this is michael russo.he people in charge of that warren county chapter of the spca back in its sniper rifles and tear gas days. he was one of the three original members. he was president for a time. when mr. russo was asked to testify before the investigations commission about all this weird stuff his county chapter had allegedly being doing, he pled the fifth. the things they wanted to ask him are fascinating. mr. russo and colleagues tried to make spca uniforms look just like new jersey state trooper uniforms. they did look exactly like state trooper uniforms except for an spca patch they were supposed to wear on one of their arms but some of them didn't wear that part of the uniform. they just didn't sew that patch on. eventually the state spca came in and took over the warren county chapter. but michael russo of paramilitary prevention of cruelty to animals fame, he did not go away. a few short years after the whole sort of terrifying sniper rifles for the spca situation in warren county, new jersey, s

you look at the sheriff, that is the one who hired russo, was relatively -- i mean, exchanged a lot of e-mails with the lieutenant governor. one of the fund-raisers for the governor was also questioned in this case because he had gotten sort of an illegal i.d. from the sheriff. and that fund-raiser was -- actually was a pretty big friend of the governor's, political friend of the governor's. yes, it's one of these things you put your hand all around the foot of the elephant, and it sure looks like an elephant. >> sure looks like a lot of material for the vetters if this guy ever runs for president. thank you, ben barlyn and michael powell, great reporting, as always, for the great "new york times." and tomorrow, the home of frank sinatra who says that she, too, was politically targeted by the christie crowd. and that's tomorrow at 8:00 in the morning. >>> up next, stay out of the bushes. that's what jesse jackson famously once said, but now former first lady barbara bush is saying the same thing but a somewhat different vocabulary. and this is "hardball," the place for politics. >>> ti

i think it's more perceived the russo-japanese war and the settlements are perceived in terms of the failure of japanese diplomacy than american designs. i have never heard of blamed on the american side. if anything it's sort of perpetuated the idea that america, a great power, could afford to be generous and be a peace broker, that sort of thing so when the china war was not really going anywhere from the japanese perspective, the japanese kept asking the americans to be the mediator between chiang kai-shek in the japanese. so i think that sort of built-in perhaps unfair expectations, japanese expectations of the united states as being some kind of benevolent policemen standing up for japanese interests more than anything else which is self-serving of course. >> on the atrocities ,-com,-com ma of course it makes very little difference if you are the victim of somebody torturing you are letting alone shooting you. it doesn't really make any difference who is doing it or for what reasons but i think there is a difference between military atrocities and they were indeed terrible not j

this michael russo guy, who was one of the defendants in the original 43-count indictments, he comes and tells somebody -- he gets quoted telling a colleague, don't worry, the governor is going to save us. and subsequently, the attorney general steps in. as i used the term big footed the prosecution, knocked out the indictments, all 43 of them. it sure looks like somebody has a friend from trenton. >> it certainly feels like that, chris. you look at the sheriff that is the one who hired russo was relatively -- exchanged a lot of e-mails with the lieutenant governor. one of the fundraisers for the governor was also questioned this case, because he had gotten sort of an illegal id from the sheriff. and that fundraiser actually was a pretty big friend of the governor's, political friend of the governor's. yes. it's one of these things. it's kind of like you put your hand all around the foot of the elephant, and it sure looks like an elephant. >> it sure looks like a lot of material for the vetters if this guy ever runs for president. thank you, ben barlyn and michael powell. tomorrow mo

speak is it as easy as russo. an olympic. athlete. my son. and in other world news now demonstrators in several cities in bahrain of clashed with security forces following the funeral of a protester who died in police custody adel abbas was shot and detained during an anti-government rally on the eighth of january police used tear gas against the crowds who attacked police with molotov cocktails reports say around ninety people have died since the beginning of the uprising in two thousand and eleven. and more public this content in france as at least seventeen thousand people marched through central paris protesting budget cuts soaring unemployment and high taxes one hundred fifty people were arrested and twelve officers injured after the rally ended in scuffles president francois along recently announced spending cuts of fifty billion euro till two thousand and seventeen. eight people have been killed by a mob using guns and machetes in the capital of the central african republic bad day meanwhile leaders of the muslim rebels have fled the c

