♪ ♪ what we have dug up in the 2,000-page ft. lee document. we're going to look at where the focus of the investigation into the george washington bridge lane closures turned this week but to get there we're going to have to start this morning's show three years ago. in the spring of 2011, that's when unruly scenes like these were common in trenton, new jersey. the public employees from across the state descending on the capital to fight a massive overhaul of new jersey's pension

system that chris christie was pushing through the legislature. they were aimed at trimming the state's liability by $120 trillion over the next few years. it was a ban on collective bargaining on health care for four years, increase in employee contribution to health care costs, increase in employment pension payments, end of cost of living increases for retirees. christie called all of these open reforms and he got his way. democrats may control the legislature but there's a group of bosses with whom he's cultivated similar bee yotic relationships. they came through with the key cross partisan votes to pass this landmark pension overhaul bill. >> it is an important moment for the state of new jersey, for its citizens, its taxpayers and new

jersey has once again become a model for america. >> but public employee yuans up and down the street were irate, one group in particular, law enforcement. there are four mayor unions representing police officers in new jersey and christie per sued all of them in his 2009 campaign for governor. he met with the leaders and sought with their officers. he sent this let tore rank and file officers swearing up and down that any claim that he would necessary with their pensions is absolutely true. sit a 100% lie. your pension will be protected when i am elected governor. so when he did sign that pension overall into law wibt vindicated the cry of betrayal that police unions had been sounding for months. >> -- tell the residents of new jersey that all is well. >> he's a liar.

>> liar. >> and now let's move to 2013. it's christie's reelection year, his response to superstorm sandy sent his approval ratings soaring. he's going to win reelection, everyone knows this. he just doesn't want to win. he wants the run up the score. he wants to dazzle the national media with an eye bulging victory mar again in a blue state. he wants to show how uniquely electable he would be as a republican in 2016. christie wants to line up groups that aren't usually aligned with his party. groups like police unions. pu this is a big problem for christie. they have not forgotten the promises he made them in 2009 and the reality of what he did to them in 2011. he was the president of the new

jersey fraternal order of police throwing his suspect to barbara bruno. in 2008 chris christie sat across the table from him and promised he would not touch our pepgss and then right out of the gate it's one of the first thing he did. he lied. he eliminated our cost of living wages. here was the new jersey superior officer's association which had actually endorsed christi in 2009 also pointing to the pension overall and also endorsing bruno. he's vilified public workers, the lieutenant said. the problem with one is not necessarily the problem with ours. and here was the state pba, the police ba never lent association refusing to endorse either candidate. acknowledging that it seems that the democrat party is going into

this race half heartsed. they're all but abandoned bruno for governor too. they knew bruno was going to lose but they still wouldn't give christie what he wanted. and then along came the other union that represents new jersey officers, the port authority police ba never lent police association, the union for the cops at the port authority. before we go any further, here's a bit of context. because the port authority is a by state agency, its officers were not and are not subject to any of those pension changes that christi pushed through in 2011. in fact their contracts look a lot different than the contracts of most cops in new jersey. as maggie detailed, port authority cops don't have to contribute a dime to their

health care costs. they enjoy generous pensions and at their most senior levels they earn 57% more than members of the new jersey state police force. once more she recounted out christi went out of his way to ensure that the port authority police officers and not new york city police officers would be assigned to patrol one world trade. that's the replacement for the twin towers in lower manhattan. the port authority pba's role grew on his watch which explain why the union and the president came through with the public endorsement. >> he stood shoulder to shoulder with me and my members on all of our security issues. we think he's a strong leader. >> so that's the background for the news of the past week. the major police unions in new jersey remain angry at christie over the pension law he signed, with one exception, the port authority police. let's pick up where we left off

last sunday when we reported that we discovered the identity of the port authority police lieutenant who was present with david weinstein back in september. a police lieutenant who then drove around wildstein who was the christie appointee who oversaw the closures and a police officer who texted with wild stein for at least the two morning of the closures. the identity of that police lieutenant, thomas michaels was noteworthy because of his family's long term ties to chris christie's family and because his brother, jeff michaels is a top republican power player in trenton, one who grow up with christi, helped in his campaigns and has a reputation in trenton for almost peerless access to the governor. we reached out to chip michaels, jeff michaels but only received this statement that quote the governor has never had any

conversations with jeff or chip pa michaels on this topic. but that report returned attention toward lieutenant michaels and the port authority police force in the process raising many new questions. first there's the matter of lieutenant michaels. the day after our story ran, pat foye ordered an internal review of michael l's actions saying quote, his status is under review. we also told you last week that on the first morning of the closures michaels texted wildstein with this message, quote, i i may have idea to make this better. it was a mystery of what that meant. was michaels an innocent who fiez police officer trying to find a way to ease the mountain of chaos or was he telling wildstein that he had a plan to jam up ft. lee with traffic. on wednesday a text exchanged from that first morning of the shutdown came to light, an

exchange that took place after michaels told wildstein he had an idea to make it better. suggest we send westbound traffic to center entrance, he texteds to the chief of police in ft. lee. fort authority police department covers that area. thoughts? take a look at this on the map. the effect of what michaels was proposing is illustrating here. it would have sent the local westbound traffic straight into the traffic nightmare being created by the lane closure making it worse. the chief of police in ft. lee texted back to michaels with a different proposal. just open up all of the lanes that had been closed. that exchange was a series of documented released by the bureau of ft. lee. in handwritten notes that came out, bind, indicates that michael told him that first morning of the shutdown it was all part of a test aimed at

improving movement on the main i-95 thorough fair that leads to the bridge and that the test was going to last for a month. that's not all. bind l told us in two separate phone interviews that lieutenant michaels was the first port authority official he reached when the lane closures went into effect. maybe why loretta weinberg called michaels quote, a person of interest on wednesday. suggested he might be subpoenaed. it's important to note there's no clear evidence that michaels was operationally involved in planning or carrying out the shutdown scheme but there are more questions now about what he saw, who she spoke with and what if anything he knew before and during those closures. we also reminded you last sunday about a letter that the mayor of ft. lee had sent to bill baroni, governor christie's other point man on the third day of the

closures. quote, port authority police officers are advising commuters in response to their complaints that this recent traffic deback sl a result of a decision that i as a mayor recently made. there is no evidence that lieutenant chip michaels was one of those officer, but shortly after that report, berg man tracked down some of the commuters that were trapped in that traffic jam and a number of them corroborated the story. as the record reported it, he was sought out by an aufbser. i didn't motion him, to him and rolled down my windows, recall michaels in an interview last week. he kind of motioned to me. are you frustrated, michaels said the officer asked. what's going on? call the mayor's office to complain, michaels said.

