that is spur purely speculation. this is the first time he has talked since his disastrous attempt to -- when asked if that was a picture of his tennis, the was, could be. that's not going to fly. just today new allegations that the married congressman sent more scandalous photos of himself to other women, now 200 in all as we await the congressman. i do want to bring in our monday mega panel early for some political analysis. christopher freeland pb tim carter, and sam seeder. now, regardless of what you think of anthony weiner in general, he clearly is a very intelligent, very capable professional who has had a very successful career. we have seen this play out a million different times. you're thinking what right now,

christian? >> it shows that eliot spitzer is a classy guy. when eliot got busted. he came out, admitted it and resigned. i think the bigger scandal here is not the 200 photos, it is the way wiener handled. to say, i don't know if there is a picture of me. >> if someone asks you if that is a picture of your penis, you say no or yes. not could be. it s there way for this politician to navigate this, that you can see? knowing we don't have all of the information. >> assume the allegations are true, he could stay in office. it worked for david i have thor. he haven't broken any laws. >> no, he is just a disgusting pig by some people's views but it is not illegal. >> we are in an age of

piggishness and i'm not talking about pictures. if he wants to ride this out, he can do it. i think because at the end of the day, the trust that has broken is not with anybody but his family. so but i guess it remains to be seen, it is a little embarrassing. >> this is exactly why i wanted to become a political journalist. i think to talk about wiener picks on twitter. and i agree with sam and that this might reflect something about his character. you know, it is up to the voters, probably, if he is not resigning today, the primary voters. >> will have a view at some point. there is a bigger issue here. this is what we were talking about before the television show went on the air. which is, there is a screaming, screeching desperate desire for a real debate in america about our system of investment. our system of job creation. our system of services. and our system of relationship

between large businesses, small businesses and the american government. as somebody who has the privilege of being able to comment and interview for an hour a day, on a widely distributed political network, i share your frustration and i have come to the view christian, that no one wants to do it. meaning, not the media. meaning the political class, largely, and i'm sure bernie sanders, you can get people, individuals, but that the politicians themselves good out of the way it create environments and frame conversations to prevent that have happening in a meaningful way. is that unfair for me to assert that? >> i think it is fair. i think of all of the issues that you raised dylan, jobs is front and center. the jobs numbers that came up on friday are a national tragedy. and it is astonishing to me that

they are not the focus of the political debate. voters are not holding the feet of politicians and also the media to the fire and saying nothing else matters right now. unemployment is at 9%. it has been for two years. people are talking about maybe this is the new shape of the u.s. economy. that is a disaster. >> part of the problem is that there is such a high cost to proposing solutions -- >> high cost politically. >> high cost politically to solutions. i think paul ryan talking about medicare is a great thing. he is getting demagogued to death. republicans learned it from attacking obama care. so both sides just know that it is easier to demagogue -- >> i want to stop you for a second. i will come to you sam. i will accept what you said. we woernt get won't get lost in the sudden elties of what --

subtleties of what you are saying. the debate over time gets worse, not better because i don't have to be more smart, more creative or more insew vative than you in a bait. i have to make you look worse than me. and as a result the quality of the conversation as we watch it regress, it gets worse and not better. am i wrong to think that we have to, we really have to look at the political process and the selection process at a root level that is that deep, sam? >> i think that the political process is corrupt by money. i think at the same time, there has been a downward spiral you are talking about. that race to the bottom is happening with the media. >> a hundred percent. >> the fact of the matter, there is a lot of time -- i put out a youtube for my show saying sarah palin saying the stupidist thing i've ever seen. >> how many hits? >> literally tens of thousands or more hits than if i'm talking

about jobs or how an nobel laureate economist can't get on the federal reserve. that is a problem that we have under society that i think to a certain extent is fed bit media. there was a great report by ad age that showed that advertisers should no longer focus on the middle class. they should focus their advertising spent on people making $150,000 and up. they have -- the entire culture has moved way from issues. that is not people without jobs. >> so sam, i totally agree with you. i think this is a huge part of the problem which is that it is not that the american economy is bad for everyone. it is and i know it is not very hip to quote john edwards right now. but his diagnosis was right on. there was a great interview in the wall street journal on saturday with bob dole who as we know is the great rob eberly

