Test yet. Is he a man of action or just a bully . Makers, in new york city, i am Erik Schatzker. I am stephanie ruhle. We are going to hear from Chris Christie at 11 00. Everyone is talking about this, many people in the financial industry have been big backers of Chris Christie. What could this mean . Given the widespread belief that Chris Christie has president ial ambitions, this is not just a new Jersey New York thing. Time for the news feed. Parent company of victorias secret lowered its profit forecast after reporting holiday sales that came up short. It says december sales at the tory sticker was 3 , analysts 4 increase. A sales at Family Dollar fell. Barnes noble sales also dropped. An investigation has concluded at the Worlds Largest money manager. To payck has agreed 400,000 dollars in investigative costs to the new York State Attorney general. Blackrock had a program that surveyed analysts, collecting views on companies before analysts published research. Blackrock neither admits nor denies of the findings. Ibm creating a division for watson, the computer that be people on jeopardy. More than 1 billion will be invested. Watson can learn from responses. A stepping stone to artificial intelligence. A perfect day to have a special guest. The kind of guy we could talk to about anything and get a smart answer. Harry wilson, he helped the white house restructure the Auto Industry. Now is the ceo of may the group. Welcome back to Market Makers. So much to cover. In less than an hour, hearing from Chris Christie. You, being the turnaround guy, he has got to turn this around. It is smart to come out quickly, he should have come out sooner. He has to take ownership and the very honest. This story will wind its way to whatever the ultimate source is. I assume he is smart enough to this,er been connected to he has to dry line and be very clear about the ultimate source of the problem. Here is the hypothetical, we are going to touch on this again. Lets say, hypothetically, Chris Christie is involved. We dont know that yet, what does he do today . Hes got to come clean. If he does not and we find out later . As we learned in watergate, the coverup is always worse than the crime. We have got to talk about the Auto Industry, you helped the white house restructure gm, chrysler, ford did it on its own, how competitive is the American Auto industry . The most competitive in our lifetimes. Why . Thank you. On two did a great job fronts, driving the costs to the point where every industry at thebe able to operate trough of the industry with some level of free cash flow. All of the big three can. But what is the trough . All those companies were able to operate at the 10 million in 2009, that is a trough we wont see in the foreseeable future. Such an unusual confluence of events, the Great Recession and all the things that came together, the fear, automakers on the verge of bankruptcy. The usual an unusual confluence. The second part of the products i. Thehe second part is product side. The work that began in 2006 has accelerated, particularly as gm and chrysler has had cash flow, they have had the most competitive product line in decades. A lot of people dont give the right folks credit for how competitive the Auto Industry is today. Outcars they are putting they were conceived of well before the financial crisis. The ones now were in 2009 and 2010. They were on the books in 2008. Is a three to five Year Development cycle. The fusion. At g. M. , they had a passionate advocate for changing carmaking. The accountants would say we need to save every dime because we have a that cost structure. They would cut all the money invested in the interior. He said we can invest in the chevy malibu. Erik loves the malibu. It is a great midmarket car. Investing 400 more on the interior, they sell it for 4000 more. Making more per car. Like renovating your apartment before you put up for sale. Investing in good products. Thehat is so exciting about Auto Industry that alan mulally wants to stay put . Why not go to microsoft . Is a tragedy for microsoft that alan mulally is not going. He was absolutely the right guy, they need cultural change, there is no one in tech that has any history. Maybe meg will do that at hewlettpackard. Microsoft is cultural and product. Alan mulally is not going to be an expert on product, he could drive the culture and bring a smart ceo with this assessor with his successor why is the pool so small . Alan mulally or bust, there is no other great candidate . It is limited. It is a huge company with a lot of problems. It has got it odd confluence of bureaucracy and technology, which is unusual. Look at hewlettpackard, they struggled for a long time. It is a limited pool of candidates. With the right move before bill gates to say i am going to help find someone . I am not going to be on your shoulder leaning over, but i am going to give you the opportunity for me to shepherd you through. That would be a great opportunity. If you are alan mulally, you dont want Steve Ballmer and bill gates. If bill gates said i am going to walk you through this company, it would be tough to not one that. That is right. I am not privy to those conversations. I would think bill gates would want that. He has a lot of network tied up in a, it is his legacy. The reason microsoft has a cultural problem is because of bill gates and Steve Ballmer, they are not going away. I would put more of the blame on Steve Ballmer. Is different2002 from the gates of 2014, he has matured. As a result, he is at a point where he could do that. It has not been clear bombers at that point. Ballmer at that point. Mary barra. How good is she going to be at gm . She has a good combination of things. The product experience, a core part of the need. She knows the industry very well. From everything i have seen from her do you know her . She was not involved in 2009, they got cleaned out. Levels downre three rose to the top. Ase, she is aware of the cultural problems that led gm to failure and focused on not repeating those. We have a lot more to cover. Harry wilson is going to be joining us for a lot more. We need to take a break. A the Auto Industry is on roll, so is rollsroyce. Another year of record sales. The companys ceo will be here in a couple minutes. Call it life in the fast lane. Set a saleshas record for the fourth year in a row. With its new group its new it iscalled the wraith, sold out. With us from london, ceo of rollsroyce, torsten mullerotvos. Good morning. History is history, lets look forward. The wraith is a hot car, you are so off until june, our orders coming in . Talk about the backlog. We are optimistic about 2014. We see again a good year for rollsroyce. That is not only in one region but all over the world. When you say another good year, how do you qualify a good year . From what i saw, sales were up about 1. 5 , it is a new record, but that is not exactly setting the world on fire. You have some competition at the high end, bentley, bentley was at 19 in 2013. Can you put up numbers like that . Yes, but i need to put that in context. Family is operating in a different price segment bentley is operating in a different price segment. We are selling beyond 250,000 u. S. Dollars, family is bentl ey is math lecture he. Our Business Model is different, we are not chasing volumes. Always producing one car less than we can sell. The you have a different customer than bentley . Definitely. Ustomersur c are entrepreneurs, 20 are celebrities. Our customers are really out for the best on earth. That qualifies us for the price position we are asking for. You can caterity, your car to your own needs. Every car is unique. As you said, we are sold out until the middle of this year. I think it is good not to be volume pushy. Profitability is the name of the gameor any luxury brand. If bentley is not your competition, who is . The customer you profiled sounds like those who are enthused about the tesla. Talking about ceos, celebrities, they seem to have tesla theater tesla fever. I would not collect competition within the car segment. We are talking about customers who have a couple cars. Rollsroyce is something which you present yourself and reword yourself for a success story. Maybempetition is drollery maybe jewelry, a yacht, precious jewelry, a chalet in the swiss alps. How you spoil yourself for achievements you have made. Torsten, we have all come to believe that in the post period, 2008 and 2009, nobody in the world has done better than the ultrawealthy. Why arent they buying more rollsroyces . The people you describe as the luxuryxury mass customers are buying more bentleys. We are operating in a segment 250,000, that is far smaller. So well. Is doing you only sell 2500 cars a year. For you to increase sales 20 does not require that many more cars. Not pushing for