>> this is "eyewitness news upclose." >> ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you the next president of the united states, donald trump. [ cheers and applause ] >> new jersey governor christie adamantly trying to deflect the heat for his controversial endorsement of donald trump and rejecting growing calls for his resignation as governor. so, what does the embattled governor do next? this morning, we talk to former republican governor from new jersey, christine todd whitman, and former acting governor richard codey, a democrat. good morning, everyone. i'm bill ritter. welcome to "upclose." seven newspapers in new jersey this past week with a history of not exactly liking governor christie calling for christie's resignation because of his endorsement of donald trump and because of the time he spent out of state on presidential politics. the criticism really revved up

with an uncomfortable-looking christie standing right behind trump for the entire victory speech and news conference that followed. social media ablaze with the #freechristie. here's "eyewitness news" reporter stacey sager. >> i'm here. i'm back to work. >> chris christie pitched this as a news conference touting new jersey's lower unemployment rate, but that's not the only thing sinking here recently, and the governor knows it. his approval rating, once at 67% after superstorm sandy, is now why? well, constituents were pretty blunt. >> [ laughs ] he's an idiot. >> he should resign. he's not in the state anymore. he's not our governor. apparently he's mr. trump's water boy. >> they are still shaking their heads over how the governor stole the show with this look on his face standing behind trump on super tuesday. >> so, no, i wasn't being held hostage. no, i wasn't sitting up there thinking, "oh, my god, what have

>> christie says he endorses trump because he believes trump is the best of the remaining republican candidates. but... >> i am not a full-time surrogate for donald trump. i don't have a title or a position in the trump campaign. >> and so he promises he will tend to new jersey's problems, such as the state budget, its transit system, and he won't resign. six gannett newspapers then calling for the governor's resignation, not to mention the star-ledger, which said... >> i don't think he has a commitment or a belief in anything, and that's what drew him to donald trump. >> i am here, i am back to work. we have done the things that we've needed to do over the last 22 days. >> and so governor christie is counting on the same mood swings, which have propped him up in the past. but for how long?

he's not the type to stay on the sidelines when it comes to politics. on the other, he says come january 16th of 2018, he'd like to work in the private sector. in fort lee, i'm stacey sager, "channel 7 eyewitness news." >> joining us from abc news in washington, our bureau there, is former new jersey governor christine todd whitman. governor, thank you for joining us. nice to see you. >> my pleasure. >> all right, you waded right into this controversy. you're recorded as saying, "i'm ashamed that christie would endorse anyone who's employed the kind of hate-mongering and racism that donald trump has." you didn't waste a second doing that. did you feel you wanted to hesitate, but why did you do that? >> no. no, i wasn't surprised by the endorsement because i had heard rumors that it might happen. i was just monumentally disappointed, particularly because what he had said, what governor christie had said about donald trump during the primary when he was part of it -- criticisms and concerns that he raised, with which i agreed.

and coming from a state as diverse as new jersey to be able to support someone who will denigrate an entire group of people because of their ethnic background just doesn't sit well. >> so, let's go -- you're talking about trump and christie in this interview. let's talk first about one of your successors, mr. christie. why did he do it, then? he was very critical of trump, as you said, in the debates. why do you think he did it? >> well, i think he was looking at the future, saying, "this is the man who is going to win and i think republicans should win at any cost, at any price." i would differ with him there. i'm certainly a republican. i don't want four more years of what we've had, but on the other hand, i care more about the country than i do about the party, and i think donald trump would be very dangerous, but i think he would -- you'd have to ask him what his reasoning was, but he said it. he said, "look, i think this is a good guy who could be president." i couldn't disagree more, but -- i mean, he could be, but i don't think he'd be the kind of representative of the country that we want to have or would do the country really any good, particularly internationally. >> the governor obviously

he's term-limited out, as you heard stacey sager say in the package, in two years, less than two years. he says he wants to make some money, but, you know, he could be offered a spot in a potential trump administration. a vice president spot doesn't seem quite likely. have a guy from new york and the guy from new jersey doesn't get you much around the country, right? >> right. i wouldn't expect that. but, you know, chris christie loves to be out there in the public, and there's a front, and i think probably attorney general is something he would really love to have. >> let's talk about new jersey before i get into mr. trump, 'cause i know you have a lot to say about him. there have been calls -- and we're gonna talk about it with two state senators, including your old friend richard codey. there have been calls for him to resign. the newspapers are not surprising. they have never supported him. but a lot of people raising questions about how much time he can really spend as governor. as you saw, his approval rating is 27%. it's an all-time low. he spent so much time out of the state doing presidential politics. has it hurt him, do you think, do govern?

