the press. that day bridget kelly, who sent the smoking gun e-mail, was in seaside heights, new jersey, with her boss. after the fire had broken out, she was there with him. but here is the key. as she was making her way down to the shore, she received this e-mail from david wildstein. "call me when you have a moment." wildstein just found out the mayor of ft. lee was upset about the closings. kelly responded "on the way to seaside. will call you later." remember, these two are at the heart of the scandal. the one who sent the e-mail and the one who replied "got it." if we are to believe christie, it means bridget kelly didn't mention anything to her boss that day, despite the message about the ft. lee mayor. it means none of those officials said anything about traffic chaos on the bridge. david wildstein, bridget kelly, samson, bill baroni, none of them said a word to the boss. is it possible? yes. but is it a lot to believe? yes. joining me now is richard wolffe, executive editor of msnbc.com and star ledger reporter sal rizzo, live from the state house in trenton, new jersey,

kelly -- >> don't you love the name bridget? old school. >> for traffic problems in ft. lee. steve said it strains credulity that the governor wouldn't know about it. >> or she could speak that the bridge commission would say sure, babe, sure. just call me up, i'm going to stop the bridge traffic for four days because you call me up without ever calling back the chief of staff or the guy's counsel. this really what chris wants me to do? because this may be against the law. >> chris, here is the thing. she sent that at 7:34 a.m. she got a response back at 7:35 a.m. there was no phone call. >> so you think it was a cue, that they had set up ahead of time? >> i said on your program about a month and a half ago that let's just wait to see what the governor knew and when he knew it. and right now today i think this press conference opens up the door for more questions. and it really was i think short term. it gives him some room, not a lot. because you've got folks pleading the fifth. you've got folks still possibly revealing stuff. so this is going to be a story for a while. >> i'm sorry, d

that, he should have started by asking bridget kelly to come in and explain to him what she did and who was involved. >> okay, linda tender, thank you. i'm "ed show." "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. good evening, rev. >> good evening, ed, and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, did governor christie know? today several thousand pages of new documents were released in the investigation of the new jersey bridge scandal. one of the most striking new developments and biggest revelations came from david wildstein, the former christie appointee who refused to testify at a hearing yesterday. the leading investigator says documents from wildstein refer to a meeting between governor christie and david sampson, the chairman of the port authority, the agency in charge of the bridge. the meeting took place just one week, just one week before christie's deputy chief of staff e-mailed, quote, time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. the investigator says, quote, by submitting these documents, mr. wildstein is telling us they are related to their -- to the l

with christie's approval, and maybe not. >> this morning i terminated the employment of bridget kelly effective immediate. i terminated her employment because she lied to me. >> not because of what she did to those people who were stuck in traffic. not because of the danger she created to the people of new jersey and new york whose lives can sometimes depend on how quickly they can cross the george washington bridge to get to a hospital, for example. new yorkers used that bridge on september 11, 2001 to flee new york city when it was under attack in the most desperate of circumstances. they used that bridge. they believed to save their lives. they relied on the george washington bridge on 9/11 to save their lives. chris christie's trusted bridget kelly and her co-conspirators did not know that there would not be another terrorist attack in new york or new jersey on the days that they decided to create a traffic jam on the george washington bridge. they did not know that there would not be a terrorist attack at the george washington bridge, which homeland security officials have long believed is

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 this net based upon the advice of counsel from the original e-mails that were turned over and a scan of those e-mails and an investigative review to see where the points of connection were. these subpoenas are discovery tool. they are nothing more than t

save their lives. chris christie's trusted bridget kelly and her co-conspirators did not know that there would not be another terrorist attack in new york or new jersey on the days that they decided to create a traffic jam on the george washington bridge. they did not know that there would not be a terrorist attack at the george washington bridge, which homeland security officials have long believed is exactly the kind of target that terrorists are looking for. one of america's iconic bridges, one of the world's iconic bridges. and the busiest bridge in the world. those conspirators had no idea what emergencies might develop on or near the bridge that emergency personnel would not be able to respond to because of the traffic jam that they decided to create for political reasons. in the 24 hours chris christie used to think about this, before he was capable of speaking a single public word about it, he decided to do only two things -- took him 24 hours to decide to do only two things. one, fire his deputy chief of staff, bridget kelly and two, fire his campaign manager. >> i was dis

