i'm ari melber. >>> hours away from one of hollywood's biggest nights. i'm abby huntsman. the best are up for golden globes this weekend with a few glaring exceptions. >>> moments ago, thousands of pages of documents related to george washington bridge lane closures were released including ones submitted by chris christie port authority appointee, david wildste wildstein. there's now a class-action lawsuit in the works filed by jersey residents who were stuck

msnbc's ari melber got an exclusive with attorney general eric holder who talked about corruption andithout talking about the mcdonnell case specifically, i grew up in the justice department in the public integrity system, and we brought cases all the time where public officials received money, exchanged, got gifts in exchange for official action. that is classic corruption. >> bill, there's word mcdonnell rejected a plea deal that would have spared his wife. do you think republicans have a problem with their governors? >> they do have a problem with their governors. i don't think it's fair to say they are all corrupt. i think the mcdonnell story and the chris christie story are their own stories. it doesn't mean that bobby jindal is corrupt, but remember amanda talked about that 2012 autopsy, that also said that part of the republican salvation was the governors. promote the governors was a mantra in that report. these folks were doing the reforms, getting things done, they were going to clean house, and all those folks, corrupt or not, many of them have been bussed, nothing but hype

ari melber is one fourth "the cycle" here.orney general recently about this in your exclusive interview. this is a snippet of what he said. >> it is not for a lack of looking or lack of aggressiveness that we have not done all that people think that we should have done. as i said, i think people need to be a little patient. i know it's been a while but we have other things that are in the pipeline. >> in the pipeline. you're the attorney here and you'll correct me if i'm wrong, as i understand it, there's a five-year statute of limitations with regards to many of these laws. isn't it too late for him to be talking about other stuff in the pipeline? >> not necessarily. for one thing, sometimes what you do after the origin fraction can still be a part of a crime or investigation. so the statute of limitations which means you have a limitation on this, if you did things to cover up, then you have more time. number two, he referred specifically to jp morgan, which had a record breaking fine of $13 billion. >> jamie dimon got a hec

i am ari melber. how long will it last? we don't forecast out that far. >> all of that plus weather transition. can we just chill? the age-old dilemma between men and women. i'm abby huntsman. sit possible to just be friends? science sets out to find the answer. >> if you watched nbc nightly news last night or msnbc at all today there was one man you couldn't miss, ari melber. that's because of his interview with eric holder. that in tv talk is the setup which ari couldn't say about himself, he is too humble. in tv talk, here is what we call a throw. ari, tell us about your big interview. >> thank you. attorney general holder spoke yesterday at a court in virginia and invited me to come along. that's one of two federal programs like it across the country. instead of putting all that's convicted of federal misdemeanors in jail, this program focuses on rehabilitation in some cases. we also spoke about the doj's approach to wall street and war on drugs and attorney general's view of edward snowden and nsa surveillance. here it

i'm ari melber. >>> hours away from one of hollywood's biggest nights. i'm abby huntsman. the best are up for golden globes this weekend with a few glaring exceptions. >>> moments ago, thousands of pages of documents related to george washington bridge lane closures were released including ones submitted by chris christie port authority appointee, david wildste wildstein. there's now a class-action lawsuit in the works filed by jersey residents who were stuck in the traffic jams and claimed they were late to work and lost pay. as for governor christie, he doesn't have any public events today after his two-hour long press conference yesterday where he denied any knowledge of the planning or execution of the closures followed by an in person apology to the mayor of ft. lee, new jersey. we start with craig melvin out of the new jersey state house in trenton. craig, what's the latest? >> reporter: here's the thing right now, toure. those pages have just come out. we are expecting 900. turns out it's roughly 2,040 pages just released by the assembly. we are trying to go page by

watched nbc nightly news last night or msnbc at all today there was one man you couldn't miss, ari melberholder. that in tv talk is the setup which ari couldn't say about himself, he is too humble. in tv talk, here is what

