. >>> where in the world is chris christie? well, he is somewhere in texas tonight, avoiding cameras. and texas republican politicians are avoiding him. >> embattled governor chris christie heads to texas. chris christie is in texas today on a fundraising trip. >> on an rga fundraising tour. >> he is in texas. >> texas is one of the big atm's for politics. >> if we're taking a close look at what chris christie's brand of good governance is. a governor who has his extra duties -- >> that isn't very pretty. >> -- and scandal is following him. >> if you, a republican candidate. >>> governor rick perry and attorney general greg abbott -- >> are standing next to chris christie. >> will not appear with him today in texas. >> his troubles will become your troubles. >> republican candidates, republican elected officials. >> a lot of these christie allegations look really bad. >> won't touch him with a 250 mile pole. >> smart move right now, because so much is in flux. >> at the same time. >> john boehner's comments today on immigration

but chris christie is no mark samford. five years ago, mark sanford was found traveling secretly to r rendezvous with a woman that is not his wife. and the chairman of the republican governor's association is traveling secretly to republican governor association. he traveled to texas where he was shunned by the republican political establishment. rick perry left it to his spokesperson to deal with the christie invasion, saying simply governors come to our state regularly for a variety of reasons and we're pleased to have them here. greg abbott and the all but certain republican nominee to succeed governor perry stayed 200 miles away from christie, who was in dallas while abbott was in houston. normally republican gubernatorial candidates rush to the side of the chairman of the republican governor's association when the chairman comes to their state. if greg abbott becomes the republican nominee for governor, consider this -- he will be asking the republican governor's association for money. he will be asking chris christie

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 s

exchanged the emails with chris christie's former deputy chief of staff bridget anne kelly: >> chris christie fired bridget anne kelly, and vowed to take action if any other senior staff members new of the closings. in a statement the governor's office says the letter from david wildstein's attorney confirms what the governor said - he had no prior knowledge of the lane closures, and whatever david wildstein's motivations were for closing them to begin with. >> the justice department and new jersey law makers are investigating. how this could effect chris christie's chances running for president remains to be seen. he is hugely popular amongst his constituents. >> erica ferrari reporting live from fort lee, new jersey. thank you so much. >> meanwhile president obama is reportedly planning on travelling to saudi arabia in march, a trip designed to mend relations. the president will seek to pacify concerns over the interim deal. saudi arabia expressed frustrations that the internet is not doing more. >> a video surfaced related to that massive leak of n.s.a. documents by former contrac

but not chris christie. here's chris christie discussing what has always been one of his favorite subjects -- how heroic he was in the aftermath of hurricane sandy. >> so when i was yelling and screaming about sandy aid in january of 2013, both at the other party and at my own, it wasn't because, you know, i needed a few extra bucks to balance the budget. it's because every dollar that we've been shorted will have an impact on the lives of the people of my state. and as governor, your job is to fight for those people as hard as you can. >> now, of course, christie knows that he's talking to an audience that knows nothing about what he's talking about. that's his specialty as a public speaker. that's how he became known as a good public speaker because he works best to audiences who do not know what he's talking about. he was talking to an audience that did not know that he helped funnel $6 million in federal hurricane sandy money to a senior center in bellville, new jersey, a police that suffered no damage.

paul ryan is right now under chris christie's worst situation of scandal, polling below chris christie. marco rubio is below him and ted cruz is polling below him. that should not just create problems for investors in a christie campaign b, but people who are thinking about rubio or ted cruz. they're looking at that going wait a minute, ted cruz is running behind him. >> he was on the cover of "time" magazine as the republican savior. it doesn't help that he was backing the senate plan around immigration. i think again you have to look at folks like a john kasich out of ohio. he's up for re-election. looks like he'll win. he's polling at about 53%. he's part of a midwestern renaissance. that unemployment rate there used to be 10%. it's about 7%. i think he's going to be somebody, who doesn't have a lot of name recognition and maybe that's a good thing. we see what good that did for chris christie, but i think that's going to be where investors start to look as they look to 2016, who is going to be that candidate for the money class. >> steve schmidt, who is not on the current list of u

