and @theleadcnn. and check out our show page for blogs, extras. i'm jake tapper. now to wolf blitzer who is next reside in "the situation room." mr. blitzer. jake, thank very much. happening now, breaking news. shocking new developments forcing chris christie to react to a groeg scandal, e-mails from the governor's aide suggesting because of a political vendetta a new jersey town was deliberately brought to a standstill. you'll hear christie's statement. i'll speak thrive the mayor who was apparently targeted as a political opponent. as the white house pushes back at the stunning criticism from former defense secretary robert gates will future presidents no longer bring members of the opposite party into their cabinets? and 50 years after democrats declared a war on poverty, republicans take aim at that big government battle plan. the democratic strategist james carville is here live. i'm wolf blitzer.

you're in "the situation room." >> this is cnn breaking news. and there is breaking news right now. chris christie's 2016 hopes sundayenly be in serious jeopardy? the new jersey governor is scrambling to react this hour after stunning new indications that his close aides deliberately and gleefully plotted to snarl traffic in a new jersey town and made life miserable for ordinary citizens in a rather crude act of vengeance against the political opponent. in a written statement just released, the governor says this, and i'm quoting, "what i've seen today for the first time is unacceptable. i am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was i misled by a member of my staff but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge. one thing is clear. this type of behavior is unacceptable and i will not tolerate it. people will be held responsible for their actions." we're going to hear in a few

moments from the mayor of that affected town, there he is, the mayor of the affected town, fort lee in new jersey. but first let's get to cnn's chief washington correspondent, the anchor of "the lead," jake tapper, who's got more on this developing story. you've been studying it, working on it now for a long time. >> well, it started out as suspicions that this town had been targeteds as way of getting back at the mayor for not endorsing chris christie, a democrat not endorsing a republican not so odd, but christie was popular governor cruising to re-election, and he wanted to have as many democrats as possible. democrats made the charge but there was initially no evidence. christie and his aides said there was a traffic study. but e-mails and text messages that were obtained by cnn that came out today indicate there was more going on. >> reporter: traffic in new jersey is rough on any given day but it's a local story. today, however, garden state gridlock is meriting national attention. cnn has obtained seemingly damning e-mails and text

messages from top aides to new jersey governor chris christie, ones that seem to undermine his and his administration's previous explanations that there was nothing political in the closure of lanes on a major bridge in september 2013, closures that wreaked traffic havoc, hurting one particular town with a democratic mayor, a mayor who had refused to endorse christie, a republican, for re-election. >> what we've seen today is a sad day for new jersey. the documents that have been published are both shocking and outrageous. >> reporter: new jersey democrats came out swinging this afternoon over what is now being called bridgegate. from september 9th through 14th, 2013, the george washington bridge connecting new york to new jersey had three lanes closed without warning, causing major delays in fort lee. democrats cried vendetta, but there was no evidence to back up that charge. and christie scoffed at the notion of traffic as political retribution. >> i actually was the guy working the cones out there. you really are not serious with

that question. >> reporter: instead, new jersey officials claimed it had been a traffic study commissioned by the port authority. >> why do you think they did it? >> i'm not aware of any traffic study. i don't know why it was done. >> reporter: but that story unraveled when port authority officials were subpoenaed by the state assembly last month. >> and it directly violated our agency's primary responsibility to protect our customers and personnel. >> reporter: cnn today obtained texts and e-mails that seemed to suggest the logjam may have, indeed, been caused by political retribution. nearly a month before the bridge lane closures, christie's deputy chief of staff, bridget ann kelly, exmailed david wildstein, one of christie's top appointees at the port authority. "time for some traffic problems in fort lee," she wrote. "got it," he said. after fort lee was brought to a halt by the bridge lane closures, the mayor called the port authority to no avail.

kelly e-mailed wildstein to ask the if anyone had called the mayor back. the response was this -- "radio silence. his name comes right after mayor fulop." that's jersey city mayor steven fulop, a democrat who also didn't endorse christie and who has since suggested that refusal came with a price -- meetings canceled, legislation scrubbed. perhaps the most damning exchange in a text message obtained by cnn, the mayor of fort lee reached out to wildstein saying "presently we have four very busy traffic lanes merge into one tollbooth. the bigger problem is getting kids to school. help, please. it's maddening." wildstein forwarded the plea to someone whose name has been redacted. is it wrong that i'm smiling the person asks. no, wildstein responds. i feel badly about the kids. i guess. the response, they are the children of buono voters, a reference to barbara buono, christie's then democratic opponent in the gubernatorial election that the governor won

handily in november. we still have many unanswered questions even with the governor's comments and his statement earlier today, just a few minutes ago, rather. first of all, what we don't know is when governor christie says he was misled by a member of his staff, is is he referring to deputy chief of staff bridget ann kelly? was she the one to blame? because the statement does not say that he has sought her resignation or anyone's resignation. it does not say that that person is no longer working for the state of new jersey. there's still much we do not know about this situation even though according to governor christie he did not know about it and he is outraged as well. >> he says he wants those who were responsible, his words, to be held responsible for their actions. does that mean criminally responsible, politically responsible? we don't know what he means by that. >> we still don't know. and we don't know, for instance, who was the person in those redacted documents who was expressing wonder about whether or not they should be gleeful that all these kids were stuck in hours of traffic on their way

to school, to which the political appoint tee, david wildstein, says, don't worry about it, they're children of some people who support the democrat, which is really, when you think about it, an outrageous thing to say. >> not just kids, emergency vehicles. this could be a life-and-death issue if it's handled like this. a lot to discuss, jake. thanks very much. his town of fort lee, new jersey, was brought to its knees for hour, but what now looks like a deliberate plan to snarl traffic. the mayor this, frank sock lich, is furious at the christie aides. he joins us now. thanks for coming in. >> thank you, wolf. >> let's talk a little bit about the christie statement among other things. "this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge." do you believe him? >> you know, as this story continues and as things begin to unravel, with e-mails, the actions of counterparts,

