dedrick muhammad. alex wagner. catch her show weekdays at 4:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. don't laugh, i do. >> i love you for it. >> thank you, both. that's "all in" for this evening. "the rachel maddow show" starts in this room. i'm going to shut up. >> i don't mind. i'll talk in the corner. we're all one big happy family watching alex at 4:00 and talking in the same studio. thank you at home for being in the studio with us this hour as well. this is a man named philip kwon. he was an assistant prosecutor in the u.s. attorney's office. the federal prosecutor's office in new jersey starting in the year 2000. chris christie was named to be the u.s. attorney in new jersey in 2001. he actually started in the office in early 2002. so when chris christie got there, when he got to the prosecutor's office, phil kwon was already working there.

chris christie had no law enforcement background at all when george w. bush named him to that top prosecutor's job in new jersey, but he held the prosecutor's job for seven years. he even managed in that job to do it in such a high-profile way that it was seen as ultimately paving the way for his successful run for governor in 2009. and then when the new governor, chris christie, was sworn in in 2010, interestingly, he basically just raided his own office that he was coming from. he raided the u.s. attorney's office, the federal prosecutor's office where he'd been working for serve years in order to get all the new staff for his new administration. he hired people from his prosecutor's office to be the governor's senior counsel and the governor's chief counsel and the governor's deputy chief counsel and new jersey's new head of homeland security. and the head of the authorities unit overseeing things like the port authority. the new attorney general for the state of new jersey, he pulled all of these folks out of the

prosecutor's office when he left that office to staff up his new administration as governor. the guy who's in charge of sandy relief under chris christie, he not only brought him over from the prosecutor's office when he first became governor, chris christie created a brand new job for him that never existed before. the new job, executive assistance attorney general. a job that never existed before he made it for the guy who he used to work with in the prosecutor's office. also, the first assistant attorney general, he hired phil kwon. so chris christie and phil kwon had a relationship that started back in 2002 when chris christie came on as the u.s. attorney for the state of new jersey. their relationship spanned all seven years of chris christie's time as u.s. attorney. and then when he became governor, brought all the people over from the prosecutor's office into his new administration, phil kwon was one of them. he hired phil kwon right away into his administration when he started in 2010. so by 2012, when then-governor christie nominated phil kwon to a seat on the new jersey supreme

court, by that time, the governor and phil kwon had worked together for a decade. and then chris christie was more than just disappointed when phil kwon's nomination to the supreme court was rejected by democrats in the new jersey state senate. >> good evening. first of all, phil kwon, first and foremost, is a man of integrity. had the utmost privilege to witness that integrity firsthand. where in his role as an assistant united states attorney, the first assistant attorney general of new jersey, as a husband, a father, and a son. to see what phil went through today is not only disappointing for me, personally, but frankly a disappointment for the state. >> phil kwon was not made a new jersey state supreme court justice in the end. still, though, governor christie found phil kwon a very soft landing after he was rejected by the senate. governor christie installed him in a job with a six-figure

salary as a lawyer at the port authority of new york and new jersey. he named him deputy general counsel at the port authority. and in that capacity, in that capacity at the port authority, well, here's a picture actually. this is -- see spot shadow there? that's phil kwon on the right side of your screen. that's phil kwon, longtime chris christie ally. his nominee for the new jersey supreme court. his appointee to the port authority after more than a decade of them working together. that is phil kwon attending the testimony before the new jersey legislature in which another chris christie nominee to the port authority told the legislature a false cover story about why access lanes were shut on to the george washington bridge in a way that gridlocked the town of ft. lee. the access lanes to that bridge were not shut down because of a traffic study. and you can kind of tell at the time that they were telling that cover story that something was wrong with the story. that there was no traffic study. and maybe you could only tell that because nobody at this

hearing before the legislature where they're talking answer this study, nobody actually seemed to be able to produce this supposed study. if it's a study, it doesn't just happen in your head, right? you document it in some way. so that was a key moment at this testimony when it started to seem like maybe this study they're talking about doesn't really exist. this was kind of amazing. what -- this is footage from the testimony. what they're fighting about here is whether or not the legislature can see this supposed study. the supposed results from this fake study. and bill baroni from the port authority is trying to explain to the legislature why they can't see it. the video is a little shaky here, particularly at the beginning, but it is crystal clear what they are saying. check this out. >> there are people, yeah, at the port authority -- >> yeah. >> -- who assemble this data. just look at the numbers. there's a report that exists. >> no. >> because the week was cut short and it was never complete. >> okay. >> so they did a two-day compilation of data. >> it was three because, but monday's data was so skewed by a accident on the --

