lee, new jersey. on monday, the first day of school and again on tuesday and again on wednesday and again on thursday. and they finally got called out and had the scheme broken up on friday of that week. that week was a nightmare. people's commutes turned into four-hour-long oddities. it was manmade. we learned since then the gridlocking of ft. lee in september was the whole point of the exercise. chris christie's deputy chief of staff sent this e-mail "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." to which that fore mentioned ex-port authority official said got it. it's the guy who said "got it" and seemed to spend the next few weeks orchestrating how to create the traffic problems in ft. lee. it's the "got it" guy who today alleged in a letter from his lawyer that governor chris christie, himself, knew about this. knew about the lanes being shut down. and here's what's important about that. for governor christie. governor christie is already in trouble, at least it looks like he's already in trouble f

not for new jersey. since 2000, the mayors of newark, patterson, hoboken pass aching, asbury park, orange and hamilton, those mayors have all been convicted or pled guilty of corruption. now you can add trenton to the list. you know kory booker as a united states senator. but before becoming a united states senator, he was not just the mayor of newark, new jersey. he was the first mayor of newark, new jersey, since 1962 to not be convicted of corruption charges and to go prison. yeah. new jersey is just astonishing. new jersey is a sewer of public corruption. but since the latest mayor was convicted in new jersey of corruption charges, since hoits fitz tony mack got convicted three fridays ago in trenton, what has been astonishing to watch is that he refuses to leave office will until yesterday trenton had as its mayor a man until three weeks earlier had been could not vifktd federal corruption charges and refused to stop being mayor even though he was convicted. trent object had somebody to replace him.

bill pascrell from new jersey. i have to play you an interesting bit of the governor's q&a session on the radio. take a listen to what he said about the possibility this all was actually a traffic study. take a listen. >> as i said at the time of january 9th, when i did my press conference, i still don't know whether there was a traffic study that morphed into -- >> you still don't know at this point whether there was a traffic study. >> what i'm saying, eric, did this start as a traffic study that morphed into political shenanigans or did it start as political shenanigans that became a traffic study. there's information that was given to the legislature about counts of e-zpass, wait times that was done, at the time indicated to me that there was a traffic study. >> congressman, can you shed any light for the governor on whether or not there was a traffic study? >> according to mr. foye, by the way, traffic would still be backed up in ft. lee if it wasn't for the e-mail of mr. foye many, many months later. we asked

not for new jersey. since 2000, the mayors of newark, patterson, hoboken pass aching, asbury park, orange and hamilton, those mayors have all been convicted or pled guilty of corruption. now you can add trenton to the list. you know kory booker as a united states senator. but before becoming a united states senator, he was not just the mayor of newark, new jersey. he was the first mayor of newark, new jersey, since 1962 to not be convicted of corruption charges and to go prison. yeah. new jersey is just astonishing. new jersey is a sewer of public corruption. but since the latest mayor was convicted in new jersey of corruption charges, since honey fitz tony mack got convicted three fridays ago in trenton, what has been astonishing to watch is that he refuses to leave office will until yesterday trenton had as its mayor a man until three weeks earlier had been convicted federal corruption charges and refused to stop being mayor even though he was convicted. trent object had somebody to replace him. they a

rest of the world, in new jersey, you think people make fun of new jersey, trenton, new jersey, they make fun of twice. once for being new jersey and the other time just for being trenton. anybody making fun of trenton is wrong. look at them doing the electric slide with santa. you get to dance with santa and the mayor in his bright red tie. at the senior gala every year, he really enjoys being mayor of trenton, you see him there in the suit. maybe his good time being mayor explains why the good time mayor is refusing to clear out his desk and go home in trenton. you can call him honey fitz or the little guy or napoleon or his real name, tony mack. but the party is very nearly almost over for tony mack, the mayor of trenton, new jersey. mr. mack got indicted on corruption charges back in december 2012. he got hauled up on charges of official extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion, accepting bribes, mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud. according to those charges, mayor tony mack conspired with his brother to take a prescribe in exchange for approving what he thought would be a