., bridget anne kelly wrote, "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." why anyone? why then? this appears to be the order from governor christie's office to unleash hell on ft. lee. why? what happened around that time, 7:34 in the morning, august 13th, that was the time to pull the trigger? the governor, today, said he did not speak to the author of that e-mail, did not speak to his deputy chief of staff before he fired her. he said he didn't ask her what her motivation was in sending that e-mail and said he's not interested -- that was his phrase, not interested in whatever it was that motivated her to take that action. >> i have -- i have not had any conversation with bridget kelly since the e-mail came out. and so she was not given the opportunity to explain to me why she lied. because it was so obvious that she had. and i'm, quite frankly, not interested in the explanation at the moment. >> the only explanation anyone has about why she did do it, why the christie administration destroyed ft. lee for a week back in september, is the endorsements issue. the mayor's endorsement. and the

, late today, nbc news learned a subpoena has been served on a representative of bridget kelly, the former deputy chief of staff, who wrote the e-mail, "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." although 17 subpoenas are going out for individuals and three are for organizations, including the office of the governor, the word is direct and broad. the subpoenas are asking for documents related to the lane closure. going back to september of 2012, a full year before the lanes closed on the bridge. they demand all books, papers, condolence, other documents and materials and electronic records and data related to the lane closings. and they demand delivery in two weeks. that's on february 3rd. the subpoenas ask for documents, no testimony yet. but sources say it's only a matter of time before many of these officials will be asked to testify in public and under oath about their knowledge of the lane closings and efforts to conceal it after the fact. joining me now is nbc news national investigative correspondent michael isikoff. michael, thank you for being here today. >> good to be wit

, that's the port authority. in chris christkrooe chris chri other than bridget kelly, we've saw e-mails from her boss, kevin o'dowd, chris christie's nominee to be the next chief of staff of new jersey. and regena egea. and his chief council, who christie says is one of two people who direct report to him on this issue of the bridge shutdown. also the governor's chief spokesman, also the governor's other spokesman, also a high-level staffer in the governor's office. the governor's director of departmental relations. her name is christina genovese. also subpoenaed today, a low-level staffer named evan ridley, who we know took a call from the mayor of ft. lee during the shutdown, when the mayor was desperately looking for somebody to listen to his complaints about what was going on in his town. that's the governor's office as governor. over at the governor's re-election campaign, the people who have received subpoenas includes his campaign manager, bill steppian, his spokesperson, the campaign staffer who asked the ft. lee mayor for his endorsement, his name is matt mauers. he's sin

, former deputy chief of staff bridget kelly, who sent the notorious e-mail "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee", and former campaign manager bill stepien. all that's on the assembly side. we're also getting late-breaking word of subpoenas from the state senate, including two high-ranking officials, david samson, the chairman of the agency that runs the george washington bridge will be served. he is a very close ally of governor christie's, and he has come under intense scrutiny in recent days. also being served regina egea, governor christie's incoming chief of staff, and someone whose name appeared in documentress leased last week. of note, early this morning we learned the christie administration hired legal counsel in the name of assisting the investigation. and today a fast-moving development is clear the states are rapidly increasing. who else will be subpoenaed? will we get some answers soon? joining me live from outside the new jersey state house is assemblyman gordon johnson, who is on the special investigation committee, and former u.s. attorney kendall coffey. ass

