that is dead pan. i need a face like that. >> bill: we'll get you more information out of the pentagon as soon as we can. >> dana: i'll be on "the five". "the faulkner focus" is up next. >> sandra: the white house facing a messaging crisis. fallout continues after biden ordered federal workers to either get vaccinated or tested frequently. cdc urging even vaccinated americans to wear masks again. insisting their goal is to reach out to those hesitant to

get the shot. >> as i have said before, this remains a pandemic of the unvaccinated where the vast majority of spread is in this country is among those who are unvaccinated. i want to be clear, while vaccinated people can spread the virus if they get a breakthrough infection, the odds of them getting sick in the first place are far lower than those who are unvaccinated. >> sandra: senator josh hawley says the white house is overstepping its authority. >> what we're seeing is joe biden and the left using a campaign of fear and intimidation in order to try to keep the country in a perpetual state of crisis and to centralize control and power over people's lives. it is that simple. constant drumbeat of fear mongering and conflicting guidance and conflicting statement and demonizing of people who don't agree with them or have concerns about this or that aspect of the pandemic. it is a failure of leadership and unbelievable.

>> sandra: to states are reinstating mask mandates along with cities and counties and new york city just today announcing new vaccine requirements. aishah hasnie is live in the new york newsroom on that new announcement. >> good morning, sandra. this is confusing. you could walk through multiple mask rules in a matter of a day depending on where you live, work, eat and shop. it is hard to keep up. let's try to break things down here. right now eight states across the country have mask mandates. only two hawaii and louisiana have a true mandate. that means everyone regardless of their vaccination status have to wear a mask indoors. the other six like california and new york state only mandate masks for the unvaccinated. but you've got cities now that have their own true mask mandates out there. kansas city, missouri as well as the counties of san francisco, sacramento, los angeles, palm beach and st.

louis. they are requiring everybody including the fully vaccinated wear a mask indoors. new york city with a surprise yesterday choosing not to mandate masking for everyone despite substantial covid-19 cases here but now you've got some companies also stepping in with their own rules. mcdonalds, target, wal-mart, disney, ford and general motors will be pushing mask mandates for employees. mcdonalds wants customers to mask up in high transmission areas. cdc strongly recommends people wear masks indoors if they live in an area where the delta variant spread is high. that is 80% of the nation's counties with states like louisiana, arkansas, florida, missouri and ngthe highest seven-day transmission rates. louisiana, arkansas, alabama also among the top five states with the lowest vaccination rates. arkansas's governor trying to

get those numbers up. in his state he says, though, he will not be ordering a statewide mask mandate. listen. >> that's not going to happen but there is a debate on local decisions by school for those kids that are 12 and under, that's the vulnerability. they don't have access to the vaccine yet. that should be a local decision made by the local school district based upon what's being transmitted in their community. >> and sandra, as you mentioned this just in, new york city now requiring proof of vaccination if you want to dine in at a restaurant, want to work out at a gym or even attend a performance. we heard the mayor yesterday pushing vaccines harder than masks in this town saying basically that if you are unvaccinated, life is going to get a lot tougher. sandra. >> sandra: thank you. even "the new york times" the acknowledging the effect of pandemic flip-flops.

an excerpt reading a week of public health reversals has left americans with pandemic whiplash sewing confusion about vaccines and mask wearing as it offends what people thought they knew how the stay safe. white house denying new lockdowns are coming but leaving the door open. >> we aren't going back to the economy shutting down. we've made too much progress. too many people are vaccinated. too much progress on the economic front. again he has said from the beginning that we will be guided by the science, guided by our public health experts and not take options off the table. >> sandra: tammy bruce is the host of get tammy bruce. we watch you on fox nation. what are the american people supposed to think of all this? there is a lot of incoming right now. >> what they're thinking clearly is that there is no leadership. no center of gravity or no vision about the nature of what's going on. so that in and of itself tells

the american people even the scientists or doctors aren't either agreeing or there is some people believe, as is the case with myself, that there is a competing political agenda with the nature of normal decisions that one would make for the country with a health crisis or health scare. so you've got really democratic administration that believes in part that covid got them into the white house, that was a major topic obviously. and there is some belief there is an effort to keep that maintained so that certain states are going to be able to, i don't know, expand ballot harvesting, keep people at home, expand absentee balloting, etc. the problem is that americans have to even think about the various dynamics that exist as to why there is such chaos. at the same time we have conflicting information about the delta variant itself. about children and whether or not they are vectors. about a whole host of issues

