today, personal income for new jerseyans is at an all-time high and we're atracking new companies and that has brought jobs. we now have four straight years of private sector job growth. in fact, in november, the drop in our unemployment rate was the largest one-month drop ever measured and in the last year, new jersey had the second largest drop in its unemployment rate in america only behind the state of north carolina. and we could have chosen to go down a path of continued tax increases and fund the state's addiction to spending but we didn't. we held the line against any new taxes and held the spending to a level below fiscal year 2008, six years ago. we could have let state government grow even while the private sector shrank but we didn't. today, there are 6,000 fewer state employees than when i took office four years ago. but, there are more than 155,000 new private sector employees. we've improved our business climate. and today by every measure, business confidence in new jersey is up. in fact, one national magazine ranked new jersey among the top five states with the most i

you see, i do not believe that new jerseyans what more expensive government and gives the pittance left to a few in new jersey. what new jerseyans want is a way to succeed in the way they define success. they want an equal chance at the starting line, not a government guaranteed result. why? because through hard work and being rewarded for that hard work, they know that they are part of their own success. we should make sure that government pursues policies that believe in the effort, the talent and the optimism of new jerseyans, not in the power of almighty government to fix any problem, real or imagined. [ applause ] so, let's be different than our neighbors. let's put more money in the pockets of our middle class by not taking it out of their pockets in the first place. [ applause ] one of the lessons i've learned most acutely over the last four years is that new jersey can really be one state. now this election has taught us that the ways we divide each other by race, by class, by ethnicity and wealth and yes by political party, is neither permanent nor necessary. you see our dreams

today, personal income for new jerseyans is at an all-time high and we're atracking new companies and that has brought jobs. we now have four straight years f private sector job growth. in fact, in november, the drop in our unemployment rate was the largest one-month drop ever measured and in the last year, new jersey had the second largest drop in its unemployment rate in america only behind the state of north carolina. and we could have chosen to go down a path of continued tax increases and fund the state's addiction to spending but we didn't. we held the line against any new taxes and held the spending to a level below fiscal year 2008, six years ago. we could have let state government grow even while the private sector shrank but we didn't. today, there are 6,000 fewer state employees than when i took office four years ago. but, there are more than 155,000 new private sector employees. we've improved our business climate. and today by every measure, business confidence in new jersey is up. in fact, one national magazine ranked new jersey among the top five states with the most im

today, personal income for new jerseyan s is at an all-time high. and we're attracting new companies, and that has brought jobs. we now have four straight years of private sector job growth. [ applause ] in fact, in november, the drop in our unemployment rate has the largest one-month drop ever measured. and in the last year, new jersey had the second largest drop in its unemployment rate in america, only behind the state of north carolina. and we could have chosen to go down a path of continued tax increases and fund the state's addiction to spending, but we didn't. we held the line against any new taxes and brought spending, in the current fiscal year, to a level below fiscal year 2008 six years ago. now, we do have let state government grow even while the private sector shrank, but we didn't. today, there are 6,000 fewer state employees than when i took office four years ago. but there are more than 155,000 new private sector employees. we've improved our business climate. and today by every measure, business confidence in new jersey is up. in fac

he's not counting on the polls that come in or the good tv ads, the new jerseyan or new york and philly or his personal dynamism. he's pressuring people saying i need local swag. i'm going to squeeze you. i'm going to squeeze you hard and favor you or hurt you. so let's talk turkey. is that illegal? >> it depends. the devil's in the details here, chris. we have to separate politics as usual to the victor go the spoils. and putting somebody who's a sporter at the head of the line and putting somebody who's a detractor, an opponent at the bottom of the line. but the question is, was there the use of some illegal method extortion, the threat whether made good for not of withholding legitimately identified funds for the purpose of relief of sandy hurricane damage or was this something else. i think it's important to make that distinction. i don't think this is an investigation, a criminal investigation of politics. this is an investigation. >> let's go to the sharpest case. i'll go back to steve on in. the sharpest case me much waing and learning from steve's reporting is the mayor zimmer,

and my view is here in new jersey that i'm responsible for every new jerseyan, no matter how much money they make, no matter where they live, no matter how many children they have, whether they've lived here their whole lives or they just moved here, whether their kids are in school or whether they're retired and living on a fixed income. as the governor, as the president, you are ultimately responsible for everyone. you need to care about everyone the exact same way. and as governor, my view is all of them deserve our attention. of course we're not going to let the most vulnerable suffer and we haven't in new jersey and we shouldn't in america. >> i mean, it seems to me that whichever way you look at this, what has happened whether it's his senior staff or whether chris christie had any involvement himself which at the moment he resolute lly denies, t people in his office and the port authority potentially putting people's lives at risk. we know four separate incidents involving emergency services being delayed by minutes and getting to people who have called for emergencies. it's hard

