it's inaugurationnew jersey as chris christie tries to put the focus on the four years ahead of him. mississippi governor haley barbour. has president obama's hope for change been sacked by

washington's dysfunction? plus the update in sochi. we'll talk to richard engel about suicide bomber threats and what russian officials are doing about it. good morning from washington. it's tuesday, january 21st, 2014. this is the daily rundown. guess what else is today. it's iowa caucus day. what's at stake there for the republican party. we'll also have the latest on the winter storm that's already shut down the nation's capital. even though not a flake of snow has hit the ground yet. it is on track to impact millions in the northeast corridor. let's get right to my first read of the morning. just about three hours from now, new jersey governor chris christie will be sworn in officially for a second term. today's inaugural events were supposed to be a reminder of his landslide victory in november and first pictures of a trium triumphant future presidential candidate. instead, two weeks of scandal on the gw bridge and new allegations of sandy funding, christie will be sworn in under a dark cloud and not just

because trenton may get a pile of snow. usa today/pew poll show that his favoritability has doubled. kicking off inaugural events. at a swearing in, he is expected to say the following. we have to be able to play outside the red and blue boxes the media pundits put us in. the attitude of washington, d.c. that says i am always right and you are always wrong, the attitude that puts political wins ahead of policy agreements. boy, that was something that three weeks ago would have sounded like, ah, we know exactly the type of candidate that chris christie wants to be in presidential contests. now those words don't mean as much, do they? railed against democratic mayors with a political ax to grind who are, quote, trying to get their faces on television, this message now with an audience that may take it with a grain of saul. christie is also planning to say

this. i do not believe that new jerseyans want a bigger government that penalizes success and gives the pittance left to a few in the name of income equity. hanging overall of this is the scandal, now plural if you count the sandy situation. governor kim guadagfo. >> that anyone would hold back sandy relief funds for any reason is totally and completely false. >> zimmer claims that the lieutenant governor pulled her over at a supermarket opening in may and said hoboken's sandy recovery funds hinged on a development with ties to the governor and zimmer says

christie's aide did the same thing a couple of days later when they appeared together on a television program. in a statement he said, quote, mayor zimmer's accusations are patently false and absurd on their face. i welcome a full and thorough investigation. >> lieutenant governor of the state of new jersey tells you in a parking lot. you remember it. i was very upset and i did a journal entry, you know, a few days later. >> you're saying she's lying? >> well, yeah. she said she would deny it and she's denying it. part of me is not surprised. and my reaction is you're offended? how do you think i feel and everyone in hoboken feels?

>> zimmer says she's handed over journal entries to the u.s. attorney and according to pages from her journal, zimmer described the encounter and wrote of christie, quote, i thought he was honest, moral, something very different. this week i find out he's cut from the same corrupt cloth. hoboken city records show that $95 million were requested for things like backup generators and dry proofing of a public library. storm water improvement, emergency warning system. the governor says that is about one-third of the money available for entire state. zimmer says hoboken received just $100,000 and an additional $200,000 through a separate state program administered by a federal agency, hud. christie's sandy czar said the

administration helped to deliver $70 million in federal aid. that went mostly to hoboken's residents and businesses. >> if you look at our recovery programs in totality, i'm scratching my head a little bit about, you know, any community that's getting the short end of the stick other than to say that i understand, we've got very limited resources at our disposal to date. >> bigger issue for christie, he's fighting a two-front war, the bridge scandal, new e-mail rev layings, and new jersey lawmakers are expected to announce they're creating a special new joint senate committee to investigate the traffic jam. now zimmer's sandy allegations are being investigated separately by a federal prosecutor. christie said he felt like, quote, i got hit across the forehead by a two-by-four. i don't think anybody knows how it feels to have the kind of attention i've had the last nine

days until you go through it. it's awful. listen, it's awful. he also defended his personal style by saying, if you don't have the willingness and ability to do that, then the opportunity to make deals privately that benefit the public become much more difficult. the old adage, you don't want to see the sausage getting made. craig melvin is live in trenton, new jersey, today. we've gone through how this is not how christie folks thought the inaugural was going to go three weeks ago. probably this address was written a month ago. it looks like the type of message he wanted to send to a national audience, that he assumed a national audience was going to follow. i guess the question is, does he at all ad lib and include any references to the current situation that he's facing now? >> reporter: you've got to wonder. you've got to wonder whether he gives a nod at least to the scandal and investigation.