it was in his executive office with bridget kelly or on his campaign staff with his campaign manager, with everything that was at stake and the pressure to get the numbers to all-time highs for his national platform, i can't imagine that they weren't focused of that or he said aw, shucks, i can't believe this is going on. he is too active. he is too in charge to not reach out and ask that question. now, the governor says he didn't. and we're going to take him 59 his word. our investigation is going to go to people like bridget kelly, like mr. stepien in a very methodical and strategic approach and see -- we all know there was an abuse of power. but what was the root of the abuse of power and how deep did it go. >> are you going to subpoena them all this week? >> we are interviewing outside counsel right now. yes not -- the state of new jersey is 120 legislators on a very small budget for our legislative staffs. so we are interviewing outside counsel right now. we hope to make an announcement tomorrow. we believe, and as a lawyer i would say there needs to be a very methodical

. 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 community affairs for new jersey and paul anaunz at-to. also nicole davidman who worked on funding. colin reed who was the deputy press secretary and christie for governor incorporated and the office of the governor itself. let me go to assembly leader louis greenwald. sir, thank you. give us a sense of what this widespread of subpoenas tells you about the nature of the investigation now bei

. this morning i terminated the employment of bridget kelly, effective immediately. i terminated her employment because she lied to me. ultimately, i am responsible for what happens under my watch. >> okay, well, honk if you can hear a political heartbeat. a governor under fire. his presidential dreams may be up in smoke. today, fox on top of the left and the right trying to bring one chris christie down. welcome everybody. i'm neil cavuto. talk about a bridge over troubled water. chris christie stuck on expect so far no clear sign yet he can get off it. months after a traffic mess, it is clear his closest aides triggered in a political tit-for-tat, as much as the new jersey governor wants to put this to rest, that is not that. not judging from the enormous media attention this is getting. >> chris christie in crisis. calls for the feds to step in. >> firestorm brewing around new jersey governor christie. the focus is the george washington bridge. >> will a traffic jam derail chris christie's white house hopes. >> scandal surrounding 0 chris christie. >> that it was political retribu

bridget kelly and bill to testify. my gut is that it wouldn't be appropriate for me to get in the middle of that because then there would be all kinds of other allegations about those conversations. so the smarter thing for me to do is ask those two folks to move on and talk to others that are still in my employ. [ inaudible question ] >> i believe that i've spoken to everyone who was mentioned in the e-mails except for charlie mckenna who is away at a family funeral. i'm confident based upon my conversations with them that they had no prior knowledge nor involvement in this situation. yeah, well, that's your characterization, not mine. but there is nobody on my staff who had any knowledge of this issue until after the issue was already done. in the back, yes? [ inaudible question ] >> it's awful. i've also seen conflicting reports of cause of death or whatever, but it doesn't matter. it's awful to hear. listen, all i can do is apologize for the conduct of the people who worked for me. i can't do anything else. i can't reverse time. if i could, believe me, i would. but i'm just go

. >> former deputy chief of staff bridget kelly. >> deputy chief of staff bridget kelly gave the order. >> let's call it an ill-advised decision. >> pof these lanes closed. >> we also don't really know why it happened. >> why did she order these lanes closed? >> the biggest unanswered question is how much christie knew. >> the assembly has the ability to do articles of wim paecht. >> john wisniewski's mentioned the i word there. >> we're way ahead of that. >> not one single link to chris christie has been found. >> but it gets to a culture in his office. >> if there is a culture -- >> that is problematic. >> in terms of what the republican leaders are doing. >> we have these two competing narratives. >> strategies ranging from silence -- >> we should reserve judgment. >> -- to overt criticism. zplt people you hire are the policies that are implemented. >> ouch. >> personnel is policy. >> people are now doubting his relationships. >> last week's obsessive scrutiny of the george washington bridge scandal was at the beginning of the end. >> this will take a while. >> this could be another

