Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Spitzer Assembles Legal Team in Anticipation of Charges; Expensive Investment: Iraq & Afghanistan Reconstruction; Obama Campaigns in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania
Aired March 11, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Eliot Spitzer sex scandal, nobody saw it coming. But a lot of people think the next move is inevitable.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Just 14 months after taking office, Spitzer is apparently planning his exit, though nothing is official yet.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
NGUYEN: Hi, there. I'm Betty Nguyen, in today for Kyra Phillips.
And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: It was just about this time yesterday when the world learned that New York's governor, while once called the sheriff of Wall Street, was allegedly client nine of an international call girl ring. Here's what we know now.
Right now today, transition talks are under between aides to Eliot Spitzer and to New York's lieutenant governor, David Paterson. Almost no one expects Spitzer to try to hang on, but if he does, a top state Republican is threatening impeachment.
NGUYEN: It's also unclear whether he'll be charged. And if so, when and with what.
The probe began with money transfers that caught the attention of the feds. Now, Spitzer is hiring lawyers, including his former top deputy when he was the New York attorney general.
Let's go now to CNN's Allan Chernoff in New York City with what's starting to feel like a resignation vigil. Allan's been watching this.
And Allan, what are you hearing on your end? Is it going to happen within the next few hours, the next few days?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, I can't give you an exact time, but I can tell you that I just got off the telephone with state senator Bill Perkins who represents Harlem. He said to me that everyone is anticipating that Governor Spitzer will be resigning.
He said -- quote to me -- "In anticipation, there's smiles, not groans. There's a sense of relief and appreciation."
Now, what he's referring to here is the fact that if -- if the governor does indeed step down, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson would take his place. David Paterson, the former minority leader of the senate, is extremely popular, well liked, not only by Democrats, but by Republicans as well.
Senator Perkins went on to tell me, "That's like pure gold, gold for what we need in the turbulent waters. You need a navigator, a captain of the ship that everyone feels comfortable about."
Also, consider that right now up in Albany, the state capital, they're dealing with the budget. They need to finish it by the end of the month. And Senator Perkins is saying, hey, we need to get down to the people's business, at the same time he's saying that "We feel tremendous sympathy for the Spitzer family."
Now, of course, the governor is under absolutely tremendous pressure to step down. We are hearing that transition talks are indeed already under way. But the pressure has been coming particularly from the Republican side of the aisle. Indeed, in the assembly, the Republican leader has said if the governor does not step down, he will introduce articles of impeachment.
Let's have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH BRUNO (R), NEW YORK SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: We have asked that the governor resign as soon as possible, and we've said that within 24 to 48 hours, if he does not resign and remove this distraction so Lieutenant Governor Paterson can take that position and move us forward, that we would put forth a resolution for articles of impeachment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: We are witnessing one of the great downfalls in political history. Yes, of course, we've all heard about politicians getting embroiled in sex scandals. Many of them actually have survived it.
But in this case, Governor Eliot Spitzer had built his entire political career on being "Mr. Clean," the attorney general who cleaned up Wall Street, the insurance industry, the health care industry, on and on. He built his career on fighting corruption. And here he is, caught as a client of a prostitution ring.
NGUYEN: It does seem so ironic.
Allan Chernoff joining us live in New York. Thank you, Allan.
LEMON: Well, sex may have been Eliot Spitzer's weakness, but money was his downfall, specifically transactions that banks deemed suspicious and referred to the IRS.
CNN justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, picks up the story from there -- Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don.
You know, when this investigation started, our sources say that prostitution was the last thing on anyone's mind at the time. It all started when the IRS was doing a routine examination of suspicious financial transactions that were reported to it by banks.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation tell us that at least one bank reported several unusual movements of cash involving the governor. He was allegedly moving money around between several of his bank accounts. And some sources say it may turn out that he was actually doing this to hide things from his wife, but cautioned, look, this investigation is still very much ongoing.
Those sources say that the money ended up in the bank accounts of shell companies, which, of course, led investigators to the prostitution ring. Investigators are currently focusing on where Spitzer got the money for these alleged sexual encounters, what he may have done to conceal the movement and the source of those funds, and then, of course, whether he broke any laws doing it.
And so far, Don, I haven't heard anything from any of my sources to suggest that Spitzer used taxpayer dollars -- here again very early in this investigation. Our sources tell us that Spitzer has not yet been formally questioned. He, of course, has not been publicly charged, and it is possible that his lawyers will soon meet with federal prosecutors to discuss any legal exposure that he does have -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena.
Thank you, Kelli.
