been released, christie will not be talking about bridgegate or the controversy over allegations of giving hurricane aid to the city of hoboken was tied to support for a development project. instead, he'll speak to things that have proven successful to him in the past, the number one, christie as the alternative to washington, "we cannot fall victim to the attitude of washington, d.c., the attitude that says i am always right and you are always wrong." theme two, christie as the solo act, not afraid to go it alone. here's that quote, "the people of this state know that the only way forward is if we are all willing to take on what is politically unpopular." today's inauguration coming one day after christie's lieutenant governor denied accusations she tried to hold sandy relief hostage from the city of hoboken, but the democratic mayor of that city stuck by her story last night in a new interview. >> when you look at the documents, you look at the letters that i've written, you

can see it wasn't illogical at all, it's actually a progression, you know, leading up to something where they wanted to give me a very direct message because they felt i wasn't getting the message clearly enough, so she was sent in. >> so the inauguration program just abdomen about to get under way and as we wait for the governor to take the oath, new developments in the bridgegate investigation. new jersey lawmakers holding a news conference right now to announce they are creating this new joint assembly senate super committee to investigate allegations against christie's administration, joining me now, correspondent michael isikoff. michael, good morning to you. what more can you tell us about this super committee? >> good morning. it's a 12-member committee, eight democrats, four republicans. it's going to be co-chaired by john wisniewski, who's been the assembly chairman of the special committee that they had created and loretta weinberg, who is the state senator and senate majority leader. and they will share the same

special counsel, the former federal council member hired by the assembly, and they will proceed. look, they were facing some criticism for redundancy here, because remember both the assembly and the senate had authorized their own special committees. some republicans were saying why do we need two committees doing the same thing with its own counsel costing the taxpayers extra money, now they will join together. the scope, as i understand, will essentially be the same. the bridgegate matter and any other allegations of abuses of government power that will give them the authority to go after the hoboken matter and any other allegations that come up, so the one thing that probably helps the democrats here a little bit, there had been a big push by the christie camp to go after wisniewski as a partisan, saying he had already prejudged the

results of the investigation. now loretta weinberg is a partisan democrat, as well, but she hasn't had that, she hasn't been quite as far as wisniewski has, so now it will be both the house and the senate, and it makes it a little harder for the christie camp to portray all this as out of bounds. >> thank you very much, michael isikoff with the latest. michael, let me just ask you one more question about this super committee. do they sort of have an end game here? i mean, have they talked at all in this news conference from what you've been able to hear about sort of what the schedule is moving forward? >> look, i have talked to members before this, and basically here's the situation. there are any of these outstanding power plays, 20 subpoenas that have to be returned from the governor's office, campaign committee, top, current, and former aides. the real question is, can the legislative committee go much

further when you have this outstanding u.s. attorney inquiry going on, because anybody who's out of office, and there's a lot of principles who are no longer employed by the state, is almost certainly going to invoke their fifth amendment privileges, just like david wildstein did, so the ability to hold public hearings and get to the bottom of this may be limited, but the documents is what the committee is focused on. getting those documents and then getting them out in the public sphere. >> michael isikoff, thank you for that report. and again, we are watching the stage in trenton, new jersey, and we are just supposed to be, according to the schedule, a couple of minutes under way from this big service, this big ceremony, getting under way. in the meantime, we want to get you updated on the weather alert this morning. check it out, live pictures of chicago, what you can see of it, snow, bitter cold, strong winds, all headed for the east coast next, where light snow is already falling. some of the busiest cities along

