all right. we did it, gang! that is way too early for a friday. "morning joe" starts right now. >> how was george so ill prepared, governor?

>> we have been confronted with an unexpected storm. there is not anybody in this room that could have predicted the degree and the magnitude of the problem that developed. >> sure. no. that is probably the case unless everybody who had been watching the weather. >> the weatherman mike sidell has the latest. >> it will literally shut down the city. >> not only were they warned but the call was coming from the house. >> the weather channel is located in atlanta. >> the weather channel is located in atlanta! also located in atlanta, the society for prevention of highway stuckage and the national high department of [ bleep ] seeing it coming! >> yeah, it was a rough day there. good morning. it's friday, january 31st.

is that the thing louis was on? >> uh-huh. >> dangerous. what the heck is that? >> that didn't take long. >> former treasury official and "morning joe" economic analyst, steve rattner. and mom, former communications director for president george w. bush, nicole wallace. in washington, editorial director for the national journal, ron fournier. >> should i take this off. >> johns hopkins. >> no. you had a big party for her. >> we had a small one and i made a cake and i thought it was really good. it was took running shoes. >> do we have a picture of that? did you tweet that? >> i did tweet it and sent it to

alex but my mother didn't like it. >> why didn't uver mother like it? >> i'm sending pictures to everybody of my cake and the process of making it so i sculpted it. i've done rabbits. >> what is the science of profiting a cake? that is where i get derailed. >> these are her running shoes and exact color and design. >> you poured your heart on that. >> i did. i put it in the basement and put it on the washing machine. i opened the window so i had the cold air and warm icing. >> your mother had to be proud of you because you're such a

dedicated mom. >> i sent her a picture. she had the running shoes, the colors are hideous much like i see everywhere on teenagers. >> wow. >> i didn't think it was so bad. >> we will put her down as than undecided. >> alex, have you had a piece of my cake yet? i brought it here. >> beautiful. >> look. not bad. what do you think? >> i like it. >> it doesn't look like running shoes. >> it looks like running shoes and the running shoes that people wear now. >> does that look like running shoes in. >> i think that is a pretty good job. >> everyone is laughing. don! >> what did you say it looks like, t.j.? >> it looks like a lake. >> a beautiful lake, crystal clear water. >> that is very good.

>> walk by nike today. that is what is in the window. i think it's amazing. i'm proud of you as an artist. later today, president obama and some of the nation's top advisers will announce a plan to get the long unemployed back on their feet and part of the president's post state of the union push. however, "the new york times" says despite a growing economy, president obama's legacy, quote, may be slipping away. yesterday, the commerce department announced the economy grew by 3.2% in the fourth quarter of 2013. >> however, compared to presidents clinton and bush, president obama's economy is still performing at subpar levels and now a new study finds 44%, close to half of will americans, are living paycheck to paycheck with less than 4,000 dollars in savings for a family of four. >> we will show people very unsatisfied with the sat of the

economy. it kills me to do this but i want to go to steve rattner right off the bat. >> kills me too. >> we usually -- >> this is to make fun of me, i'm sure. >> no. we usually cram your charts in like the last 20 seconds of the hour. i see these readvised numbers, steve, and just looking at these numbers again from a distance, as i've done for, you know, a very long time, the numbers don't look that bad. there seems to be this disconnect between, you know, like 3% growth. we have all grown up believing 3% growth gdp sustainable, not bad. 4% great. but these numbers are good, yet americans dissatisfied and there is just a feeling we are slipping further and further away. what is accounting for it? is it the rich getting richer, the poorer getting poorer? >> the basic thrust of that

"times" piece the economy has gotten better and better and obama's approval ratings have gotten lower and lower. i think what is the wages are still not going up. the rich are getting richer and that is a problem but less of a problem if everybody else was coming along with them so people feel dissatisfied by that and rightly so. >> so your first chart actually shows strong fourth quarter growth, right? >> yeah. we had the numbers yesterday as you saw. you can see on the left it's 3.2% growth during a quarter which, as you said, a very reasonable quarter. some of it solid. >> solid. >> some of it was inventory growth but that is okay. business investment was up and housing was down for the first time since 2010. that was really weather-related

because it was cold and rising interest rates. and spending. a slightly more controversial discussion but the fact the deficit budget is still coming down and the government shutdown is in there. that cost -- >> since we don't want to debate that number because that makes me happy, let's talk about net exports. >> we can look at the full year in a second but it is unusually high. it appears that the effects are coming through in lower energy imports and that is obviously very good news for america. >> we will look at some other charts later on, including the year-to-year growth which shows much slower growth but we are looking at the last two quarters and it looks like things are turning around for? the poll will show you, as you said, 71% are dissatisfied with the state of economy. 81% believe the economy favors

the wealthy. >> nicole, that is horrible. you look at 71% of americans. >> that is bad morale. >> this is disconcerting if you told george w. bush the economy is growing at 3.2%, he probably would say, i'll take it. yet, here you have 71% of americans dissatisfied with the economy despite that growth. >> yeah, i think that is why you hear speaker boehner yesterday saying that the republican party can no longer be the opposition party, it has to be the alternative party. i think that that belief, which is correct, and i'm so happy to hear him speaking, you know, to his members and to our party in that way, because people are not dissatisfied. not only with the policies they see but with the way it feels. it still feels like the economy is maybe serving everybody but me. >> it feels that way because it is and that is just a fact. >> ron, i think economists will

look at exports going up and consumer investment going up good things but the average american it's whether or not he has a job and whether or not his neighbor has a job and most americans although the unemployment rate is down, many americans are fallen out of the work force and just aren't looking for jobs any more. there is a real malaise that settled in where people say, i don't know how i turn this around for me. while some numbers look good, the day-to-day job situation is not getting any better. >> right. if you spent a lot of time -- like i'm from michigan, from detroit. i still spend a lot of time up there. you talk to people up there, or anywhere outside of the corridor and they will tell you that the money that they are getting, the wages they are getting not only are fewer or lesser, but it's not going as far. they can look back very concretely and obviously at how their parents and grandparents did and see the difference in the middle class income and way of life between now and just 25 years ago and it's striking and depressing for people and they just don't see government or business or any of the

institutions helping them. they kind of feel adrift. >> so much of that problem we talked about it on the set all the time the fact that 25 years ago, we didn't have the i.t. revolution that we have right now. to the degree that we did. the fact is, i've talked about this before. i see numbers that said if america's economy was as efficient as it was 20, 25 years ago without all of the technological changes we have had 20 million people would be working in manufacturing jobs in america. the fact is, you know, and you bring up the machine example and it offends some people. i'm not sure why it does but the fact is there is a reason you don't have all that you used to have because of atm machines. you multiply that out over a thousand industries a thousand times over and that starts adding up. we are becoming more productive every day and that means

companies are figuring out how to make a lot more money without a lot less workers. >> am i allowed to disagree with you? >> it's friday. >> i think you have to separate automati automation, if you want to call an atm a form of automation from globalization and other things that are going on. automation in the long run is the only way for an economy to succeed. if we had never been to dial phones you would have a million people today working as telephone operators and the economy would not be as strong. >> i understand that, but i'm just saying, though, the fact is that the i.t. revolution has brought us a lot of benefits but it's also caused a lot of people a lot of jobs. we are going to have to figure out how to retool this economy, right? >> i agree with that but i think the twin evil if you will or the twin of that which is more dangerous and damaging to this economy and i'm a total free trader has been the effects of globalization because that has caused manufacturing to leave this country to go first to china and now to myanmar and all

kinds of places where the wage rates are a half, a quarter, a fifth to what they are here and the productivity is just as good. >> this is in "wall street journal." ten years ago it might have been far-fetched that a customer could order food in a restaurant without speaking to anyone but it's a reality now as service employers across the country including chile's, chevy fresh mex and california pizza kitchen introduce tabletop ordering devices. technology has made these changes possible but that is not driving their implementation. steady, federal, and state increases to the minimum wage have forced them to rely on technology as the government makes entry-level labor more expensive. technological changes inevitable and often healthy for industries and perhaps our restaurant and grocery store experience will

look different in 20 years regardless of labor costs. yet, policymakers are encouraging the switch to technology by increasing the costs of hiring. >> yeah. >> this is the debate about minimum wage, right? no one is offended -- >> not just about that, but also, if i could dare tread on the sacred ground of the affordable care act and just say -- and just say being completely nonideological. i believe that every american deserves health care insurance and i also believe that our system -- we can't go back and i think mike lee said this, we can't go back to the old system that we had where the poor take care of their children in the emergency room at 11:00 at night. that ends up costing all of us too. >> right. >> this is not about whether people get health insurance or not. they have to get health insurance but this system as it is set up right now, nicole, i've heard it from one small business owner and mid-sized business owner after another,

encourages restaurant owners and others to automate and encourages them to hire -- >> and to lay off and not hire. >> and they are doing it. >> right. >> and so can we prove that x causes y as far as job losses go? no. but we can or will be able to show over time that there will be a lot of employers that decide i'm just not going to hire those three or four new employees because entry cost is just far too high. >> ron talked about getting out of the northeast corridor. you don't even have to go that far. just find a small business owner and ask them what they have done the last five, six, seven, eight years. they haven't hired more people and it's a combination. i think the other problem, i think the other reason it feels so bad, the other reason this economy feels so bad that because no one seems to get it. no one is talking about how much more difficult the government makes it and no one is addressing the things that prevent real hurdles, the cost of health care. raising the minimum wage is a

wonderful idea but it has consequences. every action has a reaction. i think the frustration that small business owners feel and, you know, we are in new york and, you know, you get to speak to people who always come up and say, why doesn't anybody talk about the plight of the people actually hire people, and those have been recent history have been the small business owners in this country. 'they are not hiring because of health care and because of uncertainty about minimum wage, because of regulations and that is part of why, not only is unemployment stagnant but it feels bad. >> ron, i want to get you in on this. >> corporate profits are fantastic. wall street profits are fantastic. small business owners out there are living and dying on the thinnest of margin. these things that sound great in think tanks and around talk shows and the middle of manhattan have real consequences in middle america for small businesses owners.

