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Rep. Weiner To Resign
Aired June 16, 2011 - 09:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour with breaking news from Capitol Hill. Our Dana Bash breaking the news for us. Disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner has decided to resign. We're told an announcement could come anytime.
As you know, the New York Democrat has been embroiled in this sexting scandal involving lewd photos. For three weeks now, lawmakers in both parties have been calling on him to resign. Remember that news conference when he actually came forward and shocked us all with this personal mistake that he talked about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: And this is not something that can be treated away. This is my own personal mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: A mistake, Wolf Blitzer that just got more and more dramatic. It wasn't just one photo, several photos. And then, as we saw Mary Snow report yesterday, now it's turned into thinks conversations, one even involving a porn actress. So, Wolf, what do you think is going to happen today?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": I think it's going to be official. Dana's sources are good. Now, multiple sources are telling me that he will resign. It's unclear to me whether the announcement will be made by him personally or the former speaker, Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader. She's got a news conference scheduled this hour. Maybe, she'll make the announcement on his behalf.
It's unclear how they're going to do it, but clearly, he had made the decision together with his wife, Huma Abedin, who works for the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that it's over. He's giving up his Congressional district. And supposedly, he's in rehab right now. That's what he announced on Saturday. So, we don't know where he is, but we do know that his office for all practical purposes upon Capitol Hill has now been shut down.
PHILLIPS: So, Wolf, if indeed, he comes to the mics and he resigned as we're getting word now through your sources and Dana Bash's sources, what happens with the House Ethics Committee and its investigation, does that go away? BLITZER: Well, they could still continue the investigation. I assume, if they want, but if he's out, then, the governor of New York will name someone to fill out his district, presumably. I'm not sure if they'll have a special election or they'll wait until the next election to fill that seat. That whole seat, though, could be in jeopardy, because they're redistricting in New York State.
They're losing two seats in the state, and one of those districts that might be gone would be in New York City, and his district in Brooklyn and Queens could be lost at any case. So, the governor, Andrew Cuomo, will fill in a member, you know, for the short term, but what happens after that is very much off in the air.
PHILLIPS: Wolf Blitzer, stay with us, please. It was our Dana Bash that broke this story just about 15 minutes ago. Let's go to Dana once again on the hill, continuing to talk with her sources. You know, Dana, what happened if, indeed, Anthony Weiner comes forward and resigns today, what's his future like? What does he do? What's the next step for him?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's a big open question, Kyra, and that is -- we're told by sources who have been talking to him over the past three weeks since this began, this saga, this scandal began, that that is part of the calculation, not only about the fact that he felt that he certainly did things wrong morally, but he didn't feel that he did things wrong technically or legally, if you will, in terms of the rules here in Congress. The other factor keeping him there, we're told, is that he doesn't have a law degree.
He doesn't have a business degree. And it may be very hard after this for him to get other employment. Now, you know, there are people out there who are not employed who may not have a lot of sympathy hearing about that from a member of Congress who's done what Anthony Weiner has done, but it's really unclear what he can or will do, but in the near future, at least he is telling friends, his first priority is to continue to get treatment.
PHILLIPS: Well, treatment, and then, you've got the issue, Dana Bash, that he's going to be a father, that his wife is pregnant with their first child. And what's going to happen to his marriage? I mean, is he going to be a part of that child's life? Be a stay-at- home dad now? I mean, there's a lot of questions here about the family, the family part.
BASH: Oh, there's no question. There's no question that there are a lot of questions, but I just think sort of to underscore the idea that we don't know what's going to happen to him, but the fact that the Democratic leadership, his very own Democratic leadership worked so hard to try to get him to resign really should be highlighted here, because this is something that we don't see very often here on Capitol Hill. It just is not in the keeping with the culture of the way Congress work, particularly inside the Democratic caucus.
They really -- it took them a while to publicly come out and put the pressure on him, but it was the drip, drip, drip. It wasn't just one thing that came out initially with that initial tweet that he sent almost three weeks ago with him in his underwear to that college student in Seattle. If it would have just been that, you know, maybe, that could have been something that could have been forgiven or at least they would have let the ethics committee do its work, but it was that.
And it was a whole bunch of other photos, and, I think, most importantly, the fact that he just didn't tell the truth. Wouldn't answer our questions, myself and Ted Barrett at a press conference, flat-out, didn't tell the truth to our Wolf Blitzer in an interview, and so it was the combination of all of these things and the continued story going on that really did force the Democratic leadership.
And then, ultimately, the president, not saying it explicitly, but making it clear what he thinks to say, you know what, enough, you've got to go, and it was just pressure that was insurmountable for Anthony Weiner, and that is very clear right now.
