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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Obama Wins the Mississippi Primary; New York Governor Eliot Spitzer Faces Pressure to Resign; Democratic Candidates Move on to Campaign in Pennsylvania
Aired March 11, 2008 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to the second hour of "360." We're at the top of the hour on a night with two major developing stories.
Another victory for Barack Obama, widening his delegate lead with a win in Mississippi, with Hillary Clinton wrapped up in a new controversy over what a surrogate said about Senator Obama and race. We'll have the latest on that.
Also, New York's governor, Eliot Spitzer facing growing pressure to resign, as we learn more about his alleged use of high-price hookers, how authorities believe he paid for it all, and how much he may have paid, tens of thousands of dollars.
First though, what's shaping up to be a big win for Barack Obama in Mississippi. CNN's John King's been at the big board all night mapping out the results. We'll start with him now -- John.
JOHN KING: Anderson, a big win as you mentioned for Barack Obama. A chance for Senator Obama to get back on the winning track after Senator Clinton dominated last week won; a sweeping and convincing win in Mississippi tonight. We look up at the map across the state of Mississippi. The dark blue is Barack Obama. He is winning across the state.
A few pockets of support for Senator Clinton in the northeast corner and down along the Gulf Coast. But overall a dramatic victory for Barack Obama, winning the state; 40 delegates at stake in all. The proportionality of that will give some to Senator Clinton, but the majority will certainly go to Barack Obama. He won Wyoming over the weekend. Winning Mississippi tonight, back on track as the Democratic front-runner, Barack Obama.
Adding those new delegates will give him a bigger lead among pledged delegates in the race. That, of course, the key contest right now. Barack Obama building that lead modestly tonight among the key delegates. An interesting question; Mississippi has a history of racial polarization in its voting.
Normally that plays out in a November general election between the Democrats and the Republicans. But we saw it play out in the Democratic primary tonight. According to our exit polls, for example, 90 percent of African-Americans who voted in the Democratic primary in Mississippi today voted for Barack Obama. About 10 percent voted for Senator Clinton. Flip it over and look at the white vote in the Democratic primary though in Mississippi, 74 percent for Hillary Clinton; 12 percent for Barack Obama; Senator Clinton winning big among white Democrats in Mississippi.
Now, an interesting question throughout this campaign. Remember early on, most Democrats are saying, we like both of these candidacy. If the other person wins, we would support them, even though we support Clinton, or Senator Obama.
After all the raw rhetoric, the divisive attacks in recent weeks, beginning to see some division in the Democratic Party. How do we know that? We asked people in our exit poll, would you be satisfied if the other person wins.
Asked Clinton voters in Mississippi tonight, would you be satisfy satisfied if Barack Obama ends up as the nominee -- a stunning number -- 27 percent said yes, but 72 percent of Clinton supporters in Mississippi tonight said they would not be satisfied with Barack Obama as their nominee.
We put the same question to Barack Obama supporters in Mississippi, would you be satisfied if Senator Clinton ends up as the Democratic nominee, 41 or 42 percent say yes, nearly 60 percent though say no.
So, Anderson, you're beginning to see a polarization within the Democratic electorate as the rhetorical attacks between the two candidates get sharper and sharper.
The race now goes on to Pennsylvania. Like Ohio and Texas, the Clinton campaign has defined Pennsylvania as a must-win. What makes Pennsylvania so remarkable; we now have more than a month. The debate about the economy, the debate about qualifications to be commander in chief, and nothing to stop the story line. No other contest. Pennsylvania is the battle ground for the next month, a little more.
COOPER: A lot of focus on a little state, John. Thanks very much.
John has actually got some suspenders hidden underneath his suit. He's going to be hosting "LARRY KING LIVE" at midnight Eastern. Be sure to stick around for that.
Perhaps overshadowing all of this is the sad case of New York Governor's Eliot Spitzer. All day and most of the evening, we've been getting new details about his alleged encounters with a high-priced sex for hire operation.
He is under growing pressure to resign. He has not done so yet. He's facing the possibility of a string of federal charges. We're going to hit all the angles tonight starting with the latest from CNN's Jason Carroll who joins us now.
Jason, what is the latest information we have? JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson as you say, he is under a great deal of pressure to resign. We were hoping to hear from Spitzer today. So far, he's been holed up in his Upper East Side apartment. No word from him today.
The latest we heard was yesterday where he made the embarrassing admission that he had been involved with this prostitution ring. But again, there have been many calls for his resignation. One coming from the state's top Republican New York state minority leader who set a 48-hour deadline for Spitzer to resign, saying that if he didn't do it in 48 hours, Anderson, he was going to begin impeachment proceedings. Saying to us a little earlier today, "Unless Spitzer resigns," quote, "this is a nightmare that is not going to go away." That coming from James Tedisco, the state minority leader -- Anderson.
COOPER: Jason Carroll with that. Jason thanks very much. Do we have more details, Jason, on Spitzer's ties to the prostitution ring?
