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Chris Christie's State of the State Address; President Obama Meets With Miami Heat

Aired January 14, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I would not anticipate that Governor Christie is going to be talking about what happened and why Bridget Anne Kelly, his deputy chief of staff, apparently ordered the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge.

If you talk to the Christie office, people close to Christie, they say he does not know. He hasn't talked to her. He doesn't understand why they did what they did. So, for her to come out right -- for him to come out right now and give a big explanation would be contradictory to what he has said so far.

Generally speaking, most of the speech is going to be about New Jersey and what they have accomplished in his first term, what he hopes to accomplish in the second, talking about education reform, extending school days, extending the school year.

There will be some discussion about the difficulties of the past week or so, an acceptance of blame, I am told, but no thorough explanation as to why it all happened, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Gloria, on that note, if you are Governor Christie with this acceptance of blame that Jake's talking about and reference to the scandal, do you address this at the tiptop? Do you bury it somewhere in the middle? Are you vintage Chris Christie and taking this head on? How do you handle it?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, I think Christie has to be a governor today.

He has to talk about the state of his state. He has to talk about what he wants to do in his next term. And, as Jake points out, I think he has to acknowledge what's going on and take responsibility for it, which, by the way, I would point out that he did in his two- hour press conference. He took full responsibility for it.

I think that, you know, in many ways, when we look at somebody who's a potential presidential candidate, we say, OK, he's going to be defined by how he handles this episode almost as much as the episode itself. So what we have seen from the Christie folks so far is they have had a lot of stuff thrown their way.

They want to cooperate fully with everybody doing investigations. They want to make it clear that they want to get to the bottom of this, which is what I think, if I were Governor Christie, I would be talking about, because, as Jake points out, he said he did not know.

BALDWIN: Just a quick reminder to our viewers as we are watching and waiting, looking at a very packed Statehouse room here in Trenton, New Jersey, as we await the governor, Chris Christie, to give his state of the state, of course, upon reelection.

He will be taking to the podium and giving this address. We are watching for this. And we're waiting for a couple of other live events to happen here as well.

But, Jake, just back to you, when we talk about this and the George Washington Bridge and the lane closure and the whole scandal, you know all the players. One of the central figures is Christie's -- I think they go back to childhood, a childhood friend, former appointee David Wildstein.

And when we listened to Chris Christie last week when he was talking to reporters for a very long time, he said he -- OK, we're going to move away.

Forgive me, guys. We're going to move away from New Jersey just quickly, keeping an eye on this, going quickly to the White House to see this live picture, President Obama congratulating, flanked by the Miami Heat basketball team. Take a look.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: World champions, the Miami Heat.

Now, one of the cool things about this job is welcoming championship sports teams from across the sporting world to the White House. And, usually, people enjoy coming to the White House. I have to say I have never seen folks more excited than the Heat when they came last year.

I mean, LeBron was so pumped up, I thought he was going to give me a hug and knock me over, like the guy in "SportsCenter" who hit the half-court shot. But it was wonderful to see them then. It is wonderful to see them back.

We have got some outstanding members of Congress who are big fans of the Heat. They're from both parties, because we all know nothing brings people together like the Miami Heat.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Across the NBA, there's just a unifying sense about the Heat.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: I want to congratulate coach Spoelstra for the outstanding work that he does, legendary team president Pat Riley for his outstanding leadership, and all the coaches and players, members of the staff and crew to make a championship season. This group has now won twice, but it's gone to the finals three times. And sometimes it feels like they're still fighting for a little respect. I can relate to that.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Last season, the Heat put together one of the most dominating regular seasons ever by a defending champion. They won a team record 66 games. At one point, they won 27 games straight, the second longest winning streak ever, extraordinarily impressive, almost as impressive as the Bulls' 72-win season.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Riley and I were reminiscing about those Knicks years.

But, as these guys know, winning a title is never easy. In the playoffs, the Pacers put them through seven bruising games. In the finals, the Spurs showed us all that they have got an awful lot of life left in them, and one of the greatest players of all time and one of the greatest coaches of all time.

In fact, San Antonio had the series all but wrapped up in game six, as you will recall. Miami was down five points, less than 30 seconds to go. The last 122 times that happened in the playoffs, the team that was down lost 122 times.

And then they brought out the ropes. And then Ray Allen saw them bring out the ropes. And with five seconds left, Chris Bosh gets an incredible offensive rebound, passes it out to Ray. Ray is backing up. He's got to jump forward, hits one of the most iconic shots of all time.

And then he added a few choice words about the ropes, which we cannot repeat here.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: But, Ray, I do want you to know that, you know, when you say those things on the court, like, people can read your lips. Right?

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: You do understand that? OK. All right.

So the Heat won game six, went on to win game seven, their third title in eight seasons. LeBron James earned his second straight finals MVP to go along with four regular season MVPs in five years.

