with a signature. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses, turning dreamers into business owners. and we're here to help start yours. now, the feds are involved. if chris christie's inaugural speech on tuesday his second speech, notable for anything it was the complete lack of any reference to any of the scandals now swirling around his administration. two scandals now instead of one. this after the mayor of hoboken, dawn zimmer, appeared on this show at this hour last weekend to accuse christie's lieutenant governor's explicitly linking her city's sandy aid to -- accusing another high-ranking

administration are sending a similar message a few days later. this came after the george washington bridge lane closure episode which simmered beneath the surface for much of the fall had just exploded into a full-fledged scandal. together the scandals, we learned this week, completely eroded the massive popularity chris christie built with garden state voters more than a year ago in the wake of hurricane sandy. there you see he starts to shake hands with dignitaries on the stage. leaders of the state legislature, ex-governors, tom kane senior, supposedly christie's mentor, tension between them. catch that. right there. pause and take a closer look. because that picture that image, there is a lot of history, and there is a lot of irony in that encounter. you might recognize the former governor who's embracing christie there, offering him an encouraging word or two. it's jim mcgreedy. democratic governor of new jersey from 2001 to 2004.

if you know anything about him, if you know him from anything, it's probably for this -- >> my truth is that i am a gay american. >> that was almost ten years ago when jim mcgreedy made that announcement and resigned at governor of new jersey. at least that's why most people think he resigned. it turned out he assigned his secret lover to a top homeland security position he didn't h e have -- he ended his own political career when that happened. that was the proximate cause, the immediate trigger for it. what most of us remember when we think of him. another force brought about that famous 2004 press conference. so weakened mcgreedy politically, by the time the scandal with the gay lover was about to break, he had no support from new jersey to fall

back on and no chance to weather the storm, win back the public's trust and carry on as governor even after telling everyone he was a gay american. the real reason jim mcgreedy was cornered back in 2004 was chris christie. the headlines almost exactly ten years ago in the late winter of 2004. federal agents raiding the new jersey democratic party's medquarters searching for records about a key mcgreedy fund-raiser. that raid was follow add few days later by spp spps for reco from the governor's office. details emerged. shaking down a farm owner for giant contributions and mcgreedy himself popped up on a wire. a huge story in new jersey in 2004. it wasn't exactly a surprising story. jim mcgreevey had been governor just over two years but at that point lost a chief of staff and legal adviser to a federal investigation. july of 2004, there was this.

this is the all-time most bizarre new jersey political story i ever covered. this is the most bizarre story of any kind, any place i ever covered. charles kushner. jim mcgreevey's top fund-raiser, raised more money than anyone else for mcgreevey. the man jim mcgreevey tried and failed to install as the chairman of the port authority. charles kushner was locked in a vicious disputes with his own family members. he hired two high-priced prostitutes from new york city. one seduced his brother-in-law. his sister's husband. witness intimidation because his sister had been cooperate rating in a federal investigation, led by the u.s. attorney for new

jersey. chris christie, just like the investigation of mcgreevey's former chief of staff, led by chris christie, like the former chief legal counsel led by chris christie and the shakedown scheme involving the farmer and fund-rais fund-raiser, led by chris christie this was the story of jim mcgreevey's two-plus years as governor of new jersey. explosive news of one investigation or another by u.s. attorney chris christie's office followed by a steady and seemingly endless drip of damning details. one after the other. each one cutting into jim mcgreevey's popularity, poll numbers, his credibility. his baseball political viability. hips allies tried to fight back. a lawyer from mcgreevey's state democratic party wrote a letter to john ashcroft, the attorney general at the time blasting the fbi's raid of the democratic state committee at unprecedented and intrusive. and demanded a review of christie's tactics. not surprisingly, that letter

fell on deaf ears. mcgreevey himself took to lashing out suggesting that christie was targeting him for partisan reasons. "every change we have made" he told gathering of democratic supporters, has been met by resistance from right-leaning republicans using every tool against us to win battles they can no longer win at the ballot box. but the public wasn't buying it. christie was drawing blood with his investigation and not many wanted to hear mcgreevey and his aides calling it a witch-hunt. too much smoke and suspicion. christie seemed to be on to something, most figured, and didn't want him to stop'sthis included many democrats because the new jersey media in 2004 was littered with stories about how mcgrieves was about to be done in by his own party. how all the scandals, all the investigation was steadily convincing democrats mcmcgreevey was going to lose if put up for election in 2005. they wanted him out and a new candidate in and had a dmnd mind, too. it was the state's first-term

senator, a democrat with solid poll numbers maybe nor importantly 0 bottomless pockets. jon corzine. and that was the backdrop for jim mcgreevey's august 2004 resignation speech. yes, the revelations about his secret life and unethical appointment of his lover were dire, but he was already so reduced and so weakened by the endless parade of investigations and revelations by all of the work that u.s. attorney chris christie had didn't bog, he was so weakened by that, his party was 5urd on talready on the bri revolt. that encounter on the stage between mcgreevey and christie came with irony and history and three days after the mayor of hoboken, dawn zimmer, appeared on this program to accuse christie's lieutenant governor, kim guadagno of a develop project rest represented by one of christie's top allies and two days after mayor zimmer told

that story to members of the office of the current u.s. attorney for new jersey. christie's successor, a democratic appointee named paul fishman. and it came just before the fbi began sniffing around hoboken interviewing aides to zimmer, city council member, all who said she told hem of the gaudagno situation around the time it happened. that mcgreevey/christie encounter came two days before this. news of spps from fishman's office for the united states of the district attorney, served on the state republican party and on christie's re-election campaign. subpoenas seeking information related to the other major scant manies swirling around, the mysterious closure of the george washington access lanes back in september. yes. it appears christie is now facing what mcgreevey faced when he was governor. a federal investigation, and facing more than that. he's facing what inevitably comes with revelations like this, doubts about what kind of operation the governor is running, about whether the governor himself is being

forthright with the public. a deep drop in public support. meager numbers the rule for most of mcgreevey's tenure. chris christie aavoided them until now. a rutgers poll captured it. christie's favorable rating crashing. the massive and impenetrable wall until now wall he built in the wake of hurricane sandy is crumbling apart. the numbers an awful but the fall is sudden, sharp and threatens to get worse. so the question is, what's next? when this week began there were two state legislative committees liking into the bridge scandal, 20 subpoenas outstanding waiting to be answered. the two committees merged into one. now that the u.s. attorney himself is involved, the question, whether that committee will keep doing its work? answer to those subpoenas? will we in the public and press see the new e-mails and texts that they produce? or will the u.s. attorney politely tell the attorney to stand down?

to stay out of his way? and what's more worrisome for christie. we'll get to all the questions and more ahead and start next with the state legislator co-chairing that joint investigative committee, issued the subpoenas last week and work probably kept the story alive when most of the political world were ready to threat go. will he keep investigating the christie investigation now that the u.s. attorney is involved? we'll ask, right after this. oh! progress-oh! [ female announcer ] with 40 delicious progresso soups at 100 calories or less, there are plenty of reasons people are saying "progress-oh!" share your progress-oh! story on progresso.com. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice.

