to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. what did he know and when did he know it. new questions for new jersey governor chris christie about those lane closures at the george washington bridge. security scares. who might be behind a series of false alarms just days before the super bowl. a live report, ahead. a new report paves the way for the key stone pipeline, or does it? will president obama approve the controversial project? one congressman weighs in. the great chicken wing hunt. just in time for the big game, one film maker went to an incredible quest on his search for the ultimate finger food. yeah, i'm going to speak with him. hey there, everyone. we're approaching high noon. no, we just hit it here in the east. 9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to "weekends with alex witt."

new allegations leveled against governor chris christie. the former port authority appointee at the center of the george washington bridge scandal now says there is evidence showing that governor christie knew about the lane closures while they were going on, contradicting the governor's previous statements. joining me now with the story, nbc news national investigative correspondent, michael isikoff, as well as msnbc's steve kornacki, host of "up" on earlier today talking about this stuff. all right, you guys. michael, i'm going to ask you first here. i first want to read the statement issued by the countries to say administration on the heels of this it revelation. it reads, mr. wildstein's lawyer confirms what the governor has said all along, he had absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever mr. wildstein's motivations were for closing them to begin with. as the governor said in a december 13th press conference, he only first learned lanes were closed when it was reported by the press, and as he said in his january 9th press conference, had no indication that this was anything other than a traffic study. okay. this a little different now

coming from wildstein's lawyer, right? >> appears to be. but i mean, if you take a close look at what wildstein says in the letter, it's really hard to know exactly what he is saying here. he is saying that the governor knew about the lane closures during the period that they took place. now, there is that part in the january 9th press conference where christie seems to say otherwise. in fact, he says otherwise. but in that statement from his office yesterday, they cite an earlier press conference in which he did indicate he knew about the lane closures from the press while they were taking place. so there might be less to that contradiction than first met the eye. the real crucial question, of course, is did the governor have any knowledge of why these lane closures were taking place or any reason to believe they were anything other than the traffic study that was being publicly asserted for a while. and then, of course, the other am by fwuty here, what evidence

david wildstein is talking about. evidence exists, he says, that ties christie to knowledge of these lane closures. is that evidence he has, he has seen? we just don't know at this point. >> why do you think so nebulous? so lack of specificity in all of this? is it maybe saying, look, we've got something, and we're going to exchange what we know, immunity, you think that could be part of it? >> there is that. certainly, his lawyer has indicated from the get-go that he was interested in an immunity deal for his client. whether writing a letter -- a public letter like this is the best way to get an immunity deal with a federal prosecutor is -- a dicey question. i would think most lawyers would tell you, it's not. so he's making a public plea here. but look, while legally it's hard to know what to make of this at this point, politically, this is just incredibly damaging

for the governor, because you now have somebody who was one of his appointees, one of his guys, who -- >> is that why -- >> publicly praised now seeming to point the finger at him, seeming to be a turncoat. and until we hear his story, and it could be quite some time before we do, it's hard to see how the governor gets beyond this. >> all right, steve. let's talk with you about the "star ledger" editorial board which this morning laid this out there. they say the governor should resign if wildstein's allegations prove true. but that's all we have at this point. one man's allegation. how seriously is this being treated by the people with whom you are speaking? >> oh, this -- this is an extension and continuation. in a way, it's not surprising. if you look at it this way. when christie gave his press conference january 9th, everybody looked at that and said, wow, he has made some absolutes, definitive claims here, and, wow, you wouldn't think that somebody would make those absolute, those definitive claims unless that person was

absolutely sure that nothing was out there to contradict. and therefore, if something comes out to contradict this, he's basically -- probably fatal political condition. so the editorial from the "star ledger" is sort of a logical follow-up. now somebody is out there suggesting pretty strongly what christie said at that press conference may not have been true, might be provably untrue and therefore, this is what is going to follow after that. the other thing that's not surprising, i think, to people following this closely is that it's david wildstein. the biggest misperception has been this is a christie loyalist. yes, technically a chris christie appointee to the port authority. the thing you need to understand, he got there really through bill baroni, the other appoint appointee, a lot closer to christie, initially appointed to that number two spot at the port authority who basically brought david wildstein in. he does not have these long, deep, personal connections to christie and to christie world, that all the other people that we're mentioning when we talk about this story do. so if there is somebody who --

the person who came to this with the least built-in loyalty to the christie administration was david wildstein. >> what's interesting about your show today, you had bob engel on, and he talked about what was not said. it did not say in this letter that governor christie ordered the lane closings. or that he knew about them before they happened. so -- >> but there is a new wrinkle in this, and that is this. some christie defenders will have been hanging their hats on the idea that this was a rogue operation. okay? the idea that this was wildstein was somehow baroni, bridget kelly, operating outside the chain of command. he makes it clear in this letter, he states is a fact in this letter, that bridget kelly e-mail, the time for some traffic thing, that that indicated an order from the christie administration. so he is saying from inside the administration from higher up than bridget kelly came the order for traffic in ft. lee. >> actually, it could also be a way of saying bridget kelly was the deputy chief of staff, she was the christie administration.

if she is communicating the order -- >> e-mail communicating an order from the administration. >> which is the administration. >> but, again, one of the defenses, some christie people have put out there is, in -- wow, she was in the christie administration. he didn't know about this. the people around him didn't know about this. this is a rogue operation. he's saying in this letter, no, this is not a rogue operation. >> i'm curious, because you know david while stein well. how does he approach the situation that he's in? what's he doing? >> the one thing i say, i think he is -- of all the people we have here, he is the one who thinks the most strategically, long-term, thinks in terms of contingency planning. i'm -- obviously never would have guessed five, ten years ago david wildstein would be in a position like he's in right now. >> explain your relationship. >> sure. he was anonymously owned and edited a political news site where i wrote from 2002 to 2005. the guy gave me a break that made my career and i'm forever grateful. and my professional association is positive. my observation is somebody who

does contingency planning. he thinks ahead to sort of, you know, sort of a worst-case possible outcomes and things and prepares himself for them. this is a guy who -- you're talking about like what evidence does he have. i have no idea what evidence he has. i have a high agree of certainty this is somebody who has saved an awful lot of information, awful lot of documents and an awful lot of records. >> this is a long game. because, you know, we have those legislative subpoenas due by -- on monday. i'm told that already there have been multiple requests for extensions, extensions granted. so this is going to play out for a while. bill stepien, another key player in this, his lawyer wrote a letter yesterday saying his client wants to take the fifth. intends to take the fifth. not going to testify. and doesn't even want to comply with the subpoena. thinks even turning over the documents is a vials violation of his fifth amendment rights, certainly going to be litigated.

so we are looking at -- it would seem -- at a minimum, months of the legislative thing dragging on. hanging over that is a u.s. attorney investigation, which rarely is done in lightning speed, especially in a complicated case like this. so i think, you know, coming back to the point i made before, politically, you know, christie is frozen while this thing plays out over an extensive period of time. >> politically speaking, steve, your interpretation of this, we're in 2014. if nothing is ever proven that ties specifically the governor to having ordered or knowing about these lane closures, you've got another couple years, almost three years, until an election for the presidential aspirations that people have presumed that he may hold. >> well, look -- >> he can recover. >> well, this way. look, he knew about it, he planned it, that kind of revelation. that's the instantly fatal political revelation. even short of that, though, then you're looking at, okay, wait,

this played out with david wildstein, bill baroni, bridget kelly, bill stepien, implicated so far. this whole thing played out, and he didn't know, and he didn't have the curiosity to find out for four months while the press wondered, while people showed up at meetings and asking questions and things got leaked out to the press, he didn't have the curiosity to follow through. so it raises the basic leadership question. the far more damaging thing i have noticed in the last two weeks really since that press conference january 9th. a number of stories have sort of resurfaced. critical and negative stories about chris christie that a year or two ago got absolutely no traction in the press. stories like the firing of a prosecutor in new jersey. this was reported on the front page of the "new york times" two weeks before the election that chris christie just won by 20 points. nobody cared when this story was reported. in the wake of that press conference, you're taking an issue that is very understandable to everybody who watched that press conference. a traffic jam in ft. lee. and they watched chris

