Chris christie knew about the closings. A wealthy lawyer says he has evidence. The air force cheating scandal is growing this morning. I believe we have stomach problems within the force. It takes a very fearless journalist to get up and say i have to continue my profession. Even though i have to spend my life looking over my shoulder. 150,000 a second my wonderful pistachio commercial. Digy digy down. We begin with the latest from the garden state. From security on super bowl sunday to the latest on the bridge plane scandal this has enveloped governor Chris Christie. Attorney for david wildsteen, for days of havoc on the washington bridge, where wildstein had worked as a top christie appointee, evidence exists tying christie having evidence of the closures during the time the lanes were closed. Contrary to what the governor stated during a twohour press conference. This is part of what governor christie had to say about the lain closings during that press conference on january 9th. I had no knowledge of the planning the execution or anything about it and i first found out about it after it was over and even then what i was told was that it was a traffic study. And there was no evidence to the contrary until yesterday. That was brought to my attention or anybody elses attention. On friday, the Governors Office brushed off wildsteins assertions with a statement that reads in part, mr. Wildsteins lawyer confirms what the governor has said all along. He had absolutely no knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever mr. Wildsteins motivations were for closing them. Joining me to help sort this out is bob engel who writes a column and the coauthor of Chris Christie the inside story of his rise to power. Bob good to have you back on the show. Thank you. Lets take the claims in order. Mr. Wildstein isnt saying that christie personally ordered them, but he knew about the closings while they were happening which contradicts what was said in the news clip we just played. How damaging is this to christie . It became a really good story friday afternoon because the New York Times who got a leaked copy of this letter wrote that he the are had evidence that the governor knew. Well thats not what the letter says. The letter says as you pointed out that there is evidence. Theres a huge difference between there being evidence, and his having evidence. So the twitter world that we live in now, was all atwitter, with, well, thats the smoking gun that got it. Well take a good look at the letter. It doesnt say that at all. In fact the Governors Office did come along and say this doesnt say anything that we havent already said. And theyre right. Now so far there hasnt been any evidence that the governor ordered the lane closings as a retaliation or he had any prior man knowledge of the clos. Thats exactly right. It should be noted that the letter was written to the Port Authority to ask the Port Authority to reconsider paying the legal bills for mr. Wildstein. That is context that it was written in. Governor christie used to talk to the press a lot and conflicting statement. Yes i did. On december 13th he had this to say of the bridge closings. The first i had to say was in the press leaking of mr. Foys emails. Now he is referring to a story published in the wall street journal often october 1st weeks after the closings which quoted a september email from Port Authority executive director patrick foy demanding that the closed lanes be reopened. So again, the question is, you know, does that contradict what he said at the press conference . When did he know about this . Thats what were trying to figure out and you know how it is, when you are talking to lawyers, it depends on what the definition of is, is. He may be able to say and no one can contradict that this was ongoing, in his office. He was busy with other things. He didnt know what was going on until he read about it in the papers. It would be hard to think that a guy who likes to manage things as well as christie, that somebody didnt call him on the phone and say, whats with all this bridge backup here, whats going on here . But i guess it was possible. Because it was a huge issue. I want to read another quote from wildsteins attorneys. He says mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some. Now is this, presumably he is claiming that christie said he didnt really know mr. Wildstein that well in high school and didnt have very much contact with him in the past months, even though he was christies number 2 at the time Port Authority . This is one of those lawyered type answers that didnt give us answers to everything. He did go to school with him. He was a year behind christie and it turned out that he kept the statistics for the Baseball Team that christie played on. So people are saying well there, they had to be good friends. Well, not necessarily. Because i was thinking about when i was in high school there are all kinds of people that i knew at the time, and i had forgotten about and there were people around me and various activities that i really didnt know that well. So i dont think theres a real smoking gun there. I wish that he had said, what allegations that have been made that he could address. He didnt though. He just leaves it to us to talk about. Right. Now the bridge lane closings as we said were ordered as political retaliation for punishing Mark Sokolich for not endorsing christie as governor. But the mayor doesnt seem very impressed by wildstein, when he told cnn from my perspective theres obviously credibility issues with mr. Wildstein and he certainly is bucking for immunity. Right. He also says the letter repeats there was no prior governor