>> welcome to "the ed show" live from new york. let's get to work. >> i am embarrassed and humiliated. i am sad today. i'm heart broken. i'm sick over this. i've done some soul searching. i would sflefr come out here four or five weeks ago and made a joke about these lane closures. if i had ever had an inkling. i worked the cones actually. i was blind-sided. all i know is i don't know. >> did probable presidential favorite chris christie personally order this traffic hit? i don't know. >> i had no knowledge of this. i had no knowledge. i did not -- mayor sokolich was

never on my radar screen. >> we're nervous about further retribution. >> i don't know this guy. i never saw this as political retribution. >> have you seen our state flag? there is literally a severed horse's head on the state flag! >> this is not the tone i've set over the last four years. your rear end is going to get thrown in jail, idiot. how about that as an example? you kidding? i don't think i've gotten to the angry stage yet. did i say -- are you stupid? on topic. on topic. that's very, very different from saying someone's a bully. i don't hide my emotions from people. but i am not a bully. guy, we e don't work that way. i'm not finished yesterday, guys. >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. chris christie says he's not a bully. i've got a bridge for sale over the hudson river. you a taker tonight? give me a break. he's not a bully? governor, this isn't about you.

it's about the people that you inconvenienced and the possible misuse of power. but after all the rancor that's taken place, the bridges over bergen county are the biggest story in america tonight. it's a big story on the east coast, no question, but across the country people only want to know one thing -- is the guy telling the truth? and critics out there, well, they're not really sure. well, he did a great job at the press conference. why should that shock us? he's been an attorney his whole professional career. he's been a presenter his whole professional career. he's a politician. of course he's going to do a good job at a press conference. did he use a tell prompter? i don't know. here's the bottom line -- is governor christie telling the truth about what unfolded months ago? well, we're going to start with a number tonight, a very important number, and that number is 9. nine. that's how many times governor chris christie has denied that he or his administration had

anything to do with bridgegate. so in other words, he's been asked a lot. he even said today that he had briefings, meaning plural, and his staff did it, meaning more than one person, told him, we didn't have anything to do with this thing. we don't know what the heck is going on. earlier today governor christie from new jersey changed his tune. in an epic almost two-hour press conference, christie maintained that he had no knowledge of the political misconduct, the lane closing and knew absolutely nothing about it. what he did is the governor came out and he totally cleared the beach of any wrongdoing. he left no sunlight available on this subject. and he apologized for the actions of his staff. >> i come out here today to apologize to the people of new jersey. i apologize to the people of ft. lee. and i apologize to the members of the state legislature.

i am embarrassed and humiliated. by the conduct and behavior of some of the people on my team. >> conservatives don't normally accept apologies. today christie fired the aide allegedly responsible for all this, bridget anne kelly, who was responsible for the lane closures. in the press conference, he said, get this, he didn't even talk to kelly before firing her. >> i have not had any conversation with bridget kelly since the e-mail came out. she was not given the opportunity to explain to me why she lied because it was so obvious that she had, and i'm quite frankly not interested in the explanation at the moment. >> not interested in the explanation but he's not a bully. oh, by the way, his staff is so close-knit. think about that. governor christie with all this being in the media for so many

months, so much speculation and not for a moment did he have any curiosity whatsoever as to why she would do something like that. folks, i don't think he wanted that conversation. there's more to the story, i believe. the governor went on to say that his staff is tight-knit. really? so tight-knit he won't talk to somebody who's going to terminate because of an e-mail? governor, how do you know she wrote that e-mail? not to defend bridget kelly, but you never know, people get into people people e people's e-mails and start writing stuff. who knows? he didn't want to talk to her. but he's not a bully. but he is broken heart t. >> ever since the time i was u.s. attorney i've engendered the sense and feeling among the people closest to me that we're a family and we work together and we tell each other the truth, we support each other when we need to be supported and

we admonish each other when he we need to be admonished. i am heart broke than someone who i permitted to be in that circle of trust for the last five years betrayed my trust. >> wow. let's see. we've got family. we've got loyalty. we've got circle of trust. but the person at the center of all of this, all it takes is an e-mail to get fired, not even a conversation, not even, bridget, i'm the governor, why did you do this to me? i've been out there nine times telling people we've had nothing to do with this. nope, don't want to talk to bridget. can't do that. could be some legal stuff down the road. bridget, i'm ed schultz. i do "the ed show" on msnbc. i'd love to talk to you. you're the one that can save your career right now because the governor of new jersey pretty much trashed you for a long time today saying you're a liar. he used the word lie.

