just sat on these networks and pulled information, and i guess they weren't able to find it, to find the malware. >> what does it say about our security if we've got a 17-year-old in russia that can write code and hack into major retailers during the busiest shopping time in the year? can any system really be hacker-proof? >> well, in this particular instance, what intercrawler is saying is that the hackers were able to install it by just cracking really simple pass words that people had put in the system. now, target and neiman marcus have both said they don't have any corroboration of that from their internal review, but weak passwords are a problem and it's certainly something we have to

look at, the way that security is, all of our personal data being controlled by just a few -- by one word, by one password. whether that's sustainable and something that we can continue doing. >> sure makes you want to stop and take a look at that. thank you so much, from "the washington post," appreciate it. tomorrow is martin luther king jr. day and it's when the nation stops to honor and remember the life and accomplishments of the late civil rights icon known for his nonviolent activism, in the efforts to try to end racial discrimination in this country. yet as we celebrate his legacy, theodore johnson says it is vitally important that we remember martin luther king jr. was just an everyday man. he joins me now from washington, d.c. with a welcome to you, we took a look at your piece. it's coming out tomorrow on grio.com. part of it has a quote here. by humanizing the historic figure, we make his significant accomplishments more accessible and tangible to us all. so explain what you mean there

and why you think it's important to see him as a regular guy. >> first of all, thanks for having me, alex. >> glad you're here. >> i'll tell you, my first image of martin luther king was on the back of a church van in the southern baptist church i grew up in, and the only other person that had a van was jesus. so we get this heroic caricature for those who did not grow up with doctor. king while he was alive. so he seems sort of other worldly. the problem with that is when you see him as this figure who accomplished things that are unattainable otherwise, you start to question whether your efforts and talents can be brought to bear to address the problems of the nation. and so when we see him as a regular guy, then we start to see him in our brothers and uncles and family members and in ourselves and that gives us the inspiration and makes his legacy more accessible. >> you make reference in your piece that he wrote for ebony a

poem called "advice for living." you say it gives us a glimpse at his approachability and nursing counsel. it's the same advice that you yourself would give a loved one. so why is this important? >> because like in that column, he talks about civil rights movements. so some of the answers we expect to hear. but when a young lady writes in and says that she's being pressured into doing things she doesn't want to by men she'd like to date, he gives advice that's like a grandfather. and so when i look back and think about the advice that i got from my grandfather or the legacy i carry from my grandfather, it makes me feel that i have more to give to the nation, to the country, more to offer than something maybe not on par with what dr. king did, but certainly something that can contribute to the betterment of the nation. when we start to see doctor. king -- dr. king in all of us, it's not a mistake on dr. king's holiday they call it a day on, not a day off. that's because the bit of him

that resides in each of us, the drive to do something bigger and better is something that we should call on on that day. and that's how we truly honor the legacy. >> do you think there's a limit, though, to humanizing dr. king? for example, as you know through the several fliers that have surfaced and sparked outrage, there's one advertising a dance party showing him as a rapper with tattoos and a large gold chain there. i mean, are these at all appropriate? >> no, these are wholly inappropriate. if there is any explanation for these -- and i don't think there is anyone that is truly satisfactory, it is an attempt, again, to humanize him, to modernize him. it's done distastefully. it's disrespectful. but i think at the core of this, for those aside from the money making aspect of this and the inappropriateness, there is some drive in all of us, some kernel in each of us that wants to make him accessible today.

it's a horrible attempt. it's much better to try to help the homeless or mentor children or do something to help the country that doesn't put dr. king in an inappropriate light. >> looking forward to having your article published tomorrow. it's really good. thank you very much. chris christie with the big three tapping the new twist in that saga. you're going to also hear surprising reaction from both sides. if you have a business i, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. start your business today with legalzoom. we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. thmortgage didn't start here. it began on her vacation in europe on the day she arrived in london. someone set up a bogus hotspot, stole her identity and opened some credit cards in her name. but she's not worried. checking her experian credit report and score allowed her

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superstorm sandy were withheld for political reasons. here's john wisniewski today on "meet the press." >> i'm not sure what caused mayor zimmer to wait until now, but clearly the allegation that she was asked to support a redevelopment project where there was funding from the port authority, which we're investigating, in turn for her getting money for her municip municipality raises serious allegations. we think it's something the committee has to consider as part of the overall investigation. >> what's your reaction to that, robert? >> i agree 1,000%. the truth will come out. i find it troubling that the mayor is just now coming out with this now. if, in fact, she was pressured to do one thing or the other because of sandy funds or the lack thereof, i find it a little interesting that she did not say something during the sandy disbursement of the funds. when 90% of your city is under water, and if you don't get all of the funds that you believe

