so earlier in the show we asked you if you could move something with your mind, what would it be? natalie, we'd go to her but she moved herself out of the control room with her mind. where did she go? some were talking about tv remotes. charles o'donnell got the favorite of date, if i could move things with my mind, i would jiggle the toilet handle without getting out of bed. >> what? >> it was good one, right? technology has not passed us by. >> one of the things i'm learning already in terms of storm management is it doesn't happen until it happens.

so we have a projection right now but real conditions might be very different. >> all day upper east side drivers like these on first avenue have been plagued by some of the worst road conditions in the city. >> it's absolutely snow covered here. >> nobody covered the ramp to go up to the fdr. >> none of of the streets have been plowed. mayor, if you're listening, please plow the streets. >> okay. well, here we go. >> good morning, everybody. >> the de blasio snowstorm of 2014. it's the second one. hold on a second, let it breathe. this is awful. willie suffering. you're a new york resident. hold on. willie, have you ever seen anything like this in the history of gotham?

>> not in my life have i seen anything like this. >> i guess traffic was pretty bad yesterday. >> it's wednesday -- >> giuliani would have never let this happen. >> giuliani would have had a shovel. he would have been out there himself. >> oh, please. >> bloomberg -- >> i'm telling you, i've been in the military for 35 years. i have never seen buses without chains. not one plow in the city last night. i'm being completely serious. >> are you being serious? >> i will tell you, i tried to get down 6th avenue at about 5:00 yesterday and i've never seen such chaos. there were buses all over the place. we're joking about de blasio and all that but i've never seen new york as chaotic. there was a bus blocking 57th and 6th. that is like the main thoroughfare threw midtown.

there was a bus sitting there for five, six, seven minutes. buses were thrown all over the place. there were no cops on the streets. >> i don't know if it's a coincidence, difference than i've seecn in the last 20 years. >> as you can see mike barnicle is here and -- do you think i'm allergic to them? >> remember what mika was horrified? >> when you got the fly in your ear. that was horrible. i was screaming. >> mike, were you in town last night? >> i was. there a mayor of chicago, i believe his name is mike belandic. they had a horrific snowstorm, it was very much the same in chicago as it was in new york and that's the reason he lost

the mayorship. >> why are we so bad about this? mayor bloomberg had that terrible snowstorm where the streets didn't get plowed. why are we so bad about this? i was on 6th avenue about an hour before you were and it was locked. >> it was chaos. >> and, givagain, you had buses blocking intersections for five, ten minutes. >> okay, it's a snowstorm, guys. >> there used to be a special task force that would come up to the townhouses to madison in the 80s. guys had special pink uniforms. they weren't there yesterday. >> we had that conversation yesterday, donnie. you missed it. it wasn't a snowstorm.

it was like 3 inches, 4 inches. >> bill karins told us a month ago the timing of it, the -- >> speaking of bill karins, could we go to to bill? could you give us some information. >> wind chills are as low as minus 20 yesterday. that's the story. the snow is over with in most locations, not all. wind chills are brutal. we're at minus 11 in the city right now. the timing of the heaviest snow just happened to be right when the evening rush hour was taking place. even though we only had 3, 4 inches on the ground, that's the reason we had such chaos.

we still have a blizzard from south of boston out on cape cod, from rhode island into areas on the cape is by far the worst weather in the country. >> else is cold. they are cold and snowy. if you're driving i-95 from new haven to providence, you still have snow. let's go to mike seidel in plymouth, mass. mike? wow, that kind of tells the story. >> yeah, i think it paints the picture. out here on the harbor in plymouth, still under the blizzard warning here and down towards the cape. we've had as much as 15 inches here in plymouth county. the most i've seen in new jersey, the coastal area have had as much as 16 inches. we're getting wind-driven snow. i'll give you a sense of the drifting. here the snow is about two and a

half feet deep and here you can see the grass. with the wend coming off the ocean and the still down to the maryland coast, we're looking for another 4, 5 inches of snow. in boston they've had about 5 inches. north and west of the city, there's been a lot of dry air. out in worcester, only about 2 inches of snow. down in providence, they've had as much as 10 to 12 inches. joe and mika, back to you in the studio. >> thank you. bill. >> probably i'd give it about till noon today where mike is there. eastern mass. is the concern as you just saw. >> all right, keep your eye on it. thank you very much, bill. we'll turn to news now.

>> if i had a action news slicker, i would have been out there, slicker. >> oh, let me help you out. >> pink vest -- >> right on the streets of new york. >> can we go to the control room for a second? can you guys make sure you get donnie a "morning joe" slicker and we'll send donnie out in the next storm. >> this is out on the streets -- >> donnie, i'll find a good spot for you. >> i think there's a place for you on the jersey shore perhaps. let's go to virginia. former governor don mcdonald and his wife, maureen, are potentially facing decades in jail for accepting gifts for

political favors. yesterday they were indicted on more than a dozen charges. this man, jonnie williams, it's alleged the former governor and first lady accepted more than $150,000 in cash and gifts ranging from golf equipment to private plane rides. the list goes on to include shopping sprees formore morine $15,000 for their daughter's graduation, a ferrari, a $6,500 rolex engraved watch, engraved with "71st governor of virginia." in return, mcdonnell is accused of using the power of his office

by attending events to boost the company's credibility and he used the governor's mansion for a launch party for a pill not approved by the fda. >> while i deeply regret accepting these legal gifts and loans from mr. williams, all of these have been returned or repaid with interest. i have apologized for my poor judgment and i accept full responsibility for accepting these legal gifts and loan. however, i repeat again emphatically that i did nothing illegal for mr. williams in exchange for what i believe was his personal friendship and his generosity. i never promised and mr. williams and his company never received any government benefit of any kind from me or from my

administration. >> the 43-page indictment includes a glimpse into the mcdonnell household and the financial pressures they faced. moron reached out to williams for help purchasing an inauguration dress. according to an e-mail, she became enraged at a staffer, "i need to talk to you about inaugural clothing budget. i need answers and bob is screaming about the thousands i'm charging up in credit card debt. we are broke." the mcdonnells are scheduled to be arraigned this friday and face a maximum of 30 years in prison. joining us, part of the team covering partthe indictment

for "the washington post." carol, can you add anything in terms of what is included in the indictment? >> i think you gave a great summary. when you read the details in the charging papers that federal prosecutors have released as of yesterday afternoon, you see this stunning narrative of a first lady who was almost on a weekly basis in contact on a ceo about things she wanted or needed and from him in the way of financial assistance and gifts and ways she felt she and the governor could help its company and its future prospects. >> is it unusual a first lady is included in something like this? and what exactly are the rules that were broken or laws that were broken? >> the charges against the first couple, the mcdonnells, revolve around the hobbs act and that basically they are not allowed to accept things of value that

wouldn't be normally provided to them in exchange for a promise or an agreement that they're going to help somebody through their official acts. >> and, carol, that's a federal law, correct? >> it is. it is. it's a fairly older law actually, but there are other numerous charges against the two. for example, as you mentioned, mika, she's charged with lying to investigators and obstructing their investigation by trying to pretend that some gorgeous $20,000 worth of designer gowns and accessories were really just a loan from jonnie williams, the ceo's daughter. he's also charged the form are governor, bob mcdonnell, a once rising star and presidential hopeful, he's charged with lying to banks about a loan he sought in his mortgage and not disclosing the money he was receiving from jonnie williams.

>> we heard bob mcdonnell said yesterday several times through the press conference that these gifts were legal. most people i've talked to in politics say under the virginia law, there are almost no gift bans to speak of. did the feds list any virginia laws that bob mcdonnell broke or were they all federal? >> well, prosecutors here are really concerned about the federal violations, those are the ones they can charge under. there was a separate investigation by the state as to whether or not the governor had violated the disclosure laws of the state. i think mcconnell is saying two things at once, one, that he disclosed what he believed he was supposed to disclose, though the bulk were not shared with

the public and, to, he doesn't feel he promised jonnie williams anything of value. >> thank you. what do you make of this? his campaign was so successful. >> the thing i've been disturbed at from the beginning is that bob mcdonnell -- there's retched excess here and they took one gift after another gift. but bob mcdonnell -- i don't know about the disclosure to the bank, i need to look into that and if you just look at the gifts and you talk to anybody involved in virginia politics, they say that's legal. nothing they did was illegal accepting these gifts. they were excessive. and i heard a lot of people really blown away by how excessive she was. but they say as governor he didn't break the laws that

virginia governors are required to follow. on the other side of it, you listen to what the company got in return and there's nothing. a launch party, seriously, for a pill? i've got to say -- if the feds have a problem with virginia and the gift law, they should talk to virginia legislators and lobby them to toughen up. but going back to an old hobbs act to try to get this guy when you can't find a piece of legislation he pushed, you can't find a single board that he put in, all of the things that i was looking for that i saw politicians doing for their supporters in the past, they did none of it. this was a one-way relationship. a launch party for a pill? if the feds are going to spend their money on these sort of investigations, i guess peace has broken up in the united states of america and they don't have a lot to do. >> mike, you're from boston.

>> i don't know how many counts apply to the government or the wife of the governor. >> there is a stupidity involved in the indictment so far. texting for a 20k loan, can you send me 20k. her requests -- >> it's horrible. but are they breaking the law? >> we're going to find out if they're breaking the law. under virginia law they're not breaking the law. >> i'm sure they're not breaking the virginia law that he thought he was being guided by. now that the federal government has stepped in and hasn't listed a single virginia law that's being broken, talk about being ruined? now they got the weight of the federal government coming after them? >> let's be careful because obviously what was going on there raised a lot of eyebrows.