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clearly, she raises serious allegations. there's a lot of facts swirling about in terms of who said what when. the first order of business for this committee is follow the information we had to date where we have somebody in the governor's office abusesing power and see an attempt to cover that up that abuse of power. we'll follow that trail wherever

it leads but not switch gears and follow another investigation. >> and state assemblyman investigating the mysterious closure of the george washington bridge and at that press conference made it known for now his committee will focus just on the bridge scandal and not the any allegations from hoboken mayor dawn zimmer broken last weekend during this show involving chris christie's allocation of hurricane sandy aid in a development deal in hobokenjoining us live at the table, thank you for take the time to join us. appreciate it. i'll start with the question, when i call around trenton, talk to people in new jersey politics they say with the news this week that the u.s. attorney's office subpoenaed chris christie's re-election campaign and the republican state committee and is looking into the george washington bridge scandal, the u.s. attorney office now looking into that, that the days for your committee may be numbered, because historically, the u.s. attorney will look at a legislative committee in a

situation like this and say back off a little. i need space here. is that something you expect? have you had conversations with his office that leads you to think he wants that to happen? >> i have no conversations with u.s. attorney's office but i think it's important to look at what the legislature is doing. we're looking at an abuse of power, because ultimately our role as legislators is to fix the laws that allowed it to happen. to change the rules of the game that allowed a bridget kelly to send and e-mail to a david wildstein to close the lanes. a lot of things have to be fixed to make that not possible in the future. the u.s. attorney's office, law enforcement officials are looking at it for an entirely different reason. so what we're doing is a separate path twhan they're doing. our intention, work cooperatively with all other investigations, but we expect on february 3rd or shortly thereafter to get answers to the subpoenas issued, analyze the data and make the decision where the investigation goes after that. >> what happens? because i guess the question it raises is, first, if you get the

answers to the subpoenas on february 3rd, you expect, you put 20 subpoenas out. how many do you expect back? do you expect to get them all or some won't answer? >> moo expey expectation, all b. we'll let you know on the 3rd if that's different. >> how much is the public going to be able to say now that the u.s. attorney is looking at this? if the u.s. attorney is looking at this i imagine his office doesn't want a lot of details -- think back to that first batch of releases from wildstein and baroni, time for traffic in fort lee that raised questions, connected a lot of people. i wouldn't imagine the u.s. attorney trying to investigate this wants that out in public now? >> it's also important to look at the tool that they're using is a tool we're using. essentially asking questions. they're asking questions. it's important to note that whoever issues the subpoena whether the u.s. attorney's office or the legislative committee, the act, the asking of questions is not a

determination of somebody did something wrong. so i think it's priima dhuematut to that point. the organizations will respond. they'll be a ton of documents we get, expect to get. we're going to have to analyze those and decide where we go next. the process we used in the past, which was the committee received the documents. we then issued subpoenas for an individual, david wildstein come in. at the conclusion of his testimony because of the documents we reserved we've referred to in questions become part of that record and then publicly available. >> what do you make of -- i've noticed talking points from some pro-christie people in new jersey. some pro-christie republicans in new jersey. seems in the last week or two when the story started to explode, their effort, discredit your work, discredit your committee, partisan witch-hunt, a democratic attack on chris

christie. and a good guy, had him on the show last week who's saying none of this is anything that should be dealt with by politicians but by law enforcement. the was it the strategy, do you think, of chris christie's defenders to try to get this away from your committee and into the u.s. attorney's office? >> i hope not. like i said, we have a job to do as legislators. we clearly see an abuse of power, an attempt to cover that up, we have to change the laws and rules so it can't happen again. these can proceed on a parallel track. we have a job to do. the attorney general's office has a job to do. if this is bipartisan, stop the sniping and say there's an agenda, we couldn't go further. remember, this started as this inquiry into the george washington bridge toll increase, and the operations of the port authority. this committee, the transportation committee, last session, had no expectation we'd be finding e-mails that link it to the governor's office. we just followed the details

where they led us. now we're at this point. now we have to finish it. we have to find out exactly what possessed bridget kelly to sandy e-mail like that. >> and that's -- you deserve cress ed for that. a story the christie administration was doing its best in the early winter, and fall, this is nut. to poo-poo it. people like myself to look more closely at it. one more thing i want to xshgs the question, you say you expect to get full compliance on all of these subpoenas you said, the 20 subpoenas or so. already saw david wildstein come down after you got the documents, come down, take the fifth and refuse to testify. do you expect if you call any of these witnesses especially now with the u.s. attorney looking around they are going to do the same thick? >> i don thing? >> i don't know. the honest answer, most of what we've received in the inquiry is through the documents, paper, not through oral testimony.

pat foye came and said what he did, laid the blame on david wildstein, but through the documents that david wildstein provided us we got the answers we have today. not through his testimony. clearly you saw the clips of when he was in front of the committee and refused to answer any questions. what other people do in the future, i certainly don't want to suggest to them what they should do and i don't know what they will do. we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but i think the documents will be key, because we know there had to be some communication before bridget kelly sent that e-mail. >> what everybody -- the final question. that's what everybody -- the big mystery, bridget kelly august 13th, traffic in fort lee, clearly in the middle of the conversation. everybody wants to know what came before that. if you do get the e-mail or e-mails that come before that is that something you'll be able to release around february 3rd or something with the u.s. attorney we may not be able to see? >> i don't think anybody should's able to see a public release of documents on february

3rd. the committee has to digest it, the members understand it. we have to make a decision as a committee whether we want to take oral testimony from anybody. nobody should be expecting the 3rd, 4th and 5th there's going to be a pile of documents for the press to go through. at some point in time as a part of our investigatory process that will be part of the public record. i can't tell you today exactly when it will be, but ultimately for us as a legislative body we want to make sure the public understands how this happened and understand why we're changing the laws to make sure it can't happen again. >> state assemblyman, thank you for take the time. appreciate it. more members of that special investigative committee, the democrat and republican along with the smartest man in congress. he beat the "jeopardy" super computer, he joins our panel, next. [ sneezes ]

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how dpo you do you keep anything -- oh, wait. >> how do i keep everything controlled? not so well sometimes. [ laughter ] it depends on the day, man. it depends on the day. how does chris christie, make wung of his few public appearances at an elementary school on thursday. i wanted to introduce our panel. a democrat who's a member of the joint super committee investigating all this. previously served at state democratic chairwoman. wnbc television reporter covering new jersey for the past 16 years. and a republican, member of the state assembly, also part of that investigative committee and congressman rush holt, a democrat actually from the great state of new jersey. noticing a pattern. news 12, msnbc edition. start with the two members of the committee. i want to follow-up on what john, the co-chair of the committee, said in the last

segment. assemblywoman, the question now seems to be, how long the committee can keep doing what it's been doing now that the u.s. attorney has gotten involved. john wisnefski was saying he thinks a dual role. what do you think? >> i think we have a responsibility to continue doing what we're doing as it relates to what happened with the bridge closures. when did it happen. how did it happen? who is involved and what laws need to be strengthened or whatever to ensure something like that doesn't happen again. so i think that that's the lane in which we should stay. not top use a pun, and then the u.s. attorney will be looking at whatever it is he'll be looking at. but clearly, we still have our work to do and we should continue to do it and take it wherever it leads us. >> and what do you think of that? >> i am concerned. we have, for example, iran/contra, what happens when

congress gets involved, a fishing xp additiexpedition. >> oliver north was given immunity by the congressional committee and later, grounds to overturn his conviction? >> and in new jersey, as i understand it, john was clear on the statutes being somewhat unclear, but as i understand the law, if we bring somebody before our committee they get use immunity, but it doesn't bind the united states attorney. personally i believe if the witnesses were called, all should do the right thing and should say, i waive immunity. i'll testify. tell you everything you want to know and let the chips fall where they may. unfortunately, that's not the american way. where you lawyer up, go in, make sure your actions don't come back to haunt you. it's unfortunate. but i am concerned that our actions will have an affect upon ongoing criminal invessel gatiens and not wholly we are sueded there's a legislative purpose for this.