PHILLIPS: Dana Bhash, keep working your stories -- sources. You broke the story for us this morning. We're going to come back to you. Let's get to the White House. Our Brianna Keilar is there. Brianna, any reaction from the White House.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No reaction so far, Kyra, but, certainly, what we heard this week from the president and from the White House, the first on the record comment, first from Jay Carney, the White House spokesman and then from the president himself really upped the ante on the urging that Congressman Weiner was getting from Democratic leaders.
Carney went on the record on Monday saying that this was a distraction, and then, we heard the president in an interview saying not that Anthony Weiner should resign, but that if he were the congressman, he would resign, because this was a distraction that he'd gotten in the way, essentially, of his job during a time when so much is going on with the economy and when Democrats are really trying to promote everything they can to show the American people that they're doing stuff on jobs and on the economy.
This became a distraction not only on Capitol Hill but over here at the White House, and you saw the president weigh in this week. Certainly, that added to all of the pressure that Congressman Weiner was feeling from Democrats.
PHILLIPS: Brianna Keilar there at the White House, following reaction. Probably, we'll hear at some point this morning from there.
Meanwhile, bring you up to date, if you're just tuning in to CNN NEWSROOM, our Dana Bash live on Capitol Hill breaking the story for us this morning. Disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner set to resign today. John King also, of course, working the story for us. John, still a lot of questions out there. How exactly did he come to this decision? He did have his face-to-face with his wife. Apparently, he is still in treatment. We don't know exactly where, and of course, what does this mean for his district? What does it mean for him? So many unanswered questions right now.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Many questions. To the first one, he was pushed. He was nudged and then pushed, Democratic colleagues saying it was simply unacceptable for him to stay on. At first, Kyra, you know, as Dana was noting, they knew from the beginning that they wanted him to go.
There was some effort to try to have some sympathy, to try to give him some time and give him some space, but as the scandal escalated, as the number of episodes expanded, it was clear to Democrats that this was beyond an embarrassment, beyond a personal embarrassment for Congressman Weiner, and becoming an embarrassment and distraction for the party, and so, he was pushed.
To the question you just had for Brianna Keilar, I was in touch early this morning with one of President Obama's top advisers, as we began to get some inkling this might happen today, and the view from team Obama was quote, "he quits, it's over." That is their hope there. Remember, David Axelrod was on my program last week, and he said, this would be over fairly soon. That was an indication this went all the way up to the top of the Democratic Party, the effort to convince Anthony Weiner. He needed to step aside.
It's a shame in some ways for him in the sense, at 46 years old, if you were having a conversation with somebody about Anthony Weiner three or four months ago, they would tell you he most likely would be the next mayor of New York City. He had great ambition. He was abrasive. He did not have a great (INAUDIBLE) of goodwill among his colleagues because he could be abrasive at times. He challenged his own leadership publicly at times. And Kyra, that's one of the reasons this played out the way it did.
It would have gone this way, anyway, because of the circumstances, but Anthony Weiner does not have a close friend say, in Leader Pelosi, does not have very, very close friends, maybe personal friendships, but not deep political friendship with some of the other members of the House leadership because his ambition, because it's just his sort of brusque New York City way, and sometimes, abrasive way, and because he is publicly criticized their strategic decisions over the years.
At a time when the Democrats needs to raise money, recruit candidates, get ready for the 2012 election in which they hope to take back the majority of the House of Representatives, this was the last thing they needed.
PHILLIPS: John, why does he still have supporters?
KING: Why does he still have supporters? Well, he's a good politician. He has supporters in his district because he's been able to win election there. His office is known for fairly good constituent services. He is somebody who has a lot of supporters in the liberal community, Kyra, because he goes on television, and he takes it to the Republicans in a very aggressive, assertive way.
And he built a following that way by going on largely on cable television and going after the Republicans and pulling no punches. You know, he is who he is. And in many ways, those are strengths, his brusque, abrasive, combative behavior helped him gained attention as a politician. It also, sometimes, leaves you lonely when you're in trouble, though.
PHILLIPS: Yes. John, stay with us, please. Let's get back to Dana there on the hill. So, Dana, you're getting word now. Possibly, what is going to happen to his seat?
BASH: Well, we know just the process that happens, and that is, of course, to the House of Representatives, there will be, particularly, in New York, there will be a special election. That is determined by the governor of New York. So, we don't know when it is going to happen. You remember, there was actually just recently a special election ironically for the seat that was vacated by Chris Lee, Republican from New York, who quit because he sent a shirtless picture to a woman on the internet.
That seat was taken by a Republican, you remember. So, this is a seat that is very different in terms of the demographics. It is in New York City. It is a largely Democratic, and it is something that is going to have to happen in the short-term for Anthony Weiner to be replaced, but, you know, it doesn't -- sometimes, it takes a little while.
