Colorful political leaders makes an apology tour in the middle of a firestorm. Governor chris christie, already considered a leading contender in the next president ial race, said, today, he is humiliated, that someone on his staff apparently decided to create an epic traffic jam just to play politics. So, he traveled to the scene of the snarl to face the music. And heres abcs white house correspondent, jim avila. Reporter a political walk of shame on what he called his worst day as governor. Chris christie has made a National Reputation for bold, often heated, aggressive politics. Today, stepped back and meekly visited ft. Lee, new jersey, to ask for forgiveness and tell the mayor hes sorry. I am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team. Reporter gone are christies deputy chief of staff, bridget anne kelly, and his political guru, bill stepien. She was doomed by the release of this email. Time for some traffic problems in ft. Lee, came after ft. Lees mayor opposed christie. Commuters tried to cross the George Washington bridge to manhattan. Choked at a 12booth toll place after christies aides and allies shut down two of the only three toll booths, serving cars leaving from ft. Lee. Backing up streets and creating citywide gridlock. Crippling emergency response. I had no involvement in its issue, its planning or its execution. And i am stunned by the abject stupidity. Im not happy i was blind sided. Im not proud i was blind sided. Reporter it went on and on like that. Mea culpa, contrition, emotion, from sadness to shock. And of course, humility. Heartbreaking to me. Reporter the governor taking question after question. But after nearly a full two hours, some struggling to remember who got hurt her. Ft. Lee or chris christie. Are you the victim here . Im telling you, that when i ask for an answer from a member of my staff and they lie, theyre gone. So, i never had the underlying conduct. If you lie when i ask you a question, youre fired. Thats it. Reporter christitie says hi bold, personal style, often characterized as bullying by opponents, should not have paved the way for this retribution by underlings. I am who i am. But im not a bully. Reporter but before he left, a little of that ready to give as good as he gets chris christie. Did you ever, for even a brief moment, entertain the idea that, perhaps, you should resign . Oh, god no. No. Thats a crazy question, man. Reporter governor christie said before today, he couldnt pick the ft. Lee mayor out of a lineup. He just wasnt on his radar. But after tonight, 30minute facetoface meeting, with a public apology accepted, the mayor said, i guess im on his radar now. Diane . All right. Jim avila reporting. Thank you, jim. We turn to the anchor of this week, coanchor of good morning america, george stephanopoulos. Is it over . Its not over. But the press conference was close to textbook. The apology came out of the gate. It was unequivocal. It was unhedged. He took action. He exhausted all of the questions over those two hours. This is not over. Theres still criminal investigations to go here. Theres Inspector General inspection to go here. Theres subpoenas. A lot more information could come out on this. Christies denial has to hold up. But heres the question. He said, of course, he didnt know anything about it. But should you have to tell your staff you would be appalled if commuters are hurt . Definitely not. And thats the big, big problem here. Theres a culture here that told people this was okay. It also undercut his credentials as a bipartisan. It undercuts his credentials as a manager. And theres opportunity costs here. This was supposed to be the year that he builds towards a president ial race. At best, its going to cost him time, energy and a lot of goodwill. Thanks so much, george. It gets stranger and stranger sometimes in politics. Thank you. And we turn, now, from a governor feeling the heat to the rest of the country feeling the thaw. The temperatures inching up across the country after that 205,000 arctic blast. Your stories are streaming in to us about all the pipes bursting everywhere. Waters rising and the worry about floods. Heres Abcs Steve Osunsami on the new mess out there tonight. Reporter on Lake Michigan there were giant balls of ice, rolling onto the shore. But they wont stay there long. From chicago to new orleans, temperatures are rising as much as 40 degrees. River flooding now possible. This was georgia on monday. And this was the same water fountain today. In the south, where the thaw has already started, the warmth is revealing disasters. I didnt know whether to cry, go out the door or what to do because i had never saw anything like this before. Reporter families have been waking up to sometimes thousands of dollars in damage from frozen water pipes that busted. It took out the ceilings in the bathroom and master bath. Reporter heres whats happening. Water that was trapped in pipes froze and expanded, putting thousands of pounds of pressure on pipes that busted on sunday and monday, started melting on tuesday and wednesday, and are flooding homes tonight. It was cascading out from the eaves like a waterfall. And i knew something had burst. Reporter flooded families in nashville have to wait. The plumbers are overwhelmed. Weve been running every day, 24 hours a day now. Were got shifts around the clock. Reporter this Charter School outside atlanta is recovering from a foot of water. Plumber bob brookes says it only takes a tiny break in the plumbing. Its not that big. No, no, no. Its not big. Its just a little split. Reporter he told us that every family should know where the water shutoff valve is located in their house. Steve osunsami, abc news, atlanta. And next here tonight, news about protecting americans at the olympics. Authorities are on the alert after some troubling discoveries near the olympic site in sochi, russia, where in just 28 days, americas elite athletes will join the other stars and walk in for the opening ceremony. But tonight, there are extraordinary plans being made to keep them safe. And abcs chief investigative correspondent brian ross