Dwyane Wade, warrior that he is, played through a pair of injured knees, always came through when it mattered. Chris Bosh was there playing great defense, getting the rebound, hitting a clutch shot. Everybody on this team participated. And from Ray's big shot to the contributions of Mario Chalmers, Shane Battier, Udonis Haslem, the Birdman, Birdman's tattoos, Birdman's mohawk...

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: ... they each showed us the kind of heart and determination it takes to be a champion.

And they also showed what heart means off the court. Last year, they raised close to $2 million for local charities. Before this event, they met with some of our amazing wounded warriors over at Walter Reed. And we're proud to have some of those wounded warriors here in the audience here today.

Honoring our troops...

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Honoring our troops isn't just something that they do when they come to the White House. It's something they do all year round with their Heat Home Strong initiative.

And Pat Riley, I know, has been hugely invested in this. And we talked a little bit about this. His incredible admiration for our men and women in uniform, but, more concretely, his willingness to do something about how we support them, I think, is a credit to the entire organization.

On top of that, coach Spoelstra serves as a member of the NBA FIT Team to encourage healthy habits among young people. I know Michelle is thankful for the support that many of these players have given to her Let's Move initiative.

I heard that all of you are getting ready to embarrass yourself by singing karaoke for Shane's education foundation.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Just leave Al Green to the pros, people.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: So -- so, bottom line is, outstanding athletes, outstanding organization, outstanding team, but also outstanding members of their community.

And so we're very proud to have them back. We wish them great luck for the rest of the season, unless they're playing the Bulls.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: And, with that, I think we should take a picture. But we should make it quick before one of these guys starts yelling at Mario.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: I mean, sometimes it's just a bad pass, guys. It's not Mario's fault.

(LAUGHTER) OBAMA: I got your back, man.

ERIK SPOELSTRA, MIAMI HEAT HEAD COACH: Well, this is a great honor for the entire Miami Heat family.

It does not get old. And what this is, is, we put this together before the playoff run last year. And it was a covenant between all of us that we signed that we would commit to each other all the way to the end.

OBAMA: This is outstanding.

SPOELSTRA: So, we have marks for each win. And it signified each player with a mark, the win for that game, and the final one was the team one. This one right here, you can see 44.

OBAMA: There you go.

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: It was added to it. The -- you guys are winning me over a little bit.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: You're getting there. You're getting there.

SPOELSTRA: We will promise we will put together another one for you and let you mark it this year.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: OK. Congratulations.

BALDWIN: That was Erik Spoelstra, the Miami Heat coach. Love the line about Al Green. Leave it to the pros, of course, the pro being the president singing.

Jake Tapper, you have covered this administration for a bunch of years.

How fun is this? Other than the fact that the president of the United States is definitely a hometown team Chicago Bulls fan, but he's having so much fun. Jake Tapper?

TAPPER: He is a huge sports fan. Yes, I'm here. Can you hear me?

BALDWIN: I can, my friend. Go ahead.

TAPPER: Brooke Baldwin, can you hear me?

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes.

TAPPER: OK.

These are some of President Obama's favorite things to cover, favorite things to participate in, rather. He is a huge, legitimately a huge sports fan who watches much more ESPN than he does any cable news network. When he had the Chicago Bears over to give them a White House event that they had been denied in 1985 because of the Challenger disaster, that was very exciting for him as a Chicago Bears fan.

And he loves watching sports and meeting these guys almost as if he's not the president. He's just another sports fan meeting Chris Bosh or other members of the Miami Heat.

BALDWIN: Getting his own jersey. Look at that, POTUS No. 44. That is kind of fun.

This is the fun picture. This is the White House meeting all these guys. Just look at some of them tower over the president. We know President Obama is pretty tall himself.

Ana Navarro, you're standing by. I know we're talking Chris Christie with you in a bit. But since you're from Miami, how exciting is this for you to watch, even as a Republican?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, listen, there is no partisanship when it comes to this. And as far as I'm concerned, forget Chris Christie's state of state. We just can talk the entire hour about, let's say it again, NBA national champions, my Miami Heat.

BALDWIN: Two years in a row.

NAVARRO: And it's going to be a three-peat by this year.

BALDWIN: OK. All right.

Let's switch gears. We will move away from this picture and talk about what's happening. We know the House is officially in session in Trenton, New Jersey, as Governor Christie's state of the state is about to get under way.

And Jake Tapper is standing by in Trenton, Gloria Borger standing by for us in Washington.

And, so, Gloria, let's just talk about -- I think both of you agree that is Chris Christie, this is Governor Chris Christie addressing clearly New Jersey issues. Yes, he will be addressing the scandal that we have been reporting on for some time. But do you think the national audience -- how do you think the national audience will be watching this?

