that will clear out for tomorrow keeping sunny skies. by sunday a slight chance of showers. 4 40 in new jersey for the big game on sunday. on the broadcast tonight, what did he know? explosive new allegations about chris christie. tonight, the man at the center of the bridge shutdown scandal says the governor is not telling the whole truth. he says there is evidence to prove it. desperate measures. california orders emergency water cutbacks as a dire state of emergency gets even worse now. entire communities m may not ge any more water. if you only knew. a tsa insider's revealing new confession. what he says was really going on at the airport security line, exactly what so many of us passengers had feared. and taking a hit on this super bowl weekend. american attitudes toward the

game are changing when parents are asked the question, would you let your kids play. "nightly news" begins now. good evening. a former appointee of governor chris christie of new jersey says he has evidence the governor knew of the forced slowdown on the george washington bridge between new jersey and new york while it was going on and that he is prepared to prove it. despite the governor's repeated denial, tonight this scandal has again engulfed chris christie, embarrassingly on the eve of the super bowl, the first ever held in new jersey. tonight, the state's leading newspaper is saying if this is true, the governor must resign, and harvard law professor alan dershowitz said tonight chris christie needs to hire a criminal lawyer if he has not already. nbc's katy tur starts us off in the shadow of the gw bridge,

which has been lit up for the game just 11 miles away. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the appointee is david wildstein. it is important to note we don't know what the evidence is. also important to note, his lawyer is trying to get his legal fees paid. but if this is substantiated, you have to wonder how can chris christie survive this. >> david wildstein. >> reporter: late this afternoon, a lawyer for david wildstein, the former port authority official embroiled in the george washington bridge lane closure scandal released a letter disputing chris christie's claim that he didn't know anything about it. >> let me tell you, everybody, i was blind sided. >> reporter: in the letter, he says the governor not only knew but it was his order, writing, evidence ties mr. christie having knowledge of the closures during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference. >> this is a hugely significant development in the investigation. it is a direct challenge to the credibility of governor

christie, but until we see the evidence that david wildstein is talking about, it's very hard to know how to evaluate. >> reporter: on january 9th in that press conference, christie adamantly denied knowing about what he called a political vendetta. >> i am humiliated by the fact i didn't know it, i was deceived. it was an awful way to feel. >> reporter: wildstein, who was appointed by christie, had already resigned from the port authority when he appeared at the hearing before the assembly, but wouldn't answer any questions. >> on the advice of my counsel, i assert my right to remain silent. >> reporter: what did the governor know and when did he know it have been the key questions since documents were released showing christie's now former deputy chief of staff, bridget anne kelly, sent a e-mail to wildstein saying "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." wildstein replied, "got it." there were 20 subpoenas issued

seeking documents from christie's former and top aides and his reelection campaign. responses to those subpoenas are due next week. assemblyman john wisniewski is leading the investigation. >> i don't know what documents he is referring to. we had subpoenaed documents from him. i'm a little frustrated as committee chair that we had asked for documents from him through a valid subpoena. he provided us over 900 pages. and apparently the documents he is referring to were not part of that response. >> reporter: and the voices are only going to get louder after this. forget presidential hopes, brian. many are now saying that if this is proved, he should resign or be impeached. >> katy tur starting us off on the new york side of the gw bridge. katy, thanks. as we said, the governor has responded to this charge late today in the form of a statement. nbc's kelly o'donnell has been covering the governor and this story since it broke. she is in our washington news room. hey, keltly, good evening.

>> reporter: brian, good evening. so after all of this erupted, the governor's administration, not chris christie personally, but his office rest reacted to the new allegation and again denied the governor knew anything about a political deliberate operation that might have been behind the bridge traffic jam. knowing about the traffic is different than knowing there was an operation to bring it about. so the statement reads in part, mr. wildstein's lawyer confirms that what the governor has said all along, he had absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever mr. wildstein's motivations were for closing them to begin with. now, the statement goes on the say that christie had no indication this was anything other than a traffic study until he read otherwise the morning of january 8th. the governor denies the other allegations, so christie is raising the idea of the port authority's motivation. for example, looking for criminal immunity. and the lawyer's letter explicitly asks that wildstein's legal fees be paid for by his

former employer, the port authority and not out of his own pocket. the timing is interesting, it comes during the time that christie is get mortgage favorable attention during the super bowl and before monday's deadline when the responses to the subpoenas are due. brian? >> kelly o'donnell in d.c. tonight. kelly, thanks. now to the west coast. california officials announced late today they have ordered emergency water cutbacks because of the epic drought we showed you here last night. officials say water from the state's reservoir system to local agencies will soon be cut off, and that will affect 25 million people. nothing like this has ever happened before. nbc's miguel almaguer is at the reservoir just above san jose tonight. >> reporter: brian, good evening. this reservoir used to be a major resource, but now look at it. it's more junkyard than it is watershed. when the water levels here dropped, garbage like this surfaced. and while this reservoir needs to be cleaned up, more than anything it needs rain.

