here. >> okay, larry cohen, president of the communication workers of america, thanks for joining us. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> we'll be reporting on this again as i visit with more lawmakers here on capitol hill here in washington. that's "ed show." i'm ed schultz. "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. good evening, rev. >> good evening, ed. and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, the christie investigation widens. since governor christie's press conference, it hasn't quieted down. it's only getting hotter. today we learned new subpoenas are likely coming this week for christie's former deputy chief of staff bridget kelly, and for his campaign manager, bill stepien. also today, lawmakers preferred contempt charges to prosecutors after former christie appointee david wildstein refused to answer questions. those charges carry a maximum penalty of 18 months behind

bars. and two new investigations were also announced today. the new jersey senate plans a committee to investigate the scandal. and the assembly announced its own special investigatory committee with full subpoena powers. it will be led by the lawmaker who helped break this story wide open. he said today christie's story is unbelievable. >> when you have so many people in his upper level senior circle that received information about the fallout, the traffic jams, and the efforts to spin the traffic jams, in the context of a governor running for reelection, it strains credibility to say that all of these senior people whose job it is to communicate and keep the governor informed did absolutely nothing with these e-mails. >> it does raise a lot of questions. question for so many people

close to governor christie. like david wildstein, who was held in contempt, and wildstein's boss, wristie appointee bill baroni. bridget kelly, the deputy chief of staff who sent the e-mail, "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." bill especially tstepien, the c manager who infamously called the mayor of ft. lee an idiot. michael drewniak, the press secretary who received e-mails about reporter inquiries in september. and regina agia, christie's incoming chief of staff who received four e-mails. four of these people have been resigned, fired or let go. two others appear to have known about the swirling controversy. they're all facing tough questions. that includes governor christie, who gives his state of the state

address tomorrow. the mystery is far from over. joining me now are new jersey, new jersey state senator ray lesniak and salon.com's joan walsh. thank you both for being here. >> thanks, rev. >> glad to be here for sure. >> senator, the pressure is ramping up. new investigative committee formed. what questions do you want answered? >> well, first of all, we want to get down to the bottom of this. why was this retaliation taking place? what was the motive? and then, of course, what the governor knew. but after he knew, what did he do about it? we know what he did about it. he circumstance. ed -- circled the wagons and concocted a phony story in my opinion to obstruct justice. when people in his administration are asked to testify under oath, it's going

to get closer and closer to governor christie having some serious problems. >> so you're saying it is your belief that governor christie circled the wagons, if i heard you right, and he began in effect a cover-up, which is an obstruction of justice, which could be criminal. >> it certainly could be. but for months, instead of trying to referring it to the attorney general's office, reacting to the closures, he said nothing. he tried to make light of it, like this was a joke. it was no joke, not only to the thousands of consumers caught in traffic, but certainly to the emergency response vehicles who weren't able to get to the hospital to respond to any emergencies and school children who didn't even get to school. governor christie, this is no joking matter. this was serious. and we're taking it seriously. >> joan, you know the investigators and the widening here in the investigations, the

governmental arms are looking into this, the new jersey state senate is planning to launch a special committee. so is the new jersey state senate. the u.s. attorney's office in new jersey has opened up an inquiry. this is not going away with the almost two-hour press conference that governor christie did. >> the two-hour pity party where he told us how bad this was for him and how bad he felt about himself, and how he was mistreated by his staff. i mean, no. he made things much worse for himself, rev, because as these e-mails come out, you see you've got his staff around him. every single person around him virtually in that office was either planning this charade or they were involved in covering it up, or they were involved in deflecting reporters' inquiries. and it really does strain credulity that a man as accomplished as governor christie, a former prosecutor would not at minimum say we've got to get to the bottom of this, listening to what the allegations were, you don't just sit there.