not so much to the one we saw addressed in the state address. we don't know. we don't know. based on the excerpts that we've been given so far, he did not make any sort of substantive mention of either investigation. i want to step out of the way to sort of set the scene and show you what's happening behind me. the building there, of course, is where that inauguration is going to happen. we're told at roughly 10:30. in front of that building you see new jersey national guardsmen there, prepping the canons. there is going to be, we're told, a 19-gun salute for the governor here at the end of the ceremony. right now, he is at new hope baptist church in newark. if you are familiar at all with new jersey politics or national politics to a certain extent, new hope baptist church is symbolic for a number of reasons. where governor christie held that standing prayer service and where whitney houston's funeral was held. it is a big, black church.

it is one of two charities that will be receiving aid from the fund-raiser tonight, that ellis island fund-raiser. that super committee that is going to be formed, we're expecting an announcement at roughly 10:30. ironically again, on the inauguration, it's supposed to start. we're told that super committee, that joint committee will be comprised of roughly 12 to 13 people. mostly democrats, since they dominate the legislature here. we're expecting to get more information on that super committee here over the next few hours as well. >> very quickly, have you spotted any familiar faces, any interesting dignitaries there? i'm thinking cory booker in particul particular. >> reporter: not only have we not spotted anyone just yet, the press office will open about 10:00. we expect that's going to be around the time that folks start to trickle in. we've reached out to a number of prominent new jersey politicians and a number of them have said that they are probably going to be sitting this one out, this

inauguration out. there was a dinner that was supposed to be held last night as well, chuck. a private dinner. that dinner was canceled. someone said that the dinner was canceled because it was not precisely what they had hoped it would be. we have not heard whether cory booker, senator booker will be here, though. >> that is interesting. word we're hearing from capitol hill, apparently, is that cory booker is not going to attend. craig melvin, you'll be on top of all of this. we'll check in with you later this afternoon. >> two months ago, news that christie was stepping up to lead the republican governors association was met with enthusiasm. in a critical election year. >> everyone is excited. i'm getting great response from the donors and from my fellow governors. i'm looking forward to it. it's going to be a great year.

>> but over the weekend inity first big swing as a surrogate for florida governor rick scott, christie ducked cameras. scott's team wasn't eager for them to be seen together. and any answer to any 2016 questions will happen next year. former mississippi governor haley barbour, friend and defender of governor christie of late. good morning, governor. >> good morning, chuck. i'm struck by the fact that you think it's newsworthy that christie said a run for president is something that has to wait until next year. he has a real political job as the chairman of republican governors association. and to the degree he's able -- he has to be governor of new jersey first. >> right. >> the degree that he has political time, he has committed that time to being the chairman of the republican governor association. if he says anything else, it would be foolish. >> of course. and i know -- it's funny. i had a discussion with somebody about a month ago, who said that

he was warned, don't do to the rga what mitt romney was accused of doing back in 2006. there were some people that were unhappy that he was too aggressive in using the rga to promote a presidential candidacy sbefs told to walk a line. i want to take a step back. you're very blunt when it comes to giving advice sometimes. have you thought governor christie is going through whatever you want to make of the allegations right now? he's going through a tough time. if he's going to salvage his term as governor, isn't there an argument to be made that he should be focusing on his job, new jersey, almost full time and take a step back from national politics? >> well, i don't think he's involved in national politics as in presidential. >> rga is national politics, sir. >> i'm differentiating between presidential politics and republican governors politics. christie has sense enough to

walk and chew gum at the same time. he doesn't just have to do one thing. the preponderance of his time is being governor of new jersey. that's his job. but to the extent he has time -- and he will have time -- he can be an outstanding, and will be, in my opinion, an outstanding governor of new jersey and, frankly, when the liberal media chase him around like this, or some republicans makes them get energized to elect more republican governors like christie who can run for re-election on his record rather than having to do like obama, who ran on what's wrong with mitt romney. >> you know how politicians are, especially those running for re-election. at the end of the day it's a me first mentality. frankly understandable. their own state, their own campaign. look what lindsey graham said.