yesterday it was misled. today it was lie. i guess overnight he saw the light. bridget, you need to speak up. that's what i believe, and i think a lot of people want to hear what you have to say. let's hope the family never makes it to the white house. chris christie admitted that the buck stops with him and he is very sad, very sad about the whole ordeal. >> i am responsible for what happened. i am sad to report to the people of new jersey that we fell short. we fell short of the expectations that we've created over the last four years for the type of excellence in government they should expect from this office. >> i mean, it's just an outpouring of i'm sorry. i want to know why the conservatives would accept this apology and maybe not accept others. christie said he was disturbed by the tone, get that, of the linked e-mails. >> i was disturbed by the tone

and behavior and attitude, callous indifference that was displayed in the e-mails by my former campaign manager, bill steppian. >> holy smokes. the tone. chris christie just said he's concerned about tone. that's a new one for us at "the ed show," folks. let's look at some of the tone in the leaked correspondence e-mails. when the mayor of ft. lee expressed concern about children being able to make it to school an unidentified person said, is it wrong that i'm smiling? someone else chimed in, they are the children of bu buono voters. ooh. in one-e mail bill stepien called the mayor an idiot. what in the world did the mayor of ft. lee to make one of the associates of the governor think he's an idiot?

because christie said today at the press conference he barely knows the guy. how would we know if he's an idiot or not? i don't know. kind of going around. i'm going to take a wild guess and just assume that these people working around christie picked up the tone from outbursts like this. and you know what? you know what? let me tell you this. it's people who raise their voices and yell and scream like you that are dividing this country. if what you want to do is put on a show and giggle every time i talk, well, then, i have no interest in answering your question. let me tell you something. i can go back and forth with you as much as you want. and let me tell you something, after you graduate from law school you conduct yourself like that in a courtroom, your rear end's going to get thrown in jail, idiot. [ inaudible ] really. something may go down tonight, but it ain't going to be jobs, sweetheart. >> i met beth the white house press corps would love to have

some of that someday, don't you think? we should point out that christie called someone an idiot in the same word bill stepia next used, same thing he used. so don't let christie's dog and pony show fool you, folks. oh, he did a great job today. it was masterful, textbook, it was smooth. the people of new jersey, i think they're tired of being fooled. today christie appointee david wildstein, the head of the port authority during this whole mess during the lane closure, pleaded the fifth during a hearing on the matter. >> most recently where were you employed? >> on the advice of my counsel, i respectfully assert my right to remain silent under the united states and new jersey constitutions. >> well, christie said that he was going to have a transparent administration. i guess that all ended today. maybe we'll never find out. let me just say this, full disclosure. i'm not a bag fan because of the way he has treated workers. christie is a schoolyard bully who belittles people who

basically don't agree with him, even in public. now how does he act behind closed doors when people don't agree with him? more importantly, he's typical republican as i see it. he's given new jersey's biggest corporations a tax cut of $1.5 billion. that's very republican. at the same time, he's hurting new jersey's working families by cutting the earned income tax credit. that doesn't help anybody at home, family of four. he's relentlessly attacked new jersey's teachers, firing to the number of 6,000 in the educational system. he's cut funding for community colleges, he's cut teacher tenure, he hates union, and he has made a career out of fighting with the new jersey teachers union. he's got quite a ledger. in fact, he has cut $7.5 million from women's health programs. he's cut services for new jersey's senior citizens by $21 million.

if he makes it to the white house, you think he's going to fight for the unemployed? he's not going to fight for those folks, chose thoez who need food stamps, won't fight for universal health care. and for reasons unknown to "the ed show" people call chris christie bipartisan? no. good show today, governor. still a long way to go if you want to be the leader in this country of all the people. here's problem. the new york media absolutely loves this guy. he is the media darling. christie very rarely turns down an interview unless of course "the ed show" asks him to come on. he goes on the late-night shows, yucks it up with everybody, people mop that stuff up, and this is why christie is dangerous. he has got tremendous moxie. now, am i saying that he's not telling the truth? no, but i just think there's a heck of a lot more to the story and i find it very, very interesting that he wouldn't talk to somebody he was firing yet they're family. that's what jumped out at me