NGUYEN: Well, five years after ousting Saddam Hussein, U.S. troops still patrol Iraqi streets, and the U.S. government has invested more than $750 billion in that country's future and in Afghanistan. And U.S. senators say it is past time to see a return on that investment.
Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, has been following the vocal hearings today.
So, Jamie, what are they saying?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, "waste," "fraud" and "abuse" are three words you always hear together, and increasingly you're hearing a fourth along with that, "Iraq."
North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan was leading the charge today on Capitol Hill as a Senate panel looked at the billions of dollars that have been wasted or lost or simply unaccounted for, sometimes stolen in Iraq over the five years of the war. And, you know, sometimes little things tell you a lot about how things operate in Iraq. And Senator Dorgan at one point held up a simple white towel to explain how something that should be very simple can end up in waste, fraud and abuse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: So, he made an order for a towel. Ordered a white towel. The supervisor said, "No, you can't do that. You need to order a towel with "KBR" embroidered on it." He said, "The problem is that will triple or quadruple the price."
His supervisor said, "It doesn't matter. This is a cost-plus contract. Taxpayers pay for it." So this is the towels the troops got, with "KBR" embroidered on it. Not, that's a -- this is a tiny little issue. The fact is, this wouldn't be a part of any investigation that's going on, it's just profound waste of taxpayers' money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Testifying before the panel was the comptroller general of the United States, the inspector-general of the Pentagon, also a special auditor for Iraq reconstruction. All of them were lauded for their efforts in trying to track down these tax dollars, and some of it is Iraqi money, some of it is U.S. money.
But Senator Patrick Leahy from Vermont threw a rather astounding figure. By one count, he said, there are over 3,000 investigations into waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq amounting to over $18 billion. And about half of that is U.S. taxpayer dollars. The other half is Iraqi funds that, in many cases, the U.S. had responsibility for, even though it wasn't U.S. tax dollars -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. So 3,000 investigations, $18 billion. But what has that accomplished?
MCINTYRE: Well, there's been a lot accomplished, but often at great cost. I mean, take -- you know, you can just take almost any project in Iraq. Take, for instance, the police academy that the U.S. helped fund. It's supposed to be a vital structure to train Iraqi police so they can provide security.
Millions and over $1 billion went in this facility, but by the time they went to reclaim it, a lot of things didn't work. It had to be done over again. Money had disappeared.
I mean, Iraqi corruption is widespread. And one of the -- the second panel today featured a former Iraqi official who really is not welcome in his own country anymore because he blew the whistle on a lot of this waste. But, you know, a lot of the corruption is about controlling the various militias in Iraq, money that's funneled to people to keep them all in control, to control -- keep them in control of various parties.
So, it's a system that's rife with corruption. Take the normal problems tracking government spending, put them in a war zone, and then in a country that's had a culture of corruption, and this is what you get.
NGUYEN: Goodness.
All right. CNN's Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre with the latest. We do thank you, Jamie.
And in just a few minutes, we're going to hear how the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq views the reconstruction effort. Kyra Phillips joins us again live from Baghdad.
LEMON: Showdown in Mississippi. The state is holding its presidential primaries today, with the Republican race decided. The keen interest is on the battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Polls have shown Obama leading Clinton in Mississippi. Thirty- three delegates are at stake there.
After Mississippi's primary today, the next big contest on the calendar is Pennsylvania's primary, six weeks from now. As you can see, Democrat Barack Obama is about to campaign in a few moments in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. Everybody there getting ready for that event.
His rival, Hillary Clinton, is also putting a lot of time and effort into Pennsylvania. This rally in Harrisburg just a short time ago, where Clinton talked about her plans to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But there is no military solution. That's why it is in America's interest, in our military's interest, in our men and women in uniform's interest, and I believe in the Iraqis' interest, for to us make it abundantly clear that the Iraqi government and people have to decide how they will use this gift of freedom that they have been given.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: On the Republican side, the party's presumptive nominee, John McCain, is on the trail in Missouri, with two town hall meetings in St. Louis. A major issue he's talking about? Health care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not going to mandate health care for every American. I'm going to make it affordable and available. But I'm not going to force every American. And I'm certainly not going to have a government take over the health care system.
If you think that we should do that, go to Canada and England before you decide that you want that. The most expensive thing in America will be health care when the Democrats tell you it's free.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: The Missouri stop also is part of a weeklong fundraising blitz by McCain.
NGUYEN: Well, it takes a lot to shock New York, but this one has definitely done it. Governor Eliot Spitzer's sex scandal is the talk of the state -- and the country, for that matter. We're going to hear from a political consultant and longtime New York reporter who thought he had seen it all.