>> it was terrible. >> from the watch to -- >> joe brings up a critical point. obviously there's the egregious amount there. but there does not seem to be the favor. we forget sometimes that power and money are very different. i was kind of actually taken with the fact that the stress of the inauguration. here we have these people in public office that did not have any real money yet office demands certain monetary things such as buying a dress for inauguration. and how often, joe, did you see in your experience with people where, you know, it's very easy to kind of get taken with the whiff of the musk of the power of the office and say i'm entitled to these things? >> i can speak to this. when my parents came to washington, we had very little

money. in the white house they only pair a certain salary and they had three kids to raise and my mother would go to secondhand stores to buy dresses. my brother is in there now. there's a ton of pressure because the events every day are meeting world leaders, greeting the president on the tarmac. i'm not making excuses for the mcdonnells. i'm saying it's not as excessive as it seems when you look at what is expected of them in the washington double and you can get caught in it. my mother never got caught of it, she could care what people think but she's a very unusual person. >> dan rohrabacher, we were done

on the coast having dinner within night and talking about legislation and everything and he was talking about a financial challenge he was facing. you know what he was trying to figure out? >> what? >> i don't want to embarrass de dana by saying this, he was trying to figure out when he could afford new tires. he lives in california. then he had a place in washington. you know, i just sat there thinking. i saw one legislator about another not whining about it at all. people sit and think these people live these extraordinary lives. i'm thinking here's dana, a guy who has been m congress a long time and he's trying to figure out when he can afford a new set of tires and whether he's going to be able to do it this month or the next month or the next month. i saw people on the

appropriations committee that had very little money, had like four kids in college, were struggling day in and day out and they controlled millions and millions and millions of dollars. and i sat there going it is amazing that there is as little corruption as there is here when you have some people who are not whining about any of these people. like you said, there are a lot of people that are struggling. listen, nobody did anything -- i never heard anybody who's done anything like the mcdonnells -- >> you are don't need a watch that's a rolex and you don't need oscar de la renta dresses. >> i don't think the fed should have been involved. this should have been a virginia case because he's the governor of virginia. but, secondly, there's just not that payoff. >> no traffic jam or anything. >> there's no quid pro quo here.

>> i think it's obvious. >> that's worthy of 30 years? >> no. >> if you read through the indictment, he hosted something at the governor's mansion, a launch party. he asked for a meeting to be set up with the secretary of health of virginia. there's a lot of smoke there but now the question to be answered is was there fire. did the governor push people in ways towards williams that he wouldn't have otherwise? >> did other people not get launch parties? >> governors have a lot of parties for a lot of business owners and one suspects -- anyway, you would have hoped they would have already had the quid pro quo in there before they indicted these people and dragged their name through the mud and now are making them lawyer up and will be responsible for them being bankrupt for the rest of their life for trying to defend themselves in stopping from going to jail and indicting the

wife as well. i mean, i know that she was at the center of a lot of this but, again, what's the law in virginia? if the feds have a problem with that, again, they should encourage the state of virginia, the state legislator, to tough i don't know -- toughen those laws, which are jokes. >> he has an expensive trial coming up. >> i don't buy it. i'm wondering what the attorney general was thinking. >> we'll find out. coming up, chuck todd joins us and kasie hunt will join us and mayor stephanie raulings-blake. you're watching "morning joe."

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time to take a look at the morning papers. a teaching assistant is dead this morning after a shooting at purdue university in indiana. the suspect, 23-year-old cody cousins surrendered to police and has been charged with murder. while classes are cancelled today, the "purdue review" says some professors are facing criticism for ignoring lockdown procedures and continuing to preach and criticizing students for wanting to lock the doors and turn off the lights. what is going on? >> i don't know. >> a visit to france will -- to

meet the pope in march. >> let's go! >> from the web site, aspen journalism provides clues on what went wrong in the plane crash earlier this month. we have to warn you the footage you're about to see may be considered disturbing. okay. the video shows engines firing before the plane lands, indications the pilot was trying to abort the landing. the plane bounces off the run way, into the air, hitting the runway nose first and exploding. >> i've heard so many people

talk about how tough it is to get into there, especially in winter. >> i have as well. >> the u.s. government is offering russia its full support as security concerns continue to overshadow the buildup to the winter olympics. the president and vladimir putin discussed how to keep the olympics safe. richard, we're hearing a lot about the potential threat caused by the so-called black widows. what can you tell about that and the situation in general? >> reporter: here in sochi, security is very tight to get into the olympic park. we are now inside the iron ring that the -- the ring of steel that russia says it has put in place. to get here you have to go through multiple check, you have to put all your bags through screeners. i've seen officials walking around with small detectors around their neck to detect chemical weapons in the air.

in this security perimeter the procedures are very tight. but at the same time, russia is on the lookout for at least five potential suicide bombers, two men, three women, three of these black widows, who they believe are somewhere in russia with at least one of them believed to have been already in the sochi area. so russia is taking a lot of precautions but there are still risks. >> thank you so much, we appreciate the report. let's go to willie with "politico play book." what have you heard, by the way, about the olympics? ure -- you're going over there again. what have you heard from nbc about security internally there? >> they take it very seriously. you had the train station bombing that killed several people. they're counting on this ring of steel, something like 60 miles

around, to really lock down. you can't get in or out, even if you're just attending the events, you have to be credentialed. security is incredibly tight. they spent like $60 billion on the olympics. yes, we're counting on the russians but we have a lot of internal security measures. the fbi is involved and nbc has a lot of security. we put our trust in them and hope nothing happens frankly. that's about it. let's take a look at politico. mr. mike allen is the chief political correspondent there. good morning. >> good snowy morning. >> so governor chris christie official live began his second term yesterday. at his swearing in, he emphasized working to the. -- together. it wasn't long before he took his question about stepping down. >> i think it makes sense for

him to step aprside in that rol. he does not serve the goals of the organization by staying as chairmen. that doesn't mean any of the charges, political or otherwise -- >> why wouldn't he step down? why do you think he's not stepping down? >> frankly, i think this is still relatively new and he may well step down. i have no idea what his thinking is on that. he may get counsel from other generals along those lines. >> what do you make of cuccinelli's comments there suggesting chris christie should step aside as head of the rna? >> i don't know who listens to cuccinelli. willie, when i look at polls, a movement of a point or two i don't pay much attention to. but there's a quinnipiac poll yesterday that showed in a month

9 points of movement against chris christie against hillary clinton. in december he was a point ahead. yesterday he was eight points behind. it reflects the coverage but what else is out there? we saw chris christie strong yesterday in that speech. he was inside at the trenton war memorial. didn't directly refer to the crisis but talked about how new jersey needed to be strong, resilient, proud, a little like himself. and he took a shot at washington saying that new jersey couldn't fall for the partisanship and division in washington. willie, there's two stories out there new this morning, new thoughts about chris christie. one of them cautionary and the other that's encouraging from him. in ben white's "morning money" this morning, he quoted a republican connected to wall street saying the whole thing with the former virginia governor is a little chilling for chris christie because it shows what can happen when prosecutors start to dig through everything as they now have

license to do with him. but also out there this morning, willie, the a.p. has a story that i think will get a lot of pickup. it talks but among republicans there's no one hispanics are closer to or think have done more for them than chris christie. they have been with chris christie, he's worked with them over four years, they like what he just signed on immigration. that's been a voice of encouragement for him at this time when he could use it. >> and that was one of the biggest problems for mitt romney in 2012 and for republicans. how does chris christie manage this going forward? how has he done this as he been on the front page of the paper for about two weeks now? >> the challenge for him is the very thing that has made his brand, right at you, some would say bullying, which was never as negative a term as it was a few weeks ago. now the next time he barks at a teacher or is in somebody's face, does that now bring you back to the traffic jam? he's a little stuck in that the

thing that got him here is the thing that can continue to hurt him. if there's any smoking guns in in, if there's any e-mails that kol out, the latest thing as far as the sandy relief, so this is a really tbd. >> when he was making the claims and comments yesterday about bipartisanship given what we've just seen over the last couple of weeks, not negly from him but from his office punishing the mayor from fort lee. >> and how the governor may have just made your sports bracket more popular. we'll explain next. ♪ you're a way back money

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focused and fresh. >> take it from me, eating better foods make you a better athlete. >> ooh, the first lady throwing down! >> that was 10 foot. >> we should run that clip of you. >> white man jamming. >> public opinion was turning against alex rodriguez. wait till you hear what his fellow players are saying against him. the player association and its members overwhelmingly agree a-rod should be kicked out of the union. no one stood up for a-rod during a 90-minute conference call with about 40 player reps. a-rod is suing the union trying to overturn his suspension -- >> does he not have anybody? >> what's the deal?

i'm tired of him. >> does he not have anybody that just says, you know what, take it like a man and apologize, tear up. it's over. >> go away. >> joe, he was offered a deal last may or june, especially along the way you're talking. 75 games, it was more than what the others were offered. take this deal and you're done. if he had taken the deal, he'd be out at spring training right now. >> and now he's alone. >> downtown at st. bart's he was at a party -- >> there it is. yeah, yeah. >> can you say that again? >> i'm trying to give up close and personal -- i'm trying to give you up close and personal -- >> how did you get to that party? >> that's not the point. i'm trying to give you up close

and a-rod stuff. >> just to give a tease. members of a clam bake up close in the hamptons coming up. >> tell us, donnie. you're so rich. >> you're such a parody of yourself. go ahead. >> but no. so -- >> you got to finish the story now. hurry up. >> so we're at a party, he's going through this. all of these idiotic rich people are still fussing over here. it wasn't even like a scarlet letter. the answer is because he's so delusional -- this is a good story. >> no, this is a good story. go ahead. i'm with you. >> that's the answer of the question. because they are still treating him like he's some kind of god. >> it's pathetic.

