new jersey senate majority leader loretta weinberg, thanks very being here. >> thank you, rachel. >> addressed the controversy at the beginning of his state of the state speech today saying he will cooperate but essentially he wants to move on. as you're taking this new leadership role investigating this, what do you want from the governor? >> the truth. we would like the gaps in the story filled in. i don't think anybody in new jersey politics, anybody who has any peripheral knowledge of this thinks that bridget anne kelly sat in her office one day and said, i'm going to create a traffic jam in ft. lee. that came in the context of something. in the context of some reason for doing it. you know, this is part of a pattern of an environment of retribution, of calling people names. but this was carried to a point of, you know, i've described it really as a vicious act. we put thousands and thousands of people in jeopardy. you think they were little kids, kindergarteners and first graders going to school on the first day caught in traffic jobs. it's the week of the 9/11 observance. appar

her name loretta weinberg. the democrats have had a longstanding feud with chris christie over supreme court nominees in new jersey. christ christie pulled the nominally of a long-serving state supreme court justice. the democrats had in retaliation blocked a lot of his nominees. the one thing that points to this theory is that on august 12th, 2013, christie was visibly angry in a news conference about the blocking of his nominees, saying he was going to pull the latest from consideration, because, quote, i was not going to let her loose to the animals. meaning the democrats. just to feast on this nominee. well, the next day -- the next day, that's the day that christie's top aide, bridget kelly, allegedly sent that e-mail to the port authority officials saying time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. loretta weinberg, leader of the democrats, again, opposing the governor on these judicial nominees, ft. lee is in her district. she is not from there. ft. lee is in her district. that's another theory, this was

new jersey state senate majority leader loretta weinberg.ou very much for your time. >> thank you, reverend sharpton. >>> coming up, why is president obama the target of so many personal attacks? he is getting personal in a new interview. >>> plus, chris christie breaks his silence to the press. what did he say about his anger? >>> plus, rush limbaugh is weighing in on the scandal, and it may surprise you. stay with us. the conversation about her mortgage didn't start here. it began on her vacation in europe on the day she arrived in london. someone set up a bogus hotspot, stole her identity and opened some credit cards in her name. but she's not worried. checking her experian credit report and score allowed her to better address the issue ...and now, she can move right in. experian. live credit confident. >>> with the exception of his lengthy press conference 11 days ago, chris christie has steered clear of the media. but he is now giving his first interview to yahoo news. he says, quote, i'm trying to get my arms around an awful situation.

. >> loretta weinberg, hold on. i want you to stay with us and i want kate to stay with us and our correspondents and analysts. there's a lot more to digest. we'll take a quick break and resume our coverage. potentially very damning evidence against the governor. we'll have more what is going on right after this. ♪ [ male announcer ] what kind of energy is so abundant, it can help provide the power for all this? natural gas. ♪ more than ever before, america's electricity is generated by it. exxonmobil uses advanced visualization and drilling technologies to produce natural gas... powering our lives... while reducing emissions by up to 60%. energy lives here. ♪ . >>> we're back with breaking news here in "the situation room." a one-time close political ally who resigned after organizing the crippling lane closures on the gorge washington bridge now says governor chris christie knew about the lane closures and he has information that contradicts what governor christie said about him. chris frates of cnn investigation

loretta weinberg. thank you so much for joining me.. >> thank you, brooke. >> now to breaking news concerning the olympic winter games and security out of sochi. in 2 1/2 weeks before team usa and their families and the trainers and tens of thousands of american tourists arrive in russia for the winter olympic games. the host city is under a terror threat. reports are now emerging that russian authorities are huntinga a woman who maybe planning an attack on the winter games. take a look at the picture. she is a black widow, part of the extremist female terrorist group so-called because some of the women seek to, venj the deaths of their husbands. this news comes as another threat surfaces from beyond the grave. these two men in this chilling video are believed to be the bombers behind a deadly suicide blast in the city last month. that killed dozens of people. in the just released video, they are promising something similar for the host city of sochi. one senator said the terror threat is so serious, he would not go. >> i would not go.