volume, that is for sure. We are always building one car less than we can sell. Not a matter of percentage, we are in the second time in a row, we have the fourth consecutive record year in the second historic record year for the brand. Rollsroyce in its 110 year history has never sold more cars. That is very satisfactory. Our customers are concerned when the stories are up on volume, lets get more. That is against exclusivity. Especially with our customer, that is a topic that is not liked. Given the way you define your competitive marketplace and the alternative goods, how do you think about the longterm horizon for rollsroyce . Do you want a limited selection of models and keep driving price. About how thenk business evolves over the next three years to five years . I am very positive, when you look into the Growth Numbers, predicted Growth Numbers, that looks very encouraging. There are Growth Numbers around 2 year over year that are in line with our growth. I am talking about people who are really able to spend money. For that reason, i am not worried about the potential in general. With our recently released e, theroyce wraith, a coup first in the history of rollsroyce. This caters to the more gentlemen oriented grandeur style. A self driving car for younger customers, that pays off already. Thank you for joining us on Market Makers. Torsten mullerotvos, ceo of rollsroyce. Likening the purchase of a rules to a piece of jewelry. Have both ande to a tesla. Aboute come back, talking a cover girl. Something i am not. We have never seen a fed chairman like this. Janet yellen opening up to time here, you are watching bloomberg television. Here is something you do not see every day. The chairman of the Federal Reserve giving an interview. Janet yellen just did and is on the cover of next weeks time magazine. Michael mckee is with us. Ben bernanke set a high bar for transparency, janet yellen is clearing it . Starting off in that direction, ben bernanke took three years or four years before he started getting mainstream interviews. 60bernanke went on minutes, janet yellen in time here cut both of them feel they to talk beyond wall street and two main street about what the fed is doing. Is that because of the criticism that qe only helps wall street . She addresses that, she says it is unfair to say it is just helping the rich. Actually, the fed is trying to help everyone. Her quote was basically that a rising tide lifts all boats, it is not just helping rich people come our policy is aimed at holding down longterm Interest Rates supporting the recovery by increasing spending. Harry, is that true . No. She is trying, it is not succeeding. Itave been a critic of qe, is overextending its welcome. The marginal benefits do not exceed the marginal costs. You cant go cold turkey. You cannot, but they screwed up in september. They will do about 10 billion a meeting, getting them out sometime in the Third Quarter or fourth quarter. I would like to see them do that faster. Is this the right strategy for a chairman . Does janet yellen need to persuade america does america know is it a good thing that it has not made the rich richer . Would not she does, i have said that historically. But today, the fed is so immersed in the Popular Culture of economics because of the size of their balance sheet. That is on the cover. Part of the risk here, bernanke surely recognized this on 60 minutes, it creates a celebrity culture. That could have been a problem if they were different kind of people. Janet yellen has been on the fed since 1994, Everybody Knows her, she is very collegial. The atmosphere is not going to change. I dont think her personality is such that she is going to become a rock star. Other, vicere be chairman for example, other members of the fomc or regional fed president to say janet yellen is on the cover, i want to be a cover girl. Celebrity is intoxicating. Economists are not generally that kind of people, nor art magazine editors nor are magazine editors enamored of economists. The fact that she is coming into office. She makes a point, she is going to focus on unemployment. The most important thing to the economy right now is getting the Unemployment Rate down. Whatose growth that is wall street is going to focus on. Rather than the emphasis on inflation. Unemployment, more of a Monetary Policy or fiscal policy issue . Fiscal policy, too much uncertainty, not enough investment. A lot to talk about with harry wilson of maeva group. Talking about janet yellen on time. When we come back, Chris Christie on the cover of the new york post, he is in a jam. President ial hopeful might be in big trouble, we will be back. Live from bloomberg headquarters in new york, this is Market Makers, with Erik Schatzker and stephanie ruhle. Welcome back to Market Makers. I am stephanie ruhle. Chris christie is faced in his first big political crisis. Top was of his members of his staff apparently triggered a traffic jam on the George Washington bridge. He is holding a News Conference, you can watch it live on bloomberg. Bringing in margaret carlson. Our guest host for the morning. Dont know. Be he did not, we yesterday, the one thing he could not bring himself to do, even knowing what was in front of all of us, was apologized. He has yet to apologize. Enedeed to see a chast governor this morning who is going to take the blame and be sorry. Is exactlythat right. At least two pieces. All the facts have to be on the table asap at 11 00. He needs he needs to show remorse, not about anything he has done, but about people on his team. He has a bit of a gangster brand. It is a sopranos state. Just what it is. What are we going to see in the media, i am not saying here, how is Chris Christie going to get out from under this . Missiles are firing at him. Whatever the facts are, if they get on the table right away, this will blow over. If they are seen as being hidden and takes a long investigation, that is a very different story. Why is everybody pouncing on the situation with such glee . Is it because there are so many more democrats in new york and new jersey than republicans . Chris christie has some bitter rivals in the democratic party. Because, too many people, this represents what they thought they knew about Chris Christie but did not have evidence of yet. It is all of that. Let me plead guilty, reporters jump on anything like this, particularly sex scandals, this does not have sex yet. But it has traffic, the number two thing after sex that is so exciting. I dont want to make too much of this, someone did die, not directly related, the Emergency Vehicle could not get through and someone was having cardiac arrest and died at the hospital. A lot more could have happened. A lot more to happen during our. That hour. The first thing kristi did was thing joke the first Chris Christie did was make a joke. This retaliation was for nothing. Chris christie was at about 70 in the polls at the time when he was going after the little serbian. The only humor i have seen is the mayor saying i am not serbian, i am croatian. Washe first thing he did make a joke, does he know how to do chastened . The joke was made early on when the bridge closings he was designing he was denying everything. Chastened he does not do. The more we suffer, we learn. Other i do the not think this blows over, this is serious. It plays into the dark side of what a lot of people think is good about the new jersey governor. The tough sopranos kind of thing. There is a lot to come. He was manipulating a nonpolitical Government Agency that controls a bridge. Not haven, we do evidence Chris Christie himself was manipulating, we know his staff did. This is not a political trick or a prank, this is more serious. A whole Government Agency in control of traffic. He may not have had his fingerprints on it in any way. He is in charge. These were his top people. He is inld have charge of a tough guy state where many people will say he has done a great job for education and for children. Is that going to get washed away . Great job, this shows a terrible lack of judgment. Thatse of his personality has gone so many things done, he could have gotten to the bottom of this. To you not think that had he called his people and and grilled them the way he grows them he could not have gotten answers . They lied to him. Or he did not press them hard enough. That if, is it possible this could be lets assume Chris Christie new nothing. If he did know nothing, could this be a great political opportunity . If he does what marker says he we will do, apologize, see a Chris Christie we have never seen. It enters another dimension. Gets the facts out there, deals with that, comes across as empathetic and understanding that this was a big screwup, somebodys screwup. Look how advantage of this handy situation. Of the sandy situation. He