york and new jersey. he named him deputy general counsel at the port authority. and in that capacity, in that capacity at the port authority, well, here's a picture actually. this is -- see spot shadow there? that's phil kwon on the right side of your screen. that's phil kwon, longtime chris christie ally. his nominee for the new jersey supreme court. his appointee to the port authority after more than a decade of them working together. that is phil kwon attending the testimony before the new jersey legislature in which another chris christie nominee to the port authority told the legislature a false cover story about why access lanes were shut on to the george washington bridge in a way that gridlocked the town of ft. lee. the access lanes to that bridge were not shut down because of a traffic study. and you can kind of tell at the time that they were telling that cover story that something was wrong with the story. that there was no traffic study. and maybe you could only tell that because nobody at thi

rest of the world, in new jersey, you think people make fun of new jersey, trenton, new jersey, they make fun of twice. once for being new jersey and the other time just for being trenton. anybody making fun of trenton is wrong. look at them doing the electric slide with santa. you get to dance with santa and the mayor in his bright red tie. at the senior gala every year, he really enjoys being mayor of trenton, you see him there in the suit. maybe his good time being mayor explains why the good time mayor is refusing to clear out his desk and go home in trenton. you can call him honey fitz or the little guy or napoleon, and you can call him by his real name, tony mack. the party is very nearly almost over for tony mack, the mayor of trenton, new jersey. he got indicted on corruption charges back in december 2012. he got hauled up on charges of official conspiracy, bribes and two counts of mail fraud. he conspired with his brother to take a bribe for a new parking garage downtown. it was really just a government sting operation. and then he went to the mayor's annual senior gala. fou

bill pascrell from new jersey. i have to play you an interesting bit of the governor's q&a session on the radio. take a listen to what he said about the possibility this all was actually a traffic study. take a listen. >> as i said at the time of january 9th, when i did my press conference, i still don't know whether there was a traffic study that morphed into -- >> you still don't know at this point whether there was a traffic study. >> what i'm saying, eric, did this start as a traffic study that morphed into political shenanigans or did it start as political shenanigans that became a traffic study. >> there's information that was given to the legislature about counts of e-zpass, wait times that was done, at the time indicated to me that there was a traffic study. >> congressman, can you shed any light for the governor on whether or not there was a traffic study? >> according to mr. foye, by the way, traffic would still be backed up in ft. lee if it wasn't the e-mail of mr. foye many, many months later. we asked,

we start tonight with breaking news out of the state of new jersey. first, bridget anne kelly, until recently new jersey governor chris christie's deputy chief of staff, bridget kelly is invoking the fifth amendment and refusing to testify or hand over documents in response to the subpoena she has received from the new jersey legislature. bridget anne kelly is the person who sent this e-mail, "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee" to a chris christie ally at the port authority who then does appear to have arranged for some huge traffic problems in ft. lee last september by shutting down that community's access lanes to the world's busiest bridge. the george washington bridge. once those bridge lanes in ft. lee were shut down, it appears also to have been bridget kelly who exchanged these text messages with that same person at the port authority who arranged the shutdown. upon hearing that kids cannot get to school because the lanes being shut down and the town's mayor is complaining about that, miss kelly apparently replies by text, "is it wrong

lee, new jersey. on monday, the first day of school and again on tuesday and again on wednesday and again on thursday. and they finally got called out and had the scheme broken up on friday of that week. that week was a nightmare. people's commutes turned into four-hour-long oddities. it was manmade. we learned since then the gridlocking of ft. lee in september was the whole point of the exercise. county county chris christie's deputy chief of staff sent this e-mail "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." and response, "got it." it's the guy who said "got it" and seemed to spend the next few weeks orchestrating how to create the traffic problems in ft. lee. it's the "got it" guy who today alleged in a letter from his lawyer that governor chris christie, himself, knew about this. knew about the lanes being shut down. and here's what's important about that. for governor christie. governor christie is already in trouble, at least it looks like he's already in trouble for what he has said publicly ab

lee, new jersey, mayor mark sokolich. the mayor's attorney telling us tonight it was mayor sokolich -- the mayor's telling us tonight that he received that communication from governor christie's lawyer. it was mayor sokolich's town, of course, that got turned into a parking lot for four days in september. governor christie's deputy chief of staff apparently ordered up traffic problems for ft. lee and a christie ally obliged by shutting down the town's access lanes to the george washington bridge. mayor sokolich pleaded for help from governor christie's office during the shutdown, asking what on earth he did to anger someone enough they'd endanger his town by intentionally creating traffic problems in ft. lee so much so that ambulances couldn't get through? in his search for why someone would want to do that to him and ft. lee, mayor sokolich suggested it was perhaps retaliation at him for not endorsing governor christie in his re-election campaign. governor christie denied that allegation from the mayor. but tonight the l

