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Connecticut Trial Raises Questions in Home Invasion Case; Confronting Joran Van Der Sloot; Lawsuit in Michael Jackson's Death; Goldman Sachs Discrimination Allegations; Rental Car Fee Frenzy; Doggie Tweets; BP's Oil Well Sealment; Alaska's Republican Write-In Candidate; Sarah Shourd Freed; Afghan Voters Facing Threats; Police Response Questioned

Aired September 18, 2010 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Of course there's one American family that's very, very happy. After more than a year, American hiker Sarah Shourd is freed and she's speaking. And she did that just before getting on a plane bound for New York. Here is what she said before her sendoff from the airport in Muscat, Oman, after her year- long stay in Iranian custody.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH SHOURD, FREED FROM TEHRAN PRISON: I want to begin by thanking his majesty (INAUDIBLE) for welcoming me to this beautiful country upon my release. I also want to send my gratitude to the American ambassador (INAUDIBLE) and his wife (INAUDIBLE) for hosting my family and I during our unfortunately brief stay. I haven't been depreciation for (INAUDIBLE) is highly forbidden (INAUDIBLE). For the honor of his friendship and most importantly for his continued engagement in my life and the life of my fiance Shane Bauer and my dear friend Josh Fattal during the past months.

It would be a pleasure to return to Oman, and it is my deepest, deepest hope that I will be able to show Shane and Josh the grand mosque soon, one of the most peaceful and powerful places of worship I have ever seen.

I will always associate your country with the first breath of my freedom. The sweet smell of sandalwood and the chance to stand by the ocean listening to the waves. I thank the good, hospitable people of Oman and thank you for your support and ask you to please, please extend your prayers to my fiance, Shane, and my friend Josh. (INAUDIBLE) they will soon be free. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: American hiker Sarah Shourd there in Oman speaking after her release in Iran. And again, there are two other American hikers still held in Tehran. We'll try to get more on the update on their situation. CNN International correspondent, Nic Robertson will be joining us live from Muscat , Oman, a little bit later on.

Meantime in this country now, BP's broken well in the Gulf of Mexico is about to be permanently sealed. Today BP officials pumped cement into the bottom of the well. Once cement is set, a final pressure test will be conducted and if that's successful, the well will be officially declared dead. It ruptured five months ago causing the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

Joining us now by phone, the U.S. Coast Guard's on-scene incident commander, Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft.

Thanks so much for your time. So, give me an how relieved you are at this juncture because of this progress taking place today?

REAR ADM PAUL ZUKUNFT, U.S. COAST GUARD (via telephone): Fredricka, that's certainly good news the well is dead, but certainly the operation lives on. We're actually 66 days since no oil was discharged from that well. We still have over 600 miles of shoreline from Florida to Louisiana that have been impacted and in fact, today I have over 25,000 people out there doing very intense, in high heat conditions, cleanup along those 600 miles. And that will continue for some period of time.

Another concern has been, where did the rest of the oil go? We have -- today I've got 11 research vessels. We're working very closely with NOAA and the academic and scientific community doing deepwater and water sediment samples and also sampling very close to shore. And more importantly sampling for seafood safety and this the most tested food anywhere in the world, right now. And the good news is, most of these areas that were closed because of this spill, are now reopening.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: You mentioned, though, admiral, that you're still wondering where the oil went. So, what are you or are crews able to do in the Gulf to investigate that? And then I want to ask you about that pressure test that will be taking place to be able to assure people that they should feel comforted by the progress on the well. So, first talk to me about the investigation of where that oil went.

ZUKUNFT: OK. Most people are familiar with the oil budget and it shows 26 percent of the oil remaining, of the 4.9 million barrels that were estimated to have been released. We're doing a significant amount of water sampling down to depths of 5,000 feet, sediment sampling. And what we're finding are areas in the parts per million, which would not be detectible by the naked eye if it was to be placed in a glass of water, but there's still a presence of oil, and I don't want to diminish the fact that there is residual left from a spill of this magnitude. But, we have an armada now of before it was skimmers, now it's research vessels and then other static technologies to look for tar that's also close to shore, as well. In addition to we have a number of autonomous underwater vehicles, basically unmanned gliders that also provide us data feedback as well over a large expanse across the Gulf of Mexico. So, that...

WHITFIELD: That still sounds very painstaking. Now, what about the pressure test that would take place today to give added assurances that the well is working, the cement closure is working.

ZUKUNFT: Yeah, that will take place this afternoon. It's a 30-minute pressure test, and as long as that pressure is holding, then at that point the bottom kill will be deemed to be complete at that point in time.

WHITFIELD: All right, incident commander Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft, thanks so much for your time, appreciate it.

ZUKUNFT: OK, thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk politics, now. Alaska's Republican U.S. Senator, Lisa Murkowski, is banking on a political long shot to keep her job in Washington. And that win would be by being a write-in candidate. She is hoping that this might be a moment in which she hopes to seal some history.

