todd christie was spared and the man who spared todd christie, chris christie as the u.s. attorney, was able to give him a contract. another interesting part of alex's piece. the largess that christie was able to spread around, sort of like a politician would as u.s. attorney when he had these deferred prosecution agreement where is he was able to spread money around and use it like a politician would, like he's done as governor. i just quickly add one thing on norcross. the amazing thing about not prosecuting george norcross in 2006, you can see the roots of everything planted right then. in 2009 always rumors in new jersey that norcross' machine kind of went to sleep on jon corzine, the democrat, the northward democratic machine went to sleep, union city went to sleep, these democratic machines went to sleep oncor sine. at the height of that 2009 campaign, there was basically a coup in the state senate when they took out this sort of anti-christie democrat and replaced him with a george norcross guy. when chris christie came to power he was aided by this alliance with no

the man they chose for that job is named todd christie. that would be chris christie's brother, a former wall street trader. a spokesperson for ernst & young, told us his employment began in december of 2012. the two sides were likely in negotiations for months before. we asked the governor's office about ernst & young's important role and today christie's job with the firm. they replied that they were selected through a subjective and open and competitive bidding process. they noted that they have over 175,000 employees with extensive experience with recovery work. a spokesperson for earrnst & yog told us todd christie was not involved in any respect or involved with any work related to the governor of new jersey. he they are highly qualified having performed similar work before. all of this comes back to the basic question of the christie administration and sandy money. the fact that almost no one knew it was a sandy project until this week speaks to the fact that a law that has been on the books for almost a year that was designed to avo

haywire on chris christie. >> msnbc has been mining this because it's good for their ratings and they know their viewers are enjoying this story. they are up. >> i agree with chuck todd it's been a feeding frenzy. he's trying to distance himself from it saying he hasn't been covering it in this exorbitant way. >> chris christie can't buy a good headline. >> especially from msnbc. >> i think it's a legitimate story, multiple investigations, subpoenas. when i flip around the champnne, i see a lot of msnbc doing this. >> we talked about the hillary obsession. let's talk about the christie obsession. >> twofold here. he was the 8 hundred-pound gorilla. that is not a pun. in the republican race. he was the presumed front-runner. the presumed having the best chance. but he also had a reputation as being above politics. this is why the political media liked him, it is why moderates and independents like him. he was seen as not doing politics as usual. so this kind of scandal feeds into the idea that he's just another politician and corrupt one at that. >> what about the daily drumbeat or the hourly drumbeat? >> they want to keep it going. their audience craves this sort of

christie u.s. attorney for the state of new jersey. during his time as a u.s. attorney, controversies erupted over financial dealings that his brother todd was involved in. how christie handled settlements of federal cases, and who he decided to prosecute. as mcgillis writes, what bridgegate has laid bear is the skill and audacity with which christie constructed his public image. christie may have been misunderstood for so long because his transactionalism diverted from the stannal new jersey model. he wasn't out to line his own pockets or build a business empire. he wasn't even seeking to advance a partisan agenda. and yet, it was transactionalism all the same. christie used a corrupt system to expand his own power and burnish his own image, and he did it so artfully that he nearly came within striking distance of the white house. when he got cozy with democratic bosses, people only saw a man willing to work across the aisle. when he bullied his opponents, they only saw a truth teller. it was one of the most effective optical illusions in american politics until it wasn't. joining me now is alec mcgillis, author of the article and forme

todd. chuck, the tabloid treatment of christie over this weekend has been tough. look at it on the screen, christie new. your lying gov. is this more hype than real? >> christie obviously believes it's more hype than real. you do have david wildstein with his own motivations, legal bills. this is the advice that is chris christie is in, he's got three people that essentially were thrown under the bus in some form or another is, wildstein, bridget kelly and his long-time campaign guy. all of them, if forced to pick between their own survival, this becomes a game of survival, that's where christie is in trouble. that's what wildstein has been hinting on this. this story is no longer whether chris christie kk survive to become a viable presidential candidate. it's about whether he can save his own governorship. stop thinking about the presidential race. >> before getting through this. gwenn, one of the things they're doing in the governor's office is hitting wildstein hard. putting out five things you should know including as a 16-year-old kid he sued over a local sc

todd. >> chuck, chris christie had a pretty good day yesterday, didn't he? >> okay.> come on! oh, my god! >> i guess it's a good day that what, he didn't have more indictments come? >> nicole, i don't -- >> your legacy. >> hank on. we're doing feeding frenzy on somebody we're not actually sitting back and -- we're -- we're overdoing it now. i think everybody's just trying to will him back into something. >> overdoing what? >> oh, my god. so you have spent -- oh, okay. >> let nicole respond. >> what have i been doing? >> i haven't finished a sentence yet. so much time has been spent in the last four weeks spending every tiny, minuscule, nonbreaking news event -- >> not on my show. >> well, on the network on which you and i appear, the fact he had an event, former white house chief of staff said he had a great performance yesterday, republicans remain incredibly focused on everything he says and does because at the moment he leads the rga and as a guy who is mired in the scandal, i can't think of a politician in either party who has remained more focus on his day job d