loretta weinberg had run against him and he had won. even though he's a republican, she voted for him and she wrote to him when bergen county need help and needed explanation. she said she got a call back from commissioner schuber saying he'd look into what happened and then he'd get back to her, but that was it. she never heard back. >> personal comment, commissioner schuber, i also voted on your nomination, with great pride, on the fact that you were going to speak out and speak up for bergen county residents. you gave me a promise that you will get to the bottom of this. and i'm still waiting. >> that was in november at a port authority meeting. you said you would look into it. you said you would get back to me, i'm still waiting. that was november. as of last week, senator weinberg was still trying to get an answer out of this guy. >> i wrote a personal letter in mid september to commissioner pat schuber who i voted for. i wrote to pat schuber, a former county executive of bergen county. he knew the implications of the bridge. when

another theory involves democratic state senate majority leader loretta weinberg. rt lee is in her district. weinberg and the democrats had been in a bitter political fight with christie-- over their blocking of his state supreme court nominees. then there's the 'follow the money' theory. on two parcels of land in fort lee near the lanes that were blocked on the george washington bridge-- a billion-dollar retail and apartment project called 'hudson lights' is being developed. this project has been a huge part of sokolich's tenure. any problem with those access-lanes to the bridge could hurt that development. we're learning more today about the retired tampa police officer now charged with killing a man after arguing at a movie theater, over texting. 71-year-old curtis reeves is charged with second- degree murder.accused of shooting 43-year-old chad oulson. the two were arguing apparently over texting during the previews on monday. that's when reeves allegedly opened fire. we've learned during his time with tampa police, reeves was credited for his leadership skills

new jersey senate democratic leader, loretta weinberg and lou greenwald.rence. >>> coming up, in his press conference the other day, chris christie didn't know it, but he was writing the attack ads that his opponents will use against him when he runs for president. you and maybe chris christie will be amazed to see how easy it is to campaign against him using his own words. and next, "the last word" exclusive. the founder of after gay and lesbian republican groo up says he's not a republican anymore. he will join me next. up says he's not a republican anymore. he will join me next. up says he not a republican anymore. he will join me next. gup says hs not a republican anymore. he will join me next. rup says he's not a republican anymore. he will join me next. oup says he's not a republican anymore. he will join me next. to the elegant trim in each and every piece, ♪ kohler will make your reality a dream. ♪ ♪ ♪ told ya you could do it. (dad vo) i want her to be safe. so, i taught her what i could and got her a subaru. (girl) piece of cake. ♪ (announcer) lov

joining now is senator loretta weinberg in the state senate.s going to start her own probe using a special senate committee. that will also likely have special counsel to assist her and they're going to go in their own direction. i asked her, what about these competing parallel committees? would it be better if you all got on the same page? she said, well, you know, that would be her preference, but maybe the fact they'll be working together, separately but together, may be able to generate some more information than just if there were only one committee. >> from the history of loretta weinberg and how she operates as top democrat in the senate and from what she plans to do here, do you have any sense of a different style that she might take on this matter? or a different line of inquiry she might open? >> that's a really good question. one thing to keep in mind, she's not a member of the assembly committee, but she's been involved. when this all started, the original subpoena issue, the subpoenas actually started prior to the george washington

joining me now new jersey state senate majority leader loretta weinberg and msnbc contributor. thank you both for being here. majority leader, what is your reaction to these emails? >> my reaction, first of all to the governor's statement is welcome to outrage, governor. this has been going on for four months. i made my first appearance at the port authority board of commissioners back in late september/early october, again in november, again in december. then the assembly transportation committee issued subpoenas and the governor's first reaction was oh, senator weinberg and an assemblyman are fixated. the next action was to deride all this. you saw the clip yeah i was out there putting up the cones. let's take a look what took place here. the governor's two top lieutenants at the port thort, bill baroni and david wildstein were involved and forced to resign. bill baroni came to the assembly transportation committee with the made up cover story. the governor at that point didn't seem to want to investigate. now with the release of these emails where somebody in the front offic