today. and another thing that jumped out at me today was an interview that was done on a radio station in new jersey. i believe it was 101.5. when he was asked point-blank, is everything out there? and i'm paraphrasing now. is there anything else? are you comfortable that you know everything you need to know? and the governor's answer was i've had a full briefing by my staff. meaning more than one person was in this full briefing. he was so confident he went out nine times and denied having any knowledge of this whatsoever. so if it's a staff meeting, that's more than one, that means that somebody else in that room knew that they were lying to the governor. i find that very intriguing, but this close family just had to do this to the governor. they're so close they thought they'd put him in this vulnerable position. you know, i have to tell you i really don't care about chris christie's political future. you know what i care about? i care about the education professionals that he has thrown under the bus. i care about the 1.3 million

people who, of course, are having their unemployment benefits across this country discontinued. i care about those folks who would have been helped by obamacare. i care about those folks who really do need the truth. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question -- do you believe chris christie's side of the story? text a for yes, b for no to 67622. you can always go to our blog at ed.msn ed.msnbc.com. results later in the show. let me bring in congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, also the chair of the democratic national committee. good to have you with us tonight. >> great to be with you, ed, as always. >> how big a political moment was it today for chris christie, seeing the fact his name has been tossed around as a national candidate? many people think he is the reasonable guy in the room with the republicans because they're so radical over on the right now. how big was today's press conference in your estimation?

>> well, chris christie needed to come in today and try to build some credibility that actually could be believed that he had nothing to do with this scandal that has engulfed him and his office. and here's the crux of the matter. anyone who has ever employed staff, and particularly anyone who employs senior-level staff that are close-knit, as most senior-level staff are, to the person that they work for, generally my experience, having that type of staff for many, many years, is that your senior staff don't go rogue. you don't have a random rogue senior staffer like bridget kelly just decide, hey, i'm going to shut down four lanes of the george washington bridge even though i know my boss won't like this. what senior staff do is they do things that they think their boss will be appreciative of,

supportive of, that think they their boss will like. and they don't do things think they thirty boss won't like. so if culture this is the issue here. and chris christie did not do anything to address the issue and the concern that he obviously created a culture in his office where his senior staff thought it was okay to exact political retribution against people who refused to -- elected official who is refused to support him. 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 credible. >> congresswoman, you have a legal background. what do you think of him taking the fifth today? >> i don't have a legal background -- >> oh, sorry. >> -- other than serving in elected office for many years, but i think anytime i've seen someone plead the fifth it's because they have something to be concerned about exposing and so it's very obvious that there's a tremendous amount of smoke and david wildstein didn't

want to fan any flames that might be out there. >> what do you hear about a possible criminal investigation? and do you think that this warrants that? >> i know the state of the u.s. attorney for that region is looking into a federal investigation and whether or not there were any federal laws broken. but, you know, the bottom line here is that chris christie actually created more questions than ones he answered today. the buck does stop with him. but his answers today were simply not credible. >> and very little detail about what actually happened. >> the other thing, ed -- >> yes. >> the other important thing here is what chris christie repeatedly said he was offended about was that his staff lied to him, not that their actions harmed the people of new jersey. the question is, okay, if they told him what would have happened? >> congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, thanks for join us tonight. >> thank you. >> appreciate your time. coming up, florida republican marco rubio's poverty

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and i don't have time for unreliable companies. angie's list definitely saves me time and money. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today. this is where you can find us. somebody just tweeted to the program, "as far as this christie thing is concerned, where's darrell issa when you need him? also on the radio we're there monday through friday, sirius xm. and of course my radio website. "the ed show" social media nation has decided we are reporting. here are today's top trenders voted on by you. >> i don't even know what that means. >> no one knows what it means but it's provocative. >> polar position. >> we are having a record

breaking cold snap, a polar vortex. >> polar vortex. >> the dreaded polar vortex. >> the media have to come up with a way to make it sound like it's complete ly unprecedented. >> al roker schools rush lame baugh on weather terminology. >> a lot of folks saying there's no such thing as a polar report tex and that it's some left-wing media conspiracy. >> what? >> any weather extreme now is said to be man made and therefore it fulfills the leftist agenda. >> this is from my textbook from college. >> well, they just created it for this week. >> copyright 1959. right here. okay? polar vortex. okay? so for all the doubters out there. stuff it! >> the number-two trender. sky-high. >> get anything for your birthday? i know you did. >> rand paul has big plans for