strategist and he said that the fate of the u.s. economy and the fortunes of u.s. companies were no longer connected. he thinks that 70% of incremental revenue of s & p companies over the next five years will come from outside the u.s. 70%. so if you take that together with ad age saying only focus on people making more than 150,000, there is basic lay whole slice of america, the majority that doesn't really matter. >> which goes, tim, to our ongoing conversation about the unholy alliance between business and state. and particularly giant business -- >> and finance. >> finance is the biggest but telecom et cetera and the government service of those industries at the expense of the liberty freedom choiz and opportunity of human beings. >> the argument i believe in. the free market argument is in a free economy, companies make businesses by best serving the -- >> customers. >> but you look at wall street

over the last ten years, you can't see how they are serving any real demand. there is a great article i will recommend to all of you guys by tyler callin a couple months ago called the inequality that matters. he says that the profits that suck in all of the best minds because that's where the money is, these are people that buy and sell things and don't do what wall street is supposed to do, which is make capital flow to economies. >> i love that article. and what tyler says is that the big problem is regulators have fallen behind the -- >> that's right. >> no, tim you quoted tyler's piece for the conclusion of tyler's piece is regulators don't make as much money as the mart guys on wall street so the smart guys on wall street are outmaneuvered. >> jackback in the 1700's jefferson add type of word for that excess in income concentration. he saw government as a means in

which to distribute it. >> now we have come to an interesting intersection. obviously there is different political philosophies at the table. we are identifying the same problem and agreeing with the problem and both in the function of certain businesses and our government and in the consequences of that with that the unemployment and of wealth. most folk argue there must be rule making for the banks. . what is your thought here? >> you need rule making from the people who are backing it up. in other words, if i got -- >> from the government? >> yes. but i don't think the government -- >> forget that for a second. >> so there is a lot of misplaced where they say let's back up banks but let them do a what they want. that's silly. i say, let's not back up the banks nor tell them what they should do. >> should the federal reserve exist? >> that's a much bigger debate. >> but it's not. you have to regulate banks. as long as the government is setting interest rates -- >> this is a good conversation.

>> you're right. if you have a federal reserve without it going ahead and having discount window and loaning it out and if the feds put conditions on the money, that's one thing. >> again, the key to not being insane is to acknowledge what reality is, even if you don't like it and try to work inside that reality. a lot of us can talk about the abolition, all this sort of thing. let us accept the fact it exists. i agree with you, tim. if i was fantasy land for me, it would be private banking. let the bankers fell. push everybody to the ad from a couple years ago in the washington post. obviously i don't have a lot of influence over the global structure of the universe. >> it is not as if we want do big grand things. barack obama spent nearly a trillion dollars. >> i'm glad you see that tax cuts equals expenditures because we know that -- >> let's not go into it.

>> the government does big things. medicare was this gigantic -- >> tim, let's talk specifically -- no, no. but tim we're not -- tim, i would just like to stop here to be very clear. are you suggesting there should be no state intervention in the financial system? >> no regulation. >> i would favor to have banks be out on their own just like shoe stores are. >> no regulation of the banking system? >> i wouldn't say no regulation. >> what kind of regulation is okay? >> what i would do is i would suggest in an ideal world, it would be capital constraints. you only have so much money to play with. if you lose it, you're gone. >> that's a prime government regulation. >> but that's what i'm saying is the logical conclusion. if you want to have total less fair for money which has

happened in the past, people decided, do i like sam's currency -- and what i would suggest is the people that would like it talk about pure free market have consistency. if you don't think banks should be regulated then you say okay there is no government control of money. >> i have to interrupt you guys for one second. this is the irony of american media in june 2011 because this conversation is i believe a conversation that should be had on every show on every network on every cable. with that said, i'm told that andrew brightbart may have hijacked the anthony weiner conference and he speaking about anthony and his penis while we deal with the massive unemployment, lack of energy alternatives -- >> but anyway, i think there is something almost owe pet ek in

the contrast of the nature of this conversation while wef got a feed of andrew and anthony weiner. i want to bring this back. here's how. clearly there is a valid debate to be had. we were just engaging in it. clearly neither the democraticed leader -- there are plenty of democrats and republicans who where wo love this conversation. clearly republican leadership does not want to have this conversation, is avoiding this conversation and has been avoiding the conversation. not just for the obama presidency but for decades. media follows, the media is an indictment for another day. take a look at brightbart and wiener. the question is, how do we get ourselves. how do we use our power, not just as media people or as journalists, but as americans. how do human beings manifest