as russo. and olympic hockey. is on. my fire. will get to i'll be martin break in the south shortly for al though the geneva two peace talks between syria's government and the opposition have yielded no breakthrough so far but have seen the two sides meeting face to face for the very first time of the conference which aims to find a political solution to the bloody civil war is set to resume now on the tenth of february in a statement to the media the un's syria envoy lakhdar brahimi he acknowledged the slim but tangible progress to date sonnets have become used to sitting in the same room they have presented positions and listen to one another. progress is very slow indeed but the sides having gazed in an acceptable manner this is a very modest beginning but it is a beginning on which we can build. the gap between the sides remain why there is no use pretending otherwise nevertheless during go this questions i hope i observe a little bit of common ground perhaps more than the two sides themselves realize or recognize. by staying

the argonauts all the money and the spaniards and directed by david russo american hostile oh seven to ten nominations. it's a crime caper to the con man who's forced to work for a while the fbi agent there's another candidate for best film oscar twelve years a sleek directed by steve mcqueen. it deals with racism and slavery in the ushe c. fall into despair. on the true story of someone with a free man from new york who was kidnapped and sold as of late nineteenth century. it is not germany's oscar hopeful danl lee came out empty handed. he wasn't even nominated for his performances making out that in director ron howard's film runs. you may remember the international media fury close by to watch the baby cold day here in boulder on your wall imagining him and a double pack tn polar bear ubs are wowing the world from another germans these two new arrivals soon unique custom being shielded from visits. still the center of attention. the trim painted as a beagle which extends from the boldness of that case instead to just over a month ago. progress is being documented on camera. this bo

doing but again i'm going to host the two day sports and such like speed skating is it as easy as russoa road i'm not an olympic hockey player by much it is all going to find me a little sleep in my fly. and the world news this hour a young palestinian man has been shot dead by israeli soldiers near the west bank city of ramallah israeli defense forces claims the victim opened fire at civilians and a military post but local say he was unarmed violence in the region has increased in recent months with over twenty palestinians and four israelis having lost their lives. to terror and violence shows no sign of easing in the central african republic after a grenade at times on the house of muslim family in the camp sold by and peacekeepers were called in to rescue around twenty people over fears of further times more than six thousand troops from france and the african union are currently trying to stem the violence in the region that has claimed over two thousand lives . for the protesters poured into the streets of russel's to protest spain's or abortion politics demonstrators marched from

. >> actor giani russo.ou all had jobs as i did growing up. >> yes. >> is this a good idea -- >> i started at 12. >> you started at 12. i'm assuming you were successful at that. >> i was for three our onfour years. seriously, made about $100 a day. >> kids younger and younger should be going to work. >> i think they will learn responsibility and the value of a dollar. >> i agree. i agree. kids got a lot of free time between the ages of six months and 12, right? i think they should start earlier. what are we waiting on? china is ahead of us in this race. >> what about the feeling in the country. you hear about this entitlement nation and kids don't want to do any work now. and they have a ton of homework we didn't have. that's sort of the predominant feeling, right? is it true? >> i don't know whether that's true or not but this whole thing is kind of silly. there's two general purposes to child labor laws, one is to keep them in school. the other is protect them from physical danger. call me new fashioned bu

we thought this was an opportune time to bring any buddy, gee on any russo, who has not aged a day.o about lists and keeping them in your head or writing them on paper. you say keep them in your head. >> oh, yeah. i think i'm on her list. seven and a half. >> what did you make of this? that's a little blatant. >> even with christie, it's the staff that is keep these lists. it gives them a little bit of an out. but -- >> they're disavowing that. >> like -- they're crazy. >> you don't e-mail it, do you? >> no. >> going to have tit-for-tat, -- >> social media will put a lot of people away or ruin a lot of careers. >> we are were joke before the break, some is a mob figure, that really banged around in that one. >> i at any time know. that was my first film so win when jimmy gave me a beating, i said, this is tough work. >> you've weren't keeping any lists. you were joking here that there is a mob mentality that says, you know, let your actions speak but don't put it in writing. but it's funny. politicians don't learn that. >> it's young people who are trying to impress whoever they're