that normally would be left up to the american family and to the parents and to yourself as an individual because of the information that we are able to get as we do every flu season, as we do with every health crisis that might exist. yet the government seems intent on interfering and managing, micromanaging every day of our life. lastly, sandra, i would say the jen psaki clip you played in the same breath she says we aren't going to lockdown but keeping everything on the table. that tells the american people, there is a retreat when that happens. >> sandra: severe economic consequences that would result from that, tammy. it depends on who you ask and where you ask the question over these mandates and requirements. case in point washington, d.c. where residents there are divided over the mayor's decision to reinstate the mask mandate city wide.

watch this. >> masks again. >> if people aren't going to be vaccinated we have to be safe. >> why do we have to wear masks? >> i understand with the new delta variant there needs to be precautions. >> no problem. i'm vaccinated. >> we're both vaccinated. >> i'll wear it. >> because of the new strand but i just think it is not necessary and i think people are smart enough to take precautions. >> not that big a deal, really. >> sandra: one thing is for sure everybody has an opinion on this because we are all directly impacted by it, tammy. >> the tone you heard in all of those individuals even if they were agreeing was sort of passive. it wasn't like yeah, this is the right thing to do. in fact, even the doctor on

biden's coronavirus task force said on another network in the last 48 hours that the cloth masks we've all been using really don't have an impact and that it really is up to the vaccines. well that's something many of us have been saying for a very long time. and then when you see this and you hear conflicting information, you see data, doctors are saying and you see the data also about the delta variant. it is a mild to moderate upper respiratory infection. it is more contagious. what viruses do. >> sandra: they are spiking in some areas and why we do see the cdc trying to take some sort of action here. case in point, florida, we have seen a spike in cases. they're seeing a rise in hospitalization rate. >> sure, yes. >> sandra: if you could stand by with me breaking news to get to. announcement from the attorney

general leticia james. let's listen. major announcement. >> the independent investigation has concluded on governor andrew cuomo sexually arrested multiple women and violated federal and state law. the investigation found that governor andrew cuomo sexually harassed current and former new york state employees by engaging in unwelcome and non-consensual touching and making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women. the investigators corroborated and substantiated these facts through interviews and evidence, including contemporaneous notes and communications. this evidence will be made available to the public along with the report.

this investigation was started after a number of women publicly alleged that they had been sexually harassed by governor cuomo and on march 1 of this year, the governor's office made a referral to my office pursuant to state executive law 63.8 regarding these allegations. executive law section 63.8 permits the new york attorney general's office with the approval of the governor or when directed by the governor, to inquire into matters concerning the public peace, the public safety, and public justice. this referral issued by the governor enabled my office to appoint independent outside investigators to look into these allegations and on march 8th, 2021 ann clark and june kim were officially deputized as special deputies.

ms. clark and mr. kim and their respective firms were chosen to lead this investigation because of their decades of work at the highest levels. their deep expertise on matters in question and their careers fighting to uphold the rule of law. ann clark is a partner at a firm where she focuses on employment law issues on behalf of employees at the trial and appellate level and during her more than 30 year career she has represented clients in many discrimination cases in the private sector in education and in government. she also has deep experience with retaliation, whistleblower and other cases. june kim is with a law firm and

for more than two decades worked at the highest levels of government and in private practice. from march 2017 to january 2018, he served as the acting united states attorney for the southern district of new york. as the most senior federal law enforcement officer in the district he oversaw all criminal and civil litigation conducted on behalf of the united states. before becoming acting united states attorney, mr. kim served in various leadership positions in the office including deputy united states attorney, chief of the criminal division and chief counsel to the united states states attorney. miss clark and mr. kim are experienced, credible, and deeply respected professionals. and together they insured that this investigation was both

