i worked at a tech support center and an older man thought his disk drive was a cup holder. did john powell write that? yeah. he might have. >> he is checking his parger ovr there. >> that is the end of "way too early." "morning joe" starts right now. >> great to be here and i would just like to sincerely apologize to the people in new jersey for this entire incident and also, it's every, so shut up! >> governor, you claim you had no knowledge of these traffic jams in ft. lee. how is that possible? >> i'm a busy man, peters. i got budget to balance and teachers to yell on out and i got to work out five times a year. i can't keep track of every friggin' idiot i'm trying to screw over. >> are you concerned this will overshot the rest of your term

as governor? >> peters i will not this scandal define the state of new jersey. instead, the state the new jersey is defined by organized crime and pizza, no show jobs and a vague chemical smell, and forget about it! >> good morning. it is monday, january 20th. welcome to "morning joe." with us on set msnbc and "time" magazine senior political analyst mark halpern. the host of "way too early" thomas roberts who hurt his back. >> oh, no. the trainer on friday. >> the trainer? >> don't bend over. >> the what? >> i've warned about that. >> the best ever rose? >> yeah. >> okay. >> in washington, we have former white house press secretary and msnbc contributor robert gibbs. hi, gibby. >> good morning. >> when you say your back hurt. >> bent over the rose? >> i was with a trainer.

>> that's true. >> can i borrow some of your meds at a commercial break? >> certainly. what a matchup the "usa today" says robert gibbs, boy, we had a couple of great games yesterday with really four great teams but last night what a thriller between san francisco and seattle. >> the best you can hope for is a game comes down to the final end of the fourth quarter and we got it and sets up a super bowl since 1990 matches the number one offense against the number one defense. so two weeks to build that up to incredible heights and then a game to play. >> yeah. unbelievable. who do you like the broncos or the seahawks? >> i guess i have to go with the offense against the defense in football. so i think the broncos, the early favorite but, boy, the seahawks looked like a very resilient team and have a great, great defense. >> they are resilient.

no doubt about it. you see the game yesterday? >> hard to imagine the broncos losing. seahawks may be the best team in football, though. >> they got the 12th man. >> not in jersey, they don't! >> gro grand, 800,000. >> really in. >> super bowl tickets? >> crazy. >> seriously? watch it on a tv. >> yeah. much more comfortable. >> oh, yeah. >> manning has the eye of the tiger. let's get to the news. we begin this morning with new allegations of corruption from within chris christie's office. yesterday, hoboken mayor dawn zimmer met with the lawyers of the attorney's office after accused the governor using hurricane sandy relief funds for political favor. she towed she was in told in may from kim guadagno unless she supported a project in hoboken,

she would not receive hurricane relief. >> the fact is the lieutenant governor came to hoboken. she pulled me aside in the parking lot and she said, "know it's not right. i know this thing should not be connected but they are and if you tell anyone, i'll deny it. so these -- the bottom line is it's not fair for the governor to hold sandy funds hostage for the city of hoboken because he wants me to give back to one private developer. i cannot give a windfall to one property owner because the governor wants me to in exchange for the sandy funds. i feel like i'm literally between a rock and a hard place. >> why come forward now and not before now? >> i probably should have come forward then. this is probably the hardest thing i've ever done so i probably should have come forward but i literally feel like we -- i have to act in the best interests of hoboken and we

are still at risk -- there is another funding coming through and we are not going to get it unless i move forward with the rockefeller plan. >> okay. a couple of things. mayor zimmer says she is willing to testify under oath about her interaction with the lieutenant governor. yesterday, christie defected any 2016 chatter at a fund-raiser held by ken langone. he told they were on hold bluntly saying, come see me next year. before we move on. mark hall better than, what do you make about mayor zimmer's comments? i have a couple of questions about the timing of these comments and the decision to release her diary and some comments she made on the radio directly after the scandal broke. >> where she downplayed the notion the way the christie team operated. >> what did she --? >> literally between a rock and a hard place. >> did she say before this isn't how the christie team operated?

>> and other comments. obviously, consistent with the notion of not saying she didn't know anything about this kind of stuff. now people are going under oath. i don't know if she was under oath or not when she met with the u.s. attorney yesterday but this is a phase people are going under oath and give depositions. she has credible problems for not coming forward before for downplaying this kind of stuff but she has a story to tell now and i think we are dealing with subpoenas and testimony and people under oath if she is telling the truth and other people disagreed with her, that will come out. >> i don't understand. what are the christie people sayi saying, like, why is her credibility questioned because she waited to come out? this happens in politics, right? >> sure. if she was so outraged by what happened, they are saying, why was she saying nice things about governor christie rather than instantly going to the press and

saying how dare they connect sandy aid to support for development. but this is a part of the problem for governor christie. i think the original bridge thing, if he has a problem, he'll have a problem. but these other things are going to be endless. >> this is the sort of thing, though, that, you know, mika, does this happen in every state? yes, it happens in every state. does this happen in lachouisian in boston -- let me go to robert gibbs. chicago, this sort of thing happens in chicago every 15 minutes. here is the difference, though, robert, tell me the right or wrong or not. this happens in politics all over the place. the difference is when you've got an investigation and then somebody goes under oath and then you can connect the dots to something that, quote, everybody does. >> pattern. >> we saw this during the other scandal, people do get sent to

jail. i think bob nay got sent to jail in golfing in scotland or something like that and then i thought you can get sent to jail? if that is the case, there will be only 12 of us on the floor, right? it's this sort of thing that we have got an investigation coming up. suddenly all of these things that are business as usual all over the place, they could have criminal implications. >> they are certainly legal peril as you pointed out. the dangerous thing christie had to do the press conference that he did and i think people have said he did as good as a job he could and that is his sort of final set of answers. now the question is how much drip, drip, drip, gets added to the record that makes those answers seem kind of less sturdy. i think also you mentioned this may happen in other place and it may happen everywhere else, but chris christie is running under a message for higher office that

is something different than anybody else. he is not your typically politician. he calls it like he sees it and he'll work with you whether you're left-handed or right-handed, a democrat or a republican. and if this sort of wipes away that image and replaces it with just another average politician, that makes him fairly undistinctive in running on a national stage. >> has a lieutenant governor, thomas, has she said anything since --? >> she has not spoken out but has an event today and expected to make a statement. tomorrow they are being sworn in big party over on ellis island. if you're a fan of good journalism and investigative work and not taking sides and you want to know the truth, steve did a great job using investigative truth that dated back that showed when hoboken's mayor got carted off in

handcuffs before zimmer was ever elected into office on her own accord. she rose up into that position after he was taken off in hand justifies where he was given $25,000 and promised to be a friend to somebody when he was ain office and he was 32 years old. this goes back and shows the deep roots of intimidation or corruption that can take place in jersey and also hound press zimmer was with the election of chris christie and how much she believed in him. >> we have to move forward for a second. i have to get a quick yes or no. mark, should chris christie have gone down to south florida with megadonors this weekend or should he have stayed in new jersey? >> yes, because if he is going to survive and thrive he needs to do his job and part of his job now is being head of the republican governors association. >> robert gibbs, do you agree with that? >> i do. i think mark is right. but understand this. as far as he may travel away from new jersey, his political future is tied to the extent

that this investigation impedes greatly on not just his travels but on what he would like to do over the next four years. >> on his schedule, i think if he cancelled, he is stuck. he has got to function. there is still some dispute over the money mayor zimmer claims hoboken has received only 1% of the 100 million dollars in aid requested for sandy relief. the governor's office, though, is firing back pointing out that the 100 million is from a pot of 300 million for flood mitigation efforts. one-third of all the funds. in all, $14 billion has been requested statewide p.m. according to the governor's office, hoboken has received $70 million in federal relief funds. while mayor zimmer did -- while mayor zimmer did not endorse christie last year, she did express her support for the governor on twitter. in august, she tweeted to be clear i'm very glad governor

christie has been our governor. i'm not endorsing because of hoboken's nonmayoral race and later that day, he has done a great job for new jersey and hoboken. we have a nonpartisan mayor election on november 5th. zimmer explained why she is speaking out now after having what once was a promising partnership with the governor. >> i think he has done great things for the state of new jersey. i think i was the first democrat to stand behind him on the 2% tax cut and i think it's done a lot. i know it's done a lot for hoboken and the state. arbitration reform definitely helped hoboken in our negotiations with the unions. it's made a difference. so believe me, that is part of the reason this is a very difficult choice to come forward. the reality is for me that he got most -- he got more votes than di in hoboken and i would say most of my supporters support governor christie so my supporters are going to be -- they are going to be stunned and i understand that, but i hope

they will understand that i have no choice. we have to make sure that we get some of this sandy funding. >> can i say something? so i haven't, you know -- i've been watching this from a distance. i guess it broke this weekend. i see the tweets. you guys are talking about the radio interview. what does it say about do you have a quote from the radio interview? >> no. i have a quote from part of kornack iradio interview which we are pulling and we are going to find. u.s. attorneys are reviewing mayor zimmer's diary as a part of the investigation and this is what she wrote in her diary, she says. , you know, when she was let down by the lieutenant governor. i thought he was honest. i thought he was moral and i thought he was something different. this week, i find out his cut from the same corrupt cloth i've been fighting the last four years.

i am so disappointed it literally brings tears to my eyes. >> when was that? >> when she was approached in the parking lot by -- >> when was that? >> last summer, i think? >> if that's the case, why is she tweeting out what a great die -- i'm just saying, if somebody shook knee down like that, tell me, i don't know if i have the time frame, i would be tweeting out -- no, i need an answer here. do i have the time frame wrong? >> i don't find that crazy. >> what shall she is tweeting out what a great guy he is? >> she wasn't going public. i'm not sure -- i don't know -- >> no, no, i'm saying if you were so let down and you call him, quote, corrupt. >> in her private diary. >> why are you saying he is a great guy publicly? that is lying to your own people. >> she is trying to get relief aid for her public.

>> wait a second. if somebody tries to shake me down and i'm in public office i go to the u.s. attorney. if i really believe i've been shaken down and somebody is treating me corrupt, then i go in their face and i say, listen, give me the money now. >> that's right. >> if you don't give me the money. >> i'm going public. >> i'm going public with what your lieutenant governor said in the office and we will have an investigation here. >> you're made of sterner stuff. >> no. she on the radio saying what a great guy he is? he is either a corrupt thug she is saying he is. >> or the lieutenant governor is. >> or the lieutenant governor is or the administration is or had he is a great guy. if she is willing to go public and vouch for something that is corrupt, an administration that is corrupt, what does that say about her character? she can't have it both ways. >> a whistle-blower.