it's not whether clip michaels was involved it's whether there was a concerted effort by members of the port authority police department to make mayor sock wits pay the price for the traffic jam that governor christie's team ordered up and whether that may have come from the top of the port authority's leadership, the leadership that provided christie with his only major law enforcement endorsement in toirn and has received extraordinary help from the governor in securing lucrative work for his workers. here is the president of the port authority pba. his name came up in the bridge story months ago. in this shaky toot taj of the testimony, he cited nun yatty as an inspiration for the closures. >> so why september?

this has existed for years. why now, why september, what transpired to have somebody say we ought to have looking at having less lanes for ft. lee? >> as i said in my opening remarks, at some point in late july, members of the port authority police spoke to david wildstein. so it was triggered by a conversation in late july. >> who were these police officers that raised the issue that we ought to look at this? >> the leadership of the port authority police. >> names? >> the president of the port authority pba. >> so the head of the port authority pba raised this as an issue? >> that's correct. >> at the time he didn't reject that characterization. he volunteered that he had suggested the idea to david wildstein at breakfast. he issued a statement saying if anyone thought the lane closurings was a vindictive

scheme and anyone believed that his union was going to be on it, then i suggest we're going to find jimmy hof fa's body in ft. lee. that was before the bridge git kelly's e-mail surfaced. since then paul none yatty has changed his tune. this is the statement he gave us this week. quote, the port authority benevolent association incorporated with cooperate into all investigations of the lane slew sures. the port authority pba will have no further comment on investigation developments or media coverage. but when he was subpoenaed by the joint legislative committee initially he responded that he had no relevant document to share. now there's this. the "the new york times" reported that he told his members he would be stepping down from his day to day role from the union to be replaced by one of his deputies. on friday he muddied the water a bit with this letter released to

our show. quote, i am president of the pba and continue to be fully responsible for operating that organization under the by laws of the association. press reports represent mischaracterizations of a briefing given by first vice president to the associate's executive board. in accordance with the by laws i've requested mr. morris to take a more active role in the day to day operation. beyond that these press reports are inaccurate. so what is paul's exact role with the union now? was he just trying to be a good soldier for an administration that's been good to him and his union? did he have anything to do with the port authority cops who apparently went out of their way to blame the mayor for this closures. what role did he and his officers play in the closure of those lanes back in september? since we first reported on lieutenant chip michaels last sunday, that's where the

investigation is headed and we'll have more on it and talk about it with our first guest, the head of a major new jersey police union next. ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing good around ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ [ female announcer ] fiber one.

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so we just reported on the possible role that the port authority police may have played in the george washington bridge lane closures. now i want to bring in ed bran gan. he's the new jersey port of fraternal police and had a 31-year career in the newark police department. thanks for joining us. we showed some of the words you had for gof christie in 2011 when the pension overall went through in new jersey. i guess if you could start by describing for people the chris christie you and other members of the law enforcement community met in 2009 when he made those promises to you versus the kind of relationship you and law

enforcement in new jersey have with him today. >> we met with him -- actually it was in 2008 when he was a can date for governor. and he come in and met with my executive board and legislative committee looking for an endorsement. he sat across the table from me -- and i faxed you a letter he came out with addressing law enforcement officers that he would not touch our pensions. and he told us at the table he would not touch or pensions and our benefits and he respects us. as a united states attorney he knows more about law enforcement and what we do day in and day out and he would never touch it. like i said right out of the gate, he attacked or benefits and pensions, he lowered our pensions down to 60%, 65%. it was at 65-70. he increased our health benefits copay up to 30%. he put a cap on salary increases

at 2%. and you don't have to have a mathematician to know we're behind the eight ball on that. you're not going to get ahead. and most importantly he took away our colas. >> the cost of living. >> the cost of living. now the cost of living is a fact of life. it goes up every day. you're not going to stop it. it's always there. he took that away from us. we have police officer es and firemen that retired in the '70s, '80s and '90s that weren't making a lot of money back then and look forward to get the cola to make end meet and now that's gone. he definitely lied about everything. and he doesn't have a relationship with the law enforcement community in new jersey. >> that's the point i want to pick up on. in 2009 it was a very close race for governor in new jersey and he was looking for all of the help he could get. in 2013 it was a very different story for christie. the campaign was wanting to run

up the score and win over all of these nontraditional republican groups. when it kams to police unions, that was just an absolute nonstarter. you were never going to endorse him in 2013. >> never. not only the police unions but the fire unions also. he was not getting our endorsement. as a matter of fact at our conference in atlantic city, with over 300 delegates, we were given a legislative report on where we stand legislatively in new jersey and all of the negative legislation that came out of the governor's office, it was a spontaneous endorsement for barbara bruno. motion was made on the floer and unanimous endorsement for him. which didn't even follow the procedures. but it was the membership speaking that they wanted nothing to with him. >> despite that, the despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of unions represents law enforcement in new jersey had the attitude you're

describing, the port authority pba came out and endorsed chris christie. and as we said, all of these pension changes you're talking about didn't affect them. what was your reaction when the port authority made that decision in. >> shocked. when that hit the newspapers it was the first i knew about it. i made a couple of phone calls. i called the president of the pba, asked him what the deal was there, why is this happening? and you know, they're an independent agency so he has no control over them and what they do. i talked with the professional firefighters. everybody was stunned that they endorsed chris christie. and -- >> when you look at, as we described, you know, their union in chris christie's time as governor, the size has actually increased, he guaranteed these new jobs for them at ground zero, they're exempt from all of

the changes that he forced on you guys. does this seem like they cut their own deal with him? >> well, what i'm reading lately is that, you know, there are 1500-man force and they're now up to 170 0e and by years end they're going to be at 2,000. that's a 500-man increase in the police department. there are police departments in new jersey that would love to have an increase in their departments. throughout new jersey they're laying off cops, they're losing cops through attrition. new york police alone, there are still over 100 police officers that have been laid off that haven't been brought back on the job. we'd love to get 500 cops in newark. they're down. it's a little surprising when you read that in the newspaper that they're being increased up to 2,000 police officers. >> yeah. it's a tail of two cities when it comes to how one police union was treated versus how all of the other ones were and then you see that one police yuan whereon

was very helpful to chris christie in his campaign, gave him the endorsement he was looking for. >> and they don't pay into their medical benefits and pensions. totally different system than we have in new jersey. >> i want to thank any guest today, thank you for joining us. we'll talk more about this after this. i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ female announcer ] some people like to pretend a flood could never happen to them. and that their homeowners insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesn't.

