Below is the rush transcript of the powerhouse roundtable discussion on 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2013.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Up next, the powerhouse roundtable weighs in on all the fallout from the State of the Union.
Chris Christie's latest troubles.
And Hillary Clinton stratospheric polls.
Plus, a new twist in the Amanda Knox trial and will the State Department be forced to return her to Italy?
And later, the grand debate over legal marijuana now playing out all over America. Our team of experts tackles the tough questions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: And coming up, can Chris Christie recover from this weekend's latest salvo?
The roundtable is ready to take on the week's politics in just over a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His epoch-sounding fifth State of the Union had a strong central theme...
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let's make this a year of action.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what better way to start a year of action than with an hour of talking?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Obama promised to focus on economic growth, education and health care, or as people tuning in put it, oh, crap, it's a rerun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He made a number of proposals. Of course, though, since Republicans control the House, it's unlikely that anything will come of them. Proposals on "The Bachelor" have a better chance of working out.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Late night on the president's speech this week. Let's bring in our (INAUDIBLE) "Roundtable" of ABC News contributors now. Two newest members of our team: Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard; Ana Navarro, Republican strategist; along with Matthew Dowd; Donna Brazile; and Paul Krugman of The New York Times and Princeton.
Welcome to you all. And I do want to get to the State of the Union. But we've got to begin with these new developments over the weekend about Chris Christie. We have David Wildstein, appointee on the Port Authority, suggesting that Chris Christie is not telling the truth, saying evidence exists there.
Matthew Dowd, you say these new allegations, which prompted a huge response from Chris Christie, mean that it is less likely that Chris Christie will be elected president than Amanda Knox will vacation in Italy.
(LAUGHTER)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Now isn't that overstating the case?
MATTHEW DOWD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No, of course not. There's no way I would overstate the case. Listen, I think he's in -- I think the governor is in a serious situation. And this memo they put out, they put out this memo basically trashing Wildstein.
And in the course of trashing him, they basically brought up the fact that nobody liked him in high school. Any time you do that, to me, it sends a signal that you are very worried about this, you know, very concerned about this, and there is more to this than that.
I think, you know, just like Punxsutawney Phil today got out of his hole and saw that there is going to be six months' (sic) more winter, Chris Christie stood up at that Super Bowl thing yesterday, got booed in that. I think he has got a long winter ahead of him.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And the key question, of course, raised by Wildstein, Bill Kristol, is that Chris Christie actually knew about these traffic problems in real time, was getting some kind of information. He said evidence exists, suggesting -- now we'll see if it's true or not.
That would be a huge blow.
BILL KRISTOL, WEEKLY STANDARD: Yes, I mean, I have no knowledge, obviously, what really happened. But I would say talking to -- having talked to various Republican establishment types, I'm reaching across the aisle here to be nice to the...
ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Since when are you against the Republican establishment?
KRISTOL: I'm against the -- I'm from the tea party.
(LAUGHTER)
KRISTOL: But anyway, the establishment types, I would say the last 48 hours, when you ask them about the Christie situation, they have a two-word answer: Jeb Bush.
(LAUGHTER)
KRISTOL: I'm serious. I'm really struck by how much Christie was the kind of establishment, donor cla** favorite, I think, for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. They are beginning to -- maybe foolishly, but they are beginning to write him off. And I think we will see a big drumbeat of Jeb should get in the race.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Meanwhile, Paul Krugman, the Democrats jumping on this hard. I was a little surprised they put out an ad on this. That story kind of runs on its own, doesn't it?
PAUL KRUGMAN, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yes, but it's -- they're having a lot of fun. I think Christie was the one guy that really scared them for 2016. And now it's -- you know.
This is wonderful, actually, you know, this whole thing: Wildstein is not reliable, he's scum of the earth, nobody should ever trust him, and by the way, I appointed him to a very, very important policy post.
I mean, Christie is in a no-win situation, even if there isn't any smoking gun.