>> okay. we'd like you to make that data available to the committee. >> mr. chairman, i will have my counsel talk to your counsel as we have done before and discuss documents. no question. >> is there a reason why those documents couldn't be provided? >> no, because there are a lot smarter people. i want to make sure my lawyers talk to your lawyers. >> there are people smarter than you? >> yes. like you, mr. chairman. >> hardly. hardly. so you're not willing to say whether you could provide us data? >> whatever the lawyers tell me -- >> your lawyer's here. can he come up and testify about that? >> no, he's not going to come up and testify. chairman, that's cute. >> no, it's not. maybe he could come up and give us an answer. >> mr. chairman, our lawyers has they've done multiple times over multiple issues will talk. you know as well as i do a lawyer is not going to testify at a hearing. >> he can tell us -- >> mr. chairman, just stop. >> mr. chairman, just stop. come on, mr. chairman, that's cute. he's not going -- no. the data that the legislature is

asking for there was never handed over. and the lawyer who bill baroni just, like this, my lawyer, my counsel is here, the counsel, the lawyer who was supposedly this legal gatekeeper advising as to whether or not this data can be handed over to the legislature, this data that does not exist, that counsel, that lawyer is phil kwon. longtime chris christie ally. governor christie's nominee for the new jersey supreme court. governor christie's appointee to the port authority after a more than decade working together not just in the governor's administration but in the prosecutor's office before that, too. "the wall street journal" reporting this week at phil kwon spent parts of four to five days prepping bill baroni to give that false testimony about a traffic study and that is not why those bridge lanes were shut down. that testimony from that hearing showing that the decisions about what could and couldn't be shown to the legislature about that fake study, those decisions were attributed to phil kwon who was sitting there in the room.

who else participated in cooking up and presenting the cover story of what happened on that bridge? who else participated in cooking it up and presenting it besides bill baroni who has resigned and david wildstein who has resigned? is it possible that phil kwon was involved? if he wasn't involved in preparing this false story that was told to the legislature, this cover story for what happened on that bridge that is still unexplained, if that's not what phil kwon was doing, what else was he doing with bill baroni in the reported four to five days of preparation ahead of that testimony? if phil kwon was involved as deputy general counsel at the port authority, does that mean there was wider involvement at the port authority in coming up with the cover story to obscure what happened on that bridge? why was he the specific lawyer involved? this very, very close ally of governor christie? as far as we know, phil kwon has not received subpoena to turn over documents or testify either about the shutdown of lanes on the bridge or effort to cover it

up by concocting this big traffic study idea. governor christie, himself, last night confirmed that his office has been subpoenaed nod only by the state legislature but by his replacement as u.s. attorney in new jersey. by the federal prosecutor's office. >> has your office, your office, now, the governor's office, not the campaign, been subpoenaed by the united states attorney? >> yes. >> and when are those subpoenas due? >> you know, i don't know, but i know that we're -- the request -- and by the way, you know, they did that and i understand why they did it. we have already communicated to them we would cooperate voluntarily. they decided to send a subpoena. that's fine. we -- we are complying with that in the same way that we'll comply with the legislative subpoenas. as we get documents, i don't know when the due date is. i'll have to talk to lawyers about that. i don't know. we'll comply and cooperate with the u.s. attorney's inquiry into this and comply with any of the