resignations, engagement of defense counsel, that position becomes more and more difficult to understand, more and more difficult to comprehend, and quite frankly more and more difficult to believe. i'm actually rooting that the highest elected official in the state of new jersey isn't involved in this. but i'm beginning to question my judgment. >> why? >> well, you know, when we starmt e started off with chaos in fort lee on monday in september and got no response, right from the beginning people were saying it was about me and failure to endorse. i always dismissed it as not being important enough. i mean, who would possibly reduce themselves to closing lanes to the busiest bridge in the world, putting my town in harm's way? by the way, a town that services 40 or 50 other towns every morning. but as the story goes and as folks resign and as counsels engage and as subpoenas are issued and statements are provided and now with these recent e-mails, it certainly

doesn't lend credibility to the statement that he knew nothing about it. i'm not suggesting that he did. it does, however, bring into question whether he did. >> have you heard from the governor? has he called to apologize, for example? >> no. no. remain mindful, i'm not on his radar so i'm certainly not in his rolodex either. >> but you would expect him -- he's obviously, according to this statement, he's angry, he should probably call you and say, you know what, i know your citizens and your community and a lot of other nearby communities were affected by this. wouldn't you expect him to start making some phone calls to at least apologize even if he had nothing to do with it but his senior aides did? >> wolf, don't call me. do me a favor, don't call me, but call the families who were waiting three, four times longer for emergency service agencies when their loved ones were having heart pal pitations or extreme chest pains and were waiting fur our ambulance corps

to arrive. call and apologize to thousands of families whose kids were late to the first day of school and the three or four days that ensued thereafter. call our police department and administrators in the school system that had to deal with it. call the folks that had to deal with traffic armageddon that week. don't call me. you don't have to call me. i give you a pass. don't call me. but call those families, call those kids, and call everybody else, because fort lee didn't deserve it. it didn't deserve it. >> what should be done to those who were responsible when all the dust clear, when we know everything about this? >> well, for those that are responsible for this most heinous act, they can no longer be in positions of power in government. wolf, if you know me for 30 seconds you know i don't have an ounce of venom in me. as a matter of fact, i stayed in the background of this story, i didn't decide to join the fray of this until today when these e-mails surfaced. i'm not a retribution kind of a guy. but the folks that are responsible for this can no longer be in positions that they

can actually cause this type of damage to other unsuspecting communities. it's not acceptable. but i have a prediction, you'll have a resignation or two and hear of course this was part of their career path and they were resigning anyway. it's not -- it's not even remotely acceptable to do what you did. it is the lowest most venomous form of political retaliation. and this at a time when new jersey needs this like we need a hole in the head. we've now ensured that we're going to remain the butt of every political joke for the next 20 years on political misconduct. it's such a sad, sad state of events. i tell you. i only joined now after reading the e-mails. i never viewed it to be a benefit for fort lee to enter this political fray, been say nothing to interview, and i did because the fact-finders were conducting their investigations. there was no benefit to my community because every decision i make is based on whether or not it's in fort lee's benefit.

bottom line, bottom line. but now not to speak is an abdication of my responsibility to the folks that put me in office. i'm actually ashamed. >> you're ashamed for your entire -- ashamed about what? >> i'm ashamed to be in the position of an elected official in the state of new jersey and now to be painted with broad strokes and half to deal with business as usual here in the state of new jersey. it's not fair. it's not fair to the folks that follow the rules. it's not fair to the folks that are in these positions for the right reasons. >> you know, there was one-e mail, i'm going to put it on the screen, from christie's campaign manager, obtained by the records, september 18th, bill stepia. here's the quote. "the mayor," referring to you, "of fort lee is an idiot." did they really expect you, a democrat, to endorse the republican candidate's re-election, chris christie? >> i guess.

you know, i've said this many times. i don't recall a specific request to endorse, but, you know, the events that led up to all of this i guess you can interpret to be somehow attracting me to endorse. i didn't want to endorse for several reasons, not the least of which is i'm a democrat, i was supportive of misbuono, i wasn't prepared to do that, but i'm grate to feel my instincts because they certainly have proven me to be correct, because nobody should have to do anything like that or provide any support under threat of retribution. as far as him, i don't know the guy, nor do i want to know the guy. he is what he is. and i just worry about fort lee, not people like that. they don't interest me. they don't concern me except when they act recklessly and they put my family, put my -- my residents and citizens in harm's way. >> i've got to tell you, i've been covering politics -- >> shame on you. >> -- been covering politics for a long time, but if these

allegations are true, this kind of political ren debt ta to take it out on your community, nearby community, snarl traffic going across the george washington bridge into new york, i don't remember a time when something specific like that has happened. but from your perspective, mayor, for viewers who are watching all over the country right now, tell us why you believe this is an important issue that has to be reported on and assessed. >> let me tell you, i've always said from that monday when the traffic was stopped and now we know it to have been stopped intentionally, a little bit i remained in the background because i was always scared about what would happen to fort lee when you stop reporting on this, wolf, and all the other media channels stop reporting on it. three months, six months, a year from now. who's to say what they're going to do to my borough, to my residents, to my citizens toonld and to me? we're concerned about that. who's to say in six months they won't find a guy who does a study and suggest we shouldn't

have lanes or we should only get one lane. they can wreak havoc on our community, they can wreak havoc on the safety and well-being of our residents. that's my concern. when the story doesn't garner any more attention, we're nervous about further retribution now knowing what we know. and i said that from day one. that's my biggest, biggest concern. in fort lee we're in the middle of a billion-dollar redevelopment. we near the middle of a resa renaissance. we've been called one of the more progressive cities in the state of new jersey. we're proud of that. we're a gateway to the sbhir state, the host community to the biggest bridge in the world. now to be subjected to potentially more retribution in the future, that, as fortd lee's highest elected official, you may rest assured that has been, will be, and will remain my biggest concern -- what happens tomorrow when we're not talking about this anymore? >> beyond political shenanigans or vendetta or whatever, do you believe any criminal laws may have been violated? >> you cannot close down the