joining us, loretta weinberg. she represents a district that includes ft. lee, new jersey, and somebody governor christie previously said is unfairly obsessed with this story. thank you for being with us. >> thank you, rachel. >> are you satisfied with what you heard from governor christie today, his explanation and repeated insistence he had nothing to do with it? >> no. this issue has been going on for pretty near four months now. you've covered it certainly in detail, as other tv outlets have. as the newspapers have. and the fact the governor never noticed anything about this until yesterday, either there's something wrong with the governor, or he doesn't read newspapers. he doesn't watch tv. his two top appointees at the port authority resigned. obviously under pressure. he didn't ask them what went on there. he appoints all the port authority commissioners. all the new jersey commissioners. he didn't ask one of them, could you get to the bottom of this? he read, just like the rest of us did, the e-mail from the executive director, patrick foy, who said

he's on stage, loretta weinberg is on stage.ohn wisniewski, the assembly lead interrogator, they're all on stage. it was incredible. i mean, the governor did not mention bridgegate once. he didn't even really allude to it, but it was hanging thick in the air because of the people who were there, like david samson who's the only link raelly between the two scandals going on, the alleged scandals going on. bridgegate and the situation in hoboken. then it was noticeable for the people that weren't there like bridget kelly. she's lost her job in this whole situation. >> matt katz, reporter for wnyc who's been all over this story. thank you for helping us understand this remarkable scene today. i appreciate you being here today. >> you got it, rachel. >> we'll right back. we have an important correction you may enjoy. stay with us. let me get this straight... [ female voice ] yes? lactaid® is 100% real milk? right. real milk. but it won't cause me discomfort. exactly, because it's milk without the lactose. and it tastes? it's real mi

loretta weinberg and i attended these meetings. complaining to them about this traffic -- this traffic tie-up, this traffic chaos in ft. lee, why did it exist? one of these folks picked up the phone and called the governor's office and said, hey, we had some legislators here. i just don't get it. >> do you think it is, knowing a bit about the players involved, is it plausible to you that no one's communicating this to christie at any point? >> in a way, it is, and in a way it speaks to the culture that's sort of created around this add administration. this administration, christie administration, relative to recent governorships in new jersey has been a lot more aggressive and a lot more hands-on when it comes to getting involved in local politics. >> yes. hear that everywhere. >> talk to republicans in new jersey privately because there's been, you know, one of the things, christie's popularity has made it difficult for people to speak up. talk to republicans in new jersey, not drinking the christie kool-aid every day, they'll tel

new jersey senate democratic leader, loretta weinberg and lou greenwald.k you, lawrence. >>> coming up, in his press conference the other day, chris christie didn't know it, but he was writing the attack ads that his opponents will use against him when he runs for president. you and maybe chris christie will be amazed to see how easy it is to campaign against him using his own words. and next, "the last word" exclusive. the founder of after gay and lesbian republican group says he's not a republican anymore. he will join me next. welcome back. how is everything? there's nothing like being your own boss! and my customers are really liking your flat rate shipping. fedex one rate. really makes my life easier. maybe a promotion is in order. good news. i got a new title. and a raise? management couldn't make that happen. [ male announcer ] introducing fedex one rate. simple, flat rate shipping with the reliability of fedex. thank you. thank you. i got this. no, i'll get it! no, let me get this. seriously. hey, let me get it. ah, uh. i don't want you to pay for

now loretta weinberg is a partisan democrat, as well, but she hasn't had that, she hasn't been quite as far as wisniewski has, so now it will be both the house and the senate, and it makes it a little harder for the christie camp to portray all this as out of bounds. >> thank you very much, michael isikoff with the latest. michael, let me just ask you one more question about this super committee. do they sort of have an end game here? i mean, have they talked at all in this news conference from what you've been able to hear about sort of what the schedule is moving forward? >> look, i have talked to members before this, and basically here's the situation. there are any of these outstanding power plays, 20 subpoenas that have to be returned from the governor's office, campaign committee, top, current, and former aides. the real question is, can the legislative committee go much further when you have this outstanding u.s. attorney inquiry going on, because anybody who's out of office, and there's a lot of principles who are no longer employed by the state, is almost certainly going to

