Alleged Evidence Against Christie in Bridgegate
HARLOW: We are following the latest developments this hour involving the governor, Chris Christie. He should be glowing in the spotlight because the Super Bowl is taking place in his home state this weekend. But instead, he is on the defensive, fielding new claims of a former ally and long-time friend. A lawyer for David Wildstein says he has evidence that contradicts what Christie said he knew about the shutdown of the lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge. Those lanes in Ft. Lee, New Jersey, are a main artery between New York and New Jersey. And that September shutdown was allegedly political payback for the Ft. Lee mayor or the not supporting him. Now, Christie has fired a top aide over that shutdown and he has insisted that he knew nothing about it. Let's talk about this with two political commentators and CNN contributors, Ben Ferguson, sitting next to me here in New York, on the right; and Marc Lamont Hill, joining us from Philadelphia, who sees things from the left.</s>MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN COMMENTATOR (voice-over): Well, it is an eyebrow raiser. Maybe because there is nothing to it, which is I'm certain that the Christie administration would want us to think. <18:40:00> But also some dramatic entry into the 15-minutes of fame and he is milking it for all he can get from it, but the bigger point is that we can't overestimate what is in the information. Assume that everything that we see is true, but it does not mean that Governor Christie organized the conspiracy or that Governor Christie was acting out some act of political vengeance. It could mean that he did not tell us the whole truth of when he found out. But the bad part for Christie is that's enough to sink a presidential candidacy and probably enough to have your position as governor at least unsettled and compromised because you did not tell the whole truth.</s>HARLOW: And that is an important point, because we cannot say it enough that we don't know what the purported evidence is. And until we do, no assumptions can be made. And, Ben, I feel like you and Marc agree. That is rare thing.</s>BEN FERGUSON, CNN COMMENTATOR: Yeah.</s>LAMONT HILL: Well, he is right for once.</s>FERGUSON: Yeah.</s>HARLOW: Yes. And when you look at where this is coming from.</s>FERGUSON: Well, you have to take it a huge grain of salt. This is a guy who pleads the Fifth, and he says I will not talk when he is asked under oath to talk about what happened with the lane closures. And so I automatically say, you won't tell the authorities what you knew when you knew it, but now you want to use a lawyer to come out the make these claims? And the other thing is that at the same time that the lawyer is talking to press, he says that we will tell you everything if we get immunity out of the deal, so I have no reason to believe --</s>HARLOW: Well, they can subpoena.</s>FERGUSON: And the fact is that he is basically a guy going, you know what, I'm going down, and if I can hurt the governor, I'm going to do it, and I want immunity if I tell you everything. And, oh, by the way, but I'll plead the Fifth when you ask real questions about the lane closures, so I don't buy into more being here at all.</s>HARLOW: -- an ally of the governor for a long time. Go ahead, Marc.</s>LAMONT HILL: Well, do not assume that somebody because they want immunity they are not offering the truth.</s>LAMONT HILL: It is equally plausible that Governor Christie was in it up to his waist, and this guy, and this guy is a rat trying to get out of the trap to tell the truth.</s>FERGUSON: Or maybe it is a guy that went off of the reservation, and he went out there and actually decided to do something stupid and the governor didn't know about it. And now he is in a bad situation asking for immunity and pleading the Fifth. Why would I trust that guy?</s>LAMONT HILL: Well, this is the part for you, Ben --</s>HARLOW: Let me jump in here, guys.</s>LAMONT HILL: And I am going to say that the bad part for Ben or for the conservatives and certainly Governor Christie is that drawing out all of the scenarios and the implausible possibilities. And as long as we are talking about that, we are not talking about what Christie wants, which is how he could be president.</s>HARLOW: And could be and should be. And let's talk about what is. Governor Christie is in the spotlight and he had a long press conference and answered all kinds of questions about this. Does he feed to come out again now? We have the statements from the team. Does he need to come out publicly now?</s>FERGUSON: No, he does not need to do that, but a he has already done it. He did the right thing by saying, all right, media, I'm here, and I will stay here as long as you want me to stay here, and I will answer every ridiculous or serious question, and repeated question. I don't think that there is any new information.</s>FERGUSON: All you have is a disgruntled employee who is angry at this point with no new information.</s>HARLOW: And to your point, Ben -- Marc, you think that he should come out, but why should he come out the talk before anybody has any idea what this purported evidence is? Why get in front of it?</s>LAMONT HILL: Well, I am not saying that he should come out before the evidence comes out, but once the evidence comes out, he needs to respond it. And, Ben, you were having a good day today. You were saying so many things that are correct today. And you --</s>FERGUSON: Thank you. I'm glad that we agree on that today. I'm being brilliant.</s>LAMONT HILL: And, yes, until now. Because now you are going back into the normalville, because you are saying that Chris Christie, if there is evidence that contradicts the press conference, he should remain silent. That is going to make him look like a liar.</s>FERGUSON: No, I'm saying don't come out and have a press conference about information if you don't know the information. What would he say, I heard this guy says we know something, but we may not know something, and so I am going to talk about nothing. And I'm the governor of the New Jersey and having a great time at the Super Bowl. What would you do there?</s>LAMONT HILL: I think we're on the same page. My only point is, at some point, Governor Christie does have to respond and he can't do it through the staffers or the press releases, but the same way he came out --</s>LAMONT HILL: -- and talk, and he needs to come out and respond.</s>HARLOW: And you know what, we will know a lot more Monday, because we are hearing that is the earliest when we will see what the evidence could be. And then, I think that we probably would hear from the governor if there is something to address, considering how he reacted the last time, and coming to have the long press conference. <18:45:01> We will see. Ben is just excited, because he is going to Super Bowl and has incredible tickets.</s>FERGUSON: You better believe it.</s>HARLOW: We will talk about that coming up in the next hour. Marc, Ben --</s>LAMONT HILL: And they better hope that the Broncos better hope that they are not routing for him, because he is not very good for routing for the right team.</s>FERGUSON: I'm rooting for the Broncos. All the Broncos.</s>HARLOW: Football -- football talk in the next hour, gentlemen. Stand by for me here. And I appreciate the insight on this as always. Let's head back to Super Bowl Boulevard, and Don Lemon. D.L.?</s>DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That is the real matchup there. And you know what I deal with trying to corral Ben and Marc.</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>LEMON: You know, Poppy, the difference between winning and losing an NFL championship could come down to a single kick. And I got some tips from the Super Bowl winner, Steve Weatherford. Wait until you see my kick. That is coming up next.