Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Chris Christie Faces Traffic Jam Scandal; 6 Bodies, Explosives Found Near Sochi

Aired January 09, 2014 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Developing stories going on right now. We hand to you the NEWSROOM in the capable hands of Carol Costello.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much. Have a great day.

NEWSROOM starts now.

Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

It's nearly three years before the presidential election. And by many accounts the Republican road to the White House runs through New Jersey. Well, get ready to hit the brakes.

That traffic jam on the right side of your screen is blossoming into a political scandal for GOP darling Chris Christie. He is expected to talk about that at a news conference in just a couple of hours. But e-mail shows a top aide to the New Jersey governor ordered lane closures to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee which sits at the foot of the George Washington Bridge.

Later e-mails among Christie allies show a certain giddiness as the September traffic snarl entrapped thousands of motorist, including school children and emergency vehicles. Four months later, traffic is flowing more freely this morning but roadblocks may now lay in the path of a Christie campaign.

CNN's Joe Johns is here to walk us through the paper trail and chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper will take us through the fallout.

Joe, let's begin with you.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the trouble for the Christie administration starts with calls for some type of state or federal investigation. Then there are the hearings. Plus questions are already being asked about the scandal on Capitol Hill.

On top of all of that, the governor is going to have to answer questions about abuse of power and political retribution.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): This morning, the pressure is mounting.

JOHN WISHIEWSKI (D), DEPUTY SPEAKER OF NEW JERSEY ASSEMBLY: That's not the kind of leadership that New Jersey needs, and it's certainly not the kind of leadership the nation needs.

JOHNS: The New Jersey bridge e-mails igniting a full blown scandal with increasing calls for a federal investigation.

BARBARA BUONO (D), FORMER NEW JERSEY GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: There's more than enough evidence to warrant an investigation to determine what -- you know, what -- we need to know what this governor knew and when he knew it.

JOHNS: And now this, new revelations that the actions of the Christie aides may have put lives in danger with EMS crews unable to reach people in need of emergency care.

Wednesday afternoon, Christie released a written statement. He did not apologize, but blamed the problems on his staff.

"I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge."

His administration is accused of shutting down several lanes of the George Washington Bridge for four dates in September, causing major traffic problems in the town of Fort Lee. The mayor of that town had refused to endorse Christie. At the time, Christie's office denied any political revenge and blamed the bridge snarl on a traffic study.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: If I actually was the guy working the cones out there -- you really are not serious with that question.

JOHNS: But CNN obtained texts and e-mails that many say proved otherwise.

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee." That e-mail was sent August 13th from the account of Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor's deputy chief of staff, to David Wildstein, one of the governor's top appointees at the agency that controls the bridge. "Got it," he replied.

When the mayor of Fort Lee called about the gridlock, Kelly then e- mailed Wildstein to find out if anyone had called him back. Radio silence was the response.

Christie's critics are questioning whether he was truly ignorant of the communications of his staff. They want an investigation.

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ, DNC CHAIRWOMAN: His statement and actions thus far have proven that he's not the straight shooter that he has claimed to be. And the questions require answers, and he needs to step up and face the music and answer those questions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: The other headache for Governor Christie is that he says he didn't know what was going on in his own office and that while he says he was misled by a member of his staff, the e-mails seem to suggest that others, including people at the Port Authority, may have had knowledge of what was going on -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Joe Johns reporting live from Washington.

Now the taint of the scandal often tests some of the image issues facing Christie. A tough-talking bully to his critics, a straight- talking man of the people through his supporters.

Jake Tapper is CNN's chief Washington correspondent. He spent quite a bit of time with Christie.

And, Jake, Christie is supposed to have a news conference in less than two hours. And he's supposed to release some sort of statement. What do you expect to him say?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, really the only possible thing for him to do is to take responsibility, apologize, and explain how this happened. That's really the only path for it especially if he does hope to continue to have political ambitions beyond being the governor of New Jersey.

You know, Carol, in November, CNN got an exclusive with Governor Christie. We spent Election Day with him. And that was during a period when President Obama was under a lot of fire for not having been honest with the American people when he promised them if you like your health plan you can keep your health plan.

And I asked Governor Christie, what advice would he give President Obama. And here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What advice you would give him?

CHRISTIE: Here's what my suggestion would be to him. Don't be so cute. And when you make a mistake, admit it. You know what, I said it, I was wrong. I'm sorry. And we are going to try to fix this and make it better.

I think people would give any leader in that circumstance a lot of credit for just -- you know, owning up to it. Instead of now trying to -- don't lawyer it. People don't like lawyers. I'm a lawyer. They don't like them. You know. And don't lawyer it. People want leaders, not lawyers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I talked about this exact answer with some people close to Christie. And I was told that nobody should be surprised if that hit the press conference later today. Christie takes his own advice. Comes out, talks about the mistake he made, says he's sorry and tries to explain it. So I guess we'll see. But that was the advice he gave to President Obama. We'll see if he takes his own advice.