state senate majority leader loretta weinberg, thank for your time today. ? thank you very much. thanks for inviting me. >> absolutely. for more on, this we welcome e.j. dion, a columnist with "the washington post," and steve kornacki, our colleague here at msnbc and host of "up" with steven kornacki and a resident new jersey expert. as we mentioned before, i want to go right to you, steve, on the traffic study. this is not a little thing. this was consuming a lot of attention at the press conference for good reason. take a listen to how christie describes this traffic study issue. >> i don't know what makes a legitimate traffic study. i don't know whether this was a traffic study that then morphed into a political vendetta or a political vendetta that morphed into a traffic study. i'm out of the traffic study business. >> trying to explain why there was talk of this traffic study. there we see chris christie arriving at fort lee. he is arriving with his entourage and going into -- we have craig melvin on the scene so we'll speak to him soon. we saw chris christie making his some

. >> loretta weinberg represents ft. lee.l media exploded about debates with the maddow theory and there's one aspect of it that makes sense to me. one of the biggest questions here is why was it when that e-mail went out, time for some traffic problems in ft. lee, the response wasn't what the heck are you talking about? the response was simply, got it. why was there a pre-existing plan to use traffic lane closures to screw ft. lee? why was that sitting on a shelf somewhere? and the idea that the target was mayor sokolich is a little unsatisfying in that regard because he was not, as far as we know now, some big-time longstanding christie weinberg, hand, is. at least in the eyes of chris christie who once said the press should, quoting here, take the bat on her. imagine some christie operatives at a bar brainstorming ways to get back at loretta weinberg concocting a plan they put on the shelf to use the port authority appointee to jam up traffic. joining me, raymond lezniak. and valerie huttle, a democrat whose district inclu

state senator loretta weinberg is co-chair of that committee.orning. >> so, what will be the first step for you and for this panel? >> well, today we will formalize the joint committee by passing a joint resolution in both the senate and the assembly. that will then be followed by a, what i think, will be a brief organizing meeting and our next major step is to await all the documents that are due as a result of subpoenas that are due on february 3rd. >> who are you expecting to come in, will it be people like bridget kelly, of course, the governor's aide who was fired after e-mails implicated her in the scandal? >> well, depending upon what we see in these documents as they are reviewed, those of the next -- that's the next important step, and i would hope that as we subpoena the people who were behind writing those documents, that they will be forthcoming so we can get on with the work of this committee and really find out particularly the george washington bridge issue. the big unanswered question is, who told bridget kelly to do it, what wer

senate majority leader loretta weinberg joins me now. >> thank you. >> there was a hearing of an attorney for mayor zimmer last night in hoboken at the city council. tell me what is the next step regarding the joint legislative investigation? >> well, we announced the joint legislative investigation this week. we will be meeting on monday both the senate and the assembly to formally create the joint committee, to formally name the chair people assemblyman john wisniewski and myself and for the senate president and speaker of the assembly to name members to each committee. we will be receiving the first -- i should say the second round of subpoena documents. i think on february 3rd. those documents will be reviewed and pending what they say, we will decide the order of witnesses that we will ask to come forward to the committee. >> and what about this separate hoboken issue and what mayor zimmer has said. have you had any interactions with lieutenant governor kim guadagno that replicated the scenario that mayor zimmer alleges. >> the allegations that mayor zimmer has made are certainly ser

loretta weinberg's district includes ft. lee and has been fighting to get to the bottom of this scandal since it began. the committee investigating the george washington bridge traffic jams or as i call it operation road hog. here they are, bridget ann kelly who was fired by the stephon. bill stepian. port authority chairman david samson. bill barone, the former deputy director of the port authority appointed by chris christie. david wildstein. kevin o'dowd. regina agea, christie's chief of staff, maria comella, christina geneves. and evan ridley, another christie aide. philippe danielides. christina lado, the port authority's director of government and community affairs of new jersey and paul nunziata. also nicolle davidman, colin reed, press secretary and christie for governor incorporated. and the office of the governor itself. let me go to assembly leader louis greenwald. give us a sense of what this widespread of subpoenas tells you about the nature of the investigation now being undertaken. >> well, chris, we've cast t