One thing that we can talk about a little bit down road if you want to, Kyra, is the whole idea of whether his seat will even exist, because the state of New York is losing two Congressional seats because of redistricting before the next official election in 2012. So, one interesting subplot that's been going on here, is that some of his -- many of his fellow Democrats from New York have not wanted to publicly come out and say that he should resign, because they stand to gain politically if he's not there, because it's easier to get rid of his seat if somebody like Anthony Weiner is not there.
PHILLIPS: You heard it here first on CNN. Our Dana Bash, through her sources, breaking the story, Congressman Anthony Weiner set to resign today. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We're continuing our breakings news from Capitol Hill. Disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner has decided to resign. An announcement could come at any time. The New York Democrat, as you know, has been embroiled in a scandal over sexting and lewd photos. Lawmakers in both parties have been calling on him to resign. Our Dana Bash is the one who broke the story, and it was just a little over a week ago that we saw this tearful press conference from Anthony Weiner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WEINER: I believe that everyone deserves an apology here, and I certainly --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is your wife right now? WEINER: I apologize to Andrew Breitbart. I apologize to the many other members of the media that I misled. I apologize, first and foremost, to my wife and to my family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Let's bring in our Dana Bash and John King. Dana, let's start with you. We were talking yesterday about what is the conversation going to be like among members of Congress on the White House lawn as they were having an informal dinner/get-together, and a lot of pundits saying, oh, they've had enough of Anthony Weiner. They're going to talk about the economy and other things. Little did those critics know this is where it all started, this is where the news broke, correct?
BASH: Right. Little did they know that Anthony Weiner would be calling them while they're on the White House lawn. It bears repeating the reporter the story a few moments ago, but it does bear repeating because it's a fascinating story. How the Democratic leaders found out from Anthony Weiner that he was deciding to resign? He put a phone call into Steve Israel. He is Anthony Weiner's fellow Democrat from New York.
He also happens to be in a very important position politically because he is in charge of getting Democrats elected in 2012. He called him and said that he is going to resign. He gave him the news. And I'm told by a source familiar with this conversation that Steve Israel went to Nancy Pelosi who, of course, is a Democratic leader and said, you've got to hear this. And the two of them went over to a tree. They moved over to a tree to have some privacy, because, of course, the White House picnic was quite crowded with fellow members of Congress.
And then, Weiner proceeded to talk to both of them. I'm told that he said that he was going to resign and that he apologized for being a distraction. I'm told that he was very remorseful about what he had done to his family, to his colleagues, to the party. And, you know, Kyra, I was told by several sources, many sources over the past few weeks who had spoken to Anthony Weiner that he was really, really emotional. One said that he was in despair. The other said that he was turbulent.
In this particular conversation, I asked the question about his emotional state, and I was told that he was more clear-headed that he had been in quite some time in this conversation where he had made the decision that he was going to resign, and he was informing the leaders. At that point, I'm told he had not even told his staff that he had made the final decision, but he was informing his leadership.
And his leadership, I should mention, this is important to underscore, who had made clear publicly in a very important move, in a very rare move last Saturday, that they think he should go, were really trying to get him out. And so, this was a conversation that they were hoping that they were going to get, a phone call that they were hoping that they were going to get. PHILLIPS: Dana Bash who broke this story within the last half hour there on the hill. John King, I want to bring you back in, still a lot of unanswered questions. Is he in treatment? What exactly is he getting treatment for? Did he talk with his wife? Did she encourage him to make this decision today? What happens now to his district, to his future? A lot of unanswered questions.
KING: And many of them, Kyra, will now become personal questions for Anthony Weiner and his wife. We do know he did talk to his wife. She's a top aide to Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state. She was -- she's trip in recent days, back just in a little more than -- she's been back a little more than 24 hours. We do know that they spoke. We do know that Anthony Weiner had publicly set at that press conference and he had told some of his colleagues that his wife was among those who wanted him to stay and fight.
So, certainly, we know his wife, Huma, was involved in the conversations in the last 24 hours or so. Her exact -- what she said, her advice, we don't know, and perhaps, we will never know. As they now deal with the personal issue, you asked some political questions. Well, what happen to his district? There is a possibility, as Wolf noted, I believe Dana noted, that it could be drawn out by the New York legislature as they do the redistricting process.
In the short term, though, Governor Cuomo will have to schedule a special election. It's a House seat, not a Senate seat. So, it is filled through the special election. What will happen in the House of Representatives, they are hoping that this is just simply over as a political issue. That it's now a personal issue for Anthony Weiner to deal with in his treatment, in his relationship with his wife, and that they can go back about their business.
And that, Kyra, Dana was talking about this, -- that's why, look, this is horrible anyway, but it happened at a time the Democrats thought they were gaining traction in the budget argument, about the House Medicare plan, the House Republican Medicare plan. This is when Steve Israel, Dana mentioned his name, most Americans don't know who he is. He is charged with trying to get the House back in Democratic hands.
