he spoke to dawn zimmer for several hours yesterday. what do i think?rmer criminal defense attorney, i will tell you that her testimony that i heard have the ring of truth. this is someone who, you know, can put it in writing fairly contemporaneously with this experience. and that gives her additional added credit. why would she come out now and had seen two mayors before her that were subjected to such ridicule. >> it could be a part of piling on to play the devil's advocate here because she can come out because she has company. >> it gives her courage. is it hard being the only person out there. i was the candidate out there talking about all the sandy relief funds being misused and the unexplained closures of the lanes and people didn't believe me. >> they talk about him being a bully. what he did is changed the landscape in this country. political speak, he changed political speak and it became a straight talking language. that it's why people loved him. it's tough but straight forward. that's why he is so popular. >> i want to bring in kevin madden

>> reporter: hoboken mayor, dawn zimmer. >> we need more food, we need more resources. so anyone who's listening to this in the city of hoboken or neighboring towns who can get to us, we ask you to come and deliver your supplies. >> that was from "nbc nightly news" on halloween night, which was a few days after sandy had hit. i got to say, though, personally, i vividly remember our coverage of the storm making landfall as it hit. and, specifically, of the flooding and the rescue efforts in hoboken, because the most harrowing live report that we had during that storm was from hoboken, while we were live on the phone with hoboken mayor, dawn zimmer, and she told us something that we had no idea about, before she told us live on the air. watch this. can you tell us at this hour, what's the state of things in hoboken? have you still got deep flooding? are you still doing rescues at this point? >> we still have severe flooding in the city of hoboken. probably half our city is

attorney to talk to dawn zimmer for two hours on a sunday holiday weekend? it's credible enough for a congressional oversight committee to look into it. where is darrell issa? there needs to be a federal oversight and accounting of where this money is going and how it is being dispersed. joining me now is now a distinguished fellow. progressive think tank. steve, i'll begin with you, because you guys, i find the most nonpartisan incredible kind of government waste group in washington. and you and i had a conversation, i remember having you on my weekend show when the sandy bill was being fought, and you said, there's a lot of stuff in here that shouldn't be in here, and you also said, there's not a lot of transparency about how this money is going to be spent. do we know how it's being used in new jersey or anywhere? >> no, chris, we don't. and that problem is still there, and interestingly enough, the man who's been tasked with overseeing it for the federal government, shaun donovan, i had an opportunity to ask him a question about that very issue last week

all of this happened before dawn zimmer became mayor.er full term as mayor she didn't think the city needed that redevelopment right away. the crash of '08 was exacting a brutal toll the city was being monitored by state officials. the mayor told rockefeller she wasn't against the idea of them building in hoboken but but they would have to follow the same process as everybody else and that process couldn't start until the city had enough people to pay planners and engineers to study the issue. this created some tension. the rockefeller talked in the press how it was putting on the finishes for this plan and how the predecessors had been moving the process along. she wrote to the author of the story, quote, there have been no negotiations with the rockefeller group regard thag project by my administration. there will be no negotiations until a study has completed in order to determine what kind of development our city would like to have in that area. that's what she wrote to the reporter of that story. so they're at an impasse. the rockef

why is dawn zimmer just coming out now. she said it was because during the election, she said, nobody would believe her. so far, the only evidence that we may have is dawn zimmer's journal. right now, this is a big classic case of he said, she said. >>> hoboken mayor, dawn zimmer has gone public with allegations that kim quau dan know delivered a threat on the governor's behalf to withhold much-needed superstorm sandy relief funds for her flood-damaged city if she did not support a development project. >> the fact is, she came. the lieutenant governor pulled me aside and said, essentially, you have to move forward with the rockefeller project. this project is really important to the governor. she said she had been with him on friday night and this was a direct message from the governor. >> on sunday, zimmer met with federal pros cue fors for several hours turning over a journal that she says details the alleged ultimatum and other documents at the request of the u.s. attorney's office. christie's spokesman, colin reed, call