>> in upstate new york, you don't have to go to the middle. >> in upstate new york, in s schenectady whether a job stays open another month or not. >> i have to ask steve. what is the real impact then if we put the minimum wage at $10 an hour and also the affordable care act, the combination of those two things, the real impact on a small business? >> first of all, the minimum wage has been well-documented in terms of its effects and not that huge and i think a couple of million people in this country are at the minimum wage. because of inflation the minimum wage is lower than when ronald reagan was president and so some increase in the middle wage, there is a balance. >> attached to inflation. a lot of people think it should be attached to inflation. >> i'll sign on for that and let's keep it constant with inflation. i read the whole piece in "wall street journal" is arguing against the minimum wage say it will lead to this automation. i think the minimum wage has

been seriously studied and not that big of a deal. i don't have hard facts, you don't have hard facts, this is a work in progress but what we do know, you talk about schenectady. what we do know what is going on in places like schenectady we have lost 6 million manufacturing jobs since the so-called manufacturing renaissance, 580 thousand have come bam and that is hurting out in the middle of american and that is a global problem and that is a problem of our competitiveness all around the world. >> i think this is where we may disagree. i think we are going to get those jobs back. i think the next 20 years, i think this country is going to have an economic renaissance. >> mika doesn't agree with you. >> no. back off the wage issue. >> 3% of americans in the nbc poll are hopeful or optimistic. i tell you what, man, i'm optimistic. >> up to 4%. >> i think the next 20 years for this country could be absolutely

phenomenal if the government does three or four things right and gets out of the way. i'm sorry, go ahead, willie. >> ron, go ahead. ron wanted to get in. >> actually, i'd like to ask a question to joe and to steve. this isn't the first time we have been through this kind of wrenching economic change coupled with technological advances and leaving a lot of people behind. i wonder if any lessons we could learn, steve or joe, how we handled the first hard years of the industrial revolution, you know, in the early 1900s, what changes were made by government and what changes were made by the private sector that helped create the middle class and the great american century. are there any analogies what we are going through now and how we might be able to bring jobs but a new kind of jobs and new kind of economy and new kind of social impact? >> i think the best analogy and here i'm going to agree with joe, if you go back to the early -- a hundred years ago, we had, i don't know the percentage off the top of my head a huge percentage of americans working

on farms and then the productivity increases, automation on the farms. people said what will we do with all of these farmers? a terrible thing. they went into the cities and got into manufacturing. the point i'm trying to make is rather than trying to to go back in the business of textiles and things we can't compete any more, we should be competing and putting our emphasis including government policy and all of this stuff on the industries we are good at, on technology, on health and on education and hugely valid industries. >> i agree a hundred percent on that, but, ron, you bring up a great point and a great parallel and i'm surprised more people haven't talked about the historical parallels between what happened after the 1880s and the explosion of the industrial revolution in america. what happened? teddy roosevelt happened 20, 25 years later. the trusts were created. you had wealth that was being controlled by a small 1%. you had the vanderbilts and all of these people and t.r., a republican, went in and he was a trust buster and he believed

like margin rat thatcher believed in 1975 when she took control of the british conservative party that we needed to break up and that is the government nationalized power. she said we need to spread the wealth across the middle class. that is what t.r. did back at the turn of the century and that is what i think we are going to see again. not going after the 1%, but understanding the larger economic and societal changes that are concentrating wealth so heavily and such a small percentage. you know, i think we are going to have to get leaders. republicans. i think. because democrats aren't going to be able to do it because they call them socialism and call them this and that. i think we have to do what margaret thatcher and t.r. figured out how to do and make sure that our version of capitalism benefits the most people. and grows a strong middle class like we had after the war.

>> quickly, joe. what t.r. did politically was look at his own party, which wasn't -- at the time and blew it up and changed it. the republican party than survived. your party right now needs to adapt really quickly to survive. >> and we are going to and the next 20 years are going to be 20 years of explosive economic growth. >> okay. >> the best days are ahead. >> good. coming up on "morning joe," the moderator of "meet the press" david gregory and chuck todd and dr. emily senay on the rising concern of antibiotics used in food. up next, mike allen has the political playbook. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> finally good news and warming up up in the eastern seaboard and deep south. new york city could get up to 50 for the first time in weeks. trouble spot denver more snow.

no break for you. snow covering the ground on i-70. chicago you're driving to school and work with no snow but a half an inch on the ground when you come home. snow hard tonight and tomorrow then. detroit you finished your snowiest january ever and now more snow on the first day of february. what a winter for you. look at these temperatures. today, 43 in d.c. 51 in atlanta. all of that southern snow and ice will be gone by the end of today. then over the weekend, we stay very warm in the eastern u.s. but very cold in the northern plains and then for super bowl sunday, a soaker from areas of louisiana to atlanta and as far as the super bowl forecast goes, i'm calling for 42 degrees at kickoff. the rain should be moving out if there any to the south and should be a beautiful evening for the super bowl in new york city. you're watching "morning joe." [ male announcer ] the new new york is open.

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♪ time to take a look at the morning papers. from our parade of papers, "the boston globe." the justice department will seek the death penalty for accused boston marathon bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev. attorney general eric holder says the scale of the attacks were factored into the decision so dzhokhar and his brothers planted two home made bombs at the finish line of the race. from "the washington post." mass exodus on capitol hill continues.

waxman was a key architect of obamacare. >> and fluke may try for the seat. >> what do you think of that? >> i don't know. i don't know. henry is a 17th member of the house this year to announce his retirement. >> "the salt lake tribune." parents are outraged after lunches were taken away from nearly 40 children and thrown in the garbage. that is unbelievable. >> why did they do that. >> the school district notified parents this week that more money was needed in the lunch accounts and parents said they did not receive the warning. the cafeteria manager has been placed on leave. they said it wasn't handled properly by throwing the food away and not giving it to the kids. real estate giant is considering raising subscription

rates as much as $40 rates and amazon will combat rising shipping costs up 19% in the first quarter. prime services include free two-day shipping on most products. the "chicago tribune." police are cracking down on fake nfl merchandise and tickets before the big game. investigators say more than $21 million of phony jerseys, hats and other items were seized. 50 people arrested. custom officials say the merchandise seizures were the largest ever recovered in an anti-count anti-count anti-counterfeiting sweep. san jose mercury news. the company's stock closed at a record $61 yesterday and boosting mark zuckerberg's fortune by more than $3 million. the social network is rolling out a new app on monday called "papers." it combines facebook's news feed with story sharing features. this weekend's "parade" will

reveal it's 2014 all-american high school football team. >> let's go right now to willie geist at the politico desk. >> with us is the chief white house correspondent for politico, mr. mike allen, with a look at his playbook. >> happy "super" friday! >> a little something special from mike allen with the super bowl weekend. you have "confessions from a former tsa agent." the title is "dear america, i saw you naked and, yes, we were laughing." good gracious! tell me about this piece, mike. >> yeah. this is amazing. everything that you suspected was true. this is a piece on politico magazine by a former tsa agent who is writing a novel about his experience there. but the truth is bad enough. he talks about how the insane rules that they had to follow confiscating nail clippers from

a pilot. what is the pilot going to do? use nail clippers to heigighjac the plane he is flying? taking apple butter from an old lady. then a man who lost two legs to an ied in afghanistan and tsa agent had to take away that champagne from the guy and his buddies. the part in the room where they see the full body scans and they are gross. they say a lot of overweight people in america. the ts agents see every fold and temple as the way this politico magazine story puts it and they do laugh at the people. they do talk about the size of body parts. it's all part of what this agent says is very, very, very low morale. even supervisors who don't believe in the machinery, who say that some of this machinery,

if a gun is turned sideways, it's almost invisible. >> oh, my gosh. i mean, the tsa will push back and say this is one, i'm just predicting, one disgruntled former agent's account of what goes on and won't represent all of the scanners. you make the diamond sign in the air like you're jay-z, they can actually see completely essentially what is going on underneath your clothing? >> they can. they called it making the mickey mouse ears but your way of saying it is accurate too. morale issue. clearly a lot of the officers don't believe in what they are doing and there are some real question here about the effectiveness. the rules that take away apple butter. one time i was coming through tsa from memphis and one of the tsa agents said to sorge, he was looking in my bag. he said, oh, we have barbecue

sauce and it was because i tried to dumbly try to put barbecue sauce in my carry-on bag from memphis. it is reported the liquid rule, not a good reason for it. i predict partly because of this story there is going to be a re-look at some of these rules. they re-looked at the rules about our devices which is a different agent. and now there will be more questions about whether these rules make sense. whether they really keep us safer. >> you have to remember every time you want to bark at a tsa agent, they are enforcing the rules put in place. many of them understand they don't make a lot of sense but in this piece the author lays out some of the tsa lingo. here is code red was used apparently for an attractive woman wearing red. yellow alert is an attractive woman wearing yellow. a bin loader is an employee during their first month of work and retaliatory wait time is

what a passenger with a bad attitude allegedly gets. >> i'm the last one. i've had that retaliatory wait time for sure. >> you had a bad attitude? >> for sure. >> it's on politico.com. it's a pretty eye-opening piece. mike allen, thanks so much. >> happy weekend. >> code red like red on the outside or red undergarments or what? >> red dress. >> red dress. but just suck it in when you're doing that guy at the airport today. >> can they see the undergarments and stuff like that? >> they can see everything! >> not the color. they can outline. >> they can write your inner you. coming up, peyton manning's response to richard sherman's critique of his arm. a little super bowl trash talk next.

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let's release the puppies. come on, guys. the broncos got a lead there. they are going back.

looks like a clear win right there. you guys are saying the denver broncos are going to win the super bowl! >> they are so cute. >> the only predictor that matters is the jimmy fallon puppy bowl. the super bowl will be played in the swamps of my home state. how about that? cold and nasty there. >> it's going to be warmer. >> 35 is cold for many people. earlier this season, seahawks cornerback richard sherman mentioned peyton manning throwing ducks, wobbly, weak passes and yesterday, sherman stood by those comments and peyton manning had a chance to respond. >> he's a great quarterback and does a great job but, you know, at the same time, when he catches the ball, he doesn't nel catch the laces all the time but he throws an accurate ball regardless of how he throws it and he delivers it on time and accurately. >> they say he's a smart player and i don't think that is a real reach what is he saying there. i do throw ducks.

i've thrown a lot of yards and touchdowns ducks, and so i am actually quite proud of it. >> here is the duck story on the back page of the new york papers. new york daily news with the beard and the duck dynasty. >> why does he provoke that? >> he said it earlier in the season. >> oh, okay. >> he was asked about it. >> peyton manning does not throw the most beautiful ball. it doesn't matter because he throws touchdowns and wins super bowls. the other major story line from super bowl week. marshawn lynch, the great running back for the seahawks, avoiding the media day after day and doesn't like talking to them. yesterday, he spoke to the press, though, for more than seven minutes answering every question. even one about his offensive line coach tom cable. >> what did you think of coach cable when he arrived? >> what do i think of him? >> yeah. >>.

>> marshawn is from oakland. >> i got to say, seattle, you're looking good. representing seattle. some players that are really put in a bad position at the seahawk organization the past week. >> marshawn lynch has climbed into my heart more each day. joe buck is calling the big game for fox and doing the play-by-play. he is believed to believe in many circles antinew york. he and the gang put together a little video. >> new york city. home to super bowl xlviii. you know, some people think i have a bias against this city. not true. i got to say, i love it and it loves me. >> [ bleep ] you joe buck, you hate the yankees, you hate the giants! we hate you! >> you guys want to take that again? it's always a treat to be back here in new york city.

greatest city. greatest -- i can't do this with the honking. what is great about new york is you can go just about anywhere and take in some culture. >> yeah. we have some great exhibits at the met like the american west and in bronx and. for your bias against the yae s yankees. >> sir, did you know that super bowl xlviii was here this week? >> i don't speak english. i only know [ bleep ] you joe buck. >> we hate you, joe buck. >> we hate you, joe buck! >> it's always a treat -- put a lot of work into hating me. new york city. the food, the sights. are you [ bleep ] kidding me? a whole pizza? >> joe buck on the streets of new york. by the way, if you're interested in such things, denver broncos, two-point favorites, as we sit here on friday morning. >> what do you think of that? >> i think that is probably about right. i base them on nothing but i think they will win by four points. i like their colors. >> i like your super bowl hat.