there's no question it certainly hurt his prestige within the state. but if he's now back in the state and if he focuses on the state, there's no reason for him to resign. what he did in the past, what it's cost the state -- those are issues of which he'll have to deal and explain to the public that it's not taking away from his ability to continue to do his job, so if he is there, if he's sincere about not being on the campaign trail for donald trump as much as he was on the campaign trail for himself, then there's no reason, i don't think, just because you don't like the person whom he endorsed to say he should step down. >> you were busy as governor in your two terms. is it a job you could just sort of take a year off and campaign for another, much higher office and do an effective job as governor? >> well, no. i mean, you really do have to be there. although today's media is different -- interconnection, the internet and everything gives you a very different ability to stay connected, so you don't have to be there every single day of the year. and now you have a lieutenant governor that we didn't have

quite competent. she's very competent, and she's been able to fill in where he hasn't been there. but from what i gather, he still things. that's the way he manages. and so he has been able to keep in touch. but frankly, that's not the same, particularly when you're facing huge issues and you've really got to sit down and look at people face to face in order to get some of the consensus that you need to build around getting some of these difficult issues settled. >> you know governor christie. he doesn't seem to be at all fazed by this in terms of really considering stepping down. >> oh, no, no. he said very clearly he's not going to step down. it doesn't bother him. he's a little bit like donald trump in that way. the more criticism you hurl at him, the more stronger he gets in his pushback, so he's not against what's going on. >> all right, let's return to donald trump. again, you didn't hesitate at all. you're certainly joined by a lot of other republicans, mostly moderate. there is chaos right now. i think it's a fair description of what's happening in your party. don't you agree? >> oh, i've never seen anything like it.

republican leader, of the senate standing up and telling his colleagues and those who want to join him in the senate that if having donald trump at the top of the ticket is problematic for them in their election or reelection, they can run ads against him. you've never seen anything like that before. >> and where's it gonna lead to, and is it too late? >> well, i mean, donald trump seems to be teflon, doesn't seem to -- the more you point out some of his foibles and failings, the more you point out the fact that he really is a bully and a demagogue, the more people like him because they're so frustrated and so angry at what they perceive to be the inaction, inability to govern congress and the presidency. they want someone who will tell done. we're gonna build a wall," and they even will believe him to say that mexico's gonna pay for it. i mean, how he plans to do that is beyond anyone's imagination, but because he says it so strongly and people are so desperate to have someone say things like that, they're willing to go along with it.

can happen now is you pull back the curtain and you start saying, okay, you want a businessman, but do you really want a businessman that's taken four of their companies through bankruptcy in order to keep them going and has cost a lot of people their jobs, who's had a failed airline, has a university for which he's now being sued because that was a failed effort, someone who says they want to bring jobs back to america and yet has had to pay a fine for hiring illegal aliens? the more people will stop to think about those things, i'm hopeful that they will recognize that there's still time, because if you look at it, the other three candidates left in the race together have more delegates at this point than donald trump does. >> he announced in june -- the litany of items you just rattled off were all known before and certainly to people in the tristate area, 'cause he's certainly no stranger. he was raised here. and he does a lot of business here. but that was all known when he announced in june. why is taken now until march for all this to come out? >> because no one believed that

no one believed that he was really in it to win. it was sort of a no-lose for him because his reality tv show had gone down in ratings and no matter what happened, even if he didn't make it through the primaries, he could go back to the television, would get better ratings, he'd do another book. i mean, there are a lot of things he could have done, but, in fact, he got serious about it as the ego kicked in, as he saw he was touching a nerve with people, with people who are so frustrated and angry and scared. when people are scared, they'll reach out for almost anything, and they're lashing out right now. >> i've seen you at conventions before. i've seen you at republican conventions. you were one of our analysts when the republicans had their convention here to reelect george w. bush and renominate him in 2004. i've seen you operate. you know, you're one of those people that like a more controlled convention. this could be an uncontrolled convention this summer. >> i think it'd be great, frankly. [ chuckles ] i mean, no holds barred. back in the old days, that's what happened.

