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this week and this morning we can bring you new exclusive and startling information about top officials in chris christie oost administration. it attempts to link the chris ty administration to sandy funds. the project which happens to directly involve the law firm of the port authority chairman. that's a lot to absorb and we're going to take you through all of it in just a minute. we're going to hear directly from the mayor who says she was on the receiving end of this pressure campaign. she's been refusing media" all week but she's here this mompg to tell her story and it's a story you have not seen anywhere in the press before right now. there are a lot of documents, a lot of names, a lot of complicated but necessary context. please, i'm going to ask you, bear with us. we're going to take our time here and do our best to give you the clearest and accurate picture of what we know. and the best place to start this

story then is probably five years ago. it was a famous day in new jersey politics. the day you may even remember even if you don't live in new jersey. but it's the day that in many ways made chris christie governor, a thursday that began like any other thursday in america but not in the garden state where the federal agents rounded up dozens of politicians snared in one of the massive stings in the nation. the feds recruited a crafty and failed real estate operator a man who had been arrested for bank fraud a few years early for trying to pass $50 million in bad checks. to save his own hide he cooperated with the feds and went undercover and trafld from town to town in new jersey to meet with political handlers with a simple offer, here's a pile of cash take it and

promise me in return that i'll get what i need in your town. there were a lot of poll call officials who took that cash and made that promise. then they found themselves this handcuffs handcuffs. one of them was this man. he had gone asleep the night before a rising political star the newly elected mayor of hoboken. a melting pot city on the banks of the hudson river. it's a place where young artists living along the side of the blue collar heyday. you'll find stockbrokers there. that's hoboken. it's a fun place to live. it's one of the most coveted areas for developers. if you get to build in hoboken you can make a lot of money. that's the still that he had been elected to lead in june 2009. he was young, charismatic, a

tall lened speaker. actually turned out i had gone to college with him but i didn't know it at the time. as soon as he won the election people were talking him up as a future star. he was going to run for governor sometime soon. but he didn't even last a month. he was arrest on july 23rd, 2009. that undercover fake developer working with the feds had met with him at a diner when he was running for mayor and offered $25,000 in illegal campaign contributions. the condition, the fake developer said he had big plans in build in hoboken and he wanted the mayor to make sure he gets my stuff expedited. i promise you, you're going to be treated like a friend. one week later, he resigned as the mayor of hoboken, one year later he was sentenced for two years in prison for taking that

bribe. his was only one of many stories like that. one of many political figures taking down. operation big rig. that was the name given to this roundup and politically it did two thing. the first is it made chris christie look like a hero. in 2009 he was first running for governor. this was the height of that campaign. he was running against incumbent democrat in a blue state and the polls were close. but chris it started on his watch, this was his team his people his operation, a chris christie operation in the most dramatic way possible e it reinforced everything that christy wanted voter to know about him. it also meant that the city of hoboken got a new mayor, her name, dawn zimmer. she became the city of the city

council and being in that job it made her next the line to become the mayor. then in november of 2009 on the same day that christy became governor, dawn zimmer won a full term as the mayor of hoboken. here's the thing, dawn zim ser a democrat and ho boek season a very democratic town but down zimmer was a fan of chris christie. she likes that he had helped clean up her town by taking a mayor who was ready to sell off hoboken for $25,000 and throwing him behind bars. she believes in a lot of his reform agenda even parts that made other democrats uncomfortable. when he called for a local property tax cap, mayor zimmer endorsed the plan. she hosted him for his first town hall meeting. christie liked and christie still like to talk about

reaching across the aisle and his relationship with ho back en's mayor fit to a tee, the image that he cultivated. but that's how it used to be but that story turned. if you've been following the news this week, there have been story of all hoboken was ravaged with hurricane sandy. you remember the pictures of military tanks, millions of gallons of water gushing into the path commuter rail station, a key hub that connects commuters from n to new jersey every day. it's just one square mile. it lies mostly below sea level. it was supremely vulnerable to a storm like sandy. and it's still supremely vulnerable to a storm like sandy because even though it was ravaged by sandy and even though mayor zimmer's team has devised a comprehensive plan to protect

the city in the future lez than 1% of that giant pool of relief money has gone to the city. the story you've heard in the news this week is this is supposedly because dawn zimmer didn't enforce chris christie's campaign. but that is not the story. dawn zimmer says the real reason, the real reason she's here to tell us about goes back to that same one word that was at the heart of that famous day in 2009 that helped make chris christie governor, that day that lifted dawn zimmer to the position of mayor of hoboken, that one word that is more often than any ore word at the heart of any political corruption story that emanates from the garden state. development. this is the north end of hoboken one one of the last remaining pockets that hasn't been touched by redevelopment which made it an attractive location for the

major developer, the rockefeller group. they came in in 2008 they bought up portions of three blocks in hoboken's north end. in 2009 the city council quickly decided to see if that part of town needed to be re0 developed. redevelopment is a technical term. it means that a property becomes eligible for tax incentives from state and local governments. so if it was cleared for redevelopment, the rockefeller group would have a freer hand to build whatever they wanted. all of this happened before dawn zimmer became mayor. after she won her full term as mayor she didn't think the city needed that redevelopment right away. the crash of '08 was exacting a brutal toll the city was being monitored by state officials. the mayor told rockefeller she wasn't against the idea of them building in hoboken but but they would have to follow the same

process as everybody else and that process couldn't start until the city had enough people to pay planners and engineers to study the issue. this created some tension. the rockefeller talked in the press how it was putting on the finishes for this plan and how the predecessors had been moving the process along. she wrote to the author of the story, quote, there have been no negotiations with the rockefeller group regard thag project by my administration. there will be no negotiations until a study has completed in order to determine what kind of development our city would like to have in that area. that's what she wrote to the reporter of that story. so they're at an impasse. the rockefeller group had huge plans but mayor zimmer wasn't aggressively moving forward on it. that's when the christie

administration comes in and specifically this woman. her name is lori grif fa. in 2010 he was his commissioner of department of commune affairs. that means she was in chris christie's cabinet. stiller says that grif fa came to ho back enthat june open told zimmer that they may be able to track down a source to pay for the study and soon enough the christie commission connected zimmer to the port authority. that's the same port authority that operates the george washington bridge. the same port authority that's littered with political appointees of christie. it's also the same port authority that came through with this in 2010. it's a letter to zimmer for the port to pay for the study. grant was up for $75,000. and for zimmer it seems like the perfect solution. she was not against developing the land. she just wanted a real professional study and now she

