now for "the lead" we go live to jake tapper in trenton, new jersey. jake? >>> welcome to trenton, new jersey, home for the scandal, state for the horrific weather. i'm jake tapper. this is "the lead." the national lead, how far away is spring? almost two months exactly. snow is piling on to what is becoming a long hard winter. i can tell you, suppressing the shiver in my voice, it is brutal out here. the politics lead, governor chris christie. today is the first day of the rest of your administration. the governor and possible presidential hopeful ignoring the controversies currently plaguing his office and turning the page to his new term. >>> and the world lead. all eyes are on russia as authorities try to track down so-called black widows who may be part of a plan to attack the games. one congressman is in sochi right now who says the greatest threat to americans is much closer to home. >>> welcome to "the lead," coming to you live from trenton, new jersey, where the second inauguration of the chris christie took place behind me. i cannot ignore the reas

at trenton high, they hope to see vast improvements soon. ron allen, nbc news, trenton, new jersey. >>> still ahead for us tonight, the health story you may have heard about when it came out this morning about what consumer reports has found in soda, and is there any need for concern? >>> and then later, a pair of unforgettable best friends, and the inspiring way one stood by the other when times got tough. >>> we're back as promised with tonight's health news, about a chemical commonly found in the commer coloring used in soda, a lot of different carbonated beverages. the questions come from consumer reports, which says the chemical causes cancer in animals although the fda has found no risk to humans. our story tonight from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: it is a chemical found in the artificial carmel coloring of some of the most widely consumed sodas. it's called 4mei, found to cause cancer in ice. approved by the federal government 40 years ago, in 2012, california set a daily consumer limit. now a consumer reports investigation has fo

this is the live picture, trenton, new jersey. governor chris christie is going to be inaugurated for a second term in less than an hour, but, of course, it's happening with his office under a shadow of not one, but two scandals. joining me now, new jersey democratic congressman frank pallone, a senior member of the house energy and commerce committee. good to see you, congressman. a lot of developments in just the last 24 hours, so let me ask you first about the super committee being formed. they are taking the assembly and senate. they have eight democrats, four republicans who are going to look into this. what are the questions you still have and what do you think the appropriate role is there? >> well, i think the super committee needs to look into everything that has been raised so far, not only bridgegate, but certainly the allegations now that are coming from the mayor of hoboken, and that concerns me the most, the fact that the governor, or the christie administration, traded, you know, developments or the approval of a de

this is "the lead" in trenton, new jersey. the politics lead. usually the state of the state address does not attract this much attention but when you talk about the man who is the whole's show 2016 front-runner, it's an event. chris christie, under multiple examinations. >>> the cop is in court for allegedly gunning down a man for killing a man for texting in a theater. >>> and the world lead. he has the blood of hundreds of people on his hands and khalid sheikh mohammed is now speaking out about spreading islam through violence. what is behind his supposed reversal? good afternoon. i'm jake tapper. we're coming to you live from where chris christie is giving the most closely watched state of the state address of his career, perhaps in new jersey history, frankly, right here in the capital city of trenton. a week ago, this republican governor in this traditionally blue state, lengthening the school year, the school day. that, of course, was before damaging e-mails came to light to show that some in his inner circle orchestrated a massive traffi

. >>> trenton, we have a problem. let's play "hardball." >>> will good evening i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this huge political bomb shell out of new jersey. what happens when the hard evidence of political skullduggery catches up with a politician's all out denials. what happens when a possible presidential candidate, contender even gets connected to the kind of underhanded trickery and vengeance taking that he claimed he never had anything to do with. as i say, trenton, we have a problem. governor chris christie has made it clear he had nothing to do withholding up traffic on the george washington bridge to set all score with a local mayor who didn't endorse his re-election. this morning's bergen record showed emails and text messages from governor christie's own office to be closely involved in what happened those mornings that the entrance to the george washington bridge. they show that officials closed those lanes as retribution against the local mayor just as christie's critics had