my state is a large state, as is new jersey. i had a close knit group of people that i worked with on a daily basis, as did chris christie. now, during his two-hour press conference, he tried to deflect some responsibility, i think, by saying oh, i have 48,000 or, you know, several thousand state employees to look after. but we're talking about his five or six closest employees. people who he had worked with for many years. and either he knew and is not telling the truth, lawrence, or he allowed a culture to develop within that office that allowed his staff to believe that he would approve of what they were doing. and neither scenario makes chris christie look so good. he must be a terrible judge of character. and then he said well, they lied to me and i'm disappointed and mistakes were made. lawrence, when you make a mistake, you can have a pure motive and make a mistake. these weren't mistakes. this was a cold, calculated planful effort to recklessly endanger the public. by closing off those lanes and interfering with emergenc

news. they did a lot of boo can in new jersey. ing into the transit, the lines outside the stadium, and the governor. in jersey they let you know what they're thinking. >> they do. the next couple of weeks and months will be crucial for the future of christie's political career, could determine whether he runs for atlanta 2016 or as some people. on the fringes are saying if he remains governor. now, to the former guest mentioned he will be speaking at the conservative political action conference in march, the largest annual gatherings of conservatives. yet to be seen if he will be welcomed or booed like in new jersey. >> history says the person -- in this case, they're going hardest at david wildstein, and really, beating him up pretty good. is it your sense he is the most trouble here for the christie administration? >> well, the fact that christie responded with ad hominem attacks against the person does not bode well. he didn't necessarily address the substance of the accusations that came out on friday as much as he did addres

york to new jersey leading up to the big game. dozens of federal and local law enforcement agencies beefing up security and safety from the skies, to the rails, and of course, at metlife stadium. that's where we find our own rick in east rutherford, new jersey. rick, how is it looking out there? >> reporter: looks like a lockdown, greg. you're not getting near metlife stadium without a ticket. there are police officers and federal agents here from across the region. they're responding to calls including false alarms, including one in midtown manhattan today. another white powder concern at a midtown hotel, the crown plaza on broadway and 48th street. it turned out to be a false alarm and there were no injuries. of course, yesterday there were several hotels that turned into police scenes in new jersey near metlife stadium. local police, new jersey state police, the fbi's joint terrorism task force and hazmat teams responding to several letters that showed up at the front desks of several hotels near the stadium. this was a nonhaza

we start tonight with breaking news out of the state of new jersey. first, bridget anne kelly, until recently new jersey governor chris christie's deputy chief of staff, bridget kelly is invoking the fifth amendment and refusing to testify or hand over documents in response to the subpoena she has received from the new jersey legislature. bridget anne kelly is the person who sent this e-mail, "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee" to a chris christie ally at the port authority who then does appear to have arranged for some huge traffic problems in ft. lee last september by shutting down that community's access

in new york that the victims in new jersey have gotten. we are trying to do this in a way to get this out to people as quickly and efficiently as possible. don't take my word for it. >> i won't. >> i know you won't. they said the money got out faster than any disaster in american history. >> not for me. let me get back to the center of my question. hired? hgi why did you pay them millions of dollars? why did you privatize? >> i just disagree. you said did not have to privatize. .he alternative is i am answering the question. is to have hired thousands of questions to administer the program. who is going to administer it if, in fact -- it is a rhetorical question. someone has to administer the program. we have a new company in place to run the program going forward. pointct is, if we reach a where we believe that there's another company who can do the job better than that company was brought in on the bid, we will make that change. i will not hesitate to make the change if i think there is an option that is better. if what you are hoping fo

york and new jersey. and so wildstein's appointment to that job was greeted with skepticism by many in new jersey and at the port authority. in what is now abextraordinary article to look back on, written almost two yearss ago for "the bergen record" it was reported that wildstein seems to serve as the administration's eyes and ears within the byzantine agency. wildstein himself wouldn't tell "the bergen record" what he actually did at the port authority. but the governor's press secretary, michael gorniak said wildstein is there in that job because he's well suited to the task of playing a role in reforming the port authority in accordance with the governor's goals. that sure sounds the governor's eyes and ears at the port authority. one source told "the bergen record" back then two years ago that, quote, he became the watcher of the entire agency. what he was watching for was strict adherence to the christie agenda, end quote. the governor's now subpoenaed press secretary michael gorniak pleaded guilty

