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New York Governor Eliot Spitzer Makes Resignation Announcement
Aired March 12, 2008 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: CNN of course will be there live, and bring it to you immediately. First, let's set the stage now. Jason Carroll is in New York, as is Wolf Blitzer. Mary Snow is at the state capitol in Albany, and attorney Paul Callaus joins us with his legal insights.
Wolf, we want to begin with you. Boy, this is certainly something that has really blown the minds of most of New York State.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's really been shocking, and I'm here in New York right now, Heidi, and there's no doubt that this is a fall from grace of stunning almost Greek tragedy proportions.
He was elected the governor back in 2006 with almost 70 percent of the popular vote. There were all sorts of suggestions. This was a guy who was on the fast track, maybe even one day for president of the United States, only 48 years old, a wife, three daughters, a graduate of the Harvard Law School, someone who was known as a very tough prosecutor when he was the attorney general of the state of New York. He seemed to have so much going for him, but then all of a sudden out of nowhere this bombshell over the past couple days has really stunned everyone, especially those, Heidi, who have known him as closely as they have, because almost all of them -- and we've spoken to a lot of people who have been very close to him over the years, including our own Jeff Toobin, who went to law school with him at Harvard many years ago. They say he is the last guy they would have expected to be caught up in a prostitution call ring. It's really a stunning fall from grace.
COLLINS: And you know Wolf, I think it's almost unanimous. I mean everyone that we have talked to on our program has said that same exact thing.
Let's talk for a moment about the political ramifications. I mean, the timing is really something, isn't it? I mean, we've got this heated presidential nomination, at least on the Democratic side, going on. We've got obviously the general election coming up. And now the biggest state, a state of incredible influence across this country, has this scandal going on. What does it mean for Democrats? What does it mean for Republicans on a national scale?
BLITZER: Well, I think, first of all, it means there's going to be greater cynicism among the American public toward the elected leadership, because there have been, unfortunately, several of these cases over the years, and it just reinforces that notion that these people who may be elected, most of them are honest and decent and well intentioned. There are some bad apples, as we all know, and this merely reinforces that notion, that feeling of cynicism. I suspect that's going to be out there.
In terms of the -- in terms of the presidential contest, the battle between John McCain and the Republican side and either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, I'm not sure it will necessarily have any long-term impact, depending how quickly this transition in New York state plays out, but the legal ramifications -- the legal ramifications are, will he be charged with any crime or will any of that be dismissed as a result of his decision to step down as governor of New York State. I think that remains to be seen. But I suspect the biggest problem will be merely reinforcing this element of cynicism out there that these politicians are basically no good.
COLLINS: Yeah. So Wolf, what happens next? I mean, when we see the governor resign, we get the lieutenant governor, Paterson, who will become the governor, obviously, how long does it take? I mean, we have seen this type of thing happen before. Obviously not with these details but an office disgrace and seen someone else take over. How long does it take for things to get back on track? We know the state of New York is working on a budget and many other items of business, if you will. It seems like it could take a while. But then again, everybody really wants to get the work done.
BLITZER: I think there's an enormous amount of goodwill towards the lieutenant governor, David Paterson, who's going to be the new governor and he will be the new governor until the next election, which will be in 2010. Based on everything I've heard from not only fellow Democrats of his but also from Republicans, including the Republican leadership -- you just heard Joe Bruno the Republican leader. I think they're going to want to work with him to try to move beyond this as quickly as possible for the good of the people of New York State, because this is not the kind of situation you want to see drag on.
As far as Spitzer personally is concerned, let's see if he faces any charges. If he doesn't, he's got a lot of problems simply just to deal with his own family, obviously.
COLLINS: No question about that. All right. Wolf Blitzer from "THE SITUATION ROOM" that you can watch later today here right on CNN. Thank you, Wolf.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get the very latest on this story and how it has played out over the last hour or so from our Jason Carroll. Jason is in New York as well.
Jason, don't you dare rush through this. Take your time. Obviously, at four minutes after the hour, 8:04 for our friends in the west, we are walking up to the 11:30 statement from the governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, and particularly for folks and our friends in the west, explain how we got here.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it really began for us on Monday. That's when it became clear that an affidavit had come out, Tony, linking the governor to a prostitution ring. He wasn't named in the affidavit. He was simply named as client number 9. Client number 9 was the man who arranged to have a woman, a prostitute, come from New York City to Washington, D.C.
So, some of these details are starting to emerge. Then all of a sudden Governor Spitzer makes a public statement on Monday where he apologizes to his family, he apologizes to the public for what he says. He says, I promised better. That was a quote from Monday. He didn't specifically refer to the affidavit, did not specifically refer to all of the allegations that were surfacing about his involvement with this prostitute and this prostitution ring, but as you can believe, shortly after that, all the calls started coming in for his resignation.
HARRIS: Yeah.
CARROLL: They came within minutes. They came within hours. In fact, a deadline was set. You have 48 hours to resign. Otherwise, we are going to start impeachment proceedings.
Then, Tony, the reports started coming in that perhaps what was going on is Governor Spitzer's attorneys were trying to work with prosecutors, trying to broker some sort of a deal that in some way he could try and save some sort of face, save face, in other words, he would not have to serve any jail time, maybe he would not have to plead to charges of a felony, maybe plead to a lesser charge of a misdemeanor.
HARRIS: Mm-hmm.
CARROLL: So, then all of those things were starting to operate.
Then we're hearing that his wife, Silda, was encouraging him not to resign in haste. And then we come to today, where we are now hearing that Governor Spitzer has met with his advisers, obviously he is he has consulted with his family, and he has decided at 11:30 to submit his resignation.