documents they requested that are appropriate to turn over as quickly as we uncover them. >> new jersey governor chris christie confirming last night that his office has been subpoenaed by both the legislature and by federal prosecutors and that his office is cooperating with the subpoenas mostly. they are handing documents over, he says, on a rolling basis as they find them. meaning they did not meet the original deadline from the legislature subpoena to hand everything over by yesterday. the deadline was, in fact, just about two hours before governor christie gave that interview last night. reporting today in "the wall street journal" and "the bergen record" turns up the fact a lot of the 18 individuals in 2 offices that received legislative subpoenas have asked for subpoenas, asked for more time. the governor's chief of staff, former chief counsel and two of his spokesmen and port authority chairman appointed by governor christie, they are all reportedly responding to the subpoenas. apparently none of them is

invoking his or her fifth amendment rights, but they all say they will get their documents in over time on a rolling basis. even with yesterday's deadline rolling past now. matt mowers, for example, the executive director of the republican party in the state of new hampshire has been subpoenaed in this matter. he's the person who reportedly called the mayor of ft. lee, mark sokolich and asked him to endorse chris christie for re-election. mr. mowers is reportedly complying with the subpoena but "the wall street journal" reports he asked for an extra week to get his documentation. his documentation should be in a week from today, next monday, february 10th. we got all this new information today about who is complying with subpoenas and how exactly they're complying. how long it's going to take them past the initial deadline. we know about who has asked for extensions. we know that these four people on your screen here, bill baroni, christina lado philip, e danielides, paul nunziato, responded and turned in their

documents already. of course, we know these christie staffers, bill stepien and deputy chief of staff bridget kelly have both invoked their fifth amendment right against self-incrimination and are refusing to turn over anything. bridget kelly, of course, is the person who worked in the governor's office who sent that e-mail that said "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." she's the one who then professed basically her delight at the havoc that was being caused in ft. lee when the traffic problems they arranged did come to pass. here's the absolutely unexpected thing that happened in this scandal today. we know what the list is of people who have received subpoenas from the legislature. right? the legislature made that list public. it's 18 people and 2 organizations. one of the two organizations is governor christie's office. the other one is his re-election campaign. so we know exactly who has received subpoenas from the legislature. those ones that started to be due yesterday. then there's other subpoenas.

we know in terms of the federal prosecutor's subpoenas. we know that those subpoenas have gone out but we don't know who they've gone to. the federal prosecutor in this case is much more tight-lipped than the legislature. they're not saying who they sent subpoenas to. we only know when people said they received them. governor christie last night admitted his office has been subpoenaed. his re-election campaign says they got a subpoena. the republican party of the state of new jersey says they also got one. but other than that, we just don't know. we don't know who else has been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors. guess what happened today? when the "bergen record" and newark "star-ledger" called bridget kelly's lawyer to ask about her invoking the fifth amendment and refusing to hand over documents to the legislature, bridget kelly's lawyer also just happened to mention that she has not gotten a subpoena from federal prosecutors. really? bridget kelly? not subpoenaed? the person who's on the record essentially ordering the bridge closures has not been asked by the federal prosecutor to hand

over any documents or any testimony? her lawyer says they haven't asked her for anything. presumably, they might still at some date in the future, but they haven't done it yet. it's interesting, right? we asked david wildstein's attorney tonight if he has been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors. we did not hear back from mr. wildstein's attorney. think about what this means for a second. federal prosecutors are investigating the christie administration in new jersey. we know the governor's office, the governor's re-election campaign, republican party of the state have been subpoenaed in whatever that investigation is. but not the person who ordered up the traffic jam. not the person who ordered up some traffic problems in ft. lee while she was working in the governor's office. the only other subpoena we know about from federal prosecutors is of the city of hoboken. the city of hoboken where the mayor of that city has alleged the christie administration put pressure on her to approve a specific private development project as a condition of that city getting post-hurricane sandy funding.

the mayor says she also met with federal prosecutors and handed over documents to them. we also know that federal prosecutors and fbi agents have conducted interviews in hoboken with witnesses who say they can corroborate that mayor's story. but at least not yet. federal prosecutors are not asking anything of the chris christie staffer who shut down the bridge. it's fascinating, right? the mean, the governor is still fending off questions about the bridge. he actually said last night he still thinks maybe there was a traffic study. he and 19 other people and entities are either responding to the investigation by the legislature and turning over documents now, or they're taking the fifth. when it comes to the criminal probe, when it comes to the federal prosecutors looking into this, the investigation looks less like it's pointing at the bridge and more like it's pointing at the allocation of money after superstorm sandy. hold that thought. [ female announcer ] did you know the average person smiles

