Edwards calls separation ‘extraordinarily sad’

Video: Ex-Sen. Edwards and wife Elizabeth split

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   >> meredith, thank you. as lisa myers first reported last week, john and elizabeth edwards , who have been married for 32 years now, are now separated. "people" magazine's washington correspondent sandra soberi-westfall, interviewed her sister for "people's" next issue. sandra , good morning.

   >> good morning.

   >> where do i start? let's start by talking about elizabeth edwards . i mean, this is someone who's dealt with so much over the last several years, a health crisis, headlines from this scandal and now it seems as if it keeps regurgitating and getting worse. you talked to her sister for this article. how did she say she's holding up?

   >> for three years, she's dealt with this sort of unraveling lie that's come out in pieces and now there are more pieces to come. but nancy , the sister, told me that she's actually doing really well, that she's feeling a lot stronger now that she's decided to break free and reclaim her identity. her health is pretty good for somebody with stage four cancer. she's energetic and looking forward to a new future.

   >> she's looking forward to getting the drama behind her. and now it has been confirmed that they've separated. i guess some people might ask the question why now. why did this separation come now when this story has been brewing for so long?

   >> you know, it was sort of a build-up of distrust that just became toxic. i mean, even as recently as weeks before christmas , she met with this baby, quinn , brought her christmas presents, was really making an attempt to adjust their family to the new normal that john's infidelity had forced upon her, but it just -- there was just too much distrust after three years.

   >> you say that. i mean, this meeting of christmas , the bringing of christmas gifts to quinn by elizabeth edwards , it's almost surreal to imagine that she somehow finds it in herself to go and visit this child that has been fathered by her husband with his mistress and try to have some sort of even surface relationship.

   >> as we were told, she was trying to lay the path for her own children, who she knew after she was gone were going to have a relationship with their half sibling because john was committed to being in the child's life. and elizabeth knows she's not going to be here as long as she had hoped, and she's going to leave children behind who need an intact family.

   >> well, let's talk about those children, the edwards children, not quinn here, i'm talking about cate and claire and jack. what did nancy say about how they're doing?

   >> as well as can be expected. it's hard. jack doesn't talk very much and claire has asked for permission to confide in a girlfriend, and had back in the summer when they were first told by their father about this half sibling . it was back in the summer. john said, you know, i intend to have a relationship with her. i hope you will, too, but i'm not going to force that on you. let me know when you're ready.

   >> john edwards released a statement on the separation, and it came out yesterday. here it is. it says, "it is an extraordinarily sad moment, but i love my children more than anything and still care deeply about elizabeth ." i mean, it's hard not to notice the words care deeply, as i love my children, i care deeply about elizabeth . that doesn't say good things for the future of this relationship. any chance of reconciliation?

   >> you know, his friends say that he hopes that there is, and they say he still loves her. nancy even says he's still very sweet to her at times. it's just the build-up of distrust, that john couldn't go through life having her always check his cell phone, and elizabeth didn't feel like, you know, she was getting the life she wanted, always distrusting everything that came out of his mouth.

   >> quickly, going back to that meeting at christmas , where elizabeth met quinn . was rielle hunter there?

   >> she was not. and we're told that john has no contact with her. john's parents, by the way, though, have met with eriel and have visited the baby several times and have embraced her as their granddaughter.

   >> where is elizabeth finding strength these days? who does she turn to for support?

   >> you know, she's reaching back to her old friends, her family, the people that knew her as elizabeth ann anaya. on her facebook, she's elizabeth ann anaya edwards. she's taking a trip to japan. she's taking a painting class. she used to be a very accomplished artist, and she's looking forward by looking almost further back.

   >> "people" magazine sandra westfall, thank you for your time. i appreciate it. you can read the full interview in "people" when it hits newsstands tomorrow.

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