today, also, the federal prosecutors investigating the potential criminal activity in chris christie'snt subpoenas to the city of hoboken. hoboken, the city whose mayor alleged hurricane sandy relief funds were made contingent by the christie administration on her green lighting a private development project in hoboken to which the governor's allies were connected. both of those things happened today. but what may end up being the most important development today in this story concerns this man. his name is bill stepien. he's chris christie's campaign manager. he was the new hampshire political director for the bush/cheney re-election campaign in 2004. in 2008, mr. stepien worked for the disastrous rudy giuliani presidential campaign. before leaving that failed effort to become national field director for the mccain/palin campaign. after that ended in 2008, well, that ended up being a convenient ending time because there was a republican candidate for governor who had to run in an off year election immediately after '08. he was running in 2009. and bill stepien was available and chris

sincerely, chris christie. well, the spirit in which that apology was made is that it was legally required of chris christie after he was sued over those ads and he had to settle the lawsuit. mr. christie ran those, the ads with a false claim about his opponents being under investigation by the county prosecutor. he ran those ads when he was making his first run for public office. you can see how young he is there. in 1994. in morris county, new jersey. that claim that he made in those ads was totally false. the people he was running against were not under criminal investigation. but the ads worked anyway and chris christie won that race. he won that seat on the county mission. the freeholder seat. when he got sued over those false ads, though, he ended up settling the lawsuit. he had to pay money to the people who he'd made the false ads about, and he had to run that humiliating quarter-page ad in the sunday "star-ledger." and ultimately none of it sat very well with the people of morris county, new jersey. he

>> and the biggest newspaper in new jersey, as we just told you, retracts its endorsement of chris christie's re-election. and i will be joined by the poor guy who had to write the newspaper's retraction. they were for christie before they were against christie. >>> and later, a man says he's gay and the world goes crazy. well, not really the world. just the backward, behind the times world of the national football league. >>> and in the rewrite, the nfl defends the name of the washington football team, but they dare not actually speak that name when talking about that name. the nfl and your tweets about the nfl are in tonight's "rewrite." when does your work end? does it end after you've expanded your business? after your company's gone public? and the capital's been invested? or when your company's bought another? is it over after you've given back? you never stop achieving. that's why, at barclays, our ambition is to always realize yours. you want everything.orks an expert ford technician knows your car's health depends on a full, complete checkup. the works. because when it comes to feeli

first, let's talk about chris christie's response there. very similar to the original response from the christie folks. in which the christie people said this confirms what we've always said, that the governor had no prior knowledge. again, when he's asked during the q&a on the radio, his response is, look, this is what i've been saying, i had no prior knowledge. it is not his prior knowledge subject to dispute by david wildstein. >> what david wildstein said, evidence that the governor knew about the lane closings while they were going on and evidence exists to prove that. he said governor christie lied during the two-hour press conference. he said he made the truth and the evidence contradicts what christie said in the marathon two-hour press conference and he said things about me and i can prove what he said about me is wrong. you're right, christie is in some ways moving the goal post here, saying i never knew anything about this prior and what's the people of new jersey care about. he's leaving room for wildstein's accusation to be true

>> and the biggest newspaper in new jersey, as we just told you, retracts its endorsement of chris christie's re-election. and i will be joined by the poor guy who had to write the newspaper's retraction. they were for christie before they were against christie. >>> and later, a man says he's gay and the world goes crazy. well, not really the world. just the backward, behind the times world of the national football league. >>> and in the rewrite, the nfl defends the name of the washington football team, but they dare not actually speak that name when talking about that name. the nfl and your tweets about the nfl are in tonight's "rewrite." peace of mind is important when you're running a successful business. so we provide it services you can rely on. with centurylink as your trusted it partner, you'll experience reliable uptime for the network and services you depend on. multi-layered security solutions keep your information safe, and secure. and responsive dedicated support meets your needs, and eases your mind. centurylink. your link to what's next. >>> on sunday the newark, new jersey "sta