themselves in rejecting both bad choices, from both political parties, where i think a vast of individuals find themselves. is there anything someone can see in history or elsewhere. we add guilded age. we had wealth concentration. we had slaves wp women couldn't vote, okay? you're tell meg that we cannot get through this? >> look, it is happening in europe. have you a hundred thousand people marching in the streets of greece. it is happening in spain. you have tens of thousands of people marching. in mad son, wisconsin there is a tent set up on the street. >> that is the tea parties too sam. >> also tea parties. >> here is my concern, whether it is greece, portugal, wisconsin or the tea party, it is proven that it is one thing to activate the energy. one thing to turn the lights on and get everybody fired up. a totally different thing as to where the point the energy ease

what the energy is used to do the tea party, with all due respect, i know how many busses have been to those. i know how many of the people show up for the americans for prosperity. there is corporate money -- >> let's not get lost in that. >> sni i think at the end of the day, if there is enough austerity to wake people up. >> i get it. >> they will find they are getting ripped off. >> go ahead. >> i see a systemic problem. my solution is one that sam and probably christian would not share. when you have power, it would be hijacked by the people -- >> i think we would agree with that. a very powerful government has a lot of power. those who have a lot of power, have the most power for the powerful government. >> and they have the ability to capture the whole economy if it were freer. >> do you agree with that in. >> no. i think obama had the

opportunity when he came in, where he would have had more, what you would consider draconian regulations and i would consider regulations -- >> i think tim would be okay, despite what he said on television. >> i think we could go back it a tax system that actually does redistribute the wealth in a way that it was set up to do, frankly. if you do not concentrate that level of waem wealth in a small group of people, they will not have the ability to influence government in the way they have. >> there are core american values though, right? core american values that are choices for individuals. period. and choose to live your life there way. chose to get red paint on your walls. choose to get blue paint on your walls. transparency, an ability to be informed before you make a decision and integrity where the information you are being given

actually is the information. it is not a lie or distortion. with whether it is banking, healthcare, agri, telecom, those most basic american values, choice, transparency and integrity have been completely abandoned. as a result we are seeing all of this money pulled into the systems. >> i would agree. >> one at a time. >> i would say this goes back to your media point. i don't think it is only the fault of the elites. i think there is some collective cultural responsibility. >> i agree. >> there has been a collection be a decation. say what you will about the internet and about, you know, low level mass culture, it is now easier to find stuff out just sitting by be side your computer or with your iphone than it has ever been. even people in prepressive regimes like syria, are able to find stuff out. people are making the individual

choice to not actually focus on this stuff and to buy the rhetoric which they are being sold by various vested interests. but the first step has to be for people to really think through carefully. it is the great ronald reagan line, are you better off now than ten years ago. >> not the only great reagan line. >> no, many. i think reagan did fabulous things, like higher tax rates than today in theites. >> so we abandon our core values that our choice, that is transparency and that integrity. and that that is now costing us money which means we either can tax, raise taxes to pay into the broken systems or we can screw over the poor people who are the least politically prep accidented to to support them. >> i know reporters at the hoffington post who do great post. they're lefties. arthur delany is one of them.

i'm asaned to the huffington post. sarah palin was wrong p about paul ravine. lindsay lohan in a bikini. >> yeah, delany's deep dive on the banking system gets into action. >> i can't blame that on are a anna huffington or anybody who reads the huffington post. on msnbc you have chris matthews in love with michele bachmann. >> can you confirm that? >> what? >> have you confirmed that love affair. >> sort aftof a plutonic. >> i don't really know what this american choice means -- >> it that the root of the way we function in this culture -- >> it is not an old age of choice. we never had it.

we had slaves. women couldn't vote. i say this golden age of choice is an aspiration closer to our fingertips. more achievable. >> there are ten difference notions of what the choice is. i would like to leave my job and not be incumbent to get healthcare. >> i agree with that. >> sam is getting at the great dissension between -- my understanding of freedom and his understanding of freedom. his is more after positive one. mine is saying nobody should use force or the threat of force to impose something on somebody else. if his employer says, he doesn't have an employer, he is free to do that in this country. but if his employer says you skr to wear a suit and paper hat -- >> in other words, i apply these values throughout the entire system. it is not just about my choice to wear a paper hat were leave any michigan job or your choice to go become a cattle rancher or shave your head bald. it is about values that are

underlying that. >> the schois too vague. >> do you have choices for gasoline? >> what are your energy choices? do you have any? no, you don't. what are your healthcare choices? do you have any? not very many. what are your banking choices? my point is that the values that create solutions in the private sector, which is when they are forced to compete, does it better and they are able to pay off the government to prevent themselves from having forced to compete to make something better, as the banks, healthcare companies, energy companies, all do -- >> if you live up in the appalachians and the only job you can have is with a mining company that is destroying your environment, it is destroying your town, you don't have the ability to move, have you the choice ton work for them but your kids don't get fed. so the idea of choice i think is not --