busiest bridge in the world for political retribution. it's not something that's possible. you have intentionally put people in harm's way. you knew that before you did it. you knew that when fort lee called 20, 30, 40 times. you knew that when i kept sending text after text and calling cell phone after cell phone. you always knew that because we were telling you that that was happening. to now -- to shut that bridge down and to put my folks in absolute danger, i think it's more than civil. let me answer the question that way. it's more than civil. >> as far as you know, is there a criminal investigation under way by any local or state or federal authority? >> i know that the independent investigator for the port authority is conducting an investigation. i know that the assembly is conducting an investigation. and i have to believe that now in light of what's transpired over the last 24 hours and now seeing these revelations in these e-mails, now that it's

unconditionally confirmed that there's a level of intentionality that's involved, i've got to believe that there's going to be investigations to determine whether this rises to the level of criminality. and i tell you, i'm not rooting for it. i'm not looking for people to suffer a demise by way of a criminal indictment. i want fort lee left alone. i want to guarantee this doesn't happen. you go do whatever you got to go do. and i got to tell you, reform has to be put into place to make sure this doesn't happen to any other host community. this is absolutely the lowest level of political venom you could possibly even make up. it's surreal experience at this point. i really got to tell you i can't believe it. i still can't believe it. continue to read the e-mails. and -- >> interstate commerce was affected between new jersey and new york across the george washington bridge. do you believe the federal government should investigate? >> i do. absolutely. absolutely. it's -- there are millions of

cars that traverse that bridge. there has to be an investigation. it is that important. it is that important. there's a letter over my right shoulderer from the governor's office congratulating on us doing a great job bag host community for the george washington bridge. interesting. interesting. i gsz we didn't do that good enough of a job. >> one of the reasons there's so much interest nationally in chris christie, the popular governor of your home state of new jersey, just re-elected in a landslide, he's considered a likely presidential candidate, someone who might run for the republican presidential nomination in 2016. what from your perspective, and we e know you're a democrat, what is the impact of what is just coming out now have on his potential run for the white house? >> well, i think it can't be positive. it's got to be negative.

you know, there are different dimensions here. if you didn't know, you allowed folks to be put into positions that -- who are completely reckless and venomous and put a lot of people in harm's way so you'd have to question the judgment of those decisions, number one. two, what impact it would have, i don't think i'm smart enough to reach that conclusion and i don't want to speculate about it. it can't be good. it certainly can't be good. it's probably something the governor wants to go away even more than i do. my problem is what happens when it goes away to my community. that's my problem. i am very, very fearful of ramifications in the future, quite frankly. >> what can he do to fix this? >> i'll tell you, what can he do? again, you have to reach out to the folks who were impacted. don't reach out to me. if you haven't in the last four months don't do it now.

i think he has to publicly address the folks who were impacted by this, apologies need to be doled out and reforms have to be put in place to make sure this never happens again, one. two, there's got to be a commitment that the people that you put in these positions that have immense authority, immense authority over multibillion-dollar budgets and the control of hundreds of thousands and millions of people's daily lives, they have to have the requisite education, they have to have the requisite experience, the requisite training because the job is that important. the job is that important. you want to repay a favor and put some political appointee somewhere? do it. there's a million other positions to put them. but not in these positions. so, you know, i think just the judgment of doing that is of great concern to me. i'll tell you, i've been supportive of the governor on some of the fronts and some of the programs he's implemented. that's why this is eve than much more mind bog tolg me. >> mayor sokolich, thanks for

joining us. we'll continue this conversation. >> thank you, wolf. >> much more on the breaking news we've been following. more reaction. james carville and gloria borger standing by. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that parker. well, did you know auctioneers make bad grocery store clerks? that'll be $23.50. now .75, 23.75, hold 'em. hey now do i hear 23.75? 24! hey 24 dollar, 24 and a quarter, quarter, now half, 24 and a half and .75! 25! now a quarter, hey 26 and a quarter, do you wanna pay now, you wanna do it, 25 and a quarter - sold to the man in the khaki jacket! geico. fifteen minutes could save you... well, you know.

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let's continue to follow the breaking news involving the popular governor of new jersey, chris christie, his hopes for

2016. our chief political analyst, gloria borger. the statement that he released, you know, going after his aide or aides who may have been involved in this, he was distancing himself completely from any knowledge of this scandal. >> he was, wolf. i just got off the phone with the former republican governor of the state of new jersey, tom caine, and he heard this statement and he said, look, chris christie is not accepting responsibility. he doesn't answer all the questions. he said, look, i think we need to learn a whole lot more about this. he pointed out, of course, the investigation in the assembly is being done by a partisan democrat and he believes that there should be a special bipartisan committee set up in the state to look at this. and he said, "this deserves a better look. the people of new jersey deserve a better look at this than they're getting." and, you know, tom caine's son has had his own political clashes with governor christie.

but the former governor tom caine told me, look, i have no problems with chris christie. i just think this is a serious issue and the people of new jersey deserve a bipartisan look at this to get -- to get to the bottom of it, and he believes that christie's statement does not do that. >> you heard the mayor of fort lee tell us that this is not going to help christie in his bid for the republican presidential nomination if he wants to run for the white house. he does have this image of being a little bit of a bully, a tough guy. >> yes. >> this sort of plays into that, but this is really a disgusting allegation that they would actually endanger the safety and the lives of citizens of new jersey in order to do some political, you know, payback to a mayor, if you will, who didn't endorse him. >> look, it plays into that narrative, wolf, and people who see chris christie as a bully will see him as more of a bully right now. i think the next question that people will be asking politically on a national level is, is this the approach of the

christie administration generally on other things? you know, because staffers generally don't do things that they believe their boss will disapprove of. these were people, if you look at those e-mails jake was talking about earlier, these are people who were looking for the approval of the governor. the governor's office is not a huge sprawling office. it's pretty limited. and the governor said he was misled, he wants to get to the bottom of this. people in the state of new jersey are going to want to get to the bottom of this. but the political question is, is this the way people believe christie operates and do his own staffers believe this is something that would please him, this kind of behavior? and that's the problem. >> is there an atmosphere that was created that resulted in this kind of shenanigans. >> exactly. >> gloria, thanks very much. let's continue the conversation with james carville right now, the democratic strategist. he and his wife, mary, have authored a new book.

