Idaho Senator Denies Role in Sex Scandal
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: By the way, we're going to be keying in on senator Larry Craig words. And, of course, you have seen the mug shot already. That is probably going to be in newspapers all over the country tomorrow. But what about the police officer? What does he have to say, the police officer, he seems to be having an argument with? The best way of figuring out a story, we know, is to read the actual police report. We know you want to probably see it for yourself, so we have got it right here. This is the incident report released. You see at the very top there, it says Minnesota report, used as either an arrest, an incident, or an offense. So, we're going to be breaking this down for you, the undercover cop's own words about what really happened in the bathroom stall. We will have that for you. And then there is this story that is coming out of Seattle. You see those two mysterious men right there? Police in Seattle say they urgently need to know who those men are. But here is where the story gets interesting. Some Muslim-Americans want to know why the police want to know who they are. They're crying foul. They're crying profiling. And, tonight, we're going to bring it out in the open.</s>SANCHEZ (voice-over): Also tonight, the secret world of sexual trysts played out in public bathrooms across America. Who, why, and what is with the hand signals? He had a dream of equality. But Martin Luther King's statue is causing a stir. Some blacks say, if they're good enough to dig the site, why shouldn't they be good enough to make the statue? That will be outsourced. Can you say outrage? And disorder in the court. Wait until you see what happens when an accused killer is confronted. It is out in the open.</s>SANCHEZ: And hello, again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. Well, last night, we told you that this thing was going to be a bombshell. Tonight, the boom is still echoing. A standing member of the U.S. Senate holds a news conference to announce that he's not gay and he was not looking for sex in a bathroom stall. Here it is.</s>SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: I did nothing wrong at the Minneapolis airport. I did nothing wrong. Let me be clear: I am not gay. I never have been gay.</s>SANCHEZ: By the way, he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, but now says that that was a mistake to do so. The undercover police officer who arrested him says it was not a mistake. Here is how he describes what he saw. We have got the report right here. So, we're going to be taking some chunks out of it for you. Here is the first. He writes: "I could see an older white male with gray hair standing outside my stall. Craig would look down at his hands, fidget with his fingers, and then look through the crack into my stall again. I was able to see Craig's blue eyes." And the undercover police officer says then that Craig entered the stall right now next to his. And he quotes -- or we quote him here to say: "Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. He moved his right foot, so that it touched the side of my left foot." So, now they're making contact between the stalls. Senator Craig, he goes on to say, was walked out of the courtroom and arrested. Now, let's take you to Idaho, where our congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, has been following the story from Boise. Dana, what it seemed that the senator was saying today at his news conference is: I have done nothing wrong, I'm really the victim here, and I'm going to fight this thing, right?</s>DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. He was very defiant today. At times he was emotional. And, quite frankly, the whole scene was a little bit bizarre to watch because what the senator is trying to say is that he is innocent, despite pleading guilty. And if you read into the police report you were just quoting from, it makes it pretty clear that at the time of his arrest in the Minneapolis airport, he was very testy about it and denied the allegations that the plainclothes officer made, even threw his business card on the table that says he's a United States senator and said something to the effect of, what do you think of this? Now what the senator said today is that part of the reason why he did decide to plead guilty is this newspaper, his hometown paper, "The Idaho Statesman." And today they published the results of a six-month investigation into rumors and allegations that the senator is gay and has been involved in lewd conduct in the past. Now, the senator today called that a witch-hunt and also went on to explain more about why he decided to plead guilty, despite saying he's innocent.</s>CRAIG: In pleading guilty, I overreacted in Minneapolis because of the stress "The Idaho Statesman" investigation and the rumors it has fuelled all around Idaho. Again, that overreaction was a mistake, and I apologize for my judgment. Furthermore, I should not have kept this arrest to myself, and I should have told my family and my friends about it. I wasn't eager to share this failure, but I should have anyway.