[Costello:] The politics of redemption. It's the thing. Mark Sanford is doing it in South Carolina and now Anthony Weiner is dipping his toe into the pool of redemption. Yes, back, Anthony Weiner the former Congressman from New York who tweeted nude photos to a woman who was not his wife and then lied about it and then admitted to it and then was forced to resign. Well, Anthony Weiner is back or he wants to be. So let's talk about that. L.Z. Granderson is a CNN contributor and a senior writer for ESPN and Ana Navarro is also a CNN contributor and a Republican Strategist. Welcome to you both.
[L.z. Granderson, Cnn Contributor:] Morning, Carol.
[Ana Navarro, Cnn Contributor:] Good morning Carol.
[Costello:] Good morning. According to the "New York Times" magazine, Weiner's PAC but more than $100,000 on polling. Are voters willing to give him a second chance or not, that was the question. Regardless of what race or what contest, that was the question that this polling asked the voters. So I'll ask you the question and I'll start with you, Ana, does Weiner deserve a second chance?
[Navarro:] Oh, that's up to the people of New York to decide, it's not up to me. But definitely there's redemption in politics, Carol. His name is William Jefferson Clinton. You know, he went from being a man who had a big, big problem to now being the most popular politician in the United States. I think a lot of it depends on what you do afterwards, how you deal with the crisis and also, by the way, if your wife forgives you or your spouse forgives you. In this case, that seems to have happened. If your spouse doesn't forgive you, you've got a problem. I think that was, you know, John Edwards, please, do not think of a comeback, that's not going to work. But certainly, we've seen, you know, Jenny Sanford would have run against Mark Sanford, decided not to. And we've seen in the cases where there have been redemption that the American people are forgiving if the family has been equally forgiving.
[Costello:] You have a point there because certainly it seems like Anthony Weiner's wife has forgiven him. He's sort of playing Mr. Mom these days while I guess she brings home the bacon so to speak. He stays home and tends to their child. But L.Z., those pictures
[Navarro:] She wants him to run. She wants him out of the house, Carol.
[Costello:] You think so.
[Navarro:] The article says he's been the article says he's been stuck at home in a five-block radius for the last 15 months.
[Costello:] He's lying low. He just wants to like be under the radar for a while until this whole thing blows over. But there's still those pictures out there, L.Z., how can you overcome that?
[Granderson:] You don't. You don't overcome that. That's just the point. I mean especially with the Internet, they're out there, they're permanent. But the real issue is that the American people and voters, we aren't the ones who hold the redemption card, you know. Ana's correct it's all about the wife. The wife is the only one that could forgive. We're the ones that could decide whether or not we could forget. You know, forget the scandal, forget the initial lies and decide whether or not this person's the best person to run for mayor and be mayor of New York City. Ultimately, that's the question for the voters. The redemption part of it, you know, we abuse that word, but the fact is that only his wife can allow him to be redeemed. And if she feels that he's worthy, then he's been redeemed. Now the question is, will voters forget?
[Costello:] You know, he does have a sense of humor about it all. I want to read something to you out of the "New York Times" magazine because they did a big article on Anthony Weiner. Despite his troubles, Mr. Weiner appears to have retained his trademark sense of humor. He's quoted recounting what people say to him on the subway. It's one of the following he said. One: "Oh, you should run." Two: "Man, you got screwed." Three: I'm so sorry about what happened to you." And four: Spitzer. You're Governor Spitzer.
[Granderson:] It's absolutely hilarious. You know what, if there's any city that's willing to just let bygones be bygones, it would New York city. Maybe San Francisco a close second, but certainly New York is not going to sit here and say what he was doing in his private life is going to hinder whether or not he has the ability to be mayor of the city. And prior to the scandal, he was considering the run, he was well- positioned to run. I talked to several people who were also part of the feelers before the scandal broke about him possibly being mayor of New York. He's still very popular. And let's face it, at the end of the day all he did was flirt with a woman who wasn't his wife. And there's not a lot of people
[Costello:] You call that flirting?
[Granderson:] in New York. Yes. A lot of people
[Navarro:] That's not a little thing
[Granderson:] There are a lot of people in New York who are not going to look at Anthony Weiner and what he did and judge him so harshly they're going to eliminate him from being mayor.
[Costello:] Come on.
[Navarro:] L.Z., L.Z. we can judge him a little harsher. He did a little bit more than that. He lied about it. He did
[Granderson:] Yes, he lied about it. Of course he lied about it.
[Navarro:] He sent nude photographs.
[Costello:] He sent a woman pictures of his nether regions. I don't know that's not normal flirting to me.
[Granderson:] That's flirting 2.0. That is flirting 2.0.
[Costello:] So I really
[Navarro:] The fun we're going to have with Anthony Weiner runs again, Carol, it will be endless amount of entertainment from the late night shows, from the New York papers, and, you know, I'm glad he's got a sense of humor. When you're blessed with a name like Weiner, you need a sense of humor.
[Costello:] Oh my God. I'm going to have a serious question to end it all. If something like that ever happened to me, and I can't envision a day that it would, I don't think I have the intestinal fortitude to show my face in public again. It constantly amazes me that people will do something and he did. He cheated on his wife L.Z.. She was pregnant. Come on. I mean he was tweeting these foul, lewd pictures to women. And then he's going to come back on this redemption tour and say I'm really, really sorry. I don't think I would have the intestinal fortitude to do that. What does that say about people in politics? Ana?
[Navarro:] It says that they've got more intestinal fortitude or less shame than you do because certainly in politics we see it happen all the time. We can go through a long list. Look, running for public office requires a big ego, great deal of self-confidence and requires a great deal of daring, frankly, to put your name out there. I think Anthony Weiner is a guy who has been known for being very ambitious, very hard driving and obviously if you're spending $100,000 in polling, you are very serious about looking at it.
[Granderson:] But there's also this element of it too. We've already had this conversation decades ago. Vanessa Williams was dethroned because of lewd pictures of her. Madonna was questioned early in her career because of lewd pictures. Both of those women survived those things in the '80s when we were much more conservative as a country. You're asking me in 2013 can lewd pictures forever derail a politician? I'm forced to say no because of what history has already taught us and because of what history has shown us about the American people. It's a disgusting industry, politics is, and so anyone who gives into it, you've already got to raise a eyebrow anyway. You're certainly not going to disqualify them because of pictures. And yes, in my book, Carol, he did cheat on his wife. But in a lot of people's opinions, all he did was flirt.
[Navarro:] He just you see L.Z. just redeemed himself with the women of America.
[Costello:] Partially, partially.
[Granderson:] I'm going to have some problems.
[Costello:] Ana Navarro, L.Z. Granderson, many thanks. We'll be right back.
[Granderson:] Thank you.
[Navarro:] Thank you Carol.