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American Morning

Spitzer Sex Scandal; Gas and Oil Prices Hit Record Highs; Your Alzheimer's Risk: When Both Parents Have It

Aired March 11, 2008 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, early bird.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Three, two, one, zero, and liftoff of "Endeavour."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: A majestic early morning launch lighting up the sky on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Would have stayed up for that, but I fell asleep.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: I wish you could have.

CHETRY: Exactly. Eventually, a lot of people are feeling that way this morning. In fact, we're covering the latest of a sex scandal that's been rocking not only the state of New York but also the nation, after this news broke about Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York late yesterday afternoon.

ROBERTS: Some really amazing stuff. We'll have that for you in just a second.

But first of all, breaking news this morning. You are waking up to an even more expensive world today, breaking news as oil for the first time cracks $109 a barrel. Every day it seems it's a record. Gasoline prices in some parts of the U.S. are already flirting with $5 a gallon, and your dollar is worth less this morning, too.

Our Ali Velshi at our business update desk with all of that for us. Good morning, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Hard to keep up. I've got the barrel down here at $109.14. We've been watching oil going up all morning. In fact, since I put that number on there, it's gone up to $109.20. This march is just continuing higher and it as, as you just said, affecting the price that we pay for gasoline. Gasoline is not even caught up to the increases in oil that we've seen over the last 10 days or so.

Take a look at what the AAA is saying that we are paying for gasoline now, $3.227. That's the highest price we've ever paid. We matched that number last May, I think May 24th is when we got that number. There are some surveys out there that actually say the average price is higher than that. The highest price for gasoline right now is about $3.60 on average in Hawaii, $3.58 in California. Lowest price is in New Jersey, about $3 even. But we're keeping an eye on gas prices and oil prices. Right now, new records for oil -- John.

ROBERTS: All right, don't like to hear that. Ali for us this morning. Ali Velshi, thanks -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, this morning, New York's governor is under growing pressure to quit over a sex scandal that has rocked the nation. Eliot Spitzer led a nine-year crusade to clean up New York and now one of the most feared prosecutors of the past decade has had to hire his own high-powered New York City legal team after he's been linked to a prostitution ring.

Now, according to "The New York Times" which first broke this story yesterday, it was Eliot Spitzer's own suspicious bank transactions that ended up blowing this case wide open. CNN is working to confirm the allegations in "The Times" story, and we're covering all angles of the developing story this morning.

Our Jason Carroll has new details in the investigation. CNN contributor and "New York Daily News" columnist Errol Louis will be joining us at 7:15. His wife worked for the governor. Also, Wayne Barrett, the senior editor of "The Village Voice" has covered Spitzer for 10 years. And our own Sunny Hostin is standing by on the legal troubles and possible prison time.

First, though, to Jason Carroll, who joins us here in New York this morning with more on exactly how this case came about. Good morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And obviously, Kiran, the big question now becomes one of the big questions, will he resign? So we're still waiting to hear about that. Prosecutors still have not commented on their case against Spitzer. A source close to the investigation says Spitzer's lawyers may be soon questioning him about how Spitzer allegedly paid for the encounter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. ELIOT SPITZER (D), NEW YORK: I will support the Constitution of the United States ...

CARROLL (voice-over): It was one of his proudest moments, January 2007, Eliot Spitzer stood with his wife at his side as he was sworn in as New York's 54th governor. A little more than a year later, Spitzer's wife Silda was at his side again for the most shameful moment of Spitzer's political career.

SPITZER: I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family and that violates my or any sense of right and wrong.

CARROLL: Spitzer read a prepared statement answering no questions about allegations he was involved in a prostitution ring. SPITZER: I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public whom I promised better.

CARROLL: The affidavit alleges the prostitution ring operated under the name of Emperors Club VIP. Source with knowledge of the investigation says Spitzer is called "Client Number Nine" in the court document. The document states Client Number Nine arranged for a prostitute named Kristen, to travel from New York City to Washington, D.C. Client Nine said he would pay for everything, train tickets, cab fair from the hotel and back, mini bar or room service, travel time and hotel.

When asked about payment, Client Nine said, "Yup, same as in the past. No question about it." According to a source with knowledge of the investigation, the two met at The Mayflower hotel in Washington. And when Client Nine wanted a reminder of what Kristen looked like, he was told she was American, petite, very pretty brunette, 5 feet 5 inches, and 105 pounds. That encounter took about two hours on February 13th, the day before Valentine's Day.

When her co-worker asked if Client Nine "would ask to you do things that you may not think were safe," Kristen replied, "I have a way with dealing with that. I'd be like listen dude, do you really want the sex?" The investigation is based on electronic communications, e-mails and bank records.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: Already, calls for Spitzer's resignation are coming in from a number of state politicians. The Republican Governor's Association says Spitzer should submit his resignation immediately. And you remember yesterday in his statement, Spitzer basically said he would be getting back to us in short order. It makes you wonder what exactly he's going to be saying in that next public statement.