clearly, there is a cloud over trenton. it results not from the when we think of corruption in terms of somebody enriching himself. no, the governor would never do that or the lieutenant governor. there is a clear abuse of power here and a lot of fear. that's what's happened over the last few years. if you don't support the governor or the administration, they are going to get you. that's what happened over in ft. lee and that's what happened in owe broken. hoboken. if you are not on board, we're going to get you. >> when you make such cat gore c cat gore cal accusations, there has been a cover-up here, there is no proof that leads directly to the governor. i am sure having worked in the law for as long as you have, you know those claims won't hold up in any kind of court. >> i don't know where you got that. i didn't know where you got those. >> i haven't spoken to salon in a long time. the event that happened out in ft. lee clearly goes to the top people in the administration and this new allegation from mayor zimmer goes

this is "the lead" in trenton, new jersey. the politics lead. usually the state of the state address does not attract this much attention but when you talk about the man who is the whole's show 2016 front-runner, it's an event. chris christie, under

he has to have one foot in trenton or both feet in trenton, really at the same time he's supposed to be running the rga. >> beyond this particular issue, were there other incidents of political retribution. i mean if this was a climate in his office, hard to imagine the only time anything was done was in this particular case. if that happens, that's very troubling for chris christie and his team. if they can find a second incident or third incident, that would really launch this into a whole other level of trouble. >> susan page and chris cillizza, thanks very much. >> on the same sex legal fight in utah, i'm joined by pete williams. >> the justice department said it will honor the same-sex marriages, will legally recognize those performed in the 17-day window after a judge ruled on december 20th that the state's ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional and this past monday when the supreme court pumtt a hold on tt ruling. eric holder says, these families should not be asked to endure uncertainty regarding their status as the litigation unfolds. now, it's an odd situation in ut

is that the case here in trenton? >> not at all. in fact, the chairman has been aggressive at getting down to the bottom of this. it took time. there's a lot of stonewalling going on. governor christie got away with a lot. he thought he would get away with this. when we finally got e-mails and found out what actually happened and it's just going to get worse and worse as we discover more and more. >> all right. democrat from new jersey, senator. again, i want to reiterate that we were talking about a theory that was being advanced by my colleague, rachel maddow. thank you so much. joined now by msnbc contributor and host of a great radio show over on sirius and joined by anna palmer with politico. we should note for our viewers that we are in trenton waiting on hundreds of pages of additional documents set to be released today that we hope sheds more light on the investigation here. michael, let me start with you. at this point what don't we know? what are some of the questions out there that you want to hear answered that need to b

that's something that nobody is really focused on. >> great reporting from trenton. answer my question question at the beginning, steve. the governor of new jersey is very lawyered up. it's in his dna how to protect himself. the other day in his press conference he said i only have two reports. my counsel and his chief of staff. in other words, i never talked to bridgett kelly. he separated himself completely from any possible krpblt by the nature of the way he described the situation. my question is the dog that doesn't bark. why for four months didn't he ever inquire about what his people were up to. >> that's a logical theory that this was willful ignorance on his part. >> i'm borrowing it from your analysis the other day because you used that very term. i thought it was so on the mark. >> i think there is a specific reason why if you accept that theory and you play it out, there is a specific reason why he might have been confident in that strategy, and that has to do with sort of the internal mechanics of new jersey politics. the current state legislative sessio

up next, michael isikoff at the state house in trenton. bus msnbc's mike murray is going to join "the cycle." ♪ [ laughs ] whoo! ♪ oh! nice! great! [ laughs ] a shot like that calls for a postgame celebration. [ male announcer ] share what you love with who you love. kellogg's frosted flakes. they're gr-r-eat! we're gonna be late. ♪ ♪ ♪ oh are we early? [ male announcer ] commute your way with the bold, all-new nissan rogue. ♪ ♪ with the bold, all-new nissan rogue. [ girl ] roses are red. violets are blue. splenda® is sweet. and so are you. [ female announcer ] just about anywhere you use sugar, you can use splenda® no calorie sweetener. ♪ splenda® lets you experience the joy of sugar without all the calories. it's a very good reason to enjoy something sweet with the ones you love. think sugar, say splenda™ i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more symptoms than any other