Unknown to us at this point Tony, what, if any, type of deal he was able to work out with prosecutors and when this resignation becomes effective. Tony?
HARRIS: And weren't we starting to get details -- you know, we talk act the drip, drip, drip of the story like this. Weren't we starting to get details of how much money perhaps the governor had spent over the years? Not a one-time thing here, but over the years on this type of activity. There was also the sense that there was more of that even to come.
CARROLL: Yes. And when you read through the affidavit, and I have read through this 47-page affidavit, one of the things that became clear was that client number 9 was identified in this affidavit had been to this service, this prostitution service, before, and, in fact, had indicated to one of the bookers that he had a $400 or a $500 credit that he wanted to apply to this new illicit encounter that he was about to have. Then another report comes out, Tony, that perhaps Governor Spitzer had spent as much as $80,000.
HARRIS: Yeah. CARROLL: Over a period of time. And at that point, things started to move very quickly, as you can imagine.
HARRIS: And I can imagine, you live there, so you know this better than I do, but I lived there for a few years, that the tabloids will continue to dig and dig and dig to find out more of the salacious details. And I've been describing it this morning as the governor being in the middle of this vice and all sides sort of with their hand on the handle and the vice has just been tightening. You describe a situation with the Republicans in the general assembly -- and cut me off anytime and jump in here, Jason -- pushing forward with plans to begin an impeachment process. And then it seems to me that there have been Democrats who have been working behind the scenes, perhaps, talking to the governor, to get this thing on, get it over with so they can move forward.
CARROLL: Let's start first, Democrats, Republicans, both sides, Governor Spitzer by all accounts did not have many friends but certainly had a number of enemies on both sides of the aisle.
So, in terms of trying to reach out for support -- look, when something like this happens, what do you do? You try to find out what you can do legally first. Then you try to find out politically, can I survive? It became very clear, look, he did not have many friends. He had a lot of enemies. From a legal standpoint, more and more salacious details were going to come out if they didn't stop this in some way. I think what happened was from a strategic point of view he was looking at all of his options and, quite frankly, wasn't finding a lot. So, he had to make some sort of announcement relatively quickly.
HARRIS: Well Jason, we've got a picture up of the east side Manhattan apartment, Eliot Spitzer's apartment building. We watched a streak drive up, I don't know if it's a state vehicle or not, but we're anticipating at some point he's got to get from that location to where he will make his statement. Jason, do you want to jump in?
CARROLL: Well Tony, let me just tell you something else. There have been cameras staked out in front of his Upper East Side apartment there, you're looking at the front door there, ever since Monday. And Monday was really the last time we heard from him. He has been holed up as best we know in that Upper East Side apartment for quite some time. Perhaps there's a back door, as there are in many of these luxury buildings, so perhaps there's a way for him to get out, but he's been holed up in that apartment since Monday. We've all been waiting to see if he would come out and say something. Hasn't since Monday.
HARRIS: OK. Jason following all kinds of development on this story and has for the last few days. Jason Carroll in our New York bureau. Great to see you. Thanks.
COLLINS: To understand Eliot Spitzer's apparent fall, you do have to know how tall he stood on New York's political stage. Spitzer was elected governor in 2006 with a historic margin of victory. Part of his appeal to voters, he vowed to root out corruption in New York government. As a state attorney general, he had challenged big business from the insurance industry to Wall Street. In fact, "Time" magazine once named him crusader of the year.
Eliot Spitzer made a lot of enemies in his hard-charging career, and many have seized the spotlight and the opportunity in his breathtaking fall from grace. We have seen that over the past couple of days certainly.
CNN's Mary Snow is at the state capitol now in Albany with more on the picture there.
Good morning to you, Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Heidi. This scandal has really rocked the state capitol here in Albany, and I can tell you that all eyes are riveted on what's going to happen at 11:30. I can tell you we've spoke within a number of Democratic leaders who are holding off saying anything right now until Eliot Spitzer makes his statement. And talking to some of those Democratic leaders, one of the things that is not 100 percent certain is exactly when there will be a transfer of power once Eliot Spitzer, as he's expected to resign at 11:30 this morning at his office.
And this has really shaken up the political world here. David Paterson, a former state senator, was the lieutenant governor, now becomes the governor.
And you're talking about some of Eliot Spitzer's political enemies. One of the biggest political enemies he had was Joseph Bruno. He is a Republican, the senate majority leader, and he is now slated to take over as lieutenant governor. He just spoke with the press a short time ago saying that no one is taking any delight in this -- what has happened in this scandal and the downfall of Eliot Spitzer. And he offered his thoughts and prayers with Spitzer's family.
HARRIS: Pardon me for breaking in. We see Eliot Spitzer, the governor of New York, coming out of his apartment, those live pictures coming into us now as he gets into his black vehicle there and makes his way over to his New York City office where we understand he will make the announcement of his resignation as the governor of New York.
Again, we are looking at pictures coming in live to us as Governor Spitzer gets into the back seat, as you see there, of that black vehicle, coming out of his apartment in New York City and heading over to his office, where we saw the announcement the other day, his apology. At that point, we did not know what he was apologizing for exactly, but now, again, we are expecting about 15 minutes from now Governor Spitzer to announce his resignation.
We will have that for you as well live, as you can imagine as soon as it happens, we will bring it up immediately. So, those are the new pictures coming in.
HARRIS: Yeah. So, the spotlight now turns to David Paterson, New York's lieutenant governor. Paterson will automatically become governor upon Spitzer's resignation. He will become New York State's first African-American governor. Paterson is a 53-year-old Democrat from Harlem. He is legally blind and he is considered well respected by both Democrats and Republicans.
