president holds especially on national security matters. as you know because we discussed this a lot at the end of last year, we have been committed to looking for ways to provide greater access to the white house and the president in that, providing a photo opportunity today as part of that commitment. again, i don't think anybody who has covered us or knows the president and the vice president knows how this white house functions has any doubt about the president's faith in vice president biden as an adviser and counsellor. we don't need to reinforce that. it's a fact. >> is it a coincidence? >> it is. he has a weekly lunch. >> it's not normal low on camera. >> no, but you can ask our

friends in the world of photography here, debate and discussion about how to better improve the access. this is something that they have raised with us in the past. you guys can decide for yourself. the president greatly values the council of the vice president on matters foreign and domestic. >> what were you saying? the timing was a coincidence? you had a back and forth about this. >> i can tell you what the facts are. you can decide for yourself what you want to believe. >> you are talking about former advisers and former national security adviser that you probably would back a keystone pipeline if you were adviser to the president and i wonder what weight to that endorsement would carry as he considers the issue going forward. >> i haven't discussed that report with the president. the process as you know is

ongoing. the house and the state department and keeping with tradition of previous administrations for many years. i don't have an update on that. that's it. >> that's it. >> looking at the president's schedule, i think i founded no fewer than four meetings on a public schedule with vice president biden. anything i should read into that. >> i trust you have looked at schedules before and know that every time when the vice president is in town and every major meeting when the vice president and president are in town, nothing new is about that. the meetings have to do with nsa matters are ones that he would attend if he is not traveling. the lunch that the president had is every week when they have been in town since they took office. >> we're should expect that the photographer should be invited back in? >> the media decision is based on requests and what we can make

happen. we committed to provide and find ways to provide better access for photographers. we will keep working with them and look at ways to do that. as i said back when we were having this discussion, there is no question that whatever we do, we will not be sufficient. i think this is an example of that. we will always endeavor to provide better access where we can. >> what kind of a heads up did bob gates give to the white house? >> we knew he was writinging a book as most people did, but we received the book last night. >> last night. >> any concern, here he is revealing blow by blow conversations that he had with the president and his other top national security advisers? >> here's what i would say. anybody who has the privilege of serving in an administration at

a high level and who particip e participates participat participates in policy discussions and has confidential conversations with principals and presidents and leaves office makes a decision about how to talk or write about that experience. when when. that is everybody's decision to make for himself or herself. i would simply say that the president asked secretary gates, robert gates to stay on as secretary of defense and he appreciates the service he gave to this administration and this president and very much valued the he played in the administration and the advice he gave. for other issues, i will leave it to other folks to decide because everyone makes their own decision in that circumstance. some people write books and others don't. we are focused on all the things we need to work on 2014 in national security matters and domestic and economic matters.

matters of providing essential emergency assistance to the unemployed. that consumes or days. >> it's quite simply one of the finest. is there anything in this confidential information he put out and generals he has made about the president and vice president that causes the president to reconsider that? >> look, i think i answered part of that in terms of how the decisions folks make when they leave administrations. that's true of this or any previous administration. what matters most to the president is the service that his top advisers give him as president. and secretary gates provided service to this administration and the previous administrations

and the president is greatly a appreciative of that. you see headlines and you see discreet excerpts that tell a story or one story or seem to say one thing. since a lot of what we are talking about here has to do with the policy review over afghanistan and pakistan, it's important to remember or not remember, but maybe some of you have not seen this. it has been noted in the press reports that regarding that policy debate in his books, secretary gates said "obama was much-criticized by conservatives for announcing that the troop surge would be drawn down in 2011 and all combat troops would be with drawn and all responsibility for security transferred to the afghans by the end of 2014. inside the military, there was

also much grumbling about the numerical limits he placed on troops. i believe obama was right in each of these decisions." that's from the book. that's secretary gates' published opinion on these matters. were these substantial rich discussions? absolutely. because the policy was so important. it was much reported on at the time that there were differing views about how we should move forward with our policy towards afghanistan and pakistan. some of the disagreements is not different from what we have seen in the past. >> these are explosive statements he has made about the president. this is not outside criticism. this is the most important national security advisers. the guy who chose to keep on running the pentagon and he said

there was a suspicion and distrust of senior officers by senior white house officials including the president and the vice president and this became a problem for him. what do you say? >> i think i read to you and we have to take the full picture. on that matter, american people expect their commander in chief listen to all of his advisers and civilian and military. when it comes to discussions and debates about matters of war and peace and decisions that affect the lives of our men and women in kwun form. the president and vice president has enormous respect for our men and women in uniform. that includes all of the president's top senior military advisers. on policy issue, the president

absolutely wants tough questions asked. on matters of national security, he wants in these discussions and debates, both his military and his civilian advisers to be blunt and candid about their views and to back up their assessments. that's what i think would expect and want in the kinds of discussions that are held and have been held in priest administrations and previous white houses hopefully over when these fate of the decisions have to be made. >> was gates wrong when he said the president didn't believe in his own afghanistan policy? >> i think it is absolutely the case as many reported. it is well-known that the president has been committed to achieving the mission of

disrupting, dismannedling and defeating al qaeda. we have a clear path for winding down the war. that will end this year. these are not separate issues. the mission and the policy included both ratching up and refocusing our mission on al qaeda as well as making sure we have a policy in place that would wind down. a war without end was not what the president believed was the right policy. there were debates about this. so the president believes thoroughly in the mission and he knows it's difficult, but he believes that our men and women in uniform as well as the civilians in afghanistan and others who are working on this issue have admirably and heroically fulfilled that mission. they do so today.

>> can you comment on the infrens that they said in the book that both secretary clinton and president obama admitted their opposition to the iraq surge and policy. there was an inference that the president was engaging in this discussion. >> what i don't understand about that is anybody who has covered barack obama, going all the way back to the race for the senate knows he was opposed to the iraq war. that was his view running and as a senator and as a candidate for the presidency. so it would be entirely inconsistent for him not to hold the position with regard to the surge. i don't know what that refers to, but it doesn't track based on what i know and everybody here knows about the president's

position through the years. >> you have a deadline with the troops and the size of force if any is there after 2014. is there concern as president that some of the revelations about the president's personal views of karzai, for instance, is going to make this more difficult? >> no. look, i think the issues on the table here have to do with the need for the afghan government to sign the bilateral security as was envisioned by president karzai and others. that's a product of the good faith negotiation and our allies to plan for a post 2014 mission

that would have a military component focussed on counter terrorism and support and training for afghan troops. we need this agreement signed. promptly. this is a matter of weeks, not months. >> does it bring more attention to karzai? >> we have direct and regular communications both from washington and our embassy in kabul with president karzai and his government. i think these matters are well on the road. i don't anticipate that. he and his government understand our views and our position and the reasoning behind it and we simply urge prompt action. >> were the president's views of karzai accurate.