CARROLL: A few more embarrassing details coming out about that today, Anderson. In fact, the Associated Press reporting that, according to some of their sources, Spitzer may have spent as much as $80,000 on these illicit encounters; once again, another embarrassing development.
And this once again, Anderson, seems to indicate that this was not a one-shot deal. This is something that happened over a period of time, with different young ladies who were involved in these prostitution operations.
COOPER: Jason Carroll, fascinating stuff. Thank you.
We're going to be talking about all this, all the angles tonight with our panel: Lisa Bloom, anchor and commentator for "In Session" on TruTV; Professor Alan Dershowitz, Governor Spitzer's former law professor at Harvard and author of many books including his latest, "Finding Jefferson;" and by hotel webcam, oddly enough from Hawaii -- I don't know why, CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. We are glad he is here.
Professor Dershowitz, I know you don't think the governor should resign, you think this is much ado about nothing. But take us inside -- how do these negotiations work? If his attorneys -- the governors' attorneys right now are trying to negotiate no jail time or reduced charges, how does that work behind closed doors?
ALAN DERSHOWITZ, HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR: Well, first of all, there shouldn't even be negotiations. This is no federal crime. This should be prosecuted; this should be a misdemeanor. But the way the negotiations work, is prosecutor will offer a deal, usually it will be too much. The defense will then haggle. It's like a bazaar.
The feds have all the cards, because they have these guidelines -- money laundering guidelines provide for ten years in prison, depending on the amount of money involved. Each side has to use whatever leverage it has and try to strike the best possible deal it can. The problem is, of course, there are politics involved. This is a Republican administration. Although I think the attorney general of the United States now is an extremely honorable man, who wouldn't accept politization, the way his predecessor did.
Still, there is the appearance of partisanship when you have Republican prosecutors negotiating with a Democratic office holder. But I guess the end result will probably be some kind of a deal in which the office will be traded for some kind of reduced charge, much like was done in the Spiro Agnew (ph) case by the very same law firm that's going to negotiate this deal.
COOPER: Jeffrey, you've been a prosecutor, do you think that's accurate? Do you think there'll be some sort of a deal between you give up the governorship and we'll reduce charges?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: I do. And I think it's very important to emphasize that last point. Some people might think that the deal would simply be about the crime. You know, we will give you a misdemeanor plea in return for disposing of the whole case.
No. The governorship is very much on the table. Resignation will be part of the calculation. And that does give any sort of negotiation an inevitable political tent. But there's only one Justice Department and there's only one president and he happens to be a Republican at the time. But in the absence of any actual evidence that some sort of political bias is evident here, I don't think politics is really playing much of a part in this.
DERSHOWITZ: You know, there's a problem with the plea bargain too, here, because there are very few federal misdemeanors. If the feds decide they really want a federal plea, it won't be easy to do because federal pleas in money laundering cases and Mann act cases carry sometimes mandatory minimums. Unless what the feds say, and this raises really difficult questions, look, we'll accept a plea that you make to a state court misdemeanor and resign your office and then we will drop prosecution.
These raises fundamental questions of Federal.
COOPER: Lisa, you had some pretty harsh words for the wives of people like Eliot Spitzer who stand by their man in the midst of such a crisis. You wrote on the "360" blog, "appearing right next to their husband days after he's been caught with his pants down is a public humiliation unworthy of women in public life 2008." Do you really believe that?
LISA BLOOM, ANCHOR, "IN SESSION": Yes, I do. I think it's time to change the tableau. The tableau for too long has been that women have to stand by their man; even a Harvard law grad like Silda Spitzer in this case.
I think it's time to say that women in this have a private role where they can make decisions about their marriage; that's their business, we will respect that. That is not for me to second guess a woman who's going through something like this.
But in their very public role as first lady, they have to make choices all the time. As to what kind of role model they're going to be, what causes they'll support. What they're going to wear, what kind of message does this send to little girls that have you to stand there mutely and be humiliated?
COOPER: But if you have a loved one and you have children with that loved one and -- don't you want to circle the wagons and -- whatever is going on in the family life, don't you, for public, you know, not want to make it worse by disappearing in the public realm?
BLOOM: I don't agree with that. The clear message to political wives is you must go and you must stand there. That's what Dana McGreevey talked about last night on this network, that she didn't feel she had much of a choice about it. It's time to change the idea of what women are expected to do in public life.
DERSHOWITZ: Lisa, you're not the queen of all women.
BLOOM: Of course I'm not.
DERSHOWITZ: It's none of your darned business to tell a married couple how to deal with their own personal problems. This is incredible. This is incredible. This is incredible arrogance on your part.
BLOOM: How they deal with it in private is their business. How they deal with it in public is worthy of commentary.
I'd like to see one woman, Alan Dershowitz, who has a right to make a different choice when this is hoisted upon her. Not one woman has been able to make that choice.
DERSHOWITZ: It's their choice, it's not your choice, and frankly, just mind your own business and stop dictating to women. You know, the time has come for women to make their own decisions and not to have people like you dictating to them how they should decide to live their own life.