the mayor of that city dawn zimmer has now spoken with federal authorities about a message she said she received last summer from governor christie delivered she said by his lieutenant governor. the message if she didn't back a local project being pushed by christie's former aides, the hurricane money would stop flowing to hoboken. zimmer says she recorded that conversation in her personal diary and has turned over that diary to the u.s. attorney's office. she has offered to testify under oath and even to take a lie detector test. in response, the lieutenant governor of the state has denied tying the hurricane funds to the favored project, which of course opens the question of what she did say to the mayor in that parking lot, and why she did cite the two issues and what did she mean when she said the message was coming from the governor. a partisan of the governor, rnc chair haley barbour says mayor zimmer may have written her diary at the present time, but inserted it back in the summer, an unlikely possibility giving the presumed need of the mayor to have left those pages for that da

. >> hoboken's mayor, dawn zimmer, said she applied for over $100 million in grants, but received just over $300,000 from the state. zimmer was frustrated. on may 8th last year, she wrote to the governor, saying, please, governor, we need your help. i have tried to assure hoboken residents that hoboken would be treated fairly, because you have always treated hoboken fairly in the past. on the same day zimmer wrote christie that letter, hoboken's planning board voted against a multi-million project being pushed by a developing corporation called the rockefeller group. rockefeller wanted to develop a three-block stretch of hoboken's north end. the rockefeller group hired the jersey law firm, wolff and sampson to represent them. sampson as in david sampson, christie's top port authority appointee and adviser and whose name pops up many times in the ft. lee traffic scandal e-mails. in less than one week after zimmer wrote asking for money and the city voted against the rockefeller development deal, zimmer met with lieutenant governor kim gaundano at an event. >> zimmer has told us that gau

what about those other allegations by mayor dawn zimmer? diary but how do you prove something like that to the u.s. attorney? i want to bring in former federal prosecutor paul butler who specialized in public corruption and was part of the team that indict ed a person. worked to overturn the money laundering conviction house majority leader tom delay. welcome back to both of you. we had you on satellite last week. you can eat pastries. that's the perk of this. paul, i'll start with you as a prosecutor, as a former prosecutor. if you were presented with what dawn zimmer has presented the u.s. attorney's office with, the account she has shared in the show, apparently contemporaneous diary entries and now we are told a couple people, four or five people in hoboken who she says will vouch for her told her about this at the time and you have the denial we heard from kim gguadagno, how would you pursue this happening? >> she drops this bombshell on your show last saturday and sunday, the next day, the federal prosecutors bring her into the office

wholeheartedly those allegations. >> lieutenant governor kim guadagno. >> comments made by hoboken mayor dawn zimmer. >> mayor zimmer's version of our conversation -- >> she acknowledges there was a conversation that she had. >> -- is not only false but is illogical. >> an unequivocal denial. >> where does that leave us here? >> where are we in all this? >> in this she said she said thing. >> the fact is the lieutenant governor came to hoboken -- >> what was said and maybe what wasn't said. >> she said i know it's not right, i know these things should not be connected. >> i deny wholeheartedly those allegations. >> mayor dawn zimmer turned over her journal and other documents to the feds. >> these kinds of messes, they don't go away fast. >> this is federal funds. >> this is escalating. >> now involves the federal prosecutor. >> where are we in all this? >> the facts are going to pave the road forward for us. of. >>> on his saturday morning show on msnbc, steve kornacki broke the investigations of the christie administration wide open when dawn zimmer, the mayor of hoboken, said this. >> the fact is

