Toronto Mayor Admits Smoking Crack, Refuses to Step Down
MALVEAUX: After his bombshell admission that he smoked crack, people are now calling for the mayor of Toronto, Canada, to step down and seek some help.</s>MAYOR ROB FORD, TORONTO, CANADA: These allegations are ridiculous.</s>PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After months of bold-faced denials --</s>FORD: I did not use crack cocaine nor am I an addict of crack cocaine.</s>NEWTON: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's confession was as riveting as it was blunt.</s>FORD: Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine. But no, do I? Am I an addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors, approximately about a year ago.</s>NEWTON: And there it was, the sordid truth that this mayor could no longer outrun. Months of secret police surveillance of Ford was made public last week in connection with the mayor's arrest. Police say, so far, the mayor isn't charged with anything. Police did confirm that they have the video, the one that allegedly shows Mayor Ford smoking crack cocaine from a pipe. And Mayor Ford says he wants to see it.</s>FORD: I want everyone in the city to see this tape. I'd like to see the tape. I don't even recall there being a tape or a video. I know that, so I want to see the state I was in.</s>NEWTON: But now Mayor Ford says he's put it all out there. He's looking for forgiveness.</s>FORD: I have nothing left to hide. I embarrassed everyone in the city, and I will be forever sorry.</s>NEWTON: He had a lot to say except the words, I'm stepping down.</s>FORD: I was elected to do a job and that's exactly what I'm going to continue to do.</s>NEWTON: He intends to run for mayor again, next fall.</s>NEWTON: Not only is he running, many people here in the city say he actually has a good chance of winning again, if he runs. You know, he has a strong base of support here and it has been a movement some people call it the "Ford nation" of people in the suburbs, really deciding that they want city hall back here to get their act together. And that means reducing taxes. It doesn't have anything to do with people's personal lives. Many people here today, Suzanne, still telling me, this is the best mayor the city has ever had. Hugely controversial and I can promise you, the story isn't going away. Suzanne?</s>MALVEAUX: Unbelievable story. And Pope Francis is taking a survey, and he's asking Catholics, what do they think about gay marriage and divorce. The Vatican survey on the modern family, pretty amazing stuff, coming up.