BLOOM: I'd like to see her have two real choices. And then we know that she is really making them. When you only have one choice, you don't have options to choose something else.
Alan Dershowitz, you show me one woman in public life who's been humiliated by a philandering husband, and there's been a lot of them, who's been able to make a different choice. It hasn't happened and it's time for that to happen now.
DERSHOWITZ: How do you know they haven't chosen to make this choice because they're making autonomous decisions and not listening to you?
COOPER: We've got to -- we'll carry this conversation over to the "360" blog if you want to weigh in. We have that lively conversation going on online, cnn.com/360. Get to the blog that way. Back with the panel shortly; I'm blogging too. Maybe Jeff Toobin will want to weigh in the middle of that argument. Join me at cnn.com/360 for that.
Up next, the timeline. How Governor Spitzer allegedly filled his days and hours with public appearances and what seems to be private misbehavior.
Later, what happens after Mississippi for Hillary Clinton and for Barack Obama? Racial controversy swirls around the Clinton camp and uncover some new concerns among Obama forces about a rerun of the Florida primary. There's talk of a deal. We'll try to separate fact from fix, cut through the spin.
You're watching a special edition of 360.
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(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST: Eliot Spitzer excuses. Here we go. Number ten: Oh, come on, like you were never involved in a prostitution ring. Number nine: Hookers is his fun. Number 8: Just trying to help the economy. Number seven: Have you ever been to Albany? Number six: It's part of my new MTV prank show, Spitz'd. Number five: Haven't been myself since Roy Scheider died. Yeah, I know. All right. Stop screaming at me.
That's right. Number 5: Haven't been myself since Roy Scheider died. Number four: Tainted beef? Number three: Whether it's a hooker or your wife, you're always paying for it. You married fellows know what I'm talking about. Number two: Wanted to be known as the Charlie Sheen of politics. And the number one Eliot Spitzer excuse: I thought Bill Clinton legalized this years ago.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
COOPER: David Letterman making light of the scandal. It should be pointed out in all seriousness that of course, there are children involved in this and a wife who is involved in this. So clearly for the family, this is a horrific event.
For the governor, he is in legal quicksand, political hot water and public disgrace. We're learning more and more almost by the hour about how much he allegedly paid from sex. You heard from Jason Carroll in the last segment, as much as $80,000 according to the Associated Press. And the tangled life he seems to have led -- more on that part from CNN's David Mattingly.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the public eye, it was all state business as usual in mid-February, for Governor Spitzer. Early on a Monday, he was shaking hands with Mexico's president. Tuesday morning he was stumping for higher education.
ELIOT SPITZER, GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: Important at a moral level. Education is something we believe in as a moral imperative.
MATTINGLY: But by the time he was talking about morality in education, federal documents show the mysterious client 9 was allegedly arranging payment for an appointment with a prostitute named Kristin.
With details of that meeting still up in the air, Spitzer's next big appearance is taping a Comedy Central Colbert Report. He gets a rock star welcome and talked to Steven Colbert about the perks of being a superdelegate.
STEVEN COLBERT: Do they have refreshment suites for you guys?
SPITZER: We have tapes, we have leotards, we have special outfits that we wear.
COLBERT: I would like to see some pictures of you in that outfit.
SPITZER: For that you have to pay extra.
MATTINGLY: And after getting the laugh, Wednesday begins as a day of dollar signs and a blur of photo ops. Spitzer meets with hospitalized veterans, rally support for $1 billion economic upstate revitalization and pushes again for a higher education endowment.
SPITZER: This $4 billion will begin to take us down a path that will be transformative for the state of New York.
MATTINGLY: But while the governor pursues his moral imperative for education, Client 9 makes his own plans. Within hours of the governor's last event, client 9 is allegedly confirming reservations at a posh D.C. hotel and finalizing payment for his very expensive night with a call girl.
In federal documents, client 9 talks of paying $2600, but it's not enough. He talks of going to a bank for more cash. Client 9 arrives at the hotel at 9:36. His two-and a half hours alone in this room with the woman called Kristin, ends around midnight.
Seven hours later on Valentine's Day, Governor Spitzer is back in the spotlight and he appears on CNBC, seemingly rested and upbeat, he then testifies before Congress, with no indication that there was ever a client 9, with a very different life out of the public eye.
David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COOPER: And we're joined once more by Lisa Bloom, Spitzer's former law professor at Harvard, Alan Dershowitz and former Harvard classmate, Jeffrey Toobin.
Jeffrey, in New York, patronizing a prostitute is usually a misdemeanor. How often are the Johns charged? TOOBIN: Very rarely, but not never. This is something that prosecutors have used as an attempt to discourage prostitution. The possibility that sometimes Johns are charged. It is overwhelmingly the case that prostitutes are charged and not Johns, but it is illegal to patronize a prostitute and sometimes Johns are prosecuted. They rarely get jail time but they do sometimes get arrested.