i'll put it on the screen because i know this is a great book, you worked hard on it. "love and war: 20 years, three presidents, two daughters, and one louisiana home." we'll talk a little bit about that. give us your analysis. you've been involved in dealing with political scandals over the years yourself. what do you make of what's going on in new jersey? >> first of all, the reason this is so compelling is everybody can understand this is not like the libor scandal or something like that. it's pretty easy. and ordinary people are the victim, the people who live in fort lee. i think i would agree with gloria and everybody else and governor caine, the response so far has been woefully inadequate. there's only one thing for governor christie to do, and i mean this, is get to fort lee, pronto. pronto. go up there, have your press conference, walk around, apologize to people, and do it as quickly as you can. don't hide behind a statement, legalisms, not anything. you've got to do that.

he's got to get in front of this. this is a potentially very damaging story to his brand, and he's got to be very up front, very contrite, and very hume en in this. >> this paper statement he released, written statement, you think is totally unacceptable. >> look, politically, it looks like he's hiding behind a piece of paper. this is chris christie. he's a former prosecutor. he's an aggressive guy. he calls people down. he's known very out front. and obviously this is not going to stand for very long. my point is, i think if i were advising the governor i would say not in trenton, not anywhere else, not in port authority headquarters. go to fort lee. and i think the mayor may a good point. you don't have to apologize directly to the people who live in that community -- you do and talk about how he's going to get to the bottom of this, whatever investigation it is, he's fully

cooperating, anybody who doesn't cooperate in his administration, if you want to take the fifth amendment or something, that's fine, but you can't work for the state of new jersey if you do that. i think this thing has to the potential of being very damaging to his brand. >> so if you were advising him, and he's obviously not going to call you, you're a democratic strategist, for advice, but say he called your wife, mary, she's been involved in scandals over the years, helping politicians deal with these kinds of crises if you will, channel mary matalin, a woman you've been married to a long time, a republican, channel her in. what would she say to chris christie if- a closed-door, private meeting? >> i think she would say kind of close to what i did. i don't know. i can't speak for her and what she would think, you know. but i think it's clear to anybody that's had to deal with this kind of thing, like i say, the thing that makes this so compelling to cnn and to everybody else is the simplicisy of it. it's easy for people to

understand and it's also just so petty on its face. and i think that hi's got to get out in front of this, got to get out in front of the citizens of fort lee. i'm reluctant to speak for her because sometimes when i do i get into a lot of trouble as you can understand. spouses like to speak for themselves. >> a statement from the dnc. i'll read it to you and our viewers, james. listen to this. "chris christie's statement tonight neither takes responsibility more answers many of the central questions that were raised with this morning's revelations. the governor, his administration, and a's hllys broke the public trust and "real housewives of new jersey" -- and new jerseyans deserve more. it's time the straight-talking governor take his own advice and ensure his staff and associates do the same." i suspect and i think you'll

agree, a lot of democrats are worried about chris christie because he's a popular governor. if he were to get the presidential nomination, presumably he'd be a strong presidential candidate in 2016. how should the democrats right now react to what is going on? >> well, first of all, i never thought he had a great chance to be the republican nominee. i could have been wrong or he may still get it. i think the big winner today right now is jeb bush. i think this really clears that side of the republican party wide open for him. had he and christie run, i think they would have been in competition for some of the same don donor, some of the same voters, some of the same kind of support. if i would have been looking at a winner for a republican side right now, i'd say it's former florida governor jeb bush. christie was never that popular with the republicans. look at the iowa polls. his embrace of president obama

was right after sandy. people never really trusted him as one of them. but his sort of appeal was that he could get things done and going. and he could. it's conceivable. it's going to take a lot of political skill and dexterity and to some extent courage to get out in front of this, but my advice is the same i gave earlier. get up to fort lee and i'm talking about by the weekend. don't tarry. get out in front of this thing. it's damning. >> james carville is a very smart guy. he know what is he's talking about. we'll have you back hopefully with mary and talk about your comment new book. there's the cover right there. "love and war: 20 year, three president, two daughter, one louisiana home." mary, unfortunately, not feeling that great. we were hoping both of you would join us today. take a rain check if that's okay, jim. >> absolutely. anytime, wolf. you know how much we think of you and how much we respect you and your program. thank you very much. >> and i will see you in new

orleans for nba all-star weekend after mid-february. looking forward to that. >> absolutely. absolutely. >> thank you. up next, republicans seize on what's usually a democratic issue, details on what they're doing of the 50th anniversary of the war on the poverty.

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lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are mashing a historic anniversary today. 50 years ago today president lyndon johnson declared a war on pavr ti and sparked a political war that's raged ever since over social spending. today some republicans launched a new skirmish.

cnn's chief congressional correspondent dana bash reports. >> reporter: all day across the capitol you heard this -- >> the war on poverty. >> the war on poverty. >> vicious cycle of poverty. >> reporter: lawmakers mashing the 50th anniversary of lyndon johnson's famous declaration. >> declares unconditional war on poverty in america. >> reporter: lbj, of course, was a democrat. these are republicans. using the milestone to argue lbj's big government battle plan which created medicare, medicaid, and food stamps has not fully worked. >> we have to focus on policies that help our economy create those jobs and policies that help people overcome the obstacles between them and those jobs. the war on poverty accomplished neither of these two things. >> reporter: senator marco rubio chose a rule named for lbj to criticize him. the potential 2016 gop presidential candidate unveiled

his own initiative, which he called the most fundamental change in 50 years, one steeped in conservative credo. >> i am proposing that we turn over washington's anti-poverty programs and the trillions that are spent on them to the states. >> reporter: a new white house report concedes a staggering 49.7 million americans still live below the poverty line but also notes the poverty rate during lbj's time five decades ago was 26% and dropped to 16% in 2012. >> for many families livering in poverty, that poverty spans generations. >> reporter: republicans argue there should be a government safety net but it must be reformed. gop congressman steve sutherland has added a requirement. >> work is not a penalty. i believe that work is a essing. and i think that so many times we have individuals who are second, third, and fourth generation in poverty or government recipients of moneys

and therefore they've never seen it. >> reporter: republicans have good reason to seize on this. a recent poll showed 80% of americans are dissatisfied with how the federal government handles poverty. so it's tricky business for a gop trying to get past any perception they're a party of the rich. this gop memo suggested using terms like personal crisis to discuss unemployment. >> everything we do, whether word in deed, be done with fairness and compassion. >> reporter: republicans cloorly understand the need to address income inequality, there is no clear consensus on how to do that. the battle for those ideas will help shape the gop fight for the white house in 2016 and another potential contender, wolf, paul ryan, is going to gave speech on this issue and his ideas come out tomorrow. >> the war will continue in a different context. >> yes, it will. >> thanks very much. dana bash reporting. much more on the scandal swiring around the new jersey governor chris christie. elijah cummings of maryland is

