and that continues hour after hour. >> these bridges, they freeze faster than the main roadways. >> everybody is going home for the day trying to get people off the roads. >> i know we said earlier an inch and hour, we are definitely getting that. >> we get over here with the wind, it has piled up the snow and it gets up to your waist. look at this drift here. right here, waist deep. good afternoon. i'm ari melber. here's what's sickling now. the big winter storm has left, but it left behind the coldest air of the season. think polar vortex 2.0, remember that? we do because it was less than two weeks ago from the nation's capitol to here in the north. we are digging out from, in some cases, a foot and a half of snow. our coverage begins in washington, d.c. where snowfall totals was 7 inches with the weather channel's kate parker. >> reporter: thank you, ari. yes, very cold here in the nation's capital. the stun is shining, but it is dereceiving because the windchill has not made it above

zero today. that's right, we've had negative digits all morning and afternoon long. our air temperatures staying in the teens today. that's going to be a record for us. we had record-breaking snowfall here yesterday with 3.5 inches at national. dulles had 8.5 inches of snow. both record breakers. definitely much more busy today than yesterday with the snow coming down. the streets look pretty good in this area, but some residential areas have spots that saw more snow than right here at the capitol. they are a little more treacherous to traverse today. so definitely be careful if you're heading out, but i think folks have stocked up well and prepared well for the cold. and they better be in it for the long haul because the arctic blast is going to continue being reinforced so the cold air is settling on in, tightening its grip on the nation's capitol, and it will not loose up it for some time to come. it will be a chilly one. make sure you are bundled up for many days in the future here. back to you guys. >> wow, what's funny, kate parker in d.c., thank you for that. up here in new york, the

bull's-eye was long island. they picked up more than 15 inches there combined with strong winds and frigid temperatures. nbc's ron mott has been there for us since the first flakes started falling. i'm sorry. >> reporter: hey, well, the snow is off to sea causing havoc out there. what's left behind from this storm is a biting bitter cold from new york city up through new england. about 10 degrees right here on long island. we're going to struggle to get out of the teens today, as are a lot of the communities, and the windchills are hovering near zero. when the sun goes down tonight, we'll go into negative territory there and folks will need to bundle up. the commute will be pretty much a breeze compared to last night. a lot of folks heeding the notices to leave work early if they could. they certainly did that. the problem was, the snow came a few hours earlier than a lot of people anticipated. and so all the traffic got jammed up with the snowplows in there with the traffic. so they weren't able to get into that area to clear out some of

those roads. now, going forward, you have to deal with the cold weather, the kids got off to school all right this morning. they will probably have no problems the rest of the week, but it will be cold. and if you are heating your home with propane, hopefully you've got enough to get you through this weekend because there is a shortage in certain parts of the country. that's a real dangerous issue, but for the most part, we think we did all right out here. the snow totals are not what we were expecting out here, which was a good thing. we got about 10 inches. actually, staten island is going to get bragging rights in the new york tri-state area, close to 16 inches there. all in all, i think the snow was pretty good. we got the good, dry, cleanable snow instead of the heavy wet stuff. but it's going to be cold going forward into the weekend before we can thaw out. guys, back to you. ron mott on long island, thank you so much. next we move to ron allen in philadelphia where they received a record 13.5 inches of snow at the airport during the storm. today the big dig is on in the midst of a big chill. ron, how are you holding up

there in the city of brotherly love? >> reporter: ha, brotherly love and sisterly affections as they say here. yep, we've had records of 13.5 inches at the airport. there were 14 inches reported in the city by the philadelphia emergency management office out in some suburbs with up to 16 inches. and to go log into the record books, you have to go back to 1917 or so before you see that. and there have been record numbers of snowfalls, three of them, leading up to february 1st. that's the first time that's happened here. so a lot of snow in an urban area. so what do you do? these are the famous rocky steps leading up to the art museum here. as you can see there, it's a carnival, a festival, a sledding fest as every manner of sled that you can see here, they are made of plastic, they are made of plastic tubs, they are even made of cardboard. going down these steps on cardboard is something of a bumpy ride. the temperature now is about 13 or 14 degrees or so, which is rising all day. we started in the single digits.