loretta weinberg's district includes ft. lee and has been fighting to get to the bottom of this scandal since it began. and now we have the final list of subpoenas issued by the special legislative committee investigating the deliberate george washington bridge traffic jam, or as i call it operation road hog. and here they are. bridget ann kelly. christie's deputy chief of staff who was fired by the governor. bill steppian who was christie's campaign manager. port authority chairman david sam san. bill baroni the former deputy director of the port authority appointed by christie. david wildstein. appointee at the port authority. kevin o'dowd. his appointee to become new jersey attorney general. regina agea, christie's chief of staff, maria comella, christina geneves. christie aide. matt mowers christie's former regional political director, and evan ridley, another christie aide. philippe danielides. senior adviser to the port authority's chairman david sam san. christina lado, the port authority's director of government and

another theory involves democratic state senate majority leader loretta weinberg. a pfennig to believe i believe everything. --definitively. weinberg and the democrats had been in a bitter political fight with christie-- over their blocking of his state supreme court nominees. have then there's the 'follow the money' theory. on two parcels of land in fort lee near the lanes that were blocked on the george washington bridge-- a billion-dollar retail and apartment project called 'hudson lights' is being developed. this project has been a huge part of sokolich's tenure. half any problem with those access-lanes to the bridge could hurt that development. we're learning more today about the retired tampa police officer now charged with killing a man after arguing at a movie theater, over texting. curtis reeves faces second- degree murder for the death of chad oulson. the two were arguing apparently over texting during the previews on monday. that's when reeves allegedly opened fire. we've learned during his time with tampa police, reeves was credited for his leadership s

december 4th, loretta weinberg and i attend another meeting of the board of commissioners for the portnswers, december 6th, two days later, wildstein resigns. on that, six of these commissioners represent new jersey. they are chosen by governors from new jersey. i don't see how one of these individuals didn't call the governor's office and say, i see we have problems going on here and you need to look into that. december 9th, mr. foy, the executive directory of the port authority says there was no traffic study. he had no knowledge of a traffic study. it didn't exist. no one looked into it. he had to see this. it was a public meeting at the transportation. no one told the governor this was going on i just don't understand that. >> well, another curious thing is mr. wild stein steppstein st. he made a lot of money. he made like $290,000 a year. why would he step down? what led to that? do you know the reason? >> i guess because of his involvement in this scene here. not only did he step down but he retained an attorney. >> and then took the fifth amendment yesterday of course. >> he too

. >> state senator loretta weinberg said she planned to ask for documents from three other christie officials. but first, the man we've been asking questions about from the beginning, david sampson. >> four hours later, wildstein wrote sampson was helping us to retaliate. sampson is one of christie's closest advisers. >> he's a pillar of the new jersey political establishment. he has an enormous amount of respect, democrat and republican. >> next on weinberg's list, regina egea, christie's brand new chief of staff. we know at the very least, egea was aware officials were angry about the traffic jam. >> regina egea, who has been selected to be the chief of staff, she's forwarded that memo as well. >> next, william pat schuber, another christie appointee and former jersey politician. he was sent a letter with governor cc, inquiring about the closure on september 19th. weinberg said he vows to investigate, then nothing. if the last round of subpoenas produced time for traffic problems, they are the children -- just imagine what this latest round will bring. >> joining me now john wisniewsky. i u

just because john wisniewski is obsessed with this, and loretta weinberg, it shows you they have nothing to do. >> they are new jersey legislators who have been investigating this scandal since it first broke. >> he's denied that anyone in his office had any knowledge of the shutdown whatsoever. >> i've spoken to everybody on my staff and asked anybody around here and my campaign manager if they knew anything more about this that we didn't already know, they told me know, and so i -- you know, the chief of staff and the chief council assured me that they feel comfortable that they have all the information we need to have. >> now it turns out the whole thing was ordered from within his office and at least one of his top staffers had updates throughout on the planning for the shutdown on it's effect on the town. the campaign manager was one of the people advising the guy who ordered the shutdown on how to react to the press coverage of the scandal once it broke into the open that campaign manager has just this week been named the chairman of the republican party for the whole state of new