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...or if you have kidney problems, especially if you take certain medicines. tell your doctors about all medicines you take. pradaxa side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you or someone you love has afib totally different system than we with pradaxa. we've been talking about govenor christie's teep ties with the port authority police union and what role they may have played in the george washington bridge lane closures. we have wnbc television reporter brian who has been covering the story, holly who is a member of the joint special committee on the briej scandal and brian murphy who is a reporter that worked with us and he's also a professor at brook college. so brian, i'll start with you

because it struck me this week, this whole question of paul nunziato and the police union has been staring up in the face for the last few months and i have been guilty as not giving it as much coverage as it deserves. it hasn't gotten the level of scrutiny it deserves until this week. the question is, with you have nunziato saying i gave the idea to wildstein, you have them testifying. do we look at this as a case of nunziato was being a good soldier because his union got an awful lot of good things from this administration. they said, play along with us on this. or is there reason to believe that maybe nunziato had an ax to grind and got the administration to go along with this. >> he was the puppet master in effect. we don't know. i have to say, i tried reaching out to nunziato a few weeks ago and got nowhere. then i went to a friend of mine

who has direct access to nunziato and he told me last night, brian, this is all being misconstrued np is breaking a little news her. he tells me that nunziato was actually talking about a different study about a different portion of the gw bridge that happened a year earlier. but i'm saying that doesn't comport with what he said last fall, with what we know so far, with what baroni said. he said, brian i'm telling you it's the wrong thing. and i said wait a minute -- and he hung up on me. and i have to tell you this. he tells me that he had been talking to nunziato last night and that nunziato said you can tell brian this. >> and then hang up the phone on him. >> i mean this is very interesting what he's told me is okay, apparently when i, nunziato took credit for the idea of the traffic study it was

a different traffic study. >> yes. but that's not what he said. >> it doesn't change the fact that he mocked and ridiculed anybody who thought the baroni was talking about had any vin dick ty quality to it. and baroni said the one he was there to testify about was nunziato's idea. that's when he hung up the phone. >> after throwing ft. lee under the bus with his statement after that news conference in october and with what we've heard baroni say, now he's backing up the bus. >> so nunziato, it's very hard to figure out. there was this report in the "the new york times" friday morning that he had told the union or indicated to his union that he would step aside, day to day he was going to be stepping back with a deputy would be taking over. then he disputed that with us and then he said that one of his deputies is going to be assuming more day to day control. >> he's stepping aside but not stepping down. the bigger question here is why

is a police officer, he's not in the command structure of the port authority police department. why is he having a meeting with the director and sukting changes to the traffic studies or involved in any of the policy making apparatus of the port authority police department. >> or an understand gator of it. >> why is this person accorded this level of influence on the operations of this agency? >> i don't think it's fair to necessarily say that he instigated it. there are text messages and correspondence but we're not talking about somebody who has been on the force for two tore three years. this is somebody who is a 15-year veteran who was brought into this based upon what we've seen. >> are you talking about nunziato or chip michaels. >> you were talking about chip michaels. >> was talking about nunziato. >> no. he was a lieutenant. >> it would mean a sense for him to participate with nunziato if

what you're saying is direct. i think it's plausible that -- look, there are thousands of pages of documents that we have reviewed thus far. in the thousands of pages of documents other than the couple of things that have been leaked to the press, everything points to a very large population of people who actually honestly truly and believed that they were participating in traffic studies. and there was a multitude of documents and e-mail traffic and back and forth with a lot of different people who all legitimately believed they were working on a traffic study. may have been a poorly executed traffic study. but i don't think that, you know, it necessarily leads to that something untoward occurred. >> well, i mean, i just don't agree. the issue here is abuse of power. it's what you're saying. in other words, what is this like, some sort of private security force here? you have a chain of command. what is chip michaels doing

akpaebing wildstein. why is he making if suggestions about traffic. you know, why are there suggestions that somehow the port authority police are sending message to the crowd that this is the mayor of ft. lee who did this? this is like some kind of private security force in some kind of, you know, to tall tearian state. this isn't the way the police force is supposed to operate. there's supposed to be a chain of demand. why are they involved? why are friend of the governor actually accompanying wildstein and making suggestioning? i don't buy it. i think it's another example of abuse of power with this little codery of the governor and his friends increasingly involved in bridge gate and it's very disconcerting. >> well, there's a lot to try to sort through here. we say broadry speaking the port authority police. there's individual questions about nunziato and chip michaels and others. we'll try to understand that

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all of us are from new jersey. and so you know what that means. what that means is if you give it, you are getting it right back. and that's the way we work things here, all right? >> that's chris christie at his town hall meeting earlier this week. maybe sending a little sig that hey if you want to ask me some questions about bridge gate, you got to be ready for an aggressive answer from him. he did not get any questions about bridge gate as it turned out on that town hall. i want to pick up on a point that you were making, talking about the distinction here between people who are uningly participating in this versus the people who knew this was a vindictive operation. it seems from the evidence that we have that's available that bridgett kelly, time for some traffic this ft. lee, pretty

explicitly knows she's ordering up a mess here. nunziato sending some very conflicting signals right now. and then there's the question of, as we say, chip michaels, we can interpret it a number different way. it is note wore think when you think of the suggestions he was sending out. he was sending out a suggestion that would have sent people into this mess. that's not definitive evidence in any way. when you look at a relatively small group, is that the group that you see or do you see more people that could be involved? >> first after were i don't know if chip michaels is involved or not. we have not had chip michaels before us. >> do you want him subpoenaed by the way? >> subpoenaed or brought in. he may be somebody we need to speak to. we've subpoenaed pretty much everybody under the sun at this point. we have 30 subpoenas that are currently pending.

my issue is why hadn't he subpoenaed sock wits. if we were truly try to get this, those would have been logical people to have been brought in from the get-go. if you don't want to subpoena, at least sit down and understand -- not from the press but if we're doing a legitimate investigation as to what transpired, those would have been two of the first people that we should have brought in and actually spoke to. with respect to mr. michaels, i think it's so tenuous saying that because he grew up and went to high school and graduated seven years past governor christie and they have this relationship that somehow on some way he did something nefarious, i think that's a little bit silly. it's akin to saying that somebody who is a production plant manager for coca-cola is going to call the ceo in the middle of a board meeting to say that the production plant just

has shut down for an hour. >> the one thing i would say to that is, look, yeah, they grew up seven years apart but from all of the public statements from jeff michael and from what chip michaels said in the star ledger review, these were families and brothers who were pretty close and apparently stayed in touch over a lifetime to the point he's coaching chris christie's kid in hockey just a few years ago. and the reputation of jeff michaels is this is a guy who has chris christie's ear. if you a port authority police lieutenant and you're watching innocently this debacle play out, this horrible traffic study that's tying up the town and you can't figure it out, i'm not saying the responsibility is absolutely on you but you do have a path way to get to the governor that's not unreasonable. >> there's a chain of command. so why in god's name would you pick up the phone to call the governor in the state of new jersey to report a traffic issue. >> this is a story that played out for months and chris

christie, somebody he's described as a friend a couple of years ago is going further and first out on the limb to tell the world there's nothing the see her. if you're chip michaels, do you call your brother and say you might want to tell the governor that i saw something a little different? >> for the record it has to be said that the governor did put out a statement that he has never had any conversation -- >> right. >> -- with chip michaels or jeff michaels, his brother the lobbyist about the bridge scandal. that has to be put on the record. congressman, i'm sorry. >> the point i'm trying to make is you have that codery, this little group that's very close to the governor, wild sfooen and now chip michaels, it's just a real problem in my opinion that these people who are close to the governor, the ones that are involved with the closing of these traffic lanes. and again, what is the chain of command? why is chip michaels being called on to do this?