>> you are -- of course it is value system. >> i think the value system we have to talk about is what is the vision of this country. do we want a country where wealth is defined as many people as possible with as much opportunity as possible or wealth is created by gdp. >> we are saying the whole thing. but sam, we are saying the whole thing. i think all of us would say that an equal opportunity to utilize capital. and i'm not just talking about money, i'm talking about educational resources. >> do you apply it in outcome or in process. >> i would apply it in process. >> i would apply it in outcome. >> you would apply it in both. >> would you have a central king who controls all of the resources then -- >> no. no. >> who is in charge? >> i would have a system where if 70% of the country says,

don't can cut medicare, don't cut social security, raise taxes on the rich. then there would be some responsiveness to that in our political system, and there is none. there is none. we're not even alourd to talk about that. the people's budget if you are so obsessed with cutting the deficit, the people's budget doesn't. >> let me ask you a question. >> we don't even discuss that because you're not even serious. >> let me ask you a question, if ten people look the at baby and the baby is sick. the baby is going to die. one of those people is a pediatrician. nine other people have not looked at a baby before. should we equal weight the ten points about the baby or overweight the -- >> who is we? >> we have core values which are monopoly businesses are destr t dedestructive to humanity. i'm not saying a single provider of healthcare, singer provider of energy. consolidated provider of

communications, i'm not some kind of fruit cake. i'm saying monopoly businesses taking all of your money are bad. if your lugs is let's leave the monopoly business totally in fact then let's tick a bunch of money to people and give it to the poorest people so we can feel better about ourselves is not a good solution. >> we have allowed the businesses to -- >> i know. if the question is why are we not breaking up monopolies. >> i would like to hear, if tim supports the dylan analysis. as i understand your view -- you want a very limited role of the state. do you want this to be a trust buster era? do you want an activist government that breaks up the -- >> i will recommend another piece. >> answer my question. >> gabrielle told it conservatism. not the same as today but how

teddy roosevelt helped biggest businesses retain their monopoly oes. when monopoly -- >> so it was not a trust buster? ? >> he busted some trust. >> what about standard oil? >> forget teddy roosevelt. my point is the government is the only -- say that again, brian. sorry. >> to the carnival we go. >> thank you very much more being here and good afternoon. i with like to take this time to clear up some of the questions that have been raised over the past ten days or so. and take full responsibility for my actions. at the outset i would like it make it cleary have made terrible mistakes that hurt the people i care about the most and i'm deeply sorry. i have not been honest with

myself, my family, my constituents, my friends. and supporters and the media. last friday night i tweeted a photograph of myself that i intended to send as a direct message as part after joke to a woman in seattle. once i realized i posted it to twitter, i panicked. i took it down and said i had been hacked. i then continued to stick to that story which was a hugely regrettable mistake. this woman was unwittingly dragged into this and bears absolutely no responsibility. i am so sorry to have disrupted her life in this way. to be clear, the picture was of me. and i sent it. i am deeply sorry for the pain this caused my wife. and our family. and my constituents, my friends, supporters and staff. in addition, over the past few years i have engaged in several inappropriate conversations conducted over twitter, facebook, e-mail and occasionally on the phone with

women i have met on-line. i have exchanged messages and photos with about six women over the last three years. for the most part these communications took place before my marriage. though some have sadly took place after. to be clear, i have never met any of these women or had physical relationshipses at any time. i haven't told the truth. and i've done things i deeply regret. i have brought pain to people i care about the most and people who believed in me. and for that i'm deeply sorry. i apologize to my wife. and our families. as well as to our friends and supporters. i am deeply ashamed of my terrible judgment and actions.

