i make mistakes. i said i was going to. and i z. i might make some more. i won't make this one. i'm a human being. believe me, if my intent was to have a relationship with a woman, particularly a very attractive woman, i certainly wouldn't have gone about it this way. >> what would you have done? how could it have been different than to spend this time alone with this woman in this house on weekend where your wife is out of town. >> at my house in washington, which everybody knows where it is. coming in and out of the front door. >> senator hart, there is a restaurant in the city of bar harbor now that is saying that you signed the guest book on the evening of february 12th, that you were part of a party of four people in that restaurant at that time, won of whom was donna rice and the photo has been identified by employees of the restaurant. >> i was -- it's all true up to that point. i don't remember the name of the restaurant. it was across from the hotel where the labor conference was

being held. i did not see ms. rice between what was i guess new year's or the day after new years and the day she came on the boat where mr. broadhurst and i were in march. absolutely do not. >> who was in the booth with you that night? >> well, there were more than four people. and my recollection is that they were people with the convention. i had had dinner with about 40 or 50 labor leaders in that complex. it was right across the hotel. i can't remember the name of the hotel. we'll get it for you. it was a large shopping complex. after dinner a group of about -- my recollection was six or seven -- i'll try to find the names for you. >> sharon bar hart -- >> sharon bar hard, yes. >> there is a new poll out that's going to be released at 6:00 by the boston herald to the new hampshire democratic voters. one week ago in that poll you

were leading governor dukakis, tied with him, 32-32%. you have dropped today to 17%. he is holding at 27% with 74% of those surveyed saying they think this whole issue will have a very negative impact on your candidacy. will you respond to that, please. >> i think that's true, but i think the impact will be short-term. >> senator, following up on that question, one of the reasons people have difficulty believing your story is the question of the phone calls to somebody who you say is a casual acquaintance. yet you talk to her about half a dozen times in a short period. is that normal for you to talk to somebody you berry know while campaigning -- >> sometimes, i make a good deal of phone calls. i wouldn't say it's ordinary. but it is a not extraordinary either. it seemed to me there are -- actually one of the fund-raising goals i have is to put together some music groups that have not been together for a while. she knew some members of one of those groups.

and it seemed to me that it could be quite important to the campaign to try to put that together. if it had had happened it might have resulted in a good deal of money. i spend a good deal of time on phones with people who can raise money. some are attractive and some of them are not. >> senator, you said yesterday that you perceive this as being common and appropriate behavior. did you ever stop to think during the course of this that these activities were coincidental with some statements that you had made about rumors that you didn't step back and say maybe this is going to be perceived as such and i shouldn't be doing this? >> yes -- the answer is yes and no. it occurred to me, i guess, at every step. what i didn't do is put the steps together. if i go in the front door, does that look bad? no. if you don't stay there. if you leave. everybody should have gone back out the front door because there

was a monitor there. it was the pattern, i guess, that was the mistake. one entry, one departure, i think it wouldn't have been a problem. the three or four instances put together that led to the -- >> [ overlapping speakers ] >> you raised in your remarks yesterday you raised the issue of morality and you raised the issue of truthfulness. let me ask you what you mean when you talk about morality. and let me be very specific. and i have a series of questions about it. when you said you did nothing immoral, did you mean that you had no sexual relationship with donna rice last weekend or at any other time you were with her? >> that's correct. >> do you believe that adultery is immoral? >> yes. >> have you ever committed adultery. >> i do not want to answer that question. >> it seems to me that the question of morality. >> you get into fairly fine

definitions. >> the word was brought by you into this discussion. i need to know what your definition of your definition of morality is. >> it includes adealtery. >> have you ever committed adultery. >> i'm not going into the definition of what adultery means. >> can i ask you whether or not you and your wife have an understanding about whether or not you can have relations with -- you can have sexual encounters. >> my inclination is to say you can't ask me that question, my answer is no, we don't have an understanding, we have an understanding of faithfulness and loyalty. >> senator, donna rice's mother in carolina said today she can't go out of her house, she can't go to work, that her daughter is devastated, it may ruin her life. have you called donna rice, her mother, are you planning to apologize?

>> no. i think for obvious reasons. i think that just raises all kinds of other questions of have you talked to her since. i will do so publicly and say that i very much regret the events that have negatively impacted her life, her friends' lives, her daughter's life, and all the others that i mentioned earlier. i have stated that i made a mistake. probably made a series of mistakes. but i happen to believe had other people done their job and everybody not made mistakes, none of us would be in this circumstance tonight. there is plenty of -- >> is it your understanding that donna rice went to ibmanie. >> she didn't force her way onto the boat. we decided, mr. broadhurst and i to go over to his boat. and she was on board the boat, and we asked her to go with us. >> did you or mr. broadhurst

invite her on the trip? >> i don't recall. three or four of us were standing around. >> how did you get on the boat? >> just walked on the boat. >> she said you called on the phone and invited her on the boat. specifically you. >> yes, she came on the boat. at the back of the boat we talked about the fund-raising and her participation in the campaign and the contacts she had in the entertainment community. and about midday or shortly there after, mr. broadhurst talked to the captain, said let's take the boat out, if it's all right, let's go out into open water and see what it's like and if it's clear enough i'd like to go to ibmany and see my boat. i suppose at one point we told she and her friend what we were going to do, do you want to go along. i don't recall whether i said do you want to go to ibmany or he did, but that was the discussion. >> did you call and invite her specifically on any trips.

>> i invited her on the boat. >> on your telephone. >> she wanted to get involved in the campaign. i said leave -- as i always do, thousands of people, give me your name, i didn't frankly recall her last name, your address, and your phone number. i called the next day, said would you like to come back and talk. and she did. then we talked about going on. >> senator, did you ever specifically invite donna rice to take a trip with you? >> no. >> senator, how many times have you met? >> senator, i'm sorry to follow up on paul taylor's question. [ inaudible ] discussion of morality as you see it except for the times when you and your wife were separated, has your marriage been monogamous? >> i have nothing to answer that question. >> senator, you've said that you

made a mistake. what specifically was the mistake? and why did you make it? >> the mistake was to have people -- what was could get engaged in a seefrz activities last weekend that led you to believe that i was involved with a woman. there were lots of parts of that mistakes that i could single out. but i also said i don't think i was alone in making mistakes. look, folks, there is some thing called fairness in this society. there is something called fairness. i'm going through this, and i will continue to. and i'm going to answer questions. i'm doing my best and i will continue to do my best. but this, as i said yesterday, there is a broader issue here than what i did or didn't do. that is whether the system of select national leaders is fair or not. i'm going to insist that this be a fair -- you can ask me about adultery and ask me whatever

question you want. believe mai me my wife and i have answered more questions than anybody in public life, and we'll probably have to continue to. and i regret it. i have a right to demand that the system is fair. if somebody is going to follow me around, they better follow me around and they better print all the facts. >> just to follow up on tom's question, if you feel you don't have to answer about adultery and whether or not the relationship was monogamous, why is it necessary to say whether or not you in fact had sexual relations with donna rice? >> a lot of difference between one person and her reputation than getting into the most intimate aspects of a long-term marriage. and i don't intend to stress my wife out. >> senator, can you please tell us --