christie's performance and most people came away saying i don't know what the truth of this situation is. but i don't think i'm getting the full story from chris christie. and that impression that was created by that press conference runs totally counter to the image that this guy has built incredible popularity on in new jersey and nationally. and every story being resurfaced now is being filtered through this new skepticism that wasn't there before. and that's the long-term damage, if nothing else. >> and there is a bigger danger, and a bigger damage, with this many subpoenas and this many witnesses who are going to be called in and questioned by the u.s. attorney, anybody who thinks they might have exposure could start telling all sorts of stories. we don't know. i mean, that's typically the way these investigations go. and they often go off in directions we don't anticipate in the beginning. so you've got a pretty wide-ranging investigations going on right now that are going to, you know, like i say, this is going to play out over a long period of time. >> i'm going to tell you something. i talked with rachel maddow for office politics this weekend and

in tomorrow's segment -- i'm not telling you all about it, but she will lay out one scenario in which she says he could become president, disregarding this. so i guess i'll have to e-mail you. you don't want to wait until 12:30 tomorrow. thank you guys so much. you can always expect more on this with steve. it will be on tomorrow on "up." weekend mornings every saturday and sunday 8:00 a.m. eastern right here on msnbc. unexpected drama in the run up to tomorrow's super bowl with several false security alarms. meanwhile, custom and border protection adding their fleet of aircraft to the ex assistance jiff effort around the new york and new jersey area to keep the game safe. it includes no less than 700 state troopers, thousands of uniformed and undercover police officers, snipers, even some bomb-sniffing dogs. and nbc's ron not ron mott is in times square where things have picked up since we talked to you. can we remind folks about these false alarms, where they were and what that was about? >> reporter: yeah, hey there, alex, good day to you. you can see tens of thousands of

people here what they are dubbing super bowl boulevard, a 13-block stretch here in times square. there is a lot of security, as well. not so impressive where people can enjoy the festivities, but about yesterday, there were seven packages sent, six in new jersey and one in manhattan we believe addressed according to the fbi of the office of former mayor rudy giuliani and turned out to be corn starch. obviously a threat they took seriously. 100-some odd agencies here, local, state and federal, working to keep the game safe. for the game tomorrow, it's going to be like going to a presidential event. there will be long lines to get into the santortadium. screenings, patdowns and you can't take any bags into the game with you. any personal effects either need to be carried in an airline-sized package, plastic package. so security is very tight here. and obviously the organizers of the game don't want it to be something that takes away from the experience for people. but they need to know that security is very tight here,

alex. >> okay. we thank you for that wrap-up. we'll see you next hour for another update. tomorrow's super bowl will be the first ever played outdoors in a cold weather environment. a huge gamble for super bowl organizers who had to make contingency planls in case of an unexpected storm but it doesn't look like those backup plans will be needed. let's bring in meteorologist dylan dreyer. how is it shaping up for the big game? >> go figure. some of the nicest weather we have seen in quite some time. we should actually get into the upper 40s through the day time tomorrow and then by game time, should be around 42 degrees. there is a cold front moving through, but it's not going to produce a whole lot of rain for our area. in fact, it is going to bring just a couple spotty showers. it's mostly just going to be cloudy by game time. but on the -- that cold front right now, since it is still sitting to our west, that's where we have got all this snow. in fact, the snow is coming down at a really good clip, back through chicago. especially just south of the metro area itself. that's where we do have snow falling at 1 to 2 inches per hour, although that is starting to approach the detroit area,

which is now the snowiest month on record. january was the snowiest month on record since 1908, and the snow is still coming down as we start off february. we can see about another 6 to 12 inches possible in detroit, chicago should get 3 to 6. and it is starting to wind down right now. but upstate new york and up into northern new england will also see snow through the day today. 50 in atlanta. 80s through florida. 29 in chicago. and kansas city, even. then that storm system moves away. a second storm system redevelops tomorrow, especially down near dallas where we'll see a wintry mix and could see some accumulating snow in western tennessee and kentucky, as well. alex? >> okay. not too bad for the big game, for which we thank you, dylan dreyer. there you go. office politics. rachel maddow, the economic divide between the haves and have nots. and do you have a weakness for bar food? meet the director of a new documentary about his quest for the perfect chicken wing.

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at this time next week, the olympic winter games will be well under way. russia has spent billions to make sure the competition is safe and secure for all of the athletes and visitors, but fears of an attack somewhere in russia are high. richard engel is outside sochi for us. hello, richard. >> reporter: alex, the opening ceremony less than one week away. today we are in the mountain cluster where the skiing events will take place. we were on the slopes today, plenty of snow, especially as you go higher up. we're not far from the coast, so there's a lot of humidity here, and the clouds quite low. so when you get to the top of the mountains, you're actually skiing above the cloud line. we did see a security presence, we saw some what looked like army officers looking out into the valleys with binoculars, looking for any intrudierntrudi

fresh snow tracks, drones in the sky looking for heat signatures. the security overall here does seem to be quite tight. this is inside that so-called ring of steel. russia says it's using about 70,000 personnel. that's police intelligence, army, all of the different security services that are being called in to try and make sure these are safe events. the big threat, obviously, comes from the north caucasus, militants in places like chechnya and dagestan, not far from here. all that said, russia so far believes that these will be a secure games. and we're hearing that as increasingly from western diplomats, as well. they're worried about the security in russia overall. but they say that in this olympic venue or in the areas around the olympic venues, they think that the russian security forces do have a handle on the situation. alex? >> okay, richard engel, thank you so much for that. you can all watch the

opening ceremony, the sochi winter games on friday, on nbc. residents in chicago are bracing for another winter storm, one expected to blanket the city with up you to 10 inches of snow by tonight. at least 15% of flights in and out of chicago's o'hare international airport have already been cancelled. let's bring in weather channel meteorologist mike seidel, because mike, it sure looks like february is starting off right where january ended with the windy city, right? >> it has. we have had 2 1/2 inches so far, looking for a storm total of 3 to 5 here in chicagoland. light snow now. we're at the lake front and as far as the eye can see, that's lake michigan in the foggy, snowy distance. and look at all of the ice. and this place is locked up. january was a tenth coldest on record. averaging 15.7 degrees. these records go back to 1872, and third snowiest. and with the over 2 inches of snow so far this morning, alex, they've had more snow this season than they had in the previous two seasons combined. there's the navy pier and although the ferris wheels are

moving this morning, the merry go round at navy pier. the one thing going for us today, believe it or not, is temperature. it's about 30 degrees, about where we should be this time of year, after all the subzero mornings. they have had 15 mornings since december below zero, twice the average and more than subzero cold on monday. and another stormy coming in here through the midwest on tuesday. it's going to hit kc, north of st. louis here into chicago tuesday afternoon. and then another batch of bitter, cold air. so there is really no end in sight here in chicago. might as well enjoy the 30-degree weather while they can today. >> yeah. >> oh-oh o'hare, 250 flights cancelled out of the airport, now lost about 2,200 flights this week at that airport. delays right now about 30 minutes. >> mike, if people do need to get around, you have to consider how they keep the roads safe. how are the salt supplies? any strain on that? >> there is a strain, especially in some of the suburbs. they have a salt plan in effect

where they're trying to prioritize where they salt streets. because they've got low supplies. it's been tough to get salt from their suppliers. one of the reasons is because all the ice on the lake and the rivers, they can't get those barges up into this area. so, yes, salt is becoming a -- >> precious commodity. >> a demand element. >> yeah. >> because of this winter. and it's only february 1st. >> i know. still a lot of winter to go. thank you very much, mike seidel. the letter send by david wildstein's lawyer in the christie bridgegate story. we'll have a lawyer break it down and read between the lines. but first in today's number-ones. >> hey, kevin. still eating chalk for heartburn? i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe

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the u.s. ranks 19th out of 29 with 80% who think american children can succeed. best values in higher education. the princeton very views annual list considers the quality education and what price. the university of north carolina is tops for public schools. new college of florida second. university of virginia third. on the private side, williams college is the top value, just ahead of harvard and then swarthmo swarthmore. >> hey, don't start if you don't want to finish it. >> start what? >> you know what i'm going to do, grow. what you going to do, stretch? i ain't telling you nothing. >> "ride along" is top at the box office where overall earnings are down. bad weather didn't help attendance. "ride along" from universal earned $80 million for the month. and jack ryan brought in $33.5 million for third place. and nose are your number-ones. ds begins with arthritis pain... and a choice.