COOPER: Professor Dershowitz, if you were defending Governor Spitzer -- if it gets to that -- what would your defense be? How will you go about this?
DERSHOWITZ: Let me be very clear I would not only defend Governor Spitzer, I would defend Larry Craig, I would defend Rush Limbaugh, I would defend that Louisiana congressman. This is not for me a Republican/Democrat issue, this for me a question about the proper role of government and the private lives of public figures.
What I would argue of course is selective prosecution. I would try to get at the actual evidence about why and whether he was targeted. I think I would be able to successfully prove that in a normal situation if they were going after the club they would not have to use wiretaps.
I am convinced that the wiretaps in this case were used to try to get Eliot Spitzer's words and embarrassing words so that they could be leaked to the press. And remember too, they were leaked to the press by prosecutors, which is against the law.
It is a violation of the federal rules of criminal procedure to leak grand jury material to the prosecutors. So I do want to see an investigation in this case. I want to know who leaked that material, I want to know who made the decision to go to wiretaps instead of just planting an agent and getting the club.
This was clearly targeted toward Eliot Spitzer and not the club. He was not an incidental victim of the club, the club was an incidental victim of the effort to get Eliot Spitzer.
COOPER: Lisa Bloom, do you believe that?
BLOOM: Well, it's very common for law enforcement to target high profile figures. Look at Martha Stewart, Scooter Libby, Paris Hilton. I mean this is common. It is not unusual at all.
DERSHOWITZ: Martha Stewart wasn't targeted. How was she targeted?
BLOOM: Well, many people feel that she was targeted. Don't forget that she was treated differently.
DERSHOWITZ: Targeted?
BLOOM: Given who she is, given that it was a low level crime.
This is a governor of a major state. If he's engaging in repeated, compulsive, illegal behavior, law enforcement should be going after him. And, of course, the defense attorneys are always going to attack law enforcement and the way that they went about their investigation. If they did something improper, they should be looked at.
DERSHOWITZ: Yes they should.
BLOOM: But the focus of this investigation is a governor who is engaging in reckless behavior and there's nothing wrong with them looking at him.
COOPER: We're going to have to leave it there. Sorry, Jeffrey, just way, we've got 30 seconds.
TOOBIN: I just want to say that it is not clear that the U.S. Attorney's office leaked this material. Defense attorneys had access to this material and it is often defense attorneys who give documents to the media. So I don't think it's fair to assume that the U.S. Attorney's office leaked this stuff.
DERSHOWITZ: Well, let's have an investigation and find out.
TOOBIN: I'm always for an investigation.
COOPER: Spoken like a defense attorney and former prosecutor. And a TV commentator as well, Lisa Bloom.
DERSHOWITZ: And my former student, too. Jeffrey Toobin is my former student.
BLOOM: You Harvard boys just like to gang up.
COOPER: I feel like I'm in a Harvard master class here. Professor Dershowitz -- and I didn't have to pay the $40,000 tuition or whatever it is. Professor Dershowitz, thanks very much. Lisa Bloom from TruTV. Jeffrey Toobin as well, enjoy Hawaii.
More on Eliot Spitzer's fall from grace coming up. Powerful and driven: could his personality have actually contributed to that downfall? We're going to look at that.
And the actress who played Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island" is in trouble with the law? What? What did she do that landed her behind bars? It's our "What was she thinking?" segment tonight. Next.
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COOPER: And good evening, our live coverage continues. Coming up more on Eliot Spitzer's very public crash. A friend admits she saw problems, but did she imagine a scandal like this? We'll look into that. But first Erica joins us again with the "360" bulletin -- Erica.
ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, the space shuttle "Endeavour" heading for the international space station right now after a rare early morning lift off from the Kennedy Space Center. The 16-day mission will be NASA's longest ever to the station. A record five space walks are planned as the crew install a robot arm and a news lab.
You definitely want to sit down for this one. At least one in fourteen age girls has a sexually transmitted disease; that according to a new study by the CDC. The HPV virus, that's the one that causes cervical cancer is by far the most common STD.
And thou shall not pollute, nor clone, nor take mind-damaging drugs. Those are just some of the new sins in today's world according to the Vatican's number two man. The Catholic Church said it's time to modernize its list of sins, Anderson, to fit a global world.
COOPER: Wow. That's interesting. That could be a whole new list of things.
Erica, now our segment, what were they thinking? Take a look at this mug shot; it's actually one of the odder mug shots we've seen. Take a look. Yep. There we go. 69-year-old Dawn Wells.
HILL: Out of focus too.
COOPER: A little out of focus -- a little -- well, I'm not going to say. I'm not going to be cruel.
She was recently sentenced to five days in jail, plus a fine and probation after allegedly being caught with marijuana in her car. If she looks familiar, here is why.
Back in the day, she played Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island." Maryann was found with some Mary Jane.
HILL: She's aged beautifully.