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back to the breaking news. new jersey governor chris christie saying he's outraged over the apparent plot by some of his aides to snarl traffic in part of the political vendetta against the democratic mayor, that mayor telling us that the people were seriously inconvenienced and potentially put at risk. let's discuss with congressman elijah cummings of maryland, the ranking democrat on the oversight of government affairs committee. congressman, thanks very much for coming in. >> good to be with you, wolf. >> he's disavowing himself. he's saying he didn't know anything about it, this behavior is is not representative of me or my administration in my way,

and people will be held responsible for their actions. >> i've read the statement. christie is a guy who appears to be a hands-on governor. i was kind of surprised by the statement. i'm surprised -- >> why were you surprised? >> i'm surprised others haven't been fired already. he said people misled him. if somebody on my staff misleads me into this kind of controversy, they've got a problem. >> is it realistic that someone, a senior official or a couple senior officials, would undertake this kind of alleged plot, disrupt traffic on lanes between new york and new jersey over the george washington bridge, fort lee, and endanger people who need these kind of emergency services? >> it is simply astounding. and i think christie, as carville said a few minutes ago, needs to come clean, lay it out what's going on, do it as quickly as possible so we know what kind of guy is probably going to run for president. >> i did interview the mayor of fort lee, mark sokolich, he's a

democrat, and i asked him, is there a role for the federal government to investigate what happened in new jersey because of the interstate commerce between new york and new jersey going over that george washington bridge? and he said yes. he wants you, you're part of the federal government -- is there a role for your committee, for example, to look at this? >> i think we need just a little bit more. it's hard to say. but, again, when you look at our committee, we investigate all kinds of things. of course i'm also on the transcription committee. you know, i really want to hear what christie has to say. i want to see what comes out of his conversations in the next few days. i think then we can look at that. >> because he's a popular guy. he won in an overwhelming landslide. >> a popular guy and a hands-on governor. he's not one of these guys that sits back and lets things happen. so like i said, i was surprised by a statement. i thought it was a little shallow. i'm hoping to get more. >> weren't you surprised by the allegations as well is that something like this could take place? >> and so sad. so sad. we're better than that.

we do not send people to our state capitols to throw the public under the bus. >> if you had your way, what would -- if you found out who was responsible, is there a criminal violation or just simply -- >> i don't know enough, wolf. but what i'm saying to you is that if somebody does that -- and he said -- he implied in his statement that he has been misled by high-ranking people around him, then they would be in trouble. a lot of problems. >> i think they would. let's talk a little bit about the war on poverty. you heard marco rubio, the senator from florida, and other republicans today say this 50-year war on poverty that lbj put in place really has not worked. >> absolutely wrong. and it's upsetting to me that they would even say that. the fact is all the research shows, wolf, that we would have more people in poverty if it were not for some of the things that lbj has done. >> we've got a lot of people on food stamps, almost 50 million americans on food stamps. >> keeld -- >> there's a lot of poverty out there. >> there would be a lot more if not for programs like that.

>> wh >> why is that? in 50 years we have not been able to make a huge dent. obviously, you're right, there probably would be a lot more people. >> research is showing a large part is income inequality. the rich is making more, the middle class is dwindling, and the poor can barely survive. at the same time, i think the republicans are using some of these arguments to justify slashing even more from people who are already trying to make it from day to day. you know, my mother and father had less than a sixth-grade education, but because of a lot of the policies they have a son who sits in the congress of the united states. i mean, i want every child to have that opportunity to be able to rise up, and most parents want that for their kids. but right now they don't have that kind of hope because, again, in working harder, making less, to rich are getting richer, and they're losing hope. >> what do we need to do? >> one of the things we've got do is deal with these unemployment benefits. we have to do that right now. >> but that's not going to pass.

it might not even pass the senate. >> well, we've got to push hard because there are too many people depending on it. we've got to deal with the minimum wage. that would bring a lot of people out of poverty. we've got to look at our tax code and come up with policy -- >> let me ask you this. would you be open to $6 billion, three-month extension of those emergency unemployment benefits to offset that by cutting spending elsewhere? >> not out of -- >> there are a lot of ways. >> yeah, there are a lot of ways and i think we can find ways. yeah, we need to deal with that. that would be acceptable. but i have to know the details. >> the u.s. spends almost $2 billion a week maintaining tens of thousands of troops in afghanistan. you take two or -- they'll be out by the end of this year, but if you accelerate that withdrawal you could pay for those unemployment benefits right away. would you support that? >> probably, but i've got something better. tomorrow a hearing in my committee about money being sent

to people who shouldn't be getting checks from various agencies. that would yield a whole lot more money than what you're talking about. >> pay for the unemployment benefits and not increase the deficit, you would be open to that. >> i would be open to >> much easier. >> yeah. >> as usual. >> my pleasure. >> thanks very much. just ahead, a crackdown on weight loss fraud. we have details of which companies are now being charged with false advertising and they're paying huge fines.