property owner because the governor wants me to in exchange for the sandy funds. >> so if what mayor dawn zimmer told us yesterday is true, then it would appear that the christie administration itself was playing politics. with the one thing that christie has built his reputation on not playing politics with, sandy recovery. zimmer is standing firmly behind the story she told us. >> i'd be more than willing to testify under oath and answer any questions and provide any documents, take a lie detector test. my question back to them is, would all of you be willing to do that same thing, to testify under oath? to take a lie detector test? >> she may get the chance to share her story under oath because we can report to you exclusively some news this morning. the chairman of the new jersey state senate judiciary committee is calling for the new jersey state commission of investigation. this is an independent bipartisan panel comprised of appointees of the governor and state legislature. he is calling on that body to open an investigation into zimmer's claims. in a statement he says this latest evidenc

hoboken new jersey mayor dawn zimmer is the person at question this hour. is she really telling the truth? she's claiming the governor used hurricane sandy relief funds as leverage for a private development project. hoboken, new jersey, was devastated by super storm sandy. 80% of the town was flooded. i've seen floods in the upper midwest. when they come, they take everything. hoboken covers just over one square mile of land, but it's more densely populated than new york city. now over a year later, the city of hoboken still hasn't fully recovered from the storm. here's what dawn zimmer said about a meeting she had with the lieutenant governor. >> the lieutenant governor came to hoboken and said, i know it's not right, but go with it. if you tell anyone, i'll deny it. it's not fair for the governor to hold sandy funds hostage for the city of hoboken because he wants me to give back to run private developer. i know it's complicated for the public to understand this. but i have a legal obligation to follow the law. we have to look very carefully at these thin

and on may 15th, there they were, kim guadagno and dawn zimmer at the hoboken shoprite. you can see them in the picture. zimmer has told us that guadagno pulled her aside during that visit and delivered a message to her. if you want that sandy money, you need to get that rockefeller project moving, because it's very important to the governor. that's what dawn zimmer, the mayor of hoboken, told us that kim guadagno told her that day. and she's not just saying it to us now, because she says when it happened, she was so shocked, that she wrote it down in her personal diary, which she has shared with us. and here is how she describes the threat guadagno made in an entry in that diary, dated may 17th. quoting from it, at the end of a big tour of shoprite, she pulls me aside with no one else around and said that i need to move forward with the rockefeller project. it is very important to the governor. the word is you are against it and you need to move it forward or we are not going to be able to help you. i know it's not right, these things should not be connected, but they ar

chris cristfie tried to drum up support and the mayor dawn zimmer is accusing christie of with holdinguper storm sandy relief money because she didn't get behind a multi-billion dollar development project. zimmer said kristi's lieutenant government made it clear that money would flow if and only if she approved the project. and she said, i know these things are not right and they should not be connected but they are. and if you tell anybody, i will deny it. >> what's more, e-mails obtained by cable news network shows the project is represented by the law firm of david sampson, a top christie political supporter. he is also one of 20 people subpoenaed just last week in a separate scandal tied to the christie administration. it relates to the shuttering of the two traffic lanes on the george washington bridge in september, something democrats in the state sait was an act of political retribution by the governor. christie has denied any knowledge of the scandal and, instead, blamed his aide. >> i am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team. >> the governo

in a sharp rebuttal to comments made by dawn zimmer here on msnbc, tieing aid to zimmer's support of a real estate plan favored by the government, kim gaudagno defended herself by taking the fight to dawn zimmer in a bruising statement. >> you need to hear me say this out load and i will, mayor zimmer's version of our conversation in may of 2013, is not only false, but is illogical and does not withstand scrutiny with all of the facts are examined. any suggestion. any suggestion that sandy funds were tied to the approval of any project in new jersey, is completely false. >> yes, i am very surprised by the mayor's allegations and i deny wholeheartedly those allegations. >> the lieutenant governor did not take any questions. dawn zimmer responded, i'm generally disappointed that lieutenant governor gaudagno has rather lived up to her promise that she would deny linking hoboken's application for sandy hazard mitigation funding with expediting a private development project. i stand by my word and remain willing to testify under oath and continue to answer any questions asked of me. this