So, he's traveling the country raising money. He's traveling the country recruiting candidates. He's trying to get people who are reluctant to run for Congress, good Democratic candidates out there, to challenge Republicans. And they don't want to run for those seats if they think the Democrats are still going to be in the minority.
So, Steve Israel needs to convince them. Here is an environment where we can get the majority back. We need you to run. Look, we're making gains here in this budget fight with the Republicans and that along comes the Weiner scandal. What does Steve Israel say to candidates who say, I don't want to run in an environment like this? I don't want to be asked about that. And so, the Democrats wanted to make this go away as soon as possible. A, because it's kind of ugly, but B, because the timing was just horrible for them.
PHILLIPS: John King, good point about the major distraction. Wolf Blitzer, it was a major distraction for his party for nearly three weeks. A lot of things were put on the back burner. So, how does this change the dynamic if, indeed, he does resign today? Can his party go forward discussing other issues that have been put aside because of this distraction?
BLITZER: They certainly hope so, Kyra, because this has been a major distraction for the Democrats. It came at a time when they thought they were making some head way in dealing with the Republicans especially on the issue of Medicare, and Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee's plans to reform Medicare.
They thought they were scoring some political points on that issue and some of the other issues, then all of a sudden, out of the blue, the Anthony Weiner sex scandal erupts. And he flat-out, as all of our viewers by now know, he flat-out lied to the American public, to his constituents, to the news media. I remember, and I think we have a clip, Kyra, when I sat down with him for that lengthy interview. We carried it live here on CNN and repeatedly question after question, we now know he lied, including when he said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Have you ever taken a picture like this of yourself?
WEINER: I can tell you this, that there are -- I have photographs. I don't know what photographs are out there in the world of me. I don't know what things have been manipulated and doctored. And we're going to try to find out what happened, but the most important reason I want to find out what happen is to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Obviously, someone got access to my account. That's bad.
They sent a picture that makes fun of the name Weiner. I get it. You know, touche, Dr. Moriarty, you got me. At the time it happened, I tweeted right away that I got the joke and I continued on with my life. And I think that, frankly, that's what I would encourage everyone to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: That was on June 1st in his office up on Capitol Hill. That office is now shut down. Staffers left just a little while ago and locked the door as he gets ready for the official announcement, but he knew as he was saying that, Kyra, he knew he was lying. He knew there had been no hackers. He knew he personally have sent out those lewd photographs. He knew he was doing those direct messages for those young women all over the country.
He acknowledged it a few days later. He came clean. I've recently gotten through that whole interview, Kyra, and I think the only thing he said that was honest in that interviews when I asked him, who are you trying to protect right now? And I'm paraphrasing a little bit, but he hesitated, he got emotional, and he said, I'm trying to protect my wife, Huma. They've only been married for less than a year. And I think it's probably true. I think he was lying, repeatedly lying, blatantly lying about all that stuff, because he was trying to protect his wife, his marriage, and that was probably the only honest thing he said during the course of those 20 minutes or so in which we discussed all of the issues that were out there.
PHILLIPS: Yes. His wife, his marriage, and the fact that she's expecting their first child. Wolf Blitzer, John King, Dana Bash, our best political team on television working the story. If you're just tuning in, Dana Bash broke it on the Hill just about a half an hour ago. Disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner set to resign today. We've got breaking news coverage more after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Our Dana Bash on the Hill breaking the story for us this hour. We have now received word. Disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner set to resign today. John King, Wolf Blitzer with me now. John King, let me start with you. Nancy Pelosi supposed to hold a news conference, 10:45 eastern time. It was already a scheduled news conference, but there had been talk possibly that she is the one that would announce this resignation, not Anthony Weiner, himself. What do you think?
KING: That would be unusual. I'm sure she's going to be asked about it, and she knew she was going to come out this morning. One of the pressures on Anthony Weiner has been that whenever a member of the leadership with the Democratic Party comes out to speak, whenever even President Obama gave an interview with NBC News the other day, they know that part of their precious time, in politics, your time is precious. You're trying to communicate your message.
And in the case of the Democrats now, you're trying usually to criticize the Republican plans in the House of Representatives. The first question, the second question, and often the third, fourth and fifth question is about Anthony Weiner. It would be unusual for Leader Pelosi, former Speaker Pelosi to announce the resignation of a member. It would be most normal for Anthony Weiner, himself, to put out a statement.
We expect a statement on paper, you know, send electronically out to us. We don't expect him to say anything, but she certainly, if she's coming to see reporters today, she knows full well that is going to be a serious and now probably the dominant topic of discussion which again, Kyra, is why the Democrats wanted this to go away as fast as possible, so that they can try to do their normal business, which is trying to advance their own agenda.
