Lawmakers Call on Senator Craig to Resign
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Christine. Happening now, fellow Republicans turning on a scandal-plagued senator, several lawmakers now openly calling for Senator Larry Craig to resign, Presidential candidate John McCain tells us Craig's arrest in a men's bathroom, I'm quoting now, "was disgraceful". Plus "Children of the Storm", two years after Katrina the director Spike Lee and young hurricane survivors turning a lens on the slow and painful recovery process, tonight a first glimpse of a CNN exclusive report. And they are heroes in Cuba, convicted spies right here in the United States. Do they deserve to be in prison right now? Tonight, a powerful debate on their case and their fate. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Tonight, many Republicans are simply running away from Senator Larry Craig and the scandal surrounding him and several are ready to shove him out the door. Let's go to our congressional correspondent Dana Bash. She's in Craig's home state of Idaho tonight. The floodgates are open. People are suggesting this guy simply will not be able to survive.</s>DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That certainly is what it appears and looks like, Wolf. You know, today three of Senator Craig's colleagues, Republican colleagues back in Washington called on him to resign. Those colleagues include Senator and Republican presidential contender John McCain, Senator Norm Coleman from Minnesota and Congressman Pete Hoekstra from Michigan. And Senator McCain spoke exclusively to CNN's John King.</s>SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I believe that he pled guilty and he had the opportunity to plead innocent, so I think he should resign.</s>BASH: Now, in addition to that, Craig's own leadership in the Senate made very clear today that they view him as a liability. They sent him a very blunt message by stripping him of the title and position of ranking or top Republican on the committee, that committee that he sits on. You know, Wolf, when you get enough seniority one of the perks is having that position of ranking Republican on the committee. It means that you wield tremendous influence and what his colleagues in the Senate are clearly trying to say is they don't think he deserves that kind of influence in Washington, in the Senate right now. Wolf?</s>BLITZER: We're going to have a lot more from John king's interview with Senator McCain. That's coming up later, Dana, but tell us about some new information you're getting about that the sting operation that the Minneapolis police conducted at the men's room over at the airport in Minneapolis?</s>BASH: Well a source at the Minneapolis airport, Wolf, tells CNN producer David Stick (ph) who is in Minneapolis that Senator Larry Craig was not targeted. That is not why he was arrested. He was not the target of an operation. In fact, CNN is told that at least 40 people, 4-0, 40 people since May in the last three months have been arrested for this kind of behavior. This is something that apparently according to the source at the Minneapolis airport, the number has gone up of people arrested because of complaints about behavior in that airport, in those bathrooms and that's why they invested plain clothes police officers to try to investigate what's going on.</s>BLITZER: Dana Bash on the scene in Boise, Idaho for us -- Dana, thanks. The White House clearly very unhappy about this situation as well. Today it put out its first public reaction. A spokesman saying and let me quote, "we're disappointed in what's going on. It's a matter for the senator and the Senate Republican leadership to address." Scandals involving sex and politicians are touching both political parties, but they're causing increasing problems right now for Republicans. Carol Costello is here in THE SITUATION ROOM. She's joining us. One person's problem, especially an influential Republican senator can hurt an entire party.</s>CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh you're right about that and you notice Senator Craig is finding himself alone. Fellow Republicans are scattering calling his action's disgusting because Craig's bathroom bust is not only hurting Craig, but his party.</s>COSTELLO (voice-over): It has become a tough summer for the grand ole party.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am not gay.</s>COSTELLO: After a disbelief over the unusual news conference held by Republican Senator Larry Craig...</s>COSTELLO: ... came a night of witty derision. Comedian Jay Leno spent three minutes and 13 seconds poking fun at the conservative lawmaker.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I think it's the hottest day of the year, isn't it?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was 105 today. People were sweating like the men's room attendant when Senator Larry Craig walked in.</s>COSTELLO: Despite the jokes, at least one influential conservative leader thinks the Republicans can get out of this mess.</s>TONY PERKINS, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: If you take a snapshot it looks pretty bad, but if you look at the overall panorama of the political landscape there are ups and downs and I think the Republicans are in a valley right now. It doesn't mean they cannot get out.</s>COSTELLO: But right now it is a deep valley. Values voters are also reeling from Florida State Representative Bob Allen who was arrested for soliciting sex for money at a public restroom. He says he's not guilty. Senator David Vitter whose name turned up on a call girl's phone list, he apologized for, quote, "a very serious sin". And Thomas Ravenel, a South Carolina state treasurer accused of distributing cocaine. He says he's not guilty. Summer of 2007 now seems a long way from the summer of 2000 when a victorious George W. Bush dismissed a philandering Bill Clinton with promises of a more moral road ahead.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our generation has a chance to reclaim some essential values to show we have grown up before we grow old. They had their chance. They have not led. We will.</s>COSTELLO: And although Democrats have been caught with their pants down, too, like Los Angeles Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa and his extra marital affair and New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey resigning from office to come out as a gay American, sex scandals seem to affect Republicans more because social conservatism has become part of their brand.</s>MICHELLE LAXALT, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Here we find ourselves virtually every single time getting whacked because of what is perceived to be a hypocrisy factor. The Republican Party needs to have some very serious introspection and return to the values that started us out and that is individual liberty and a live and let live policy when it comes to people's private lives.</s>COSTELLO: Republicans say they're still optimistic about winning back Washington in '08. The election is still a long way off and voters tend to have very short memories.</s>COSTELLO: And of course, maybe Craig will be ousted or maybe he'll just go, but even if that happens in this political climate, no one is likely to be breathing easier, just waiting for the next scandal to come along.</s>BLITZER: You know there always will be one. Thanks very much, Carol, for that. Let's check in with Jack Cafferty. He has got "The Cafferty File" in New York. Hi, Jack.</s>JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, the United States is the most heavily armed country in the world. A new report finds we have 90 guns for every 100 citizens in this country. American citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms. About 4.5 million of the eight million new guns made around the world every year are bought here. After the U.S., the report found Yemen is the second most heavily armed country with 61 guns per 100 people followed in order by Finland, Switzerland and Iraq. Many poorer countries that are often associated with violence like Nigeria, for example, ranked much lower in the study. The director of the Small Arms Survey says firearms are very unevenly distributed around the world. "The image we have of certain regions such as Africa or Latin America being awash with weapons, these images are certainly misleading." That's a quote. It's believed that only about 12 percent of civilian weapons are registered with the proper authorities. So here's the question. Do you see anything wrong with the U.S. having 90 guns for every 100 citizens? E-mail your thoughts to CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile -- stick'em (ph) up, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: People have very strong opinions on this issue of...</s>CAFFERTY: Oh, yes.</s>BLITZER: ... as you well know.</s>CAFFERTY: Absolutely.</s>BLITZER: All right. We'll see what our viewers think. Thanks very much. Coming up, a CNN exclusive, Spike Lee, he is speaking out about Katrina fatigue as he is calling it. Have Americans moved on before the city's been rebuilt? Plus Jim Carrey gets serious. The funnyman makes an impassioned appeal for the release of a Nobel Prize winner under house arrest. And the Cuban spy case, five Cuban men behind bars here in the United States. They say they were getting information on potential terrorists in Miami. The U.S. government says they were playing a deadly game of espionage. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.