Let's talk more about this. Paul Callan, great last hour with you, Heidi. Let's talk to him some more about this. Paul Callan is an attorney and a former New York City prosecutor.
Good to see you.
PAUL CALLAN, ATTORNEY: Good to be back, Tony.
HARRIS: Paul, you can't negotiate your way out of all of the possible charges here facing Eliot Spitzer. There's no way. If you would, sort of remind us of the kind of legal exposure for the governor here.
CALLAN: Well, his lawyers have a real uphill battle because they're facing, "a," the Mann act, a federal felony of transporting prostitutes across state lines. A lot of celebrities have been prosecuted through the years under that statute, Charlie Chaplain.
HARRIS: Chuck Berry.
CALLAN: Yes, Charles Manson actually, probably the last famous person who was. But the feds break that one out when they want to bring down the high and mighty, so they're facing that federal felony. But there are other spin-off investigations that have to be worrying his lawyers. There's a trail of money here, and there are money laundering investigations going on. Eliot Spitzer was apparently trying to hide his money in a variety of banks and possible shell corporations for payment to the prostitutes. Now --
HARRIS: Hey, do we have that and Paul, let me jump in on that because there was a lot of confusion. We were trying to hash that out in our meetings yesterday. Is there evidence to suggest that Eliot Spitzer was setting up shell corporations where he was bundling in money perhaps for the purpose of paying these prostitutes? Do we have that?
CALLAN: Well, it's not clear that he was setting up the shell corporation. I think what is clear is that the prostitution service ...
HARRIS: Absolutely.
CALLAN: Had shell corporations for its customers to wire payments to.
Now, this is how this gets complicated for him. Under state -- under federal statutes called wire fraud and mail fraud, if you cross state lines with money in a wire transfer to a shell corporation that's being used for illegal purposes, that triggers possible federal liability, so, you know, the feds have these statutes that they can use. They rarely do use them, but they are available. And I don't know how this money trail situation will work out, but if these reports are true of some $80,000 being spent over an extensive period of time on illegal activity, he's certainly got something to worry about here. But of course that's not the end of the story. HARRIS: Yeah.
CALLAN: There are going to be claims that he was using his security detail possibly to guard him while he was engaged in illegal activities. Was he using state funds or state employees to facilitate hiring the prostitutes? We don't know what's being investigated with respect to that. And of course finally, Eliot Spitzer built his reputation as a lawyer of enormous integrity. Now he's facing potential disbarment if this case continues. So, it's just a firestorm of possible legal charges that Eliot Spitzer faces.
HARRIS: Possible disbarment, obviously, correct? I mean --
CALLAN: That's absolutely correct. Disbarment is automatic under New York law if you plead guilty to a felony. Now, if he manages to negotiate a plea to a lesser offense, it's less likely that he will be disbarred, but certainly disbarment proceedings will go forward and he'll be censured or possibly suspended in some way. That would be the normal punishment for this kind of crime.
HARRIS: OK. In your legal career, you have certainly seen a number of cases where the high and mighty, the powerful and maybe even people in this particular position, a position of law enforcement, get caught on the wrong side of the tracks here. OK.
Can you explain to me from your experience how a guy like Eliot Spitzer could be involved, allegedly, in this kind of activity, having been an attorney general who has prosecuted, busted up prostitution rings, and yet finds himself involved in this kind of activity? That boggles my mind.
CALLAN: Well, you know, Tony, I think maybe you should be talking to a psychiatrist rather than a lawyer on that issue. Although I can tell you, having represented a lot of people charged with crimes through my career as a defense attorney, the high and mighty get in trouble with great frequency. A lot of times it's arrogance, the arrogance of power, the thought that you're untouchable, you're above the law, you can't be caught. I suspect that wept what went on here with Eliot Spitzer, he probably did this once and got away with it. The adrenaline pump was so great, he thought he would try it again, didn't get caught. And of course eventually he was caught. I think it's a combination of, you know, the arrogance of power and the ease with which these things can be accomplished. And it's now bringing down the most powerful politician in New York State.
HARRIS: Was he thought of as the prosecutor's prosecutor?
CALLAN: You know, in New York legal circles, that was exactly his reputation, Tony. He was Mr. Clean. He was a crusading district attorney of enormous integrity. But he also had a reputation for being inordinately tough on people that he prosecuted. You know, sometimes a prosecutor has a reputation for being, you know, for having kind of a soft heart, for cutting a break for somebody who's a first offender. Eliot Spitzer was a take-to-prisoners, bring-them-down kind of prosecutor, and I think for that reason there are a lot of people, probably defense attorneys, who have represented people charged with crimes, who are kind of smiling a little bit at his demise. He made a lot of enemies as a tough, tough prosecutor, and not a lot of people are going to have sympathy with him now violating the law.
One other thing I wanted to offer here.
HARRIS: Sure. Go ahead.
CALLAN: I think one of the great ironies of this case is that Eliot Spitzer was one of the authors of a sex trafficking anti- prostitution piece of legislation in New York State. He had enormous support from feminist groups because they felt he was a crusader trying to stop trafficking in prostitutes. He was somebody who advocated increasing the penalty for this crime. And now, for him to actually be involved in this crime and committing this crime, as I said, is really the supreme irony.
HARRIS: And Paul, I also heard that he was part of an effort to push banks to include a piece of software in the banking industry that might have actually been used to track his transactions.
CALLAN: Yes. As attorney general, so many of his investigations involved tracking dirty money, tracking money laundering transactions.
HARRIS: The money trail.
CALLAN: The money trail. He was well aware of it. He was an author of proposals to make it easier to track money. And for him to be tripped up on this is just really an amazing situation. He of all people should have known that his banking transactions might have been subject to federal scrutiny as they were in this case.