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with alex witt." time for headlines at the half. a cafeteria manager and supervisor at a utah elementary school on paid leave after dozens of children have their lunch trays pulled from their hands. the trays were taken from the students because they had negative balances in the accounts used to pay for lunches. instead of regular lunches, the children were given fruit and milk. british researchers say they have made a major breakthrough in the treatment of deadly peanut allergies. in a clinical trial, they gradually fed children peanut flour in very small amounts and increased the amounts every two weeks. the children saw their symptoms improve. experts estimate that 15 million americans are allergic to peanuts. most of them, children. thousands gathered on beaches across australia to protest a shark policy. baited hooks being plated off popular beaches to kill white, bull and tiger sharks. the area has seen seven shark attacks in the last three years. the latest allegations against against governor chris christie hinge on david

wildstein. in a letter from his attorney, he claims that there is evidence that the governor knew about the lane closures while they were happening. governor christie denies it, and now even the ft. lee mayor seems skeptical about that letter. >> an artfully written lawyer letter. it's what i do for a living, as well. the first part asks for the port to reconsider their rejection of wildstein request for legal fees and then gets into some conflict of interest issues and essentially concludes with this -- that there was knowledge on the part of the governor. it doesn't say before, it says during the lane closures. >> joining me now, kendall coffey, former u.s. attorney for the southern district of florida, and the founding partner at coffey burlington. good to see you. >> thanks for having me, alex. >> knowing how lawyers write, what do you read between the lines of this letter? >> well, superficially, the letter is all about getting the attorneys' fees paid. and they're saying in effect that wildstein was not a rogue, acting outside of the scope of

whatever his duties were. he was actually acting the way he was supposed to, pursuant to the knowledge of the administration, and therefore, since he was in effect acting within his scope of the organization, they ought to pay his attorneys' fees. but the real issues here are much deeper, and frankly, much more it terrifying for anybody that is wearing a bull's eye on their back with respect to investigations. and it appears what wildstein is trying to do is in a public and rather unusual way, get out there in front and say, i am the magic cooperator, i am the one -- whoever is investigating this, i'm the one you need to give immunity to, because i might be willing to talk and i've got some evidence. >> so that's what you're saying, this phrase, very nebulous, nothing specific defined here, evidence exists. that's how you would go about trying to seek some sort of immunity? you wouldn't want to state this directly, not publicly? >> well, it's very unusual, alex. just as you're saying. normally, all these kind of things are negotiated behind the scenes with investigators and

prosecutors. nobody is out there doing a media campaign to try to market themselves as potentially a star witness for the prosecution. but it appears that here, for whatever reasons, wildstein is -- and his lawyer are feeling that the prosecutors are not willing to deal with them the way they want to be dealt with. the prosecutors may be standing back. >> give me a sense of immunity, though. what is the bar at which wildstein would have to meet that so they say, all right, you know what, what you're giving us in exchange is worth immunity? >> well, and by the way, there are all kinds of immunity. there is immunity just to sort of protect what you say in a limited way that says it can't be used against you and then transactional immunity, where they're saying, hey, i don't care what you did here. you are not going to be criminally charged. but to get into any kind of zone, where the government wants to give you major concessions, it's not enough to talk about sleazy things, bad things, bullying or anything like that. what they're looking for is

direct evidence that's courtroom ready, if needed, that could tie that particular criminal activity to a major target. and there's no doubt here that in any scenario like this, prosecutors want to go up to the top of the ladder if they possibly can with their investigation. >> okay. wildstein's attorney's letter may have been vague. governor christie, not at all, very direct in his statements. the latest reads, in part. mr. wildstein's lawyer confirms what the governor has said all along, he absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever his -- lanes were closed when it was reported by the press and as he said in his january 9th press conference, no indication this was anything other than a traffic study. how do you read that as an attorney? >> well, i read that as in some ways implicit acknowledgment that wildstein really does have information showing that during the time of the traffic closings, the government knew

something about it. because they didn't come out and deny that during the closings, which as we know, took place over a number of days. it wasn't a single hour of traffic closings. we all know that that is going to be a central point. since it's implicitly being acknowledged maybe wildstein has got something after all, it almost appears there is some validation for what he is saying. so it was a limited response. it didn't say wildstein is making all this up, pure fiction. he shouldn't be believed, not a word. it's actually a somewhat significant statement about what the governor's position clearly is now in terms of what he knew and when he knew it. >> you know, kendall, i remember well that you were one of the attorneys for the democratic party in the 2000 presidential chad recount there. politics and all the vested interest associated with that. where does that intersect and affect legal issues like this? >> well, everything changes in any kind of case of this kind of

high profile. people act differently. lawyers act differently. but one of the realities here is going to affect the key to a successful investigation. and that's getting a maximum of cooperation. and sometimes it's hard, because people are die-hard loyalists to whoever might be the person at the top of the ladder, the top of the pyramid. here you've got a thing that die-hard loyalty could be fading fast with some people. it's one thing to be willing to take a bullet for somebody you think of as a true friend who is a political gubernatorial rock star. it's another thing when whoever that person is seems to have been acting unfriendly to you lately, and in some respects, is acting less like a future president and more like an embattled governor. >> all right. kendall coffey, always a pleasure. thank you so much. >> hey, thanks, alex. in today's office politics, msnbc's rachel maddow. she will show us how she deals with stress as the clock winds down to the start of her live broadcast every night. but first, i asked rachel for her take on the economic divide

in this country between the haves and the have nots. >> it's the worst it's ever been. people talk about the gilded age, having been prethe great depression, having been this incredible and distopic american situation where we had this gilded class with all the wealth in the world and everybody else doing very poorly and there being no middle class. we're back there in terms of economic strata. that's where we are right now. the top 1% from 2009 to 2012 saw their incomes go up something like 31%. whereas median incomes state flat or dropped, wages stayed flat or dropped. if you've gotten it already, you're doing better than you ever have. and that's why it's amazing to see this sort of core of billionaires trying to denounce president obama as a socialist. really? socialism looks pretty good if you're a rich guy. >> did the president effectively articulate that? >> no, i don't think so. i actually don't think he tried, interestingly.

we've got a lot of advance notice that the state of union was going to be about economic inequality. i don't really think it was. i think it was about sort of smaller practical things. it was about -- it was about opportunity and the american dream and those sort of big things that everybody talks about when they give big american speeches. but in terms of trying to reduce inequality, he talked about inequality as a problem and then talked about these small, practical things he's going to try to get done without congress. every president says that in states of the union. not in their first year, because in their first year,' always say, kum ba yah, we're going to get together and i'm going oh to trantz form washington and we're going to get along and be constructive. right. then they come back the next year and they're like, you know what, i'm going to start doing some stuff by executive order. so it's -- it's not as unique a turn, i think, as a lot of people were making it out to be. and criticizing the president for that part of the speech. so on the minimum wage, the president can't unilaterally raise the federal minimum wage. the one thing he can do by executive order is raise it for a few hundred thousand people who work for federal

contractors. so he's done that. the president is, in fact, lawfully empowered to do that. in the end, with republicans screaming about it, and the minimum wage going up, what's going to be more important? that people feel like they don't like that process or people feel like they like those 500 people are getting paid a little bit more? i think the democrats are gambling that these policy outcomes, people are going to see as a positive thing and they're going to be happy somebody found a way to do it. republicans are gambling people care about whether or not it was an executive order or legislative action. i think the democrats are more likely to be right on that issue. but we'll see how loudly the republicans make that case. >> so when we came in here, i want to talk about your desk, because it was really -- show me -- let's maneuver this desk. >> can i do that? >> yeah. >> yeah, we do an action shot here. >> this is how the magic happens. >> here's how it happens. okay, ready? >> okay. i'm getting anxious, and we're getting close to show time, and the b block is edited. >> 7:30ish? when is this? >> oh, geez, i've got to stand

up. i'm going to stand up and work. oh, geez! gets the blood flowing in a different way, uses different parts of my brain, less of my butt. it's just -- you know, get the -- i stand up. it also makes my back hurt less because i'm an old person. >> oh, please. when you sit at your desk all day, by the time you get up, you're like -- >> yeah. >> so this means i sit up, stand down -- sit up, stand down? stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, all day. and it helps me be less tied into a not. knot. >> whatever it is, it's working. tomorrow at this time, rachel makes a case for one scenario under which she could envision new jersey governor chris christie as president. searching for the perfect chicken wing? you're going to hear from a man so obsessed, he made a movie about it. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses. if you have a business idea, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. start your business today with legalzoom.

