The Note: Keeping An Eye On Chris Christie
— -- NOTABLES
--CHRISTIE POLITICAL ALLY TO PLEAD GUILTY IN BRIDGE PROBE: A key figure in the corruption scandal that threatens New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's political career is poised to plead guilty in federal court today, sources told ABC's JOSH MARGOLIN. Word of David Wildstein's expected guilty plea was confirmed this morning by officials familiar with the situation, sources said. The plea of the former Port Authority executive and one-time political blogger, who went to high school with Christie, would mark a dramatic step in the saga swirling around Christie. The corruption probe that started with unannounced closings of access lanes at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 has, according to some, all but hobbled Christie as he seeks the GOP presidential nomination in 2016. http://abcn.ws/1OLu1zn
--CHRISTIE HIMSELF WAS INTERROGATED FOR MORE THAN SEVEN HOURS by federal investigators probing the bridge scandal. He has denied having any role in the lane closings and has repeatedly said he did nothing wrong. Last year, the governor told ABC's DIANE SAWYER he didn't even "inspire" his aides and loyalists to shut down lanes to the world's busiest bridge. "This is not something that I think I inspired, and to the extent that any of them thought that this was acceptable conduct, then I fell short," Christie said at the time. http://abcn.ws/1OLu1zn
--ANALYSIS -- ABC's RICK KLEIN: This is quite obviously a bad day for the presidential prospects of Gov. Chris Christie, with a former ally pleading guilty and other legal charges against associates pending. But, given the vast damage to Christie's reputation as the bridge-closing story metastasized from a traffic study to something far more nefarious, it's worth remembering that this could be far worse. At first, questions swirled of who else did what; little to no evidence has emerged over the past year of additional knowledge of or participation by Christie himself or other aides in the closing of traffic lanes feeding the George Washington Bridge. From a 2016 perspective, it's possible that with this round of legal maneuvering, the political damage is complete. Christie will be doing his town-hall thing in New Hampshire next week, with the legal end of "Bridgegate" finally in the rear-view mirror, or so it would seem. John McCain comparisons may not be entirely apt. But New Hampshire does love a comeback tale.
THIS WEEK ON 'THIS WEEK' Sunday on "This Week," Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., weigh in on the continuing unrest in Baltimore. Then, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., discusses his challenge to Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. And the powerhouse roundtable debates all the week's politics, with ABC News contributor and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, editor and publisher of The Nation Katrina vanden Heuvel, and former Bush White House press secretary Dana Perino, author of the new book, "And the Good News Is..." Be sure to use #ThisWeek when you tweet about the program.TUNE IN SUNDAYhttp://abcnews.go.com/thisweek
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
--THE BERNIE SANDERS FOLK DANCING VIDEO YOU MUST SEE. Before he was a presidential candidate and long before he was the independent senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders had a brief stint as a folk artist. While mayor of Burlington, Vermont, in 1987, Sanders recorded five folk songs with 30 Vermont artists at the BurlingTown Recordings label at the request of local musician Todd Lockwood, according to ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ and ALI DUKAKIS. In his signature raspy voice with a Brooklyn accent, Sanders sang (or really spoke/shouted) his renditions of songs like "This Land Is Your Land" and "We Shall Overcome." And over 25 years later, he still recognized that beat and even danced when ABC News played one of his signature songs. "I'm getting in the groove here," Sanders said in an interview with ABC's JONATHAN KARL. "It does sound really familiar." http://abcn.ws/1zgSWE1 YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/Mz_rhDzinQw VINE: https://vine.co/v/e7JeFmeJh5F
--SOCIAL SQUARE: According to data from Facebook: "In the 24 hour period between 12:01 a.m. ET April 30 and 12:01 a.m. ET May 1, 592,000 people on Facebook in the U.S. generated 1.2 million interactions (likes, posts, comments, shares) related to Bernie Sanders and his announcement. Note: over the last 90 days, conversation about Bernie Sanders has been generated by an average of about 47,000 unique people per day."