COOPER: Well, she's holding in there. The wholesome fresh faced girl next door on the island. Who could forget Mary Ann, the opposite of the glamorous Ginger, but she stole our hearts, nonetheless. Who knew she had a naughty side? Apparently, she was arrested after driving erratically on the way home from a surprise birthday party?
HILL: And the cops found some half-smoked joints in her car. She said, I just picked up some hitchhikers, I dropped them off when they started smoking something.
COOPER: Maryann, the old, I just picked up some hitchhikers line.
HILL: Everybody tries it and it never works, does it?
COOPER: No.
HILL: Apparently she was swerving, too because she was trying to find the heater controls in her new car.
COOPER: Slash Munchies. Some crumbs from the cookie had fallen on the ground.
HILL: By the way, she did plead guilty to one count of reckless driving.
COOPER: Well, there you go. Who knew.
Up next, he's been called the "Sheriff of Wall Street," now Eliot Spitzer's on the offensive accused of having an expensive tryst with a prostitute, in case you hadn't heard.
Is it possible his crusader personality actually contributed to his downfall? We'll talk about that, later.
More on tonight's results of the primary. Some controversial remarks on race and politics from a Clinton surrogate. When "360" continues.
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COOPER: Governor Eliot Spitzer, a man with apparently more about him than had been in the public eye until this week. Erica Hill is back now with more about the past that might have hinted at the governor's secret life -- Erica.
HILL: We hear these adjectives all the time in connection with his name: driven, determined, that he was a crusader, that he was powerful. But it turns out there may be some other things that we didn't hear. In fact, another side to Spitzer. One word that was missing all this time, could it be that in fact this crusader was grossly misunderstood?
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
HILL: A take-no-prisoner's prosecutor, he called himself the steamroller, and voters loved it.
SPITZER: So help me God.
HILL: Electing him governor in a landslide.
BROOKE MASTERS, AUTHOR, "SPOILING FOR A FIGHT": Everybody saw him as a guy who could tap into the common man.
HILL: But those days are gone.
MASTERS: Unless he can completely reinvent himself, his old method of dealing with the world and his old attraction as a politician is gone.
HILL: Mayor Shawn Hogan, a political ally and friend of Spitzer since 1998 is still reeling.
SHAWN HOGAN, MAYOR OF HORNELL, NEW YORK: It felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. I'm actually still grieving over the news. I don't think anyone in this country would have thought it or saw it coming.
HILL: But maybe they should have. Spitzer made his name ruthlessly chasing down corruption on Wall Street, the heart of New York power. Charlie Gasparino covered Spitzer's crusade and he says the signs were always there.
CHARLES GASPARINO, AUTHOR, "BLOOD ON THE STREET:" I think there is a delusional aspect to Eliot Spitzer. He was never, never the squeaky clean guy he pretended to be; he did things that were questionable.
HILL: Reporter Brooke Masters chronicled his career in "Spoiling for a Fight: The Rise of Eliot Spitzer." She too, saw problems, but never imagined a scandal like this.
MASTERS: Shock. You know, I just didn't expect it of him. He's not the kind of guy you expect to have like a secret sex life. I do think he was so hard charging and so driven he basically had to take over the world or crash and burn somewhere.
HILL: While this very public crash may have some enemies rejoicing, for Spitzer's friends, like Mayor Hogan, there is just sadness and questions.
HOGAN: There is something wrong, you know. What makes an individual that -- who is very wealthy, has a tremendous future, what makes him engage in activities such as he did? I wish I had that answer.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COOPER: Well, a lot of people wish they had that answer. To gain some potential insight into what motivates some powerful people to engage in this kind of risky, apparently self-destructive behavior, I'm joined by an authority on all things sexual Robert Weiss, executive director of the Sexual Recovery Institute. Thanks for being with us.
In your blog for us tonight, you suggest that what he's allegedly done has revealed his "fully-blown narcissistic and addictive, emotional pathology." What does that mean?
ROBERT WEISS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SEXUAL RECOVERY INSTITUTE: Those are a lot of words. I can't believe I wrote that, Anderson.
You know, I keep hearing the word when I hear him describe, driven, had to get every job done. You know, when people are living at the edge, of whatever edge you're living on, they have to be grounded in some way. When you are driven to put yourself out there in such a public way over and over and over again, be on top of every situation; that is a doable circumstance if you're grounded to family and friends and community and whatever keeps you grounded. This guy was clearly not grounded. He ran off the rails.
COOPER: It's interesting, though. According to this criminal complaint, client number 9 had a reputation for being difficult and reportedly not wanting to practice safe sex. In the affidavit, a booking agent told the prostitute that client 9 would "Ask you to do things that you might not think were safe." Does that surprise you?
WEISS: It doesn't surprise me, Anderson.
COOPER: It goes along with the narcissistic personality you're talking about?
WEISS: When people act out in general, it has to come from some kind of -- and I call it acting out, sexual acting out with money or drugs, they're acting out in an addictive way related to entitlement. I deserve to be able to do this, and with a fair amount of arrogance.