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chicken wings in half an hour. molly schuler competed in the wing bowl and beat the previous record of 337 wings. she can afford whatever treatment she may need, as she takes only $22,000 in prize money. that's fun. well, if there is one other person who could handle 363 chicken wings, it might be my next guest. matt reynolds was an american ex pat living in eastern europe when he got a hankering for some good wings so he did what anyone might do, set out on a nearly 3,000 mile road trip to feast on 284 different types of wings, in search of the greatest, and he filmed the whole thing. ♪ >> early on, he always liked wings, and it was the hotter the better. >> buffalo wings, they always make you feel better. >> they are good. they are greasy, they make you feel bad. >> when wings suck, we shouldn't have to be quiet about it in front of the owner. >> joining me now is matt

reynolds, director of "the great chicken wing hunt." this is so cool. i just want to know, how did this whole thing come about? >> it's kind of a long story, but i'll tell it briefly. i was living in eastern europe, and i'm from roughly the buffalo area, and i had been making wings my whole life. so i would make wings for my new slavsic friends who never had them. i would have bottles of franks hot sauce shipped to me by my parents. and they loved them. and i would -- it turned into this thing where i would make these wing parties, like every few months. and 50 or 60 people would show up. and one night we were drinking and eating wings and we decided to go back to the u.s. for a wing tour, like you might go to france for a wine tour. which evolved into a mission to find the world's best buffalo wing. and -- >> and, come on? who has got it? >> well, i don't usually say who won. but the finalists are a place in upstate new york called abigail's. seneca falls and the finger lakes region. they do something -- different.

they add is celery and bleu che into the standard recipe, which would not necessarily have to be good, but it's pretty amazing, the recipe. and there's a place in syracuse called shifty's, just a traditional straight down the middle buffalo wing. and they do a very, very good ultra-hot wing with fresh peppers. >> okay. and apparently your girlfriend accompanied you on this trip? how did that go? >> that's actually part of the film, is the strain that my obsession with wings puts on a relationship. she is also czech. i don't know if you picked that up in the trailer from her accent. >> yeah. >> so she was getting used to wings and spicy food on the trip and also dealing with the fact that to quote her, she thought i loved wings more than her. and -- >> well? >> we had some ups and downs. so that's part of the film. but i think ultimately it brought us closer together. >> are you guys still together? >> uh, i don't want to spoil the end of the movie. >> oh, okay. well, speaking about the movie, let's watch a clip of the movie

from one chicken wing enthusiast, also a bit of a foodie historian. >> wings is quintessential american food. >> the hot dog, the hamburger, they can trace their roots back to another country and another time. but the chicken wing is just a few blocks over here in 1964. and if somebody wants to come and see what americans really like to eat, we eat the part of the chicken that they used to throw away! the chicken couldn't even use it. the lowly chicken wing raised to an elevation of almost deity. >> quintessential american. you subscribe to that? >> yeah, i think so. you know, we've traveled around a lot with the film, a lot of people have seen it by now. and nobody has been able to come forward and say, "no, this food is the quintessential american food that has spread all over the world." no one has been able to refute this argument. so i don't know if it's -- you know, we can't prove it, but it seems to hold water.

>> okay. well, we're all really starving here in the studio. we want chicken wings. we're like, matt, why didn't you bring them in? that's okay. we'll get them later. thank you so much and good luck to you with this film and a note to our viewers here. "the great chicken wing hunt" is available on itunes and hue lieu. >> thanks. the major hurdle cleared for the keystone pipeline. will it clear capitol hill? new r fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! with the quicksilver cash back card from capital one, it means unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you purchase, every day. it doesn't mean, "everything... as long as you buy it at the gas station." it doesn't mean, "everything... until you hit your cash back limit." it means earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every place, every occasion, all over creation.

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the controversial keystone pipeline just cleared a major hurdle. the state department released a long-awaited environmental impact report that concludes, the 875-long pipeline, mile-long pipeline, stretching from canada to the u.s. is unlikely to alter global greenhouse and gas emissions. officials, however, say they are still weighing whether the project would fit with president obama's broader climate and energy strategy. here's what the president said in tuesday's state of the union speech. >> when our children's children look us in the eye and ask if we did all we could to leave them a

safe, more stable world with new sources of energy, i want us to be able to say, yes, we did. >> joining me now, rhode island democratic congressman, david as i say lienee. always great to have you on. thanks for joining me. >> thanks, alex. >> here we go, the president's comments on leading a more safe, stable world for our kids. how does the keystone pipeline fit into that vision? >> well, i don't think there is any question that the tar sands that the pipeline would carry is some of the dirtiest fuel on the planet. i don't think there is any question that the environmental impact is substantial. i think the equivalent of 6 million new cars on the road. the carbon emissions. so, you know, there has been a number of challenges to some of the findings in this most rehe cent report. there is a 20-day comment period so i'm anxious to see the response to this. but it's clearly at odds with the president's vision for a cleaner, more sustainable environment. and i think we have to proceed very, very cautiously. the impact of this will be tremendous on the environment.

it's one of the dirtiest fuels on the planet. and we should be very careful not to facilitate the acceleration of the extraction of that kind of fuel. >> but it puts him into a politically different spot, because of the concerns about the environment, although this report seems to mitigate some of the concerns. i get, it's the dirtiest fuel around. if there is an accident, all bets are off. but then you also have the business interests, the jobs, things that will help. so ultimately, how do you think the president is going to come down on this? >> well, again, i think this is -- will be part of the decision-making process. but obviously, the president has set forth a very ambitious energy plan that -- response to climate change, which i think does not support keystone. i think we have to study carefully the numbers that are being offered in terms of job creation and find out are they real. and then the other challenge and this issue is raised when we discuss in congress, where does this fuel go? does it actually come to the united states? will it help to reduce fuel

prices and the argument is no. we tried to do amendments to keep the fuel in the u.s. and those amendments defeated. i think there is still a lot of questions, but the environmental impact is substantial and serious. i think the president will have to decide whether it's consistent with his bigger vision for a more sustainable, cleaner, long-term economy in this country. and obviously he'll make that decision. but i think everyone has to read this report. i've just begun to study it. it does acknowledge some of the very serious implications of using tar sands to extract fuel. >> do you think the president is struggling with this decision? do you think it's a tough one? >> i would never presume to speak for him. i think this is a decision we have to make carefully and we have to evaluate all of the circumstances surrounding it. but one of the things we can't change is the environmental impact. we have an opportunity to create good jobs and clean energy and renewable energy sector. so, in fact, we have an ability to grow jobs even more significantly in that sector. so i think the president has focused on how do we create good-paying jobs in the

development of clean, renewable energy so we're both creating good jobs and protecting the environment. that we don't have to do it at the expense of the environment. >> can i ask you about minimum wage here? the president met with 300 business leaders yesterday, encouraging all of them to increase the minimum wage on their own. is this going to be the best and only way to do it? company by company, state by state? >> i hope not. we should raise the minimum wage right away. the minimum wage, if we raised it to $10.10, it would have the buying power to like the 1960s, if you control it for inflation. the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. it should not be that anyone in america works full-time, works hard, and lives in poverty. we should raise the minimum wage. you know, i applaud the president for his executive order. federal contractors. i applaud him for reaching out to business. but we should take action in the congress to raise the minimum wage, help millions of americans move out of poverty, help to reduce things like food