you wouldn't tolerate it on your staff. you don't just sit there. >> and there is the senator sitting in the emotional of a reelection. >> right. >> would you want to do that. senator david wild stostein ref to answer questions last week. and we all saw that. but there was something interesting i think a lot of people missed that his lawyer said. let me play this to you. >> if the attorneys general for new jersey, new york, and the united states were all to agree to cloak mr. wildstein with immunity, i think you would find yourselves in a far different position with respect to information he could provide. >> that's your job. we just want answers to our questions. >> understood. i'm suggesting a way you can get there. >> now, i'm suggesting a way you can get there. i mean, is that ominous, mr. senator? because it seems that he implied

that his client has a lot that he could say if he was given immunity. now maybe i'm reading something into it. >> well, he's not the only one who that has a lot that could be said that could save their skins. there will be other people i believe saying the same thing. it's really going to be a rush to who gets there first with the mostest. but this guy is a sharp operator, and he was right in the middle of it. he caused the whole thing. and he can save himself if he is truthful with the law enforcement authorities, maybe. >> joan, they've thrown the contempt over to a local prosecutor. >> right. >> and as i said in the opening, maximum could be 18 months. >> right. >> with looking at that and looking at the statement that his lawyers said, does it appear to you that the lawyer at least

implying they may have some things they want to say if given immunity? >> absolutely, reverend al. the other thing i hear when you play that again is that the lawyer is essentially admitting that wildstein has not delivered to the truth to this point. he is basically saying if you want the truth, which you do not have yet, you're going to have to give him immunity, and that he is willing to take immunity. other really gratuitously mean thing that the governor did at this press conference last week is say not only am i not friends with david wildstein, we were not even acquaintances with hoop. i was an athlete. i was class president. i don't know what he was doing. we found out over the weekend they were both on the baseball team, though wildstein was the statistician. there is an element of gratuitous meanness that is going to backfire on this governor. it already has. >> joan, how about this, reverend, i am not a bully. >> right. >> i am not a bully. the man is a bully. everyone knows that. a big bully. >> the governor gives his state

of the state address tomorrow in this kind of climate, it's going to be a difficult address at best for him. what are you hoping to hear tomorrow? probably little on this case, i would assume. >> well, look. we still have to governor. we have a lot of problems. unemployment problems. we have crime problems. we have budget problems. we can't lose focus. he is still the governor, and we have to work with him to have these problems solved. so we can't lose attention from that. but we can do both at is the same time, and we owe to it the public to do both. >> joan, the governor was -- there was a question of whether the governor's people was punishing the mayor of ft. lee for not endorsing governor christie. last week, the mayor of ft. lee said he was never approached for an endorsement. but today he told the bergen record the idea did come up. quote, it got as close as is

this something you'd consider? the record said the mayor declined to answer more questions about the matter. but this does seem to indicate the idea of an endorsement did come up. >> it does. but i also think that our colleague steve kornacki has a great set of theories around this having to do with real estate. and in the end, all politics has to do with retail, reverend al. so i think we're still untangling a lot of reasons that this might have happened. and i don't see how you give a state of the state address tomorrow night and not deal with this in some way. but i also think it's very hard for him to say anything else that doesn't get him in more trouble. >> but doesn't it come back to you, senator, what you said at the beginning? we know that we're after a lot of the what, but you also want to know the why. was it a retribution based on politics? was it as my colleague steve kornacki is saying about a real estate deal? i mean, the why here is very important. and could also put into focus the what.

>> well, for sure. and i think steve kornacki is on to something here. this was a billion dollar development. there are a lot of players involved that are close to christie that are enemies of christie. this is something that we're really going to have to look very, very closely at. >> wow. we'll be watching it. let me put that it way. new jersey state senator ray lesniak, and joan walsh. thank you both for your time tonight. >> thanks, rev. >> thank you. coming up, did governor christie know more? can he survive this politically? former governor ed rendell joins us. plus, we're learning more about a history of political retribution. the lead investigator is talking about an enemy's list. and you got to hand it to these republicans. somehow this scandal is about president obama.