he has essentially said don't come down here. if he does, what do you think the entire trip is going to be about, the entire news conference? and he didn't want to have any part of it. if that is -- starts becoming a constant part of the conversation with other republican governors, other republican senators, doesn't that then send a message to governor christie, maybe he should take a pause? >> well, you know, i haven't seen what lindsay said. he is recognizing this. you guys are going to chase this around like it's the lincoln assassination. the mayor of hoboken, who claims now that somebody threatened her in april -- between april and the election repeatedly tweeted and tweeted and tweeted and tweeted about how great chris christie was and what a great governor. she gave people in her tweet the indication i'm not endorsing because of the nonpartisan election in hoboken. and yet now all of a sudden she changes her story.

and yet when she, on tv, on your network, i believe, chuck -- >> right. >> -- she was asked -- i want to read to you, so nobody thinks i'm misquoting her. why has she come out now about this when she didn't for months? she said so part of what i'm hoping comes out of this by coming forward is to say, governor, please support this rebuild by design competition. that is her request for a third of all the hazard mitigation grant fund money for the whole state, one-third for her town. she says that by coming out and making this accusation, she's hoping she's going to put pressure to, quote, fully support us. give us your direct endorsement. i don't think she's going to succeed at shaking christie down. >> let me ask you about that. let me stop you here. governor, i've given you a lot of time here. give me a second here. >> yes, sir. >> i want to ask you a question about the issue with the mayor. why is it that she said -- i'm trying to understand why you

believe her saying positive things about christie undermines her credibility. there's an argument to be made the fact that she spent all of 2013 saying positive things about christie could make her allegations more credible. >> well, it certainly doesn't make her a credible person when she supposedly -- of course, you can write your journal and date it any day you want to. but supposedly, she wrote in the spring of the election year that he was corrupt and then for the rest of the election year, she wrote publicly that he was a great governor. she almost seemed to idolize him in tweet after tweet after tweet after tweet. nobody comes forward that says she said this. she didn't send any e-mails to anybody that said this. she now comes forward and says, you know, he has been corrupt the whole time.

that, to me, strange to the point of -- it's hard for the average american to understand why the media gives her such unbelievable credibility. why? >> at the end of the day here, it's a federal -- some will argue the same thing with governor christie, that folks are giving him -- why are you so sure governor christie's side of the story is 100% accurate and her side of the story is 100% false? what evidence do you have, governor? >> the evidence i have is what she said on tv. i'm doing this to put pressure on christie to support my program. now christie or any other governor -- i'm one of the few people, chuck, that's been through this with katrina. >> particularly with katrina. >> the idea -- and i'm very familiar with the hazard mitigation grant program. by the way, it's not a state program. it's a federal program. but it's a fema program. for some -- if a mayor in mississippi had asked for one-third of the hazard

mitigation block grant money that the state got, that person would have been subject to ridicule and run out of town on a rail, shot at the next mayors association. a third of all the money in the state. >> i am shocked that a mayor would ask for more than they would end up getting. i'm sure you're shocked, too. that's negotiating 101. when you look at what they actually got, it looks like they got less than what they should have got. you look at hoboken. i understand she's being criticized for asking for too much. what she ended up with -- when you look at it, you say did she end up with her fair share? that's what seems to be missing. >> maybe $70 million something is not her fair share. maybe she thinks -- plus she got another $4.3 million from fema for hazard mitigation programs. she gets about $75 million. now, the difference between her

and all the other mayors who asked for more than they could get -- though i would certainly hope none of them asked for a third of the state's total -- is that she went around and tried to make a scandal out of it. a mean, that's the big deal here today. how can you take seriously that it is scandalous that the governor said, you know, we're willing to help you. i say the governor said. the governor's actions were consistent with we're willing to help you, but, look, we're not going to give you a third of all the money for the state. that would be ultra irresponsible. >> let me ask you this. some people took some offense. you called her a lady mayor on cnn. i assume that is not something you meant to say? >> well yirks mean for it to be taken the wrong way. somebody wrote me a note about it i wrote her back and said thanks for the constructive criticism. >> you believe that was the wrong thing to say, is that what you're saying? >> i don't think it's beneficial. there's certainly no difference