in a state where water is liquid gold, these are desperate times with reservoirs empty and creeks dry. at lake oroville, the water supply has dropped more than two feet this month alone. today the department of water resources said there is not enough water to go around. the agency will turn off the tap to distributors who serve 25 million customers and 750,000 acres of farmland. >> today's actions mean that everyone, farmers, fish, people in our cities and towns will get less water as a result. but these actions will protect us all better in the long run. >> reporter: californians will get water from other sources, but they'll get less of it and pay more for it. ken christianson says his business is under water. at his marina in folsom, there has been no rain or customers for months. >> the financial impact is devastating here. i do not think we're going to open this year.

the docks you see behind me will probably never see water. >> reporter: for the gless family, citrus growers since 1907, their harvest and their trees are at risk. >> with citrus, if you don't have water to keep them alive, you lose 30-year-old trees in their prime. a year off, they'll be done. you to start over. >> reporter: each day without rain more records are set. this month, los angeles had no measurable rain, only one of five januarys since 1878. >> right now in california we are experiencing a drought that no living person in this state or in this country has experienced before in terms of its severity. >> reporter: a crippling drought with an economic impact that will ripple around the world. reservoirs across california looked just like this, those deep cracks in the floor, experts say even if we got heavy rain and snow every day until may, california would still be in serious trouble. brian?

>> miguel almaguer, san jose, california for us tonight. miguel, thanks. and a hot topic in american politics just got more interesting where president obama is concerned. it has to do with the keystone pipeline from canada to the u.s. gulf coast. and just tonight, a long-delayed environmental impact report could remove a major hurdle for its approval. we get our late report tonight from nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: it is a classic battle. the oil industry arguing jobs and energy independence versus environmentalists worried about oil spills, wildlife and climate change. the pipeline would stretch for 875 miles, from montana on the kandi zal pampore boarder to steel city, nebraska. delivering 830,000 barrels a day of thick star sand crude oil on to the gulf coast. president obama trailed for months by anti-pipeline protesters had promised he would not approve it if it would accelerate climate change. >> our national interests will

be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution. >> reporter: today's report says it won't have an effect on the environment either way. approval or denial of one crude oil project remains unlikely to significantly impact demand for heavy crude oil, the oil that creates the worst pollution. in other words this oil will be produced whether the pipeline is built or not. pipeline advocates say that president obama now has no excuse not to go ahead. >> they spent over five years on the environment. time and time again, it shows no impact on the environment. >> reporter: what about jobs? the report says they will produce 3900 temporary construction jobs for one year in montana, nebraska, south dakota and kansas and 50 permanent jobs. and states that of 14 protected species like the whooping crane, only one, the beetle would be adversely affected.

not so say environmentalists. >> if there was a spill, animals could be impacted and the greatest threat to wildlife is climate change. >> reporter: environmentalists point to this pipeline that has not been cleaned up, north of little rock. >> there is enormous pressure within the beltway to approve this project. and i think around the country people understand this is actually a terrible idea. >> reporter: environmentalists are also crying foul because they charge the consultants who worked on today's final report had ties to the pipeline company. a state department inspector general is investigating alleged conflict of interest. brian? >> andrea mitchell in d.c. tonight. andrea, thanks. as millions of viewers around this globe get ready to watch the super bowl on sunday this comes at what may be the start of a troubling time for organized football. this week, joe namath became the latest big-name player to disclose he is suffering long-term effects from concussions during his career. it is significant that our latest nbc news/wall street journal poll has discovered a