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developers say this construction site is going to be a college town apartment tower packed with amenities. like a parking deck, retail

stores, even a fitness center. the building developer, a company called beret, won $4.8 million in sandy relief funds to help finish the project. but some neighbors are puzzled the aid money landed here because superstorm sandy dealt new brunswick only a glancing blow. >> was there flooding everywhere, were houses falling down? >> it was pretty much just trees and no electricity. that's about it. >> a rutgers university study found new brunswick ranked 188th on the list of communities with the most storm-related hardship. >> they don't deserve the money. let's put it that way. they weren't affected to the point, like, some of the towns were. >> doris narkam had been flirting with homelessness ever since sandy destroyed her family's house on the jersey shore. she is upset storm relief funds are going to this apartment tower in a hardly damaged town when a funding shortage stopped her rental assistance this winter. what do you expect to happen to you in the next week or so?

>> i'm going to be evicted. i'm going to be homeless once again. >> the director of new jersey's housing and mortgage finance agency defended the new brunswick apartment towers saying 48 of the 238 future apartments are going to be affordable and advertised to sandy victims. and although the tower, itself, is not in a hard-hit town, it is in one of the nine counties declared a disaster area. >> he made an announcement to the development community that you have any projects in those nine counties that would generate affordable housing, bring them on. >> that was a report by chris glorioso for the local nbc station in new york about federal money for sandy relief going to a new apartment tower in a new jersey town called new brunswick that was not hard hit by hurricane sandy. that story broke after the newark "star-ledger" wrote up a story about a use of federal money for sandy relief. the town of belleville, new jersey, got $6 million of sandy

money they directed to a senior center and housing complex. officials barely mentioned sandy when they talked about the project, and belleville's mayor told the "star-ledger" he didn't know of any people in town displaced from their homes by the storm. a few weeks before the big announcement in belleville about the senior center, that town's democratic mayor planned to endorse chris christie for re-election because, "i think the governor is is going to help the town of belleville with certain projects that we need." a couple of weeks after chris christie announced the project was going through, the local county executive also a democrat added his endorsement for chris christie's re-election. so there are these questions about that sandy money that went to new brunswick which wasn't all that hard hit by sandy. right after questions are raised about sandy money that went to belleville which wasn't all that hard hit by sandy. all that, of course, came after steve kornacki broke the story on this network about allegations concerning sandy relief money in hoboken. a town that was really hard hit by sandy.

mayor dawn zimmer told steve on msnbc that the christie administration steered far less federal aid to hoboken than the town should have received given the storm flooded 80% of the town. mayor zimmer alleged that top members of the christie administration told her if she wanted to see more federal money flowing to hoboken, she would need to support a development project with ties to the powerful chairman of the port authority who had been appointed to that job by chris christie. the mayor says she would not go along with that and because she wouldn't go along with that demand, the christie administration held back federal disaster relief that she says hoboken needs and deserves and still should get. christie administration categorically denies the allegations made by mayor zimmer. so does the law firm of the port authority chairman. the development company involved in that potential development project also says that it does nothing wrong. but mayor zimmer has stuck to her story all this time, and ever since she first told it on national tv, federal prosecutors and fbi agents have been nosing

around that story and nosing around hoboken. starting the very next day after steve's initial report. mayor zimmer made those allegations about sandy aid on steve's show on a saturday here on msnbc. the following day, the sunday thereafter, she says she met with lawyers from the u.s. attorney's office in newark. she says she gave them her diary and other documents offering evidence in support of her allegations. the next day, monday, fbi agents reportedly started questioning members of mayor zimmer's staff. people who said they could possibly corroborate her story. then this past friday, the u.s. attorney issued a subpoena to the city of hoboken, itself, having to do with the allegations about sandy aid. we learn the central figure at the heart of the bridge scandal, chris christie's fired deputy chief of staff, the up who appears to have ordered the bridge shutdown, we also learned today she has not received a federal subpoena. we know the new jersey republican party got one. governor christie's re-election campaign got one. in a radio interview, christie