My guess is, just hearing the stories and from what I've read about Mr. Spitzer, he's a fairly arrogant, entitled kind of guy. So it goes along with his character.
COOPER: Do people in his position think they're not going to get caught or is there a thrill that's involved with it?
WEISS: I don't think he's thinking about getting caught, except maybe by his wife. It's interesting to me, because this guy is probably not a sociopath. He probably doesn't universally not have remorse and regret about things, but in this area of sexuality, he feels entitled, like he can just get away with anything.
And my guess is all the laundering and covering up had more to do with his personal life than it did with public. He didn't want his wife to know.
COOPER: So people compartmentalize these things.
WEISS: It's really always interestingly, Anderson. People somehow don't understand that the intellect and the emotions run on two different tracks. When people like Clinton, or Craig or this gentleman act out in the ways they have and they say, such a smart guy, he had so much going for him, why would he do this? Emotions and intelligence run on two different tracks.
COOPER: Fascinating. We see it over and over again. Robert Weiss, appreciate your insights. Thanks.
WEISS: Thanks for asking.
COOPER: All right just ahead much more on tonight's other top stories, Barack Obama acing the Mississippi primary. Our reporters are on the trail with all the details, including the fireworks today over what Geraldine Ferraro said about Barack Obama and his response.
All that next on 360.
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(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's really premature for any of us to be talking about VP nominations when we're in the midst of a really important contest. And what I think the voters are still looking for is who's going to be the best advocate for them?
(END VIDEOCLIP)
COOPER: Barack Obama earlier tonight after pulling off another victory, this time in the state of Mississippi. The win gives him a shot at momentum after last week's losses to Hillary Clinton. It also widens his lead in pledged delegates.
While votes were still being cast today, the latest sparks were flying back on the campaign trail, this time over remarks made by Geraldine Ferraro of all people. CNN's Candy Crowley joins us from Chicago. Candy?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Anderson, as you know Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman on a National Democratic presidential ticket or a Republican for that matter.
Today she said in an interview that she did previously was printed today in which she said that she thought that Barack Obama would not be where he is, were he not black, that that was the excitement, that he is lucky to be who he is, that sort of thing.
The Obama campaign came out and said, whoa, wait a second. This sort of thing has absolutely no place in politics. Barack Obama said that in an interview he did with a local station.
The Hillary Clinton campaign came back and said, we don't approve of this statement, as Barack Obama has said previously. Some times our surrogates say things, go a little over the top, but we don't approve of this.
Nonetheless, the Obama campaign, I can tell you, thinks this is part of a larger problem, that the Clinton campaign has a habit of having surrogates that say things that are out of bounds. Hillary Clinton says that's not my view and they move on. They think this is a steady effort to undermine him.
COOPER: How are they planning to win tonight in Mississippi? What is their message moving forward?
CROWLEY: Well the message moving forward is, they've come off two wins, the Wyoming caucuses and Mississippi. That at least steadies him. If I have to look at who has momentum right now, I think the answer is unclear.
But certainly when you look at Pennsylvania, it is Hillary Clinton's territory. When you look at the voters that are there, it looks very much like Ohio, as we've been saying. This looks like a state where she could do very well and in fact she's leading in the polls.
This gives Obama a little push into that race on April 22nd. So that's where you'll see them spending their time. And we must also say that he's picking up delegates. At this point, what both of these candidates are looking at is the fact that neither one of them may have the delegates that they need. There's hard to find a scenario where either one of them would. So what they're looking for is to be able to make that argument to superdelegates.
And what Barack Obama wants to say is, hey, I've got 100-plus more delegates than she does. So this really is about racking up that gap between Clinton and Obama at this point, Anderson.
COOPER: A lot more race to go. Candy Crowley, thank you very much from Chicago on the Obama campaign.
As we said, for the Clinton campaign, tonight's loss in Mississippi isn't a huge surprise. It was the last remaining race in the Deep South and Barack Obama was heavily favored to win.
Pennsylvania's primary next month is a much bigger prize, of course, one that Senator Clinton is banking on winning. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joins me from Philadelphia on the Clinton campaign -- Suzanne.
Reporter: Anderson, there was, a message, an e-mail that went out from Maggie Williams, the campaign manager of the Clinton camp that summarizes the whole thing looking forward here. They thank Barack Obama, they say congratulations on your win, they thank their supporters and the volunteers. Then they say we're looking forward to moving on and campaigning in Pennsylvania and across the country. They've wasted no time in doing that.
Senator Clinton actually kicked off her Pennsylvania campaig yesterday in Scranton. Her relatives are from that hometown. But they really feel they have quite an advantage here. They want to take advantage of this six-week period that is very favorable when it comes to the demographics.
While Senator Clinton is going to be in D.C. with private fundraising, expect to see Bill Clinton here. We're going to see Chelsea crisscrossing, looking at those voters. Those voters being mostly white, older, women, rural voters; groups she performs well with.