</s>SANCHEZ: You know, as I listen to him, I'm thinking about his congressional correspondents -- or pardon me -- his congressional colleagues and some of the other guys in the Senate who work with him and what they're thinking about what has been going on in the last couple of months and whether they might want to try and kick this guy out. What are you hearing?</s>BASH: Well, what we saw in Washington today really was remarkable, Rick. What his fellow Republicans, the leadership in his party, this is a group of people who really protect one another -- they issued a statement saying that they, they, the Republicans, asked the Ethics Committee in the Senate to investigate this particular incident. That is really pretty much unprecedented. And it sends a big signal to the senator about how his colleagues in Washington feel about him. And I can tell you, it is the same kind of thing here in Idaho. I talked to Republicans, influential Republicans. They watched today, and they said -- one even said to me point blank, Larry Craig's political career is probably over.</s>SANCHEZ: Dana Bash following the situation there in Boise. Now, part of the reason that the allegations against the senator are shocking is because of his voting record on social issues. It is really straight-arrow conservative. Look at this. In the past few years, he's voted for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as only a union between a man and woman. Some call it the anti-gay- marriage amendment. He voted against federal funding for comprehensive sex education, against expanding Medicaid coverage of low-income HIV patients, against a hate crime bill that included provisions for crimes against gays. The thing is, if the allegations against Larry Craig are true, he wouldn't be the first or only prominent public figure who got tripped up by his own actions.</s>SANCHEZ (voice-over): Remember him? Senator David Vitter, a first-term Republican from Louisiana and champion of the family values agenda, anti-gay rights, anti-abortion, perfect ranking by the Christian Coalition. This past June, his phone number turns up in the records of an alleged D.C. madam scandal, the scandal of Deborah Jeane Palfrey.</s>SEN. DAVID VITTER (R), LOUISIANA: I'm completely responsible, and I'm so very, very sorry.</s>SANCHEZ: Vitter apologizes for what he calls a very serious sin in his past. It isn't just politicians. The Reverend Ted Haggard was the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, with direct access to the Bush White House. Last November, he steps down in shame after confessing to being a deceiver and a liar with a lifelong sexual problem. He allegedly paid a male prostitute for sex. Haggard now says he's completely heterosexual. It happens to Democrats, too. In 2004, New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey announces that he was resigning and comes out as a gay American. McGreevey now says that 34 days after he was elected governor of New Jersey he began a secret affair with a male aide. It destroyed McGreevey's career, ruined his marriage, and, he writes, "helped me discover who I really am." Last month, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa admitted that he's having a relationship with a Spanish-language television reporter.</s>ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA (D), MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES: I made a mistake.</s>SANCHEZ: The admission came after Villaraigosa's wife of nearly 20 years sued him for divorce.</s>SANCHEZ: Well, this is certainly something that we need to be able to talk about. So, for more now on the public figures, the private lives and the fallout from Senator Craig's arrest, let's bring in some of our own experts here. And we got them. Keith Boykin, author of "Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies, and Denial in Black America." He's also the host of BET's "My Two Cents." And he's been with us here before. Also Kevin McCullough, syndicated radio talk show host and author of "MuscleHead Revolution: Overturning Liberalism with Commonsense Thinking." All right, Kevin, let me begin with you. He makes a statement, reads it, and doesn't take any questions. What do you make of that?</s>KEVIN MCCULLOUGH, AUTHOR, "MUSCLEHEAD REVOLUTION: OVERTURNING LIBERALISM WITH COMMONSENSE THINKING": Guilty as all get-out. There is -- he's acting like someone who has pled guilty, confessed to his sins, and now just doesn't like the consequences of what he's dealing with.</s>SANCHEZ: And I guess the biggest question here is, why would someone sign a statement that says I'm guilty...</s>MCCULLOUGH: You don't.</s>SANCHEZ: ... and then come back and say, that's a mistake; I shouldn't have done that?</s>KEITH BOYKIN, HOST, "MY TWO CENTS": Because he got caught. That's really what happened here. He knew he was guilty when he signed the statement.</s>SANCHEZ: So, wait a minute. You're telling me that he was going to and hide and hope nobody would find out about this?</s>BOYKIN: Apparently so.</s>SANCHEZ: Which, by the way, worked for a couple of months.