the wave of subpoenas, about the christ christie -- why the lanes on the gwb were closed in november.e said those lane closures were part of a traffic study. also, the new jersey state police are pushing back that governor may have flown above the traffic delays on september lenth. we have news to report from our family here. special correspondent tom brokaw is battling cancer. the 74-year-old said the doctors are encouraged by how he responded to his treatment n a statement, he said, quote, with the exceptional support of my family, medical team and family, i want optimistic about the future. i look forward to continuing my life and adventures still to come. i also hope everyone understands i wish to keep this a private matter. we talk about business now. the testimony on capital hill. the do you up 200 point, the best four day stretch in over a year. live in london. it seems -- >> the new fed chair, as she insistos being called, pretty much held the line, that was enough to lift the sentiment in markets. we had china, 10.6% jump in export, a lot of people are questioning the danger

part of the danger for christ christie's operation, if they can't get someone else to pay for their legal bills, that may be talking and telling things they know. >> the letter that was written by wildstein's lawyer was part of a broader plan to get the port authority to pay his legal fees. how much of the resignation of the employee this weekend -- how do you interpret that in the scale of alarms? >> the timing looks bad. there's a perception problem there. the other significant development today that i think the christie administration maybe a little bit worried about here is the letter out on friday. one of the things eluded to in the letter was being part of briefings for the port authority and bill baroni before he gave what now looks to be not the most straight-forward testimony to the assembly on transportation. when he gave that testimony, he was not under oath. the port authority's counsel, who was a deputy in chris christie office, he prepped baroni for that testimony that's been undermined for four or five hours and david wildstein was there for that testimony as well apparentl

let me ask you about chris christ christie. >> i was there. >> tell me. >> chris christie is clearly under fire with this the bridge episo episode. 90 minutes, not one ge with the bridge. i think all the anger is about sandy. chris christie could emerge from this entire period actually stronger i think i head of 2016 because is he getting vetted now. >> right. and and the fact is that republicans don't like the media and if you can beat the media at what republicans think is their game, that makes you stronger. >> i think this town hall and the lack of questions on bridge gate suggest that this really is more of a media obsession than it is a new jersey story. i think it actually strengthens christie in another way, too, because it means that if he runs for president, he falls back less on his personality, which is now a mixed bag, and has to do more on some substantive issues which i think is where he needed to go anyway. >> possibly he could go back -- he's gone down in the polls, we know that. >> sure. but the big question i

but the one thing i've been looking for in all that time is the public statement from chris christ christie, the public statement from the governor of new jersey that i have full faith in -- kim guadagno did nothing wrong here, i have full faith in the statement she made publicly denying all this. i have not heard chris christie publicly vouch for his lieutenant governor in all of this. and i know he scaled back his public schedule and there's been sort of limited interactions with the press. at least to me that's been striking that he's not -- >> yeah. he's hiding from the press. so he's not going to do that in the form of a question and answer. but you're absolutely right. to have such an explosive allegation come out against your lieutenant governor and you're silent, you the governor do not come out and say exactly what you just said? that absolutely could not have happened? that has been striking. more today on the subpoenas. it's very interesting now that they're going after the two who have taken the fifth amendment. they're saying nope, you cannot take the fifth amendment, at least

. >>> but we begin with chris christ christie, just one hour ago stepping on a stage in new jersey where broke, twice canceled by winter weather. up until now, questions have stayed on task and off scandal. but, of course, that could have something to do with the warning christie issued at the outset of this. he called it his rule number four. >> i want to remind all of you of something. with the possible exception of some of the media who is here to cover this today, all of us are from new jersey. and so you know what that means, what that means is, if you get it, you are getting it right back. >> well, the event falls on a week when the bridgegate story took three separate turns in 24 hours. first off, 2,000 pages of documents released that raised more questions about who knew what. also former christie aides refusing once again here to turn over materials to the investigative panel. and we saw a top port authority official apologizing to

this is the don't believe david wildstein opo that governor christ christie's office sent around this weekend ending with their bottom line. bottom line, david wildstein will do and say anything to save david wildstein. okay. maybe so. even still, what on earth is a presidential hopeful and the governor of new jersey, chris christie's office doing sending out accusations about what some guy's high school social studies teacher thought about him in the 7 7 os? why did governor christie install him in a $150,000 a year job at the port authority that was created just for him and the port authority eliminated as a job once mr. wildstein had to resign? why did governor christie sign off on the statement praising david wildstein as a tireless advocate for new jersey after he had to resign in this scandal? why are all these pictures of governor christie spending time with david wildstein while was bridge was shut down? if david wildstein was a terrible guy and everybody's known it since high school? well, today, late in the day on a friday, politico.com breaks the news that he was a terrible