I should also let you know as well. There are two other things that they're focusing on here, Michigan and Florida, to seat those delegates. If they don't seat them as is, to have a do over, a primary or a write-in kind of ballot campaign, they believe she could be even stronger in Michigan and Florida or at least convince the superdelegates that she has that kind of psychological edge, the advantage there.
And Anderson, finally do not rule out the African-American vote. There's a debate within the Clinton campaign. They believe they can make some inroads. Just today here in Philadelphia, African-American mayor, Michael Nutter, gave her just a rousing introduction; a lot of support. They believe they can be competitive in this predominantly black city -- Anderson. COOPER: Suzanne Malveaux from Philadelphia tonight. Suzanne thanks.
The Democratic race still very much in play, as you just heard.
Just ahead, some crucial questions for our panel, David Gergen, Gloria Borger and Roland Martin. How does Mississippi factor in? What happens next and what does each candidate have to do to clinch the nomination?
Also I want to talk about what's going on down in Florida, whether or not there's going to be a re-vote on that primary. All that next on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: If you're joining us late, haven't checked the headlines, Barack Obama has won Mississippi's primary with 33 delegates at stake. Tonight's win extends Obama's lead by some. Hillary Clinton will get some of the delegates under party rules.
The question now is where do things stand, where do they head next? Of course, the state of Pennsylvania is the answer on that one. We'll get some more perspective from our political panel: CNN's senior political analyst and former presidential adviser, David Gergen; CNN's senior political analyst Gloria Borger and CNN contributor Roland Martin.
David, according to the exit polls, there was a huge racial gap as whites overwhelmingly went for Clinton and African-Americans overwhelmingly went for Obama. Given how far we are into this race, that racial divide, should it be a concern to Democrats?
DAVID GERGEN: It should be a concern if this ends up being a very fractious conclusion to who gets the nomination. Because it's very clear, as Roland Martin has been arguing for some time now, that if Barack Obama is ahead in delegates at the end of all of this and she still gets the nomination, there's a real risk of alienating those blacks who have been voting so heavily for him. So I think -- I think on both sides now, there's a growing risk of alienation by the loser and by the loser's partisans.
COOPER: Well, it's also interesting, Roland. John King earlier showed the reaction among Clinton supporters who said if Obama is the nominee, would you be satisfied? Over 70 percent of them said no, where it was much closer on the Obama camp where they'd be satisfied with Hillary Clinton. I don't know if that breaks down along racial lines or not, but certainly Hillary Clinton did very well among white voters.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think a lot of that is also the tone of his campaign the last two or three weeks, because she's taken some very direct jabs at Obama. So I think you'll see that.
Even though she won the lion's share of the white vote, he picked up 27 percent in Mississippi. I just don't think we can look over that. That is a critical number in terms of that. Some people were saying if he didn't get 27, 30 and 35 -- he did very well in Wisconsin and some other states and Virginia did very well as well.
I'm not particularly concerned about that. It's Mississippi, let's be honest. It is a red state; same thing in Texas. The keys, how does he perform in the battleground states? He won Missouri. Look at the numbers in Ohio. How is Pennsylvania going to turn out? That's critical.
COOPER: Let's talk about that, Gloria. Six weeks away to Pennsylvania. Obviously Hillary Clinton is favored there. It's very similar to Ohio. Who benefits the most from this long, six-week break?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's really hard to say, because we haven't had six weeks in this presidential race heading into one contest.
COOPER: This presidential race has been going on for 40 years it feels like?
BORGER: If I were Barack Obama, and I'm talking to lots of Democrats today who say to me, he needs to run like he ran in Iowa. He needs to go to Pennsylvania and try to win Pennsylvania.
MARTIN: Right.
BORGER: Hillary Clinton is clearly favored in Pennsylvania, but he needs to go there and court those voters just the way he courted those voters in Iowa.
COOPER: You've got Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton are going to be targeting Pennsylvania. What does Obama do in Pennsylvania?
MARTIN: She was up 20 points in Ohio three weeks out. She won by 18, whatever the number was, whatever the spread was. She's only up 12, six weeks out. His mentality should be, I'm going to literally move to Pennsylvania, where he is, where Michelle Obama is. He has to take an economic message and be very specific and clear.
Clinton was able to do that leading into Texas and Ohio. She honed in on it. I think the critical thing with these exit polls are, Anderson, is that she won by 11 points, the people who voted today, she won by 7 of those votes in the last week. Obama has to figure out a 72-hour strategy. That's where she beat him last week, Texas and Ohio.
BORGER: Late deciders always go for Hillary.
COOPER: Go ahead, David.
GERGEN: Can I enter a dissenting voice on this? I think Pennsylvania is very different from Iowa. Iowa, that was not a good state for her. He goes there and camps out and beats her -- I think he beat her fair and square great. Pennsylvania is a great state for her. She's going to win Pennsylvania.
I think what he ought to be do is be creative about his time. He has to go and make a serious case against Pennsylvania. Try to make sure that her win is less than 10 points. That'd be a moral victory for him.
