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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer Steps Down; Clinton Supporter Leaves Campaign Following Controversial Obama Remarks
Aired March 12, 2008 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: New details.
The governor is gone, but the Eliot Spitzer story is far from over. Now breaking news -- for the first time today, we're seeing the face of the woman involved, her face, her name, and her history. Who is the high-priced escort known as Kristen to her high-powered clients, including client number nine, allegedly the governor of New York? You will find out tonight.
New details as well on the rest of Governor Spitzer's fall from grace, which is far from over. We will show you what he said for himself today, when he announced he's going to step down, effective Monday. And we will have the latest on his legal battle, which is now just beginning.
Also tonight, Geraldine Ferraro, she is out too, but did Ferraro, a Clinton fund-raiser, cross the racial line with what she said about Barack Obama? Is his campaign too sensitive? And how is it all going to play in Pennsylvania? We will have the "Raw Politics."
And new developments in the Florida primary fight. It all could be coming to a head tomorrow. We have got the lowdown.
But we begin with the breaking developments of the Eliot Spitzer case. He said this morning that he will resign as New York's governor effective Monday. You know that by now. That was the first shoe to drop. The latest, though, came this evening. For the first time, we're seeing the face and learning the story of the woman known previously only as Kristen.
Now, this, according to "The New York Times," is her MySpace page. She goes by the name Ashley Alexandra Dupre, though her legal name appears to be Ashley Rae DiPietro. This is the woman, according to "The Times," for whose sexual services Governor Spitzer allegedly paid thousands of dollars. She's 22 years old and lives here in Manhattan in the Flatiron district.
CNN's Drew Griffin is live there with the breaking details -- Drew.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: "The New York Times," Anderson, broke this story about 6:15. By about 7:00, we were here. And the stakeout has begun.
You can see all the cameras are here. The live trucks came not too long after that. And so far we have just been outside of this apartment building, where studios go for about $3,400 a month, waiting in any hopes that the woman who lives up there on the ninth floor will somehow come out and make a statement. We doubt that. We have left a lot of voice-mails on her phone.
Who is she, 22-year-old Ashley Dupre? A lot of the information coming from her own MySpace. They are the pictures that you should be seeing right now. It's a music page. She calls herself a musician, a singer who tried to break into the Manhattan music scene here.
This is what she told "The New York Times" in a couple of short interviews, according to "The New York Times." She said: "I don't want to be thought of as a monster. This has been very difficult for me." She told "The Times" she's concerned about paying for this apartment, because the man she was living with "walked out on me" after she confronted him about some children that she supposedly -- that he supposedly had.
She would not tell "The Times" how she met Spitzer. She would not tell "The Times" how many times she has been with Spitzer. So, who is she? Most of that information we're getting comes from her on the MySpace page, which is very active tonight.
We're told hundreds of people have actually posted on to that site tonight. And we understand from my MySpace gurus that she has logged on herself, though she hasn't entered anything. She says she left home on the Jersey Shore when she was 17. She called it a broken home, but she has the name of her stepdad that she is using.
And on the "About Me" section of that page, this is what she said, Anderson: "I can sit here now, and knowingly tell you that life's hard sometimes. But I made it. I'm still here, and I love who I am. If I never went through the hard times, I would not be able to appreciate the good ones. Cliche," she writes, "yes, but I know it's true."
"The Times" also tracked down her mother, Carolyn Capalbo, who called her daughter a typical teen with rebellion issues. And then she had this odd quote: "She is a very bright girl who can handle someone like the governor. But she's also a 22-year-old, not a 32- year-old or a 42-year-old. And she obviously got involved in something much larger than her."
She, we have yet to hear from, Anderson, and there's no indication she's either in here tonight or coming out of here tonight, but plenty of media waiting to find out.
COOPER: Yes, it would seem highly unlikely that she would talk. I imagine, if she wanted to sell her story, there's an awful lot of folks who would probably pay money for her story.
At this point, though, Drew, do we know if she knew who her client was? Or, according to "The Times," this is the woman who had client number nine. Do we know if she knew who client number nine was?
GRIFFIN: Just an indication that she didn't know who the governor was, but, really, nothing firm on that.
A man who says that she is her attorney, represents her, said she will be subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury. At this point, it doesn't appear there are any charges facing her.
But, Anderson, to answer your question, we don't really know if she knew who client number nine was when she met that person at the Mayflower Hotel down in Washington.
COOPER: Well, it's got to be surreal for her, if she knew or not, to suddenly see her picture flashed -- splashed on television screens across the country.
Drew, thanks for that.
It has been unfolding at warp speed, this story. Barely 48 hours ago, the story broke. This evening, we received a copy of Governor Spitzer's letter of resignation to state lawmakers, a single sentence -- quote -- "I'm writing to advise you that I am resigning my position as governor of the state of New York effective at 12:00 noon on Monday, March 17, 2008."
That's it.
But that is not all.
Here's CNN's Jason Carroll.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Governor Eliot Spitzer stood in disgrace with his wife at his side.
GOV. ELIOT SPITZER (D), NEW YORK: 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.
CARROLL: Resignation from a defeated man who spent less than three minutes at the podium explaining himself.
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.
CARROLL: Spitzer's fall from grace has left people shocked.
For a time, he was a politician on the rise. As New York's attorney general, "TIME" magazine dubbed him crusader of the year for the way he cracked down on Wall Street corruption.