showed who he was and sandy. You are getting at a full dimension of Chris Christie, not just a tough guy. He is broader than that. Thats why he is attractive as a candidate. This will be an important moment. In less than 30 minutes, you are going to be watching that press conference, we will have it here live. Thank you for joining us, margaret carlson. Harry wilson is sticking around. Up, we more is coming will have governor christies News Conference live along with analysis from president obamas 2008 campaign manager. He will tell us what he thinks, he is a master political strategist. How does blackberry keep its brand authentec . Authentic . A branding expert is up next. Tmobiles ceo john leisure legere trying to be the star in las vegas, crashing the at t party and offering customers to terminate their contract. He spoke with bloomberg. Unlike my normal behavior, this is for everyone. This is verizon, sprint, at t. I enjoy doing things that cause pain to at t. After those antics, legere tallied subscriber numbers that led to the best corner for tmobile in eight years, how much of that success is writing on these tactics . Lets turn to steve mckee, author of power branding, president of a Marketing Company and the brother of our own michael mckee. John legere. Has hef a cowboy or captured something that the Wireless Industry needs, a little personality to get customers to do your bidding . Captured something tmobile needs, when you are not number one or number two, you have to break out of the pack. This is not just annex, is a strategy . It is a who he is, but strategy. Shortterm, it is smart. Longterm, more the question. Harry, you are a turnaround expert. Maybe telecom is not your thing. If you are a distant number 4. Sprint, at t, verizon, would you recommend resorting to this . I dont know if i would do exactly that, i agree that they have to break out. He is getting a ton of attention. Not necessarily bad attention, it gets people to think about tmobile. Not my style any publicity is good publicity. It would be better if they had a better product. I dont think the tmobile product is competitive the service may not be as competitive as tmobile would want but the pricing. There is nothing as competitive. Couldnt just turn around and bite him in a few months . They came out and had great numbers, but for months or five months from now, can people say this guy is reckless and a responsible . This behavior could end up being the death of him. I think that is what will happen. In a commoditized industry, he is taking advantage of the antipathy people have towards cell phone carriers. Unlike Southwest Airlines who do it with a smile, this caustic prose will backfire caustic approach will backfire. People will turn on that kind of behavior. How difficult is it in this market to go from being number four or number five or number three or whatever and challenge some really entrenched competitors. I am thinking now of blackberry. You were up against google with android, apple and iphone. The past year was a disaster. I think it is too late for blackberry, that is my opinion as a branding expert. The company on the inside is very sick. This is one of the most valuable brands in the world. Market share a few years ago, but when you have an employee comparing it to a hospice publicly. All branding starts on the inside. How do blackberry executives come into work every day and are in it . They have to articulate a clear and believable vision for the country, getting the employees to believe that, only then could they convince consumers anyone inside blackberry besides john thain feel like we could even york yankees john can clec we could b anyone inside blackberry, besides john chen, clec we could be the new york yankees. Do they have to be the new york yankees . They have been the enterprise company, serving businesses and not consumers. Consumer product will always take more share. Has killedown device blood. Ackberry. Unless there is a killer product we dont know about and a path to introducing that there is a killer product, the blackberry. I want to go back to legere. Company isutside the talking about it. From a Corporate Culture standpoint, what does this do . Does it have tmobile suddenly completely reenergized . Hitting the phones and going to see customers . They are fired up, their boss is taking on a bully. How could you not love that . You see there being an impact on Corporate Culture. It is positive in the shortterm, the question is whether it works in the longterm. Too little, too late for blackberry. Erik, if you do crazy stuff and ended up in the new york post, our team would be amped up. Just wait. What about microsoft. Harry said microsofts turnaround has to start with culture. Absolutely. What does microsoft need to do to regain brand of magic and has lost . A new ceo,t needs that is the problem. Who wants to run that company in the shadow of that kind of chairman. Until he gets until bill gates and the board and the new ceo work that out, that delicate balance. Harry said alan mulally would have been great. But from a branding standpoint, with alan mulally have been the right guy . It is a tech company, doesnt it need a young, vibrant communicator who alan mulally, he aint a communicator. Communicates for him. If he had a coo who was a worldclass tech person, he is 60 years old, he could mentor that person. I think it would have been a home run. Is about vision and strategy, not necessarily technology. Microsoft does not need john legere. What does the culture inside microsoft look like . If it is so clear i am not getting picked for the job, how do you go in . The culture is probably like the new york yankees, they are used to winning. That is really discouraging. Thank you for coming back, great to see you, steve mckee, author of power branding, harry wilson, it has been a great our. T ishe digital prophe back from out we will have that next. To marketback makers, another glimpse into the digital crystal ball. What is a well what is aols digital prophets prediction for 2014 . Mobile devices are going to enable brands to have a better intimate relationship. You can create efficacy versus just awareness. Companies it enables and brands to create real authenticity, advocacy, rather than awareness. A native user on a fellow will touch and interact with their screen more than 300 times a day. 300 interactions per day on my screen. I hope that some of those are with your brand. Instead of being a place of amplification, i literally interact with your brand, it creates a deep and authentic relationship. I am going to be on ambassador for their brand. When i look at the way people conduct themselves at dinner tables, looking down, face in the phone. Do we want to change that or accept it and celebrate it . We are a connected generation. You will get a linkedin request, someone will follow you, a facebook request. With all these devices, i feel quite alone. Now, because i am using my digital footprint to be a better educated human, i want to be more engaged. I and making sure i have a connection rather than just being connected. What do you make of that . Kerry if he ask believes it is fascinating do you believe you can have an intimate relationship with brands . Aboutthe way people feel apple and the way people feel about highend cars. We have heard this about tesla. They love it. Is that possible on a broader level . I think it is hard to achieve. Similar types of relationships. It is really hard to achieve, if you can connect with people on a high quality product at an emotional level. It can be done, there is a shortlist of companies doesnt that amaze you, in terms of whole foods. 