i would be glad to take any questions that you might have. >> i came here to accept the full responsibility for what i've done. i am deeply regretting what i have done and i am not resigning. i have made it clear that i accept responsibility for this. and people who draw conclusions about me are free to do so. i have worked for the people of my district for 13 years and politics for 20 years, and i hope they see fit to see this in the light that it is, which is a deeply regret mistake. [ inaudible ] >> i think it is more inappropriate things i have done -- my primary sense of

regret and my primary apology goes to my wife. i should not have done this and i should not have done this particularly when i was married. that's why i make that distinction. >> why would you do this after your marriage? what were you thinking? >> i don't know what i was thinking. this was a destructive thing to do. i'm apologetic. it was deeply, deeply hurtful to the people i care about the most. it was something that i did that was just wrong. and i regret it. >> did you use resources for this activity and if so did you -- [ inaudible ] >> i did not. [ inaudible ] >> listen, i'm going to try to tell you everything that i can

remember. was my blackberry is not a government blackberry. my home computer is where i usually did these things. i don't have the knowledge of every -- of every last communication but i don't believe i used any government resources. [ inaudible ] -- an x rated photo of you. can you say that is not true? >> no, i cannot. [ inaudible ] >> i regret not being honest about this. this was a big mistake to -- i was embarrassed. i was humiliated. i'm still to this moment. i was trying to protect my wife. i was trying to protect myself from shape. it was a mistake. i really regret it.

[ inaudible ] >> this was a mistake and i'm very sorry for it. and i take it seriously but i am -- and where i go from here and what steps i take, i take it seriously. but there was a destructive thing that i did that i deeply regret. >> congress plan, your wife is not here, are you going to break up with your wife because of this? sfwhz i love my wife very much. >> are you going to split? >> i love my wife very much. and we have no intention of splitting up over this. we have been through a great deal together. and we will weather this. i love her very much, and she loves me. >> sir, where is she? [ inaudible ] >> these are generally in some cases initiated. they are generally women that i mess on facebook. >> do you have anything to say to andrew brightbart. >> i'm deeply apoll jettic first

to my wife, to the people that put confidence in me, that watched me make this terrible mistake. but everyone i misled, everyone in the media, the staff. the people that i lied to, they all deserve an apology. >> after eliot spitzer, why did you decide do this, especially as a member of office. >> this was a very dumb thing to do, a destructive thing to do but it wasn't a plan to be hurtful to my wife. it wasn't a part of of a plan to be deceitful to you. it wasn't part after plan to be -- it wasn't part after plan. it was a destructive thing that i did that i accept responsible for. if you are looking for some kind of deep explanation for it, i simply don't have one, except that i'm sorry.

[ inaudible ] >> i didn't think of it that way. from time to time i would say be this is a mistake. or this is a conversation that someone could listen in on or translate to someone else. i know that there is the sense that everything is part after plan, and it was thought through and calculated. in this case it was just me doing a very dumb thing. and for that i accept the responsibility. yeah, sure. [ inaudible ] >> i didn't see any of the pictures released today. i can tell you that there were some women that i had conversations with that inappropriate things were sent by me and i accept responsibility for that. [ inaudible ] >> the last thing on this day when i have done this harm to my wife and my family that i'm standing before all of you and

accepting responsibility for this shameful thing is thinking about next year's election or the election after that. the first thing i need to do is make sure that obviously this never ever happens again. and that i make it up to my wife and to my family and to all of the people that i have harmed. [ inaudible ] >> i have not, you know, i'm going to try to handle this and i haven't ruled out perhaps seeing someone, but i'm not blaming anyone. this is not something that can be treated away. this is my own personal mistake. this is not something that -- this is a weakness, a deep weakness i have demonstrated and for that i'm sorry. [ inaudible ] >> some of these relationships, some date back i think as much as three years. [ inaudible ] >> when did you realize that what you were saying wasn't true with with your original story --

[ inaudible ]. >> almost from the beginning. when you say something like that that is so wrong, i was embarrassed. i didn't want to to lead to other embarrassing thing. it was a dumb thing to do to try to lie about it because it led to more lies. but almost immediately, after i said the lie, i knew i was putting people in a very bad position and i didn't want to continue doing it. [ inaudible ] >> excuse me? >> did any of the women ever ask you for anything in exchange to not come forward? >> no. [ inaudible ] >> megan was one of the women. >> when did you tell your wife? >> my wife has known about some of these on-line relationships since before we were married. we spoke frankly about them because -- well, we spoke

frankly about them. but she did not know until this morn whether i posted the twitter post last week. [ inaudible ] >> i'm here primarily to skres my apologies to my wife and family. but anyone who was misled. all of you who were misled. the people who i lied to, i have an apology for all of them. >> not specifically for him? not an apology? >> if i believe that -- i believe that everyone deserves an apology here. and i'm -- i'll be -- here is what -- i apologize to andrew, i apologize to other members of the media that i misled. i apologize first and foremost no my wife and my family. >> where is she right now? >> she is not here.