had the money to pay for one. and there was a string attached. there was a condition. the port authority would get to pick the firm that did the study but the firm they chose in february 2011 had a solid reputation. this is the letter from the authority authority designating clark kayton hinds thoints do the study. it took a long time through 2012, hurricane sandy slowed things down, then finally in january 2013 the draft of the report came back and zimmer says it baffled hear and her team. the firm was to evaluate a 19-block area in the north end to see what was eligible for that designation of redevelopment. and all of the goodies that come with it. the report did conclude that some of that neighborhood fit the cry tear yoo but the only blocks that it recommended for redevelopment were the three blocks where the rockefeller group owned property. two and three quarters of that

block were owned by rockefeller group. these are the only blocks in the north end where rockefeller owned property and the only blocked recommended in that study for development. this is more curious if you walk or drive through the blocks. if you're a layman like me and you're walking around there, it's hard to see why just those three blocks could be singled out like this. zimmer's team was not alone in wondering about that. the landowners of the other 16 blocks hired a lawyer calling the study curious and suspect to say the least. but the rockefeller group had a powerful advocate a law firm called wolf and samson. it's known for its close and intimate tie to the christie administration. the someson is david samson.

he's the chairman of the port authority, the former attorney general of new jersey. he's chris christie's general at the port authority who's coming under screw any. you can see that david samson's law firm represents the rockefeller group. and you can see this is the page that lori grif fa signed. if that name gives you day jay view, it should. she was the department of community affairs commissioner under christie who originally suggested that mayor zimmer turn to the point authority that david samson chairs to get money for the development study for the land that the rockefeller group owns. but she left the christie administration in 2011 and went to work for wolf and samson. he was hard at work doing the bidding of the rockefeller group. this is as the study is still

going on. e-mailing a lawyer hired by hoboken to serve on its council. she's e-mailing him in 2012 to tell him our client the rockefeller group specifically asked us to speak to you with regard to its property in hoboken. the report comes back in january of last year. it says that the whole 19-block area is eligible to be declared an area in need of rehabilitation. that's a much weaker determination and that only three ploks in that area, the three blocks with rockefeller properties on them are eligible for the much more powerful redevelopment designation. the city has some concerns. the next step is the planning board. how will they choose to handle the report. rockefeller group obviously would like to get this to the planning board and the city council fast so it can get build. so wolf and samson turns up the

heat. here's and e-mail from may of 2013 from that same attorney writing to a woman named brandy forbes. she serve ds as ho back en's community development director. i'm getting the full court press on this. i have a voice mail from last night from lori asking that i join a call this morning in lori and dave samson chair of the port authority or suggest another time. here's an e-mail from that same day from lori grif fa herself, joe, she wroets, aye been trying to set up a telecon with dave samson. what do way want to talk about specifically. on april 19thth again the subject is hoboken slash rockefeller group. she said she assumes the study is going to be adopted we the planning board. copied on that e-mail from grif

fa to hoboken east is david samson. he writes back that it would be premature to discuss anything until ale unless the planning board accepts this. when the may 8th meeting comes, the hoboken planning board votes 4-3 that there is insufficient evidence to designate those three blocks in area for redevelopment. instead the board declares that entire 19-block quote an area in need of rehabilitation. that doesn't mean that's impossible for the rockefeller group to get what it wants. it's another signal that zimmer's team isn't going to roll over for them. now here's what this all has been building toward. here's the other thing that was happening while david samson's crew was push fg are the

rockefeller project in hoboken. all zimmer was applying for money. and right after sandy hit in hoboken's darkest hour christi came to town and pledged and promised residents they can count on him. >> i spoke to the mayor and told her that hoboken is in the front of my mind and whenever there's anicy sis tense needed here, we will be here to help. >> it's in the wake of that visit that they submitted seven rounds of attempt asking for over $100 million in found. city was asking for storm surge coastal protection money for backup generators, these sorts of things. remember, this is a city that was 80% under water during sandy. there's also a vital economic

and transportation hub in new jersey. mayor zimmer was applying for this federal money that christie controlled as rockefeller issue was coming to a head as wolf and samson was cranking up the heat and she seemed to be getting nowhere. the city filed its reports and made its claim and christie's people came back with less than 1% of what they had asked for. they gave them enough to defray the cost of one backup generator. they had another pool for roufrry grants $1.8 billion in all. hoboken got $200,000. it was enough to do a study. please governor were zimmer wrote in the letter we need your help. i have tried to assure hoboken residents that we would be treated fairly because you've always treated ho back enfairly in the past. zimmer says there was no

response to that letter. that was the same day that the hoboken board did not adopt the redevelopment plan for the rockefeller building. on may 15th there they were the lieutenant governor of new jersey and zon zimmer at the hoboken shop right. you can see them in the picture there. zimmer told us that bollwage pulled them apart and said if you want the sandy money you need to get the rockefeller project going. that's what kim told her that day and she's not just saying it to us now. when it happened she was so shocked that she wrote it down in her personal diary which she has shared with us. here is how she describeds the

threat, quote from it. at the end of the big tour and shop right she pulls me aside with no one else around and says i need to move grard with the rockefeller project. the word is you're against it and you need to move it forward or we're not going to be able to help you. i know it's not right. these things should not be connected but they are. if you tell anyone i said that i will deny it. this is what the mayor of hoboken said chris christie's lieutenant governor told her. she goes on to said i don't know all of the details but all i know is the impression you with against this project and you have to move it forward. zimmer tells a second story in that may 17th industry. it's about an accounting that had taken place before on may 16th of last year with richard kons stabl. he had replaced kim as the hunt

governor. they sitting on the stage together as a public meeting regarding sandy. you can see them right there. you can see dawn zimmer sitting there and this is what she writes happened. we're miked up with only panel lists around us and probably the sound team is listening and he says i hear you are against the rockefeller project. i say i am not against the project. oh really? everyone believes that you are against it. the buzz is you are against it. if you move that forward, the money would start flowing to you. her handwritten words convey a human reaction to that. it was emotional about governor chris, i thought he was honest and moral, i thought he was different. this morning i find out he's cut from the same corrupt cloth.