and two from one of chris christ christie's political appointees to the port authority, now resigned. if not for those ten little words, what happened in new jersey might have stayed in new jersey, just a local story. and not only what happened at the george washington bridge, but also what happened, what is still happening with millions of dollars of superstorm sandy relief money. because if it were not for the national spotlight on governor christie's administration right now, the sandy story may not be getting the attention it deserves. the fair share housing center, a new jersey organization that advocates for affordable housing reported this week that nearly 2,000 applicants for sandy funds were incorrectly rejected. four out of every five people who appealed the rejections, 80%, were found to be eligible for relief funds after all. asked about the rejections, state officials blamed the federal emergency management agency, saying fema gave it bad data, that lowballed the cost of repairing damages. fema disagrees. the agency suggested in a statement that new jersey should have kno

of whom in that initial batch of e-mails featured promptly, both have been trashed by governor christ christieislative 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 inte

." >> a former new jersey official making claims against chris christ christie. e on the hunt for a man in his 20s who they say shot two college students near michigan state university. police also say the shooting did not appear to be a random act. oe of the victims is still in critical condition. >>> number three, after months of hearings, the state department issued the reports on the keystone pipeline. the verdict? it won't significantly impact the climate. environmentalists worry about the greenhouse gasses. the proposed pipeline would stretch between the u.s. and canada. >>> number four, investors gave stocks the cold showulder in january. the dow dropped 150 points on friday. that makes it the dow's worst january performance since 2009. investors are concerned over falling currencies and emerging markets. >>> and number five, justin bieber in trouble again after airport officials smelled pot on his plane. they brought in dogs to search the jet. bieber is in town to be with friends and watch the super bowl tomorrow. >>> well, speaking of pot, marijuana is se

linked her city's level of sandy aide to her approval of a development project with ties to a key christ christie ally. that was enough to prompt "the "star ledger,"" that was meant to help the victims of the storm not as a political sludge fund. why are we only finding out now in late january of 2014, that this massive project in belleville, one you had to do some straining to connect to the sandy recovery effort. why are we only finding out now $6 million of sandy money is being spent on it? we have known about the project. the governor and other local leaders, they made a big to-do about breaking ground last may. it was only this week that we discovered that it is sandy money paying for this project. how have we not known that this whole time? this is where our reporting comes in. this, what i'm holding up right here, is something called the integrity monitor act of 2013. it was passed by the new jersey legislature and signed by chris christie in march of last year. the idea behind it was simple. congress had just approved an enormous aid package for sandy recovery in billions of dollars of fe

> now, wildstein did turn over to the committee e-mails and texts that showed a link between christ christie's administration and the lane closures. such as the time for traffic problems exchange. parts of the documents were redacted. his attorney has told reporters that wildstein would not say anything about what happened or reveal the complete documents unless he was offered immunity for his role in the closures. that is the man who is now claiming tl claiming through a letter from his lawyer that governor christie knew about the closures while they were happening. and wildstein's attorney says there is proof. in a letter sent yesterday requesting that the port authority pay wildstein's legal fees, his attorney wrote, quote, evidence exists tying mr. kristi to having knowledge of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed contrary to what the governor stated publicly he gave immediately before mr. wildstein was scheduled to appear before the transportation committee. mr. wildstein contests the accuracy of the statements the governor made about him. at this point they are

in the meantime, chris christ is getting hammered, the bizarre mearnl in which christie is trying todiscredit wildstein. our the weedged, wildsteen allegation christie knew much more than he has acknowledged. federal prosecutors are already looking for evidence of a criminal coverup. over the weekend the governor trying to get back at wildstein distributed a 700 word memo to reporters, republican strategists declaring: in david wildstein's past people have described as tumultuous. and described as not productive. 16-year-old kid, he wildstein sued over a public high school election, and was accused of deceptive behavior. he was an anonymous blogger known as wally ed. after reading christie's claims they now like wildstein even more and like chris christie even less. after trying to make accusations over wildstein in his high school years. one investigator said talk about claim. if you are going to engage in character assassination it has to make sense. bloging anonymously and being controversy in high school that makes no sense. >> we have no idea what wildstein has here. we know the