staid his own office got a subpoena. bridget kelly who wrote "time for some traffic problems if ft. lee" does not seem to have received a subpoena. federal prosecutors have not subpoenaed her. interesting. federal prosecutors started out saying they'd opened an inquiry into the closing of those toll lanes on that bridge back in september. since then, they have not subpoenaed the central figure in that scandal. at least not yet. they have, however, interviewed the mayor of hoboken and is a subpoenaed the city. does that mean in terms of the federal investigation here this is now less about the bridge and more about sandy aid? is the federal investigation less about if politics led to a traffic jam and more if politics have factored into the recovery from the worst storm to ever hit the east coast? joining us now, steve kornacki, host of "up with steve kornacki"

on msnbc. covered new jersey politics for years including time working for david wildstein. great to have you here. >> great to be here. >> you've been out in front of the story for weeks now. what do you make of the u.s. attorney subpoenaing the city of hoboken but not bridget kelly who appears to have ordered the bridge lane shutdown? >> yeah, i mean, you're right. it's curious. and i'm not well sourced inside this u.s. attorney's office and not a lot of people are, by the way. >> nobody seems to be. >> that's a important thing to keep in mind here is this u.s. attorney is far different than his predecessor, chris christie. with chris christie when there was the hint of scandal in the mcgrievevy administration ten years ago, they were raiding state democratic headquarters. they were serving subpoenas left and right. there were things leaking out daily. very aggressive, very public investigation that played out in the press. paul fishman is 180 degrees from chris christie. it's an opaque office from that standpoint. the one thing i would say is, if

you use the hoboken one as an example, and the timeline you have there is pretty helpful. she came on our show that saturday. she was in the u.s. attorney's office the next day. she handed over her diary. the actual subpoenas of records was almost two full weeks later. we know when it comes to the george washington bridge part of this, the subpoena served in the republican state committee, chris christie's re-election campaign, the lawyer for both of those entities say those subpoenas relate to the george washington bridge lane closures. we know those two subpoenas, we're not entirely sure on what christie's office one is. there was a bit of a lag time in the hoboken one to get around to do something which would seem on the surface to be obvious. she made the allegation, she turned over her diary. let's get the records from the city. it took them close to two weeks to getting around to do that. the question is -- i understand there are people in hoboken willing to come forward. they haven't gotten around to talking to there. there's also part of that.

so i was telling people in trenton today, they weren't necessarily reading too much into this. they were saying their sense is still ultimately that this is -- the bridge closure is something u.s. attorney is going to be looking at and saying their expectation still is something like bridget kelly, you will see a subpoena there at some point in the near future. >> steve, one of the things you and i have talked about before, it we have a subpoena, the legislature, and the u.s. attorney looking into if not the same, at least similar allegations from a criminal federal perspective, what's the chance that the existence, the co-existence of the two investigations might be a way for potential witnesses, potential targets of those investigations, to sort of wheedle out of having to answer either or both of them? now that we've seen david wildstein invoke the fifth amendment in refusing to testify, even as he handed over documents, we have seen bill stepien, chris christie's campaign manager invoke the fifth and refuse to hand over documents. bridget kelly invoke the fifth. do we have further sense of how the fifth amendment and the co-existence investigations are interacting?

>> one of the surprises over the weekend is reid schar, met with the u.s. attorney, paul fishman, basically walked away from the meeting saying we have the green light to go forward and continue this investigation. that was a surprise to a number of people in trenton. they felt the u.s. attorney was going to basically say, hey, you know, we got this one, there's going to be overlapping issues here. the overlapping issues are going to allow, for instance, bridget kelly to, you know, say, you know, i can't be subpoenaed twice for the same information for the sake of clarity. the expectation was that that was going to happen. certain people said when chris christie was u.s. attorney if there was a situation like that, there's a little doubt chris christie would have stepped in