independent and thorough. over the course of the five-month investigation the investigators spoke to 179 individuals including complainants, current and former members of the executive chamber, state troopers, additional state employees, and others who interacted regularly with the governor. in addition, they reviewed more than 74,000 pieces of evidence, including documents, emails, texts, audio files, and pictures. these interviews and pieces of evidence reveal a deeply disturbing, yet clear picture. governor cuomo's sexually harassed current and former state employees in violation of both federal and state laws. the independent investigation

found that governor cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, many of whom were young women, by engaging in unwanted groping, kisses, hugging, and by making inappropriate comments. further, the governor and his senior team took actions to retaliate against at least one former employee for coming forward with her story, her truth. governor cuomo's administration fostered a toxic workplace that enabled harassment and created a hostile work environment where staffers did not feel comfortable coming forward with complaints about sexual harassment due to a climate of fear and given the power dynamics. the investigators found that cuomo's actions and those of the executive chamber violated multiple state and federal laws as well as the executive

chamber's own written policies. this investigation has revealed conduct that corrodes the very fabric and character of our state government and shines light on injustice that can be present at the highest levels of government. but none of this -- none of this would have been illuminated if not for the heroic women who came forward. and i am inspired by all the brave women who came forward. but more importantly, i believe them. and i thank them for their bravery. and i thank the independent investigators for their professionalism despite the attacks. and for their dogged determination that brought us

to the truth. and now we will hear from june kim and ann clark who will walk us through the report and their findings. >> thank you, attorney general james. good morning. my name is jun kim and along with my colleague, ann clark, we have led the teams at our two -- we have led our teams at our two law firms in conducting the investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by governor cuomo. we have now completed our investigation and have made our findings and reached our

conclusions. they are set forth in a detailed report issued today. as set forth in the report, we find that the governor on numerous occasions engaged in conduct that constitutes unlawful sex-based harassment. specifically we find that the governor sexually harassed a number of current and former new york state employees. he did so by, among other things, engaging in unwelcome and non-consensual touching. and also repeatedly making comments of a sexualized or gender-based nature. our investigation revealed that these were not isolated incidents. they were part of a pattern.

governor's pattern of sexually harassing behavior was not limited to members of his own staff, but extended to other state employees, including state trooper who served on his protective detail. there are 11 complainants whose allegations are set forth in great detail in the report. nine of them are or were employed by the state of new york or state-affiliated entity. the complainants interacted with the governor under different circumstances. for example, some of them met with him regularly as an executive assistant or as members of his staff, or as i said, as a trooper on his protective detail. while others only met him once. but all of them experienced harassing conduct from the

governor. some suffered through unwanted touching and grabbing of their most intimate body parts. others suffered through repeated offensive sexually suggestive or gender-based comments. a number of them endured both. none of them welcomed it and all of them found it disturbing, humiliating, uncomfortable, and inappropriate. and now we find that it was unlawful sex-based harassment. our investigation has also found that the executive chamber responded to allegations of sexual harassment in ways that violated their own internal policies. and also constituted unlawful retaliation with respect to one of the complainants. finally, based on our investigation, we concluded that the executive chamber's

workplace culture one reiff with bullying, fear and intimidation and normalizing frequent flirtations and comments by the governor on the other created the conditions that allowed the sexual harassment and retaliation to occur and to persist. the attorney general has said we reached these findings and conclusions after a thorough and independent investigation. we were allowed to and did follow the facts without fear, without favor. and as you will see in the report, our findings are supported by extensive evidence that includes interviews and testimony from 179 witnesses and review of tens of thousands of documents. i'll now turn it over to my colleague, ann clark, to walk through some of the specifics related to the sexual

harassment, policy violations and retaliation. >> we find that the governor on many occasions engaged in sex-based harassing conduct and conversations. the most serious was the governor's unwelcome physical contact with women including touching intimate body parts. he engaged in this conduct with state employees, including those who didn't work in the executive chamber, as well as non-employees. one current employee who we identify as executive assistant number one endured repeated physical violations. on november 16, 2020 in the executive mansion the governor hugged assistant number 1 and reached under her blouse to grab her breast. this was the culmination of a pattern of inappropriate sexual conduct including numerous close and intimate hugs where the governor held her so closely her breasts were

pressed against his body and sometimes ran his hands up and down her back while he did so. there were also several occasions on which the governor grabbed her butt. executive assistant number one had vowed she would take these violations as she put it to the grave. she was terrified if she spoke out, she would lose her job. but she broke down in front of colleagues when she heard the governor on march 3, 2021 in his press conference claim that he had never touched anyone inappropriately. she then confided in her co-workers who saw her break down as to what had happened and they were the ones that reported the conduct to attorneys in the executive chamber. the governor also several times inappropriately touched a state trooper assigned to the unit to protect the governor. in an elevator while standing behind the trooper he ran his finger from her neck down her spine and said hey you.