christie. representative coleman, first, christine todd whitman was on our air this morning saying there are no, quote, smoking guns that link the governor to any wrongdoing. we just heard from steve cornacki maybe there's a prospect he can escape this, if that sticks, what do you have to say about this investigation that you can disclose? >> the investigation is ongoing, it is comprehensive, we unturn something and something else comes up. it involves those closest to him, not just close to him because he was the governor of the state of new jersey, but close to him from a personal relationship, close to him when he was u.s. attorney. so people at very high levels that are being discussed and are being -- the information is being subpoenaed, so i don't think that we're anywhere near saying that the governor isn't involved or is involved. we know he knew something, we don't know when he knew it, but we know that his administration and his cronies at all levels to the very highest level are actively engaged in this bridgegate. and we'll get to the bottom of the issue and we will. >> christie pri

christie. that's an important development and maybe other aides will as well. >> beth, i want to play something that our own krchuck toddlayed yesterday on "meet the press" just looking at implications here of chris christie as a political figure. >> this story is no longer whether chris christie can survive as a viable presidential candidate. it's whether chris christie can save his own governorship. >> your thoughts? >> i think he's right. these accusations are too widespread, too many people are involved now and it's not even if he's ever judged in a court of law. he has no credibility anymore, what he's saying or the kind of staff that he's hired. he's lost any sense that he's that really effective manager and leader that he was so good at seeming as though he was a year ago. >> and yet perry, i want to bring you in and have you listen to the push back from pretty prominent republicans. former mayor rudy giuliani, who has been an ally of chris christie, and also bobby jindal. take a listen to both of these. >> i don't think he should step down. he should stay there. it's not about one governor, it's all about 36 rac

>> well, i think it's very helpful to have christine todd-whitman speak out in favor of governor christie's right and the governor is right. the people of new jersey want to know how the governor will deal with the budget problems. 0% of the budget is taken up to pay benefits to his employees. that is a huge problem. how do you invest in roads and bridges when you're paying so much for pension benefits, things like that. i think that chris christie is going to spend the next two years focussing on that issue and pick a fight with the left, which will endear him to the right and help him if he decide toss run for president. >> you want two years, so that means you obviously disagree with steve's claim that he may be out by the end of the year? >> yeah, i disagree with that. >> i didn't expect you guy toss come to consensus just yet. they're out there, and it did -- make him toxic. mitt romney doesn't have to appear with anyone. indeed he doesn't appear with all republicans all the time. he's still famous, can still bring in money. here's what he said on "meet the press". >> chris could eas

christi parsons of tribune newspapers. susan davis of "usa today." and todd purdum of politico and "vanity fair." >> award-wenning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens. live from our nation's capital this is "washington week with gwen ifill." corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> we know why we're here. to connect our forces to what they need when they need it. >> to help troops see danger. before it sees them. >> to answer the call of the brave and bring them safely home. >> around the globe, the people of boeing are working together to support and protect all who serve. > that's why we're here. >> additional corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by prudential. additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to pbs stations from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. gauntlets were thrown down, heroes were cheered, trash was talked. and then a funny thing happened on

a governor fighting for reputation at home and his own future, the chris christie story gets curiouser. joining me now, chuck toddc news political director and host of "the daily rundown" and chris cillizza and ruth marcus. chuck, let's talk about what happened over the weekend. there were a number of events first of all, wild stein memo which suggests there is evidence but has not delivered that evidence. >> it's like -- he has evidence. >> he has clear evidence then claims there is evidence, there's no different than when joe mccarthy says -- >> we have to be very careful. >> careful. he claims to have evidence. >> he is a man looking for immunity or at least his lawyer suggested that when he took the fifth and looking for the port authority, his former employer to pay his legal bills. there's a lot going on here but then chris christie shoots back and doesn't exactly state what it was he was accused of. the contemporarious nature of his knowledge. >> on friday, the new york times did the response clearly written by staff. then the next day they had a response, little more lawyered up. then this response that w