Stuart Meissner worked for the then-attorney general and remembers accolades for the promising young prosecutor. STUART MEISSNER, FORMER ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I think he had a lot of courage. I think he -- he did a lot of things that many other politicians and attorney generals were reluctant to do.
CARROLL: Spitzer also aggressively busted prostitution rings during his career. The women's advocacy group who worked with him now feels betrayed.
TAINA BIEN-AIME, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EQUALITY NOW: The disappointment comes in and the disbelief that -- that this man, who was -- was so intelligent and clear on -- on these issues, was actually allegedly -- allegedly now a perpetrator.
CARROLL: Riding on his popularity as a moral crusader, Spitzer, a Democrat, became governor, but soon made enemies from both parties. He called himself a steamroller who would clean up corruption in the Capitol.
JOE CONASON, COLUMNIST/POLITICAL EDITOR, "THE NEW YORK OBSERVER": This is a politician who presented himself to the public, very believably, as a reformer, as an incorruptible person.
CARROLL: Attorneys say Spitzer is being investigated for how he paid for the prostitute. There has been speculation his attorneys are trying to negotiate a plea deal with prosecutors. The U.S. attorney's office released a statement, saying, "There is no agreement."
Some supporters suspect the investigation is politically motivated.
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: A lot of his enemies are -- are pretty happy right now. I wonder if they weren't behind this.
CARROLL: There remains no evidence of that.
Spitzer said he believes in taking responsibility for his conduct. The question now is, will his resignation be punishment enough?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And, Anderson, sources close to the investigation tell us that, in addition to meeting a prostitute eight times over the past few months, federal agents also apparently had Spitzer under surveillance twice over the past few months -- Anderson.
COOPER: Fascinating details.
Jason Carroll, thanks.
Any idea, Jason, what Spitzer plans to do next?
CARROLL: You know, that's the million-dollar question. A lot of people asking that. I think we got a hint of that, Anderson, at the tail end of Spitzer's brief statement that he gave a little earlier today. He said at the very end that he would try to serve the common good outside of politics. Obviously, he's going to have some legal problems to deal with before he gets to that -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Jason, thanks.
There's no shortage of experts in this case in the law, politics, human behavior. Tonight, we are going to talk to all of them, but, first, someone with knowledge of the secretive world of high-prices escorts, Jason Itzler. He once billed himself as the king of all pimps. He ran a high-priced escort service here in New York that was shut down by authorities.
Jason, thanks for being with us.
You were arrested while Eliot Spitzer was attorney general. When you heard that he was caught up in this, what did you think?
JASON ITZLER, FORMER PIMP: I thought it was shocking, and I thought it was ironic. I was very surprised.
COOPER: Hypocritical?
ITZLER: Very hypocritical.
COOPER: Yes.
Why -- I mean, is this guy typical of the clients you had? I mean, you ran a very high-priced -- I think it was called New York Confidential.
ITZLER: Right.
COOPER: It had ads in magazine in New York. I remember the ads growing up in New York. Everyone seemed to know about it. It was very well-known.
Is Eliot Spitzer typical of the kind of clients you had?
ITZLER: I -- I think it would be ridiculous to call Eliot Spitzer typical in any sense.
(LAUGHTER)
ITZLER: But, in some ways, he's typical, in that he's powerful. He's wealthy. He's a competitive guy. He's aggressive. He's probably an alpha male. A lot of my clients and a lot of clients of very expensive escort agencies would probably share these attributes.
COOPER: What age were your clients usually?
ITZLER: On occasion, I had some young people, like 20-year-olds, you know, trust fund babies, but, in general, 35 to 45.
COOPER: And were these people -- were most of them married? Were -- I mean, why would somebody go to -- to an escort like that? ITZLER: Ninety-nine percent of them are married.
COOPER: Right.
ITZLER: I have heard reports that, after five years of marriage, about 85 percent of people don't really have sex anymore.
So, I think that these people are in marriages. Maybe they're happy marriages, but the sex life probably isn't what it was at the beginning. And these guys come into New York. You know, big businessmen throughout the country come to New York on business. I think they have a tendency, a lot of them, of seeing escorts, running back to their wife, and not -- never talking about it.
COOPER: Did you have a lot of repeat customers?
ITZLER: Of course, yes, absolutely.
COOPER: And how would -- I mean, why would the women work for you?
ITZLER: I think the women worked for me because the -- the guys that were my clients were of such high quality, you know, nice-looking guys, a good age, super-successful, leaders, like winner-type of guys that -- that these girls want to meet, like the kind of jet-set New York crowd.
COOPER: Mm-hmm. We're -- we're going to talk more with Jason just right after this short break. And Jason will stick around for that.
I'm also live-blogging throughout tonight's broadcast. You can join the conversation by going to CNN.com/360.
We will also take a look tonight at why Eliot Spitzer's wife, Silda, has been standing by him. We will explore why so many political wives stand by their men.
And later: the storm over what Geraldine Ferraro said about Barack Obama. She said the same about Jesse Jackson 20 years ago. She distanced herself from the Clinton campaign today, but is now saying she's the victim of racist attacks.
And what could be a huge break in murder of UNC student Eve Carson, an arrest.
We will have the latest -- tonight on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Prostitution hiding in plain sight in America.
We're back with, well, former pimp Jason Itzler.
You called your -- you actually called yourself a pimp.
ITZLER: I never called myself a pimp.