the i-95 corridor are in the past of this storm. let's bring back bill karins with the very latest. hey, bill. >> good morning, chris. it was smart of the christie campaign to cancel the thing on ellis island. they were supposed to be out there in the middle of the snowstorm, and thankfully, they were smart enough to cancel that, that wouldn't have been a great example. as far as the storm goes itself, we are watching it now starting to move to the coast. now it's going to become our coastal storm and the snow is really picking up in philadelphia, trenton, and through the midatlantic. 84 million people under these watches. the temperatures have dropped, too. usually in the big cities we don't get this cold of an air mass, so it's going to be a light, fluffy snow, the kind you can easily shovel. the bad news, it will be bitterly cold shoveling tomorrow morning and even tonight. we're now down to 32 in d.c. now the snow is starting to stick there, too. that's a change. they were warmer. let me give you the timing. the blue shows you the heavier

snow. 1:00, start to see the heaviest snow active right over the i-95 cities, when we start to watch the plows, start accumulating more on the roads. 6:00 p.m., heart of the evening commute, peak of the storm. then 8:00 or 9:00 or so, snow ends in d.c. up in new york, little after midnight. six to ten inches. again, this is the middle of winter, isn't record snow, but it's going to make it memorable is going to be the cold after it. >> thank you so much, bill. joining me from new york is nbc's ron mott. ron, good morning to you. i understand long island is one of the spots expecting to see some of the worst of the storm. what are you seeing already, are schools and businesses closing? not a lot of traffic on the road there behind you. >> not a lot of traffic, good morning. this is service road actually off the l.i.e., long island expressway. expect the eastbound traffic to pick up here in the next couple three, four hours. what they are saying out here, anywhere from eight to 14 inches, but most of the snow is

going to hit right around the normal evening rush sure, so we're thinking a lot of folks are going to take a few hours off. schools are letting kids go 1:00, 2:00, not holding them to 3:00 and 4:00 as normal. trying to give people a chance to get home. as you can see, says caution, says road icing. so the road, even though there isn't a lot of snow on the ground just yet, it's expected to pick up heavily here in the next four or five hours just in time for that white knuckle commute for folks working a full day. chris, what we can tell you, just behind our camera here is the town of oyster bay, a garage where the snow plows and trucks are getting in to fight the storm. again, most of the heavy accumulations will occur after most people have gotten home from work and school tonight, into the overnight hours. long island, north and east into cape cod, expected to get probably the heaviest hammer from this storm, anywhere from eight to 14 inches of snow. right now it's nice and light.

back to you. >> ron mott in new york, thanks very much. for folks who may live on the east coast and looking out their window not seeing a whole lot of snow, word of warning, actually, evan coleman was saying he came in a four-wheel drive vehicle and it was slipping all over the place. even though it doesn't look that bad, be careful. coming up, he was executed the 1940s, the youngest convicted killer to be put to death. why he could get a new trial. we're also following developing news, of course, chris christie to be inaugurated for his second term in office within the hour. craig melvin joins us from trenton coming up. we'll be right back. hotel has e amazing.... footwear. and how about the 5 pound barbell at this resort? in to soap? this lodge has some! ...and this hostel has ice cubes! and this hotel has eggs! if you're into it.... we know a place that booking has it.

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so we continue the follow the developing news this morning on msnbc. this is the live picture,

trenton, new jersey. governor chris christie is going to be inaugurated for a second term in less than an hour, but, of course, it's happening with his office under a shadow of not one, but two scandals. joining me now, new jersey democratic congressman frank pallone, a senior member of the house energy and commerce committee. good to see you, congressman. a lot of developments in just the last 24 hours, so let me ask you first about the super committee being formed. they are taking the assembly and senate. they have eight democrats, four republicans who are going to look into this. what are the questions you still have and what do you think the appropriate role is there? >> well, i think the super committee needs to look into everything that has been raised so far, not only bridgegate, but certainly the allegations now that are coming from the mayor of hoboken, and that concerns me the most, the fact that the governor, or the christie administration, traded, you know, developments or the approval of a development in hoboken for sandy money.