another time she was standing holding the door open for the governor. as he passed, he took his open hand and ran it across her stomach from her belly button to the hip where she keeps her gun. she felt completely violated to have the governor touch her as she put it between her chest and privates. the governor also inappropriately touched women attending work-related events where the governor made remarks. in one event in september 2019 while having his picture taken with the employee of a state entity the governor grabbed this young woman's butt. at another event in may of 2017, the governor pressed and ran his fingers across the chest of a woman while reading the name of her company whose logo was on her chest. the governor also engaged in a widespread pattern of subjecting women to unwanted hugs and kisses and touching them in ways that made them

uncomfortable. conduct not just old-fashioned affection at behavior as he and his staff members would have it but unlawful sex-based harassment. in addition to the physical conduct we found that the governor regularly made comments to staff members and state employees that were offensive and gender-based. for example, the governor crossed the line many times when speaking with charlotte bennett, an executive assistant particularly in the spring of 2020. when she confided she was sexually assaulted in college he asked her for the details of her assault. when talking about potential girlfriends, he said he thought he could date women as young as 22 knowing that miss bennett was 25. he asked her if she had ever been with older men. he said he was lonely and wanted to be touched. he asked her if she was monogamous and what she thought

about monogamy. he speculated how her history as a sexual assault survivor might affect her romantic life. he told her she looked like daisy duke. he suggested that she get a tattoo she was contemplating on her butt and asked if she had any piercings anywhere other than her ears. she texted to a friend on the day where many of the comments were made that she was upset and confused and that she was shaken. another example is the governor's comments to the state trooper, the same trooper he touched on the stomach and back. after the governor had become single, he asked the trooper how old she was. when she responded she was in her late 20s he said that's too old for him. he then asked her how much of an age difference he thought he could have between him and a girlfriend and have the public still accept it. she suggested it might be a good idea to stick with women at least as old as his

daughters and asking the governor what he was looking for in a girlfriend. he responded he was looking for somebody who could handle pain. another time when the governor found out the trooper was engaged he asked her why she would want to get married because among other things your sex drive goes down. as detailed in the report, they were similarly offensive comments and conversations such as the governor repeatedly asking executive assistant number one whether she would cheat on her husband saying to her if you were single, the things i would do to you. telling her that she looked great for her age, which was early 30s and for a mother. calling her and co-worker mcgrath mingle mama's, comparing lindsey bouillon to actresses and one of his wives.

the governor seek them out, stare intently at them or gaze at their chest or butt. in some the governor routinely interacted with women that focused on their gender sometimes in a sexualized manner in ways women found humiliating and offensive. both federal and state law prohibit gender-based harassment in the workplace. the governor himself in august 2019 passed a law that eliminated a new york state the requirement that harassing conduct needed to be severe or pervasive. a woman need only show she was treated less well at least in part because of her gender. the governor's conduct detailed in the report clearly meets and far exceeds this standard. we also find the executive chamber failed to follow its own harassment policies and procedures. the ones on paper are consistent with new york legal requirements.