between a lady marry amayor and man mayor. the first mayor was a mayor who happened to be a man. the second was a mayor who happened to be a lady and you don't want to get them mixed up, but that wasn't the right way to go in it. the lady who wrote me about it was constructive criticism and i told her that and i said it. >> all right. >> it doesn't change a thing about the facts of the story. >> i have to leave it there. always good to have a healthy conversation with you, sir. appreciate you coming on. >> thank you, chuck. coming up after the break, we'll look back at a president who was fired up and ready to go in the spring of 2010, and compare him to the president today. a man who described himself as swimming against the tide of history. plus the threat of snow, with enough to shut down the the government in washington, d.c. a short but powerful storm is bearing down on the east coast. how they're hunkering down. first a look at today's politics

planner. a lot going on here today. we just got confirmation that christie's inaugural party tonight is canceled due to weather. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. ♪ ♪ ♪ told ya you could do it. (dad vo) i want her to be safe. so, i taught her what i could and got her a subaru. (girl) piece of cake. ♪ (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. i have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't unstuff your nose. they don't? alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. what a relief it is. [ inhales deeply ] is a really big deal.u with aches, fever and chills- there's no such thing as a little flu.

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as we told you, the east coast is prepping for a big winter storm, moving across the country right now. the national weather service has issued a lake-effect snow warning for parts of indiana, where they could get as much as a foot of snow today. here in d.c., they're prepping for anywhere from six to ten inches. up next, the olympic threats. new developments on the suspected suicide bombers on the loose in russia. and a new warning that terrorists may be targeting the olympic torch relay. first, today's trivia question, since 1980, first significant iowa caucuses republican side,

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as president obama enters the sixth year of his presidency, he's running out of time to reach his ambitious goals he once set out for himself, namely changing the culture of this town. what's worse, he now sounds like somebody who is admitting the job is wearing him down i want to compare and contrast. the commencement address in 2010, in may, it was despite bruising battles that he had already experienced. the tea party was up and running. town hall, health care, the economy. and this was the president then.

>> what is amazing is that despite all the conflict, despite all its flaws and its frustrations, our experiment in democracy has worked better than any form of government on earth. >> now contrast that tone with an interview he did with the new yorker's david remnick. quote, i understand that there are going to be limits to the good we can do and the bad that we can prevent, but that if i am doing my very best and basing my decisions on the core values and ideals i was brought up with and i think are pretty consistent with those of most americans, that at the end of the day things will be better rather than worse. when talking about the fights in washington he now describes the political process this way. if you're doing good and bad things there will be hair on it. they're not going to be clean and neat. the far cry --

>> these arguments we're having over government, war, taxes, these are serious arguments. they should aarouse people's passions and it's important for everybody to join in the debate with all the vigor that the maintenance of a free people requires. >> and what about the president's own destiny? he now offers a view that sees a path to political and social change as incremental, one where people adapt to surroundings instead of changing them. he told remnick, quote, those who are most successful are people who are like a sailor, but have to keep in account winds and currents and lack of any wind. sometimes you're sitting there for a while and sometimes you're being blown all over the place. in 2010, a different president obama encouraged students not to wait for things to happen, but to make them happen.

>> you, too, will have to strive. you, too, will have to push the boundaries of what seems possible. for the truth is, our nation's destiny has never been certain. what is certain, what happens always been certain, is the ability to shape that destiny. >> joining me now is the editor of "the new yorker," pulitzer prize winning author david remnick. i use that speech to counter, to interact, because of all the speeches he has given, i believe it was actually the one where he has been clearest about his own vision for government, the role of government and it was one that i know he spent a lot of time on personally. ironically, when he gave that commencement speech, five hours later he was doing a stand-up routine at the white house correspondents dinner and it went into the east third and nobody paid attention to it. boy, the president seems like a

different guy. >> chuck, first of all, good morning. let me press back a little bit on your thesis, really. i think presidents give speeches to large groups and try to be inspiring and i think he will do that to the ultimate large group, the american people, the state of the union address. you can be sure there will be a lot of uplifts in that address. >> sure. >> at the same time, when he's talking to one person for a long period of time in a more contemplative mood, more introspective mood, a person like that with some complexity is allowed to have both registers in their voice and a politician does as well. >> no, what i think is interesting about him, and you write about this, he may be the most self aware president we've had in the modern era, at the moment. nixon becomes self aware at times. but we didn't always know that. bill clinton -- and i don't know sometimes where he is at moments as far as self aware. and presidents after they leave office become self aware.