he said new jersey was going to be paying a staggering 70% of the cost of the tunnel and new jersey just couldn't afford it. none of that was true. general accountability office later did a report on this issue. they found the estimates of the cost of the tunnel hadn't changed at all in the two years before governor krif christie announced he was killing it. governor christie said new jersey was paying 70% of the cost of the project. actually try 14.4%. chris christie sold this whole public line about why new jersey couldn't do the tunnel. remember, $600 million had already been spent starting to build it, but the case he made for what was wrong with the project was not a true case. and then he kept the money. seriously. not only did he resist paying back any of new jersey's share of the money that had already been spent, he kept billions of dollars that had been earmarked for the tunnel and didn't spend them on the tunnel. he took them for new jersey to use on other stuff. new jersey has a really low gas tax, so he was out of money to do road and bridge repair work which he always said

we first brought you yesterday, the biggest contractor in new jersey was fired by the state of new jersey. you'll oath see that reporting here, stick around. the congressional budget office released a report yesterday that kicked off the latest battle over obama care and the creation of a new talking point right before our eyes, you would have thought the mainstream media would have learned by now. >> we have breaking news on the fox news channel. the individual man date has been ruled unconstitutional. >> we just got an opinion. the individual mandateno

new jersey. so new jersey turns out here, and we will meet the mayor in a couple of minutes. past weeks of violence is that it is not only welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm morgan radford. back to our top, so i award wink actor phillip seymour hoffman has been found dead in new york. but medical officials have not yet commented on the cause of death. hoffman made his name in films like boogie nights before winning the oscar for best actor. the super bowl is this weekend and the olympics next. security remain as major concern as well as the high cost of the games. this compared to the winter olympics just four years ago. which were financially very mod es, but also very successful. al jazeera reports from vancouver. the flame no longer leap from the olympic calderon, but the city has tangible reminders of the winter games four years ago, in the form of several sports stadium, a new rail line to the city's airport, housing, and community centers. vancouver's olympics cost about $6.2 billion.

it captures new jersey in a way that evokes new jersey in a way that almost nothing else can. tony soprano is one of the top, you know, the ultimate new jersey pop cultural icon along with bruce springsteen. so it evokes new jersey. >> there's also snooki. >> right. it also evokes the pathos, really, of the current moment for chris christie, and the sudden falling of his standing, for me, this image of him coming down the drive from the mansion to get his newspaper evokes that sort of moment. i would also like to point out that the piece itself, if you read the piece, and it's a long piece, so that's no easy thing, but the piece itself has zero insinuation whatsoever of any kind of ethical, organized crimish kind of, you know, insinuations about chris christie. this is about chris christie, the prosecutor, and the politician. and it doesn't traffic in any such insinuation. >> all right. well, thanks very much to both of you. two very, very different sides. but this is the question of which version of chris christie will end up dominating in voters' minds. and we can, of course

it doesn't get more new jersey than that. but new jersey's largest newspaper "the star-ledger" is calling for him to resign as governor if these are true. >> that editorial was really tough. i read it. >> scathing. >> thank you, reena. >> let's pick up on that with matt dowd. matt, good morning. >> good morning. >> so we've talked about chris christie for many years now as a possible presidential contender. is he possibly in danger of losing had is presidential hopes and his current job? >> well, i'm no rocket scientist, as you know, but that's not good pr when you look at those headlines. i think his chances now of being president of the united states are about the same as amanda knox taking a vacation in italy. they're about the same thing. >> oh, my. >> wow. >> and so i think the question now becomes, can he survive his office? i think there's still -- you still have to argue over the tenses of his words, which is never a good situation to be in, but here's a guy, tells you, was the preseason pick to be the republican nomi

what will it be like at kickoff in new jersey? >> reporter: lester, after all the worries of maybe a blizzard and icy cold weather, it will be warm, 50 for a high, kickoff temperature 41. so right now, super bowl 6 in new orleans, that will remain the coldest at 39. >> mike seidel, thank you very much. >>> and state officials in california say the historic western drought is not a coming crisis, it's a current crisis and the impact is already being felt at farms and local businesses. and unless the weather shifts dramatically, it will only get worse, nbc, mike taibbe has more. >> reporter: here, the drum beat of bad news, the quickly shrinking reservoirs, spelling disaster for more on this growing season. >> the industries as a whole will be affected, at least three years because of this situation that we're in right now today. >> reporter: he has been relying on county water for irrigation and has not been shut off yet. and has even cut off older, more thirsty less productive trees to save additional water. but all the elements o