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the new jersey bridge scandal with more subpoenas coming, one key question is did governor christie know more? governor rendell on that, next. [ male announcer ] this is the story

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did governor christie know? it's the key question of the bridge scandal. inside the thousands of documents released is an e-mail from the executive director of the port authority saying, quote, i am appalled, and saying that, quote, hasty and ill-advised decision violates federal law and the laws of both states. that e-mail was forwarded to a senior staffer in christie's office, the incoming chief of staff. we told you there are several there are several people in christie's circumstance whole are somehow involved in the story. these people are facing very tough questions. so what happens if the governor did know? >> using the george washington bridge of public resource to exact a political vendetta is a crime. having people use their official

position to have a political gain is a crime. and so if those tie back into the governor in any way, it clearly becomes an impeachable offense. >> governor christie is the gop's biggest hope for 2016. instead, he is fighting what might be the toughest political battle of his career right now. joining me now is former governor ed rendell, democrat from pennsylvania. thank you for joining me, governor. >> my pleasure. >> let me put this graphic up again. all of these people who may have some knowledge of the closing. as a former governor, you know how this works. do you believe his story that he didn't know what his staff was up to? >> it stretches credulity enormously, rev. when i was governor, no one in my staff, especially my deputy chief of staff whose desk was 25

yards from mine, no one in my staff ever would have done something of this magnitude without clearing it with me fist. and i was the same type of hands-on governor that governor christie is. but there is an even bigger problem for governor christie. let's assume that he wants us to believe that he never was notified of this. governor christie, like i, knew everything that goes on in his state at the end of every day. he, i'm sure learned of that traffic jam on the george washington bridge, and he said he was told it was a traffic study. well, look, don't you believe that you're running for reelection. >> right. >> it's a traffic study. it's causing all sorts of headaches. the first thing i would do if i'm governor, i would pick up the phone and say what is going on. they say it's a traffic study. the next thing i say is take that traffic study and stick it in the can. we are opening the bridge in 30 minutes. get those cones down. we are opening the bridge in 30 minutes. i do not want people inconvenienced. >> right. >> that's the first thing an active governor would have done.

how does he let it go for four or five days of incredible inconvenience and danger to public safety to the citizens? >> so you're saying he must have known? >> he had to know. because if he didn't know, the first day he hears about it, he says traffic study my rear end. we're going to open that bridge now, and you have to come to trenton and explain to me why a traffic study necessitates closing lanes for four days. get those cones down. get the traffic flowing again. that's what a governor does particularly an activist governor like governor christie. >> let me ask you something you said earlier. you said your deputy chief of staff was how far away from you? is it customary for the deputy chief of staff to be in that close proximity to the governor in terms of their desk and offices? >> sure, because you've got your chief of staff almost always next door, sometimes there is a side door you can enter into with the deputy chief of -- the

chief of staff. and the deputies are down the hall, 25, 30 yards away. so what i'm saying is governor christie said he has 65,000 employees. he can't be accountable for all of them. well, that's true. but deputy chief of staff is among the four or five most important people that you have in your administration. and they're not going to do something like this without informing you that it's going on. without getting your approval. there. >> are some that claim she was even with him the first day of the bridge facing the closing of these lanes. you know, assemblyman john wisniewski expressed his own doubt that the governor didn't know what was happening. watch this, governor. >> these people travel with him. these people discuss things with him every single day. he knew there was an investigation. he knew people were looking at it. and his senior staff was involved. and yet he expects us to believe that he knew nothing. i just find that implausible.

>> he says what you're saying, it's just implausible. >> and especially because we're finding out that so many different people knew. and at different points way before governor christie says he was blindsided and he learned about it just a couple of days ago. well, that simply defies credibility. it defies credibility. with that many people. and again, governor christie is a tough guy. and i mean that in a good way. he gets thing done. he moves people around. he takes care of problems in his state. there is no way that he would have let this problem in his state fester for four or five days if someone told him it was a traffic study, he says without any question, come to trenton and explain to me why we need a traffic study. but in the meantime, open up those lanes. >> now governor, if one were to compare this to watergate, that would be something that would catch everyone's attention. but the fact that conservative