>> kelly o'donnell in trenton tonight. thank you. >>> much of the eastern part of country was dealing with severe weather today, damaging thunderstorms, strong winds and isolated tornadoes left a trail of damage in the south with reported wind gusts of almost 90 miles per hour in north carolina. in the northeast, icy conditions caused a tractor-trailer to jack knife on the main turnpike, and that throwed a chain reaction of crashes involving 70 vehicles. five people were injured. >>> he was a towering and controversial figure of the history of israel. a soldier and statesman known as a fierce and sometimes brutal defender of his country. former prime minister ariel sharon died today after being incapacitated for eight years following a stroke. he was 85. nbc's martin fletcher who covered him for decades, takes a look back. >> reporter: hidden from view, the body of ariel sharon was driven from tel aviv today. from jerusalem, for a state ceremony in parliament monday. his son galad said, sharon chose his own time to go. whi

can the leaders and key investigators in trenton get to the bottom of this operation road hog that has disgusted the country or will they be blocked by a system that protects the politician while ignoring the public? well, the good politics now of catching the perpetrators and preventing such acts from happening again overwhelm the people who have committed those acts and sought to hide them. well, the good politics of catching the bad guys in this episode beat the bad politics of those who now nervously wait for the wheels of justice to commence. as the machinery of this investigation emerges this friday with each new output of subpoenas, this is the question that looms. as those looking for the truth go to war with those seeking to hide it, who's going to come out on top? will there be enough juice to become a huge potent blob of denial and self-protection? louis greenwall is a new jersey assemblyman, the majority leader and serves on the investigative committee itself. loretta weinberg's district includes ft. lee and has been fighting to get to the bottom of this scandal since it be

a live look there on the floor in trenton. as they are gaveling things to order and introducing some local politicians. i'm led to believe this will not begin for a couple more minutes and then the governor will go right into this bridge controversy. we'll take a quick break so we can get live coverage after this. ♪ driving rock music music stops ♪ music resumes ♪ music stops ♪ music resumes ♪ ♪ [announcer] if your dog n dream it, [whistle] purina pro plan can help him achieve it. nutrition that performs. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. >>> a live look at the state house in trenton. chris christie has just been introduced. i

. >> if you talk to democrats down in trenton, some democrats down in trenton, anyway, the apprehension that i pick up on is the existence not of this assembly committee. the assembly committee, when you talk to democrats who are eager to really get to the bottom of this thing, they like this committee. they like the counsel who has been brought in. this looks like a real first rate professional operation that is being put together here. and when you look at the scope of the subpoenas we're now talking about right away, you're looking at a committee that means business. the trepidation that you pick up when you talk to the same democrats is the existence of the senate. the senate investigation, and they're wondering if it doesn't -- two things. one is the fact that the reality of trenton and the reality of new jersey politics that you really need to understand nationally is nationally we're so used to looking at democrats, republicans, democrats try to get republicans, republicans try to get democrats. in new jersey, there is a band. there is a powerful band of democrats who are aligned

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 himself and separated himself completely from any possible criminality by the nature of the way he described the situation. my question is the dog that doesn't bark. why for four months didn't he ever inquire about what his people were up to. the only answer i can come to is he damn well knew they were involved and didn't want to hear it. your thoughts? >> that's a logical theory that this was willfu

we're going to be live in trenton. we'll also speak with one of the top republicans in the state this morning to get his take on this whole thing. and it is inauguration day. >> all right, thanks so much, kate. >> thanks, guys. >>> an emotional reunion in alaska. a man gets to meet the rescuers who pulled him from a frozen lake and saved his life. last month, 60-year-old michael fruzier was riding his motorcycle on the ice, hit a thin patch, went right in, and then two ice fishermen came to his rescue. >> we didn't have any rope, so we did the old i'll lay on my belly. >> i grabbed his legs and we just basically worked together as a team to get him out of the water. >> so grateful to those guys for putting their lives at risk to save me. i'm so grateful. >> the emergency techs say the fishermen got to him just in time. when he arrived at the hospital, his body temperature had dropped down to 91 degrees. >> that is crazy! a lucky, lucky man. >> yeah, unlucky and then lucky. >>> all right, coming up for us next, could an