now, the question is, dawn zimmer was somebody -- i want to read a few tweets, mike. she was not somebody antagonistic, she had her own election, a tweet on august 20th, done a great job for new jersey and hoboken, a nonpartisan election, and i'm glad he's been our governor, but not endorsing because of the nonpartisan mayoral race. what's interesting is what she told matt katz's nyc, was she being punished for not endorsing, pretty kind words. >> -- 20/20 hindsight, in the context we're in now, you can look back and say, okay, was it retribution. so i think all mayors are reflecting right now and thinking about it. you know, i -- i really hope that that's not the case. >> mike, that's the -- that's the real issue now that i think christie is dealing with, there's a whole bunch of mayors who have decided to relook at their journals, and they're going to call into question -- >> right. the christie people are trying to make the point that there are enconsistent statements there, that she had tweeted positive things about the governor -- >> which actually, i don't under

the latest from dawn zimmer. she says christie's organization withheld hurricane sandy relief money. >> after chris christie visited the sunshine state trying to shore up support from republican donors, another dark cloud was over his administration. ing dawn zimmer is accusing christie of withholding hurricane sandy relief money because she didn't get behind a billion dollar project. his administration said, this wouldn't happen. >> if you tell anybody i'll deny it he said. >> showed that the project is represented by the law firm of david samson a top christie political supporter. one of 20 subpoenaed in a separate scandal tied to the christie administration, related to the shutting of traffic lanes ton george washington bridge. christie has denied any knowledge of the scandal and instead blamed his aides. >> i'm embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team. >> reporter: now the governor's office is denying the most recent allegations saying it's very clear partisan politics are at

. >> let me ask you about the accusations by the mayor, dawn zimmer. you know, there was a statement made by the lieutenant governor unequivocally denying it, in fact, saying the accusations don't even make sense and certainly don't make sense, she argued, in the context of some of the statements dawn zimmer had made. in fact, praising the response of governor chris christie. is this simply a case of she said/she said? >> well, look, i wasn't there. i wasn't part of the conversation, but i know mayor zimmer is a very honest and forthright person with an excellent reputation, and i think her allegations have to be looked into, because we can't have a situation where you don't get money for your town for sandy relief because you refused to approve a development. that's not the way business should be in the state of new jersey, and i think it's probably illegal. so i think it needs to be looked into by, not only the super committee, but also by the u.s. attorney's office. >> let me ask you about what you have said, congressman, about why you think the gov

on cnn's "state of the union" dawn zimmer tells why she is coming forward now. i was concerned that we would really be cut out of the sandy funding. you do see parallels now. >> her charge sandy aid was hold hostage until she pushed through a project by the rockefeller group a developer with ties to the new jersey governor. after this hoboken event, in may she says lieutenant governor communitied what she said was a message that was from christie himself. she came and said you got to move forward with the ro rockefeller project. she said she had been with him on friday night and this was a message from the fof nor. she said it is outrageous but it is true. she says her account is about the conversation. she said, i thought he was honest and moral. this week i found out he is cut from the same cloth that i have been fighting for the same four years. democratic mayors with a political axe to grind come out of the woodwork. believes the lieutenant governor will confirm her account. i believe if and when she is asked to testify under oath the truth will come out and

we're here with the mayor of hoboken, new jersey, dawn zimmer. before the break, we were talking about the days leading up to the meeting with new jersey's lieutenant governor. appreciate you being with us. we spoke to governor christie's office about these letters. they did not issue an official statement, but they question the timing of this, and they specifically pointed out that your conversation with the lieutenant governor was allegedly may 10th, that the first letter's dated april 23rd. they also question why this is coming out now, saying you gave interviews before and this came out. >> as far as these letters? >> yeah. >> i mean, yeah, like i said, these letters were provided to msnbc, you know, and so, this is just further highlighting, you know, basically, the progression, the pressure that i felt and the connecting the dots, so to speak. so, again, when she's saying it's illogical, these letters, they're further demonstration of what was happening and how it was really connected, but the bottom line is, anderson, i mean, she came, and