10 years ago, could you see yourself saying i love Piggly Wiggly . We did not know i could exist. Whole foods has an emotional connection. They have artists inside the store. They have made a more intimate set out. Things,take a bunch of they transform the market, establish an emotional connection, they have a culture that is locked into who they are as a company. It resonates and works internally. Is the mobile device a key ingredient . T was saying,rophe the interface and the number of times you interact with it is the key. How do you translate the brand to a twodimensional screen, that is the hard part. The companies you work with, not necessarily healthy companies. Even at that level, do the ceos need to understand the opportunity that exists in technology, in particular the relationship consumers have to those companies by virtue of this computer . I work with,nies the cultural peace and technology piece, usually they dont have them. That is the opportunity they can embrace. It has been great to have you on Market Makers. Looking for to the next time with harry wilson of the maeva group, he has smart answers to a lot. I am leaving for the day. Chris christie in the next few minutes, i am signing off. See you tomorrow. Cristina alesci will be with us, Market Makers two will be back. Live from bloomberg headquarters in new york, this is Market Makers with Erik Schatzker and stephanie ruhle. It may have been a bridge too far for new jerseys governor Chris Christie. You are looking at the George Washington bridge. A critical piece of the new york City Infrastructure at the center of a traffic sandal that could imperil any ambitions for presidency that the governor might have. We will take you live to the press conference in a few minutes. Cutting the cord, Cable Companies get hit as subscribers find other options. John oftalk to methuselah capital. And education in high gear, but it does not come cheap. For starters, youll need a 300,000 for ari. Im Cristina Alesci in for stephanie ruhle. You are basking in the hockey glow this morning. Rangersuy who led the to the 1994 stanley cup was here. Ira ram ira member him with the oilers. I remember him with the rangers. On to the to move breaking news in trenton, new jersey. Governor Chris Christie is stepping up to address the scandal that may jeopardize a president ial run. He said he will fire his chief of staff. Shes the one who wrote time for some traffic problems for fort lee the city just across lets be clear. They mayor of fort lee did not support governor Chris Christies reelection bid. And what we believe we know now is that christies own aides wanted to punish the city of fort lee and the mayor of and the mayor for not helping him back to another term. One of his colleagues wrote back notion confirming the of a conspiracy. In the meantime, an investigation is being opened. Ugly for chriso christie. Prosecutors are involved now. There were subpoenas already, motivated by democratic lawmakers in trenton. The legislature is dominated by democrats, even though the republican the governor is a republican. Less pardons and as you have the department of justice and career prosecutors involved. We will learn a lot more. And prosecutors, presumably, will be asking a question about whether or not Chris Christie knew about what was going on with his staff. David plus, its a former david plus, a former Senior Advisor from obama posts campaign obamas campaign is with us. We are also joined by the founder and partner at methuselah capital advisors. He was also a Senate Candidate in 2010. Both of you know a lot about politics. Beid, this is going to possibly political theater at its best. I want you to tell us as a political advisor yourself, if you are telling Chris Christie what to do today, what is it . Preks the most important thing is to be candid, and you cannot say anything the most important thing is to be candid, and you cannot say anything that could be contradicted down the road. U. S. Attorneys will be investigating your actions. This will go on for very long time, multiple investigations. The news media will be all over this. You have to do a good job today in terms of being contrite, apologizing, making sure people are held accountable, but you cannot say anything today that does not hold up. That is principle 1, 2, and three. Six months from now if something comes out, he could compound this problem. What if Chris Christie new, even if he did not directed himself . Because he said yesterday that this was the first time hed ever heard of any of this stuff. If he knew and was not being honest, is his political i wont say his political career is over, but are his hopes for the white house . For the white house crushed . I think it take a big hit. In december, very close people resign from the Port Authority. This is the deputy chief of staff. This is in the inner circle. And he went out and did a press conference. What did he know then . What was he told about this . What did he know in december and after that . We will get to the bottom of all of that. A former u. S. Attorney. One card he will not be able to play is to criticize the investigation. Lets bring in john, because you had a running politics yourself. Lets talk about the game of politics. Everybody knows that at the local level you have to do certain things that may be would not be above board, but when you get to the National Level and you become a potential runner for president , doesnt that change the game . Does this show that Chris Christie has been tone deaf to the change in the way you have to do behave as a president ial candidate . That he think it shows has exactly the tone that is required to be a successful national candidate. A tough, pugnacious guy. He is not afraid to throw a punch. That is one thing, but you have to be able . And can politicians walk that line . Weve had a presidency for five years that has been a bully. The senate has essentially not passed a budget. We pass a healthcare bill and told everybody they could keep their doctor. Lets stop all of this. If he knew something bad if he did not know something and someone did something bad, hes going to fire someone today. He will clean house. He has to tell it exactly like he knows, david is right. Things,he scheme of this is small. I think he will come out and be contrite and it will pass. Investigation will make this look like a walk in the park. Do you think firing Staff Members will be enough to make voters forget about us Going Forward . I think it depends on what he says today. If he says he never knew anything about this, even in december when people were resigning over this, that is the critical question. What did he know in december and not just before . And again, if he fires people and apologizes but again, it city that washis affected, but his constituents. Im sure it is something he can get beyond. Today is just the first inning. Chris christie taking the podium. This is an office where ive been many times before and i come out today to apologize to the people of new jersey. Apologize to the people of fort lee. And i apologize to the members of the state legislature. Embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team. There is no doubt a mind in the behavior they exhibited is completely unacceptable and showed a lack of respect for their appropriate role of government and for the people that we are trusted to serve. Two pieces to what i want to talk about today the first i believe that all of the people who were affected by this conduct deserve this apology, and that is why im giving it to them. I also need to apologize to them for my failure as the governor to understand the true nature of this problem sooner than i did. But i believe i have an understanding now of the true havee of the problem and i taken the following action as a result. This morning, i terminated the employment of Bridget Kelly, effective immediately. I terminated her employment because she lied to me. I brought my senior staff together, i think, about four , and i put torrow all of them one simple challenge. If there is any information that you know about the decision to lee, these lanes in fort you have one hour to tell either my chief of staff or my chief counsel. Itold them that in an hour was going to go out into a press conference and if no one gave me other information to the contrary, that i was going to say that no one on my staff was involved in this matter. Over the course of the next hour, kevin and charlie interviewed each member of my senior staff and came back and reported to me that they all reported that there was no information other than what we already knew that had been testified to by senator baroni regarding this incident. Kevin odowdoned and Charlie Mckenna directly, since they are the only two who report directly to me and made sure they had no information that would change my ability to be able to say that no one, in response to angies question, on my staff was involved on this matter. That was obviously alive. Lie. A and the emails that i saw for the first time yesterday morning in ithey were broken believe the bergen record story, prove that was a lie. There is no justification for that behavior. There is no justification for ever lying to a governor or a person in authority in this government. And as a result, i have terminated bridgets employment immediately this morning. Secondly, i have, and will continue to starting yesterday, to once again have personal, myselfone discussions with the remaining members of my senior staff to determine if there are is any other information that i do not know and need to know in order to take appropriate action. I am not complete with those completed with those interviews yet, but when i am if there is Additional Information that needs to be disclosed, i will do so. If there are additional actions that need to be taken with my senior staff, i will do so. Though, it has, been written a lot over the last couple of days about what