davids wildsteen another port authority official who took the fifth yesterday. all these documents related to his effort to take the fifth. when he appeared at the committee yesterday, that's when the committee put these documents into the record and released them this afternoon. and most of the documents show things like traffic patterns and maps and charts and graphs with traffic and how often the traffic is going through, and they all indicate that this agency, the port authority, and the people who were running the george washington bridge were facing enormous, enormous backlash to these efforts in september to take four lanes of traffic going from fort lee, and condense it into one. one of the e-mails is from robert durando. here are some of the maps they're showing. most of the main i-95 traffic goes forward. this e-mail is telling. it gets to what the whole tone of this is. in this particular e-mail, i don't know if you can make it bigger. particularly upset that no one either civilian or had the curtsy or neighborhoodly intent to call either the mayor's

david wildsteen, who had been a political appointee to the port authority by christie, he resigned in early december after this crisis, scandal, controversy, whatever, started coming out in the press. he is expected to testify. what answers are you hoping to get from wildstein tomorrow? >> you know, very simply, this e-mail comes out of nowhere, august 13th. what happened before then? was there a meeting? who did you meet with? what was the discussion and rationale for creating traffic problems in fort lee? who else in the administration where or the campaign was involved? we've seen lots of names that are connected to the administration in the e-mails. we've seen the name of the governor's chief press spokesperson, michael juneak, his chief counsell, charlie mckenna. we clearly know at least in terms of cleaning up after this event took place, lots of people in his administration, in his front office, were involved in this. and we need to ask the questions about who else was involved, what did they know, and how did this start. >> for people who are not familiar with the scandal, and

>> reporter: yet in another september e-mail david wildsteen wrote, we're going nuts. samson helping us to retaliate. several e-mails show an effort to keep the growing controversy under wraps. another official appointed by christy wrote to colleagues, i'm on my way to the office to discuss. there can be no public discourse. the documents paint public anchor. e-mails were pouring in with complaints about the lane closure and where four access lanes had been reduced to one. lawmakers with the new jersey assembly intend to accepted out subpoenas to force christie staff to testify under oath. but all of them for now are staying silent. david shuster, al jazeera. >> others are talking about this story as well. this is what richardson told our antonio moro. >> he'll have to be right. he can't afford in the future to show that he had any connection because he was pretty forthright, but i will say it does damage his ability to project bipartisanship, that he's a tough guy who gets results. this was a bad incident. i give him the benefit of the doubt having been a former gover

david wildsteen. >> clearly he played a major role in it. >> reporter: he was in the building next door refusing to answer questions at a legislative hearing about e-mails which implicate him in the september lane closures. he was seen by some as the governor's eyes and ears inside the port authority. the two men go back a long time. even attended high school together. >> was very loyal to the governor. extremely loyal. but i would say a lot of people felt afraid of him because of his direct line to the governor's office. >> reporter: christie painted a different picture of that relationship. >> i could count on one hand the number of conversations i have had with him. >> reporter: his deputy chief of staff saying he had no idea she ordered the bridge lanes closed. >> this morning i terminated the employment of bridgette kelly effect ich immediately. i terminated her employment because she lied to me. >> reporter: something those who know her say is out of character. >> if you think she's the engineer of all this mess, i cannot believe that. >> reporter: also kicked out of the inner cir

david wildsteen. >> clearly he played a major role in it. >> reporter: he was in the building next door refusing to answer questions at a legislative hearing about e-mails which implicate him in the september lane closures. he was seen by some as the governor's eyes and ears inside the port authority. the two men go back a long time. even attended high school together. >> was very loyal to the governor. extremely loyal. but i would say a lot of people felt afraid of him because of his direct line to the governor's office. >> reporter: christie painted a different picture of that relationship. >> i could count on one hand the number of conversations i have had with him since he started at the port authority. >> reporter: his deputy chief of staff saying he had no idea she ordered the bridge lanes closed. >> this morning i terminated the employment of bridget kelly effective immediately. i terminated her employment because she lied to me. >> reporter: something those who know her say is out of character. >> if you think she's the engineer of all this mess, i cannot believe that. >> report

and then you see this photograph of david wildsteen with the governor at least on two different occasionsthe lanes were shut down -- >> it wasn't a public event though. one thing that comes up is about christie's approval ratings. 59% approve, only 32% disapprove, it is certainly lower than it has been, but is this -- how big -- how much is this hurting governor christie? >> that poll only showed a 6-point drop in christie's ratings since bridge gate broke. people love christie for his personality and style, and those people are going to overlook maybe a lack of governance ethics by his staff. but, you know, as this story place out, and christie possibly gets tied closer and closer to what went wrong, that number definitely could go soft very quickly. >> very quickly, how soon are we going to start seeing subpoenas? >> we'll organize this thursday. subpoenas will come out shortly after. we want to look at documents first. but ultimately we'll bring people in for testimony. >> appreciate both of you for coming on. and hopefully you'll come back to keep us posted. >> look forward to it. >>>

yet in another september e-mail david wildsteen, who christie appointed to the potter authority, who took the fifth, he wrote, quote, we are appropriately samson helping to retaliate. an effort to keep the controversy under wraps. you see the lane closures. he wrote, i'm on to the office to discuss. taking together the documents released paints a picture of the bridge and the public anger, and in this e-mail one official wrote just get off the phone with the fort lee police department chief who is not happy about our new traffic pattern. lawmakers that released these documents plan to issue subpoenas next week to some of the governor's key staff members. the investigators believe the e-mails raise new questions for the aides and appointees of the port authority, all of whom for now are staying silent. >> appreciate it. stay klose. >>> south sudan said it will begin to use it's--pardon me--to fight rebels. the conflict is escalating even though both sides insist they are working towards an cease-fire. 184,000 people have been forced to leave their homes. many have run to u.n. bases fo