his birthday present. >> my good friend senator mike lee from utah gave me a drone. it's got a laser. >> fricking laser bloodstream! >> i've been trying to get invited to the democrat lunch for a year now and they won't invite me. >> you can't sit with us! >> you know what, i think i'm going to send my drone in. >> we have the technology. >> and today's top trender, poor excuse. >> the current government programs that are designed to address poverty, they help alleviate some of the pain of poverty, but they do not help people emerge from it. >> marco rubio slams the president with his anti-poverty pitch. >> the president's focused on income inequality. the difference between the rich and the poor and the gap that's grown, that's the wrong focus. we should turn these programs over the states. the if the president's proposal for dealing with this problem is raising the minimum wage and taxing rich people, that's not a solution. that's the same tired, stale rhetoric and policies that have failed for 50 years. >> and rand paul playing with toys. how fitting. joining me now is congressman keith ellison of minnesota.

congressman, good to have you with us tonight. >> thank you, ed. >> you bet. let's talk the economy. we have two different philosophies here. marco rubio says the focus should be on opportunity inequality instead of income inequality. do the republicans have a plan for either? >> no. marco rubio is for the rich getting more. his idea is poor people have too much money and rich don't have enough. he argues if you cut the taxes and don't have health and safety regulations, that rich people and big corporations will take the extra money and put it into jobs but there's no proof of that. as a matter of fact, for the last three or four decades we have seen serious wage stagnation, wage decline. yet we've seen corporate profits exploding. we have the highest gross domestic product per capita in the history of the republic. yet the productivity gains that workers have helped corporations

make more money have not been shared. we need stronger union, a better minimum wage, stronger education. >> minimum wage and income inequality, he thinks states should work on their own to e eliminate poverty. is that acceptable? do we have to have a stronger federal approach as you say it? >> if you look at his own state of florida, you know, you have people who were making a minimum wage literally having to work 13 1/2 hours a day seven days a week just to afford the average apartment. in his own state he needs to think about how difficult it is for hardworking minimum wage workers just to make a go of it. i think it should be higher than that. if we just went there, we would let 4.6 million americans out of poverty and that would be a big deal. >> congressman, what's the realistic chances of that

happening with this climate in washington? >> well, you know, the rubios of world and people like him don't want to see it happen. i believe in people power. if we organize and come down here and if we demand and hold politicians accountable, they will do the right thing. politicians see the light when they feel the heat. so we need to get some street heat going and demand that minimum wage increase go into effect. even republicans when polled in a majority believe that the minimum wage should go up. chris christie is proud that he got 60% of the vote. but increasing the minimum wage got 61% of the vote even in. the bottom line is this is popular, what we should do, and on the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty, we should be making war on poverty not having a war on the war on poverty. >> congressman, i have to ask you, big story today is the governor in new jersey. he gave an epic two-hour press conference, clearing the beach, making sure everybody believes that he had nothing do with it.

do you believe him? >> all i can say is if his top people are using the public tools to work out private grudges against political enemies, then that's still his fault and he should be held accountable for it. >> congressman, great to have you with us. keith ellison of minnesota here with us on "the ed show," thanks so much. >> you bet. >> new jersey governor chris christie sure sounded like a guy with hopes for higher office in his news conference today. we break down bridgegate implications. as the worm turns. dennis rodman lands in tonight's "pretenders." i'm taking your questions next. your eyes really are unique.

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bridgegate? you're asking me that question? i say yes, i think he does know more. now, one of two things. if christie is crystal clear and he's totally telling the truth and he knew nothing, his staffers may be the stupidest employees on the face of the earth. but maybe they are so loyal or they thought that christie was so loyal to them that they could probably get away with anything and the governor would have their back. that's how i read it. i do think the governor knows more than what he's saying. i'm not calling him a liar. i'm just saying that i think he knows a little bit more than what he's saying. our next question is from seth. as a former north dakota resident, that would be me, what are your thoughts on the recent train deraiderailments in the b oil fields? first of all, you're not going to get people out of the oil fields. oil is here to stay. how else are you going to move oil in this country? whether we like it or not,

lefty, oil pretty much runs our economy. energy runs the country. how else are you going to move oil? you do it by rail. what they could have done and what they should do is they need to invest infrastructure on the rail to knock down the possibilities of any of these things happening in the past. and also the xl pipeline comes into play here. if they do build the xl pipeline through the middle of the country i don't think it just should carry tar sands oil from canada. i do believe that they should get some bachan oil in there so they can get it to local market. and pipeline technology, this isn't a supporting statement, it's a fact, pipeline technology in this country has advanced tremendously over the last ten years. stick around. rapid response panel is next. i'm morgan brennan with your cnbc market wrap. modest moves for stocks. the dow falls 18, the s&p is up fractionally, and the nasdaq is off nine points.