. >> joining me now from trenton, new jersey, this morning is msnbc's craig melvin. craig, let's first talk about these new documents that we're getting today. what is everybody expecting to find in them? what is the detail of these documents? >> thomas, we're expecting somewhere north of 900 pages of documents to be released here in trenton. that's why we're here. i was just inside a few moments ago. i asked about those documents. we're told that they are going to be released some time late morning, so that would mean we should get them within the hour, but they are not saying that's necessarily going to happen. the question of what can we expect to find, we don't really know. what we do know is that all of this sort of started, if you will, because of the initial document dump, and it was in those documents that we saw the e-mails, we saw the text messages that prompted that two-hour apology yesterday. and also, of course, it was in these documents we saw david wildstein, the top port authority executive, who has since resigned, where he referred to the mayor, wher

what's the latest there in trenton? >> reporter: well, what we're talking about, craig, is that same sort of document dump of e-mails, a couple thousand pages. people have been pouring through it to look for clues that might suggest how wide was this scandal, who might have known. some of those disclosures include now some of the top communication strategy folks who work for the governor and are still on the job, or have communications about the fact that there was a lane closure problem. what these new e-mails do not indicate is anything specifically related to the underlying allegation that the e-mail trail showed us earlier where there was apparently an actual plan to intentionally shut down the lanes for political purposes. what these e-mails do is say that there was awareness in the governor's office, that the lane closures, just as a traffic event, were a problem. how much of a problem? even if there had been no underlying plot, so to speak, this kind of a transportation issue would certainly be something that wou

worst case is he gets drummed out of trenton in scandal. take a look at this year, wrought in news for chris christie. a poll shortly released after noon today, the question, would christie make a good president? 35% answered yes. that is down double digits, folks, down 15 percentage points from november when that scandal involving alleged political payback erupted in christie's backyard. let me show you some other numbers. separate national poll finds nearly six in ten americans, 58% there, do not believe christie, that he didn't know his aides were plotting those traffic jams last summer apparently to punish an enemy. that said, no mention of scandal in the governor's speech today. here are some of the high points. >> suburbanits and city dwellers, african-americans and lati latinos, women and men, doctors and teachers, factory workers and tradesmen, republicans and democrats and independents, together they have demanded that we stay the course. they have helped set. let's be different than our neighbors. let's put more money in the pocke

joining me now for our daily fix is chris cillizza and live in trenton, new jersey, nbc's kelly o'donne o'donnell. kelly, today we learned there's going to be a special investigative committee solely focused on the bridge with subpoena power. you sat down with the assemlyman who will lead it, john wisniewski, how significant is this announcement and what can we expect? >> i just came from the announcement that they made and raced over here to be able to tell you first, peter, what they've said is they created this super committee which means it is pulling together both members of both parties and they will have this special power but also hire outside counsel to pursue this investigation. as you know, legislative bodies have committees that have certain areas of jurisdiction and basically say these issues have become so significant and you are potentially so far reaching they need to create a separate way to pursue this. they also told us that because of the calendar of how they do business here, things will slow down a little bit. on thursday, the new assembly begins a new session and

this is the patriot theater at the trenton war memorial. we are live for the inauguration of governor chris christie. ♪ ♪ [applause] >> good morning. i am the cochairman of the inauguration, along with my partner, todd kristi. i want to thank you for braving the elements to join us this morning. myi was driving down here, job this morning is to introduce our master of ceremonies, as you can see by your program. i appreciate you breathing the elements to join us this morning. i was driving down here, the master of ceremonies and i were, telephoning and texting back and forth among making sure one of us will be here. i want the record to show i beat him. when chris christie and i were practicing law for many moons ago in cranford, new jersey. was a lawney, there -- a young lawyer at the end of the hall who was always there before we got there and always there when we left. it is a great lesson to you young warriors out there. the lawyer at the end of the hall went on to be an assistant u.s. attorney, general counsel to the governor to my