COSTELLO: Well, there are those who think this is more than a mistake. I mean, New Jersey's newspaper, "The Star Ledger," who reluctantly endorsed Christie for governor wrote, "If the governor was lying about all of this in his role in this, he is unfit for office."

Could this scandal force Christie out of office?

TAPPER: Well, that is the assumption that you're reading from there that he did know about this. That he actually was involved, that he knew that his deputy chief of staff was ordering this traffic jam as a punitive measure and there is a lot of evidence that people around Christie, two political appointees at the Port Authority, including one of them was a high school friend of his, a deputy chief of staff, and, of course, his campaign manager is on one of these e-mail chains, at least being kept in the loop on the coverage of it.

The idea that Christie did not know what was going on among this tight-knit group of aides is certainly a question he's going to have to answer and then beyond that, if he continues to maintain and if it's true that he did not know anything about this, he is going have to answer the question, did he in any way contribute to an atmosphere where this type of punitive political vendetta was encouraged?

That's also going to have be something that he answers at the press conference today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right.

I want to bring in Ross Douthat now, too. He's a CNN political commentator and op-ed columnist for "The New York Times."

Good morning to you, Ross.

ROSS DOUTHAT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning. Good to be here.

COSTELLO: Good morning. Thank you for being here. I want to dig deeper into Chris Christie's image now.

We all know he's tough talking but your colleague, Michael Barbero, addressed that persona and "Bridgegate" today, writing in part, quote, "The episode is tricky for Mr. Christie and his aides. His cantankerous manner and independent streak are essential to his White House ambitions. Advisers view them as an asset at early primary states like New Hampshire that have a history of embracing blunt talking politicians. Now there is a new worry, that what once seemed like a refreshing forcefulness may come off as misguided bullying."

So --

DOUTHAT: Yes. I think that -- I think that Mike has it exactly right. I think the issue for Christie is -- and I'm stealing this line from someone else, I can't remember who, but that his image has always been that he is the bully who's on your side. Right? That yes, you know, he has this sort of swagger and bullying persona but he is using it to stick it to special interest groups, you know, cozy government business deals and so on.

And in this case, he's -- you know, or -- let's say his aides are just straight-forwardly, you know, they're bullying the mayor of Fort Lee but really they're bullying all of the people who were stuck in traffic. And anyone who spent any time stuck in traffic in and around New York City knows how infuriating that kind of bullying can be.

So I -- it does seem like a big problem. I think that the big question that -- you know, you were discussing with Jake, right, is, is there actual evidence that he actually knew or ordered this? And if there is I think this is a true disaster.

COSTELLO: Well --

DOUTHAT: But even if there isn't, I think that the question -- the question about his image is just going to endure and carry on from this.

COSTELLO: Well, I guess the secret behind his bullying charm, so to speak, depends on who he is directing his bullying to.

DOUTHAT: Right.

COSTELLO: I mean, let's watch a clip of what I'm talking about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Governor, on Monday, are you going to be addressing legislature?

CHRISTIE: Did I say on topic? Are you stupid? On topic. On topic. Next question. Good. Thank you -- thank you -- thank you all very much. And I'm sorry for the idiot over there. Take care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So it's OK when you call a member of the press an idiot, right? Because most people don't like journalists very much. And you know --

DOUTHAT: I have no idea why, but yes.

COSTELLO: But that's true.

DOUTHAT: There is that minor public bias against journalists.

COSTELLO: Exactly, so --

DOUTHAT: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: But when you direct your anger and it affects like people trying to get to work or trying to get to the hospital, that's a whole different thing.

DOUTHAT: Well, and the other -- the other problem for Christie is that, you know, is this an isolated incident? Right? And you can -- you can bet that journalists and Democratic operatives and all of the -- you know, the enemies that Christie has made during his very successful run as governor are right now sitting around, digging around, looking for other cases where, you know, the Christie machine in large ways or small might have bullied somebody and created a problem like this one.

And if there are more incidents, again, you end up with the sort of a drip, drip, drip scenario. So it'll be interesting to see his press conference today. I think it's a tough situation because, you know, there's -- I mean, obviously he can come out and try and be transparent and he can fire lots of people and he needs to probably fire lots of people. But the ultimate question about his image is still going to remain.

COSTELLO: You're right. Ross Douthat, many thanks.

Jake Tapper, we're going to get back to you. Also Joe Johns.

While we wait for Christie, New Jersey lawmakers are trying to figure out who did what and why during the bridge closure last September. A hearing on the matter will get under way before a New Jersey state legislature around noon Eastern. We may or may not hear from the man at the center of the scandal, former Christie appointee to the Port Authority, David Wildstein.