the headlines today, all about the jobs. a report from challenger, gray & christmas shows layoffs at u.s. firms fell 32% last month to a 13-year low. and fewer people were on unemployment lines last week. filings for jobless benefits fell by 15,000, more than expected. both reports come one day before the government's payroll data due out at 8:30 a.m. that's it from cnbc. first business worldwide. ed to , donate or burn them ♪ ♪ just pack them in our flat rate box ♪ ♪ we'll come to your door and return them ♪ ♪ gifts you bought but never gave away ♪ ♪ or said you liked but thought were cheesy ♪ ♪ you don't even need to leave your house ♪ ♪ we'll come and take them, easy-peasy ♪ [ female announcer ] no one returns the holidays like the u.s. postal service. with improved priority mail flat rate, just print a label, schedule a pickup, and return those gifts at a same low flat rate.

i losi'm a year short ofbably qualifying for my retirement.. they had some cutbacks. i was the most skilled technician and also the highest paid. for my unemployment to end now, i wouldn't have money to go on an interview. my retirement is going away as a result of this. i do have a husband, thank god, or i would be homeless. tell republicans: restore unemployment benefits now.

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my obligation as chief executive of this state is to act. i believe what they expect of me as the chief executive of this state -- and i think that's swift, appropriate action that people would expect from the chief executive of the state.

>> welcome back to "the ed show." in today's press conference, governor chris christie was eager to remind us of his status as chief executive of the state of new jersey. sure sounds like a guy who hopes for higher office. but christie is learning quickly that dipping your toe into the pool of possible presidential candidates comes with a price -- all eyes are on you. he took advantage of that for two hours today. there's no doubt this bridgegate scandal has seriously jeopardized his status as front runner for the 2016 presidential nominee for the republicans and i think he knows it. here's what he had to say when he was asked if this would affect his consideration for a 2016 run. >> my job is to be governor of new jersey. and i have -- i'll say what i've said before. i am enormously flattered that folks would talk about me in my party as someone who they think could be a candidate for president. but i am absolutely in nowhere near beginning that consideration process.

i haven't even been sworn in for my second term yet. i've fot work to do here, and that's my focus. my focus is on the people of new jersey and the job that they gave me. and so all those considerations are, you know, the kind of hysteria that goes around this because everybody's in that world gets preoccupied with that job. i am not preoccupied with that job. i'm preoccupied with this one. and as you can tell, i've got plenty to do. it's not like i've got some spare time to spend. hoo joining me now, karen finney, host of "disrupt" on saturday and sunday on msnbc, and msnbc political analyst jonathan alter. lots of angles here. karen, you first because you've been on staff. you've worked for political figures in the past. how much of a downfall is this for chris christie if he wants to lead the country if this happens on his staff? >> it's a huge down fall, but i think part of what it is, we don't know what we don't know. if everything that he said today

in that press conference turns out to be absolutely fact and absolutely true, then he might be okay. but if there is any daylight between anything that he said, that's the danger. when you go out and do a press conference and talk that long, you better be sure that everything you say, and i'm sure staff was sitting in the back, taking notes, making sure they check things, because if it's not it raises more questions and there are already more questions and more potential investigations. >> jonathan, your thoughts. was he not detailed on this? he denied it nine times, made fun of it, made jokes about it, now this. >> what he did was necessary, thood do what he did today, but wasn't anywhere close to being sufficient for ending this scandal that threatens him as he's about to take the oath for a second term. you know, forget the iowa caucuses two years from now. it's impossible to predict where things will go. the next several months are potentially going to be very, very rough for chris christie. not just on this issue but because it fits a pattern of

bullying. "the new york times" has identified five or six other examples that maybe aren't quite as easy to understand as this, but where he punished people and arguably abused his power and acted like a bully. so if this had happened to somebody else, to a governor with a different kind of reputation, they might be able to skate past it. but he has this reputation already so, every time he comes out, everything that he does will be put in that bullying context. that's going to hurt him in a presidential battle. >> there's tremendous scrutiny, hearings going on, wildstein took the fifth today pap lot of legal wrangling that's going to start right now. given that, if christie comes out of this clear, he did not know, there's no evidence saying that he was involved in this, doesn't this make him the guy that has the guts to come out and lay it on the line for two hours? >> i don't think so. i don't think so. i mean, look, essentially the bottom line take-away from this