everybody in trenton knew about it. but the democrats by and large, not all of them, but those in power were content to let the clock run out and let this go. if there are openings along the way from now until whenever for them to do the same, i can't tell you exactly what they might be and they may not ever appear. i think it's worth keeping in mind that the powerful democrats in trenton who have been aligned with chris christie the past four years were ready to let the clock run out until last week. if they get another chance, to i would not be surprised if they do it again. >> on that note, because chris christie is obviously continuing with the affairs of the state, going to raise money this weekend, which of course is an affair of the new jersey state, perhaps his own state as a would-be candidate, but he's talking about planning the second inauguration, going through with the day to day activities. how much is all of this gumming up the works in a practical sense from your sources in new jersey? are people sort of

the kids in the classroom, they had headaches. >> trenton school officials have sued, claiming health and safety hazards threaten students and staff on a daily basis and demand immediate repairs. >> we stand before you begging for help. >> the community accuses lawmakers at the capitol less than two miles away of turning a blind eye. they say governor christie has been publicly asked to visit. he has not. >> i don't ever want students to get comfortable and think this is okay and think this is normal and think this is acceptable. >> it's embarrassing to go into another school and it's like, you guys have this, you have this, you have this? >> now, perhaps a breakthrough, as christie spoke at another embattled school, confirmation he will support a plan to build a new high school in trenton. >> this is one of a few times a television camera has been allowed inside the school during a school day. i went there a couple times, i was really overwhelmed. >> why now? did this exposing of it -- >> i don't want to be that self indulgent, but a lot of people in trenton thought our asking questi

he is going to be speaking here at the state house in trenton new jersey in less than an hour, at 3:00 sharp, to give his state of the state. and as you will see from this fillingle, there are a lot of allegations building up against him on his plate, and waiting to see whether he mentioned them in the state of the state. last summer this ad was one of many pushing tour anymore the aftermath of hurricane sandy. >> because we are stronger than the storm. >> but this post sandy marketing campaign is now under scrutiny from federal authorities amido allegations that kristy put health and his family front and center of the ads right in the middle of his re-election bid. now in order to do this, the team spent $2 million more on production costs than the next lowest bid. giving it to a firm with which they had tied. he alerted the department of housing and urban development, telling the inspector general the cash could have been spent on victims the inspector general is now investigating. this latest end comes day after he was forced to apologize for a traffic scandal. kristy said he knew n

this what it's been in trenton? >> bullying and threats, that's been the culture. >> chris, let me say this. the governor is really had a motto, do as i say, not what i do. and what he does is now coming out. now, of course it's after the election. he has been duly elected. he has been sworn in as the governor for the next four years. that's not going to stop people from asking about the very issues you have referred to in the past shows. frank has just been talking about some of them. this is important that we get to the bottom of this. >> thank you congressman frank pallone and congressman bill pascrell. >> thank you. >>> up next, mike huckabee's comments on women's libidos, i don't know why these guys talk about these, didn't go unnoticed in the late night comedians. this is "hardball," the place for politics. >>> utah senator mike lee will deliver the tea party response next week. it's expected to be the exact same text of obama's speech, but delivered in this voice. >> well, addressing the republican national c

nbc's kelly o'donnell is in trenton for us again tonight. >> reporter: today in union beach, new jersey's lieutenant governor, kim guadagno, joined volunteers at a hurricane sandy rebuilding event. and she hammered at a new political crisis. >> the suggestion that anyone would hold back sandy relief funds for any reason is wholly and completely false. >> reporter: that allegation comes from hoboken mayor, democrat dawn zimmer, who this weekend went on television and met with the u.s. attorney's office. zimmer claims that last may, the lieutenant governor and another top official, richard constable, seen with the governor just last week, both told her relief funds would be held up unless zimmer backed a major commercial development. >> she said, i know it's not right. i know these things should not be connected, but they are. and if you tell anyone, i'll deny it. >> reporter: today, guadagno acknowledged a conversation, but -- >> i am very surprised by the mayor's allegations. and i deny wholeheartedly those allegations. >> reporter: constable called zimmer's allegations patently false and