this is exemplified by the handling of charlotte bennett's complaint. in june of 2020 she told the governor's chief of staff about recent conversations of a sexual nature that were so uncomfortable she no longer wanted to interact with the governor. the chief of staff relayed miss bennett's kam mraints to others in the governor's inner circle and transferred miss bennett within days. the chief of staff and special counsel spoke with miss bennett who detailed interactions with the governor going back to may of 2019. the chief of staff and special counsel found his bennett to be credible. the chief of staff consulted with special counsel and with the secretary to the governor and they decided they did not need to report this to the governor's office of employee relations or conduct any meaningful investigation. they simply moved ms. bennett and instituted a policy of not having a junior staffer be

alone with the governor and even that they said was to protect the governor. that response we find was a violation of the executive chamber's harassment policy which clearly requires that all possible harassment be reported and investigated. six months later in december of 2020, when lindsey bouillon tweeted she had been sexually harassed by the governor the executive chamber once again failed to report tissue. although the special counsel and certain other advisors other than as a threat to the governor. rather than any effort to determine if the governor had engaged in sexually harassing behavior. senior staffers, former staffers and outside confidants with no role mobilized to

attack and neutralized miss boylen. within hours of the december 13, 2020 tweet alleging sexual harassment key members of the governor's inner circle obtained confidential members stamped attorney/client privilege between interaction between ms. boylen and assistant and redacted names and sent the memos to reporters, an op-ed drafted by the governor that went through several drafts. the letter attacked ms. boylen for alleged conduct at work and men other than the governor as well a postulating various political conspiracies including that she was funded by far right republicans and supporters of donald trump. although the letter was never published it was sent or read to a variety of people outside the executive chamber either to get their advice or ask them to sign their names to it.

and shared ultimately with at least one member of the press. the governor was arguing for the release of that letter. he was finally convinced to abandon it by a number of people who thought the letter was a bad idea in part because what was in the letter count be substantiated and victim shaming would be bad as a strategy. federal and state law prohibit and employer from taking any action that would display a reasonable employee or former employee from making or supporting a charge of discrimination. under that standard, the confidential release of internal records to the press and the dissemination of the letter disparaging ms. boylen constituted unlawful retaliation. i will turn it back to mr. kim to say a few words about our findings with respect to the workplace culture within the executive chamber. >> thank you, ms. clark. as set forth in our report, we

find that the culture within the executive chamber contributed to the conditions that allowed the governor to sexually harassing conduct to occur and to persist. the culture also informed a way in which the executive chamber responded to allegations of sexual harassment as ms. clark has described through violations of their own policies and through unlawful retaliation. what was the culture? words that witnesses have used repeatedly to describe it include toxic, hostile, abusive. others use words like fear, intimidation, bullying, vindictive. as one senior staffer stated bluntly, as the sexual harassment allegations became public in march of this year in text exchanges with others -- with another in the

administration, i quote, hopefully when this is all done, people will realize the culture even outside of the sexual harassment stuff, is not something you can get away with. you can't berate and terrify people 24/7, close quote. it was a culture where you could not say no to the governor. and if you upset him, or his senior staff, you would be written off, cast aside, or worse. but at the same time, the witnesses described a culture that normalized and overlooked everyday flirtations, physical intimacy, and inappropriate comments by the governor. one senior staff testified that at a work event she sat on the

governor's lap. another staffer said she recalled kissing the governor on the lips. the governor testified that those things may have happened with senior staffers. one complainant described her interactions with the governor by saying they were, quote, strange and uncomfortable. but it was like the twilight zone. the typical rules did not apply. you should just view it a as compliment if the governor find you aesthetically pleasing enough, close quote. the co-existence in the executive chamber's culture of fear and flirtation, intimidation and intimacy, abuse and affection created a work environment ripe for harassment. as another complainant testified and i quote, what makes it so hard to describe

every single inappropriate incident is the culture of the place. on the one hand, he makes all this inappropriate and creepy behavior normal. and like you should not complain. on the other hand, you see people getting punished and screamed at if you do anything where you disagree with him or his top aides. i really just wanted to go to work and be recognized for my work and nothing else, close quote. charlotte bennett, the complainant as ms. clark mentioned who was transferred after she reported inappropriate comments by the governor to senior staff, summarized her experience in a text message as follows quote, the verbal abuse, intimidation, and living in constant fear

were all horribly toxic, dehumanizing and traumatizing. and then he came on to me. i was scared to imagine what would happen if i rejected him. so i disappeared instead. my time in public service ended because he was bored and lonely. it still breaks my heart. that's a quote from a text that ms. bennett wrote. the culture, this culture made it all the more difficult, if not impossible, for complainants to report the harassment from which they were suffering particularly when the harasser was the governor of the state of new york. but one-by-one, one courageous woman after another stepped forward. they stepped forward to say