i'm so disappointed. it literally brings tears to my eyes. it all came crashing down over the last week. my beloved governor who wants to run for president, i cannot understand it. why is he so concerned about rockefeller? what has he promised them? i cannot figure it out but vi no option but to stand up to him. you have to move it forward. that's what chris christie's governor told her about the rockefeller plan. think back to that massive corruption takedown that snared the last mayor of hoboken. make sure you expedite my stuff is what the undercover developer told him in exchange for the cash. when pete said yes so that in 2009 and when a bunch of other new jersey politicians did too, it helped make chris christie governor. now we have the mayor saying that high ranking members of chris christie's administration told her you have to move it

forward. you have to move that rockefeller development project forward, you have to expedite it if you want to get your sandy money. that was last may. now here we are in january 2014, the rockefeller project still isn't moving forward, hoboken still doesn't have the sandy money it desperately needs. but now dawn skimzimmer is speaking out and it offers a disturbing portrait of how and why chris christie administration exercises its power. hit was his administration that put them in touch with the port authority. it is the port authority now chaired by david samson whose law firm represents the rockefeller group. and now they're trying to use sandy money to give david samson's firm what it wants.

because if what dawn zimmer says is true it shows how the christie administration and the new jersey port authority can team up to serve each ooer's political interests even if it means denying sandy funds to a city that desperately needs them. we have contacted all of the parties involved here. we'll have their responses and the mayor of hoboken dawn zimmer is going to join us live at this table right after this. i'm tony siragusa and i'm training guys who leak a little, to guard their manhood with new depend shields and guards. the discreet protection that's just for guys. now, it's your turn. get my training tips at guardyourmanhood.com is this the bacon and cheese diet? this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent.

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all right. we're back and here with me now is the mayor of hoboken, dawn zimmer who just spent a lot of time explaining what she says has been happening to her city and according to the mayor and top officials in the chris christie administration have told therher city will only receive sandy funds if she expe

diets a development project in hoboken. mayor zimmer did not and has not given her approval for the project. hoboken has yet to receive ne any of the million dollars that it's asked for. again, this is out of more than $100 million requested. we've invited all of the government officials who we mentioned to the program this morning. they've declined but there are responses. this is from gofvernor christy's office -- mayor zimmer has been e fusive in her public praise for the governor's office and the assistance we've provided in terms of economy development per he's one from richard constable. you say when the two of you shared a stage in the televised

event in 2013, just before the event started, he told you -- sorry. here it is. i -- this is the statement from constable. i doubt that mayor zimmer would say such a thing because that statement is categorically false. that is what richard constable told us. the mayor tweeted in august of last year when the governor was running for reelection that to be clear i am very glad governor christie has been our governor. i am not endorsing. so mayor zimmer thank you for joining us. there's so much to get into here. i'll start with the basic response from the christie administration he says in these

diary entries that she's told staef's show that her rock fell her project was tied to the sandy aid. how can you believe her if she's saying those nice things then and this terrible thing happened before? >> of course i'm thankful for every penny we receive for hoboken our city was completely devastated. i'm thankful for whatever we received. but the fact is that the lieutenant governor came to hoboken, she pulled me aside in the parking lot and she said i know it's not right, i know these things should not be connected but they are and if you tell anyone i'll deny it. i mean the bottom line is it's not fair for the governor to hold sandy funds hostage for the city of hoboken because he wants me to give back to one private developer. and it's important that -- i know it's very complicated for the public to really understand all of this.

but i have a legal obligation to follow the law, to bring balanced development to hoboken. we're one square mile. we're the forth largest densely populated city in america. the rockefeller group, they own four acres. there's another property owner that owns nine acres. so i cannot give a wind fall to one property owner because the governor want me to in exchange for the sandy funds. i'm literally between a rock and a hard place. >> what about the question of timing. another question that might be asked here is this happened -- the draft report came back in january but the threats came in may of 2014toirn. why come forward now and not before now. >> i probably should have come guard before then. this is probably the hardest thing i've ever done. i literally feel like we -- i

have to act in the best interest of hoboken and we're still at risk of not getting -- there's more funding coming through and we're not going to get it unless i move forward with the rockefeller plan which they're asking for one and a half to two million square feet. they're asking us to focus on their area not on the rest of the plan. so you know my choices are -- let me walk you through my choices. my choices are to keep saying listen i got to bring balanced development, we're at risk of not getting sandy funding. we've gotten no sandy funding. we're at risk of getting no more sandy funding. we got 300,000. or if i play along and try to get the plan -- not that that would necessarily be possible and ethically i couldn't do it but say i did, that would mean i'm giving a windfall to one

property owner that the governor want me to do that. then you know who's going to be on line? it's going to be the city of hoboken. it's going to be dawn zumer who is going to be on the line. we'll be completely exposed. we'll be in a court case immediately, immediately. and i will have to testify. am i going to stand on the stand and lie? i can't. i know what's going on here. i know that i received a direct message. i know that the christie administration is connecting the sandy funds to this rockefeller project. >> why? have they given you any indication why rockefeller matters so much to them in. >> to be honest i still don't understand. i just know that there's been pressure all along. don't quite understand why he would do this. but i know -- what i do know is that the lieutenant governor she came you don't forget when the lieutenant governor of the state of new jersey pull you aside in a parking lot and says

i know it's not right, i know these things should not be connected but they are and if you tell anyone i'll deny it you remember it. >> and in that moment what do you say? what did you say back to her? what would you say back to constable? >> i mean what i said back at the time was is anyone else being required? is any other town being required to do development in exchange for the flooding? and her answer was the shore brings in $38 billion in revenue. i mean just to be clear, i do support, i do want to bring, you know commercial development to hoboken but we have to be very careful with how we do it in part because we have transportation issues. we want to address our flooding issues but we also have major transportation challenges. the north end of hoboken there's only two small bridges into our city and it's already packed up and the residents are already concerned about the level of development if i was to give them the 2 million square feet

that they want what am i going to give the other property owners, the other property owner that owns 9 million square feet. we have a plan where we're proposing 2 million square feet at the south end of hoboken. that's where it makes more sense. >> i used to live in hoboken for a few years and if you're not familiar with the city we say densely populated np is a one square mile city with 50,000 people where space is really at a premium in the city. i want to take a quick break here. we're going to come back with the mayor and and talk about what not having the sandy money has meant and what avenues you have to get the money that your city needs. we're going to talk about that right after this. the recent increase in cafeteria prices is not cool. when you vote for flo, we'll have discounts. ice-cream discounts. multi-cookie discounts. pizza loyalty discounts! [ kids chanting "flo!" ]