</s>BOYKIN: Apparently so. You know, he said he didn't seek counsel or attorney. That's not true, according to the police records, because a month -- a few weeks after this happened, he was back in the Minneapolis court, Minneapolis airport, basically, saying to the police there, I need to talk to my lawyer about this. And then it took two months before he actually signed this statement where he acknowledged that he did wrong. It took two months. That gave him plenty of time to think about it. He did wrong. He lied. pope Let's listen to more of what he has to say. Here he's trying to appeal to his family values, I suppose. We will listen to it and we will see what we have to say on the other side.</s>CRAIG: I love my wife, my family. I care about friends and staff and Idaho. I love serving this great state. Over the years, I have accomplished a lot for Idaho. And I hope Idahoans will allow me to continue to do that. There are still goals I would like to accomplish. And I believe I can still be an effective leader for our state. Next month, I will announce, as planned, as many of you have already been told, whether or not I will seek reelection.</s>SANCHEZ: What do you think, Kevin? Do you think they're going give him a break? You think they're going to buy that argument?</s>MCCULLOUGH: I don't think he's getting a month. I think he will be done before the end of the week.</s>SANCHEZ: Really?</s>MCCULLOUGH: Yes, absolutely. And there is a big reason why.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes.</s>MCCULLOUGH: Because, when liberals embrace leaders that embrace adultery and other immoral activities, conservatives reject and discipline and whip and say, enough is enough. And there is no way that the base of his state party or the national party is going to tolerate this. There is just no allowance for it.</s>SANCHEZ: Is that fair, though? Go ahead.</s>BOYKIN: I think he's exactly right. It is about hypocrisy here. That is what is taking place.</s>SANCHEZ: But what he just said is that liberals would embrace it and conservatives wouldn't.</s>MCCULLOUGH: ... and look at Mr. Craig...</s>BOYKIN: Well, there is a slight dig in that. But Larry Craig voted for impeachment for Bill Clinton. Larry Craig voted guilty. And he said at the time -- I have his statement here -- he said the most serious threat to the order of society is when the people who make the laws become lawbreakers themselves. That's exactly what he just did here. And that's not acceptable. I agree with him on one point. He's out by the end of the week.</s>SANCHEZ: Do you think there is a difference, though, culturally speaking -- let's be honest now...</s>MCCULLOUGH: Sure.</s>SANCHEZ: ... between a man having a relationship with another man in a bathroom and a man having a relationship with a woman? Both, obviously, are wrong, but isn't one different from the other?</s>MCCULLOUGH: I wouldn't say that there is. Both are married. Both are obligated to their families and to serving the country at the time.</s>SANCHEZ: But even the anonymous gay sex thing you don't think hits harder with Republicans?</s>MCCULLOUGH: I think adultery, gay sex in a gross bathroom, it doesn't matter -- if it is immoral and your base thinks it is immoral, you're done. Your goose is cooked.</s>BOYKIN: I don't think it's about immorality. I think it is about hypocrisy. He's an anti-gay senator who is involved in gay activity. The public isn't going to buy it. His constituents aren't going to buy it. He is going to be out of there soon.</s>SANCHEZ: Kevin McCullough, Keith Boykin, we thank you, both, for your thoughts. We appreciate it. All right? Well, this story is bringing in something in the open as well that most Americans really have no clue about. It is the men's room hookup. We asked CNN's Dan Lothian to find out more about this and how common this thing really is.</s>DAN LOTHIAN, CNN BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): It is not the primary function of public parks, restrooms and rest areas. But for men in search of anonymous same-sex partners, they are popular destinations.</s>RICHARD TEWKSBURY, UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE: There is also the idea that there is sort of a thrill to the hunt, to the excitement of sex in a public place, of doing something that potentially does have negative consequences for you.</s>LOTHIAN: Web sites like this one offer a kind of adult travel guide, including rules of the game and secret signals to make a connection in a public restroom, like waiting in a stall at the farthest end of the bathroom, and, when someone approaches next door -- quote -- "move your foot so that you know the other person can see it and slowly start tapping it." (on camera): Professor Richard Tewksbury of the University of Louisville has published...</s>SANCHEZ: All right. Joining us now, Dan Savage, who writes this syndicated sex column. It's called "Savage Love." Thanks for joining us.</s>DAN SAVAGE, SYNDICATED SEX COLUMNIST: Thanks for having me.</s>SANCHEZ: How big a problem is this?</s>SAVAGE: Well, it is a big problem in the lives of a lot of the men who do it. It is not the problem in the lives of most openly gay men. Invariably, when there is a bust in a public restroom where there is lewd activity going on, reporters are shocked to discover that the men who have been arrested are heterosexually identified, straight identified married men frequently and priests. Very rarely do you hear about openly gay men being busted in a place like that.</s>SANCHEZ: So, what are you saying?</s>SANCHEZ: What are you saying with that? What...