enough is enough. they came forward in our investigation to tell us about their experiences, the harassment they suffered at the hands of the governor. in our report, we've used their words and their words so long silenced, speak loudly for themselves. these brave women stepped forward to speak truth to power. and in doing so, they expressed faith in the belief that although the governor may be powerful, the truth is even more so. this is what lies at the heart of our investigation and the findings in our report. >> we will now take questions

and the questioning will be directed by delaney. >> please say your name and outlet. >> i wonder if you can tell me if the governor -- were you making any referrals to prosecutors that he could face state or federal charges. >> our work is concluded. the document is now public. the matter is civil in nature and is not -- does not have any criminal consequences. it is my understanding -- >> i will state it's our understanding the young woman whose breast was groped the police department has information about that. all the information is fully documented in the report and any prosecutors or police departments can determine if

they want to take further action. >> now that this report has concluded will your office -- [inaudible] investigating whether or not these are impeachable offenses and what's the coordination between the office. >> no coordination between the office of the attorney general and assembly. the document is now public and will be distributed to members of the assembly as well a as the leadership. >> can the governor -- can the governor be sued in any way. is there a statute of limitations or any things tied to this report? >> there is no penalty officially tied to this report. the women can decide -- they can decide themselves if they want to bring a civil action. the statute of limitations is generally three years under one

federal statute and state law and although for hostile work environments as long as one act occurs within the statute of limitations one can go back to cover the entire hostile work environment. >> [inaudible] what violations can be -- >> that certainly is taken into account in determining liability for sexual harassment. >> can i ask you, do you think the governor, given the devastating nature of this report, i get what you are saying it's up to the prosecutors moving forward on this. but do you think this would all be wrapped up well if he would resign? >> that is up to the governor of the state of new york. the report speaks for itself. right now i think we should all be focused on the courageous bravery of the women who came forward.

all of us should be focused on keeping women safe, believing women and allowing women to speak their truth. that's exactly what this document does. >> you mentioned in your opening remarks today defending the credentials of your investigators today. are you personally bothered by the governor's own remarks in the past week or so that you can just google their backgrounds and draw your own conclusions that it is a politically motivated investigation? >> to undermine and politicize this investigation and there were attacks on me as well as members of the team which i find offensive. and our focus again should be on the bravery and courage of these 11 women and of the others who came forward. these allegations were substantiated and corroborated and the team before you, miss clark and mr. kim are

professionals who are widely respected not only in new york but all across this nation. and i support their work. will defend their work. i believe these women. >> you mentioned that they could ob rated a lot of with it the witness testimony was. when you interviewed governor cuomo did he admit or deny the majority of what was said here? >> there was a culmination. some incidents that he admitted to but had a different interpretation of. other things that he did not recall. >> can you speak a little bit more about what that conversation was like? >> i can't recount all of that. there were certain things like he admitted that he asked ms. bennett whether she had been involved with older men.

he denied touching the state trooper although he said he might have kissed her at an event. there were certain things that he turned around and said that, for example. executive assistant number one he hugged her repeatedly but claimed she was the one who initiated the hugs. it was a mixture of admitting to certain things but putting a different spin on them and denying others. >> what are the next steps here? the report a lot of devastating information in it. a lot of people will -- what happens next when you aren't referring it to criminal charges. what are the next steps that you would like to see perhaps maybe the assembly take or someone else take to have some other kinds of punishment or something else here? because right now it seems like you have this report and what will be the next steps. >> we were tasked with the

responsibility in engaging in an investigation and we've concluded our investigation. now our work is done. and so as it relates to next steps, that's entirely up to the governor and/or the assembly and general public. the work of the office of the attorney general and the special deputies has concluded. >> do you think the governor should run for reelection? >> that's a political question. the work of the office of the attorney general is done. >> a little hypothetical. an individual when running a workplace like this were running for governor would you consider that person fit to serve as the leader of new york state? >> i don't engage in speculation. the report speaks for itself. they substantiate and

corroborated allegations. >> as a prosecutor and as an attorney general are you frustrated that you can't move criminally on these charges, numerous charges that you and the investigators have said are both -- violate state and federal law? >> it is not an issue of being frustrated. the issue we were tasked with the responsibility by the governor of the state of new york to issue a report and we have issued this report. all throughout the process we put our heads down, have done our work and at this point we will allow the chips to fall where they may. >> we'll go virtual now. >> thank you, everybody. if you have a question please kick the raise hand button. if you have a question click the raised hand button. we'll hear from john campbell from gannett. >> a couple of questions.

