that david wildstein. yes. david wildstein has refused to testify to the state legislature. his lawyer has said publicly that he has more information to offer about the scandal broadly and about the governor's alleged role in it specifically, but before now we had no indication that david wildstein had ever actually talked to anyone. he was asking for immunity but he wasn't talking. david wildstein is one of the two people at the very core of this scandal. he's the one who replied "got it" to the e-mail sent by bridget kelly when she wrote "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." mr. wildstein said "got it" in response to that e-mail and he's the one who seems to have carried out that order which originated from governor christie's office. david wildstein's loifr said publicly and repeatedly that david wildstein has a lot of information to share about this scandal and he will share it willingly if he is promised immunity. according to this new reporting, david wildstein apparently has been talking. he has been, quote, camped at the u.s. attorney's office in newark for th

david wildstein speaks. >> well, let me just clear something up. okay?hood friend david wildstein. we didn't travel in the same circles in high school. you know, i was the class president and athlete. i don't know what david was doing during that period of time. >> david was one of hundreds of people that i spoke to that day. we stood around and spoke briefly that day. i don't have any recollection of him saying anything. >> if the attorneys general for new jersey, new york, and the united states were all to agree to clothe mr. wildstein with an immunity, i think that you'd find yourselves in a far different position with respect to information he could provide. >> david wildstein is the person who originated this idea and orchestrated it. bridget kelly and david wildstein to our knowledge aren't talking to the u.s. attorney's office because they're the focus of that investigation and in our experience as former federal prosecutors it's unusual for people who are the focus of an investigation to be going in and telling their story. >> today we learned th

interview the five most important players in the investigation including bridget kelly, bill stepien, david wildsteinid samson, bill baroni, all these people all involved in it, would you accept that as a complete investigation as a former u.s. attorney? >> no, no, i would not accept it as a complete investigation, but i would accept it for what it's worth. in other words, i would go through it in great detail because it can give you a tremendous amount of information. >> governor chris christie is having a hard time in the press. look very shortly thereafter for rudy giuliani on tv defending him. to the extent that governor chris christie has traceable political dna, that political dna goes right back to rudy giuliani. rudy giuliani's top political strategist when he ran for president, mike duhaime. mike duhaime became the top political strategist for chris christie. bill stepien then went on to become chris christie's campaign manager. the rudy giuliani for president deputy communications chief was a woman named maria camella, went on to become communications chief for chris christie. and when chri

there's photo documentation between david wildstein and chris christie. and chris christie says in these notes that he remembers a conversation with wildstein. i don't think we are showing you the correct full screen here. but he remembers a conversation with david wildstein, although the only thing he really recollected about that conversation is that he directed his wife to the lady's room. nothing about the bridgelane closures. but at least some acknowledgement on the part of the governor that he did speak to david wildstein on the day in question. >> i don't think there's any question, too, because we've all seen the picture. i think there's a picture of the governor and a bunch of other people, including david wildstein standing there. somebody's got their head thrown back laughing. kind of behind the scenes at that memorial. that's one of the things that -- one of the enduring mysteries of this whole thing is what was actually said on september 11, because it's right in the middle of the thing. the lane diversions happened from september 9th through

david wildstein is the bridge official who carried out the lane closings. the one who replied "got it" after receiving that infamous e-mail, time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. wildstein was photographed with christie at a 9/11 event last year on day three of the closings where he said he told christie about the closings. he is a person who could unravel this mystery. but from the start, he's asked for immunity to talk. >> if the attorneys general for new jersey, new york and the united states were all to agree to cloak mr. wildstein with an immunity, i think that you would find yourselves in a far different position with respect to information he could provide. >> that's your job. we just want answers to our questions. >> understood. i'm suggesting a way you can get there. >> so he made it clear, he would only talk if given immunitimmun. and that's why the news today is so striking. may justice reports wildstein was, quote, camped at the u.s. attorney's office last week meeting with investigators and, quote, wildstein's meetings indicate that prosecu