some of those so-called

miracle weight loss products mls of americans see on tv and invest in to slim down may not be living up to all the hype. now the federal government is stepping in and cracking down. let's bring in bryan todd. he's got the details. what do you know? >> wolf, the federal trade commission says four companies sold weight loss powders, creams and other products that just don't work. the ftc says those companies were shameless and deceptive in their ad campaigns. >> it's called sensa. >> reporter: and it seems enticing for that new year's resolution you might have made to lose weight, but as they say, if it sounds too good to be true -- >> without dieting, simply sprinkle sensa on, eat all the foods you love and watch the pounds come off. >> reporter: sensa markets a powder to enhance smell and taste of food which the company says make us feel full faster. $59 for a month's supply. >> i may not have gone to a fancy ivy league school, but i sure understand that that is

good old-fashioned horse manure. >> reporter: senator claire mccaskill is launching an investigation into those ads asking people to help by flagging potential scams. sensa is one of four diet supplementmakers the ftc has charged with deceptive advertising saying there's no proof those products work. other targets, hcg diet direct, distributorses of hormone drugs. place them under your tongue, the company says, and you'll lose weight fast. lean spa, the company shut down by using fake websites to market fake cloenzing and diet products. for almond scented skin creams which the company says could hone an inch of fat in a month. >> people want to lose weight and they don't want to work at it. >> reporter: they pay $34 million in settlements, the money returning to customers. they worried about who these companies are targeting. >> a teenage clients recently

asked me for advice about these drugs that her friends were taking. i was alarmed that teenagers and even children were taking these potentially dangerous supplements. >> reporter: and with the weight loss industry exploding in america, senator mccaskill warns going after those four companies is like playing the game whack a mole. >> with every one that is found, another one will pop up. >> reporter: the ftc says those companies are going to have to each conduct two legitimate clinical tests for their products to prove they work. contacted by cnn, l'occitane said it would perform tests. lean spa said that its product was great but a marketer was to blame. and the marketer of the drops didn't respond to our calls. coming up at the top of the hour, two enormous political

stories breaking this hour that could shake up the 2016 presidential race even before it's actually started. chris christie under fire, accused of retaliating against political rivals and president obama's former secretary of defense saying in a new book hillary clinton played politics with u.s. troops. all that coming up. or less on our lighter fare menu. enjoy fresh tossed. go fish. and try our new rosemary garlic chicken at olive garden.

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happening now, christie's outrage. the new jersey governor says he was misled by aides linked to an exploding scandal. we're following the breaking news and the impact on governor christie's presidential hopes. plus tell-all fallout.

the white house responding to harsh criticism of the president by his forminger secretary of defense. did robert gates betray his commander in chief? and retired general and former presidential candidate wesley clark, he's standing by live. he's ready to weigh in. and parting gift to former nba star dennis rodman's bizarre north korea trip ends with a song for kim jong un. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ >> we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're going to have much more on the emerging scandal involving the new jersey governor chris christie's office which is accused of slowing down america's busiest bridge. was it political payback? how much did the governor know? all that coming up, but first, it's as though the former defense secretary robert gates

launched a political missile right into the heart of washington. the reaction to his often scathing memoirs powerful even in a town that's used to some shocking tell-alls. we're learning more about what's in gates' upcoming book and we're getting hints about why, why he publicly vented his anger at the president of the united states right now. our senior white house correspondent brianna keilar is covering the damage control at the white house, but let's go to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr for some reaction from there first. barbara, you covered gates for a long time. >> wolf, up and down the pentagon hallways here indeed all the talk is about the book, and top generals are already bugging their aides to get them copies of it. but the key question people are asking -- why is the man who promised to keep all the secrets spilling all? bob gates was always emotional about the troops. >> i'm -- i would tell you that

you all keep me up at night. i think a lot about the people out here. >> reporter: their were some frustrations. >> i spent a great deal of time expressing frustrations with the pentagon bureaucracy. >> reporter: but few realized how angry a man he had become in his struggles to control his temper. greg taffy covered gates for "the washington post" and has read gates' new book. >> he talks about having emotional outbursts more and more often. he says initially they were bothly with his staff, but he felt that they were creeping out in public, in some of his congressional testimony. >> reporter: gates writes, so many times i wanted to come right out of my chair at the witness table and scream, you guys have been in business for over 200 years and can't pass routine legislation? >> i think what he tried to do in this book was to be very candid about what's going on in

washington. >> reporter: even as gates sent troops to war, he felt the white house didn't press the military and he was emotionally conflicted about the president's handling of the afghan war. >> he does seem to feel that the president wasn't emotionally invested enough, he didn't care enough. >> reporter: gates turns his pen on obama saying he doesn't believe in his own strategy and doesn't consider the war to be his. for him, it's all about getting out. but he also writes the president is thoughtful and balanced, sensible in his comments and questions and not driven by politics in war strategy briefings. so a president -- a book that is perhaps confused at times. you know, wolf, wartime memoirs are usually written long after the fact. one of the questions may be here, years from now, will bob gates still feel so upset and so conflicted. >> we'll hear a lot more from him in the coming days as he

goes it on a book tour as well. the obama administration is going to new lengths to try to defend the vice president joe biden after gates slammed his judgment on national security issues. in a rare move the white house let photographers in to take some pictures the of the president's weekly lunch with the vice president. let's bring in white house correspondent brianna keilar. the white house clearly pushing back on gates' criticism of not only the president but the vice president. >> reporter: that's right. and today, wolf, i asked jay carney about what is perhaps the most serious charge that secretary gates leveled against president obama that he sent 30,000 additional u.s. troops into afghanistan during what was called the surge for a mission gates says the president didn't believe in. >> obama was skeptical if not outright convinced it would fail about sending 30,000 troops in. are you saying that he's wrong? >> i'm saying that the president

devised the mission and has great faith in the troops who carry out the mission and in the mission itself that it's the right mission to pursue in afghanistan, it has been, i think that's been borne out, that doesn't mean it's not a challenge. of course it is. >> reporter: notice, wolf, that jay carney did not outright slam secretary gates. this is something that the white house has been wary of doing, afraid it would backfire. instead they're enlisting allies outside of the white house to push back more aggressively on gates' claims. when it comes to that rare chance that photographer hs to see vice president biden having lunch with president obama, white house officials say this had nothing to do with the gates' book. they say this is a response to vent complaints from photographers that they're often cut out of covering events. >> brianna keilar over at the white house. let's bring in retired general wesley clark, a former