>> we are not adviviscerating. >> everybody is putting a halo over her. i bring up question about timing and i didn't even know this story. >> she may or may not be telling the truth. >> i'm not saying she is not telling the truth. i'm saying something much worse. let me talk. i'm saying something much worse. i've heard what a saint she is and how horrible chris christie is on twitter all weekend. all i'm saying is if you -- i would never in a million years go to constituents who voted for me and say that a governor is a good man that i support and i'm asking them to vote for him if i thought he was so corrupt that it literally brought tears to my eyes. that is a question of character and you can't have it would tbo. >> by the way, thomas, chris christie is being eviscerated and rightfully so. we have to watch out for the pylon. i don't know if she is telling the truth. i'm not convinced.

i can't wait to hear from steve kornacki. i don't know why the radio interview is not brought up. i hope you find. i would like to hear it. >> like chris christie's weekend. >> this is a first impression for me and i think first impression for a lot of people. i did music all weekend. i saw people -- >> but your gut -- >> people kept tweeting me about steve kornacki and are you watching his abusive crap and why aren't you doing what he is doing? i had to sit in a coffee shop. >> you're a bad man. >> what i'm saying is we don't know the bottom line, what the bottom line is here. my first reaction here is, though, as it unfolds that you don't vouch for something thaw think is corrupt. am i wrong? >> please explain, thomas. >> well, gosh. i haven't run for public office

so i don't know. >> raise the question that you think is important or crazy? >> certainly you should raise questions but i think the mayor's reasoning for coming forward now there is daylight brought forward in another situation with the gwb. >> the daylight she was shook down in the parking lot was not enough for her? >> no. >> maybe she didn't think that -- >> do you want to know what i would say if lieutenant governor tried to shake me down in a parking lot? really you're not going to say this? i am and you guys are going to give me the money that this town deserves, that you've promised us or you're going to have a big problem our hands. have a nice day! then my diary would have been different. >> has not given an emphatic denial. if i watch steve kornacki's show on saturday and watch the mayor late out her personal diary and show the transcript where cher father dies and the shake down of the shop where she ends

saying i love my husband and my kids, if i were the lieutenant governor, i'd take to twitter and get my press agent and get everybody i can to say she is a liar and this does not happen. the lieutenant governor and christie have not done that. we are 48 hours later. no one is denying that this happened. >> relatively short time. >> what is that? >> i'm not denying it happened. >> i'm saying from the christie camp or from the lieutenant governor's camp, i would be enraged and say you are -- with these accusations of political intimidation. it's not true. now you're trying to reverse and intimidate us into making sure you get money. >> the only thing i'd say about that is i was critical of chris christie not coming out the next day after this broke and i was talking to everybody the next day in a press conference. i was getting my facts lined up. there is an investigation going on. i don't think we dam her because it broke on a saturday and it's 6:19 on monday morning and she

hasn't talked yet and will have to come forward. if there is going to be an investigation then she has to talk under oath. >> the relatively short time chris christie has been mayor of new jersey towns have crumbled in the face of him making demands on them. i'm not surprised if her chronology is correct and could be true and may not reflect good character on her part to object. but chris christie and his team have they said this is the way it's going to be and gone along with it? many. >> you have the option of, robert gibbs, bring you in here. i know you feel lonely down there. there is the option of keeping quiet and being angry and going what a scum bag those people are, which is an option reserved to somebody who is not met of tougher meddle as you said or lathering with praise which

seems to be a very strange thing to do. >> i think she clearly felt the best way to get the money she and her city wanted was to go that latter route. i think as has been said on the set, i think the landscape of new jersey is littered with people that tried to do what you are suggesting she might -- should have done that have been shouted down by christie or by christie's team and i think -- look. that is what this is going to open up some questions about, are there others who have felt intimidated? are there others who have been pushed on that kept quiet because a governor was heading towards re-election with 60% of the vote? they kept quiet when they probably should have spoken up and now come forward because, all of a sudden, a much more receptive audience to listening to a culture of intimidation than there might have been just a few weeks ago. >> i said it and there is

another question of character. you keep quiet when the approval ratings are 60%. >> do you? >> no, i'm saying she did. when his approval rating was 60% and he was going to win and looked like a guy to be a friend with, she is his friend. >> she is mayor! i mean, she is trying to get money for the city. my guess is that she probably figured that the best way to get flood relief for hoboken was not to attack the person that is giving out the flood money for hoe bokon. >> there is a difference between attacking a person and just keeping quiet. >> no, three things that could happen. first of all, attack the person or keep quiet are two choice. the third to go back in her face and tell her that money better be there monday morning. politics is not just what you see on the outside. you would know this more than i would. it's what happens behind the scenes. cutting deals isn't pretty. and this may be low rent. i don't know if there is anything illegal about it but it is not pretty behind the scenes and people do a lot of stuff to

try and get what they need and give a little and take a little and sometimes it just gets ugly. you get in their face. and you tell them to -- >> it happens. >> then you get your money. >> it would be shocking to people it even happens to people in washington, d.c. it happens with every administration. >> but my point is if i were her, i would have gotten back in the face right then and there and would have written in my diary how proud of myself i was for getting that money or for calling her out for corruption and then i would have perhaps taken another about breaking up with christie if she doesn't in her heart believe it. >> the mayor wrote in the diary exactly what the lieutenant governor said, if you ever raise this, i will deny it. >> so? what did she say in response to that? >> i think the mayor -- >> because i would have said, really? i'm raising this right now with you. get in my face. we are not finished. right? look. and you're speechless.

>> i'm speechless over the whole thing because -- >> i'm just saying. isn't this business? >> lack of judgment on people's character and from the mayor to whoever the governor is surrounding himself with. a lot of behind the scenes going on around here. it gets to i'll scratch your back if you scratch mine. a lot of deals get done that way. >> not the amount of power being the mayor of hoboken and the mayor of new jersey -- governor of new jersey. the governor's approval rating at 65%. >> really? >> that is a paraphrase. >> that is a paraphrase. >> i don't know. coming up on "morning joe," we have got a lot to talk about. new yorker david remick will join us with a great profile and reverend al sharpton here and chuck todd and retired general

stanley mcchrystal. we will get that interview. >> steve is coming. i want to talk to -- >> zimmer. >> yeah. >> is that her first name? >> maybe i'm missing something. first, here is bill karins with a check of the forecast. bill, i hear we got snow coming here? >> we do. washington, d.c. looking for their biggest snowstorm in three years. not saying much down there because they have been in a snow drought. that looks to end tomorrow. almost guaranteed. this is where the storm's origins are. up here in north dakota that is going to be the beginning of it. first thing that has to happen is the temperatures have to cool off. that will happen today as the colder air moves in and winter storm watches from north virginia and west virginia up i-95. the snow will begin tuesday morning during the mid-morning especially d.c., philadelphia, and ending late tuesday night. a lot of people will be shoveling probably before they go to bed tuesday night and once again maybe early wednesday morning out there on cape cod and long island. snow totals this isn't a huge

snowstorm but that white shows the potential for 3 to 6 and maybe a little more than that out on cape cod and possibly out on extreme eastern long island. my snow totals look like this for tomorrow's storm. cape cod 6 to 12 and long island 4 to 8 and d.c. and baltimore and philadelphialy 3 to 6 and less than that in new york city. it's very cold so the roads will be very slippery and all of that snow will be sticking. you're watching "morning joe." ♪ ♪ monday morning it was all i. hoped it it would be ♪ [ male announcer ] this is the story of the little room over the pizza place on chestnut street the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia and the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more.

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♪ time to take a look at the morning papers. "the new york times" ukraine's president will meet with opposition leaders today after protesters turned violent in the capital yesterday. the protesters were reaction to

tough anti-protest legislation something opponents say pave the way for a police state. the ray will is the latest in a cycle of public protesters after the country dramatically changed its policies away from the u and towards russia. >> 40 security experts are sent to sochi. the news coming despite warnings of terror attacks from islamic extremist groups surrounding the game. two men claimed responsibility for the attacks in russia last month. officials say the u.s. is respecting russia's wishes for minimal u.s. intelligence presence but there is a growing concern about terrorism at these olympic games. from our "parade" of papers. the sparks tribune. wildlife officials in sparks, nevada, baffled by the death of 100,000 fish at a local marina.

they washed up along the shore last month but more may have sank to the bottom. scientists say the issue could be low oxygen levels due to cold weather, but the actual cause is still pending test results. "the san francisco chronicle." amazon is developing a new service and amazon will predict what customers want and ship items before the order is placed? the online retailer says it will use order history and wish list items to predict buyers patterns and they say the practice may help eliminate shipping delays. the first lady had a star studded affair at the white house and it featured a performance by beyonce. the guest list included paul mccartney and they were asked to wear dancing attire and eat

before you come. how exciting andrew must be who has a birthday today. >> my goodness! >> happy birthday, andrew! >> director j.j. abrams will shoot in may and england and say casting details are coming soon. the film is expected to hit theaters in december 2015. >> he will like that. >> big birthday present for andrew. next month, fans can expect a star-studded guest lineup. jimmy fallon kicks off his night show gig with will smith and performance by u2. jay leno's gerl episode will feature billy crystal who was one of his guests when he made his "the tonight show" debut. >> with us now let's bring in the chief white house correspondent for politico, mike allen, who is here with the morning "playboy." ed gillespie is the latest to

jump in the 2014 campaign. how is he going to fare and what is happening nationwide with the whole bush image thing? is it going to be a negative or a positive for him? >> joe, we are seeing a real softening in the bush image and there is a couple of signs of this. part of it is apuffection for t first bush. passage of time always helps meese guys. and people are seeing that president obama is having some of the same problems president bush did and adopting some of the same national security problems. you go to ed gillespie's page. you go in and you see that he was the counselor to president bush for the last 18 months of the bush administration. joe, this is going to be a great race. both sides are going to have tons of money.

mark warner who is certainly the favorite but work downstate virginia this week. ed gillespie launches helped him with fund-raising. i got an e-mail with the subject line this weekend, "here we go." and mark warner raising money and telling his donors he is running against a very credible washington insider. >> we will see how that goes. mike allen, thank you so much. the play that sent the seahawks to the super bowl and the postgame interview that may have gotten more attention. >> what happened there? >> "morning joe" sports is straight ahead. ♪ should not all those presents make the cut ♪ ♪ no need to chuck, donate or burn them ♪ ♪ just pack them in our flat rate box ♪ ♪ we'll come to your door and return them ♪ ♪ gifts you bought but never gave away ♪