"washington post" columnist george will did is even more troubling if i'm governor christie. watch this. >> john dean sent a memo to mr. higby, who was the assistant of the chief of staff alderman saying we should use the machinery, the federal machinery of government to screw our enemies. that's what this was about up there. >> that's what this was about up there. this is george will, one of the most respected right wingers, or conservative journalists in the country saying this. that's big trouble for christie, isn't it, in terms of his national political career, no matter what happens here? >> there is no question. and even just as bad as "the new york post" poll today which shows well over half of new jerseyites think the governor is not telling the truth. that's just a logical inference to be drawn from the facts. and george will has drawn it. the people of new jersey have drawn it. and i think the governor has a tough road to hoe to try to

convince people that he didn't know about it. because the only thing that he can say is well, i knew there was traffic problems, but i thought it was a traffic study. so i let it go on for five days. >> if it comes out that he knew about it, governor, then what? >> well, then it would be up to the prosecutors, both state and federal, to take a look at this and see if there have been any laws that have been violated. it's certainly grounds to consider some form of impeachment action as the representative said. but again, i think we're jumping ahead of ourselves here, rev. i think we have to let the facts play out. but again, they have a lot of explaining to do about how this is possible. it just doesn't seem credible, particularly with a governor so involved in everything that happens in the state as governor christie was. and that's one of the things that he did well. he was always on top of issues in his state. he always knew what was going on. before i went to bed at night, i knew every major incident that was happening in the state of pennsylvania.

and i know governor christie did the same. >> particularly hen he is running for reelection at the same time, absolutely. would you want people ticked off for five days in northern jersey, one of your strongholds? gosh, that would bother the heck out of me. >> former governor ed rendell. >> it doesn't make sense. >> i'm going to have to leave it there. thank you for your time tonight. >> thanks, rev. coming up, somehow governor christie's bridge scandal comes back to benghazi. yes, that's how worried they are. plus, we're learning more stories of political payback and retribution from the christie administration. stay with us. you're getting 3 here. alright?

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oh, here's one... get an allstate agent. nice! [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call an allstate agent and get a quote now. just another way allstate is changing car insurance for good. did you hear? the chris christie bridge scandal isn't really about a bridge at all. nope. it turns out the real story is about 5,000 miles away in libya. that's right. republicans say that even though the bridge is in new jersey, the real focus should be on benghazi. >> frankly, you know, he was in campaign mode at the time. during campaign mode, you miss a lot of things. you're not paying as much attention. we see that with benghazi. and i give you plenty of examples. >> we haven't spent this much

time in a press conference on four americans dying in benghazi. >> you'll notice we haven't been hearing a lot from the clinton camp about this, both the contrast with president bill clinton and with secretary clinton's handling of benghazi. >> he stood there for 111 minutes in an open dialogue with the press. now only if barack obama and hillary clinton would give us 111 seconds of that would we find out some things we want to find out about obamacare, benghazi, the irs. >> oh, excuse me, chairman priebus. christie bridgegate is really about obamacare, benghazi, and the irs? in fact, some republicans think the president should take a page out of the christie playbook. >> his handling of this, being straight forward, taking action, saying i'm responsible, firing the people, probably gives him some street cred with tea party republicans who say that's what

we want in a lead. >> how about that? this whole mess has been a model of leadership. it just me, or have the republican contortions gotten a little extreme? i mean, what will they come up with next to defend christie? >> in this sort of feminized atmosphere in which we exist today, guys who are masculine and muscular like that in their private conduct and kind of old-fashioned tough guys run some risks. if you act like kind of an old-fashioned guy's guy, you're in constant danger of slipping out and saying something that is going to get you in trouble and make you look like a sexist or make you seem like you're thuggish or whatever. >> feminized atmosphere. chris christie is a victim of a feminized atmosphere. folks, if right wingers think americans will buy that, i've got a bridge to sell them. joining me now are krystal ball and cynthia tucker. thank you both for coming on the show tonight.

>> thanks for having us, reverend. >> good to be here, reverend. >> krystal, let me start with you. why are people picking on poor governor christie? he is just a victim of a feminized atmosphere? >> it's really not fair. this excuse, at least it's creative. the benghazi thing, the irs scandal thing, they always blame obama. that was all kind of predictable. but blaming the feminists for chris christie's problem is pretty unique. and on the contrary, i have to say i think his sort of swagger and his alpha male posture has been part of what his appeal has been in terms of the right. it is what brought him to prominence. they all imagined him taking on president obama, taking it to him tough. but his actions as a bully, whatever happens with the bridge scandal, those are well documented. berating school teachers, yelling at constituents, chasing people down when they challenge him, that part of his whole ethos is well established.