>> so david wildsteen is a former port authority official. he wasn't appointed by governor christie but the number two to one of governor christie port authority appointees, former state senator. >> and why is he important to this story request am. >> well, david wildstein's name comes up. he was the individual who is being the one who directly ordered the lanes be closed on the george washington bridge. subpoenaed documents that came out later suggested that david wildstein himself gave the authorities to hey, the bridge or close the lanes of the bridge. and then later, in the same document badge suggested that folks within the administration gave the okay. >> we can fill in even more of the blanks. wasn't david wildstein who received the e-mail from the deputy chief of staff bridget ann kelly saying time for some traffic trouble in new jersey? >> right, right. at fort lee, correct. >> fort lee. so that is david wildstein what you suggesting is that david wildstein was in a position to actually order the lane closures, correct? into right. t

while there are all those deletions, one of the things wildsteen did include was references to a meeting that was proposed between christie and david sampson, christie's appointee as chairman of the port authority. in mid-august just a few days before bridget kelly writes that e-mail saying time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. why did he include the references to a meeting between christie and sampson in this response to a subpoena? that's the question i've been talking to a lot of people in the state house today. that's the question they're asking that nobody is really focused on. >> thank you, michael isikoff. great reporting from trenton. steve, you've been so smart on this stuff. answer my open question at the beginning, steve. my theory here is this guy the governor of new jersey is very lawyered, lawyered up in his own head, it's in his dna how to protect himself. all these months since september when the traffic patterns were ordered from his staff he made a point of not talking to them. the other day in his press conference he said i only have two reports. my counsel and head lawyer counsel relationship like client re

david wildstein says he will share information if he receives immunity from prosecution. wildsteen appeared before a state panel last week. handed over the information. 17 people three government agencies have been subpoenaed. well, anticipation is building for sunday's nfc championship game. john henry smith is here with more on that. >> i'll start this segment by posting a question to america. do you consider yourself old school or new school? the nfc matchup between tom brady's patriots and peyton manning's broncos is for you. two bright young stars under center, jessica taff has more. >> he has that special ability that the great ones have to elevate their game in those situations. poise, situations never seem to bother him and his leadership ability, players love him, coaches love him. work ethic, off the charts. a plus plus. >> san francisco head coach jim harbaugh could be talking about his own quarterback, colin kaepernick or russell wilson. boat of them represent the new school of mobile young quarterbacks. they are changing the leagues with their legs and their quick mind

david wildstein before the state assemb assembly. this committee has been their subpoenas, the power to subpoena, to get somebody like dave wildsteen was due to expire next tuesday at the end of the legislative session. the incoming assembly speaker and you have to understand the intri catcies of politics here, but the speaker is there because of this coalition of pro chris christie democrats and chris christie. until yesterday, he was not expected to renew the subpoena power of the state assembly. this is all guess -- me just spitballing here but a plausible scenario is he put two and two together. didn't want to ask questions and didn't ask questions and hoped we could get to next tuesday when the state session would expire and subpoena power would expire and almost got there. if this story had not come out yesterday and not been directly linked to the governor's office, we wouldn't be having the conversation we're having right now. now as it stands, that new assembly speaker made it clear yesterday he intends to extend that power and now it's getting so much bigger because of what came out yesterday. you have calls for the u.s. -- t

david wildstein. "time for some traffic problems in fort lee." wildsteen, an appointee and high school friend replied "got it." for four days commuters, school buses, even rescue vehicles were snarled in traffic. >> they compromise public safety. >> reporter: democratic leaders accuse christie's office of political retribution against the mayor of fort lee because he was unwilling to endorse christie, a republican, during the governor's re-election campaign. >> not something i ever anticipated, especially from the group under the direct control of the highest elected official in the state of new jersey. >> reporter: when local reporters first started asking questions, governor christie defended his office and said they had nothing to do with the traffic mess. even sarcastically denying his own involvement. >> i worked the cones, actually, matt. unbeknownst to everybody, i was the guy out there. >> reporter: since the news broke early wednesday, governor christie canceled his only public appearance and has only commented in a written statement. "what i've s

official directly involved as well as david samson, the port authority chairman, who is a close christie ally. both christie and samson have said they didn't know what wildsteen. it does raise questions that on january 9 when he he said he had not encountered david wildstein in a long time. >> i could probably count on one hand the number of conversations i've had with david since he's worked with the port authority. i did not interact with david. >> for now the e-mail trail has led us to bridged kelly, to bill stepian and to the two appointees. but who else might have known what was going on? we know that bill baroni forwarded pat foye's emaim of september 13 that conveyed outr outrage about the lane closures to guadagno fw regina egea. did she tell anyone about it? was she involved in any way? when bridged kelly said time for traffic problems in ft. lee who, if anyone, authorized that directi directive? what was in that conversation before that e-mail? that's a critical part of the back story we haven't yet pieced together and then there's the billion dollar question. was the governor himself involved? david wildstein suggests there may have been a meeting