CHETRY: And when, and what's going on behind the scenes?

CARROLL: Yes.

CHETRY: So we're going to continue to follow that all morning. Thanks a lot, Jason.

ROBERTS: Jason, thanks.

So what happens if Eliot Spitzer resigns? Under New York state law, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson would automatically become New York's governor for the rest of Spitzer's term, which doesn't run out until December 31st 2010. So three years left to go. There's no provision for a special election in New York State. Paterson, by the way, is legally blind and would be the first African-American governor of New York, only the fourth in U.S. history.

So will Spitzer stay or will he go? He's under growing pressure to quit this morning. But some political strategists are warning against a rush to judgment. Democratic strategist James Carville told John King who is in for Larry King last night, that Spitzer could survive politically if the scandal is just about sex.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: If it's just a case of he meeting with this woman in a Washington hotel -- I smell a rat here. He has a lot of enemies. Again, it's got to be more to just the fact that he met with a prostitute.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: That was not with John King last night in Larry King. That was with Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Carville also said that he would not be surprised if the Spitzer scandal is politically motivated.

New Jersey's former first lady, Dina Matos McGreevey also spoke with John King last night about the Spitzer sex scandal. Back in 2004, her husband, Governor Jim McGreevey, resigned after admitting an affair with a male political aide. He also publicly declared himself a "gay American." The former first lady she knows what Spitzer's wife is going through.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DINA MATOS MCGREEVEY, FORMER NEW JERSEY FIRST LADY: My heart just broke for her because I know exactly how she's feeling. It's always difficult to learn that, you know, the person you love has betrayed your trust, but it's, you know, hundreds -- that the difficulty is increased tremendously when you have to face it in such a public manner. And, you know, she's ridiculed and shamed in front of, you know, virtually the entire world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: McGreevey says her husband's decision to stay in office for months after the story broke was extremely difficult for their family.

And now, Governor Eliot Spitzer could face the same firing squad that he established while busting similar prostitution rings as the attorney general for the state of New York. Coming up, a look at the politician who liked to describe himself as "a steamroller." And we'll speak with reporters who covered him here in New York -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, turning now to the race for the White House and the polls in Mississippi open in less than an hour. They're going to stay open until 8:00 Eastern tonight. Thirty-three delegates at stake for the Democrats, 36 for the Republicans, even though John McCain is already the presumptive nominee for the Republicans.

Both Democratic candidates though will be watching the Mississippi primary from hundreds of miles away. Senators Clinton and Obama are campaigning in Pennsylvania this morning, trying to get a head start on that delegate-rich state. They are voting April 22nd in the primary; 158 delegates are up for grabs there. Clinton will rally in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and Obama will stump 25 in Fairless Hills, about 23 miles northeast of Philly.

ROBERTS: Reverend Al Sharpton is in Florida laying the groundwork for a possible lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee. The issue -- whether the delegates from the state will be seated at the Democratic Convention because the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is so close. Sharpton says it's unfair to do that. The civil rights leader is collecting signatures from people who say they skipped the January primary because they thought their votes would not count. Florida and Michigan were stripped of their delegates after the two states moved up their primaries violating party rules.

Meanwhile, for presumptive GOP nominee John McCain, it's all about the money. The Arizona senator is on a week-long fund-raising blitz. This morning, he has two stops planned in St. Louis. Then, he heads to New York City where is he expected to meet with more supporters.

And stay with CNN for unmatched political coverage of the Mississippi primary throughout the day. Join us for the CNN "BALLOT BOWL" today at noon Eastern. Then, we'll have all the results tonight on "ELECTION CENTER" from 8:00 until 10:00 Eastern -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Meanwhile, our Alina Cho is here now with some other stories new this morning, including some breaking news out of Pakistan.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that's right, Kiran, John, good morning. We're watching that very closely. Good morning, everybody.

A series of deadly bombings in Pakistan. Police say there were three explosions in all. At least 20 people were killed, 50 others were injured. The bombing happened in the eastern city of Lahore. Police say two of the bombers targeted a Federal Investigation Agency building. Now, that's Pakistan's equivalent of the FBI. So far, no one has claimed responsibility.

A rare overnight launch of the space shuttle "Endeavour." Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Four, three, two, one, zero, and liftoff of "Endeavour," going where east and west do meet at the International Space Station.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Never get tired of seeing that. The seven-member crew roared into orbit at 2:28 this morning, while most of us were sleeping. The astronauts are now headed to the International Space Station to drop off a storage module, and a two-armed robot to help cut down on spacewalks. This is only the second nighttime launch since the shuttle "Columbia" disaster. Madonna has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Singer Justin Timberlake presented the honor last night in New York. Madonna didn't perform, but she did give a very long acceptance speech, thanking just about everyone, including her critics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MADONNA, SINGER: And even the naysayers, the ones who said that I was talentless, that I was chubby, that I couldn't sing, that I was a one-hit wonder, they helped me, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: That's great. Now, besides Madonna, John Mellencamp, the Dave Clark Five and the Ventures were also inducted.