ari melber has reported on this, welcome to you. >> thank you. >> so this new action is an extensione president's communication of these eight people in december who have been sentenced under the old federal guidelines. give me your reaction to this. >> this is significant. we don't usually see prosecutors who are overseeing all of these charges that put people away. we usually don't see prosecutors saying prison populations are out of control than any other nation on earth, and we need to do something about it. this particular action, as you mentioned, does stem from something that the president had done, which is to say people who are stuck in jail on laws that we've already changed shouldn't have to stay there in these old laws. this deals with this by trying to say, okay, let's have a process where people can appeal, if i was caught on the same thing today, i wouldn't have got this sentence. >> as you know, the "new york times" reported, they've sent a letter to your new good buddy, eric holder, our a.g., with concerns about the bill saying mandatory minimum sentences are a tool

an exclusive interview with nbc's ari melber, holder says clemency is not an option. >> clemency, a simple no harm, no foul, i think that would be going too far. >> and in the midnight hour, "today" show anchors let loose. and the speaker of the house gets real on his presidential aspirations. >> listen, i like to play golf. i like to cut my own grass. you know, i do drink red wine and smoke cigarettes and i'm not giving that up to be president of the united states. >> good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. we begin with the sting of deadly blasts across cairo. six people now dead in the bombing hitting the central core of egypt's government, coinciding with the third anniversary of the so-called arab spring. ayman, you were there in cairo and experienced all of it. there's a difference to these bombings though today. tell me what is the importance of the targets. >> what we're seeing in egypt unfold is a low level insurgency targeting the government and security services belonging to government. right now all indicators are that this is the work of extremist elements, those that rea

. >> our own ari melber got to discuss clem entcy with eric holder -- >> clemency, no harm, no foul would be going too far. but in the resolution of this matter with an acceptance of responsibility, you know, we would always engage in those kinds of conversations. >> your thoughts? >> well, i think that what the attorney general is saying is, look, was the law broken? absolutely. so therefore you've got to stand up for breaking the law. that's what you do. you've done it knowingly. and so we can negotiate, is there good conversation as a result of breaking the law in regards to where we go with nsa? yes, there's now dialogue that was taking place that would not have happened otherwise. but my problem is you don't take that kind of information and run across to russia or china. you stay here and deal with it. the attorney general indicated look, clem entcy, no, we've got to acknowledge the law is broken and not going to tell individuals they can give away american secrets and there's not a price to be paid for it. but let's work something out. >> congressman meeks, thanks for stopping by,

me now, sam stein, senior politics editor for the huffington post and an msnbc contributor, and ari melberost of msnbc's "the cycle." ari, those republicans like boehner who had just given obama everything he wants, everything he wants. what happened to the two-party system? >> look, i think the problem with that messaging is as unrealistic as it sounds to the reality-based community or people who read about politics, obviously it resonates -- >> yeah? >> well, yeah. dot, dot, dot. it resonates with some of these people. and look, the purity matrix in the republican party has gone obviously to an extreme. if anyone's ever been in the market for a diamond and they start trying to tell you that you get that clarity level and it goes higher and higher and higher and you need a microscope to see why you should pay more money for the diamond, i mean, this is at that level. this is not a level where anyone without a magnifying glass with see even what they're talking about given how fully this house opposes the obama agenda, indeed usually won't allow votes on even rudimentary matters. >> sam st

joining me to talk more about this, ari melber and an attorney that writes about law and constitutional. >> good morning, happy king day. >> happy mlk day. among the protections in this proposed new bill, any state that commits five or more election violations falls under federal supervision. voters who feel they have been discriminated against can sue immediately, and you don't have to prove laws intentionally discriminate, just that the discrimination takes place. real world, why is this important? >> this is important because as we sit here and celebrate martin luther king's birthday, 1967 he gave a speech in which he talked about give us the ballot, and in that speech he talked about the fact that we needed courageous moral leadership in congress to get the vote, and so we're calling on congress to keep its bipartisan effort moving, because we know too many places throughout the country, in the states, that there's partisan manipulation of the vote that is targeting black and latino voters, young voters, elderly voters, so this voting rights act is important. unfortunately right now