>> this guy is so out of touch with reality, that's -- st. bart's was kind a chilly. >> as only he could be as grounded. he's in touch with the mean streets. what's happening with the red sox? >> holy cow, the boston red sox red sox pitchers,. >> tazawa presented prime minister with a baseball jersey and talked baseball with the leader. caroline kennedy became the first woman to play ambassador to japan.

spreading the brand, mike barnicle, to the world. >> what's the thought there? they've been going to japan to get pitchers for some time now, the red sox. >> yeah, they made one trip too many to get daiske. tanaka is going to sign probably with the yankees or dodgers for $100 million. the pitchers in japan throw much more often than american pitchers do. they seem to be in better shape when they get over here in terms of their arm. they have few arm problems. it's an untapped resource. >> why do they have fewer arm problems? is that the old story the more you pitch -- >> it's the old joe morgan, the old red sox manager, he once asked the question years ago have you ever known a catcher with a sore arm? no one throws more than

catchers. get out there and throw. >> the guys used to pitch 27 complete games in a year. >> oh, yeah. >> ncaa. >> 1962, giants against the braves, both pitchers, 16 innings, they both threw 16 innings. >> isn't that something? >> march madness is changed forever. this is incredible. a lot more at stake for the ncaa tournament this year. warren buffett is offering $1 billion to anyone who can correctly pick the winners of all 63 games. the odds of winning this challenge are more than 4 billion to 1, though it's been done. >> it's not really buffett. isn't it quicken loan and he's ensuring it? >> yeah, they're working to the on this. he's fronting the money. there's more. the 20 most accurate brackets will get $100,000 each. can you enter the contrast

beginning march the 3rd. there were 8.5 million brackets last year on espn.com. none of them were perfect. >> coming up, kasie hunt joins the conversation. don't go away. we'll be right back with more "morning joe." [ male announcer ] the new new york is open. open to innovation. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here

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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 ♪ . >> she was raised by a single mother with a sixth grade education. she married young and by 19 was divorced and raising me as a single mother. you know how they say everything's bigger in texas. that certainly wasn't the case for the trailer we lived in. >> that was a portion of a campaign ad by texas gubernatorial candidate wendy davis, which features her daughter. but the dallas paper revealed wendy williams was 21, not 19 when she first got divorced and her mother attended school

through 9th grade, not 6th. she defending her narrative as a mother defying the odds. kasie, what else can you tell us about this story? was she divorced when she went on to college? there seem to be two different stories out there. >> reporter: well, some of the details are not quite right. >> like what? >> like we just walked through the fact she was actually 21 when she got divorced, her mother's education went further than she herself insinuated. she sort of displayed herself as somebody who pulled themselves up by their boot straps. she had a child. she was a single mother at 19 was when they search rated, 21 she was former live divorced. she went on to go to community

college. her second husband helped put through law school. >> did he pay for harvarharvard. >> he cashed out an account -- >> she did live in a trailer park, even if it was for four months. to me it's still pulling yourself up from your boot straps. >> and there were also reports that her ambitions were such that she up and left her children and went off to harvard. >> is she still married to the second husband? >> she is not. >> when did that happen? >> a long time ago. but she has her second husband's name. >> so she just exaggerated is what you're saying? >> she said i'm still learning to be more broad with my

language. she said she was too specific with the details. she is really stepping on to the national stage and someone who democrats see who could have a long future in the party but she's still new as a candidate if she's making these kind of mistakes. >> her language was sloppy but in your reporting, does it change the core of who she is and the story she's telling people? >> the basics that she was a young, single mother, true. she lived in a trailer. republicans are saying, well, you were only there for a month. at that point you start to run into questions of exactly what this is worth. >> okay, we'll follow this. the white house is rolling out a renewed call to end rape and sexual assault. it's an effort by the council on women and girls to stop a crime that affects so many americans. according to a report, nearly 22

million women have been raped or assaulted. the white house is establishing a task force to make campuses safer and to hold schools more accountable. >> when i was looking through that report, the thing that strikes me is that most of these rapes we're talking about is the rapes are committed by acquaintances. >> those numbers are incredible. >> one in five raped, that is a stunningly striking number. >> which is why they're doing something. kasie hunt, thank you so much. >> coming up, what is speeding the growing wealth gap between the rich and poor. keep it right here on "morning joe." v

coming up at the top of the hours, nbc news political director joins us for our roundtable and also baltimore's

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in the northeast winter storm janus has been a tough one for the weather channel but not for the usual reasons. some of our eagle eyed viewers alerted me to this. janus is spelled jan-a-n-u-j-a- which means al roker has to be very careful about where he stands. >> we bought our house clearing the snow.

>> you don't want to get caught in the eye of winter storm anus. >> what happened? oh, my gosh, i get it! >> welcome back to "morning joe." mika won't be with us. >> that is so bad! that is so bad! >> just one step to the left. one step to the left. oh, my god, that's so bad. >> that is so funny how the three of you got that right away. interesting. >> hard to kind of miss. >> okay. you guys could have wrote the conversation before. >> it's actually called like reading. that's where we got it. >> no, it stood out to you. the eastern seaboard is digging out this morning after -- >> how about de blasio, if "the new york post" is saying it --

>> i'm going to take another benadr benadryl. let's go to bill karins on the storm. >> the thing is the cold, the lowest value in the entire country is watertown, new york at minus 45. everyone from boston to new york to d.c., a lot of people are trying to shovel and scrape the ice out there this morning with wind chills as low as minus 20. the big storm is heading out and exiting. we have a little over leftover snow along the coast, up into areas like cape cod but we'll see things improving dramatically as we go throughout the morning. only another couple inches out there, areas through rhode

island, cape cod and just south of boston. boston itself maybe at 1 or 2 inches. you'll probably end up with 6 or 7 total. the winds are gusting to 35 in newport, on cape cod gusts to 40 miles per hour. that's causing a lot of blowing and drifting of the snow. even if they plow the roads, the winds blow it right back on. blizzard conditions at least in massachusetts until noon today. >> wow, those are some low temperatures. >> 45 below, our poor friends in watertown. >> you know st. bart's as dipped to 77. >> oh, stop. >> chuck todd, thanks for joining us. >> let's talk about two guys that got elected on the same day in 2009. >> yeah. >> bob mcdonnell, i've already

done my take on bob mcdonnell. i don't quite understand why the feds went after him because he didn't break laws in virginia. >> are you sure? >> well, they did not list any virginia laws that he broke. what insight can you give us? >> reporter: it sounds to me that somebody cooperated. if you say so, i'm -- you're lawyer, i'm not. >> hold on a second, chuck. i'm not a good lawyer, okay? seriously. >> so you and i are even is what you're saying? >> i think you might be a very good one. >> there's the ethic side of it and this is horrific ethically and then there's the legal side of it. i just wonder why the feds went after them. >> i think it's clear somebody

cooperated here. when you look at the indictment, there's too much of a paper trail there and it doesn't sound like the mcdonnells were the ones offering up evidence of various e-mails and back and forth and even loan documents. it's clear that either jonnie williams is concerned about something, he cooperated or somebody with him cooperated. i think that may be part of it. but i tell you, joe, you look at this and it is amazing to me and on one hand it's a very familiar story. you see a politician who feels as if they should be living a lifestyle that is above their means and they cut corners in order to live a certain lifestyle and that seems to be what the mcdonnells got caught up in. i think his people around him for month himself tried to imply this was all driven by maureen mcdonnell and that the governor was a little bit of a victim

here. when you read this indictment, it's pretty clear the two of them were in on this together of, okay, we found a sugar daddy and we'll do what we have to do in order to keep up with the joneses. >> so here's what federal authorities allege, the governor and first lady accepting more than $150,000 in cash and gifts ranging from government equipment to private plane rides. the list includes shopping sprees for maureen at oscar de la renta, louis vuitton, $15,000 in catering for the daughter's graduation, summer vacations at his summer home with a nearly $200,000 ferrari, an engraved rolex watch. in return the governor is accused of using the power of his office by adding several

events to boost the company. >> while i deeply regret accepting these legal gifts and loans for mr. williams, all of these now have been returned or repaid with interest. i have apologized for my poor judgment and i accept full responsibility for accepting these legal gifts and loans. however, i repeat again emphatically that i did nothing illegal for mr. williams in exchange for what i believe was his personal friendship and his generosity. i never promised and mr. williams and his company never received any government benefit of any kind for me or from my administration. >> chuck, do you know the -- i mean, he talked about the legal

gifts and loans. are there parameters in terms of -- >> virginia's ethic clause has always been among the most nonexistent in the country. it's been laughable. all of virginia's campaign finance system, you can write giant checks. it was obviously a very legally -- lawyers went through that. it goes to what joe is saying. look, he may not go to jail, but a lot of people are going to look at this and say, boy, common sense says, well, what did you think? it's clear that mr. williams thought he was going to get something in return, right? mcdonnell can claim because there's no paper trail for him saying, well, i said in return for you giving me this 50d,000 so that i can keep vacation homes in virginia beach, i will do this. there is no "i will do this." maybe that keeps him out of