the windchill is still below freezing, below zero i should say, but nothing like it was in chicago a couple weeks ago when i was there when it was negative 15 degrees and negative 40 windchill. but still, this is really rare and unusual for this area. there's a long stretch of cold, and the other thing is that this bad weather really started hitting philadelphia, new york, other cities on the east coast right around 4:00 rush hour yesterday. so really paralyzing. so if you look further beyond these steps into the center city, you can see that it's pretty much a ghost town. offices are closed, universities are closed down, people are staying indoors. and it's going to be cold. here the forecast says it will get above 30 or so probably by friday or saturday, but for the next few days, real cold. a lot of digging out to do. the mayor earlier in a briefing said he hoped to have the entire city passable by the end of the day, which means there's still a lot of work to do. particularly in the urban areas, the tight, urban areas.

philadelphia has a lot of small tightly-knit communities. it is hard to get snowplows through, but the bottom line is, it's a great day for sledding. if you are brave of heart and don't mind going down a flight of stairs on a piece of cardboard or something. >> great reporting. i have to say, that is not the best sledding that i've ever seen, but i appreciate the can-do spirit there in philadelphia. thank you so much, ron allen. and you have probably heard us mention that it is really cold. and it looks like it is going to stay that way for a really long time. chris warren breaks it to us gently. >> yeah, it certainly is going to feel cold for a long time, krystal. first we are looking at the snow that came down, the purple the heavier snow amount. this is what was on the ground or reported. some cases here, the dark purple, a foot to a foot and a half of snow. so with that snow on the ground, that snow, it's like a cooler. it helps refrigerate the air and keeps things colder with the snow on the ground. and there is a lot over it.

some spots, parts of massachusetts, almost a foot and a half to a foot and a half of snow. a little farther to the south in new jersey and new york, right around a foot of snow. this is a lot of snow in that cold air hanging around. here's what's going on with the cold air. we have one shot of cold air, that's what is with us right now. and then after that, there comes another one. so it is going to be several days for many spots in the northeast before those temperatures get above the freezing mark. so it's going to stay below freezing in many spots, both in the afternoon and in the morning. these are the afternoon temperatures expected. highs only in the single digits and teens. same story again tomorrow. and then by friday you're looking at these temperatures staying in the teens. d.c. still not anywhere near that freezing mark of 32 degrees. plenty of teens around. and it could be, not this weekend, krystal, but the following weekend for parts of the northeast finally getting above the freezing mark. >> all right, chris warren,

thank you so much for that not-so-great news. i have to say, though, i still really get excited for the snow. like i don't go sledding anymore, it's sort of a pain, it's hard to walk in, the commute is a mess, but there is still something exciting about it, just the idea, i guess, of having been a child and sledding, which i loved to do and the potential of getting off school. i still have all these exciting associations with the snow, even though in my adult life it's really just sort of a pain. >> i went sledding this past weekend and felt like a child again. i went upstate new york and there was so much snow, like powdery snow, which reminds me of the days growing up in utah, but it sounds like it will remain really, really cold. which on a positive note, you'll still have the fluffy snow. it's not going to melt and you will not get the slush obviously the next day. but the problem is, it will freeze over, which means i'm going to continue to slip and slide all the way around new york city, which is very problematic. >> any new yorker would like to be grabbed onto by you. it takes me back to being a child in the blizzard of '78 and