LEMON: All right. And can anybody answer this? How does a rising political star get caught up in something so salacious? We'll look at a psychological aspect of this intriguing story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, from the D.A.'s office, to state attorney general, to governor, Eliot Spitzer has been the long arm of the law during his political career. It makes this scandal all the more stunning.
John Roland is a political consultant and longtime New York reporter who has seen it all -- at least he thought he had.
John, thank you for joining us today.
I liked your quote. We were talking before, you said at the very least this was more than a surprise to you.
JOHN ROLAND, POLITICAL CONSULTANT: Well, you know, Don, I started covering politics here in New York back in 1969. I traveled with John -- John Lindsay was the mayor then. I traveled with him when he ran for president. And a lot of people know that John Lindsay had an eye for the ladies occasionally, too. Never prostitutes, but he had an eye for the ladies.
If you were to tell me that the pope got married, that would surprise me, but nothing surprises me. Nothing surprises New Yorkers, I don't think, in New York politics. We may be shocked. We may be disappointed. We may be stunned. But we're not really surprised.
We have come to expect the least of our politicians in Albany. The legislature up there is infamous for not doing much of anything.
Basically, for the past 20, 25 years, three men have been running New York State -- the governor, the -- Sheldon Silver -- Assemblyman Silver and Senator Joe Bruno. They make all the deals, and the rest of the legislature goes along with it. We're ranked, I think, number 50 of all the legislatures throughout the United States.
LEMON: And John, we understand now that there's a possible transition team that's in place now between David Paterson and also Eliot Spitzer's team. Now, just a short time ago, the assembly minority leader there, James Tedisco, said he's going to give him 48 hours -- or 24 hours, and then he's going to start impeachment proceedings against Eliot Spitzer.
Let's take a listen and then we'll talk about it. ROLAND: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES TEDISCO (R), NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MINORITY LEADER: He has breached that contract with the people of New York State not only ethically, but legally, in his choice of risky behavior. So, we have asked that the governor resign as soon as possible, and we've said that within 24 to 48 hours, if he does not resign and remove this distraction so Lieutenant Governor Paterson can take that position and move us forward, that we would put forth a resolution for articles of impeachment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So, John, not that there's ever a good time, but this couldn't have come at a worst time when it comes to the New York legislature.
Do you think at all that he can survive this at all, if it turns out he didn't break any laws here, if he's not charged with anything? Is this survivable?
ROLAND: It isn't because he doesn't deserve it. And let me explain that. This is a man who came in to office with a "holier than thou" attitude. Very arrogant.
He has himself prosecuted prostitution rings, said how despicable they were, particularly when it comes to laundering money, organized crime. Now, if, as the allegations go, he himself is involved in the same thing that he has criticized so harshly -- he also came in to Albany promising ethical reform. He was going to clean up the cesspool, as he called it, of politics in Albany.
He hasn't done any of that. And if, in fact, he is involved in this, he has become a hypocrite. New Yorkers are very forgiving. If a politician stumbles and gets himself back up, we'll dust him off if he's honest with us.
LEMON: And I understand that.
ROLAND: But he's been a -- this would make him a hypocrite.
LEMON: John, I understand that. You said that Wall Street -- Wall Street was dancing when they found out.
ROLAND: Well, one of the brokers down there said that if sympathy were a liquid, you could walk through Wall Street and not get your ankles wet over any sympathy for this man. He roared through Wall Street.
That was one of the horses that he rode on to get to Albany with his armor of a great white knight of a champion of ethics and reform. So, he has let himself down. He's let -- I feel so sorry for his family.
LEMON: Yes.
ROLAND: He's certainly let them down. And he's really let us down as New Yorkers. He had a 70 percent approval rating, Don.
LEMON: Right now down to 30 percent.
ROLAND: Seventy percent. It was actually down to 27.
LEMON: Can I ask you this, John -- I've got 10 seconds left. Tip of the iceberg here when it comes to allegations like this for Eliot Spitzer?
ROLAND: Oh, I think there's probably going to be a lot more. Unfortunately, a lot more and a lot deeper. More about money laundering, more about the past, his past of prostitutes and so forth.
It's a very, very sad situation here in New York.
LEMON: John Roland has covered New York politics for 35 years.
John Roland, we appreciate you joining us. Thank you, sir.
ROLAND: You're welcome.
NGUYEN: It's 18 past the hour, and here are three of the stories that we are working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, the Great Lakes are the largest system of fresh surface water on Earth. And the numbers are stunning. They contain roughly 21 percent of the world's freshwater supply and 84 percent of North America's.