COOPER: Well, in the -- I read an article about you. You said you were like the king of all pimps.
ITZLER: I think I might have joked around...
COOPER: OK.
ITZLER: ... when I was still in business and made the joke to some girls. After I was locked up in Rikers Island...
COOPER: Right.
ITZLER: ... there were talks of Jeremy Piven playing me in a movie and -- and things like this.
COOPER: How much time do you spend...
ITZLER: And it was in my best interest to be in the media quite a bit.
COOPER: How much did you -- how time did you spend behind bars?
ITZLER: I spent two-and-a-half years behind bars.
COOPER: What -- there are people who said, look, prostitution is a victimless crime. There are others who say, look, it's not a victimless crime at all. People are trafficked around the world. Women are -- are brought over here. They're basically sex slaves, you know, to organized crime rings.
Do you see it as victimless, a victimless crime?
ITZLER: I think you might have to separate the business into different segments.
The -- the sex slavery, these people being victimized, people that don't speak English, these are escorts that are going for like $100, $50, $20 an hour. This is not what's going on with the most expensive escorts in Manhattan.
COOPER: Right. This woman Dupre, I mean, was apparently charging upwards of a $1,000 an hour. At one point, according to the affidavit, client nine paid her some $4,300 for -- for her services.
What -- I mean, and we're seeing, I think, some of the -- the pictures of her now.
Does it surprise you that -- I mean, she's clearly a very attractive lady. Does it surprise you that she would be an escort?
ITZLER: No, I think she's typical of what's called the girl next door. This girl looks like she's maybe like 5'4'' or 5'5'', 5'6''. She's not a serious fashion model. She's a very pretty young girl. She has a nice body. I don't know if her boobs are real or not, but she looks good. This is exactly what you would expect for $1,000 an hour, $2,000 an hour. I don't think there's a difference between $2,000, $3,000, and $4,000 an hour. I think it's...
(CROSSTALK)
ITZLER: ... pretty similar.
COOPER: You know, a lot of people are stunned by these kind of figures. That's a lot of money for -- for an hour. I mean, I don't -- it surprised me.
(CROSSTALK)
ITZLER: It's a lot of money. You do get what you pay for in this world, to some extent.
I think the difference between a girl getting $2,000 an hour and a girl getting $5,000 an hour would be, the girl getting handed $5,000 for the hour will be lit up and having a blast, because this is exciting for them. Escorts like to make money. They're not really doing it for the sex. They're doing it for the cash.
COOPER: Did -- did you feel guilty at all doing what you're doing?
ITZLER: I made people ridiculously happy.
The girls made a ton of money working very part-time, and they got to enjoy their 20s, their young 20s, in Manhattan with some real money. My clients, I provided them with the best experience I think they have ever had in the -- in the realm that I was -- that was my profession at the time.
I was in the happiness business. It was wrong. It was illegal. I broke the law. I will never do it again. However, it happened to work out nicely that -- that it seemed to be a win-win for everyone involved.
COOPER: What kind of money did you make?
ITZLER: When I had the escort agency?
COOPER: Yes.
ITZLER: I was grossing like, say, $500,000 to $700,000 a month and maybe...
COOPER: A month?
ITZLER: Yes.
COOPER: Wow.
ITZLER: We all know that gross and net are different.
COOPER: Right. Yes.
ITZLER: So, maybe a net to $100,000 to $200,000 thousand a month.
COOPER: Mm-hmm.
And now you -- you're trying to run a matchmaking service?
ITZLER: Yes. My new campaign is DNA Diamonds. And just like that show on Bravo, "Millionaire Matchmaker," I'm trying to do a millionaire matchmaker Manhattan, but more "Sex in the City"-ish, more stylish, sophisticated, more to New York City's tastes.
COOPER: The -- the -- how much did your girls -- or your women -- charge, and, then, what kind of cut did you get of it? I mean, how was it -- how did it break down?
ITZLER: My girls charged anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000 an hour with anywhere from a two- to four-hour minimum. The girls would get 50 percent of the gross.
COOPER: It's -- it's fascinating. I'm glad you have a new business venture.
ITZLER: Thank you so much.
COOPER: And it seems to be on the up-and-up.
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: And I wish you luck with it.
Jason, thanks very much.
ITZLER: It's a pleasure meeting you. Thank you.
COOPER: Jason Itzler, thanks a lot.
As we mentioned, Eliot Spitzer's wife was by him when he apologized. Silda Wall Spitzer was with her husband again today when he resigned. We're told she even encouraged him not to step down. We have no idea what the last few days have been like for her, for their children. Of course, we can only imagine the pain and the sadness.
Given all that Spitzer is accused of doing and what he's put his wife and family through, the question remains, why? Why would she stand by his side?
CNN's Randi Kaye takes a look at that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here we go again.
GOV. ELIOT SPITZER (D), NEW YORK: In the past if you days I have begun to atone for my private failings. KAYE: Look familiar? Enter powerful politician. Cue the mea culpa. Disgraced, but dutiful wife looks on.
LAURA NICHOLS, SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: What are you doing there, I mean, at a time when most wives would -- would probably have their husband's clothes out on the lawn?
KAYE: Laura Nichols, who wrote a column on this subject for Politico.com, says it's time philandering husbands stood solo.
NICHOLS: It's hard to justify why it is you would want to be there at the lowest moment of your marriage.
