TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. It may be the true third rail of American politics picking a sports team from outside your state. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie faced the question of his favorite football team in front of a gym full of students. He managed to tick off the garden state when he told the crowd that his favorite team is the Dallas Cowboys. That's right. He passed on the New York Jets or the New York Giants who even play in New Jersey or even the Philadelphia eagles who claim South Jersey. He went with the hatable Cowboys and got a mix of boos and some cheers. I guess, he gets points for honesty. He has also admitted he's a Mets fan. So give him a break I suppose. Now a personal note, journalism lost a rising star yesterday when "Rolling Stone" and BuzzFeed writer Michael Hastings was killed in a single car accident early in the morning in Los Angeles. Hastings was best known perhaps for his 2010 story run away general in "Rolling Stone," which featured General Stanley McChrystal and his aides speaking disparagingly about senior members of the Obama administration. That story resulted in the end of McChrystal's command in Afghanistan and his military career. Hastings himself was a friend and someone whose fearlessness both in terms of his reporting from combat zones and his lack of concern for what people in power thought of him, I admired. Now Hastings is the last person who would want a gauzy, saintly portrayal of a man who had his share of foibles along with those considerable, enviable talents. So let me just say I hope some of his fearlessness can be sprinkled upon journalists who remain on this earth. Michael, I will miss you. Michael Hastings was 33. That's it for THE LEAD today. I'm Jake Tapper. I turn you over now to Jim Acosta who is filling in for Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Christie Disses Giants, Jets; Remembering Michael Hastings