crises and bad news are the strength of a reputation or brand, and the question voters and new jerseyans are asking themselves today is how loyal is chris christie to us? and how loyal can we be to them? chris, in an informal poll -- go ahead. >> my point on "power lunch" a few moments ago was this. you called it a crisis. this would not be a crisis but for the fact christie is a 2016 presidential hopeful if not front-runner. if this was random governor in random state we wouldn't be talking about it. the fact he's on the national stage today with his press conference confirms his popularity. so is the story that big of a deal, because he's already there? >> yeah. i would say your earlier comment was right. for people that love chris christie, this isn't going to change their opinion. for people who hate christrihri christie it will make them feel worse. this is a question that will cause people to question whether christie can be trusted in more of a national role and, you know, can he be more like a tony sprain so pran soprano or a tony ben jnettbenn? we look for parallels. >> and whet

if he says no to the subpoena then it looks like he's hiding something and most new jerseyans think that is the case whether it's true or not. this is a very difficult question. i actually think he gave the right answer. there is no good answer. to say yes or no without talking to your lawyer, even though he is one, would be a mistake. >> former governor howard dean, thank you very much for joining us tonight. >> thanks, lawrence. >> coming up, the president has announced his theme for tomorrow night's state of the union address. and what hillary clinton actually said today about running for president. and in the "rewrite" tonight the author of last week's most ridiculous republican sound bite had a very different position on health insurance mandates about birth control just a few years ago. ime. you can separate runway ridiculousness... from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. and only national is ranked highest in car rental customer satisfaction by j.d. power. (natalie) ooooh, i like y

so a big drop there in his local popularity, with 89% of new jerseyans paying close attention to theal. and in the past few days, has your opinion changed, the vast majority saying they haven't changed opinion. so not much movement there. but what does this say for his chances of surviving the scandal and, in fact, continuing to become possibly the republican nominee in 2016? >> well, look, what's taken a hit here is the chris christie that he wanted to present nationally. and look, right now the audience he really cares about, he cares about local new jersey audience, because he wants to get stuff done in new jersey the next few years. but he's starting to court the national republican audience. and the story he wanted to tell to them is, he's a different kind of republican that can attract non-traditional voters and that even though new jersey has this reputation as, frankly, a state that's full of corrupt politicians, he's something different. he won two terms in that state by overcoming all of that, by changing how business worked in that state. and, obviously, what we're learnin

new jerseyans deserved a balanced bipartisan search for answers but the makeup of the committee is ald you say to him? >> the committee is bipartisan, the minority party has representatives on that committee. they will have a voice to speak up to point out anything that they think is inappropriate, and they will certainly be able to ask the attorney any series of questions that they choose to ask, so i can assure you that this will move along in an impartial and very just way. >> well, let me ask you about that, move along, because as you said, it's already been so many months since this happened and people have a lot of questions and not a lot of answers at this point. do you have a kind of timeline for this? >> well, it will depend upon how quickly we get the documents, and on how forthcoming the folks who we subpoena following those documents will be. it's hard to give a timeline to it. i think we are willing to move along as efficiently as we can. the joining together of the two committees into one committee makes it a much more efficient way to operate. people will not be subjec

. >> michael, from new jersey, 51% of new jerseyans don't believe the governor.change that? >> well, i think he changes it by switching the subject as he's going do after four paragraphs in the speech. but in that same poll, his approval rating was 59%. i would say that christie supporter could take heart from that poll. that, yeah, jersians are skeptical people and cynical people and realistic people. and he may not have told every tiny truth in 1 hour and 48 minutes last week. so for 51% to say they think he's not telling the truth, i think there are other numbers in that poll that offset that. >> okay. >> and michael, as you know, this story is very much being played out both locally and nationally. conservatives around the country are still debating, figuring out how legitimate he will be come 2016. and that will continue to play out. but help us understand the feel more locally on the ground. you've been following this very closely. is it your sense that both republicans and democrats see

and they were willing to hurt new jerseyans in the process. >> speaking to the culture of his office, he says he's not a bully, he's not a micromanager. are you curious that he had no conversation with the people at the center of this, he just fired him? >> look, he was trying to say today that he came clean and stepped up to face the music as soon as he knew. no, he didn't. this has been going on and there have been questions swirling around this for 120 days. i mean, at one point, he actually said that he wasn't troubled by -- wasn't anything more than i think mildly troubled by the resignation of wildstein, who was his best friend from high school. i mean, i can tell you that the people that i consider my closest friends from high school, if they were working for me in some capacity, if they suddenly resigned i would be slightly more than troubled. and i might actually ask them why they resigned. how chris christie didn't inquire as to the purpose of the resignation of his high school best friend, his campaign manager, i mean, the port authority appointees that he had, is just not

i do not believe that new jerseyans want a bigger government that penalizes success and gives the pittance left to a few in the name of income equity. hanging overall of this is the scandal, now plural if you count the sandy situation. governor kim guadagfo. >> that anyone would hold back sandy relief funds for any reason is totally and completely false. >> zimmer claims that the lieutenant governor pulled her over at a supermarket opening in may and said hoboken's sandy recovery funds hinged on a development with ties to the governor and zimmer says christie's aide did the same thing a couple of days later when they appeared together on a television program. in a statement he said, quote, mayor zimmer's accusations are patently false and absurd on their face. i welcome a full and thorough investigation. >> lieutenant governor of the state of new jersey tells you in a parking lot. you remember it. i was very upset and i did a journal entry, you know, a few days later. >> you're saying she's lying? >> well, yeah. she said she would deny it and she's denying it. part of me is not surprised.