you deserve, you would have raised cane back then. but at the end of the day, governor christie is being asked to come out with some of the facts here. we'll see what the facts come out with. >> okay. jason, former new york city mayor rudy giuliani, who was on "meet the press" also and here's what he said. >> mayor zimmer, just shortly before she made this revelation, said that she didn't believe that any holdup in the funds had anything to do with any kind of retribution for not endorsing the governor. i'm informed that she said that. she also said that she liked working with governor christie. so i think you have to look at her current statement in light of her former statements before this became an orchestrated pile-on. >> okay, so what's your take, jason, on this? >> you know, robert gates said nice things about barack obama, too. people change their mind when the pressure is on them. look, it's very obvious that this is a larger problem in the christie administration. is it really that hard to see that he would say look, you can't get funds, that there's all sorts of different people

negotiating deals one way or the other. the larger issue here is how is he going to fix this and move forward. i believe zimmer and i think it's perfectly possible she said nice things before because she was trying to maintain a very difficult relationship with the governor's office. >> to that end, eleanor, where does chris christie go from here? >> well, i guess he gets back to new jersey from his florida trip and will have to answer questions about his political future. he's all lawyered up. so are all of his aides. and so i think the story keeps going on. but he will do i think what other significant figures do when faced with this kind of scandal. specifically i'm thinking of president clinton when he was dogged during all of the white water and the monica proceedings. they say i'm going back to do the work of the people. so he's going to talk a lot about going back to do the work of the people of new jersey. >> the beginning of the lane

closures investigation. more revelations certainly could come out, like yesterday's with the hoboken mayor. if you look ahead to 2016, you think it's over for governor christie, or not at all? robert. >> yeah, i don't know. here's the he can through the primary. tea party right wing conservatives have never been on board the christie train viewing him as a big-ticket moderate, if you will. and lindsay graham or others out there never really bought on to the christie presidency, if you will. if you look at the presidential contenders on the gop side, rubio, paul, they've been lukewarm. chris christie has a very, very tough needle to thread here. i don't know. i don't know where it goes. look, at the end of the day independents like. that's why they're attracted to him in the first place because of his blunt manner but the question is whether or not it will get him through the primary. i don't know. >> eleanor, "the new york times"

writes about he wanted to bolster the foreign policy cred and statement says the trip is in limbo as it's all but absent evading the questions. how do you think the past few weeks impacted the shot for the possible white house run? >> i don't think he had an easy path through the primaries but the party right now, republican party in the grips of the far right and they have never liked him. the establishment, however, loved christie. may still love him. and they think he's really their only chance to win nationally. i don't think people are going to wack off of him yet. they're going to see how he handles this. he has a lot of reassuring to do. personally, probably on the phone with a lot of big donors, a lot of this is about money. unable to do that, watch that sort of wall street money and where it goes. they'll take i think a hard look at governor scott walker coming

on strong with policy prescription and i think governor jeb bush when's not said a word throughout this laying back and waiting to see if the party will come to him. >> jason, i spoke with florida democratic congresswoman and chair of the dnc on my show yesterday and she and the dnc following christie around florida fund raising for governor scott saying the focus has nothing to do with 2016 but could democrats be getting ahead of themselves focusing so much on him right now? >> yeah. you know, insert new jersey joke here. forget about it. no chance. whatever you want to say. he would never be the nominee and beat hillary clinton for president. i have said this all along. he is too overweight, too brusque and too many scandals in the background before this happened. the president is an aspirational position. it's who we want to be, not who we are. i never thought his nature works where people look up to the position. christie never had a chance and

this is a reminder of why. >> can i respond very quickly? >> no. nick's yelling at me. we have our must reads coming up. t caused by a heart valve problem. dad, it says your afib puts you at 5 times greater risk of a stroke. that's why i take my warfarin every day. but it looks like maybe we should ask your doctor about pradaxa. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate)... ...was proven superior to warfarin at reducing the risk of stroke. and unlike warfarin, with no regular blood tests or dietary restrictions. hey thanks for calling my doctor. sure. pradaxa is not for people with artificial heart valves. don't stop taking pradaxa without talking to your doctor. stopping increases your risk of stroke. ask your doctor if you need to stop pradaxa before surgery or a medical or dental procedure. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding or have had a heart valve replaced. seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition or stomach ulcer,

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we are back with the must reads. a lightning round. robert, we start with you. >> there's a great story on mitt romney and the documentary behind the presidential campaign. it is a must read and must watch. >> i saw that. very good article. jason? >> provocative, the saudi police are cracking down on swingers. women can't go on swings anymore in the country. it's an example of how the internet is fighting back about the religious sketism in saudi. >> wait. what? >> yes. >> they can't go on swings? >> not allowed to go on swings. >> okay. eleanor, what is yours? >> "washington post," front page in-depth story, thousands of words on an american family that lost two of three sons in

afghanistan and iraq. how that plays out and fight to have the two sons buried side by side in arlington. >> powerful. >> reminds us of what some people are dealing with. >> thank you so much, eleanor, jason, robert. that's wrap, everyone. while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance

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