is that he had, by new york, a republican conservative, a rogue political operation within his office just a few feet away from him. >> and it's hard to -- you know, having been a staff person, it is hard to believe that you would go that far out on a limb on something like this without -- if you didn't have direct communication with your boss, at least to think that somehow it was okay to take those kind of steps. i mean, that's the piece -- i'll tell you, when he was asked today, you know, talking act his soul searching and why was i lied to and he was asked, again, okay, what about the culture in your office, he said i don't worry about that because it's not true, i'm not a bully, you don't get the trouble you're in with regard to that. >> he said the exception, not the rule. said that two or three times. his problem is it's not the exception. there are other cases. when he said to his people before the earlier press conference when he was joking about it, he said i'm going to give you an hour and tell me if

there's anything i need to know. an hour? that's a real investigation to find out whether your people are doing things in your name? >> it just seems like this whole thing was orchestrated just by the tone of the e-mails and the response. i mean, time for some traffic problems? got it? i mean, clearly there had to be some kind of planning here. and for the governor not to know about it is rather strange. now, the mayor of ft. lee has accepted his apology today. your thoughts on that. >> well, the mayor of ft. lee has handled this beautifully. he was very gracious. i thought he was gracious during the period of the investigation. i thought he was great in saying don't apologize to me, apologize to the people, apologize to the people who were stuck in traffic or the kids who were late for school. so certainly i think the mayor -- he had to -- it was an interesting back and forth where the mayor said i want to come, he said don't come, he said i want to come and he went and went in the front door. he wanted that press. to your point about how he comes out of this, he wanted to be

seen today as i stood there, this is like hillary clinton in the pink press conference. i stood there for 90 minute, two hour, took every last question. i went to ft. lee. he's clearly trying to rehabilitate with his own narrative and throughout the press conference had his own narrative about what had happened and how sad he was. >> he's getting some defenders out there. congressman michael grim of new york said christie demonstrated true leadership and accountable during today's press conference. john boehner was asked about christie's apology at a presser today. let's take a look at that. >> wondering if you saw any of governor christie's press conference before you came on? >> no, i wasn't fortunate enough to have that opportunity. >> he apologize for the scandal and said he fired his top aides. is this response sufficient that he could continue to remain on top for the 2016 republican -- >> i think so. >> nobody's going to throw him under the bus, right, jonathan?

>> not right now. you have to say given the hand he was dealt christie did well. he's a skillful politician. there were little things in there that raised questions. for instance, he said i don't know whether there was a traffic study or not. well, come on. find out. most people look at it and say -- include prg the port authority -- >> and -- >> bogus. >> went to the press conference today not knowing anything about what had happened. it was all about him. >> yet he seemed to know quite a bit as a former prosecutor and knew about the time lines. there were other places where he clearly had done his homework and studied. it would not have been that hard to find out what the truth was behind this. >> let's say he knows. say there's something else that comes out. presidential candidate? >> if it's serious enough. he's already got a big problem in that department because of the ads that can be made against him on this. >> yeah. i completely agree. and it's not over yet. whatever else comes out is something he'll have to deal with. >> karen finney, jonathan alter, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much.

karen will have more on this on her weekend show on "disrupt." coming up, senator max baucus is putting the united states on the wrong track by introducing fast track authority for the legislation for the trans-pacific partnership. weeknights are for favorites.

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dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪ and in pretenders tonight, personal foul. basketball hall of fame dennis rodman, the worm sat down for an interview and talked about his bromance with kim jong un and basketball diplomacy. it didn't take long for rodman to go on a full-court press. >> why do you think this is a good idea? >> this is a sports venture. we've got ten guys, all these guys here. does anyone understand that? >> we do. and we appreciate that. and we wish them well with cultural exchange. >> no, no, no. i'm going to what the hell you

think. i'm saying to you, look at these guys here. >> cool, dude, cool. rodman apologized for his outburst, which included criticism of an american citizen currently imprisoned in north korea. he talked up his antics to a double dribble. you see, rodman explained in a statement released today that he had been drinking. dennis rodman has and was a fantastic basketball player, but this is a crosscourt violation. if dennis rodman believes that this is what diplomacy looks like, he can keep on pretending. 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. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses... we're open to it. start a tax-free business at startup-ny.com.