prison in this but the problem he has is that it's clear that mr. williams thought he was getting something in return. and is that enough to convict mcdonnell, i think that's going to be the question. >> there has to be a quid pro quo. >> jonnie williams is an interesting character. it's amazing how much he gave for how little he got in return. mourn was saying i need you to take me to yor-- >> can you imagine this? >> most people don't get to do launch parties at the governor's mansion. if i said for $150 throughs,0,0

launch a product at the governor's mansion, that's a trade -- one could argue it was a trade. >> i don't think it was. >> i'm sure you've met them. there are people on fringes, in public life -- >> who just want to be around it. >> yeah. >> mike knows this better than anybody. they just trade off saying, hey, so i was with the governor's wife in new york and we were shopping. there are clumps of people with way too much money that will -- that have all the money they need that just want to be able to drop names and say they're around people. >> chuck, you can bare witness to this, there are people where you go out and you're on a

fund-raising tour and you're asking someone for money who has enormous weather and halfway through the conversation you realize this person is dumber than a bag of hair. >> and that's how these politicians rationalize it. do you remember the governor of connecticut, john roland? this is the same -- in many ways, i've seen this story where you have a politician that sits there and says i don't have this money but look at all the people making money off of me and that's how they rationalize it and make these moral to -- >> the how many people are living in this rarefied wealth department with no wealth? >> chuck, let move on to chris

christie, another guy elected in 2009. he started his second term yesterday as governor of new jersey. and i thought he did a pretty good job at his swearing in ceremony. it doesn't matter. right now chris christie is just in a position where he can't win. if he's himself, people say he's a bully. if he tries to be a little more reserved they go, "oh, chris christie is a former shelf himself." the spinning and spewing that is going on right now on the left while the rest of us sanely wait for the facts so come out is so over the top. until we know what's in the documents and the e-mails. >> we live in a media environment now that there's no such thing as nuance. part of this is the new media children, where everything is the biggest story in the world

for 12 minutes, 12 hours, 12 days, depending on truly how worthy it is. so you're right. sometimes everything can feel like a feeding frenzy for a period of time and you think which one of these is going to last? obviously for christie there's too many people with official investigations open. that's the issue. for him, he's got to hunker down. i imagine a parallel universe where this doesn't happen, there is no bridge scandal, his inaugural speech is covered like, boy, here he goes again. this guy is trying to make the electability argument, make the governing argument, he's trying to contrast himself with washington. what's interesting to me is that his inaugural speech felt like what speech that was written before the scandal. he could say whatever he wants, that's not going to penetrate

what's news today, the partisan make-up of this special committee that's going to be segting him, which, by the way, i think the assembly democrats made a mistake. if you're going to investigate the governor and throw around the "i" word like impeachment, then you better have an investigating committee. >> i don't think it was blown out of proportion. he coverage up until this point was blown out of proportion. obviously he's an effective governor. there's such a disproportionate amount of attention that when the blemish comes out, it going to be equally -- >> i think what comes out is

chris christie as the de facto head of the republican party. i'm saying that because of the reaction from democrats. whether you're talking about online, on cable news, on twitter, it's around the clock. it reminds me what people did on benghazi the second after the benghazi attack. and it became this rallying cry for the right, just like this chris christie bridge scandal has been to the left. i'm not equating the two so, please, save your energy and your cheatos. it's sort of like shoot first, ask questions later, and it is just so accessible on the left. it was so excessive. >> i don't agree. >> oh, my god. please don't make me say it here on tv. >> say. >> no, i can't. >> please don't make me say how

excessive it's been, it's just like benghazi was on the right. you say i understand this is very troubling, let ask questions and wait for the facts to come, ex. >> before we accuse the administration of just sitting by and letting four americans die, why don't we have an investigation? now the same thing is happening on the other side. >> so it's happening on the left. it's also because of this interesting timing because chris christie is seen as a potential candidate for president, but he hasn't won the primary. he's not the nominee. so even from within his own party i think he's red meat. and yesterday he took a shot from within his own party to step down as chair of the rga. ken cuccinelli, who lost his bid

of virginia governor, had this to say. >> i think it makes sense for him to step aside in that role. he does not serve the goals of the organization by staying as chairman. percepti perception. >> frankly i think this is still rel he may get some counsel from other governors along those lines. >> part of what cuccinelli brought to the table was his own baggage. but part of the difficulty that chris christie carries each and every single day is he might be governor of new jersey, but his media base, where he's covered,

is new york city. the coverage from new york city of the governorship of new jersey, in this case chris christie, is going to be overwhelming in a situation like this. he's either got to get staff work changed or something, some way to deal with it better than he's been dealing with it. >> like chuck todd always says, manhattan, it's the center of the ub for. >> there i tell you, howe does the midwest receive these east coaster. the mideast corridor is probably the am deck it hasn't been si e since -- i don't think that's an accident. there is a way, and maybe i'm just thinking about my late father. he thought chicago was too much like new york city as an iowan. but there is this sense of don't

tell us what to think, don't tell us what to do. and that's i think the sentiment that actually ends up hurting these guys. it let's about ideology or anything else. you're forcing these people on us pretty quickly. >> i think you can also make a strong case, and prior to some of the events that have come after chris krirzy. >> what's her name, his whole personal was gathered towards what was happening in washington. the road to the white house is through states like iowa and wisconsin. i'm not talking about the primaries. i'm talking about a midwestern persona. southerners and midwesterners, there's a reason why the white house has been dominated by

those. it's southerners and midwesterners just play better in the midwest and in the west where the heart of the swing states are. >> i agree with chuck. . very thing that appeals to us -- >> the st. barts crowd. >> the st. bart's crowd. >> people go to lake superior or lake michigan to go to st. barts. wo woof. >> we have to continue to the country out there right now. >> chuck, thank you. >> and you, too, are a handsome man, chuck. >> all righty. coming up, how to run -- >> we're going to show the shocking video. >> do we have this.

>> we do. because mayor ford -- >> you're going to show that, right? >> now we're 20 minutes into this show. why haven't we shown -- >> i don't know. >> alex and t.j. are asleep. >> is he the world's mayor? >> he's the world's mayor. >> the saint bart's people, they love him. it's a true story. >> coming up, how to run an economy. author tim harford joins us when we come right back. ♪ they scream your name at night in the street ♪

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they kicked me around five

months. they got five months from me. and they're trying to tell me -- you know here, he's hiding here, i'm hiding here. [ bleep ]. no, money, money, money. >> earlier today mayor ford's brother, doug ford -- this poor guy, he's the most loyal brother in the world. the reporter showed him a video, and he said that's definitely not from last night. he doesn't drink anymore. >> and then brother rob showed up and said this. >> reporter: were you drinking last night? >> yes, i was. >> reporter: you were drinking last night? >> a little bit.

>> he no longer just belongs toronto. he belongs to all of us. >> you just wonder about the circumstances that led to that. like he got up in front of everyone at the steak queen and just started addressing them, dropped into sort of a jamaican accent for a while. >> they love him up there. they say he's done a great job. >> you ask what's wrong with him. i ask what's wrong with all of us? >> i have the answer. columnist with the "financial times," the author of "the undercover economist, how to run -- or ruin -- an economy." >> you write in here something fascinating, what alan greenspan said when he was here, and

that's that you look at all these economic models and look at the logic behind it all and too none we just dismiss human behavior. >> human behavior and all the little details. all these derivative markets that blew up during the crisis. i'm an economist, i'll take some blame. we sat in the arm chair and i said i know how those things must probably work. never actually opened the contract, had a look at the terms. sometimes the reason why the economy plays because we get the big tur wrong but the little details end up to have a lot of consequences. they should have more of an interesting in those curious details. >> and sometimes human beings do not behave rationally like economists at universities studying models think they're going to behave, right? >> absolutely not. we make a big dins tings between

a 2% pay cut, which that's terrible, u going to cut my pay by 2%? versus a pay freeze when inflation is 2%. it the same thing. that's also a 2% pay cut. it doesn't feel and those things can actually make a huge difference to the way recessions play out. individual behavior scaling up and these tweaks -- >> we tend to study the weekly and monthly numbers that come out. what do you look at? >> gross domestic product is still a great measure of the overall health of the economy. we have to realize what's missing. one of the things that's missing is we haven't got a decent forecast of gdp. we don't really know what gdp is

today. we don't really know what gdp is about six months ago. we're too focused on the short term to know what's really going on. i would also look at signs of long-term stress in the economy. in the case of the u.s., gdp has been growing, it's recovered strongly compared to europe. i know it doesn't feel like a recovery but if you look at the something like the rise of unemployme unemployment, out of work for more than six months, the difficulty they have in taking anybody that both statically and in economicings that there are two economies. there's the dow that's doubled

in the past two years and there's the main street economy. 95% of all of the growth since '09 has been by 1% of the people. it's kind of hard to say "the" economy right now. >> that's right. it's not just an american problem. it's true in the usa, it's true in -- there's no easy answer. oxfam came out with a report yesterday. what they said is rich people have to promise to be nice and to pay their taxes. well, that's great if rich people were nice and paid taxes, that would be great but that's not a policy. i think we're all a little bit confused about how to deal with

increasing inequality. inequality is flat and falling. you've got china, indonesia, brazil, all these poor countries are growing fast. yet you look at any individual economy and the rich are pulling away. it has an effect not on on the economy but on the political system as well. >> a stunning graphic. the richest 85 people in the world have the same amount of money as 3 million people. >> we just put that graphic up. >> i don't want to burst the bubble, my toddler son has more wealth than 3 billion people in the world. it's not necessarily a goodarstick. you know the reason? because ne have 835 -- they have zero. there's a lot of red rick and a

lot of different slangers. but it also tell us what we should be concluding. >> the book is "the undercover economist." please, come back. >> still ahead, the side of mitt romney you never got to see during the campaign. stay with us. ♪ can you read my mind, can you read my mind ♪ passenger: road trip buddy. let's put some music on. woman: welcome to learning spanish in the car. passenger: you've got to be kidding me. driver: this is good. woman: vamanos. driver & passenger: vamanos. woman: gracias. driver & passenger: gracias. passenger: trece horas en el carro sin parar y no traes musica. driver: mira entra y comprame unas papitas. vo: get up to 795 miles per tank in the tdi clean diesel. the volkswagen passat. recipient of the j.d. power appeal award, two years in a row.