and why are some of these other police officers telling the -- saying that the mayor of ft. lee is the one responsible for this one. there's in reason to believe that. you just get the impression that, you know, this is a little group of people that are conspiring and perhaps working together to try to cover things up. and again, to me it smacks of some kind of private security force. this is the port authority police. where's the chain of command? why are these particular people that are friends with the governor involved in this escapade. to me it smells. >> well, the thing that's interesting to me is that from our reporting on this, from the conversation i had with the chief in ft. lee from a conversation that was arranged so i could find out, decode his handwritten neats that were released by the borough earlier this week, chip michaels seems like the only person who knows that this is supposed to last a

month. >> he tells the chief of police in ft. lee, this is a one month study. >> he tells the port authority this is going to last for a month. as far as we can tell, we haven't found many people at the port authority who seem to be aware of that. because the bridge managers and the managers of the traffic, whatever they're doing with the traffic study, the data collection, they're being told on a day-to-day basis david wildstein said this is going to go on for another day. that's on tuesday. on wednesday david wildstein say this is going to be for another day. thursday, wildstein says another day. chip mick ls is there on monday morning telling the chief this is a month long effort to try to relieve the traffic. >> try to imagine the stories we heard from four days of traffic if that had actually continued for a month. we have to squeeze a quick break in but you'll be first up when we come back. legal solution

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all right. assemblywoman, i rudely cut you off. what were you going to say? >> with respect to some of the relationships, it's no different than trying to speculate. each of you have publicly admitted, you worked for wildstein. it's almost akin to saying it's been great for rating for msnbc all of the stuff that's come out of this so some how some way you guys were involved. we have to be careful as to how far out we go to speculate as to what people's intentions were and that they weren't merely doing their jobs. kevin -- >> i totally agree and that's one of my experience covering politics in new jersey, not just working for david wildstein. it is such an insular world where you can be in the northern part of the state and they know the people in south jersey and they're on a first name basis. i understand that part of it.

there's a lot of room for coincidence just in new jersey politics in general. but one of the things that jumps out at me is the skep schism that becomes apparent from the professionals at the bridge when they're told about what david wildstein's plans are. they refer to it as one point with the test as it seems to be a sarcastic way of referring to it. it seems like they're the professionals in these comes seem at times to be winking at each other like, yeah, we know this was not on the up and up. it seems like what strikes me reading these documents is there was a change of command that people were afraid to breach. but at the same time there was a recognition of we've never seen a real traffic test that was like this before. >> i keep carrying this around. these are those notes that are marked up from baroni's testimony, chi think the subpoenas are trying to figure out whose handwriting this is, right? who helped with the edits on this. you can see that in this

testimony, it's sort of edited to make it seem like the ft. lee lane allocation is unfair, right, and this is sow statistics can somehow lie. in the pat foye e-mails that are in the subpoenaed documents you see he asked what's the percentage of traffic that goes through those three lanes. it's 2w5%. what's the percentage that's going through with the lane closures. 25%. it doesn't say. it's not what baroni said. it's 25%. right? by that measure it's a perfectly reasonable allocation of resources. but you can see how that -- those numbers are being cooked up to reach a certain conclusion that is expected of -- >> this is both what the congressman and the assemblywoman are getting at. we're talking about a conspiracy. we what don't know is how many

people conspired. that's your job, the job of the federal investigators and that's our job collectively as a media. you have three investigations going on right now, those three investigations essentially. when you have conspiracy, it's two or more -- you're the lawyer and i this you are too, aren't you in. >> absolutely. >> a conspiracy is two or more people getting together to plan something that in effect is illegal, possibly illegal in this case. or whatever their motivation may be. what we have here with this conspiracy is all of the degrees of separation that you mentioned, all of the relationships that you talked about, congressman, and we have to run them down. the committee does, the feds do, we do. there are going to be a lot of blind, blind allies on this way, dead ends, holes that just don't go anywhere. and some that have just a little trick thal go in and it raises other questions. that's what we're going through

right now. >> as you look at all of these different investigative mechanisms that are in place, how confident are you? one of the stories playing out is that bridgett kelly and bill stepien, both of whom in that initial batch of e-mails featured promptly, both have been trashed by governor christ christie. they're fieging the subpoenas from the legislative committee. there's a question of how long that might could drag out. there's a question of whether the u.s. attorney is interested in talking to and cutting deals with any of them. how confident are you -- they seem like particularly crucial witness to me. how confident are you that we will be able to get to the bottom of this? >> i think we will. obviously you're helping get to the bottom of it. conspiracy, the law. the thing that worths me about all of this is the abuse of power. we have the lanes being closed for obviously no reason other than, you know, some political

motivation. we have chris michaels hanging around wildstein, obviously aware of it in some fashion. and i have no idea why she's chosen other than he's a friend of the governor. we had mayor zim ron saying that sandy minute wasn't coming to her town bouz she couldn't approve a development project. there's too much going on on behalf of the christie administration to show they're not looking at the public interest and they're being political about what they do. this is just a terrible thing. it's shocking. and the more it goes on, the more it convinces me that this abuse of power was rampant in the christie administration and stuff has got to be done to stop it. hopefully the investigation and the media are stopping it to some extent i think. but let's not lose sight of the fact that these people have a responsibility to do things that are good for the public and that's not what is happening here. >> we have to take one more quick break. right after this we'll be right back.

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we are totally and completely out of time. i want to thank our guests for today, brian thompson, republican state assemblywoman and reporter and professor brian murphy. president obama is delivering on his state of the union promise to work around the gridlock in washington. that is next. ] eliminate odors and reduce allergens with new febreze allergen reducer. [ man ] wanna see some allergens? [ together ] ew! what is that thing? they could be all around you right now. [ gasps ] ♪ how would you deal with them? um... ninjas. [ male announcer ] no need for ninjas. reduce up to 95% of inanimate allergens becoming airborne from fabrics with new, dermatologist tested febreze allergen reducer. get fresher air and breathe happy. febreze allergen reduc... ...er.

