Christie to NJ: ‘We know how to do this’

Christie is set to hold a briefing with his Cabinet and then a news conference later on Friday on the storm, which has much of New Jersey under a blizzard warning. “We make it look easy because we handle it the right way but, you know, people were at risk yesterday”. He announced at a town hall meeting earlier Friday that he was returning that afternoon.

He said that his “strong, effective leadership” in the face of winter Storm Jonas – which left at least 14 dead, more than 100,000 people without power and 11 states and Washington, D.C.in states of emergency this weekend – would redeem him in the eyes of voters.

“I want to make sure that the people of my state feel safe and secure”, Christie said, noting that he’s been on the phone with the National Weather Service, National Guard and various government agencies.

In response to that interview, New Jersey Star-Ledger columnist Tom Moran railed against Christie, saying the governor was “losing his mind”.

A campaign aide said that Christie made the decision after having conversations with his staff in New Jersey about the impending storm.

Bowser said crews have been pre-treating roads already and the city has hired extra resources to help deal with the storm.

No immediate estimate of the financial toll of the flooding damage was available but reinsurance broker Aon Benfield said that total insured losses along the East Coast will run into the billions of dollars.

TAPPER: With all due respect, sir, Governor Kasich has been spending a lot of time in New Hampshire and on the campaign trail as well.

“The damage, again localized from what we’re seeing so far”, he said, “is in excess of what we saw during Hurricane Sandy”. “The folks did a great job in New Jersey”.

Christie paused for a few seconds before responding.

CNN’s Alisyn Camerota asked de Blasio about a 2014 storm in which neighborhoods of NY felt they were under-served by storm response intentionally. “I have also sent the leaders of the Economic Development Authority to work with any businesses which sustained any damage”, the governor said in the statement. His wife, Mary Pat, will remain in New Hampshire.

Christie – who past year withdrew his support for the standards, which are anathema to many conservatives – said Common Core was “gone”. As residents spent days struggling to dig out from the storm, Barry stayed in the Golden State to attend the Super Bowl.