and said, hey, get out of the >> neither of the investigations is proceeding the way anybody expected them to nor are they proceeding together in a way anybody expected. the story is more fascinating than it ought to be. steve kornacki, host of "up with steve kornacki." appreciate it. much more to come. stay with us. >> it has not been perfect and it will not be perfect. i can guarantee you that. what we also know is that we have to count on each other to

help each other. and i can tell you that the single largest reason why i ran for re-election was to finish this job. and so we're going to continue to do what we need to do to get this job done and get it done the right way. [ inaudible question ] definitely not taking questions, but if you want to come see me afterwards, i'm more than happy to do that. [ inaudible question ] if i ask you to come see me, that would imply i'll actually be there. so -- i'm sure you would, and we're going to have some time afterwards to talk to me or talk to members of my staff.

something to keep on eye on out of norfolk, virginia, today. a federal judge there today said she would rule, quote, soon, on the constitutionality of virginia's ban on same-sex marriage. if the ban is struck down, it would make virginia the first state in the south to have marriage equality. that alone makes that case worth watching, but consider also that

the lawyers who are arguing against the virginia ban are david boyes and ted olson, the two superstar supreme court litigators who faced off in bush v. gore in the year 2000 and who got california's ban on gay marriage struck down at the supreme court this past summer. nobody really knows what the judge meant when she said she would rule soon, but if she overturns the virginia ban, it probably won't be like what happened in utah where that state's feckless attorney forgot to ask for a stay and so everybody was able to get married as soon as the ruling happened. if the judge strikes down the virginia ban, there will be a stay on the ruling at least temporarily. keep on eye on virginia. while you're at it, keep your other eye uncomfortably on oklahoma. the way oklahoma is dealing with their particular legal challenge on this issue turns out to be inadvertently hilarious. and that story is coming up. stay with us. [ female announcer ] when you're ready

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because it's bad for virginia. >> in 2010, then-west virginia governor joe manchin sued the epa over mountaintop coal mining regulations. yes, joe manchin was a democrat but he was a coal state governor. joe manchin pretty much maintained the role of opponent to environmental regulations, particularly anything to do with the coal industry and coal-fired power plants. just as he promised the people of west virginia he would do when he was running for senate. in 2011, he introduced a bill in the senate that would prevent the epa from revoking clean water act permits. that same year he also co-sponsored an amendment that would suspend the epa's regulation of greenhouse gases. this past summer senator manchin was the only senate democrat to vote against the confirmation of president obama's choice to be the new head of the epa. then came january 9th of this year, four weeks ago. a chemical spill paralyzed governor manchin's state. a chemical used in the processing of coal.

the banks of the elk river in charleston, west virginia, at the public water intake for charleston's drinking water supply. that chemical it turns out was stored poorly in tanks maintained poorly been and unregulated storage chemical industry. when that chemical spilled into the elk river, it was an unprecedented disaster in modern times. one in six people in the state of west virginia had no drinking water for days. frankly, you can forgive people for thinking the safety of their drinking water may still be uncertain given upward revisions in the amount of chemical that was spilled and even late revelations from company responsible that showed that it was not just one chemical that spilled, but two. forgot to mention the other one. the company's called freedom industries. they filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy just about a week after the spill. after weeks of questions about responsibility and damages resulting from the spill and freedom industries' liability for it, there's news today a grand jury investigation opened

up in west virginia complete with subpoenas. west virginia epa confirmed today two of their employees are among those who already testified in the federal criminal investigation. there is this issue of how to punish the people who are responsible for this disastrous spill. but there's also now the issue going forward of how to stop this from happening again. and that may fall in part to senator joe manchin who he would not mind me saying is not exactly a zealous regulator of the coal industry or other energy industries around it. today in the wake of the elk river chemical spill, senator joe manchin joined with senator barbara boxer of california who is the top democrat on the environment committee. he also joined with his home state senator jay rockefeller, they are introducing legislation aimed at preventing similar spills from happening in the future. the bill is called the chemical safety and drinking water protection act. would require state inspections of above-ground chemical storage facilities. it would mandate that the chemical industry develop state