we already have law, thou shalt not do what was allegedly done. want to draft more? >> you quoted in the last week or two, because there are some republicans who now have been challenging johns with nefs kishgs the way he's run the investigation. the way he ran the transportation committee. no your comment, you didn't have a problem with that? >> no one's mistaking john for a republican anytime soon. the fact is i can't say anything improper about his professionalism here to fore. he and i disagree on the direction the committee should be going, i think, because i think swhoe be taking a restrained view on this subject. then again, he and i have a history on this committee. i was the co-responsibler that created the subpoena authority and the only republican voting to continue it. it could use a good looking at. something congress might want to consider looking at as well. this particular aspect, we got to be careful. if crimes were committed, we can't do anything about them, and we should let the appropriate criminal law

authorities pursue that as far as they go. >> i think we still have a responsibility to continue the work we did. first, had it not been for the work that the transportation committee did, we may not be here discussing this today, because it was the tenacity of the transportation committee and the information that it sought to get answers to that has even brought us here. that has opened this up and now the u.s. attorney's office is definitely interested in it. if we learn to stay in our lane and we look to the laws that are supposed to protect people from the kind of abusiveness that we saw take place, then that's our job. that's our job as legislators, making sure the right laws are on the books, that the laws are being followed. now, there's a whole -- there's a whole lot of stuff the u.s. attorney can look into, as it relates to this and a few other things that seem to be perking to the top, but i think, clearly, we can continue to do

our investigation. we've got a responsibility to continue our investigation and the only chaos that will exist is that which we try create as a reality that isn't. >> you've covered this long enough to see this. how does it play out if there's tension between the u.s. attorney and a state legislative committee like this and what do you expect? >> we don't have a lot of precedent here. there has not been a special committee on investigation for lord knows how long. they've been going through the statutes and they admit, they don't fit today's contemporary legislature. this is what i'm really curious about. if you read that last batch of subpoenas, every one of them in that first paragraph talks about, or any other abuse of power, in addition to the lane closing, or any other abuse of power. now, if you're a legislator, i'm not. i've got three of them here right now. and you're on a committee that says, any other abuse of power,

and you find some other abuse of power, through subpoenas, through testimony, through whatever, what do you do with that as a legislator? we know what legislators do what they find abuse of power. the next step would be impeachment. >> well, you know, there are plenty of examples in history of legislative investigative committees that have performed a real public service. whether it's the sam ivin watergate committee, the church committee. they began looking at cia's assassinations butt they had th pursue to expand and rein pd in the intelligence community was running amok. it's what's important and so for the new jersey legislate itch committee has done this well. what's important to make sure it's not seen as a political gotcha. that it's not seen as a

persecution or a prosecution of one or two or three people. and, you know, watergate was not just about richard nixon. it was about abuse of power that ran throughout the administration. and i think whiisniewski is already taking that tack, and assemblywoman coleman says, there is a clear need to look at legislative remedies, legislative protections that should be built in. so there is a place for both. >> it's a challenge for them -- >> a challenge to be complementary. >> i think from the standpoint of everybody watching this, there's really two great mysteries that have emerged from the story. the first is the one we've been talking about a month or so, about the lane closures of the george washington bridge. why would such high-level people be taking such incredible risks for something of apparently such low stakes? a disproportion there. it creates mystery.

everybody is trying to figure that out. the second mystery of, the mayor of hoboken making allegations about kim guadagno, another official is that actually what was happening? in terms of finding out what the truth was there i want to look at more how we are most likely to get the truth out? whether this committee, the u.s. attorney for new jersey, paul fishman. there's a contrast between fishman and a u.s. attorney and chris christie as a u.s. attorney. we'll get into that when we come back. i have the flu, i took medicine but i still have symptoms. [ sneeze ] [ male announcer ] truth is not all flu products treat all your symptoms. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus severe cold and flu speeds relief to these eight symptoms. [ breath of relief ] thanks. [ male announcer ] you're welcome. ready? go. [ male announcer ] it says here that a woman's sex drive. increases at the age of 80.

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fishman? everybody who tells me about him, he's 180 degrees from what chris christie is as a u.s. attorney. >> very quiet. plays it very tight within his office. christie was, like a bulldog i guess you could say, but a very public one. fishman isn't that way at all. he's indicating so far, though, in his, what, i guess, three years, 3.5 years in office, a very steely determination, if you will, to go where he decides he's going to go, and you never know with the u.s. attorney and all the investigatory powers. they have yet to release whether or not they have actually kicked this from a kind of a preliminary investigation into a full-fledged criminal investigation. and we may not find out for a long period of time. they can issue subpoenas, which they have. we know that but it doesn't necessarily mean it is a criminal investigation in the

sense that we think of that in the strictures of -- >> right. and that office is a lot more tight lipped than the u.s. attorney's office under chris christie. i imagine -- assemblywoman, when you were the chair of the state committee, not to bring up bad memories but during the mcgreevey days. it must have driven you nuts, the leaks from the christie office, leaking to the press and playing out in public. >> didn't drive me crazy. >> i'm sure it didn't drive any of the journalists crazy but for us who expected the u.s. attorney to act like the u.s. attorney protecting the rights and ensuring that laws weren't broken, but being a lawyer, not a politician, was very frustrating, because if there were going to subpoena records, going to send the fbi in, the fbi came in as the same time as the "star ledger." how did that?

it's different. paul fishman a lawyer-like u.s. attorney. he seems to understand what his lane is, and he's going to operate within it, with the highest amount of integrity and he's not trying to up front somebody, and he's not trying to get his face out there to be considered for other things. so totally different personalities. totally different offices, and by any stretch of the imagination, neither the legislative inquiry investigation, nor the u.s. attorney's inquiry or investigation is going to be short lived. if we're really going to do our work we'll have to be patient, diligent, vigilant and look to see where the information is. and then weigh it against what we know. >> let me just say one more thing about paul fishman. he is known, his reputation is, this is his ultimate job to be the u.s. attorney for new jersey. it was not chris christie's ultimate job to be the u.s. attorney. >> stepping-stone. right. >> he was, remember, chris christie was a politician. >> and he operated that way.

>> and i have great respect for u.s. attorney fishman. i've had him in to district to talk with minority districts to reensure them about the fairness of any prosecution against muslim-americans or whatever, and this is is the job he wants to do. he does it fairly. now, we don't know and we might hope that the u.s. attorney on the other side of the hudson river might want to be looking into this, also. because part of what we should be looking at is the functioning of the port authority, and -- >> which calls the question, if talking about the function of the port authority sshs there a role for congress to in there? >> quite possibly. >> they are looking into this under senator rockefeller. has definitely taken this issue on. so there is an interest in congress to try to get at the "what" of here. the why. >> they are taking a back seat now while the u.s. attorney

invessel gatien i investigation is going on and while he talks about being interested in this or could be, the pro call usually in the justice department from what i've seen over the years is they will consolidate whatever multiple interests, multiple jurisdictional interests they might have into one u.s. attorney's office and my guess, even if that did go where you're thinking could it would still end up with paul fishman. >> and also the county prosecutors and state attorney general both have concurrent jurisdiction over this. no federal crime, might still have ban state crime. >> and chris christie's appointed attorney general. >> or county prosecutor. >> even if no crime, politicization of things like the port authority, which decades ago was a very non-partisan, very professional organization. it has become politicized over the years. maybe no illegality, but the legislature or the congress may want to do things to make it --

>> we have -- >> -- less political. >> we started to look closer at the port authority, what's going on there. a tease for later. we'll pick it up after this with the other piece of this, this sort of twin scandals. look at the hoboken piece, mayor dawn zimmer's allegations and the response. we'll look at that after this. and the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪ wake it up with olay regenerist. formulated with a skin energizing complex, it penetrates 10 layers of the skin's surface. because energized skin is younger looking skin.