. >> david wildstein. w-i-l-d-s-t-e-i-n. >> where do you currently rhode island. >> monfield, new yerz. >> are you currently employed? >> no most recently where were you employed? >> on the advice of my counsel, i respectfully assert my right to remain silent under the united states and new jersey constitutions. >> that was literally the last time we heard from the man who ordered those lanes shut down on the george washington bridge according to e-mails at this time. that is until now. he is speaking again. i'll explain, straight ahead. i don't want to think about the alternative. i don't even know how to answer that. i mean, no one knows how long their money is going to last. i try not to worry, but you worry. what happens when your paychecks stop? because everyone has retirement questions. ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. to get the real answers you need. start building your confident retirement today. pcentury link provides reliable yit services like multi-layered securit

. >> david wildstein. w-i-l-d-s-t-e-i-n. >> where do you currently reside? >> montville, new jersey. >> are you currently employed? >> no. >> most recently where were you employed? >> on the advice of my counsel, i respectfully assert my right to remain silent under the united states and new jersey constitutions. >> that was literally the last time we heard from the man who ordered those lanes shut down on the george washington bridge according to e-mails at this time. that is until now. he is speaking again. i'll explain, straight ahead. >>> what about the dignity of a single mother from las vegas, christina, who was stuck living in her elderly grandmother's living room because she and her son were evicted when christina's benefits were cut off. perhaps charles and david koch should share their night with one air mattress bike christina and her son and see what dignity there is. the koch brothers want america to be dignified as they lose their homes, their cars and security. >> that was harry reid continuing to wage his personal war against the koch brother

that if anybody is going to do damage, it's going to be david wildstein.y a lawyer on tv here, brian and paul, but my friend joe hayden tells me you're indicted by your enemies, but you're convicted by your friends. and so whoever is going to end up indicted, if anybody is indicted out of this and we're not saying the governor will or anybody on his staff, we don't know, but if there is a criminal case to pursue here, they have the first leg with david wildstein, as lisa has suggested in her reporting or appear to have the first leg or trying to develop that, and then the question is can they build that case of former friends or friends or whatever that will eventually convict whomever it is they go after. >> there's been no indication. one thing i keep saying is the process playing out in fishman's open is opaque. lisa managed to get some reporting out of there, but when you think of when chris christie was u.s. attorney, things leaked out of there all the time. . it wasn't that hard to find out. it's been very hard for reporters to find out what's going

and when the bridge scandal exploded he said this about david wildstein, quote, i could claw his, david wildstein's, eyes out, poor gasolines in his sockets and light him up. and he was known to hold a grudge or two with the reporters. at one point, telling a colleague that he was upset with a reporter at the "star ledger." expletive him and the star ledger. then there's christina renna. she worked in bridget kelly's office, in the office known as iga. it was renna's interview with christie administration lawyers that provided evidence of christie's campaign manager, bill stepien giving orders to christie's team in trenton to send a message to certain mayors. this is how they summarized renna's interviews. christina renna believed bill stel yen kept track of mayors not in favor with iga. do not rush to return this mayor's phone call which was enough to send a message to the elected local official. a whistleblower, christie's top communication guy and bridget kelly's colleague, there's sure to be plenty of questions. not just about them, but what about their boss chris christie and how h

and one thing that's really important is that david wildstein -- and this is the guy who was on the receiving end of bridget kelly's time for traffic problems e-mail, he's the one who replayed, "got it." his attorney said very early on that wildstein would talk if he was offered a deal. >> right. >> so the mere fact that he's brought in doesn't just mean they're interrogating him because he's refused to cooperate with the other investigation. it means he's testifying. if you've got a guy who's testifying, you've got other witnesses who are coming in, it looks like they've got something they're working with that they're trying to cooperate. >> and mary, your site, main justice, notes that what these investigators could be looking for isn't necessary new stuff but corroboration and points out fishman, the lead investigator here, may already know whether former port authority deputy executive director baroney can corroborate wildstein's claim he told christie about the lane closures. and charlie mckenna, chief counsel, what can he provide in the way of corroboration? >> well, just to introduce i