BORGER: Well, we have seen in the polls that the national audience isn't paying as much attention to it as the New Jersey audience is.

But the difficulty he's having with his home state right now is while he still remains popular by most governors' standards, there has been a substantial decline in the number of people who think he's actually presidential.

Only half of the people in the state of New Jersey say that he is presidential. And they have lost a lot of trust for him. So what I think he has to do today is try and regain some of that stature that he's lost as a governor, because, of course, he wants to get a lot more stature as president of the United States.

And it's hard to achieve that lofty goal if people think there's a stature gap somehow. So, he has to get out of the sort of petty side of this scandal, and it's all about petty politics, right? He has to get out of that pettiness and on to something a lot larger.

BALDWIN: As Gloria and I are talking about how this would be perceived by a national audience, Jake Tapper, you were discussing earlier some of the issues, obviously tackling education, talking about elongating some of the school days. I'm just curious if, for a national audience, we're talking about a guy who could be, could be throwing his name out there come 2016 for president.

Do you think that we should be paying -- and I say we, those of us not in New Jersey -- close attention to those ideas, because this is something he could float as a possible candidate?

TAPPER: Sure, absolutely.

I mean, his education ideas are part of the centerpiece of what he's trying to do in New Jersey, very controversially so with some groups such as the teachers unions. And, in fact, I was speaking to an education activist not long ago, who was -- we were talking about what the governor is going to present in terms of proposal to extend the school day, extend the school year.

And she was saying that she thought those were bad ideas, what is needed in New Jersey is fully funded pre-K, after-school activities, vacation activities for kids, fully funding schools in urban areas of New Jersey. Some of the worst pockets of poverty on the East Coast are in New Jersey, Newark, Camden.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Here he is.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I think I see him.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: There's Governor Christie. There you go.

BALDWIN: I think I see him hugging, shaking some hands, giving some kisses.

Go ahead, Tapper, where were you?

TAPPER: Well, I was just going to say it behooves us in the media to talk about these ideas and not just bridges.

BALDWIN: Right. Right. TAPPER: But in terms of the bridge scandal, one other thing we should say is it goes against one of the images he had been trying to portray on a national level, which was for, pardon the pun, bridge-builder, somebody who was able to work with Democrats. The Democrats here in Trenton obviously control both the state Senate and the state Assembly.

He was elected overwhelmingly with Democrats, with Latinos, winning women. These are -- the arguments to Republicans was, look, this is a guy who can win Democratic voters, people who, generally speaking, vote for Democrats. And this scandal undermines that image, at least in the short-term. We will see about the long-term.

BALDWIN: In the short-term, Ana Navarro, since I have you here as well, let me bring your voice into this.

In the short-term -- you're a Republican. How much do you like Chris Christie? How much has what's happened, what's erupted, what's rocked the national media affected your perception of the governor?

NAVARRO: You know, Brooke, I'm in a wait-and-see mode. I'm a Republican who's always liked Chris Christie and I like his message.

I also like the way that he went out and really campaigned for the nontraditional Republican votes in New Jersey this last time.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Ana, let me cut you off. I see him at the podium thanking folks. We will wait for them to sit down. Let's take a listen.

(APPLAUSE)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you very much. Happy new year.

Lieutenant governor, Mr. Speaker, congratulations. Mr. President, members of the state legislature, friends and fellow New Jerseyans, now, the last week has certainly tested this administration. Mistakes were clearly made. And, as a result, we let down the people we're entrusted to serve.

I know our citizens deserve better, much better. Now, I'm the governor. And I'm ultimately responsible for all that happens on my watch, both good and bad. Now, without a doubt, we will cooperate with all appropriate inquiries to ensure that this breach of trust does not happen again. But I also want to assure the people of New Jersey today that what has occurred does not define us or our state. This administration and this legislature will not allow the work that needs to be done to improve the people's lives in New Jersey to be delayed for any reason.

(APPLAUSE)

I am the leader of this state and its people. And I stand here today proud to be both.

(APPLAUSE)

But, also, those of you who know me know I am always, always determined to do better. So, now I come before you once again for my fourth time to report to you on the state of our state. And the good news is that, today, the state of our state is good, and it is getting better.

(APPLAUSE)

To remember that, four years ago right now, we were in the throes of an economic crisis, today, our unemployment rate is 7.8 percent. That is the lowest in five years.

(APPLAUSE)

Four years ago, we were losing jobs. Today, we have gained 70,000 jobs in 2013 alone and a total of 156,000 in the last four years.

(APPLAUSE)

Four years ago, wealth and jobs were leaving the state. Today, personal income for New Jerseyans is at an all-time high, and we're attracting new companies. And that has brought jobs.

We now have four straight years of private sector job growth.