THE BUZZ
with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI
WHAT'S MAKING MONTEL WILLIAMS CRY. Talk-show host Montel Williams made an emotional plea to President Obama Thursday -- calling on the president to gain the release of an American veteran imprisoned in Iran for nearly four years. Williams, a retired U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, joined the family of Amir Hekmati to lobby Congress for his release from the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, ABC's JOHN PARKINSON reports. "This young man that's there, 1340 days, he is there because he wore the uniform to protect us, to allow us to be here and have the freedoms that we have," Williams said, his voice cracking. Hekmati, an American-Iranian dual national, was arrested in August 2011 on a trip to visit his grandmother, according to his family. He later confessed to traveling to Iran to infiltrate the country on behalf of CIA and was initially sentenced to death. An Iranian court later overturned his sentence and ordered a retrial, which the 31-year-old still awaits. http://abcn.ws/1GKPpQV
PRESIDENT OBAMA: HERE'S A LOOK AT HIS CHILDHOOD READING LIST. "When I was young, I used to love libraries, love reading. I still love reading," President Obama said Thursday at during a "virtual field trip" at Anacostia Library in Washington. "These days, I don't get to read for fun as much as I do for my work." The president, who yesterday announced the administration was working with publishers to provide millions of e-books to students nationwide, reminded middle schoolers in the audience that no matter how sophisticated the technology, "the most powerful engine for learning is between your ears." "I'm still a big Dr. Seuss fan," Obama said. "I was into that, the Sneeches and Horton and all that stuff." ABC's ERIN DOOLEY notes, in addition to Dr. Suess, the other books that made the commander-in-chief's childhood reading list. http://abcn.ws/1GJu2g9
WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS FBI FACILITATING RANSOM PAYMENTS. The White House responded to a Wall Street Journal report Thursday that the FBI helped facilitate a ransom payment between Warren Weinstein's family and al Qaeda, via a Pakistani middleman. Asked whether "facilitating" a ransom payment is tantamount to paying one, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said no -- effectively confirming and defending the practice. "Helping with a ransom payment, to use your word, is not tantamount to paying a ransom," he said. Earnest was asked about the contradictions officially in barring ransoms, in some cases actually threatening prosecution to families who try to pay ransom, while condoning the practice of facilitating such ransoms if paid by families to third parties. He responded by defending the FBI and other organizations who are helping pay these ransoms, ABC's ALI WEINBERG reports.
IRAN LEGISLATION AT COMPLETE STAND-STILL IN SENATE. Progress on the Iran nuclear review legislation came to a screeching halt in the Senate Thursday. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, went to the Senate floor yesterday to insist on a simple majority vote on two controversial amendments -- Rubio's amendment requiring Iran to publicly recognize Israel's right to exist; and Cotton's amendment that would prohibit economic sanctions relief until Iran closes its nuclear facility and reveals the previous dimensions of its nuclear program. "We have been consistently blocked from bringing up these amendments for a vote. It's fine if you want to vote no," Cotton said. "But we need to vote. We need to vote now." Requiring only a simple majority threshold on amendments, especially on the controversial amendments that have been described as "poison pills," creates some complications for the bill. The White House has signaled the president would reconsider a veto if the legislation is changed in any way. There will be no votes until Monday on the legislation, according to ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
HARRY REID IS PUMPED FOR PACQUIAO VS. MAYWEATHER. It's no secret Harry Reid is the biggest boxing fan in the U.S. Senate -- but Thursday, he showed just how excited he is for the upcoming Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight by giving a 13 minute speech about it on the Senate floor. "I'm really excited about this unforgettable fight. There's nothing like a championship fight. There's nothing like one that has all this attention," Reid said as he donned his now signature sunglasses on the Senate floor. "These are two great athletes. The winner of the match will be crowned as the greatest pound fighter in the world, and they will go down as two of the finest fighters ever in the history of the world," he said. "Regardless who wins, this bout is projected to shatter boxing records for not only it being a significant boxing match, the focus of the world will be on this fight. People all over the world will be watching this fight." Reid, who was once an amateur boxer himself, said he won't pick a winner, but admitted he is biased towards Pacquiao, who has campaigned for him over the years, ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ notes.
WHO'S TWEETING?
@TheBrodyFile: Watch Weekly @TheBrodyFile show just posted. Interviews with @marcorubio @LindseyGrahamSC @GovernorPerry @tedcruz http://www.cbn.com/tv/4207063098001 …
@RobSaliterman: How Google Could Give 2016 Hopefuls an Edge http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/05/01/how-google-could-give-2016-hopefuls-an-edge/ …
@MarcACaputo: Jeb Bush hires Marco Rubio's longtime friend & former Sen. campaign manager for Hispanic outreach http://politi.co/1c1zCjS
@TheFix: Jon Stewart on Bernie Sanders's biggest vulnerability: 'Consistent principles' http://wpo.st/lLHF0
@thehill: Ted Cruz on missing Lynch vote: "Absence is the equivalent of a no vote" http://hill.cm/qrG6g7f