>> but cynthia, did they miss the fact that the one who sent the e-mail saying it's time for a little traffic problem on the bridge is a woman? and all of this other stuff is dealing with e-mails of men and women, and it hasn't even got to christie and his attitude or him being this hard man. in fact, he is saying he wasn't involved. so, i mean, i don't even know how you try to contort this to make sense. >> reverend al, you're looking for logic here. and there is absolutely no logic. you know, one of the funnier things about listening to these republicans talk is that right-wingers don't really like chris christie anyway. he is too moderate for their tastes. you remember during hurricane sandy episode actually put his arm around obama. they hate that. but he is a republican. he has been spoken of as a major

presidential candidate in 2016. so they think they have to defend him. and the contortions they have gone to try to defend him are laughable. it makes no sense at all. this has nothing to do with benghazi, nothing to do with the irs. they've talked about, well, obama won't give us 111 seconds on benghazi or the irs. we know everything we need to know about those two episodes. >> how many hearings did we have. >> how many hearings did we have, plus, you don't have anyone sitting in the west wing of the white house that was involved in the irs, any of that. but the far right, they just can't help themselves, krystal. now they're putting out conspiracy theories. glenn beck's website, the blaze, it says that lane-gate and governor christie are helping obama again.

>> everything is seen through like these obama lens glasses. every story. >> i'm not finished. rush limbaugh claims that this whole story is a distraction to take the attention off robert gates' book. listen to the head of the republican. >> the left right now is very excited over what we just learned about governor christie, because what we have just learned about governor christie is helping to take the gates thing off the front page. but the point is, the media is just glommed on to that. like bees in honeycomb so that they don't have to talk about the gates book. >> maybe i missed something in the gates book, but there was no allegations there that there was some kind of mood that would do what was done to the motorists in new jersey and the using of government and public institutions and agencies to do it. >> right. and the real driver of the timing on the story around chris christie is chris christie.

because he tried to push off the allegations, not really look into it himself. so, you know, this is coming out now because he failed himself to look into it when the problem was first noticed and first brought to light by democrats in new jersey. i think chris christie may have a big problem even coming down the pike with the allegations that he misused funds for the sandy relief effort, which i think is going to be even harder for republicans to defend since they are supposed to be the party of fiscal responsibility. and since they had had some issues with christie in the half over the sandy relief funds. that's another piece they're going to have to try to defend. you can already see how they're turning into into a liberal media versus chris christie kind of a story. >> you know, cynthia, on the new jersey shore as the governor's office has taken heat for promoting these adds, and it features christie and his family. but a christy administration defends ads by saying, quote,

the stronger than the storm campaign is just one part of the first action plan approved by the obama administration. so they're going to run back to president obama. but in fact they're looking at whether -- one mayor said that their request for a lot of aid and help was reduced to a minimum of what they had requested after she said she wouldn't endorse him for governor. all of these questions are going to be very difficult to answer easily. >> absolutely. there is a lot here that is going on. and christie has been able to, as krystal said, sweep this under the rug, say there is nothing to it. this is just my political enemies complaining. but now there will be lots of investigations, lots of hearings. other mayors, as you said saying that there was retribution against them too.

and all of these things need to be investigated. they'll get a thorough hearing. and so republicans can only hope that at least chris christie was telling the truth during his 111 minutes up there talking, talking, talking. they better hope everything he said was true. >> but not only do they need to hope that already we know krystal, despite the fact that he had such high favorabilities among the 2016 contenders, i think he was at 52%. the closest was only at 40. but now over the weekend the one poll says most of the people in new jersey do not believe he is telling the whole truth on this matter. >> well, i think it's hard for people to believe that all the people around you knew something about it and you, this take charge guy who has promoted yourself as such as strong leader was absolutely completely blindsided, that you had no inc.