this one is so self aware in the moment. >> i think that's true. i think some people find the self awareness and the performance of the self awareness in instances like my interviews with him irritating. i don't necessarily, but there are people that find it -- >> frustrating, i think. >> and they want more teddy roosevelt or they want more this, they want more that. >> it's interesting. he seems to be more of the mind-set of, you know, history -- you know, presidents are there when history is happening. do you feel that's something that's changed or is that something that you think every president, as they're beginning their sixth year in office, believes that more and more? that, you know what? they're not as powerful as they thought they would be. >> and time is running out. >> and time is running out and they want to rationalize it? >> even when you had the former chief of staff like william daily saying something like he did to my colleague, ryan lizza.

after 2014, nobody cares what barack obama does. because all the air is sucked out of the room by the race for the succession. in fact, a lot could happen between 2014 and 2016, whether it's in syria, iran, the middle northeast general. u.s./china relations, which is probably -- may be the big geopolitical question of our century, how the united states handles the rise of a new china. enormously important. a lot can happen. >> you know, when he was running, he used a phrase all the time, turn the page. and both in the primary campaign and in the general. it was meant to sort of be a way of hitting both clinton and bush. i'm wondering what you think president obama is going to feel that now we're going to say with certainty 24 straight years of political polarization, the streak hasn't been broken. we thought obama was going to break it. why didn't he do it?

>> well, that was the great vanity or hope, put it one way or the other, of his early national political speech. in 2004 when he came to prominence with his red states and blue states and the united states. there was this idea that he was uniquely suited that really intensified with the reagan revolution beginning in 1980. but, in fact, the nature of the landscape is such, the nature of the congress is such that systemically, it hasn't been broken one bit. in fact, you could easily argue that the republican party, especially, has radicalized even more with the rise of the tea party. that hasn't eased. >> no. and it will be interesting to see how the candidates of 2016 try to credibly sell the message that somehow they're going to be able to break a cycle that maybe we're in that may be unbreakable. it is the tour de force.

six suspects, four of whom are being called blk widows. picks have been released of those who may be plotting to attack the winter olympic games. chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins live from moscow with the latest. richard, obviously, this is -- they seem to be almost on the four -- the ten most wanted list of russia, as an equivalency of that. let's ask the basic question here. are our athletes secure in sochi? >> reporter: well, it's very difficult for me to answer that. i can say that there is certainly a lot of concern by u.s. officials and now clearly by russian officials. these names, these wanted posters that have been put up are not just people who are like the fbi's ten most wanted, fugitives at large. these are people who are specifically missing right now

and whom russian officials believe are actively looking for targets. they are on the loose, possible suicide bombers potentially looking to carry out some sort of olympics related attack. as you mentioned, there are six people like this. four of them so-called black widows. these would be women who lost their husbands or husbands killed by -- usually by russian security forces and have decided themselves to join the cause and become martyrs for the cause. and the other two men. the intelligence is quite specific, according to police, that at least three of these black widows are possibly looking into attacking the olympic torch over the next three days as it makes its way toward sochi. so are the athletes safe? probably. the perimeter around sochi is very tight. russia says everything is under control. it will be completely safe. yet it is searching for six

potentially walking bombs. >> right. and, clearly, part of terrorism sometimes is to terrorize without making an attack, but simply threatening an attack. and, clearly, there is that feeling probably going on in sochi right now. what is the bigger concern with russian security officials, the olympic games themselves or the fact that maybe they're concentrating so much security on sochi that st. petersburg, moscow, other places are more vulnerable? >> they are certainly concentrating a lot of force around sochi. there will be tourists there, vips there. and the militant leaders from the north have actually talked about attacking olympic targets. it doesn't have to be in sochi. it could be anywhere in this country. the last two big attacks were in volgograd over the new year. yes, you have to try to guess where the attacks might take place, where militants might