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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 [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. . how often do presidents deliver on the proposals they lay out in their state of the union address? well the record is mixed with more than an hour's worth of policy's proposals that require the support of both chambers of congress, they seem to be more wish list. than to-do list. but president obama said he wanted to make 2014 a year of action. so far he's delivering on the promise. in the past month he's signed a flurry of executive aks and

directed his cabinet to issue a series of new regulations that don't require the approval of congress. on tuesday he rolled out his latest order. >> we're going to double the distance our cars and light trucks can go on a gallon of gas by 2025. we're going to double it. today i'm directing the secretary of transportation, anthony fox, who is right there, former mayor of charlotte, and gina mccarthey, the administrator of epa, two outstanding public servants, their charge, their goal is to develop fuel economy standards for heavy duty trucks that will take us well into the next decade just like our cars. >> and you know this is a reminder, some of the other directives he's issued in recent weeks. >> i've acted to require federal c contractor the to pay a reasonable wage.

i'm ordered across the board reform of job training programs so we can train workers with the skills that employees actually need. i directed the treasure secretary to create something we're calling my ira. it's a new way to help working americans start saving for retirement. >> presidents have always used their executive authority, of most a lot more man the current administration, or the last, but what we're seeing could be a begik of a redefinition of how a president works around an unrorkable congress. a new era of deep partisan polar ie zags. he explained, quote, the old pattern of exercising presidential powering con joel congress into passing them may be giving way to a new pattern in which a president uses the white house as a platform to focus national attention on an issue and to mobilize forces

outside washington to devote time and resources to address it. the gaping political gulf that's formed between republicans and democrats has made it increasingly difficult to build bipartisan consensus in congress. ronald reagan's alliance with con sesh tif democrats, those working relationships with congress are largely in the rearview mirror. they are now etiological pure institutions, unless you're in the same party as the other guy, i's now a lot harder to find common ground. that's why president obama praised the house democrats at their annual retreat, it was for a modest accomplishment. >> the fact that we were able to pass a clean debt limit is one example of why when you guys are unified, you guys stick together, this country is better off and i could not be more thankful and appreciative and prouder of what you're doing. >> sounds like obama could not

be prouder of house democrats to get republicans to get the house republican to pay their bills. getting republican to do that is a big accomplishment but it epitomizes the newer ra of gridlock. this week the post reported that the republicans have no plans to go for the big goals. it's that reality that led john boehner ally to say this, quote, we don't have 218 votes in the house for the big issues so what else are we going to do. it's over. it's finished after the debt creel. as an elected members of congress, throwing in the towel in 2014 not even two months into the year. obama blasted republicans for their do nothing agenda to an off camera speech to democrats assembled on thursday. he said, quote we've got a congress that wants to say no

rather than yes. their main strategy is to do nothing to give people a false sense of the policies we're trying to put through aren't of benefit. the democrat caucus is still backing their leader. they got wiped out in 2010 they didn't take back the house in 2012 and there is little expectation that they'll retake the chamber in november. but democrats are not calling on pelosi to step aside because they recognize the limits they face. congressman jim hiems, he's a member of the democrat krengs nal campaign committee told the post, there is absolutely no talk even after three or four drink about is our leadership not doing the right thing. there's an awful lot of confidence in leadership. at times basically saying that no one could get house democrat out of this house that they're in. it's the cold hard reality of

the congressional map. so democrats and republicans in congress coming to terms with the limits of what they can and can't accomplish. the president moving forward with his agenda on his own. is this becoming the new normal for american politics. we'll have a table to discuss all of this, a capitol hill reporter and nbc contributor patrick murphy, a former democrat congressman, and congressman from new york, hakim jeffreys. congressman, i'll start with you because the president here is being very proactive right now in reminding people what he is able to do to work around congress. he's really trying to counter the idea that washington is just gridlocked and nothing is possible. but i wonder as a members of congress how does that make you feel that -- i'm sure there's a lot on your agenda that you share with the president but you're dealing with a republican majority in the house that has nothing no common with you eat logically. how does it make you feel that

it's up to the president to make these initiative us happen? >> i think there's two realities we confront, there's gridlock and then there's republicanism gone wild. gridlock is the reality of divided government. it will make things such as increasing the minimum wage comprehensive, immigration reform difficult to accomplish. that's not inconsistent with anything we've seen throughout our time here in america when you have a divided government situation. republicanism gone wild is a very different phenomenon. it brought us sequestration notwithstanding the fact that the economists say said it would cost america 750,000 jobs. it brought a government shutdown. it's bought us the failure to renew unemployment compensation largely for the long term unemployed. so we've seen affirmative things

done by this republican house to hurt the american economy. fortunately in terms of that aspect of what we've been dealing with with the debt ceiling increase recently brought to bear, perhaps we've gone beyond that moment. and then we just have to confront whether we'll be able to deal with some of these big picture issues which will result in having to put pressure from the american people on congress to act or else he'll have to face the electoral congress. >> that last point there, electoral consequences, that's what i wonder about. because if you're republicans, if you're the republican leadership in the house, for instance and you're looking at, you know, you're looking at the sequester, you're looking at all of the drama of 2011, you're looking at the failure to do anything on immigration, all of the things that democrats charge republicans with stand in the way of, of never offering a repair to health care, the electoral consequence so far that we can sea is the

republican candidate for president can't win, president obama is able to get reelected, democrats are able to, with the assist of very flawed candidates to well in the senate races but there was no breaking through majority for the republicans in house. and as long as republicans have control over the house, it re really severely impedes what is possible for a democrat administration. >> they did pick up seats in the last presidential year. but it comes down to thisself preservation. they are so worried about the tea party and getting primary rid and now with redistricting on top of that, they don't want to do anything. they don't want to go out on a limb. they don't want to put the country first. that's why you have issues like immigration which would be a win-win for republicans. one as far as a policy ground, it will, within the first 20 years, knock off $1 trillion to the national debt and two, it is

politically backed by the u.s. chamber of commerce. it's their number one priority which is the major funder of republicans. with a policy and a political win they still won't do it. why? because they are so worry ud about the tea party. >> but i also think that you talk about jergerrymander districts, they're doing what their constituents want them to do. represent jeffreys is doing what his constituents in a liberal district want him to do. if you look at something like labrador in a conservative district -- >> but real quick that's what's wrong. we should just the have robots in office. you're supposed to be there as a u.s. members of congress to represent the best interest of the people. sometimes as abraham link cob said leadership is not doing what people want you to do.

it's leading them where they ought to be. and we should lead the people of america on imdwrags reform and these things won't happen because they're afraid of their own shadow. >> they don't care about leadership. they care about keeping their jobs. >> exactly. >> the approval ratings in their districts though don't seem to go down. >> exactly. >> as we talk about the presidential election, we have the electoral college so it's not exactly most votes win except in 2000. but when you look at the house there's this story of how the democrat base is more and more concentrated in metropolitan areas. so you have a lot of democrat districts where the democrat wins 80% of the voters. the republican vote is actually spread out a little more. so there are more districts that are republican friendly. the republican will only get 60%. but that adds up to a republican

majority that's very hard fordemocrats to break through even when the republicans are on the wrong side of the issues. >> well you can't gerrymander yourself into a better place in the history books. it's an honor being here with these folks on the panel. it's not going to hurt a lot of southern congressmen to oppose any immigration reform. you can't win the white house with 70% of the latino vote. if you're in a district down south, you don't care about winning the white house, you care about keeping your job. it's going to help you. it's not leadership. it's keeping your job long enough until the lobbiest job offer comes in. >> there was some news late this week about president obama and this year's budget and a concession he was willing to make last year, concessions he's been willing to make for a few years that he no longer talk about that concession and what that says about the few chu of