approved emergency response plans. the bill would also guarantee that drinking water systems have the tools they need to respond to emergencies of this sort when they happen in the future. see, this is one of the things that makes people like senator joe manchin a very interesting figure in washington. right? he was the pro-gun, pro-second amendment guy, lifetime member of the nra with an "a" rating from the nra who was willing to push for gun background checks this past summer. that bill failed but not on account of joe manchin trying like heck to get it through. in the case of the elk river disaster, joe manchin who's been a consistent vote against environmental regulation, who's championed the rights of the coal industry and energy, joe manchin reacted to this very unacceptable event in his home state by taking an unusual step to push for more regulation that could try to stop this in the future. what does that mean for the prospects of new regulation in the future and how effective they might be at stopping the next disaster like this? joining us now for the

interview, senator joe manchin, democrat of west virginia. am i right you don't mind me saying you've been a critic of environmental regulation and regulation of the coal industry in the past? >> let me say, i want to be treated the same as the others in the country. you can't treat hard rock mining like there's no regulations whatsoever. it has to be consistent. just treat us the same. that's all i've asked for. and sometimes there's things they've asked us to hit, certain criterias that haven't been attainable. haven't shown they can be commercially viable. whenever it's there you can do something and technology is there to allow you to do it, it should be done. if you can't do it, get out of the business. sometimes they're putting things out there that makes no sense whatsoever and they know it's unattainable. those are the things i object it. i want to be treated the same as any other state in the union.

>> because you have been aggressive on that issue both as governor and a senate candidate and now as a senator since you've been in washington, do you think that affords you some more political, i guess, credibility, leverage, leeway to try to advance regulations in response to this spill that people might otherwise be suspicious about in terms of new mandates on the energy industry? >> well, let me just say, rachel, this. we had horrible tragedies where we've lost wonderful miners. you know, it's -- and there's no excuse. if you can save a life, if you can protect a life, you should do it. i don't care what political that comes. the bottom line was when we had our mine disasters, i knew we could make it safer and better. i wanted every miner to be able to go to work in the morning with peace of mind and their family knowing they could return safely. we changed that. i wasn't worried about i industry, oh, they'll get mad, they'll do this or that. i knew it could be done.

and we did it. you know what? this water, everyone deserves to have clean drinking water. you just assume it's going to be safe. this is a wake-up call not just for west virginia but the entire country. i would have assumed like most people assume that above-ground storage was having regular inspections. but if it was not a material which was deemed a hazmat material which was high priority, it didn't get the same scrutiny as other things are getting. we know now that any storage of any kind of a chemical next to a water or next to especially to a water treatment plan should be inspected very vigorously. this is what this bill does. if i wasn't serious about this, i mean, i did it the day after. we knew we had the spill. i talked to barbara boxer. she's been wonderful. reached out. our staffs have worked together. and we've got a good piece of legislation. and it should pass and it's needed to be passed because i don't think people around this country realize there's a lot of things that we assume have been looked into that haven't.

>> and assuming that something's there that isn't, i actually think is a really key dynamic here. because to the extent this has been a national issue, you saw comments from the speaker of the house john boehner specifically asked about this issue whether there ought to be a national response. his answer was that he's quite sure there are enough regulations on the books. there must have been some problem with the enforcement here but he knows there's enough regulation and in fact we need to have fewer regulations. >> let me just tell you this, rachel. i spoke to speaker boehner today, and i said, may i come over and explain to you what we're dealing with? and i spoke to him on the phone. a meeting that the speaker and i are going to meet. i said, speaker boehner, you probably assumed the same as i did. same as many of our colleagues probably did. that these above-ground storages, no matter what was in them, was being inspected properly. and they're not. it's not in the code. it's not required. i said, i wish you would look at this. he was very receptive. i think we can get positive movement. we just didn't know.

