This episode contains descriptions of sexual harassment.
After accusations of sexual harassment against Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York surfaced early this year, an independent investigation was begun.
And while people around the governor — and his critics — expected the ensuing report to be bad, what came out this week was worse.
There have been widespread calls for Mr. Cuomo to resign, but will he go?
Guest: Shane Goldmacher, a national political reporter for The New York Times.
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For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
From a New York Times. I'm live above all, and this is a day of today,
from the White House to the state legislature, Democrat
leaders, are demanding that New York, governor, Andrew Cuomo resign or be removed from
four sexually harassing eleven women. I spoke with my colleague sheen, go back about the exclusive report.
That could end Cuomo Career and what happens next?
It's Thursday August fifth.
Shame the last time we talk to you back in March, you told us
Story of Andrew Cuomo political rise,
started to look like the beginning, potentially of his political far. Can you briefly remind us of the outlines of that story?
yeah Andrew Qualm, always a three term governor of New York, the son of a three
governor of New York and last year he felt a big national profile scene is effective and decisive during the pandemic
what kind of as an anti trump for the Democratic Party but his twenty twenty two
twenty twenty one. He started to face two twin crises. One was about the nursing home deaths that occurred during the pandemic in New York, both the number of them and whether his administration had intentionally covered up just how many people had died,
and the second, was a growing number of accusations from women who had worked with him that he had sexually harass them and
As these women came out one by one, the were growing calls for investigations.
In a number of top Democrats, sales
time for him to resign because of them
another time, showing you told us that Governor Cuomo is banned,
being on the support of New York's voters, not law
makers and that he believed to quote you, the voters warrant ready to sail
I too have and that they believed in him and what he had gone
as governor. So
Wager wasn't it.
Hold on to the support of regular new Yorkers, he could hold onto his governorship. He bought himself time.
so in the spring, and independent investigation began from the state attorney general's office and Cuomo set out to rebuild his relationship with new Yorkers. While this investigation was happening, making numerous public appearances about the vaccine appearing with key constituency groups, while the investigation was happening, but that all seem to change this week,
when the report actually came out in the morning joint here today by an Clark in June Kim the two
it attorneys who were designated especial deputies to
the findings of their investigation into allegations of sexual harassment made against Governor Andrew Coma.
and so what is in this report are, first of all, I think the people around Cuomo and his critics expected purport to be bad, but there
Worse, the independent investigation has concluded a governor Andrew COM, sexually harassed, multiple women and in doing so violated federal and state law, and I would break it down investigate into three buckets of new ones,
nation. The first is new details from his accusers that we knew the second,
is new evidence corroborating those allegations, and the third is new accusers we had not previously heard from so in that first category, the details are frankly hard to read one currently, who we identify as executive assistant number one injured, repeated physical violations. You had one executive assistant, twenty who has accused him of groping her on November sixteenth, twenty twenty in the executive mansion, the governor huh,
executive assistant number one and reached under her blouse to grab her breast, also saying that she would get so nervousness presence there. She would get hives on the back of her neck.
Also several occasions on which the governor grabbed her, but that same assistant said that he wants requested selfie photograph with her and that when they took it, for she was shaking so much because he was rubbing her. But at the time that the image ended up, blurry executive, assisted number one had found that she was gonna. Take these violations ass. She put it to the grave. She was terrified that if she spoke out, she would lose your job. Then you have real people like Charlotte Bennet, who had worked for the governor last year,
and who, when public, with her allegations and really, I think, help turn the tide towards opening an investigation, because she had actually gone to the governor s office to complain about his behaviour in real time when she confided in the governor that she'd been sexually assaulted in college. He asked her for the details of her assault. We knew in advance about the kind of conversations that the governor had had with her he speculator and how her history as a sexual assault survivor, might affect her romantic
asking about her sex life. He asked her whether she had ever been with older men. He told her tat. He was lonely and wanted to be touched questioned her. She was if she was monogamous interrelationships. He suggested that she got a tattoo. She was contemplating on her, but in a report, your things any includes text messages,
and contemporaneously miss Bennet text it to a friend on the day where many of these comments were made, that she was upset and confused and that she was shaken telling her friends than it was called the most explosive it could be of his behavior
she described it as feeling like she was being groaned.