PHILLIPS: Wolf Blitzer, even if he does step to the mikes and announce his resignation today, it still not going to go away.
BLITZER: Well, there's going to be a lot of interest in this story for a long time to come. And you know, there are so many elements. There's the political element, obviously, but there's also human element, a newlywed. They've been married for less than a year, and we learned that Huma Abedin, his wife, is three months pregnant, maybe four months pregnant now, and it raises all sorts of questions about what's going to happen to their marriage.
He repeatedly said very emotionally he wants to save this marriage. He's going to work very hard to save the marriage. And I know that when all the struggle broke out, she continued on her job, which is to travel with the secretary of state. They went to the United Arab Emirates and then they went to several countries in Africa. They just came back yesterday or the day before. She's had a chance to sit down and look him in the eyes and talk to him.
I don't know what's going to happen to that relationship. I don't know how they're going to make the announcement. How is he going to make the announcement? Will he actually go to a microphone and say something or will they just release a piece of paper? Will former speaker, the Democratic leader, the minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, just formally make the announcement at her 10:45 a.m. scheduled news conference?
That's supposed to come up in about 15 minutes or so from now. I have no idea, but it's a sad story on so many levels, and we're just going to have to watch it unfold. So, the answer to you question, Kyra, is I suspect the fallout will continue.
PHILLIPS: And John King, I had asked you earlier in the hour, you know, Anthony Weiner still does have support in his district, but is it going to be enough support to help him out or is he just finished?
KING: Well, it's an excellent question, because we know he's very ambitious. We know he's very energetic. We knew he wanted to be the next mayor of New York City. We now know he's planning to resign his seat in the House of Representatives today. Does that mean the 46 years old Anthony Weiner's political career is over? Kyra, that's a question we just simply can't answer today, and I think it's most important.
Wolf is just touching on this. There's parts of this story, in my view anyway, should go away. He should be allowed to try to make peace with his wife, to rebuild his relationship, to get whatever treatment he needs if that's what he believes he needs. There are political questions that are in the public domain, and those are the stories we should be covering. They will have a special election in his seat.
Will he try to make a comeback someday? That is up to him first to make that decision, and then, to see if he could rebuild his support whether it was in a Congressional district in New York City or some other office in New York City. He was planning to run for mayor. He was starting to think about an organization for that. The polls show that a slight majority, I think, somewhere in the area of 51 percent, 52 percent of the people in his district thought he should stay and fight. That is encouraging to Anthony Weiner.
As he resigns his seat, he can, at least, think that at least half or little more than half of his district wanted him to stay on the fight. As we were talking about earlier, he does have some other support in the Democratic Party. Just around the country, a lot of these people he started to have communications with online were started communications with him or began to follow him on Twitter, because they were impressed with something they saw in a nationally televised interview when he was making the case -- you know, they are Democrats, he was making the case against Republicans. So, can he rebuild after this?
There are many stories in our history of politicians who stumble, rebuilding. There are other stories in our history, recent and past in politics who stumble and then disappear. We don't know the answer to that question.
PHILLIPS: John King, Wolf Blitzer, we'll keep the discussion going. Thanks so much. You saw it first right here on CNN, and if you're just tuning in, our Dana Bash on Capitol Hill broke the story. Anthony Weiner set to resign today. More after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: If you're just tuning into CNN, breaking news. Our Dana Bash live on the Hill, actually breaking the story just about 35 minutes ago that disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner is set to resign today.
Dana, let's just recap for those tuning in at the half hour.
BASH: That's right. The story is, as you said, that Anthony Weiner after being pushed publicly, very intensely by his own Democratic leadership since this past weekend, has decided to heed their call and give up his congressional seat. The call was he was too much of a distraction and that this story was really hurting the Democrats politically, and that it was time for him to go.
And it came after almost three weeks ago, Kyra, that we know he sent this first tweet on Twitter of himself in his underwear to a 21- year-old college student in Seattle. He accidentally - he later admitted he accidentally sent that publicly, and that is what came out and that is what started this whole scandal all that he was embroiled in.
And you know, what is -- obviously this is a very tragic story, but what has been so frustrating for his fellow Democratic leaders here is that had he maybe come out and explained the real deal, the truth from the beginning, that maybe could have made this not so bad politically. But the fact that -- and you've been talking to Wolf about it, because he was a part of it, I was a part of it, as well. Our Ted Barrett as well. The fact they put out a couple of statements saying that he was hacked, which was not true. Then had a press conference, a pretty intense conference, where myself and Ted Barrett were there and he wouldn't answer questions about why he didn't call the police. And then he had that interview with Wolf Blitzer, and he simply lied about this.