playing in the snow, but i'm sorry, i can only do so many fun awe-struck stories about the weather and the extraordinary weather events. this is because of climate change. that's why we are having all these extraordinary extreme weather events. and we don't talk about it enough. when a quarter of america thinks these are not caused by human activities. when we act like all this is fun, we are dancing on the deck of the titanic. >> did you know that the snow was from climate change? >> that was a pretty heavy comment. i mean, despite it being true, i wanted to talk about sledding. >> uh you did a fun segment on it yesterday, but again, i'm like i can only do the fun so many times. >> by mentioning sledding, what were you dancing on, the deck of the titan snick. >> just the whole thing of, oh, my god, this is fun and crazy. we can have fun, but we are -- >> i agree with you. it's a complicated situation because you can't actually scientifically point to one weather event and say, there it is, that one was caused by climate change. but we can absolutely look at the full range of events and see

a long range trend. >> did you go sledding this weekend, ar snirks. >> i have not been sledding. any climate change stuff before we go? >> do you want to dance on the deck of the titanic before we go? >> here's the thing, and this is a broader comment, but it's poetry with you. and the titanic, it's poetry. and it has to be seen in that context. you know what it is? you are a winter poet. >> is that what it is? >> i think that's what it is. what we are going to talk about next that is also big, bigger than the globe and climate change, is a corruption case taking down a former rising star of the gop. and we'll get into it in a way that may surprise you. as "the cycle" rolls on wednesday, january 22nd. in the last 23 years, but i needed help in quitting smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix reduced the urge for me to smoke. it actually caught me by surprise. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking, or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood,

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i repeat emphatically that i did nothing illegal for mr. williams in exchange for what i believe was his personal friendship and his generosity. >> sometimes that sort of friendship can get into real trouble as former virginia governor bob mcdonnell and his wife maureen are learning the hard way. they are facing a 14-count federal indictment for accepting pricey vacations, luxury goods and large loans in returns for special treatment. the governor at mitts to taking the gifts but said they were loans repaid in full and with interest. the other key player is johnny williams sr., the dietary supplementary exec who gave the gifts hoping for favors in return. remember, this is a federal indictment against the mcdonnells. they did not break any laws in the state of virginia. one recent survey shows 90% of respondents want tougher campaign finance laws.

90% want tougher anti-corruption laws. with us at the table is john stanton, the perfect guy to talk about this crazy story that the cycle team has been debating and talking about all day long. it reminds me that politics is a multimillion game. and you can see this directly in congress if you look at the reality of 268 lawmaker that is have an average net worth topping 1 million. that was in the year of 2012. and in campaign for america's future, i think puts it perfectly. this is what they write. wealth is not a qualifier for public service nor should it be, but it should never be a prerequisite for government service. unfortunately today in the crash driven system, it usually is. only the wealthy can afford the time it takes to get elected, only the wealthy can write the checks to get the campaign started and only the wealthy have the connections needed to finance a winning campaign. affable the mcdonnells felt the pressure to live in the glitzy political lifestyle, one they

clearly could not afford. and that's a separate story. what they did was wrong, but does this not speak to why other people don't want to get into politics? >> yeah, i think it's cost prohibitive for most people, especially at the statewide level or at the national level. it's just not a thing -- the regular people cannot do this anymore. and unfortunately i do think people who are sort of average americans that get into office as they get higher and higher are around more wealthy people. and the level of wealth they are exposed to in a lot of cases, i think, causes them to become envious. they want to do whatever they can to get that money, to get that power, to get that wealth. and you start to see things like this. their behavior ispreposterous. even if it is totally illegal. they did nothing wrong. what they did is sort of disgusting, let's go drive around in this guy's ferrari. in d.c. we call that being a bama. >> being a bam snara.