>> they play in altitude and coming down to sea level. >> there you go. >> olympic athletes. >> i do like those seahawks. something about those guys. i like those seahawks. >> the way they punch people? >> your super bowl ad? >> that would be great. we will be back with mika's must read opinion pages and the bowl ads. ♪

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he is the most interesting morning television anchor in the world. >> i don't wake up on time often, but when i do, i'm on "morning joe." weekdays 6:00 to 9:00 on msnbc. stay sweet, my friends. >> that is fantastic. good job. >> it really captures the essence of you. >> those shots. this is part of a bigger promo. >> you just ruined it. >> wait. shut up, man! >> we are will to compliment you, louis. >> get out of the way. come back to that boat shot and don't show louis. i usually wake up at 4:00. i had to wake up at 2:30 and he takes me down to new york harbor in this little boat. scudrow is crazy as hell. >> he got stabbed the other day. >> what? >> louis has these shots set up.

i have no idea. he has this little boston guy set the shots up and it's amazing. he knew exactly for us to go. >> the light is great in that shot, the time of day with the statue of liberty. >> he is such a loser. >> seriously. it's like he gets in the shot. >> he is so cute! >> louis is cute. >> whatever. >> he is. >> what are you wearing? >> let's go to ron fournier's must read op-ed and charles krauthammer has a great one. >> are they positive what a great mom you are. >> and artist. >> and artist. you made a cake for your daughter. >> the nicest one is you tried. >> that is an insult wrapped in an half compliment. >> it's all right. >> has anyone been to -- lately?

that is what the stuff looks like. >> she is a runner. ron fournier wrote this in "the national journal." >> the smartest man in politics may be chris christie. i take it back. at the time the new jersey governor had channeled the public's disgust with political dysfunction chazz tiesing republican leaders to refusing to allow a vote on hurricane sandy relief bill. christie said the game playing that derailed the relief bill showed why the american people hate congress. he accused his own party's leadership for selfishness and moral failure. his approval rating topped 70%. now his numbers are dropping because he wasn't so smart and the zero game culture christie enabled if not ordered infamous abuse of power.

the closure of traffic lanes on the george washington bridge in a fit of political retribution. >> talk about your conclusions, ron. >> a year ago, i didn't write that he was going to be president. yesterday, i didn't write that he is not going to be. but the fact is this controversy has damaged what was a pretty solid, pretty impressive brand up against the conditions we were talking about in the last second. we are looking now on a leader who is post partisan and who is transparent and putting the state ahead of his own political purposes. at the very least we have a case where that office was run amuck at least on the ft. lee incident. what i wrote about three weeks ago when he had that news conference which he handle pretty well, i warned then we still don't know whether voters will believe his denial, we don't know whether his denial is accurate or not until the investigation is done, and we don't know whether -- how far

this particular incident goes and whether or not it is part of a pattern of abuse. until all -- until all of those questions are answered he is going to have a hard time being a candidate as viable and as credible as he had been. >> if those answers to all of those questions are answered in a way positive to chris christie, does he get back in the 2016 game, or has this just changed everything for him? >> again, we sat here and said if it comes out that he knew about it, lights out. i think this could fortify him for a national run and teach him something that every republican who, prior to running for national office, needs to learn. you no longer run with the media. you have to understand how to, in some instances, run against parts of the media. i think that he has learned that lesson. if he has learned how fractured

the modern media climate has become and i'm not talking about journalists like ron, i'm talking about understanding as a national public figure, the climate is totally different than it was ten years ago, totally different than it was eight years ago, then christie could be fortified for a national run the way nobody else on the field will be. >> i think it will strengthen him if he survives it, no doubt about that. i think also he now understands he is playing in the big leagues and, quite frankly -- >> and everyone isn't going to love you. >> i have criticized the republicans the past ten years for not being too conservative but rank amateurs. chris christie hired a bunch of rank amateurs around him that played petty piss-ant games. if he survives this and learns from it, you know, he'll understand he is playing on a bigger stage now. >> but you don't think that that point you just made about how he has hired these rank amateurs

that played petty political games, not just at the bridge but in hoboken and jersey city and all of these places, you don't think that has fairly permanently changed his image from what it was to kind of a small town politician who is not necessarily -- >> i don't think we know yet and i think, again, i think this is understanding that if you run for president as a republican nominee, almost all of the democrats are going to be against you and many in the media establishment are going to be against you. that is an invaluable lesson. i watched john mccain learn that lesson. if he learns it now, it is an asset. >> i want to underline that fact. you have not told me this but others who worked with nrjohn mccain tried to explain to senator mccain despite the fact he had been the darling of the media because he was the republican that attacked other republicans for a decade and seemed to like kind of stick in the sharp stick in our eye a little bit too much, they had a talk with mccain and said, you

do understand now the media is going to be all against you and they are going to kill you. >> he never accepted it. >> he never, ever believed it until it was too late. >> right. >> that is what republicans -- >> it was devastating. >> republicans need to understand that it's not a fair fight but it's the fight that ronald reagan somehow fought and won 49 states. ron, you wanted to jump in. >> just quickly. >> you were agreeing with steve this changed him the people he selected around him? >> it does affect him. if he is going to run for president it he will run on his record in new jersey and that record has been tainted, period. maybe not -- he may still be able to do this but the record has been tainted definitely. >> ron, thank you. coming up, we are going to talk about some of the new technology rolled out for sunday's super bowl. plus a new article in bloomberg "business week" races seriously health concerns linked to our nation's farms. that is all ahead on "morning

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coming up at the top of the hour, david gregory, chuck todd, and eugene robinson all join the

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♪ we have seen a lot of reaction to tuesday's state of the union address. perhaps the most alarming reaction came from senator lindsey graham who told "roll call" that the world is literally about to blow up! i didn't take graham seriously that the world is about to blow up. you know how excitable

southerners can get, until i saw this! >> the metropolitan atlanta area largely paralyzed. >> pregnant women and children trapped on the roads! >> children left to spend the night in their schools! >> abandoned car purgatory. >> like the "walking dead." >> lord have mercy! he was right! he was right! >> welcome back to "morning joe joe.". >> i don't know what that was all about but i liked it a lot! >> that's gorgeous! >> i love that. nice. so relaxing. nicole wallace and steve rattner are still bus. joining from washington, the moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. bl and chuck todd. pulitzer prize winning editor

and msnbc political analyst, eugene robinson. good to have you all on board this hour. shall we dive right? >> let's go. as democrats try to retain the senate, apparently many are not relying on the president for support as reuters points out, centrist democrats in tight race aren't clamoring to be seen account commander in chief. west virginia natalie tenant who is trying to keep democrats in control for retiring senator jay rockefeller's seat. an interesting dynamic playing out in louisiana. new orleans mayor mitch landrieu is but his sister is not. >> the same year he ran for his first election for the presidency he lost alaska by 22 points. i still won my election. if he wants to come up, i'm not

really interested in campaigning. what i'd like him to do is see why his polls are wrong. if he wants to challenge alaska, i'll drag him around and show him whatever he wants to see but i want to convince him and show him some of his -- not the right direction. >> wait a second. i don't follow alaska politics that much. chuck, he is a republican or a democrat? you're a political director. is he a republican or a democrat? >> i know. you're not sure when you hear it. >> he sounds like a republican. >> nobody, of all of those -- of that class of 2008 that came in with obama, remember, there was a whole bunch of senators. the '06 class i thought was a better class politically. they won arguably at the time in races that they didn't think. the '08 guys all rode a wave. begich beat ted stevens about the questions about the investigation into stevens so

there was a unique why begich won and nothing to do with national politics. for the five years he's been in there and you can watch it just looking at every press release this guy says, he has been thinking about how do i win as a democrat, a second term in this state, and he has run to the right of the party, governed to the right of the party on energy issues, on alaska issues. he's been -- he's clearly very politically aware of how hard it is for democrats to win in alaska. he has been very effective, i think. >> david gregory, this points to a larger problem for centrists no matter where they are. you name it. i tell you what, i saw it in '94. every time people start running against their president, it's just like blood in the water. there is nothing more fun and i ran against a guy that was running against bill clinton at

the time and it's a lose, lose proposition for them, isn't it? >> you can run, but you can't hide in a lot of cases. marry landrieu voted for health care and now she is out there beating the drum saying, i want to rewrite this law and i want to work on it and she still voted for it and she is still going to be seen as a loyal democrat to the president and his agenda. you're right. i think it's very difficult to run away. i think in alaska, a democrat who is running on energy issues has a little bit more room and he'll try to do that. but i think it's very difficult for all of these folks. and particularly when you've got house democrats who are now really relying on obama to make this pivot to lead the way to go on offense on health care, to really start talking about a lot of these middle class pocketbook issues. they wanted what they got in the state of the union was a feistier president and defining the party for the midterm. >> by the way, willie, mary

landrieu, she always wins by 11 and a half votes. republicans, they always think they are going to beat mary and she wins by 11 1/2 votes and you're like, how did she do that? >> here is why this is so much tougher for her this time than ever before. you had sort of the whole bunch of democrats essentially that left the state after katrina, okay? and while some of them, there was a concerted effort in her first election, it was a concerted effort because it was a presidential year, and they got a lot of absentee votes and they got that in. this is a midterm year without the president on the ballot. i have to say i don't know fountain numbers work for her any more, work for any democrat any more. this is a unique -- she is not had to run with this few of registered democrats before in this state in a nonpresidential year. it's going to be really tough for her. >> always find the half vote in

louisiana. i don't know where they get it. >> you get that in louisiana, boston. >> come on. >> chicago, illinois. gene, senator indicate hagan in north carolina. some said the cut aways we saw of her applauding the president is about as close she will be to the president the next 12 months. as david said about mary landrieu, about her record and she supported obamacare a. if you run away from the president you're running away from the reality of what you represented the last six years. >> yeah, you can't run that far, as david pointed out. you know, i think north carolina is one of those states where turnout and the composition of the electorate on election day and this off-year election will really make a big difference and if i were running that race, that would be where my focus was, try to get as many voters

to the poll as i could and to counter what could be a tough race for her. >> all right. let's move on to jeb, can we? i want nicole to answer this question. just tell me what you've got. first, at a local event in florida, former governor jeb bush addressed the speculation that he'll run for president in 2016. the recent comments from his mom who hopes he does not. >> i don't wake up each day say, what am i going to do to make this decision? i'm deferring the decision to the right time which is later this year. and the decision will be based on can i do it joyfully? i think we need to have candidates lift our spirits. it's a pretty pessimistic country right now. and is it right for my family? she promised she wouldn't keep saying this but she's 89 years old and. you have elderly parents or grandparents, you know they speak their mind. there is not much stopping between thinking and speaking.