CHETRY: She has the best biceps.

CHO: Oh, yes.

CHETRY: Out of all of them.

CHO: That's the yoga. That's the yoga.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: I would never put chubby Madonna ...

CHO: She used to be chubby. But look in this story, guys.

CHETRY: Alina!

CHO: Well, I'm sorry. She did back in the early American bandstand days. All right.

Finally, his dream to play for the New York Yankees will soon be a reality. Comedian and life-long Yankee fan Billy Crystal actually has signed a Minor League contract, but it's just for one spring training game with the Bronx Bombers. He's going to suit up for Thursday's exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He's usually in the stands and has good seats. This is all going to happen, by the way, the day before he turns 60-years-old. And 60 will also be the number on his jersey.

CHETRY: Good for him.

CHO: Yes. I mean, he's been a fan forever. He goes to all the games, or a lot of them.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: That's right. He's going to put Ali's hotdogs.

CHO: Can you imagine how nervous he must be? I mean, can you imagine?

ROBERTS: 60 is the new 30.

CHO: That's right.

CHETRY: It sure is. Thanks, Alina.

CHO: You bet.

CHETRY: Well, Mayflower confidential inside the hotel room where Governor Spitzer allegedly met with a prostitute. We have some of the first pictures of that hotel coming up.

Also, who did client number nine register as? What name was he under at The Mayflower hotel? The governor's reported alias as well ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Fifteen minutes after the hour. Rob Marciano at the weather update desk tracking extreme weather. Not a great day in the Pacific Northwest. What else is in store today, Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We got some action down across the south, John. Good morning, everybody. The Gulf of Mexico saw some action yesterday. Southeast Texas, Corpus Christi folks may be doing some spring breaking down there. There were some rough weather with 68 mile-an-hour winds and a couple of tornadoes stretching down across the southeast corner of the state. That energy has now moved off to the east. Let's show you where it is on the radar picture here.

Eastern Louisiana, much of Mississippi and now stretching into Alabama, some rain heavy at times but the trough or the metro areas of New Orleans through Mandeville and through Picayune, this line of thunderstorms is pretty strong and moving fairly quickly due east. Heavy rains and gusty winds with this may be a little bit of hail in spots. No warnings posted for this as of yet.

A more steady rains into Hattiesburg, just to the east of Jacksonville, this will probably dry up a little bit as it heads towards Georgia. And also, drying up is some moisture that moved in through the tri-state area of New York. South towards Philly, warming up for rain. New York warmer, cold enough for snow but not just a whole lot of moisture. Any snow that does fall will be across extreme Upstate New York later on today.

John mentioned the Pacific Northwest. We got 22 to 26-footers rolling into the Oregon and Washington coastline. High surf warnings are posted through this afternoon. That's dangerous ocean movement, even if you're just hanging out on the beach or the headlands or watching those waves roll in, they can easily crash up without much notice and sweep you away. So pretty potent storm heading into British Columbia this afternoon.

John, back up to you.

ROBERTS: Yes. A lot of dangerous rip currents as well. So anybody trying to get out there and surf those waters needs to be careful as well. Tragedy over the weekend as a result of that. Rob, thanks. We'll check back with you.

MARCIANO: Yes.

ROBERTS: Kiran?

CHETRY: Some brand new pictures this morning of the room where all of this scandal reportedly happened. They were taken by "The Washington Examiner" newspaper. According to the paper, they showed the room, 871, in The Mayflower hotel in Washington where Governor Spitzer allegedly met with a prostitute known as Kristen.

Well, now, "The New York Times" is reporting that client nine booked his Washington hotel room under the name George Fox. The paper says the real George Fox is actually one of Governor Spitzer's campaign contributors. "The Times" contacted the real Mr. Fox and asked him if he was in Washington on February 13th. His quote, "Why would you think that? I did not."

So now that Governor Spitzer has been linked to a prostitution ring, the one-time crusader of corruption now finds himself going from a political watchdog to the doghouse. Joining us now with more is CNN contributor and "New York Daily News" columnist, Errol Louis, whose wife worked for the governor for years. And Wayne Barrett, senior editor of "The Village Voice" covered Governor Spitzer for a decade now. Thanks to both of you for being with us.

First of all, Errol, you know, as we said, your wife worked with Governor Spitzer. What does the reaction, I guess, in your household yesterday when this news happened?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, yes. My wife, Juanita Scarlett, was his press secretary for eight years, when he was attorney general, so through all of the Wall Street corruption cases and some of those. We're just devastated. It's not easy to hear from friends, and they do become friends after they're your co-workers for her, to hear about folks who, you know, uprooted and moved to Albany to try and be part of what was believed to be an important reform administration and to watch it really just kind of implode, barely 14 months after taking office.