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♪ in short, mayor zimmer's version of our conversation in may of 2013 is not only false, but is illogical and does not withstand scrutiny when all of the facts are examined. any suggestion -- any suggestion, that sandy funds were tied to the approval of any project in new jersey is completely false. >> that was lieutenant governor

kim guadagno responding to mayor zimmer's comments on our show last weekend. nobody knew quite what to make of that. certainly attracted a lot of attention. sally, assemblyman, as a response, kim guadagno's response and the other council member implicated in this, haven't heard much in terms of a full explanation what was said between them. at a basic level what do you make of dawn zimmer's allegations? do you find them personal? >> most of the money, most, i think, anyway, anticipated to go to the shore. i understand hoboken got a little bit of money as it should have. in fact, i think i actually voted for a bill that included giving them money for a walkway or something along those lines. the simple fact of the matter is that it strikes me as a bit much to take that at that face value.

>> twhak? the idea hoboken didn't get -- >> yeah, because it doesn't seem -- from what i understood from reading what other mayors had to say, that the delays in getting stuff is not unusual. that doesn't surprise me from government at all. they got, what? $300,000 for a backup generator. a lot of money for a generator. >> it seems, a couple things jump out at me. one, the structure of the program created by the christie administration for the money they had control over, geared towards the shore. geared towards putting razing houses on the shore and buying back land. geared towards things that don't apply to hoboken. one square mile on the banks of the hudson river, fourth most densely populated. 80% in the water. one of the complaints from the mayor is simply this program was never set up to really help our city in the first place. then i watched the christie administration's response this week. it seemed a little disingenuous.

they're taking credit for money they don't control. no problem and list all of these bullet points of money going to hoboken. $43 million in flood insurance. things the christie administration had nothing do with. they seem to be distracting from the issue by taking control of money they didn't control. >> much of these programs are ongoing. many of the places that put requests in haven't seen it. there hasn't been decisions made. one pot of money $250 million. $1.2 billion, something like that? i've forgotten the exact amount and still ongoing. i have a house in laviolette. i know what they went through. perhaps hoke boeken suffered under water but not a tidal surge. and like others. when you were seeing the images from sandy they weren't schoen hoboken for the most part. >> but you were just showing some of hoboken. it was bad. >> a lot of the money was -- >> excuse me. plead, go ahead. >> no, no.

finish. >> a lot of the money was under federal guidelines. but there was a lot that was under the governor's discretion, and the public gets this. i mean, just -- you know, the last election, the gubernatorial election was all about whether people relate to and like christie's style. now because of this bridgegate, people -- they can feel it personally. they understand what it is for ems response to be delayed for twice as long. for the police search for a missing child to take longer because of traffic jams, and they also understand withholding aid for disasters. and i think that's why, you know, we can now begin to look at the issues that were pushed aside during the last election. where christie left federal money on the table for building a tunnel. where he left federal money on the table for public education. where he left federal money on the table for promoting health

care enrollment. he said, no, i'm not even going to accept that money. not going to do those things. important policy issues. we want to make sure those don't get lost in the personality and the politics. >> and the other issue is -- when you're -- but when you're having this argument about did hoboken get enough and the governor's office is strongly saying, oh, no. they got all this money. getting lost is, clearly, publicly, the mayor of hoboken has been saying consistently, we did not get enough. we badly need more and the allegations she's making is the two top people in the governor's administration basically came to her and said, okay. you don't think you're getting enough. if you want more you've got to aprove this development deal. this development deal with ties of chris christie's closest political -- >> steve, it raises a curious observation. if you look at how many mayors, many of them democrats, democrats and republicans, but if you go to the opposite party, the democratic party, along the shoreline, who endorsed christie

or at least said good things about him, when you talk to them, there is a lot of sincerity there. there's no question about it. i would be the last person to deny that, and there's also, off the record, some of them will also say, i have no other choice. and even if dawn zimmer cannot ultimately prove her allegation, and there's been a lot of pushback even behind the scenes from the christie administration, i can tell you that. i've been subject to some of that, like, brian, come on. this isn't the way we operate. but even if you give the administration the benefit of the doubt on this, you can't deny the feeling of some democratic mayors, i don't want to make a blanket accusation here, who played ball, because they felt that was the only way they were going to get their fair share. >> the governor controls the precincts? >> we have to get a quick break

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assemblywoman, something to say. go right to it. >> yes. the dawn zimmer issue is coming out now. i don't know a lot about it. i haven't seen anything. i only know what i heard. i'm comfortable in believing that she felt bullied, or threatened, because that's the way this administration is. i mean, i think that we have endless cases of looking at the governor bullying. every day citizens. bullying legislators. he bullied me. one of the reasons that i have problems with, you know, accepting credibility on his part now as to what he says is that he got up there in the press conference and said, i'm not a bully. he is a bully. i am and was the chairman of barbara buono's campaign. were afraid to endorse her, get

her money, because this was a bullying situation. >> in the capacity of chairing barbara buono's campaign, you were talking to democratic mayors expressing that feeling to you? >> not only mayors, to a lot of different people. they just did not want to be associated in any way, shape or form with the campaign. for fear of retribution. i mean, that's -- sort of the hallmark of this administration. you -- you may reward your friends, because that's a question we're trying to get answers to, but you doggone sure punish who you call your enemies. >> do you think those people telling you that during the campaign, do you expect some of them may come forward? feel the climate is safer to come forward? >> some, and some may have already. who knows. >> we've tried. it's hard to get them to do so. he's got four more years. >> right. >> if they feel that way. >> that's the other thing. the expectation he'd be leaving halfway through his term to run for president. if that's off the table. that's an "if," maybe he's in

trenton longer bringing us to something we were going to talk about next. for now, my thanks to my guests. it is not just the u.s. attorney's office that will weigh in on the christie administration. also the court of public opinion and well beyond the state of new jersey. that part of the story is straight ahead. today we're going to play a little game. which 4g lte map has the most coverage? this isn't real difficult... pretty obvious to me. i'm going to have to say verizon. verizon. that's right! the choice is obvious. verizon's superfast 4g lte network is over three times larger than any other 4g lte network. now get one, two, or even three-hundred dollars off a new smartphone depending on the smartphone you trade in on america's largest, most reliable 4g lte network. that's powerful. verizon. now get a free lg g2, with a 13-megapixel camera. [ mawith our today's what's fresh fish menu,eating right at red lobster? you can always catch fish fresh every day! wood-fire grilled, blackened, or roasted. eating better never tasted so good!