>> president obama addressed our policy towards afghanistan and our relationship with president karzai. that government is a challenging situation. and they helped them prepare for the transition and to help them in a military way to prepare for the increased responsibility for security that comes with it. that has been a clear focus of the mission that the president established after the review of our policy there. >> the description was personal. the president can't stand karzai. >> i wouldn't agree with that and the issues here are not about personalities. they are about policies. the decisions that the president

makes about sending and keeping military forces, american men and women in uniform in afghanistan has have to do with u.s. security interests and not those issues. that's why the signing of the psa is so important for us and our allies to move forward. >> going back to biden, this is the second book in three months that the president in some way had this defend, buck up, whatever you want to describe it when it comes to joe biden's place in this. why do you think it is that biden has been derided negatively in a couple of these books? >> i'm not sure i agree with that assessment. when asked and the president and others simply reaer ises the fundamental fact here that vice president biden is a key adviser on matters for the president.

the president greatly values what he prois. that's a fact known to everyone in the building every day. >> you seem to portray him in these books. >> it was to debates internally, the vice president was member and continues to be a member of the team of rivals. this is not somebody who the president chose to be someone who simply affirms what others are thinking. the vice president has a lot of experience. the vice president has done a lot of work on a lot of very complex issues including afghanistan and iraq. including a number of domestic policy issues and he plays an important role in the discussions here. that role includes expressing an opinion that is not always

agreed to by everyone in the room. if it were, it wouldn't be what the president wanted. let me move up and back. >> hi. different subject all together. this morning at the u.s. chamber, they were talking about the state of business and he said one of business's biggest concerns right now is overregulation and he accused of regulatory overreach. is the president satisfied with the overregulation of businesses. >> jay carney, the press secretary stopped answering questions about the explosive new book by robert gates. some pretty explosive charges against the president, especially against the vice president. so we heard the official white house response to these reporters's questions. floweria borger is here and let's do an analysis of what we heard. strong defense for the vice president. it was tough, the accusation that bob gates made of joe bide

19 in four decades, he accuses biden of making a mistake and being on the wrong side of nearly every foreign policy and national security issue that has come up. >> what jay carney was saying is the president encourages people who disagree with him to participate in discussions. we know that over the years, joe biden disagreed with the president on a bunch of decisions including getting osama bin laden which he said was a mistake and he disagreed about the surge in afghanistan. the point that carney makes is that he believes the carney is speaking for the president and he is called one of the leading states men of his time and said we disagree on the assessment. he went out of his way not to criticize secretary gates or his service, but did say that the president wanted different opinion when it came to national

security. when he was asked about whether in fact the president didn't believe in his own mission, that is the search in afghanistan, carney said it is well-known that the president has been committed to the mission while winding down the war. he went out the his way to say that. >> the insinuation of the gates charge is that the president sent u.s. men and women into harm's way on a mission he himself didn't believe in. >> it was that he himself was ambivalent about to a certain degree. when you look at the history of president obama and you look at his antiwar history, and you look at his skepticism as gates points out about the judgments of the military and how long this review went on in 2009, you understand what gates is saying. the president is clearly torn and that's no surprise about

what to do with these wars with the surge. when he did come out for a surge, he called afghanistan during the campaign the war of necessity, not iraq. when he did come out, there was understanding that there would be a.m. bif lens about it and gates said, you know what, there was. carney today clearly disputed that. park are some finally tuned reaction on this. let's turn over the cnn newsroom coverage to baldwin. >> great to be with you. i'm brooke baldwin. taking on seaworld right now. months after cnn aired the film black fish, one of the most vocal critics is a 12-year-old who was even arrested over this. she joins me live with her mom next. plus, are banks like jpmorgan

too big to jail? wait until you hear the new cnn reporting on what banks are getting away with. dennis rodman not only bows to a dick tear on the, but serenades north korea's kim jung un. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday to you ♪

we have another story at cnn. hall of fame vote, baseball, i cannot believe it has been a year. remember the last time they voted a single person in at all and nominees hailed from the steroid era. they will be opening their doors to these three superstars. greg maddux, tom glavine and the slugger frank thomas. this is just breaking into us. live from los angeles is gabe. the folks at baseball headquarters have to love this because again a year ago it was

sbrr. no one got it. >> nobody got in. there is still a log jam of people that need to get in. he fell short of two votes and this is a guy who did everything. he did everything and falls short of two votes. there is celebration and guys out there that definitely need to be voted for. one of the best left handers in baseball history. >> i was at the series when the braves won and they did their best work for atlanta. they thought maddux would be elected unanimously that never happened before and you had the one writer who said no. he claimed just because he played during the tainted era, he didn't use steroids and because he played, is that fair? >> it's fair because he had has a vote.

this is america so you can have crazy different ideas if you want to have them. >> i guess. >> greg maddux is a no brainer and it's an l.a. beat writer and he is well within his right to have his opinion. it's a great place and an amazing place to be. the one thing i didn't do, i don't where we have become sanctimonious because of the color barrier. that's a big one and the greenies, the cocaine era. steve howe had a revolving door for so many years. with pds, this is the stand we are going to make all of a sudden. i don't understand it. this is america's sport and the good guys. the good guys will get in. thank you so much for joining me. coming up, you heard of the phrase too big to fail, but how about too big to jail?

what they said about the economic crisis. they said not so fast. taking on seaworld right now. months after cnn aired the film black fish, one of the most vocal critics is 12 years old and she was arrested over this. she is standing by live with her mother. she will talk to the two of them next. [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums! heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and it feels like your lifeate revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief, and many achieved remission.