The fact that that was the drip, drip, drip of the story, even though he admitted a week ago Monday that this was something he did, more pictures came out. More information came out. It came out that he was corresponding with a 17-year-old girl in Delaware. He said that it was nothing indecent, but the fact that that happened and this story continued to go, that is why the Democratic leadership said enough.
Now, this was all happening while, over the past couple of weeks, we were told by many sources who were speaking with him, that he was very upset, very emotional, very distraught. But he was trying very, very hard to fight back and say he wanted to keep his seat. He felt it was important for him to stay in office. Because we're told he was saying, look, he certainly did things wrong morally, but that he thought that he didn't necessarily technically do anything to break the law or to break the rules of the House.
But it became insurmountable after his own leadership, which doesn't take this lightly, decided it was time to push him out. And there's a sigh of relief being breathed here right now on Capitol Hill among those Democratic leaders because they, after nearly three weeks of the scandal, they just wanted it to go away. And they're hoping with this decision and this announcement at some point that that will help to do that and allow them to get back to their agenda.
PHILLIPS: And just to point out, we are supposed to hear from Nancy Pelosi in just about 10 minutes. She had a scheduled news conference. This is definitely going to change the dynamic of what she was going to talk about. No doubt she'll be getting lots of questions about Anthony Weiner and his future.
Our Dana Bash on the Hill, breaking this story for us. We'll get back to you.
You know, usually this time every day we have our "Political Buzz" segment with our panel. On the left, on the right, down the middle. Talk about the perfect story for the "Political Buzz" panel now. Joining us, Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher, comedian Pete Dominick, and of course, conservative political analyst Will Cain.
I guess, guys, first of all, I just want your reaction. Cornell, let's start with you.
CORNELL BELCHER, DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER: I want to see the silver lining in this. It's a tragic story all around, but the bottom line is, in America, we can shame someone out of office. I think from a democracy standpoint, our democracy works. This guy didn't do anything illegal, however, we shamed him out of office. You can't lie and do bad things in America and get away with it. I think that's a good story for our democracy.
PHILLIPS: Will Cain, what do you think?
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, Kyra, I'm kind of surprised. If you look at the analysis that Weiner had to go through, on the one hand, I think if he stuck in, he would have been a lifelong congressman. If he had survived this, he might have been a lifer, much like Charlie Rangel.
But now that he's resigned, what does he do? Where does he go? I mean, I'm not saying this to try to be cute, but one of the most likely outcomes is he ends up on cable news. I think everyone here can tell you that does not come with the same kind of job security.
PHILLIPS: Will had to go there. Pete Dominick, step in.
PETE DOMINICK, RADIO HOST, "STAND UP! WITH PETE DOMINICK": I think the problem with the story is we're actually interested. I never really got that interested in this story. I think the most interested thing in the video today is Congressman Weiner carries his own laundry. And I get creeped out now watching him hold that Blackberry.
But the point is, there's so much more important things for Americans to be interested in, but we get distracted by these shiny objects and horrific images, if you will. And that's why we should be talking about -- hopefully this would be the end of it.
PHILLIPS: Cornell, Will, Pete, stay with me. We have to get a quick break in. If you're just tuning in to CNN, our Dana Bash breaking the news from the Hill. Disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner set to resign today We'll have more right after the break.
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PHILLIPS: If you're just tuning into CNN, breaking news. Disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner set to resign today. Want to bring in our Wolf Blitzer, John King once again. So, Wolf, we are now -- and John - we're getting word. WCBS, the affiliate out of New York there reporting 2:00 p.m. in Brooklyn, Anthony Weiner set to make the announcement.
Are you guys -- can you confirm that? What are your sources telling you?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": I can't confirm it, but it sort of does make sense. I'll be curious to see how Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House, discusses this whole issue in her news conference that was previously scheduled. Supposed to begin in about five or 10 minutes or so from now. We'll see what she has to say. But I'm sure a lot of people -- if in fact he'll be live at 2 p.m. Eastern from Brooklyn, which is part of his district, a lot of people no doubt will be watching, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: What do they want to hear, John King?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The leadership wants to hear him say it himself, resign. I was about to say I'm surprised that he's going to step in front of the cameras and do this, but I guess in this case, I'm not surprised because Anthony Weiner, as he showed in that press conference with Dana and Ted Barrett on Capitol Hill where he was not telling the truth but he wanted to stay there to try to defend himself in that interview that I think will become iconic with Wolf, where he just flat-out lied through the interview, that he has decided to put himself front and center here from the beginning of dealing with this. And so perhaps fitting that he would personally go before the cameras to announce his resignation. That is not the normal course of action. Most time a politician would announce this through a press release, and then maybe down the road come out and take some questions. But we will see what he says today.
We know he's had several long conversations with his wife since she returned from her trip abroad with Secretary of State Clinton. We know he started telling associates and his colleagues in the Congress - congressional leadership last night that he planned to do this. And we know he's said he is planning to seek treatment, that he went for some treatment and planned to seek treatment. It will be interesting to watch the saga play out.