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suggests that the rockefeller group is doing anything wrong but they're caught up in the story. the statement from them is we have no knowledge of any information pertaining to this investigation. if it turns out to be true it would be deplorable. >> i want to continue with you. we showed some of your journal entries. you actually brought your journal with you today just to show people this is not -- you didn't just scribble a few pages together and say this is from last may. you can show it. this is a real actual journal and you've shown it to us off the air that you keep. >> might, you know the bottom line is the facts are this. the lieutenant governor came to hoboken and said to me her words were if you tell anyone i'll deny it. of course they're denying it. and you know and the bottom line is she said it's connected, the sandy funding it's being held hostage for the city of hoboken, it's connected to the rockefeller project. if you don't move ahead we're

not going to be able to help you well we've barely gotten any money. i wrote in my journal at the time because we us so upset. i couldn't believe what he was saying to me. and this journal entry, i talk about my father, my father passed away the month before so it starts with me talking about my father. i talk about everything with governor christie and it ends with me talking about my husband and how much i love him. i would be more than willing to testify under oath and answer any questions and provide any documents, take a lie detecter test. my question back to them is would all of you? would all of you be tlog do that? >> people watching the show nationally, they look at christie is trouble, this is the democratic mayor of hoboken. of course the democratic mayor is going to say something. but the key point is your

relationship with chris christie politically was he talk about building bridge to the other party. you were representative of that for you first few years as mayor. >> i think he's done great thing for the state of new jersey. i was i think the first democrat to stand behind him on the 2% tax cut and i think it's done a lot. it's done a lot for ho back enand the state. health care reform helped us in our negotiations with the unions. his administration helps us tremendously with saving our hospital. it was going bankrupt and the governor was there for us. believe me that's part of the reason that this is a very difficult choice to come forward. the reality is for me that you know, he got more votes than i did in hoboken and i would say most of my supporters support governor christie. so my supporters are going to be stunned and i understand that. but i hope they'll understand

that i have no choice. we have to make sure that we get some of this sandy funding. we're totally exposed and we need some of these funding. and with the rockefeller group, what they want me to do what the governor is pressuring me to do i can't do that. i have no choice but to come forward and share what's happening. >> do you hope that by coming forward there can be -- there's this second pot of money that christie got grant money, are you hoping that by coming forward the administration might be shamed into giving you some of that or is there any other avenue that you're looking at to get the money to prepare hoboken for another storm? >> we've been working very hard. that was part 0 our application. we have a comp hence tif plan to protect hoboken. we've now got an international team including a couple of dutch firms working with us to create a comprehensive plan that could truly protect the entire city.

it will benefit new jersey transit and the port authority. when you look at that image of the water rushing down into the elevator. our plan would help to protect them. it would protect all hoboken businesses our hospital that was severely flooded, north hudson sewage authority. our substation. the benefit would be tremendous. part of what i'm hoping comes out of this is to say governor please support this rebuild competition, give it your direct endorsement and understand governor that we have to make -- when we're making our development decisions, we have some real challenges and we have to do anytime a balanced way. we have to be fair to all of the property owners. we have to look at the flooding issues and the transportation challenge as eni cannot give a wind fall to one private property owner because the governor and other people want me to do that. i cannot do it.

>> all right. hoboken mayor dawn zimmer it is extraordinary story you've brought to us today and i do not think we're going to hear the last of it. we're going to hear a lot about this going forward. i thank you for sharing your story with us today. up next the new jersey congressman who has been raising questions about how chris christie has been using sandy money. we're going to talk to him about that and what he and all of you just heard. stay with us. we're gonna be late. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ oh are we early? [ male announcer ] commute your way with the bold, all-new nissan rogue. ♪ ♪ when i'm training, i always listen to music. for the gym it's hip-hop. for cross-country, classical. and for jumps, i need something...special.

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the storm ads last year that aired while christie was running for reelection. pallone announced this week that they're launching an audit of new jersey's use of federal ad money for that campaign. i want to start with what we heard at the start of the show from mayor hoboken about how she thinks that sandy aid money to her city has been linked to a development deal. does this change at all the scope of what you might be looking at? >> i think this is part of abuse of power that i was kurnd about in the governor's office. and i think what mayor zimmer said kind of indicates the same thing. so clearly this is something that the u.s. attorney should be looking at and has to be further investigated investigated. >> the piece you're looking at then it was a $25 million media campaign that the fade rale government paid for post storm and 2 million of that went to

these ads featuring with chris christie. what would you what like to see come at of this investigation? >> the concern that i have is they did not choose the lower bidder. they chose the higher bidder and it was an extra $2 million if you will because they agreed to put governor christie in the ad. what you're saying is the governor's administration trying to do whatever they can to get reelected whether it's a threat or bullying or whatever it is. and that has to be investigated. in some ways it isn't all that different. although i have to say what mayor zimmer said is much more shocking and deplorable. this has got to be looked at. this. this is very serious. >> take us through, like in the inspector general at hud is reviewing this and finds this is an inappropriate use, what would be tenlt be? >> i assume they may have to pay back to fun or some other monies. i don't know for sure.

we're waiting on a report in the next few month to see what their opinion is on it. >> you have the state assembly has the special committee that's now put on 20 24 subpoenas. the state senate committee may be getting into the action. i'm just curious where you think when we talk about the bridge issue in new jersey right now, just watching it and obviously being a player in new jersey politics, with where do you think that is heading? >> i think that the concern that we all have is what i call abuse of power or culture of corruption whatever you want to call it and whether or not people were being threatened or bullied, if you will to either put on ads with the governor appearing in it or making deals like mayor zimmer said or stopping traffic at the gw bridge because there wasn't an endorsement or whatever reason was behind that. this is the type of abuse of power that has to be stopped. we can't have any elected

official using their power in that way in order to achieve other ends. it's just not right. and i don't think it's at all typical of new jersey in my opinion. >> all right. i want to change congressman frank pallone for coming in today. we have more on the information we've brought you this morning. that is straight ahead. ok at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups. anyone have o cc asional constipation