>> like a person who has no sense. this is bama behavior. if you are a regular person, you look at this and say to yourself, i can't run for office. i don't have the wealth or the time or the ability. >> yeah. or rolex. >> i think we can agree to the bama behavior, but i have been thinking about this. essentially what they did is traded personal money for access for this man and his company and for some sort of government goodies, which other than it being personal money rather than campaign money, is not that different from what essentially every politician does. it's made me think about, and that's again, not to excuse them, what they did was wrong, it was corruption, it was a violation of the public trust, but it just struck me the operating level of corruption that we accept in our political system on an every day basis.

if it's lockheed martin giving money into a campaign account with full expectation that they are going to get a vote or access or a project or whatever it is, we look the other way at that. >> well, and governor mcdonnell made the point that every president would be found guilty of this if you looked at it that way, because you got donors becoming ambassadors, things like that. and we do draw sort of an arbitrary distinction between campaign money and personal money, especially on the state level where candidates and politicians are allowed to use a lot of this campaign money for personal stuff. they can get a car, a driver, they can essentially expense all of their meals to their campaigns. and that becomes a financial benefit to them that we sort of overlook. you know, and there is a bit of an arbitrary distinction. in this case, i think it was just such an outrageous level of stuff -- >> the oscar de la renta gown, everything. >> i'm not sure i agree that the

distinction is quite so arbitrary. that campaign finance is meant to deal with you as a candidate and the entirety of the people who work with you to deal with policy, right? and if you become an ambassador, that is -- you're trying to help forward the policies. maybe in some other country or what have you, but you are working within that administration. this is just personally enriching the governor and his wife. and we all agree that that's despicable, but there's a fundamental difference between the two things and is not an arbitrary thing. maybe i'm naive and don't know of presidents being given louis vuitton handbags and purses and shoes and oscar de la renta and on and on and on for specific gain, maybe the first lady's had dresses given to her, but there's not a specific quid pro quo going on there. >> no, that is true. and there is a much bigger difference between sort of state level and federal level. if you look at members of congress, for instance, the rules that govern their use of

campaign money are very, very strict to a point a lot of them just send everything to the committee because they are worried about getting into trouble. >> and virginians are exceptionally less. >> if you go into the campaign finance records and look for starbucks, you will find that almost every member of congress and every member of the senate is spending hundreds or thousands of dollars every year on starbucks. because they are going every morning and buying a starbucks coffee and using their campaign card to buy that. and it's totally legal and something accepted and we sort of decided this is an okay thing for you to do. you are allowed to get some amount of personal gain out of this. and so there is, i think, in that sense, an arbitrary level. again, nobody's getting louis vuitton handbags, and if they are, they are probably going to get in trouble for that. >> and it's a lot more noticeable than a starbucks cup. obviously, it's a very gray situation with underlying issues we'll continue to have to figure out over the years. john stanton, always great to have you at the table. thank you for being here. up next, another day and another sochi terror scare

adding to security fears. details in the new cycle ahead. it's time for the your business entrepreneur of the week. jim shamlian and his daughter grow vegetables on their farm, but getting recognition was tough. they broke through and put everything under the shanley farm name getting their business into whole foods. watch more on "your business" on saturday at 7:30 on msnbc. if i a new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does.

convicted ponzi schemer bernie madoff is back in prison after being hospitalized for a heart attack last month. madoff also suffers from stage four kidney disease. the 75-year-old has served less than five years of his 150-year sentence for the largest investment fraud in american history. cold and flu medicines can be a big help if you're suffering, but they can also be getting those around you sick. canadian researchers studied the number of people who die each year from the flu. they concluded over-the-counter drugs often made people feel sick. this can spread the virus to other healthy people. doctors staying at home for a day or two to make sure the virus is out of your system. winter is known for cold and flu and also for a sickening number of cancellations at the airport. and that's continuing today

following the latest big snowstorm. in fact, the website flightaware.com reports more than 1600 cancellations today alone and nearly 5,000 delays. wow. and another casualty of the storm, a portion of apple's iconic fifth avenue store here in new york city. a plow clearing sidewalk outside slammed into the glass cube surrounding the store shadowing one of the walls. it can cost nearly a half million to replace. i have a transition for that. from shattering a glass cube, we'll turn to shattering glass ceilings. yes, which has gotten harder for many working class americans. now president obama is looking for ways to increase social mobility and he even asked a group of historians at the white house to help him find a language in which he could address the problem of growing inequality without being accused of class war fair. the new yorker reports in a new article, if he's found the right words, we expect he'll use them in the state of the union in six