KAYE: In the last year, Suzanne Craig stood by her husband, Senator Larry Craig of Idaho, when he was accused of soliciting sex in an airport bathroom.
Carlita Kilpatrick put the game face on, too. Her husband, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, sent racy text messages to his chief of staff.
And Wendy Vitter supported her husband, Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, after he was accused of using an escort service.
Why does the political wife stand by her man?
Psychiatrist Gail Saltz says it's not a black-and-white issue.
DR. GAIL SALTZ, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY, THE NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL AT WEILL-CORNELL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: This is a person that your entire life has been intertwined with, physically, emotionally, financially. It is just not that easy to leave.
KAYE (on camera): What about the children?
SALTZ: You are the mother. You want to protect them. And, sometimes, protecting them doesn't necessarily mean leaving him hanging out to dry. To protect your children, to some degree, you end up feeling you have to protect their father, because, at the end of the day, he remains their father.
KAYE (voice-over): Can standing by your man make it appear daddy's off the hook?
NICHOLS: For the children, what you hope is that he's able to demonstrate that there's some shred of honor in standing up alone and facing the music for what he's done, and not expecting that their mother and his wife be a part of him owning up to those mistakes.
KAYE (on camera): The infidelity ritual played out so often, it's practically predictable, and the gaze on the wives's faces unmistakable, shell-shocked, traumatized, devastated. Eye contact is so unbearable, they often choose to stare at the apparent adulterer's notes.
SALTZ: The attempt to sort of seal over, be glassy-eyed, and try to appear as though nothing is going on is really a defense against everything from, oh, my God, you know, my life as I knew it is over.
KAYE (voice-over): But, in many cases, it's not. The Clintons stayed together after Monica Lewinsky.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE TYRA BANKS SHOW")
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I really had to dig down deep and think hard about what was right for me, what was right for my family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Dina Matos McGreevey decided what was right for her was divorce. Her husband, former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, resigned after an affair with a male employee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")
DINA MATOS MCGREEVEY, ESTRANGED WIFE OF FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR JIM MCGREEVEY: She's ridiculed and -- and shamed in front of, you know, virtually the entire world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: What Mrs. Spitzer will do is anybody's guess. No doubt, the media will be watching and poking fun.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE DAILY SHOW")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: If anything, let the hooker stand up there.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: She's the one everyone wants to see.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Ladies, am I right? Please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Coming up, we're going to dig deeper on the topic and talk with Drs. Drew Pinsky and Gail Saltz. Hear why they think Silda Spitzer and other wives stand by their men in times of trouble.
First, Erica Hill joins us with the 360 bulletin -- Erica.
ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, an important update tonight in North Carolina.
A 21-year-old man is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of 22-year-old UNC student Eve Carson. The student body president was shot to death last week. A 17-year-old suspect is still at large.
Southwest Airlines hopes to have all of the 44 planes it grounded today back in service by tonight. Those jets are being inspected for cracks. Last week, the FAA said it would seek a record $10.2 million fine against the airline for allegedly flying those planes without doing mandatory inspections.
And, in New Haven, Connecticut, an eighth-grade honor student stripped of his title as class V.P., suspended for a day because he bought a bag of Skittles from a classmate.
COOPER: What?
HILL: The school system banned candy as part of a wellness policy in 2003.
Yes. Originally, he was suspended for three days. A little complaint.
COOPER: I remember, when Bubble Yum came out, there was a kid in my school that came in with a suitcase of Bubble Yum, selling it to everyone.
HILL: Really?
COOPER: Yes.
HILL: Was there a big markup on it?
COOPER: It was really hard-core in fourth grade.
(LAUGHTER)
HILL: It was.
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: Yes.
COOPER: Hey, I have got some Bubble Yum.
Erica, stay right there.
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: Our segment "What Were They Thinking?" is next. Take a look at this. That is two -- do we the video? There we go. Two news vans battling it out on a drag strip.
HILL: That's smart. Huh.
COOPER: Yes. Despite all those recent news about folks dying drag-racing, some news vans decided, yes, why not get behind the wheel? What were they thinking? We will tell you next. Also tonight, Mrs. Spitzer standing by her man. The question a lot of folks asking today is why. We will talk it over with Drs. Drew Pinsky and Gail Saltz.
And the latest on the campaign trail -- when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Erica, time now for "What Were They Thinking?"
Tonight, we take you to El Paso, Texas, and an odd sight. Strange. Instead of covering a story, two local TV news trucks spent part of last weekend competing in a drag race.
HILL: Yes.
COOPER: Yes, the clip is from YouTube. We're told the road -- the roadway is actually legal for drag racing, but, seriously, the folks in the van should have known better.
One of them is a part-time anchorman.
HILL: Even better.
COOPER: No, his name is not Ron Burgundy. But maybe it's his brother. We don't know.
See, just a day before, a person was actually killed in a drag race in this area.
HILL: Nice.
COOPER: The general manager for the one of the station says they were encouraged by the crowd.
HILL: Of course they were.
COOPER: And, even though he admits it was a stupid thing to do, the general manager will not fire the anchor.
Stay classy, El Paso.
HILL: There you go.
By the way, I didn't realize it was legal anywhere to drag race...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Well, on -- on tracks, it is.
HILL: OK.
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: Shows you I don't get out much, huh? COOPER: Apparently not.
HILL: At least not with a news van.
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: And you don't see, you know, cheesy movies like I see with -- anyway, stay classy, El Paso.