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here we go. time for sports. the super bowl matchup is set for february 2nd. let's start with the later game that got us here. 49ers and seahawks. seattle's 12th man famous for getting loud but san francisco would quiet them pretty early on. in the second quarter, colin kaepernick takes off out of the pocket and running for 58 yards. look at him go and then getting tackled. that would set them up for a toiche touchdown. in the second half, seahawks

answer back and marshawn lynch. seattle down by four. wilson airs it out to jermaine kearse who hauls it in there. they take a field goal there and seattle taking -- time ticking down. kaepernick with one last chance. cornerback richard sherman breaks up the pass and an interception there. after the game, sideline reporter erin andrews. >> let's send you down to the field and erin andrews. >> joe, thank you so much. richard, let moo he me ask you the final play. take me through it. >> i'm the best corner in the claim game sh! when you try me a sorry like crabtree, that's what you get! don't you ever talk about me! >> who was talking about you? >> crabtree. don't you open your mouth about the best or i'll shut you up

real quick! >> before -- joe, back over to you! >> who is he talking about erin is going. >> good job, erin. that was hilarious. >> lob is legion of boos. >> what? >> the legion of boom. >> what is that? >> legion of boom. >> what does it mean? >> i would do the move for you but my back hurts. disabled list. >> what does it mean? >> legion of boom! >> what does it mean? >> boom! they hit people hard, i guess. >> crabtree is awesome. >> seattle now heads on to its second scramble in franchise history where they will face the future hall of fame quarterback here. would it be tom brady and the patriots or peyton manning and the broncos? knowshon moreno takes this one 28 yards.

that would set up this touchdown for peyton manning to his tight end jacob tamme. the broncos rolling 27-16 victory. february 2nd, the broncos face the seahawks at metlife stadium in east rutherford, new jersey. the number one ranked offense in the nfl versus the number one ranked defense. manning's third trip to the super bowl but don't expect to go unless you're independently wealthy. stubhub has prices ranges up to $800. >> are you kidding me? >> maybe it's for a pair. >> i don't know. >> look on who is up next? this is going to be exciting. >> this is going to be good. msnbc's own steve kornacki. >> he broke the news over the weekend. we will be right back. [ male announcer ] marie callender's knows

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♪ he was disappointed but i wouldn't say that he was angry. i mean, he was disappointed and, you know, said that he would keep asking and i said we can keep the conversation going but, you know, i don't expect to be changing my position. there is a lot less than i was extreme disappointed in. at the time, i was angry because i felt like the focus was on the shore. it was anything but 20/20 hindsight and the context we are in right now, you can always look back and say, okay, it was a res koougs. i think all mayors are reflecting now and thinking about it. i really hope that that is not the case. >> that was dawn zimmer on the radio talking about the endorsement part of this. joining us now is the host of

"up" "msnbc, steve kornacki. welcome. good to have you. so talk to us about dawn zimmer and your interview with her. i just -- we just finally played the part of the radio interview i was talking about because i think what is so interesting is what she revealed to you from her diary and what she revealed on the radio recently before these revelations came up. she was sort of torn as to whether or not to believe that there might have been retribution about the endorsement and doesn't remember something she wrote in her diary months ago to cause her to get tears in her eyes and think chris christie is corrupt. does anything there not work or add up to you? i would remember that moment. >> i'm not -- what i would say if you believe the story she told on owner air and believe the diary she shared bus and believe the two high ranking members of the christie administration directly linked sandy aid to a project is odd to

lodge and why she was at the telling the story she told us on the air and a serious allegation to lodge on. either you're going to do it or not. if there is a radio intuerview and if you believe her story my take would be trying to talk around the question a few weeks ago. either you're coming forward or not. she came forward saturday. the united states attorney for new jersey is now assessing what she said in our show because she was there yesterday afternoon talking to them about what she talked to us about. >> then you have twitter comments saying that chris christie and the administration, they are great and supporting them. >> but, again, that is another part of this that i think just for the sake of context. i'm not here to speak for dawn zimmer but i am here to speak to the contents of the story. the important thing to remember i think if you look at this from outside new jersey saying democratic mayor, republican governor, republican governor is going through some tough times, democratic mayor comes out of the woodwork. i think the christie statement.

let's keep in mind dawn's story. she was a democratic ally of chris christie. when he came out with a property tax cap plan one of the first mayors in the state of new jersey to invite him to her city was dawn zimmer. >> she said in one much tweets he has done a great job for new jersey and hoboken. >> she said that on our show saturday. the context i want people to understand. even after all this and what she shared in the show on saturday she sat at a table like this in this set on saturday and she told us i still think he has done very good things for the state of new jersey. >> how can you say that and be consistent with he has a corrupt administration and so corrupt i thought it was going to be different it brought tears to my eyes and doesn't seem to line up straight. i'm asking you as a human being. would you say if somebody was a part of a corrupt administration that was so corrupt it brought tears to your eyes they would be doing, quote, great things for

your city? >> we asked her about that. >> i'm asking you. i'm not being difficult. i'm just saying would you say that somebody is doing great things for your city or state if you're so corrupt it brought tears to their eyes? >> i'm not here to speak what i would do in that situation and here to speak to the context of the story. >> have you no opinion on that? >> i do. >> i think it's totally understandable. it may not be the right thing to do but i think from a human and political point of view it's totally understandable. >> why is that? >> because she still needed stuff from the state. >> assuming she needed stuff when he was at 65% and powerful, then it was okay to say he's a great guy? >> i don't know if it's the right thing to do. i'm saying it's understandable. >> by the way, i'm not shocked. this happens in politics all the time. but i'll be really honest with you it disgusted me when it happened in congress. newt was popular and you have people coming up to me thinking

i think i'm immoral what you're doing to newt. when his popularity dropped, they were ready to run him out on the rail. >> i want people to understand about the context of this, this is not somebody who had an adversarial relationship. it's a complex relationship where it's not like she was sitting there for four years enemies with this guy and just waiting for this moment to come forward. >> i understand that. the only point i'm making it speaks to somebody's character if they say they think a governor is still doing a great job and, at the same time, she says the administration is corrupt. >> i actually -- >> let me say political character. can i just say this, though? >> then i need to talk. >> i just got to say, i haven't operated in new jersey before. i haven't been a mayor in new jersey before. you say it's one of the five most corrupt states in america.

who knows. maybe i just don't understand the pressures that are on mayors in a corrupt environment like that. >> here is what is interesting to me about it because i kind of understand the situation she's in. from the perspective that i've been taking getting hit online because i say, and truthfully so, i'm friend with him and his wife and i like him very much. i also say, and the crazy people on twitter never hear this. this looks bad. i haven't met a person who doesn't think that he didn't know. i haven't met a person who doesn't think this story doesn't have legs. >> about the bridge? >> absolutely. >> yeah. >> and i haven't met a person, including myself, who wants to know why he didn't ask bridget anne kelly what is going on and it will me before before you leave and didn't question why when the two people resigned and didn't see the coverage and didn't see this coming. i just don't get it and it doesn't look good. i'm not done.

so i do understand the situation she's in because i have two different -- four different levels of dynamics going on with my relationship with chris christie and his wife, and this story. and that is okay. what i don't get is, first of all, her never mentioning this until now. let me finish. >> go ahead. >> secondly, the story about the lieutenant governor, i just don't understand why you don't get back in the person's face. it never works, especially, quite frankly, between two women to cow down and walk away all nervous and upset. get right back and you demand the respect you deserve and you do on it because that's what you've been elected to do and i wouldn't cave to that. i don't get caving to that. >> you're saying you don't get caving to that but i think if she caved there will be a guy gang tick development in hoboken.

hold on. let me just put it another way at looking at. this can say it was a cowardly act of not coming forward in the face of the lieutenant governor but in way she did stand up because if her story is true there is not a giant talker in north hoboken today because she did not give in to the extortion attempt. she is saying all she had to do, according to her story, say yes to a project development in her town and she gets the sandy money. she did not give in and did not get the sandy money. >> i would have gotten the sandy money. >> you can say that is a form of caving. >> part one of our weekend with zimmer is your discussion with her and part two of her going she said yesterday to the u.s. attorney and talking. have you figured out what federal crimes might have been committed? >> no. is there a question what the u.s. attorney is going to do with this and the chairman of a committee looking into this say they might fold this into their inquiry. the senate and state senate

looking at it and they want the state -- this is a bipartisan group supported by the governor and the legislature. it has the power of subpoena and not prosecutorial power and wants them to look at look into it as well. i don't know if a specific federal crime is broken. if it be established sta sandy mon -- that sandy money was held up. >> is the lieutenant governor speaking today? do we know? >> i haven't heard. >> i believe she is. >> she is not expected to take questions. >> she needs to take some questions pretty soon. they need to get their stories straight. >> she is pretty low profile figure. >> not any more. this does seem to speak to the much larger culture. sort of separated from the whole bridge scandal but it seems to speak to a culture. you worked in new jersey. i know we got to go. they keep yelling at me, we got to go.

but is new jersey different, say, than iowa, than florida, than other states? >> i think so. i think the reason why there's so much more corruption and story of corruption in jersey is development. i think the intersection of local politics with the incredible available lands and all of the new county boards and all agencies have to give approvals, so many different levers there to be pressed to stop and move a project toward at the state and county and federal level and so much money involved there and frankly so little oversight. new jersey doesn't have its own television station so it's easy to get away with stuff too. when you talk about corruption in jersey, it comes back to development. >> steve, great work. >> we will be right back. ♪

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is it bad, mark? coming up -- twirl is going wild. coming up at the top of the hour, "the new yorker" david remnick is coming up. >> a great piece he wrote. >> absolutely. chuck todd and reverend al sharpton making a speech in honor of the dr. martin luther king jr. holiday. "morning joe" is back in a moment. [ laughing ]

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welcome back to "morning joe." mark halpern and thomas roberts and robert gibbs is with us and joining the table is david remnick and host of the daily rundown, chuck todd and host of msnbc "politics nation," the reverend al sharpton. we will get to the latest with chris christie in a moment. just to let you all know, all six of you, we will do a simulcast for the "today" show.