She announced her renewing of her bid for election last night in Anchorage after suffering defeat in the state's GOP primary to a Tea Party-backed political newcomer. So, if Murkowski wins by write-in vote, she'd be only the second U.S. Senator ever to do so.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN LISA MURKOWSKI (R), ALASKA: I will be the first one to admit to you that in the primary campaign, we made some mistakes. We talked about ourselves. We talked about "me" a lot, but we didn't educate Alaskans about the extremist views that were held by Mr. Miller and when he swung, I didn't swing back. Well, ladies and gentlemen, friends and supporters, the gloves are off and I'm fighting for Alaska.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. History says otherwise. Only South Carolina's Strom Thurmond won a U.S. Senate seat by write-in and that was almost 60 years ago. So, let's look a little further into his phenomenon. CNN political producer, Shannon Travis, joining us now with more on the road less traveled in Washington, but she's taking a stab at it.

It helps she's incumbent, yes, she's been unseated, but she has name recognition. So, is she counting on that, people will know how to spell her name and they will write it in.

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: She's absolutely counting on name recognition and that people will take the time out to write her name and necessarily spell it, the spelling, it can be misspelled, the Division of Elections might actually say OK, the intent there was to vote for Senator Murkowski. So, that's kind of OK. But, it's a structural hurdle for people, for her to tell her supporters, hey, have you to actually write my name in, you won't see my name on the ballot, that's been -- sometimes that can be a hurdle too high to clear, which is why, as you just mentioned it's only been done once before.

WHITFIELD: So, I wonder why she's decided to do this. We heard her sound bite, she says, you know, I'm fighting for you, I am going to continue this fight, but what is really the impetus here, why she would want to take this chance. Isn't it considered kind of risky.

TRAVIS: It could be because, as she says that a lot of her supporters have contacted her and said, hey, we really want you to stay in this fight. It could be flat-out just upset that the Tea Party Express came into the Alaska. She called them an outside extremist group that said hijacked the Alaska Republican Party. It could be that she's saying, hey, you know what, take that. You think that you defeated me, you think that you pushed me aside but not so fast.

WHITFIELD: At the same time, if she is defeated, let's talk about how galvanizing this is for the Tea Party movement that their candidate, the person they chose who won the primary, might win that general election, come November.

TRAVIS: That's right, talk about galvanize, they thought they put the nail in the political coffin here, with Senator Murkowski but not so much. If she's defeated, the Tea Party movement's already claiming victory saying Lisa Murkowski was a rhino, this moderate Republican, some even say liberal, accuse her of being a liberal. They will really claim an even bigger defeat and say, hey, we beat you once, and we beat you again, should that happen. But if she were actually able to win this thing, and it would be making history, she could say, hey, you know, I was one of the people who actually beat back the Tea Party movement as they try and blaze this path to power. So, it will be interesting either way it goes.

WHITFIELD: Wow, fascinating stuff, Shannon Travis, always good to see you when you're out and about, but better now to see you in person.

TRAVIS: Right here with you.

WHITFIELD: Right close and personal. All right, thanks so much, appreciate it. Keep us posted on all those political fronts.

All right, meantime we're going to go back to our top story, talking about the American hiker, Sarah Shourd, released and talking while in Oman on her way from Iran to Oman and then eventually to New York. Our international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is on the phone now from Muscat, Oman.

So Nic, give me an idea why she decided this was an important pivotal moment for her to speak knowing that there are two of her friends that are still being held in Tehran.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, when she landed in Oman a couple of days ago, she said it was her priority to get her fiance, Josh Bauer, and her friend -- friend Josh Fattal and fiance, Shane Bauer released. What appears to be -- what she appears to be doing here is taking every opportunity that she can to draw people's attention to their situation. And right now she's just about to board a flight to leave here en route to New York. She has a press conference planned Sunday afternoon in New York. And this was going to be a brief statement, but it appears to be the idea, and just sort of herald the fact that she's on her way to the United States. She thanked the sultan of Oman again, prime minister of Iran, U.S. ambassador for all his help, here. There was a sense from her, as well, that she really perhaps didn't want to move on quite so unquickly. She said, "during our unfortunately brief stay," she talked about how she was able to relax on the beach, how she would remember the fragrance of the sandalwood here, but looks forward to sharing that with Shane Bauer, her fiance, and Josh Fattal, her friend, when they win their freedom. That really that seems to be what she's focused on now, drawing as much attention to them as possible -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: At the same time how important was it she doesn't say anything disparaging about Iran, instead, in some ways she kind of complimented Iran.