days. he's been previewing for weeks. here's ira stahl, thank you for being here. >> great to be here. >> i want to start with something from your book. you chronicled several of the state of the unions in history. you talked about kennedy's speech in 1963, he talked about similar ideas of growth, right, and of dealing with inequality, but he said we should cut income taxes in order to spur growth in full employment. that is sort of the conservative angle on it. at the same time, kennedy seemed very good at doing big speeches to put out a vision, one where america, what defines us as america is looking out for one another and being confined to community, is that a big piece of what the successful state of the unions can do? >> and repetition is key. kennedy didn't unveil his tax cut in the state of the union. he talked about it in a lot of speeches before. the difference with the state of the union is a lot more people are watching.

we used to say in the newspaper business, it takes 75 editorials to get a law passed. with politics it's almost like it takes a few dozen or hundred speeches to get a law passed. and so when president obama goes up there and talks about raising the minimum wage or extending unemployment benefits, these are things he's been talking about, you know, for months, even in the last state of the union address, some of them. but he's hoping this time with all these people watching and that great stage of the supreme court justices and the senators sitting there, that it will actually happen this year. >> yeah, maybe you should just give up. i mean, i do think, yes, he brought up the minimum wage last year, which was something we were really excited about as progressives, and i think that conversation has moved forward from then to now. there is now more momentum across the country for that change, but ira, i've been thinking that we talk about the sort of demographic challenges that the republican party faces,

i think there's more of a central challenge, which is that gallop did a recent poll showing people are increasingly concerned with the idea that you can't just work hard and get ahead in america. that foundational value of the american dream being able to pull yourself up by your bootstraps is really called into question at this point in society. and i think that trend is only going to continue and people are going to be increasingly concerned about that. and so far conservatives and the republican party really don't have any sort of economic plan or policy to address that concern. >> when you ask conservatives about this, they talk about school vouchers and point out that president obama has been blocking the opportunity scholarships in washington, d.c., which actually allow people out of troubled public school systems and into private schools, which -- >> president obama has been pro school choice, not voucher specifically, but he's really gotten a lot of liberal heat for promoting charter schools. >> well, he's threatened to send

federal prosecutors down to louisiana to investigate governor jindal's school choice program down there. it is a washington, d.c. program. conservatives also to some degree deny this is even a problem. they point to president obama himself and if there's a better example of someone who was able to break through despite unconventional and actually a tough background, this is a guy single parent -- >> he's a pretty exceptional person, though, in terms of his intellect. >> that's true.

i can never hope to be a professional football player. the question is how much government can do to even out the inequalities and the conservatives recognize their limits. >> you have paul ryan beginning to out the more of their more moderate message on inequality. you guys were touching on the years of jfk and going back in history and five years ago. we forget where we were as a nation back in 2005 when obama gave his first state of the union, very much based around this bipartisan message of unity, of working together. let's take a listen real quick. >> i know we haven't agreed on an issue thus far. there are times when we'll part ways, but i know every american sitting here loves this country and wants it to succeed. that must be the starting point for every debate we have in the

coming months. >> a lot can change in the five years, the message we are hearing from the administration, i'm working around congress. clearly things are not getting done working together and there seem to be a divide among democrats. some saying push this more partisan message, this populous message, and other democrats saying don't do that to put us in a difficult position if your message is more partisan. how does he balance that? >> he's really wanting to seize this opportunity of this year because after the midterm elections the republicans make gains in the senate and things could get even harder for him. obama ironic talks about president reagan and working with tip o'neal. you know, the personal relationships with congress is another thing. the new yorker article said to some degree, president obama is not playing golf with the