she began as a legislative aide for david russo and eventually rose to become his chief of staff in 2002joined the christie camp as legislative affairs and rose through the ranks to become deputy chief of staff in just three years. >> she was more of a liaison, one that worked behind the scenes with the authorities and the legislature and a task master, somebody who got the job done but not as a political operative. >> reporter: the infamous september bridge closures referenced in her messages affected emergency vehicles as well as local commerce and appears to be a petty way to punish ft. lee's mayor for not endorsing chris christie. the governor's office scrubbed her name from the website this morning. >> do people feel badly for her now? >> i think there are some. i think people are waiting to find out more information before they make any judgment about it. >> reporter: now, bridget anne kelly may very well be called upon to testify in front of a new jersey assembly as the investigation deepens in the coming days but there are also new questions, based on cnn reporting, about bill st

people who know bridget kelly and i few her when she worked for russo. i've been saying this. baroni as the guy who put this together. i can't see bridget kelly as the one to give the order. that feeds the suspicion this goes -- >> that's what makes me think there's a lot more to this. certainly i think there are higher powers that are directing it. and i just don't think any one of these people would do it alone. i think it's coming from somewhere. i'm not sure it's a rogue operation. >> who are you most interested in hearing from? of all the people that have been subpoenaed, who do you think is the most important? >> of course if mr. wildstein does come and does not plead the fifth, if he's granted immunity, i would love to hear what he has to say. bridget kelly. when people receive subpoenas i'm sure that especially on that second tier level -- i don't think she is the first tier but the second tier level, let's hear what she has to say. she has the answers of the motivation and who told her to do this. >> what's more valuable for your committ committee? as we saw with wild

after i learned of the jail my dear imposed upon friend robert russo i realized i put my family and former congressional employees supporters in d chicago through this trauma. host: he is a big guy, liked by people on both sides of the aisle. used to ride back and forth to michael, a bob republican. went to prison for 15 months. did you ever have anything to do with rostenkowski? it was about mail fraud but it tkphreu indicated than that -- complicated than that. . we were at a technical level and we were not really involved with the political end of what -- saw of chairman rostenkowski he was wonderful. very powerful and supportive of doing the right thing. e was an old-time chicago politician as well. i will say generally, not specifically about mr. mr. rostenkowski there is something on capitol hill and whicha member of congress after a few years gives you a sense of entitlement. think it is having everybody lobby you all day long apnd you thinking that o perhaps you are entitled to maybe more than the average is.son grew up in and i new jersey where there were a politicians.pt and powe

i mean, the person she worked for before, david russo, generally known to be quite mild mannered, low. governor christie, as we know, quite the opposite. you can ask this about anyone who works for, say, an andrew cuomo or chuck schumer or mike bloomberg in terms of trying to channel their personalities. >> schumer staff members start to talk like chuck schumer. i've seen it happen to people i know. >> they marry each other. >> there's a very strong, particularly strong personalities like chris christie or chuck schumer, you see in their staff, that personality trickles down as people try in an organization to emulate the boss because that's the thing that kind of reflects most kindly on them. you see that. >> what's interesting in a lot of e-mails we've seen, by the way, a lot of them have been redacted which adds to the mystery. you don't know who communicating with david wildstein or bill baroni. what's very interesting about some of them is the sense she clearly is reporting to someone, and the assumption so far is it could be bill stepien, christie's longtime campaign manager who

she began as a legislative aide for republican assemblyman david russo and eventually rose to become his chief of staff in 2002. she joined the christie camp as director of legislative affairs and again rose through the ranks to become deputy chief of staff in just three years. >> she was more of a liaison, one that kind of worked behind the scenes with the authorities in the legislature and a taskmaster, somebody who got the job done. but not as a political operative. >> reporter: the infamous september bridge closures referenced in her messages affected emergency vehicles as well as local commerce, and snarled the city of fort lee in what appears to be a petty way to punish fort lee's mayor for not supporting governor christie's re-election. no one has seen any sign of kelly at a ramsey, new jersey home. and the governor's office scrubbed her name from the web site this morning. >> do people feel badly for her now? >> i think there are some. i think people are waiting to find out more information before they make any judgment about it. >> reporter: erin mcpike, cnn, trenton, new je