HARRIS: Paul Callan, Paul, good to talk to you again. If you would, stick around for us. We'd appreciate it.
CALLAN: I'll do that, Tony. Thank you.
COLLINS: As we continue to watch the podium there, you see on the other side of the screen there the governor's office. We are expecting him to come to that microphone very shortly.
Want to get back on the line with us, Todd Purdum, the national editor of "Vanity Fair" a longtime Spitzer acquaintance. We had you up just a little while ago. Want to talk more about Todd I know we had you on a little while ago, on your thoughts on all of this because you also worked for "The New York Times" for a number of years and covered politics. What is the reaction in Washington now where you currently work?
TODD PURDUM, NATIONAL EDITOR, VANITY FAIR: Well, I think in Washington, Heidi, people are just dumbfounded as they are every place. Unless something else happens that we don't know about, it's remaining kind of mostly a New York story. Governor Spitzer, his political persona is unique to him, the problem he's facing is unique to him because he's been brought low by what really amounts to a tragic flaw. T
he one thing that I think we have to wait and see what happens is whether this conjures up images of other problems that Bill Clinton had in the past and whether that has any effect on Senator Clinton's campaign going forward. Apparently, there was some anecdotal in evidence the Mississippi primary yesterday of people saying this made them think of the problems of President Clinton and it just made them disgusted and made them sort of turn away. That's one thing to watch.
COLLINS: I certainly heard some of that from New York. Are you saying there was some exit polling done or some specific questions?
PURDUM: I'm reading the papers, anecdotal evidence of people being quoted to that effect. I suppose that's one of the things pollsters will now begin to can ask about. It probably happened too fast, too soon before the event to know whether there had been any empirical evidence that would have affected the outcome. Senator Obama was clearly going to win Mississippi no matter what happened.
COLLINS: And listen going back to your youth, you went to Princeton with Governor Spitzer, where he was the president of the student body. You were a reporter at the newspaper. Who would have thought that you would be reporting on this colleague of yours way back from college in the way that it's going to be reported now, today?
PURDUM: I don't think anybody could have ever imagined this.
COLLINS: He's going to be known as client number 9.
PURDUM: Well, yes. I mean, sadly, this will be one of those phrases like, you know, the meaning of "is" is or something else that lodges in people's memories as long as people discuss politics.
COLLINS: Well, we appreciate it. Todd Purdum, national editor at "Vanity Fair" in Washington. Thank you.
PURDUM: Thank you, Heidi.
HARRIS: Let's get you back to Wolf Blitzer from "THE SITUATION ROOM" in New York City. Wolf, we were talking about this idea that a guy like Eliot Spitzer, boy, who was so instrumental in pushing legislation that would make it extremely difficult to do the kinds of things that he is alleged to have been involved in. I'm just wondering, in your years of covering politics, you have seen so many scandals, so different than this, some very similar to this, you wonder what it is about power and what powerful people have access to that makes them blind in some cases to their public responsibilities and then to drag their families into situations and messes like this.
BLITZER: You've got to be a psychiatrist I think to basically understand this. And I'm not a psychiatrist by any means. But, you know, we've been speaking to some people who say, you know, some of them just have this flaw. You know, these are powerful politicians, Tony, as you and I know, and we've seen them fall from grace. There's no doubt about that. But they're also human beings.
HARRIS: Good point.
BLITZER: Human beings make mistakes. You can be, you know, an average person out there and have a fatal flaw and you can be governor of the state of New York or president of the United States and have a fatal flaw as well. That's what happens with human beings.
I don't understand what happened to Governor Spitzer, and he's going to have some explaining to do, obviously, first and foremost to his wife and his daughters, his family, and then the people of New York. We'll see how much explaining he gives them. I suspect what we hear from him right now will be very terse and very brief and he won't be answering any questions. But I would be pleasantly surprised to see that he does answer questions. I suspect he won't.
HARRIS: Wolf, do you think this story, New York's governor, obviously being a supporter of New York Senator Hillary Clinton, do you believe the details as they are emerging in this story have some potential impact on her candidacy moving forward? Pennsylvania is coming up.
BLITZER: I'm not sure it will, necessarily, although Todd Purdum made a fair point, if it reminds people of Bill Clinton's flaw with Monica Lewinsky and the entire impeachment panel, that could hurt her in the sense that people might start asking, do we want to be reminded of that all the time if she's elected for four years, eight years. That could potentially have a negative impact on her campaign.
At the same time, it does underline that neither party, not the Democrats, not the Republicans, have a monopoly over, you know, moral values, if you will, because we've seen several Republican political types falling from grace. And we've seen Democrats. This crosses the party barriers. It's bipartisan, nonpartisan, whatever you want to call it. Both parties clearly have examples of politicians who have been involved in sex scandals.
HARRIS: Yeah. And I will ask you, did it appear to you that this was inevitable? We've heard from a number of people that this really felt inevitable to them, that he would, in fact, have to step down, but it was unclear as of yesterday and perhaps even this morning that he would, in fact, do that.
There certainly didn't seem to be a lot by the way of folks stepping forward to defend Eliot Spitzer. The only one I can recall recently has been Alan Dershowitz. Do it feel as though this was unsurvivable?
BLITZER: It felt like that to me, especially once the details started coming out, the amount of money involved, that it wasn't just a one-time incident at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, that there had been a series of these incidents and he was, in effect, trying to use his funds to conceal the real purpose of the funds, what they call structuring. And dealing with money laundering. It's really a crime that's supposed to be used against mobster, if you will, or drug dealers. It's not necessarily designed to deal with someone who wants to be a client of a prostitution ring. But obviously, it was heading in that direction, and it seemed untenable that he would be able to continue and fight. Although "The New York Times" did have a report today, as you know, Tony, saying his wife was among those urging him to resist stepping down but to fight on. She's not only his wife, but she also went to Harvard Law School with him as well, so she fully understands the legal ramifications of all of this.