the guy who chris christie was trying to force out as republican leader in the state senate is named ean. tom kean jr. the former governor's son. and what's worse, it didn't work. as soon as governor christie was re-elected he took a huge shot at the son of his former mentor, the son of the most respected republican in the state of new jersey and it didn't work. tom kean jr. survived and held on to his leadership position, but it was such a bizarre and unexpected move from chris christie to try to overthrow him. and here's the thing. here's the thing. here's the newly relevant thing. the guy who chris christie wanted to replace tom kean jr. with was this guy. kevin o'toole. chris christie wanted him, this guy, in place so badly as the top republican in the senate that he burned the strongest and oldest bridge he had in politics. he wanted kevin o'toole in there so bad he was willing to betray tom kean like that. you want to know what happened to kevin o'toole? turns out he's the one senate republican who has been assigned to the committee investigating the bridge scandal. oh. and now

states, other candidates have been a little -- they're more than happy to take the money that chris christie raises for him, but don't want to appear in public. if that keeps happening, i think there might be a little bit of a momentum here. christie will resist that to the end because that would be a major concession and they would view it politically as slipperslippe slippe slippery slope. i see no evidence that that's happening yet. >> a -- thank you both for your time. >>> coming up, president obama rolls out a new line in the debate over climate change. there is no debate. we'll talk false equivalent sis. the future of the fair wage, that's next. he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much.

chris christie sees a problem with david wildstein. on saturday, in the midst of super bowl appearances, a 700 word memo was sent to strat gifts and media to discredit david wildstein: >> donors told al jazeera chris christie assist memo was embarrassing and lame. the governor did not address that criticism, chris christie tried to underscore that david wildstein's allegations did not undermine a central point. >> the most important issue is did i know anything about the plan to close these lanes, did i authorise it, did i know about it, did i approve it or have knowledge of it beforehand. the answer is still the same - unequivocally - no. >> in addition to the federal and state investigations the governor is looking forward to an internal investigation he has authorised. chris christie made no mention of presidential politics or campaign aspirations which are hanging in the balance as the controversy plays out. >> the scandal began when lanes connecting new jersey and new york were closed last september, causing a gridlock for days. >

todd christie was spared and the man who spared todd christie, chris christie as the u.s. attorney, was able to give him a contract. another interesting part of alex's piece. the largess that christie was able to spread around, sort of like a politician would as u.s. attorney when he had these deferred prosecution agreement where is he was able to spread money around and use it like a politician would, like he's done as governor. i just quickly add one thing on norcross. the amazing thing about not prosecuting george norcross in 2006, you can see the roots of everything planted right then. in 2009 always rumors in new jersey that norcross' machine kind of went to sleep on jon corzine, the democrat, the northward democratic machine went to sleep, union city went to sleep, these democratic machines went to sleep oncor sine. at the height of that 2009 campaign, there was basically a coup in the state senate when they took out this sort of anti-christie democrat and replaced him with a george norcross guy. when chris christie came to power he was aided by this alliance with nor

become president. >> former ohio governor ted strickland basically taking new jersey governor chris christie apart today at a press conference in illinois today that was timed to coincide with governor christie's trip to that state. of course, talking about corruption and abuse of power in illinois has a special kind of resonance, right? i mean, if you think about it, if the democrats wanted to have a charismatic former democratic governor go after chris christie on this trip to illinois so that charismatic democratic former governor could talk about, you know, what i know from having governed a large state and all that, it's a little odd that the democrats had to resort to a governor from the not quite neighboring state of ohio, right? but that's because they definitely couldn't pick the last former democratic governor of illinois for this gig today because the last former democratic governor of illinois is rod blagojevich and former democratic governor rod blagojevich of illinois is, of course, in prison for more than a decade. on charges of corruption and abuse of power. so awkward choice