>> chuck todd, herein lies, again, i think the biggest problem for chris christie, even if he is exoneratedow anything about the bridge closure, why did he hire so many rank amateurs and by his own account, thugs around him? he is the guy who let this guy be in charge and now doing a hit job of his character going all the way back to social studies in tenth grade? >> we may look back and say when it did all come to an end for christie as far as his sort of political -- his national political career. we may look back on 72 hours. the accusation was tough enough. the reaction by christie, when you sit there and you see these -- the decision to use examples in high school. you know, one of the clips that the christie folks sent around noted how, you know, used an example of a clip to show that wildstein sort of was running rough shot over folks in the port authority but the headline of the story that they sent around was about how chris christie's eyes and ears in the port authority, i mean, it was -- this is -- i thought it was a horrible moment for him. i thought the decision to go after wil

todd. we'll continue to watch here at cnn. >>> new jersey governor chris christie faces constituents and takes their questions. his first town hall meeting talking about super storm sandy. how will that affect the storm swirling around him? >>> and we asked the texas governor about campaigning with you nugent. we'll have that controversy. they lived. ♪ they lived. ♪ they lived. ♪ (dad) we lived... thanks to our subaru. ♪ (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. ♪ ♪ so you can have a getaway from what you know. so you can be surprised by what you don't. get two times the points on travel and dining at restaurants from chase sapphire preferred. so you can taste something that wakes up your soul. chase sapphire preferred. so you can. being carried in your arms... but after a morning spent in the caribbean, playing pirates with you in secret coves, an afternoon swimming with dolphins, finished with a movie watched against the setting sun... she won't exactly be short on memories. princess cruises, come back new. ♪ princess cruises, come back new. so i can reach ally bank 24/7, but the

todd. >> subpoenas swirling around, chuck, democrats going after chris christie.dy said yesterday that was shocking people. >> what? >> i think i heard you say it last week, flib who knows politics and a lot of republican governors and people around republican governors have been saying to me quietly a couple of weeks now which is we love chris. he's a great guy to raise money and would love to have him here but if his problems keep going on and he is worried about a legal defense and he is worried about subpoenas and he is worried about, you know, staying in office fighting these charges, we don't know if he can be as effective fighting all of our races. that's a pretty basically political calculus, isn't it? it's not a betrayal. people say i betrayed christie yesterday. that is one plus one equals two politics, right? >> i'm with you. i've been surprised that he is still there, that he is not taking a break. he doesn't have to step down. he can take a pause. the rga has a vice chair. yesterday, it was interesting. some folks close to the rga put out some fund-ra

access to national media outlets is exceptional for new jersey -- >> chris christie was getting all of this attention, chuck todd new york city. now he is getting -- if he were in north dakota or utah, people wouldn't be obsessed. mike barnicle would be saying he's a governor from beijing because he is actually west of the hudson river. so much of this does have to do -- >> i think he is the alchemist of governing. >> he got the attention because he was a player, a contender for the republican nomination potentially and he got a love fest in the media, just like president obama did in the beginning as well. you know, when this story happened, it's a real story. i think a lot of reporting has been legitimate and it has to be covered. there definitely is a furver or a joy in some of the facts that have unfolded and some of them haven't panned out. >> the polls show the voters are actually more patient. >> the voters are waiting because they are not very dumb. okay. >>> with a wide open race for president on the republican side for 2016, there is increasing interest in potential contenders like former florida gover

well, brian todd spoke with some meteorologists trying to figure this out. brian? >> reporter: christially this high but it sure felt like it. this series of storms pounded us here in the mid-atlantic, slammed the south and east. other areas got their own weather but we're told it's all connected. the refrain is so similar from atlanta which got one city-stopping winter storm followed by another. >> it's been like nothing i've seen, i've lived here almost 30 years. >> reporter: to the great lakes where 80%-plus of the lakes were iced over for the first time in 20 years. the buildup forming ice caves. >> these were something special. i've never seen anything like it. they were as big as a garage. >> reporter: so many people in different regions said they've never seen weather like this winter's. over the past week we've reached a point where 49 out of 50 states had snow on the ground. we've seen so-called thunder sleet. captured in this ireport video from a backyard deck in grand meadows, new jersey. but also a punishing drought in california, people in more than a dozen towns in danger

>> chuck todd, i'm going to ask you to chime in real quick here and then we are going to read gene's column. is it too soon to be talking about inevitability or lack thereof on chris christie's of his radio column yesterday? real quick. >> i'm of the -- we should stop talking about 2016 with chris christie. i think it's sort of over right now. maybe he can come back, but he's got to fight his way back to belonging in the 2016 conversation. doesn't belong there any more. look. he was mostly listener calls. he didn't -- you know, we got the news, which is this idea he now has got to have a legal defense fund that he has dealt with the u.s. attorney's office. let me just say quickly on the legal defense fund, you know, look. i think we are not far away from him having to make the tough decision that says you know what? i got to have to take a pause from the rga. i just don't see how -- i'm assuming a lot of republican governors are not going to be happy about this next development since now christie is going to have to be raising money for himself to deal with this legal issue and then going around the country raising money for republicans. it just doesn't seem like anything bu