He's the man who supposedly ordered a traffic study to deliberately cause massive traffic jams on the George Washington Bridge. And let's just say he does not want to testify before New Jersey lawmakers.

Erin McPike is live in Trenton with that side of the story.

Good morning.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning. That's right. The lawyer for David Wildstein filed a motion earlier this week to try to quash the subpoena. Well, at 9:30 at a nearby courthouse David Wildstein will appear to see whether or not he has to appear here at noon.

Now the reasons the lawyer gave were that the assemblyman who called for this hearing at moon is a Democrat who is also an attorney. And he represents a company that does business with the Port Authority. So they're saying this whole hearing is a conflict of interest. They also say that the committee who is holding this hearing only has really the authority to talk about toll increases. Not these lane closures.

So they're trying to use a little bit of legalese to get him out of this hearing. But if the judge decides that he has to appear, he will be here at noon today. Of course, that's just an hour or so after Chris Christie gives his press conference at around 11:00 -- Carol.

COOPER: The other staffer at the center of this controversy is Bridget Anne Kelly, the deputy, what is she? The deputy chief of staff for Chris Christie. Will she testify at the noon hearing?

MCPIKE: Well, no. And here is what the assemblyman who called for the hearing wants to see. He says that he thinks that this whole controversy got to a higher level of Chris Christie's staff. That is, of course, the deputy chief of staff, because when she said it's time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee, it was then Wildstein, who's the one who would be at the hearing today, he wrote back, "Got it."

But it sounds as though he was political, too, when someone wrote to him to say that they felt bad for the kids who would be late for school. He said, well, they are the children of Buono voters. Barbara Buono was, of course, the Democrat who ran against Chris Christie in the governor's race.

And also, four days after they first ordered the lane closures and then someone in New York ordered the lanes to be opened again Wildstein said we are going appropriately nuts. So he, too, sounds political but part of this hearing is to see how high up this controversy went and what Chris Christie and some of his top staffers may have known -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Aaron McPike, reporting live from Trenton, New Jersey, this morning.

Still to come how Christie's traffic scandal caused huge problems for ambulances.

CNN's Alexandra Field is live in Fort Lee with that side of the story.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paramedics stuck in traffic, people in need of help waiting too long to get it. That's what Fort Lee's EMS coordinator says was very real and dangerous consequences of the lane closures here at the George Washington Bridge.

We'll have that story coming up live after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Traffic flowing smoothly on the G.W. Bridge this morning. That bridge caused a lot of controversy in the state of New Jersey and that controversy is growing nationwide.

In less than two hours, the New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is expected to address the brewing scandal in his administration. It surrounds e-mails that suggest one of Christie's top aides ordered lane closures at the George Washington Bridge as political punishment for Fort Lee's Democratic mayor.

In September, officials said new traffic patterns closed delays for emergency vehicles. In one case, paramedics were delayed and were not able to treat a 91-year-old woman who had a heart attack. She later died at the hospital. But it's unclear if the delay in treatment contributed to her death.

Christie denied knowledge of the scandal and says he was misled by his staff but now, he is at the political center of a firestorm. The mayor of Fort Lee spoke out on CNN's "SITUATION ROOM" about his message for Governor Christie.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MAYOR MARK SOKOLICH (D), FORT LEE, NEW JERSEY: You cannot close down the busiest bridge in the world for political retribution. It is not something that is possible. You have intentionally put people in harm's way. You knew that before you did it. You knew that when Fort Lee called 20, 30, 40 times. You knew that when I kept sending text after text and calling cell phone after cell phone. You always knew that because we were telling you that that was happening.

Do me a favor and don't call me. But call the families who were waiting three, four times longer for emergency service agencies when their loved ones were having heart palpitations or when their loved one has extreme chest pains and were waiting for ambulances to arrive.

Do me a favor, call an and apologize to thousands of families whose kids were late for first day of school and the three, four days that ensued thereafter. Call our police department and call our administrators in the school system that had to deal with this. Call the folks that had to deal with traffic Armageddon here that week.

Don't call me. It's not -- you don't have to call me. I give you a pass. Don't call me.

But call those families, call those kids, and call everybody else, because Fort Lee didn't deserve it. We didn't deserve it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Christie and his staff originally blamed the lane closures on a mishandled traffic study. Let's head to Fort Lee now with more information on the trouble -- the traffic caused for emergency vehicles.

CNN's Alexandra Field is following that part of the story.

Good morning.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Take a look behind me. This is the George Washington Bridge. It is America's busiest bridge and a problem seemed to clear when Fort Lee's EMS coordinator Paul Favia noticed that traffic was moving smoothly on the bridge but that traffic here in Fort Lee was nightmarish. A day after the lane closures went into effect, Favia wrote a letter saying already he was noticing that emergency response times were taking too long. He says calls that should have taken a matter of minutes were taking as much as three times that long.