outside of the state capital, trenton, new jersey, i'm steve handelsman, news 4. >> thank you, steve. >> marine one carries the nation's most valuable cargo, and still ahead, a rare sitdown interview with the hand-picked crew that flies the president. >>> and job searching. local companies are looking for a few good men and women are the the nation's military, and hiring our heroes is coming up next. >>> you are watching "news4 at 4." >>> a mixed floor today on wall street with little to be understood from the jobs are report. the nasdaq was up four points and the s&p 500 closed up 18. >> that jobs report found that there were only 74,000 jobs added and that is the weakest in three years. and ton employment rate is 6.75%, and analysts say that people gave up looking for work and there is a record number of women not in the labor force, and 20,000 fewer women held jobs in december. >>> well, nbc4 is partnering with hiring our heroes and sponsor i sponsoring an event that links veterans and civilian job matching with their skills. >> and news 4's richard jordon spoke to some of them tod

brought havoc to millions of people and also froze many rivers all his silly antics are coming up from trenton users see today. the recent cold weather has frozen the delaware river. many people came down to walking area and near the river to see the large patches of my knees and amid the water heinz has lines near the keeper is posing a threat of flooding to residents of trenton new jersey during her rise to six point three meters as of wednesday evening while after and the frozen rivers and also that record cold temperatures for licking at some record a warmth to come in into the weekend. this is a significant a warm up the friday temperatures each year around this time. ri above the average train spies into saturday and sunday take a lick of these double with this it's that you're going to be seeing looks quite nile than my building night's budget. these temperatures could actually rapidly not that i aced that huge aside this frozen river and the delaware river is in hudson river as we showed you pictures of yesterday. and also heavy rain will be accompanied with these kind of temperatures.

>> kelly o'donnell in trenton covering it all. kelly, thanks. >>> and now to the west virginia chemical spill that fouled the water for hundreds of thousands of people and led to precautions down river to the city of cincinnati, among other places. now we're learning of a special risk group in all of this. our chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson is just back from covering the story there for days. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. i wish i had better news. but the cdc is advising pregnant women not to drink the water in charleston because they say they simply don't have enough information on the chemical that polluted the water supply, mchm. this comes hours after the word that the water was declared safe to drink. so you can imagine the people are very upset. the cdc says there are no studies on mchm that affects reproductive health or cancer. in fact, in calculating the one part per million safe levels, the cdc says it only would consider two studies done, looking at what happens when anim

chris is on the ground for us in trenton, new jersey. chris, what are you hearing from your sources in governor christi's own backyard? >> well, most democrats hearsay that the george washington bridge scandal has given the nation the ability to see a chris christie they say they've known for years, a bully who uses hardball politics to punish his critics. we spoke to richard coty who says he believes his governorship is becoming a rein of terror. he told us what happened when he crossed chris christie. >> it was a monday and he -- i guess he was upset about something i said about his policies so anybody leftover in state government who didn't have civil service protection that he felt was aligned with me were let go. anybody on a commission or a board who were holdovers were replaced and a cousin of mine who worked at the port authority who was appointed by a former governor who didn't have civil service protection was let go all in one day and he told somebody he was sending a message. i got the message. >> reporter: and, wolf, governo

before we go on, jake tapper is in trenton. jake? >> reporter: newt, the feeling right here by the governor's aides is that he did what he needed to do nine days ago, the idea he would be apologizing for a political scandal in his state of the state address would have been completely foreign as a concept. of course, the ee-mails came out last week suggesting that his inner staff, some top advisers were involved in what appears to be a political vendetta. the governor said mistakes were clearly made although one could argue quibble with the question of the passive voice in that, it was more than a mistake one would say. and that he took full responsibility and said he would deal with all appropriate investigations. response here in trenton seems to be breaking down predictably along party lines. democrats say they can't believe they knew what governor christie knew what was going on. members of the investigative committee will be announced. republicans starting to firmly back governor christie saying they take him at his word and they

you're watching -- we're all watching in fact a hearing going on in trenton, new jersey. state legislators trying to question david wildstein. he was one of the top representatives of the new york-new jersey port authority. he resigned shortly after this scandal erupted. someone who had been supposedly close to the governor chris christie though chris christie indulgining they went to high school together but didn't know him that much. wildstein is refusing to answer questions citing his right to remain silent, if you will, every question even inane questions he's refusing to answer based on the advice of his council, democratic representative bill pascrell represents ft. lee among other places. it's a pretty shocking development, if you think about it, congressman, that this individual is now pleading the fifth, if you will. refusing to answer questions. >> right. we've gone from jolting about the cones in the road by the governor to a very sad day. this is a sad day as the governor said. if you listen to this testimony and taking the fifth, now, taking the fifth doesn't