So this is real time corroborating evidence that,
but she had originally said was true because she had documented it more or less as it was happening, riding and messages to her friends, and the report is filled with these, with tax with e mails, with no taken by the people. The troll, it better reported his behaviour to our Macedonian revealed that these were not isolated incidents. They were part of a pattern. Issue mentioned new accusers. Can you tell us about them in detail? There are several governors had an essentially harassing
behavior was not limited to members of his own staff, but extended to other state employees, but the one that really stood out state both for me and crossing to resonate politically.
State trooper, who served his part of his security detail and who described
Series of interactions with Cuomo they left her very uncomfortable in an elevator, was 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 ass. He passed. He took his open hand and ran it across your stomach from her belly button to wish the hip where she keeps her gun. She told us that she felt completely violated tat. The governor touch her ass. She put it between her chest and her privates another time when the governor found out that the trooper was engaged. He asked her why she want to get married because, among other things,
Your sex drive goes down all told the report's. She said his actions after a feeling completely violated and as a member of his own security team.
This was a woman working for him, charged with keeping him safe
and she seemed to feel unsafe herself. The coexistence in the executive chambers, culture of fear and flirtation intimidation and intimacy abuse and affection, created a work environment ripe for harassment, and the report didn't just cover Andrew Cuomo
behavior, what makes a covered the culture at the senior levels of administration. It was a culture where you could not say no to the governor and if you upset him or his senior staff, you'll be written off cast aside or worse, it described the culture of fear and intimidation and the normalization of behaviour that amounted to sexual harassment. The witnesses described a culture that normalized and overlooked everyday flirtations, physical and intimacy, and inappropriate comments by the governor one senior staff for testified that it
work event. She sat on the governess, lap and other staff for said she called kissing the governor on the lips. So this very damning report has corroborates allowed the original accusation
uncovers very serious. New allegations incorporates those
and casts real doubt on commerce. Previous denials
the attorney general's office found fees, women all to be credible and the governor not to be. We should believe women
And that what we have an obligation and a duty do is to protect women in their workplace and what this investigation revealed was a disturbing pattern of conduct by the governor of the great state of New York. In fact, they write the governors, blanket denials and lack of recollection has two specific incidents stood in stark contrast to the strength, specificity and corroboration of the complainants recollections. They basically said, add up all the evidence. I believe women and we believe the woman, and I believe these are
men, women and altogether. I thank you for being here this morning. Ok, so what happens next after this report has bombshell report is released so less than two hours after the reporters released over the past several months. You have heard a number of complaints brought against me. I call it puts out of responds first. I want you to know directly from me that I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances
as a pre taped. Video of him describing the events there is one complaint made by a young woman, surely been from his vantage points, and I did ask questions to try to see if she had positive support of dating relationships and while he admits some behaviour that he said
might have been misconstrued for generation or cultural reasons. Almost response amounts to mostly one line. They heard things that I just didn't say they heard things that I just didn't say and to me that felt like such a scheme
civic phrase away, not to say the women themselves were lying but that they had misinterpreted. Perhaps his behavior. I do use people on the forehead. I do kill people on the cheek I do
his people on the hand and at the same time
This video, with splicing, together images of
hugging I do embrace people, I do hug people
men and women, and he goes through
he says young and old, and great and algae Meet EU powerful
people and powerful people all these images of of him hugging rangers
people who I meet on the street and I think that
we're all this video didn't
two gun across particularly well both among his supporters and his critics
who saw it as blame casting the women for how they felt from their interactions with him right. They misinterpreted. What he had intended
to be non sexual. That's what he sang, but at the same time, is kind of rationalizing behaviour. He said didn't happen, so it's a little confusing. It is, I think it's both. At the same time,
So you started to hinder this, but what
The overall reaction, especially from elected
missiles to quarrel
defence, here to his response to this report. More remember. A lot of top New York Democrats had all
he called for Andrew Como to resign when the allegations first came out, and so
after this report was released, they repeated those demands. The p
full of New York deserve better leadership in the governors office, senators.
humor. We continue to believe that the governor should resign
there are eleven women coming forward is deeply deeply disturbing.