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so i know we hit you with a lot in that last hour. we're going to have some time here to breathe and take it all oef with our panel. let's remind you of the basics of what we reported last hour. the mayor of hoboken, dawn zimmer, says that tw of the highest ranking christie administrator leaders told her that her sandy relief money is being held up because she is not moving forward on a development project in town. as we told you the developer of that project is represented by a law firm called wolff & samson. one of the founding partners in that firm is david samson. he's now the chairman of the port authority, a job he was appointed to by chris christie. now if you're watching this show outside new jersey you probably hadn't heard the name david samson until about ten days ago when it popped up in those two waves of subpoenaed documents. if his press conference last

week christie was adamant that samson had not been part of any wrongdoing. >> i sat and met for two hours with general samson. again i'm confident that he had no knowledge of this based upon our conversations. and his revau of his information. >> david samson himself had this to say himself. i'm exthat treemly upset and distressed. to be clear neither i for anyone on the board had any knowledge of these lane closures until pat's e-mail. we expect to get a report. but the revelations of the two christy authorities at the port who resigned in december revelations from their subpoenaed records raise questions about samson's role in the briblg affair. on september 13th the port authority's executive director

pat foye an appointee of andrew cuomo, fired off a furious e-mail. that stated him to write to bridgett kelly saying the new york said gave ft. lee back all three lanes this morning. we're going nuts. the documents now show him slamming foye. this is yet another exam. of a story, we've seen it before where he distances himself from an issue in the press and ride in on a white house to save the day. if you need prior examples i will provide. in this case he's playing in traffic. made a big mistake. we thought we would tell you more about david samson the head of one of the state's most powerful and politically influential law firms.

he's a long time fixture in new jersey politics respected elder among democratance republicans. in the '08s he was general council of the new jersey turnpike. samson also served under cain's successor. he even served for a year as the state's attorney general under another democrat. but it was his connection to one man that really made samson into the power player he is today. and in twen the interview then u.s. attorney chris christie hailed as one of his major influences in public life, david sam sop. >> i've gotten to know him and he's been a major contributor to me as the way you construct yourself as a lawyer. 2009 samson became general counsel for the christie for gof

in new jersey he presided over the inauguration and finally in 2011 with christie's support, he became the new chairman of the port authority. christie years haven't just been forward for if samson's professional relation, his firm has enjoyed an upserge in state business. they've doubled their stat contracts aroen. and in the firm's own public disclosure forms, reports business across new jersey of 3 $.5 million. there was a deal in 2010 to advise new jersey transit on development and selling off their real estate holdings and just last near wolf aenf & samson were crucial in a the state lottery.

there is a resolving door between the chris christie firm and the firm. when that was done he went back to wolff & samson. patrick o'reilly e who went from samson to be a senior adviser and recently back to samson. lori grif fa left the form to join the cabinet for two years, then she went back to wolff & samson. so this scandal could have the potential to go forward beyond just a traffic jam. it goes straight to the politics of new jersey itself. we're going the talk about all of it with our panel, brian murphy who we've been talking about a lot with this story, we have veteran new jersey reporter, miking aaron, he's the

chief political correspondent, one of the first people to put me on tv when i was covering new jersey we have mnging editor at msnbc.com. a lot in the hour before this. michael just as somebody who has seen his share of scandals and explosive only in new jersey type of stories, i just wonder what you make of the story you heard from dawn zimmer in that first hour. >> first of all i want to say it's an sbroods piece of journalism. you were a talent when i first put you on television and you still are. >> now you know why we invited you today. >> the production of the piece as a craftsman, i'm almost in awe of it. that said, ie not sure adds up to other than politics think not just in new jersey but everyone where works this way, that if you want to get

something done you hire a politically connected law firms to help you get things done. you're rendering of david samson's career just there was terrific. i'm glad you got all of that out there. but there's nothing to suggest david samson has done anything wrong and yet here his name and face are on national television over and over again. it's difficult to ascribe guilty to someone based on what happens every day of the week at the local level, at the state level, at the national level. what you did was a terrific story about juice and how political juice works. i'm not sure that it amounts to more than that. >> well i guess brian, when you look -- what michael is saying is true. this is sort of how the levers of power work in new jersey. you have leverage and you use

it. i guess two of the things that stand out at me when i look at what the story that mayor zimmer told as one, to use sandy money -- >> right. >> to use sandy money as a lever i think would strike people even accepting for a certain amount of the governor is going to use whatever leverage he has to use sandy money as lemplg might strike people as unseemly. nothing we showed in the first hour and i don't think anything that the mayor herself put out there shows any allegation of direct, you know rule breaking by david samson. but it's just the fact of when you look at his law firm is pushing to get this development deal in the town. he's copied on the e-mail, they've ear trying to get him on the phone. if you're the mayor of that town and the governor and the chairman of the port authority, it does -- i'm the first to say i agree that the line in politics can often be gray. but sometimes it isn't to say.

>> i think there are a few pieces here. the one you get to is that we don't normally -- people don't know who david samson is because that's the way it's supposed to work. if this works effectively, this whole -- the economy of influence can be invisible and you never hear about the people who actually hold the reigns. you never hear about the people who are really powerful. and they're also treated with an incredible amount of deaf rans. david samson is kind of the james a. baker, iii of new jersey. >> you saw in the press korves that christie stops himself to say general samson. >> they skaul him general. the man who is the attorney general of new jersey. that's great. but, you know general samson people are still calling him that ten years later. the amount of deference and the amount of influence that he wields, people just can't -- you see that in the e-mail from the planning attorney in hoboken.

he doesn't want to get caught in having a meeting with the port authority chairman because he can't say no in that situation. he can't afford to. right? hoboken has too much business with the port they're too big a player in the port. you simply can't say no in a meeting like that so you never want to get caught in being set up into having one. this is not a meeting twinge him and lori grifa. he's arranging a meeting between him and david samson. he cannot be put in that spot. >> you've been watching this story closely. what do you make of it? >> a funny thing is kind of this use of the levers of pow tore force people into political decisions is kind of what chris christie has been celebrated for nationally over the last four years. he talks about having this record of bipartisan achievement which is real.