i work very hard to get the sandy package passed, and i still have a lot of constituents at the jersey shore who haven't gotten their checks to rebuild their homes, so that needs to be looked into. you know, i've also raised the issue with this tv ad campaign "stronger than the storm," and how the governor's office chose the high bidder rather than the low bidder, because they agreed to have him and his family in the ads and that cost the state another $2 million. again from sandy aid money that today could be used for relief for home owners and businesses that were negatively impacted by the storm. i think the committee should look at it all. >> let me ask you about the accusations by the mayor, dawn zimmer. as you know, there was a statement made by the lieutenant governor unequivocally denying it, in fact, saying the accusations don't even make sense and certainly don't make sense, she argued, in the context of some of the statements dawn zimmer had made. in fact, praising the response of governor chris christie.

is this simply a case of she said/she said? >> well, look, i wasn't there. i wasn't part of the conversation, but i know mayor zimmer is a very honest and forthright person with an excellent reputation, and i think her allegations have to be looked into, because we can't have a situation where you don't get money for your town for sandy relief because you refused to approve a development. that's not the way business should be in the state of new jersey, and i think it's probably illegal. so i think it needs to be looked into by, not only the super committee, but also by the u.s. attorney's office. >> let me ask you about what you have said, congressman, about why you think the governor should come clean about what you've said is a culture of abuse by his administration. now, our belief is that he's not going to reference either of these scandals today in his inaugural address, but when you

say come clean, what do you think he needs to say and do so that the business of new jersey can move forward? >> well, cooperate fully with these legislative committees, with the u.s. attorney, turn over any documents that explain who was involved. it's not clear that that's the case at this point. for example, in the case of the tv ad commercial, you know, this came about as a result of the press investigation. i asked the inspector general of hud to look into it, but documents were redacted, documents still haven't been provided, and that's true for all of these cases. so when i say come clean, i mean, you know, fully cooperate. testify, have all your people testify, turn over all documents, not have them redacted, you know, there are a lot of questions there. >> and finally, since you are standing outside where the inauguration is going to be, i had read at least that you said you were on the fence about whether or not you were going to attend. i understand now you've decided to go? >> no, i was never on the fence.

i'm here. it doesn't start for a few more minutes, so i'm going to walk right over from your interview to the inauguration. >> and what are you expecting to hear from the governor? >> well, i'm hoping i hear a lot about, you know, growing the economy in the state. i'm still concerned about high unemployment, the fact that new jersey's economy hasn't grown that much, you know, we certainly need to grow jobs and, you know, i didn't really see much in the first four years under governor christie. he spent most of his time running for president. and a lot more needs to be done to create jobs, to deal with the state's infrastructure, you know, we have roads and bridges that need repair. and, you know, people continue to be hurting. i'd also like to see this money from sandy get to my constituents faster. it's federal dollars that for the most part is administered by the state, so we have to work on that, too. we want to rebuild the shore,

but we're not there yet. >> new jersey congressman frank pallone. thanks so much for coming on the program and standing out in the cold for us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. he was executed in the 1940s at just 14. why all these decades later he might now get a new trial. we're also following the developing news, chris christie, we've been showing it to you. there's the hall going to be inaugurated into his second term of office within the hour. stay with us, we'll have that for you live and much more ahead on msnbc. it's time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. jim shandly and his daughter megan grow top grade fruits and vegetables on their family farm, but getting national name brand recognition was tough. they broke through when they put everything under their brand, getting their produce into whole foods. for more, watch "your business" sunday mornings on msnbc. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be

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like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition or stomach ulcer, take aspirin, nsaids, or blood thinners... ...or if you have kidney problems, especially if you take certain medicines. tell your doctors about all medicines you take. pradaxa side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you or someone you love has afib not caused by a heart valve problem... ...ask your doctor about reducing the risk of stroke with pradaxa. trenton, new jersey, chris christie in this hour taking the oath of office for his second term. he might have been expected to be answering questions about a possible presidential run in a couple of years. instead, a cloud is hanging over him. did something unethical or illegal happen in his office? he said in an interview over the weekend he was devastated by the