assistance and housing programs because they were taking people out out of poverty. help grow our economy because people have more buying power. this is something we should do. one of the shocking things -- when the president said during his speech, nobody in america should work full time and live in poverty, many of my republicans sat there like this, arms folded. and i'm like, you don't believe nobody in america should work full time and live in poverty? come on. >> interesting. unemployment insurance. let's listen to what the president said on tuesday about that. >> getting people back on the job faster is one of our top priorities. but i have to confess, last month congress made that harder by letting unemployment insurance expire for more than 1 million people. and each week that congress fails to restore that insurance, roughly 72,000 americans will join the ranks of the long-term unemployed who have also lost their economic lifeline. >> so what else can be done to help a long-term unemployed? they have been cut off and the president can only do so much

with executive orders. >> this -- you know, i have tried and many of my colleagues have tried almost every day to come to the house floor and raise this issue. we have tried to, you know, every maneuver we can to try to force a vote on extending unemployment benefits. rhode island has the highest unemployment rate in the country. this is a very serious issue. failing to renew unemployment benefits is going to cost jobs, it's going to make it very difficult for people who are looking for work to continue that search. we have never not extended unemployment benefits when -- or i think one time when unemployment rate were this high. we should do this. it's important to the families who have used all of their benefits. they have used all their state benefits. they're looking for it. there are three people for every job that's available. we have a jobs agenda. the president put forth a jobs bill. the republicans have refused to bring that to the floor for a vote. we're trying obviously to promote things that will create jobs in this country. but in the meantime, we have a responsibility to help those americans who are struggling and looking for work. >> we sure do. okay. democratic congressman, david as

i say lienee, good to see you. thanks so much. >> thanks, alex, good to see you. >> what the future holds for amanda knocks after her conviction. will she be sent back to italy? meet our contestant. will she choose to help maintain her hands... conviction. will she be sent back to italy? or to really clean her dishes? oooh, we have a game changer?! [ female announcer ] dawn hand renewal with olay beauty has a specially designed formula that helps lock in your hands' natural moisture while getting dishes squeaky clean. [ sponge ] sparkling dishes and fabulous hands -- she looks happy about those prizes! [ female announcer ] dawn does more. [ sponge ] so it's not a chore.

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speeds relief to these eight symptoms. [ breath of relief ] thanks. [ male announcer ] you're welcome. ready? go. new questions about when governor chris christie found out about those lane closures near the george washington bridge. now that amanda knox has been convicted again, what are the chances the u.s. will allow italy to put her back in prison? school cafeteria workers throw out the lunch of dozens of school children over money. how could that happen? ♪ you only need the light burning low ♪ ♪ only miss the sun when it starts to snow ♪ >> i am in love with that. and it's puppy love and angel wings. a preview of the super bowl battle of the brands. good day to all of you. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." starting heavy this hour, two minutes past 1:00 in the east, 10:00 a.m. in the west.

here's what's happening now. first to new allegations leveled against governor chris christie. in several press conferences, the governor has said that he had no knowledge of the george washington bridge lane closures until he read about it in the newspaper. but now the former port authority official at the heart of the scandal claims that governor christie is being less than honest in his version of the events. joining me now with the story is nbc national investigative correspondent, michael isikoff. so michael, let's talk about the allegations. what are they? >> well, the allegations come from david wildstein's lawyer, and he's saying that contrary to what the governor has said publicly, he -- evidence exists, tying him to knowledge of the lane closures while they were taking place. that the order for the lane closures came from are the christie administration communicated by a -- a top official of the christie administration. and that some of what the governor said in that january

9th press conference about him, david wildstein, is untrue. now, there's a lot to go through there, and it's -- and there's a lot of fuzziness in what wildstein is saying. number one, he's not saying what statements the governor made about him that were untrue. number two, he is not saying that the governor knew the reason for the lane closures, that there was some sort of improper political retribution there. and he's not saying exactly who this order -- who made the -- gave the order and decided to shut down those lanes. >> yeah. >> so a lot of unanswered questions, but clearly, the implication here is, david wildstein, a christie political appointee, has become a turncoat and is pointing the finger at the governor himself. >> he is. but we also want to be clear when you say the christie administration, that administration could indicate people that have gone rogue and not necessarily were told

directly from the governor. >> absolutely. >> and that is something that has to be clear. >> absolutely. >> as well as this statement i want to read that came from the governor's office. in part, he confirms what the governor has said, he had no prior knowledge. and whatever mr. wildstein's motivations were for closing them to begin, as the governor said in a press conference, only first learned lanes were closed when it was performed by the press. and as he said, had no indication this was anything other than a traffic study. as the administration wavered at all on this aspect of things? >> not -- well, first of all, that's a little creative wording there in that -- in that statement, because they're taking pieces of wildstein's statement, they're denying things that he didn't actually say. and they are -- and they have taken a few liberties with what governor christie has said. because he said two different things. in his earlier press conference, he said he knew about the lane closures from the press. well, the press actually -- the

record was reporting them while they were taking place. so if he read about them in his news clips, while they were taking -- you know -- when "bergen record" first reported them, then he knew about them when they were taking place. his problem is in the january 9th press conference, he said something different, that he only found out about them after they were over. so that's his own contradiction. but it doesn't go to the heart of the matter. the heart of the matter is why were the -- why were the lanes close and had was it done for an improper political purpose here? but couple points just quick points worth making. the real damage here to christie is -- is we won't get the answers to these questions any time soon. david wildstein is making a bid for immunity. he's not going to testify in public as far as we can tell right now. bill stepien, deputy campaign manager yesterday, his lawyer wrote a letter asking -- saying he intends to take the fifth amendment. he is not going to give his

story any time soon. i am told that there already have been multiple requests for extensions. >> this is dragging on, is what you're saying. >> this thing is going to drag on for a while and it's hard to see how the governor can satisfy the public and -- republican party donors and people of new jersey when you have got this many questions unanswered and witnesses who won't be heard from. >> we're going to be joined right now in the conversation by eleanor clift from the daily beast in washington. eleanor, with a welcome to you. i know that you have covered local politics, national politics, as well. what's your take on how this is evolving? >> well, when i heard the news yesterday, my first instinct was, oh they're really closing in on chris christie. but then when you examine it, exactly what the lawyer is saying and you see that weasley language, and it was never credible that christie didn't know anything about the lane closures. i think just about everybody in new jersey knew about them when they were happening. because they were front-page news and probably on the local

news. so i thought, well, maybe there isn't that much discrepancy there. and i think the danger on the -- on the democratic side, the big d democratic side is looking a little too eager and overreaching. i remember the clinton scandal and pretty soon people were, you know, cheering for the president, because his -- his opponents or critics had so overreached. and i think sometimes -- i find myself feeling sorry for chris christie. i'm wondering how he is managing his diet and his stress. and at some point, there's a human element to this. and -- >> but you know, ellen, you bring up a good point. because so many politicians have weathered all kinds of storms. what is your take on how chris christie might weather this? given what we know about his past, his personality, and how he's handling things currently? >> if the -- if his opponents really overplay their hand and

begin to make him seem sympathetic, and if he truly didn't have anything to do with the planning of this, learned about it while it was going on and his -- his worst guilt is maybe that he laughed it off, i think that's problematic. but he could probably survive that. i think it's tough. he was never that favorite a person within the republican party in terms of being a presidential candidate. i think now we're talking about whether he could survive as governor of new jersey, and governors are expendable. i mean, they go off to prison. it wouldn't be that unusual. it's happened in illinois a couple of times. >> right. >> i'm not saying christie is going to go to prison, but if a governor has to step down, it's -- it's not major international news. >> as you have investigated this, michael, does it seem to you like there is another shoe that's going to drop here? >> well, inevitably, yes,

because there are so many key players whose stories we have not heard. what is bridget kelly's account here? she is the one who wrote that -- the most damning e-mail of all, time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. what prompted her to write it? who had she talked to about it? what was she thinking? what was the idea? you know, that's going to be major news at some point, when we hear that story. bill st bill stepien, deputy campaign manager, what was his role? and the wild card, the u.s. attorney investigation, which is active and real. they have subpoenaed the governor's campaign committee. they have subpoenaed the governor's -- the new jersey republican party. so it's quite clear, they're serious about this. >> lots of players here, you're definitely making that clear. michael isikoff, eleanor clift, thank you so much. appreciate it. super bowl security with federal and local law