so when i say zip t i actually mean it. >> you mean it this time? >> can you take me seriously? >> we can. david remnick, a great article on president obama. >> thank you. >> i was talking to you about the self-warawareness. i thought he showed that which you say that is not a character or trait we wpt in our presidents but a place in history. talk about how he describes himself in history right now? >> he has had a terrible year i think everybody would agree. william daley told my chief of staff after 2014, no one cares what obama does which is maybe and this exaggeration and you still have the power of the presidency. but it's crucial because all of the air gets sucked out of the room once those mid terms come around and the next presidential election starts. i think this is a guy who is starting to see that he's not going to get major legislation on so many things that he would

want to for all of the reasons that we know and that the ways to affect the argument and the ways to affect his history are more subtle and they have to do with the bully pulpit and have to do with some degree with the executive orders but it has to do with changing the argument. so if he can change the argument on income and inequality and inequality of opportunity he has to do it in ways he wouldn't have done three years ago. >> talk about how he sees himself in the river of history. >> well, i think -- you know, he is an unusual philosophical person and to hear a president sitting in office being philosophical -- >> what did he tell you? >> that he said, you know, that our history is a long history and you're trying to write your one little paragraph and that is not normally the way wee see it day-to-day. we are seeing it as crisis, the second, yelling at each other and arguing. but the big currents of history are things that you can adjust only slightly, that is the way

he is seeing it. i was as leaving the oval office at one point, we had been discussing the great man theory of history, whether great men and women affect history, would occurrence of history affect things more. he said, you know, i'm glad that the president of the united states cannot completely transform american society. absolutely glad of that. >> you write, in part, this. he said to be a reluckant politician and aloof -- >> i'm not saying that. >> he is said to be. >> we are reading your piece. you wrote this. >> unwilling to jolly his allies along the favoritirway and take iron to his enemies. no one in the capital fears him. he gives a great speech but is a poor executive. doesn't it seem as if he hates the job and so on. this is the knowing talk on wall

street, on k-street, on capitol hill, in green rooms. the "morning joe" consensus. there are other ways to assess the political skills of a president who won two terms as only 17 and 44 presidents have and did so as a black man with an african-american father and a peculiar name. one consonant away from that of the world's most notorious terrorist. >> how does he deal with this? >> with a lot of push-back. >> there has to be a part of bush 41 in him who when advisers came attacking him if you're so gd smart why aren't you president of the united states? >> it's a good point. look. the big comparison that you always hear, we have discussed it at this table is with lbj. he wants to albj was in a different political atmosphere. he had supermajorities in both

houses, the house and the senate and inheriting a political atmosphere post-assassination of john f. kennedy and he did it and no question that lyndon johnson was a remarkable arm-twister and threatener and all of those things. i think what obama believes about the presidency is those skills are the at the margins. personal relationships we talk about all the time. that is at the margin. the big systemic factors are what controls politics. that -- right now, he has got a congress that is not going to pass much at all. he'll be very lucky if he got immigration through. i think mark would agree. most of the ambitions that he would shoot for are not going to happen. >> reverend al, you want to chime in on this conversation? what do you think? >> well, i think you cannot underestimate the fact that a

lot of members of congress are there because they promised their constituents in the midterm elections, the tea party crowd, that they were there for specific reasons that they were not going to be flexible. so i think that it's a little naive for some to think that if president obama somehow started socializing with them and hanging out with them and babysit their children they would turn what that he promised their constituents what they were going to washington for in the first place. he is dealing with a hard ideological block that i don't think will be moved. so i agree with david when you say the presidency is on the margin because i think we have to be real on what those that are there went to washington or have come here to washington for and they are not going to be socialized out of that agenda. >> chuck todd, there was also a fascinating part where david

talked about how the president just detested going from one super rich mansion in san francisco to another, to another, raising money. i think the comparisons -- i would guess the comparisons that would drive him batty the most wouldn't be with lbj but bill clinton who absolutely swallowed that experience up. >> no. look. the two of them, you know, one appears to just hate politics and one appears to love that part of politics. but i'm curious, david. what do you think candidate obama would think of president obama right now as he begins year six? i say this because what struck me the most after reading your piece was the president has given up trying to change the one big thing that he wanted to change when he was running for president in 2008 and that was the culture of this town. the culture of gridlock and the culture of polarization. he seemed as if he was beaten down is not the right word, but

sort of accepting of what he is dealing with, rather than -- and that he has love the ambition to change that aspect. >> it's five years on, chuck. it's five years on. i think he made that discovery pretty quickly. >> no doubt that he was beaten down in your piece. am i wrong? >> i think you're absolutely right. i think at some degree at five years of that battle has taken a toll. how did he come to national fame? he gave a speech in 2004 in which the red states and the blue states, they don't exist, we have the united states, i didn't say it as well, but remember that speech very well. we remember this as a personality of conciliation whose somehow foundational sense he would transcend politics and bring everybody together in washington and that became instantly not the case. is there systemic reasons for it. also, look.

the reagan revolution was a revolution of ideas. i may not have agreed with them at the time or may not now but a revolution of ideas. we are now in the kind of late mannerism face of the reagan revolution in which resentment is far more prominent for ideas for the most part in congress and especially in the house of representatives. and that is important. where we are in a moment of history is important on how a presidency gets -- >> you had great line in there. you said that you had people that thought they got elected carrying a mantle of ronald reagan but they lacked a skill set. >> ideological -- i would say plexibility. again, a lot i don't agree with. the idea that ronald reagan would find a way to come to a political relationship with somebody like gorbachev and change history in the way he did and i give gorbachev the lion's share of the credibility.

>> that is a horrible mistake on you. i'm joking. you could also say -- >> historical credit goes to reagan for that. >> and raising taxes and save social security. >> both had -- ronald reagan knew that social security was an extremely popular program. >> let's turn to the ongoing chris christie saga. we have new allegations this morning of corruption from within chris christie's office. the focus is on the mayor of hoboken now, dawn zimmer, who met with lawyers from the u.s. attorney's office after she accused the governor's office of using hurricane sandy relief funds to leverage political favor. zimmer says back in may she was told by new jersey lieutenant governor kim guadagno unless she supported a project that she

would not receive aid and showed her diary. >> joe, good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah. how are you doing today? >> great. the facts of this are pretty complex. how does it strike you? do you think this is a credible claim or do you look at this as political enemies starting to smell blood in the water and piling on? >> i think it's politics 101. unfortunately, you see it in washington and you see it around the country where if somebody is sitting 65% approval ratings and you're a mayor and you want things for your town you sit there and smile and tweet like she is. chris christie, he's a great guy and a great guy for new jersey. when the investigators start swirling around and there is blood in the water, you then relel in -- reveal in your diary that you wept and there wasn't a santa claus after all and chris christie ran a corruptive administration. this isn't especially shocking but i will tell you it is especially troubling for chris christie's future, political career. a month ago around here we were

all talking off set how he would get conservatives on his side to be the next president of the united states. now the questions are asked off air around the table is he going to survive the next year as governor of new jersey. these are tough, tough times for chris christie. >> as he is in this survival mode, i think we saw a different tact from his and his administration this weekend aggressively pushing back against the hoboken mayor's claim but not on the facts of the story but the network that broke the story, msnbc. a christie spokesperson said msnbc is a partisan network that is hostile to governor christie and almost gleeful in their efforts attacking him. i know governor christie is a frequent guest on your show. what do you make of that allegation? >> they are obviously not talking about "morning joe" because john heilemann calls our show good morning trenton because we love chris christie so much around here but they are troubling questions. listen, you can attack the network if you want to and a lot of go after him gleefully and that is not shocking. but here is the bottom line.

you can push back against whatever network you want to push back against. the lieutenant governor needs to come out today and say that what was said about her in the parking lot is a lie and if she can't do that, they have got a real problem. and i suspect if the u.s. attorney is being talked to, she is going to have to say that under oath. this is chris christie's biggest problem. are there, if chris christie is not telling the truth, are there 15 people that are going to perjure for chris christie and close aids going to run the republican party and run his campaign? we have said it before. if chris christie is telling the truth, he'll be fine. if he is not telling the truth,ly not survive. none of us know the answers to those questions but certainly this weekend was just sort of one more story in this unfolding story that makes a lot of republican donors and this is a big political story here nationwide, starting to scratch their heads going, is this guy really our best chance to beat

hillary clinton in 2016? i think more and more people are waking up to news like this saying, no. >> we know you'll be talking about it around your table and ours as well. joe scarborough, always good to get your perspective. thank you. >> thanks a lot. appreciate it, savannah. can we do something first here now that we are back? i want to to go to robert gibbs. how silly for us to be talking about barack obama and not bring in a guy that was there from the very beginning and worked with him in the administration. have you read david's speech yet, robert? >> i've read most of it. i'm a new yorker subscriber and i always struggle to get to the very end, but, yes, i'm most of the way through. >> why doesn't "new yorker" put out a reader's digest? >> i thought it was a remarkable article. >> it made me much more si sympathetic for the president. let's talk about the piece and the president is talking on nsa on friday, you have to do such

different things as a president than you ever dreamed you were going to have to do and your acceptance speech for either the democratic or the republican nomination. talk about what a grueling five years it's been for him, reading david's article? >> you're certainly struck and chuck mentions it how the president does seem sort of weary, tired, beaten down, pick your description. you know, i do think last year was a really good year to animate this and that is how many things that you didn't think would dominate the news each and every day that dominated not just the news but took energy and enthusiasm away from his agenda? you know? edward snowden is a perfect example, you know, nobody that -- nobody would have thought that you'd spend a decent chunk of last year working on nsa reforms and

allegations about spying. that is the one thing you learn i think most quickly in the white house and that is how much your agenda can be affected by events that are seemingly out of your control, regardless of the fact that you work in a building that is among the most powerful in the world. >> chuck todd? >> you know, david, the other part of your piece that, you know, we are talking about the big large philosophy, you know, his answer on the question about whether opposition is driven by race, he has avoided answering that question for five years. and, to you, gave an answer i've heard many of his aides give but i have not heard him give that answer in public before, sort of acknowledging that, yes, perhaps some of it has to do with the color of his skin. then he does the other side of. but maybe some of the support i get has to do -- >> he has to thread the needle carefully there. he can never talk about the

subject too much. i remember interviewing him years ago and i was asking about race a lot because the book i was writing had -- was mainly had to do with race. and after the interview was over, leaving the oval office and he kind of grabs my shoulder and says, remember, i can't talk about this stuff too much because whatever i say, whatever one word or two words or sentence or paragraph, it becomes a grenade. it becomes so explosive whether it was the skip gates -- incident and this time, he said, look. of course, there's a certain number of people that just don't like me because i'm african-american. and then he very quickly turns around and says, but, of course, there are some people that give me a break because i am. in other words, he wants to show his awareness of that. i look at twitter and what is blowing up on twitter on the right, obama plays the race card in my interview. he didn't do that at all. >> it's absolutely ridiculous.

reverend al, what he said is the truth. you know, he said -- i thought -- again, we have been talking about the incredible self-awareness he shows through this entire piece. he said that, yes, there are a lot of people who are against me because -- i don't even think he said a lot. there are some people who are against me because i'm an african-american. >> exactly. >> he said but there are also a lot of african-americans who support me and some white people who support me because i'm an african-american. >> what he leaves out is how many on one side and how many on the other. you have to fill gh that the latter group is not much in evidence any more. people giving him a break because he is black. and his drop in the polls -- remember, he got the lowest proportion of white vote for any victor in the history of the united states, the lowest proportion of white votes and biggest drop-off in his poll numbers the last year have been among whites. no question this is true. >> but, i mean, i don't know

that we can dig into the polls. reverend al, it could be white liberals who are disappointed, let's say, edward snowden, nsa. you're saying no. >> i don't think there are that many. liberals would have no place to go. >> i know you're not suggesting these people have become racist the past year. >> i'm saying the white liberals might be disappointed about this subject or that subject, but where else are they going to go? >> you're talking about the drop-off though. my point reverend al is if there is a drop-off of white voters, these are white voters who voted for him twice. obviously, there is not a race connection to those votes that have fallen off. >> there is not a race connection to shos votes or many of those votes. i can say this. if the five years he has been in office, in every meeting that i've been in with civil rights leaders having met with the president, i think i've been with all of them, he has discouraged us who firmly

believe a lot of people are against him because he's black and we still do. he has said, no, i don't agree with you pushing that and he's not said anything differently in public than he said in private. what he said to our david in this piece, he has lately, i think, started saying that but he just never used race as the fact against him. though, many of us believe that race has been a factor. so i think he has been very consistent there as long as i've known him and certainly as president. i think he wrongly is blamed for using a race card but i think many of us are frustrated he hasn't brought in race as it relates to him or that he has. >> i think reverend sharpton, it is true that people in the congressional black caucus who are disappointed in president obama for that very reason. >> he's been elected twice, though. >> disappointed in him for not speaking more firmly and clearly

about race in the terms that the reverend is talking about. >> he can't, though. we have said this from 2008 to 2009. i remember a private conversation i had are reverend al how frustrating the years would be for him and other civil rights leaders because the president couldn't say certain things about race and bill clinton could. >> it's a careful conversation. when you ask him about income or inequality of opportunity, or marijuana, he very carefully will say, first it's always about class. it's about poor. then he'll say, of course, the majority of poor people in this country are people of color and so on. he is parsed it out carefully. >> i like what he said about the nfl too. as a person that has railed against violence in the nfl i, of course, was watching all weekend. what he basically did -- i wouldn't let my son play it, but i watch it on weekends. >> for seven hours on a sunday.

