Weiner Faces New Controversy; Gabby Giffords New Photos
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM, Sunday, June 12th. I'm Deborah Feyerick, in for Fredricka Whitfield. We begin this hour with new trouble for Congressman Anthony Weiner who's already undergoing pressure to resign. TMZ reports that Weiner took partially nude photos of himself in the House of Representatives gymnasium and sent them to at least one woman. The Web site showed photos of a man who appears to be Weiner taking pictures of himself in the mirror. CNN is working to independently verify the photos were, in fact, taken in the House gym. Weiner's office had no comment on those photos. Weiner has already admitted sending lewd photos and texts to several women, even before these latest photos surfaced there were demands for his resignation even from his own party.</s>REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CHAIRWOMAN: The statement I made speaks for itself yesterday. I think Anthony Weiner needs to resign so he can focus on his family, focus on his own well- being.</s>REP. STENY HOYER (D), MINORITY WHIP: It's my understanding Mr. Weiner has indicated he wants to take a leave. I would hope he does so. I hope he reflects upon whether or not he can proceed. It seems to me extraordinarily difficult that he can proceed to represent his constituents in an effective way given the circumstances, this bizarre behavior.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think he should resign?</s>HOYER: I think certainly he's got to consider that option. I don't see how he can proceed and effectively represent his constituency.</s>FEYERICK: Protesters held a demonstration outside Weiner's district office in Queens, New York, today. CNN's Jason Carroll was there. Jason, Weiner has already announced he's going to take a short leave of absence. Is that enough? Do people just say he's got to go?</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The short answer is no. And also it would depend upon who you're talking to. Because out here in his district, Deb, I mean basically you've got two sides to this. You've got those who strongly are still behind the congressman despite everything that has happened. But on the flip side of that you have a very vocal and some would say vocal minority of people out here in his district who say it is, in fact, time for the congressman to step down. We saw both sides of that out here just a little earlier. It was a very small protest, I have to say. Basically, the press outnumbered the number of protesters who were actually here on the ground. But it was interesting to see the debate that was happening on both sides. First I want you to listen to some of those who came out in support of the congressman. Listen to what they had to say today.</s>CATHRYN CYLINDER, SUPPORTS REP. WEINER: What he did was disgusting but I think he's done an excellent job. I support him. I would vote for him again. I think we need more people in the Congress of the United States who will speak out for their constituents.</s>BRITNEY SILVERSTEIN, SUPPORTS REP. WEINER: He needs help. He's going for help now. And when he comes back from help, he should be a full- fledged congressman and be back helping us.</s>CARROLL: Now, Deb, on the flip side of that, you've got a number of people here in the congressman's district who believe that he just simply at this point cannot be an effective advocate for the people who live here in this community. And those people who felt that way came out here today. They were holding signs. In fact, I know you mentioned those pictures from TMZ. They had copies of those pictures. They were handing them out to people as they walked by. I want you to listen to what they had to say from their perspective.</s>DONNA CAFIERO, OPPOSES REP. WEINER: I think he's been lying to us all along about a lot of issues. That are really important for the American people such as the economy, world issues. And I think that he's not really telling us the complete truth.</s>DR. STEPHEN MORRIS, OPPOSES REP. WEINER: This man has opened himself up to all sorts of illegal things. He's opened himself up to the fact that he could be bribed, he could be - they could hold this against him and it would sway him. I mean, sexual encounters could be HIV. It could be anything you want. All I can say is this is a man who needs extreme medical care, most of the studies have shown that sexual addictions cannot be cured. And I feel that this skews all his relationships, his family, his wife, his family and how he votes and how he conducts himself.</s>CARROLL: So very strong feelings on both sides of this issue out here, Debbie. I think from a public relations standpoint there is the thought that perhaps the congressman going away to treatment would in some way help the story die down, help the issue die down. But in his community it's still very heated feelings on both sides of the issue. Deb?</s>FEYERICK: All right. Jason Carroll for us out there live. Certainly Congressman Weiner's taking a leave of absence. He's apparently checked into that treatment center. We'll see whether in fact that's enough to rehabilitate his image. Jason Carroll, thanks so much. We're counting down to a major political event that is happening tomorrow night in New Hampshire. Seven Republican presidential candidates will face off at the state's first debate. It's co-hosted by CNN and can be seen only here on CNN. Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser joins us now live from the debate site in Manchester. Paul, Mitt Romney is finishing at the top of the polls right now. He's going to be targeted by rivals. There's no getting around it. They've got to chip him down to build themselves up. Is that sort of a strategy?