Up next, more on the Governor Spitzer sex scandal, his wife standing by him. And, as Randi Kaye reviewed, we have seen a lot of political wives standing by their lying, cheating husbands. We will talk to Drs. Drew Pinsky and Gail Saltz about why they do it.
And Geraldine Ferraro standing by her controversial comments about Barack Obama, but she's no longer standing with the Clinton campaign. And she says, actually, now she's the victim in all this. We have got the "Raw Politics."
And, on a lighter note, here's tonight's "Beat 360": Senator Barack Obama touring a wind turbine producer in Pennsylvania yesterday.
Here's the caption from our staff winner, one of our fantastic interns, Anna: "I meant I wanted a fresh start in the abstract sense, boys."
All right. Hey. Hey, she's an intern.
If you think you can do better, go to CNN.com/360. Send us your submission.
HILL: She does a great job, too.
COOPER: She does a good job, excellent job.
HILL: She often has some of the best submissions.
COOPER: Yes, she does.
HILL: I never submit anything. She's there every day.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: We will announce the winner at the end of the program.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARVILLE: Obviously, he did something wrong. I don't think he should resign just because he saw a prostitute one or two times.
LISA BLOOM, TRUTV ANCHOR: It's time to change the idea of what women are expected to do in public life. ALAN DERSHOWITZ, AUTHOR, "PREEMPTION: A KNIFE THAT CUTS BOTH WAYS": Lisa, you're -- you're not the queen of all women. It's just none of your darn business.
BLOOM: Of course I'm not.
DAVID EIGEN, AUTHOR, "MEN: THE GODS OF LOVE": Men need to be allowed to have feelings, be allowed to say, hey, you know, I had a bad day at the office and I need a hug.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE VIEW")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I felt bad for these women when they -- you know, they take their vow, and then they get married to a politician. And every wife has got to stand there. She didn't even want to look up at the camera.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Plenty of opinions out there on Eliot Spitzer. And, no surprise, a few fall along gender lines. Many men think Spitzer is getting a raw deal, that he shouldn't have resigned. Some don't blame him at all. A few even consider prostitution a victimless crime.
Many women, on the other hand, have zero sympathy for Spitzer. They say he's a cheat, a liar who betrayed his office, the people, and certainly his wife. This argument in this battle of the sexes is being discussed on TV -- we just showed you a bunch of clips there -- at home. Certainly, it fueled a lively debate in our newsroom today.
So, why the huge difference of opinion?
Want to talk to some experts. Joining us are Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of "Loveline" and VH-1's "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew," and psychiatrist Gail Saltz, author of the book "Anatomy of a Secret Life."
Dr. Saltz, why do women stand by their men? And why do folks see this issue so differently?
SALTZ: I think men and women are seeing it differently. It has a lot to do with, you know, do you feel that this could have potentially been you, or you have thought about this?
And I think it also has a lot to do with your past. Are you a person who's been betrayed and, therefore, you know, want revenge? Are you a person who can imagine yourself be a betrayer, and, therefore, you feel more sympathetic?
COOPER: Dr. Drew -- Dr. Drew, you say that wives stand by their husbands often in these situations because it's for the kids, but that it also may have something to do with their fathers.
(CROSSTALK) DR. DREW PINSKY, AUTHOR, "CRACKED: PUTTING BROKEN LIVES TOGETHER AGAIN": Oh, absolutely.
There's one of two basic camps that I see frequently in these kinds of situations. One is, as you heard former Governor McGreevey's wife say, I tried to see the family together. It's because of the children. I'm going to protect the children. And, after all, this is their father.
That tends to kind of fade away with time. The other thing that keeps them in the game is if they've had similar experiences with their father in their family of origin. That's what causes them often to be attracted to guys like this. And when these behaviors then ensue, often their mother is the road map for how they're going to behave. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, for instance, is sort of the prime example of this situation.
COOPER: Dr. Saltz, why do women who stand by their husbands often get criticized?
SALTZ: Because women who are trying to identify with them are imagining only the side of wanting to punish and wanting revenge. And if you're not actually in it, then you tend not to be thinking of the side of this is complicated. This is a person I've loved my whole marriage. We are intertwined emotionally, financially and we will forever be intertwined because we have children together.
It's much more likely, if you're sitting outside of it, that you're only going to identify with the part that is, he did this to you. Cut him down.
COOPER: Dr. Drew, what do you think is going on with Eliot Spitzer? I mean, people talk about narcissistic personality disorder. I that's what's involved here? How do you see this?
PINSKY: Well, the thing that -- the clue that I sort of see in him is he was so ruthless when he was dealing with people. When it came time for him to sort of take action, other people's feelings meant nothing to him.
And guys like that, once they get power, tend to start to think that they're an exception and that these behaviors that they're engaging in maybe aren't such a big deal after all. And, you know, it's me, so what's the big deal?
They're in sort of a state of denial. And yes, indeed, narcissism often does fuel that.
Gail, I'm interested. Do you think that he sounded contrite today?
SALTZ: You know, I think that he doesn't necessarily want to reveal how ashamed and humiliated he probably is.
PINSKY: I don't think he can feel shame. I'm not sure he can feel shame. And as a result I found myself feeling very bad for the wife. I mean, boy, I just felt so bad for her, because she at least was a human being up there having feelings.
SALTZ: You know what? I want to just add here something interesting. This is such self-destructive behavior on his part, such incredible...