he got a major reform done of public employee pensions various things related to state and local government affairs. it's been a big media record and he's gotten that done by figuring out what are all of the pours of the governor's office and what are all of the things i can do to put pressure on people in the legislator and people at authorities. he's been very good at that. part of what's gone wrong in washington is all of the people in power there has 0 lost the ability to do this. the president can't put this sort of pressure on people. so when christie talks about new jersey showing an example of politics is working, this is more or less the way the politics work in new jersey. >> two questions that stand out to me is accepting what josh is saying there, is sandy money something that should be off limits as power and second why is he using this lever of power on this project? is it that he -- is this the

christie administration saying that is a vital project to the future of hoboken and north jersey and they generally have an interest in it. >> right. do not be confused about the levers of power. this story is about a city 80% of which was under water in october of 2012. they sought money for sandy aid. they had good reason to get it and they did not get it. what they got was less than 1% of what they asked for. to get $142,000 for a backup generator for this town -- and as the mayor said one of the most densely populated towns in this country. this stands on the mouth of the hudson river. that's what this story is about. i think somebody like david samson i think brian is right, it's illogical that he would have been cc'd on the e-mails. that is driving home a point of

influence. that is a frightening people who are involved in the process. that is using the name and the power and the authority of somebody who has no place in this process. i don't even understand how he got on to the e-mails or why he was there. just because his firm was representing the developer doesn't mean that he should be on there. he's running the port authority. he's got another job right now. i think that's what this story is about. people should not be confused about how christie works or what he's doing. what they really need to understand is that people who needed sandy relief weren't going to get it as the mayor said, unless she said yes to a project that christie favor. >> brian is looking to get in and he will as soon as we take a break and then we'll come right back with brian. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!" ♪ ♪

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why come forward now and not before now? >> well i probably should have come forward then. this is probably the hardest thing that i've ever done. i probably should have come forward. but i literally feel like we -- i have to act in the best interest of hoboken. >> hoboken mayor dawn zimmer an this show last hour. we've been talking a little bit about it. brain you were about to say at the end of last segment. >> in some ways right, we would expect politics to be about the expediency of temporary alliances. but half the people in hoboken take transit. it's got the highest per capita transit use of any mu nis palty in the country. you cannot afford to make an enemy of the port authority. you cannot.

to be put. >> the city by ers, it's a kwar mile city you've got the hudson river right here. it's more than any other city in new jersey it's a unique place you can take an hour to drive in or you can take the path train, you're going to take the train or the buses in. most people are not going to be driving in or swimming across the river. >> they live and die based on the relationship with the port authority which runs the path train. and the same -- there's a similar relationship that the port authority has with the state of new jersey. the reason that chris christie has been able to build a lot of the alliances that he has is because the port is doing a lot of work in jersey right now that's taken a lot of budget items off the state's back. the reason he's been able to have an easier time with this in some ways with his budget which i father has not been easy to begin with and it wouldn't be. but the port has made his life

easier. >> michael can you speak to just explain to people looking at this from outside new jersey and outside new york when they hear the port authority and the george washington bridge and the lincoln tunnel they probably think of it in terms of yeah it's this entity that takes your tolls and maybe they pay to maintain the bridge. the scope of what the port authority is involved in is massive. there's a number of people who work there. it's astounding. >> john is fond of saying that the budget of the port authority is larger than the budget of 26 states. >> that's right. >> when i started in this game 30-something years ago, the port authority was the most respected agency in the region. it was thought of as highly professional. somehow it's come to either look like or actually be a nest of

political vipers that one of the things that came out in the hearing, the hearings in the state legislature a month ago or several weeks ago was that the degree to which the new york and the new jersey appointee to the port authority operate separately. they're almost like rival teams. i guess they're struggling over who gets more resources. but it's devofled to a serious level where they're at war with each other. >> is it something you've seen gradually evolving over time or is it new to the christie administration? >> i would say it's new, or if it gradually evolved over time we didn't become aware of it until a couple of years ago. >> yeah. >> i mean the weird thing about the port authority, it was established like 90 years ago to actually oversee the port. and it's had this mission creep

over the long period getting into a lot of businesses. it owns the world trade center. it run all three of the airports in the new york area and it runs the six crossings across the hudson river which seems like a reasonable thing. pie state authorities have por accountability, neither governor is held accountable for what happens. you can use it for political ends and most of the team people won't notice because you don't get a big blowup story like this with the traffic jam at the george washington bridge. if they hadn't been so careless we wouldn't be talking about this now and nobody would have noticed. one take away is that maybe the port authority should have fewer responsibilities. no particular reason why this public authority should own a large office building in lower manhattan. maybe one of the positive things that come out of this is in new york and new jersey, politicians

can look at what is the port authority doing, what is it doing that it's possible using for inappropriate political end and how can we slim it down. i always remember how many times people would tell me you would have different kind of ambitious politicians, there would be the assembly man who wants to be stater senator and then run for president. then there would be the freeholder who would say you know what my dream job is deputy director of the port authority, they give you housing in man hatten. it was the ultimate perk. >> the unpaid board of the port authority and the chairmanship of the port authority has always been -- there's a man named dick leon who had been there, one of the smartest guys around in terms of public policy and many

others. it was prestigious. it's a shame that it's being dragged down so -- i can't imagine what life is like for port authority professionals this week. >> yeah. and we got a taigs of it at those hearings. you had a port authority professional who was afraid to testify, fully intimidated. i want to talk about some of the other news in the investigation and where it's all going this week. we're going to pick it up right after this. how do you sleep like that? you dry up your cold feels even worse. well, put on a breathe right strip and shut your mouth. cold medicines open your nose over time but add a breathe right strip and pow! it instantly opens your nose up to 38% more so you can breathe and do the one thing you want to do. sleep. add breathe right to your cold medicine. shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right. ♪ love love is strange ♪ in the nation, what's precious to you is precious to us.