enforcement agencies taking unprecedented security effort in preparation for the big game. nbc's ron mott is in times square for us. so ron, the false alarms, the investigation to all that, is that wrapped up? everything all clear on that front? >> reporter: all wrapped up, all clear on that front. and right now everybody is about having fun down here on what they have billed super bowl boulevard in times square. 13 blocks long, all sorts of activities and tens of thousands of people down here. some big-name stars down here, as well. and you can see behind me, got a lot of folks representing their favorite teams. obviously the locals, the giants and the jets are here. but the two uniforms that matter most this weekend, alex, of course, are the broncos and the seahawks, who play tomorrow night over in new jersey in the meadow lands. going forward, alex, security wise, folks lucky enough to get a ticket to the game will need to know some things. you cannot bring bags over to the stadium. only things that you can bring in there are things you can fit into a plastic bag, a clear, plastic bag that officers can

see it. it's like going to a presidential event. there will be long lines for security. there will be no tailgating in the parking lot. a real different experience for folks who are nfl fans. they want to make sure they keep the super bowl safe for everybody. and officials have said all along here, they're allowing people to mill around times square without really being screened at all. if there were ever any credible threats in times square, they would obviously step up this screening and the scrutiny of that screening here in times square. for the most part, folks walking around and having a good time, alex. >> well, i've seen firsthand, a big security presence there. so they're definitely keeping a close eye on things. ron mott, have fun. have you met jim brown yet, yes or no, real quick? >> jim brown, i have not seen him. so i'm waiting to see him about 2:00, i think. >> okay well, have fun. thank you. amanda knox, guilty again. why her fate may hinge on america's national security interests. that's next. we're gonna be late. ♪

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on the obama administration to make a decision on the keystone xcel pipeline. the report says the proposed pipeline would not likely alter global greenhouse gas emissions. let's go to the white house and nbc's kristen welker. so kristen, with a good saturday to you, what is the obama administration's reaction to this new report? >> reporter: approximate well, alex, i think there is a sense inside the white house this report shows that both sides, the oil industry environmentalists may have overblown their arguments to some extent. as you point out, the report shows the impact won't be as significant on the environment, as some environmentalists have been arguing. on the flip side, the oil industry has said this is going to be a big job creator. well, according to this report, it's not going to be a huge job creator. in fact, it will create about 4,000 temporary jobs over the course of the year. but only 50 permanent jobs.

the official line coming out of the white house from matt layeric, white house spokesperson, is this, quote, the president has clearly stated the project will be in the national interest only if it does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution. the final supplemental environmental impact statement includes a range of estimates of the project's climate impacts, and that information will now need to be closely evaluated by secretary kerry and other rely availability agency heads in the weeks ahead. alex, as you know, this issue is incredibly politically charged. we have reported for several months, if not years on those who have protested outside the white house who say they don't want to see this pipeline built. here is what both sides, the oil industry and environmentalists have to say in the wake of that report. take a listen. >> spend over five years on the environment. time and time again, it shows no environmental impact? >> if ever there is a spill, of course, countless animals can be impacted and the greatest threat to wildlife is climate change.

>> reporter: so alex, what happens next, secretary kerry will issue his official recommendation to president obama. he's going to consult with a number of government agencies to do that, and that process could take up to a year. so this final decision is a long time coming, i think, still. >> kristen welker at the white house, thank you so much. amanda knox is facing the prospect of being sent back to italian prison for decades after being found guilty for the 2007 murder of her roommate. nbc news justice correspondent, pete williams, has more on the likelihood of extradition to italy. >> if the italian government sought to have amanda knox sent back to face murder charges there, that would invoke the extradition process, a mixture of diplomacy and law. the request would go to the state department for a review of whether the request fits the treaty between the u.s. and italy and whether it's in america's foreign policy interests to see it through. if so, it would be sent on to a federal prosecutor in seattle, where she lives. she could be arrested and brought before a federal judge, who would determine if italy's request is in order and if there

is sufficient reason to think she committed a crime. the hearing before that judge would be quite limited. it would not be a mini trial. if the judge is rules she could be extradited, it all goes back to the secretary of state, who makes the final decision weighing the facts, the law and what's in the best foreign policy interests of the u.s. >> all right, pete williams, thank you for that. let's bring in alex little, former federal prosecutor with a background in international law. and with a welcome to you, alex. you heard pete williams pointing out there, it has to be in america's best interests to see the extradition process through. how is that determined? >> yes. well, that normally is going to deal with an idea of reciprocity, the ideas that we are going to be making lots of extradition requests. we probably make more extradition requests of other countries than any other country in the world. and so our foreign policy interest is often normally our desire to be able to get criminals from our places in the world when they run away there. so that's usually going to be the foreign policy interest. here there is a political interest. amanda knox is not a member of the military, not a u.s.

official. doesn't implicate interests in that way. but certainly a political component here because being the individual who signed the paper to send letter back is nothing a politician wants to be known for. >> and i'm curious, how does it work if someone, a foreign national, comes into our country, is found guilty of committing a murder, then they are sentenced under our laws and guidelines, and they serve out their time here, correct? i mean, so the same -- >> absolutely. >> so there is an absolute parallel here. >> there is. the more common parallel is somebody who commits a crime in the united states and who leaves to go to europe, goes to africa, goes to asia, before we have an ability to arrest them. then we're in the position of trying to get that person back over here. that happens all of the time. there is an office in the department of justice that deals specifically with that issue. and we are often trying to get people extradited here. we have done it a lot in south america, with some of these drug lords who are bringing in, you know, hundreds and thousands of pounds of cocaine into the united states.

and so it's certainly in our interest to keep those countries interested in sending their citizens back to us to be prosecuted. the united states has some history there, but -- >> go ahead with the history. >> well, i mean, the history is that we have had two incidents since 1998 with italy where we have basically said no, we're not going to give you our citizens. one was when we had in 1998, a disaster air force pilot flew too low, clipped a wire and killed 20 people in a gond la. those vits were not sent back to italy. and individuals who worked for the cia convicted in italy, never sent back to stand trial or serve out a sentence. so there has been some history with the united states and italy that's not great from the italian perspective, surely upset about that. >> yeah. >> but it does give i think the knox folks some hope. >> and give me a quick assessment of public opinion and how much that sways the government in a case like this. >> sure. i think it would sway the government quite a bit. it's not going to sway the government in the process in the courtroom. that process is going to stay the same. but i think behind closed doors, you may get some discussions

between the italians and americans who both decide it's in both their interests for italians to make a request for her to be extradited back to italy. >> alex little, i'm sure we'll see you again. this case is a long way off. thank you. it's bound to be the commercial that will steal your heart as it has stolen mine. the super of all super bowl ads, next. ♪ thoughtful combinations, artfully prepared. fancy feast elegant medleys. inspired dishes like primavera, florentine and tuscany. fancy feast. a medley of love, served daily. paws off pal. [ female announcer ] new charmin ultra soft is so soft you can actually see the softness

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♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. every year, the super bowl has the honor of being the nation's single-most watched program and the ads that air during the game have become something of a cultural phenomenon. each 30-second spot can cost advertisers around $4 million this year. and here with a preview of some of the ads everybody is going to be talking about is the founder of 15 minutes pr, howard bragman. good to see you. >> thanks, alex. >> not so much sleaze this year, lots more cute and we're going with the one i can't stop watching. let's watch puppy love from budweiser. here we go. ♪

♪ if you only leave the light burning low ♪ ♪ only miss the sun when it starts to snow ♪ ♪ only know you love her when you let her go ♪ ♪ and you let her go >> all right. the whole thing just works absolutely. but when i sent this link to my son to watch, he goes, yeah, it's really cute, mom, but are you going to go out and have a beer afterwards? so are you? >> you know, these are -- these are image. this wasn't pour a beer into a frothy mug and you want to run into the kitchen. this is reinforcing the brand, and the clydesdales are so iconic. almost every year at the super bowl budweiser men and their agencies manage to come through with something that's really pretty awesome like this. so they get a lot of credit for that. and this one, you know, the puppy love is you, baby. >> oh, my god. target audience, i'm sure. there are going to be ads from search different car makers. volkswagen has this one, the

heavenly concept. let's play a little bit of that one. >> what if i told you every time a volkswagen hits 100,000 miles, a german engineer gets his wings? ♪ ♪ doobie doobie doobie do ♪ doobie doobie doobie do >> winner commercial or what? >> i'll tell you what i like. it's certainly memorable. but the point they were trying to make was, the volkswagens last a long time. and i think they did a good job of these, because you'll see a lot of ads, and it could be a truck ad or a beer ad. and it could be any brand. >> yeah. >> this one made a specific point about that vehicle, which i think was smart. >> yeah. i'm going to have our director play the chevy commercial that is being released and they don't usually give all these previews so we're going to show some here. in the break, you and i were talking about, there are good commercials out right now, and that's different from times past. talk about that.