</s>SAVAGE: I'm saying it is a release mechanism for guys who are closeted. This is once again a la with -- as with Ted Haggard, who claims to be heterosexual now, with Bob Allen, the Florida...</s>SANCHEZ: And whose fault is it that they're closeted?</s>SAVAGE: It's the culture's fault. Gay men and gay lesbians don't construct a culture that encourages people to remain closeted all their lives. It is also, however, this individual's responsibility. I think that Senator Craig has been an adult for, you know, since the gay- lesbian civil rights movement has achieved remarkable successes. And he chose to remain closeted, if he is, in fact, gay, which I believe he is, and I think most sensible people are going to conclude. And he chose a life of furtive sexual contacts to get his sexual needs met in places that are, frankly, kind of revolting and not fair to other people who may be in the bathroom for its intended purpose.</s>SANCHEZ: I suppose so. By the way, just to be fair, Bob Allen has not been charged with this, and he has said he said all along that he's not guilty. He's pleading not guilty in this case, just to be fair on that count. I know that there's a lot of names that have been thrown out there. When you look at this, though, couldn't you just say, these guys, the ones who actually are found guilty of something like this are just plain wrong and it has nothing to do with the culture forcing them to do these things? Because, after all, going into a bathroom to have anonymous sex with somebody you don't even know is in and of itself just creepy, isn't it?</s>SAVAGE: Oh, it is creepy. For some men, as your expert said earlier, that is the thrill. Part of the thrill is the risk. But it is an inappropriate kind of acting out. And it is the way the culture used to accommodate gays and lesbians. For 1,500 years, you couldn't live as an openly gay person and you were -- your -- heterosexual was compulsory.</s>SAVAGE: So, people lived heterosexual lives, gay people did, and then had gay sex in places where the culture said, OK, there, and nowhere else, bathhouses, bathrooms, some public parks. And that cultural compact has now shifted, where you can live an openly gay life and there is less tolerance for this sort of activity, even among gays and lesbians. Gay people don't like hearing that he was arrested doing something gay in a bathroom. There's nothing gay about what he was doing.</s>SANCHEZ: Right.</s>SAVAGE: ... pathetic and desperate in a bathroom and something that very few gay men do.</s>SANCHEZ: Right. It has nothing to do with that. And you make a very good point. That's important. By the way, how do these guys know where to go? Are there specific bathrooms that they know to go to?</s>SAVAGE: There are now, thanks to the Internet, lists of cruisy toilets that are constantly updated and Web sites. And again these Web sites really do facilitate and make it possible for men who choose to remain closeted because they believe Jesus hates them if they're gay or their constituents won't for them if they come out, which is very likely in this case, makes it possible for them to live a double life and facilitates that double life.</s>SANCHEZ: What about the -- this officer? Did you read the police report? The officer talks about tapping the foot, and then, you know, holding with his hand the bottom of the stall? Is this true? Are there actual hand signals and gestures that you make when you want someone to engage in something like this with you?</s>SAVAGE: Well, I never engaged in this, but from what I have read, there is an escalation of contact when people are trying to cruise. One of the things that most people don't realize about these cruisy bathrooms, your reporter showed a clip of children in a park to create the impression of children in peril.</s>SANCHEZ: Right.</s>SAVAGE: Most of this stuff is very subtle and people have no idea it is going on because the persons engaging in contact don't want to be arrested, don't want to be busted, and also don't want to alarm people unnecessarily. And so what there will be is, there will be this initial contact, a little initial eye contact, which is where the police report begins, and then the subtle and slow escalation of welcomed and reciprocated subtle signals, the tapping of feet. The police officer didn't -- you know, as most -- if somebody stared at me through a crack in a bathroom stall as this began, I would give them a dirty look and they would go away, as most people would. The police officer did not welcome the contact, and the senator escalated the contact, which is how these things play out. People don't just leap on each other in public restrooms.</s>SANCHEZ: That is what the police report says. It is what is alleged. We will follow the story. We thank you, Dan, for bringing us your insight on this.</s>SAVAGE: You're welcome. Thank you for having me.</s>SANCHEZ: Coming up, we focus on a mystery. Who are these two guys that we're about to show you right here? And what are they really up to in this picture? Is it linked to terrorism? This one has some people crying profiling. Then why is a statue honoring Martin Luther King being outsourced? So, they couldn't find an African-American or any American for that matter to do the job? What? We will bring it out in the open for you.