ari melber will be here with what the top cop said about voting rights and a lot more. >>> and new developments in the ongoing federal investigation of senate foreign relations committee bob menendez. the new jersey senior senator misuse his powerful influence to help two ecuadorian brothers accused by that country of stealing millions before they fled for the united states? >>> good morning from washington. it's friday, january 24th, 2014. this is the "the daily rundown." a busy friday show. we're also going to hear from penny pritzker, live from the economic forum in davos, switzerland. let's get to the first reads. >>> tuesday night, a big night. president obama will deliver his fifth state of the union address, but we don't have to wait to hear how things are going across the country, because we've heard from a lot of governors in their state of the states. they've been defending their records, pushing policy agendas. in their own state of the state addresses. to start the year. and on monday, we'll look at a lot of the policy themes that are dominating the speeches this year that we actual

. >> reporter: today, the attorney general told msnbc's ari melber he would not consider clemency for snowden. >> the notion of clemency, a simple no harm, no foul, i think that would be going too far. >> reporter: and in a related case, the justice department has accused the security contractor that did edward snowden's clearance for the nsa with fraud, saying that contractor, usis failed to do the required background checks 40% of the time, brian. >> andrea mitchell in our d.c. news room starting us off tonight. andrea, thanks. >>> the weather continues to make news across our country tonight in the form of this latest blast of frigid air covering a large part of the nation. bringing dangerous and now deadly conditions. we want to get the very latest tonight from nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer who is here in new york. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. nearly half the country right now is under some sort of windchill warning or advisory. and this extreme cold is causing very hazardous travel conditions that have already turned deadly in places. >> you are looking down a

now on to ari melber. >> i don't know if i have a warm enough hat. good afternoon to everyone. it is tuesday january 7th. this cold blast has much of the nation shivering. the senate did start to thaw. >> happy new year, everybody. hope you're keeping warm. >> it's being called a polar vort vortex. >> things are freezing on my body that i didn't even know were possible. >> these are not statistics. these are your neighbors, friends, family, any of us. >> this is a real opportunity for republicans and democrats to come together. >> i've heard the argument. >> if you extend it beyond 26 weeks, you're causing them to become part of this perpetual unemployed group. >> it is wrong to borrow money from china. >> we have to get this across the finish line. >> down the rabbit hole to the lower chamber where speaker boehner has suggested it will face resistance. >> you know, there is not a slogan out there that can capture the remarkable cold hittihi hitting many parts of the country. the polar vortex shattered temperature records. forecasters note these weather patterns are reaching un

now on to ari melber. >> i don't know if i have a warm enough hat. good afternoon to everyone.t has much of the nation shivering. the senate did start to thaw. >> happy new year, everybody. hope you're keeping warm. >> it's being called a polar vort vortex. >> things are freezing on my body that i didn't even know were possible. >> these are not statistics. these are your neighbors, friends, family, any of us. >> this is

. >> ari melber is up next. you're done here. i took your job. sorry. sorry. >> we appreciated having you, though. >> see you later. >> wyatt is that like a #sorrynotsorry situation? >> absolutely. >> well, it's a you don't have a job anymore. you can put all the hash tags you want if it helps you sleep at night. you're out of work, my friend. hope you enjoy being over there, as long as that lasts. >> i do now. all right. >> no more mugs for you. >> goodbye. it is a good friday afternoon to everyone else and for the millions of americans, it is a snowy friday afternoon. and for the lawmakers of washington, well, something of a final snow day before it's back to work in 2014. >> if you do not need to travel today, please stay home. >> how bad does it get? >> house republicans will kick off the new year with their latest attempt to undercut the affordable care act. >> when they say repeal the law, they're taking health care away from people. >> we've got a couple million people who are going to have health insurance, just