CHETRY: You know, Wayne, I'm sure that you, as well as many others who covered Governor Spitzer, have noted the irony in this situation. I mean, when he was the attorney general in New York, he prosecuted cases. He prosecuted prostitution rings. He also prosecuted Wall Street cases where e-mails were so essential.

WAYNE BARRETT, THE VILLAGE VOICE: Right.

CHETRY: And it just begs the question, how could you be so reckless if this reporting is in fact the true story?

BARRETT: Power is an aphrodisiac. We've certainly seen that even with presidents. And Eliot just, I just think he lost all sense. This apparently started sometime in the middle of 2007, which was a particularly bad year for him politically. He was under constant assault, and I mean, there's absolutely no excuse for it but presumably, there's some connection between the difficulty that he was experiencing in his first year as governor.

I thought he had a remarkably good year in many ways because he took on the Republicans, and he looked like he was winning that struggle with the Republicans. Just on the eve of the break of this case, he won a Senate seat upstate that the Republicans had held since 1880, and he was within one seat of taking the Senate away from the Republicans here in this state. And so, he achieved some remarkable things. I think it's all going to come to naught in a matter of days.

CHETRY: What happens now politically? Can he hang on to his governorship?

BARRETT: I just don't see how he can. I think basically resignation is the one negotiating chip that he has. It isn't much of a chip that he brings to the negotiations with the federal prosecutors in this "I'll resign if I don't get indicted, or if I'm indicted on minor charges." I think this is a negotiating play. I think he intended to resign yesterday and have had second thoughts about it.

CHETRY: And Errol, knowing him the way your family does, why do you think that happened yesterday? When we heard the press conference for about one minute, and he said I'll be getting back to you in short order. Why didn't we hear a resignation yesterday?

LOUIS: Well, many of the rumors that were flying around the capitol held that he had, in fact, signed the paperwork and that there were just some technical matters about getting the lieutenant governor together and sort of conducting the ceremony and transferring power in an orderly way as early as this morning.

I think what really has happened since then is that the news broke that this wasn't just him getting caught up in an existing investigation of a prostitution ring, but that the entire investigation was about him and about moving money in ways that looked suspicious and alerted the Feds.

CHETRY: Right.

LOUIS: And so, now it's really more of a money laundering case in some ways than a prostitution case.

CHETRY: Wayne, when do you think that this all came to pass, because of his hardball reputation in the past, apparently it was the bank that's being reported that alerted the Feds to these suspicious transactions?

BARRETT: Yes, I mean, you know, it doesn't exactly have a friendly face in the attorney general's office. I mean the United States attorney general is Mike Mukasey who comes from New York, who has been closely identified with Rudy Giuliani for a lot of his public life. And Rudy Giuliani and Eliot Spitzer hated each other and the relationships here are not helpful. I mean, there are so many people on Wall Street who hated, hated Eliot Spitzer, all of whom had connections, Dick Grasso of the Stock Exchange, Ken Langone. I mean, Jack Welch, the head of General Electric, at one point bumps into Eliot Spitzer at the Democratic National Convention. He's a close friend of Ken Langone who was the head of Home Depot. And Spitzer says to him, I'm going to put a spike through his heart. And these are the kinds of relationships that can come back to bite you. These are very powerful people.

CHETRY: And perhaps he's feeling that firsthand today. Well, I want to thank both of you for your insight and perspective. Thanks for being with us, Errol Louis, as well as Wayne Barrett -- John.

ROBERTS: So what do you think? We're asking you this morning in our "Quick Vote" question, should Governor Spitzer resign? Right now, well, not much question where people's sentiments are. Seventy-three percent of you say yes. Twenty-seven percent say no. Cast your vote at CNN.com/am. We'll continue to tally your votes throughout the morning.

Gauging the risk of Alzheimer's disease. If both of your parents have it, what does that mean for you? We're paging our Dr. Gupta about a new study.

Good morning, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, John. That is the question we get all the time. Is there a genetic component to Alzheimer's? And if so, how strong is it? We've got some very interesting information to share, John. It's coming straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-five minutes after the hour. There is new research out this morning about Alzheimer's, and the risk for children if both parents have been diagnosed with it. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at our medical update desk in Atlanta. What did the studies found, Sanjay?

GUPTA: Well, John, we've noted for some time there is a genetic component to Alzheimer's. It's been hard to quantify exactly how strong that component is, but it's been known for sometime. The question that these researchers wanted to answer was, listen, if both parents have Alzheimer's, how strong is your risk then? Take a look at the numbers here.

This is a small study about 111 families, but they found out around age 60, after age 60, if both parents had Alzheimer's, you had about a 30 percent chance of developing it yourself, after age 70, about 42 percent. Now, again, rough numbers. If another family member was also affected, John, then your risk didn't go up but the chance of developing it earlier did go up.