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so the big news late this week was that president obama word leaked that when president obama submits his budget for 2014 in a few weeks sit not going to include a proposal that it contained last year. it's the way of recalculating the benefits formula for social security, doing it in a more stingy way. it would save some money. it's a concept that came up in 2011 when president obama was per suing the gar bargain with republicans. everybody told me that he put it in his bumt last year not because he actually thought republicans were going to meet him halfway but because he wanted to illustrate to the american people that, hey, look, i'm willing to meet the republicans halfway and a they're totally unwilling to meet me there. is that your understanding of

what he was trying to do? and if that is what he was trying to do, do you think he accomplished that? do you think people understand things differently because of it? >> it was an important step in the right direction in terms of learning from the history. the reality is when the president and the congressional democrats remain unified we prevail because the american people are with us. the president has consistently extended an olive branch to the republican party and congressional republicans and they consistently slapped it away, indicated no willingness to work with him even when it's in the best interest of the american people and those that they represent. so last year the president submits the budget with an olive brampl as it relates to the social security reform, progressive democrats such as myself weren't supportive of it, but it was designed to try and create a climate where perhaps a grand bar din or common ground could be reached and there was

no more mention on the republican side, no interest whatsoever. so i think moving forward with this year's budget, the president has taken the proper step which is to present his ideas in a bold fashion and we can make our case to the american people. >> there wasn't just no interest. the chairman of the national republican campaign committee went out on tv and said, the president and democrats want to cut social security. >> that's right. >> that's what happened. and so that was the immediate reaction from republicans and democrats were just like, okay. what? >> which is basically what we saw this week. because the president -- this announcement comes, the president is not going to put chain cpi in the budget and the republicans excoriate him for that saying he's not going to deal with serious debt crisis because he's not putting anytime there. then they reveal one of the things they want to run against are the medicare cuts from the affordable care act. >> that was in their budget, by

the way. it's politics. and i'm glad that the president is doing this and i'm sure you agree with me because you don't start negotiations by meeting people halfway. you say this is where i am, this is my vision and that's what he's going to do. now let's see if the republicans -- obviously we know where they are. let's see if they come to the table. my guess though is not. you heard the earlier comments. immigration reform, they talk the game we're going to get it done, the senate passed this almost a year ago. we're waiting on the house. the house is not going to take this up. ie am hopeful that john boehner got a place in florida this week. maybe he says i'll pass this and this is how i'm going to get beat. maybe i'll do one good thing for the country by passing immigration reform. >> why not do something that could inspire people. i'm thrill about it not happening was promise to cut

social security to fix a deficit is like invade iraq because you were attacked by 16 saudis. it was a lose lose for the democrats. you're exactly right, the gop squeeze sod capital out of it. but that's a real problem. i'm much more concerned about social security being taken away. >> there were a number of republicans conservative voices who were saying, especially early last year, i can't remember the names, who were saying, look, the president can demonstrate it's serious about compromise with a simple term, chain cpi. so the design was, okay, look, i'll call your bluf. i'll put it on the table and the american people will see you're not interested in compromise the way i am. did the american people see that? did anyone take the lesson from last year? >> no. here's the problem. when the president proposes something, the republicans are all of the sudden against it. even in the context of the

affordable care act. it's a market base strategy originally introduced bring the heritage foundation put into effect by the republican governor of massachusetts. so consistently we've seen the pattern. i think the american people do blame congress and republican obstructionism for what's occurred. but one of the things we dpas is the map designed to lock in republican extremism even when that's against the tied of public opinion. more than million americans voted for, and we're still 17 seats down sfl the population distribution thing i think is another factor. this was a memo from house majority leader eric cantor obtained by nbc knees. it was written, president obama

has provided new clarity on what constitute imperial presidency. the house will continue a number of bills the week of march 10th designed to restore the balance of founder created by our founders and require the president faithfully execute the nation's laws. another thing they'll pursue is more repeal joets on obama care. we still have not got to be the replacement part. it just says to me, we had some quotes that republicans basically think, look, we're in a decent political position, we want to run out the clock on 2014 by what, bashing obama care. >> it is the republican plan. the liberal plan was single pair, the democrat plan was public option. he gave them their own plan and now they hate it. >> it will be interesting to see what exactly is brought to the

floor in the next year. i know that a number of house conserve tiffs sort of more tea party members of congress are really going to push to do, you know, serious entitlement reform, entitlement cuts, welfare reform. i was talking to ral last week and he says if we don't have this -- like their mind-set is that if we don't have this bold vision we're going to lose seats in the house. and now the leadership and more vulnerable republicans in congress, they don't want to do that. they don't want to be going on record in the next few months. >> but i know they talk a good game but they don't do it. just like -- i'm not trying to keep bringing up immigration reform but let me bring it up. >> one more time. >> they say we can't do that because we don't trust obama to secure the borders. h's deported more undocumented workers in the nation's history. background checks after newtown when those first graders were

murdered in their seats. 90% of america for that, they won't do it. minimum wage increase, last time it passed was six years ago. john boehner says i'll commit suicide before i vote -- >> this brings me to a question we will pick it up after the break. no disrespect to the congressman sitting at the table, but i want to ask who is the point of being in congress at this time with these realities. we'll ask that when we come right back. hy he created the magic eraser extra power. just one eraser's versatile enough to clean all kinds of different surfaces and three times more grime per swipe. so instead of fussing with rags and buckets, you can get back to the great outdoors, which can be pretty great. that's why when it comes to clean, there's only one mr. [ bird screeches ]

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my new lumia icon is so great, even our wipeouts look amazing. ♪ honestly, i want to see you be brave ♪ ♪ so i said i was going to pose a question to hakim jeffries about what's the point of being a congressman. what makes me think of that is democrats succeeded president obama when he spoke to house democrats recently he praised them tore sticking together to do what, to keep republicans from defaulting on the debt ceiling. in terms of advancing an an

agen agenda, the prospects of getting any sort of major legislation through seem not that prieth. here's john yar moth, a democrat from kentucky who was asked about the spending retirement. he said i really do. i just got to the point where it wasn't worth it. it's pretty stressful. everybody is aware the system is broken and that becomes stressful. i don't know how long that guy had been in office. but do you feel that at all? >> well listen it's still an honor and privilege to serve in the congress. we are facing unprecedented obstruction from the tea party dominated republican kau kas in the house of represents. but not with standing that reality, over 14 months we've seen five separate incidents in major areas where the hashtag rule has been violated open big picture ideas have been passed into law.