a tightknit staff i have. And how closely everyone works together, and that is true. And ever since the time i was u. S. Attorney, i have engendered the sense and feeling among the closest to me that we are family. We Work Together and we tell each other the truth and we support each other where we need to be supported, and we admonish each other when we need to be admonished. I am heartbroken that someone who i permitted to be in that circle of trust for the last five years betrayed my trust. Hereld never have come out four or five weeks ago and made closures if ive ever had an inkling that anyone on my staff would have been so stupid but to be involved, and ton so deceitful as to just not disclose the information of their involvement to me when directly asked by the superior. Theyre superior. And those questions were not asked just once. They were asked repeatedly. I take this action today because it is my job. I am responsible for what happened. Report to the people of new jersey that we fell short. We fell short of the expectations we created over the for the type of excellence in government that they should expect from this office. But i have repeatedly said to them that while i promised them the best Governors Office i can give them, i can never promised them a perfect Governors Office. When i find those imperfections, mye mistakes, those lies obligation as the chief executive of the state is to act. And as to Bridget Kelly, i backed it today. I have acted today. Tone andturbed by the andvior and attitude callous indifference that was ed in the emails by my former campaign manager, bill steffen. That, it made me lose my confidence in bills judgment. And you cannot have someone at the top of your political act operation who you do not have confidence in. As a result, ive instructed not steffy and bill to place his name in nomination for state party chairman. And he will not be considered for state party chairman. And ive instructed him to withdraw his consultancy with the republican governors association. If i cannot trust someones judgment, i cannot ask others to do so. And i would not place him at the head of my political operation because of the lack of judgment that was shown in the emails that were revealed yesterday. That has also been communicated to him last night. There is no doubt that bill has one of my closest advisers over the last five years. And so, for that, too, i am sad today to have to take this action. But i also know that i have a job to do. That i havee job asked the people of new jersey to entrust me with, and i can never allow personal feelings or longstanding relationships to get in the way of doing my job the way it is appropriate to do it. You to want any of confuse what im saying this morning. Formately, i am responsible what happened under my watch, the good and the bad. , thenen mistakes are made i have to own up to them to take the action i believe is necessary in order to remediate them. As i mentioned to you earlier, i spent all day yesterday digging into talking to folks and getting to the bottom of things. I know there was much discussion yesterday about what i was doing. Let me tell you, everybody, i was blindsided yesterday morning. I was done with my workout yesterday morning and got a call from a Communications Director a. M. Informing me of this story that had just broken on the website. That was the first time i had new i knew about this. The first time i had seen any of the documents that were revealed yesterday. Before i came out and spoke to all of you, i wanted to do the best i could to try to get to the bottom of some of this, so that when i came out i could answer questions as best i can and take appropriate action as action was necessary. There was no doubt from reading those emails yesterday in my mind that action was necessary. I wanted to make sure that i spoke to those people who had advised me, to make sure that any other information they were aware of, that i had it before i acted. I will continue this process. I could not get it all done yesterday. And as i said, if there is more information i uncover, i will act accordingly, in terms of releasing it to the public and taking whatever action may be necessary, if any is, for any other issues. And also will react to information coming from anyplace else, given that there is an oig desiccation and a legislate investigation and a legislative investigation. Later today, i will be going to fort lee and asked to meet with the mayor to apologize personally facetoface. And also to apologize to the people of fort lee in their town. See me doey need to that personally. And i can do that later on today. People of those communities for four days were impacted in a completely callous and indifferent way. And im going to go and apologize for that. Let me conclude with this. This is not the tone that i have set over the last four years in this building. Its not the environment i have worked so hard to achieve. We saw just a few months ago, and ive seen over the last four years republicans and democrats working together, not without argument. Government is never without argument, but ultimately, coming to resolution on so many different issues in a bipartisan way and running a campaign that was, in fact, a bipartisan campaign. I am extraordinarily disappointed by this. But this is the exception. It is not the rule of what has happened over the last four years in this administration. It over thedered last four years to be my job to be the governor of every new republican, democrat, independent, or unaffiliated. And i have worked with elected officials on both sides of the aisle, those that i agree with, and those that i disagree with. Overtones that were exhibited in those documents released yesterday and the comments by those people is not acceptable. But people, i think, all across this state understand that human beings are not perfect. And mistakes are made. Expectelieve what they of me as the chief executive of the state is, when that information comes into my possession, that i consider it and act as swiftly as possible to remediate whatever ill occurred. That is what i have done today. Actions have consequences. And im living up to that right now. And i will say one last thing, just so we are really clear. I had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or execution. And i am stunned by the abject ,tupidity that was shown here regardless of what the facts ultimately uncover. This was handled in a callous and indifferent way and it is not the way this administration has conducted itself over the last four years and is not the way it will conduct itself over the next four. I will do everything in my power the people of new jersey know that and i thank them for their leanness to consider my apology on behalf of the government. In the end, i have 65,000 people working for me every day. I cannot know what each one of them is doing at every minute. But that doesnt matter. I am ultimately responsible for what they do. And that is why i took this action. David. Governor, beyond the apology and termination, what other concrete steps do you plan to take to assure the people of new jersey and the people of the country that you want to change the perception of what has happened here, and will that mean working cooperatively with the investigations that are moving forward . The cousin the past, you have had some rather nasty words for the people heading them up. And i apologize for that this morning, david. I was being led to believe by folks around me that there was no basis to this. Fair. Ts be there have been times when and when there have been investigations that have led to nothing and had no basis. But i was wrong. Now having been proven wrong, of course we will work cooperatively with the investigation. And im going through an examination, as i mentioned to you right now and that is what im doing. Im talking to the individual people who work for me, not only to discover if theres any more information that we need to find, but also to ask them how this happened. How did this occur to us . Before, i haveid had a tight knit group of people that i trust implicitly. I had no reason to believe they were not telling me the truth. It is heartbreaking to me that i was not told the truth. Am a very loyal guy and i expect loyalty in return. Is not anto me exhibition of loyalty. I will look into this personally. This is my responsibility. What steps you will take after that, if there are concrete what ive done today, then we will certainly announce them and talk about them. Just say,en i will listen, i think weve gotten to the bottom of this and we will move forward with a new team. I have a new team coming in as well, whom im trying to integrate also in the next two weeks. There will be a lot of action going on around here. Kelly. [inaudible] that