HARRIS: And look, you're our lead political guy, Wolf Blitzer on CNN, every day. I'm wondering in your conversation conversations with Democrats how highly thought of was Eliot Spitzer in Democratic circles?
BLITZER: He was very highly thought of when he was the attorney general of New York state and very highly thought of when he was elected governor of New York and got 69 percent, 70 percent of the popular vote and there were glowing stories about him. But since he took over as governor, he's had several run-ins with the top Republican leadership in Albany, the state capitol, a huge uproar over wanting to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and really wound up embarrassing Hillary Clinton because she was flip-flopping on her stance on whether to go along with the governor of New York. He was alienating a lot of people here in the state. His job approval numbers were down at 40 percent, so really it had slipped dramatically since he was elected. So, he was no longer, you know, the prince that he had been when he was first elected.
HARRIS: OK. We've got you miked up. You're not going anywhere. Wolf Blitzer will stay with us. We'll get your reaction to the statement from Eliot Spitzer when it happens. Thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks.
COLLINS: As we continue to watch those live pictures coming in to us, WABC, our affiliate from New York, of the governor's entourage making his way from his apartment there in New York City over to his office in midtown, to make this expected announcement. It is now 11:30. We're watching that entourage. Obviously, he has not made his way all the way through in some of the traffic that we've seen him be in, stop and go there for a few minutes, in fact, but you see the pool of press reporters, everybody standing by waiting for him to get into the building. We are watching that obviously very closely.
In the meantime, let's go to John king for us. He is standing by in New York. And, John, you and I have been working our sources and trying to get as much information as possible in what has been going on and what will, in fact, take place today and maybe, more importantly, in the days to come.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an interesting process, Heidi. We're told by a number of sources that the governor will announce his intention to resign, and that plan is in place for him to resign. We're told, though, that the official transfer of power will not take place until Monday. That is the plan according to several sources who have been briefed by Governor Spitzer's staff on what will happen. And Governor Spitzer's staff is calling around to Democrats and allies, and I use that term loosely, because he does not have a lot of allies at the moment, but to Democratic friends and political associates, past associates, elected officeholders here in New York City, New York State, and Washington, D.C., they're saying he will step down, but the transfer of power will not take place until Monday.
And they're asking other Democrats not only to issue statements supporting his decision to resign, but to issue statements and speak out publicly to supporting his decision to have this happen over a period of several days so he has time to, quote, unquote, "take care of business."
How we're not getting much specifics on whether that is continuing negotiations on the legal track with federal prosecutors and others, but also to clean up his affairs in state government as well.
But we are told, without a doubt, that the governor will respond to the political pressure, Heidi, and it is intense political pressure, as you know, to announce that he is stepping down from his job. That will put the pause button, the brakes, on the threatened impeachment proceedings in Albany, and it will also quiet the calls not only from Republicans, but from Democrats and from close friends, who said simply what you have done here is inexcusable and it is past the bar for which you could even possibly try to survive -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, and when I first heard that it wasn't going to take effect until Monday, I thought, well, what exactly is it that the governor will have to complete before officially, you know, stepping out of that role? We know that there is a lot of business to take care of. But it's very curious, you know, it could take weeks, but since we know it's Monday it's just a few more days.
KING: Just a few more days. And what I was told this morning by sources there was still some dotting of the i's and crossing of the t's when it comes to the legal complications. And he is trying obviously, and we don't know the details, but we were told his resignation would be contingent on significant progress, if not a finalization of a plea agreement to clear up the legal track for him. But there's also other things to do.
Let's step back for a second from the political fall from grace here and realize he's the governor of a very big state.
COLLINS: Exactly.
KING: He would have business affairs, pending things he would have to take up to, and there will be a dramatic transfer of power in which New York State will get its first African-American and a blind man as its governor. So, preparations for the transfer of power also will be smoother, and more careful and more gracious, if you will, with a few days' time, is what we are told by our sources. So some of it is because of Eliot Spitzer's continuing legal and political problems, that they needed some space and some time, and some it also is to ensure an orderly transition of the powers of government. Governor Spitzer making his announcement here in New York City. The capital, obviously, is in Albany. The lieutenant governor needs to get ready to take a dramatic step. He's stepping into a job in which as Wolf and others have been discussing this governor has been in quite a political battle with state Republicans over other issues, set this issue aside.
So this is a dramatic moment, as Eliot Spitzer steps off the stage and the Lieutenant Governor Paterson steps on the stage and becomes the governor. So, most people believe a few days to work it all out is probably, in the end, a good thing. What the Republicans want and most of the Democrats want is just a very clear assurance that there is no wiggle room here, that the resignation will take effect, and that it's not an intent to resign, that it is, in fact, a solid plan to resign.
COLLINS: Yes, and that's a very good point, because that language, semantic or otherwise, is, indeed, very different when we hear intent to resign versus, you know, I am resigning. So very good point.
As we had been told earlier, John -- I'm not sure if you were able to see that press conference from the soon-to-be Lieutenant Governor Joe Bruno, and he said there will, indeed, be an orderly transition of government, and the senate version of budget will be passed talking about the business of the governor.
At that same time when you were talking about that, watching these live images come in of the governor's entourage making its way over to his office to make this announcement, you talk about pressure. And you look at all of these helicopters coming in and taking the videos we're seeing now of his entourage, moving very slowly through the city to head on over and make that announcement. Boy, it must be fiercely intense.