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republican leaders gathered this week for their party's annual winter heating in washington, d.c. get togethers are often largely bureaucratic ceremonial events driven by party protocol. yesterday members of the republican national committee endorsed two headline grabs changes for their party by a voice vote, immediately take action to halt current unconstitutional surveillance programs and provide a full public accounting of the nsa's data collection programs. the resolution urges congress to

amend the seconds of the patriot act to bulk collection started under george w. bush. it wasn't long ago at the very same winter party meeting back in 2006 during the bush administration that then rnc chairman ken mehlman blasted critics of nsa surveillance. >> the nancy pelosi and howard dean really think when the nsa is listening in on terrorists planning attacks on america they need to hang up when those terrorists dial their sleeper cells inside the united states? ladies and gentlemen, president bush learned from september 11th that we must change to protect ourselves. and his reforms are keeping us safe every single day. >> now, we don't yet no if one resolution will change the agenda of republican but we do know where rank and file stand. with senator rand paul, leading the libertarian wing of the party in an effort to rein in domestic spying.

also yesterday the rnc voted to damaticry overhaul their president's nomination process condensing the primary calendar. the idea is not to have another endlessly dragged out fight that bloodies the ultimate nominee, like we saw with mitt romney in 2012. in 2016, first primary season contest is scheduled for february. a month later than in 2012. only four states will be permitted to hold elections that month. iowa, new hampshire, south carolina and nevada. the other 46 must wait until after march 1st. they will suffer serious penalties including fewer delegates to the national convention. so big changes this week at the annual republican winter meeting, which may be distracted them from the other big changes this week. involving the republican governor of new jersey. chris christie's administration is now dealing with not just one but two big scandals. already under fire for mysterious lane closures on the george washington bridge and then last weekend, the mayor of hoboken, new jersey, came on this show and accused christie's

lieutenant governor's explicitly linking her city's sandy aid to the approval of a develop project represented by the law firm of one of christie's top allies and accused another high-ranking administration official of sending a similar message a few days later. christie's raising another possible change. will he stay on, can he? at chairman of the national governor's joe the national face for the party's effort to take control of executive branches around the country. in statehouses around the country. the job requires extensive campaigning and fund-raising to help republicans eke out tight governor's races. until recently it seemed governor christie was the perfect fit for that job. lately, not at much. not as much. >> from the perspective of setting aside this as an issue in other races it makes sense for him to step aside in that role. he does not serve the goals of that organization by staying at chairman. >> let me ask you -- >> and that doesn't mean any of

the charges political or otherwise or substantive or not. does matter. perception is reality. >> now, ken cuccinelli may have his own beef with governor christie. lost the governor's race last november and chuck todd reported christie declined the cuccinelli's camp plea for the wildly popular governor to campaign for him in the waning days of that race. still, cuccinelli's remarks made waves and observers wondered who would be the next republican to call for christie to step aside as the chairman of the rg jachlt and clamoring to step up, party leaders did their best to stop the attacks. rnc priebus didn't know of a better governor to read the rga. thursday the rga announced christie will continue to travel around the country to raise money for governor's in close races around the country. hitting many states in the coming months, will those

candidates want christie by their side? fund-raising trip to florida last week christie made zero public appearances. wouldn't even tell the media where the events were held and no photos from that trip. no grip and grins of christie and the florida governor rick scott together. these were the closest the media could get to finding chris christie. the big, dark suvs there. the question of what christie's own constituents will tolerate as well. new jersey residents, will they want him whisking around the country while his administration is under investigation and christie ever does have to resign, would that mean conceding any shot of the presidency? if things crumble for christie? who does the establish turn to for its candidate sglex to discuss these questions, congressman steve cohn from tennessee with nbc political reporter casey hunt reporting from the meeting this week and politics writer at the national journal and john stanton, washington bureau chief for

buzzfeed.com. thank you for joining us. casey, start with you. you probably spent the most time this week with republicans than anybody at this table. >> a lot of time together. >> your observations on just the conversations you had this week in washington with republicans about chris christie, what were you picking up on? >> chris christie is still somebody who republicans view as a potential candidate in 207116. he's gone from the one who sits at the top of everyone's list when you ask. so, hey, who do you think's going to be best in the running for 2016? it used to be, first answer, all our governors, chris christie in new jersey. now it's scott walker, for example. a lot of willingness to give chris christie benefit of the doubt but coming with the caveat only if there's not another shoe to drop. and as you said earlier on the show, there's going to be a long time and a lot of paper and a

lot of testimony before we figure out whether or not there's another shoe. that's going to be a lot of distraction for chris christie in all of his roles, whether serving as governor of new jersey or raising money for the rga. >> a stones put it in perspective. a couple poll numbers to show. national poll from quinnipiac. christie versus hillary, 2016. a month after, back in december, it was 42-41 christie. looks like the republicans' best bet. and tuesday, as these storms are gathering, hillary clinton up eight points. supposedly the republican the best bet and the scramble among republicans. the quinnipiac poll, back in december. small number, christie in front at 17. lost about one-third, down to 12% now. a jumble of names right there. but i guess i'm thinking of that florida trip last weekend, and the christie people heading into last weekend were talking about, he's come out.

given his nearly two-hour marathon press conference. it's now -- this is about moving beyond this. he's going to have his nainaugu. moving a past it. goes to florida, rick scott, they have to care about, doesn't want to be seen with him. no public appearances with rick scott or with christie at all. how under this cloud can he function in that role? how can he go into massachusetts, a blue state where they have a shot of winning the governor's race, how can he go in and campaign? down to texas? how can he go to these states where republicans really have a shot. these candidates, will they want to be associated with him unless and until this is cleared up? >> maybe not being publicly campaigning with these candidates, and being shown with them, because as was said, there could be another shoe that drops. you don't want a photo op of you next to someone and a week later you find out it was way worst than everyone thought. what he can do, privately raise

money behind closed doors, although that's still a little problematic, because if donors are concerned, having those same concerns about another shoe dropping, will they want to put a lot of money on the table and have that kind of tie? but he can still raise money and that's a big, a big role that he has to play for the rga. >> and that's -- that has been part of, a big part of chris christie's political base, really, i call is the "wall street journal" crowd. the big bucks, central people trying to recruit him into to the race at the last minute for 2012. are they sticking with him or having doubts? >> initially definitely doubts. from what i've heard about the fund-raisers doing in florida, though, for instance, at the last minute, a number of these guys came forward saying i'm not on the list. can i get on the list? i'd like to come down. one person said it may be a bit of rubber necking at the dead guy kind of a deal, but also there are republicans looking at him saying he's getting beat up

really bad. conservatives that, on his side for years are suddenly no longer at least attacking him constantly, some cupping to his defense and others saying we'll put or money on him and give him cash at this point. doesn't seem it's hurting that side of his operation right now. >> and congressman, how do you look at this as a democrat? because -- did you accept sort of, as of a month ago, before this all exploded, in your mind, was chris christie the republican you didn't want your baert to face in 2016? >> i think so. because he does go to the middle better and claims to have had democratic support. and he has -- an understanding -- got out with obama. wasn't afraid to touch him. and, yeah. i think he would have been a more difficult candidate than a right wing extremist. >> your assessment of how, where it is right now, obviously, he's embattled. are you looking at this saying, yeah. i have a feeling he'll come through this and be fine six months from now? what's your sense and the sense of democrats in washington about