i don't think it's fair to prejudge whether dawn zimmer is telling the truth or not. she put her testimony on the record by telling authorities and u.s. attorney what she believes happened. if she's not telling the truth, then that is a crime -- >> it's fair to question the lieutenant -- keith, it's fair to question the lieutenant governor? >> she flatly denied it right now -- >> but she hasn't done that -- >> that's not fair either. you can't have it both ways. >> she hasn't done it under oath yet, susan. >> we don't actually know that she was sworn under oath. >> very quickly here, keith, christie did this interview with yahoo! news and compared the bridge scandal to getting hit across the forehead with a 2 x 4. at what point do we think republicans stop defending him as more information comes out? at what point do they start to seek their distance and does he consider stepping down from the rj spot? >> i think it's way too early to judge that. i'm down here in doflorida righ now and christie was here with governor scott. but governor scott's staff wasn't sure wheth

so i want to thank you so much, mayor dawn zimmer.reciate your time. >> thank you very much. >>> more on all of this with our panel in a moelt. mayor of hoboken sort of adding on. where are we in the assessment damage for chris christie? >> we're still in the everybody is trying to figure things out stage. right now when you look at, for instance, chris christie's a lot of folks are saying this is odd. nothing has been directly connected to governor christie yet. let's wait and see -- him as a man or him as a potential face of the republican party in the future. >> but true but not connected then becomes he can't manage his own store. >> that's right. the big question now is will another shoe drop that shows that direct connection, which is really a nuclear bomb. you could imagine his career being over if he gave direct orders to the bridge closure. even short of that, people are judging him -- i think it's fair to judge him -- based on the people who are around him and who you surround yourself with. that's a true test of leadership.

dawn zimmer says that the number one thing that chris christie made his name on. he's been using that to hold her hostage in terms of a development deal with one of his top aids who has dave samson, who has been a top aid and gotten a spokena, because he was stroved in the emails. it's incest use and growing with the tentacles to impact everybody except chris christie at this point. >> zimmer seemed to imply that chris christie was promised somethingism. >> zimmer said she didn't know what it was. but samson representing the rockefeller group. that's a top aid and chris christie's appointee. there's a lot of incest use connections here that may help explain what was going on. we don't know, and it will take investigation and we hear now that the general assembly may expand it into this, which will be very difficult. speaking of incest use connections, take us back to the operation. give us background. what did that mean for chris christie. >> that is interesting, because that is where chris christie made his name as a straight shooter, a fighter against critical c

between mcgreevey and christie came with irony and history and three days after the mayor of hoboken, dawn zimmer, appeared on this program to accuse christie's lieutenant governor, kim guadagno of a develop project rest represented by one of christie's top allies and two days after mayor zimmer told that story to members of the office of the current u.s. attorney for new jersey. christie's successor, a democratic appointee named paul fishman. and it came just before the fbi began sniffing around hoboken interviewing aides to zimmer, city council member, all who said she told hem of the gaudagno situation around the time it happened. that mcgreevey/christie encounter came two days before this. news of spps from fishman's office for the united states of the district attorney, served on the state republican party and on christie's re-election campaign. subpoenas seeking information related to the other major scant manies swirling around, the mysterious closure of the george washington access lanes back in september. yes. it appears christie is now facing what mcgreevey faced when he was governor. a

i know dawn zimmer. in all of the instances of working with kim, i have never ever heard her say something or suggest something that was inappropriate. so that's why the whole story is just, for me, a little bit strange. >> i will say you said you do not know the mayor of hoboken from a hole in the wall. new jersey is a big state, but it's not that big. the viciousness of the character questioning that's been directed at dawn zimmer, rush limbaugh said one of these women is lying. i don't know if it is the blond or the brunette. i don't know if you take issue with that. your thoughts on any of that. >> i always find it disturbing when gender comes into play or demeaning language is utilized in any situation. with respect to ms. zimmer, i understand she had a diary. i'm on the special investigation committee. i have not seen anything. her diary entry has been on the news. how long she kept the diary, let me read what's in it. could it have been a misunderstanding? possibly. i find the timing of it to be u