i love her. >> wow! >> but you're not old! >> holy cow! wow! >> that is your mom! >> you're going to get in trouble! >> especially if your mom is barbara bush! >> a family version of straight talk. 2-year-olds are the same way. no stop sign between thinking and speaking. >> barbara bush has always spoke her mind. i don't know why jeb bush is blaming it on her age. >> that's true. >> same with my mom. >> yeah. your mom. >> she has always been like that. >> here is the thing from her perspective and i think i can speak to this with some authority. you can't underestimate what it's been like for them to have gone through two presidencies and i think it was much harder and barbara and bush 41 to watch their son in the oval office in this current media. >> let's explain what jeb just said. >> i think to barbara bush's comments that let another family run. and i think that that comment is as much rooted in the fact there may be an appetite for somebody

other than that family, as, you know, our family has done enough, we have served our time. >> nicole, you heard -- i mean, we all heard stories of barbara bush, while george w. was president? you know? his father would sit and watching the nighttime shows. >> yeah, they watch the news. >> and barbara would have headphones on music because she just didn't want to hear it any more, hear people talking about her son. my god, if i were a mother or a father, it would be natural. i wouldn't want my son or daughter -- david gregory. you served in the white house and you saw it. you know the bush family. like nicole, it was such an excruciating eight years for the bush family because george w. all of the things that this country went through over those eight years. >> i think that is exactly right and i think nicole has it exactly right. this is a mother who watched her husband go through the wringer and to see her son go through that and why would she want her

other son go through that? one of the reasons i think it gets attraction not because it's barbara bush and she has always spoken her mom, i think jeb bush has had a fair amount of reluctance about jumping into this for a fair amount of time. he wrote his book and was widely seen as positioning himself and he didn't seem to embrace that. maybe he is getting closer to it. as i talk to republicans up on the capitol hill they talk a lot about jeb bush and think the action is among the current and former governors and he is a guy who could certainly pull it altogether. it's quite interesting we seem to be getting to a place of greater acceptance about another bush running but i think there is that greater acceptance. >> you can't overestimate also the changes in our republican party over the past six months. i will tell you as somebody that caught crap for a decade as for calling out george w. bush for

being representism and calling out some of the amateurs that ran for president, the grief i would get, everything has changed since the government shutdown. everywhere i go, everything has changed people six months ago were saying how do we win, joe? and i'm not making it about me. i'm saying i've had a lot of talks about jeb for a second here, a second there. you know, when we are back stage about to do education nation and both of us would just go like our party, seriously? what is up? but it's changed. i'm sorry. the point is it's changed over of the past six months. six months ago, jeb would go, i'm not getting into that mess until they figure out what they want to be when they grow up and when they are interested in winning, then maybe i'm interested in running. our party, our republican party, i see it internally and you probably do too and it's changing and people are focusing on winning. >> the most important thing that

jeb said if he could do it joyfully. how that just struck me as jeb being as he always is, totally in tune with what we need. we were talking about the state of economy, the disparity people feel about inequality. jeb understands that our party needs, not just somebody who can win but somebody who can do it joyfully. that seems to me the most important consideration that he is going to make and he would do this as a happy warrior. >> nicole, can he do on it joyfully? i took that from that too. i think a personal question for him. can he find joy in, as a bush, running the gauntlet of what he would have to deal with? >> yeah. >> jump in. >> it sounded to me, that opened the door wider than i have heard him open the door before. that sounded like he is really thinking about it and i was surprised by what he said. >> i think it's -- >> i think he might run. >> the comment about his mother, i think he was trying to create

space for himself and he laid out a time line to the end of the year, mom don't talk about it any more. >> mother to blunt son. he did accuse us of clubbing baby seals. >> he said i watch your show every day because i love baby cubs clubbing three hours a day. >> now the field is sort of wide open. if you presume it was going to be chris christie, it doesn't mean he won't be the nominee but it certainly has opened up and he certainly has gone back in to think about it. >> there is such a huge space that jeb would occupy or chris christie would occupy, or a mainstream republican would occupy. >> bush/clinton, really? >> i'm not saying it's going to be jeb and i don't know if jeb can run joyfully. he has been around a long time. >> i don't think that is possible. >> he's seen a lot and i don't know if he can do that for a lot of different reasons, but if he can, there is a big wide open space for him and a possible

pathway to the nomination. >> chuck, take a look at this. a new poll out this week. mitt romney is leading all other hypothetical republican primary candidates in new hampshire. just pointing that out. i'm not sure. >> in new hampshire. 25% rand paul and 18% chris christie and 13% steve mcmann and alex, their poll they put out there. chuck todd, with chris christie in the situation he's in, this republican party is wide open. >> it is. the thing to do there is add up romney, christie, and jeb together, by the way, in that poll and i know it's an auto poll, but, you know, let's add it together, you notice you get over 50%. that is the new hampshire more moderate independent leaning state that looks for more centrist republicans or more moderate or mainstream conservative, whatever you want

to call the nontea party republican party these days. and so if you take mitt out that is the more interesting thing there. but look. i'm -- i think jeb looks at this and thinks this is his last chance, by the way. and -- >> it is his last chance. >> if you've got the last name of bush, isn't it better to run in a year when somebody with the last name clinton is running? you get to neutralize that issue and i think you lessen it in a way. the problem jeb has to worry about is does it become a more divisive primary with him in it? not that he would make it divisive but you'd have all of these republicans almost bashing the entire family and i think he h he -- that is going to bother him to carry that burden and i think what nicole is speaking about with barbara bush and i think that is what she is concerned about, it becomes where, all of a sudden, the primary and it's republicans beating up the bush legacy, that

is probably something that the matriarch doesn't want to see and it will be awful and ugly. >> it's a pretty formidable group, though. if you look at the prospect of jeb bush and chris christie, you have rand paul representing more of that tea party but is it scott walker as well and paul ryan? that is a fairly serious group of conservatives there. >> we talked about hillary clinton, the possible run that she may make for the white house. so it does bring up the prospect of what the first dude would be like. i don't even want to imagine that one there. but the former first lady laura bush talked about it and she says the first gentlemen shouldn't be treated any different than his predecessors. >> are we too obsessed with your hair, makeup and your clothes? >> yes. for sure. but i don't think we can get around it. maybe when we finally have a first gentlemen and maybe we should be that way about the first gentlemen also and really critique the way they look all

the time. >> reporter: >> reporter: what is your advice for the first gentleman? >> stand back and be quiet. i don't know. it will be interesting when it finally happens with the first gentleman, what they will do. i hope they will take on men's health perhaps. >> i like it. >> oh, my god. >> there is a lot in there, man! >> i tell you what, those bush women, they are tough. who wants to dissect that one? >> no. >> listen. she is tough and she speaks the truth. i'm obsessed with the topic. any woman, i think that laura bush and michelle obama could probably have a few cocktails and tell stories, you know, until the sun comes up about what that role is like. i think any woman in the spotlight would have a lot of stories of their own about the obsession with her hair or makeup and the prospect of a man being sort of objective by it in the way that i think she,

obviously, from that clip felt objected by it. >> especially this man we are talking about. >> yes! >> hilarious! >> we would like it too much. >> nicole, your books are fun. i like it. the first dog is a female dog named? >> mika. >> eugene robinson, thank you. >> we will be looking for your column about the 1% online, out gene, in "the washington post." >> great. >> chuck, we will see you coming up on the daily rundown. david, what do you have planned for "meet the press" on sunday? >> denis mcdonough and first appearance on a sunday program, the republican from south carolina. >> we look forward to that. up next, if we are what we eat, it would seem that many of is are chock full of antibiotics and we will look what is going on in our nation's food sources

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♪ this article caught my eye. super bugs from farm to table. that is the focus of a recent bloomberg "businessweek" article about the dangers of antibiotics in our food. with us is jim ellis among with medical correspondent for pbs, dr. emily senay. the host of "way too early" thomas roberts is here as well. did you change? >> no. you're doing a double take. >> let give people a sense of exactly what we are talking about here, because i have to say, and i have been looking at the food we eat for many years closely and trying to dissect what is wrong with it, but i didn't think this was so prevalent. tell us what it is and where in

the food it's not. >> it's very prevalent. what has happened is that back in the 1940s, scientists discovered if you give antibiotics to livestock, it turns out that not only are they protected from disease, but they also put on weight. >> they grow fast? >> they grow faster. what that means is lots of farmers since then have decided what we want to do is give them in their feed or in their water, you know, antibiotics and they will turn out that we will just get fatter and, therefore, they will bring more money at market. >> is it in all of the meat that we buy at grocery stores? >> it's in most of the meat you get. it turns out for ain't bicycle use about 80% of antibiotics by weight now go into food as opposed to people. >> the issue here is it keeps the animals healthy in crowded conditions and they grow faster. >> that is the positive but the negative is that you worry that it seeps into -- it gets so

prevalent in the food chain that you start developing bugs that have resistance to those -- >> people do? >> what happens is the bacteria becomes resistant to those antibiotics. the problem is a lot of those antibiotics, whether it's tetracycline or pencilen are also used by humans and so that is a big problem. right now, i guess about 2 million people a year are, you know, get sick by bugs that are resistant to antibiotics and about 23,000 people each year die because of infections are there but are antibiotic resistant. >> doctor, help us out here. the concept of humans becoming more resistant to antibiotics because it's in food we eat is that sound science? >> absolutely. >> then why is this happening? >> bottom line, this is very entrenched behavior on the part of industrial farming and it's been very difficult for the fda to sort of take this out of the

system and when you talk about industrial farming of livestock, it almost requires it, because of the conditions that they live in. they give these antibiotics in sub therapeutic doses to healthy annuals and not sick animals because of the growth promotion that jim was talking about and to prevent disease because of the conditions in which they live in. so it's kind of do you want large quantities of cheap meat produced or do you want more expensive stuff that requires animals not to live in these what are called sort of large industrial farms where animals live in very close contact in lisa healthy conditions and they are living in their own manure and it invites disease. >> thomas will take us to the fda statement in a minute. can i ask a quick question? this is bad for the health of americans who eat this meat, correct? it is dangerous.