e-mails linking some of his closest aides to a closure of the george washington bridge and he said, i don't think anybody knows what it feels like to have the kind of attention i've had in the last nine days. and that attention continues. we will have his inauguration and speech coming up live. right now in south carolina in a courtroom there, relatives of a 14-year-old boy executed 70 years ago are making their case for a new trial. nbc's mark potter joins us live outside the courthouse in sumter, south carolina. mark, what's the basic argument made by the family of george stinney? >> well, chris, the basic argument being made by his family and the legal team here is 70 years ago his trial was what they call a travesty of justice and he may have been convicted and executed for something that he didn't do. they want the verdict thrown out, they want his name cleared. this all began in the spring of 1944 in the tiny milltown in

south carolina where two little girls, both white ages 11 and 7 were found brutally murdered. shortly afterward, george stinney jr., was arrested. police say he gave an oral confession, although there was no written record of that. his family was run out of town. the trial lasted just three hours. there was no physical evidence presented. the defense put on no case. the all-white jury convicted him in just ten minutes and he was then sentenced to die. his court-appointed defense attorney filed no appeal, which would have stayed the execution for at least a year for further investigation. he did not do that, and so on june 16th, 1944, george stinney jr. was put to death in the electric chair just 83 days after his arrest. now some family members from -- relatives of one of the victims have come forward to say they

believe he was properly convicted, that he was guilty, and they oppose the efforts now to overturn the verdict. so now the judge here in this courthouse behind me is being asked to go back 70 years, look at that case, and decide if that guilty verdict still stands. chris? >> this isn't something you see happen every day, so i guess this is a lot of speculation here, but is there a sense of what the chances are the judge would order a new trial seven decades later? >> it's not a slam dunk. nobody expects there to actually be a retrial. she could overturn the verdict, but there are hardly any witnesses left, no physical evidence left. they could never have a retrial. what they are asking for is a directive verdict of acquittal to clear his name and some legal scholars say it's not a slam dunk that it could happen, but they are trying. there's a credit courthouse and spill-over courtroom being used right now to house all the

people here to watch this being done. this is a historic event here in south carolina. >> mark potter in sumter, thank you so much for that update. here's a look at some of the stories topping the news now. nbc news has confirmed the names of three more black widow terror suspects that may be targeting sochi. that makes a total of four suspected female suicide bombers on the loose. two more men, and it's feared one woman may have already slipped into sochi. meantime, the pentagon confirms air and naval assets, including two ships in the black sea, would be made available if needed during the winter games. u.n. secretary ban ki-moon arrives in switzerland for syrian peace conference. expectations of the talks are low. back in the u.s., the search for a gunman is under way after a shooting near philadelphia. a student was shot last night while sitting in his car outside the athletic center and he called 911 himself.

he is in the hospital in critical, but stable condition. no arrests have been made. search teams at the scene of an industrial plant in nebraska after a huge explosion monday that caused part of the building to collapse. two people were killed. 17 others injured. the teams are looking for the body of the second worker who was killed. strong winds forced them to stop searching last night. osha is investigating the cause. internal documents just released show how the archdiocese of chicago tried for decades to contain a scandal over child abuse. officials say they complained with reporting laws at the time, but they say they wish they did more sooner. victims' attorneys say they show the archdiocese concealed the abuse for decades. and a new report is shedding light on the richest people in the world. this is a study by ox fan international. get this, the richest 1% had $110 trillion in wealth, 65 times the total wealth at the bottom half of the population. the bottom half, $1.7 trillion.