again, this does not say what dawn zimmer is saying is true.t the stakes are, what is alleged and involvement at the u.s. attorneys office at the level we know. two hours meeting with an elected official of hoboken, her turning over the journals. you wrote a piece about what this meant. yes, chris christie, feds are out to get you. take from me. i ended up in the clink. what does this mean as a political an lift and someone who's been on the other side of federal prosecution? >> first of all, this is a sunday on a holiday weekend that the u.s. attorney goes to meet personally with mayor zimmer. within 24 hours of her original revelation. i can only speak from experience, which is my case took five years, really, to wind through the system. >> is that right? >> and when the u.s. attorney's office first got involved it still took about seven or eight months to go through. this is on an expedited timeline, and i would be extremely concerned if i were governor christie. >> yeah, and howard, you've done the thing of running for president, and you, r

is wholly and completely false. >> reporter: guadagno is playing defense after being accused by dawn zimmer of intimidation in the aftermath of superstorm sandy. in an interview on sunday with candy crowley, zimmer said that she was told that hoboken would receive millions of dollars in storm recovery only if she pushed a real estate project by the rockefeller group, a developer with ties to the governor and his allies. >> she pulled me aside and said essentially you've got to move forward with the rockefeller project. this project is really important to the governor. >> reporter: as evidence, zimmer points to journal entries she says she wrote about the confrontation that day. she now turned it over to the u.s. attorney's office probing the christie candle. the tlieutenant governor takes the claims personally. >> being a sandy victim myself makes the allegations particularly offensive to me. >> reporter: meantime, in the first new interview since the wide-ranging press conference two weeks ago, christie told yaho odot come he plans to learn from the ordeal. christie spent much of his weeke

in the case of hoboken mayor dawn zimmer, it meant repeatedly muscling her to get into line. it started last may when zimmer is lured to meetings about flood prevention only to find she'll really be meeting with a bunch of christie lobbyists and allies who are all wanting a piece of a big development deal that zimmer isn't ready to support. it's a deal being pushed by the rockefeller group which is represented by a cadre of christie supporters, including david samson who led christie's transition team and chaired the bridge commission. here is scene one, per the times. she, hoboken mayor dawn zimmer, was due to meet the next day with officials of the new jersey department of environmental protection when she hoped to talk about protecting hoboken from the next catastrophic deluge to come. instead here is what she walks into. the rockefeller group which had long been trying to gain approval from local officials sent two executives, two lobbyists and an engine gear. the big development project is number one. but zimmer stonewalls them. mayor zimmer through a spokesman said on we

dawn zimmer has said through her office to us that she has been requested by the u.s.fice to do not do any further media interviews. yet another indicator of the serious turn the story has taken. if she's going to talk, the u.s. attorney prefers she do her talking with them. the christie administration now facing 20 subpoenas from the state assembly, all to his inner circle, which will have to be produced by february third. the inspector general has requested an investigation into

orchestrated pile-on. >> reporter: even christie's 2013 democratic opponent, barbara buono, said, "good dawn zimmer came forward, but why did she wait until she smelled blood in the water?" zimmer sounded uncertain two weeks ago as to whether sandy funds were when would as political payback. >> with 20/20 hindsight, you can always look back and say, was it retribution? probably all mayors are reflecting right now and thinking about it. but, you know, i really hope that that's not the case. >> reporter: in interviews this weekend, zimmer says she didn't mention the sandy threat before because she feared nobody would believe her and she was still in the process of deciding to come forward. christie's camp called her claims categorically false. hoboken got $70 million for sandy recovery on par with other communities, and the $100 million zimmer requested was for future flood control, not sandy relief, and the amount was over one-third of all state resources for a city that is only two square miles. state lawmakers investigating the george washington traffic jam say they are empowered to investigate th