I think this is also a time, just going in for six weeks of more campaign rallies is frankly going to be boring. I think he needs to use this time to be creative and speak to the country in deeper ways about where he's going and what his vision is for the presidency. Start with economic conditions because this economic news has been paralleling the campaign, and it's very, very dark news.
And there's a growing sense out in the country that it rivals the campaign in importance. I think he's got to address that, address other issues, give some sense of where he's going. I think at the end of the day he's going to lose Pennsylvania but he wants to be ahead in the country sense, this is the man we want to be president.
BORGER: You know, David, I don't think those two things are mutually exclusive. I think that he can run like crazy in Pennsylvania, while doing exactly what you say he ought to be doing in terms of speaking to the country. Because the problems that Pennsylvania Democrats have or the problems that lots of Democrats feel throughout the country, so it's a perfect place for either of these candidates to make their points nationally.
GERGEN: But this series of campaign rallies to me is not a very projective use of his time.
MARTIN: That's precisely the point I was making, David, if you simply have rallies, that's a whole different ballgame. But if you're going to have those small meetings, those town hall meetings where're you're really taking questions critical but answering also with delegates.
If you add up Mississippi tonight and North Carolina, they are virtually identical to the vote in Pennsylvania. Tonight's win is critical for the Obama campaign, especially, North Carolina's in May.
COOPER: All right, we're going to leave it there. David Gergen, Roland Martin, Gloria Borger, thanks very much.
A quick program note, tomorrow on 360, up close with Michelle Obama. CNN's Randi Kaye has an in-depth look at the woman Barack Obama calls his rock but he had to sweat to win her heart. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
RANDI KAYE: He was a summer associate at a Chicago law firm. She was his mentor. So it all began. And when Barack Obama wanted to date the woman who would become his bride, her brother says she made him sweat; literally.
CRAIG ROBINSON, MICHELL OBAMA'S BROTHER: My sister had heard my dad and I talking about how you can tell a guy's true character when you take him out on the basketball court. So she asked me to take him to go play.
KAYE: She was testing him?
ROBINSON: She was testing him; had a gauntlet for the guy to run through.
KAYE: So when the game was over, what did you report back to your sister?
ROBINSON: I told my sister, this guy's terrific.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
COOPER: Clearly he passed the test. That's not all Michelle Obama's brother told Randi Kaye. Don't miss her close-up look at Michelle Obama tomorrow on 360.
Now for all the Clinton supporters who're saying we're being favorable because we're showing a piece about Michelle Obama, let me just point out we've shown two pieces about Chelsea Clinton over the last three or four days. And last week we did a profile of Cindy McCain, wife of John McCain. So we're trying to be even in our coverage.
Up next, a resignation from the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East. Why he says he's stepping down now. Coming up.
Also, stay with CNN for a special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE," hosted by John King in just about 10 minutes.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Let's check in with our buddy Erica Hill for 360 News and Business Bulletin -- Erica.
HILL: We start off, Anderson in Pakistan where 20 people killed, 175 injured in suicide attacks, the bombers targeting two different sites. One, the Pakistani law enforcement agency in Lahore. The other suicide bomber actually drove a van into a home which was being used at the time by an advertising agency.
The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia has resigned. Admiral William Fallon says a recent profile in "Esquire Magazine" inaccurately created a public perception that he's at odds with the Bush administration when it comes to Iran. Fallon says he's now stepping down because that article had become a distraction.
And let's end on an up note shall we. Euphoria on Wall Street, a long downturn in stock prices stopped today by the fed's plan to pump $200 billion into the tight credit market. The Dow closed up 416 points. That is its best day in over 5 years. The Nasdaq and S&P also posting big gains. Probably, Anderson, because of your gummy bear stocks.
COOPER: Yes, my gummy bear stocks have done very well. Please don't invest in gummy bears. I don't even know if you can invest in gummy bears.
That does it for this special edition of "360." Thanks very much for joining you us. I'll see you tomorrow night. Hope you enjoined the two-hour program tonight.
Stay with CNN though for more on tonight's political headlines. "LARRY KING LIVE" is next; hosted by John King.
We'll see you, tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: In politics tonight, Barack Obama wins the Mississippi presidential primary but tonight's political focus maybe more on Clinton fundraiser Geraldine Ferraro and her controversial comments about race and sex.
Plus the follow on the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal intensifies. All on the midnight edition of "LARRY KING LIVE."
Good evening everyone. I'm John King sitting in for Larry tonight.
Let's talk about Mississippi first; a big night for Barack Obama; a big sweeping win in the Deep South tonight. He's building his delegate lead. We have a great panel to talk politics with us.
Our Candy Crowley is in Chicago. She of course has been covering the Democratic race with the Obama campaign tonight. Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, tonight on the Clinton campaign. In Washington, Lanny Davis, he was White House special counsel to Bill Clinton and a Hillary Clinton supporter, Lanny is. He has known here since their law school days. Ed Schultz (ph) is the national syndicated radio host.
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