i apologize tough to hear some of the questions. some might be repeats here. the investigation into the governor's book deal as well as the staff resources that were used on that, does that remain ongoing, that is separate from this? and also can you make some sort of formal referral to prosecutors offices based on this report today or is that something they would have to pick up the ball on on their own? >> the investigation with respect to the book and whether or not public resources were utilized is ongoing and separate and apart from this investigation. criminal jurisdiction usually is conveyed upon the office of attorney general. usually we get a request under the executive law and at this point in time our work is concluded and we will not be engaging in any criminal investigation with respect to the conduct of the governor of the state of new york. >> second question from josh duffy from "washington post".

josh, your line the sop en. -- is open. [no audio] >> josh, you have to unmute your line. >> i'm sorry, can you hear me now? there appear to be 11 allegations here, 11 different victims. did you find all 11 of those victims who came forward to be credible and were you able to find contemporaneous notes or proof about all 11 of the victims? >> we found all 11 women to be credible. there was corroboration to varying degrees. probably at the end of the most corroborated charlotte bennett talked to people and texted

people contemporaneously. some of her texts were practically in realtime regarding conversations with the governor. as well the reports she made to the chief of staff and the special counsel and their notes are quite consistent with what she has said to the press and what she told us. the state trooper, the touching incidents, the one where he touched her stomach was witnessed by another state trooper who confirmed it to us. the kiss, that was confirmed to us by another state trooper and other incidents she told at the time. other people we spoke to we confirmed with the people they spoke with or had written documentation either text messages or emails where they recounted things contemporaneously. when you see the report, everything is documented, things were very well corroborated.

>> next question is from -- >> sandra: you've been listening to new york attorney general leticia james following the findings of her nearly five-month investigation into multiple sexual harassment allegations against new york governor andrew cuomo, 11 victims, nearly 5-month investigation revealing he sexually harassed multiple women. at one point leticia james revealed what she said what's a disturbing and clear picture of the governor saying he engaged in unwelcome touching, groping, unwanted kisses, hugging and what she described as a toxic workplace environment. a hostile workplace environment for women. bryan llenas has been following the story from the beginning. your reaction. >> stunning in terms of its depth, i think and detail. the bottom line here is that

this report, these independent investigators deputized by the attorney general found governor cuomo violated multiple federal and state sexual harassment laws. not only that, it was corroborated an substantiated with 74,000 pieces of evidence, 179 interviews with current and former members, state troopers, defendants. they went into deep detail about some of these accusations including the fact that he retaliated against charlotte bennett who was the second accuser to come forward, a former employee who came forward and then to the staff of the governor and was treated -- essentially demoted and found that was sexually harassment and retaliation. on top of all of that you have to understand the governor foss the last five months has been

living his life normally conducting state business but at the same time also been changing his tone on some of this stuff. in the beginning when these accusations first came out in february and march, he said he was deeply apologetic and had never touched anybody but he was deeply sorry he made women feel uncomfortable. over the last couple of months that quickly changed and started to see more attacks politically not only against attorney general james from his senior advisors and himself suggesting she wants to run for governor and this is a political witch hunt but also against the two independent investigators who put this report together. take a listen here. we have cuomo in the beginning in march and then how he has evolved later on. listen. >> the attorney general is doing an independent review and i willfuly cooperate with that review. i have concerns as to the independence of the reviewers. that's what i've said.

and as politics, as this all happening in a political system, yes, that is undeniable. >> you can see how his tone has evolved over the last couple of months. you have a situation now where ultimately we have people reacting to this. remember democrats in march were calling for him to resign when this first happened. the entire -- almost the entire new york delegation. ocasio-cortez, chuck schumer, kristin gillibrand. mayor bill deblasio just reacted to this press conference. listen. >> i want to see the report. i definitely have faith in the attorney general that she and her team have conducted a thorough, objective investigation. and from what you are telling me those are troubling findings. but i need to see the report to be able to give you a deeper answer on this. >> the report is 165 pages. we'll go through it.