senator. >> we talk about that a lot. we don't buy the golf argument. do you buy it? >> you played golf with him? i wish we had -- it is not about the relationships but a group who decide to obstruct him. it's a historical fact they decided to obstruct him before the inauguration. but the point i want to get to is actually more on what happens after the state of the union when there will be a republican response and then a tea party response to both or neither. a couple weeks ago it would have been governor chris christie. this thing has torpedoed a couple careers. when you don't have the staging the president has, it is difficult to do the whole thing. should we be doing this sort of response to what the president says? shouldn't it be above

partisanship? and is it efficacious to do the response to what the president just said? >> it's sort of a no-win job. it is -- >> bob mcdonnell is a great example. >> well, the thing that people remember is marco rubio going for the glass of water in the middle of it. they may turn off the television and go do something else. >> the state of the union is easier than the reply of thed n union. golf we're going to leave, that's an open debate. thank you for your time today. up next, a key moment that happened at the white house today that very few are talking about that can change your next time at the ballot box. much more ahead. [ male announcer ] the new new york is open.

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we vote a lot. we have local jurisdictions that run these elections. and it makes things a little more complicated. no american should have to wait more than a half hour to vote. and they should know, they should be confident that their vote is being properly counted and is secure. >> that was the president this morning while meeting with his bipartisan election commission at the white house about the findings of their sweeping new report on problems plaguing voters at the ballot box. it is something the president called for at last year's state of the union and comes out less than a week before his state of the union address next tuesday. among the recommendations in the report, expand online voter registration. have states update and exchange voter registration less with each other, and expansion of voting to get newer, less

expensive technology into polling locations. how will these change your experience at the polls in big and small ways? the report addresses structural problems and those long lines, too. joining us now is david becker, director of voter initiatives that worked closely with the commission members as they crafted their recommendations. the final reports relies on a lot of pew research. thank you for joining us. >> it's my pleasure. great to be here. >> to just to start off with, how much of an impact would the recommendations listed in the report make? how important would they be? >> well, if they were implemented by every state nationwide, they would have a tremendous impact. all of these recommendations have already been implemented in some of the states to some degree and research documents that they have an effective end result on how elections are run. they save money, they lead to more accuracy, and they satisfy voters more greatly. so if every state adopted all of these recommendations, at least to some degree, i think we would see fewer lines, fewer problems at the polls and we would see

money being saved while people felt better about how well elections are run. >> well, david, you're working around the system, and trying to update ways in which we vote so it is more accurate and more efficient and that it is more assessable. talk to us about online voter registration and eric. >> online voter registration and e.r.i.c. are the common sense solutions here. online registration is something two states had in 2008, and five more are building systems. this is something about half of american voters if not more will have access to by the end of 2014. it saves money because it transfers all of that paper activity to electronic activity. it leads to greater accuracy because people no longer have to fill out a paper form and people who have to enter the data by hand have to figure out their let legible handwriting. the paper is gone, the process is easier for voters and for election officials, and the integrity of the system is

better. all those records are checked against motor vehicles and other records at the same time, so it works for everybody. e.r.i.c. is a great system that seven states pioneered for the 2012 election. we are very proud to help them do. that and what it does is compare voter records across state lines to keep up with the mobility that naturally happens in america. about one in eight americans moves in any given year. so to be able to keep one the mobility so a voter record is up-to-date at the time of the move is very important. >> david, that hits the p politics, we heard politicians talk about the integrity of the vote, these are the most tangible ways to make sure they are accurate. i'm glad we have this political report, but isn't it also very important that we get more binding federal law on this so we have uniform rules and money backing that? >> well, money would also be helpful with a lot of recommendations in there to require some capital investment, things like online voter