, bridget anne kelly of "time for traffic problems in ft. lee" e-mail fame is at the center of the bridge scandal. she fled the spotlight. if she's not talking, her friends are. we'll have the reporter that talked to them, just ahead. ique. 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 unique formula that's just not found in any leading multivitamin. your eyes are unique, so help protect your eye health with ocuvite. progressive.so help protect your eye health [ chicken caws ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums! purina dog chow light & healthy neutralizes acid on contact is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog cho

remains, as you've said, why did bridget anne kelly feel this was an acceptable -- >> right. and he did say i am not a bully. >> i am what i am, but i'm not a bully. >> right. >> it's the top of the hour. let's reset for viewers who may just be tuning in here in the "cnn newsroom." i'm wolf blitzer in washington. and we've just seen an extraordinary nearly two-hour news conference by the governor of new jersey chris christie apologizing repeatedly for what occurred in his state by some of his senior advisors announcing some forced resignations. he was firing his deputy chief of staff bridget anne kelly for supposedly going ahead and orchestrating an act of political vengeance, political vengeance, against the mayor of ft. lee, new jersey, the folks of ft. lee because the mayor allegedly supposedly had failed to endorse his re-election. the mayor is a democrat, chris christie is a republican. why a democrat would endorse a republican for re-election is something that is odd to begin with. we didn't get the explanation from bridget anne kelly, the governor didn't get the explanation from

bridget kelly, the governor's deputy chief of staff who we now know is the person who ordered time for some traffic problems in ft. lee to which david wildstein responded, got it. during the shutdown, while it was still happening before the executive director of the authority intervened and forced them to stop doing what they were doing, ft. lee was into its fourth day of gridlock because of this manmade shutdown. on that fourth day, on thursday, christina renna wrote to bridget kelly this e-mail about the ft. lee traffic disaster and the they your of ft. lee. dear bridget, this afternoon evan received a call from mayor sokolich. not only is it causing horrendous traffic backup in town, but first responders are having a terrible time maneuvering the traffic because the backup is so severe. the mayor told evan he has no idea why port authority decided to do this but there is -- retribution for something. he simply can't understand why that would be the case, however, because he's always been so supportive of the governor. evan told the fine mayor, he was unaware the toll lanes were clos

much. >>> coming up, bridget anne kelly of "time for traffic problems in ft. lee" e-mail fame is at the center of the bridge scandal. chris christie fired her. she fled the spotlight. if she's not talking, her friends are. we'll have the reporter that talked to them, just ahead. [ male announcer ] so when he catches a cold, he's got to power through it. ♪ vicks dayquil. powerful non-drowsy 6 symptom cold and flu relief. winter olympian ted ligety can't take a sick day tomorrow. [ coughs ] [ male announcer ] so he can't let a cold keep him up tonight. vicks nyquil. powerful nighttime 6 symptom cold and flu relief. ♪ kand i don't have time foris morunreliable companies.b angie's list definitely saves me time and money. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. >>> i terminated her employment because she lied to me. i am heartbroken that someone who i permitted to be in that circle of trust for the last five years betrayed my trust. she was not given the opportunity to explain to me why she lied. because it was so obvious that she had. i was li

bridget anne kelly who is now at the center of the bridge scandal. thanks to the uncovering her infamous eight-word e-mail reading "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." more than likely, chris christie's fate is going to have a lot to do with what bridget anne kelly does next. and this headline from today's print edition of "the new york times," "aide fired by christie is loyal team player, not rogue operative" contains good news and bad news for the governor. let me explain. the current story christie would have you believe the traffic jam at the george washington bridge was more or less a rogue operation taken on by appointees and staff members christie knew nothing about. the picture we're getting of bridget "time for some traffic problems" kelly indicates that she was not a rogue operator. it makes it seem rather unlikely she woke up one morning and decided on her own to go ahead and screw the people of ft. lee. the good news for chris christie is that if he was going to survive this mess, it is crucial that bridget kelly has to be a loyal soldier. that she can't roll