>> well, it's worrysome. what is the transmission path from the farm to the table is the discussion and we know that the world health organization, the fda says there is probably a connection. the problem is there hasn't been -- that's not without question and the industry has said unless you can say without any question that there is a connection, we should not worry about too much regulation. >> the fda telling "the new york times" in december 2013 the fda began formal implementation of a strategy to phase out the use of medically important anti-microbials? >> yes. >> the fda is confident that it affects the effectiveness of anti-microbials and is the most efficient and effective way to change the use of these products in animal agriculture. doctor, talk about what this means as the fda is trying to

oversee this and it's this double-edged sword. if we look at our bodies and people are concerned with healthy eating? >> right. i think that is the focus of jim's article actually. this is voluntary. it's a three-year phase-in. they are asking the questions that manufacture these antibiotics to label them differently to require that the farmers use prescriptions from veterinarians which very often they don't now and to slowly phase out the use of antibiotics for growth promotion. but that is not the same as using these antibiotics for disease prevention which i believe will continue to be allowed. so it's kind of a loophope, if you will. >> yes. >> has is a loophole we have already seen before. ten years ago, mcdonald's, which is a very large buyer of beef and chicken, decided it would get tougher with the industry about this and it asked can you, you know, our suppliers should not use these things for growth promotion. it turns out, however, that, you

know, because there are are sometimes legitimate uses to have antibiotics they had that loophole also. if you needed it for disease prevention you could use it and more is used as opposed to less. between 2009 and 2011 the amount of tetracyclines used in livestock actually grew 22%. this is actually very widespread use. the thing that the fda says is that, well,, you know, we have trouble stopping this and so we are going to go voluntary which has made a lot of activists angry but the fda's argument if we go through and actually say there is a ban on this that we will get caught up in legal action. >> yeah. >> it will take years to get rid of it. instead of asking the drug companies voluntarily say you have to have a veterinarian's precipitati prescription to sell this they can say if you don't do what the label says we can stop you without any regulation. >> here is what mcdonald's say. we will continue to look to

physicians and suppliers and veterinarians and engage with various stake holders on this topic and look to the fda for guidance and review our policy as necessary to remain consistent with available scientific information. boy, we need that hook. we need that connection, that scientific connection to close this. check out the article on "bloomberg business week." thank you all very much. how staying plugged in 24/7 is impacting our lives at home and on the job. tom costello has that ahead on "morning joe." so what's better, bigger or smaller?

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dramatic video out of thailand this morning. it took just a couple of minutes for this tourist boat to go completely under water after its hull was punctured. all 13 passengers jumped ship and rescued by a nearby boat. the small cruise was reportedly operating illegal. we were talking about working too much and no play. so much for working 9:00 to 5:00. many americans are working around the clock whether they are in the office or not. that is definitely me. health experts are warning it could have serious consequences. here is nbc's tom kcostello.

>> reporter: they call it the great american speedup. so many of us today seem to be in overdrive. >> monday is going to be another long day. >> reporter: case study. ann baldwin owning a crisis pr form every day seems to be a crisis. >> this isn't the candy business. everything is not always sweet and not 9:00 to 5:00 and monday through sunday, 24 hours a day. >> reporter: 35 years ago, americans worked eight to nine hours a day and called it quits. home for dinner. weekends with the family. but in today's 24/7 world, many employees feel they can never escape the office. spped to answer phone calls and e-mails in the dead of night and on weekends and even while vacationing. technology reporter bob sullivan writes america's work habits. >> could i get a large friday. >> reporter: also gone family meals and kids sporting events

and simple down time. working so many more hours means americans now work almost five additional weeks each year than they did in 1979. 35% of americans now work on weekends. and we're sleeping less. according to the cdc, a third of adults now get six hours or less each night. those long hours and lack of sleep can land you in the e.r. recent study found people who work 11 hours or more consistently are at 67% greater risk of having a heart attack. dr. allen taylor is the chief of cardiology at this heart institute. >> the data shows about a third of heart disease related to stress and that chronic overwork a doubling risk for heart disease so it adds up to implications for heart disease. >> how was your day? >> reporter: stress experts say never more important to set limits. deciding when to turn off the e-mail and cell phone, to carve out personal and family time. >> hello! >> hello. >> reporter: for some the moyer work the better. >> the harder i work the more fun i seem to have.

>> reporter: for many finding that balance between work and life is also a matter of health. >> it's easier said than done, though, to unplug and turn everything off. i look at our kids. whether it's work or not, they are on -- i wonder about the implications on the brain long term, emily. >> it's got to have some effect on a brain. >> it has to make us more add. >> looking for that stimulation. it is hard. we got the information from that story pointed out that it took us 200 years to get unions to have a 40-hour workweek. smartphones five years to take that away from us. we do feel compelled to respond to the e-mails we get or answer the phone. >> i think you have to divide people into groups. i think probably us around the table who like it and want it and love on the fact you're not disconnected any more. 2013 people who don't like it and forced to do it because of their jobs. the overarching point is the

people have to do it. in the world wages are not going up you have to work more hours and more weekends. >> that's true but i find it just one more thing i have to discipline myself about. >> yeah. >> there is so many things in this world we have to avoid bad food, we have to make sure we get a lot of exercise. reducing the use of this stuff which does decrease stress if you ever set it' side, you know you feel better after awhile and you feel more connected to the moment but that requires discipline. >> that does. actually, arianna huffington and i are doing these women conferences on this issue and called "thrive." we are going to new york and washington and l.a. starting on april 24th. up next, this year's super bowl will feature some cutting edge technology and it's got a lot to do with our next two guests. plus, louis is standing by in new york city where the nfl has taken over times square. louis, what is going on and what are you doing? >> i am at super bowl boulevard,

mika. it is amazing here. now listen. the crowntoboggan. it's in the middle of broadway and behind me. clayton and i went down last night and rode down and had frictionless fun in the freezing cold. take a look. we will have much more coming up next on "morning joe." ♪

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it's also -- it's also where you can find "morning joe" special correspondent and conflicted football fan. >> oh, yeah, baby. >> i know where this is going. >> i have to take this helmet off. the giants, who cares about the giants? it's all about the jets. >> oh, god. >> i'm, obviously, not in the swamp of east rutherford, new jersey. i'm here in times square at super bowl boulevard. people are coming out in large numbers, even though it's freezing cold. some are even braving cold weather lines for hours just to catch a glimpse of the vince lombardi atrophiy. take a look. how long you been waiting online, anthony? >> oh, like three hours. >> three hours? what are you waiting to see? >> the lombardi trophy. >> i don't care. i got to see that trophy. >> we want to get in the door. >> when he was born, we put him in a bronco suit as a little baby! that same bronco suit is on his son now! i'm happy. >> we're happy. it's beautiful out here. >> that's right. >> reporter: who is cold?

>> the broncos are going to win. >> reporter: so on, joe and mika, you know that i'm an athlete, you know? i'm a football player and tennis player and i'm like bo jackson, do you know what i mean? there is a field goal here and what i decided to do is kick it in front of the crowd. i kicked a field goal, dead on! matt prater, adam vinatieri, they have nothing on me. >> five yards, louis! it's five yards! >> well, it wasn't five yards. the only problem, joe, is that the upright and the ball were too close together. that would have sailed 50 yards easy. >> louis, show them the catch. >> the catch from across the top of the taxi cab. >> let's see the catch. thomas roberts has a good arm. yeah, we have it. come on, cue it up. >> hey, louis? >> i came out here with tom and he has a gun. he was throwing frozen ropes. >> really? >> across the street, yes. >> willie! >> i thought you were going to

do that little slide. >> we have had enough. >> di that slide. guys, show the slide! >> you're killing us. we talk to you soon. louis, thank you so much. with us now the senior vice president -- >> look at his face! >> that may be the worst three minutes in like seven years -- >> he was kind of sweet in his own cheesy self-way. senior vice president and chief information officer of the national football league, michelle mckenna-doyle. the vice president and chief technology officer for verizon wireless, nicki palmer. both women play a critical role in the nfl's digital strategy and how this year's super bowl will be more connected than ever before. very good to have you on board! >> tell us how the nfl is more connected than ever before? >> our fans are more and more connected, at least over 80% to 90% of the people of the super bowl and in and around the super bowl have a smartphone today so

they expect to say connected so lots of technology coming in and out of the stadium and in and around our events. we created some new apps to help people enjoy the ivenevents. super bowl xlviii content and if you're roaming around the city and wondering where to go and it knows where you are and it can let you know what is happening nearby. >> nicki, here is my deal. >> oh, no, no, no. >> i don't go to sporting events but when i do you take a picture and you can't tweet it out in these stadiums. >> fenway. >> you guys have just like ramped it up at metlife stadium. tell us about it. >> absolutely. first of all, you're right. let me tell you about a stadium environment. >> it's a nightmare. >> it is! lots of steel and lots of concrete. in the case of metlife 80,000 people in one small location and all trying to do what you're doing take a picture of the kickoff and post it to social media. basically, the same experience. it's a tough environment. >> the problem is you just don't have enough -- i mean, usually

not enough bandwidth, right? >> it's really not the back end bandwidth, it's the confines of a stadium and the mobile devices are trying to talk to the network, the network is trying to talk to the mobile and they are altogether. it creates a lot of noise and interference. we know how to tackle this problem. so what we do is we put distributed antenna systems in the stadium so in the case of metlife, we have over 500 points of our network throughout the stadium so that you can talk, text, and tweet wherever you are. you can do it it in your seat, you can do it in the suites. you can do it in the ladies room. >> really? >> it is going to work everywhere. >> we have to get you up to fenway for the next world series. >> yes! >> i'm going to connect you with larry and you can come hook them up. >> we need that badly. >> michelle, what is the reaction to this happening? because we were talking about it earlier today on "way too early," the fact some of the apps and the content you can get it is also like a tracking way for businesses to get in your pocket and start to advertise. has there been a mixed feedback

on that? >> no. we find that our fans, they love our content so much that they are willing to accept that as part of the deal. and the types of offers they get are fairly personalized., you k preferences. >> desires? >> and desires, and it seems to work out. you can either have a paid app, which you pay for, or a free one with some advertising in it. and we find that people would rather have the free one and -- >> yeah. >> -- and deal with some of that. >> how long have you been with the nfl now? >> this is my second season. >> second season, okay. i was going to say, it's crazy, the prospect of having a super bowl in the new york area, is just wild. because you're -- >> it is. >> -- usually miami, san diego, or warm-weather climate. l.a. this is going to be crazy. >> it is. we're so distributed, and for those of us that work at the nfl, we are doing our regular lives as well as our super bowl life, which typically we all pick up, go to a city, we leave all of that behind.

this has been quite a challenge, you know, your family's wondering where you are, and well, i'm still at the stadium, and that kind of thing. >> i could add what that means for us at verizon is not just about metlife stadium. it is. but it's about the parking lot. and it's about northern new jersey, and it's about, you know -- >> the highway. >> -- the highway. and it's about the city. we have beefed up our capacity in over 30 venues, including the prudential center, bryant park, super bowl boulevard -- >> right. >> -- so all of the places are getting investment and capacity. we spent over $400 million -- >> oh, my god. >> -- in the new york metropolitan area alone in 2013, and we need to for our customer and we'll do it again next year. >> going to the game? >> you know, i'm going to be doing a lot of things on sunday. i'm going to be primarily at our -- at our command center. >> all right. well, good luck. good luck! very exciting. thanks for coming. >> thank you so much.

come back. we'd love to you have on. you guys will stick around for the exclusive afternoon mojo segment. we'll post that in a little while. mojoe.msnbc.com. aflac! aflac! got 'em. ♪ yeah, he's clean, boss. now listen to me, duck. i have an associate that met with, uh, an unfortunate accident. while he's been incapacitated, somebody's been paying him cash. now, is this your doing? aflac? now, if i met with some such accident, would aflac pay me? ♪ nice. this is your stop. [ male announcer ] find out what aflac can do for you and your family... aflac? [ male announcer ] ...at aflac.com. for you and your family... aflac?