startling number on public attitude towards the number one sport in this country. when asked if they would discourage a child from playing football, 40% of americans said yes. because this came out of our latest polling on mostly political attitudes, we get our report tonight from our political editor and fellow football fan chuck todd. >> reporter: on sunday, more than 100 million americans will watch the super bowl. but while we love watching the game, we're beginning to question whether it's safe for our kids to play it. >> to be honest with you, i'm probably going to stop. i know they really love it and they keep bugging me about it. >> reporter: green bay packer brett favre is questioning whether the game is even safe enough for kids. >> if i had a son, i would be real leery of him playing. >> reporter: and the president of the united states told the new yorker magazine i would not let my son play pro football. and our new poll shows a dramatic class divide on the issue. while four in ten americans overall would discourage their kids from playing football, the number is closer to 50% among

wealthier americans and near 60% among the most highly educated. cris collinsworth is concerned this safety fear could decimate youth football. >> i think more than ever before, we're seeing football coming down to what the moms in the minivans think. because if the perception is that it is not safe for their son to play, they talk. >> reporter: youth enrollment in pop warner football has dropped by nearly 10% in the last three years. though officials claim it has nothing to do with concussion concerns. >> football is relatively safe compared to other youth activities. they say kids get more concussions in a variety of other ways other than playing football. >> reporter: but like big tobacco in the '60s, many football organizations are have been criticized for being too slow to acknowledge the danger. there is now even a class action lawsuit against the association that oversees high school football, and that raises the very real possibility that some high schools may decide to stop sanctioning football altogether for fear of the liability.

>> i like to hit people. >> reporter: but dad is nervous. >> yes, he'll keep playing the game. but we need to get a little more educated on concussion, on how the concussions are caused and how to prevent them. >> reporter: our shared love of football is becoming a national conversation about whether the risks are worth it. chuck todd, nbc news, washington. opening ceremony for the winter olympics in sochi in russia will take place one week from tonight. and as that date fast approaches, the final preps are now under way on-site. for these olympic games which have so far, let's face it been dogged by bad publicity, construction delays, overspending and security concerns, our chief correspondent richard engel, who is there reports tonight that sochi is for the first time starting to feel like the home of the games. american speed skaters, as you saw, took their first spin around the rink today, and the olympic villages opened with much fanfare. still ahead for us on this friday night, a tsa insider

claims on what was really going on at airport security. the very same invasion of privacy that so many of us passengers had feared. and later, a spectacular new view of that jump from the edge of space kept hidden from the world, that is until now.

a former airport screening officer at the tsa is revealing inside secrets about how members of the traveling public are treated and how those full body scanners that were so controversial and had so many passengers concerned about privacy may have worked or never worked in the first place. the revelations have the tsa in something of a damage control mode tonight. we get our report from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: from a former tsa officer, disturbing descriptions of fellow officers' behavior, humiliating patdowns and the doubts about the technology once used to scan passengers. in an article for politico magazine entitled "dear america, i saw you naked, and yes, we were laughing", jason harrington writes the only thing more absurd than how poorly the full body scanners performed was the incredible amount of time the machines wasted for everyone. at the time tsa officers remotely viewed the full body images in a separate room.

and many examples they got were overweight people, their full dimple and awful display. piercings of every time were on display. the tsa reported all of the scanners were replaced more than a year ago, the screening rooms disabled. the new scanners use radio waves and portray the body as more of a cartoon figure using targeting software that can identify a potential weapon. >> there is a new tsa in town that is doing things 180 degrees different than that he has allegedly done. >> reporter: harrington declined to talk for nbc news. he worked for the tsa from 2007 until last spring and writes of code names officers had for attractive women depending on their apparel. retaliatory wait times for members of the public officers don't like, and a general feeling among officers that their jobs represented, quote, an abuse of public trust and funds. but the chief insists the tsa has changed. >> tsa will not tolerate the

unprofessional conduct of officers if proven -- if the officer is engaging in unprofessional behavior, then we take appropriate administrative action leading up to and including dismissal. >> reporter: the tsa has worked hard to include customer experience, limiting pat-downs, adding suppress lanes. but the insiders glimpse behind the security line doesn't help the public image. tom costello, nbc news, washington. another break and we're back in a moment with the new fallout tonight after the big embarrassment over school lunches.

the cafeteria manager at a utah elementary school has been placed on involuntary leave after lunches were taken away from kids whose lunch account balance had run low. the kids were given milk and fruit as a substitute. parents were outraged about it. some complained they had been given no notices that their balances were low. and their children, of course, were humiliated in the process. the school district has issued an apology. here in new york tonight the super bowl hype is reaching something of a fever pitch. 13 blocks of broadway have been shut down and turned into a pre-game pedestrian mall re-named super bowl boulevard.