about bridget kelly, how would she have even thought this kind of retribution was possible and desirable working for chris christie unless that atmosphere existed in that office? >> that's a very difficult question. the other difficult question is, can a deputy in the governor's office in one state order lane closures in the port of new jersey by a phone call or get people to do it? i think there are still unanswered questions. i think he came out very strong today. i've known him -- i've known him since he was a teenager, one thing about him, he never has lied to me. i've always believed him. you can criticize in a lot of ways, but i don't think you can cite size he's not a truth teller. i suspect he didn't know. how that atmosphere was allowed to exist and shou she says could give an order to the port authority and have it accepted and whether or not there are more than two or three people involved, that's going to come out over the next weeks or even months and we'll have a big effect on chris christie's future. >> and whether or not this was an isolated incident, whether th

in an epic press conference that he has fired his deputy chiefs of staff, bridget anne kelly, author of the now infamous e-mail reading "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee." one of governor christie's most trusted advisers, campaign manager bill stepien, whose e-mail called the mayor of ft. lee an idiot, who was fired and instructed not to submit his name for state party chairman. the firings come on a day when the u.s. attorney has announced the opening of a federal investigation and key christie appointee at the center of the scandal pled the fifth in front of the new jersey house committee and we will get to all of that. >>> but before we do, governor christie gave the performance of his life today. once apologizing and portraying himself as the victim, all in an effort to prove he has nothing left to hide, but there is so, so much we still do not know. >> good morning. >> today in new jersey, chris christie put on a marathon performance. ripped straight from a "west wing" script. >> i should do a till they drop press conference on the nuclear accident. answer every reporte

provoked this. but bridget kelly sitting in her office did not suddenly think up, i have nothing else to do, i'm going to create a traffic jam. >> and as new details of the scandal unfold, the 108 minute press conference did not quiet the critics or the comics. >> some say this could ruin christie's chances of being elected president of 2016 while hillary clinton said, party! >> awaiting the release of more documents from a new jersey senate committee that could explain the contradictions in governor christie's story. was the bridge traffic jam a one off political ploy or typical of revenge politics in christie's administration and how credible is the govern's denial that he asked no question as the scandal intensified and after two of his appointees resigned from the port authority under pressure. joining me now, political news director, chuck todd and mat katz for wnyc and new jersey public radio. welcome both. first to you, matt, the developments and of course the explanations, 108 minutes, what questions were not answered to your satisfaction? >> the biggest question lingering over t

. it's going have subpoena. starting imminently, i would expect bridget kelly, the deputy chief of staff who was thrown overboard last week. i would expect subpoena there's. i would expect a subpoena of bill stepien. there are others. there are others we have learned from the e-mails and text who are closely connected to chris christie who i believe and i strongly suspect will be subpoenaed too. you're talking about a woman named regina egea. she is somebody chris christie would like to be his chief of staff. on the 13th of september last year, when the new york side on the port authority issued a memo, a scathing memo that said hey, possibly federal and state laws are being broken here, that memo was forwarded to her on last september 13th. and at that time, she was running governor chris christie's authority unit. that means she was in his office. she was forwarded that e-mail. she had it last september 13th. that raise as ton of questions what did she do when she got that e-mail. did she talk to chris christie about it? and what did he do when he found out? all we have right now

to conceal an abuse of government power, while speaking to the legislature, and bridget kelly, who is the one who ordered the traffic jam in the first place, who ordered, "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee," bridget kelly, who therefore must know that bill baroni just lied to the legislature when he said those traffic problems were caused by a study, bill baroni says that to the legislature and thereafter, bridget kelly, who knows what he said is false sends word, good job, i'm really happy with this thing i know is not true to conceal an abuse of power when you spoke to the legislature. she knows what he said isn't true and she says, good job. but it's not just bridget kelly who says it, chris christie's deputy chief of staff. it's not just her who high fives bill baroni for his false testimony to the legislature, it's also nicole, who, reasonably speaking, given the subpoenas today, may turn out to be nicole who is governor christie's campaign chief on his re-election effort. she is the person who got subpoenaed today. her name is nicole. if the crime here was concealing an