>> literally seven hours. >> we got to go. we have blown through break and i apologize. how is he doing as a dad and as a husband? i have to ask on a personal side. >> he is doing fine. i don't know his personal life. >> you talk about his children. it's tough enough raising teenage daughters when you're in anonymity but how is that going? >> i don't know how they do it. the idea of raising children in the white house, raising children is hard enough. i can vouch to that. to do it in those kind of weird circumstances is kind of a miracle. >> yeah. hey, chuck, what about chris christie? what do the weekend developments mean for chris? >> a couple of things. number one, joe, i heard the same stuff from republican donors that you did down in florida. they say that the guy they met this weekend is the shell of his

former self. he was not himself. if that is the guy that is going to be nationally his 2016 hopes are done. as for what is going on in new jersey, i think he is finding out that, you know, he is finding out he made some enemy maybe he didn't know he had made. and now, you know, the kitchen sink is going to get thrown at him. i think it's interesting that his office decided to create -- to basically declare a political war themselves. this is going to get ugly now. you saw giuliani trying to say some democrats are too heart pan -- too partisan to be involved. when you're in a bunker, bunker mentality has set in in team christie for sure. >> let's say this much. he better be right. there better be nothing in there. i don't know how that is possible. >> the great scene in mark and john's book is the republican establishment trying to seduce christie i forget what fancy

club in new york. the degree to which the party was begging for this guy to be the candidate. >> throwing money at him. >> it looks like he is headed toward a very, very different result. >> you never know. >> we will see. we will see if he is telling the truth. you say you don't know how it could happen. we will see. here is the deal. and mark brought this up. there are going to be a lot of people that are going to have to tell the truth under the oath, under oath or risk perjury. if they all go through there and chris christie comes out clean on the other side, we can be sure that he didn't know. >> technically. >> time will tell. >> i think it's technically, i really do. i think it's just as valid to question the latest people that have come in up dawn zimmer and everything that she has said since this broke. >> yeah. >> but that doesn't undermine that there are like four or five huge questions to the story that he has not answered and it

doesn't look good. >> one problem is one thing that seems attractive about him to a lot of people which was this kind of openness, transparency, and some people would say it's bullying, suddenly you can't play that card any more because you look like a big bully. >> you all have been a part of history. this is a 28-minute first segment for the hour. i want to congratulate everybody. we have six or seven segments. >> is it over? >> it's the longest one we have had. david, thank you. great piece. >> yeah. your piece is in "the new yorker." >> chuck, see you on "the daily rundown." reverend al, stay with us, if you can. if you can't, i understand. we didn't get to talk to you too much. coming up next, retired general stanley mcchrystal who weighs on his onetime boss

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♪ here with us now is former commander of the international security assistance force and u.s. forces in afghanistan, retired general stanley mcchrystal. his book is out now in paperb k paperback. >> talk about that in a second. you got a special gig up at yale. talk about your class and the leaders that you're able to talk to, these student leaders. >> thanks. i have now finished -- i'm in my eighth semester and near the end of my fourth year in teaching and course leadership operation is 20 specially selected young people across the graduate and undergraduate. we look at practical leadership. we look at business and political and education and look at changing organizations and we

allow them to exploit themselves and we use case studies and spent a couple of days in gettysbu gettysburg. >> i want to read from your book "my share of the task." this is the part you talk about the deficit of trust between the white house and the military and it's also something, obviously, that secretary gates talked about in his book. eighth year of the war in afghanistan the new president found himself a time sensitive decisions the next ten months sauce the emergence of deficit of trust between the white house and the department of defense. largely arising from the edition making process on afghanistan to me appeared unintentional on both sides. but over time, the effects were costly. you talk about like two ships passing in the night. you had the generals angry at the white house for not giving them everything that they really felt like they needed to do to the task. then you had the president, as secretary gates said, saying no to all of his political advisers and thinking, hey, i'm going to

go with the generals. and, yet, despite the fact you all were trying to work together, seemed to be talking past each other. >> yeah. i think that doris goodwin wrote an amazing book team of rivals. what people is president alabbrm lincoln called the best cabinet he had and called it his cabinet and that assumes you get the best people and bring them together and you automatically have success and like the 2004 dream team in the olympics which then did not win. and so what i really think the focus has to be is on team building. i think you bring in new administration and any administration on either side. they are still forming, storming and norming as a team and the most important thing can you do, particularly if you're going on something, is complexes and endeavors as a war and need to build a team in which trust between individuals and groups is really strong.

i don't think we did that as well as should have been done. >> general, secretary gates suggested there was a misunderstanding or a lack of understanding about the military culture, specifically the point where they ordered the president, the vice president said basically this is an order on afghanistan to the chairman of the joint chiefs. was that your opinion as well that maybe they didn't understand the military culture as well as they should have in the white house? >> i wasn't in that meeting so i certainly can't comment on that. but what i would say is i always had a good, very good relationship with president obama. and i never felt like if he said something that it wasn't clear to me that i knew what he wanted. so i think that -- i think there are differences in culture. i think you start with sort of a suspicion of others if they are not from your culture, no matter whether it's different nationalities or different parts of the government and you got to break that down. >> first of all, thank you for are service. 34 years and then retiring.

so fantastic. i know i speak because my dad was in the army and it only cost 25 bucks for me to be born so when you talk about the relationships that happen at the white house. "the rolling stone" article was one that brought your name in the forefront of american homes. do you regret any of the words you used at that time in talking about the white house and their thoughts on what should be done overseas and we remember that time, you know, the president had run against mccain who would be more of a neocon, but we elected into office president obama who then took over the wars. >> yeah, i was and am loyal to the president. my team was. as you know, there was an investigation later about that article that came out with very different conclusions. i regret everything that went around that particular incident. i would like to have stayed and continue the mission but instances arose that made it appropriate for me to offer my

resignation at that time. so that is what i regret. >> afghanistan today, where are we? >> i think we are in a tough period. clearly tough period politically. there has been a lot of progress made in terms of security. a lot of areas which were not secure are much better. at the same time, there is an uncertainty about the future. and that uncertainty lies and uncertainty about the leadership of president karzai and his team. and also about the relationship between the west, particularly the united states, and afghanistan. and we need to clarify that. everything around the security agreement is making that more difficult and there needs to be an agreement between the two sides, they need to get the afghan people some clarity. that is what they lack now. >> still to this day. reverend al? >> general, you know, when you look at your book and then of course, the "rolling stone" article that was just referred to, and then now with secretary gates book, how problematic is it when you get a new president

who is commander in chief whose goal in this case afghanistan may be different than his predecessors and the general and the military have to adjust to new goals rather than the white house adjusting to the military and the generals? >> well, the military doesn't have goals. we follow the policy of the nation and we had followed the policy of the previous administration. when president obama came in, we understood his position from what he had said before he was elected and then speeches and comments he had made after. so i thought i was at absolutely congruence with what president obama had asked me to do and directed me to do. i don't think the military has a problem following any leadership. what i think we suffered from in this case was as a team, we didn't communicate well enough so we didn't have that -- those ties that allow you to understand what someone is saying without the every specific word being laid out. it's really -- it's like a marriage takes time before you

finish each other's sentences? something in an administration and the military needs to be a part of that team. you need to develop those close ties. >> i want to show a picture. >> go ahead. >> this is general mcchrystal's father. >> wow. >> west point cadet in 1945. the last year of world war ii. >> he died december 10th, 89 years old. winner of four silver stars in korea and vietnam. more importantly to me he was an extraordinary role model. i say did you see the movie "the great san teeny"? and i say he was the opposite. he was quiet. he was humble. my whole life, i never saw him do anything wrong. i never saw him park where you shouldn't. i never saw him take change back when it was incorrectly, not giving it back and i never saw

him make a comment around us, there were six of us, that i didn't admire his whole life. >> wow! i'm trying to think if any of us could say that. that is amazing! thank you very much for being on. a wonderful story about your father. the book is "my share of the task," now out in paperback. general mcchrystal, thank you so much. we will be right back. right. real milk. but it won't cause me discomfort. exactly, because it's milk without the lactose. and it tastes? it's real milk! come on, would i lie about this? [ female announcer ] lactaid. 100% real milk. no discomfort. [ male announcer ] she won't remember this, being carried in your arms. but after a morning spent in the caribbean playing pirates with you in secret coves and afternoons swimming with dolphins, finished with a movie watched against the setting sun, she won't exactly be short on memories.