>> senator joe manchin, democrat of west virginia. thank you for your time tonight, sir. i really appreciate you being willing to talk to me. >> absolutely. let me just tell you, our goal in west virginia is to have the best quality water in the country. we're going to come out of this bigger and better and it's the greatest place to come visit. >> thank you. senator joe manchin, always doing that part of your job very, very well. thank you, sir. >> thank you, rachel. much more ahead. including another bit of interesting and provocative news from the christie administration scandal in new jersey today. somebody who has previously not been linked at all to the scandal essentially saying that they are preparing to be looped in. unusual move today by somebody you have heard of, and that story's coming up. stay with us. please stand by.

>> weirdest story of the day. on halloween night last year, defense secretary chuck hagel gave a speech in a hotel right around the corner from this studio. the defense secretary called out nine states for defying the direct orders of the pentagon. texas, indiana, georgia, florida, mississippi, louisiana, oklahoma, south carolina, and west virginia. he said they were all states in which the national guard was refusing equal treatment to service members who are married. the federal government recognizes your marriage just like any other marriage.

but in those nine states, the states were treating national guard couples differently depending on whether their marriage was an opposite-sex marriage or same-sex one. senator hagel to demanded all 50 states needed to get in line and comply with federal law and use one standard for how they treat military family, including benefits and housing allowances and id cards and everything else that applies to married national guardsmen and guards women. he gave that speech halloween night. he gave them a deadline of december 1 to get in compliance. and eventually, by hook or by crook all nine of those states did, at least according to the letter of the law. but some of the states decided to do it in style. in south carolina, and in florida and in oklahoma, those states decided than rather treat everybody with the same dignity that married couples had always been treated with, those states would go with door number two and treat everybody with a whole

new kind of indignity and inconvenience. in south carolina, florida and oklahoma, rather than let same-sex married couples get their benefits at state facilities the way straight couples do, they decided that state facilities would stop processing benefits for married couples altogether. so now if you want to deal with your benefits and id cards and all that other logistical stuff if your spouse, now guards men and women in those states can't just go to state facilities where they do everybody else. they have to find a federally-run facility to handle any benefits for their marriage. that's true for all married couples in those states now. even if your particular marriage is not the kind that, say, the oklahoma state government is so afraid of. now having closed down the proverbial public pool, rather than let everyone swim in it, now the great state of oklahoma specifically is considering applying that policy approach, not just to members of the military, but to everybody in the state.

after a federal judge struck down oklahoma's same-sex marriage ban a few weeks ago, not only did the republican governor decide she was going to appeal the dig, republicans in the oklahoma state legislature started talking about taking rather more drastic measures. hey, if it worked for the national guard, why can't it work for the whole state. faced with the prospect of the marriages of same-sex oklahoma couples being legally recognized in that state, oklahoma republican legislators are now considering just getting rid of marriage in oklahoma altogether for everyone. seriously. close the pool then! if they can swim then nobody swims. watch this. >> critics are calling it a political stunt. supporters say it's what oklahomans want. >> they're willing to have that discussion about whether or not marriage needs to be regulated by the state at all. >> representative mike turner says his fellow conservative law makers feel the same way.

not providing marriage at all. >> would it be realistic for the state of oklahoma to say we're not going to do marriage period. >> would it be realistic for the state of oklahoma to say we're not going to do marriage period. >> that would definitely be a realistic opportunity. and that's something that would be part of the discussion. >> a decision that will be made possible by a current shell bill, something that can be changed at almost anytime to react to upcoming rulings on the same-sex marriage ban. >> pool's closed, kids. school is canceled forever. oklahoma republican legislators are preparing their nuclear option in case things don't go their way in court on their marriage case. they are considering abolishing marriage in oklahoma, rather than face the horror of letting everyone get married. because family values. get ready to live in sin, oklahoma. everybody. equally. watch this space. rinse. it's the only rinse that makes your teeth

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right now on first look, round two. the latest winter storm hammers the midwest with snow and ice as it moves east followed by a whopper of a storm this week end. heroin bust. police arrest four in a heroin dealing raid in their connection to phillip seymour hoffman and his with drawing $1,200 from an atm. defying john paul. the soon to be sainted pope's notes were supposed to be destroyed but now will be published. plus, the olympic games are set to begin. swallowing a tiny pill sure beats the alternative. >> and who lead the list as the butt of jay leno's jokes.