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to go the distance with you. go long. we are showing you this live picture of a podium and a lot of microphones. we are about to be taking this live for you. this is the new jersey deputy speaker. why? because of the scandal that has been rocking chris christie's administration and inner circle. the issue is top, top aides are accused of causing awful traffic issues on this one bridge for specifically global reasons. this is the accusation that they wanted to frustrate this neighboring mayor because this mayor was supposed to throw his support behind chris christie

and his campaign and they didn't do so. they are a united states cooed of throwing a wrench in traffic issues. we will stand by for this. this is a huge deal for this. let's talk black fish and more backlash against seaworld and the alleged cruelty to killer whales. this is now turning into a headache for southwest airlines. after the release of the cnn film black fish, southwest has come under fire over ties to seaworld and a pe sigz signed by 27,000 people was delivered to the dallas-based carrier and one of the most vocal activists against seaworld is this young woman, 12 years of age. she is rose mccoy, a well-known animal rights activist with peta. she was arrested at a los angeles parade while protesting against seaworld's float. she did the same thing at the macy's thanksgiving day parade

where she hopped the barricade as well. rose coy and her mom, emily. welcome to both of you and thanks for joining me. >> thank you. >> let's see. emily, i will get to you in a minute on your activism and your daughter's activism and the arrest, but first you, rose. a lot of kids your age love going to seaworld. me how you feel about the place? >> i think it's a very awful industry because it makes its profit off of the suffering of other living beings and i don't think any such industry deserves a dime of any family's money. >> 12 years young. did you watch black fish, rose? >> i did. >> you did. so in watching that and seeing these pictures of you protesting, can you me what it was like getting arrested? >> it's worth getting arrested because that will bring media attention. when media attention is brought

to a certain issue, more people learn about the subject and it can really push a cause very, very far. any small confinement or boredom that i would have experienced or any fellow protester would experience in jail pales in comparison to the boredom and small captivity areas of whales such as tilikum and baby shamu. >> emily, i'm listening to your daughter and i am reminding myself that i am speaking to a 12-year-old. how proud of you. you are an activist yourself? >> i'm very proud of her. she is both compassionate and intelegent and she wants to help animals. >> here's the book. this is the other thing i was thinking and preparing for this. it's one thing as a parent to instill values in your child and

quite another to have a 12-year-old jump barricades and be arrested. how do you respond to those who say this is not good parenting? >> i would remind them if they are really upset about what goz with offspring and their mothers, what's going on with seaworld and really that seaworld's whales are separated, the young from the mothers and forced to perform in small tanks. while any discomfort or situation that rose has been involved in is relatively brief, what these whales are dealing with with long-term confinement and cruelty is their life. >> so we are crystal clear, you have no problem with your daughter being arrested at 12? >> for a good cause. she is a straight a student and a good kid. she is never in any other trouble. i see her standing up for animal

rights as being a positive thing. that i can't complain about. >> rose, my final question to you, you are 12 years old. what do you want to be when you grow up? >> i'm not sure yet. anything that would help animals is fine with me. i'm interested in a vast number of things in science and law. it doesn't matter to me. >> well good luck to you, rose and emily. thank you so much for joining me. i appreciate it. >> thank you. >> the first reduction in stimulus happens this month and the stock market is fixated on what the fed will do with the bond purchases and the lower interest rate policy. as you take a look at the numbers, dow down a little bit. 71 points as we are about an hour and a half away from the close. what the fed released moments ago. the minutes from the december meetings. let's go to it with the chief business correspondent.

what are the clues as we read these minutes to the fed's future moves. >> nothing more exciting. >> you don't love that? >> i do. what the fed decided they want to proceed cautiously with slowing that stimulus and they know that the hiring is picking up. they feel as though the economy and recovery is proceeding so they can start to take that slowly and cautiously and that's the key here. they will not go fast. they said it's going to be methodical and start and be gradual. one of the keys here is further reductions would be undertaken in measured steps. that's what people wanted to hear. they want to go slow and careful and they will take the risks of

taper are much greater than the benefits of the taper. they will be careful. this came out and this is a good sign for the economy, yes? >> they will stand on their own two feet. the jobs market is strengthening for the long-term. the same picture for people recently unemployed things are getting better. you can see a 6.8 employment rate. that's what happens. the jobs picture is getting better. that gives the fed breathing space. >> since i have you and you stayed up and cohosted the show at 5:00 this morning. let me ask you about the settlement between jpmorgan and the bernie madoff ponzi scheme. now the bank is getting off with the fine. what's going on in washington?

>> it's interesting because $1.7 billion for 20 years of not noticing that one of the clients was looting and pilling his customers, that's a problem. admitting that it should have done more to prevent and alert the government into stopping and didn't. it wasn't a criminal charge. it wasn't a guilty criminal charge or a guilty -- there is no guilty here on a criminal level. it's difficult to do that. here's why. what if you revoke the charter of the bank that provides all this oxygen and hundreds of thousands of people. is that too big to fail has it become too big to jail? that's what a lot of people are asking. excellent piece and i would encourage people to look at it. if you want to know more about the banks and jpmorgan in

particular. a lot of people said it's a slap on the wrist. jpmorgan had $20 billion in fines and settlements over the past year. 2012 the profit is about $21 billion. shareholders are pretty furious because this bank -- that's unheard of to have that much paid out. many say it's not enough and they would like to see someone in handcuffs. $20 billion is not insignificant. we will see you tomorrow morning and 5:00 on early start. it is the head of one of the most popular and controversial networks on tv. this man here. a new book does not paint a nice portrait. hear what roger ails said about bill o'reilly and the presidential election. plus as we have been showing you, live pictures out of new jersey. this will get under way on the traffic scandal involving governor chris christie's inner circle. stay tuned. weeknights are for favorites.