More than 33 million people live in the Great Lakes basin. But are they living in danger?
A new report that hasn't been made public just yet suggests there may be a health risk. The whistleblower at the CDC says he is being punished for revealing the truth.
With today's "Planet in Peril" report, here's CNN's David Mattingly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a report nine million people would want to see. So why would the CDC delay the release of a document that identifies 25 pollution hot spots around the Great Lakes and their proximity to spikes in disease like cancer and infant mortality?
(on-camera): Is the CDC trying to keep this report under wraps?
CHRIS DE ROSA, SPECIAL ASST. FOR TOXICOLOGY, CDC: I think that probably is a fair statement to make.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Chris De Rosa once directed a CDC agency that mined a century's worth of studies and records to create a roadmap to possible intersections of disease and environmental contamination like lead, mercury and PCBs. The report was seven years in the making. But instead of seeing his work go public, De Rosa thinks he could be fired.
(on-camera): What were you doing wrong?
DE ROSA: I would describe it as perhaps speaking truth to power.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): If his name sounds familiar, that's because De Rosa is the same government scientist who blew the whistle on dangerous formaldehyde in FEMA trailers.
His report on the Great Lakes is vast by comparison. The report stops short, however, of creating a link between pollution and disease and does not assign blame.
(on-camera): But the report that was supposed to go public last summer didn't. De Rosa says he believes that's because it raised too many questions about who was doing the polluting and who might have to clean it up.
REP. BART STUPAK (D) MICHIGAN: It tells me they're starting to do a whitewash of this report, and I think the policymakers need to know the facts.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Democratic Bart Stupak of Michigan is the chairman of a House subcommittee investigating De Rosa's alleged demotion and his belief that the agency was creating a substantial and specific danger to public health.
STUPAK: And I, for one, and most members of the U.S. House of Representatives are quite frustrated with this administration's repeated attempt to manipulate the science for political purposes and not put forth the facts or realities facing the American people.
MATTINGLY (on-camera): Keeping them honest, we reached out to the CDC, which agreed to speak to us on camera, but that interview was also postponed. They did tell us, however, that the delay of the report was all about science.
(voice-over): In this e-mailed statement, the agency says they looked at the report and found "... significant scientific deficiencies..." and it has been "... working since then to correct..." them.
(on-camera): Is this a case of bad science?
DE ROSA: No. It's the best possible science we could pursue. It was vetted over a five-year period of time.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): The CDC tells us the report will be reviewed again and released once their own concerns have been resolved. In the meantime, De Rosa may soon be telling his story to Congress.
David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: We want to take a quick look at the Big Board now. The Dow hovering at 12,000. We've been waiting -- you heard Susan Lisovicz just a little bit ago, that waiting for the market to go back above 12,000.
Well, we're looking at it now. We're going to check in with her in just a moment to see what is going on.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, the news about Governor Spitzer's connection to a prostitution ring was cheered by many on Wall Street. The New York governor cracked down on some financial market practices when he was state attorney general.
And Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to tell us more about that.
And you've got reaction, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I do, Don. And there was a lot of reaction palpable yesterday, that's for sure, when the news came out. You know, Eliot Spitzer once was called "The Sheriff of Wall Street." Today he may be better known as "Client Number Nine."
The man standing next to me has been working on Wall Street for 35 years, Alan Valdes.
You said that there was shock and awe, and I would imagine a fair amount of comeuppance -- explain.
ALAN VALDES, V.P., HILLIARD LYONS: Yes, no question about it. I mean, he has been riding on Wall Street really heavy-handedly for years since he was attorney general. And, I mean, he did do some good. He got $1.6 billion from AIG and Hank Greenberg.
He got about $400 million from Sandy Weill at Merrill Lynch back to consumers. It was good. But, I mean, basically he went over the top many times with John Whitehead, for example, from Goldman at the time, who simply wrote an op-ed article for "The Wall Street Journal."
The next day, Spitzer allegedly called and said, I'm going to take you down. I mean, so he really went over the top a lot of times.
LISOVICZ: And John Whitehead, his crime, so to speak, was that he was defending somebody who was a target of a Spitzer probe. Is that what you're saying?
VALDES: Yes. He was simply defending Hank Greenberg. And he went over the top -- Spitzer went over the top to get him to say that.
LISOVICZ: But, you know, Alan, let's face it. I mean, Wall Street's behavior, I think you could make the argument, was also over the top. When you think about some of the things that he went after in his eight years as attorney general -- conflicts of interest, serious conflicts of interest, excessive pay, irregular accounting, that big settlement you talk about -- I mean, Wall Street was fair game.