PINSKY: Right.
SALTZ: ... that you have to look at what else might be going on. You know....
COOPER: Jason Carroll reporting eight times over eight months. And this guy had a security detail around the clock. He had to, like, figure out ways...
SALTZ: It's shocking. It's so shocking.
COOPER: I mean, there was a lot of work put into this.
SALTZ: It's so shocking that you have to look at the psyche and say, for instance, this was a man who had an incredibly successful father, incredibly successful.
COOPER: Self-made multimillionaire.
SALTZ: He managed to surpass his father. And a lot of times when that happens, when you surpass an incredibly successful father, the need to self-destruct out of guilt can often take over.
COOPER: It's a fascinating case. A lot to talk about. Dr. Gail Saltz, appreciate it. Dr. Drew Pinsky, always good to have you on.
Coming up, Ashley Dupree's brother is now speaking out about his sister. It's the young woman, according to "The New York Times," who's identified as Kristen, involved in this escort ring. We're just getting his reaction. We'll tell you what he said when we come back.
Plus, two fast-moving political stories unfolding tonight. Former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro off the Clinton campaign after saying Barack Obama is where he is because he's black. And she's being criticized because she's white. And what's more, he should be thanking her. We'll try to sort it all out.
Also, another new twist in fight for the Florida primary, 2.0, and yes, it is getting messier. That and more when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KYLE YOUMANS, BROTHER OF ASHLEY DUPREE: Just hectic, and I can't really comment on it. And I'm sticking by my sister through everything. She's going to be fine. Everything that's said is, you know, just talk. She's a great woman, an independent woman, and she'll make it through. She'll be fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: All right. This story has just gotten off the rails bizarre. That is the brother, wearing an argyle Yankees baseball cap of Kylie -- that's Kyle Youmans, the brother of Ashley Dupree. Just think, 24 hours ago, just six hours ago, we didn't know any of these people.
According to "The New York Times," she is the 22-year-old woman now at the center of the scandal that brought down New York's governor, Eliot Spitzer, soon to be a major motion picture. He is stepping down -- or perhaps a Lifetime movie of the week. Next week. They already have them in production. He stepped -- no, they don't. I'm just -- they might, for all I know. I should not underestimate the abilities of Lifetime producers to jump on this story.
Governor Spitzer is stepping down, effective Monday. His marriage, of course, on the rocks. His legal future is in serious jeopardy.
We have another explosive mixture, the Geraldine Ferraro story today. Let's take those pictures off, move on to Ferraro graphic. There we go.
What Ferraro said about Barack Obama has ignited the latest brushfire over race in the Democratic presidential battle. And as the story spilled over into a second news cycle today, Ferraro -- Ferraro resigned her position with the Clinton campaign, but she's not backing down. Now, if this sounds family, well, it actually is.
CNN's Candy Crowley has the "Raw Politics."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Geraldine Ferraro wants to write her own ending to this story. "Dear Hillary," she wrote, "I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign. The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you."
It was an honorary position at best, but Ferraro, a trailblazer, the first woman vice presidential candidate on a major ticket, understands politics. A clean break was needed after she said this of Obama's campaign success: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is."
Resignation in hand, or at least on her BlackBerry, Clinton said she regrets Ferraro's words, but tossed it off as just another episode of surrogates gone wild.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, one of his top advisers had to resign last week over something she said about me. So we are aware that this happens, but we're particularly sensitive to it because of the nature of this campaign and who each of us is. So we do stand against it.
CROWLEY: Obama also seems intent on lowering the decibel level. SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think that there is a directive in the Clinton campaign: "Let's heighten the racial elements in the campaign." I don't think that.
CROWLEY: Race has been a slow-burning fuse beneath the Democratic candidates. Sometimes there's an explosion. Ferraro's words moved the campaign close to that danger zone again.
The initial reaction in Obamaville was to call her remarks inappropriate, offensive, divisive, part of an insidious pattern of negativity.
Camp Clinton fired back, suggesting it's the Obama campaign injecting race into the conversation with "politically calculated attacks."
GERALDINE FERRARO, FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Speaking for...
CROWLEY: Before her resignation, Ferraro pushed back on ABC's "Good Morning America," accusing Obama supporters of attacking her because she's white.
FERRARO: I'm hurt, absolutely hurt by how they have taken this thing and spun it to imply that in any way -- in any way I'm a racist.
CROWLEY: Obama says nobody suggested Ferraro was a racist. Choosing words very carefully, he settled on ridiculous.
OBAMA: The notion that it is a great advantage to me to be an African-American named Barack Obama in pursuit of the presidency, I think is not -- not a view that has been commonly shared by the general public.
CROWLEY (on camera): Looking toward Pennsylvania, where white, working class voters are key, a focus on race does not help Barack Obama. But it may not help Clinton, either. Her campaign in the past has been criticized by party insiders as going too far. The same kind of party insiders who are super delegates, who may decide this race.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Digging keeper now, let's turn to CNN's senior political analyst and former presidential advisor David Gergen and also Mary Frances Berry, who is named chairperson of the Civil Rights Commission by President Bill Clinton in 1993.