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up next, new signs the economy may be growing, but the question is, is it too late to save president obama's legacy? that's next on "morning joe." are you ready grandma? just a second, sweetie. [ female announcer ] we eased your back pain, you turned up the fun. tylenol® provides strong pain relief while being gentle on your stomach. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®. 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.

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prepared? governor? >> we have been confronted with an unexpected storm. there's not anybody in this room that could have predicted the degree and the magnitude of the problem that developed. >> sure, no, i guess that's probably the case, unless anyone in that room had been watching what i guess you call the weather. >> the weather channel's mike seidel has the very latest. >> we have winter storm watches and warnings into atlanta, snow, sleet, and freezing rain. >> two inches of snow that will literally shut down the city. >> not only were they warned but the call was coming from inside the house. >> the weather channel is located in atlanta! it's right there. [ applause ] also located in atlanta -- also located in atlanta, the so silent for prevention of highway stackage and society of we see it coming. >> good morning, it's friday,

january 31st. is that the thing louis was on? >> yeah. >> welcome to "morning joe." >> dangerous. >> what the heck is that? >> dangerous. you're a mother. >> yeah, really. >> that didn't take long. >> former treasury official and "morning joe" economic panelist, steve ratner, and mom, former communications director for president george w. bush, nicole wallace, and in washington, editorial director with the national journal ron cornier. good to have you on board. >> good morning. i like your scarf. >> birthday girl, so i'm wearing her scarf. >> johns hopkins. >> should i take that off? >> no, so she got into johns hopkins, and you all had your -- you had a big party for her. 18th birthday. >> we had a small one, and i made a cake. >> yeah. >> and i thought it was really good. it was two running shoes. >> did you have a picture? did you tweet it? >> i did.

anyhow, my mother didn't like it. >> what do you mean your mother didn't like it? >> i sent her a picture, sending pictures to everybody of my cake. >> beautiful homemade cake that you worked with your -- >> yeah, because i sculpted it, and ariana was tweeting -- >> this is tradition? >> oh, yeah, 18 years straight. >> you make the -- >> yeah, i made an eight-foot worm last year because her nickname was worm, oh, she's going to kill me. >> what's the science of frosting a cupcake? that's where i -- >> these are her running shoes in the exact -- >> you poured your heart and soul -- >> i did, three hours. i went in the basement, put it on the washing machine, opened the window. >> do all of this stuff. >> i opened the window so the cold air, and the hot icing and melts as you sculpting -- >> that's so sweet. your mother -- >> my mother said -- >> she had to be proud of you, because you are such a dedicated --

>> i isn't her a picture. and she said the running shoe cake is very hands-on, in quotes. in artspeak, it means it's rough and honest and not refined. but if i may say so, the colors are hideous, much like i see everywhere on teenagers. >> oh. >> wow. >> i didn't think it was so bad. >> we'll put her down as an undecided. >> i have it here. do you want to see it, guys? >> yeah. >> b.j. isn't going to put it up. >> here. not bad. what do you think? does it look like running shoes? >> it does. and it looks like the running shoes that people wear now. >> there it is. >> those look like running shoes -- >> i think that's a pretty good job. >> everyone's laughing. don. >> what did you say it looks like, t.j.? >> it looks like a lake. >> a beautiful lake. it does look like a beautiful lake. >> no, it's very good.

>> walkway nike. >> you did a great job. you did a great job. >> i think it was amazing. >> it's all right. >> proud of you as an artist. >> later today, president obama and also some of the nation's top -- will announce a plan to get the unemployed back on their feet. it's part of the president's post-state of the union push. however, "the new york times" says despite a growing economy, president obama's legacy, quote, may be slipping away. yesterday, the commerce department announced the economy grew by 3.2% in the fourth quarter of 2013. >> however, compared to presidents clinton and bush, president obama's economy is performing at subpar levels, and now a new study finds 44%, close to half of all americans, are living paycheck to paycheck with less than $6,000 in savings for a family of four. >> let's just stop right there. can we -- >> yeah. >> we're going to show people very unsatisfied with the state of the economy.

it kills me to do this, but i want to go to steve ratner right off the bat. >> kills me, too. >> yeah, because i usually -- >> you're ready to go. >> this is the chart -- >> this is to make fun of me, i'm sure. >> no, we're excited. >> we usually cram your charts in the last 20 seconds of the hour, but i see the revised numbers, steve, and looking at these numbers again, from a distance, as i've done for, you know, a very long time, the numbers don't look that bad. there seems to be this disconnect between, you know, like 3% growth? i mean, we've all grown up believing 3% growth gdp sustainable, not bad. 4%, great. but these numbers are good, yet americans dissatisfied and there's just a feeling that we're slipping further and further away. what's accounting for it? is it the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer? what's with the number? >> yeah, first of all, the basic thrust of that "times" piece was, maybe obvious, but a point,

but the economy has gotten better and obama's approval ratings have gotten lower and lower. put that on the side. the overall economy is now starting to get better. the problem is it's not filtering down to the average american yet. yet. maybe ever. but not yet. and that's really what i think bothers people. wages are still not going up. the rich are getting richer, and that's a problem. it would be less of a problem if everybody else was coming along with them. and so, people feel dissatisfied by that, and rightly so. >> so your first chart actually shows strong fourth quarter growth, right? >> yeah. we had the numbers yesterday, as you saw. and you can see on the left, it's 3.2% growth during the quarter, which is, as you said, very reasonable quarter. >> it's a good -- solid. >> solid. some of it was inventory growth, but that's okay. you can see the key drivers, consumption was up, business investment was up. housing was down for the first time since 2010. >> why is that? >> that was really

weather-related. actually cold weather and rising interest rates. and then, government spending. this will be maybe a slightly more controversial discussion, but the fact that the budget deficit is still coming down, and also you have the government shutdown in there. the government shutdown in the fourth quarter cost something like .3% of gdp. >> let's talk about, since we don't want to debate that number, because that makes me happy, let's talk about net exports. up 10.5%. is that unusually high? >> it is unusually high. we can look at the full year in a second. it is a little bit unusually high. but it does appear that the effects of our increased energy production are actually coming through in lower energy imports, and that is obviously very good news for america. >> okay. we're going to look at other charts later on, including the year-to-year growth which shows much slower growth. but still, we're just looking at the last quarter, last two quarters, and things look like they're turning around. >> yeah. >> for some. >> the poll i was going to show you, as you said, 71% are dissatisfied with the state of

the economy. 81% believe the economy favors the wealthy. >> nicole, that's just horrible. you look at -- you look at 71% of americans -- >> that's bad morale, to say the least. >> this is disconcerting. if you told george w. bush, the economy will grow at 3.2%, he'd probably say, i'll take it. and yet, here, you got 71% of americans dissatisfied with the economy, despite that growth. >> yeah. and i think that's why you hear speaker boehner yesterday saying that the republican party can no longer be the opposition party. it has to be the -- the alternative party. and i think that that belief, which is correct, and i'm so happy to hear him speaking, you know, to his members and to our party in that way, because people are not satisfied -- not only with the policies they see, but with the way it feels. it still feels like the economy is maybe serving everybody but me. >> it feels that way, because it is. >> yeah. >> and that's just a fact. >> ron, i think economists will

look at things like exports going up, consumer spending going up, business investment going up, as good things. but to the average american, it's about whether or not he has a job, whether or not his neighbor has a job. and most americans, although the unemployment rate is down, many americans have fallen out of the workforce and just aren't looking for jobs anymore. and there's a real malaise that's settled in, people say, i don't know how to turn this around for me. while the numbers look good, the day-to-day job situation is not getting any better. >> yeah, if you spend a lot of time -- i'm from michigan, detroit. i still spend a lot of time up there. you talk to people up there, or anywhere outside the corridor, and they'll tell you that the money they're getting, the wages they're getting are no longer fewer, lesser, it's not going as far. they can look back concretely, obviously how their parents and grandparents did and see the difference in the middle-class income and the middle class way of life between now and 25 years ago, and it's striking and depressing for people. and they don't see government or

business or any of the institutions helping them. they kind of feel adrift. >> you know, so much of that problem, we talked about it on the set all the time, is the fact that 25 years ago, we didn't have the i.t. revolution that we have right now. to the degree that we did. and the fact is, and i've talked about this before, i see numbers that said if america's economy was as efficient as it was 20, 25 years ago, without all the technological changes that we've had, it would be 20 million, 30 million more people working in manufacturing jobs in america. but the fact is, you know, and you bring up a machine example, and that offends people, and i'm not sure why, but there's a reason why you don't have all of the tellers you have, because of the atm machines. you multiply that out over 1,000 industries, 1,000 times over, and that starts adding up. we are becoming more productive every day, and that means that

companies are figuring out how to make a lot more money with a lot less workers. >> am i allowed to disagree with you? >> it's friday. >> look, you have to separate automation, if you want to call atm automation, from globalization and a lot of things going on. automation is the only way for an economy to succeed. >> right. >> if we had never invented dial phones, you'd have a million people working as telephone operators, and the economy would not be as -- >> and i understand that. i'm just saying, though, that the i.t. revolution has brought us a lot of benefits. but it's also cost a lot of people a lot of jobs. and we're going to have to figure out how to retool this economy, right? >> i agree with that. but i think the twin evil, if you will, or the twin of that, which i think has actually been more dangerous and more damaging to this economy -- and i'm a total free trader -- has been the effects of globalization. that is what has caused manufacturing to leave this country, to go first to china,

now myanmar, and other kinds of places, where the wage rates are a half, quarter, a fifth of what they are here, and productivity is just as good. >> here what michael saltsman writes, the employee of the month has a battery. ten years ago it might have seemed far fetched that a customer could order food in a restaurant without speaking to anyone. but it's reality now as service employers across the country, including chili's and california pizza kitchen introduce tabletop ordering devices. a few clicks on an ipad-like device and food is on the way. technology has made these changes possible, but that's not what's driving their implementation. steady federal, state increases to the minimum wage have forced employers to rely on technology as the government makes entry level labor more expensive. technological change is inevitable and often healthy for industries, and perhaps our restaurant and grocery store

experience will look different in 20 years regardless of labor costs. yet policymakers are encouraging the switch to technology by increasing the costs of hiring. >> this is the debate about minimum wage, right? no one's offended -- >> well, not just about that, but also, if i can bear tread on the sacred ground of the affordable care act and just say -- and just say being completely nonideological, because i believe that every american deserves health care insurance. and i also believe that our system -- we can't go back. and even i think mike lee said this, we can't go back to the old system that we had. >> right. >> where the poor take care of their children in the emergency room at 11:00 at night. that ends up costing all of us, too. >> right. >> so this is not about whether people get health insurance or not. they have to get health insurance. but this system, as it is set up right now, nicole, i've heard it from one small business owner and midsized business owner after another, encourages

restaurant owners and others to automate and encourages them -- >> and to lay off and to not hire. >> and they're doing it. >> right. >> and so, can we prove that x causes y, and as far as job losses go? no. but we can show, and we will be able to show over time, that there will be a lot of employers that decide i'm just not going to hire those three or four new employees, because entry costs is just far too high. >> and ron talked about getting out of the northeast corridor. you don't have to go that far. just find a small business owner and ask them what they've done in the last five, six, seven, eight years, they haven't hired more people. and the other reason it feels so bad, the reason the economy feels so bad, is no one seems to get it. no one's talking about how much more difficult the government makes it, and no one is addressing the things that present real hurdles, the cost of health care, the debate about minimum wage happens in a vacuum, as though it doesn't affect the small business

owners. raising the minimum wage is a wonderful idea, but it has consequences. every action has a reaction. and i think the frustration that small business owners feel -- and, you know, leave new york and, you know, you get to speak to people who always come up and say, why doesn't anybody talk about the plight of the people actually hire people? and those in recent history have been the small business owners in this country. and they're not hiring because of health care, because of uncertainty about minimum wage, because of regulations, and that's part of why, not only is unemployment stagnant, but it feels bad. >> the profits are fantastic. >> corporate profits -- >> corporate profits are fantastic. wall street profits are fantastic. small business owners out there are living a -- living and dying on the thinnest of margins. so these things that sound great in think tanks and around talk shows and the middle of manhattan have real consequences in middle america for small business owners.