And cursing brand
These actions are inappropriate for the governor your estate, but then
calls for New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign are growing louder. Illicit democratic lawmakers calling on closer to resign seems to grow by the hour.
We started here from the Democrats who had resisted calls for him to step down a trio of house. Democratic Cuomo should step down. They previously had
not called on Cuomo to resign through lawmakers from your bike came Jeffreys Grave Meeks and Tom Swazi
and then came the most prominent democratic all fuckin march. He said that if the investigation confirmed the allegations against governor form,
He should resign. So will you now call on him to resign? Given the investigator said, the eleven women were credible, Joe Biden, who also has been close with Andrew Cuomo,
for years, who came to New York to back Andrew, almost two thousand eighteen real action, and he announced that he too was
on financial calmly, resign
I call on him to resign. Yes right, it doesn't get much worse
or serious than the sitting, president of your own party, telling you as a governor, then it's time for you to resign yeah. I think that there are few politicians in the country who would hear that message.
And decide that they were sticking it out and staying in office anyway and Andrew almost one of them. The people around them have said she is not going to resign and quickly became clear that
Andrew almost going to no longer be governor of New York, it's not gonna come
public statements issued in Washington
in a come from a shove in Albany form
pushing them out of office or date back
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If I cast this is so Craig investigative Report for the New York Times, people keep secrets, we all do, but it gets tricky when it's a person with significant power and the secret is big, say a conflict of interest, government corruption or covering up abuse when it comes to violations of the public trust on at the color illegal activity and peoples.
Jobs are affected. We believe you deserve to know, but people with a lot of power also have the means to make sure there secret stay hidden. So you need
organizations like the New York Times to say: let's investigate this: let's put resources behind, uncovering the truth and that's what I do. It's a twenty.
Seven commitment, and it means that sometimes I can't publish until I spent months or even years.
every lead and checking every fact all those resources that are available to us because of New York Times subscribers. If you'd like to support this kind of work, you can subscribe and my times dot com, slash, subscribe.
So saying you said that parental Cuomo to ever leave off
He would need a shove from Albany translate that weighs up it is I mean well look Joe Biden can put incredible political pressure on Andrew Homo, but what he can't do is actually remit
him from public office in Bergamo, either ass. To do that himself,
Signing or the state legislature in Albany can do it for him through an impeachment process and in Albany the MP from process starts in the state Assembly does, is it starts in it,
house in Washington DC by entering interlaced conversation. We talked about the relationship
we and Governor Cuomo and state legislators in Albany and my recollection
it is not very good and not very good is an understatement. There are few lawmakers with a real and close relationship to Andrew Palma. Most have been at the receiving end of his belief
and vindictive behaviour as they have described, did and then, even when there are successes, even when he signs their bills, he takes credit for them and leaves them behind.
And so on Tuesday afternoon after this report came out, the assembly got to,
Therefore, an emergency phone call to figure out what to do next and on that call there wasn't a single lawmaker who voiced their support for Andrew Cuomo according to multiple people. I talk to it. Just wasn't there
and while he has a bad relationship overall with lawmakers, he does have some pockets of support and there have been some groups of lawmakers who had said. Let's wait until we have the results of an investigation who had joined the stampede calling for his resignation is spring, but even those laws,
Hers didn't speak up on his behalf on my phone call and in the hours since a number of them have issued statements, saying it's in fact, time for him to step aside and the most important voice. Among these assembly Democrats is their leader, a lawmaker name Carl Haste
He had been among the people giving Cuomo time saying was wait until the results of this investigation came in and then laid on Tuesday. He issued
in any, didn't passes own judgement on Andrew Promo, but he said that the governor had lost the confidence of the assembly. Democrats
and that quote, he can no longer remain in office and he promised to quickly begin the process of impeachment.
so the lawmaker who would be in charge of an impeachment process
could result in Andrew Como being removed from office is now putting out a statement saying it's time for him to leave office which would seem to imply a threat, leave or you'll be
beached and there's a lot of focus on this statement in even the adverbs that Karl Hasty uses. He says that they will move expeditiously and quickly and there's a real question of. But what does that mean? Are we talking days or weeks or months and the brow,
senses it. The assembly will still take a few weeks at a minimum to wrap up their investigation into the allegations against.