the super storm relief package a few weeks later in january of 2013, then in february the violence against women act, and then at the end of test last year we saw a budget agreement that rolled back some of the sequestration cuts. and then most recently earlier this month with the clean debt ceiling, that obviously would have been catastrophic. so in five areas we've seen the hashtag rule violated that gives us hope that as long as democrats remain unified perhaps we can tackle the big picture issues because they have been tackled in the past. >> i served two terms. when the fiscal crisis happened, when people couldn't get home loans or car loans, when it went in the tank wall street, it was george bush and hank polson that

came into congress and said we need to come together, we need to put the country first. my folks said you just won your first race by 26%. don't screw this up. vote no against this. and i was like no, i'm going to do the right thing. we did some things to make taxpayers get their money back first and stuff. but the democrats for the most part stepped up for the country and put it first. you don't see it right now. you didn't see it in the stimulus. hakim you weren't there. you don't see it with gun reform or background checks, you don't see it with immigration. it's crazy. that's why the system is broken. and john and i came into congress together. they are disgusted down there because there's folks that aren't willing to put the country first and not willing to provide their leadership and make the compromises. i'm gland president obama is not playing the reindeer games that happened in the past.

this is my vision. if you're serious, let me see yours and let's come together. >> he's not going to put chain cpi on the table. he's going to put the budget that he wants on the table, apparently it's going to include $56 billion in more spending, i guess it would be offset by cuts elsewhere. he's looking for closures from loopholes. but realistically he can say no to compromising within chain cpi with republicans but realistically can he get through any budget that's remosley similar to what he wants? >> if we were sane we would be talking about military cuts but then we would only have a military as big as china, russia and england combined. i think he'll start talking about the loopholes and forcing his republican counter parts to defend the loopholes which would make life more comfortable for

the richest among us. the only way to drive a wedge is to let the social conservative know these guy guys are fighting for wall street. >> the president is going to propose $56 billion in additional spending and it appears that he will pay for it largely by closing corporate loopholes that are really unacceptable to the american people. let's go out and have this debate and force the republican to defend what really is an untenable position. >> that's exactly what the budget is u. it is a debate of democrat values versus republican values. the president's budget hasn't really gotten anywhere in the last couple of years. it is a vision of what he wants and what he would like the see, similarly with the republicans when they put forward their budget. i mean the fights, the big fights over the budget, the rye onmurray, that's done, right? like we are in campaign mode,

the things to avoid a government shutdown and avoid a default are behind us. now all it is about presenting visions of which party do you want to see. >> that's the thing. when i listen to congressman jeffries list off some of the truly significant accomplishments in the last few years, one thing that does occur to me is fiscal cliff. it was an unavoidable deadline. >> we're dealing with deadlines now. >> outside of the total crisis deadline mentality. this budget doesn't seem to fall into that. any way, i hate to end on a depressing note. my thanks to congressman hakim jeffries, for coming in this morning. the sochi olympic games are wrapping up. we're back so that is this -- i'm reading this all wrong. that is the other game, up against the clock. it returns. you heard it. you remember it. it is coming back next. talk to your doctor about viagra. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex.

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patrick murphy is a familiar face on this network, msnbc contributor, iraq veteran and former congressman. his show "taking the hill" is airing tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. but back in 1999 he was looking to add a very different accomplishment to his list of achievements. >> and patrick murphy, come on down. patrick, give me your bid. >> 901. >> 901. well i'm checking your bar. you're a warrant officer? >> no i'm a first lieutenant. >> there, yes. i thought there was a dark line in the center but there's not. you're a first lieutenant. >> yes, sir. >> you had not read about being an officer and a gentleman, have you? you bid that $1 over carol. he's blushing.

he's blushing. the actual retail price is $598, the winner is george. >> that's patrick murphy getting razzed by bob barker and coming up short as a constant on "the price is right." he'll get another shot when he comes down to play our weekly quiz show "up against the." it's back. it's next. stay tuned. oh hey, neill, how a? how was the trip? [ male announcer ] with nearly 7 million investors... [ shirley ] he's right here. hold on one sec. [ male announcer ] ...you'd expect us to have a highly skilled call center. kevin, neill holley's on line one. ok, great. [ male announcer ] and we do. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. ♪ 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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cut! [bell rings] this...is jane. her long day on set starts with shoulder pain... ...and a choice take 6 tylenol in a day which is 2 aleve for... ...all day relief. hmm. [bell ring] "roll sound!" "action!" [ applause ] live from studio 3 a in rockefeller center usa, it's time for "up against the clock." from north hampton, chutes, hometown to former president calvin coolidge, say hello to kate. he was the most feared security guard at philadelphia's veteran's stadium, the late great home field of the phillies and the eagles, please welcome

former congressman patrick murphy. and hae's the pride of stone any brook new york of the beautiful north shore of long island. let's hear it for john fug lson. and now the host of "up against the clock" steve kornacki. >> thank you, studio audience and thank you at home for tuning in. it is "up against the clock." the rules and the heart pounding excitement remain the same. we have three rounds of play, 100 seconds each. questions will be harder as we go along. contestants can ring in at any time but they'll be penalize for a wrong answer and there are of course instant bonuses scattered throughout the game. i should point out this will be the final game of "up against the clock" before our tournament of champions. so the field is almost set. but any one of these three contestants could break into the field today.

as always, i'll remind our life studio audience to please remain absolutely silent. no outbursts while the contestants are playing. are you ready? >> ready. let's go. >> good enough. put 100 seconds on the clock. we'll start with the 100 point round at begins now. a one-time presidential hopeful, this house member said this week that she thinks many voters -- >> american's sweet heart michelle backman. >> they're not ready for a female president. this isn't bridge gate but this governor in 2016 -- >> kate. >> scott walker. >> he's facing scrutiny. that's correct. after reading from it on the senate floor during his 21 -- patrick. >> senator cruise. >> incorrect. >> green eggs and ham. >> ted crews signed a copy of this book for an auction this week. 100 point question, a nuclear

physicist -- kate. >> rush holt. >> in new jersey congressman -- rush holt is correct. kate, this is a 100 point instant bonus. holt and congressman bill foster are the only two physicists in congress. foster represents a district in what midwest state? >> indiana. >> incorrect. it's illinois. no points for patrick but he's right. illinois. >> 100 toz up question. vice president joe biden will make an appearance on this premier episode of this -- >> seth meyers. >> we'll need more specific, please. we have a chance here. >> "late night with set myers". >> that is correct. facebook bought the instant messaging app -- >> what is ap. >> incorrect. facebook bought the instant messaging app for $16 billion on