how serious this? >> i think most think he's toast. i don't think -- people want their president and their politicians to care about them. it's about the people, and the constituency, not about the candidate or officeholder. what's come out of this, chris christie cares about himself a lot. he is the center of everything. and he was when he was u.s. attorney and appointed all of those monitors, where ereally saw how good he was at raising money and catering to people who have money and the ability to raise money. he's a political animal. i don't think the american public will want somebody as president. think about foreign policy. the way he talks about people. if he's talked that way about the north korean president. he's stupid or something else, a bomb falls. you know? you can't have somebody with that type of demeanor dealing in foreign policy with some who are pretty crazy. >> you know -- >> you have to have one sane person in the room. >> how much of this is, like, so much of this, of these scandals,

to me at least harks a only in jersey feel to it. right? i always say, christie sort of traded on nationally a positive image of new jersey. the image that new jersey is home to a lot of -- people who are rough around the edges but give you straight talk, and they're not going to b.s. you. chris christie would go to these republican events, in iowa, wherever it was, tell them, i'm going to talk to you jersey-style and they love it. it would be blunt -- seems the other image of new jersey is reinforceed by all this, casey, when talking to republicans this week, were you picking up on that? this is new jersey. we don't want to touch this? >> for sure. it wasn't just appearances in iowa and new hampshire. his whole convention address. wleb he gave the evening speech at republican national convention, all of these graphics, new jersey. the whole focus. it's a big part of what he's selling. there is and was discussed a lot of concern about how his personality is a wild card. this is something any candidate that is making the jump from a small -- even a big state like new jersey.

rick perry ran head-long into this running from texas. elected governor of texas easily. this is not going to be a problem. stepping on to this bigger stage is an entirely different enterprise. if he gets into a situation where, we've seen him confront members of teachers unions for example. if something like that happened in an early state like iowa and new hampshire and turned out the back story was something turned out to be problematic. several i spoke to at the winter meeting that raised questions whether or not his personality while on the one hand could be his biggest selling point could be a huge weakness in a presidential campaign. >> i've always been skeptical he could win a primary. won't win in south carolina or most of the southern states. >> or in louisiana. >> he is tony soprano to those people. whether he likes it or not, that's the truth. they're not going to vote for him. he's very much an outsider, an alien to them. >> senator lindsey graham raised that issue. not sure he can win in the south.

we like our politicians to be people who speak truth to power, they want somebody hoop polite. how does he come across to the christian evangelicals? he would have to win over those states. >> if not christie, who? and who on the republican side nationally, we've had a few quotes, interesting quotes from republicans maybe trying to capitalize on this moment for chris christie. we'll look at that and raise that question right after this. ♪ turn around

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i don't know. who e-mails who, who works for whom, and i have been in traffic before, though, and i know how angry i am when in traffic and wondering, who did this to me? >> something about his leadership style they didn't know? >> yeah. other people have to judge that. you know, there are just certain politicians you know

when they're enjoying a moment. just loving the moment. there is this history now between chris christie and rand paul, and chris christie has been really, you know, hard on rand paul, and now rand paul gets a chance to return the favor and gets to play this sort of, play at the populist outrage around this. i played that moment not just because of the rand paul/chris christie rivalry but in the context of what happened with the rga meeting, the resolution passed there. wondering, again, we always talk about the republicans. invariably, nominate bob dole, george w. bush, romney, mccain. nover go to the true believer rand paul-type candidate. i look at this, it's early, but if this leads to christie taken off the board and look at the republican party shift to libertarianism, is it rand paul to pick up the pieces? >> the poll numbers you showed, interesting, despite christie losing ground versus hillary clinton, he still performs better than other potential 2016

candidates. against hillary clinton. he performed better than rand paul. so the question is, can he survive a primary to get to a general? and there is a concern among moderates that with this whole scandal that we will end up with a rand paul as the republican candidate. he won't be able to beat hillary clinton. >> can't win the general election. that's the question. besides chris christie, who else is out there who can play that sort of moderate role? who could be the electable george w. bush in 2000? >> jeb bush. his brother. >> marco rubio. his problem, he clearly gets skittish, right? on immigration, came out hard. instead of continuing to force the issue backed away. they pounced on him, conservatives. that hurts him. look at politics now, terry mcauliffe is governor. then rick santorum can be president. >> the story how he became governor is basically the

republicans nominated a sanatorium-like candidate. that's why virginia is such a valuable bellwether for 2016. there is a too far republicans can go, and without christie, jeb bush. the thing i remember about jeb bush is he has not actually run, been on a ballot since 2002. it would be a 14-year gap from jeb bush returns in 2016. >> and hillary clinton stepped into the twitter universe, as you -- the way, the speed with which you have to respond. jeb ran into it a little bit. he gave a speech to conservatives. the reaction in the room was great, among conservatives, blogs. the entire landscape of how campaigns are conducted has changed. he also while he's seen his brother and obviously his father campaign for the presidency, the world is so different, and he himself has only won statewide.

>> look at his book on immigration. he knew the landscape changed and instead of going in and making changes to the book, they came out were you with it. he ended up further to the right than most of his party was. >> he seems out of practice. his mother every other day out there saying he shouldn't run. i don't know if that helps at all, but congressman, you're saying you saw christie before all this as the biggest threat to your party in 2016. who do you see at the second biggest threat? >> i wouldn't use biggest, but, go ahead. >> sorry. >> i did think about the hindenburg in new jersey years ago pap great deflation as well. >> he was the gravest threat. avoid getting in trouble. who's the second gravest threat? >> the governor of ohio, did allow for medicaid to be expanded in the state and said it was the right thing to do, and i think there are certain governors. in my state they haven't done it. observer $1 billion we've given away and hundreds of thousands not getting health care. i think it's a mark of a person who is not being fiscally or

morley responsible not taking the money and kate was one of the first to do it and somebody who could come forth and be a responsible candidate. portman is a possibility. several people. i don't they people want to see a bush/clinton election. i'm for hillary clinton and want her to be president, but i don't think people want to see bush/clinton in 2016. they'll go, republicans want to see something different. this is different. we want to move forward with a new generation. they're better off with a new face. >> looking at the names, who is that? rand paul? ted cruz? marco rubio? we talked about his problems. a quote from cayton dawson, former republican chairman in south carolina, ran for the national partiship a few years ago talking about the christie scandal and his future. this all has a potential to affect the rga and governor's races if it grows more legs like with the hoboken mayor. sanford is a guy who resign and

didn't want scandal embroiled. nobody called for that from christie. two, three nor scandals, that's the -- you raised that earlier. the first test of chris christie's 2016 viability. can he make it through 201478 wi201478 -- 2014 with this job? a public rebuke. i can't imagine him turning around and running for president. >> in fairness, he did not disappear with a mistress. so you know, we still have yet to see exactly how this is going to shake out for chris christie. that really is -- look, the invisible primary, early as it is, is already starting. people are making connections to donors. rand paul making visit after visit to iowa, new hampshire, south carolina. if christie is serious about this, obviously, it's prty obvious he is. he does need to be focusing on that. hissing a r job will allow him to do the groundwork. networking in states with donors, but the issue is that his focus is going to be so

splintered while he deals with all of the subpoenas back home, and if it affects the way he governs new jersey that affects the record he has to run on if running for president. >> we reported on this show where, this might have affected -- a whole debate that goes back and forth between unnamed christie people and unnamed romney people about why wasn't christie actually on the ticket in 2012? the christie like the story out there, because of these sec rules. security and exchange commission rules making it impossible. would have had to resign as governor to raise wall street money, big money for the campaign. this supposedly would get in his way in 2016. an expect in new jersey, a re-elected chris christie would resign as governor within two years to run nationally. it now, if the national campaign is taken off the table, this is a guy with four more years left in new jersey. >> the party has had this problem. very like schizophrenic almost. remember in 2012, every week was

a different person that was the front-runner. this last year, ted cruz came out. the savior of the party. now no one remembers who ted cruz is practically. these guys, like christie, making these big plans about four years from now should keep that in mind. that you're going to be the flavor of the month at least one week over the next couple years. that may be it. >> it could be somebody, you totally don't think. tennessee has a history of senators who have ambitions as president. you have albert gore senior, junior, lamar alexander. bob corker. bright. does a good job in the senator. there's the corker '16 -- >> by democratic congressman steve cohen. we've made some news. about three minutes, a couple minutes left to finish this discussion, and at the end of it, an exciting announcement about what's coming at theened of the show. stick around. be right back. it's hip-hop. for cross-country, classical.

