Scored an invite. Sunday, january 19th, 2014. And welcome to today on this sunday morning. Im erica hill. And im lester holt. Why do i feel like polar vortex is going to be one of those phrases at the end of 2014 it will be a banned phrase . Had. We dug it out from the meteorology textbooks. It is real. It never sounded bizarre because i learned about it. This will be a banned phrase. Right up there with hash tag and selfie. Well bring you an inspiring story thats featured in a duracell battery. I love that story. So excited for that. We do begin this morning, though, with our top story today which is governor Chris Christie getting hit once again with accusations of using his office to get revenge on political opponents. Michael isikoff is joining us with all of this. Michael, good morning. Reporter good morning. Legislative leaders in new jersey who already served Christies Office with 20 subpoenas say they may now expand their probe to look at new allegations that held relief money from Hurricane Sandy when one mayor refused to play ball. Chris christie continues his weekend swing through florida this morning while he faces charges back home. I remember him telling my sinner circle i cant believe this. I just received a direct threat from the governor of the state of new jersey. Reporter dawn zimer remembers getting the threat saying its important she back a Million DollarDevelopment Project or were not going to help you with funds to rebuild from Hurricane Sandy. And he said i know these things are not right. These things should not be connected, but they are. And if you tell anybody ill deny it. Reporter zimmer says she couldnt believe it. Im stunned that he would use the sandy funds and hold those sandy funds over my head. When you consider what happened to hoboken, we were devastated. Reporter emails obtained by the mystery in effingham countys steve kor knack key who say its represented by david samson. One of his top advisers who this week was investigated by a panel. The connections we can make is the project is represented by wolf and samson. And samson is very close to christie. But theres no evidence that shows they are conspireing on this. Reporter zimmer who refused to back the project says hoboken received only 342,000 of the 100 million it requested. But zimmer did not speak out at the time. I probably should have come forward. Reporter christie aides shot back calling the charges outlandishly false and noted that zimmer praised him last august in this tweet, to be clear i am very glad governor christie has been our gov. Its clear partisan politics are at play here when players with an ax to grind come out of the woodwork. In his response today, christies spokesman said christie and his entire administration have been helped hoboken getting what they need in recovery. And is targeted to get more when the Obama Administration approves the next rounds of funding. And a spokesperson said in a statement its conduct in representing that Development Project was appropriate in all respects. One other point the christie camp is slamming msnbc calling it openly hostile to the government. Thank you. David gregory a moderator of meet the press. Good morning. Good morning. This morning has gained traction. Just because Chris Christie is a likely or possible gop president ial contender does it at the same time insulate him on making the charges of this being partisan politics stronger. Maybe help him . Well, we have to see how it plays out. The reality is that there is an Ongoing Investigation led by the democrats in the assembly. And if they dont produce anything, they are going to be open to charges that they are having a wide enough net to capture anything in that net that would hurt Chris Christie. And to try to expand it beyond the bridge issue. Look. Hes called the closure of these lanes a scandal. Hes taken responsibility for that. What he has to deal with is his image as a bully. Now you have democratic mayors who see hes potentially weakened stepping forward. Are they telling the truth . We dont know. That has to be tested in the course of this investigation. This will be with him for awhile in this period thats like an invisible primary for republicans many of whom are scrambling right now or trying to line up their organizations this far out for 2016. Youve got a front row seat to the wheelings and dealings of politics. You know houp how it works. But is this. Part of the way things works . It can be. We know this in how people wheel and deal in congress. This is part of legislating at a congressional level. Not this idea of a threat all the time. We just dont know in this particular case. This kind of negotiation certainly happens in politics. You know what also happens in politics . You get this scrutiny when you want to run for president. All candidates face it. I think christie is in that hot seat right now. Youve got a National Democratic party happy to pile on here and level these charges as well. Before you get out of here, i want to ask you about whats going on in afghanistan. The president said in an interview on friday he hoped to be remembered as the president who successfully wound down the wars in iraq and afghanistan. As you know the wheels in some cases are falling off the bus. Fallujah in iraq is falling to al qaeda. We saw the attacks against foreigners yesterday in afghanistan that killed three americans. Is the president s legacy with regard to these wars at risk . I think its bigger than this president in terms of what the United States did in iraq and afghanistan. I think there is going to be a lot