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. >> you will be hearing from the speaker to open this up by saying this is a sad day for new jersey. he is talking about this scandal, traffic scandal that is directly affecting chris christie's inner circle. take a listen. >> thank you for coming down on such short notice.

what we have seen today is a sad day for new jersey. the documents that have been published are both shocking and outrageous. they show government its worst. among other things, they call into serious question the honesty of this governor and his staff. as a result of what has been revealed today, this governor has a lot of explaining to do. so many questions remain unanswered. that's why i subpoenaed him to testify and that's why i hope he will come and testify tomorrow at noon in this building. so far what we know is that he has been pointed to by everybody. the governor, the executive director as the fall guy. when we look at the documents we

have seen today, it is clear that that's not the entire story. his testimony can help fill in the blanks and answer a lot of questions. i would like to thank sheila oliver for her support and supporting the committee and having subpoena authority and i would like to thank speaker-elect who said today that he fully expects the investigation to continue. as i said time and time again as the investigation has unwound, that we still have much more to learn. the committee will continue to work to get these answers. with that i would be happy to take your questions. >> from what you have seen on these correspondents, what does it look like to you was the role of governor cristy in all of this. >> i have not seen e-mails that have the governor's name on it, but the e-mail has the deputy

chief of staff on it. this is an administration that keeps a tight control over what happens and comes out of the front office. we would like to get explanations as to who else in the governor's office knew about this and what the role is. yes? >> [inaudible]. . >> some of you may know this and some of you may not. to quash the subpoena. that is returnable tomorrow morning at 9:00 or 9:15. they are making the argument that you will read the pleadings and the arguments are the arguments and you don't believe there is a basis to give relief. >> they said he asked to see this and do we now know that's untree? >> we will pull away from this, but want to do much more on what you have heard the latest

developments from this news conference in trent, new jersey. what does this mean for his inner circle. a huge, huge name. keep throwing it out as possible candidate. republican nominee for president come 2016. at the top of the hour, we will talk to gloria borger about that. the newark star ledger is basically taking the stance that if chris christie had known about this traffic political thing ahead of time, he should not be running for office whether it's governor or president. quick break. back after this. bl farmer: hello, i'm an idaho potato farmer. and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it.

it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what?

>> bill o'reilly is a book salesman with a show. that from o'reilly's boss according to a new book on roger ales, the head of fox news. it is today. the "new york times" got him on an unauthorized biography on dave sherman. he told his inner circles prior to the election "i want to elect the next president." it goes on to say a now infamous video criticizeding president obama that looked like a campaign ad was a brain child of

roger ailes. correspondent brian stelter and i guess this is giving more fodder for critics and more reason to say the republican party is run out of foxb

book was never fact checked with fox news. i read a lod theremented it the sultd pult awe plgsmented i haven't read it yet. sometimes they go to obscure bookstores and ask the sellers to ep up the books in the back. maybe there other nuggets, but we haven't seen him yet and i'm

curious about the rest. gabriel did fact check and he spent 2,000 and he spent more than 2,000 hours get betting the man script and declined every request to discuss the reporting with me. this is a he said she said. the fact is fox news was never going to cooperate with the book. gabriel had to go around the edges talking to colleagues and executives and employees and all those people instead. >> you can't wait to get your hands on this thing. we will talk before you do. thank you very much. coming up next, a california pastor wanted to see what made nonbelievers tick. so as an experiment, the pastor who is christian decided to live for the next 12 months as an atheist. within days, he lot of not just one, but two teaching jobs at christian schools. what prompted him to make such a drastic decision? he joins me live. we will ask him after the break.

ryan, your hotel's robes are fabulous. so i'm choosing all of you with hotels.com a loyalty program that requires no loyalty.

. >> what is your new year's resolution, those of you who believe in resolutions. quit smoking? give up fast food? how about giving up religion? that's what my next guest is doing which is tough considering he spent much of his life as a pastor. for 12 months, ryan bell said he will live as if there is no god. in week, the fallout for bell has been devastating. he lot of two jobs teaching at christian schools nor his home in los angeles. welcome. >> thank you. good to be here. >> firstuestion out of the gate is simply how the heck do

yop and become atheist afting a? i think people thatn a spiritual journey talk about their faith and using lang tge of journey. i don't think i up and became an atheist, i'm on a spiritual journey. when i was a pastor i pursued my spirl journey in public. i just am in this space where i'm not a pastor anymore and was given freedom and space to think about questions that i had for a long time about the baseball and religion and faith. i just decided to spend a year really exploring the other side of the coin. >> i totally understand. i know a lot of people who talk about of course being on a journey. the spiritual, religious. i can hear christians listening and believers of some deity thinking this guy may not have

been a true nler. how do you turn away from christ just like that? >> yeah. people have made those kinds of statements. again, i think religion and faith are things that are full of nuance and 's personal experience. my experience is not like that of others. the tendency is to think of religion and faith as binary categories. you are all of one thing or all of another. completely a christian and sold on the ideas about being a christian or you are an atheist and abandoned all faith. i think the reality that i discovered in the last days for sure is the vast majority of people are between those two poles. i am with them in that little space. >> i have so many more questions, but let's get into your background with the church. you were asked to resign as pastor last march. me why. >> i think over the years, there

have been growing differences between myself and the denomination. social issues are a desire to stand with the gay and lesbian population in our community and members of the church that were gay and lesbian and transgendered members. we came to disagreements that were irreconcilable and i had outgrown my place in the church. >> what is the end goal here? >> for the year? >> for the year. for your journey. >> for me to just discover for myself kind of where i'm going next on the journey. this was not intended to be an international journey done in public. >> you started blogging, not

realizing this t would be picked up. >> my friend said i would like to read along with you and a handful of other friends would like to to. i that maybe 100 or 200 people would look at it and we would have a conversation. >> instead you are on cnn talking about your personal, spiritual, and religious journey. we will see what happens. ryan bell, thank you for sharing something that is so personal. coming up next, much more on the e-mail scandal rocking chris christie and his administration. back in 60 seconds. [clicks mouse] nice office. how you doing? good. automatic discounts the moment you sign up.