KING: Well, Heidi, I lived through the Monica Lewinsky scandal in Washington D.C. on the presidency and the White House, and that is as intense a media fishbowl as I have ever experienced. But New York City is not far from that, when it comes to the tabloids, when it comes to the traffic helicopters that become news helicopters, when it comes to the intense TV and cable coverage here in New York City. Remember, we're in the age of the Internet and the blogosphere as well. This state and this city is as hot as you can get, if you will, if you are under a media spotlight. And so it is an intense time, and let's remember, the governor has a wife and a family who are going through a personal and a family tragedy as well.
And one of the heavy factors, we are told, in the push for a resignation is how he could do this in, quote, "as clean as possible way" to try to take some of the pressure off his family. But this is New York City. You've seen the tabloids. You've lived here for some time. You've picked them up every day. The headlines have been sharp, and pointed and tough.
COLLINS: Boy, you know quite frankly, John, there are a couple we couldn't show on TV or decided not to show, because of some of the interesting things that were written right on those front pages. What happens, John, for the governor next? I mean, you know, the training that he has, the education that he has, the experience that he has, is that all over?
KING: Well, we have seen redemption in American politics. It is unlikely that he would be able to, especially in the short term, resume a political career. Will he lose his law license? That is one of the questions here. He has violated the law by all accounts. If the material in the affidavit is true, and Eliot Spitzer has not disputed any of those facts, then he has broken the law, and he could very easily lose his law license, at least temporarily, because of that.
In today's age, I was filling in for Larry King last night, and we had a gentleman one who was the prosecutor out in the Cincinnati area, had an extramarital affairs, was forced to step down. He says he now has a thriving law practice. He has learned his lesson, and he has recovered and put his life back together. And he said to Governor Spitzer on our air, you can do yourself if you put yourself to it. Very difficult, Heidi, because this is a man, and people have been talking about over the past several days, he rose to high office. He does not have a lot of friends. He used sharp elbows to get to become the governor of a hotly contested political state like New York. He had to fight his way through Democratic primary politics, through Democratic caucuses. He has a lot of respect in Democratic circles; he does not have a lot of friends, because of how he conducted affairs, how many would use the team how self-righteous and self- assured he was in doing so.
So when you have a stunning fall from grace like this, one of the things you look for, is there somebody out there holding out a pillow, holding out a cushion, to help him ease his fall. And you look at Eliot Spitzer, and there are not a lot of people reaching out to help him.
COLLINS: Yes, well, we are watching it very closely. Any minute now, as we understand, watching the live pictures come in before the governor of New York takes the podium that we have been showing you here on CNN, and makes his announcement of his resignation here today.
John King, thanks so much.
HARRIS: You know, judging by those picture, it looks like the governor has made his way from his upper East Side Manhattan apartment to his lower Manhattan office. Our Allan Chernoff is in the room to give us a bit of scene setter -- Allan..
OK, we don't have Allan's audio. You guys just give me an indication when we do. And while we have a moment, let's talk about David Paterson. New York's lieutenant governor, Paterson will automatically become governor upon Spitzer's resignation. He will become, as you've heard a few times this morning, New York's first African-American governor. Paterson is a 53-year-old Democrat from Harlem. He is legally blind. And he is considered well respected by both Republicans and Democrats. OK, we are following every development in -- OK, understanding now that governor Spitzer Is, in fact, in the building on his way up to the room. Again, our Allan Chernoff is in the room right now. Not sure whether we have corrected his audio. We don't have it, I understand, but Heidi, we're getting close, obviously.
Jason Carroll is following all of these developments for us in New York City. And If we could, Jason, let's bring you back in and let's sort of set the scene of what we're about to see here. You've been following these developments throughout the morning for us.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, you have to wonder if we're going to hear a similar type of statement that he gave on Monday. Will he be contrite? Will he apologize? Specifically, what is he going to say. You know, it's anyone's guess at this point. The statement is expected to be brief.
I think what he is going to have to do in some way is speak to the public of New York in a way that addresses what we've been hearing a lot on the street here in New York, and that is, Tony, the hypocrisy surrounding what has happened here. I mean, remember, I mean, when Spitzer was attorney general, he was known as the sheriff of Wall Street for the way that he aggressively went after corporate corruption in the financial world. This is a man who also aggressively went after prosecution rings, wanting to bust those prostitution rings up. And you know, interestingly enough, just a few moments ago, one of the groups Spitzer had worked with, Equality Now -- this is an advocacy group that works with trying to combat the sexual exploitation of women. He worked with this group when he was attorney general, he worked with the group when he was governor. They released a statement basically saying it is painfully ironic that Governor Spitzer, who was one of the strongest political voices against the commercial sexual exploitation of women not only in New York but across the nation may have been himself involved in buying a woman for prostitution.
I think that really speaks to what a lot of people are thinking and saying here. They are just stunned by the level of hypocrisy here. Unclear what he's going say here and how he's going to say it, but he's going to have to say something to address the many hurt feelings that people have out here in the city.
HARRIS: Jason, I think that is very interesting. So, you get a sense in talking to people in New York City that they would like to hear something very personal from the governor to the people there of New York as to how in the heck this all could have happened to a man. You mentioned the word hypocrisy, a man who has, in his life as a law enforcement, official busted up prostitution rings.
CARROLL: Correct, correct.
HARRIS: So, you feel as though, at least in your sense of what you're getting from the people of New York, they would like some kind of personal statement to them.