wednesday that is -- john. >> instagram. >> facebook paid for instagram. that's correct. that ends the round. kate with 300 points, patrick with minus 100, john with 200. a lot of action in that round. that was fun. we'll move to more serious stuff here. we double the value. a little harder. the 200 point round here. we're going to put 100 seconds back on the clock and with this we go. michelle obama traveled to new york this week -- patrick. >> jimmy fallon show, if the tonight show. >> incorrect. to celebrate the 4th anniversary of her let's move campaign and appear on the "tonight show" with jimmy fallon telling american to do more of this. john? >> exercise. >> incorrect. >> eat vegetables? eat more vegetables? >> incorrect. the correct answer is drink water. she came to new york to tell people to drink water. during a speech on wednesday,

former president george w. bush said this presidential perk is the one that he misses most from his time in office >> we're watching "house of cards,". >> there's the crickets. we'll call time. he misses air force one. former president bill clinton will appear on tuesday in a senate campaign stop -- kate. >> allison grimes. that's direct. when bill clinton became the last democrat can dade to carry kentucky in 1996, he was joined at a preelection rally in the state by what then university of kentucky basketball coach? >> oh my god, i know this. jim call perry. >> it was john call perry. very close. >> the u mass coach. >> 200 point question. president obama apologized this week for saying that pursuing a skilled trade career would probably make you more money that if you got a degree in

this? we'll actual time. it's art history. that's the end of the round. kate, moving to 300 points in that round. patrick at minus 300, john falling to zero but you'll all within one question of each over because this is the ph.d. level. this is the 30 0 point round. this is where the champions are crowned. a really high score in this game could put you in the tournament of champions. the final round, 100 seconds on the clock. the 300-point round. this republican senator testified that his state capital this week in favor of a proposal to restore voting right to convicted felons. time. it's rand paul. 300-point question, the legislature in the state passed a controversial bill this week that opponents argue would legalize -- kate. >> arizona.

>> arizona would legalize religious discrimination. this oscar winning actor is lated to testify before the senate foreign relations committee next wednesday about the protects of peace -- patrick? >> george clooney. >> incorrect. any questions? time. it's ben affleck. >> while he sits on an anti-trust subcommittee, this senator recused himself this week from the time warner -- kate. >> chuck schumer >> this 86-year-old former democrat of louisiana and exconvict announced this week -- john. >> edwards. >> that's correct. a 101-year-old man joe knew man is seeking a congressional seat in flod this year. who is the oldest current members of congress? patrick. >> north carolina. >> incorrect. kate. >> ralph hall. >> paul is one of two wwii

credit vans currently serving in congress. name the other. >> charlie rangel. >> incorrect. no penalty though. this date has just released a specialty license plate to benefit the sons of con fed rates featuring a prom nant con fed rate flag logo. patrick? >> alabama. >> incorrect. it's georgia. that's the end of the round. kate with an impressive 1200 points. patrick, negative 1200 and john with 300. i bet on kate. >> kate, i will tell you that may be enough. i'm not sure. it may be enough to put you in the tournament of champions. our selection show is going to air next saturday. so you'll find out then. but until then you do have a prize package that bill wolf is about to tell you about. >> as our champion you'll have your name printed in sharpie on the coveted up against the clock gold cup and you'll get to take

the trophy home with you and show it off for exactly one week. you'll receive an appearance this week on nbc's the this week on msnbc's the cycle airing at 3:00 p.m. eastern. you also get to play in the bonus round for $50 gift certificates. back to you, steve. >> all right. there's that delicious prize package. here is your question for the rutt's hut gift certificate. closing ceremonies for the 2014 sochi olympics air tomorrow night. name the city and country for the next winter olympics in 2018? >> the city, too? i know it is in south korea, seoul. >> seoul? >> it is incorrect, pyongyang, south korea.

no one leaves us empty handed. everyone gets the home edition of up against the clock. fun for the whole family. one more way you can bring the excitement of up against the clock to your living room. kate, we will see if you're in the tournament of champions, find out next week. tune in for the real show, the conclusion of the real show after this. [ female announcer ] you get sick, you can't breathe through your nose... suddenly you're a mouthbreather. well, put on a breathe right strip and instantly open your nose up to 38% more than cold medicines alone. so you can breathe and sleep. shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right. to launch a startup from your garage. from computers, smartphones and 3d printers, to coffee, snacks, and drinks to fuel the big ideas. yes, staples has everything you need to launch a startup from your garage... mom! [ male announcer ] except permission to use the garage. thousands of products added online every day...

even safety cones. now save big for your business with a $25 staples gift card when you buy a tablet. staples. make more happen. i think we both are clean freaks. i used to scrub the floor on my knees. [ daughter ] i've mastered the art of foot cleaning. oh, boy. oh, boy. oh, boy. [ carmel ] that drives me nuts. it gives me anxiety just thinking about how crazy they get. [ doorbell rings ] [ daughter ] oh, wow. [ carmel ] swiffer wetjet. you guys should try this. it's so easy. oh, my. [ gasps ] i just washed this floor. if i didn't see it i wouldn't believe it. [ carmel ] it did my heart good to see you cleaning. [ regina ] yeah, your generation has all the good stuff. [ daughter ] oh, yeah.

all right, just a few final moments to find out what our guests know that they didn't know when the week began. start with you, john. >> arizona, the only state with a governor serving on an outpatient basis trying to make it illegal to be gay in the name of being christian. what kind of anti-christian bigot would stop me being an anti-gay bigot. christ, the lead character of the book, never said a damn thing about gay people. none of you follow leviticus.

being gay is natural, hating gay is a life style choice. >> that is something to watch for next week. will jan brewer sign that bill. kate, the new champion of up against the clock, congratulations. what did you learn this week? >> i learned i don't like "house of cards" that much and that it was actually a choice and i could stop watching it, i didn't have to binge watch and waste 13 hours of my life watching it. >> how will you follow the twitter conversations. >> i don't know. >> tune in tomorrow, we will be talking about that show. patrick, first game show appearance since price is right. >> 15 years later. also on a serious note, military families are on food stamps more than any time in the nation's history. $104 million a year last year, food stamps, these are military commissari commissaries, military posts, gone up 300% since 2007 and we

wonder why there's 22 veterans committing suicide every day. >> we should know, patrick, your show taking the hill is tomorrow at 1:00 on msnbc. i want to thank all of our guests, thank you for joining us today, and thank you for joining us at home. tomorrow, an update on the hoboken story we brought you last month, how chris christie's internal investigation is going, if he is asking the same questions of everyone. up next, melissa harris-perry with joy reed, a look at what the role is in the world as demonstrations play out in country after country. things that have changed. we will see you here tomorrow at 8:00. thanks for getting up.

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this morning, my question. when we say civil rights movement today, what do we mean? plus the arkansas official using ignorance as a political weapon. and the housing project no one should have to call home. first, with revolution in the streets, another diplomatic challenge for president obama. good morning, i am joy reed, in for melissa harris-perry. we have breaking news that's still developing. it is news from ukraine, we're going to bring you the latest developments. i want to put this story into a broader context. we begin with the week that was for the russian president, vladimir putin. the focus was supposed to be on the sochi olympics, as mr. putin had high hopes for the