llg. whether or not they believe he is the one that ordered it or not, i think it strains credible that he had no inkling that this could possibly be going on. >> he is in a feminized atmosphere. >> well, that's his problem. >> krystal ball, cynthia tucker, thanks for your time this evening. >> thanks, rev. >> be sure to catch krystal on the cycle weekdays at 3:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. coming up, bully politics. we're learning more about the pattern of retribution. michael isikoff has been working this story all day. he has some news for us. that's next. my mother and my grandmother are very old fashioned. i think we both are clean freaks. i used to scrub the floor on my knees. [ daughter ] i've mastered the art of foot cleaning. oh, boy. oh, boy. oh, boy. [ carmel ] that drives me nuts. it gives me anxiety just thinking about how crazy they get. [ doorbell rings ] [ daughter ] oh, wow. [ carmel ] swiffer wetjet. you guys should try this. it's so easy. oh, my. [ gasps ] i just washed this floor.

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politics ain't beanbag. and everybody in the country who engages in politics knows that. on the other hand, that's very, very different than saying that, you know, someone is a bully, because i am who i am, but i am not a bully. >> does the christie team operate based on political payback and retaliation? a new story from jersey city suggests the answer is yes. documents obtained by nbc news support claims from jersey city mayor steve philip that he was cut off after refusing to endorse christie for governor. the documents show that

disgraced christie age bridget kelly arranged for top state officials to meet with the mayor last summer. but all of those meetings were canceled without explanation after he chose not to endorse christie. that echoes the experience of the mayor of ft. lee, the town that was brought to a halt by lane closures at the gw bridge. today he confirmed to "the new york times" that christie's reelection team did seek his endorsement. months later, subpoenaed e-mails show that he begged one of christie's allies at the port authority to call him about the horrible traffic created by the bridge. bridget kelly e-mailed. quote, did he call him back? the man who ordered the lane closures, david wildstein wrote, quote, radio silence. his name comes right after mayor fulop.

the other mayor who refused to endorse mayor christie. democrats investigating christie say all this adds up to a kind of enemy's list, targeting anyone who didn't go and do what the governor's team wanted. joining me now is new jersey assemblyman john mckeehan and nbc news national investigative correspondent michael isikoff, who obtained these new documents. thank you both for joining me. >> thank you for having us. good to be here. >> assemblyman, do these new revelations match your experience with the christie team? >> well, first, reverend al, i hope you're nice and toasty in the studio. it's getting a little cool out on this side of things. and the answer to that is yeah. you know, in my own personal experiences before governor christie was sworn in, relative to a piece of legislation i had

in play having to do with is t senatorial succession, he went out and called me a liar. calling another one of my colleagues numb nuts. so it's just a culture of disrespect, of a lack of acomedy. and that may have leached its way into senior staff. >> now, when you hear him call people these kinds of names, michael, liar and all of that, then you can see he really was trying hard to get crossover party votes last year. for example, mayor fulop, who is a democrat, christie was eager for his support. and he spoke at his inauguration, which he doesn't have to do. and he made a major gaffe. watch this. >> to the mayor's parents and

grandparents, who says siblings, to his children and his wife, i congratulate you on your accomplishment. i congratulate on your accomplishment. >> now, that seems nice. what is wrong with that, michael? >> you can see the mayor laughing there. the mayor is not married and he doesn't have any children. >> so he was really trying hard. >> but look, name-calling is one thing. what these e-mails and texts show, though, is something that probably goes a bit beyond that. the mayor had just been elected. the governor's people had said they want to help him. they said they were going to set up a mayor's day meeting with six top officials of the christie administration, cabinet members and bill baroni from the port authority, the head of economic development, the secretary of transportation, the state treasurer. it was all set up for the same day, meetings with mayor fulop, the new mayor. then the mayor declined to endorse christie's reelection.