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43 past the hour. a live look at the martin luther king memorial. vice president is the host of al sharpton's program. >> in washington we have our annual martin luther king day break fast and vice president biden will be the speaker this morning. we talk about where we feel dr. king's dream is, the state of the dream, and the issues that dr. king's life represented. then this afternoon, we are in harlem. i go back late morning and this afternoon we will host at our national headquarters in harlem the senators and others talking about the same thing. it's a big day in the civil rights community but in the nation, everyone ought to focus today on what dr. king was about and that is about fairness and equality and justice for everyone, whether it's community

service or whether it's civil rights activism. everyone ought to engage on something on king day. >> reverend al, thank you very much. we look forward to hearing about the day. >> thank you. up next, doctor's orders. the troubling trend that is driving america's 2.7 trillion director medical bill. libby rosenthal has the latest installment of her eye opening series on the rising cost of health care and she joins us next along with physician emily senay. we will be right back. ♪ never giving you a doubt ♪

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rosenthal. her article looks how the patient costs are skyrocketing as specialist income are soaring. dr. emily senay is also joining us from mt. sinai hospital and weekend correspondent for pbs "news hour." libby, i read this. i thought this makes me so mad because it feels like the patient lose the power to sort of make choices along the way. so give us the crux of the article, first. >> the crux of the article is, yes, patients have lost a lot of choice decision making power. a woman had a small spot as we have all had and she went to a determination as we have all been told we should do. >> right. >> and they said oh, maybe that could be cancer and those are scary words for people. >> right. >> what should i do? so they were told -- she was told oh, you need surgery to take it off. of course, that sets off this -- >> a cascade. >> -- a cascade of procedures. you know?

operations and that is the thing. taking off the little spots counts now as an operation. so, you know, the costs really add up. this woman who had the surgery fought back. she was a good medical consumer. but she good medical consumer. but she ended up with $3,000 in bills. >> okay. for a tiny white spot. >> right. it was something -- >> cancerous, though. >> well, that's a -- yes, presumably, yes. >> okay. >> one of the things that's odd about dermatology is the dermatologist generally does the pathology and then takes it off. so it would be self-referral in another field, but in that field, it's acceptable. >> emily, what are you smirking at? >> well, the case that's highlighted in the article is truly -- i mean, $25,000 in medical bills, $3,000 of which she paid out of pocket, is that correct? >> whoa. yeah. >> yeah. for something that we -- it is called cancer, it's true, but it's very unlikely, very rare to

cause her any serious problems long term. it's not melanoma. it's a simple skin cancer a lot of people have on their face and arms. taken off all the time, probably not using this type of surgical procedure that they used. i think the point of the article, and we were talking about this beforehand, how can i put this? if you're a hammer, everything is a nail. when people come in, and you have the ability to do these types of procedures, you're more likely to get them. and in this environment, where doctors are, frankly, trying to figure out a way to make a living, it invites this sort of overuse possibly. not saying this case it was overuse. but that's sort of the point of this article. how do incentives work to create an environment where a lady can go in for a simple little skin tag and wind up with $25,000 in medical bills? >> libby? >> and we have this notion that medicine always has clear answers, and often there aren't.

there are no clear stud did yous for many, many procedures saying when they're really indicated. you know, someone has something that maybe could be treated with this big surgery, or maybe could be treated with a little cream that would make the then fall off and, you know, if you believe in this procedure, you do it. i would say to emily, in my medical school days, we said, if you go to midas, you get a muffler. >> right. and i'd like to add one more thing, if this lady had come to me in my office years before, and i advised her to wear a hat and sunscreen, and i prevented it, guess how much i'd make for that. >> uh-huh. >> medicine, imperfect market, and the story illustrates that. these are hard questions to answer. crudely, does obamacare make the things less likely or more likely? >> that's a tough one. i think this particular procedure, you know, obamacare mandates, which is generally a good thing, skin checks for

people over 65. so that means if you go to the garden variety dermatologist, there's going to be a lot more found, and that's probably good in the macro sense, but if we treat all of those little things with this kind of aggressive care, we're going to be in trouble. i want to say this particular procedure, for certain kinds of skin cancer, is amazing. you know, but you really have to use it with discrimination. in europe, it's far less used than it is in the united states. and p.s., this person said, i don't care if i have a scar. >> oh, see? couldn't she have stopped at some opponent, i just don't want the plastic surgery part or -- no? >> i think people are afraid to make medical decisions on their own. it is an imperfect marketplace, because people don't really know what they're getting, and they don't have a high degree of confidence about their ability to make those decisions. but to answer your earlier question, i think in the long run, obamacare will make these

things less likely, because the window to transpaernssy has been opened with obamacare. and you can't have a real marketplace unless things are transparent. so we're getting a little taste of transparency in the exchanges, and i'm hopeful for obamacare. am i the only person to say that -- >> no. at this table, i'm usually the only person. but i'm hopeful. that's good to hear. elizabeth rosenthal, the piece is online. dr. emily senay, thank you, as well. >> on tomorrow's show, we'll talk to bill gates and jennifer hudson, and abdy who went from limo driver to oscar nominated actor. ♪

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up next, new allegations against the chris christie administration from the mayor of hoboken, and why she wasnited t tell her story. "morning joe" will be right back. (vo) you are a business pro. seeker of the sublime. you can separate runway ridiculousness... from fashion that flies off the shelves.

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♪ it's great to be here. and i would just like to sincerely apologize to the people of new jersey for this entire incident, and also, it's over, so shut up. >> no, governor, you claim you had no knowledge of the traffic jams in ft. lee. how is that possible? >> i'm a busy man, piers. i've got budgets to balance. i have to work out five times a year. i can't keep track -- i can't keep track of every freakin' idiot i'm trying to screw up. >> are you concerned this will overshadow the rest of your term as governor? >> piers, i will not let this

scandal define the state of new jersey. instead, new jersey will be defined by organized crime, pizza, no-show jobs, a vague chemical smell, and fuhhgetaboutit. it's 8:00 a.m. on the east coast and 5:00 a.m. on the west coast. in washington, we have robert gibbs. we begin with new allegations of corruption wln chris christie's office. dawn zimmer yesterday met with lawyers from the u.s. attorney's office after she accused the governor's office using relief funds to lever political favor. she was told by the lieutenant governor unless she supported a program in hobokehoboken, the c would not receive storm aid. >> the fact is the lieutenant

governor came to hoboken, she pulled me aside in the parking lot, and said, i know it's not right, it should not be connected, and if you tell anyone, i'll deny it. so these -- i mean, the bottom line is, it's not fair for the governor to hold sandy funds hostage for the city of hoboken, because he wants me to give back to one private developer. i cannot give a windfall to one property owner, because the governor wants me to, in exchange for the sandy funds. i'll tell you, i feel like i'm literally between a rock and a hard place. >> why come forward now and not before now? >> well, i probably should have come forward then. this is -- this is probably the hardest thing i've ever done. i probably should have come forward. but i literally -- you know, i literally feel like we -- i have to act in the best interests of hoboken, and we are still at risk of not getting -- there's another group of funding coming through, and we won't get it unless i move forward with the

rockefeller plan. >> a couple of things. mayor zimmer said she's willing to testify under oath about her interaction with the lieutenant governor. the governor reportedly told about 200 top republican donors that his ambitions for the white house were on hold, bluntly saying, "come see me next year." before we move on, mark halprin, what do you make of mayor zimmer's comments. i have a couple of questions about the timing of these comments and the decision to release her diary, and comments she made on the radio directly after the scandal broke. >> where she downplayed where -- she lost me when she said she was between a rock and a hard place. >> obviously, consistent with the notion of not saying she didn't know anything about this kind of stuff.

but now, people are going under oath. i don't think she probably -- i don't know if she was under oath or not when she met with the u.s. attorney. but this is a phase where people go under oath. she has credibility problems as the governor points out, for downplaying this kind of stuff. she's got a story to tell now. and because we're dealing with subpoenas and testimony and people under oath, if she's telling the truth, and other people disagreed with her, that'll come out. >> i don't understand, what are the christie people saying -- like, why does she -- why is her credibility questioned because she waited to come out? this happens in politics. >> right. >> sure. but if she -- if she was so outraged by what happened, they're saying, where was she? why was she saying nice thens about governor christie rather than -- >> yeah, that she would find it hard -- >> instantly going to the press, saying, how dare they connect sandy aid to support for development. but this is part of the problem

for governor christie. i still think the original bridge then if he has a problem, he'll still have the problem. these other things will be endless. >> this is the sort of thing, mika, does this happen in every state? yes, it happens in every state. does this happen in louisiana, in boston -- well, let me go to robert gibbs. i mean, chicago. this sort of thing happens in chicago every 15 minutes. but here's the difference, though, robert, right, tell me if i'm right or wrong, this happens in politics all over the place. the difference is, though, when you've got an investigation, and then somebody goes under oath, and then you can connect the dots to something that -- >> a pattern. >> -- that everybody does, and we saw this during abramoff scandal, then suddenly people do get sent to jail. i remember -- i remember, i think it was bob nay got sent to jail for golfing in scotland, or something like that, and then introducing a bill from

abramoff, and you can get sent to jail for that, if that was the case, there would be only 12 of us on the floor. >> right. >> but it's this sort of thing, we've got an investigation coming um, so suddenly the things that are business as usual all over the place, they could have criminal implications. >> well, there's certainly legal peril, as you pointed out, and i think the danger obviously, christie had to do the press conference that he did, and he did as good a job as he did. that's his sort of final answers, and the question is how much drip, drip, drip gets added to the record that makes those answers seem kind of less sturdy. i think, also, you mentioned this may happen in other places, and it may happen everywhere else. but chris christie's running under a message -- >> exactly. >> -- for higher office that is something different than somebody else. he's not your typical politician. he calls it like he sees it. he'll work with you whether

you're left-handed or right-handed, a democrat or a republican. and if this sort of wipes away that image and replaces it with just another average politician, that makes him fairly undistinctive in running on a national stage. >> as a lieutenant governor, thomas, has she said anything -- >> she has not spoken out. she has an event today, where she's expected to make a statement. tomorrow, they're being sworn in, big party over on ellis island. but if you are a fan of just journalism and good investigative work, and you're not taking sides and you just want to know the truth, steve did a great job of pulling back a layer and using facts and showed when hoboken's mayor got carted off in handcuffs before she got the position.

he was given $25,000 and promised to be a friend to somebody when he was in office, and an up-and-comer, 32 years old. but this goes back and shows the deep roots of intimidation or corruption that can take place in jersey, and how impressed zimmer was with the election of chris christie. how much she believed in him. >> yeah. >> we have to move forward. but i have to get a really quick yes or no. start with you, mark. should chris christie have gone done to south florida with mega donors this weekend, or should he have stayed in new jersey? >> yes, if he's going to survive and thrive, he needs to do his job, and part of the job is being head of the republicgover association. >> and robert gibbs, you agree with that. >> i do. understand this. as far as he may travel away from new jersey, his political future is tied to the extent that this investigation impedes greatly on not just his travels, but on what he'd like to do over the next four years.

