Late Change Keeps 'Bridge' Song From Upstaging Christie

A last-minute change prevented what could have been an uncomfortable moment during the 9/11 museum dedication ceremony: remarks by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie followed by the song "Bridge Over Troubled Water." The original program for today's ceremony had Christie's remarks followed by Idina Menzel's performance of the song. That sent social media aflutter with speculation that the scheduling was a jab at the governor over Bridgegate. But just before the ceremony, museum spokesman Anthony Guido announced that Menzel, star of the Broadway show If/Then, was sick and would not perform. In her place, another member of the show's cast, LaChanze, herself a 9/11 widow, performed "Amazing Grace."

Guido said the change had nothing to do with Christie or the song. In other Christie-bridge news, the governor signaled his interest in a presidential bid in unusually strong terms while appearing at a Washington fiscal summit this week. Asked whether he is thinking of running in 2016 and when he'll make a decision, Christie said, "Yes, and later." By then, Christie said, the traffic controversy "will be a footnote." He told reporters, "There hasn't been one suggestion that I knew anything." (More Chris Christie stories.)