>> in upstate new york, i mean, you don't have to go to middle -- >> in upstate new york, schenectady, you know, whether the business stays open another six months or not. >> so i want to get ron on this, but i have to ask steve as the resident economist, what is the real impact then, if we put the minimum wage at $10 an hour, and the affordable care act, the combination of those two things, the real impact on a small business. >> so, first of all, the minimum wage has been well documented in terms of its effects, and they're not that huge. there's only, i think, a couple million people in this country at the minimum wage. the minimum wage today, because of inflation, is now lower than when it was ronald reagan was president. so some increase in the minimum wage, there's a balance -- >> attached to inflation. a lot of republicans think it should be attached to inflation. >> i'd sign on for that. that's fine. let's just keep it constant with inflation. that piece in the "journal" i read the whole piece, it was designed to argue against the minimum wage, saying it would

lead to automation. the affordable care act we just don't know yet in honesty. we can debate this all day. i don't have hard facts, you don't have hard facts. >> we get anecdotal evidence. >> what we do know, and you talk about schenectady, what we do know is places like schenectady, we've lost manufacturing jobs -- we've lost 6 million manufacturing jobs since the manufacturing renaissance, 580,000 have come back. that's what's really hurting out in the middle of america, and that's a global problem. that's a problem of our competitiveness around the world. >> this is where we may disagree. i think we're going to get those jobs back. >> okay. >> i think over the next 20 years, i think this country is going to have an economic renaissance. you know -- >> mika doesn't agree with you. >> no back on the wage issue. >> 3% of americans in the nbc poll are hopeful or optimistic. i tell you what, man, i'm optimistic. >> 4%. >> a whole percentage point.

>> the next 20 years for this country could be absolutely phenomenal if the government does three or four things right and gets out of the way. i'm sorry, go ahead, willie. >> yeah, go ahead, ron. >> i'd like to ask a question, maybe to joe and to steve. this isn't the first time that we've been through this kind of wrenching economic change coupled with technological advances that are leaving a lot of people behind. i'm wondering if there's any lessons we can learn, steve or joe, how we handled the first hard years of the industrial revolution, in the early 1900s, what changes were made to create the middle class? are there any analogies to what we're going through now and how we might be able to bring jobs back, but a new kind of job, new kind of economy, and a new kind of social compact? >> the best analogy, and here i'm going to agree with joe, is that if you go back to the early part -- to 100 years ago, we had -- i don't know the percentage off the top of my head, a huge percentage of

americans on farms. we were farmers. and then the revolution, automation on the farms, and this is a terrible thing. well, they went into the cities and they got into manufacturing and the point i'm trying to make is that rather than trying to go back in the business of weaving textiles and things that we just can't compete in anymore, we should be competing and putting our emphasis, including government policy, including all this stuff, on the industries we are good at. >> coming up on "morning joe," confessions of a tsa agent. politico has a piece on the federal officer coming clean about what he says is really going on at the nation's airports. >> what's really going on at the nation's airports? >> is it the thing that -- >> yeah, they're looking. >> are they really? >> at everything. >> guys? >> everything. >> i feel so violated. >> yeah, you should. >> really? >> yeah. >> okay. [ laughter ] >> we just booked four flights.

here's bill karins with the forecast. >> mika with the line of the day. good job. the cold has exited the deep south. they need it. the south that will warm. the only spot that won't get the break is the northern plains and great lakes. snow and cold for you over the upcoming days. right now, the wind chill is minus 24, and up north dakota, minus 30. international falls, the cold air setting the stage for the snow event today. right now, light snow from kansas city northwards up to the border with iowa. it's moved out of the denver area after significant snow last night. and now, chicago, this is heading your way. and, chicago and detroit, you had horribly cold january -- pretty much the whole month of january, and now you're going to get more snow into february. 7 inches by saturday afternoon, chicago. about 3 inches in detroit. but central michigan, near grand rapids, will definitely get more. let me take you through the weekend forecast. as i mentioned, we're warming it up in atlanta. the east coast looks fine. we will watch a little bit of rain out there, and areas on saturday, we could see rain near

atlanta through the tennessee valley, and then as we go into super bowl sunday, some of the rain will creep up the coast. maybe some showers in new york city early in the day. but for the big game, it looks like the rain will clear out, the temperatures will be very warm, no problem. should be an enjoyable game to watch on tv, and it should be enjoyable for the players, too, considering how cold it could have been. it should be fun. hope it's a really good game. talking about the super bowl, the tabogan sled right down broadway. [paintball noises] the annual company retreat. planned, as usual, by this guy. nature lover... people person.

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♪ time now to take a look at the "morning papers." "the boston globe," the justice department will seek the death penalty for accused boston marathon bomb eer tsarnaev. tsarnaev and his brother allegedly planted two homemade bombing near the finish line of the race last april. three people killed, 264 hurt. the federal government has only executed three people since 1964. and from "washington post," the max exodus on capitol hill continues. democratic congressman henry waxman plans to retire at the end of the legislative session after his 20th term in office. the 74-year-old lawmaker was a key architect of obamacare. >> and sandra flock may seek the

seat. she rose to fame after rush limbaugh criticized her after she testified on the government-funded contraception. >> what do you think of that? >> i don't know. the salt lake tribune, parents in utah are outraged after lunches were taken away from nearly 40 children and thrown in the garbage. that's unbelievable. >> why did they do that? >> the school district said it notified parents earlier this week that more money was needed in school lunch accounts. some parents said they did not receive the warnings. the cafeteria manager has been placed on league. the district apologized saying the situation was not handled properly, especially wasting the food. good lord. >> do it for the kids. "seattle times" amazon prime customers should prepare for a price hike. the retail giant is considering raising it as much as $40. amazon says it's going to combat rising shipping costs which were up 19% in the fourth quarter.

prime services include free two-day shipping on most products. >> all right. "the chicago tribune" police are cracking down on fake nfl merchandise and tickets before the big game. investigators say more than $21 million of phony jerseys, hats, and other items were seized. 50 people arrested. customs officials say the merchandise seizures were the largest ever recovered in an anti-counterfeiting sweep. and "san jose mercury news" saying facebook is raking in a profit. the company's stock closed at a record $61 yesterday, boosting mark zuckerberg's fortune by $3 billion. they'll be rolling out a news app on monday called "papers." it combines the news feed with story-sharing features. >> this weekend's parade will reveal its 2014 all-american high school football team.

>> let's go right now to willie geist at the politico desk. >> all right. with us now, the chief white house correspondent mike allen. he has a look at the playbook. >> happy friday. >> happy super friday! >> there you go. super bowl weekend, something special from mike allen. you guys have a cool piece up. politico magazine called confessions from a former tsa agent, the title of the article is "dear america, i saw you naked, and yes we were laughing." good gracious. tell me about this piece, mike. >> this is amazing. everything that you suspected was true, this is a piece on politico magazine by a former tsa agent who's writing a novel about his experience there, but the truth is bad enough. he talks about how the insane rules that they had to follow. confiscating nail clippers from a pilot. he said, what is the pilot going to do, use nail clippers to hijack the plane that he's flying?

they had to take away homemade apple butter from old ladies, really sad. champagne by young marine coming home from afghanistan, celebration for coming home. young man who'd lost two legs to an i.e.d. in afghanistan and this tsa agent had to take away that champagne from the guy and his buddies. the laughing part, in the room where they see the full body scans, and they're gross. they said a lot of -- a lot of overweight people in america. and the tsa agents see every fold and dimple, as the way this politico magazine story put it is, and they do laugh at the people. they do talk about the size of body parts, and it's all part of what this agent says is very, very, very low morale, even supervisors who don't believe in the machinery, who say that some of this machinery, if a gun is turned sideways it's almost

invisible. >> oh, my gosh, the tsa will push back and say this is one i'm just predicting, one disgruntled former agent's account, and doesn't represent the professionalism of the agents, you say on the scanners we've become accustomed to, you put your hands in the air, make the diamond sign like you're jay-z, they can see completely essentially what's going on underneath your clothing. >> they can. and they called it making the mickey mouse ears, but your way is saying it is accurate. two things about this. one, the morale issue. clearly, a lot of the officers don't believe in what they're doing, and there's some real question here about the effectiveness. the rules that take away applebutter. within time i was coming through tsa from memphis, and one of the tsa agents said to the other, looking at my bag, oh, we have barbecue sauce. and it was because i had dumbly tried to put memphis barbecue sauce in my carry-on bags. so do these rules make sense?

over the years, there's been reporting that the liquid rule, there's not a good reason for it, and, willie, i predict that partly because of this story, there's going to be a re-look at some of the rules. they already re-looked at the rules about the devices, which is a different agent. and now, there'll be more questions about whether the rules make sense, whether they keep us safer. >> you have to remember every time you want to bark at a tsa agent, they're enforcing rules put in place. many of them know they don't make sense. but in this piece, the author lays out some of the tsa lingo. some of it, one, code red. was used apparently for an attractive woman wearing red. yellow alert means attractive woman wearing yellow. a bin loader is a tsa employee during their first month of work, and retaliatory wait time is what a passenger with a bad attitude allegedly gets.