has those. Reporter with american athletes in the final stages of preparation for next months winter games, there was growing concern today by u. S. Officials that terrorists will make good on their threats to attack the olympics in the russian city of sochi. I think all the ingredients are there, quite honestly. Reporter the latest incident came today, a few hours drive from sochi, in the city of stavropol, where police discovered four vehicles containing dead bodies, two of them, boobytrapped with powerful bombs. An apparent tactic to first lure and then kill police. In the last two months, dozens of civilians have been killed in attacks on a train station, and buses. Sochi, just 250 miles from the border of islamic terror hotbed chechnya, would be a targetrich environment for similar style attacks. Especially, say security experts, the brandnew train stations and trains here that will take athletes and spectators to the ski hills. I think these new train stations we have around sochi will be soft targets. Reporter u. S. Officials say there will be small teams of u. S. American officials around the facility itself. And the u. S. Ski and snowboard teams have an aircraft on standby in the wake of an attack. None of this preparation can be viewed as overkill. Reporter u. S. Olympic officials said today, they were satisfied with security but still very concerned. Everybody is very heightened on the sensitivities and whats going on. Reporter russia says there will be some 40,000 security personnel assigned to make sure sochi is safe. But even so, some u. S. Officials told abc news today, they are beginning to lose confidence in the ability of the russians to keep ahead of the threat that could well include targets outside of sochi, such as more train stations or airports, diane. And so soon. Thank you so much. And now, we move to a surgeon heroin problem right here in a part of the country you might least expect. Tonight, there is a cry for help from vermont, of all places. Addiction and overdose on the rise. Why there . Heres abcs byron pitts. Reporter even a pristine place like vermont has a major drug problem. Most especially heroin. In every corner of our state, heroin and opiate drug addiction threatens us. Reporter the governor voted his entire state of the state speech to this one issue. Forcefully calling to have this gripping documentary on vermonts drug addiction, shown in schools statewide. The first pill i used was a percocet, and vicodin. And then moved on to oxycontin. And then it went to heroin. Reporter why vermont . One theory, higher prices in this rural area. That means bigger profits for dealers. Nationwide, more people die of drug overdoses than from Motor Vehicle crashes. Thats triple the number from 1990. As we discovered on a recent ride along with police in new jersey, heroin is cheap and readily available. Heroin is much, much, cheaper than prescription medication. Reporter give me the ratio. A 30 milligram oxycodone pill, 30. An 80 milligram oxycontin, 80. A bag of heroin, 4. Reporter and now, a governor has joined the chorus of concern. America can no longer arrest its way out of its addiction to heroin. Byron pitts, abc news, new york. And tonight, for the first time, we are seeing dramatic images of a Small Plane Crash last december in the waters off the coast of hawaii. You can see the plane about to hit the water. Its descending straight down to the ocean, crashes on the surface. Well watch again because a passenger was recording video as it happened. Within moments, the water begins to flood inside of the plane, and the passengers, never yelling, made their way out and clutched to the wing to stay afloat. In the end, one person, a Hawaiian Health official died. But eight people, including the pilot, were rescued. And next, to cuba tonight. A rare sighting of fidel castro. The former president making his first appearance in nine months. Pictures show him at the opening of an art studio in havana. 87 years old, looking frail, walking with a cane. His hair and iconic beard, gray and thinning. And Health Problems forced him to hand power over to his brother, raul, in 2006. Here, tonight, we have new research about an ongoing issue in this country, in a nation of coffee drinkers. Is coffee good for you . Or bad for you . Do you need water on the side . And how much coffee crosses a line . Heres abcs linsey davis. Reporter for so many, that morning cup of coffee, essential. But for as long as you can remember, youve likely heard from your mother, doctor, or a fitness guru, that your cup of joe will leave you dehydrated. What have you heard about coffee, as far as like the downfall of it . The negative potential of coffee . The negatives, being jittery. Dependency and also dehydrating. I would say Drinking Coffee that i love with java, sticking with that limit may be easier said than done. Linsey davis, abc news, new york. Next tonight, trapped in the ice. A truck driver frozen to the ground for hours and losing hope. The lifeline and block that led to his rescue. Were back in just two minutes. Your eyes really are unique. In fact, they depend on a unique set of nutrients. [ male announcer ] thats why theres ocuvite to help protect your eye health. As you age, your eyes can lose vital nutrients. Ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. Ocuvite is a vitamin made just for your eyes from the eye care experts as bausch lomb. Ocuvite has a unique formula thats just not found in any leading multivitamin. Your eyes are unique, so help protect your eye health with ocuvite. Or treat gas with these after you get it. Now thats like sunblock before or sun burn cream later. Oh, somebody out theres saying, now i get it take beano before and therell be no gas. As your life changes, fidelity is there for your personal economy, helping you readjust along the way, refocus as careers change and kids head off to college, and revisit your investments as retirement gets closer. Wherever you are today, fidelitys guidance can help you finetune your personal economy. Start today with a free oneonone review of your retirement plan. To prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, hes agreed to give it up. Thats today . [ male announcer ] well be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. I was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. And now ive got to take more pills. Yup. Another pill stop. Can i get my aleve back yet . For my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the easyopen red arthritis cap. Next, tonight, an astonishing story of survival in the polar blast. A man stuck in the ice. His body stuck and frozen to the ground under his truck for almost eight hours. Abcs alex perez on how his last hope led to his rescue. Reporter the sun had not yet come up monday morning when tim rutledge pulled his 18wheeler into this truck stop in whiteland, indiana, to avoid the roads covered in black ice. But he could have never prepared for what happened next. Its a story thats hard to tell. Reporter the arctic cold froze the trucks brakes. So, rutledge went under the truck to manually release them. Thats when the truck lunched. Pinning his left arm between the axle. For almost eight hours, rutledge was stuck under the truck. Although he yelled, no one could hear him. The windchill, nearly 40 degrees below zero. His clothes froze to the ice and snow on the ground. It was so cold and the wind was blowing so much, i went to blink. And my right eye froze the eyelid froze shut that fast. Reporter back home in florida, his panicked wife calling him over and over. His phone in his pocket on vibrate. Thats the only morning he never really called me. I still cant believe that he didnt. Reporter all those vibrations caused the phone to fall out of his pocket. Using his free arm, he stretched his frozen fingers, desperately reaching and pushing buttons, until he activated the voice function and called his boss. Paramedic david gabert quickly arrived and started looking for rutledge. Its like finding a needle in a haystack in a snowstorm. Reporter paramedics pulled him out. I couldnt hold on any longer. That was the last thing i remember saying. It was a load and go and get him to the hospital. The doctors and the nursing staff were telling me, you know, youre its a miracle that youre alive, as long as you were out there. Reporter rutledge was released from the hospital today, lucky to be alive. Surviving an experience frozen in his mind forever. Alex perez, abc news, chicago. Such an amazing and happy ending. And when we come back, remember that horrible boss from office space . Um, im gonna need you to go ahead and come in tomorrow. Next, the big boss and the truth about who is really the happiest at work. Its our instant index. Nnounc] re made for playing. Legs, for crossing. Feet. Splashing. Better things than the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. If youre trying to manage your ra, now may be the time to ask about xeljanz. Xeljanz tofacitinib is a small pill, not an injection or infusion, for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. Xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers have happened in patients taking xeljanz. 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Some of the first steps across the room for a baby polar bear. This one at the zoo in toronto. There he is. Wobbling his way on to his four legs. Slowly getting the hang of it tonight. And also tonight, we have the answer, who is happiest at work . We know the truth about being the big boss. Remember this one from office space . Hello, peter. Whats happening . Um, im gonna need you to go ahead and come in tomorrow. Tonight, a new study from the venerable Pew Research Center says our suspicions are real. Bosses are happier. And heres how bosses stock up. 83 of them, very happy with their family versus 74 of regular, stressedout workers. 69 of bosses are happy in their jobs, compared to 48 of the rest. No fair. And next, right here tonight, what on earth is going on in seattle . Why are thousands and thousands of women racing to that city . What are they finding . For over a decade millions have raised their hand for the proven relief of the purple pill. 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Dad, it says your afib puts you at 5 times greater risk of a stroke. Thats why i take my warfarin every day. But it looks like maybe we should ask your doctor about pradaxa. In a clinical trial, pradaxa® Dabigatran Etexilate mesylate . Was proven superior to warfarin at reducing the risk of stroke. And unlike warfarin, with no regular blood tests or dietary restrictions. Hey thanks for calling my doctor. Sure. Pradaxa is not for people with artificial heart valves. Dont stop taking pradaxa without talking to your doctor. Stopping increases your risk of stroke. Ask your doctor if you need to stop pradaxa before surgery or a medical or dental procedure. Pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. Dont take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding or have had a heart valve replaced. Seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if youre 75 or older, have a bleeding condition or stomach ulcer, take aspirin, nsaids, or blood thinners. Or if you have kidney problems, especially if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctors about all medicines you take. Pradaxa side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. If you or someone you love has afib not caused by a heart valve problem. Ask your doctor about reducing the risk of stroke with pradaxa. And finally tonight, something really strange has been happening in the city of seattle. Its a little like the famous movie with tom hanks and meg ryan. But this time, all these women are pouring in from 6,000 miles away. Why . Heres abcs neal karlinsky. Reporter in sleepless in seattle, tom hanks and meg ryan put seattle on the map for lovelorn women everywhere. Its you. Its me. Reporter today, sleepless in seattle is back. Sort of. This time its made in china. The blockbuster chinese romantic comedy is called finding mr. Right, about a woman who [ whimpering ] [ Coocoo Coocoo ] [ burp ] [ boing ] [ strike squeak ] [ children laughing ] its americas game. Wheel