and then on one day, july 18th, within an hour, four of those top christie aides call up the mayor's office, cancel the meeting siting scheduling conflicts. >> within one hour. >> within one hour, and don't propose any other dates, according to the e-mail. the next day, baroni cancels. and then two days after that, the only one left on the schedule, which was the head of economic development canceled as well. so everybody in the christie administration canceled the meeting. >> once the mayor would not endorse him. >> and showed the mayor asked his scheduler to go back to these people, see if they could find an alternative day, and they hear nothing back. at one point back in august, fulop writes a letter or e-mails baroni saying look, it's hard for me to conclude other than there is some connection between the political conversations we were having and the cancellation of these meetings. >> now assemblyman, did this --

let's be clear. this involved services for the public. i mean, we're talking about they were meeting to do things that would have service to people in the city. all of that is cancelled just immediately after he tells the christie people he will not endorse the governor for reelection. this is the kind of disregard for the citizens that is so outrageous to me. >> well, you know, i think, reverend, at the end of the day, a lot of people say oh, it's politics as usual. you pay back those who support you, et cetera. it's one thing if it's a discretionary grant to a city. it's another when you affirmatively seek taxpayer dollars and to put people at risk. i just think this level of conduct that we now know occurred, that we know was ordered by a senior aide is outrageous. i give the governor the benefit of the doubt that he had not an idea that that was happening, but it's going to be quite interesting and frankly surprising that there isn't any knowledge subsequent to that, as

we know among other senior staff since these e-mails have come out is indeed the case. >> you know, michael, hoboken mayor don zimmer told wnyc that she refused to endorse christie, and afterward was denied most of the funding she wanted for hurricane sandy relief. listen to this. >> with 20/20 hindsight, in the context we're in right now, you can always look back and say okay, it was retribution. so i think probably all mayors are reflecting right now and thinking about it. but, you know, i really hope that that's not the case. >> now, you've been doing a lot of reporting in new jersey. does this track along with some of the other stories you're hearing? >> look, yeah. we're hearing more and more stories like this. now, should it be pointed throughout is a political culture in new jersey that is pretty hardball. and things like this do happen from time to time. there is certainly a long history of that. you know, the question is at what point is the line crossed.

and certainly i think people think in the george washington bridge closures that raise as lot of questions where you're really jeopardizing the public safety because there were emergency responders who they were having trouble responding to problems. there was, you know, the executive director of the port authority warning that laws may have been broken. so the question is this all part of a pattern? and at some point, was the line crossed? and i think clearly -- >> and is there a cover-up? >> and is there a cover-up. given subpoenas. >> that works with the cover-up. let me ask you this, assemblyman. what is the mood there among your colleagues? what are you hearing? what is the mood? i know there are more subpoenas that are supposed to come out this week. what is the mood in the legislature? >> well, i have to be honest with you, reverend. no one is doing cartwheels. this isn't good for our state regardless of whatever party somebody is from. and there is a lot of disbelief

there is the stupidity factor. and frankly, it's again one thing as your guest was just saying not to get a discretionary grant, whatever it might be, for someone to be fired because they weren't on the right team that happens in politics. but when you affirmatively use taxpayers' money to create a problem, the very antithesis of what government is supposed to be about, now that's an outrage, let alone the public safety risk component of this. wi we all want to know. we're not going to stop, as will our u.s. attorney until we do. >> assemblyman john mckeehan and michael isikoff. thank you, assemblyman for standing out in the cold. i have a feeling it's a little hot inside. thank you for your time tonight. >> we'll come and see you in the studio. >> all right. up next, lebron james tribute to his mvp. his single mother.

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♪ finally tonight, nba superstar lebron james and his moving tribute to the single mother who raised him. lebron writes, quote, my mom worked anywhere and everywhere, trying to make ends meet. she was my mother, my father, my everything. gloria james was a working single mother who struggled and got the job done. and for that i say i love you mom. that tribute is part of a new study showing that there are millions of women like gloria james all across the country. 41% of all households with kids feature women as the primary, if not the only breadwinner. 41%. well, i know what lebron is talking about. i was raised by a single mother. my mother picked up the pieces

when her and my father broke up when i was nine years old. we went from a comfortable middle class existence to being in the middle of brownsville, brooklyn, trying to make it. and we had all of the social maladies you could face. but i never knew i was underprivileged until i studied sociology at brooklyn college, because my mother never raised me as to what i didn't have. she raised me as to what i could be. and a lot of single mothers compensate by giving double love. and they ought to be congratulated, not castigated. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. this will not end well. let's play "hardball."