will the man who said he is responsible for all new jerseyans own this scandal or deflect?zing this is a passing blemish or is chris christie in the fight for his political life? yeah, i'm married. does it matter? you'd do that for me? really? yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. get to a better state. ♪ >>> welcome back to "new day." here are five things you immediate to know for your new day. dennis rodman admitting he was out of bounds. the former nba star apologizing for his outburst during an interview on "news day grts north korea. he blames it all on stress and alcohol. >>> breaking news. the american jailed is on his way home. shezanne cassim is expected home today. >> republicans demanding senator reid come up with a way to pay for the

administration, and a's hllys broke the public trust and "real housewives of new jersey" -- >>> and new jerseyans deserve more. it's time the straight-talking governor take his own advice and ensure his staff and associates do the same." i suspect and i think you'll agree, a lot of democrats are worried about chris christie because he's a popular governor. if he were to get the presidential nomination, presumably he'd be a strong presidential candidate in 2016. how should the democrats right now react to what is going on? >> well, first of all, i never thought he had a great chance to be the republican nominee. i could have been wrong or he may still get it. i think the big winner today right now is jeb bush. i think this really clears that side of the republican party wide open for him. had he and christie run, i think they would have been in competition for some of the same don donor, some of the same voters, some of the same kind of support. if i would have been looking at a winner for a republican side right now, i'd say it's former florida governor jeb bush. christie was never that popular w

lost their -- new jerseyans lost their lives. but true to our state's motto, we were jersey tough. people who lost their homes were knocked down but not out. they got up, dusted themselves up and started the long prases of rebuilding. but just as they were getting started they got hit by another disaster, this time a manmade one that took the form of drastic flood insurance premium hikes that threatened to finish the job that sandy started. and i started receiving letters, first dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of people pleading to me for help. they wrote in desperation that their insurance premium was about to go from about a thousand dollars a year to an incredible $10,000. they told me after exhausting all of their savings on repairing and rebuilding their home, they simply had no more to spare, none left. they were being hit by what i've come to call a triple-whammy. first they got hit by the worst natural disaster in our state's history. then they were faced with drastically elevated premiums mandated by biggert-waters

messing with sandy money is beyond the corruption new jerseyans are accustomed to. >> larry and matt, with me. i appreciate it. we're back in a minute. yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. [ female announcer ] no matter the occasion..., your home's the place everyone gathers. so be ready with a stouffer's lasagna. it's the mouthwatering recipe that keeps them coming back. stouffer's. made with care for your family. >>> it was perhaps the most anticipated "saturday night live" of the season. for the first time in more than six years, a black woman became part of the snl family. welcome sasheer zamata. >> get out of here. you are embarrassing me. >> i wanted to stop by and gossip with the ladies. >> no, dad. i told you to sit in the bathroom all night. go away. ♪ >> all right. snl, as you know, hired zamata after much criticism over its lack of diversity. she is only

speaker, i rise today for the 90,000 new jerseyans who lost their unemployment insurance on december 28, and the 89,000 more new jerseyans set to lose unemployment benefits in the first half of the new year. the people back in my district can't understand how out of touch some of my republican colleagues are and have become -- and have come to think that cutting off this assistance will force the unemployed to get a job. well, i have news for my colleagues. these people are not lazy. quite the opposite. these people are out every single day searching desperately for work. but the fact of the matter is, there just aren't enough jobs for the amount of people unemployed. a s up to congress to pass jobs bill to put these people back to work. but this congress has not done that. and until that time comes, we have a moral obligation to help our fellow americans and -- help our fellow americans out and give them the economic security they need to put food on the table, to keep a roof over their heads, and to pay their bills so that they have the ability to continue to look for a job. mr. sp

i've considered it over the last four years to be my job to be the governor of every new jerseyan, republican, democrat, independent or unaffiliated. and i've worked with elected officials on both sides of the aisle, ones that i agree with and ones that i disagree with. the political overtones that were exhibited in those documents released yesterday and the conduct by those people is not acceptable. but people, i think all across this state, understand. that human beings are not perfect. and mistakes are made. and i believe what they expect of me as the chief executive of this state is when the information comes into my possession, that i consider it an act as quickly as possible to remediate whatever ill occurs. that's what i've done today. actions have consequences. and i'm living up to that right now. and i will say one last thing, just so we are really clear your i had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or its execution. and i am stunned by the abject stupidity that was shown here, regardless of what the facts ultimately uncover, this was handled in a callous and