you are a political bully. [inaudible] no, im not. Everybody in the country who engages in politics knows that it can be a be back. On the other hand, that is very different than saying someone is a bully. I have very heated discussions and arguments with people in my own party and on the other side of the aisle. I feel passionately about issues. And i dont hide my emotions from people. Tested, a focus group blowdried candidate. Or governor. Always made some people, as you know, uneasy. Some people like a silent some people dont. And i have always said i think you asked me a question during the election, are you willing to change her style in order to appeal to a broader audience, and i think i said no. Because i am who i am, but im not a bully. What i will tell you is, the folks that have worked with me over a long time frame would, i believe, tell you that im tough. But ive shown over the last that im willing to compromise and work with others. And the campaign with all of the folks that came from the other side of the aisle to support us, if we were not willing to have relationships with those folks, it never would have happened that way. I dont believe that, kelly, and i dont believe the body of work in the last four years displays that. Now in this instance, the language used and the conduct displayed in those emails is unacceptable to me. And i will not tolerate it. Do is when ii can see stuff like that, to end it. And i know that will not satisfy everybody, but im not in the business of satisfying everybody. Im in the business of trying to satisfy the people who elected me governor. Michael. You say you are going to inividually interview those the Governors Office. Senior staff, yeah. What about the campaign . Are you going to personally interview [inaudible] billere was no one above in the campaign. He was the campaign manager. But there are others that were close to you. Yes, but their role was not the daytoday operations of the campaign. Bill was the manager of the involvedand and he was in fundraising. Mike to hang dealt with tv ads mike d with tv ads and advertising. Have you spoken with them . I spoke with both of them in my discussions yesterday. Angie. Youow confident are [indiscernible] to ten, im not going im smart enough now after this experience not to go out there and certify that unequivocally. I do not have any evidence before me as we speak that it went beyond this incident. But i cannot tell you that i know that for sure as to every aspect of everything. Now i have to be much more circumspect about that. , i believedterday that if i look someone in the eye who i worked with and trusted and asked them, that i would get an honest answer. Maybe that was naive. But that is what i believed. Now im going and asking more questions. But i cannot make a warranty on that, angie. I dont believe so, but i cannot make a warranty on that. Because four weeks ago i ended up being wrong. You did not authorize this restriction . Absolutely not. And i knew nothing about it until it started being reported in the papers about the closure. But even then, i was told this was a traffic study. Senator baroni testified it was a traffic study. There still may have been a traffic study that now has political overtones to it as well. I do not know the answer to that, angie. I think were going to find out, but i dont know. Senator baroni presented all types of information that day to the legislature, statistics and maps and otherwise come of that seemed evidence of traffic study. Why would i believe that anybody would not be telling the truth about that . I said that at the time. Im not finished yet, guys. But the fact is emma regardless the fact is, regardless of all that, it is clear now that in the minds of some people there were political overtones, or political side deals on this. And that is unacceptable. Whether it was a traffic study or not, i dont know. It appeared there was one based on what i saw in the testimony. But regardless of whether it was or was not, there was clearly also political overtones evidenced in those emails and other messages that were never, ever brought to my attention until yesterday. Do you understand why people would have a hard time believing that you did not know about it, given your management style . Listen, there is this reputation out there of me being a micromanager. I am not. I think, if you talk to my staff what they would tell you is, i toegate enormous authority my staff. And enormous authority to my cabinet. Me withll them, come to the policy decisions that need to be made, with some highlevel personnel decisions that need to be made. But i do not manage in that kind of microwave. Way. Dly micro second, there is no way that i could know what is going on at all level and in every agency of government at all times, but deals that new jersey has on its own or with other states, whether new york or delaware. Thent know what to say to question that i had no knowledge about this, the planning, the execution or anything about it. The first time i found out about it was when it was already over, and even then i was told it was a traffic study. And there was no evidence to the contrary until yesterday. That was brought to my attention or anyone elses attention. I understand why people would ask that question, and i understand your question completely, but what i also want to tell the people is, even with all that being said, its still my response ability. I didnt know about it, but its my responsible the because im the governor. So im taking that responsibility and taking actions appropriate with executing the responsibility according to what the information is today. Marsha. [inaudible] to open an investigation to determine whether a federal law was violated. [inaudible] as i have said many times, and when i was u. S. Attorney, i hated when politicians stood behind a podium and said, this is what the u. S. Attorney should or should not do. I will not engage in the conduct at all. [indiscernible] there any other cases of anyone on your staff seeking political retribution [indiscernible] this,in, let me say clearly, that is the tone of those emails. But the other part of this that shocks me is, as ive said to you all many times before, mayor suckle it was never on my radar screen. Was never onidge my radar screen. I think he said on the news last night that he was never asked for his endorsement. I never saw this as political retribution, because i didnt think he did anything to us. We pursued lots of endorsements during the campaign from democrats. And we didnt receive most of them. We received about 60 at the end of the day. We pursued hundreds. Recollection of at any time anybody in the campaign ever asking me to meet with the mayor or call him, which was the typical course we were used when getting an endorsement. Staff would work with the elected official first, and when they thought using the vernacular the balls on the t , they would call me in to have a meeting or breakfast and i would meet with the elected officials to see if i could bring them over the line. I dont ever remember meeting dge. R sockli i saw to tell you, until his picture last night on television, i would not have been able to pick them out of a lineup. Part of this is, the reason that the retribution thing never came into my head is because i never even knew we were pursuing his endorsement. To me toe ever came try to get me to pursue the endorsement in any way. I never saw this as a serious effort. [indiscernible] well, sure, of course. John. You say youre going to continue the investigation. I would like to know what questions you are going to ask yourself. [indiscernible] what was that last piece . [indiscernible] at the British Party of mine . The Birthday Party of mine . [indiscernible] a few of them. [indiscernible] or trying to cover it up. As i said earlier, im heartbroken about it. And im incredibly disappointed. I dont thing ive gotten to the angry stage yet, but im sure ill get there. But im just stunned. What does it make me ask about me . It makes me ask about me what wrong to have these folks think it was ok to lie to me . Searchinga lot of soul that goes around with this. You know, when you are a leader of your organization, and ive had this happen to me before where ive had folks not tell me the truth about something not since ive been governor, but in previous leadership positions. Youalways wonder about what could do differently. And believe me, john, ive not had a lot of sleep the last two nights. Ive been doing a lot of soul searching. I am sick over this. I have worked for the last 12 years in public life developing a reputation for honesty and directness and blunt talk, one that i think is welldeserved. But when Something Like this happens, it is appropriate for you to question yourself, and certainly