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coming up, we are going to have the mayor of baltimore, stephanie rawlings-blake. she's going to join us and give her advice as to how we can end the gridlock in washington. that's straight ahead on "morning joe." ♪ ♪ (vo) you are a business pro.

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a little weather is in the way of a clean start, but what do you hope to accomplish over the next couple of days? >> we hope at the u.s. conference of mayors to shine a light on the work that cities are doing across our country. we released a metro economies report that really shows for the first time in this recovery we're going to have across just about every metro area economic growth, inflation adjusted economic growth. >> when it comes to using baltimore oos an example, i was reading in the "sun," they were talking about the $1.8 million harbor project. i felt after reading about it that you're a little conflicted about what the product means for redevelopment and it's a double-edged sword and how the city gets paid back from it. >> i'm not conflicted about it at all. just like with the congress, i'm going to use every tool that i have to bring jobs and economic

development into baltimore. when we do great projects like that, we're putting people to work. i think if congress would use all that same thinking, to use all the tools in their tool box, we could get people working. we have far too many people in our country that are still being left behind, they're out of the job market. and if you were to get some real tra tra going. >> i know one of the issues is making sure people living in metro areas have affordable housing. what are some of your options in baltimore? >> you're right. we are turning blighted properties, tearing down the ones that can't be saved and we're rehabbing hundreds of

properties across the country. we have incentives. so anyone who wants to live in baltimore, please go to vacants to value and we're creating new homeownership opportunities every day. >> mayor donnie deutsche. what kind of -- >> i think you can find reports on the affordable care act can say anything you'd like to say depending on which party is paying for it. i know having quality, affordable health care is the right thing to do and it's going to be a positive impact in baltimore. we have far too many people who live without health insurance. you know what fiscal risk you put yourself and your family at when you don't have health insurance.

it's something that we're for, whether it's on the web site or in person or the outreach workers that we have. i'm a big proponent that we make sure we make quality health insurance affordable and accessible to more americans. >> mayor, let talk about the school system for a bit, if we could. if you could put a percent and number on this, it would be helpful to understand the plight of baltimore. what percentage of pupils who attend baltimore public schools each day are there because it's the safest place they'll have during the day, are there because it's a place where they'll receive perhaps the only hot meal during the day and if you could do anything with the school system, what would that encounter? >> i think you're right, the majority of our kids in public schools receive free or reduced

lunch. we know because we know how important it is that kids have an opportunity to have breakfast, lunch and dinner in schools. but right now we -- i was able to work with the legislature to bring over a billion dollars to school construction in baltimore. that's going to transform our school system for generations. we're looking forward to bring 14 brand new schools and fully renovating about 35 additional schools in the first phase opinion and that's so important because as i'm sure you've seen around the countries, public school systems are crumbling aparts and kids are going to school in crumbling buildings. >> mayor, the chairwoman of. dnc has called you a rising star in the democratic party. as a group of over-the-hill old

guys, we would just like to know what's it like to be a rising star? is that pretty cool, to be a rising star? >> listen, i'm a big fan of the dnc chair. she has been a friend and a mentor and i was extremely flattered. my daughter doesn't think i'm much different. up nouch hough kids do, they ke -- you know how kids do, they keep you humble. >> they certainly do. if you're ever in new york, drop by the set. >> thank you so much. >> coming up, adam bryant collected key ideas from the nation's top business people. one piece of advice, don't hire jerks, no matter how talented they are. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ confusion never stops, closing walls and ticking clocks ♪

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remember when people used to say "boss" when they were describing something that was really cool? like, "those shoulder pads are really boss, man." "look at that perm, that perm is so boss." it's what made me want to become a boss.

and i look so good in a perm and shoulder pads. but now, "boss" is just slang for jerk-in-charge. >> here with us now, the man behind the popular corner office feature in "the new york times" business section, adam bryant. and also the author of "quick and nimble lessons." adam, some great tips here. i love the ones we teased. donny was talking about it. don't hire jerks. it doesn't matter how talented they r it doesn't matter how smart they are. >> yeah. >> don't hire jerks. talk about that. >> culture is so fragile in organizations. one person can change the chemistry of the group, and somebody come in, they have a great resume, super talented, and they can throw off the work. the way work is being done, it's in small teams. you bring them together from different departments, do a quick project. but in that dynamic, i mean, you've got to have people who are self-aware and how they contribute to the group.

>> if is amazing that i learned the hard way there are enough nice talented people, you don't have to hire jerks. the other thing you talked about is frankness. i found running a company, even if you gave people the worst news, if you were honest with them, they would actually say, "thank you." you could say, you're failing, you're on probation, you have to get it right, they just want to be dealt with honestly. >> i think you're the exception in doing that, because one of the things i tack about in the book is the importance of adult conversation. so having frank discussions where you give people direct feedback. i think people go out of their way to avoid these conversations. it's like step foog a knife fight into a phone booth, you don't know how people will react. a lot of managers say, that was a one-off, and then two of them happen. and then, i'll bring this up in the performance review nine months from now, and that's when people get their back up. >> yeah, i've learned from mika on this. i've been shocked by how blunt

and direct, and the first time she did it, when i was working with her, but she said, they'll thank you for her. the more direct you are, the right up front, even if it's not the news they want to hear, the more they'll thank you for it. >> yeah, to me, culture is like cholesterol. there's good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. you'll have good culture and bad, and one is just making sure there is no mystery. if you are the boss, don't have people wondering what you're thinking. there's a great expression i heard, there's nothing more dangerous than a void in conversation. if you leave the void, people fill it with stuff, rumors, conjectu conjecture. >> be frank with me. >> yes? yes? >> just the look. >> thomas, go ahead. the stare. >> a little void there. hopefully, it will throw him off. >> when we talk about the masters of suspension in the workplace, the managers that may

hold off on telling you where they are in estimation, and you warn about the e-mails sent around in the culture, the environment. how do you -- is it better to have the frank discussion face-to-face than through e-mails back and forth because they're misinterpreted? >> yeah, e-mail was invented, a wonderful productivity. but it's incredibly damaging for culture. >> ah. >> to me, the key phrase, things get lost in transition. you send an e-mail, and you get the e-mail back, and somebody has their back up. and it's about the connective tissue between people. e-mail does nothing to build relationships. it's more likely to sever whatever tissue is there in the first place. so i've just heard from a lot of ceos they establish explicit rules. you can't argue over e-mail. they try to rip out the e-mail culture. walk down the hallway. the crazy then about e-mail is a productivity tool, but you can solve problems in 30 seconds

when you're talking to somebody. you know, you high-five, you walk away. >> just managed by walking around. >> yeah. >> and i purposefully put my office at the farthest angle, so every time i walk in, and you learn more about -- >> put the office at the furtherest end, there's another -- >> no, but it's really true. manage by walking around. >> and the then about e-mail, it taps into the part of the brain where we want to have the last word. you just can't help yourself. i want to have the last word. >> it would also -- e-mails and stuff like that -- it feeds into this notion of no-eye-contact world that you can deal with someone without ever establishing eye contact. i can remember jack welch in one of his books, talking to your point about communication with employees. he would sit people down and tell them why it wasn't going to work out for them at ge. eye to eye, and explain to them in basic english, you're great

at what you do, but you'll only go so far here, and it won't work out for you any further, so figure out what your options are. >> and say thank you. >> they say, gee, thanks for that. you can't do that in an e-mail or text message. >> the way offices are developing, the monitors are getting bigger and bigger. you go in the modern workplace, and everybody has their cave. you know, they sit behind this massive monitor and real person approaches them, you walk about the i office, and it's all glass and open. the eyes are on the -- it's the world. it is a big difference. >> yeah. all right. the book is "quick and nimble." adam, thank you so much. >> good book. >> thank you. >> absolutely great. coming up next, the charges against former virginia governor bob mcdonnell and his wife and whether the possible punishment really fits the alleged crimes. we'll be talking about that when "morning joe" returns. ♪

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♪ ♪ one of the things i'm learning already in terms of storm management, it doesn't happen until it happens, so we have a projection right now, but real conditions might be very different. >> all day, upper east side drivers like these on first avenue have been plagued by some of the worst road conditions in the city. >> you can see that it's absolutely snow-covered out here. >> nobody plowed the bridge ramp

to go up onto the fdr. >> none of the tubes have been plowed. they're focusing on the other boroughs like last time. mayor, if you're listening, please plow the streets. >> okay. here we go. >> it continues, willie. >> good morning, everybody. >> the de blasio snowstorm of 2014. the second one. >> it is wednesday. >> hold on a second. let this breathe. ♪ >> wow. willie is suffering. >> city problems. >> you're a new york resident. hold on. just let this breathe. willie, have you ever seen anything like this in the history of gotham? ♪ >> not in my long life. have i seen anything like this. >> it was pretty bad yesterday. >> it was. >> it's wednesday. >> giuliani would never have let this happen. [ laughter ]