of pressure for the United States to bear some responsibility to have some presence in afghanistan as we move forward. Remember, the ongoing kind of firm belief about what the u. S. Ought to be doing is making sure that al qaeda doesnt get a foothold again in any of these countries and in a position to attack. It was much truer in afghanistan. Its truer in iraq. Lots to talk with you about this morning. We know youll have more on meet the press. Thanks. It is time to put on the extra layers again. Theres another arctic chill making its way. It was just a few weeks ago we were dealing with the blast from the socalled winter vortex when the temperatures dropped below zero in a lot of places. Dylan is tracking this. It is not going to be as bad but still broutly cold for a lot of areas in the midwest and in areas like the northeast too. Now, here is the polar vortex. Weve talked a lot about this. Its this cyclone that sits up normally in the north pole. Its normally nice and compact and doesnt move much. What were going to see is it start to wobble. Then it breaks from being in the north pole and dips to the south. Last time we got right into the heart of this polar vortex. Thats why we saw exceptionally cold temperatures. But this time around, the coldest is going to stay right up in canada. But we are going to tap into some of that really cold air. Lets compare it to last time. Last time the coldest of the cold, the High Temperature in chicago was 2 below. This time around its 12 degrees. Still extremely cold. Minneapolis last time around it was 12 below. This time about 3 degrees. New york city will feel about the same. Maybe a little milder in the morning. In boston it will be colder. Last time around with the vortex it was 22. This time around by wednesday it will be about 14 degrees. Not as bad as last time, but still certainly a shock to the system. And extremely cold. All right. Thanks. Well get your full forecast in a few minutes. Its just cold. Its just cold. Doesnt matter how low. Its cold. The difference between 19 and 8, still the same amount of layers for me. Insanity. Youve got other headlines of the morning. Good morning, everyone. Hundreds of residents who evacuated the suburbs of los angeles because of the ranging wildfire are now able to return home. The colby fire broke out in the Angeles National forest. According to latest reports, the blaze is now 61 contained and has burned 1900 acres. An update now in the Philadelphia School shooting. The Teenager Police were searching for turned himself in. Police charged 17yearold rasheem roswell for his involvement in fridays shooting. Two students were shot. Both in the arm. We are learning this morning that Dennis Rodman is in rehab. The former nba star checked into an undisclosed facility for alcoholism. He made comments about a missionary being detained in north korea. He admitted he was drinking at the time and apologized. Serena williams lost in the fourth round of the tournament. Williams later said she was struggling with a back injury. The loss broke her 25match win streak dating back to august. Deflated but not defeated. Minnesota vikings fans watched their beloved metrodome take its last gasp saturday. With the time lapse video it took seconds. I wish i could have time lapse videoed my high school years. Demolition is starting monday to make way for a new 1 billion vikings stadium. Finally not to be confused with bam bam and boo boo. Bow bow made her are we l literally running out of names . You met her on our show yesterday. Zoo officials are keeping the panda house open longer so people can see bow bow. Whats not to love about really hairy babies . Hear hear. That is what i say. First Lady Michelle obama might be sleeping in this morning after staying up late for the big 50th birthday bash thrown in her honor. Kristen welker has more on who came out to celebrate with the obamas. Good morning. Reporter hey, lester. Good morning to you. Guests tell us this was a night that really did live up to its billing with performances by beyonce and john legend. And the guest list was just as impressive. All to celebrate the first lady and 50 years. Some of the biggest names in hollywood and washington and chicago turned out to celebrate the first ladys big night. Tell us how youre feeling going into the party. We all think its going to be a great party. Shes the first lady and were here to support her. Im looking forward to singing happy birthday to her and being able to celebrate this great milestone in her life. Reporter even al roker. You ready to dance . Oh, gosh, yes. I hope its old school. Reporter guests were told to eat beforehand and dust off their dancing shoes. For a first lady known to do the dougie. She always has fun. And turning 50 has been no exception. Theres no, oh, i dont want to talk about her age. 50 is not something to lament. Reporter instead its been something to celebrate. From pictures of her aarp card or this tweet. The woman who has become a model mom is now an example of how to hit a major milestone with ease. I just hope she has another 50 years and more coming. You know . And that shell accomplish everything shes capable of accomplishing. Reporter guests celebrated late into the night enjoying delicious desserts and alist entertainment. Here for the first ladys birthday. And that was the highlight. And the president gave a wonderful speech about her. Then beyonce performed. Wow. Reporter now, cameras and cell phones werent allowed in. But guests tell us other celebrity sightings include stevie wonder, james taylor. And the first daughters were