i'm sorry we have to cut this short and say, thank you to loretta weinberg, ingred reed, blake and eleanor some fun. but form morning we're going to have some new context into chris christie's claim that he was shocked that someone on his team would lie to him. stick around, that is right after this. [ male announcer ] this is the story of the little room over the pizza place on chestnut street the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia and the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪ in fact, they depend on a unique set of nutrients. [ male announcer ] that's why there's ocuvite to help protect your eye health. as you age, your eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite is a vitamin made just for your eyes from the eye care experts as bausch + lomb. ocuvite has a uniqu

lee, senator loretta weinberg. this time it was hundreds of thousands of innocent people trying to get to work. trying to get to school. it was the first week of school. trying to get a response from an ambulance. trying to go about their daily lives. hundreds of thousands of people were all collateral damage from some political revenge attack the cause of which is still unknown. business as usual in terms of the, you know, decision to go after somebody. not business as usual in terms of the consequences. how did that line get crossed? why? and who had to know about it? more ahead with somebody who knows more about chris christie than just about anybody else in the press corps. stay with us. >>> regardless of what the facts ultimately uncover, this was handled in a callous and indifferent way and is not the way this administration has conducted itself over the last four years and not the way it will conduct itself over the next four. >> it is not the way this administration has conducted itself over the last four y

. >> [inaudible] because john was to ski is obsessed with this and loretta weinberg, it just shows you they really have nothing to do. i don't get involve in traffic studies were lane closures and i did not work the cones, just so we're clear on that, that was sarcastic. >> [inaudible] listen, i have absolutely no idea. >> back in november, the new jersey status of -- state questioning. >> i'm sorry, i heard you the first three times that you talked about the issue of whether or not there should be lanes, but that is not what this hearing is about. this is about the lack of communication and the poor conduct of the port authority. you're here trying to cover that up. >> hold on -- >> you are trying to tell us a study had a major disruption on your major bridge has no paper trail? there's been a single e-mail that explains how this was done? that defies all logic and nobody in this room believes that. >> bill baroni being questioned by new jersey assemblywoman has since resigned. on wednesday, new jersey , aembly men john wisniewski democrat who has led the hearings on the lane closures

let me talk to you first, loretta weinberg. what is your reaction to this extraordinary development today which lays clear evidence now that takes right to the heart of chris christie's operation that they did this deliberately? >> well, i've been involved in this issue for four months, which mayor sokolich knows. i represent fort lee, indeed i lived in fort lee for a couple of years. so i know this area quite well. i know the geography very well. i have been to four port authority commission meetings in october, november, december. i have asked question after question. so let's look at this whole thing. i am really glad that the governor has finally, after four months, expressed outrage. let me point out that all of the new jersey commissioners are nominated by the governor. he is the one who appoints them. then we move ahead to his two top lieutenants at the port authority, the deputy executive director and mr. wildstein who was a childhood buddy of his. when those two people left and it was a parent that they were directly i

committee. 13r5i9ly separately the senate is authorizing its own investigation committee headed by loretta weinberg. one significant development on that front which the senator revealed here on msnbc a little while ago, her first group of subpoenas will include subpoenas for regina, who is christie's new chief of staff. so right off the bat, we have a subpoena coming today to the top aide to the governor. that puts it right in the governor's office. at the same time, we have the statement from the governor's office saying they've hired this new special counsel to coordinate the responses to these investigations. >> national investigative correspondent michael isikoff in trenton. a new poll shows a mixed bag for christie nationally. the scandal so far has not changed too many minds about christie. his favorable showed most people nationally don't know a whole lot about it. as chuck todd pointed out this morning, that represents a danger to christie's 2016 prospects. >> chris christie is still being interest dugsed roduced to the this is a first or second i am preg pregs, this is more damaging to him