>> i. [ inaudible ] >> i don't have -- i have a -- i have a loving wife. i don't -- it is not anything like that. i treated -- i treated it as a frivolous thing, not acknowledging that it was causing harm to so many people and would eventually come out. s in? yes, sir? >> i spoke briefly to pelosi before i came over here. >> what did she say? >> she said to be truthful, to say what you know, and was thankful that i was doing that today. [ inaudible ] >> she was not happy. told me as much. my primary apologies, i have said many times, is to my wife. she made it very clear that what i did was very dumb and she is not happy about it.

she is very disappointed. she also told me that she loved me and wanted us to pull through this. >> i'm sorry, sir? [ inaudible ] >> i did a regrettable thing. and for that i apologize. >> you said you were on the phone. did you have phone sex with these women? did you ever have an affair with these women. >> as i said in my statement, i never had an affair with these women. i was never in the same room with them. i never had a relationship with them whatsoever. i'm reluctant, and since their names are coming out, to characterize it except that it was consensual. i will not rebut anything or the women that have come out have the right to do so. i will not characterize those conversations. >> you know, you may not have

used- [ inaudible ] as a congressman -- [ inaudible ]. >> well, congression nal time could be anything. congressmen work long hours. i don't believe i did anything here that violate any law or violate anything law of my constituents. what i did was wrong and i'm here to apologize. [ inaudible ] >> is there any other type of behavior, within the privacy, conducted as congressmember that you could -- [ inaudible ] had you engaged in any services of women -- >> no, i have never had sex outside my marriage. i have done these things, and i regret them. but i have never done anything -- never done anything that you described. i don't know where else to get

it. [ inaudible ] >> i'm not making any excuses for my behavior. i don't do drugs. i was not drinking. that wasn't the cause of this. this was me doing a dumb thing. and doing it repeatedly and then lying p about it. that's all there is. i'm here to accept responsible. i'm not here to shift the blame to anyone else. to any external force or anything else. [ inaudible ] >> i did. i did. i didn't speak to her. we exchanged some text messages. mostly from me to express my apologies for how she got dragged into this. [ inaudible ] >> no. yes. we exchanged direct messages but we had never spoken. [ inaudible ]

>> i have not. look, my wife is a -- my wife is a remarkable woman. she is not responsible for any of this. this was visited upon her. she is getting back to work. and i apologize to her, very deeply. [ inaudible ] >> people have to make that determination. i'm here to express my apologies. i'm here to take responsibility. but you know, beyond that, look, my constituents have to make the determination. it is up to them, if they believe it is something that it means they don't want to vote for me, i will work very hard to win back their trust and try to persuade them that this is a personal failing of mine that i work very hard for my constituents for a very long time, very long hours and that nothing about this should reflect in any way on my official duties or both of

office. i'm sorry, sir? [ inaudible ] >> i certainly used bad judgment here, that's for sure. if someone wants to draw that conclusion, i can't stop them. i am here to accept responsible for some very bad decisions. >> at 21 years old, does it bother you -- >> i don't know the exact ages of the women. i don't know the exact ages of the women. and i don't know if you do, i will respect their privacy but they were all adults. at least to the best of my knowledge, they were all adults and they were engaging in these conversations consensually. >> if you don't know how old they are, how do you know they are adult. >> well i only know what they publish on social media. that's a risk. [ inaudible ]

>> no. >>. [ inaudible ] >> no. [ inaudible ] >> i wasn't telling the truth. i don't begrudge anyone for not leaping to my defense this n that circumstance. this was, you know, i don't -- this isn't anyone else's fault. anyone else didn't demonstrate their bad judgment or their mistakes. this is me. i did. and i take responsibility for that. i'm not looking to point blame or share responsibility with anyone. [ inaudible ] >> i'm going to go back it work and i'm going to try to convince them that this was a personal failing. that is an aberration from which

i've learned. and all can i do is just keep doing what i've done is just work very hard everyday. there wasn't anything about this i would say that changes my abit or my record of getting bills passed or filling potholes or filling community service. this was a personal failing and i hope that they see it that way. i don't begrudge them. if they see this as a personal failing and they won't vote for me, that's their decision. and i will have to work very hard. >> congressman, leaders of democratic leadership -- [ inaudible ] >> i don't want to get into anyone else's situation but i can tell but mine. it is one that i regret and didn't have to do with my government service, per se, but had to do with my weakness. people can draw their own conclusions.