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allegedly uses hardball, bullying tactics against people who cross him. have you never experienced that side of him? >> no. chris and i get along very well. i watched a president known as lbj push through civil rights because he was a strong leader knew to you to make things happen. we're watching a washington that can't get the job done. chris does. that's one of the reasons he's as possible as he is. >> and mitt romney asked yet about chris christie's troubles. and mitt romney on the "jimmy fallon show," a mitt romney weekend in america. hope you're all prepared. that quote, interesting. he's asked by savannah guthrie about bullying from christie and his response, lbj was a bully and got civil rights through. the mayor of hoboken, not talking about using bullying for a grand purpose. the idea, using sandy money as leverage to get a development project through that one of your

best friends, his law firm, represents. i don't think people equate that on the same level of civil rights, but i guess that's one thing i'm wondering about, casey. that image of bullying. it sort of cut both ways, i think, and a lot of republicans received it one way the last few years. he's a tough, strong leader like you're hearing from mitt romney. i wonder if republicans themselves are rethinking that? definitely a sense that. >> definitely a sense while on the one hand christie's personality has been something that's appealed to even some elements of the tea party. he has problems with conservatives. anger among the tea party that want to take it to washington and wanting somebody who will stand up there and speak the people's voice. christie has spoke ton some in those groups in the past. i think at this point it's pretty clear that it's starting to turn on itself and something that could easily be a weakness. we were discussing before, it's something ta could lead him to make mistakes, if -- in a high-profile setting or in a

presidential race. >> all depends how the mystics are interpreted when they happen. it can be, oh, the tough-talking jersey guy, or christie the bully again. one of the risks here. >> and local politics is always a bit unseemly. you well know, new jersey local politics is very unseemly in cases. this is i think, has always been, his biggest risk is that, if there are other incident, even not scandals like this but the day-to-day operation of politics in new jersey, if other americans start looking at that, that could become a big problem for him, because he fills that entire space. can't just be him and everybody else doing it. it will become him being the guy behind some crazy project. >> mitt romney compares him to president johnson. month comparison. president johnson became president in the most awful circumstances and re-elected in '64, such a -- goldwater and the kennedy impetus. but lyndon johnson didn't win an election with all the media you have today and the social media,

and lyndon johnson couldn't with with steve kornacki on him breaking a story about what he did on this tv station or something in austin. you'd have it. the media would have it now. so many stations, nancy dickerson. he knew he had to deal with nancy dickerson. >> johnson was a legislator at heart. we can't forget that if comparing leadership with chris christie. and axiom in politics. never do anything crooked that the average person can understand. we don't know whether chris christie actually did anything crooked, but he was clearly, or the people who worked for him were involved in something that every voter understands. rand paul crack add joke about it, but everyone in america knows what it's like to be stuck in traffic, and that regardless of how this shakes out, that could be the problem with this for chris christie. >> i'm tempted to dwell on this idea i could have taken down lyndon johnson. >> and that and a list of other presidents. william henry harrison. out in 15 days. no.

i don't know. >> take his coat away. >> weeks, month. >> but it is amazing that, we're talking about. look, i have the background in new jersey, an interesting story for me to cover, but i've never seen an example of a lane closure on a bridge in one state becoming a scandal that's almost covered a presidential level and it's because christie -- what accounts for it? at the start of the show, went through jim mcgreevey, investigations as governor. big news in new jersey. nobody cared outside of new jersey. everybody cares about this. it's because christie is such a -- a national figure and it's such an understandable and mysterious scandal. >> definitely. and it plays to this image or idea people have of him he is a straight talker but maybe perhaps can be a bit of a bully. one of the things especially moderates and independents like about him, he's not afraid to go against the tea party and the conservative base. he rebukes the house of representatives when they

wouldn't approve sandy aid and put republicans in washington on blast. but the traffic element is fascinating to me, because everyone understands traffic, and nothing -- it's the most mundane thing that could become a scandal. >> exactly. >> really. >> of course, now that he's embroiled in it, reverts to classic, the classic sort of conservative playbook. the first statement last weekend was, attacking the liberal media for its vendetta. i wonder if there's a shift in their strategy there. anyway, coming up, it felt your life was missing something last weekend. we felt it too. our tempt to fill that void and return to nomsalsy. that's next. 'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative,

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>>. and the tunnel. >> connecting midtown with manhattan with new jersey, one of the busiest vehicular tunnels. >> what is the holland tunnel? >> no. >> jerry? >> whats is hollands tunnel? >> no. >> the answer maybe was the hold on tunnel or the -- a french pronunciation. kidding. the real answer, the lincoln tunnel connecting weehawken and midtown manhattan. meaningless a month ago, but essential knowledge for helping to understand and unwrap the george washington bridge scandal. we're going to take a quick pause from all that in a minute, because it is time to dust off the podium, shine the buzzers and play an all-new edition of america's favorite abbreviated weekend morning made for basic politics cable quiz show. it returns, next. is this the bacon and cheese diet?

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live from studio 3a in ross rock fe rockefeller center, it's "up against the clock." a place george washington is said to have called one of the most beautiful he'd ever seen, it's ahlane. and don't be cool in front of his entire school at the age of 7. from memphis, he represents bucolic ninth district, welcome congressman steve cohen. and from wayne, pennsylvania, she's a mainline native making it big in washington, d.c. say hello to nbc's own casey hahn. and. >> now the host of "up against the clock," steve kornacki! >> thank you, bill walsh and thank you 1250ud yo audience and at home for tuning in. this is "up against the clock."

welcome contestants. thank you for braving this mini polar vortex of sorts gripping new york city in bitter cold. congressman, probably don't see many temperatures like this in memphis, i'm guessing, but thank you for dealing with it. i hope everyone is ready and familiar with the rules. we've been off a week. hopefully you remember, three rounds of play. 100 seconds in each round. questions get harder was we go along. contestens, ring in at any time, penalized for wrong answers and instant bonuses scattered throughout these questions. as always, i will remind our live studio audience to please remain absolutely silent during the rounds. with that i will ask you contestants, are you ready? >> ready. >> yes. >> ready. >> the most ready group we'vin had. hands on buzzers. 100 seconds on the clock. 100-point round begins with a group of local leaders headed by billionaire donor sheldon adelson seek -- >> las vegas. >> yes. las vegas, next site of the republican convention.