middle of that. the chairman said he intends to ask bridget kelly to testify and it wouldn't be inappropriate to get in the middle and that would be other allegations about the conversations. the smarter things, about those two folks who i made determinations regarding their future, to talk to other folks still in my employ. >> there are other names in the e-mails, are you confident that they are -- >> i believe that i've spoken to everyone who was mentioned in the e-mails except for charlie mckenna, who is away at the family funeral. and i am confident based upon my conversations with them, that they had no prior knowledge nor involvement in this situation. >> that's your characterization, not mine, but there was nobody on my staff who had any knowledge of this issue until after the issue was already done. in the back, yes. [ indiscernible ] >> it's also, i've seen conflicting reports about the cause of death. it's awful to hear. [ indiscernible ] >> all i can do is apologize for the conduct of people who worked for me. i can't reverse time. if i could, believe me, i would. i'm

. what bridget kelly was doing was following orders from somebody higher up in the christie administration. that is a contested assertion. he's asserting it as fact here. this thing really reads to me as a very strong attempt to communicate with the u.s. attorney to say, there are things i know and things i can prove and if you give me immusei immunity, i can provide those details. >> christie said he was hurt, disappointed, sad. what kind of legal jeopardy could he be in if wildstein is telling the truth? >> he could be in considerable legal jeopardy. there's no quibbling about the political jeopardy he would be in if this charge turns out to be true. not only would it end his presidential campaign, but it would possibly end his governorship if the law was that flat and that obvious and that public. but i think we need to be careful here, ed, not to jump to conclusions. there are many unanswered questions about this letter. it is almost on the order of fishing for something. fishing either for a deal from paul fishman, the u.s. attorney from new jersey, in which case raises

port authority. in mid-august just a few days before bridget kelly writes that e-mail saying time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. why did he include the references to a meeting between christie and sampson in this response to a subpoena? that's the question i've been talking to a lot of people in the state house today. that's the question they're asking that nobody is really focused on. >> thank you, michael isikoff. great reporting from trenton. steve, you've been so smart on this stuff. answer my open question at the beginning, steve. my theory here is this guy the governor of new jersey is very lawyered, lawyered up in his own head, it's in his dna how to protect himself. all these months since september when the traffic patterns were ordered from his staff he made a point of not talking to them. the other day in his press conference he said i only have two reports. my counsel and head lawyer counsel relationship like client relationship and his chief of staff. in other words, i never talked to bridgett kelly. i never talked to anybody. i only have to -- he's cauterized himse

more about him being the victim and him firing bridget kelly because she lied to him. not so much because of the actions that she took. is this a dangerous neetheme fo chris christie going forward. we also saw criticism of him in the same vein after he delivered a speech. >> right in tampa. i was there in tampa and i remember hearing the christie s of time talking about him. and the press conference which was dubbed the me, me, mea culpa which is too many mes and mys. when he was asked the question about the 2016 presidential ambitions, he didn't push them aside and say this isn't about that, this is about now and the 4-year-old and the thousands who were late to work and couldn't get 0 work. this is what this is about. i'm going to make sure this never happens again to them. that wasn't in anything that he said, so chris christie going forward, let's say he weathers this storm -- sorry, no pun intended here -- but if he weathers this, he has to remember to keep that me, i, my in check. >> yeah, watch the puns. >> frank, i am not for the christie over 2016 camp. people in that cam

road hog. and here they are. bridget anne kelly, christie's deputy chief of staff who was fired by the governor. bill stepien, who was christie's campaign manager. charles mcken narcotics christie's chief counsel. port authority chairman david samson. bill baroni, the former deputy director of the port authority appointed by christie. david wildstein a new jersey political appointee at the port authority. kevin o'dowd, his chief of staff and appointee to become new jersey attorney general. regina egea, christie's designated new chief of staff. and mikeful drewniak, press secretary. maria kanell. for his reelection campaign, and evan ridley, another christie aid. phillipe danielides. christina lado. and paul nunziato, the port authority police yoon authority. also nicole davidman who worked on fundraising for the christie cam mean. colin reed, and the entity christie for governor incorporated. and the office of the governor itself. let me go to assembly leader lewis greenwald, sir. give us a sense of what you think the widespread of subpoenas tells about the nature of the investigation