(APPLAUSE)

In fact, in November, the drop in our unemployment rate was the largest one-month drop ever measured. And, in the last year, New Jersey had the second-largest drop in its unemployment rate in America, only behind the state of North Carolina.

Now, we could have chosen to go down a path of continued tax increases and fund the state's addiction to spending, but we didn't. We held the line against any new taxes, and brought spending in the current fiscal year to a level below fiscal year 2008, six years ago.

Now, we could have let state government grow even while the private sector shrank, but we didn't. Today, there are 6,000 fewer state employees that when I took office four years ago, but there are more than 155,000 new private sector employees.

We have improved our business climate, and, today, by every measure, business confidence in New Jersey is up. In fact, one national magazine ranked New Jersey among the top five states with the most improved business climates in America.

(APPLAUSE)

It's no accident how we got to this place today, no accident at all. We chose -- we chose the way. And in this new year and in the next four years, we need to build on this momentum by creating a new attitude. We need to create an attitude of choice.

An attitude of choice is not about choosing everything. It's not about saying yes to everyone. It is about us setting our priorities and choosing to invest in New Jersey where it matters, and to put in place the reforms and the reductions that will make that possible.

And the best part of our turnaround for these past four years is because we have chosen to work together. Let's take a moment. These are our achievements, four balanced budgets passed with bipartisan support, pension reform passed with bipartisan support, teacher tenure reform passed with bipartisan support, a cap on property taxes passed with bipartisan support.

We acted, and we acted together. And even though the competition among states is fierce, the record on this is clear. No state in this country has shown more bipartisan cooperation in governance over the last four years than in New Jersey, and our people are proud of it.

(APPLAUSE)

Let's resolve today that we will continue to put those people who are proud of us now, that we will put them first, that we will choose to do our jobs.

Now, one of the things that we know historically has driven people out of New Jersey is high property taxes. In 2010, together, we capped them. And the 2 percent cap has worked. In these past two years, property tax growth has been the lowest in two decades.

But the job is far from finished. Property taxes are still too high, and so, today, I ask for you to join me in enacting a new property tax relief initiative that tackles the root causes that are driving up property taxes in the first place.

But, first, let's get some context. The 2 percent cap we have already enacted has worked for a reason. The reason it's worked is because we have done it by controlling costs. We accompanied it with reform of an interest arbitration award system that we all knew needed fixing.

As you know, the interest arbitration cap was not permanent. It is set to expire this April, unless we act. So I ask you today on both sides of the aisle, let us renew the cap on interest arbitration awards that is working, and let's make that cap permanent before the deadline in April.

(APPLAUSE)

Another reason property taxes are so high is that our cities and our towns are stuck with a series of costly state rules that increase the cost of local government.

As the cost of government grows, taxpayers, property taxpayers are paying the price. Now, we have worked with the Senate to try to pass real consolidation and civil service, shared services reform. We haven't yet got it done in the Assembly. We need to have an effort that includes everyone responsible for property taxes, the Senate, the Assembly, our administration, and local governments, to provide them with the authority to run their governments like a business, to consolidate, to share services, to cut duplication, and ultimately to reduce property taxes.

Don't think it's possible? Let's look at what happened last year in Princeton. Now, Princeton Borough, Princeton Township talked about this for a long time, but, finally, they consolidated...

BALDWIN: All right, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie speaking, giving his state of the state address here in the Statehouse in Trenton, New Jersey.

And the headline, he wasted no time, within the first 10 seconds really, addressing the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal head-on.

Jake Tapper is standing outside the Statehouse for him.

And, Jake, listening to this and learning he hit this right off the top, what did you make of that?

TAPPER: Well, he knew that there was a national audience, and a domestic audience, domestic here in New Jersey, trying to -- waiting for him to acknowledge it. And it's not probably a good idea to keep something like that out there hanging.

He had three basic points. Mistakes were clearly made. He accepts responsibility, and his administration will cooperate with any appropriate inquiries to make sure it doesn't happen again. And then he moved on to the typical state of the state address. We were talking before he started speaking, Brooke, about how much he wants to talk about his bipartisanship.

He likes the contrast being a Republican governor in a Democratic state, winning Democratic votes, working with the Democratic legislature. He likes to contrast that with how Washington, D.C., works. And this bridge scandal definitely sullies that image, his administration apparently seeking political vendettas.

But right here on the second page of the speech, he's talking about how no state has shown more bipartisan cooperation in the last four years than New Jersey. Let's do it again.

This is very much part of the Christie pitch, not just here in New Jersey, but potentially nationally, should he decide to run for president, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Once again to your point, he knew he had that national audience. Jake Tapper, thank you. We will get -- we will let you get cracking on your show. We will see you at the top of the hour on "THE LEAD" from a rainy Trenton, New Jersey.

TAPPER: Thank you.