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we're taking a look at this developing story. this is from chris christie's inauguration. and later this hour, he will take an oath and give a speech. the question is, what will he have to say? meantime, lawmakers have just announced a special super committee to investigate allegations against the administration. one involving the closing of the george washington bridge and, of course, the other the accusations by hoboken mayor dawn zimmer that she was told that she wanted to get money from superstorm sandy funds, she was going to have to support a development project. msnbc's craig melvin is outside the state house, where the ceremony is about to get under way. craig, what can you tell us? >> you know, it really is an interesting scene here, chris. again, as you indicated behind me, the war memorial, governor chris christie expected to take the oath of office, expected to

give some remarks here at high noon. meanwhile, just moments ago, a stone's throw away in a government annex building, legislators announcing the creation of the super committee. i did ask one of them afterwards what brought this about in terms of the timing. you really think about, this is something perhaps could have been done later today, could have been maybe tomorrow, certainly not just moments before the governor is set to be inaugurated. as it was explained to me, this was the result of some careful behind the scenes negotiations and the timing, but maybe curious to us not to them. also, another explanation was the weather was so bad they wanted to make sure they got this out earlier in the day. that was the response given to me when asked about the timing of this announcement. meanwhile, the makeup of this committee, 12 members, eight assembly members, four state

senators, it's going to be co-chaired by wisniewski and senator weinberg. they will act as co-chairs, they maintain the subpoena power. they are expecting, of course, information from that first round of subpoenas to come in the first week of february. in terms of the scope of the committee, and this is something that's very important. i asked the question whether those allegations by the mayor of hoboken, dawn zimmer, whether those allegations are now going to be a part of the scope of this committee. the response i got was, perhaps, maybe. it could be. just a snippet of what happened just a few moments ago with that announcement. take a listen. >> this process that we are announcing today has been many days in the works, and i'm glad that we were able to come to this agreement where we can bring both the assembly and the senate together to work for a common purpose in getting to the bottom of a very thorny question

about abuse of power and attempt to cover up that abuse of power. >> so, again, if they conclude during the course of this investigation, chris, that these allegations made by the mayor of hoboken fall under that explanation given there, then it will fall under the committee's purview, but that's something they say they'll work on in the next days and weeks. meanwhile, the creation of this so-called super committee is going to require another vote by the legislature here in new jersey. they expect it to pass fairly easily. i'm going to show you the scene here. it's probably very difficult to see through the snow, but you've got the cannons in place for that 19-gun salute. to the left of those cannons, you've got the protesters who have been out here for roughly an hour now, a few dozen protesters, and again, in that building, governor christie at high noon will give a speech. he'll talk about bipartisanship, he'll talk about compromise, we're told. he's going to mention sandy, as

well. and he's going to talk about, you know, moving forward as a state. but again, just a few moments ago, lawmakers convening, creating that so-called super committee, chris. >> craig melvin in trenton, new jersey. thank you very much. i'd like to bring in a former u.s. attorney and former new jersey attorney general. thank you so much for coming in. explain to folks who see all these parallel investigations going on what's the difference between what this legislative super committee is going to do as opposed to some of the legal investigations that are going on. >> well, the legislative committees are trying to dig in and find out what the facts are and review documents and the like, but they are going to have to defer at some point to law enforcement authorities. you can't have witnesses testifying before the committee if there is an investigation ongoing by the u.s. attorney,

because that could compromise the testimony of the witness later on with cross examination and the like. so, i think that we need to focus on the law enforcement authorities at the moment, but it's very good that they combine the two committees. that makes much sense. >> then you have, as you said, you have these legal investigations. one thing is certain, ethical questions that may be among the things asked, but also a question did something illegal happen here. let me give you joe scarborough's take from "morning joe" this morning. >> i think the bridge is an embarrassment, and it's political fundry if that's proven. it's a federal crime when you tell somebody you support -- i tell you what, we'll give you federal -- we'll channel federal hurricane money to your city if you support a development project. >> so let's take these individually, because we have

two scandals ongoing here. one is bridgegate, the idea that as some sort of political payback, the bridge lanes were closed, the george washington bridge. is there anything you see, of course, we don't know all the details, but that could be prosecutable? >> sure. there are federal statutes and regulations that deal with interstate commerce, and i'm sure if one looks and digs into those statutes, one will find something that would take the situation. there's also obstruction of justice. there were reports that were provided that say that this was a traffic study, when probably it was not, and we've got documents and statements. so it seems as if the administration was not forthcoming with law enforcement. >> then you have these allegations by the hoboken mayor, dawn zimmer, and she says