candidates that came out of that process, and i am hopeful that that's exactly what happens, because then i would love to see a kasich-rubio ticket. i think john kasich has the background, the experience. he's proven himself at all levels. he's had the executive experience, but he's also been in congress so he knows how to get things done, bring people together. and you have marco rubio, who's the face of the future but frankly has not had the kind of executive experience you need in a president, and i don't think we have just seen in the last president, at least from my perspective, that on the job training is not what we want. >> i thought you were gonna talk about rubio's getting down in the gutter with mr. trump, because that has not been a pleasant experience for most americans to see, as well. >> i don't want my grandsons watching these things anymore. >> not exactly a lesson in civics. final question -- if mr. trump is indeed your party's nominee, would you vote for him, and if mrs. clinton is the nominee of the democrats and you don't vote for trump, would you vote for hillary clinton? >> i would not vote for donald trump. i could write in somebody depending on what happens in the

but if i thought it was a close one and it was hillary clinton against donald trump, i could vote for her. not happily, not willingly, but i would do it. >> you think a lot of your fellow republicans would do the same thing? >> i've heard a number of them say that and even from some surprising neocons and people whom you would not think would ever support a member of the other party. >> former governor of new jersey, a republican, saying that she would vote for hillary clinton over donald trump. that's a big statement, mrs. whitman. >> well, you have to do what you think is right for the country. >> okay. christine todd whitman, thank you so much for joining us. it was nice to see you. >> good to see you. >> all right. thanks, governor. just ahead, another former new jersey governor, now state senator, richard codey, along with a fellow republican state senator who supported christie's

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>> welcome back to "upclose." diving a little deeper into the weaves of this christie controversy, two elected officials who work with governor christie, former new jersey governor and current state senator richard codey, and next to him, republican state senator joe pennacchio, who supported christie in the presidential race. gentlemen, thanks for joining us. >> my pleasure, bill. >> so, how did we get here? how did we get to this place where all this calls for your governor's resignation, and where's it going? let's start with you, sir. >> i think a lot of it has to do with politics. next year is a gubernatorial race. i think a lot of what's driving this year is what may be happening next year, bill. >> you think he doesn't seem fazed by all this. >> you don't think that politics is involved. no. no way, right, governor? >> no, i didn't say -- >> [ laughs ] >> i didn't say i didn't think politics was involved. but he doesn't seem very fazed by this. >> well, i don't know about that.

republicans right now. so, and some of them are in districts where they feel they're gonna be vulnerable now because christie's numbers are very low. trump's not gonna carry new jersey. they're thinking about themselves. and not christie anymore or trump or anything, you know. them in 2017 -- that's what it's about. >> that's the politics you're referring to, right? >> yeah. >> "always about me." >> right, so it's the trump -- you're talking about your fellow -- >> yeah. >> ...fellow politicians. >> i include myself in there, too. >> [ laughs ] >> but you have a broader view, or at least you're here representing a broader view or saying you're representing a broader view. if christie had not endorsed trump, would this had been as big of issue, the fact that he was out of state so often last year running for president? >> i just think it adds to it in terms of where is he going and what is he doing to help his own party. you know, when he ran, he was kind of famous for not helping republicans get elected.

landslide last time, he carried no republicans into office with him because he didn't want to offend democrats, so that's what it's about a lot of, too -- resentment from his own party. >> i get, bill, maybe who you're speaking to, the governor eloquently stated his side based on his partisanship. and, for me, i'll say what about governor kasich? is he having the same pushback in ohio as governor christie's having over here? >> yeah, but, joe, the difference is, he's a very popular governor. >> governor christie? >> no, no. >> governor kasich. >> kasich's very, very popular. >> we just interviewed christine todd whitman, and she said, you know, it's very difficult to be out of the state running for office, and it's a little easier than when she was stuff. but, you know, this is a hands-on chief executive job, and he wasn't doing a lot of that because he was off. >> i would say this. you can't fight crime, poverty, illiteracy, fix our roads and our bridges on a cellphone. you have to be in the state, in

talking to people. it's as simple as that. and that's why the resentment is there. >> you can come back when there's a storm coming, even though that became a controversy, but you can return. but you can't to do the actual day-to-day legwork. >> you can't. it's just -- they want you there, and they want you to know that you care about them enough to be there. >> so, how is this gonna affect your day-to-day relationship with the governor moving forward? you still have almost two years left. >> i think he answered a lot of questions yesterday. i've gotten to view, you know, what i thought about him being a surrogate. i said, "i've never heard of the word 'surrogate' come out of the governor's mouth or the word 'surrogate' come out of donald trump's mouth." so i think they're a little -- maybe a little bit too anxious to criticize the governor. i said they said he's gonna be more hands on, he's gonna be in the state. don't expect him to be out of state as much as he was before as when he was running for president. >> hey, joe, what did you think of the look on his face behind trump? >> you're asking my questions. >> [ laughs ] >> but that's a darn good question. >> but i'll give you my take. he's standing there and saying, "and i lost to this guy?" >> he says that's not what he