democratic presidential candidate. he's joining us from little rock. also with us our chief correspondent jim sciutto. are you surprised that the former defense secretary would write a book about the president and the vice president and other officials so quickly after leaving office while these guys are still in office? >> well, i think he probably felt he had a lot he wanted to get off his chest, and he probably felt it was his duty to write as well. the thing is when you come out of a high pressure job like this, it takes literally -- i think it takes years to really unwind from it, put it in perspective and understand it. writing the book is probably part of that for secretary gates. and from the perspective of people in uniform and those of us who are retired, he was an outstanding secretary of defense. we're all looking forward to reading the book. obviously, it's going to be quite controversial. >> there are some who say this is a betrayal, not only of the

president and the vice president but of u.s. troops that are still, what, 50,000 or 60,000 american troops in afghanistan and very much harm's way right now. you don't believe that, i take it? >> i think it's okay to write a memoir like this. i do think that it has to be taken with a certain grain of salt in the sense that when he makes comments about the president, for example, and doesn't know what the president's attitude really is, i mean, he may see it that way, with y but that may not have been what the president may have been thinking. put yourself in the position that you're the president of the united states, you make the decision to send 40,000 more troops to afghanistan, this is not a high school football team. you're not the coach, you're not out there giving him a pep talk. you made a tough call. it may have been the best among a lot of bad alternatives. you're thinking about it. i don't think that's -- assuming that secretary gates saw it the right way, i don't think that's a bad view of a president to

think that he's really thinking about it. he's critiquing himself and second guessing himself at every step in something like this. i think you want a leader who can be reflective of these very, very consequently decisions. >> jim sciutto is here, general. he's got a question he's been going through the book himself. >> general, i've been able to get a copy. reading this, it's a very complicated memoir, nuanced, emotional, also contradictory at times because you have gates praising the president's decisions, saying he makes decisions even contradicting some of his own political advisers but criticizing him for a split with the military. he said, the gap between the white house and senior defense leaders had become a chasm. neither side was really listening. that struck me, how severe is a problem like that, that split between a commander in chief and his senior defense leaders at a time -- well, really, two wars, iraq and afghanistan? >> i think from the perspective

of people in uniform, you always want your recommendation to be accepted, you want to be trusted and you want credit for the many years of service you put in, but from the other side looking at it, as a top leader in the country, you're looking at every angle when you make a decision. you have to. it's not only about whether you trust the military or not, it's the broader picture. even when you're dealing with the military, if you're a leader, you understand people have a lot of different ideas in their head, motivations, so you're asking some tough questions. and i think that's what you want. the military's a complicated organization even the people at the top, they're good, well meaning, well intentioned, informed, capable, but that doesn't mean they have the best overall interests of the country always in mind because they don't know those overall interests. they're focused on their job and the mission the president, the secretary of defense gave them to look at. so the president has to have the big picture in mind.

>> one final question, general, before we let you go, a little unrelated, you wrote a letter out there basically endorsing hillary clinton for president of the united states in 2016. walk us through what's going on. do you believe she's going to run? >> well, i don't think she's made the decision to run, but i do think that if you look at the long record of candidates for public office, at least in my lifetime, i haven't seen anybody better qualified than hillary clinton. she's been at state government level, she's been in private practice as a lawyer, she's been the first lady in the white house, two terms as a senator and secretary of state, and she's had enormous time to grow, she's been in the public eye and scrutinized for years and years and years. i think she's an extraordinarily qualified and would be a great president. that's why i'm backing her opinion i hope she runs. >> you're not alone. a lot of people hope she runs. we'll see if she does presumably

by the end of this year we'll know. appreciate it general, thank very much. >> thank you. >> jim sciutto standing by. he's got later reporting later this hour. still ahead, what should the governor chris christie now do to protect his presidential dreams after being cast to blame by aides in his own scandal. dennis rodman on cnn. what does he do for an encore. just ahead the strange finale to a controversial visit to north korea. >> you just basically were saying that kenneth bay did something wrong. le blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy.

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trust icy hot for powerful relief. [ male announcer ] the icy hot patch. goes on icy to dull pain, hot to relax it away. so you're back to full speed. [ male announcer ] icy hot. power past pain. we're continuing to follow the breaking news that new jersey governor chris christie responding to a scandal that could potentially politically

scar his own presidential prospects. he says he's seen incriminating e-mails sent by top aides for the first time and he's suggesting heads will roll. the e-mails bolster claims that access lanes to a busy bridge were closed to get political revenge against a christie opponent by snarling traffic in his own town. governor christie issued a statement saying i am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was i misled bay member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge. a little while ago i spoke to the target of this alleged vendetta, the democratic mayor of fort lee, new jersey, mark sokolich, and i asked him if he believes governor christie. >> as this story continues and things continue to unravel with e-mail, resignations, engagement of defense counsel, that position becomes more and more difficult to understand, more and more difficult to comprehend and more and more difficult to

believe. >> we're joined now by cnn political commentator the republican strategist anna navarro and josh marshall is joining us as well, the editor and publisher of the websites talking points memo. josh, i'll ask you first, do you believe christie when he says he knew nothing at all about this? >> i don't know. you know. i think it seems implausible that he wouldn't have been aware of it. certainly not impossible. i think it's really, you know, we're going to -- clearly there's going to be several layers of investigation right now. i think the problem is that from a commonsense point of view it seems a little impossible that he didn't know about it. and in the realm of politics, that's really what counts. so i think he's in a pretty tough position right now. and part of it is because he's handled it today in a very -- very aggressive sort of

indifferent kind of way. and what surprises me is, you know, his administration had these e-mails, and they've known for a while now that, you know, hostile democrats in the state legislature who subpoenaed them had them, too. so it's a little odd to me why they were caught so off guard by this. and i would have to imagine that if you're a christie supporter, you've got to be asking that right now, too. >> obviously a bizarre story, a very politically explosive story. anna, listen to another clip, my interview with the mayor of ft. lee just a little while ago. and i asked him what christie needs to do. does he need to apologize for example to him and mayors of nearby communities. listen to his response. >> don't call me, but call the families who were waiting three, four times longer for emergency service agencies when their loved ones were having heart palpitations or when their loved ones had extreme chest pains and were waiting for our ambulance