new jersey, if you want to get technical, is where it will happen. just as its new mayor, new york's new mayor, pledged to slim the gap between rich and poor. >> we are called to put an end to economic and social inequalities that threaten to unravel the city we love. >> reporter: host committees promise big spending, overfilled hotel room, overflowing vaunts and a relaty text rav revenue. does any trickle down to those not going to the convenient working and living in its shadow? doesn't matter. every city wants to host the super bowl, no matter the numbers. a chance to showcase your home for 1 million viewers, a point of civic pride. something you can't necessarily put a price tag on. two of the men responsible for bringing the game here, they join me now. jets owner woody johnson and giants co-owner jonathan tisch, both here today. for the record, you are in the warm studio. i'm the one sitting out here in the cold. >> not that bad! it's going to be 45 at game time. weather is -- >> balmy. >> we're taking that off the table. >> reporter: i've been

very unfortunate for new york/new jersey relations, he writes. reckless, counterproductive behavior, that he rides in on a white horse to save the day. again, all of that talk about reckless behavior and being bad for cross state relations has to do with the way foye has stopped the traffic experiment and allegedly talking to the press not with the lane closures themselves. there are more subpoenaed documents that could be coming out in the next few days and weeks including from both david samson and bridget kelly. there is still a lot more to learn. when it comes out, we'll be combing through all of those pages, too. here to discuss this time line, what we know now, what questions it raises, where it all leads us, wnbc's brian thomson, nick, the editor and publisher of a weekly inside news report on new jersey politics, heather haddon, her paper pops up in that time line we just read, michael powell from "the new york times". and, heather, i'll start with you, reporting this story from the beginning, if you can take us back to that time to the c

>> governor chris christie of new jersey taking questions this week on a local radio station in new jersey, adding a whole new thing to what he has said publicly before about the bridge incident in new jersey. now saying he sent two of his top-level staffers, his chief of staff and his chief counsel over to the port authority to get the bottom of those bridge lane closures as soon as he found out about them in early october. why is this the first time governor christie has mentioned that he did that? and if his top two staffers did go investigate at the port authority on his orders, right after the bridge lane closures happened, what did they find out? joining us now is shawn boburg, reporter for the "bergen record." thanks for being here. >> thank you. >> this detail about chris christie sending his top two staffers on a fact-finding mission to the port authority, the governor -- the governor saying this now. he had not said this before. do you have any sense of why we might just be finding out about it now? >> i don't. and obviously this is going to be a focus of the inquiry. there are g

during an appearance on new jersey radio, talk radio tonight, just as that news was breaking, chris christie was asked for his reaction to his former deputy chief of staff refusing to cooperate with the legislature's investigation. >> you know, listen, it doesn't tell me anything. i know everything i needed to know from a point of employment for bridget kelly when she didn't tell me the truth. and i fired her. and what i've said as to all these people are that have lawyers now is i hope they would share information with us but i also understand that people have rights and they're going to exercise those rights as they see fit and as their lawyers advise them to do so. i would hope they share any information they had that would let me get to the bottom of it. but on the other hand, they have constitutional rights like everybody else and if they're going to exercise them there's nothing i could do about that, eric. but we're certainly going to be asking and have asked for information from folks, and if folks give it to us, great. if they don't, great. because they say they're exercising their

jersey and new york. it is super bowl time. and andy scholes is live in the middle of it all. andy, good morning. >> hey, good morning, victor. i'm here on super bowl boulevard. this is basically an nfl fan's dream world. we'll have a preview of the big game when "new day saturday" returns. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. with 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. where their electricity comes from. they flip the switch-- and the light comes on. it's our job to make sure that it does. using natural gas this p

new jersey is handling things. and that's what happened, glendale, arizona, houston had officials here touring the police public safety compound, which has been built in a secret location close to metlife stadium. ch they were checking out the video screens in there and the more than 180 agencies involved in helping keep the event secure. we spoke with deborah black from the police department. >> obviously the closer we get the more understanding we'll have for what may emerge for us. the difference between being in the desert in february versus being in the northeast, obviously weather is a different concern here than there. they have water front. we don't. ours -- every super bowl is different, but ours is probably going to be easier to plan because we don't have those sorts of die ndynamics going on. >> reporter: and for us it's not as big of a concern ch we're in the 40s today. a lot nicer than the sing it will digits we saw earlier this week. >> yeah, it's like t-shirt weather for us now. it's going to be more