particularly dawn zimmer. she's not a hard-nosed politician. she doesn't even run for partisan office. she's not been involved. >> so you believe her allegations? >> she's so believable. the fact she made contemporaneous recordings of it, journals of it, which is admissible in evidence and said, i'll take a lie detector test. will the lieutenant governor do that? i don't think so. >> given this new allegation, we now have four investigations going on. where do you see this going from here? >> in multiple directions. where i think christie's most vulnerable is the cover-up. no one would believe that this was a traffic study. chris christie believed it. he tried to cover it up. that's obstruction of justice. that's a serious offense as anything. >> and john, you wrote that this comes down to -- i mean, if you believe what governor christie has said thus far, if comes down to a question of whether christie is a bad manager or a mere deeply flawed individual. which one do you think it is at this point? >> well, i mean, the bad manager is significan

dawn zimmer alleges alleges christie threatened to withhold their sandy money. >> reporter: dawn zimmer, the democratic mayor of hoboken new jersey says it was back in may of last year that she received an ultimatum from new jersey lieutenant governor, kim guodon. >> she pulled me aside and said essentially you got them before with the rockefeller project, this project is really important to the governor. and she said that she had been with him on friday night and this was a direct message from the governor. >> reporter: zimmer says the administers threatened to withhold superstorm sandy funds with the city if she did not comply with the development project backed by the rockefeller group. the lieutenant governor valley hasn'tly denied the hack have mentally denied the hack -- denied the allegation. governor christie is already under fire nor allegations that a sire staff member and political allies shut down access lines leading to the george washington bridge as political pay back against another mayor. the lane closures caused four days of gridlock. governor christie has denied any i

dawn zimmer said funds for hoboken would be withheld unless she backed this project that governor christie supported. she recalls a much different discussion. guadagno discussed the redevelopment of hoboken and said zimmer is the one who pressed for sandy funds during that discussion. this source tells me the lieutenant governor told the mayor quote you can't tie those two things together. in these two events you have the mayor of hoboken saying she believes that -- she believes that going forward here -- that -- let me break it down. mayor of hoboken believes the lieutenant governor forced her to take this redevelopment deal, the lieutenant governor saying that in this case that's not the case that the mayor was the one who brought up these funds. >> the question -- i mean there are so many questions surrounding there. mayor zimmer says she has this diary. no one knows when that diary was written opinion you spoke to mayor zimmer what, january 11th. did she ever bring this issue to you then? >> reporter: that's right. i was asking the mayor about her endorsement whether she felt there was

. >> reporter: hoboken mayor dawn zimmer says christie's lieutenant governor threatened her that unless she backed a project, they would cut the sandy funding. >> i will stake my life on it. i will take a lie detector test. i say to him and his administration, will you do the same? >> reporter: but zimmer faces new questions about her credibility and her timing. >> she also said she liked working with governor christie so i think you have to look at her current statement in light of her former statements before this became an orchestrated pile on. >> reporter: even christie's 2013 democratic swipe saying good dawn zimmer came forward but why did she wait until she saw blood in the water. >> with 20-20 hindsight and the context we're in now, you can look back and say, okay, it's retribution. so i think probably all mayors are reflecting right now and thinking about it, but, you know, i -- i really hope that that's not the case. >> in interviews this weekend, zimmer said she didn't mention the sandy threat before because she feared nobody would believe her and she was still in the process