the memos say that one of christie's closest people was being told by david wildstein that there was own and wildstein said he had the governor's office approval for what he had done. they say that duhaime was being told this that he was talking with the governor, that he was in close touch and we know his relationships with some of the most critical players go back years. they go all the way back to the franks campaign in 2000. but all we now about his communications with christie and wildstein comes from the memos, the memos released. the law firm that e e we just found out donated $10,000 to the governors association just before it released that report exonerating hum. a a statement to msnbc clarified they regularly give to the rga and have done so since 2009. it was the year christie was running his first campaign. there's absolutely no indication that duhaime did anything wrong or had any knowledge or involvement in the scheme or any attempt to cover it up. but it seems that he was in closer contact with most of the key players more than just about anyone else we're talking about

david wildstein, bridget kelly, david samson and other players currently embroiled in the george washington bridge and hoboke matters. it also tells us critically important thing about the investigation. it's pretty clear prosecutors are escalating their investigation. in other words, they're building a case and they are very likely honing in on which federal crimes, statutes apply here as the "new york star ledger" reports, what began as a preliminary inquiry into whether federal laws might have been implicated has morphed into a deepening criminal probes to determine whether federal laws have actually been broken. and finally, it reus that christie's declarations of innocence don't mean a thing right now. kendall coffey is an msnbc political analyst and brian murphy is an msnbc contributor as well. and former manager of politics.nj.com. let me start with kendall coffey. give us the significance the fact that we heard that drewniak, his press guy, his spokesperson, christie's spokesperson has been called before a grand jury. what does that tell us? >> welsh it's a very serious development.

authority's park avenue south headquarters in manhattan with two other christie allies, bill barone and david wildstein to us. were the manhattan d.a. looking into his top assistant's activities at the port, governor christie's down playing of david samson's significance the past few months may be severely challenged. >> the role of the chairman of the port authority is not an operational role, it's a policy role. i wouldn't expect david to be involved in day-to-day operational issue like a traffic study. >> i want to bring in lisa brenn brennan, who broke the story about patrick o'reilly. and brian thompson with wnbc is still with us, so is nick. lisa, the name patrick o'reilly, tell us who he is, what his role is, and your understanding is of why he would have attracted attention from the manhattan district attorney? >> first of all, the manhattan district attorney probably has a source for this specific information about patrick o'reilly and the way he communicated with david samson, so they have a good source. and he is a young guy. he's probably now in his mid 30s. he got his start in new jersey p

not on that list, david wildstein, bridget kelly, any other port authority employee.have also learned that the governor's troubles have now expanded into new york as the district attorney for manhattan has issued subpoenas for documents and records between christie staffers and port authority officials. according to "the wall street journal," that request is part of an investigation into port authority construction projects, including the rebuilding of the world trade center site. today, anthony sarter, a long-time commissioner of the port authority who was in charge of the redevelopment of the world trade center submitted his resignation. if that wasn't enough, three officials with the ethics commission are accusing governor nor christie's office of, quote, unprecedented interference with an agency set up to be free of political influence. christie, they say, pushed the agency commissioner at a time when she was investigating a member of his staff and in so doing christie crossed a line no other governor had before. joining me now is sal rizzo who reported the story

david wildstein, the man who shut down the bridge lanes, you'll remember that he pled the fifth to the committee. he refused to answer questions, and his lawyer said, if the committee was willing to grant him immunity, mr. wildstein would tell all he knew. bridget kelly, who worked in governor christie's office when she sent the "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee" e-mail, her fifth amendment claims not to have to turn over documents, those claims were, today, upheld by this judge, but for the last month, bridget kelly's lawyer has been hinting, and then just explicitly saying that she, too, would be willing to tell all she knew if the legislature was willing to give her immunity. well, that committee and the legislature has maintained either that it didn't think it could grant immunity or that it was pretty sure that it couldn't grant immunity. but this was settled today. this was the other issue that this superior court judge in new jersey today ruled on. and the judge said, in very clear terms, yes, this committee and the legislature can give people immunity. and if the legis

i could clause david wildstein's eyes out, pour gasolines in the sockets and light them up. he also commented on a reporter for a newspaper up there for the newark star ledger. there's christie's campaign manager, bill stepien who said we're approaching a point in time where we have to have this so what's it going to be with major zimmer of hoboken and fulop of jersey city. are you with us or against us? and of course his appointee at the port authority wrote, it will be a tough november for this little serbian, referring to ft. lee mayor mark sokolich who didn't endorse christie but didn't happen to be a serbian. who's on the team, who is not, who are regoing to punish? radio silence, shunning, favoring. again, i go back to you and the question, is there a chance now for a larger charge against the governor, which involves this whole network he has created? or do you have to show that he had a little eninstruction camp where he taught each people how to operate this way? how do you feel to tie him into it? >> i'm not sure how you begin establishing it. maybe you find an e-m