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i'd be more than willing to testify under oath and answer any questions and provide any documents, take a lie detector test. >> again, a little bit more of hoboken mayor dawn zimmer in our conversation last hour. again we should reiterate we contacted governor christy's office, kim guadagno's office and they all deny this they have all strenuously denied

this. so the story we did this morning was technically about the acting governor of new jersey. the only news this week in this whole story is a wave of subpoenas from the assembly committee looking into this 24 subpoenas went out to all sorts of people and all sorts of entities. it's looks like we're not going to hear back in we hear back at all until february 3rd. what's your sense of the direction that the story is going in right now. >> well for chris christie it's going in the direction for fund-raising for friends in florida which is where he is this weekend not here not in new jersey deal with this. i was surprised from the response from his office not a big demonstration of looking into what her claims are. i think for christie's office

things are not headed in a good direction. they are getting larging. there's state and federal allegations into his office. i think the raft of subpoenas should be very concerning to him. he seems quite happy to be out of town. >> what about national republicans. this was supposed to be a few months ago this was supposed to be the first of many great chris christie barn storming the nation tours. is that something he has to rethink right now? >> i think for one thing i think he's trying to lay low so he's not going to do any national media tours any time soon. a lot of them didn't like him to begin with so they're celebrating this. and then those fans of chris christie, this detear rates his brand. the thing he was running on is i'm a different kind of leader i'm able to bring people together, thing are working here that they're not work in other

states. this is showing people that it can go really off the rails if you have an administration that is built around using the levers of influence, you and or your people are likely to get carried away and do things that are totally inappropriate in that process. i think it's really harmed part of the argument that he had to advance about why he would make a good president. that said i think the people who are in the christie camp still seem to be there. people nationally will not obsess if for that long over a story about a traffic jaum over a bridge in new york and new jersey. but i think where the damage is going to come it's not that people intrinsically care about this story, it's when he is running for president in a primary and general election this will be a very easy hook hook for his opponents to use to talk about why he would not be a good president. >> two things one is i think today's story i think changes the game a little bit because we had one story that was dealing with the bridge. now we have a mayor coming out

very credible with a completely new story, new experience with the governor. i think, you know if you're in the christie camp i'll bet that you paid a lot of attention to a lead editorial in the new hampshire leader this week that said new hampshire voters republican primary voters care very much about any whiff of an abuse of state power. and i think that is very very important for the governor and his camp to see. they will need that state. >> the conserve tiff paper. >> what is your sense, what is the strategy from your reporting in new jersey? what is chris christie's strategy to get through all of this. >> i think josh said ride it out. i think that's the strategy and hope that awareness of either the lane closures or the cover story didn't rise too much higher than where it is right now. if it doesn't rise higher i think the governor can recover from this.

there's the possibility that long range this could come down to his benefit. everybody is talking about chris christie. there's the that old adage any publicity is good pub blisty. >> this one might be testing that. >> yeah. >> but if this goes higher up if it goes to the level of the chief of staff or communications chief, if it starts to look like chris christie wasn't telling the full truth or the fundamental truth in that press conference then he's got a serious problem. there's one other problem. his team has work extremely well as a team as a unit. they're locked down they're sealed. you can't penetrate them. they're together. and now all of the sudden there are 18 people with subpoenas who may want to protect themselves and have some kind of a concern

about what the guy across the hall might say about them. >> yep. >> i think the governor's effectiveness in the second term, which by the way he's coming back from florida to get inaugurated on tuesday, his effectiveness is probably undercut by this as much as his imagine. >> as i said i think the questions, the story that dawn zimmer told in the first hour and the questions she raised there's probably more to come on that. there's a new piece on this now. we're going to wait for other developments potentially in this days ahead. any way subpoenas are flying around new jersey. what is the best way to get information from within deep of the christie administration. we have two experts to answer that next. how did edward jones get so big? let me just put this away. ♪ ♪ could you teach our kids that trick? [ male announcer ] by not acting that way. it's how edward jones

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it was also the day that subpoenas were handed out. governor christie's office announced it hired a law firm with the name of gibson and crutcher. he's a former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. randy master has also lots of experience prosecuting mafia cases. side note for you there. and bridgett kelly, the staff member who sent that infamous e-mail that said time for traffic problems in ft. lee, she's hired her own lawyer from a big new jersey firm reported to have close tie to the christie administration open one of the new jersey assembly also has hired a lawyer. reed shar is a former federal

prosecutor who led the corruption against against la goi vich. he's now serving a 14-year prison term for among other things trying to sell a united states senate seat. on thursday night we started hearing about the subpoenas that are being handed out in the george washington bridge scandal, 20 subpoenas that started going to key members of the christie administration asking for key documents. governor christie was not on the list. bridgett kelly, bill stepien, michael jurn yak. just how many teams have been charged with finding out who exactly ordered the lane closures and why. both houses of the new jersey state legislature have launched reviews, but another investigation in the u.s. senate

in addition to other kwirryes on the u.s. attorney's office the port authority general and the sbenl investigation by the christie administration. for more on how it might unfold we would like to bring in paul butler. he was part of the team that dieted sean tore david dine burg burger burger. we have brian weis. welcome to both of you. paul, i guess i'll start with you because we have the news of the committee, thes, read shard retained as special counsel. if you were in this position called in by this committee and trying to get to the bottom of this, what would your strategy be? >> steve, in this cases the rule and that is harsh, if you go after the king, you have to kill him. so what they're looking for is

smoking gun evidence that governor christie was somehow directly involved in the lane closures or in something illegal about the way that the sandy funds would be allocated. is this just politic as usual? political retaliation isn't is crime. a political benefit in exchange for a government service in general isn't a crime. these guys are looking for kickbacks, bribes some kind of financial benefit. because that makes it more squarely fit into the criminal statutes. >> we saw now almost two weeks ago the uproar that was caused when the e-mails and texts from david wildstein and bill baroni were released the storm that that kicked up.

if i'm somebody who is on the receiving end of one of these subpoenas or what's the stop me from going through my gmail or yahoo! account and deleting them all right now and saving myself from all of this? >> well that would be perfect if you want to spend the bulk of your life in danbury federal prison. my take my advice to anybody who gets a subpoena -- you got to understand things guys. these aren't hardened criminals. when one of these folks gets a subpoena, their knees buckle. and the worst thing you can do is to attempt to destroy evidence. paul makes a valid point. politics in new jersey isn't a crime. but if we've learned anything from this it's that e-mails are phone taps in the 20th century. i tell my clients the e in e-mail stands for evidence.

please unless you want to see and hear what you're writing to that guy down the hall with steve on msnbc on saturday morning, don't do it. the main thing is you preserve all of your e-mails, all of your texts and you get on the phone to one of the best white collar criminal defense attorneys in the garden state. and guys if nothing else this is going to be the full employment act for some of the best white collar lawyers in the garden state. >> paul, let me ask you, from the standpoint of looking at it pretend you'ren the council, what would you see as the biggest obstacle, the biggest threat that the administration that these former administration members could put if your way of getting to the bot top of this? what would be the biggest threat from a legal standpoint? >> there are three outside investigations going on. and sometimes investigators trip over each other in the ways that compromise the investigation.