VALDES: No, there's no question there were a lot of irregularities going on down here at that time in the '80s and the '90s, which were exactly right. But the way he went about it -- I mean, he would leak things to the media, he would just really go -- really too heavy-handed. It was almost like Gestapo-like tactics.
LISOVICZ: He would not be the first official to leak things to the press. But I think what you see with law enforcement officials is that they lay out the case first, they get their case together, and they go to the public. That was not his M.O. Is that what you're saying?
VALDES: He would try it in the media before he'd go to court with it. So, yes, he was really too heavy-handed.
LISOVICZ: You know, "The Wall Street Journal" had an interesting editorial today, basically saying that -- calling him, among other things -- saying that his behavior was so heavy-handed, so over the top. There was one -- one adversary calling him a thug. I mean, it was -- would you say that's fair, this kind of criticism?
VALDES: No question about it. I mean, even Giuliani who people thought at the time was hard-handed going after the mafia, was nothing compared to what Spitzer was doing. And even when Spitzer became governor, how he went after Bruno. It was insane the way he handled things. And it was just -- got out of hand.
And unfortunately, like you mentioned, he do a lot of good. He did give a lot of money back, but, you know, he's never going to be remembered for that. Just like Nixon who opened China and did a lot of good ended the Vietnam War, will always be remembered for Watergate, so will Spitzer always be remembered for this.
LISOVICZ: Alan Valdes, thank you very much. That is one of the big stories today. But Don, but we cannot ignore the other. And you mentioned it moments ago, that we are seeing a remarkable rally here on Wall Street. After three days of triple-digit decline, we're seeing a triple-digit rally.
The Dow very close to 12,000. Actually, surpassed it a few moments ago. It was good to see the Federal Reserve making a very bold move today. No, not another interest rate cut, but basically saying, with other central banks overseas, it's offering $200 billion in loans to certain hard-hit financial institutions to get them to start lending again and using mortgage-backed debt, which has been so toxic, for banks as collateral.
A major move. Some are saying imaginative. One -- one that is well -- certainly well received on Wall Street. Back to you, Don.
LEMON: And Alan Valdes -- why doesn't he say how he really feels?
LISOVICZ: Well, you know, and believe me, that is for television, this is --
LEMON: The censored --
LISOVICZ: Yes.
LEMON: Yes. All right, thank you, Susan.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
NGUYEN: Well, the next big primary on the big campaign contest here is Pennsylvania. And that has Barack Obama speaking there right now -- a campaign event. He's in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania.
Let's take a listen.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... to Washington where decades of lopsided trade deals like NAFTA and China have put Wall Street ahead of Main Street and cost us millions of jobs, including more than 40,000 jobs here in Pennsylvania. A Washington where the right to organize and unionize has come under assault for the last eight years.
The Washington where too many ignored the warning signs and voted for a war in Iraq that should never have been authorized and should never have been waged; a war that is costing us thousands of precious lives but also hundreds of billions of dollars -- $12 billion a month. Money that could have been used to rebuild crumbling schools and bridges, roads and buildings. That could have been invested in job training and child care and making health care more affordable and putting college within reach for so many of our young people.
I realize that politicians come before you every election and they say that they're going to change all this. They lay out big plans and hold events just like this one because it's popular to do and it's easy to make promises in the heat of a campaign. But all too often, everyone goes back to Washington, and nothing changes. It's business as usual.
Because the lobbyists write another check or because politicians spend time worrying about how they'll win the next election instead of why they should win the next election. Because they're focused on who's up and who's down instead of who matters. The worker who has lost his pension or the families that has had to put up a for-sale sign because they are at the risk of foreclosure; the young woman who gets three hours sleep a night because she's going to school and working the night shift and still can't afford all the health care that she needs for her family. These are the Americans that need real change. The kind of change that's more than just switching political parties in the White House. They need change in our politics. They need leadership that can end the division in Washington so we can stop just talking about our challenges and start solving them; who doesn't defend lobbyists as part of the system but sees them as part of a problem, who actually says what he or she means and means what he or she says, and who will be the voice for middle-class and working Americans every day for the next four years.
And I intend to be that president. I'll be the president who strengthens our middle-class by learning from what's happened in places like Fairless Hills. When U.S. Steel was at its peak here in the 1970s, there were nearly 10,000 people working at this facility. And as you know all too well, U.S. Steel closed down most of its operations here in the years that followed. And by the early 1990s, there were less than 100 people working here.