</s>PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, it could be six against one tomorrow night. Those six candidates taking on Mitt Romney. Because as you said, he's perceived to be the front-runner right now at this early point in the cycle. Why? He's on top of most of the polls. As you said, he's got a strong campaign. What could maybe be his Achilles heel, where he can go after him is the health care plan he passed five years ago when he was governor of neighboring Massachusetts. Now that plan is considered by many to be the inspiration of what President Obama and the Democrats did nationally last year. It has an individual mandate for everybody in Massachusetts. Romney has already been criticized a lot this campaign on the plan. And we heard Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, who will also be on the stage tonight, twice today criticize Romney including just about an hour ago at an event right here in New Hampshire. Take a listen to what he said.</s>TIM PAWLENTY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I responded to a question on a show this morning about the similarities between the president's plan and Massachusetts plan. But just commented that it's obvious and President Obama said in his own words that he patterned Obamacare after the health care plan in Massachusetts. And merged those two things together to form Obamacare or as I call it Obamitcare (ph).</s>STEINHAUSER: Now, Romney responded saying listen he did what he thought was right for Massachusetts. He stands by his plan but he criticizes the president's overall national plan. As for Pawlenty, he's - listen, he's got a strong staff. He has campaigned very well but he's not known nationally. He's low in the polls, in most national polls. So the debate support night is a great opportunity for him to go on the offensive, also to reach out and to up his name ID. Deb?</s>FEYERICK: It's so interesting. Because Pawlenty, his name was bandied about to be the vice presidential candidate under John McCain. Obviously that was not McCain's choice. Ron Paul, he's also going to be there. What's at stake for him in this debate and are all these candidates looking at the same target audience?</s>STEINHAUSER: For Ron Paul, let's start with him. Listen, a lot of people do know him. He has some name ID. He's been around. This is his third attempt for running for the White House. But he is perceived by many, even though he's got some devoted followers and does well among his followers, he's perceived to be a bit out of the mainstream. Check out these numbers from our brand-new poll out this morning, CNN Opinion Research Corporation national poll, look right there, not an overwhelming applause for Ron Paul among Republicans only. Only about half think he agrees with him on the issues, strong leader, stuff like that. He needs to show that he is not out of the mainstream, Deb.</s>FEYERICK: All right. So it's going to be interesting to see exactly whose message resonates the loudest and the strongest tomorrow. Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much. At 5:00 p.m. Eastern we are going to be taking a look at the candidates. Social conservative are going to be watching very closely tomorrow night. Remember, you can catch that debate live from Manchester, New Hampshire, 8:00 Eastern, only on CNN. Congresswoman Gabby Giffords Facebook page has been very busy today. Thousands visited her page to see this. The first clear look at her since she was shot in the head in January. The pictures show a smiling Giffords and give us some indication of just how far she's come. Let's bring in CNN's Lisa Sylvester. She joins us live from Washington. Lisa, one person posted on her Facebook page that "You are truly a walking miracle." Tell us what you know about what's going on with her right now.</s>LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the whole story is just so impressive, Deb. You know, she continues to improve. She's walking a lot. Her verbal and cognitive skills are coming along. Now we have these picture. You can see some differences. There's a couple differences in the picture. In one you can see there she's got the cropped short hair. She's wearing glasses compared to the longer hair in the other picture. These pictures were taken, by the way, May 17th. It's the day after the "Endeavor" launch and the day before she had surgery to replace the skull bone. That surgery was to put in a synthetic bone and shunt. Her doctors said it went very well. So physically her condition has improved above and beyond what those photos show. And I spoke to her communications director, C.J. Karamargin, by phone. He just saw her last week and he said she was talking about politics, about the Mitt Romney announcement, and overall in really good spirits.</s>SYLVESTER: And on Gabby Giffords' Facebook page as you mentioned hundreds of people have posted comments sending her well wishes. I think well above 600 comments at this point and more than 1,600 people liking the new photos. C.J. says the plan is to have her moved from the Houston rehabilitation center by the end of the month so she will stay in Houston, but she's going to continue with outpatient treatment. Deb.</s>FEYERICK: Hey Lisa, one thing you cannot fake is a smile. And that's certainly at least, not in that particular instance, you can tell the smile there, very genuine. Lisa Sylvester in Washington for us, thanks so much. Some international headlines now. Look at that plume of volcanic smoke and ash shooting high into the sky from southern Chile. It's causing major problems as far away as Australia and New Zealand. Airlines in both countries are keeping their planes on the ground for safety's sake. Thousands of passengers are stranded. In Libya, a rebel spokesman says his fighters have confiscated a secret military document. He claims it spells out a plan to attack Misrata with more than 11,000 troops and clear the city of opposition forces. CNN has seen the 15-page document but cannot vouch for its authenticity. No acknowledgment and no comment from the Libyan government. And officials at the International Monetary Fund are still trying to figure out just how much damage was done in a recent cyber attack on the institution's computer systems. So far the IMF isn't saying much about the type of attack or whether sensitive world economic data was compromised. The FBI is helping investigate. And it's been a spring to remember for bad weather. Right now, wildfires and floods are impacting a big part of the U.S.. Thousands of people are out of their homes.