100 points for casey. next question. it was reported this week the treasury department is looking into this washed up celebrity for reportedly violating -- >> dennis rodman. >> looking into dennis rodman for violating the ban on bringing gifts in north korea. correct. 100 point question. this republican u.s. senator who survived a prostitution -- >> david individualer. >> virt. will run, yes. >> and only you may answer this bonus. vitter briefly ran for governor in the too 3 2003 psych toll qu race early on. name the democrat who ultimately won that election. >> oh, i'm so embarrassed. i don't know. landrieu? >> kathleen blanco. >> should have know than. 100 toss-up question. this republican congresswoman will deliver the -- >> cathy mcmorris rodgers. >> deliver the response on

tuesday. >> 100 point question. one-time rising conservative star whose 2012 anti-d d. >> danesh, film slammed by the campaign. that is correct. 100 point question. first lady michelle obama on wednesday enlisted the help's this sandwich restaurant klain to get kids to make healthier food choices? >> subway? >> correct. at the buzzer. 100 points at the end of the round with the score, 400, casey 200. congressman -- at zero. we've seen worse scores on this show. believe me. it's easy to make it up, because we now move to the 200-point round. questions are harder but worth twice as much. put 100 more seconds on the clock. when i see those seconds i will begin with this question -- it was revealed thursday that this giant liberal superpac

has -- >> the majority pac. >> incorrect. >> priorities usa. >> raising funds for hillary clinton possible 2016 campaign. 200 point toss-up. priebus and canter, took part in this annual rally. >> march for life. >> part in the march for life in washington on wednesday. correct. instant bonus. 200 more points, the first march for life was held when who was president? >> ronald reagan? >> incorrect. richard nixon. no penalty on that. that was the instant bonus. 200-point toss-up question. reported this week jim messina previously drg d previously -- steve? >> head up the campaign for hillary clinton. >> charlie crist. >> join the campaign of 2016. charlie crist. correct information, not what we were looking for nap is the risk of ringing in early.

>> i would have said that first, too. >> and in an interview published tuesday this tech industry billionaire voted for legalizing marijuana in his home state of washington. >> bill gates. >> did say that. correct. >> 200 point question. this republican governor announced he is taking steps towards decriminalizing the use of marijuana in his state? >> rick perry. >> of texas. correct. 200 point question. on monday, this nine-time olympic gold medalist alleged new jersey governor chris christie tried to dissuade him frun running in 2011. call time on that. >> casey? >> first name carl? >> can we accept that, judges? >> no. >> we need more. >> incorrect? anybody else? >> can't come up with the last name. >> kacarl lewis. >> the score -- >> not docked? >> 800.

kiss chrissy 600. congressman, negative. and crown a new winner. hardest questions. first one starts now -- lee brite, a fro gun state legislator is auctions off a brand new ar-15 to raise campaign funds challenging what two-term u.s. senator in republican primary this year? time. lindsey graham. 300 point question. new york city mayor bill beblahsio raising taxes on the wealthy to raise pre-kindergarten echoed by speaking in new york city on thursday. time. it's elizabeth warren. 300 point question. told you these are the hard ones. former governor of virginia bob mcdonnell and his wife tuesday charged with illegally accepts gifts from this --

>> johnny williams. >> correct, and casey, instant bonus question. if convicted, mcdonnell could face imprisonment, first governor active or former to receive prison time since whom? >> oh. i don't know. >> need the answer? >> no answer. >> rod blagojevich. >> of course. >> no penalty. 300 point question. in an interview published in "gq" magazine, singer performed for president obama days before the election says he might have won wisconsin for him. >> katy perry? >> with confidence. it is correct. it is katy perry. 300 point question. john boehner this week said he is not yet endorsing anyone for the -- >> jeb bush? >> but he thinks this man would make a great president. jeb bush. 300 point question. the wife is to voluntary submit as the husband ises to lovingly

lead and sacrifices. >> huckabee. >> steve pierce. >> the new mexico wrote it in this new book. 300 wire. the final score 14 fo elahe. 1200 for casey. almost but not enough. congressman, not there, negative 700. with that, elahe, congratulations on your win. bill wolf will tell you what you get for it. >> and our champion, i'll have your name print bed in an exquisite sharpie. you'll get to take the trophy home with you and show it off to friends, family and local school children for exactly one week. you'll also receive an appearance this coming week on msnbc's ""the cycle"" airing 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. eastern time. you'll get to play in our bonus round for a $50 gift certificate

to rut's hut. >> that always looks delicious. elahe, we have some unfinished business for that gift certificate. this is your instant bonus -- your jackpot bonus question. what is the name of the tobacco derived dietary supplement that johnny williams allegedly wanted governor mcdonald's help in promoting? >> oh, i -- i can't remember it. but casey wants to answer it. >> casey is playing eleanor clifton. >> i know about all of the dietary supplement. >> herbal life. >> antiblock. >> that is the correct answer. nobody gets the gift certificate for that. you are a winner. it puts you in contention for the tournament of champions. congressman, thank you for being a good spot. if it means anything, it's been worse. kasie, thank you for playing. you will get the up against the clock home edition.

there's fun for the family, fun for kids of all ages. take it. enjoy it. it's yours to keep. thanks for playing up against the clock. up next we will return with some final thoughts from our panel on the real show. i have the flu, i took medicine but i still have symptoms. [ sneeze ] [ male announcer ] truth is not all flu products treat all your symptoms. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus severe cold and flu speeds relief to these eight symptoms. [ breath of relief ] thanks. [ male announcer ] you're welcome. ready? go.

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squoo going to find out what my guests know now that they didn't know when the week began. we'll start with my new champion. >> this week we found out that in florida 10,000 people missed out on unemployment checks for a month because of a computer glitch. now that long-term unemployment insurance has ended around the country. some places weren't getting the checks for a while because of computer problems. >> stanton? >> we have a story this week about the murder of killer p, a wrapper in greece killed by the golden dawn. they are a knneonazi fascist.

>> republican? >> i think the polar vortex. coca-cola now knows there's climate change and that we need to deal with this issue as well as evolution and tomorrow of the other things they deny. >> kasie. >> i learn that prevus was throwing his weight around. >> i learned carmelo anthony last night 62 points for the knicks and they benched him. keep him in there. keep it going. let's see big numbers. i want to thank elahe, kasie hunt, thank you for getting up this morning. thank you for joining us. for up, my show on the development site at the heart of the scandal. we'll be joined by members of the city council and one of the members who says that mayor dawn zimmer's allegations hold true because she told him about it when it happened. that is tomorrow morning at 8:00. don't go anywhere now though because melissa harris-perry is up next.

harry bellafonte joins her. stick around, nerd land is next. my dad has atrial fibrillation, or afib. he has the most common kind... ...it's not caused by a heart valve problem. dad, it says your afib puts you at 5 times greater risk of a stroke. that's why i take my warfarin every day. but it looks like maybe we should ask your doctor about pradaxa. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate)... ...was proven superior to warfarin at reducing the risk of stroke. and unlike warfarin, with no regular blood tests or dietary restrictions. hey thanks for calling my doctor. sure. pradaxa is not for people with artificial heart valves. don't stop taking pradaxa without talking to your doctor. stopping increases your risk of stroke. ask your doctor if you need to stop pradaxa before surgery or a medical or dental procedure. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding or have had a heart valve replaced. seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding,

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it removes up to 90% of surface stains in just 5 days. unleash your smile with crest 3d white toothpaste. life opens up with a whiter smile. washington d.c. the gayest place in america? plus, singer, composer, actor and activist mr. harry belafonte joins nerd land. and a marriage proposal american women would be better off without. first, it is the issue of our time and both sides are trying to define it. good morning. i'm melissa harris-perry. if we were in early 20th century america and i called you a bully, you'd thank me for the compliment because in the vernacular of d