there. Everyone seemed to agree that the highlight was the speech that president obama gave to his wife. And i also hear he did some dancing last night. All right. Kristen welker, thanks very much. Another awards show is now in the books and there are some clear front runners as we get closer to the oscars. Kristen dahlgren is here with the look at the Screen Actors Guild awards. They get it from their peers. So the sag awards are the ones that the actors vote on themselves. While for some its about winning respect of peers. For others its about watching because the show is seen as a window into what will happen at the oscars. Reporter another round in hollywoods everintense award season. And it was American Hustle that danced off with the nights biggest win at the sag awards. And the actor goes to the cast of American Hustle. Reporter the film took home the outstanding ensemble award. Besting 12 years a slave often seen as its toughest oscar competition. To be acknowledged alongside the others in the room tonight. Reporter in individual, there werent many surprises but there are definite front runners. Matthew mcconaughey continued his streak after dallas buyers club. While Cate Blanchett added another. I thank those that voted for me. For those that didnt, better luck next year. Reporter this years darling won again for 12 years a slave. Being recognized by fellow actors is an honor of the highest ordered. Reporter while jared leto becomes the man to beat after his supporting role in dallas buyers club. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you so much. Reporter the sag awards are also handed out for tv. Among the big winners breaking bad and Bryan Cranston as long as modern family. Lester you vote on these. Howd you do . I got the best picture wrong. Best actors right. I have to go back and compare. But it was nice to be part of it. Thanks very much. And dylan is outside. Shes got a check of the rest of the countrys forecast for us. Even though it is cold in the northeast, it is really warm in the western half of the country. Not good news for california where they could really use some rain. But we are going to see a nice mild day in denver today. Big out that way. Temperatures up 16 degrees above average. Its all because of that ridge in the jet stream. It will keep it fairly warm and dry with the Drought Monitor indicating 62 of california is still under those extreme drought cond good morning. 6 17 the time. Anthony slaughter here. We are talking about another very warm day across the bay area, waking up to Clear Conditions across the board with a few 30s and 40s for the most part. A little breezy in San Francisco, but overall later on this afternoon temperatures again very comfortable. In fact were talking about recordsetting territory really for the past six days, and today will be no different. 70 in San Francisco, low 70s for our inland valleys and again unhealthy air quality is expected today, so take it easy if you do have to be outside. Have a good sunday. Plan that is and that is your latest weather. Coming up, the first black character in saturday night live makes her debut. Well check out the highlight right after this. What if you could shrink your pores just by washing your face . [ female announcer ] neutrogena® pore refining cleanser. Alphahydroxy and exfoliating beads work to clean and tighten pores so they can look half their size. Pores. Shrink em down to size [ female announcer ] pore refining cleanser. Neutrogena®. [do more than ever before with allnew intuitit. Ickbooks. R. Make any place your place of business with it. Get paid faster with it. Run payroll with it. Sync this stuff with that stuff with it. Make more time for what you love with it. Turn on only what you need with it. Sample from our smorgasbord of apps with it. Take in the big picture with it. See your finances in a whole new way with it. This is your business on the allnew quickbooks. Run with it. Im serious. I told you the newest featured player to join saturday nightlife, sasheer sam mat the joined the show last night. Jenna is in the orange room with more on how she did in her debut. Clearly a lot of pressure on sasheer zamata, the first female cast member in six years. If social media is any indication, people are just going to want more. Sasheer zamata reporter all eyes were on sasheer. She has us from the start with this rhee on nah interpretation. At this point we knew she was funny. We knew she could dance, and then we found out she could sing as well. She appeared in almost every sketch in the first half hour. Snl prominently featuring their first female black player in six years. But the night belonged to host and musical guest drake from his opening monologue. Im black and jewish, dont be so foolish right to this Indiana Jones number, to showing off his poetry skills. That makes you more real. He quickly became the number one trending topic overnight on twitter and ended the show with a shoutout and a hug. What a great pairing. What i wouldnt give to have drake at my ba mitzvah. Twending on twitter, kelly writes, drake has shown yall he can wrap, act and sing tonight. Very clear hes not here to play. Sean says talented, absolutely beautiful. Well be watching every week now. She got the hard part over with. Whoo. Its behind her, her baidu. Now its just every week after this. Maybe we can relax and enjoy the show now. Still to come, who doesnt love a good competition . Ill go behind the scenes of Hollywood Game Night for more [ male announcer ] pillsbury grands biscuits. 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