. guadagno. if she breaks, will he have to cut her loose too? second woman, bridget kelly. the governor has already called her a liar and stupid. based on the fact she just hired a big-time lawyer, who do think she'll be backing under close questioning, she and her family or the governor who called her a liar? if is it illegal to hold up a money to gain advantage, where does that put the governor? and where does it put ms. kelly if it's illegal to hold up the bridge traffic in a vendetta? and this leaves the governor wondering who he fears most. well, steve kornacki is the host of "up" and steve, you're on top of this case from the beginning." let me ask you about this big development. it looks like a in temporary corroborating evidence is building that most people and perhaps the courts and the investigators should probably believe mayor zimmer that she did in fact get a warning. she heard a warning after a meeting with the lieutenant governor about not getting any help for hurricane relief and future relief unless she went along with the real estate deal. >> yeah, well, again. as i sa

certainly going to bridget kelly, who has now been made the villain in this piece, why wouldn't they want to come out at some point and say, you know what? i'm an office holder. i work for a guy. my mission here is to carry out his purposes. and one of them is are political, and i did what i did. i wasn't out robbing gas stations for money. i was doing this for him. >> well, the question here, you take these people individually, but let's start with bridget kelly, because bridget kelly is the one he really singled out yesterday. he called her a liar five or ten times during that press conference. i think the logical conclusion you draw from watching chris christie doing that yesterday, this is a guy who is confident there is nothing that is going to come out that is going to contradict him. there is no further documentation that is going to come out. >> meaning he never talked to her in the office all these months about this trouble, he never -- >> well, there is -- >> my point, he probably didn't. he made a point of never winking in her direction, take care, you'll get through this. any

of the transportation committee. >> so bridget kelly seems to be one of the first targets of the new subpoena. so everyone can contract all this, deputy chief of staff, she was not the target of the original subpoenas. her e-mails, the time for traffic problems in ft. lee, because a subpoena of david wildstein, he replies, got it. now these committees will go after bridget kelly. >> right. a couple things are key there. first of all, the fact that this scandal worked its way into the governor's office, officially through the david wildstein e-mails and text message, tells you that david wildstein is not on the back channels on the christie team. there is an article bridget kelly remaining loyal a week later. >> throw that headline up there. i like this, aide fired by christie is called loyal team player, not rogue operative. >> the key here to me is one thing wildstein is not behind the scenes on team christie. they were totally blindsided by the fact that he had e-mails linked to their office. the second thing is he's putting little clues in documents that were released and are rais

, she reported to bridget kelly. who is the governor's deputy chief of staff, we now know ordered "time for traffic problems in ft. lee" which david wildstein said, got it. before the director intervened and forced them to stop doing what they were doing. ft. lee was into its fourth day of gridlock because of this man made shutdown and on that fourth day on thursday chrischristina released this memo. this afternoon, evan received a call from mayor sokolich, first responders are having a terrible time maneuvering the traffic because the backup was so severe. he said he has no idea why the port authority did this. he simply can't understand why that would be the case, however, because he has been so supportive of the governor. evan told the fine mayor, he was unaware that the toll lanes were closed, but he would see what he could find out. this is an e-mail during the bridge shutdown. it's to bridge et kelly from christina renna who worked in the governor's office the evan referenced in the e-mail we think is probably evan j. ridley who works in the governor's office. nobody seems t