that she was told unequivocally by the lieutenant governor, something the lieutenant governor denies, that if you want the superstorm sandy money, then you're going to have to support this project. seems very clearly if that happened that something illegal happened there, and if so, dawn zimmer says she has met with the u.s. attorney, paul phishman. what kind of questions would he have? >> well, obviously, he would try to get the details, anything that she has that would support what she has said, and she did turn over her diary and the like. look, the whole business is about abuse of power, and this could be an example of that. it could violate federal statutes dealing with the misuse of funds and the like. you know, it also -- as these things keep -- governor christie, by the way, is

entitled to the benefit of the doubt. these allegations have to be proved, but it seems as if more things are popping up, and i wouldn't be surprised if there were a possibly reco case here. the enterprise would be the governor's office of the state of new jersey, and the predicate offenses would involve bridgegate, it would involve the hoboken, and it would also involve the county, which is something that has not been addressed clearly. >> all of those could be brought into the case. former u.s. attorney and former attorney general, thank you for coming in. "star ledger" columnist paul molshine will be here coming up. as we watch for the beginning of the swearing in of governor chris christie and his inaugural address. we'll be right back. we are t.

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this is the picture of the inauguration of chris christie. we're about five minutes away from the introduction, both the lieutenant governor, who, of course, has become embroiled in the scandal here and the governor, as well. the lieutenant governor denying that she ever made threats against the mayor of the city of hoboken, saying you can't have the money for superstorm aid if you don't support this public works project, so we're going to keep our eye on that. as i said, they've been pretty much on time, about five minutes away from the introduction of the governor and lieutenant governor. meantime, let me bring in "star ledger" columnist paul mulshine. good morning. >> hi! >> we were looking at your article about a 1994 campaign ad when chris christie was a 31-year-old lawyer running for the county board in morris county, new jersey. i just want to play a quick clip. >> my name is chris christie. i got into this race more morris

county for a promise of a better future for my family and yours. >> later in the ad he stated his opponents were, "being investigated by the morris county prosecutor." christie won, he was sued for defamation and required to apologize. he lost the following election. this is gotten a lot of buzz, a lot of play. what are people saying about it now? >> well, he's had a pattern of fighting with his fellow republicans. actually, much more than democrats. in fact, the funny thing about this bridgegate scandal, it's the first time he's had a big fight with the democrats. it's usually the republicans he brawls with and democrats he gets along with great. the more urban and democratic and i would say corrupt they are, the better. >> you know, in the article, and you referenced the "washington post" piece, which first talked about this. you said, it gives you an idea of how much attention the beltway media are paying for

this scandal and that's not good for our governor. tell us more about that. we've spoken a lot over the last couple of hours about it wasn't that long ago people were looking at today as this kickoff, potentially unofficially to presidential campaign, and now we have him under a cloud. being on the ground there in new jersey, is there a sense not just that his presidential ambitions are at stake here, but maybe even his governorship? >> yeah, i think his national ambitions are pretty much gone, because i think you're going to see this story come out in dribs and drabs for months now and every revelation will be treated by the national media as a big story, and none of them are good for him, because he did pressure a lot of mayors to endorse him. he didn't really need those endorsements to win the election. he was trying to make his national image. that's the ironic thing, in trying to make his national image, he ruined his national image. you're going to see these coming out, they are all going to be

covered in the national media. when it comes to surviving as governor, i don't know how this kim guadagno thing is going to work out. the problem with this thing is, these high-powered lawyers and developers always have cozy relationships at the top. most of the time that stuff just happens and nobody notices, but now with the spotlight on it, all these things are going to be coming out that just look bad for him, and he could be in real trouble himself because "the wall street journal" reported that shortly after the port authority executive director testified that there was no traffic study, which there wasn't, christie called governor cuomo and he said, "the post" reported, that in that cover christie asked cuomo to call off foye. now that really looks bad. christie has denied it, cuomo has been not committal on it, but that was the sort of thing