CARROLL: Right, and you know, it's not just New York City. It's the state of New York.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
CARROLL: A tough, tough, bunch. You heard John King referring to how tough the tabloids can be here. When you -- I was in the room actually when he gave his first statement on Monday. And after a while, when he started speaking, a few in the room shouted out apologize, apologize. They were waiting to hear it. And so, it makes me wonder, as we wait for Governor Spitzer to enter the room right now, what he is going to say and how he's going to address the people of his state.
HARRIS: Yes, you know, it feels an awful lot like this is a statement to announce the resignation, little more, and that after some of the legal issues, if not all of the legal issues surrounding him are resolved, then that there might be a moment where he offers up that fuller explanation to the people of the state of New York, maybe not?
CARROLL: Maybe, maybe not.
HARRIS: Maybe, maybe not.
CARROLL: And who's to say that will even be enough. I mean, there's so much anger in terms of, you know, surrounding this whole thing, in terms of what he has allegedly done. You know, maybe even a bit of a statement might not be enough. But certainly, there are a number of people out here who think he needs to say something to address that.
COLLINS: Yes, and you know what, Jason -- Heidi here -- I guess it does depend on what he plans to do next or what he wants to do next and how much forgiveness he then would need. And I believe -- oops. I thought we were going to be going to him.
I do think, Jason, just to give you a cautionary note here, there was a gentleman who walked into the room just a few minutes ago and held up five fingers, so I believe we are very, very close right now.
Also, want to take a moment to go back to our correspondent in Albany at the State Capitol, Mary Snow standing by to give us a little bit more insight as we wait for the governor to come to the podium -- Mary?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Heidi, lawmakers here are waiting for Governor Spitzer just like everyone else, the Democrats are waiting to say -- to hear what he has to say before they give any reaction. But we did hear from one of his biggest political enemies, Republican Senate Majority Leader Senator Joseph Bruno who said that New York ...
COLLINS: Mary, I'm going to have to cut you off again. I so apologize, Mary. But we are watching a whole group of people come into the room where we are expecting the governor to walk very shortly. I apologize, I may have jumped the gun, but we just want to make sure that we don't miss a single second of it. Mary, let's go ahead and finish your thought if we could, please. I apologize again, Mary. I am so sorry, but the governor is now coming to the podium.
Let's listen.
GOV. ELIOT SPITZER (D), NEW YORK: In the past few days, I have begun to atone for my private failings with my wife, Silda, my children, and my entire family. The remorse I feel will always be with me. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for the love and compassion they have shown me.
From those to whom much is given, much is expected. I have been given much: the love of my family, the faith and trust of the people of New York, and the chance to lead this state. I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me.
To every New Yorker and to all those who believed in what I tried to stand for, I sincerely apologize. I look at my time as governor with a sense of what might have been. But I also know that as a public servant, I and the remarkable people with whom I worked have accomplished a great deal. There is much more to be done and I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work.
Over the course of my public life, I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people, regardless of their position or power, take responsibility for their conduct. I can and will ask no less of myself.
For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor. At Lieutenant Governor Paterson's request, the resignation will be effective Monday, March 17, a date that he believes will permit an orderly transition.
I go forward with the belief, as others have said, that as human beings, our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
As I leave public life, I will first do what I need to do to help and heal myself and my family. Then, I will try once again outside of politics to serve the common good and to move toward the ideals and solutions which I believe can build a future of hope and opportunity for us and for our children.
I hope all of New York will join my prayers for my friend, David Paterson, as he embarks on his new mission. And I thank the public once again for the privilege of service. Thank you very much.
COLLINS: Governor Eliot Spitzer now resigning. That will take effect on Monday, as we heard him say, directly from his lips, that Lieutenant Governor David Paterson will officially take over the governship of New York on Monday. Apparently, the two of them had agreed on that because of the matters of business that had to be tied up before that official transfer of power could take place.
Again, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson will become the governor of New York state on Monday. Those words just coming directly from Governor Eliot Spitzer right now, announcing his resignation.
Wolf Blitzer standing by now to talk more about this. So, Wolf, there are many people who had wondered if, in fact, he was going to apologize, and indeed, not only did he apologize to his family again, he apologized to each and every person in New York state.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: He made his statement. So many unanswered questions, though, remain right now, especially in terms of the legal fall-out. Was there some sort of deal that was worked out between his attorneys and the federal prosecutors in terms of dropping charges, if he were to step down. That question we don't know the answer to.
So many other questions involving what exactly happened, the specific details. It's only going to cry out for more reporting from all of us to make sure we get to the bottom of all of this.
I think most people watching will focus in on the human tragedy of this, Heidi, the fact that his wife Silda once again was standing right next to him, a source of support. You could see once again, though, the look on her face.
Those of us who have seen her over the years, and Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York, I spoke with him yesterday and he's known them both for many years, you can see the torment on her face and as Ed Koch accurately said yesterday in "THE SITUATION ROOM," Heidi, this is a woman who has aged in only a few days. If you take a look at pictures of her only a few weeks ago, certainly when she was walking into the White House for a state dinner with the then governor of New York when he was invited, as opposed to right now, you can see the toll this has taken on this woman.
But she's there, she's standing next to him. Twice she's now done this since this story broke. And people are going to be asking what makes these women stand by their men during these ...
COLLINS: Yes.
BLITZER: ...kinds of infidelity, these kinds of moments. And we've seen it with a lot of women over these -- as these scandals have broken, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, and certainly, that is something that has been brought up several times already in this case in particular. I imagine this was a personal choice, obviously, to go about this announcement in that manner as you mentioned for the second time now. And obviously, there has been some reporting going on, Wolf, her saying you know what, don't act hastily, don't resign, maybe you should fight this. And now, we have that announcement just moments ago.