There are many - you know, Pete Dominick was just talking about this. There are many who will want to watch this, who will want to hear every last detail of what he's going through, and I think there are others who would prefer, Mr. Weiner, if you're going to resign, please step aside and take this sort of sordid saga out of our lives.
PHILLIPS: Well, and that saga began when we were all watching this moment last Monday. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: I haven't told the truth, and I've done things that I deeply regret. I brought pain to the people I care about the most and the people who believed in me. And for that I'm deeply sorry. I apologize for my wife and our families, as well as to friends and supporters. I'm deeply ashamed of my terrible judgment and actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: He didn't tell the truth. And Wolf Blitzer, he didn't tell the truth to you, either, when he sat down for that live interview.
BLITZER: He lied repeatedly, brazenly. And a lot of people wonder with so many women with whom he had been in direct contact over Twitter and e-mail, Facebook, sending these lewd pictures, all of them - at least a lot of them, I don't know if all of them - a lot of them have almost come out. I guess he thought he would get away with it. Obviously that was a big mistake.
And Dana pointed out earlier, if he would have been honest right away at the beginning and said I made a horrible mistake, apologize for it, here is what I did and it was stupid, maybe it would have had a different ending than this. But once he went out and he had that acrimonious exchange between Dana and our producer Ted Barrett, and then the next day a series of interviews with reporters here in Washington, me included, in which he so brazenly lied, I think -- the handwriting was on the wall.
And obviously over the weekend when Nancy Pelosi and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Steve Israel, the leaders of the House of Representatives, the Democratic leaders of the House, they all came out and said he must go. And the president of the United States gave that interview to NBC's Ann Curry in which he said, "If it were me, I would resign." You know, it was obvious he had no choice. It was only a matter of when. And the when, we now know, it's today.
PHILLIPS: All right. Wolf and John, I'm actually looking at the live feed coming in right now. I can see our Kate Bolduan there at the news conference. I understand that Nancy Pelosi is in the room. As we mentioned, there was a scheduled news conference today, and then the news broke. Our Dana Bash just about 45 minutes ago or so, telling us that her sources had confirmed that indeed Anthony Weiner was going to resign today.
Now we're getting world from our affiliate WCBS that resignation could happen in front of the cameras in Brooklyn at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.
John King, while we are waiting for Nancy Pelosi to step up to the mikes, which I'm told could happen any second now, John, let me ask you. You know, we've been talking a lot. It seems that everybody -- you kind of touched on this. Wolf has touched on it. Dana has touched on this. What if he wouldn't have lied? There have been politicians, as you mentioned, in the past that have blatantly lied. I mean, the first one I think of is Bill Clinton and "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." We saw the comeback that he made.
Is there hope for Anthony Weiner, that he could stay in politics in some way, shape or form?
KING: He'd have held his House seat if he had come clean right at the beginning and told the beginning, maybe. We don't have a definitive answer there. If he had come right out and told everything, and said here's exactly what I did or to the best of my recollection, I've gone back and looked and essentially, the Monday news conference where he said he had conversations online inappropriately with perhaps a half-dozen women, had he done that right out of the box, could he have kept his House seat? If his wife supported him and his leadership believed it was said and done, maybe. Maybe even if the leadership wanted him to go.
But it's very clear -- when you see leader Pelosi here in a moment, you have to understand the longer-term politics of this. She is still bruising from having to hand that gavel off to the Republicans. She believes she can win it back --
PHILLIPS: And John -
KING: -- in the 2012 elections. And here she comes into the room right now.
PHILLIPS: You've got it. She's getting ready to step up to the mikes, leader Nancy Pelosi now.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Good morning. Thank you for joining us again once again for our regularly scheduled Thursday morning press availability. I -- as usual we're here to talk about jobs, about protecting Medicare, and to protecting the middle class.
If you're here to ask a question about Congressman Weiner, I won't be answering any. I've made the statements I'm going to make. It's my understanding that later in the day, he will be having a press conference and after that, I will have a statement available. I will just tell you that up front.
It is day 163, 163 days since the Republicans --
PHILLIPS: All right. Dana Bash, I actually saw John King sort of grinning, maybe because he sort of expected that. And Dana Bash, you too on the Hill. We thought that possibly Nancy Pelosi would take questions right away, considering the story that's been breaking for about 45 minutes now. But it looks like, nope, she's going to start with jobs, the middle class, and then make a statement at the end of the news conference.
BASH: That's right. In fact, as we were getting ready to go to the press conference, I was just saying, knowing her the way I do, I'll bet you she won't say anything. Not just because she wants to talk about her agenda, and that's the whole point of them wanting to get Anthony Weiner out of the way so they can continue to talk about that, but also because he hasn't officially spoken. And you know, although we know from very good sources that she has been informed by Anthony Weiner that he's going to resign, he himself has not said that.