you would -- he was so arrogant back then in the sense that he would call a democratic governor and ask for a favor, you know, without thinking about the fact that the guy's a democrat, right? he might be at some point inclined to come out against a republican, so that's the kind of thing that could be waiting down the road. >> "star ledger" columnist paul mulshine, who is kind enough to stand outside in an increasing storm there in new jersey. thank you very much. chris christie is the latest republican 2016 presidential hopeful whose campaign may, may we say, be unraveling. talking points memo points out the once promising roster of republican contenders has started to come apart. a-list republicans like christie, senators marco rubio, rand paul, have taken hits, especially with the party base. let me bring in sahil rapor. good morning. >> good morning, chris. >> christie's troubles might be particularly painful because he

does have this cross partisan appeal and last month before christie apologized for bridgegate, he was leading hillary clinton by two points. late last week he was trailing her by 13 points. and i guess the key question is, can he recover? >> i certainly think it's too soon to write him off completely, but not too soon to say he's going to be a damaged candidate in the election, this is a powerful stuff, using your power to get revenge on political opponents and this is really easy for ordinary voters to understand on a gut level. we'll see what happens. i think what's clear is his opponents will have a treasure-trove of information and articles and news clippings to use against him on this issue. >> let's talk about senator rubio, once considered by some to be kind of the gop savior, but the conservative base wasn't very happy for his support of comprehensive immigration reform. rand paul's credibility tarnished, arguably, by revelations of plagiarism. what about these two senators,

and is their situation a lot different than chris christie's? >> i mean, i think it is different, and the case of senator rand paul, it's not really clear that he was ever a very strong general election candidate, but certainly a strong, you know, conservative candidate for the nomination, i would say. and the plagiarism scandal, again, we don't know how much it's going to damage him, but it's embarrassing for him and the way he handled the story doesn't help him. marco rubio is more tragic because what he was trying to do was be more mainstream on an issue where the party operatives says the party needs to be more mainstream. he's attacked far to the right on every issue imaginable and tried to overcompensate in all sorts of different ways but doesn't seem to be working for him. conservatives don't seem to trust him quite as much as his result of immigration reform. >> then we have jeb bush. there have been more than a few reports who say he doesn't have the fire in the belly, as they

like to say, and we have heard again from his own mother, barbara bush, who isn't exactly giving her blessing. let me play that. >> no question in my mind that jeb is the best qualified person to run for president, but i hope he won't. >> look, he's been laying low. he is not been a big part of the national discussion at all. you do wonder, though, if in what some people might perceive, especially with chris christie's trouble, a little bit of a republican vacuum if he might consider filling it. >> i think he'd certainly like to try, but he's having trouble breaking through, because the republican party now is very different than what it was, or ideologically much more conservative than what it was when he was governor, so he's tried to break through on the national stage but ends up having to defend himself and his conservative credentials every time. he hasn't really been a major player on the national debate. the comments from his mother weren't bad for him, he handled

that well. >> thank you very much. >> thanks, chris. and we are watching a long ovation for chris christie, with his wife mary pat, has come into the inaugural ceremony in trenton, new jersey. we are expecting him to take the oath of office very shortly. take a break and back with more after this. the end. lovely read susan. may i read something? yes, please. of course. a rich, never bitter taste cup after cup. 340 grams. [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] always rich, never bitter. gevalia. i nethat's my geico digital insurance id card - gots all my pertinents on it and such. works for me. turn to the camera.