i'm not resigning. i'm going to try my hardest to go back to work a better person and a better man and a better husband, too. [ inaudible ] >> she was very unhappy. she was very disappointed and she told me as much. she also said that she loved me and said we were going to get through this. but she deserves much better than this and i know that. >> why come out now and say it? what was the process? >> look, my primary concern about the entire incident to begin with, was my concern about these relationships coming public. and what i had done by denying the original action only served to make things worse and only served to people being asked longer were tougher questions. it is true that the smarter were better thing to do would be just to tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may even

if they came to this place. and that was a mistake. and that's why i'm here. >> characterize a bit what you did. did you cheat? are you addicted to on-line -- >> i will leave it to someone else. all can i can do is give you the facts as i've laid out in my statement. i know i never met these women. i know i never had much desire to. to me it was a -- you know, a -- almost a frivolous exchange among friends that i don't think i made an important enough disstunks about how hurtful it was and how inappropriate it was. >> the social media, that you say, is not something that is -- that you can rely on. how do you know these women are not underage or that these women are not truthful about their own self? >> you know, i of course, no one ever knows that. i know i never had any intention

of having interaction with anieneder age women. and yes, that's always true in social media, that you are relying upon their characterizations and i took them as those characterizations. >> how old did they tell you they were? >> are you concerned about any action -- [ inaudible ]. >> look, i am sorry. and i continue to be. but i don't see anything that i did that violated any rules of the house. i don't see anything i did that violated my oath of office to uphold the constitution. i engaged in on-line inappropriatation actions with people with photographs and it was a mistake to do that. but i don't believe i did anything that violate any law or any rule. [ inaudible ] >> no, i didn't have the sense that they were complete

strangers. these were people i developed relationships with on-line. i believe that we had become -- we had become friends. but that was -- that was clearly a mistake. and i clearly regret that. [ inaudible ] >> yes. nard [ inaudible ] >> i didn't know her. i still don't really know her. she was a follower. we had cursory direct contact. she had trouble with some people that were tweeting about her and giving her a hard time because they were following me. it was a mistake. i just want to make it very clear of all of the, you know a long list of people that i harmed here. but this poor woman was one of them as well. i deeply regret she was dragged into it. [ inaudible ]

you suggest that all public officials remove their twitter account? >> no, i suggest not that people stop engaging with constituents via social media but not do dumb things like there that are dishonest to their families, deceitful to the press when asked about them. do things like this. there is nothing inherently wrong with social media. there is nothing inherently wrong with the outlet. what i did was a mistake. [ inaudible ] >> at no time did i or any member of my staff try to cover anything up. she did come to me and express how she had been set upon and i expressed my apologies to her. but there there was no coaching of any sort going on. it was basically me saying what i've said here today which is how deeply sorry i am for what

happened. [ inaudible ] >> my staff did not know the actual story here. i misled them as well. [ inaudible ] >> they only heard the full story late this afternoon as i was getting ready to come over here. and they have worked -- they are another group of people i have let down but they knew nothing and i deeply regret putting them in the circumstance when i knew myself. >> was there anything predatory about your behavior? >> look, the women that i have been in contact with, without, you know, without violating their privacy, they are not uniformly young women. i don't know their ages. but the people i have had engagements with on facebook are not -- are not young, per se.

[ inaudible ] >> i am deeply sorry that i lied about this. but at the end of the day, i lied because i was embarrassed. i was lied because i was ashamed of what i had done and did not want to get caught. but did i violate the constitution of the united states by lying about posting a twitter post? i don't think so. but if people want to say it is a violation of my oath because i sent something on twitter and lied about it, then people are allowed to have viewpoint. [ inaudible ] >> i don't believe i will use it the same way. that's for sure. and i deeply regret the way i have used it today. but for my use of twitter. i mean, it is not -- it is something that i found useful

and facebook way to get out the message. but i certainly wouldn't obviously do the things that i have done that led me, that led me to this place. [ inaudible ] >> of course. of course i would. [ inaudible ] >> no, i did not. [ inaudible ] >> yes. [ inaudible ] >> they were inappropriate. they were part of consensual exchanges of e-mails. i don't want to violate the privacy of the women involved but i deeply regret it. thank you. >> anthony weiner taking any and all questions, taking full