car to arrive, do me a favor, call and apologize to thousands of families whose kids were late for first day of school and the three, four days that ensued thereafter. call our police department and call our administrators in the school system that had to deal with this. call the folks that had to deal with traffic armageddon here that week. don't call me. >> anna, what does he need to do right now, the governor, to fix this? >> i think the mayor's absolutely right. and wolf, as i think you know, i like chris christie a lot. there's so many of his positions that i like. he's somebody that i could see myself supporting as a candidate for the nomination. but this is very troubling. it's very disturbing. i think it opens up many questions about his leadership style. and i think chris christie has got some explaining to do. first thing he needs to do is take responsibility. he needs to acknowledge that this happened under his watch and his administration by his political appointees and the buck stops with him. and number two, he needs to apologize. i think the mayor is right. i think he should go to ground

zero, face it. it's what chris christie has done traditionally, face the problems right head-on. go apologize. show some remorse, explain that he's going to get to the bottom of it. he's got to get in front of it. he should be the one calling for the investigations. i want to see the chris christie that i know confront this in a very aggressive manner and get to the bottom of it. >> josh, it may not just be a political scandal. there could be something even more serious involved. listen to this exchange i had with the fort lee mayor. do you believe any criminal laws may have been violated? >> you cannot close down the busiest bridge in the world for political retribution. it's not something that's possible. you have intentionally put people in harm's way. you knew that before you did it. you knew that when fort lee called 20, 30, 40 times. you knew that when i kept sending text after dtext and

calling cell phone after cell phone. >> josh, how far could this go? >> you know, the criminal side of this, most of us are focused on the politics because chris christie wants to run for president. ipg the criminal liability could actually get pretty serious. let's assume for a moment that chris christie did not know anything about his office's involvement in this until today. we know three people who seem to have been pretty directly involved. i don't think there's any question that laws could have been broken. the key is it's not just -- there are specific statutes in new jersey, but remember, this is a bridge that literally goes interstate. it goes from new jersey to new york. so i would assume that would bring federal laws potentially into play as well. i think the key is for christie again, if he ordered this and there's proof, then he's in deep, deep trouble. and if that's proven, i think the key for him, assuming it

never gets to that point. politically, though, like all scandals that are very damaging, it's damaging to him because people can readily understand this. >> josh. >> and it's not that different from what people normally think of as bad christie, that he's a bully. >> we'll continue this conversation. this story clearly not going way. josh marshall, anna navarro, thanks very much. other news when we come back. the old dining table at 25th and hoffman. ...and the little room above the strip mall off roble avenue. ♪ 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 ♪ 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? afghanistan, in 2009. on the u.s.s. saratoga in 1982.

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we're continuing to follow the breaking news on the new jersey governor chris christie and the scandal that's exploding and escalating right now. in fact, we're getting new details. our chief political analyst

gloria borger is here. you're learning, gloria, of some very disturbing information. >> we are, wolf. this is a story, i should say, that was just reported by the bergen record. it's a story about four known ems responses that were delayed during the times of the lane closures. >> these are emergency medical responses. >> these are emergency medical responses. we have obtained a letter that was written by the ems coordinator to the mayor that you just interviewed earlier in the show, the mayor of fort lee, new jersey. >> mark sokolich. >> in which this ems coordinator talks about these emergency responses that were delayed, four instances of those. one of which was for a 91-year-old woman who was -- who did die. we do not know, wolf, whether she died as a result of the delay or whether she would have expired anyway, but this is the

kind of story -- and again, the mayor referred to it in his interview with you, delayed ems responses that turn this story into a nightmare -- >> i'm just looking at this letter myself for the first time. >> right. >> we don't know if this delay actually caused this woman to die, although there could be some lingering suspicion there. >> that's right. >> and that would certainly escalate the stakes involved. >> sure. >> in what may have been some political vendetta, but lives were potentially at stake. >> at stake. and you know, this ems coordinator said that there was gridlock through the entire center of town and that they had to ask a port authority police officer about what all the traffic was about. and this ems coordinator, paul savia, i'm not sure if i'm pronouncing it correctly, just detailed instances on september 9th and 10th when response time

was very difficult to get down because of all these problems. >> how much can all this hurt christie? >> well, look, i think it's a real problem for chris christie, as we were talking about earlier, wolf. he said that he did not know about it, that he'd been misled by his staff. but quite frankly -- and i spoke with former governor tom cain of new jersey, also a republican, who said, look, there are a lot of unanswered questions here, as to the details of this, as to what actually occurred, so there are unanswered questions that people in fort lee want to know a lot about, then there are also unanswered political questions, which is what would drive members of your staff to do something like this out of a political vendetta and what kind of environment is there in the governor's office if, in fact, these people did do what these e-mails seem to point to earlier today. so there are a lot of details that are yet to be known, but i

think that this issue of emergency medical services being delayed is a real problem. >> yeah, there's going to be local, state and i suspect even federal investigations -- >> that's what the mayor seems to be indicating. >> -- potentially what could be political. that's it for me. you can always follow what's going on in "the situation room" on twitter, tweet m mme me @wolfblitzer'"crossfire county "with donna edwards and mike mulvaney starts now. this is cnn breaking news. welcome to "crossfire." i'm stephanie cutter on the wha

because this is breaking news right now. the new jersey governor scrambling to try to react to the stunning new indications that his close aides deliberately and gleefully, gleefully plotted revenge against a political opponent last e--mails emerged today that a top christie aide helped orchestrate lane closures on a bridge connecting new york city and new jersey, closures that created a potentially very dangerous traffic backup. late this afternoon, the governor finally responded in a written statement and he said this, what i see today for first time is unacceptable. i'm outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was i misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge. one thing is clear -- this type of behavior is unacceptable and i will not tolerate it because the people o