As most people know, Alzheimer's is a progressive disease. It's a neurodegenerative disease, basically characterized by the formation of plaque, these neurofibrillary plaques entangles in the brain. They deposit in various areas of the brain and subsequently can rob someone of their memory and their cognition to sound extent as well. The number of people with Alzheimer's disease doubles every five years beyond the age of 65, John, so the numbers are definitely increasing. A lot of interest, a lot of research in this particular area.

ROBERTS: So a lot of people are asking the question this morning then, Sanjay, is there any way that I can quantify my own risk? And if I am at high risk, what can I do to try to prevent the onset of the disease?

GUPTA: Right. So, first question about quantifying the risk, one thing that's important when you look at studies like this is not to say, OK, now, I know I have a 30 percent chance of developing it. This doesn't mean that at all. It doesn't mean that you're necessarily doomed if both your parents have Alzheimer's. It does mean that you have a higher risk, and that's something obviously to keep in mind. It may lead to earlier screenings.

As far as the second part of your question, what can you do about it? John, there's no cure specifically for Alzheimer's. There are medications, for example, that can be taken in the early stages. There's at least one medication that can be taken in the later stages.

There have been some studies that have looked at ways of preventing Alzheimer's in terms of everything from doing cognitive exercises in the form of crossword puzzles to actual physical exercise. Simply walking 20 minutes a day three times a week has been shown to have some benefit. But again, as the numbers increase, more and more research in this particular area. No cure as things stand now.

ROBERTS: Sanjay, thanks very much.

GUPTA: All right, thanks.

CHETRY: Still ahead, Hillary Clinton weighs in on the scandal surrounding New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Could it affect her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Well, we're going to have that story and today's headlines when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: The sun is coming up over New York City this morning, where it's partly cloudy, 36 degrees right now, going to a high of 47, still not quite spring. Expected to be reasonably sunny today so it should be a nice day in the city.

Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks very much for joining us. All kinds of news this morning including, of course, today's Mississippi primary for both the democrats and the republicans. Moot point with the republicans but certainly some news being made today on the democratic side.

CHETRY: Yes. And well, it may be sunny in New York there's certainly a cloud of scandal this morning. New details come out in the sex scandal that could bring down New York's governor. Eliot Spitzer addressed the press yesterday, saying that he betrayed his family, didn't give any details on how.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPITZER: I've disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: We're waiting to see if Spitzer makes it through the day. Jason Carroll is here with us again with more of the growing calls on the governor to step down. While he may not have provided many details there are details coming out in this affidavit, shedding some light on exactly what was going on.

CARROLL: Lots of detail, lots of embarrassing details. And obviously, one of the big question is what is Spitzer going to do next. Will he step down? There have been many calls for Eliot Spitzer to resign.

The New York Governor's Association says the governor should step down immediately, saying it would allow the people of New York to pursue honest leadership, adding, "the American people are tired of corrupt and hypocritical politicians." The state's assembly minority leader also says it's time for Spitzer to go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES TEDISCO, NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY: If he is involved in something like this, the ethics of it and the fact that he made that a cornerstone of his gubernatorial efforts in becoming the chief administrator and I think no question, that he is involved and I'm not saying he is, because we don't know all of the facts, I would say he has to resign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: No word from Spitzer on whether he will resign. There are reports that he has been discussing the possibility with his aides. The "New York Times" is also reporting his wife told her husband he should not resign in haste.

CHETRY: Wow, that will be interesting to ...

CARROLL: She's standing by him.

CHETRY: ...to see what happens today with that, and also more details coming out about exactly what was in the affidavit.

CARROLL: Absolutely. As we read through this 47-page affidavit there are just more details about this client number nine. Remember, Spitzer is not named in this affidavit but a source close to the investigation says that he is, in fact, this client number nine and there are a lot of embarrassing details in there about how this client number nine allegedly made arrangements for this prostitute to go from New York to Washington and meet him for this elicit encounter in this Washington, D.C. hotel.

CHETRY: And that could raise some troubles when it comes to the man act, which is a federal law against being able to transport people for the purpose of prostitution state to state.

CARROLL: And also, problematic here possibly the money, where did the money come from, what account did it go into, how was this paid for? All of these things are some of the problems that could be out there for Spitzer in the next coming days and weeks.

CHETRY: All right. Jason Carroll, thank you.

ROBERTS: He made his bones tracking down dirty money on Wall Street. And according to the "New York Times," which first broke the story yesterday, it was Eliot Spitzer's own suspicious money transactions that blew the case wide open.

The paper says it all started in a three-story IRS office across the street from a Dunkin' Donuts on Long Island. That's where investigators got their hands on questionable bank transactions. Before long they found out that Governor Spitzer was withdrawing thousands of dollars that ended up in the bank accounts of shell companies.