christies issue either. I dont know of many people who are big fans of mr. Wildstein. He wrote anonymously in a newsletter that he used to have. And he would be on it appeared he would be on which ever side that he could back, and for whatever reason. Put it that way. It wasnt really a journalistic pursuit. And towards the end there he was very, very supportive of Chris Christie. But there are few of us if any, who really believe this was about getting back at a mayor who didnt support the governor. Its got to be something more than that. I mean, you know if it turns out that was all it was were going to be very surprised. But there are very few of us who cover this administration who think thats what it was. Theres just too much down side theres just too much downside like whats going on right now. To believe that they would really sit around and think up Something Like that just because he didnt go along with the endorsement. Well, friday wasnt a complete lost for governor christie. As the scandal was swirling and he managed to announce rocker bon jovi at Howard Sterns birthday bash. Its great to have you on the show. Thank you sir. Switching topic to the super bowl and security. Bomb squads and hazmat squads were called into security, after packets of white powder were mailed to former mayor Rudy Giuliani and at least five totals in the area of super bowl 48. The substances were found were nonhazardous although additional tests are being done. For more on whats being done to keep people safe during an event like this, im joined in the studio by lou palumbo, owns a private Security Firm thats done security for the oscars and nascar, and nfl players association. Lou its good to have you on the show. Its worth noting that new york and new jersey Officials Say theres no credible threat. What did you think when you first heard about this white powder today . Well, its obviously someone attempting to disrupt the event, make a statement, pose a nuisance maybe test the system as well, it could be any one of a number of that latter one is one to be concerned about . Absolutely, absolutely. Youve been out there three times this week and security Officials Say the biggest threat is a suicide bomber, a vehicle bomb or Something Like we saw at the Nairobis Westgate mall last year. Tremendous deployment of forces, 4,000 Security Officers have surrounded the stadium with a perimeter fence, installed security cameras, they providing tough limits on bags, they have to be small and transparent. Where do you see the vulnerabilities . I havent really been able to identify a vulnerability. My perception of what they have done is they built out a very hard perimeter. Its very visible, the Law Enforcement community, particularly the new Jersey State Police. The fbi, are present, secret service, they even have air support constantly around the stadium, in the form of cobra gun ships, provided by homeland security. They even have blackhawk helicopters. And fighter jets ready to be scrambled if necessary. They have been training off the coast and our navy is poised as well. We are well prepared for this. But the reality is 400,000 people have been estimated to come to the event and certainly, they are going to be at other places owner the stadium. There could be issues later. I want to play a comment from new Jersey State Police lieutenant rich fuentes. There of particular concern to us was what was going on in volgograd in relation to the sochi olympics. As you know both of those bombings target mass transit. We rely on the dhs and fbi who are gateway to the federal Intelligence Community to keep an eye and brief us out on those events. Is mass transit one of the areas . Its one of them. Sits been reported today, theyve actually stepped up on the mass transit component. The thing thats important to mention is much of our safety our security daily is predicated on the Intelligence Community that they provide on the agencies. New jersey state and local police, weve heard that, are you confident that that isnt the case here . Interestingly enough, there still isnt enough dialogue but i will tell you that the agencies that are spearheading this have a very good handle on whats going on. Their ultimate fear are home grown or rogue incidents, where theyre not part of the mainstream of surveillance. In other words, you know theres been a lot of criticism of the nsa and some of their practices that they have employed. But what people have to understand is thats how we keep you safe. Tracking the people are a potential threat. Were concerned about the ones we dont know. And one place thats more difficult to keep track of is, the super bowl way, times square, a much more difficult place to secure. Thats as appropriate reply done, theres a tremendous number of assets that are dedicated to that area, technology, manpower, both visible and invisible. The technology that were capable of detecting, radio transmissions, cambao. Lets hope everybody has a safe and fun super bowl weekend. I agree. Thanks for coming back. Coming up new ethics concerns arise over the military. We will run those down next. And a Surprising New look at gun control giving parents a new reason to worry. Plus our producer hermella aregawi, whats coming up. 1. Join the conversation at aj consider this and our google plus and facebook pages. A scandal engulfing the affairs unit that maintains our a scandal engulfing the affairs unit that maintains our Nuclear Weapons is growing. This week the number of officers involved in a cheating scandal tripled to 92. But scandals involving improper behavior including bribery, safety lapses, drinking and drug have spread throughout the military, including