>> giuliani would have had a shovel. >> bloomberg, just would have -- i'm telling you. i've lived in the city for 35 years. >> yes? >> i have never seen buses without chains. >> right. >> not one plow in the city last night. i'm being completely serious. i am being serious. >> because i will tell you, it was -- i tried to get down 6th avenue about 5:00 yesterday, and i've never seen such chaos. there were buses all over the place. again, we're joking about de blasio and all of that, but i'd never seen new york as chaotic -- there was a bus blocking 57th and 6th, and anybody that's been to new york city knows that's the main thoroughfare through midtown, and there was just a bus sit there for five, six, seven minutes. no cops on the street. it was pretty crazy. >> different. once again, i don't know if it's a coincidence, different than i've seen in the last 20 years. >> donny's here and mike

barnicle is here. do you think i'm allergic to them? >> it's a good question. we need benadryl. >> yeah, like mika's horrified -- what was that? >> when you got the fly in your ear. oh, that was horrible. it was a wasp. >> mika was horrified. >> i was screaming. >> mike, were you in town last night? >> there was a mayor of chicago who succeeded mayor daley, and the first winter after his death, they had a horrific snowstorm, very much the same in chicago as it was yesterday afternoon in new york, and that's the reason the guy lost the mayoral when he -- >> why are we so bad at this? mayor bloomberg had the terrible snowstorm where the streets didn't get plowed. there were some plows out last night, but the traffic was -- why are we so bad at this? we know it's coming. >> it's just snow.

>> -- sixth avenue before you were, and it was locked. >> chaos. >> chaos. >> the remarkable thing, there was nobody -- again, you had buses blocking intersections, and for five, ten minutes -- >> okay, it's a snowstorm, guys. >> yeah, but listen, here's the thing, though. >> -- a task force to come up to the townhouses on madison in the '70s. >> for rich people? >> yeah, between 70th and 80th, madison and fifth, guys -- they had special pink uniforms. they weren't there yesterday. >> we had that conversation yesterday. >> did he just say that? >> you mentioned about the 1%. >> seriously, it wasn't a snowstorm. it was 3 inches, 4 inches -- >> in the city. >> it's not as if they don't know it's coming. >> bill karins told us 4 1/2 months ago the exact time of the storm. >> speaking of bill karins, could we please go to him and get more coverage on this? >> good call. >> supposed to be the morning call.

>> a bunch of rich, whining, old white guys. bill, could you actually give us some information? >> no problem, mika. this morning, we're doing the slow recovery. let me show you the images. washington, d.c., of course, looking at the ground covered in four inches of snow. philadelphia, still looks like it's snowing, but that's blowing around outside. one of the worst spots continues to be massachusetts. not only do we have winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour, but it's still snowing, too. and the snow easily going sideways. it may even be blowing up in the air at this point. it's hard to even measure it on the ground there. as far as accumulation goes, the highest total i could find anywhere in the eastern seaboard was new jersey at 16 inch, philadelphia impressive 14 for you, and what a snowy winter for you. new york city, 11 inches, very light, fluffy, but because of that, it is blowing around. it's almost completely done, rhode island now clearing it out. the white is really just left from boston, southwards, out onto the cape. maybe another inch or two, and

that'll be over with. it's the winds that are the story. right now, providence town gusting to 39, all the way through martha's vineyard, 41-mile-an-hour gusts. earlier, watertown was minus 45. we've improved to minus 34. still the coldest location that we've been able to find in the northeast. and look how cold, even atlanta with a wind chill of 2 this morning. so the arctic air has invaded. the question is, when will it go away? last week, it went away quickly. no signs of that. all the way until tuesday of next week, we're looking at this pool of arctic air all the way covering much of the eastern half of the country. but signs are it will go away by the time we head towards the super bowl. back to you guys. >> thank you very much, bill. we'll turn to news now. i'd rather hear from bill -- >> -- action news team slicker, i would be out there today. >> really? >> oh, yeah. >> let's think about that. >> i would have been -- i don't want to produce the show for alex, but i would have been out

there, slicker -- >> with your -- >> let me help you out. >> -- your vest -- >> can we go to the control room for a second? can you guys make sure that you get donny a "morning joe" slicker, and we'll send him out in the next storm if. >> that'd be great. >> you have your keepers, the people that go up in the pink vests -- >> oh, no, we'll take -- we'll find -- >> this is on the streets, "morning joe" out from the studio, down on the streets. >> i'll find a good spot for you. okay. >> great. >> it's bigger than my apartment, your terrace. >> no terraces in townhouses. >> i think there's a place for you on the jersey shore perhaps. all right. so let's go to virginia. former governor governor bob mcdonnell and his wife maureen are facing potentially decades in jail for accepting gifts in exchange for political favors. yesterday, the mcdonnells are indicted on a dozen federal corruption charges. they're all related to this man, johnny williams, a

richmond-based businessman, who served as the ceo of star scientific, a former cigarette manufacturer that now sells tobacco-based dietary supplements. federal authorities allege the former governor and physicfirst accepted $154,000 in cash and gift ranging from golf equipment to private plane rides. the list includes shopping sprees for maureen at oscar de la renta, 15 grand in catering for the couple's daughter's wedding, family vacations at williams' summer home and a $6,500 rolex engraved watch, engraved with 71st governor of virginia. in return, mcdonnell is accused of using the power of his office to help the struggling star scientific by attending several events to boost the company's credibility. officials say he even used the

governor's mansion for a launch party for a pill, not approved by the fda. however, mcdonnell denies any wrongdoing. >> while i deeply regret accepting the legal gifts and loans from mr. williams, all of these now have been returned or repaid with interest. i have apologized for my poor judgment, and i accept full responsibility for accepting these legal gifts and loans. however, i repeat, again, emphatically that i did nothing illegal for mr. williams in exchange for what i believed was his personal friendship and his generosity. i never promised, and mr. williams and his company never received, any government benefit of any kind from me or from my administration. >> hmm. the 43-page indictment also include as glimpse into the mcdonnell household and the financial pressures they faced.

maureen allegedly reached out to williams for help purchasing an inauguration dress, according to an e-mail. she became enraged at a staffer who tried to persuade her not to accept the gift, writing, quote, i need to talk to you about inaugural clothing budget. i need answers, and bob is screaming about the thousands i'm charging up in credit card debt. we are broke. have unconscionable amount of credit card debt already and this inaugural is killing us. in that instance, she did not accept the gift, but asked for a rain check. maureen is accused of lying to investigators about her family's relationship with williams. the mcdonnells are scheduled to be arraigned this friday and face a maximum of 30 years in prison. and joining us now from washington, we is carol lentic, part of the team covering the story for "washington post." carol, can you add to anything i've already put out there on the story in terms of what's included in the indictment? >> well, i think you gave a

great summary, mika. the only thing i can add is that when you read the details in the charging papers that federal prosecutors have released as of yesterday afternoon, you see this kind of stunning narrative of a first lady who was on an almost weekly basis in contact with a ceo about things she wanted or needed from him in the way of financial assistance and gifts and ways she and the governor could help his company and its future prospects. >> is it unusual that a first lady is included in something like this? and what exactly are the rules that were broken or laws that were broken? >> the charges against the first couple, the mcdonnells, revolve around the hobbs act, and basically they are not allowed to accept things of value that wouldn't be normally provided to them in exchange for a promise or an agreement that they're going to help somebody through

their official acts. >> carol, that's a federal -- joe scarborough here, that's a federal law, correct? >> it is. it is. it's a fairly older law, but there are other numerous charges against the two. for example, as you mentioned, mika, she's charged with lying to investigators and obstructing their investigation by trying to pretend that some gorgeous $20,000 worth of designer gowns and accessories were really just a loan from johnny williams, the ceo's daughter. he's also charged, the former governor, bob mcdonnell, a once rising star and presidential hopeful, he's charged with lying to banks about a loan he sought in his mortgage, and not disclosing the money he was receiving from johnnie williams. >> so, carol, we heard bob mcdonnell yesterday say several times in the press conference that these gifts were legal. certainly anybody you talk to --

most people that i talked to involved in virginia politics say that under virginia law, there are almost no gift bans to speak of. did the feds list any virginia laws that bob mcdonnell broke, or were they all federal? >> well, prosecutors here are really concerned about the federal violations, those are the ones they can charge under. there was a separate investigation by the state into whether or not the governor had violated the disclosure laws for that state. those are notoriously weak, however. and so, i think when governor mcdonnell said he accepted the legal gifts, he's saying two things at once, and he has said this in other filings. one, that he disclosed what he believed he was supposed to disclose, though the bulk of these were not shared with the public. and, two, he doesn't feel that he promised johnny williams anything of value. >> all right, carol, thank you very much for your coverage. we'll be reading for more.