But thanks to the leadership of people like Congressman Murphy and companies like MESA (ph) and the steel workers who fought to make sure that the jobs here pay a good wage, Fairless Hills is doing what Americans have always done in times of challenge and uncertainty --
NGUYEN: And you've been listening to Barack Obama campaigning right now in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. You can see the campaign clock right there, because today we have a primary in Mississippi, although Obama is in Pennsylvania. That primary still has six weeks to go before it occurs.
Well, leading our political ticker, showdown in Mississippi. As I just mentioned the state is holding its presidential primaries today. With the Republican race decided, the keen interest is on the battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Polls have shown Obama leading Clinton in Mississippi. Thirty-three delegates are at stake.
And all the latest campaign news is available, as always, at your fingertips. All you have to do is go to CNNPolitics.com, plus analysis from the best political team on television. That, and so much more, CNNPolitics.com.
LEMON: OK. So here's a $5,500 per hour question. What was governor Spitzer thinking? What is any powerful man thinking when he takes a risk like the one that he allegedly took? We'll talk with a psychiatrist who is the author of "Anatomy of a Secret Life."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Eliot Spitzer still the governor of New York, at least at the moment. Aides to both Spitzer and Lieutenant Governor, David Paterson, tell CNN that transition talks are under way.
Spitzer, of course, has been caught up in a high-end prostitution ring. He hasn't been charged with any crime and we haven't heard directly from the governor since he apologized to his family and the public yesterday with no further explanation. Politicians behaving badly. Eliot Spitzer has lots of company in that small but memorable subset of public officials who cross the line. Well-known religious figures have been tipped up too -- tripped up, too, but we doubt that's any consolation.
CNN's Erica Hill takes a look back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. ELIOT SPITZER (D), NEW YORK: I want to briefly address a private matter.
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's too early to tell if Eliot Spitzer's political career, one he spent years building, is over. What we do know is we've seen this before.
SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: Please let me apologize.
HILL: Idaho senator, Larry Craig, was a champion of family values, until he was arrested for alleged lewd conduct in an airport bathroom.
CRAIG: Did I slide them too close to yours? Did I -- I looked down once, your foot was close to mine.
HILL: Craig, who insists he's innocent, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. Just another figure to fall from grace. It happens in all levels of government. People of honor, men of power allegedly exposed.
QUESTION: Have you ever committed adultery?
GARY HART, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do not have to answer that question.
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I did not have sexual relations with that woman.
HILL: That's former D.C. Mayor, Marion Berry, who was caught smoking crack. Never mind the fact they should all know better. Why do they think they can get away with it? And it's the hypocrisy that's often the most disturbing.
Remember Mark Foley? The Florida Congressman made a name for himself working to protect kids and teens from sexual predators online, only to step down after suggestive text messages he sent to a former teenage page were published.
But it's not just politicians who find trouble...
JIMMY SWAGGART, TELEVANGELIST: I have sinned against you, my lord.
HILL: The Reverend Jimmy Swaggart preached morality. So did Jim Bakker. While one was committing adultery, and the other, seeing a prostitute. The most recent scandal from the pulpit, the Reverend Ted Haggard.
TED HAGGARD, EVANGELIST: I called him to buy some meth.
HILL: When the leader of one of the largest evangelical churches in the country said he was guilty of sexual immorality and admitted to buying drugs and getting a massage from a male escort, no one was laughing, especially not at home.
JIM MCGREEVY, FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: Shamefully, I engaged in an adult consensual affair with another man.
HILL: With his wife at his side, former New Jersey governor, James McGreevey, told the world a secret he'd kept from her.
MCGREEVY: It was foolish; it was inexcusable. And for this, I ask for forgiveness.
HILL: Forgiveness many have asked for. On Monday, it was Spitzer's turn.
SPITZER: I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family.
HILL: And that is the trust that may be the most difficult and the most important to win back.
Erica Hill, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right, so Eliot Spitzer definitely wasn't the first. He's not going to be the last. So, what on Earth are these people thinking? Gail Saltz is professor of psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital and she wrote a book called, "Anatomy of a Secret Life."
Gail, this is becoming consistent, kind of like a consistent deja vu.
DR. GAIL SALTZ, AUTHOR, "ANATOMY OF A SECRET LIFE": You know, basically all people, all humans, have secrets. They have urges, they have desires. The problem is that for the people for whom the surge really bubbling up and is quite intense, and their morality is such that it's in great conflict in their mind, and they need to sort of do whatever they can to suppress it, they need --
NGUYEN: But, Gail, these are people who have it all. Look at Eliot Spitzer. This is a man from the outside, he looks like he has it all.