then, what i was told was that it was a traffic study. >> welcome back to "hardball" that was chris christie on january 9th. did you catch what he said? he didn't know about the lane closures until after it was over. well, last night christie changed his story. listen to him now. >> what's going on now with all this other stuff is just a game of gotcha, you know. you know, when did i first learn about this or that. well, the fact of the matter is i've been very clear about this. before these lanes were closed, i knew nothing about it. i didn't plan it. i didn't authorize it. i didn't approve it. i knew nothing about it. thereafter, and i've said this a number of times before, it became clear to me this was an issue i had to have somebody look into when the foye e-mail came out. so in the period of time before that, there were press accounts, you know. things could have been mentioned to me about traffic at any point in time. none of it was memorable to me, eric, because i didn't know there was any issue. >> well, things could have been mentioned to me about traffic. well, that's different th

my name is chris christie. i got into this race for the promise of a better future for my family and yours. but "the daily record" has called the current incumbents fumbling, bumbling amateurs. and now they're being investigated by the mars county prosecutor. >> great ad, huh? but it wasn't true. his opponents were not under investigation. but in the final days before the primary, there was no time to respond and so chris christie came in first in that primary, pushing out the republican incumbent. later, they successfully sued chris christie for defamation, which is so rare in a political campaign you can't believe it. sued for defamation successfully. christie was forced to issue a formal public apology that said in part, the ads, quote, were not accurate. neither of you were under investigation by the morris county prosecutor at anytime. i fully intend in any future campaigns in which i am involved to be much more sensitive to the impact of such tactics. three years later, christie lost his re-election bid.

and now begin with the new charges against chris christie. the democrats have an online ad this morning. with all the investigations swirling around, are you confident he can continue to run the republican governor's association and be an effective spokesman for your party? >> i'm confident. he is a friend and fantastic governor. now we have one person's word against another. you can't base a conclusion on such a thing. unless something else is known or made clear, i don't see why you would change what's going on. he shouldn't step down. nothing has been proven, and always give a person the benefit of the doubt in my judgment. >> turn to the president's state of the union this week. he called for congress to act but made it clear he would use executive orders to advance his agenda. >> wherever and whenever i can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more american families, that's what i'm going to do. >> you have a tough reaction, saying he's circumventing the constitution. do you think his proposals are unconstitutional? h

that was an untrue statement from chris christie. we know it's untrue because of this e-mail sent between two people on governor christie's staff while the bridge lane shutdown was still under way. see, the date there is september 12th, thursday of that lane. while those lanes on the george washington bridge were still shut down. this e-mail is from christina genovese renna to bridget anne kelly, governor chris christie's deputy chief of staff. christina renna was new jersey's director of departmental relations. while the bridge lane shutdown was under way, these two christie staffers were e-mailing about it in the governor's office. so when governor christie said no one on his staff knew about this staff until it was over and done with, that e-mail from september 12th proves that that assertion from the governor is not true. now, the person who sent that e-mail has resigned. she is now the fifth chris christie staffer or appointee or close ally who has resigned or been fired since the bridge lane scandal broke. the first two people t

scott walker has more or less the exact same baggage that chris christie has. when it comes to misdeeds and abuses of power from people in your inner circle, the wisconsin governor may already have christie beat. before he became governor, scott walker was the county executive in milwaukee county. his office was investigated in a john doe probe which allows prosecutors to compel people to give testimony. the investigation was closed out without his being charged or accused of wrongdoing. the bad news is that it lead to convictions of six of his former aides and allies, that includes walker's former deputy chief of staff, kelly rynefleish. she was sentenced and served six months in jail. now, think about that, you have someone who's supposed to be doing the business of the county paid by the taxpayers but instead they're doing political hack work footing the bill. the documents that released today provide a window into just how widespread this practice of crossing those two was among walker's people they suggest that scott walker himself was part of the problem,