registration, things like electronic poll books cost money, but what the research shows is that money, that initial capital investment is quickly recouped. so if the states make that investment, if the federal government makes that investment, it doesn't matter because what you're going to see over time is that those payoff dividends for the long run. i think one of the important things out of this report is that these are all innovations that began in the states. the states have been innovated. many of them have come up with these ideas. arizona came up with online voter registration. there have been innovations in early voting and others. >> let me point out one thing, when we talk about making the vote count, we talk about the voter i.d., which judge richard poser has been a guest on this show, talked about is widely regarded as voter suppression. as a person who is concerned about these issues, how concerned are you about voter i.d. laws having an impact on voting in america? >> i think the thing about voter i.d. law is we have to recognize they are largely being driven by a narrative that says you have to be concerned at the integrity

of the election system. the integrity of the election system is at risk. if you want to fix the integrity of the election system, the single most important place to focus on your efforts is on the voter lists. the voter lists need to be up-to-date and accurate and complete. have as many people who want to be registered on the lists and have only those people who should be registered on the list with their most up-to-date information. >> one of the real challenges the election officials have is if someone moved in december of 2012, they will learn about it in 2016. in the meantime, they are planning elections. this means voters are not getting the information they need and this feeds the narrative there's a problem with the integrity of the system. >> david, that goes to translate a little bit of what you're saying, folks who care about the integrity but only focus on the voter i.d. and not the reforms you're talking about, that raises questions about how serious they are. before i let you go, you were in the civil rights of doj and prosecuted voter discrimination,

your sense briefly on the voting rights amendment act just introduced. >> i think it is encouraging it is bipartisan. that both parties come together, it won't please everybody, but it's an important first step in the conversation. i think it shows there are responsible people on both sides of the issue who recognize that there continues to be a problem, that the voting rights was meant to be addressed and we'll update it for the 21st century. >> david becker, thank you so much. up next, a simple question that sparked a fascinating film. what is the last photo on your iphone? we will show you ours. that's next. today we're going to play a little game.

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really? so you get [dennis' voice] a quicker estimate, quicker payment, [normal voice] quicker back to normal. i just did it. but maybe you can find an app that will help you explain this to your...father. [ vehicle approaches ] [ dennis ] introducing quickfoto claim. just another way allstate is changing car insurance for good. this guy is this guy is making movies about this. >> it's a picture of me playing guitar hero. i don't remember much of the back story. i think i was pretty drunk. >> that photo right here, that's

me chilling out with my girl at the spa. we are getting, you know, doing back massages and all that [ bleep ]. i'm over there with the cucumber water and all that [ bleep ]. you know what i'm saying? you've got to live life on the weekends, you know what i mean? >> amen to that. nine times out of ten, my photos are of my kids. that's my daughter taken this morning. ivan has not asked to see my photo, so who cares. even still, he's here to talk about his interesting project. what have you learned about people by seeing strangers' last photos? >> i've learned, i think, everyone has their own story, but at the end of the day, i think that, like, people are just very normal, but to me, the ordinary, the normal is super fascinating. whether it is what you're cooking for breakfast or it is a gingerbread house that you taped together on your own. >> i want to share some of these photos. ivan, you went to san francisco, l.a. and then across the country

to new york city. were there similarities between the east and west coasts? >> everyone has food photos, and a lot of people have photos of their pets i've noticed as a common theme. but other than that, it's all over the place. and i'm really drawn to people that just have unique stories through their photos. and i really try to let the viewe viewers discern between the common themes that exist. when i'm editing, i show a diverse spectrum and a wide range of people and a wide range of stories and emotions. >> yeah, when we think about art, one thing that's often said is immersion in art helps you appreciate life in a different way, and then the common critique these days about the phones and the documenting culture is that you're not living life if you're always trying to take a picture of it, right? you miss out on the experience. your project seems to kind of bring that. is this art, where do you come down on that balance? >> yeah, i mean, i'm super fascinated by the fact that, like, we're all on our phones