>> kelly o'donnell in trenton again tonight, covering the state of the state of new jersey. kelly, thanks. >>> in washington today a vote to extend long term unemployment benefits went down in the senate as the chamber descended into partisan argument. instead the vote was 55-45. it needed 60 votes to advance. negotiations to find a compromise will go on, but that's little comfort to more than a million people who were cut off from benefits right at the beginning of the year. >>> tonight a federal judge in philadelphia has put on hold that $760 million settlement between the nfl and retired players to settle claims involving concussions and brain injuries. while it sounds like a lot of money, and it is, the judge says three quarters of a billion dollars might not be enough now to cover some 20,000 football players. the judge says she wants more financial details before signing off on the settlement. >>> new yorkers often get around by subway or cab, and judging by most tv shows, everyone in l.a. drives a prius. but in the area outside of those two places, the part better kno

came to trenton, changed the culture in trenton. started to do reforms that were unheard of. became a national charismatic figure. and of course there's going to be an overreaction here. this was on his watch. he took responsibility. but he was lied to. what else do you want from this man? >> well, i suppose the obvious thing that struck me with all this -- i've always been a big fan of chris christie's, interviewed him several times, found him to be an extremely impressive character in many ways. the problem is he's always been a guy that you associate with dealing with any problem in new jersey that he's dealing with. what could be a bigger issue for the governor than to have the busiest bridge in the world brought to an absolute stand still for a whole week? and yet in that week he appears to have done absolutely nothing to try and find out why this is going on or do something to stop it. if he had done, he may have un-earthed some of the reality of what was behind it. >> well, hindsight is 20/20. all of these issues appear to be very large now. but in our state, we have t

>> kelly o'donnell at the state capitol in trenton tonight, thanks. >>> tonight officials in omaha say there have been at least two fatalities in a massive explosion at an animal feed processing plant. at least 17 people were injured. some in critical condition tonight. and after hours of searching for survivors, first responders have now moved into what they call a recovery effort. the cause of the blast has not yet been determined. >>> just hours from now, another big winter storm is going to hit across a big part of the country, bringing bone-chilling temperatures from the upper midwest right on up through new england, and because this follows that bitter cold from the so-called polar vortex a while back earlier this month, some states are worried about propane supplies for heating homes. that story tonight from nbc's john yang. >> reporter: for jeff dahl in stacy, minnesota, north of minneapolis, it's already been a rough winter. he has closed off rooms in his house to cut his gas use. >> we have a propane fireplace that we have just turned off. >> reporter: but it's still expensiv

again, folks, we're keeping our eye on developments out of trenton. i'm going to talk to the long time mayor of elizabeth new jersey about why governor christie seems to be making a play for the tea party base. first though, can anyone stop hillary? we'll have the writer of that new time magazine article. we'll talk about lies ahead. should hillary rodham clinton decide to get in this thing pretty soon? mom, dad told me that cheerios is good for your heart, is that true? says here that cheerios has whole grain oats that can help remove some cholesterol, and that's heart healthy. ♪ [ dad ] jan? ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. >>> for quite some time it's been assumed inside and outside of washington that hillary clinton is the front-runner for 2016. this is partly because it's difficult to think of anyone or anything that can

i'm jake tapper in trenton. just a few minutes ago in the building behind me, governor christie outlined what he plans to do for his state. but, of course, a lot of people around the country are wondering, what will happen to christie. because he is the presumed front runner for the gop presidential nomination. and there are so many scandals and controversies swirling around him right now. newt gingrich and stephanie cutter are hosts of cnn's "crossfire." how much damage has this scandal done to chris christie's potential 2016 run and can he recover? newt, i'll start with you. >> i think it's a lot like, to use the current football analogi analogies, he clearly has had an interception. this is not how he wanted to start. the bridge scandal clearly has slowed him down. it will nag him for another couple months. whether anything else comes out, i'm not at all convinced. but there will be some turmoil, there will be some difficulties. i thought he looked good today. he's lost weight. he's gotten a haircut. the spee