decide they're going to have their biggest impact. that said, it is not that the russian security forces are only concentrated in sochi. they are doing roundups, arrests in the north caucasus as well. and, as the russians describe them, they are quite aggressive, going house to house, arresting people, according to human rights groups, committing some in violation. >> richard engel, a lot busier than maybe anybody planned for you to be when covering the olympics here. richard, thank you very much, sir. coming up acres different type of caucus issue. frankly, a less serious one than when we were talking about the russian caucasus. we are talking about the iowa caucuses and how it will impact 2016. legalizing recreational marijuana debate. plus the federal government has already shut down as more

than a foot of snow is expected in some places. though not necessarily here in washington. here is a look at the storm track. it is coming. but first, the white house soup of the day, perfect soup for a day like this. chicken noodle. we'll be right back. we know we're not the center of your life, but we'll do our best to help you connect to what is. want to play hide and seek? yeah! 1... 2... 6... 10! [ female announcer ] piña colada yoplait. it is so good when you need a little escape. [ mom ] still counting.

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but maybe you can find an app that will help you explain this to your...father. [ vehicle approaches ] [ dennis ] introducing quickfoto claim. just another way allstate is changing car insurance for good. today, the iowa caucuses. if you think it's not important because it's not a presidential year, you're sorely mistaken. what's happening today in iowa will lay the groundwork for 2014, 2016 and beyond. it's going to determine whether the caucuses should be taken seriously anymore by people running for president or whether what happened in 2012 is a step toward irrelevancy. the results of the caucus that year were something of a mess. first, mitt romney was declared the winner. then it was given to rick santorum two weeks later. ultimately, when he went to the

republican convention, neither man got the lion's share of the delegates. those went to ron paul. technically, ron paul won the caucuses. his supporters focused on picking up central committee and delegates seats. it paid off in june of 2012 when 22 of those 28 delegates voted for paul. not everyone, though, was -- >> third individual who came in a distant third could actually carry a majority of the votes at the national convention is a tragedy. and it really causes people in the rnc across the nation to question whether iowa should be the first in the nation caucus state. >> that's what's going on here now, just like in 2012, the stakes are high for those who get chosen for delegates. in iowa, delegates pick nominees when races are so tight that none of the primary candidates get 35% of the votes. as many as three big races on the republican side could fall in that category. republican senate primary to

replace -- and retiring third zbrikt tom latham. nobody could get 35%. if republicans want to have their say they have to win back a number of delegate seats from the ron paul supporters who picked them up in 2012. in order to do that, party elders are launching a counter offensive today, led by governor bransted himself, working to boost attendance in hopes that his supporters can regain some of those top positions. that includes handing out t-shirts to supporters and sending out comic book-style postcard with himself and his lieutenant governor portrayed as he heroes. this isn't just about 2014 in that bizarre way that iowa republicans decide who a nominee is if nobody gets 35% in a primary. it make it is so that the iowa vote won't matter, that the

caucuses are essentially rigged in favor whoever can gain the system like ron paul did. giving many a good reason to walkway from the hawkeye state. when they walk away, money, influence goes with them, among other things. former reporter for the des moines, currently director of the paul simon public policy institute at southern university. kay, let me start with you. what's going on today? who is going to control the state republican party after today? has bransted pulled -- going to pull this off? >> that's the big question. we will know tonight. it's frigid here, so turnout may be depressed by the weather. but bransted himself held a telephone conference call with hundreds of republicans just last night, urging them to go to the caucuses. as you mentioned, at every campaign event he has had, he

has tried to encourage his supporters to go to the caucuses. social conservatives have had their own push. activating his e-mail list, encouraging people to go, sharing a video with them about how to attend the caucuses. we have all the factions in the gop competing in hopes of becoming the dominant force for 2016, because the people who are elected tonight to go to county conventions and district conventions and state conventions will decide the party leadership for 2016. >> david, this is -- the republican party, terry bransted oversaw. if you're the governor, you should be able to control chairman of the state party. terry branstead has to be shaking his head that he can't do this anymore. >> the governor has never paid much attention to what the state central committee does.