i'm ari melber, we have the twists and turns as one of the rockiest months in a long time comes to a close. >>> as we turn on toure tv. i'll take the cycle for $500, alex. >>> as you know, msnbc is the place for politics. it says so right up there, but we start with omaha! >> omaha! >> omaha! it's almost time to snap the ball and get started for the super bowl that i think is really going to be super. it's the league's best defense squaring off against the league's best offense. watching some good football will be a relief after the torturous run-up which has been about many things, one of them, the weather. our friends at the weather channel promise sunday will be perfect for sunday, 40 degrees, not a lot of wind. the overanalyze of seattle corner back richard sherman, let's take what is hopefully one last look at the interview that started it all. >> final play, take me through it. >> i'm the best corner in the game. when you try me with a sorry receiver like crabtree, that's the result you're going to get! don't you ever talk about me. >> who was talking about you? >> crabtree. do

we have ari melber for the entire hour. dana, let's start with chris christie. state of the state address is tomorrow. some democratic mayors in the state say they aren't surprised that the christie team ordered bridge lane closures out of retaliation because they felt similar backlash for refusing to support the governator. take a listen. >> in the context that we're in right now, you can always look back and say, okay, it was retribution. i think probably all mayors are reflecting right now and thinking about it. you know, i really hope that that's not the case. >> it keeps piling on for christie. big wig split on the support of 2016 presidential hopeful. the department of housing and urban development is auditing the use of sandy aid for a tourism campaign featuring who else? chris christie. i want to focus on the idea of motive. there's a lot of interesting theories floating around this building. let me break out two of them for you. the rachel maddow theory this is about punishing state senate leader around judicial nominees to the state supreme court but t

. >> joining me now is attorney ari melber and john stan deans, the chief investigative reporter for. there's a lot of buzz among national pundits today about, well, you know, there's no real crime here. i mean, it's just a traffic thing. in fact, you've looked into some statutes, federal statute controlling interstate highways and so forth. it seems there is possible criminal liability in this situation. >> very early to tell. a lot of federal officials who we spoke with and defense lawyers that practice in the federal bar here in new york say it's a bit of a stretch but there are some statutes they're looking at. using an interstate facility to carry out unlawful activity. they need to look at more. but they say that's one possibility. more likely they say just given on the facts they know now, possible federal civil charges for the cost and expenses in all of this. and pass it on to a state level for prosecution because there you have tougher laws about official misconduct and also conspiracy to disrupt, harass, menace. so that there are state penalties. but this is very early on.

i'm ari melber. a new bill meant to protect the core of our democracy. >>> fourth down, the biggest weekend of the nfl season so far is upon us. and i can wait -- i mean i can't wait. sports, sports, sports. i'm krystal ball, the dynamic duo of mike smith. here's to hoping they have a game plan. >>> and i'm abby huntsman, may be 3:00 here in new york, but hey, it's 5:00 somewhere. >>> regardless of how we got here, though, the task before us now is greater than simply repairing the damage done to our operations. the challenge is getting the details right. and that is not simple. i'm therefore ordering a transition that will end the section 215 bulk metadata program as it currently exists and establish a mechanism that preserves the capabilities that we need without the government holding this bulk metadata. during this transition period, the data base can be queried only after a judicial finding, or in the case of a true emergency. bottom line is people around the world regardless of their nationalit

ari melber takes over now. it is time for the experience. >>> good afternoon.esday january 8th. chris christie's administration in hot water. and the president opens a new chapter in the war on poverty. >> 50 years after president lyndon johnson declared -- >> unconditional war on poverty. >> unemployment insurance has been a vital economic lifeline. >> it is a new agenda of classic warfa warfare. >> if you extend it beyond 26 weeks, you're causing them to become part of this perpetually unemployed group. >> these are your neighbors, your friends, your family. >> we lost. we should stop fighting. >> we are concerned about those who have had a difficult time. >> we would consider extending emergency unemployment benefits. >> we may be walked into a

i'm ari melber.emocracy. >>> fourth down, the biggest weekend of the nfl season so far is upon us. and i can wait -- i mean i can't wait. sports, sports, sports. i'm krystal ball, the dynamic duo of mike smith. here's to hoping they have a game plan. >>> and i'm abby huntsman, may be 3:00 here in new york, but hey, it's 5:00 somewhere.