, i think who knew her before her chris christie days, who knew her as an aide to assemblyman dave russo from bergen county, they would tell you if you had gone back in time in 2005 and said this is where bridget kelly is going to be in 2014, they would say that's crazy? >> why? >> it totally does not fit the type of a political payback artist. very intelligent woman, very smart woman, but not a kind of person who is going to think this viciously and think up a cutthroat scheme like this and execute it and carry it out. it does not seem in keeping with the woman i knew at all. >> is that credible to you, krystal? because congressman pascrell said the same thing steve saying. he knew her when she worked for this assemblyman, and he says she was not the kind of woman he felt got up in the morning and said let's do some political retribution by jamming traffic. >> i don't know her personally. i certainly trust steve's judgment on this. that's the other piece of this that christie seems not to want to ask. so if it wasn't her, where did this direction come from? if it's not something that sh

second, there are clear connections between the players in this case, sheriff trout under sheriff russo's also an individual named dr. robert herrery who was an associate of these sheriffs who received a falls law enforcement identification badge. he was a major contributor to the governor as well as an appointee to two governor commissions. finally, you have an individual by the name of richard bagger. he was the chief of staff to the governor and left five months after my dismissal. where did he go to? he went to a company, a biofarm pharmaceutical company that's run by the donor. >> little bit of stink. looking at it on the other side, the ag is complete italy independent from the governor's office. i know she had relationships with the governor but in that position the ag acts on their own accord pretty much in every state. you have to hold her accountable. >> new jersey is somewhat unique. in many states attorneys general are elected officials. in new jersey it's one of the few states where the attorney general is appointed by the governor and frankly it's been very clear -- i was

our next guest is a portfolio manager with. 10% partner --tom russo, cigarette companies are alive and got forecasts that sales in the asia-pacific will go -- 2017,row 10% through double the global average. that is clearly a bright spot for the cigarette industry but that's not the whole story? >> in the u.s., there has been the recognition that the business has struck a balance between the historic pattern of denial and not recognizing health harm. michael bloomberg was here. >> he owns the company, you know. >> he was talking about tobacco and 12 years ago i was talking about it. a month ago, phillip morris usa lost a $5 million verdict in florida. 12 years ago, that would have sent the investment world into freefall over the issue of tobacco. somethingmains because taxes are so high that the ability for the companies to raise prices a little but is not quite the damaging to the business. there is a balance that has been struck. >> we are sitting up here and i remember over 14 years ago, the big legal settlement came down and that we thought the tobacco industry was finished. but it'

i'm mickey russo. >> would you like me to sign your program or something more intimate?in his guest spot tonight, travolta is a stagehand. what a reunion. how did this come about? >> he called me and begged me to be on the show. i said, john, hold up. he goes, please, please. i went -- >> this day has been so exciting. i mean, i loved every second of it. >> i counted every second of it. >> reporter: mickey is a little dense. >> the mani/pedi. that's what you call it, right? mani/pedi, short for manicure/pedicure. wow. >> it's supposed to be a one-night stand. although he's the idiot of the universe he's good in bed. we've all had those. >> good morning. >> reporter: what is it about the chemistry that the two of you have that work so well on camera? >> i don't know. i think we like each other. >> i think we like each other. >> reporter: how long have you known each other? >> 67 years. >> reporter: we've seen them fall in and out of love, marry, have kids, dogs and always so much fun. >> you know, that's breast milk. >> i'm the one who got you fired. >> what? why? >> to b

the city of tokyo to the city of washington, as a gift honoring the american support of japan war.e russo-japanese000 trees arrived in january of 1910. everyone was shocked. the trees that were sent were older and very tall and bug infested. it was decided they would have to be burned. president taft himself made the decision they would have to be burned. the japanese were very accommodating and understanding and decided to send 3000 trees , which arrived in 1912. it is those that we still have a few of around the tidal basin. this is the north section of the tidal basin, with a view of the washington monument, where many of the original trees have been planted. you can tell the older ones are wider and they have gnarly trunks, overarching branches, typical of the dominant type of cherry tree around the basin. this is where helen taft would have planted the first cherry blossom tree that came in the shipment in 1912. these cherry blossom trees would not be here if not for helen taft. will many people were enchanted all things -- with all things japanese, it was due to her the trees are here today.