He announced that when he was called to respond to a car accident involving four people who needed to be taken to the hospital the traffic was so bad he had to jump a curb just to get to the scene.

We also know now know when a 19-year-old woman had a heart attack, paramedics were not able to get to the scene because of traffic. Instead, they had to meet her en route to the hospital where she later died. It is not yet clear whether that del nay treatment may have led to her death. But after four incidents of delayed responses, Favia took it upon himself to write a letter to the mayor of fort lee raisin a red flag about potential dangers of the lane closures. We will read from it.

In part, that leader reads, quote, "This new traffic pattern is causing unnecessary delays for emergency services to arrive on scene for medical emergencies." The letter goes on to say, quote, "Perhaps some type of modification or change can be made to this new traffic pattern. Favia says he was not aware that there would be any change in the traffic like everyone else he says he just started to notice the congestion. He says he went to a police officer who told him that a new traffic pattern at the toll booth was causing the tie-up -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Alexandra Field reporting live from Fort Lee, thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, three bodies and explosive material found near Sochi this morning.

Nic Robertson is in Moscow.

Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Less than 170 miles from me, Olympic village in Sochi, four vehicles found, six bodies explosives nearby. Explosion, possible terror links. More after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: A toddler who was apparently coached by adults to cuss and use racial slurs is now in protective custody. Police in Omaha, Nebraska, say no crime was committed but they did find safety concerns in the child's home. Video of the child went viral and several groups criticized the police union for posting it online. Police say they posted it to educate the public about the cycle of violence and thuggery.

Dennis Rodman is now apologizing for his angry rant during an interview with CNN. The former NBA star had suggested an American imprisoned in North Korea deserved his punishment and apology comes one day after Rodman celebrated the birthday of his dear friend, Kim Jong-un.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENNIS RODMAN, FORMER NBA PLAYER (singing): Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, Dear (INAUDIBLE), happy birthday to you --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Also this morning, Rodman issued a statement saying he had been drinking and was very stressed during his interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo.

He also said, quote, "I want to first apologize to Kenneth Bae's family. I want to apologize for 2019 apologize to my teammates and my management team. I also want to apologize to Chris Cuomo. I embarrassed a lot of people. I'm very sorry." There you have it.

Let's move on to Sochi and the Olympics. Six bodies and explosive materials have been found near Sochi.

Russian security forces are right now conducting an anti-terror sweep in the territory bordering Sochi. And, of course, as I said, that's the site of next month's winter Olympics.

CNN's Nic Robertson is following the story from Moscow. Tell us more, Nic.

ROBERTSON: Well, Carol, what you have right now is Russia's investigative committee that carrying forensic investigation, plus, the intelligence services that are looking at possible terror links here. What we know -- I will sort of step us through this here. There's quite a complicated scenario. You have in one village one vehicle found with a dead body in it, explosives placed nearby, as the police approached the explosives detonated.

In another village a few miles from that, another two cars found, in each of those another dead body. In another village, the next one over, if you will, a few miles away again, another vehicle found there, three bodies inside of it. A bucket with explosives placed nearby to that vehicle.

The police detonated the explosives on -- or made safe the explosives near the vehicle. It appears as if these were -- possible attacks staged to draw in the police and then detonate explosives to injure the police.

But, of course, the intelligence services here, very keen to try to figure out if there is any link to Sochi. This happened in the volatile region where there is a lot of terrorism over the past number of years. Of course, it happens very, very close, literally just over the mountains from where the Winter Olympics will be taking place in less than a month, Carol.

COSTELLO: Were these -- are these bodies connect medical some way? I mean, who are these people who were killed?

ROBERTSON: Yes. Again, this is -- what the intelligence services and police are trying to figure out what is being made public by security services so far is that -- two of the people -- dead bodies were taxi drivers. Another one was a furniture maker.

We understand that the vehicles involved were pretty cheap, low-end -- low-cost vehicles, if you will, old vehicles. Beyond that, how to connect all these dots, does it match up to terrorism that threatens the Olympics? Is it some local event that is targeting just the local police? Is there a bigger, broader message? Is it a diversionary tactic? Because these villages where these incidents took place, it's very close, within 20, or so miles of the standby airport, the airport that will be used to bring athletes in, if the Sochi airport is closed.

So, the proximity is what is concerning. The exact details and connections, that's still part of the investigation, Carol.

COSTELLO: Nic Robertson, reporting live from Moscow this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the man that may be at the center of the New Jersey bridge scandal fights a call to testify.

Erin McPike is in Trenton with more.

Good morning, Erin.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

David Wildstein is in court right now, trying to find out if he will have to testify here at noon and we will bring you the answer live after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)