>> okay. and, also, on his schedule, i think maybe perhaps if he cancelled, it would look -- i mean, he's just stuck. he's got to function. >> yeah. >> there is still some dispute over the mayor mayor zimmer claims that they've received 1% in the $100 million in aid requested for sandy relief. the governor's office is firing back, saying the $100 million is from a pot of $300 million, one-third of the funds. in all, $14 billion has requested statewide. according to the governor's office, hoboken has already received $70 million in federal relief funds. while mayor zimmer did not -- is that not correct? law mayor zimmer christie on twitter. she said, i'm glad he's been our

governor. and later that job, he's done a great job for new jersey and hoboken. we have a nonpartisan mayoral election on the 5th. zimmer explained why she's speaking out now after having what was once a promising partnership with the governor. >> i think he's done great things for the state of new jersey. i was, i think, the first democrat to stand behind him on the 2% tax cut. and i think it's done -- it's done a lot for hoboken and the state. health care reform, arbitration reform. it helped hoboken in the negotiations with the unions. it's made a difference. believe me, that's part of the reason. this is a very difficult choice to come forward. the reality is, for me, that he -- you know, he got most -- he got more votes than i did in hoboken, and most of my supporters support governor christie. so my supporters will be stunned. i understand that. i hope they'll understand, i have no choice. we have to make sure we get some of sandy funding. >> let me say something.

so i haven't -- i've been watching this from a distance, i guess it broke this weekend. i see the tweets, you guys are talking about the radio interview. what does it say about -- do you have a quote from the radio interview? >> no, i have a quote from part of kornacki's story which makes me think of the radio interview. u.s. attorneys are reviewing her diary as part of the investigation. this is what she wrote in her diary, she says, you know, when she was let down by the lieutenant governor. "i thought he was honest. i thought he was moral. i thought he was something different. this week i find out he's cut from the same corrupt cloth i've been fighting for last four years, i am so disappointed it literally brings tears to my eyes." >> when was that? >> this is when she was approached in the parking lot -- >> when was that, though? >> last summer, i think.

>> this is what i don't understand, if that's the case, why is she tweeting out -- i'm just saying, if somebody shook me down like that, i wouldn't be tweeting out later, tell me whether -- i don't know if i have the time for -- i wouldn't be tweeting out later what a great guy he is and how i have a great partnership and how he's great for the jersey. >> and if i'm writing in my diary -- >> no, i need an answer. do i have time -- >> i don't find that crazy. >> that she's tweeting out what a great -- she wasn't going public. i don't know that -- >> no, no, i'm sorry, if you were so let down, and you call him, quote, corrupt -- >> in her private diary. >> -- why are you saying he's good publicly. >> i think that's what she's saying. >> she's trying to get relief aid. >> she was troeling as as -- >> so i'm sorry if she -- if this is correct -- >> wait a second. if somebody tries to shake me down and i'm in public office, i

go to the state attorney, or i go to the u.s. attorney. if i really believe i've been shaken down and somebody is treating me corrupt, then i go -- i go in their face, and i say, listen, you give me the money now. and if you don't give me the money now, i'm going public with what the lieutenant governor said in the office and we'll have an investigation. >> you're made of stoerner stuff than she is. >> no, on the radio, what i'm saying, he's either a corrupt thug that she's saying he is -- >> or the lieutenant governor is. and the administration is, or he's a great guy. and if she's willing to do public and vouch for something that is corrupt, an administration that is corrupt, what does that say about her character? she can't have it both ways. >> -- whistle-blower. >> not eviscerating here -- >> we're not eviscerating -- you're questioning her credibility. >> putting a halo over here. >> not a halo. >> people all weekend have been putting a halo over here, and i bring up a question about timing.

>> she may or may not be telling the truth, but the chronology -- >> i'm not saying she's not -- [ overlapping speakers ] -- let me talk. i'm saying something much worse. i heard what a saint she is, how horrible she is all weekend. all i'm saying is, if you -- i would never in a million years go to constituents who voted for me and say that a governor is a good man that i support and i'm asking them to vote for him, if i thought he was so corrupt that it literally brought tears to my eyes. that is a question of character, and you can't have it both ways. she's either -- she's either, you know -- >> by the way, thomas, chris christie is being eviscerated, and rightfully so, because things got screwed up in his administration. we have to watch out for pile-on and people getting -- listen, i don't know if she's telling the truth. i'm not convinced. i'm not sure why the radio interview is not being brought up? i want to hear it, please.

i hope you find it. [ overlapping speakers ] >> -- feel chris christie is weakened. >> this is a first impression for me. this is a first impression for -- people kept tweeting me, like steve, are you watching, you're a piece of crap, why aren't you doing what he's doing? well, i tell why, because my kids are out of town at a wedding, and i actually got to sit in the coffee shop, you know, read papers and listen to music. >> you're a bad man. >> no, what i'm saying is that we don't know the bottom lien -- what the bottom line is here. my first reaction, though, as it unfolds, that you don't vouch for somebody that you think is corrupt. am i wrong? >> please explain, thomas. >> well, gosh, i don't run for public office, so i don't know. >> does it raise a question that's important -- >> we can certainly raise question but the mayor's reasoning for coming forward now is there's been daylight brought forward in another situation

with the gwb. >> so when she was shook down in the parking lot was not enough for her? >> maybe she didn't think that -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> -- came up and said to me, really? really? you're not going to say this. well, i am. you guys are going to give me the money that i need, this town deserves, that you promised us or you'll have a big problem on your hands. have a nice day. >> the lieutenant governor -- >> my diary would have been different. >> has not given an emphatic denial. if i watched steve's show on saturday and watched the mayor lay out the personal diary, showed the handwritten script, the beginning, where her father dies and all through the pages of the sheikdown at the shoprite, to the point where she says i love my husband and my kids, if i was lieutenant governor, i'd take to twitter, my press agent, saying, shoo he is a liar, this never happened.

but the lieutenant governor has not done that. christie has not done that. why? here we are, 72, 48 hours, no one is denying this happened. >> if there is going to be an investigation, she'll have to talk under oath. >> in the relatively short time chris christie has been governor, mayors have crumbled in the face of his making demands on him. from a human point of view, i'm not surprised if her chronology is correct. it may not represent good character on her part to not instantly object, but from a human point of view, do you know how many people chris christie and his team has said the way it's going to be? >> there are a couple of options. you have the option of robert gibbs, we'll bring you in here, you feel lonely down there. there's the option of keeping quiet and being angry, going, what a scum bag those people are. >> mm-hmm. >> which is an option reserved to somebody not made of tougher mettle, as you said, or an

option of going out and lathering this administration with praise, when it clearly could be a very strange to do. >> i think she felt like the best way to get the money she and her set wanted was to go that latter route. and has been said on the set, the landscape of new jersey is littered with people that tried to do what you are suggesting she might -- should have done, that have been shouted down by christie or by christie's team. and i think, look, that's what this is going to open up some questions about, are there others who have felt intimidated? are there others who have been pushed on, that kept quiet, because a governor was heading towards re-election with 60% of the vote, that kept quiet when they probably should have spoken up, that are now going to come forward, because all of a sudden, there's a much more receptive audience to listening to a culture of intimidation

than there might have been a few weeks ago? >> coming up on "morning joe," new signs the bush brand may be making a political comeback. and we're not talking about jeb. that's next in the political playbook. more "morning joe" when we come back. your eyes really are unique. in fact, they depend on a unique set of nutrients.

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the protests were a reaction

to tough anti-protest legislation, something opponents say paves the way for a police state. the rally is the latest in a cycle of public protests after the country dramatically changed its policies away from the e.u. and toward russia. >> and it's a fascinating story from the "wall street journal." the u.s. is sending 40 security experts to sochi, fewer than any olympic games over the last decade. the news comes despite warnings of terror attacks from islamic extremist groups surrounding the games. a new video emerged surrounding the attacks in russia last month. the u.s. says they're respecting russia's, but there is a growing concern about terrorism at the olympic games. from the parade of papers, the sparks tribune, wildlife officials in sparks, nevada, are baffled by the death of 100,000 fish at a local marina. dead trout, bass, and catfish

began to wash up along the shore last month, but more may have sank to the bottom. scientists say the issue could be low oxygen levels due to cold weather, but the actual cause is pending test results. and san francisco chronicle, amazon is developing a new program called anticipatory products. they'll ship items before the orders are placed. they say they'll use order history along with wish list items to predict buyers' patterns. amazon says the practice may help eliminate shipping delays. >> "washington post," michelle obama celebrating her 50th birthday on saturday with a star-studded affair at the white house. the party featured a performance by beyonce. the guest list included paul mccartney, samuel l. jackson, smokey robinson, and bill and hillary clinton. invitees were advised to wear dancing attire. >> and from "usa today," the next chapter of the "star wars"

franchise is ready to start production. how excited andrew must be, who has a birthday today. today is andrew's birthday. >> happy birthday. >> j.j. abrams says he'll begin shooting in may in england. abrams said casting details are come soon. it's expected to hit theaters december 2015. >> he will like that. "the los angeles times" big hosting chaens coming to late-night television, and fans can expect a star-studded guest lienup. jimmy fallon kicks off "the tonight show" gig with will smith and performance by u-2. leno's farewell will feature billy crystal, seth meyers will take over the late-night franchise with amy poehler as his first guest. >> and bring in mike here with the morning playbook. so, mike, ed gillespie is the latest person with close ties to

the bush administration to jump in the 2014 campaign. how's he going to fare, and what's happening nationwide with the bush image? is it a negative or positive for him? >> joe, we're seeing a real softens in the bush image. there's a couple signs of this. part of it is affection for the dad, president bush 41, who's been in the news, peter baker's best-selling bush about president bush, a fuller sense. passage of time always helps the guys and people are seeing that president obama is having some of the same problems president bush did in adidn'ting some of the same national security pollties. so go to ed gillespie's senate web page, edforsenate.com, and on the home page, former white house aide. and you go in, and you see he was the counselor to president bush for the last 18 months of the bush administration. so, joe, this is going to be a great race. both sides will have tons of

money. mark warner, democrat, who's certainly the favorite, but he's going to work downstate virginia this week, and ed gillespie's launch has helped him with fund-raising. this week, i got an e-mail with the subject line, here we go. and it's mark warner raising money, saying -- telling his donors he's running against a very credible washington insider. >> politico's meek allen. thank you. coming up, our conversation with stanley mccyrystal. we'll get his take on the push to get all troops out of afghanistan. keeping up with these two is more than a full time job and i don't have time for unreliable companies. angie's list definitely saves me time and money. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today.