According to "The Times" report investigators thought bribery, maybe corruption was at play here, perhaps illegal campaign finance. They never thought that he was paying for sex until the IRS joined forces with the FBI and dug deeper. CNN is working to confirm the allegations included in the "Times" story.

And here is more of what the court documents reveal about Client Nine and the prostitute. Kristen, the woman's name is described as "American, petite, very pretty, brunette, 5'5", 105 pounds."

When asked about payment, Client Nine says, "Yep, same as in the past, no question about it." "Client Nine agrees to pay all expenses, including travel time, train tickets, cab fares, the hotel room, even mini bar and room service. Client Nine mailed in a deposit. He told -- he told that his balance is $2,721.41." He gives Kristin $4,300 with the understanding that the extra money would be held as credit to avoid having to send a deposit in the future.

CHETRY: A look now at the life and career of Eliot Spitzer. He is 48-years-old. He went to Princeton and then Harvard Law School. He's been married for more than 20 years and has three teenage daughters. Spitzer was elected as New York's attorney general back in 1999, where he prosecuted at least two prostitution rings during his tenure but became a national figure after fighting Wall Street corruption. In fact, "Time" magazine once called him the crusader of the year. He ran for governor back in 2006, won by a record margin, it's been something of a rocky road since. There was a scandal over a plot by his aides to smear a political rival and the unpopular plan to give driver licenses to illegal immigrants that Spitzer eventually backed away from.

The Spitzer scandal also making its way to the campaign trail. He's one of Hillary Clinton's superdelegates. Senator Clinton sidestepped questions about Spitzer's political future while campaigning in Pennsylvania yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't have any comment on that,but I obviously am sending, you know, my best wishes and thoughts to the governor and to his family. Let's wait and see what comes out over the next days, but right now I don't have any comment, and I think that it's appropriate just to wish his family well and we'll wait and see how things develop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Governor Spitzer would lose his superdelegate status of course if he resigns as governor.

ROBERTS: Thirty-seven minutes now after the hour. The next battlefront in the race for president opens in just half an hour from now when the polls open in Mississippi. Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley joins me now from Jackson, Mississippi.

Candy, Barack Obama expected to do very well down there, as many as 70 percent of voters are African-American and he's been winning those in most states, 80 percent to 90 percent.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. It is a state that Hillary Clinton hasn't given up on. She was down here campaigning over the weekend, her husband was here as well. One of the interesting things about the complicated way that Democrats apportion their delegates is they do it district by district, so if you win a certain district you get a certain amount of delegates.

So, it's one of the reasons that these candidates don't generally give up on a state, that they make some effort because the fact of the matter is when you look at the system and add in the fact that these two candidates are about 100 delegates apart in this nomination process, you can't afford to totally ignore any state, because you're going to pick up something and you want to get as big a chunk as you can and cut into your rival's base there.

ROBERTS: There's been some interesting back and forth between the candidates over the last couple of days regarding this idea of who would be the vice presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton suggesting that well, maybe she might take on Barack Obama, if she were the nominee, you get a two for one deal there. Barack Obama saying that Hillary Clinton is trying to hoodwink people into thinking that she's the front-runner.

Here's what he said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know how somebody who is in second place is offering the vice presidency for the person who is in first place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: People have been suggesting that he needs a stronger pushback, did we see that yesterday?

CROWLEY: Well we certainly saw a very strong pushback on this particular issue. It dominated the weekend talk shows. It was all over cable on the weekend, and the Obama camp wanted to get out there and say wait a second. What is all of this about, this is not something that we are a party to. You need to make a choice, because they sort of saw this whole VP talk as a way to undermine Obama as a way to woo those voters who are attracted to his campaign but may be a little worried about his resume.

So, they wanted to push back strongly on that and they did and they also took the opportunity to say. So one day, she's running a commercial against me saying that I'm not ready to pick up the red phone and the next day she is suggesting I could be a vice president, a heartbeat away. So, they kind of a two for one. So, there was strong pushback there.

Last night, he was here in Jackson. He did talk a lot about Hillary Clinton representing the old politics. It wasn't particularly new rhetoric, but it was more sustained rhetoric. There has been talk, as you say, since Ohio and Pennsylvania, that he really needs to push back very hard on some of her efforts to say he's not ready for the presidency in particular, that issue.

ROBERTS: Candy Crowley for us this morning in Jackson, Mississippi, where they've got the primary going on today. Candy, thanks very much.

Stay with CNN for unmatched political coverage of the Mississippi primary throughout the day. We'll have all the results tonight on the "Election Center," between 10:00, sorry 8:00 and 10:00 Eastern -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, our hands-free devices, are life savers for drivers? Well, you know, you're not allowed to talk on your cell phone unless you have one but the results of a new study might surprise you. What happens to your brain when you're on the phone that may have nothing to do with your hands. We're paging Dr. Gupta next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Breaking news this morning, oil cracks $109 a barrel for the first time. Our Ali Velshi, at the business update desk, is tracking the markets this morning. What's behind it all, Ali?