open to innovation. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses... we're open to it. start a tax-free business at startup-ny.com. . welcome become. we continue on with the governor of new jersey, chris christie may be facing the crisis of his career thus far. amid a new scandal, one newspaper is questioning christie's leadership. here's what we know. stunning e-mails and texts

appear to link some of his aides to this growing scandal possibly involving this political vendetta. the messages suggest this: his aides and a former appointee knew about and perhaps triggered a controversial lane closure or closures on the george washington bridge that caused days of traffic snarls for a man who was supposed to support the governor during his reelection and it did not do so. it is unclear whether he had prior knowledge of the communications. moments ago we heard from a news conference from the new jersey democrat slamming christie's administration. >> it's a sad day for new jersey. the documents that are published are both shocking and outrageous. they show government at its worst. among other things, they called

into serious question the honesty of this governor and his staff. as a result of what has been revealed today, the governor has a lot of explaining to do. >> from the newark star ledger is this. krafty bears responsibility either way if it turns out he did know, he is lying and unfit for office let alone a 2016 presidential run. host of the league, joining me and jake, let me back up just for viewers who were not into the story. what were the e-mails that these text messages apparently were revealing. >> remember that the general charge is that there were a few days of traffic really being held up on the george washington bridge really hurting new jersey before the election. the charge from democrats which until today didn't seem to have any evidence. the charge from democrats was

that this was done as a vendetta. they were seeking the endorsements and the democratic mayor didn't and this was retribution. no evidence to that charge until today. what we have now are e-mails and text messages suggesting that politic diagnosis play a role. well the me walk you through. in august bridget ann kelly, the deputy chief of staff e-mails the political appointee to the port authority saying time for some traffic members in fort lee. that's a few weeks before the ipsident. then of course on september 9th, this starts happening. three lanes are closed. the mayor of ft. lee calls in and bridget ann kelly asked him, did he call him back? did somebody from the governor's office call him back? he said radio silence.

his name comes after mayor full up. this is another democratic mayor who refused to endorse christy and there were recriminations because of that refusal. this might be the worst and we don't know who said it. the second day of the traffic tie up. the mayor of ft. lee sends a text message to another political appointee saying the bigger problem is getting kids to school. help, please. it's maddening. he forwards that message to an unknown person saying is it wrong that i'm smiling. i feel badly i guess. he writes back that this is surprising. he said there the children of voters, barbara buono is the democrat in that reelection that christie won handly. we don't know who in the

document, saying that they are smiling and that these kids are in trouble because the mayor is complaining about getting kids to school and not being able to. the person said i am smiling. is it wrong that i'm smiling some he said no and through the children of democratic voters. pretty stunning stuff. >> two questions off of that. one, from the different names and the top aides in chris christ christie's administration and the name not involved at least in the quotes we pull side that of chris christie himself. he said over and over he had to do with the lane closures. is that the truth? >> well, 50 of all, bill barone and david wildstein, appointees to the port authority who are named as part of these damning e-mails resigned in december. both of them resigned in december as a part of the fallout from this controversy or scandal.

now, the deputy chief of staff, this is the first time today that we have evidence of her playing a role. bridget annicle we her e-mails. in terms of governor christie, this is a very, very perilous moment for them. he needs to respond and explain what if anything he knew and we don't have the answers to that. governor christie's office is not taking calls. >> canceled the news conference. i imagine what they are doing is trying to find out the context of these e-mails if they didn't already know it and try to figure out if the e-mails and text mess ans are as they have been presented to those of us in the media who have them and what context there is. if there is more to the story than that. obviously governor christie has been belittling this controversy and saying that he takes the word of his former advisers that this was a traffic study. it does not appear to have been a traffic study based on

testimony before the legislature and the e-mails that seem to suggest strongly that there was a political motive, a vendetta if you will for the closure of the lanes. i want to read one other if i can. >> go for it. >> at one point in september, this is when the media picks up on the story. david wildstein, the political appointee who resigned forwards a story to the campaign manager for christie. he writes back, it's fine, about the article, the mayor is an idiot. win some, lose some, referring to the mayor of ft. lee. david wildstein writes back i had empty boxes ready to take to work just in case. a reference to maybe being fired or resigning. it will be a tough november for the serbian. that's what he refers to the mayor of ft. lee. a tough november in political

circles means it will be a bad election for this individual. that is why the assemblyman you heard from wants to subpoena and force testimony from david to find out what exactly is going on. was he doing this on his own and was he encouraged to do this by anybody close to christie or christie himself. we don't have the answers. there is nothing tying christie directly to any of this. we have one of the deputy chiefs of staff very seriously impugned in the e-mails and texts. >> this is getting bigger and bigger. i know you will be all over this on the lead. let me bring in another voice here. cnn political commentator. i am thinking about people who are watching who do not live in and around the area who are thinking why do i care about traffic closures and lane closures on a bridge and really an issue and some potential vendetta between the mayor and the governor. this is chris christie,

potentially -- i don't know if i'm going out on a saying he is one of the most popular republicans in the country right now. this could have implications come 2016. >> absolutely. when you are the potential national front-runner for a race, local politics become national politics. the key here is christie's credibility. he has a reputation for being a straight shooter. he won by overwhelming margins for reaching across the aisle. his denies offing this anything to do with this really does make it a crewsible moment. the presence of these e-mails are damning. it is to some degree a smoking gun and shows pollicization. how high it goes is to come. now the question is what did christie know and when did he know it? we don't have evidence to show

he knew about this. sometimes you see about this in the height of the campaign. they run off and do things they think their principal might approve of, but can be bad down the line as this may turn out to be. >> we will watch it closely. thank you so much for joining me. just moments ago, the white house is responding to president obama's former defense secretary who released a book that blasts his former boss. robert gates. did he reveal secrets too soon. you will have both sides of that debate. you are watching cnn. fiber that's taste-free, grit-free and dissolves completely. so you can feel free to add it to anything. and feel better about doing it. better it with benefiber.

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>> today out of white house, the white house reacting to attacks against the president and vice president biden from a former top aide. robert gates, the republican who served as the president's first defense secretary. on biden, take a look at this. gates writes, " he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy issue over the past four decades. here is jay carney defending biden just a short time ago. >> as a senator and a vice president joe biden has been one

of the leading states men of his time and has been an excellent counsellor and adviser to the president for the past five years. he's played in every major debate and national security policy debate and policy discussion in this administration in this white house. >> that are is again jay carney talking a little while ago defending joe biden. as far as the president goes, he writes during a meeting in 2011 about the war and reached this conclusion. the president doesn't trust his commander. can't stand afghan president karzai and doesn't believe in his own strategy and doesn't believe the war to be his. let's talk about this from newport beach, california. the former cia operative and national security analyst. from new york, national security editor for glen beck's the

blaze.com. let me begin with you. the question is bob gates, you have a picture we can show you. bob gates is a front right. we have all seen this picture that they released during the raid in pakistan that killed osama bin laden. gates's defense secretary resisted going in to get bin laden. despite the many years of service, et cetera, is he credible when he writes about the obama administration? >> very credible. as you mentioned, i am a former cia officer as well. all this really hits home for me in a way that i wanted to let your audience know about. he is the elder statesman of the senior reaches of the administration. this is absolutely devastating stuff for an administration that looks like a bunch on foreign policy around the globe, never

mind just in the little east and counter terrorism issues. even worse than that, they are making calculations at a time when the u.s. is still very much at war in afghanistan and at war with al qaeda. this shows that what they care about in the white house are the polls and that's it. nothing else. >> jay carney defended the administration. the biggest complaint about the president appears that he doesn't trust the military. from your experience with cia. is being skeptical a bad idea? >> no. you have to look. it was first of all the white house that got us into two wars. afghanistan and iraq. they didn't go so well. it's clear that the white house at some point is going to turn on the military and say look, we gave you a lot of troops and it's not working. we have to change strategy. this happened with the obama administration.