So its increasingly looking like impeachment may happen. Tat Yokohama, absolutely
right, because I guess the question at this point is what would prevent a new
state democratic lawmaker from voting to Ouse Andrew Cuomo, their president, has called for their congressional colleagues in Washington.
Have called for their leaders within the legislator have signalled that it should
happen. So what would keep one of his lawmakers from
in Cuomo. Would it be because of his name his family's legacy? Would it be because of it?
protection for retaliation or what you know
I wouldn't underestimate their readiness of members of a party ousting a chief executive of their own party
and so the idea that Democrats alone will provide all of the votes to remove a democratic governor who, by only a few months
ago, was overwhelmingly popular and whose dies millions of dollars and the bank to bankrolls on political future and who is shown history vindictiveness. While they may not like him and they might be prepared, it doesn't make it an easy vote to take
right is one thing to threaten. It is another thing to actually cast that vote to impeach a leader of your own party. It's one of the most severe vote, salami grinned, overtake I'm curious Shan,
how these lawmakers and how Cuomo are thinking about the voters
I'm remembering our first conversation about Cuomo Belief,
that the voters we're going to be his lifeline,
regular new Yorkers warrant, ready for
to leave office,
at these lawmakers. Our are thinking about that.
And are they worry that their appetite for impeachment might not be aligned with the views of new workers wanting it safe to say the democratic politicians right now in New York,
have a greater appetite for Andrew almost removal didn't democratic voters across the entire state. At this point, you're looking at one hundred percent of the congressional delegation, supports his removal
but that's the thing about being a political leader is sometimes
you're, leading the public in your direction, and at this point every major Democrat in the country is pulling in the direction of getting Andrew Cuomo out of office.
So Andrew Como can hope their public sent all say behind him, but the very first pulling that exists, and it's a quick Paul taken by merest, shows builder momentum to have injure Como removed from office came out, said fifty nine percent of new Yorkers say he should resign, and that includes notably,
do per cent of Democrats and at this point, even his Andrew COM, a few we feel looked like he planned to try to run for real action. Only eighteen percent of Democrats said they still supported him running for a fourth term. In twenty twenty two
so. In the end, this relationship with New York voters,
it has allowed. Intercom were to remain in office up to this point, despite these original allegations.
It may not end up saving him in the end. It might not let him remained governor all right now. I think Andrew Cuomo is mostly just fighting for time. He's fighting for time to repair his relationship was lawmakers, who could impeach him he's fighting for time
to repair his relationship, but the public, who is increasingly unsupported with him and lucky he used time effectively this spring during the investigate
and after the allegations he began making appearances across the state with key constituency groups with court
leaders, even with some of the lawmakers his head, he should resign, but it feels different now the pace and pressure is intensifying and the legislature.
A signalling, it's gonna, be moving fast and it is not clear.
The time is on intercom outside.
My calculations chain,
when your Cuomo has about a year are left in his turn.
Is there a version of this, where perhaps Cuomo does serve out his turn and does survive this test?
bite extraordinary seriousness of these allegations and the evidence against him, I can tell you what I can't imagine.
which is did Andrew call now voluntarily leaves this job. You have to remember. He came of age in the governors mansion when his
Ah there was governor and he was one of his top AIDS. He spent his career working toward running for governor.
and he's now in his third term. Here
said the only way he would leave office in the middle of this term was, if God struck him dead, but I dont think
he ever even considered the possibility of impeachment
Shame. Thank you very much appreciate. Thank you.
on Wednesday. Three different district attorney's from across New York said they were now invest
gaining Cuomo wheezing. The possibility of criminal charges against him
several Lieber unions that one's back homo withdrew their support and the head of the state's democratic
party called on Cuomo to resign, saying that his removal from office was quote inevitable right back.
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Transcript generated on 2021-08-05.