BLITZER: Right, and then, people will remember the wives of former governor of New Jersey, McGreevey, the senator from Louisiana, David Vitter, Larry Craig, the senator from Idaho, they were all there standing by their men during moments of their own respective sex scandals.
And certainly, a lot of people will be pointing the fact that Hillary Clinton stood by her man, Bill Clinton, when he was president of the United States, involving his sex scandal at the time. So, that's one part of the story I'm sure that a lot of us are going to be focusing in on and a lot of Americans out there watching are going to be focussing in on.
COLLINS: Yes, there's no question about it. And quickly, Wolf, before we let you go. Something else that the governor said or may have alluded to, certainly don't want to read anything in here. But he did say that he will continue to serve the common good of the people outside of politics. Any idea what he could have meant by that?
BLITZER: I think he's going to try to get involved in, whether a charitable causes or non-profit, to do something to try to rehabilitate himself, to -- he is a very talented man, as we've been pointing out, a graduate of Princeton, Harvard Law School, he was on a fast track. Some were even thinking he had presidential ambitions.
So, he's got a lot to offer if he can get his personal life straightened out. I'm sure he's going to try to show that he can make some sort of comeback. I suspect politics won't be in his future, though.
COLLINS: Yes, I suspect you are right about that. CNN's Wolf Blitzer, you can join him on "THE SITUATION ROOM" a little bit later on today. Wolf, thank you.
HARRIS: Boy, want to get a sense of what it was like to actually be in the room as this statement was read by Eliot Spitzer. Allan Chernoff was in the room and Allan joins us now.
Allan, good morning.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: It was an absolute stunning moment here at the governor's office on the east side of Manhattan. The crowd packed this room and the governor walked in, he spoke very quickly, again, very terse, just like his statement that he made the other day, and again, he did not specifically refer to his indiscretions.
But he did say the past few days, I've begun to atone. He said from those who much is given, much is expected. And then he went on to say, I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected. Then he announced his resignation, said it will be effective on Monday, March 17th and he said the delay of a few days is at the request of the Lieutenant Governor, David Paterson, who will be taking his place.
But the mood of the room, frankly, was just one of disbelief that it had actually come to this. I mean, this is really shocking because frankly, virtually everybody in the room has seen political scandals, has seen politicians getting caught up in sex, but this scandal is something that is absolutely exceptional because he was a politician who his entire career was built upon ethics.
He really was the man in New York state carrying an ethical flag, proclaimed as Mr. Clean, and here he is found to have been a client of a prostitution ring. And as we understand, he has been -- his attorneys have been in negotiation with the U.S. attorney of Manhattan, hoping to avoid prosecution.
He possibly could face prosecution for having a prostitute travel across state lines and also for a crime known as structuring, which basically is moving around money into small parcels so that it would not be detected by banks, by federal authorities, and allegedly that is what the governor was doing, moving small amounts of money around, chunks of thousands of dollars to funds that were then connected to this prostitution ring.
But again, it was absolutely a stunning moment here. The governor resigning with his wife at his side and his wife just looking pretty much a blank stare ...
HARRIS: Yes.
CHERNOFF: ...very hard to detect any emotion. Perhaps she's just devoid of emotion at this point. Nobody really knows. But again, just history in the making here on the east side of Manhattan.
HARRIS: Boy, what ...
CHERNOFF: Back to you in the studio.
HARRIS: ...what a morning. Allan Chernoff for us. Obviously, much more to come. But let's quickly get you to break, reset after the break. More on these stunning developments out of New York today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Boy, stay informed in the CNN NEWSROOM. What a day. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. It's Wednesday, March 12th, and New York's governor has resigned. It's on the NEWSROOM rundown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPITZER: I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me. To every New Yorker and to all those who believed in what I tried to stand for, I sincerely apologize.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Moments ago, Eliot Spitzer announcing he will step down effective next Monday. Forced from office after his link to a pricy prostitution ring.
HARRIS: Lieutenant Governor David Paterson steps up to the top job, the first African-American to lead New York. Affairs of states in the NEWSROOM.
Boy, developments fast and furious this hour in the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal. Just minutes ago, the embattled New York governor announced his resignation. CNN is covering all of the angles.
Our Jason Carroll is in New York, as is our Wolf Blitzer and John King. Mary Snow is in Albany at the State Capitol. More from them in just a moment.
But first, let's take you back about 15 minutes ago, and here is Governor Spitzer's full resignation announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. ELIOT SPITZER (D), NEW YORK: In the past few days, I have begun to atone for my private failings with my wife, Silda, my children, and my entire family. The remorse I feel will always be with me. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for the love and compassion they have shown me.
From those to whom much is given, much is expected. I have been given much: the love of my family, the faith and trust of the people of New York, and the chance to lead this state. I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me.
To every New Yorker and to all those who believed in what I tried to stand for, I sincerely apologize. I look at my time as governor with a sense of what might have been. But I also know that as a public servant, I and the remarkable people with whom I worked have accomplished a great deal. There is much more to be done and I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work.
Over the course of my public life, I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people, regardless of their position or power, take responsibility for their conduct. I can and will ask no less of myself.
For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor. At Lieutenant Governor Paterson's request, the resignation will be effective Monday, March 17, a date that he believes will permit an orderly transition.
I go forward with the belief, as others have said, that as human beings, our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
As I leave public life, I will first do what I need to do to help and heal myself and my family. Then, I will try once again outside of politics to serve the common good and to move toward the ideals and solutions which I believe can build a future of hope and opportunity for us and for our children.
I hope all of New York will join my prayers for my friend, David Paterson, as he embarks on his new mission. And I thank the public once again for the privilege of service. Thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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