governor cuomo has said he is eager to tell his side of the story. we'll see what happens the rest of the day. >> sandra: bryan llenas has been on that from the beginning. joining us now is attorney ted williams. all of this we found out this morning that leticia james would be holding the news conference, a major announcement would be coming and able to connect the dots because it was just yesterday that cuomo sat down for that videotaped interview with the independent investigators for 11 grueling hours. he faced a barrage of questions about these victims and their allegations and we were told there were some tense moments in that 11 hours of questioning including at one point it was described during this lengthy session that cuomo confronted mr. kim, one of the investigators, challenging as you even just heard cuomo himself there his fairness and independence as a result of his past investigation into the governor and his allies. ted, your response to what we just heard and what is next for the governor.

will he resign? >> you know, i've got to tell you, i listened to this press conference and what i heard there and if these matters can be proven, i can tell you it is devastating. it is devastating not only for the governor, but it is devastating to the citizens of the state of new york that their governor under these circumstances is a gangster. he not only essentially harassed these individuals according to the attorney general, but he tried to intimidate them. he tried to retaliate and did retaliate against some of these individuals. what we must realize here when you are talking about sexual harassment. i do a lot of sexual harassment cases. you are talking about power. the governor had this power. this power was used against women. the women stood up.

those brave women and they said enough, enough is enough. and what you find here is a governor that is out of control. he is an embarrassment if these charges are proven and yes, he should step aside. not only should he step aside in this, i believe that there needs to be a criminal investigation. i was somewhat taken aback when the attorney general reported that it all ended in a civil litigation or investigation. these charges that he touched somebody inappropriately, that's an assault and he should be possibly charged. there needs to be another investigation but yes, he needs to step aside. this man, if he did the things that were brought out this morning, is a sexual predator and no woman, no woman should have to go through that gauntlet just to survive in a

job. it is so inappropriate. as i listened to this it made me angry that a governor of a state, of the state of new york would treat women in this manner. >> sandra: and retaliate for them coming forward in some instances. leticia james described her investigation found cuomo and senior staff worked to retailiate against a former employee who accused him of wrongdoing. reaction from some of those 11 victims and thank you to everyone who expressed support out loud and in whispers for hugs and hand squeezes and texts. thank you, lindsey boylen and the other accusers who came forward. one from karen hinton. meaningful report for women everywhere, not just new york. so you are suggesting he must step down now. you heard leticia james detail call the violation of federal

and state laws on behalf of the new york governor andrew cuomo. he violated current and former state employees which is also important. she went on to describe the substantiated and corroborated allegations. she said that evidence will be made available to the public. this is certainly a big day indeed but for her part, she says her investigation has concluded. she is done. >> i have to tell you, this governor acted and was acting like an organized crime boss thug. using that office, the office of the governor of the state of new york. and not only that, there needs to be further investigation about individuals around him. because these individuals allowed and permitted this to go on. there were many individuals according to this attorney general that knew what was going on and assisted the

governor in trying to cover up his activity with these women. again, i want to make sure we're clear here. we are talking about power. that is what sexual harassment is. the power of a governor over employees, women who just wanted to go to work and make a living. they didn't ask to be touched. this man should resign and he should resign right away. >> sandra: again leticia james describing what she said was a disturbing and clear picture and heralded the women who came forward calling them heroic. she said, quote, i believe them. thank you for your bravery. thank you for joining us through the news conference and after. thank you. it was a nearly five-month investigation conducted by those two outside lawyers >> they concluded that

andrew cuomo's administration created a "hostile work environment" right with fear and intimidation. there will be a lot of news on this throughout the day. we will have coverage on the fox news channel. q for joining us throughout, thanks for watching "the -- >> fox news alert: details of bombshell sexual assault allegations against new york governor andrew, the state attorney general and her investigators announced the results of their investigation. here is a state attorney general letitia james moments ago. >> gen. james: the investigation found that governor cuomo sexually harassed many women, many of whom were young women, by engaging in unwanted groping kisses, hugging, and by making inappropriate