and, of course, it will ultimately be up to our chairman -- senator loretta weinberger.ing for the firts time and will be discussing that. >> assemblyman, from chris christie's party listening to what the mayor of hoboken had to say, what's your take on it? >> well, with respect to those allegations, the governor responded through mike trewniak. weigh voted for that investigation. we thought the e-mails and text messages were horrific. and then the committee started and what became unsettling it was no longer bipartisan. it became four members. we can live with that. then the chairman which is isni totally in charge of who gets subpoenaed, when documents are shown to minority members. what we're asking for is if we're going to do an investigation, let's do it in a bipartisan way. when serious allegations are made against anyone, my preference is always law enforcement because i don't really like politicians investigating politicians especially in the assembly committee investigation. i want to stay on this point about hoboken. they leveled some very serious accusations a

. >> new jersey state senator and majority leader loretta weinberg joins me. thank you very much for joining us. have you gotten to the bottom of the question who was the real target and whether you think you could have been the real target as a result of that judicial bottle loyal that was being waged the night before the e-mail was cents by bridget kelly? >> andrea, the reason for the speculation for the very speculation as to who, why, what, where and when is because the governor has not been forthcoming. i've been involved in this issue for four months. and it really amazes me that the governor just discovered two days ago that this was a big issue. he appoints or nominates each of the commissioners from new jersey on the port authority. he never called one of them and asked them what's going on here? why is senator weinberg appearing in public meetings of the port authority. his two top lieutenants, the two people he's most responsible for, bill baroni, deputy executive director of the port authority and mr. wildstein, who is his boyhood friend, who was d

one of his big targets has been senator loretta weinberg. lives were put at risk for political purposes and that there was a massive coverup that covered over four months and will take a long time for us to get to the bottom of this. >> massive coverup, senator. how wide of a coverup are we talking here? >> we're certainly talking about the entire staff at the governor's office, his communications director, his campaign staff, this was plotted and schemed. they thought they would get away with this phony traffic study explanation because they have gotten away with everything so far. that didn't wash. that didn't float. as soon as that e-mail came out, that's when they discover the governor said, oops, i'm in trouble. >> reporter: barbara ran against christie when he was up for re-election. this is what she said earlier today at 11:00 here on msnbc. they was talking about the culture that exists here in trenton. take a hilisten. >> there's a culture of fear. i got little help from the democratic party and powers that be and bosses in new jers

when, if i can give you a quick timeline there, on october 16th, senator loretta weinberg goes to the port authority inquiring about this traffic tie-up, what was going on, asking for some answers. she did not get it. november 13th, senator weinberg, assemblyman wisniewski and i go to the meeting. same thing again, inquiring about this, no answer. december 4th, same thing. well go there to a monthly meeting, no answer. december 6th, wildstein resigns. now the commissioners from new jersey, sampson, bagger, pacino, shuber and steiner, three of them were put there by the governor. >> three of the commission? >> right. they were nominated by the governor. they must know him. they didn't pick up phone and say we have a problem here. we have elected officials inquiring about this alleged traffic study. i find it hard that they wouldn't call. one, wouldn't call and tell his office that these people are here inquiring. i just don't understand it. >> now, let me ask you, sal rizzo, you mentioned stepien, and how he was the whiz behind the campaign. tell me about him. and in your opinion, coul

panel is going to have eight democrats, four republicans, co-chaired by john wisniewski and loretta weinberge criticizing the makeup of this, especially the 8-4 breakdown. senator minority leader tom keene says i'm glad the majority party realized there needs to be a joint committee, but to be truly bipartisan, it should have a more equitable member mix. is that a fair criticism? >> i don't think it's a fair criticism. we're all in the legislature to work for our constituents and provide good government. we have an incident here that appears to be an abuse of power that has occurred, which has victimized the taxpayers and common people of new jersey, so i think the breakdown -- and we just want to get to the truth, so i think the breakdown is fair and should not be a factor in this. >> all right, ken cuccinelli down in virginia says that christie should step down as head of the rga. we have these investigations. are you concerned at all about his ability to lead the state while dealing with all this stuff? >> i think it probably could be considered a distraction, however, we have three branc