>> thank you. >> what do you make of this, joe? because his campaign was so successful. bob for jobs. >> no, no doubt about it. the thing i've been disserved at from the beginning, is there's wretched access here, and bob mcdonnell -- and i don't know about the disclosure to the bank. i don't know about that. i don't know about lying to investigators. if we look at the gifts, though, clearly you talk to anybody that's involved with virginia politics, and they say, that's legal. nothing they did was illegal in accepting the gifts. they were excessive, and i've heard a lot of people that were just quite frankly this morning really blown away by how excessive she was and how much she pushed. but you talk to people that are actually in the state of virginia, they say he didn't really, as governor, he didn't break the laws that virginia governors are required to follow. on the other side of it, you start listing the company got in return, and nothing.

there's nothing. there's a launch party, seriously, for a pill? are you -- is that all the fed -- this is -- and i've got to say, this is what the feds -- if the feds have a problem with virginia and the gift law, they should talk to virginia legislators and lobby them to toughen up. but going back to an old hobbs act to try to get this guy when you can't find a piece of legislation he pushed, you can't find a single board that he put in -- all of the things that i was looking for, that i saw politicians doing for their supporters in the past, they did none of it. this was a one-way relationship, and a launch party for a pill? if the feds are now going to spin their money on these sort of investigations, and i guess pieces broken out, united states of america, they don't have a lot to do -- i don't know, mike, you're from boston. >> there is a -- i haven't read the indictment, i don't know how many counts apply to the mcdonnells, or the former governor.

there's a desperation and a stupidity involved in the public accounts of the indictment thus far. i mean, texting for 20 grand loan. can you send the -- can you send 20k? her requests to cover the cost of -- >> it's horrible. it's absolutely horrible. >> to joe's point -- >> but are they breaking the law? >> we're going to find out if they're breaking the law. >> well, they're certainly -- he's certainly not breaking the virginia law. >> no. >> i'm sure he thought he was being guided by. and now that the federal government has stepped in and hasn't listed a single virginia law that he's broken, i mean, you talk about being ruined. now they've got the weight of the federal government coming after them? >> okay. but let's be careful, because obviously what was going on there raised a lot of eyebrows. >> it was terrible. >> and from the watch to the -- >> there is a distinction. joe brings up, i think, a critical point, obviously, there's egregious excess there.

but it does not seem to be the trading of favors. there does not seem to be the abuse of power, as joe, as you said, okay, a launch party th e there. and also, i kind of like to ask you, a guy that's been in office, we forget sometimes that power and money are very different. >> right. >> and i was kind of actually taken with the fact that the stress of the inauguration, that here we have these people in public office that do not have any real money, yet office demands certain monetary things such as buying a dress for inauguration. and how often, joe, did you see in your experience, where it's very easy to kind of get taken with the whiff of the musk of the power of the office and say, i'm entitled to these things? >> i'm sore roy, i can speak to this, because i know when my parents came to washington, we had very little money, and in the white house, they on pay a certain salary, and they had three kids to raise. and my mother would go to secondhand stores to find

dresses or borrow dresses. and it was a lot of pressure. i have a brother who's serving right now, and a lot of ambassadors who come into their positions are usually independently wealthy and bring their own staff. well, it's not -- that's not what happened in my family. >> it doesn't excuse it. >> no, but there's a ton of pressure, because the events, every day, are meeting world leaders, greeting the president on the tarmac -- >> rarefied world without rarefied money. >> exactly. i'm not making excuses for the mcdonnells, but it is not as garilous, and my mother never caught in it, she could care less what people think, but she's an unusual person. >> i'll tell you one story that says everything. dana warbach, a guy i served with, great respect for, we were down at the coast having dinner one night, and talking about legislation and everything, and he was talking about a financial

challenge he was facing. you know what he was trying to figure out? trying to figure out when he could afford -- i don't want to embarrass dana by saying this -- when he could afford new tires, because the tires he was driving around on were slick in washington. you know, he had a place in -- he lives in california. you know? he had to take care of -- and then he had a place in washington. and, you know, i just sat there thinking -- and i saw one legislator after another, not whining about it at all. i'm just saying, people sit and think that these people live these extraordinary lives -- >> right. >> and i'm thinking, here's dana, a guy that's been in congress for a long time, and he's sitting here trying to figure out when he can afford a new set of tires and if he'll be able to do it this month or next month or the next month. you know, i saw people in the appropriations committee -- i have to be honest, people on the appropriations committee that had very little money, had, like, four kids in college, were struggling day in and day out,

and they controlled millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars, and i sat there going, it is amazing that there is as little corruption as there is here when you have some people who are -- i'm not whining about any of these people. like you said, it's not a -- there's a lot of people -- listen, nobody did anything -- i've never heard anybody that's done anything like the mcdonnells -- >> you don't need a watch that's a rolex. >> yeah, sure. >> you don't need oscar de la renta dresses. >> yeah, for the feds to prove -- first of all, i don't think the feds should have been involved. this should have been a virginia case, because he was governor of virginia. secondly, there's just not that payoff. they haven't proven that there's this big payoff to the company. >> no traffic jam or anything. >> there's just -- no -- there's no quid pro quo here. >> oh, i think it's -- >> that's worthy of 30 years? >> if you -- >> no. >> -- if you read through the indictment, he hosted something at the governor's mansion, a

launch party. he also, i guess, set up -- asked for a meeting to be set up with the secretary of health in virginia with mr. williams. a meeting. >> right. >> so again, there's a lot of smoke there. the question that the feds have to answer, was there fire? >> coming up on "morning joe," chris christie takes the oath for a second term as new polling shows the impact of the scandal surrounding him. that's next in the politico playbook. more "morning joe" when we come back. let me get this straight... [ female voice ] yes?

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♪ time now to take a look at

the "morning papers. "from our parade of papers, "the chicago tribune," a teaching assistant is dead after a shooting at purdue university in indiana. the suspect? 23-year-old cody cousins surrendered to police and has been charged with murder. and while classes are cancelled today, the purdue review reports some professors are facing criticism for ignoring lockdown procedures and continuing to teach, at times criticizing students for wanting to lock the doors and turn off the lights. >> good lord. >> what is going on? >> i don't know. the "usa today," pope francis and president obama will meet for the first time at the vatican in march. the president will end the european trip to the netherlands, belgium, and italy. he has recently praised the pope on income even inn owe quality. >> i want to go to that. i'm going to call valerie jarrett and the pope, and let's see if either invite us. from the website, aspen

journalism, new video provides clues what went wrong during the fatal plane crash at the aspen airport earlier this month. the incident left one day and two injured. would he have to warn you that the footage you're about to see may be considered disturbing. umt h, okay. it shows engines firing before the plane lands and indications the pilot was trying to abort the landing. the plane bounces off the runway and back into the air before hitting the runway again, nose first, and exploding. the airport is widely considered a difficult place to land, because of the mountains, which surround the runway. >> i've heard so much -- so many people talk about how tough it is to get into there. ho horrible. the u.s. government is offering russia its full support as security concerns overshadow the buildup to the winter olympics. president obama and the russian president vladimir putin spoke about how to keep the olympics

safe during a phone call yesterday. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel is live in sochi. we're hearing a lot about the potential thread caused by the so-called black widows. what can you tell us about that and the situation in general? >> reporter: here in sochi, security is very tight. to get into the olympic park, and we are now inside the iron ring that the russian -- or the ring of steel that russia says it has put in place to get here you have to go through multiple checks, you have to put all of your bags through screeners. i've seen officials walking around with small detectors around their neck that could detect any chemical weapons in the air. in this security perimeter, the procedures are very tight. but at the same time, russia is on the lookout for at least five potential suicide bombers, two men, three women, three of the black widows, who they believe are somewhere in russia, with at least one of them believed to

have been already in the sochi area. so russia's taking a lot of precautions, but there are still risks, and the main threat comes from the caucuses, militants in the north caucuses. >> all right, richard, thank you so much. we really appreciate the report. let's go to willie right now with politico playbook. willie, what have you heard, by the way, really quickly about the olympics? you're going over there again. >> yeah. >> what have you heard as far as nbc internally about security over there? >> well, they're taking it very seriously. they always do for the olympics, but in particular, now given what's happened over the last couple of months, the train station bombing that killed several people. they're counting on the ring of steel, something, like, 60 miles around to really lock down. you can't get in or out, even if you're attending the events, you have to be credentialed. security will be incredibly tight. they've spent, like, $50 billion on the olympics. >> wow. >> a lot of it on security. so, yes, we're counting on the russians, but we also have a lot of internal security measures. the fbi is involved, and obviously nbc has a lot of

security. so we put our trust in them and hope nothing happens, frankly. >> hmm. >> that's about it. let's look at politico now. chief white house correspondent is mike allen. mike, good morning. >> good snowy morning, willie. >> chris christie officially began his second term yesterday. at his swearing-in, he emphasized the spirit of working together to get the mutual goals out. it wasn't long before he was taking his most serious shot yet from within his own party to step down as chair of the rga. >> i think just from the perspective of setting aside this as an issue in other races, it makes sense for him to step aside in that role. he does not serve the goals of that organization by staying as chairman. >> that doesn't mean any of the charges, political or otherwise, are substantive or not, it doesn't matter. perception is reality. >> why wouldn't he step down? why don't you think he's stepping down? >> well, frankly, i think this is still relatively new, and he

may well step down. i have no idea what his thinking is on that. and he may get some counsel from some other governors along those lines. >> so that's obviously former attorney general of virginia, ken cuccinelli, mike, what do you make of the comments, suggesting that chris christie should step aside as head of the rga. ? >> willie, i'm not sure how many people listen to ken cuccinelli. i can tell you that chris christie is not one of them. this does show that there is some trepidation out there among republicans. and, willie, when i look at polls, movement of a point or two, i don't pay much attention to. but there's a quinnipiac poll yesterday that showed in a mo h month, 9 points of movement for chris christie, compared to hillary clinton. in december, a point ahead. yesterday, eight points ahead. that reflects the coverage. it's like so much of this story -- what else is out there? we saw chris christie strong yesterday in that speech. he was inside at the trenton war memorial. didn't directly refer to the