responsibility for having mistakenly published a picture of his penis on twitter that was intended for a friend of his sp he said there were about six over three years. he said those conversations remained in the digital universe. they never had any direct interaction for any of them. for our political process, whether you are pro anthony weiner or not, he will not resign his position in the context of all of this. i do want to get down to luke who is keeping track of the reaction in d.c. to the new york press conference. luke, initial thoughts? frgs. >> that was quite an amazing press conference. i would say in the history of politics, dylan, just because of the way which it started. we first thought we would hear from anthony weiner at 4:00. andrew breitbart got up and

started answering request questions. he hijacked the pros conference. so that to begin with was quite out of main stream. you don't usually see someone at at a conference for someone who it is not for. anthony weiner was very somber. immediately apologized to his wife first and foremost. to his constituents. saying he had lied about this entire ordeal. he admitted that he wanted to the night of last friday, had tried to send a photograph via direct message on twitter, of the area below his waist to a 21-year-old college girl in seattle. he said he did that. he later admitted that he had actually lied to his wife about that. lied to his staff about that. lied to the media about that. last week i interviewed people and he couldn't say with certainty if that was himself. he put to rests to questions and said that was him in that

photograph. as far as what else is out there, as you said, he had an inappropriate relationship with women over e-mail. six over the last lee years. he said some his wife knew about before they got married and some she hadn't. what could come of anthony weiner with a legal perspective, he hasn't broken the law. but if you look at it from a congressional standpoint, if he used his government computer and blackberry, which he says he believes te did not be use his government computer or blackberry that could be grounds for a house ethics committee investigation. we don't know what exactly will happen there. quite shocking news, anthony weiner admitted that is him in the photograph. he had these i inappropriate relationships over the internet. he never met them in person or had physical contact but i think we could qualify it as quite a game changer today in new york

city. >> last that's from our panel, sam, here. >> i think he handled it fairly well. as well as you could. my hope is at the end of the day where we have a situation, doesn't what he has doing a as a legislature, then who cares. >> as a catholic, i believe if you are con trite and you vow to sin no more that you deserve forgiveness. i think there is a disturbing pattern here of lie and attack your enemies until you get caught, then go out and wipe the slate clean. i will pop up for breitbart and the kid on twitter who found them and were attacked mercilessly. >> i agree. christian? >> i thought he handle it terribly but today was masterful performance. he was con trite. he was direct. he let people ask him a lot of very tough personal questions. if there was any way he could have handled today, the admission that did it and lied

about it, that gave him the best possible chance of staying in office, i think this press conference, it is going to be used by crisis management trainers for businessmen who have done it wrong. >> as a how-to. >> and women. >> the one thing that is great i think is that he didn't make his wife stand up there with them. usually when they get caught, they make their wife stand up there with them. that is so humiliating. they didn't do anything wrong and they have to stand with the shuk who did. i think that was classy. >> someone layered in life, which our entire political system is laired in lies, like the grand canyon is laired in setment, okay? is it possible that as the observebility of information, with the fact that you can see what is going on, continues to just populate our earth, that

we're going to see more of this catharsis on things that are much more consequential than a man's penis. >> no. >> it is a problem. >> this is the easiest thing to catch somebody on. anybody on twitter can be doing investigation. it really is about nothing. so this is why you see the media jump on this. because it is the easiest thing in the world. >> sam made a really important point here. if he hadn't lied about it, would this be a really big deal? it wasn't even adultery. it wasn't even adultery. >> okay, but -- it is not illegal. how bad really is this? is watching a porno movie really impoerl? >> what do i need to do to get the truth that is necessary to move this country forward? what has to happen? i need to go beyond a man's penis in order to fix a country.

i have major issues. how do we get the catharsis of truth. >> accused of basically embezzling at least $60,000 of government money, a lot more money, i won't say details because i don't know them all, but that's the thing where you hold politicians accountable. one of the ways you do it is you just say look, this is not okay. even if you apologize and you're wrong. if you are abusing the public trust -- i don't see him abusing the public trust. >> last comment because we are almost out of time. today has been by far the most bizarre and perhaps novel and interesting television program i've ever been a part of. and i've done many. i believe we may have invented collectively a new genre of political programming that is one part extraordinary titillating and