SALTZ: Having it all has nothing to do with intrapsychic conflict. If you are very conflicted about some urge you have that is morally reprehensible to you, you may do the exact opposite to try to ward it off. You may become basically the -- the best man, the crusader, the person who is going to stop all the --
NGUYEN: So you become what you're fighting against?
SALTZ: It is your own thought that you're fighting against, really. And that's what you -- when you say well, why in the world would someone do this? Because, basically, as long as those thoughts are not dealt with, as long as they stay unconscious and secret, they have the power to make you act in certain ways. They can really alter your behavior, if you will, because they have been unexamined. And that's --
NGUYEN: Well, is it also a power thing? Is it a mentality that, you know what, I can get away with anything?
SALTZ: You know, that's not possible to say without actually asking the person. But I will say that, obviously, we see a pattern of people who both have the urge and have created positions for themselves where they may question whether the rules really apply to them or whether they may not get caught if they break them.
NGUYEN: Yes, because if you look at the affidavit, it indicates that Spitzer had used this service before. We don't know how many occasions, but it does say that. But, you know, it's one thing to have an affair with someone that you're in a relationship with --
SALTZ: Correct.
NGUYEN: -- But this is with a prostitute. There are legal implications. Could it possibly be part of Spitzer that maybe he wanted to get caught?
SALTZ: I would tell you that invariably, in all these people that you're discussing, who get caught, yes, there's a part of them that knows that the thoughts they have are, "bad," and that they, therefore, feel guilty, and so they take greater and greater risks because some piece of them wants to be punished and therefore wants to be caught.
NGUYEN: All right. As we look at this picture of his wife, Silda, standing next to him -- a lot of people watching that just really feeling for what she has to be going through.
But here's what I found interesting. As we're reading what went on, reports say that Silda was among those who told Spitzer, don't resign in hate. I mean, is this a woman with extreme emotional discipline or is she just in shock?
SALTZ: You know, again, without having a conversation with her, one can't really know that. You can only imagine that for any woman who has been betrayed, it's horrendous. To be betrayed on center stage, under a microscope, with every aspect revealed is -- has obviously got to be very humiliating, and, worse yet to, have three daughters, whom you can't protect from this information has got to be, for any mother, completely devastating.
NGUYEN: Well, and a lot of people will say that's exactly why she stood there, for her children.
SALTZ: And --
NGUYEN: Gail Saltz, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Thanks for your time today.
SALTZ: Pleasure.
NGUYEN: Many a Hollywood wife has stood there behind her man, by her man, in situations like the Spitzers, so why do they do it? "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" has the answers that will surprise you. It's TV's most provocative entertainment news show tonight at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN "Headline News."
LEMON: A briefing from Iraq. General David Petraeus talks to our Kyra Phillips about the state of the surge.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Two attacks mark the deadliest day in six months for U.S. troops. Three soldiers were killed late yesterday by a roadside bomb in Diyala Province north of Baghdad.
Earlier in the day, five soldiers on foot patrol in Baghdad were killed when a suicide bomber approached them and detonated his vest. The attacks bring the total number of American military deaths in Iraq since the war began five years ago to 3,983.
Another grisly discovery outside Baghdad. Iraqi police say they found a grave containing 20 bodies near Samarra. They believe the victims were kidnapped a couple of months ago by al Qaeda militants.
And more violence to the south. At least 16 people are reported killed, after a roadside bomb exploded by a passenger bus. Twenty-two other people were wounded.
NGUYEN: On special assignment in Iraq, take a look, there she is. Our own Kyra Phillips in her protective gear in the company of the U.S. military commander there. She and General David Petraeus talked about the status of what the Pentagon calls the "troop surge."
And Kyra joins us now live from Baghdad. Kyra, what did the general have to say about that?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we talked a little bit about everything. Let's take you right to the video from Bayji, Iraq, one of the most complex areas in Iraq. We went into the battlefields, talked about a number of struggles that the general and his commanders are dealing with right now, Betty, police corruption, criminal activity, the rise in the Baathist party, trying to get tribes to hold elections in former provincial governments. Also, trying to get farmers going again so they can bring money into their own areas.
It's amazing and overwhelming the responsibilities they're taking on. However, within all those challenges, there is something that is working, and that's the CLCs, Concerned Local Citizens, otherwise known as Sons of Iraq. These are the men in the tribes who are working as terrorists, but are now working with U.S. and Iraqi troops to fight the terrorists.
And I had a chance to talk to some men (ph) on the battlefield. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: What's so important about these CLCs?
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, U.S. COMMANDER IN IRAQ: Well, that they are taking a stand and they're contributing to security in their areas and they have the opportunity and the desire to do that. And it's made a big difference.
PHILLIPS: So, these are the members of the tribes that are deciding to protect the area and work with you?