i'm ari melber, there is a storm brewing. >>> racing for a blizzard. >> the first major storm of 2014. >> buckle your seat belts. >> happy new year, everybody. >> it's officially an election year. >> this storm is the first real test for new york's newest mayor. >> fairer, more just, more progressive place. >> very fluffy snow, almost like styrofoam. >> hillary clinton's last tweet of 2013 called on congress to restore jobless benefits. >> does it make sense to borrow from china to give it to the unemployed in america? >> 2014 needs to be your -- >> this is a time for people to step up and do the right thing. >> happy new year. >>> yes, january has just began and the first blizzard of 2014 bearing down on the northeast as you look here live at braintree, massachusetts, south of boston. we have estimates of up to 100 million people could be impacted with snarled traffic and delayed flights. and we will have more on that winter storm coming up. but we do begin today with a political triumph that will profoundly change the lives of over 6 million americans starting today. and millions mo

>> that, ari melber, has been the chief complaint. that was, in fact, the chief complaint from the mayor, who held a news conference moments after governor christie's conference wrapped up, mayor sokolich held a news conference. i asked him during that news conference what he wanted to hear from governor christie, who's been inside for about five minutes now. i said what do you want to hear from the governor later? he made it clear initially he didn't want the governor to come. you guys were talking act the timing of his visit early, the mayor saying he would have preferred the governor wait until the investigation had wrapped. the governor said he was coming anyway. then the mayor said okay, if he's going to come we'll be hospitable. he said, though, he wanted governor christie to apologize specifically to the people of fort lee for that traffic snarl that lasted several days when they shut down -- his administration shut down two of the three lanes here. 35,000 people, roughly, live in this borough in the shadow of that bridge. and

i'm ari melber, the president hits the road after last night's big speech and one message, it's timethis a real action? i'm krystal ball. to get agreement or not to get agreement, that is the question. >> i love that guy. if looks could kill, sometimes it's hard to focus on the speech because the body language, that's a lot more fun to watch. i'm toure. a picture is truly worth a thousand words. >>> and the southern u.s. frozen in place. i'm abby huntsman. we are live in hotlanta, which right now, is anything but. >>> president obama is on his way back to washington right now. we hit the ground running today after last night's state of the union address, which was watched by nearly 30 million americans. now, the first stop was right outside the beltway at a costco retailer in maryland. the president pushed to raise the minimum wage, something he just mandated through executive order for new federally contracted workers. and then it was on to a steel plant south of pittsburgh where he talked about boosting retirement security making sure the piggy bank is filled for americans who have

i'm ari melber. here's what's sickling now. the coldest air of the season. think polar vortex 2.0, remember that? we do because it was less than two weeks ago from the nation's capitol to here in the north. we are digging out from, in some cases, a foot and a half of snow. our coverage begins in washington, d.c. where snowfall totals was 7 inches with the weather channel's kate parker. >> reporter: thank you, ari. yes, very cold here in the nation's capital. the stun is shining, but it is dereceiving