but how did you feel? >> i was looking at donald trump obviously because i was concerned what he was gonna say. >> [ laughs ] >> but the issue was, you know, why is our governor standing behind him? and i guess the best you could say he was looking attentive. >> he was looking at what? >> attentive. >> attentive. if you look carefully -- we've gone back and checked the tape -- if you look, you see that the son of donald trump sort of pushed -- waved christie away, as if to move out of the camera range, but he did it very subtly. but there was a couple like that, he going away, 'cause not to put himself right in the camera range there. it's a long time to stand. trump didn't look comfortable, for instance, when sarah palin was endorsing him. he's just standing there -- right. >> "that's enough, sarah." >> it's hard to stand there. de blasio used to do that, introduce people and bratton would stand there like this for a half hour waiting. it's very difficult just sit there. >> i think with the governor's success, it's been many years since he had to stand behind somebody making a speech. and quite frankly, maybe he just wasn't used to it.

>> you're used to it with this >> i am. >> [ laughs ] >> and you sit there and you smile and you hop on every single word that he says. >> so, what is it that you think this? why did he do this? debates. he was very critical of donald trump. >> yeah, but he was much, much easier on trump than he was with rubio and cruz and others, clearly. >> the take is that there was some personality problems between -- or issues between rubio and christie. >> well, rubio himself went after christie hard in new hampshire, and according to christie, it worked. worked against him, obviously. >> it's always difficult to be a lame duck governor or a chief executive anything when you know you're a lame duck. >> i can relate to that. >> but you were at one point. >> [ laughs ] >> but, you know, it's hard enough, and so when you put yourself in this kind of situation, how much harder has he made it on himself for these next two years? >> well, listen, it's well-known that -- for example, in the

42 years, where republicans would vote for a bill, it would pass 40-0, he would veto the bill, it would come back to the senate for an override, and the republicans who voted for the bill, same thing, same bill, now will pull it against the override because he put the hammer to them. you've seen it, i've seen it. i've never seen anything like it. i mean, he really deserves -- "hey, i've got to have you backing me on what i did. even though you think the bill is a good bill, you're gonna have to vote no." >> let's talk about some of those bills that were presented. governor doesn't put those bills in for override. the senate president does. yeah, the pig crate bill, which was there to embarrass the governor, you know, in iowa, why are we dealing with -- >> yeah, but, joe, your colleagues on the republican side voted for the bill, said it was a good bill, then it comes back to them in the same form, and they vote the other way. >> what about the port authority bill? bill that was crafted throughout any say in new york wasn't going anyplace in new york, guaranteed

gonna be signed, and yet they we voted. we voted on one bill specifically when the other commission had met with the port authority. they had come up with their own sets of rules. now, all of a sudden, the bill is outdated and yet they insist on giving it a poke in the eye to the governor to put that bill in. so, a lot of -- they still got a little sublime issue of politics running around. >> no question. move from state politics briefly to national politics, what do you think is happening with your party? >> i think our party, and, quite frankly, the democrat party -- it's a metaphor for looking at the candidates for the way people are feeling. they're convulsing. people are angry. they feel a certain disenfranchisement with the government. they don't think it's there for them. and the results are populous. you have bernie sanders on one side and you have donald trump on the other side. >> less vitriolic on the democratic side, but point well taken. really quickly, we got just a couple seconds left, christine todd whitman said if it's donald trump versus

for hillary clinton. same question to you. >> i'm disappointed in her. some people held our noses and continued to vote for people that we don't believe in. we don't think they have the same principle conservative values. so, for her to say that was disappointing. >> okay, state senator joe pennacchio, richard codey, former governor, gentlemen, thank you very much. great to see you. >> our pleasure. >> all right. thank you very much. when we come back, so what would a divided republican convention look like, a brokered convention? is it really possible? maybe. we talk to our political analyst hank sheinkopf next. is that coffee? yea, it's nespresso.