if chris christie wants him gone, he's gone.re's been no sign from either christie or samson that they think he has to go. there is a tremendous. a pressure on the new york side. obviously pat foye's public comments are part of that. again only foye's has had anything publicly about samson being unfit to lead. >> let me ask you about another angle about you've been writing about. on the day that bill barone delivered that, he talked about feedback and he responded, p.a.d.d., said all was fine. do we know what all was fine? >> we don't know what that means there. in his testimony he made reference to paul who is the head of the police union. he said he was the first person who had ever mention ad traffic lane change to david wildstein there. this according to the union came as a surprise that he was going to be mentioned in this context. we don't know there if wildstein is telling barone the actual head of the police department approved of the testimony. we don't know why he would have been weighing in. we don't know if it is a r

few days reporting out. >>> that is because we have new information we can report to you about chris christie and sandy recovery funds. it involves a law that was created last year to prevent the misuse and abuse of sandy money. it is a law that as far as we can tell the christie administration has at best been slow and complying with and at worst has intentionally dragged its feet on implementing. this has contributed to a series of stories that have called into question how christie's team has managed and spent the giant pot of sandy money they received from the federal government last year. we are going to explain that fully and we'll tell you about the major role that the governor's brother plays in all of this in just a minute. understand what this is all about. we are going to start with a story that made news this week. it was reported on tuesday night by "the newark "star ledger"" that christie had aggressively pushed $6 million in sandy money for the development of a senior citizen housing complex in bellville, new jersey. a gritty town of about 36,000 just outside newark, was not de

chris christie's entire career reeks, is what it says. the author of the article is alec mcginnis. on to write is what bridgegate has laid bare is the skill and audacity with which christie constructed his public image. he wasn't out to line his own pockets or build a business empire. he wasn't even seeking to advance a partisan agenda. and yet it was tractionalism all the same. christie used a corrupt system to expand his own power and burnish his own image, and he did it so artfully that he nearly came within striking distance of the white house. when he got cozy with democratic bosses, people only saw a man willing to work across the aisle. when he bullied his opponents, they only saw a truth teller. it was one of the most effective optical illusions in american politics, until it wasn't. and joining me now is the senior editor at the new republic, alex mcginnis, and reheim salon. alec, you also write, with mere weeks to go -- or weeks ago, christie was a straight-talking, corruption-busting every man, now he's a liar, a bully, a buffoon. your language there, your writing, you se

. >> chris christie is in texas today. >> they'll be welcoming him with open arms and wall ets. >> texas is one of the big atms for politics. >> can he leave his bridgegate problems behind? >> never tell the truth when a good lie will do. >> traffic moving at about 10 to 15 miles per hour downtown dallas. that is where we are seeing the worst conditions. >> what hurts chris christie may help someone else. >> a big beneficiary of chris christie's trouble. >> scott walker at a fund raiser in dallas tuesday. >> i think jeb is much more likely to run than people thought. >> if the republican candidate is standing next to chris christie, his troubles become your troubles. >> putting this distance between themselves and chris christie, smart move. >> republican candidates and elected officials won't taouch him with a 250-mile pole. >> everybody in texas will be on my bandwagon. >> they sold a lot of tickets for the titanic too. >> chris christie has relinquished his powers at home and is testing his power nationwide. the governor is seizing the chance to put about eight state, the appalachians

governor threatening romney that if he tried raising campaign cash in jersey, he could kiss his, chris christie's support goodbye. he was not to collect a nick federal the garden state fat cats until christie himself gave the okay. well, the moment that warning was issued in the back room of the new jersey governor's mansion, it seared itself into mitt romney's head. it struck him, according to mark halperin and john heilemann as an outrageous strong arm move, like, quote, something out of "the sopranos." today the current presidential wanna-be is hitting christie with the same charge, of being a bull hi. quote, it's important that people think that their government not be used to bully them, rand paul said this weekend. nobody wants to think their government would shut down a bridge just because you're a democrat and i'm a republican. nobody wants a government that thinks if i win i'm going to punish you because you're in a different party. well, holding back final judgment, rand paul called the charge unsettling and serious about the bridge business. tonight we tighten in about chris christie's