why is that? >> well, commercials are super expensive. it's $4 million for the time. and somewhere between $1 to $5 million to produce these commercials. you get a celebrity involved, you could be paying $1 million. you're talking the price of a small budget film. and the internet has obviously changed everything. so a commercial plays ahead of time, either a teaser or the whole commercial. the budweiser commercial, cheetos commercial, some over 25 million hits ahead of time. has to play on the air, on the big screen when you're watching the game and still pop. and then it has to have that water cooler moment afterwards. and our new water cooler is the internet. social media. you want to talk about it on facebook or twitter and something that moves you. >> like i said, i sent the link to my son to watch. you know, that kind of thing. you move it along. but the question is, are people going to go out and want to buy volkswagen cars, budweiser beer, the chevy silverado truck in the case of the last commercial we were showing? ultimately, you've got to put

money into something that you think you're going to get return. >> well, i think they are. when you look at companies like the car companies, when you look at budweiser, they spend so many hundreds of millions of dollars a year. some of their commercials are much more go to the refrigerator get a beer. and some are reinforcing the brand, its heritage, the image. you're going to see a lot of image stuff on here. a few years ago, we did one with my late client, ed mcmahon. that was i believe turn your gold in. and make some money. >> oh, yeah. >> and they made a lot of money off that. but you don't see many direct response. more image, more branding. >> yeah. >> and really, the people watching the super bowl win, it's one of the only times we watch tv and don't hit the dvrs and go to the commercials. >> absolutely true. and a lot of girls flock for just the commercials. good to see you. your super bowl party could cost you more this year. take a look at the results of the big game snack survey by

consolidated concepts. guacamole 5 to 10% more, pizza the same, and beer 1 to 5% more. it's the letter that's putting more heat on new jersey governor chris christie. the big take, next. mine was earned in korea in 1953. afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. [ male announcer ] new vicks dayquil severe. helps relieve your ugliest, nastiest, roughest, toughest cold symptoms. new dayquil severe. with maximum symptom fighting ingredients. ♪ new vicks nyquil severe. helps relieve your ugliest, nastiest, roughest,

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[ 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. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt" at 33 past the hour. today's topics. what next, lunch controversy and best week, worst weeks. let's bring in the big three panel. zerlina maxwell. msnbc contributor, goldie taylor, whose column "breaking black" is every monday. and msnbc contributor, susan dell percent o. susan, with former aide to governor christie, david wildstein, oversaw the lane closures near the george washington bridge. he says there is evidence that contradicts at least one public statement the governor has made. saying that he didn't know about this. christie's office has certainly denied the claims.

you work as a consultant in the new york/new jersey area here. how would you be handling this now? >> christie is doing the best he possibly can. this is a person who wrote a letter or lawyer wrote a letter asking for funds to pay them and in that letter all the way down say, by the way, we may have some evidence for you. until there is evidence of such a thing, it's the same story just replaying itself over and over. which is harmful for christie, but there is really no news here yet. or if at all. >> so goldie, how do you assess what's happening here? is this in some ways politics as usual in america, only the veil has been torn away here? >> i think this is really the tick tock happening. i've said always you've got to really be concerned if there are people who work within the christie administration, people who may or may not know more information about how far up this went, and people who may be on the line in terms of having to go to jail for themselves and who they're willing to tell on. and whether they're telling the

truth when they do that telling. and so i think the investigation has to continue forward. i think this is just another drip of information. i think we're going to get a lot more. but i just say we've got to wait until these investigations play themselves out. >> zerlina, earlier, i spoke with journalist ellen christ who said these tough times faced by chris christie and the democrats being critical could engender some sympathy for them battled republican. what's your take? >> i disagree with that to the extent that what christie is accused of doing impacted his constituents. and i don't think that regardless of what side of the political line you fall on, everyone hates traffic, and you don't want your governor or anybody in their office engaged in shenanigans that impact you negatively. so if you're on your way to work and the governor has done something on purpose to impact you and your kids' ability to get to where they need to get to, i think that that will not engender sympathy in people, because, you know, you're not supposed to be using the levers of power for your own political

purposes. >> okay. >> democrats can push it very -- too far. it is quite possible that they take this too far, especially if they find out that christie -- >> you agree, goldie? >> absolutely. i think democrats can push it too far. i've heard some pushing it too far already. but, you know, i think that right now this prosecutor -- district attorney up there has got a job to do. i think that the legislative bodies and special committees have a job to do. i think we ought to let them do it. >> okay. we're going to tackle the other two topics, lunch controversy and best week, worse week in a bit. so stay put. mean time, 80,000 fans are expected in metlife stadium tomorrow, and security measures in place. a two-and-a-half mile fence has gone up around the stadium. there are going to be 3,000 security guards on hand with some 130 metal detectors. and hundreds of surveillance cameras capturing every move, and that is just the beginning.

here with more on these unparalleled security measures is former u.s. secret service agent, evy pompuras. you i'm sure heard the story about the false alarms, we were talking about earlier in the show. i'm curious why someone would go to the effort of sending envelopes to six places with what appears to be a baking soda or corn starch? is there something potentially more sinister than a prank here? >> yes, there could be. it could be somebody who has an interest in targeting or making a threat and using this as an opportunity to do what? to see how law enforcement reacts. response time, tactical manpower. so a lot of times what will happen is, the threat, the target, the bad guy, we will do something like this just to get an assessment how law enforcement will respond. and they're doing what? gathering intelligence. >> okay. the efforts to protect this super bowl. how different are they compared to previous games, or is it just

the same thing, just amped up a little bit more each year? >> no, it's definitely amped up. it's amped up. why? it's new york city. this would be the greatest place to have some type of a tack take place. obviously a concentrated amount of people, large population and one small location. the stadium with what a lot of media coverage. and it's nypd. so you definitely -- it's a target, it's definitely amped up. and as -- as we go year after year after year, we become more susceptible to these types of attacks. look at the boston bombings for the marathon. so, yes. >> absolutely. boston bombings and also brings to mind those bombings in volograd, russia. are squurt officials focusing on the tristate area transportation hubs? because people do mass transit here. >> absolutely. there are going to be a lot of undercovers in the trains. a lot of canine in the trains. when you're doing security, it's a 360-degree coverage.

so what's above me, what's below me, as well. so they're going to make sure that nothing is put on the train that can pass through somewhere, that can detonate where you have mass casualties. >> yeah. look, you have experience working with the secret service. i mean, i know you've helped protect presidents in the past and their families. so is there anything you can suggest they should be doing, that you're not certain they are? >> i think what people should start to do is have situational awareness. so what does that mean? you when you arrive and take your seat, take a moment and do an assessment of your environment. who is to your left of you. who is to the right of you. who is around you? assess where the exits -- try to locate two. you always want to have two egress points. that way, if something happens, you know where to go. and if one exit is blocked, you go to the other one. and then don't necessarily think that following the herd -- the large group of people is the way to go. sometimes people panic in these situations, and they don't make the best decisions. so by doing an assessment of your environment, once you arrive, then you're giving

yourself a leverage so if something does happen, you know what to do and you're not trying to figure it out last-second. >> yeah. hey, evy, can i just ask you, giving your training and experience, do you ever turn that off? or are you always, you know, looking and watching around you? >> no, i don't turn it off. it's habit. but you know what, you bring up a good point. i think everybody should turn that on. the world is changing. and a lot of times, as the public, we acquiesce to law enforcement and say you guys got it, you guys cover it. but you know what, we have to help. the public is a great asset to law enforcement. because they're going to see something that the cops may not see. and if i'm an attacker and i want to cause harm, i'm going to do what, every time i see a uniform or canine dog, i'm going the other way. but i'm not suspecting the person sitting next to me. so when people go out there, if you see something, say something. that is important. >> yeah, that is something that has been really drilled into all of us here. evy, thank you so much. >> thank you. they're best friends whose years in school are the makings