crisis, but talked about how new jersey needed to be strong, resilient, proud, a little like himself. and he took a shot at washington, saying that new jersey couldn't fall for the partisanship and division in washington. willie, two stories out there new this morning, new thoughts about chris christie. one of them, cautionary and the other that's encouraging for him in ben white's "morning money" this morning, he quoted a republican who's connected to wall street as saying that the whole thing with the former virginia governor is a little chilling for chris christie, because it shows what can happen when prosecutors start to dig through everything, as they now have license to do with him. but, also, out there this morning, willie, the a.p. has a story, that i think will get pickup, it talks about how among republicans, there's no one that hispanics find closer to or think has done more for them than chris christie. a lot of hispanics typically with democrats have been with

chris christie, he's worked with them over four years, and they like what he signed on immigration. and that's been a voice of encouragement for him at this time when he could use it. >> and that vote, obviously, was one of the biggest problems for mitt romney in 2012 and republicans. donny, how does chris christie manage this going forward? how has he done for the last couple of weeks, as he's been on the front page of the newspaper for two weeks now. >> the challenge for him is the very thank that's made his brand -- in the face, right at you, bellicose, some would say bullying, never as negative a term, and or the next time he barks at a teacher, or in anybody's face, does that bring you back to the traffic jam? the very thing that got him here is the very thing that could continue to hurt him. this is tbd. if there's any smoking guns, if any of the stuff, any e-mails, the latest thing as far as the sandy relief, it's a tbd. >> he was making the claims and

the comments yesterday about bipartisanship given what we've seen over the last couple of weeks, again, not necessarily from him, but from his office, punishing a democrat in ft. lee. >> yeah, that's right. people who were there said the governor was subdued yesterday. >> yeah. >> and we can see why. >> thanks, mike. coming up, the next guest abandoned his ivy league education to become a freelance reporter in one of the most dangerous places on earth. that's ahead on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] the new new york is open. open to innovation. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses...

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♪ joining us now is award-winning journalist ajnah, author of "stringer" a reporter's journey in the congo. and great to have you here. you write about the cities that you -- the cities seem to be falling apart, structures so crumbled, that they seem to melt. we surrounded a monument black, as though burned. two pillars framing an empty space, lining the roads, heaps of garbage glowing like embers and giving off black smoke. talk to us about the crisis that you witnessed, and why you wanted to go to the congo in the first place to be a stringer,

which is basically a freelance journalist. >> sure. thank you for having me. the reason i went to the congo was out of instinct really. it was the same instinct that sends -- takes war correspondents, foreign correspondents to foreign places, like the congo, where people are getting out of. there was a huge war in congo, 5 million people have died, and only a few journalists were there, three. when i was arrived, ways the fourth, i was 22. it's important to realize that congo was not always a held. it was quite prosperous when it was a colonial state. and over the last 40 years, it's been progressively destroyed to what i found when i arrived in the passage thank you described. >> let's back up before your arrival point. you graduated from yale university. you choose not to go to wall street and come up with all sorts of, you know, concoctions

to make yourself a million dollars. when you go to the congo, why do you go to the congo? who do you go for? were you working for a.p.? were you getting paid by a.p. then? or did you just go? >> i just showed up. i bought a one-way ticket and showed up in the city. >> why? >> it was more, team than the situation with war correspondents for sure, but i had been studying mathematics, the worlds i had been studies were magical, beautiful, and the places i had been living in america, and dubai where i grew up, were also very beautiful. i felt i had been shielded from these parts of the world that people didn't want me to see, that we turn away from almost as though we turn away from our own flaws. and i felt this urge to go to a place where powerful events were happening and feel those events, and really that's what took me there. >> put it in context, because

you're going to a foreign country and a war is going on. for people who do not know what was going on in that part of the country, when there was death and devastation, as i understand, unless it reached a certain level, it did not even qualify as news at a certain point. >> absolutely. i would receive stories about dozens of women getting raped, a whole bunch of deaths, but it didn't make world news until it was a massacre. there were so many deaths in congo, 5 million and counting every day, thousand unnatural deaths every day, that it had to be a massacre on a colossal scale for it to become world news. it had to be violent, violent death. and this is what shocked me. arriving in this place where so much was going on, i felt so much of the country was going unreported, and really that's what this book is about. this book is about those stories

and living in such a place. >> how emotional was it for you to go back to that, to put this together, to recall the journey you took in 2005? >> i've been going back every so often, continuing to report from the -- there. and i was there just recently. it's stunning how little information comes out of war zones. information's really the most precious commodity you can have there. i drove in a couple of months ago, drove into a village that was being attacked, and 10 kilometers away in the next village, people had no idea. they were too scared to come out of there, for fear they'd be killed. so i drove into this town where suddenly i found 200 guns pointed at me, and i thought it was all going to be over. >> to that point, when most reporters are assigned to cover a war, it's usually you have a background in it, you've gone it once or twice before, been exposed to it at a certain level, and you sort of developed an instinct for danger, you

know, danger-danger. what happened when you first get on the ground? did you have that instinct in you? obviously, you're here, because you had some sort of an instinct. tell me about that. >> no instengt for survival. the first time i had a gun to my head, i screamed, which is the worst thing you can do. recently, those experiences have helped me in my more recent travels, but i was extremely lucky. i tried to be careful. i showed up in kinshasa, and i shortly wrote to the a.p. editor covering west africa, wrote to him on a sunday afternoon, dear m pittman, and he called me, who the hell are you, and why the hell are you in kinshasa? >> quite a breakthrough. >> absolutely. >> are you glad you took this journey, because i know in reviewing your story, you thought, if you did go ahead with that plan and graduate from

yale and didn't go to wall street, you'd be locked in for life. you would then have set your course and never have this experience. >> yes. there was this moment after i had done my masters in mathematics at yale, i was in this cubicle at goldman sachs in the skyscraper, the upper floor, and i think there's some moments in which your instincts just surface. and that moment, when i saw that cubicle, and i looked out the window and i saw new york so small around me, and i thought, man, you've got to pay me a lot of money to work here. i think that's when my instinct to go out, to congo, surfaced and that's when i transformed myself into a journalist and really most happy doing this. >> the book is called "stringer." anjan, congratulations on putting this together. i encourage people to pick it up and read it. "morning joe" will be back right after this. it's hip-hop.

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♪ in the northeast, winter storm janice has been a tough one for the weather channel, but not for the usual reasons. some of our eagle-eyed viewers alerted me to this via twitter. janus is spelled j-a-n-u-s, which means al roker needs to be careful where he stands. >> -- working the bus routes clearing the snow. >> you don't want to get call in the eye of the winter storm either. you really don't. >> oops. >> what's in a name. >> stephanie abrams was far off to the side. making a snowy situation worse for commuters, so let's talk about the temps, how long they'll linger. >> unlike the last one, remember the polar vortex, in and out in a hurry. this one is here to stay. the wind chills, 22 different states with negative wind chi s chills, and we had a wind chill of 2 all the way down to

atlanta, the northeast, by far the worst of it. and just to give you an idea of how long this will last, look at chicago. these are the high temperatures through sunday. this arctic outbreak is here to stay until at least the middle of next week. >> all right. we don't like this. but we have men out in the field. >> yes, the man. who's been doing this, what, 1996, mike? how does this compare? >> this is a pretty good one, bill, and thomas. we have basically a blizzard right now. technically, you have to have it for three hours. the winds 35 or higher, the visibility a quarter mile or less, and snow or blowing snow. and we're looking towards the street out here. we can see about a block and a half, that's about it. this is at least an inch an hour. we have the ocean-effect. we have one band coming off the atlantic, over plymouth harbor, and we're square in the middle of it. although there are a couple of inches here, wind gusts 30 to 40 miles per hour, you get tremendous drifting. and watch this.

i'll get stuck. i can't even -- >> nice drift. >> almost up to my waist. big drifts around town. the warning until 1:00 for the cape and the south shore here, and it will take a while to wind down bill and thomas. >> yeah, you have a couple of more hours and you're the last one -- >> he's stuck now. he's going to be there -- >> i can't get out. >> yeah. [ laughter ] hope you like massachusetts. mike seidel -- >> i need triple-a. >> we'll get you somebody. don't you worry. >> good luck. come pg up next, an intimate look at mitt romney's run for president, the documentary that looks at how the campaign impacted his family and how the loss impacted the man. that's next on "morning joe." >> are we really worried about mike? >> we are.

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this is the closest we may get to the cockpit of a typhoon fighter jet. the view is not for the squeamish. the they took off from about 200 feet from >> warren buffett is ready to make you a billionaire. we'll look at the odds of hitting the

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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. 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 ♪ ♪ time to talk about "what we learned today." willie, what did you learn? >> i need to spend more time with donny, a-rod, the torontoens, i think you called them. hang out in the same bars. >> this is the same parts, you know -- >> this was donny's day, i feel like. >> it was. donny, i learned that there are times you can even offend yourself. >> yeah. >> you said during a commercial break, you said, you know, i even hate myself right now.

>> the exact words, i'm even unlikable to me today. >> next snowstorm, you're going out in it. i like the jersey shore. >> mike? what did you learn today? >> the geography. it's an island where rich people go, and they take rich people's shovellers, to shovel your sidewalk. >> it's a special task force. not rich people shovellers, and i don't know if it's with de blasio. >> it's over, joe. wrap it up. >> thank god. we survived. >> well -- barely. >> we survived. >> "morning joe," stick around, though, here's chuck todd with "the daily rundown." indicted. just days after leaving office, former virginia governor bob mcdonnell faces criminal charges over gifts from a supporter and chris christie tries to survive his own scandal. the once promising faces of the