there is always a conflict. the first chief in iraq was pulled out because he sent in an assessment back to washington that there is going to be an insurrection that is going to get bad in the military. he said no, things are fine. he pulled the guy out and he quit the cia. the inteligence wars in the community go on all the time and we are seeing it rose to the white house. >> do you agree with buck that the book is as damaging as he portrays against the administration? >> i think it's damaging, but i don't like the idea of cabinet minsters in the white house going after and revealing things and certainly bob gates is not immune from criticism too. it almost looks like a political act at this point whether the president is right or wrong. it's unfortunate. he should have waited until obama was out of the white house. i'm sad he didn't come out with it sooner. the american people should have

and would have been better off knowing about this. we have seen now based upon the free lessons in geopolitics that vladimir putin has been given with regard to syria. the administration doesn't know what they are doing. it is true that joe biden is useful. he has been so consistently wrong so many times that you can juxtapose yourself against him. you are going to be correct. the administration was never serious about the war ask they doubled down and put 30,000 more troops in harm's way. obama can look like he knew what he was talking about when he said iraq was the bad war and afghanistan was the good war. it showed a lack of understanding and a lack of character. >> can you respond to that? >> look, i think both of these wars are not winnable. the military is sent in to win wars we could not win. we could have stayed in iraq and afghanistan for 100. the russians proved this.

it's not a winnable war. i never liked either war. as it turned out they didn't work out. we have to face the facts. are we going to spend our national -- go ahead. >> i would agree with bob. the approximate if the administration was honest and they took bob's point of view that afghanistan was not a state that could defend itself, it's all to the good. they wasted a year with the phony review as soon as obama came into office. nothing was known about that and he put more troops in harm's way and said we are leaving at the same time. this was purely po lit cal. >> perspective here as well. this is bob gates, former secretary trying to sell a book. do you agree. >> he is trying to sell a book. >> go ahead, bob. >> i think he is trying to sell a book. >> i think anybody who has an important message wants their book to be sold and read, but you try to undermine the

integrity of a career public servant and not in the clinton mantle, but somebody who has been in the trenches and done this from the ground up, it's a good idea. >> thank you both very much. on balance saying the president and vice president greatly appreciate the service of bob gates. coming up next, the investigation into college athletics reveals results. do you know 7 out of 10 football and basketball players at one university reading below an eighth great level. are the colleges putting them above athletics? we will discuss that and it is the basketball game that is making internal head lines. dennis rodman and his american teammates played against the north koreans today. rodman with a special song before the game started. we will play it for you. stay here. has a new plan --

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. >> a cnn investigation reveals a startling number of athletes cannot read above great school

level. they lock at several universities and found many football and basketball players can read somewhere between a fourth and eighth great level. our investigation reveals a staggering gap between college athletes and peers at the same institution. it included my own alma mater in chapel hill, once the focus of a scandal of student athletes enrolled in classes that required it is to no work. we talked with one counsellor who poured over eight years of test scores for nearly 200 basketball and football players. up to 25% of players in the big revenue generating programs don't have the skills to take classes at a community college. 8% were reading below a fourth great level. even though reforms have been put in place, that counsellor

remains skeptical that carolina is doing right by its players. >> say that we made 120 changes which you can make all the changes you want, but if you are still not meeting students where they are at and bringing them along to have success in the classroom, the changes are all for nothing. >> it's tough for a busy college athlete to improve his or her ability in just four years. they accuse the schools of putting needs ahead of the students. let's talk about this. the political commentator and syndicated radio host and boy, his senior associate athletic director at arizona state university. welcome to both of you. >> thank you, brooke. >> let's begin with you. you were mighty fiery on twitter. your word was corrupt. me what you were saying. >> it's corrupt because you have billions that are coming in here. these students are coming in and

every person including the chancellor and the dean and athletic director and those in charge of compliance. they all make more money if the university wins more games. they make more money if they get bigger contracts and if they move to a bigger conference. if you get caught, you don't go to jail. if you get caught, does it matter if you made millions or hundreds of thousands of dollars? look at the coaches that have been in college. the whole program got destroyed and where do they end up? in the nba or the sidelines of the nfl. they made their millions. this idea that people are shocked and grown adults take advantage of children and the college hit kids are hilarious. >> they are short chains. they are not educated. they are in college and those who do not make it to the pros. i feel for them and that's another matter you are in the

thick of things at arizona state. i'm curious, what are you seeing? among the big time athletes and what about the guys you are recruiting in high school? >> i will say as a former student athlete myself, i was a football student athlete from arizona state university. i reflect on that experience with great memories and really owe a lot to the individuals who are work with in that time president and where that experience brought me. i am from around inner city background and lower socioeconomics. a lot of those i possess and had the opportunity to go to college and arizona state. have a wonderful experience that helped me along the way every step to where i am today to an administrator. with that being stated, we do-or have individuals entered into institutions who are deficient in certain skill levels as it relates to reading and writing,

etc. it's our responsible to the community college and university and anywhere in between to provide support that can close that gap of performance. obviously different institutions have different standards and individuals should be admitted based on the standards are at the institutions. >> the problem is this. if you are good enough, it was thrown out the window. i was an athlete on a scholarship and in a non-big sport. i played tennis. we actually had to go to study. we didn't get treatment because we were not a football or player. it's impossible for any team to compete in the top on a regular basis without playing by the same set of rules. it is a billion dollar industry. look at the coaches who are getting and seven figures in endorsement deals because they

are winning. everything is set up to take advantage of students and how many of them actually go pro? 1% go pro? maybe in the big sports if even 20%. you have guys that graduate and they have a piece of paper and you have the administrators and the chancellors who all got paid and got new buildings and season tickets being sold. >> which helps the other guy as well when you have the money coming into the school. i hear you loud and clear. i do. >> these kids are being taken advantage of. >> final word. >> they are in alignment with the investments being made and the stadiums. they are being made in academics as well. the institutions that we work with are responsible for providing an opportunity for these young men and women to develop themselves to be champions in life. >> hold on. i have to disagree. i have to disagree.