And you know, there is still some, for lack of a better term, political decorum, I think, left among these folks in terms of what they can and can't say publicly. Although most -- I would say the vast majority of Democrats thought that this was just enough already, time to go, there are some Democrats in the House, some of Anthony Weiner's colleagues, some of the people who are rank-and-file underneath Nancy Pelosi, who weren't that comfortable with the leadership saying that they wanted him to go and with other members of Congress saying they wanted him to go. Because there's an ethics investigation going on, and they said it's a matter for their constituents.
So, that's why even though there's no question, there's a major sense of relief. Nancy Pelosi has it, other Democratic leaders have it, that he is going to resign. They also do feel that they need to tread a little bit delicately until Anthony Weiner himself comes out.
PHILLIPS: And Dana Bash, our affiliate out of New York, WCBS reporting 2:00 p.m. out of Brooklyn that Congressman Anthony Weiner will step up to the mikes and make that resignation.
We'll continue to follow the breaking news. Quick break, more after this.
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PHILLIPS: And if you're just tuning in to CNN, I want to bring you in on the breaking news. We have confirmed that possibly at 2:00 Eastern time today, out of Brooklyn, New York, this is what our affiliate WCBS is reporting, that that news conference will happen where disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner will resign.
Just to give you a timeline of how this has all built up to this point. You know, the scandal has been going on for about three weeks now. It actually started on May 27, you may remember, when that lewd picture of a man's underwear was sent from Weiner's Twitter account to a young woman in Seattle. Then the story started to pick up.
Weiner came forward, claimed that his account was hacked. Even sat down with our Wolf Blitzer, blatantly lied in that interview. And then conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart wrote about it on his Web site. Well, that Monday the college student claimed she had never met Weiner and that she knew who the hacker was. And then on May 31, Weiner wouldn't deny that the picture was of him. He said he hired a legal team to actually investigate, not the police. And then it was on June 6, Breitbart came forward, claimed he had more lewd pictures of the congressman allegedly sent to young women, including a very graphic one.
And then "Star" magazine published sexually charged online chat they claimed that Weiner had with young women. And then it was at 4:00 p.m. on June 6th that Weiner held that news conference and admitted that he was in that initial Twitter picture, and that he had several inappropriate online relationships even after he was married, although he claimed he never met any of those women face-to-face.
And then it was June 11 that he requested a two-week leave of absence from Congress to seek professional treatment. Then on the 12th, more pics surfaced, some allegedly taken at the House gym. And then it was then this past Monday that President oOama said that he would - or he rather said -- actually the president weighed in on the resignation and suggested that that should take place.
Now, yesterday Weiner's wife returned from a trip overseas with her boss, Hillary Clinton, and then today the news broke that Weiner will resign. He should be making that public statement once again today at toon -- or 2:00 Eastern time.
Wolf Blitzer, John King, Dana Bash joining me once again. Whew! That was a lot to remember, that was a lot to recite. I hope it all made sense. But I think for anyone that's been following the story, basically remembers the photo came out, he lied about it, we found his wife was pregnant. Now, here we are, his future totally in limbo and set to resign as congressman, 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Dana, you brought us the news within the hour. An it all came down last night, a conversation going on at the White House at this dinner with members of Congress, and Steve Israel gets a call from Anthony Weiner.
BASH: That's right. He got the call from Anthony Weiner, as you said, at the White House picnic, saying that, you know what, he made the decision, he's going to resign. And then I am told that Steve Israel went over, found Nancy Pelosi, and the two of them talked to Weiner together. Kind of moved near a tree to have some privacy, because there was such a big crowd of their fellow members of Congress and their kids at this picnic. And one of the things that struck me about what I'm told about this conversation is that he was very clear-headed when he said that he had made the decision. He was very remorseful, very apologetic about the fact that he had been a distraction, that he had hurt his friends, hurt his family.
But you know, for the past couple weeks, I had been told by several people who had spoken to him that he was very, very emotional. One source said that he was turbulent, another said that he was in a sense of disappear. Very, very upset and broken up in pretty much every conversation that he had with people talking about this.
So, that was his state of mind there. He was trying to fight, Kyra, so hard to keep his seat. Told his leadership, told his friends that he really wanted to stay in Congress, but at the end of the day, he just couldn't.
PHILLIPS: All right. John King, Wolf Blizter, stay with us. Our coverage is going to continue. It's about three minutes before the top of the hour. Our Suzanne Malveaux is going to take it from here. We'll continue the breaking news coverage that we reported just about an hour ago. The disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner set to resign, 2:00 p.m. Eastern time today.
Stay with us. More after the break.
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