BRAZILE: There's a lot of dripping going on, George. And now we know how Chris Christie will deal with those who oppose him. He will do a document dump. I mean, the information that he leaked or put out, his office officially -- (INAUDIBLE) official put out on this guy.
I mean, to go back to his high school and say the guy, you know, was deceptive, and he has been unproductive. So appointing to a high-level position, and he was the Chris Christie guy on the Port Authority.
Look, the governors are meeting this week in Washington, D.C. I wonder how many governors will take pictures with Chris Christie versus take pictures with Scott Walker or Mr. Kasich or some other governors.
I think Chris Christie is in a lot of trouble.
NAVARRO: Yes, unlike other politicians, he did an oppo dump on somebody that's talking bad about him. But, look, let's also put this in context. The only new evidence that we have right now is that this guy who, you know, Chris Christie keeps saying was a dork in high school, I think he has got to stop that, because this is turning into "Revenge of the Nerds."
Only evidence we have now is that this guy is not going to have Chris Christie's back. You've got a guy who is implicated in the issue, who wants to clear his name, and he is giving all indications that he is going to say whatever he has to say and show whatever he has got to show.
So I think that changes the equation. But we have no new evidence in the last three days that he actually knew anything. If that comes out, the situation changes completely for Chris Christie.
But today, we are in the same exact spot we were three days ago. We just don't know how this is going to shape up.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, we also know that David Wildstein is trying to get immunity before he starts to talk, which is significant.
OK, so how about that point that Bill Kristol makes there about Jeb Bush? It was interesting to watch Jeb Bush come out and talk about potentially running for president this week. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: The decision will be based on, can I do it joyfully? Because I think we need to have candidates lift our spirits. It's a pretty pessimistic country right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANOPOULOS: He could barely crack a smile when he was saying that, Ana Navarro. You're pretty close to Jeb Bush. Can he do it joyfully?
NAVARRO: I think so. And I think that's the question he is asking himself. I've actually heard him talk about this and say this exact answer now for four or five months to his close friends and to other people.
And it's going to depend on can his family be fully supportive? And by that I mean his wife, Columba, his kids. I do think he is...
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: And, you know, when he says, do it joyfully, he wants to have an optimistic, visionary agenda for America, and go out doing it with -- and campaign, which is a rigorous system, a rigorous process, go out and do it with happiness and with joy, and with the desire to do it.
He is going to sit down in late summer. He is going to make that decision. I hope he decides to run. I think he would bring so much to the debate. He would be a game-changer when it comes to Hispanic voters...
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: I had always said that (INAUDIBLE) on the Republican side, but I was either going big or tall, I'd rather go with a tall guy...
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Talk about -- back to the (INAUDIBLE).
BRAZILE: Well, I was just going to say that now that the right lane is closed on the so-called "bridge to 2016," the center lane is open. But I don't think Jeb Bush can win the Republican nomination, because of the tea party.
They are still anxious...
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: You hope Jeb Bush doesn't run -- bring the Republican nomination to (INAUDIBLE) because he's going to be tough to beat.
(CROSSTALK)
DOWD: To me this is so telling. Listen, Jeb Bush is very qualified, ran a huge state. He has got -- in the Republican primary, I still think the name is very good. There are questions whether or not the name -- the last name still has any penetration capability in a general election.
But to me, you watch this thing, there are 330 million Americans. Are we going to basically go and vote between Jeb -- a Bush and a Clinton in 2016? I think so many Americans in the general election are just like, really, we can't -- there is nobody else we can pick from? It has been that way for 30 years.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Look at The Washington Post/ABC News poll this week, and Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side, this is unbelievable, 73 percent support. Never seen a number like that in a primary poll. Of course, we're still two years out.
I mean, (INAUDIBLE), let me bring this to you. I mean, you start to hear now people really talking about the potential, if she decides to get in, that she will be virtually unopposed.
KRUGMAN: Yes, it's a funny thing, you know, Will Rogers on his head. Will Rogers famously said, you know, I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat. And now all of a sudden the Democrats have got all of this unity, and Republicans are all falling to pieces.