>> for does not paint a pretty pictures of politics in trenton. his hands are not clean even if he knew nothing. he admits he is ultimately responsibility, but democrats will try to hang him on this. over the course of investigations and the next few months, democrats are going to be after him about it. that could paint an ugly narrative whether it's true or not. it could likewise result in a big of overreach for democrats. if it turns out chris christie was blindsided and betrayed by his staff members and acted quickly and decisively and recovers and moves on to a new story line, this is totally survivable. >> good to see you. we see you each and every night as much as we can on crossfire right here on cnn. we are all over this story for you. it is a fast moving story and lots of parts. we will have much more from chris christie. throughout the hour, coming up next hour, people are reacting to the scandal and this news conference on behalf of the news conference with people who live there. you will hear their direct sfons what he had to say. a li

trenton, new jersey, of course where the governor's office is located. in response to these allegations from fulop about bullying and retribution, christie had this to say. >> i don't know about specific meetings or what's going on, but certainly, you know, i will look into all of those things, but the fact is that what mayor fulop knows is when we agree with him from a policy perspective, we'll work with him. when we disagree with him, we'll express those disagreements. sometimes that will mean friction. >> as soon as christie finished speaking, this is the statement mayor fulop, himself, put out. "governor christie's comments today on my relationship with the state are a gross misrepresentation of the facts." joining me now, one of the foremost experts on the operations of governor chris christie's political machine, new jersey state senator, former gubernatorial democratic candidate, barbara buono. thank you so much for coming. >> good to be here. >> first i just have to ask, this must be a strange week for you because you spent the campaign, you sat

national investigative correspondent michael isikoff is in trenton following these events. the legislature meeting at noon to start the process of forming that super committee with subpoena power. what's going to be the first order of business? >> reporter: well, the first order of business is that the assembly and the senate are about to meet momentarily and they are going to authorize the creation of this super committee then right after that the super committee has a meeting scheduled for 1:00. which they'll layout how they are going to do their business. the key thing to watch for here is how do new jersey republican lawmakers respond to this? two weeks ago when the separate committees were created, the resolution passing in both of the assembly and senate was unanimous, all of the republicans voted for it. but then right away, they started to raise some questions about partisanship by the committee chairman, in the assembly, mr. wisniewski, the -- how the -- how much control there was going to be over the documents returned by subpoenas, suggesting that he was wisniews

trenton feedback? david wildstein responds, good. then the next line is blacked out. then bill baroni responds, just good? then he swears. that's not actually a redaction. that's actually us blacking out his curse word. a minute ladder david wildstein responds, no, i have only texted bridget and nicole and they were very happy. so don't feel upset that the testimony -- i'm not telling you good is a way of damning you with -- no, good, i have texted bridget and nicole and they were very happy. this is the guy who just lied to the legislature. who, just, forgive me, in the words of the subpoenas, the guy who appears to have just made an attempt 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,

in new jersey and trenton not to have this committee subpoenaed. david samson because of his role in new jersey politics. >> let's give a little context here. david samson is not some deputy chief of staff. he's not someone who is a staffer for a local politician. david samson is an absolute r absolute pillar of the new jersey establishment. he is a mock up. >> he is a pillar of the new jersey political establishment. when you talk about politics in some states, the democrats and republicans, it's the 14 party is the money. this is a guy who is a former state attorney general, whose law firm is probably the most politically connected both sides of the aisle law firm in the state. he has an enormous amount of respect. democrat and republican. bill peroni one of the christie appointees referring to him in public refers to him as a general. >> right. >> this is the former attorney general, general samson, the state of new jersey. that's the kind of respect he engenders. >> in fact, david wildstein when the first memo comes from the new york appointee