. >> zerlina, earlier, i spoke with journalist ellen christ who said these tough times faced by chris christiee? >> i disagree with that to the extent that what christie is accused of doing impacted his constituents. and i don't think that regardless of what side of the political line you fall on, everyone hates traffic, and you don't want your governor or anybody in their office engaged in shenanigans that impact you negatively. so if you're on your way to work and the governor has done something on purpose to impact you and your kids' ability to get to where they need to get to, i think that that will not engender sympathy in people, because, you know, you're not supposed to be using the levers of power for your own political purposes. >> okay. >> democrats can push it very -- too far. it is quite possible that they take this too far, especially if they find out that christie -- >> you agree, goldie? >> absolutely. i think democrats can push it too far. i've heard some pushing it too far already. but, you know, i think that right now this prosecutor -- district attorney up there has got a jo

strike because they were going to name a warship the corpus christi, he was very catholic and she said why are we calling a warship the body of christ? which seemed to be reasonable. i said to tip, calls mike dever. he was playing the piano at some party and you were singing so maybe cut a deal with him simple called dever up and he called me back, and i said this guy on his 56th day of a hinger describe. only eating bread or something because the doesn't want the ship to be called corpus christi, and dever said, seems like a stupid reason to kill yourself. but that monday, he went to reagan, went around cap weinberger, and changed the sub's name to city of corpus christi. and mitch started eating again. and mitch would organize incredible rallies against the white house. i would call him up and say you won't believe what they're doing and he would organize a rally, and got teamsters organize a rally, and my greatest glory is when tip would say, is this one of yours? i loved that more than anything. ... great job, a touch of her wanted to write about because they think we need that tonic. the sense of politics is fun and positive an

at the end of the first hour here is what we are following - chris christie under the microscope again, a lawyer claiming that christ consider knew traffic problems were caused as political payback on his behalf. >> then secretary of state john kerry meets with opposition leaders were ukraine as the u.s. intervenes to end a month-long anti-government protest. president obama's plan to boost the economy by calling on business owners to put americans back to work. >> and in the middle of the country is dealing with snow. temperatures on the rise in the south and east. details on your weekend forecast. >> al jazeera news conditions. i'm morgan radford, back with you in 2.5 minutes. you can follow us on twitter. and you can follow us online at aljazeera.com. we invite you as always to join the conversation. stay tuned, and don't go anywhere. >> more trouble for new jersey governor chris christie, claims that he did, in fact, know that traffic lanes were being closed down as political payback. >> protesters in the ukraine seek help from the u.s. it stop at violence. an activist returns bloodied and bruised after a week.

christi. he was very catholic, lefty catholic and he said why are we called it a warship the body of christ? which seem to be a reasonable thing. so i said to do, why don't you call mike deaver because i know you were over -- is playing the piano and you were saying and maybe you can cut a deal with it. so i called him up and he called me back and i said this guy is on the 66 they of a hungry stride. and he said he doesn't want to sugarcoat the corpus christi. deaver was definitely drinking in those days and he said it seems like a stupid reason to kill yourself. [laughter] but that monday it would to reagan, went around cap weinberger and change the ship's name to the city of corpus christi. which is what is supposed to be anyway, named after a city but sacralized it. and we could all start eating again. of course, later on mitch would organize these rallies against the white house that i had nothing to do with except i would call them up and say you won't believe what they're doing now. he would organize some incredible rally. or when i got the steelworkers organizer us at 4:00 in the morn

christie nonstop. you know, he's at 47% in an old quinnipiac poll. isn't this interesting? >> in connecticut! >> in connecticut! governor of arkansas, for christ'snecticut! >> in connecticut! and in maryland! >> all you have to do is in the 80s in connecticut is let it rain and keep the lights on and you could be like an 80% governor. >> it's hard to do. >> if it rains and my lights stay on i'm going to knock on doors for the guy. >> exactly. >> it's not hard to be popular in connecticut. >> so here is the bigger point. willie, while you were gone -- >> we missed you! >> -- like an old sandra bullock movie. every dau yy you were gone, the bloggers would be doing this. >> there are some bad things that came out. >> a night nonstop. this is the worst thing ever. >> we he really didn't miss anything is the point. >> i left almost a month ago and i was on the back end of it. >> nonstop obsession. >> except for the obsession of the media on the left going after chris christie. he is sitting there with higher approval ratings from his two biggest critics. >> falling 20 points is not nothing but if you're falling from 70 it's a pretty good place to be.