i am. And i am. June on this. I am i also want the soulsearching on this. But i also want the people of new jersey to know that this is not the way things have been done in the last four years. I dont want to fall into the trap that this one incident happen, and therefore it defines a whole. It does not. Just like one employee who has determine the character of all the older employees around you. The other employees around you. I dont want to overreact to that. But if you are asking me if in the last 36 hours ive done some soulsearching, it can happen. The mayor of the city is quoted as saying the day he declined endorsing you as a 10ocrat, as many as [indiscernible] in theyou explain that context of what you now know some of your staff did . All i know is, i dont know. That is the first answer i will give you. But i will also say that mayor foltz seems to have a lot of disagreement with me and a lot of other people. There will be backandforth, meetings canceled, public disagreements. Is,the fact of the matter we have continued to work with jersey city over the course of the time since hes been mayor. In the last year, think we have approved 190 Million Dollars in epa financing for projects in jersey city. Thedeputy commissioner of dep was meeting yesterday with foltz and his staff on blue on property that was affected by sandy. Certainly, i will look into all of those things. The mayorct is, what knows is, when we agree with him from a policy perspective, we will work with them. When we disagree with them, we will express those disagreements. And sometimes that will mean friction. He is suing the Port Authority at the moment. There is a lot of backandforth that happens in these things. I look into all of this stuff. But in the end, have i at times been angry with the mayor . You bet i have. I also spoke at his swearingin. Political relationships in this state go up and down, as you know, brian. Sometimes strange bedfellows, sometimes expected ones. And they move. Im sure there has been movement in those relationships over time, but not anything i can explain with your question. Ive heard that you actually learned something new [indiscernible] does a universal apology include the press corps . Well, sure. Most of you, i hope, are citizens of new jersey. [indiscernible] i know there are, and we dont need to point them out. But yes, of course it does. The fact is, i came out here and said something that was untrue. I mean, unwittingly, but i said something that was untrue. I think what you have seen over the last four years in my dealings with you is that i deal with you directly and i say exactly what i think. Time i haveover developed a reputation for telling the truth. We can have disagreements, but the truth as i see it. Would i include the press corps . Of course i would, because most, many, if not most of you, are residents of the state and you rely on this State Government to be honest and trustworthy. And in this instance, my government fell short and i take responsibility for that. Im wondering what your staff knew they lied to you. What is their explanation . I have not had any conversation with Bridget Kelly since the email came out. She was not given the opportunity to its plain to me why she lied, because it was so obvious that she had. And quite friendly, im not interested in the explanation at the moment. Quite frankly, im not interested in the explanation at the moment. General sampson put out a statement yesterday that he had no knowledge of this. I interviewed him yesterday. He was one of my interviews. Im convinced that he had thatutely no knowledge and it was executed at the operational level and never brought to the ward commissioners until chairman for y executive director fo wrote his email. I sat with mr. Sampson, general sampson, for two hours. Im confident that he had no knowledge of the space on our conversation and his review of his information. As he said yesterday, he is angered by this and upset about it. And i know that he will cooperate with the oig investigation that is ongoing, and lead a discussion at the Port Authority about what can be done to stop such conduct in the future. Charlie. Whatentioned earlier did i do wrong to have these folks lie to me . But are you also asking the question, what did i say or how did i conduct myself an office in a way that would let these folks think it was ok to carry out such a thing like this . There is suspicion that you could have fostered a culture through your administration or campaign that allowed people to think it was ok to intimidate or retaliate. C, listen, i havent, because i know who i am. Im not that person. Entities easy for people to be characterized in public life based on their personality. And i have a very direct, blunt personality. And i understand why some people would characterize that, especially those who do not like you, as bullying, but it is not that. No, i have not asked that question. Im more focused on why the truth was not told to me. Melissa. When you go to fort lee and apologized to residents there, are you also going to apologize [indiscernible] i just did. I said im sorry for that and i never would have made that joke that information had come forward before today. Why did you make the joke e because i thought it was absurd and i thought we had nothing to do with it. That is why. Evidenced the email a callous indifference to the result of that. And that is what im apologizing for and i do apologize for it. To apologize to the mayor today. I will try to get a meeting with him this afternoon. Terry. [indiscernible] who is that . [indiscernible] i read that. I did not read it that way. At all. That was a reference to a traffic study that, candidly, i know nothing about. I recognize that the email said something about the governor supported it or endorsed it. Because i dont know anything about it, i have to believe that was the Governors Office generically. Donttand here today, i know anything about a traffic study in springfield. [indiscernible] oh, god, no. Absolutely not. That is not the way it operates. We have built relationships over four years. Trying to be helpful to every town that we can be helpful with appropriate way nothing like that was ever done. Am wondering if you are soul searching about the kind of people you hire or the kind of people that run campaigns, or the kind of people you want to whothe republican party, are willing to apparently engage in political retribution and also called the mayor of fort lee a mate a racially insensitive name. Sure, it was a mistake. Soulsearching is complete on that part of it. It was a mistake. To hire them . Well, obviously. Is, mistakes were made and im responsible for those mistakes. I obviously try every chance i can to hire the very best people. And i think the history of this administration shows that have hired outstanding people with great ethical standards who have done their jobs extraordinarily well. Of 65,000nment people, there will be times when mistakes are made. And ies were made, remediated those mistakes today by the actions ive taken. State of constant trying to figure out who the best people are for individual jobs, who will make me proud to have put them there. That is always going on. That is nothing new now. But there are times that people you put in those positions make mistakes and disappoint you. You lose your confidence in them, or they lie to you. When you find that out, the test of leadership is, what do you do . I found this out at 8 50 a. M. Yesterday morning. By 9 00 this morning, Bridget Kelly was fired. By 7 00 yesterday evening, bill was asked to leave my organization. It is pretty swift action for a days work. That is the way ill continue to conduct myself if there is any more information around this that comes up, or anything different that comes up over the next or years. [indiscernible] i can differentiate, phil. Between people who have served me well and you havent. Havent. Of course, theres always going to be Something Like this where you have been lied to, there will be some crisis in confidence. There always will be. Anybody who tells you differently is not telling you the truth. If they say, this happened to you and you will not second guess yourself at all, then you are just stupid. Of course i have secondguess myself and got through my head on some of the stuff. In the future, i will try to be even more careful, but here is what i know about human beings. I have hired a lot of them in my time as u. S. Attorney, as and as a hiring attorney in a private practice law firm. Sometimes, despite the best background checks, the best interviews, the best instincts, sometimes people are a mistake to hire. Sometimes they start off as a good hire, but because of circumstances in their life, they change. Cannot prevent everything. The test of leadership