VELSHI: What's behind me is this barrel that I have to keep changing the numbers on. $109.20 is what we've hit this morning. Wow, those are some crazy numbers. There are a few things behind this. One of it -- one of the things is that there is some speculation, a lot of hedge funds investing in oil, and that's not directly related to supply and demand, which is what we're used to seeing in oil.

We have a lot of people telling us that oil should be nowhere near these prices. But there are a lot of people talking about the increase in demand from China and India which is really causing, you know, us to pay more for oil but nobody thinks it should be at these levels.

$109.10, let me see what that translate to in gasoline prices. We're looking at $3.227 now as a national average for unleaded self- serve gasoline in the United States. As high as $3.60 on average in Hawaii and around those prices in California, although some people have seen stations well above $4. One station $5. $3 about the average in New Jersey. There are a number of experts who are saying expect to see $3.50 and $3.75 for gasoline by spring.

At that point, once we hit those levels, demand should curtail enough that prices for gas would actually go down. We know that the refineries are operating at lower capacity than they have been for some time until gas prices actually catch up to these increases. So the bottom line is everyone who is betting on gas prices is betting that they're going up. That's what we're looking at right now, $109.20 for oil, almost $3.23 a gallon for gasoline -- John.

ROBERTS: All right, Ali Velshi for us this morning. Let's hope it doesn't go any higher today. Ali, thanks -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, we all know that driving while yapping on the cell phone is not a good idea. But what about if you're using a hands-free device? A new study says that they also give drivers a fall sense of safety. CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Atlanta.

You know, we talked about this before. You know, a lot of states say or cities say that you cannot drive holding your cell phone but it's OK as long as you have a hands-free device.

GUPTA: Yes. You know, it's interesting that scientists at Carnegie-Mellon think even the hands-free device may be a problem. On full disclosure, I use a hands-free device as well.

But the question was simply talking on the phone, simply paying attention to someone on the other end of the line, what does that do to you? What does it do to your ability to drive? They actually took 29 volunteers. They put them in the simulator, they're not actually driving a car but simulating that and had them carry on a conversation with a hands-free device.

Now, they got 92 percent of the questions being asked right, which is important because it meant they were focusing on the conversation, but they also did other things in the sense of weaving in and out of lanes, they actually, one person actually hit a guardrail. And this is something that scientists wanted to figure out what exactly was happening inside their brain when they were talking on the phone.

So, let me take you on a tour here, if you will, inside the brain, and give you a sense of what the brain looked like in someone who wasn't distracted versus distracted. Take a look. This is what it looks like driving without distraction, this is the parietal and occipital lobes back here that I'm circling. See how much orange is in there?

Now, when you're actually on the phone listening to the cell phone device there's about a 37 percent, about 40 percent less increase in activation over there and that's important because with less activation there was less attention, if you will, to the driving. That gives you a sense of what exactly was happening inside the brain when someone was on one of the hands-free devices -- Kiran.

CHETRY: It's very interesting because you see especially in Manhattan as well drivers through the city, you know, taxi drivers and drivers of car services have those Bluetooths in their ear constantly and everyone zipping down the road. The other thing, too, is that you have to actually dial the phone to make these calls and you're, of course, looking down when you do that. Really, I mean, even though these hands-free devices aren't going anywhere is there any way to make driving safer?

GUPTA: You bring up a good point. So, hands free versus an actual phone, both require some physical activity to dial or answer the phone, for example. The other thing is, you know, besides phones and a lot of people say look, there's been no decrease in the overall number of traffic accidents since some of these hands-free laws have come into place.

You got about 42,000 deaths every year still from traffic accidents, that number stayed about the same, but you do have a lot of people who do other things, Kiran, that require more physical activity, grooming themselves, for example, or eating while driving, those are obviously much more dangerous.

CHETRY: Well, all right, you know, as you said in full disclosure, you use one, too. It's modern age of getting things done, right?

GUPTA: Yes. You don't have a moment to spare when you have the conversations getting your work done, absolutely.

CHETRY: Sanjay, good to see you. Thanks.

GUPTA: All right. Kiran, thank you.

ROBERTS: With many people calling on him to step down, Eliot Spitzer be using his resignation to keep himself out of jail? We'll ask our legal analyst Sunny Hostin. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPITZER: I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family and that violates my or any sense of right and wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Could Eliot Spitzer use his resignation as a bargaining chip to stay out of jail? Joining us is AMERICAN MORNING's legal analyst Sunny Hostin. Before we get to that, we've been learning some more information about the paper trail here, the money trail.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Exactly. And people are really just talking about this very very much, instead of honing in on sort of the prostitution ring, what the government was really honing in on, was sort of the paper trail.

As you mentioned, what I've learned is that the bank, the Eliot Spitzer bank that filed a suspicious activity report with the IRS, and with the IRS's financial crimes enforcement network, and that is something that banks are really, really diligent with doing right now, post 9/11 because of terrorists who were sort of using banks to transfer money.