>> the internal review heaped all the blame for shutting down lanes on david wildstein and bridget kelly>> she seemed emotional. she was concerned about how she was perceived by by the governor. a boyfriend ended the relationship displaying her as weeping frequently and depending on men for stability. >> jon: that's why the report was titled bitches me crazy, right? [laughter] wait a minute! how did that #get on there? [laughter] damn you, internet! worked so quickly. so case closed. you know what that means. >> chris christie got his mojo back. >> mojo, swagger. >> his mojo is back. he is back. >> it's the mojo christie. >> jon: he has gone from being a desert of mojo to a veritable mojo asis. as you can see on this jersey region mojo-meter. he was barely at sits quietly at a jets game but now he is up to wears a track suit to a funeral. [laughter] all right. he has his groove back. didn't even have to go to jay macka and -- jamaica and fall in love with taye diggs. hey, girlfriend. he did what anybody on a hot streak and within drivinging distance of atlantic city would do. he went to

starting with port authority officials, bill baroni and david wildstein. and now another situation might be playing out at ground zero. as first reported by "the wall street journal" and confirmed by nbc news, manhattan district attorney, sirius vance jr., the bureau's chief prosecutor, last month subpoenaed records tied to a variety of port authority projects, including the rebuilding of the world trade center site. a longtime chairman of the subcommittee overlooking the rebuilding of the world trade center was this guy. a few days after the news broke, anthony sartora announced he was resigning, making him the fifth official to be fired or resign from christie's administration since the bridge scandal broke. he says it had nothing to do with any investigation. and he wrote that his grandson's 13th birthday was a tipping point in motivating him to retire and spend more time with his family. but according to the "wall street journal," sartor was underscrutiny because of overlap of his business interests and his role in overseeing the rebuilding of the worl

the master report and from the memos that came out, michael drewniak's interview he met with david wildsteinn early november. he talked to governor christie back at the september 11th event. pat foye is an interesting one. his first appearance before the legislature back in november when he was not under oath early december, whenever that was, that caused a stir. there are many more questions that emerged since then and he is potentially in position to shine more light on it. >> he shined light because he's on the new york side, not the machinations beforehand. what do you think of my sort of theory that having ms. renna comply it ratchets up the tension the most. you had that ongoing communication happening between the campaign, mr. steppian and bridgette kelly's office and this was the assistant who would have been part of those communications. does this change the calculation for whether or not for instance bridgette kelly might get immunity because she might be in even more jeopardy or worry? >> it's interesting there. bridget kelly and her lawyer put out a statement about a month ago wh

david wildstein is the bridge official who carried out the lane closings.ime for some traffic problems in ft. lee. wildstn

. >> david wildstein who was tossed under the bus by the governor and by his staff, has become an enemy get to the question, cut the commentary back a little. >> if anybody is going to do damage, it's going to be david wildstein. >> the political context in this is that chris christie is very much hoping to resume his political career. >> i have no estimate on when this will be behind me because i don't get to decide. >> it sounds like this c

. >> david wildstein deserves an ass kicking. okay? sorry. there, i said it. >> all right.t was the mayor of ft. lee, new jersey, offering choice words for governor chris christie's eyes and ears at the port authority, david wildstein. thanks to him, the governor and a whole cast of characters, well versed in jersey politics as we continue our search for the true meaning behind the words "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." it's been an emotional journey. new jersey's governor is sad. >> and you can only imagine, as i was standing there in my bedroom with my ipad looking at that, how incredibly sad and betrayed i felt. >> chris christie is, like, really, seriously, legit sad. >> but i am a very sad person today. it just makes me sad. but i got to tell you the truth, i'm sad. i'm a sad guy standing here today. >> over the past year, we stood up for what we believed in. like breaking our country's fossil fuel addiction. to the addict, tomorrow never comes. the time to quit is never now. we were there when the supreme court made history. this is a watershed moment in t