David, I want to read something blogger Andrew Sullivan wrote on his Web site. He said, and I quote, "The Clinton campaign's decision not to reject or denounce Geraldine Ferraro's racial gaffe strikes me as a conscious and deliberate one. Ferraro is now on the networks and airwaves amping up the volume, and Clinton, in classic passive- aggressive mode, is merely 'disagreeing'. Isn't this obviously about Pennsylvania? Isn't this classic Rove-Morris politics -- to keep designating Obama a beneficiary of affirmative action and Clinton a victimized white woman in order to racially polarize a primary where Clinton needs white ethnic votes?"
Do you believe this is conscious and deliberate, David?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No, I don't. And I think it's just getting ratcheted up by all sides now in very unfortunate ways.
I think two things can be said about -- in a positive way about Geraldine Ferraro. First, she has also said about herself that she would not have been the vice presidential candidate, had she not been a woman.
So she is consistent in that sense, and secondly, I think she made a wise decision today to step down from this campaign. Having said that, what she said was highly offensive.
If someone had said about Hillary Clinton, you know, "If she weren't a woman, she wouldn't be here," people in the Clinton camp would have clearly taken offense at that. Because Hillary Clinton is, yes, a woman, but she has many, many other accomplishments that make her a strong candidate.
And similarly, it's offensive to say that if -- as she said, that if he were not black, he would not be here, he would not winning this if he were not black. Yes, he is black, but he has many, many other talents that he has brought to this campaign, inspirational qualities that do transcend race.
COOPER: To Jane Sullivan's point, does it hurt Obama to have even this discussion, to have this brought up by surrogates in the Clinton campaign, to have these kind of -- this focus on race? Does that hurt him?
MARY FRANCES BERRY, FORMER CHAIRPERSON, CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION: I don't think Obama should have bitten it. I think that he should have taken a pass on it, because he's a candidate who -- one of the things about him is that he transcends racial categories.
So here he has been for the last couple of days, sitting around, talking about race and being slighted by an old white woman who once ran for vice president, and going over and over again. I think he would have been better off just to take a pass on it.
GERGEN: Anderson, can I just respectfully disagree with that? I think Barack Obama had every reason to go after these comments, because they're so reminiscent of what we are hearing just after New Hampshire and going into the South Carolina primary and just after the South Carolina primary.
And those remarks by the Clintons and by some of their surrogates, trying to sort of marginalize him as simply a black and diminishing him in that sense, trying to put him in a box, you know, I think backfired on the Clinton team. And I think it was one of the turning points in his campaign that helped Barack Obama. BERRY: But I'm saying that if Obama had wanted to, since this was in the Daily Breeze or wherever it was, he could have just -- and since it's Ferraro, and since there's no evidence that she's a racist of some kind, it would have been easier to take a pass on it.
But if they're in a mode that they're going to attack back, no matter what anybody says, then they can go ahead and do it.
But I do not think, David, it's in the category of what happened after New Hampshire. It isn't in the category of what happened with Bob Johnson. It isn't in the category of any of those things. I wouldn't put Ferraro in that category.
COOPER: You don't see a pattern -- you don't see a pattern here?
BERRY: I don't think the Clinton people, you know, told Geraldine Ferraro to go out and make those comments.
COOPER: But not a pattern necessarily on race, but a pattern of focusing on differences, which is what...
BERRY: Yes, yes.
COOPER: Do you see a pattern in that?
BERRY: Yes, I see that.
COOPER: David, do you see a pattern in that?
GERGEN: Absolutely. And, you know, of course, his blackness, and, of course, her femininess [SIC]...
BERRY: Being a woman.
GERGEN: ... are elements in this campaign. But I think to isolate that and to say that's the reason this person is doing well, is I think just wrong-headed. I think it brings race and gender to the front of the conversation where -- and you know, I think it is very distracting.
And it is intended. It's very clearly intended to diminish the candidacy of Barack Obama, and it was offensive because it was injecting race as a way to diminish him.
BERRY: David, I don't think that anybody who mentions that Hillary Clinton is a woman and emphasizes that she is and that she's the first woman to get this far is somehow being divisive and injecting the gender. She's obviously a woman. He's obviously a black guy. What's wrong with saying that?
GERGEN: But if you -- you would -- you would not accept it if I argued that, if Hillary Clinton were not a woman, she wouldn't be doing as well. I just don't think that's true.
BERRY: No, I'm not defending Geraldine Ferraro. I'm just saying that there's nothing wrong with calling attention to the fact that it would be historic, because it would be the first woman...
GERGEN: That's not what she was doing.
BERRY: ... or it would be the first black person.
GERGEN: That -- that's not what she was doing.
BERRY: There are ways to call attention to gender and to race, and there are ways not to call attention to gender and to race. And I think Ferraro's timing was wrong, and it's unfortunate that it happened this way, but I still don't put her in the category of being somehow racist.
COOPER: David, your final thought?
GERGEN: She's not a racist. And I just want to finally say, I want to salute Mary Berry for her -- Mary's been an enormous advocate for civil rights in the country, so I respect her view. I happen to disagree with aspects of it.
BERRY: OK.
COOPER: Mary Frances Berry, it's a pleasure to have you on. And David Gergen, as well. Thank you.
BERRY: Thank you.
COOPER: Interesting discussion.
Up next, will there be a new primary battle in Florida? We could have an answer tomorrow. Is it a disaster, though, waiting to happen? Joe Johns "Keeping Them Honest," next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Another political story we're following tonight. Democratic Party officials are scrambling to solve their latest headache, the delegate dilemma in Florida and Michigan.