he was elected to public office by going around that state central committee. now he is faced with a real threat to the caucuses, because there's a danger that the party can get hijacked by people at one extreme. you didn't mention this, chuck, but these are the people who are going to decide the future that have crazy straw poll that they do in this state. >> charlie cooke and i are among those who are thinking, we may all boycott the straw poll, david. anyway, go ahead. >> why shouldn't you? it's outlived its usefulness. as david broeder, iowa gets two bites at the apple. >> they don't need a second bite. kate, has there been any reconciliation between the establishment camp and the paul camp? especially considering that rand paul wants so badly to inherit his father a's political team b at the same time have a foot in the establishment camp. >> there has been a sort of

cease fire in the past two weeks. a.j. spiker, the chair of the former liberty movement person sent an e-mail out to everyone on his e-mail list, praising governor bransted, saying that the republican party was, you know, excite d about -- taking flack for people on that. a little-known republican who is going to try to run against terry. and so he's getting all sorts of flame wars on facebook overcoming out. so publicly in support of bransted. the other thing that's been tried behind the scenes and is not going anywhere is to go back to the old days when all the factions in the party got together, came up with a slate of people who would be acceptable to serve on the central committee that makes the decisions about party politics and the people just don't -- the factions just do not trust one

another enough to come up with that kind of compromise. >> david, would you -- do you think that this is inevitably -- i assume it's an unhill battle whenever establishments try to retake of a party in a situation like this, the more passionate people are the ones that show up to caucuses, conventions, things like that. do you think there will be a movement to say, you know what, iowa is so expensive and i can't guarantee if i win i get the delegates, why bother, forget it, i'm going to new hampshire. >> well, chuck, that could happen. first of all, the party out of power goes through a debate about its message, and secondly, over the process. the process produced a losing candidate, so there's always a debate over that. you know, a lot of people don't like the iowa process. there's certainly a lot to be criticized about it, but the problem is people who want to change it can't agree on an alternati

alternative. all those things, chuck, have got shortcomings, so simple i they are sha keeps states like iowa and new hampshire at the front of the pact. candidates are already showing up in iowa, so here we go again. >> simple solution, go to a primary. maybe that would deflate some of the power bases there, anyway. kay henderson, david yepsen. boy, 2016 is in the air when i can say kay henderson and david yepsen. thank you both. two republican iowa caucus winners went on to win the candidacy for president. we'll be right back. [announcer] word is getting out. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy.

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i think this is the case that is a little bit like marriage equality, where the president said the public is probably just about there and

i'm going to give it a little push. >> very interesting, today's take away, the legalization of marijuana in colorado and washington has, of course, sparked a national debate. president obama's position may actually accelerate acceptance. here's what the president said, "i smoked pot as a kid and i view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that i smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. i don't think it's any more dangerous than alcohol. however, as a four, the president has his limits. it's not something i encourage and i've told my daughters i think it's a bad idea, waste of time, and not very healthy. mr. obama's live and let live attitude is in stark contrast to past white house positions on the drug. it reflects a shifting public opinion. look at this, in 1969, 84% of americans were against the legalization of marijuana.

today, it's 58% now in favor. that was the gallup survey and there have been others, but clearly it's on the move and the president may have helped grow that number. what happened with same-sex marriage when the president came out for it, he was sort of where the public was already going and then all of a sudden it sort of cemented the momentum, if you can do that, and that's what beshloff thinks might happen here by the simple comparison to alcohol. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." coming up next is chris jansing. stay bundled up, drive safe for those on the east coast and i'll see you tomorrow.

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we'll tell you what you need to know coming up. plus, wendy davis is fighting back after questions over the details of her personal story. is it a desperate attack by her challenger, or could it be a real problem for her? disinvited. the u.n. rescinds the invitation for iran to be part of the syrian peace talks. will this cause problems before the talks even start? and what happened iran's nuclear program? a former ambassador will fill us in. good afternoon, i'm chris jansing, and next hour, new jersey governor chris christie takes the oath of office for his second term, embroiled in scandal, and we've just learned new jersey lawmakers will announce this morning that they'll create another special committee to investigate the george washington bridge traffic jam and other alleged abuses of power. it wasn't supposed to be this way. after a huge 22-point victory, capturing women voters, hispanic 30% of democrats, the straight talking and widely popular governor expected nothing but