they're certainly thinking about turning one of these government officials as state's evidence. which means that they would give them immunity to testify, especially again if they think they've got the goods on governor christie himself. you want to be careful to make sure that everybody is working on the same page with these three investigations. >> and that's actually the talk of the moment at least when it comes to cutting a deal with the federal prosecutor potentially involves my former boss. we've told that story a few times ago. but we had fun working for him and never thought we would be covering him like this. my thanks. a fun segment there. those access lanes in ft. lee that started all this. with they sit right next to a massive $1 billion redevelopment project. next we'll talk to a man who knows more about ft. lee, more about those lanes and the developments in new jersey than maybe anybody else. he's the former ft. lee mayor

who turned town a bribe from the mob to rebop that land and he joins us next. eeze ] [ male announcer ] truth is not all flu products treat all your symptoms. what? [ male announcer ] nope, they don't have an antihistamine. really? [ male announcer ] really. [ dog whine ] but alka-seltzer plus severe cold and flu speeds relief to these eight symptoms. [ breath of relief ] thanks. [ male announcer ] you're welcome. ready? go. get it! [ male announcer ] can't find theraflu, try alka-seltzer plus for fast liquid cold and flu relief. [

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. today we showed you just how vicious the politics of new jersey can be especially if what mayor dawn zimmer told us is true. last week we look at how it might be at work in the bridge scandal, the largest redevelopment project in the town of ft. lee may have been directly affected by the two access lanes of last september. no one has answered the billion dollar question of why, why the people who closed the lanes may have wanted to threaten this development but it's an area that reporters have been exploring all week. the story of that land goes back 40 years to a famous episode to where the mayor of ft. lee at time was approached by mob developers who offered him a half a million dollars if he would greece the wheels on the

site. he said no wore a wire for the feds a criminals to jail. wit us documented in a book call "the bribe." the mayor of ft. lee was offered a bribe more might be at the heart of the bridge lane closure. and a man who knows a lot about the politics in new jersey he joins us now live from los angeles. burt ross thanks for getting up this morning. i want to start with you were the mayor of the town you're watching this story unfold you know these lanes, these access lanes, you know the development site you know the prort authority. what do you make -- just what have you made watching this story unfold? what do you think was going on? >> well the first thing is i don't believe that the governor is telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth. it just smells. we had an expression in law school. it doesn't wash. one of the things he said in his

press conference was that the mayor of ft. lee is not on his radar. well you have three people whom he appointed and who are in his administration, one of whom called the mayor a little sur, another called the mayor an idiot and the third one called him on the phone and said the fine mayor, using a sarcastic tone is waiting. so if all of these people are obviously angry for whatever reason at the mayor of ft. lee and christie has known -- everybody i know who is close to christie says that he micromanages everything, then clearly the mayor of ft. lee for whatever reason is on his radar. the other thing that bothered me is when the gort nor was talking about these dedicated lanes in ft. lee. it's absurd. those lanes are not dedicated for ft. lee residents. i lived in englewood for years and use those lanes. almost everybody in edge water uses those lanes.

a recent study showed that the overwhelming majority of the people who use those lanes are not ft. lee residents. let's assume for a moment. it's not a perk. these people have to cross the bridge. even if everybody who used those lanes came from ft. lee, so what? do they expect them to jump off the palisades and swim across the river to new york city? it's absurd. then i listened to the press conference and he's referring to a traffic study. the port authority -- >> you were the mayor of ft. lee, you had to deal with the port authority. did you ever have any kind of dust-up with them at al like this? >> no. i had very close friends on the

port authority. we never had a problem with the port at all. so, no we had great cooperation with the port authority. but the port has gotten so big, they've gotten too big for its bridges. and i'd like to know where governor cuomo is on all of this. we've got two people with presidential ambitions. i'm not a partisan democrat. i supported kathy don vonn a republican who won county executive in berg man county and she ran against what was democrat machine. i was very positive about chris christie being a strong moderate voice in the presidential primaries. in reflection, i was wrong. i think he's morally challenged. i don't he deserves to be governor of new jersey.

now you have another person governor cuomo a democrat who wants to be president and he's hid under a rock somewhere. he hasn't said a word. >> you do raise an interesting point which is when cuomo's people at the port authority were raising such a ruckus ag that is possibly a violation of state and federal law. we are out of time for this segment. i want to thank the former mayor of ft. lee who turned down a $500,000 bribe. what do we know now that we didn't know last week. ce is obvious. verizon's superfast 4g lte network is over three times larger than any other 4g lte network. act now to get $100 or more off any smartphone when you trade in any smartphone on america's largest, most reliable 4g lte network. that's powerful. verizon. now get a free lg g2 with a 13-megapixel camera.

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all right. we're going to find out one thing that each of our guests will be looking forward to in the bridgegate story. starting with you. >> regarding what was said there was a period in september when it appeared that there was some friction between governor cuomo and governor christie. you had patrick foye coming out on this and christie saying something different than what was being said in the national press and then that stopped. was there something else within the port authority they want and got and called off the dogs? i think that's going to be an interesting thing to develop there. >> very interesting. dafna. >> i'm going to be watching to see if other mayors follow suit what else is out there and what do those mayors know. >> and brian? >> same thing. we're going to need a new hash take. this is not about the closure or

bridgegate. this is the same story. they've never been about authorities. it's -- >> michael. >> since we're not going to know what's in the subpoenaed documents until february, damage assessments, posts, signs of one sort or nothing whether chris christie can ride this out. >> my thanks no josh dara dafna lizner brian and michael. thank you at home for tuning in. join us tomorrow. we'll look closely at the two communities, whether chris christie can escape the scandal might depend entirely on whether those committees can work cooperatively. but coming up next melissa harris-perry, how the smallest elections can be the biggest sea changer

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this morning, my question, is it time to go in offense for reproduction life. and a 12-year-old changing the "world one" bow tie at a time. first on the battlefield of politics why you must sweat the small stuff. good morning. i'm melissa harris-perry. this week we've got a little issue on what we've been covering