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my attorneys and i are currently suing major league baseball for gross misconduct. we're also suing the players union for failing to trick major league baseball. i'm also using steroids for being inside of me. and i'm suing jackie robinson for breaking into the major leagues, which really led to this whole situation in the first place. >> the blaming this on autocorrect? >> i'm attempting too, yes. like, one time i texted bosch, like, what up, son, thinking of

seeing frozen, heard good things. but, like, somehow that auto corrected to just took 100 steroids, need to buy thousands more. this is a-rod, by the way. >> rod, why were you texting with mr. bosh in the first place? >> that's what i was trying to find out. i texted him, lost my phone, who's this? but that got auto corrected to, like, my butt equals, then, and emoji of a steroid needle. >> drake doing a pretty good impression of a-rod. it's not easy to blink that often like a-rod does. good morning, everyone. we're watching quiet weather. that's going to change. a little minisnowstorm headed for mid-atlantic. we'll end the snow drought. three years it's been, since right inside the capitol, two inches of snow. i can almost guarantee that's going to change by tomorrow night. the snowstorm, by the way,

located currently up here around bismarck, grand forks, fargo. i put the temperatures on this map. two things happening. winter's returning. a cold blast is going to move down today. behind it comes the snow. look at that. grand forks at zero right now in minneapolis, the temperature's dropping. who's going to get the most snow. winter storm watches from areas of west virginia, virginia, d.c., richmond, philly, new york, and now, not new england. it really will only be southern new england that has high impacts, including areas of southern connecticut and out there on cape cod. as far as the snow totals go, we're not -- again, not a big block buster storm. if we're ghing to see anything above six inches, most likely cape cod, coastal jersey, and we'll have to watch carefully maryland and delaware. the closer you are to the ocean, the more snow you'll get. cape cod could get 6 to 12. long island, 4 to 8. d.c. now, somewhere around 4 or 5 inches for you. again, the timing of that is coming in about tuesday

midmorning. most intense tuesday afternoon. getting home from work, or the kids from school, tuesday afternoon, is not going to be fun. so we could have early dismissals. that's d.c., baltimore, philly, new york, even boston, too. new york and boston, a little less than the areas to the south. then the other story behind this, here comes the next arctic shot. not as bad as the last one. but tuesday morning, wind chills are low. it snows with wind chills in the single digits, so a light, fluffy snow mid-atlantic, northeast, and wednesday morning when you're out there, shoveling, getting ready for your day, wind chills 0 in new york, 3 in chicago. not only is it going to snow, but another blast of arctic air. this is typically the coldest week of the winter. we get past this, on average, things begin to warm up as the days get longer. coming up on "morning joe," more of joe and mika's interview with stanley mccyrystal. his take on robert gates' new book. plus, prince harry. he's trading in helicopters for

a desk job. but that's not the only change shaking up the royal family. a rare "morning joe" buckingham palace live report, just ahead on "morning joe." you're saying i can get at&t's network with a data plan and unlimited talk and text for as low as $45 a month? $45 a month. wow...no annual contract. no annual contract. no long-term agreement.

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delicious, but say i press a few out flat, add some beef, sloppy joe sauce and cheese, fold it all up and boom! delicious unsloppy joes perfect for a school night. pillsbury grands biscuits. make dinner pop. welcome back to "morning joe." retired general stanley mccyrystal joined the table this morning. >> that was something. >> amazing. here now is a part of that discussion. >> you had a special gig, now up at yale. >> not bad. >> talk about the class and the leaders you're able to talk to, the student leaders. >> yeah, thanks. i have now finished -- i'm in my eighth semester, nearing the end of my fourth year, and i teach

leadership and operation, jackson institute. 20 specially selected young people from across the graduate and under graduate, and we look at practical leadership. not military. we look at political. we look at business. we look at education. we look at changing organizations, and we allow them to explore themselves and we use case studies and spend a couple days at gettysburg, walking the battlefield. >> that is great. i want to read from your book, "my share of the task," a new preface in it. this is the part where you talk about the deficit of trust between the white house and military, and also something, obviously, that secretary gates talked about in his book. in the eighth year of the war in afghanistan, a new president found himself facing time-sensitive decisions, and the emergence of a deficit of trust, largely arising from the decision making process on afghanistan, unintentional on both sides. but over time, the effects were costly.

you talk about two ships passing in the night. you had the generals angry at the white house for not giving them everything that they really felt like they needed to do the task, and then you had the president, as secretary gates said, saying no to all of his political advisors, and think g thinking, hey, i'm going to go with the generals. and yet, despite the fact you all were trying to work together, seemed to be talking past each other. >> yeah, i think doris goodwin kerns wrote an amazing book, "team of rivals," and what you see, president lincoln found the best talent and brought them into his cabinet. and people think, you have the best people and you automatically have success. it's like the 2004 dream team for the olympics, which then did not win. and so, what i really think the focus has to be is on team building, and i think you bring a new administration in, any administration, on either side, they are still forming,

storming, and norming as a team. then trying to work with military, who probably don't have personal relationships there. the most important thing you could do, particularly if you're going to go on something as complex as an endeavor as a war, you need to build a team in which trust between individuals and groups is really strong. we didn't do that as well as should have been done. >> general, secretary gates suggested there was a misunderstanding or a lack of understanding about the military culture, specifically the point where they ordered the president, the vice president said, basically, this is an order on afghanistan to the chairman of the joent chiefs. was that your opinion, as well, that maybe they didn't understand the military culture as well as they should have in the white house? >> i wasn't in that meeting, so i certainly can't comment on that. but what i would say is i always had a good -- very good relationship with president obama, and i never felt like if he said something that it wasn't clear to me, that i knew what he wanted.

so i think that -- i think there are differences in culture. i think you start with a sort of suspicion of others, if they're not from your culture, no matter whether it's different nationalities or different parts of the government, and you have to break that down. >> first of all, thank you for your service. 34 years, and then retiring. fantastic. i know -- i speak, because my dad was in the army, and it only cost 25 bucks for me to be born. grateful to the insurance. but when you talk about the relationships that happen at the white house, obviously the "rolling stone" article was one that brought your name into the forefront of american homes. do you regret any of the words that you used at that time in talking about the white house and their thoughts on what should be done overseas? and we remember that time, you know, the president had run against john mccain, who would be a neocon, but we elected president obama, who took over the wars. >> i am and i was loyal to the

president. and my team was. there was an investigation about that article that came out with different conclusions. i regret everything that went around that particular instance. i would liked to have stayed and continued the mission. instances arose that made it appropriate for me to offer my resignation at the time. so that's what i regret. >> afghanistan today. where are we in. >> well, i think we're a tough period, clearly tough period politically. there's been a lot of progress made in terms of security. a lot of areas which were not secure are much better. at the same time, there's an uncertainty about the future, and that uncertainty lies in uncertainty about the leadership of president karzai and his team, and about the relationship between the west, particularly the united states, and afghanistan. and we need to clarify that. everything around the security agreement is making that more difficult. there needs to be an agreement between the two sides. they need to give the afghan people some clarity. that's what they lack. >> yeah.

>> still to this day. reverend al. >> general, you know when you look at your book and then, of course, the "rolling stone" article that was referred to, and then, now, with secretary gates' book, how problematic is it when you get a new president who is commander in chief, whose goals, in this case, afghanistan, may be different than his predecessor's, and the generals and the military have to adjust new goals rather than the white house adjusting to the military and the generals? >> well, the military doesn't have goals. we follow the policy of the nation, and we had followed the policy of the previous administration. and when president obama came in, we understood his position from what he had said before he was elected and then speeches he had made after. i thought i was in absolute congruence with what president obama had asked me to do. i don't think the military has

trouble following any leadership. what we suffered from in this case was as a team, we didn't communicate well enough, so we didn't have that -- those ties that allow you to understand what someone's saying without every specific word being laid out. it's really -- it's like a marriage, takes time before you finish each other's sentences. something in the administration and the military needs to be a part of the team, you need to develop the close ties. >> all right. the book -- >> i want to show a picture before we -- >> oh, go ahead. >> general mccyrystal's father. >> wow. >> west point cadet, 1945, obviously, the last year of world war ii. he taught you a thing or two about leadership, didn't he? >> he did. he died december 10th, 89 years old, winner of four silver stars in korea and vietnam. but most importantly to me, he was this extraordinary role model. i describe people, my father, i said, did you see the movie, "the great santini"?

they said, yeah. i said he was the opposite. he was humble, self-effacing. and in my whole life, i never saw him do anything wrong. i never saw him park where you shouldn't. i never saw him take change back incorrect, without giving it back, and i never saw him make comments about somebody or something, that i didn't admire. his whole life. >> unbelievable. >> wow. >> a great man. >> trying to think if any of us could say that. that's amazing. >> yeah. >> thank you very much for being on. >> thank you, general. >> a wonderful story about your father. the book is "my share of the task," now out in paper back. retired general stan mccyrystal. thank you so much. we'll be right back. ♪ should not all those presents make the cut ♪

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welcome back to "morning joe." there's a disturbing new video raising concerns about security in sochi, and it features two men who warn attacks during the games. they tell russian president vladimir putin there will be a, quote, present for tourists. the men who appear to be making explosive devices also claim responsibility for a pair of suicide bombings last month that killed 34 people. now, u.s. military officials are reportedly drawing up rescue plans for americans in case there is an attack during the olympics, but that would solely depend on russia allowing

foreign troops into the country, something moscow has been reluctant to do in the past. we move now to the royal family where prince harry is trading his pilot gear to organize major commemorative events involving the army. there's a bigger change on the way to the royal family. after five decades on the british throne, it looks like queen elizabeth is transitioning prince charm to take over as king. michelle kosinski is here to explain for us. michelle, that is big news. >> reporter: yeah, it's not as if the queen has any intention of stepping down from her 62-year reign, with prince charles, the longest waiting heir in history. it looks, though, he's about to get a higher profile. how many people does it take to handle the press for the prince of wales? ten. he's one busy royal, in fact, with more working days than even

the queen this past year. now, the palace confirms the press offices of charles and the queen will merge very soon. in june, he is expected to travel with the queen to france, even to stand in for her at times. one french official is quoted as saying, we're told, this will probably be the queen's last official foreign visit. add to that, the knighting of the private secretary, he was recognized for the preparation for the transition to a change of reign, a big deal, even though the queen is 87, succession is just not talked about here. >> it doesn't mean that anybody's ill. it doesn't mean that something dramatic is going to happen. but they don't want things to be seen as a sudden change. therefore, it's important that prince charles and, indeed, prince william are prepared for the next stage. >> reporter: all of the young royals have been taking on more

duties. harry just ending his high-flying army career to help organize military events at home. the palace says, no, prince charles isn't sharing the queen's job, that she's as busy as ever, and describe it more a streamlining of operations behind the scenes, although reports quoting inside sources, it's not expected to save any money. thomas? >> nbc's michelle kosinski, thank you so much. what did we learn, if anything, today? good monday to you, i'm meteorologist bill karins, and

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dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪ ♪ welcome back to "morning joe." it's time to talk about what we learned today. a lot to talk about today. what did you learn? >> oh, gosh, i better learn how to say guadagno before the day's over. there you go. because that's the next big story. >> what did you learn? >> if mika was running, she'd be the best mayor ever of hoboken. >> ever. >> people's mayor. >> people's mayor. what did you learn? >> that guadagno will speak today, and mika is an excellent

broadcaster, and she guided you seamlessly into the "today" show. and i learned, thanks to your e-mail to me a few minutes ago, that, actually, the lieutenant governor of new jersey will be denying all allegations and it was a misunderstanding, and blah, blah, blah. stick around. here's chuck. he's great. you'll like this show. seriously. he has radio add-on this afternoon. storm surge. amid multiple bridge-blocking probes, governor christie's team has to beat back a new allegation from hoboken's mayor charging that christie's number two played politics with the sandy recovery money. after five years in the white house, is president obama ready to lower expectations for the rest of his term? we'll look at the highs and lows so far and the surprising tone about the time he has left. plus, meet a politician who's taking