press secretary michael duniak's text message he'd like to pour gasoline into david wildstein's eye socketsese do sound like the kind of talk you'd connect with "time were some traffic problems in ft. lee", wouldn't you agree? in fact, the smell of this administration may be worse than what you can clearly see. what we may never be able to see. and that said the faster we get the full truth behind that smell, the better. then we will see who can or cannot deal with the truth. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. >>> good evening from new york. i'm steve kornacki in for chris hayes tonight. we begin with news about the man who was identified as a key independent eyewitness into the investigation of chris christie that we saw last week. that was the investigation conduct by lawyers hired by chris christie and purportedly clears chris christie while simultaneously discrediting those who accused his administration of wrongdoing. this man, this witness, from a report, appeared on msnbc over the weekend at the suggestion of the chris

. >> it heaped all the blame for shutting down lanes on former port authority official david wildsteinformer top aid brigitte ann kelly. >>> quote, she seemed emotional. she was perceived by the governor. they ended a relationship. >> also explains clearly why the official report was titled, pitches be crazy. >> we don't say that board on morning television now one daytime talk show has taken a little bit of notice. >> don't force me to do this. it's just my underpants. >> what about a christmas tree. >> skirt too? >> it's humiliating to show off my house underwear like this. you're so demanding. >> she gets undressed every week for being naked. we're jumping on the bandwagon. >> we love our ratings too. >> why is my black box bigger than yours? >> why not! [ cheers and applause ] >> you have a cute little rectangle. not a whole family. look at my box. >> take a little time to enjoy. the view. >> that box was sizably bigger, thomas. she makes a decent point, her censor bar is larger. you put insight in this. >> if you're into that kind of thing, right. but a couple of weeks ago, when i

david wildstein, i guess technically not an aide -- he was with the port authority that runs the george washington bridge, the one who traded e-mails with a top christie aide about shutting down lanes on the george washington bridge, apparently as political payback. >> if you have not read ryan liz's piece in "the new yorker" this week about new jersey governor chris christie, you must do this this morning. it is such a good read. >> homework during the commercials. >> read it during "new day," not during "early start." >>> all right, this story really interesting this morning, too. a louisiana congressman says he's sorry, he is sorry after a video surfaced showing representative vance mcallister, a married father of five children, kissing a staffer, kissing a staffer who is also married. in a statement, mcallister says he promises to win back the trust of everyone he's disappointed, including his wife, his kids and his constituents. he won't say whether he plans to step down from the post he's only held for four months. consenting adults, perhaps, but he was elected on a platform of fa

what we've seen is his involvement with david wildstein about the bridge situation.. attorney's office is pursuing both of these paths, the bridge and hoboken. >> it's been, for the media covering this and i think for political figures looking at it, it's difficult to discern what is going on in the u.s. attorney's office. that's a sharp departure from when chris christie was the u.s. attorney. but assemblyman, it seems to me, tell me if this is your reading on it, this is significant because there's been an open question about whether -- if this is about the bridge closures, that's what this grand jury is looking at now. there's been an open question about was a federal crime potentially commit there had. there's wrongdoing but is it something that would be federal or would it be only state. so the fact -- not a fact but the possibility that the grand jury is looking into this, does this suggest to the u.s. attorney's office has made the decision that yeah, we think there's something federal here? >> they're not going to tell us exactly what they're doing or what th

everyone wants to know whether david wildstein is going to again allege that the governor knew about these bridge foreclosures because he said he told him. as you mentioned, governor christ christie, very much trying to put this behind him. meeting with top donor sheldon adelson, raising money for a potential 2016 campaign. this investigation is clearly ongoing. many questions yet to be answered. at some point, whether or not he is going to have to make the call whether or not this is just too much of a distraction for him to run in 2016. and when he's so clearly still having issues with the far right of his party for primary season. >> the reports say the grand jury was meeting. we knew that. this was the first time we heard of them calling witnesses to testify. where do you see this heading? >> these types of situations can take more than a year. what we don't know is how long will it last? who are they going to call? and what kind of a cloud douz that continue to hang over governor christie? he had a good week. he had one of the best fund raiding quarters in awhile, the group that