are willing to consider what dawn zimmer has to say. i think she's absolutely right about that. if she had come on any show a year ago and said that, it's the same thing as the hunterdon story. >> there is some -- there's four members of that grand jury who say, this is craziness. we're on the grand jury, this was legitimate, and you have a civil case right now, by the prosecutor who was fired, asking for records from the state, they're stonewalling him on that, that's an active situation. more broadly, the thing you heard always about christie from new jersey people when you talk to them, was just like, man, this guy -- everyone's scared of him. >> you can be scared of someone who's a really good politician, doesn't mean they're corrupt or abusing power. but he did have a hold on that state. he really did, and right now, the question is, was that a legitimate or illegitimate hold. the thing you heard, he was good at being governor. >> right. >> in a lot of ways, new jersey has the most constitution ali powerful governorship in the coun

hoboken mayor dawn zimmer standing next to christie here told the state of the union today christie's office played politics with sandy relief money withholding funds unless she backed a redevelopment project. the governor's office denying that. live from washington with more on this. what more do we know about the mayor's claims. >> the mayor for the first time tied governor christie to the threats of retaliation. she said her funds held hostage until she pushed through a project by the rockefeller group. this is a real estate group with ties to chris christie. in may the governor kim guadagno came to her with a message sent from christie himself. lets listen to how she skid this on cnn's state of the union. >> he made a direct threat to me. the lieutenant governor pulled me aside and said you've got to move forward with the rockefeller project. this project is really important to the governor. she said she had been with him on friday night and this was a direct nenlg from the governor. >> we contacted the government's office and he declined to respond to these new specifics from the

i'm kind of up in the air about it. >> today, new revelations in the story of mayor dawn zimmer and sandy aid. sources say the feds have interviewed several witnesses, including aids to mayor zimmer, those witnesses say she told them about the exchange about the lieutenant governor shortly after it happened. michael isikoff is the person who reported that story. let's start with the new details. what do they mean for dawn zimmer's version of events? >> what it means first of all the fbi and u.s. attorney's office is taking this seriously. they are going out and questioning key witnesses, asking key principles to preserve documents, don't detroy any e-mails and putting them on notice that all of this material is going to come under the scope of its review. now, look, the pushback from the governor's people has been this is -- why didn't the mayor come forward earlier. isn't there something suspicious about the fact she waited until now to tell this story. shouldn't that raise questions about it? and what these witnesses are saying and we know there are at least two key aides to mayor zimer

we're back with the hoboken mayor of new jersey, dawn zimmer.ore the break we were talking about the days leading up to the lieutenant governor's statement. the governor's office did not issue a specific statement, but they questioned the timing of this and they specifically pointed out your conversation was may 10th and the first letter is dated april 23rd and they question why this is coming out now saying you gave interviews before and this didn't come out. >> as far as these letters? >> yeah. >> i mean, these letters were provided to msnbc, and this is just further highlighting the progression, the pressure that i felt, and sort of connecting the dots, so to speak. and so, again, when she's saying that it's illogical, these letters, you know, they are further demonstration of what was happening and how it was really connected. but the bottom line is, anderson, she came and she said this to me. you know, i stand by my word. >> when she said it to you, what was your immediate, initial response and your immediate -- what was going through your

dawn zimmer met with u.s. attorneys yesterday, one day after her appearance on "up with steve kornacki." here's what she said on this channel saturday when she accused lieutenant governor kim guadagno. >> the fact is that the lieutenant governor came to hoboken, she pulled me aside in the parking lot, and she said, i know it's not right, i know these things should not be connected, but they are and if you tell anyone, i'll deny it. and so these -- i mean, the bottom line is, it's not fair for the governor to hold sandy funds hostage for the city of hoboken because he wants me to give back to one private developer. >> on the other side, the governor's office denies any federal money was held from hoboken saying in a statement, "governor christie and his entire administration have been helping hoboken get the help they need after sandy, with the city already having been approved for nearly $70 million in federal aid." >> this is not somebody who had an adversarial relationship with the christie administration. o

dawn zimmer has said through her office to us that she has been requested by the u.s.rther media interviews. yet another indicator of the