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american political process provides something of a civics lesson for our kids, but not this presidential primary season. it's a lesson not in civics but maybe in incivility. call it the uncivil civil war -- republicans in chaos and battle. political analyst hank sheinkopf is here with his take on all this. the debate was a new low, i think. >> new low for us in america but not a new low for the world. i mean, we -- you know, people take it for granted that this is how democracy is practiced. >> lincoln/douglas. >> lincoln was disgusting. i mean, they treated him like he was an animal. he was castigated, libeled in newspapers across the country on a daily basis. this is not new. what it is -- it's on television, it's in front of us. that's very different. >> that's the difference. >> that's the difference. >> yeah. what did you think when you heard all that? gutter. >> it's -- america is not benefiting, but this is, you know, this is kind of like close combat. it's everything people watch on television. it's wrestling, it's mud wrestling, it's a full contact sport. >> okay, let's get into the mud.

know? they've known all the stuff about donald trump since june when he announced. it's just now coming up because now the republican establishment is freaked out that he might actually get the nomination. >> well, the boys in washington -- and they are boys -- are really out of their minds. they don't know what to do. trump -- they can't control him. they can't put a money button on him. there's nothing they can do. they're scared about the senate, but mostly they're scared about people turning out that they can't control, which is always how it works, whether it be with the republicans or democrats. and it is the underlying reason why we don't do real voter registration in this country. >> so the political revolution that bernie sanders talks about as a senator for vermont and a democrat against hillary clinton is really going on perhaps in the republican party. >> it's going on in both parties, and that's the problem. people don't seem to comprehend. the democrat party is much older in its performance patterns. its leadership is older. the republicans are younger. in both cases, people are looking for something fresh in donald trump and something fresh with bernie sanders. >> didn't it used to be the other way around, right? >> oh, absolutely. >> the republicans were the old, staunchy conservatives, big business, and now the democrats are the ones with the money.

the ones with the money and the republicans are the insurgents. and the interesting dynamic in american politics at most levels is when there is an empty seat, which there will be in this presidency, the insurgents tend to win. >> what's gonna happen this summer if -- first of all, is it too late for them to stop donald trump getting the nomination? >> every time the establishment, the republicans, bang donald trump is another day he gets closer to the nomination. >> because it's gonna -- >> because people are gonna say, "wait a second. they're the people that put us in trouble. we don't like them anyway." this is an economic and social revolt, and the damaging problem is religion, which has always been the thing that modifies behavior. and this particular populace revolt is nowhere to be seen. >> okay, let's just say you're wrong and it's not too late and there's a brokered convention. what's that gonna look like? it's been a long time since we've had one. >> brokered convention -- they're gonna find somebody who they think -- they, the washington guys think -- will fit and probably lose in the fall. >> mitt romney? >> mitt romney can't win for one reason -- unfortunately, a bias against mormons is not insignificant in this country, and there's data to prove that from the previous election. >> and he insists he's not gonna do it, but, of course, that

point. >> well, you know, his eyes say "no, no, no" but -- his lips say "no, no, no" but his eyes say "yes, yes, yes." >> is that what you got out of that press conference? >> absolutely. >> okay, the attacks on trump are gonna ramp up, i think. i'm supposing you're gonna agree with that. it's not happening to a lesser degree. it's gonna happen increasingly. >> all these people that have been waiting around online like old political bosses don't want anybody from the outside to interfere, and they're gonna attack trump more. and the end result is that trump's popularity among blue-collar whites, particularly catholics in the midwest, is going to increase, not decrease. >> republicans like christine todd whitman saying she's gonna vote for hillary clinton over don trump. gonna see more of that? >> the people that donald trump has as supporters are not playing in the country clubs, golf the day that christine todd whitman shows up there. >> [ laughs ] okay. hank, thanks for being here again. >> thank you, bill. >> we'll see you next time. and that will do it for this edition of "upclose." thanks for watching. if you missed any of today's program, you can catch it again -- don't worry -- on our website, abc7ny. again, thank you all for watching. i'm bill ritter. for all of us here at channel 7,

>> buenos d^as y bienvenidos. good morning. welcome once again to "tiempo." i'm joe torres. latina 50 plus is a newly created organization that honors hispanic females over 50 for being trail-blazers in their profession. in return, those pioneers set out to mentor, to motivate, to coach, and inspire the younger latina generation. we'll tell you how they do that in just a few minutes. right now, though, we focus on the borough with the largest percentage of latinos. what borough is that, everyone? the bronx. there we go. according to a 2014 u.s. census bureau report, 54.8% of bronxites are latinos -- more than half the borough.