is, when you find it out, what do you do . Thissaddened to have to do. It is difficult personally to do. But it is my job. And imve taken an oath going to execute my job. Josh. [indiscernible] yeah, im sorry. [indiscernible] and what does this mean as far as a vendetta for the Port Authority e first of all two things. I have no knowledge of the mayor being asked for an endorsement. He may have been, but he certainly was never asked by me. But i think he said last on television that he does not recall being asked for an endorsement. That is why this made no sense to me, josh. Execute a vendetta against somebody who you did not even get a chance to say no to . Put aside that you should not do that at all, but if you are mad but if you did not ask for an endorsement, why are you mad that you didnt get one . [indiscernible] i dont. And again, i dont know whether this was a traffic study that politicaled into a then data am a political andetta that morphed into traffic study. Ive seen statistics about the traffic study, so i know there is information there. I dont know what it is. We will find out over time maybe. But that was in the minds of the people doing it, and that is what i base my decisions on at the time, the testimony that evil day. Lastly n the payback listen to my dont know exactly what you are referencing, but i think you are talking about the foy memo that was leaked. Is that what you are talking about e talking about . [indiscernible] traffic andke complaints were made. Something along the lines of taking appropriate action against the new york side. I asked general sampson about this. It said something to that effect. General sampson about that yesterday and he said he had absently no idea what it was referring to. The only indication that he had at that time was his concern that he expressed to fellow commissioners about internal Port Authority documents being leaked. And he said, thats just not appropriate for folks to be leaking internal documents, but he has no recollection from what he told me yesterday of any conversation like that with wild scene or baroni while stein or baroni that references what you said. [indiscernible] certainly not that im aware of, or not out of the normal. Lets remember something, too. This is a bistate agency with significant tension. All the time. There is no tension between Governor Cuomo and i. Would get along quite well. And when issues rise to our level, we have always been able to resolve them. But there is tension and always has been between new york and new jersey on the allocation of resources at the Port Authority. Me be clear, there are some battles over there that go on and they happen in every administration over the course of my memory. Cannot connect that that is the ongoing nature of the tension of that agency. And i think of most bistate agencies. Although i think the Port Authority of new york and new jersey because the resources and demand or greater, it is even more. I do not know anything specific want to make it clear that there is tension and goes on between the employees of these agencies. Not every one of those issues of tension, thank goodness, raised to my level and Governor Cuomos level. Issues have been raised in the last three years to my level and Governor Cuomos level, we have always between the two of us amicably resolved it and been able to move on. And sometimes that is the role the governors have to play in that agency. [inaudible] is new jersey governor Chris Christie holding a News Conference in the state capital in trenton. Addressing concerns over what is being called bridge gate, the closure of some lanes on the George Washington bridge connecting new york city with the state of new jersey. Ofrled traffic and all kinds complications back in september. The governor is saying he had no knowledge of and no involvement in the decisions to close those lanes. Aside any kind of criticism that he fostered a culture of bullying. Right, that hes a bully. John from the perusal of capital is with us. Earlier this hour, and in fact, earlier the show with you for i saw before i saw you this morning, i raised the prospect of Chris Christie turning what seem like a crisis into a political opportunity. I think he just kicked a yield a field goal. Writing this is 45 minutes of national ever national airtime with him looking president ial. He talked without teleprompter and cards and i think he just had a political windfall. What if moore does come out on this . He is a pretty smart guy. He is probably pretty careful to know and say what he knows. Is this making out to be a hypocrite of sorts . He has been saying, and he reiterated in the press conference several times, that hes not a bully and will not push his agenda and policies, but at the same time, his Staff Members of the lean people. He said it well. 65,000 people work for the governor and he cannot watch them all every day. Ive never been a big fan of the guy. I think he looked extraordinarily good today. Here is the question. Do you believe him . I do. I think he had a rogue person that did a couple of done dumb things. He looked very convincing to me. You said, blind sided, misled. He looked anguished. At the beginning of the conference he looked anguished. And he actually looks thin and good, too. Christian Chris Christie has lost some weight. Phil mattingly, you have been watching this, and the reason you have been watching this is twofold. One is, because many people believe he has white house ambitions, and also because the Justice Department is involved. We got word during this press conference that the new york the Justice Department in new jersey has opened a probe into the lane closures. Chris christie used to be the u. S. Attorney of new jersey and knows the office well and knows what they are doing very well. Again, preliminary inquiry. Christie, was a very smart, very savvy political operator, to come out and make these points dead set, that he knew nothing about it, nothing whatsoever, he better be darn sure. And i would imagine he is sure that there is no paper, no way that this could be tracked back to him, not only for his lyrical future. But when you get federal prosecutors involved, especially veterans of the Justice Department to vinyl think he will put himself in the position where what he is saying today can be used against him. A lot of problems still ahead, but i dont think you see Chris Christie out making such declarative remarks off script like he has unless he was very sure that nothing else will come out. Said he has to get a better understanding, so he was not to declarative today. He did leave this open a little bit from at least in the voters minds. He left it open on the staff level. Im going to keep doing interviews, see what else is out there for my staff, because they are those who lied to me throughout. But he is dead set that he knew nothing about this. There is no email that can trace this to him. He was never kept in the loop. The politics of it were never an issue he was considering. Youre right, he is leaving it open that more heads could roll on the staff level, but this never reached his office. You do not come out with declarative statements like that unless you are sure you are covered in every way, shape, and form. This is over. This is great political theater. For Political Office yourself. And there is such a thing as a political playbook. I was taking notes as he was talking. I summed it up like this apologize, personal life, characterized. He apologized and said it was humiliating. He characterized it as undetectable conduct. And then he detailed his action. Firing Bridget Kelly, dismissing, or at least removing his former campaign manager. He owned it. Lets say, theres no legal grounds here. You said it yourself. You printed out a stack of your own emails and your surprise at how things can be taken out of context. There is still lyrical risk if there is an email uncovered, or someone said something while he was in the room. You are the Democratic Political operative. Do you want another hour of what Chris Christie just did or not . I would tell you that they do not. He looked really good. He looks good now, but we will have to see what else comes out, right . Thank you for joining me. John, always a pleasure. And of course, our own phil mattingly. Uch more to come we will be filling you in on any details that become available through the course of the day. Stay tuned, because lunch money starts right now. Class welcome. Here is what we have got today. Day three, samsung is already in your living room. Now they want to be in your kitchen. In sports, we will break down baseballs newest hall of. We will take you aboard the ship destroying chemical weapons. For the amazing stuff. Going inside for arts exclusive drivings will. Using root the beat vegetables. We