and look at some of the merchandise we found for sale. we found this hoodie at a local sporting good store commemorating the new york/new jersey super bowl. but hold it right there. it isn't that at all. just to review, here is new york, and now to the west, across the aforementioned george washington bridge is the state of new jersey, where the super bowl will be played. not one bit of the game will be played in new york, though the city appears to be profiting handsomely from its proximity. agenda insult to injury, the mayor of east rutherford, new jersey, the home of metlife stadium, was not invited to the game, was willing to pay face value for the ticket but couldn't get one. he figured he would watch it on tv like the rest of us. it took the owner of the indianapolis colts to hear of his plight, and now mayor james casella will watch the game from a box, indeed, high above the stadium in his town, in the state that is hosting the super bowl.

it was an astounding feat back when he did it. felix baumgartner of austria jumped out of a balloon 24 miles above the earth in a pressurized suit, broke the sound barrier on his way down. we are now able to see how death-defying a tumble it was, more like a controlled crash, thanks to a new video his team has released shot on go procameras. part of it will appear conveniently in a super bowl ad. this is a link to the video on our website tonight. when we come back this friday evening, the repeated battle cry on the field that has become a source of great pride for a great american city.

finally tonight, we can thank the sport of football for several expressions in the english lexicon, like throwing a hail mary and calling an audible. peyton manning is so fond of calling one particular audible at the line of scrimmage that it's become something of a cottage industry. he is so found of yelling omaha as a signal to his offense that in addition to us fans, the folks in omaha long ago started to take notice. and it's become a source of pride for a city which, by the way, would love an nfl team to call its own. we get the story tonight from nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> let's go broncos! >> reporter: tonight as denver fans prepare for the super bowl, another city's name has become a battle cry. >> omaha!

>> reporter: yes, omaha. the much quieter midwestern town perhaps best known for beef steaks and unassuming billionaire, warren buffet. >> omaha! >> reporter: all the attention thanks to denver broncos quarterback peyton manning, who for some reason before plays has been shouting -- >> omaha, omaha! >> reporter: a few weeks ago during play-off game against san diego -- >> he said it so many times, we just i think were tickled pink to see it. >> reporter: omaha's chamber of commerce took the ball and ran with it, making a youtube video. >> omaha slo! >> it works for us too. >> reporter: businesses like omaha steaks donated $800 for every manning shout-out during the afc championship. 31 times meant almost $25,000 for manning's foundation for underprivileged kids. for the super bowl, the pledge amount has grown to $1700 per yell.

and vegas is now taking bets on how many times he'll say it. as if that wasn't enough, the omaha zoo may have given him the ultimate sign of appreciation. they named a penguin after him. meet peyton. >> i think it's kind of fun. it gives us something to root for. >> reporter: but the mystery remains, what does omaha mean? >> it's a run play or it could be a play action pass depending on a couple of things, the wind, which way we're going and the jerseys that we're wearing. >> reporter: right. >> all we know it's a lot easier to say than saskatchewan or tuscaloosa. >> reporter: so a town finds itself suddenly with something to cheer for on super bowl sunday. gabe gutierrez, nbc news -- >> omaha! >> reporter: nebraska. >> for omaha and the rest of this country, that's our broadcast for this friday night and for this week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. lester holt will be here with you this weekend. we, of course, hope to see you right back here on monday night. have a good weekend. good night.

mpl. from bad to worse, agencies there is not enough water. good evening and thanks for joining us on this friday. i'm raj mathai. >> i'm jessica aguirre. it's the first time it happened in history. the state water project of california says there is simply not enough water in the system. a startling reality that's hitting home for many farmers and many californians. nbc marianne favro is live to explain what the state's

decision might mean for you marianne. >> reporter: well, really what the state did is tell farmers and residents they are not going to give them a single drop of water from the state water project. that's going to hit farmers hard and could drive up the cost of food. the grass farm you may consider putting in your front yard and as this farmer can tell you, the grass is greener when it rains but that hasn't happened much. it's doubtful mother nature will come through this season. >> considering we're 2/3rds through the wet season, the state would have to experience heavy rainfall and snowfall every other day through may in order to just get us back to average precipitation levels, and even then, we would still face drought conditions. >> reporter: which is why today the state department of water resources announced it will not provide a single drop of water to farmers or residents this