they're beginning to write him off. >> and chris christie is having real problems in iowa. in iowa, the des moines register ran an article titled to iowa recuters sour on christie. i don't think anything that's come out of bridgegate so far has changed my opinion of him one iota said cam sutton, a retired insurance executive who was one of a handful of rich iowans who flew to new jersey on a private jet in june 2011 to recruit christie to run for president then. their trip was widely interpreted by national political watchers as gop discontent in the first in the nation voting state with mitt romney and, of course, the rest of the presidential contenders at that time. but knowing now what has transpired? i probably wouldn't make the trip today. i think i'm disappointed in some of the things he's come out as. he's not really a conservative. just last night, governor chris christie was still trying to sell the idea that he is the republican who can pass his agenda in a democratic state, even while democrats are investigating his administration over the george washington bridge

secondly, i think what you have seen from chris christie is that when the problems occurred and every administration, every organization is going to face some kind of problem or hurdle, hour a leader deals with them is important. what christie has done in terms of addressing the problem, firing people and taking corrective action goes to speak to the kind of leader he would be. >> i am going to hit pause here. the breaking news that the governor is starting to answer the question. we will see as he continues this. we are watching live coverage of that and talking about the latest toxicology report that we have with philip seymour hoffman. new details of what was found in his apartment and the growing heroin crisis in the united states. and a convicted killer escaped from prison taking a home hostage. we have the 911 call as the hostage tries to escape. [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work. and his new boss told him two things -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a

wasn't for this brief sighting in palm beach saturday, you'd be hard pressed to find evidence chris christie was actually here. >> christie was supposed to be in the sunshine state to campaign for rick scott. instead, rick scott spent the weekend avoiding a public appearance with christie. then there was christie's trip to texas last week where both the current governor and the man who hopes to succeed him stayed away from christie. >> chris christie in town. republican governors association. rick perry, greg abbott, nowhere to be found. >> and tomorrow, christie heads to chicago, illinois, where all four republican candidates running for governor in the state are taking a pass on seeing him. after winning a second term in a blue state, chris christie was supposed to be the face of a resurgent gop across the country. instead, he has turned into the poster boy for buyer beware. >>> joining me now, former governor of ohio, ted strickland. he's a democrat. governor, how important are these two bodies? the rga and the dga? the democratic counterpart. how important are they particularly in midter

additional $15 billion to $20 billion worth of programs. >> nobody does bombast like governor chris christie. but that wasn't the only christie on display today. there was also a compassionate chris christie. >> i just want to go home. >> and debbie, i'm chris, the governor, and i want you to go home. >> there was also chris christie the outsider, taking on the washington swamp. >> and you all recall how assertive, probably a nice word, i was with the congress about getting aid to the state. >> chris christie would really, really like you to recall how assertive he was with the u.s. congress and not how assertive his staff was with political adversaries, staff like two key former aides, bridget kelly and bill stepien, who are still refusing to turn over documents to investigators, raising serious questions about whether they could be cited for contempt. so, yeah, governor chris christie will take superstorm sandy any day. joining me is washington bureau chief at mother jones, david corn, whose birthday is today, and in new jersey, national political reporter for "the washington post" robert

chris christie's national favorability rating dropping, with 46% now viewing chris christie unfavorably. the marist mcclatchy poll shows running against hillary clinton, he runs behind hillary clinton by 21 points. the only one to poll worse is sar hah palin who said this about chris christie yesterday. >> you know, i just don't know all the information out there. but it's hard to be the ceo of an organization and not know what the closest people to you are up to. it's tough not to know. i know when i was mayor and manager of this city and governor of the state, certainly you know what your top aides are up to. you blow it if you ever try to hide anything. you know? whatever is hidden eventually light shines upon it. so oh man, you know, i just hope that the truth is being told. >> joining me now is sam stein and msnbc political analyst and reporter with the huffington post and brian murphy, professor and former political reporter in new jersey. brian worked for david wildstein in 2002 in new jersey at politicsnj.com. with friends like sarah palin, there is a hardy defense, huh? >> oh,