the navy and army. Joining us now to talk about these issues is Brigadier General mark kimmet, middle east policy and former undersecretary of state for political affairs. Hes also an Al Jazeera English contributors. Joins us from washington, d. C, general good to have you back. The number of officers implicated in this nuclear proficiency test cheating scandal has tripled. The constantly developed because the initial cheaters were found by initial investigation into criminal drug abuse by some airmen. Whats going on with this force that has such an Important Role im sure the affairs protecting our Nuclear Arsenal . Im sure the affairs commandment is shocked. They are held to the highest standards and to find out that those standards are not adhered to should give everybody pause. The secretary of the air force spoke out about the scandal on thursday, lets hear that. We retested everybody recently and that retest provided a 95. 5 pass rate. Which demonstrates to me that our people know what their jobs are know how to perform and we have the outside Nuclear Inspections that are Going Forward producing equally encouraging positive results. Its good to know that they knew what they were doing but the irony was, she went on to say they likely cheated to get a perfect score on the test. That seems like a silly excuse. It really does. Im quite shocked that the secretary of the air force would say that. We have got a breakdown of morality and discipline inside that particular unit and its probably indicative of a command climate that was tolerant of that kind of behavior. A lot of discussion of this unit talks about how difficult the job is, how much pressure they have, live in isolated areas, they work 24 hour solicits, low morale, and its not just the cheaters. The number 1 in charge of this unit Major GeneralMichael Carey lost his command, because of inappropriate behavior in russia, heavy drinking rudeness and associated with, quote, suspect women and number two an admiral had been let go because of gambling problems. And this isnt even recent. We can go back to 2007 where a b52 bomber took off from Minot Air Force base in north dakota, that had neublg rounds onuclear roundson them and the t they were training rounds, not real nukes, is this unit a special problem . I think it is. And i would hope that the secretary of defense takes strong leadership actions towards getting this solved. They are not freezing at night chasing the taliban. They are pretty plush conditions. It may not be fun work but its necessary work and work that leadership inside that unit would ensure maintain standards and maintains the kind of coherent actions necessary to safeguard our Nuclear Weapons. Beyond that unit, the navys been under investigation for a bribery scandal in the asiapacific region, theres a Sexual Misconduct case against Brigadier General jeffrey sinclair, the sexual impropriety among generals, an epidemic of Sexual Assault in the military thats led to a big debate in the senate. Is there a bigger issue that needs to be addressed . I really dont think so. The heightened tension of sexual abuse and Sexual Harassment inside the military is to a great extent whats bringing a lot of these issues to light. Look, i was in the army for 30 years. It was far worse in the old days. It was tolerated in the old days in a way it isnt tolerated now. I would hardly want to say that this is a good sign that these investigations are going on. This confined of behavior is no longer tolerated. There are people that havent gotten that word yet and they are being investigated but in the long run this is going to work out for the best for the military. I mean, in some of the cases, a general drinking on the job, if that had happened in the private sector he would be fired immediately. But things that other people havent had an issue with in their military careers should the military hold itself to Higher Standards . The military holds itself to Higher Standards and knows, far but i can tell you that the standards of moralityity are still higher than they were 30 years ago. Theyre still not high enough. Theres still some people that are going beyond the pale. But i feel confident the majority of the people within the military stick to and adhere to a very High Standard of morality and in isolated cases, justice is taken care of. Chuck hagel, responses apparently coming in a couple of weeks. This time of how the military teaches core values and ethical values to its officers. A response coming in a couple of weeks pmweeks. What do you think should be done . Well, i think secretary of defense is on the right track. This is an issue of education but far more than education its a matter of good conduct and discipline. Its senior leaders, saying that this type of behavior will not be tolerated. Its swift and in some cases tough actions taken to those that go beyond the pale. This issue of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault in the military is a scourge that must be wiped out. When it does find problems and it does have problems more than any other institution i would say in this united states, theyre quick to wipe those problems out. Brigadier general mark kimmet thank you for joining us to discuss these important issues. Sure. We turn now to guns. More than 7,000 American Children and teenagers have to be rushed to the hospital because of them. Studies show, kids are suffering 20 firearm are injuries, almost one an hour. Dr. Robert sagee. In the past the only one available on gun violence for teens and children comes from on death certificates. Your are study shows 7,391 children to the er in 2009. What surprised you most about what yo