making someone a champion in means they can do the work at a college level. you take advantage of students and they are reading in a fifth, 6, seventh grade level, that is not making them champions for life. you can say it, but it's not true. >> i believe that that's what's happening by and large. you can find situations asky is thatteri thatterios. >> and just like that, we lot of both of them. >> there is a lengthy write up with much more stats and opinions on both sides of it. coming up next, one of the fears about closing down guantanamo. a form detainee taking part in a terrorist attack. what may have already happen in benghazi. dennis rodman not only bows to a dictator, but sings, serenading to north korea's kim jung un. [ male announcer ] the new new york is open.

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it has been a long held fear that once detainees are set free, they will return to terrorism with the deeper distan of the americans who locked them up. that fear may be a reality.

a former detainee is suspected of playing a role in the attack on the u.s. compound in benghazi. the deadly attack that killed four americans including christopher stevens. our foreign affairs reporter joins me here and me what we know about this guy and his movements after he was released from gitmo. >> we are talking about training about with bin laden and went to work for his companies in sudan before then going back to afghanistan to fight alongside the taliban against u.s. forces. hen he went to pakistan and went to began gone and released back to the libyans in 2007. they were supposed to keep an eye on him. he was released in 2008 and he has been working in eastern

libya and working if are a group and libyan sources have told us that men under his command were believed to have been at the site and the state department and they are expected to designate the group and branches in benghazi and tunisia as a foreign terrorist organization in the coming days. >> dennis rodman showing how much he adores his friend and dictator kim jung unin the bizarre relationship they have struck. better to sing happy birthday than dennis rodman. ♪ happy birthday ♪ park rt birth day love did not

stop there. he was bowing at a 90 degree angle showing a sign of deep respect for the dictator kim jung un. rodman and a team of former players played an exhibition game to mark kim's birthday. the american team, by the way, lot of according to state media. he replied to our colleague that an american who has been impruchbed without explanation that the american did something wrong. rodman is not the only celebrity to get cozy with a brutal dictator. joining me to discuss more on the list withering happening in libya. a lot came out about them singing to gadhafi.

he said he gave to this basketball game for the leader's birthday. we have seen entertainers perform or apologize for the types of encounters at other regimes labeled as repressive. there was this wikileaks website that mariah performed at an event funded by gadhafi and they they would donate their way checks to charity. she too donated her paycheck after the news became public. many times these celebrities plead ignorance and apologize. dennis rodman doesn't seem to care what others think. then you have figures lice josephine baker who kept performing after germany occupied the country and history

revealed she was recruited to spy and report on german military movements. he paid for an espresso coffee commercials to keep an eye on the president of sudanese president. gadhafi is gone and they have a-listers performing for him. don't they have an idea of where in the world they are going and they are not very friendly with the u.s.? >> a lot of times it can be about the paycheck. it definitely can. sometimes the artist like in jennifer lopez's case, when she performed for the president that she had no idea what was going on there and she apologized in a statement. they say we don't know what's going on, but some of them get paychecks upwards of $1 million

to do the one-time performances to be about the bottom line a lot of times in these cases. you have to think about where you are have you heard the film called philomena and it is getting buzz and nominated for golden globes. some catholics are talking about how the teen was criticized for get ing pregnant out of wedlock. more of this remarkable story and their response to the critics, next. [ male announcer ] this is the story of the little room

over the pizza place on chestnut street the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia and the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪

we are about to talk about this fantastic film, but huge spoiler alert here. spoiler alert. i will say that again. spoiler alert. it is so worth it. you are about to meet the woman whose story has become the surprise hit of hollywood, the film bear her own name. philomena. critics love it and it's up for not one or two, but three golden globes this coming weekend. catholics, there has been backlash since the prime bill is a nun. the movie is based on a true story about philomena and her search for the boy on this book. she was an unwed teen in ireland

sent away like many young moms at the time to the nuns to give birth. they put lee into hard labor and forced her 20 give up her son when he was 3 and ultimately kept her from ever meeting him. >> i'm not abandoning my child. he was taken from me. >> she spent her trying to find him. >> i met him. at the white house. >> dear god. what is he like. do you remember what he said. >> hello. >> hello. >> or it may have been hi. >> that was the trailer. you get the real life philomena who joins me next to the film's director who was up for a golden globe for best screen play. congratulations and welcome. philomena, with you, the film spent a lot of time about how your son was taken from you. can you tick me back to the

decades and decades ago and recount the last moments when you saw that little boy drive away. >> i could not believe it when he was taken away from me. i had one of the nice nuns. she came down and said come quickly. come up the stairs and look out the window. your boy is being driven away in the car with the little girl adopted with him, mary. i kept that picture in my all my life. looking out the back window of the car and he was gone. >> that was it. for 50 years he was gone and you wondered what happened to him and -- >> i wondered and wondered. >> forgive me, there was a bit of a delay. over the years, you meet this hard hitting journalist whose name is martin who ultimately wrote this story and took it

hesitantly. can you describe that meeting and how key he was, this happy between the two of you? >> well, i kept it a secret for 50 years and then i used to go home quite often. my brother was the only who knew about it. he was about 18 months older than me. i went home in 2000 i think it was for a holiday again. for goodness sake, my president and son which i did. of course my daughter was -- she said she had not seen anything about it, but straight away tried to find him. she tried and tried for adoption and adoption in the marriage. she tried for a whole 18 months and even rang the white house when she realized and didn't get