>> -- a blue alert. >> i've had that retaliatory wait time for sure. >> oh, yeah. >> a bad attitude. >> yeah, bad altitude, for sure. >> it's on politico.com. it's an eye-opening piece. politico's mike allen. thanks. coming up next, a look at the massive security operation under way for the super bowl across the river in new jersey. >> by the way, you know why there's a massive security? >> why's that? >> bruno mars. i mean, come on, seriously, like, you know everybody is really excited about this. >> what? >> a lot of people. >> a lot of people are excited about bruno mars. >> oh, yeah. and red hot chili peppers. >> come on, bruno mars? >> one d would be huge. >> one d would be huge. >> hey, is there a thing? >> maybe like this. >> one d. i don't know. >> i call them the one dimension. just to upset my -- >> yeah, they don't like that. we're going to talk about the

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♪ all right. it is upon us. the super bowl just two days away, and there's no shortage of excitement for it. also no shortage of security. nbc's katie ter has that story. >> reporter: metlife stadium

already in full lockdown. two and a half miles of fencing surrounds the perimeter. cameras trained on every movement, and patrols on the ground, in the air, and since the stadium is surrounded by marsh land, the water. >> we'll use infrared capabilities both in the water, in the air, and on the ground to make sure that doesn't happen. >> reporter: and that is just new jersey. across the river, a skant 10.6 miles away is times square, redubbed super bowl boulevard. fan central for events all this week. >> we work terrorism every day. >> reporter: george is the fbi's assistant director in new york. he says the big challenge is coordinating with the many agencies, but of all locations, new york and new jersey already have a system in place. >> we never let our guard down. but obviously, you can have a lot more people in the city. the stakes are higher. you know, we rev it up. there's no doubt about it. but we worry about terrorism every day. >> reporter: among the things at their disposal, pocket-sized

radiation detectors. >> if there is something, these pagers are going to go off and the law enforcement will know about it. >> reporter: you'll have potentially dozens if not hundreds of those -- >> there are thousands of them throughout the city. >> reporter: alongside all that modern tech, some tried and true methods. a multiday extravaganza in a home to 18 million people. here, sometimes the best asset is the number of eyes. realtime surveillance with intelligence that can detect unusual behavior and spot suspicious packages. all to make sure everything from kickoff to the trophy presentation goes off without a hitch. >> security's a balance. you have to balance safety and people still having a good time. >> that was nbc's katie terr reporting. what's driving today's market? brian sullivan has business before the bell. we'll be back with much more "morning joe" after this. we asked people a question,

how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪

welcome back. "business before the bell" with cnbc's brian sullivan. stocks, brian, january is really the forecaster for the big predictor. so how are we looking? >> we're not looking good. you're right. listen, history says 64% of the time -- listen, it's not 92% of the time, whatever -- but 64% of the time as the month of january goes so goes the full year. let's hope that's not the case, because after a couple of years, where stock prices have done very well, we're having a bad january, and today, in fact, looks like we'll fall again. so i know the month, you know, not over. we've still got, you know, what, seven hours of trading left. >> right. >> it's unlikely we're going to make a 4%, 5% gain today. that's just my semiprofessional, slightly amateur opinion. >> we can check back in seven and a half hours. let's talk about amazon. they're making news today. explain what's going on. >> earnings are a disappointment. the stock has been red hot over the last five years, up almost

700%, holiday sales were good, everybody wants to shop online. yet when you have high-profit expectations on the street, do not disappoint. so you got amazon, the numbers look good, but by wall street standards, not good enough. that stock looks to drop today. in fact, it's not in the dow, of course, but it goes to overall sentiment there. and i don't know, thomas, do you have a gopro camera? >> i don't. i have seen great stories done with gopro cameras, and i know about their business model. you have information on how they're trying to expand the footprint. >> they are. we know them for sort of the crazy videos, people doing triple backflips off of clips. i have some of my race car, some of my wrecks, if you want to check it out. they're trying to expand the brand. >> that's you? >> i will make it -- i will naked sky dive with gopro if they pay me $1 million. that's not true. >> hold on. i think we're looking at you -- you wrecked.

>> yes. here we go. >> a dusty racing field. >> yeah, my -- that was a close call. my water -- hello. my water hose came off the back -- >> i've heard that one before, brian. i've heard that one before. >> that was water. >> yeah, i've heard that. >> yeah, my water hose came off. frequent excuse. >> a lot on the weekends. brian sullivan, great to see you, buddy. take care. >> thank you. seven days until the opening ceremonies in sochi. richard engel is live in russia with what they mean for vladimir putin's legacy. keep it here on "morning joe." [ julie ] the wrinkle cream graveyard. if it doesn't work fast... you're on to the next thing. clinically proven neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it targets fine lines and wrinkles with the fastest retinol formula available. you'll see younger looking skin in just one week. one week? this one's a keeper.

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♪ >>. >> the wipter olympics are just a week away, and no one has more at risk than russian president vladimir putin. our richard engel has that story. >> reporter: these are vladimir putin's olympic games. he's inspected the stadiums, played hockey on the rink, tried on the uniforms, and personally led the campaign to convince the ioc to host the olympics in sochi in the first place. >> russia is (unintelligible) to host the sochi games in 2014. >> reporter: but why? putin likes sochi. he works much of the year in the black sea town. it's far warmer than moscow and unique with sea air right next to the mountains. putin also likes to associate himself with sports.

it fits his image, a man who can meet world leaders, but also flip his opponents. race cars. explore underwater. ride bare-chested. this pop song was a hit on the russian charts. it's called "i want a man like putin." and a lot of russians want a friend like putin. according to opposition activists, many of the contracts for olympic venues were awarded to politicians and businessmen close to the russian president. according to research published by a team of activists, the games cost almost $50 billion, including $9.5 billion for new rail lines, roads, and tunnels between the olympic villages, built by the russian rail monopoly. >> it's a kind of showcase, resort for putin, one he's personally found of, and he wanted to for personal reasons bring the olympics there. >> reporter: putin has denied that these games are all about him.

but this family knows one thing for sure, they lost their home because of the olympics. they showed me where it once stood. bulldozed to make room for sewer lines and some ornamental trees across from olympic headquarters. "they knew this was putin's project, so they did everything they could to build as quickly as possible without thinking of quality or human rights," she said. the sochi games are the most expensive ever, and perhaps no one has more riding on their success than vladimir putin. putin has acknowledged that corruption is a problem and promised to fight it, but there is a growing perception around the world that these are very much putin's games, and that they were undeniably expensive, and if you look at the new magazine covers coming out this week, check out the "new yorker." it shows vladimir putin ice skating and being judged by little putins in the background, and then "time" magazine has on its cover the olympic rings made

out of barbed wire, so there is, thomas, a growing impression here and elsewhere these are expensive, corrupt, all about putin, and with a lot of security. >> well, and hopefully we'll start to see all about the athletes coming up when the games begin. >> reporter: yeah, looking forward to it. >> thank you, sir. appreciate it. before we go to break, really quickly, we had to say good-bye to one of our favorite people here at msnbc who is integral to "morning joe," alley. she's leaving us today. this gorgeous, brilliant young woman is moving on to bigger and better things, and we will miss her, because if you know anything about "morning joe," she's the glue that keeps us all together. ali, thank you, sweetheart. what did we learn anything today? ♪

[ male announcer ] she won't remember this, being carried in your arms. but after a morning spent in the caribbean playing pirates with you in secret coves and afternoons swimming with dolphins, finished with a movie watched against the setting sun, she won't exactly be short on memories. princess cruises. come back new. ♪

the big topic of conversation in the weeks leading up to the super bowl are commercials. some companies who can't afford to pay $4 million are -- they're pooling their money to team up to buy one second of commercial time each. >> chicken. >> smartphone. >> movie. >> car. >> car. >> car. >> truck. >> beer. >> more beer. >> deodorant. >> burger combo. >> maze za. >> i don't know what that is. >> car. >> just buy stuff. >> i watched the state of the union address, and i can't believe that nobody is reporting this. i thought this would be the hot topic of the state of the union

address. and it was, like, tuesday night or something, and here, here's what i'm talking about. state of the union address. watch closely. [ applause ] >> i love this part of the show, mika. >> do you? >> i love looking at the headlines. >> i do, too. >> yeah, what's your problem? >> i got no -- i'm trying to be warm and fuzzy now. >> oh, yeah. >> because you socialists are probably -- >> are you evernular now? >> yeah. ♪ i went running in westchester county, and i was looking for women running out of their houses to jump on men, and i didn't see it. >> wrong county. >> the packs of wolves, the libido -- >> they were frothing at the mouth -- >> i was hoping to get through it without discussing libido, but i was wrong. >> aren't the people who work in

your city the people on that highway who should never have come in? who's to blame for that? name some names. >> thank you, mayor. good luck with the next storm. i hope the two storms -- >> he's young, smart, and he brings notes. he's so prepared. look at this. he look like sam stein. >> i'm about to be attacked right now. see this? >> oh, my god. "morning joe" and the hazing is just moments away. >> i love -- >> oh, cute. >> were they wearing matching dresses? >> yes. >> the world's mayor. >> why is he wearing that jersey? >> excited for the super bowl. >> is he coming down for it? >> i don't think he's allowed. >> he feel like i'm in the movie "frozen." >> you can catch chuck in theatering now, in the movie "frozen." >> yes. hey, mika.

dwain's going to be on. she's hanging out. hold on one second. ma! meat loaf! ma! >> that's to come a little later on. >> still snowing pretty -- [ laughter ] >> the knee works. >> how many reporters -- >> this isn't funny. >> no more than four. >> he didn't have time to answer the question, yet he hung around -- >> i've had these fantasies of being -- >> oh, boy. >> -- ice skating, figure skater -- >> you're basically in a figure skating outfit now. >> i think you had too much air time today. >> yeah. >> wrap it up. welcome back. what we learned today. mika, what did you learn? >> i learned maybe it's time i let go of the cake business. ratner? >> i liked the cake. it's probably a good thing -- no, i thought it was interesting

watching jeb bush clear the underbrush and get himself in field -- >> yes, i read it that way. >> i like broncos by two. super bowl sunday. >> broncos by two? look at lewis here. what is he doing? what's he -- >> where is he? >> nice throw. >> oh. >> all right. we'll see what happens. we hope you guys have a great super bowl weekend. it's way too early, it's "morning joe." thanks for watching this week. we really do appreciate it. thank you, as always, for your patience. stick around. here's chuck todd. ♪ you don't normally see anybody in a jets jersey actually catching a pass, louis. anyway. pigskin, as both sides of the river get ready for the battle. we'll talk to one senator who

wants them to pay up some more. also this morning, our brand-new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll on what parents think about their kids playing football, and the dangers of head injuries. and latest on one northwestern university's push for union rights for college athletes. plus, a look back at the politicians who popped up in super bowl tv ads over the years, and what is for a newfound tradition of the presidential game day interview. good morning from washington. it's friday. the last day of january, january 31st, 2014. this is a special football-focused edition of "the daily rundown," and it's not all fun and games. since the future of the sport seems to be in a little bit of doubt these days. let's get to my first reads of the morning. we begin with a simple question. are you ready for some football? it's the most popular sport in the country by far, and it keeps on getting bigger. send night football is on track to finish a third strai