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♪ nationwide is on your side now to an award-winning film that is hitting the small screen for the first time. it is the story of two young middle class african-american boys named edirs and sheaon. their long journey from children through graduation is captured in an award-winning document recalled "american promise." and that airs monday night at 10:00 eastern on pbs. here's part of it. >> i want him to be comfortable around white folks. because i think even at this point, i am not comfortable around white folks. >> how do you feel about being one of the few black kids there? is that ever an issue? >> no, never an issue, joining us now, joe brewster, psychiatrist and film maker who made this documentary along with his wife, michelle stevenson.

and i'm going to call you joe here, because i'm talking to you as a dad and film maker, instead of dr. brewster, if that's okay with you. what inspired all of this? what did you hope to achieve? >> well, we're filmmakers, we wanted to make a great film. and we wanted to take the audience someplace they have never been before. independent school is that place. independent school featuring african-american boys was another option for us. so we turned the cameras on the two boys. hoping to celebrate diversity. and we discovered along the way there were other things just as important as diversity. >> to include overcoming some challenges like what? what did you find? >> well, first of all, this is a coming of age story. all the things associated with coming of age are in this film. your audience will laugh, they will cry, they will get angry. they might even get angry at me. but the reality is that african-american boys face obstacles that other boys don't face. these are obstacles having to do

with implicit bias. what we call this is unconscious racism. this is -- these are thoughts and feelings that you have about me before i open my mouth. feelings, thoughts about my ability to achieve academically. my athletic prowess. well, we have to confront those, face them, and refute them. >> and, in fact, your son edris speaks about the difficulties of the situation he's in. let's play a part of that. i think it addresses exactly what you're talking about. here's that. >> is that true? >> it's my child! >> people would say -- >> hmmm. something happened, i think, there to the audio, most unfortunate. but idris is requesting, what is it that was specifically the catalyst for this? >> well, you know, he had been at a dance, he was -- he was concerned that he was not able

to dance, and that he was being treated differently than the other children. so he asked a question, would i be better off in this institution if i were white? and we were struck by that. we were overwhelmed. but we kept the camera rolling. and we attempted to answer that question for him. the interesting thing is that audiences -- audience really are moved by that scene. but what they should know is that that question, children begin asking when they're 3. we have to have an answer for them. we have to tell them that they are valued. we have to give them a narrative. sense of self respect. and that's what we attempted to do. when we place our children in any environment, even african-american -- primarily african-american environment, we have to -- we have to understand what the perceptions they're dealing with. >> there were some divergent paths that happened between these two boys when they hit high school. one stays in the exclusive

school, one goes to a public school. talk about the differences there, particularly with regard to the public school student, seun. >> well, seun decided to move to a public school. he required additional -- additional help. i'm not talking about academic help. because when we think about these kids, we always think about the commission. but there a social/emotional support they need to thrive. not only thrive as a student, but thrive as a human being. he didn't feel that he was getting that. so he moved to an environment that was warmer, more nurturing. >> and ultimately, worked for him? >> it allowed him to grow in the way that he needed to grow at that moment. sort of like an orchid. >> that's an interesting analogy. and idris did it not. are there any regrets at all about keeping idris where he was initially stationed for you? >> you know, we always have

regrets. >> hindsight is 20/20. i have two kids. there are a lot of things i would do differently. >> bias is here everywhere in the station, across the street, in the police force. so what we want our son to be able to do is to exist in that environment and thrive. because when he leaves school, he's going to have to be in the real world. and so although there were regrets -- one of the things we understood is that it's a growing process. we grew as parents, the school grew. that school is not the same school that it was in 1999. and i think we all benefit from that. one thing that we should know is that all americans benefit when we begin to ask questions about our own biases and our own perceptions. >> yeah. thank you very much. i'm so excited to see this. it's one of the things if you have a dvr or sit down and watch

it. for all of you, you can watch "american promise" monday night at 10:00 eastern on the award-winning pbs series, pov. you can also check out the companion book, "promises kept, raising black boys to succeed be sure to check your local listings to make sure that's when it's airing. school cafeteria workers throw out the uneaten lunch of schoolchildren over money issues. h, yeah! ♪ ♪ we are one, under the sun ♪ under the sun... [ female announcer ] fiber and protein. together as one. introducing new fiber one protein cereal. 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. the choice is obvious. verizon is america's largest and most reliable 4g lte network, with data plans starting as low as $45 monthly access including unlimited talk and text. plus free world messaging unlimited for three months.

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we are back with the big three now. our final two topics, the lunch controversy and the best and worst of the week. joining me once again, zirlina maxwell, goldie taylor and susan del percio. goldie, the school district is apologizing after lunches were taken out of the hands of students whose accounts ran low on lunch money. then they were thrown in the trash right in front of them. i talked with the mother of one

student earlier today. let's listen to that. >> the woman informed her the balance was negative and that she could not eat. she then had to put her tray to the side and it was taken and it was thrown in the trash in front of her. >> i know how many kids you have. if that happened to either of my kids, i would go ballistic. what is your reaction when you hear this? >> i think i probably would have had the same or similar reaction as you had. this is what they call grown-folk business. you just don't get children involved in things like that. if you've got a financial issue with the parents, there's a note that's sent home. if those parents cannot answer or cannot pay this debt, it's a social services issue. but under no circumstance do you deny a child lunch in a school, let alone take it from them and throw it away in front of them. >> i know. and take it even further. you have people in this world that are starving and don't have

enough to eat and you throw out food in front of kids. what kind of message is that. from the school district, they say, we understand the feelings of upset parents and students who say this was an embarrassing and humiliating situation. and we again apologize and commit to working with parents in rectifying this issue. what do you think? >> i think in poverty law, this is a concept of not punishing the children for the sins of the parents. a lot of that is a continuous thread throughout debates about food stamps and welfare reform. this is one of those examples where you're punishing the children for something their parents have done. that's morally and completely wrong. >> what about the utah state senator who held a news conference and was calling it bullying and demanding the cafeteria manager be fired? what do you think should happen -- >> probably should be. when i first heard this, i thought, wow, what a moron. and then i heard that this was the child nutrition manager.

to not give children their lunch is just beyond -- that's unacceptable. >> i guess we're all in agreement on this one. let's get to the best and worst of the week. >> i think the best of the week, anybody that works for the federal government who is able to have their minimum wage lifted because president obama's executive order, anybody working for the federal government, they're probably having a good week because they can actually have improvements made to their lives through executive order. worst, that's obvious. chris christie is having the worst month, i think, of anyone in america. >> goldie, how about you, best and worst? >> my best of the week goes to our very own joyann reed. she's getting her own show. she is what i've called a national treasure. to my sister/friend, i say congratulations. my worst of the week goes to my very own governor, nathan deal, who decided -- didn't decide in

time to pretreat our highways here in georgia giving the city of atlanta, the metropolitan area an entire black mark and leaving people stranded on the highway for 20 hours. >> susan? >> best week, speaker boehner for getting the farm bill through. worst week, michael grimm. you never threaten to throw anyone off a balcony. especially when the mike is hot. >> come on. thank you so much. i appreciate it. that is a wrap of this hour of "weekends with alex witt." i'll see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern. up next, t.j. holmes is in the house. to help me become an olympian, she was pretty much okay with me turning her home into an ice rink. ♪ she'd just reach for the bounty select-a-size. it's the smaller, powerful sheet that acts like a big sheet. look, one select-a-size sheet of bounty is 50% more absorbent than a full size sheet of the leading ordinary brand. use less, with the small but powerful picker-upper,

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this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look 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. a new accusation against governor chris christie as he spent last night out on the town. hello to you all. i'm t.j. holmes. craig melvin is off today. you are watching msnbc. who knew? a former christie associate who once pled the fifth says the governor knew about the controversial lane