anonymous political operative like david weinstein or bridget kelly. he is a pillar of new jersey politics. >> the question of the hour is, is david sampson at some point going to be subpoenaed by this committee and what i'm hearing is that there is an enormous amount of pressure to not have him subpoena david sampson, because of his role in new jersey politics? >> he has one of the thickest resumes in the state. it calls him the second most influential man in new jersey politics. he has worked under four governors, democrats and republicans, serving as everything from general counsel to the new jersey turnpike authority to attorney general of new jersey, 2002, under democrat, jim mcgreevey. he runs one of the most powerful law firms in the state. christie appointed sampson's partner, jeffrey kieza as the interim senator. david samson is also very, very tight with christie. he served as his campaign council and went on to head up his transition team and when his inauguration day arrived, he helped to do the honors. >> my name is david samson. over the past 2 1/2 months, i have bee

sitting saying this aide lied, putting it on bridget kelly. how many times did he call her a liar? >> but he didn't talk to her. he didn't talk to her. >> that was the strange thing. there were 117 days between when the executive director of the port authority raised a stink until chris christie found out the order had come from his office. part of it seems to be when he fires these people, he doesn't seem to want to talk to them. he was saying yesterday, i don't want to talk to bridget kelly. shouldn't he ask her and try to figure out if other employees of his might be lying to him? >> where does the buck stop, because when you look at what the first e-mail is, this is a mid point conversation. this is not, hey, you know, i was thinking, maybe we should try to close down the george washington bridge. this was mid point in some string of either conversations, e-mails, texts, whatever. >> i see two plausible scenarios here, what chris christie painted yesterday, i was completely in the dark and blindsided about this until wednesday morning i think is completely implausible. i think

few days before bridget kelly writes that e-mail saying time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. so why did he include the references to a meeting between christie and samson in this -- in response to the subpoena? that's the question i've been talking to a lot of people in the state house today. that's a question they're asking. that's something that they're pointing to that nobody is really focused on. >> okay. what have you been able to get out of the documents that were just dumped on the media? >> i think what the departments really show is just sort of further underscore what a complete fiasco this was. you have patrick foy, the executive director of the port authority just going ballistic talking about the threat to public safety, endangering lives, pointing out that, you know, there are e-mails from ft. lee public police talking about somebody having a cardiac arrest, a missing child, the child is later found. but, you know, there were real public safety consequences here. a couple of other things. this took place the week of the anniversary of september 11th. >> i know.

bridget kelly to say it's time for traffic problems in fort lee. we need to know what was the conversation before it. you saw that e-mail. you had to have had a conversation before to understand what it meant. >> yep. >> what was that conversation, and who was it with? that's what we're going to try to find out. >> we talked about david sampson, he appears in the batch of e-mails in the first round of subpoenas. he's incredibly powerful and well respected person in new jersey politics, the chair of the entire port authority. i read reports and heard from people there was pressure not to subpoena david sampson. was there pressure not to subpoena david sampson? >> i received no pressure on david sampson one way or another, but he's an individual we need to look at. clearly, the response that's in the e-mails, that he was going to help retaliate, that pat foye, the executive director's playing in traffic. if this was a regular traffic study and somebody stopped it by mistake, i don't think you have that kind of response. it was an angry response. >> in the e-mails, whether he kne

commissioner because brett had lied to him. the language he used in talking about bridget kelly a few weeks ago was the same language he used talking about brett. brett said, i probably deserve to be fired, but i didn't deserve to be called a liar. he had memos and e-mails he was able to put on the record that chris christie knew everything that brett knew. in that context, that was a limited sort of media fire storm. it was over in a abobout a week. >> to follow on that, the person that was most -- go ahead, michael. >> we do now have a copy of the letter from mr. wildstein's lawyer and it does say exactly as "the new york times" has reported that mr. wildstein contests the accuracy of the statements, of various statements, that the governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some. so that is the letter from david wildstein's lawyer contesting what governor christie has said about the lane closures. >> we are in receipt of a copy -- >> yes. >> michael, that was a letter to the port authority contesting the port authority's refusal to pay his legal bills? >> that's correct. y