a moment for the host new jersey governor to shine. instead this morning it's unclear if the september lane closure of the george washington bridge will force chris christie to the exit ramp. on to the boulevard of broken presidential dreams. governor chris christie's former right-hand man at the port authority now says the governor lied about what he knew about the closing of the gw bridge and when he knew it. david wildsteen is christie's high school friend who oversaw the lane closings. he said christie was well aware of the snarled traffic on the nation's busiest bridge. he previously offered to spill the beans in exchange for immunity. in a letter acquired by abc news the lawyer writes "evidence exists trying mr. christie to having knowledge of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed." an allegation christie staunchly denied during a press conference. >> i had no knowledge of this, the planning, the execution or anything about it and i first found out about it after it was over. >> all praise for new jersey.

a moment for the host new jersey governor to shine. instead this morning it's unclear if the september lane closure of the george washington bridge will force chris christie to the exit ramp. on to the boulevard of broken presidential dreams. governor chris christie's former right-hand man at the port authority now says the governor lied about what he knew about the closing of the gw bridge and when he knew it. david wildsteen is christie's high school friend who oversaw the lane closings. he said christie was well aware of the snarled traffic on the nation's busiest bridge. he previously offered to spill the beans in exchange for immunity. in a letter acquired by abc news the lawyer writes "evidence exists trying mr. christie to having knowledge of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed." an allegation christie staunchly denied during a press conference. >> i had no knowledge of this, the planning, the execution or anything about it and i first found out about it after it was over. >> all praise for new jersey.

york and new jersey. and so wildstein's appointment to that job was greeted with skepticism by many in new jersey and at the port authority. in what is now abextraordinary article to look back on, written almost two years ago for "the bergen record" it was reported that wildstein seems to serve as the administration's eyes and ears within the byzantine agency. wildstein himself wouldn't tell "the bergen record" what he actually did at the port authority. but the governor's press secretary, michael drewniak said wildstein is there in that job because he's well suited to the task of playing a role in reforming the port authority in accordance with the governor's goals. that sure sounds the governor's eyes and ears at the port authority. one source told "the bergen record" back then two years ago that, quote, he became the watcher of the entire agency. what he was watching for was strict adherence to the christie agenda, end quote. the governor's now subpoenaed press secretary michael drewniak pleaded guilty

it had a quality to, a new jersey quality. >> not only had romney raised money in new jersey in his past campaign and had a lot of supporters there, but christie during the same period goes up to massachusetts and raises money for himself because what this illustrates to me more than anything else is governor christie famously, consistently plays by his own rules. because he could get away with it. a combination of his toughness, his stature, his standing, and his political toughness allowed him to say that to romney. romney was incredulous. the thought that a governor would say that. i don't know of any other case of a governor telling a presidential candidate don't you dare raise a dollar in my state. but his campaign manager, romney's campaign manager said you know what? we're going to do it. we're going to take our time. this is an important endorsement. we'll raise money elsewhere. and with the exception of checks that came over and a few handful of people who romney was already working with, he did not try to raise money in new jersey. and adhered to what christie demand. >> while

york and new jersey. the man speaking will is patrick foy, the executive director, he's the guy that reopened the access lanes on to the george washington bridge that had been shut by allies of new jersey governor chris christie. patrick foy's decision was the decision that finally gave some relief to the new jersey town of ft. lee that had been besieged by four days of man made on purpose total gridlock. by the time he opened those lanes, it had been more than four days with no end in sight until patrick foy figured out what was going on on that bridge and put a stop to it. the last time that patrick foy talked about this issue in public was when he testified before the new jersey legislature under oath that the whole traffic study idea was a cover-up, there was no traffic study, today was his first public appearance since then, at which he took questions on the matter, including some very pointed questions about david samson, and including one fascinating question from our own steve kornacki. he asked m