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just a short time from now, chris christie will be sworn in for a second term as governor of new jersey. these are the live pictures from the inauguration in trenton. want to remind you tonight's gala at ellis island has been canceled but that's because of

the big snowstorm. a swearing in certificaemony no clouded by controversy. i want to bring in jonathan capehart and columnist bob ingle and msnbc legal analyst kendall coffee. you followed him for a while and we heard him apologize and take responsibility and even heard him say over the weekend this has been like being hit by a 2 x 4. where do you see him standing right now in this scandal? >> i think he's hoping that it will all blow over and nothing will be directly tied to him. >> so when he said over the weekend that he's readier, if that's a word, the way he put it, than he was in 2011 to be president, do you think that he believes he can still run for president? >> i think he thinks he could. i think he's been looking at it for a long time and if he

doesn't do it now, when will he do it? i think they are hoping against hope it's going to go away and not tied directly to him and he can get back on track in maybe a year or so. >> we're expecting this to start any minute. but let me get a quick thought from you. we know -- at least it's been suggested to us, the governor is not going to mention the bridge scandal. anything he can say or do today to start moving this thing in the other direction for him? >> look, he's doing everything he possibly can, at least he says, to cooperate with everyone who is investigating the bridgegate matter. right now his inauguration is about looking forward, looking towards his second term. and from the excerpts i've ahead, he's continuing the message it's made him a bit of a political star and that is reaching across the aisle and working with democrats to move things forward in new jersey, a bipartisan message he links back

to washington. what he's been able to do in new jersey can't be done in swa washington. i'm sorry to use this, it's a bridge from trenton to washington if he wants to run for president. it's a great general election message that he has. >> the obvious problem for him, kendall is what we've been calling this, drip, drip, drip of new stories and investigations and the announcement this morning for example that the assembly and senate will form this super committee. this is going to have to be very brief because they are going to introduce the governor. you know how these kinds of investigations work, could this go on for months, if not even beyond? >> you've got state jurisdiction for criminal investigations now apparently based on the mayor of hoboken, federal criminal investigations. the stuff doesn't get resolved quickly -- >> i'm sorry, i'm going to have to interrupt you because we are going to do the swearing in right now and then we will have his inaugural address.

let's listen. >> i chris christie. >> i chris christie. >> elected governor of the state of new jersey. >> elected governor of the state of new jersey. >> do solemnly promise and swear. >> that i will support the constitution of the united states. >> that i will support the constitution of the united states. >> and the constitution of the state of new jersey. >> and the constitution of the state of new jersey. >> and that i will bear true faith. >> i will bear true faith. >> and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the united states. >> and to the governments established in the united states. >> and in this state? >> and in this state. >> under the authority of the people. >> under the authority of the people. >> and i will diligently impartially justly and to the best of my knowledge and ability. >> best of my knowledge and ability. >> execute the said office. >> execute the said office. >> in confirmty with. >> in conformity with. >> the powers delegated to me.

>> and that i will. >> and that i will. >> to the utmost of my skill and ability. >> to the utmost my skill and ability. >> promote the peace and prosperity and main take the lawful rights of the said state. >> of the said state. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> congratulations. [ applause ]

[ applause ] ♪ ♪ >> congratulations, governor.

now lieutenant governor kim guadagno fulfilling her dual role with present chris christie with the state seal of new jersey. lieutenant governor. [ applause ] >> good afternoon. i'm tom keane jr., the minority leader of the new jersey senate, it's my honor to represent the chief justice to administer the oath to lieutenant governor kim

guadag guadagno. >> i kim guadagno. >> do solemnly swear. >> do solemnly swear. >> that i will support the constitution of the united states. >> that i will support the constitution of the united states. >> and the constitution of the state of new jersey. >> and the constitution of the state of new jersey. >> and that i will bear true faith. >> and that i will bear true faith. >> allegiance to the same. >> allegiance to the same. >> and to the governments established in the united states. >> established in the united states. >> and in this state. >> in this state. >> under the authority of the people. >> under the authority of the people. >> and that i will faithfully. >> faithfully. >> impartially. >> impartially. >> and justly. >> and justly. >> perform all of the duties. >> of the office of lieutenant governor. >> of the office of lieutenant rn