Now, both states, as you know, were stripped of their delegates for holding their primaries too early. U.S. Senator Carl Levin told the "Detroit Free Press" earlier this week that a plan for holding a second contest in Michigan could come together within days, with a mail-in primary the most practical scenario.
Meantime, today Florida Democrats said they plan to unveil a proposal by tomorrow for mail-in primary. That may be their plan, but there are some major obstacles.
CNN's Joe Johns tonight is "Keeping Them Honest."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To vote or not to vote in Florida. That's the question. Others say it might be a Category 5 disaster. (on camera) Are you worried that this thing is sort of an impending catastrophe, or are you pretty sure it's going to work out?
SEN. JEREMY RING (D), FLORIDA: I think it has the potential to be a catastrophe.
JOHNS (voice-over): Here's why. Pick a name: "The Big Fix" or "Beat the Clock," or "Presto Change-o." The fact is, the clock is ticking down for Florida to find any solution. And, by the way, "Keeping Them Honest," most of the solutions first have to overcome a huge obstacle: the state of Florida's election law.
(on camera) You might say there are no easy answers here. One of the fears expressed by Florida voters we spoke with is that any remedy the Democrats come up with could only worsen the election-year nightmare for the state.
(voice-over) So let's look at the options. Option one: mail-in battle ballots. Right now, that's the winning-est idea for Democrats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know, actually, in other states, it's really worked well.
JOHNS: But in Florida, it's apparently illegal. The law says there can be no election by mail ballot in which a candidate is nominated. That would appear to include Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Here's the supervisor of elections in Leon County.
JON SANCHO, SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS, LEON COUNTY: A mail-ballot election, again, is expressly prohibited under Florida law, and we cannot do that where candidates are on the ballot.
JOHNS: That's correct. Florida law says the state cannot run an election by mail, but someone else could.
And that brings us to option two. The Democrats could hire a company to conduct a mail-in election. It's a huge job, but doable, except for one catch: to validate who is really a voter and who is not, you need Florida's voter rolls to verify signatures. And you guessed it. It's illegal to sell Florida voter signatures in Florida.
SANCHO: There's no way that the Democratic Party can validate that the ballots are actually non-fraudulent.
JOHNS: Some are saying the Governor could issue an emergency order, but not everybody is buying that.
And finally, option four: back to where it all began. Just let people vote with voting machines. Well, timing, timing, timing. Looking toward November and the general election, many places in Florida are replacing their voting machines. But right now?
SANCHO: Some of these counties now have no voting equipment. JOHNS: Another option, of course, is the one a lot of Democrats have said they'd love to avoid. Letting the whole thing go all the way to the Democratic National Convention, which means a committee would get to decide what to do about the votes of 1.7 million people.
Joe Johns, CNN, Tallahassee, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Still to come, more breaking news on the Eliot Spitzer scandal. The latest on the woman at the center of the case: her name, her face, her story.
And "The Shot of the Day," Buster Martin, a well-rounded athlete -- he works as a plumber -- scored a hit single with his rock band last year, and now he's training for a marathon. And oh, yes, did we mention he's 101 years old? He's also growing a mighty big beard. His story, next on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Now, our "Beat 360" showdown. You know how it works. We post the picture on our Web site. We have cheesy music, and you compete with our staff to come up with the best caption.
Well, tonight's picture shows presidential candidate Barack Obama on a tour of a wind turbine producer in Fairless Hill, Pennsylvania, yesterday.
Our staff winner was our intern Anna. Her entry: "I meant I wanted a 'fresh start' in the abstract sense, boys."
OK. There you go.
Our viewer winner is Ed. His caption: "Think someone will get mad if I spray-painted 'Obama for president' on here?"
We want to give a special shout-out to Ed tonight for being such a devoted "Beat 360" player. Every day, he submits several captions, and today he finally won.
Congratulations, Ed.
ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Yay, Ed!
COOPER: Yay. Very exciting.
Oh, there's Greg. You can check out the captions Ed beat out at CNN.com/360. And feel free to play along next time.
HILL: All right.
Before you can play along next time, though, we got to get you caught up on "The Shot" for tonight. We've got to give you the setup first. Buster Martin training to become the oldest runner to complete the London marathon. He's 101. That's right, 101. And he just might have a secret weapon. Take a look at this.
After a good workout, he likes to toss back a pint of ale. Nothing like a cold one after running a few miles.
COOPER: He's dressed like Fidel Castro, though. I've got to...
HILL: Maybe that's his other secret. Maybe he borrowed the track suit, and he feels it's going to give him a little longevity. Who knows?
A couple other interesting tidbits about our friend Buster here, who lives in London. Three years ago he decided he was going to go back to work because he was bored.
COOPER: Wow.
HILL: He also scored a hit single last year with his rock band The Zimmers. If you add up their ages, it was something like 3,000, for all the members of the band.
COOPER: That's amazing that he's 101, and he's amazing.
HILL: Isn't that great?
COOPER: Wow, look at that.
HILL: I wouldn't mess with him.
COOPER: Yes.
HILL: He just ran a half marathon, I think, last weekender.
COOPER: Good for him.
HILL: There you go.
COOPER: If you see some great video, tell us about it: CNN.com/360.
Coming up at the top of the hour, the rise and fall of Eliot Spitzer. His resignation today, new turns in the case tonight. Also new details emerging about the 22-year-old woman who's front-page news at "The New York Times," identified as the prostitute known as Kristen.
All that's next on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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