suggest david wildstein was telling christie's top people, this is according to mike duhain who was interviewed bill stepien knew about the bridge closures beforehand. that there were e-mails as proof. we aknow that chris christie said december 13th that nobody on his senior staff knew anything about what they were calling the traffic study. >> right. >> there would seem be a host of questions related to that issue, how skeptical are you of it? >> are so many inconsistencies. you correctly pointed out that mike duhain made it known to the governor that there were people in his administration who knew about the lane closures either contemporaneously or after the fact. yet, he came out making that statement saying no and his administration knew. that means that he disregarded the information that mike duhaime gave to the administration. we don't know why. there are so many reports stemming from that the report that vindicate the governor that we need to continue asking these questions. >> at a certain point, the goal of this was to clean up what might have been some sort of a corrupt office. on t

if david wildstein claims he told governor christie about the closures while they were ecuring how can definitive otherwise especially where they are not being intervud. and this is one of many politicians behaving badly. in philadelphia, five public officials were caught on tape accepting cash and gifts from an government informant. and the mayor of chart and a california state senator were arrested. these stories make me wonder what is it about the politicians, do they possess a personal type that makes them more susceptible to bad behavior than a group of accountants or engineers or busboys or carpenters. the former president of the american psychological association, i asked him. he told me the basis of any discussion about political scandal is the tolerance for risk. he has coined the risk type-t behavior to describe the personality of the big risk taking. the "t" stands for thrill. and those who are big-t individuals -- politicians are risk takers. and there is t plus behavior, charisma and t minus behavior which is destructive and sometimes criminal. after having studied politic

it was the star ledger who first alerted us to the fact that david wildstein's job had no job descriptionm that was the first to report the u.s. attorney in new jersey had sent federal grand jury subpoenas to the office of the governor in new jersey. it's the largest newspaper in the state and today they announced that they are laying off one out of every four people who works in their news room. they're eliminating the jobs of 167 people, 40 of whom are reporters, editors, photographers and other staffers, specifically in the news room. for jobs were also eliminated at nj.com and some of the smaller newspapers across the state and this is terrible news for new jersey and for those of us who count on the ns in new jersey being well reported to the rest of us. up next. good morning on this friday. right now in "first look" weather nation driving wind and rain, hail and flash flooding is a major impact on 51 million americans. >>> mental health. new details on the fort hood shooter's statement. right now the right know. what will the public learn from a declassified report on interrogation?

lee, to which david wildstein replied, got it. the legislature has seen testimony and documents from both of them, and wildstein invoked his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination, refusing to testify. >> on the advice of my counsel, i respectfully assert my right to remain silent under the united states and new jersey constitutions. >> kelly and steppian asserted a similar claim, arguing that she, both of them, really, could refuse the committee's request for documents. their lawyers sought these subpoenas invoking past cases where pretty broad document requests were found to be a violation of a person's right not to incriminate themselves. they asked mary jacob in new jersey to order kelly and steppian to hand over a wide range of documents. the committee's lawyer insisted, they were appropriately seeking specific documents. >> this is not, has not been, and these subpoenas are not fishing expeditions of any sort. it is a foregone conclusion, based on the type of communications that are going on, that, in fact, there a

david wildstein.e for traffic problems in fort lee. >> that's how jeb bush's name got tossed into the ring for 2016 but he is far from the perfect candidate. i'll tell you why ahead. this is for real this time. step seven point two one two. verify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one. standing by for capture. the most innovative software on the planet... dragon is captured. is connecting today's leading companies to places beyond it. siemens. answers. drivers, tgo!our marks. it's chaos out there. but the m-class sees in your blind spot... pulls you back into your lane... even brakes all by itself. it's almost like it couldn't crash... even if it tried. the 2014 m-class. see your authorized dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. >>> i'm not saying i agree with cliveen bundy. i'm saying the way this was handled is suspicious. when in the heck do we send our federal government with arms to collect a bill? when do we do that? >> people who break or su