all the time, right? i walk out in public, i'm on the subway, and i just see people on their phones all the time. and i'm guilty of this as well. but i think there's a really interesting contrast because when you're on your contrast, because when you're on the phone, you're looking to connect with other people. when you're doing that, you're closing yourself off to the people around you. >> right. >> my goal with this project was to show a little bit of humanity through the phone, which can be kind of impersonal when we're out in public. >> you mentioned the dog photos. you spoke with a woman who said she had 50 photos of her dog. let's take a look at that. >> this is kind of embarrassing. i used to take interesting photos of things, but now it is the dog all the time. >> i feel the same way. mine are my kids. did you get a lot of mundane kid or dog photos that you have to

sift through to get to the interesting ones? >> i did. i think the ordinary is fascinating. in that new york video, there's one photo of someone that was returning their lamp because it was broken. that's a pretty ordinary story, but i thought that her energy and her personality made that fascinating. in another instance, someone had a photo of their girlfriend, but the way they were passionate about her and happy to talk about her -- i'm trying to give glimpses into these people's ordinary lives. >> it's not just the pictures, but it's the stories that you elicit. you can check out the last pics by liking our facebook page. we'll give you one guess on who took the girls subway pic.

our fans are showing us their last photos. it's "the cycle" biggest fans. does that count for ratings when it's dogs? i'm not sure. follow along. what's the matter with governors today? ari's take next. but first, a few more of your photos. [ police radio, indistinct ] the comeback trail. there is no map. no mile marker. no welcome sign. one day you may find yourself here. and you'll need someone to bring you back. to carry you home. at liberty mutual, we believe with every setback there's a chance to come back and rise.

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there are new allegations of illegal corruption against a politician for misusing the governor's office and these charges come from federal prosecutors. >> the former governor of virginia and his wife were charged today with repeatedly asking for and receiving illegal gifts. the couple accepted more than $135,000 in direct payments and thousands more in favors. >> as we discussed earlier on the show, federal prosecutors indicted them yesterday on 14 counts including bribery. the former governor denies those charges. this puts mcdonnell on the other side of the prosecutors' table. he was virginia top cop as attorney general from 2006 to 2009. this story may remind some of governor chris christie. the accusations against christie

are from politicians at this point, not prosecutors. in the eyes of the law, both men are innocent until proven otherwise and yet these stories are related. not just because of the way these figures are facing potentially big falls from grace, but also because of how they rose. both governors were elected for the first time in 2009 and after a little time on the job, both were swiftly covered and elevated as presidential material often before scrutiny of their record or before they built much of a record. that partly stems from the gop's desperation for saviors. but it partly stems from the fact that many plit koes rush towards campaign speculation instead of the important stories of how state governments actually work.

when the political class gets its way, there's millions of conversations about a hypothetic hypothetical race for presidency for chris christie. it's also bad for a legal system that tries to keep up with the money and the power and the people that drive our politics today. we're following along with the lawyers and the lobbyists and the journalists looking for leads. when we talk about the most powerful people, those leads rarely go straight to prosecutors. the investigation came later with watergate. the investigations came later.

today's investigations in virginia and new jersey started with revelations from a few intrepid reporters, local and national, and they were neglected by the political class. today's professionalized political industrial complex has more money pouring in than at any point of history. as we watch the justice system play out here, we can also aim not only to judge the politicians, but to take a page out of luke and heal ourselves and our political culture that's way too comfortable with government for sale. that does it for all of us here on "the cycle" today. it's time for "now." lavish weddings, corporate jets, rolexs, golf holidays,

yachts, and ferraris. it is wednesday, january 22nd, and this is "now." >> falling gop stars. two guys that got elected on the same day in 2009. >> once promising faces of the gop future are now uncertain about their issue. >> potentially facing decades in jail. >> a silver engraved rolex. >> there's a desperation and a stupidity of texting for a 20 grand loan. >> he says he did nothing illegal. >> chris christie taking his most serious shot yet from within his own party. >> the problem for christie is