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welcome back to "the ed show." this is the story for the folks who take a shower after work. well, we knew this day was coming. fast-track legislation for the tpp has been introduced into the united states senate. time is running out to stop this international trade deal which would be terrible for american workers. democratic senator max baucus of montana is the latest advocate putting pressure for approval for the transpacific partnership. fast track means the deal with 12 other nations, including china and vietnam would speed through capitol hill with no debate and no contention. the massive free trade agreement is being pushed by big corporations and neglected behind closed doors with a lot of secrecy. senator baucus is taking special interest in the tpp introducing fast-track legislation today after the white house nominated him to be ambassador to china. max baucus, in my opinion as i see it is no democrat. he is no friend to the middle class, and that deal is no friend to the middle class.

they talk about exports. what about the imports? it's not good. as senate finance committee chairman, baucus was the major obstacle to incorporating a public option into the affordable care act. and we know that story. laurie wallog joins us tonight. she joins us this evening. laurie, good to have you with us. i appreciate your time. is senator baucus only pushing for fast track authority to cement his relationship with china? is there a personal gain here? >> well, baucus, unfortunately, has been a big fan of fast track and the nafta-streile trade killing agreements that fast track has enabled. i think he is probably really excited about being the ambassador to china because now he can go visit all the u.s. jobs that his past trade votes have offshored to china. i hope it breaks his heart that it's going to be a bunch of young women working for $1 an

hour for 18 hours a day for doing the jobs that men and women with union jobs and middle class lifestyles once had before his trade votes. but he has been a fast track cheerleader for a long time. >> and there are a number of democrats on board with this in the senate, do you think? i mean, the democrats out there talking about there for the middle class. then they come up with something like this. and in my opinion, they're not protesting enough about it. >> well, ed, here is the really interesting thing. they couldn't find nary a one fast track supporting democrat in the house of representatives. i mean, they're calling it the bipartisan trade bill. but actually, max "i love to offshore jobs" baucus is the only democrat attached to it. literally, they waited for an extra week because they couldn't find a democrat in the entire house of representatives to put their john hancock on that fast track to railroad tpp. so it went in today. mr. max and all republicans. >> we only hear about the threats because we don't know

all the details. what is the biggest threat to workers as you see it on this deal from what has been leaked? >> well, i would say the investment rules. i mean, they're branding it a trade agreement because that's kind of what all the smart people must be for free trade. but actually at the core of it and this chapter leaked, even with all the secrecy, there is a set of investment rules that literally incentivizes the offshoring of u.s. jobs. it takes away most of the risks that would otherwise be associated with say going off to vietnam where wages aren't a dollar an hour like in china. they're $1.80 a day. china is one of the countries in tpp. so with these investor rules, if a u.s. company splits, they get guaranteed special treatment. they don't have to use the courts because they can go to these corporate tribunals, and they get compensation for regulatory costs. it's literally pushing them away. that's in the tpp.

>> that's the sovereignty issue even republicans are very concerned about, the tea partiers especially. this is creating a divide between democrats and the president and the white house at a very crucial time. how is this going to unfold? >> well, you know, it's a pretty shocking state of affairs, because you have president obama talking about income equality and wisely so. it's a plague in our country. but actually, the data shows that these kinds of trade agreements are one of the major contributors to increasing income inequality. so here we are 20 years into nafta. in nafta, there was a huge offshoring of high paying jobs in manufacturing, but services too. a million jobs gone. now, it's not the total number of jobs, it's the quality of the jobs and the kind of wages. we got lower paying jobs. and as a result, the entire tier of us, even if you didn't lose your job to nafta directly, our wages are down.

so he wants to expand nafta to vietnam? >> okay. well, that is the scary thing. they have no labor standards or environmental standards whatsoever. lori wallach, thank you for joining us tonight on "the ed show." that's "the ed show." i'm eld schultz. "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. good evening, rev. >> good evening, ed. and thanks to you for tuning in. well, tonight's lead stonewall. silence today from david wildstein. he is the at the center of the bridge scandal. he was called to testify in front of a new jersey legislative committee, but said nothing. >> on the advice of my council, i respectfully assert my right to remain silent under the united states and new jersey constitutions. >> and at the same time, this amazing scene was playing out, another