any information there. we tried everywhere until a friend of jane's, my daughter went to a party and knew martin through both of them. he was a political journalist and she -- the friend said would you write a story about it and she said i'm not interested. i need to do political journalism. he went back home and gave the friend his address. he said we will get jane to get in couch with me if she wants to. from then on they took it out. >> they took it? >> they took it up. >> and i know for give me for interrupting, but per people he was this hard hitting journalist and thank goodness he did. this entire journey begins. steven, to you, there have been critics who say philomena is unfair to the catholic church

with one leader calling it pure propaganda. bill donahue said "a half century ago an irish woman gave birth to a son out of wedlock and gave him up for adoption. he was born in a venue that allowed the mother not to be stigmatized. do you see it as anti-catholic. >> first of all, i don't think philomena was consulted about the child being taken away. he was taken and sold. it's very, very easy to criticize the catholic church. they give you large enough targets. philomena was telling me stories outside. and also the story is really about philomena not losing her faith and not losing so she remains a very devout woman. there is a separation between the institution with all these faults and the woman's faith. no doubt the catholic church

would embrace. >> this is what you see in the movie. you forgive the nuns for doing this to you. in the end, even though, spoiler alert, you never get to meet your son because he passed away. how would you characterize this whole experience some. >> it took me a very long time, i am heartbroken after i left the whole end. i went down to where i live now in england and i took up a psychiatric nursing and i worked for 30 years in the same hospital and came across a lot of psychiatric patients and a lot of -- because of business they were so hurt and everything else. i had my old business behind me and they started to come back to my religion again.

it was so much hurt caused through business that i just couldn't remain bitter all my life. i couldn't do it. i saw so much hurt from patients that i nurse and looked after. to me i had to forgive and just let it go and let it -- at least i had found him through the series of looking for him. i found him although he was dead when i found him. at least i found him. i was able to put him to rest i am able to help a lot of psychiatric patients and put my own sorrow behind me and help them to get on with their life. i couldn't remain bitter. it's 61 years ago and how could anybody remain bitter so long. >> it's withful and a beautiful message of forgiving and how you the story of your secret and everything. i highly recommend everything about this. the film is philomena.

best of you luck to you at the golden globes. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> coming up, did you try to get a ticket to the super bowl this year? if you did, you probably ran into serious sticker shock. one man because of this is suing the nfl, saying the ticket prices are too high for the regular guy. does he have a case? that's next.

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too high, you are not at all alone. now there is a man who actually is fighting, legally speaking, to change that. he is josh finkelman, a new jersey businessman, filed a class action lawsuit against the nfl this week. he claims that they are pricing the average fan out of the biggest game of them all, the super bowl. finkelman claims the nfl made only 1% of tickets available for fans, and his lawyer says that violates new jersey's consumer fraud act. so danny cevalos, our cnn legal analyst. i've never been to the super bowl pip guess they're somewhere in the range of $2,000 and upwards? but is the nfl actually violating a law by making them so expensive? >> new jersey, the state of new jersey prohibits withholding more than 5% of tickets from any event. this complaint alleges that the nfl is withholding 99% of its tickets. and the reason this is bad for

consumers is that by withholding it they sell them to secondary buyers who then create this secondary market, and the mark-up is astronomical. what's so interesting is that the state of new jersey itself has used this law to go after ticket sellers in the past, but the more cynical observer might suggest that it hasn't bugged the nfl because god forbid you scare away the super bowl from the state of new jersey. but of course that's only the cynical observer who would make that observation. >> okay. so bottom line, see any of this changing anytime soon? >> like this lawsuit, new jersey takes a hard-line approach in protecting consumers, especially when it comes to tickets. so i like this lawsuit so far. it will be really interesting to see how the nfl responds. but if you look at the letter and the numbers of the law, it appears that just from this complaint that the nfl may be in violation of new jersey's consumer protection statute. >> danny, thank you very much. and it is warming up across

the u.s. after the, quote, unquote, polar vortex gripped much of the country. but exactly how cold was it? here's an example. an escaped inmate actually chose to go back to prison because it was just so darn cold. we'll look at some of the more unique stories. hi, i'm terry and i have diabetic nerve pain.

it's hard to describe, because you have a numbness, but yet you have the pain like thousands of needles sticking in your foot. it was progressively getting worse, and at that point i knew i had to do something. once i started taking the lyrica the pain started subsiding.

[ male announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. i want you to take a look at

this picture because it's pretty remarkable. it was taken about an hour ago. this is former congresswoman gabriel giffords skydiving, three years to the day after she was wounded and left partially paralyzed in that shooting rampage in tucson, arizona. giffords was one of more than a dozen people wounded that day when jared lee loughner opened fire on the congresswoman's meet and greet on january 28th, 2011. six other people were killed and her husband, astronaut mark kelly, tweeted out this picture. he wrote, "gabby landed beautifully. happy she's safe. so proud of her bravery." are you ready for a little warm-up? i am. high pressure in the southwest in balmy air -- from the southeast will be driving this polar vortex back where it belongs before the end of the week, which is great. lest we forget how cold it's been, take a look. this is cnn pop freeze edition. >> reporter: most of us got sucked into the polar vortex that plunged much of the country into a deep freeze.

but this guy in kentucky really learned a lesson. you see, robert vick is back on ice after escaping from a kentucky prison. freedom didn't last long in an 18-degree below zero windchill. he asked to be sent back to prison. >> he said, could you take me? >> vick is being treated for frostbite. and really, folks, don't try this at home. >> it's so cold that if you put boiling water and throw it into the sky it turns into snow. just like this. >> reporter: it worked for us, but dozens have gotten burned trying the same trick. >> burn yourself? >> reporter: she sure did, throwing boiling water in the 50 below wind and getting burned in the process. a better bet for you blowing frozen bubbles. >> see if i can poke my finger into it. right there.

completely frozen. i'm going to sign off because i'm going numb. bye. >> i'm brooke baldwin. thanks for watching. jake tapper is up next. i don't know about you, but i'm pretty sure it's a tony sparano kind of thing. lovely bridge you got here. be a shame if anything happened to it. i'm jake tapper. this is "the lead." politics, new jersey governor chris christie denied causing gridlock on the world's busiest bridge out of political revenge, but text and e-mail show the man in the driver's seat a lot closer to it than we knew. what will he do? and what's the fallout for this would-be presidential hopeful? the sports lead. it was a bombshell report you saw right here on "the lead." colleges that make millions off their sports programs giving passing grades to athletes who couldn't even read their commitment letters.