jersey, for its citizens, its taxpayers and new jersey has once again become a model for america. >> but public employee yuans up and down the street were irate, one group in particular, law enforcement. there are four mayor unions representing police officers in new jersey and christie per sued all of them in his 2009 campaign for governor. he met with the leaders and sought with their officers. he sent this let tore rank and file officers swearing up and down that any claim that he would necessary with their pensions is absolutely true. sit a 100% lie. your pension will be protected when i am elected governor. so when he did sign that pension overall into law wibt vindicated the cry of betrayal that police unions had been sounding for months. >> -- tell the residents of new jersey that all is well. >> he's a liar. >> liar. >> and now let's move to 2013. it's christie's reelection year, his response to superstorm sandy sent his approval ratings soaring. he's going to win reelection, everyone knows this. he just doesn't want to win. he wants the run up the score. he wants to dazzle t

what an exciting time for new york city and new jersey. but we got to talk about the headlines about that super bowl game in a moment. but first, the big snowstorm. we have been watching this thing develop. chicago, detroit, parts of iowa all on alert this weekend, some places will pick more than a half-foot of snow and here's that forecast, right zooming in on east rutherford, new jersey, hey, some spotty showers, we'll be watching that most of the game, it should be dry. it will feel like the 20s, but, again, this could have been so much worse. average high temperatures 40. we'll be right around it. this will rival, or flirt with, the coldest ever in new orleans, like alex talked about, but i don't think it's going happen. i think it's going be warmer than that. >> thank you, ginger. >>> next here tonight, amanda knox and the uproar surrounding the american girl found guilty again of murder in italy. today, she told abc news she will never willingly go back. and what about those reports that her ex-boyfriend was trying to get out of the

york and new jersey. this is a super bowl of a lot of firsts. first time it is being hosted by two teams, the first time it is being hosted by two states and one big city. the first time the game is being played in a northern city and a building without a roof. >> it has been a decade-long effort for tisch. it began after 9/11 when he began pitching the idea to nfl politicians as a way to jumpstart an economy. it was not until the metlife stadium was built in 2010 that idea caught on. >> the nfl owners liked to bring -- they wanted the world to see this great facility. >> many will be watching super bowl xlviii. perhaps no venue is better prepared for an event like this. 20 times a season, metlife undergoes a transformation. they change it from one team to another. that includes the removable endzone. the turf from one team is rolled up and under the stands and another team's turf is rolled out. that is about all nfl is saying. >> what are some of of the cosmetic changes? >> i know we are standing on the

so by 2012, when then-governor christie nominated phil kwon to a seat on the new jersey supreme court, by that time, the governor and phil kwon had worked together for a decade. and then chris christie was more than just disappointed when phil kwon's nomination to the supreme court was rejected by democrats in the new jersey state senate. >> good evening. first of all, phil kwon, first and foremost, is a man of integrity. had the utmost privilege to witness that integrity firsthand. where in his role as an assistant united states attorney, the first assistant attorney general of new jersey, as a husband, a father, and a son. to see what phil went through today is not only disappointing for me, personally, but frankly a disappointment for the state. >> phil kwon was not made a new jersey state supreme court justice in the end. still, though, governor christie found phil kwon a very soft

it captures new jersey in a way that evokes new jersey in a way that almost nothing else can. tony soprano is one of the top, you know, the ultimate new jersey pop cultural icon along with bruce springsteen. so it evokes new jersey. >> there's also snooki. >> right. it also evokes the pathos, really, of the current moment for chris christie, and the sudden falling of his standing, for me, this image of him coming down the drive from the mansion to get his newspaper evokes that sort of moment. i would also like to point out that the piece itself, if you read the piece, and it's a long piece, so that's no easy thing, but the piece itself has zero insinuation whatsoever of any kind offette ethical, organized crimish kind of, you know, insinuations about chris christie. this is about chris christie, the prosecutor, and the politician. and it doesn't traffic in any such insinuation. >> all right. well, thanks very much to both of you. two very, very different sides. but this is the question of which version of chris christie will end up dominating in voters' minds. and we can, of c

one yesterday, about $4 million in new brunswick, new jersey. the allegations coming out of hoboken about with held sandy aid. it is in the context of all this that it is now up and running. if the monitoring just began this month, if we are reading that statement correctly, the reports aren't even going to be due until june. we really won't know about this until june. >> june, maybe somewhat earlier than that. the problem here is that they were in violation of state law that whole time. the state law went into effect right away. they were required when they made each of those decisions to look at basic issues. they should have told the public if they didn't have the program up and running. if the outside folks were there looking over their shoulders. somebody should have told someone that. as with much of the administration and the sandy recovery, it was completely secret like the hgi decision, completely secret. like our organization needs to sue them, they tried to maintain s secrecy there over how programs were run. >> we couldn't track it d