i want to bridge in our company, ari melber, host of msnbc's "the cycle." beth fewy, and bob. good to see both of you. >> good morning. >> here's what's interesting to me. if they take the plea deal, all the secret details, the gifts, the shopping spree would have been kept secret. we wouldn't have even been talking about this. we wouldn't know about the $10,000 oscar de la renta gowns and where they drove the ferrari. so, bob, does this signal to you he really thinks he's going to get off? >> that may be the case. what was not clear to me from the article is what the penalty would have been in the deal that they were contemplating, but, you know, this is really like a tacky case. the gifts that they were taking and that sort of thing, but i think it's not a slam dunk for the justice department in terms of getting a conviction here, because, one, the laws in virginia are lax on this kind of stuff anyway, so they've charged them under federal statutes, but it's not clear to me what the quid pro quo was. >> that's the issue. >> how did they help out? >> when you read the documen

i'm ari melber, there is a storm brewing. >>> racing for a blizzard. >> the first major storm of 2014appy new year, everybody. >> it's officially an election year. >> this storm is the first real test for new york's newest mayor. >> fairer, more just, more progressive place. >> very fluffy snow, almost like styrofoam. >> hillary clinton's last tweet of 2013 called on

i'm ari melber. here's what's sickling now. the big winter storm has left, but it left behind the coldest air of the season. think polar vortex 2.0, remember that? we do because it was less than two weeks ago from the nation's capitol to here in the north. we are digging out from, in some cases, a foot and a half of snow. our coverage begins in washington, d.c. where snowfall totals was 7 inches with the weather channel's kate parker. >> reporter: thank you, ari. yes, very cold here in the nation's capital. the stun is shining, but it is dereceiving because the windchill has not made it above zero today. that's right, we've had negative digits all morning and afternoon long. our air temperatures staying in the teens today. that's going to be a record for us. we had record-breaking snowfall here yesterday with 3.5 inches at national. dulles had 8.5 inches of snow. both record breakers. definitely much more busy today than yesterday with the snow coming down. the streets look pretty good in this area, but some residential areas h

i'm ari melber, we have the twists and turns as one of the rockiest months in a long time comes to ae for $500, alex. >>> as you know, msnbc is the place for politics. it says so right up there, but we start with omaha! >> omaha! >> omaha! it's almost time to snap the ball and get started for the super bowl that i think is really going to be super. it's the league'ses

that's when attorney general eric holder told msnbc's ari melber that prosecutors would be open to a plea deal with snowden and also suggested that in a subsequent interview that snowden would have to return to the u.s. before such a deal could actually be worked out. then a legal adviser for snowden said on friday that a plea deal would need to be worked out before snowden left russia, so big gap there. the snowden team is ultimately seeking clemency from the president, and that's something that attorney general eric holder ruled out this past week. snowden is facing three felony counts for sharing those secret documents about the government's surveillance program with journalists. the president, of course, announced big changes to the nsa's program but says the snowden leak harmed national security and that he should, therefore, face justice. snowden's supporters continue to insist he is a whistleblower and not a criminal. erica? >> meantime, kristen, last week three top lawmakers did suggest that snowden may have had help, they are saying possibly from the russians. is there any m

ari melber will be here with what the top cop said about voting rights and a lot more. >>> and new developmentsto help two ecuadorian brothers accused by that country of stealing millions before they fled for the united states? >>> good morning from washington.

but the attorney general told msnbc's ari melber -- >> clemency, a simple no-harm, no-foul, i think thatden didn't answer this charge that he was working with vladimir putin's russia. >> i don't think it was a gee whiz luck event that he ended up in moscow. >> reporter: an accusation he flatly denied to "the new yorker's" jane mayor. >> he said that he acted alone, completely alone with no one else and certainly no other country. >> reporter: one man setting off a national debate over privacy that the president and congress have yet to resolve. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> a first court appearance today for former virginia governor bob mcdonnell and wife, maureen. they are indicted on federal corruption charges. "the washington post" reports that mcdonnell rejected an offer to plead guilty to a single fraud count to avoid a trial and leave his wife out of the case. the mcdonnells have denied any wrongdoing. >>> mangled cars and trucks were still being towed overnight from the scene of a deadly highway pileup near michigan city, indiana. the chain-reaction crash on i-94 east