PETRAEUS: They are, they are and to work with the Jashal (ph) Iraqi and the Sherta, with the Iraqi army and the police.
PHILLIPS: Do you speak English?
PETRAEUS: No.
PHILLIPS: No? Why are you doing this? Why are you joining the CLCs?
(voice-over): "Because we need people to walk in secure areas. I watch the streets, the stores. Before, people used to be attacked by insurgents. Now, it's getting safer, people are just trying to get back to normal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: I'll you one thing they also talked about, the CLCs, the Iraqi troops and General Petraeus: Iran. Big concern, of course, for all of them when I mentioned that country and the fact that that country continues to funnel weapons into the terrorists here, and I'll tell you when the president of Iran was here last week, he's not really somebody the general wanted to shake hands with.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Let me ask you, General, why didn't you meet with the president of Iran when he was here?
PETRAEUS: Well, first of all, I wasn't invited. Sadi (ph) did.
PHILLIPS: Would you have gone if you were invited?
PETRAEUS: Oh, gosh, I guess I'd probably ask Washington about that. I'm not sure that much meaningful would have come out of that other than perhaps an opportunity for them to use a photograph of a relatively meaningless encounter.
I mean, what we would like to do with Iran, of course, is sit down across the table and let's discuss, you know, the Iranians have pledged at the very highest levels to stop arming, training, funding and equipping and directing these special groups and these other militia extremist elements. Muqtada al-Sadr himself has declared a cease-fire.
And yet, it appears very clear that Iran does continue to send in the explosive reform projectiles, other weaponry and to continue to train these special groups' members and master trainers, as they're called, who are a very lethal accelerant as the term is used here in Iraq.
PHILLIPS: And as a general whose in charge of rebuilding this country, how did that make you feel that the Iranian president came here for two days and met with the government officials?
PETRAEUS: Well, again, you have to keep in mind that Iran and Iraq are inextricably linked. They are always going to be the neighbors to the east and west respectively. I think it is very understandable that senior Iraqi leaders should want to establish a constructive relationship with their neighbor in the east.
It's also understandable for them to say, as they did, we welcome Iranian religious tourists, we welcome Iranian investment money, we welcome their goods and services, but we don't welcome their bombs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: General Petraeus being quite diplomatic, Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, so let me ask you this, what differences have you noticed since being with General Petraeus this time last year? Because you spent some time with him last year and this time around this year. What are the differences that you've seen?
PHILLIPS: Bottom line, the death toll. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: You and I were together this same time last year. What do you think has changed the most since the last time we talked and walked the streets?
PETRAEUS: Well, the level of violence has obviously come down dramatically. You'll recall that I think that month or the month before, there was something like 42 car bombs in Baghdad.
PHILLIPS: Right.
PETRAEUS: The level of civilian deaths was very, very high. Just everything, it was fairly bleak in a number of different areas.
PHILLIPS: And deaths are down, but it's still extremely dangerous in Baghdad. I mean, you've seen what I've had to go through just to do a story on the school for the blind or a TV show about Iraqi kids.
PETRAEUS: Well, no one says that this is a, "acceptable" level of violence. What we have all said is that it is dramatically reduced from what was a situation that was on the verge of civil war.
So, again, everyone recognizes that there's a lot more work to be done. I've said repeatedly, there's nobody doing victory dances in the end zone over the situation at present. On the other hand, everybody ought to be very proud of what our troopers and our Iraqi counterparts have accomplished during that year.
PHILLIPS: Do you think Iraq is out of the woods with regard to a civil war?
PETRAEUS: No, I mean, Iraq is, again, has stepped back from that. They've made enormous progress. But having said that, there still is clearly a lot of work to be done to cement the gains, to build on them, to capitalize on the momentum and to come to grips with the big national issues that are required for true reconciliation to take place between Sunni and Shia and Kurds and Arabs and so forth.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And you heard the general right there: no one's doing the victory dance in the end zone yet. He said clearly, there's a lot of work to be done. Case in point, eight U.S. soldiers lost their lives on foot patrol in Baghdad yesterday -- Betty?
NGUYEN: Absolutely, CNN's Kyra Phillips joining us live from Baghdad. We do appreciate it.
LEMON: Sex, money, power, morals, politics. The Eliot Spitzer sex scandal has it all, and we're following the fall-out all afternoon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Coming up on the top of the hour and we want to get you straight to the news room and CNN's T.J. Holmes who is working a developing story. What do you have, T.J.?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Just want to bring you a picture out of Tacoma, Washington right now, where they got a mess going on the highway out there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxantshop.com