ROBERTS: So, you saw a lot of unusual withdrawals, substantial amounts of money?

HOSTIN: Substantial amounts of money, all under $10,000 and that really is a signal that you're trying to thwart federal reporting requirements and that's what started this entire investigation.

ROBERTS: Because bank transactions over $10,000 have to be reported.

HOSTIN: Exactly. And so we know that the prostitutes cost anywhere from $1,000 to $5,500. And so, then they saw this in his account they thought it was a public corruption scandal as opposed to a prostitution ring.

ROBERTS: We all talked about the political exposure that he has but what about the legal exposure, that there was an act written in 1910, passed in 1920 called the Man Act which prohibited the transportation of females across state lines for "immoral purposes."

And if we believe that Eliot Spitzer was Client Nine as he is suggesting to be in the complaint, here's what the complaint said, "Client Nine would be paying for everything, train tickets, cab fare from the hotel and back, mini bar, room service, travel time and the hotel." The allegation being that Client Nine paid for "Kristen," this prostitute, to travel from New York City to Washington across state lines, to service him sexually. So, would that be a violation of the Man Act? It certainly seems like it. HOSTIN: It absolutely is and I actually just got off the phone with a friend of mine, who is currently a federal prosecutor and she says to me, you know this rings all the federal bells. And there's no question this act was specifically written and targeted for transportation for a prohibited purpose.

And if you look at the affidavit it specifically says he's going to pay for tickets, he's going to pay for hotels, he's going to pay for a cab ride from the train station over to the hotel. There's just no question in my mind that that's the case here.

He's looking at that federal charge but I'm also very interested, John, in the money trail. Where did he get the money? Was it government funds? I'm not saying that and that there are no allegations but I'm certain that that's going to be part of the investigation, we're not only looking at the Man Act here.

ROBERTS: You know, we're talking about a lot of money on a public servant's salary and including this quote where it says, this is in a conversation with the person who is arranging this escort, says, "asked Client Nine whether he could give "Kristen" "extra funds" at this appointment in order to avoid payment issues in the future," and the amount of that money was said to be $4,300.

HOSTIN: Exactly.

ROBERTS: You're the governor of New York. You're making good money but even that $4,300 is a lot of money.

HOSTIN: It's a lot of money. It's significant and this Emperor's Club was just that, high-priced prostitutes, high-priced escorts. I'm very interested in finding out who were clients one through eight. And perhaps we'll learn more about that.

But these are moneyed men and Governor Spitzer, yes he lives on Fifth Avenue but he has been for the majority of his career a public servant, and so I think this is a very interesting angle, and I can't imagine. I can't imagine the federal prosecutors and investigators aren't looking into that.

ROBERTS: You know, there's other details coming out as well in a phone conversation between this prostitute, "Kristen" and the person who was, you know, booking her services, this woman named Lewis says "she had been told "he" would ask you to do things, like, you might not think were safe, you know, I mean that... very basic things. "Kristen" responded "I have a way of dealing with that. I'd be like listen, dude, you really want the sex?" Do we know what they're talking about here?

HOSTIN: It's been reported and again on a lot of the blogs and some folks that I've spoken to, saying that that means sex without protections, sex without a condom, and so they're talking about that sort of unsafe sex.

ROBERTS: Wow, this whole thing, I wonder where it's all going. Don't you? HOSTIN: It's really -- it's just fascinating that this person that prosecuted these types of rings would become a client.

ROBERTS: Yes, then you find out it's far more than just a political exposure here as well.

HOSTIN: That's absolutely true. Many people are talking about whether there is going to be a quid pro quo. I don't believe so. I don't think you can say I'm going to resign so please don't prosecute me.

ROBERTS: Yes, trading the governor's job for immunity from prosecution.

HOSTIN: Not going to happen.

ROBERTS: We'll see where this all goes. Sunny Hostin, as always, thanks.

HOSTIN: Thanks.

ROBERTS: Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, what do you think, we've been checking this morning's "Quick Vote." And we ask the question, should Governor Spitzer resign? Right now, 70 percent of you say yes, 30 percent of you say no. Actually it's changed a little bit, 73 percent now saying yes, 27 percent saying no. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We'll continue to tally your votes throughout the morning.

And hard-charging Spitzer has stepped on a lot of toes, probably can't expect a lot of sympathy in many circles. But in the next hour, we're going to talk to New York Republican Peter King, about whether Spitzer should stay or go. You're watching the most news in the morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Liar. New York's governor in a fight for his political life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPITZER: I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: The money. The wire taps and e-mails that led prosecutors to the scandal.

Going for gold ...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not running for vice president. I'm running for president of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Primary day live from Mississippi. The most politics in the morning.

Plus, early to rise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Three, two, one, and lift off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Endeavor beats the traffic to the International Space Station on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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