ROBERTSON: She did when she first arrived here and I think obviously that she's very aware whatever she says can be taken the wrong way, can be politicized and that the diplomacy that went into winning her freedom was many, many months in the making. It was many careful steps along the way. The initial plan, according to the minister responsible for foreign affairs, here in Oman, was that talks were about releasing all three of them. But, after several months, those talks stalled, he said, until the last five months they focused just on the release of Sarah. So, she's very aware that just the smallest wrong word here or there can have an impact on them.

And again, what's clear is she's more relaxed than she was when she first arrived here, but her words, again, were very carefully chosen. As you say, she doesn't want to upset Tehran at this stage.

WHITFIELD: Nic Robertson, thanks so much, from Muscat, Oman, appreciate that.

All right, meantime, Afghan voters casting their ballots in a critical election under a cloud of violence and corruption, a live report from Kabul, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, Afghan voters are facing down threats of violence and they have turned out today to cast ballots in the country's fourth national election anyway since the end of the Taliban rule. Let's go live to CNN's Ivan Watson in Kabul.

How is it going, Ivan?

IVAN WATSON, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, as if voters dependent have enough to deal with threats from the Taliban, attacks from the Taliban and widespread fraud in the last election that took place in 2009, there was even an earthquake that hit Kabul, a 6.3 magnitude before dawn this morning, but that seemed to have very little affect here.

The voting here was brisk in the capital, which was more secure. But, other parts of the country were not so lucky. At least 12 civilians killed in clashes, rocket attacks, roadside bombs and out and out gun battles taking place in the north, south, east and west of the country. At least 20 percent of the polling stations were closed, largely due to security threats. So, you can imagine the number of people who didn't even have an option to try to go out and vote. Despite that, some of the international organizations that are helping fund this $150 million election, are trying to look on the bright side. Listen to what the United Nations envoy had to say, earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STAFFAN DE MISTURA, SPECIAL REP OF U.N. SEC-GEN FOR AFGHANISTAN: Have you seen the list of the 2,521 candidates? Fifty percent of them are new people, young people, 400 of them are women. They could show, if they are elected, quite a difference face of Afghanistan. So, is this is certainly better than bullets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Fredricka, I'm having some audio problems, here. But, some of the voters, Fredricka, that we've spoken with, they say they know that this is a flawed, imperfect electoral process, but they still went to the polls because they want to vote for candidates they believe in, trust in, and that they hope they may somehow bring peace and prosperity to this long suffering country -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Ivan Watson in Kabul. Thanks so much for that.

When we come back we're going to talk some legal cases, including Michael Jackson's mother, who has filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of her late son. We'll tell you who she's blaming and plus there are other cases, too.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk hurricanes, now. Hurricane Igor on a track towards Bermuda and that's where we find meteorologist Reynolds Wolf, where the weather is already, the tide is turning, as they say -- Reynolds.

OK. Well, clearly we're having problems there. The tide has turned so much that it's lost, it's meant losing our audio, there. We're going to check back with Reynolds when we can.

Meantime, we've got a lot of legal cases straight ahead, including that horrific home invasion case in Connecticut. That tops our legal segment, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's try and go back to Bermuda where hurricane Igor is a threatening force. Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is there.

All right, what's happening with Igor and Bermuda and you?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well Fred, we've been watching this storm since September 8 when it left the coast of Africa, it's made its way across the Atlantic, and now it's knocking on the doorstep of Bermuda. If you were just to tune in and you didn't know any better, you see sun is out, you see a few scattered clouds, some waves are coming, it. It is a beautiful day, but I can tell you, the storm within the next 12 to 24 hour, especially 36 hours, is really going to make its presence felt here on the island. So, people are really keeping a very sharp eye on the surf, watching, of course, the skies get a little bit darker off on the horizon and waiting for the storm to come onshore.

WHITFIELD: All right, Reynolds, thanks so much. Keep us posted on that. Appreciate that from Bermuda.

All right, one of two men accused of raping and killing a woman and two girls during a 2007 home invasion is on trial in Connecticut. And as CNN Randi Kaye reports, the testimony is raising serious questions about the police response to the incident.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're watching a wife and mother in a desperate attempt to save her family. This newly- released bank surveillance video shows Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 9:17 a.m., withdrawing $15,000 from her bank in the small town of Cheshire, Connecticut.

It was a Monday morning, July 23, 2007. About three miles away, something awful, something truly sinister was happening inside her home.

Her husband, William, was bound and gagged, and along with her two daughters, Haley and Michaela, was being held hostage. Their mom hoped the $15,000 would be enough to convince the two men who allegedly broke into her home the night before, to spare her family's lives.

At the bank she reaches out for help but has to be discrete, because one of the two alleged kidnappers was just outside. The bank manager quietly calls 911.

9:21 a.m., Cheshire police first learn of the home invasion and hostage situation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a lady who is in our bank right now who says that her husband and children are being held at their house. The people are in a car outside the bank. She is getting $15,000, that if the police are told, they will kill the children and the husband. She is petrified.

KAYE: Minutes later, she leaves the bank with the ransom money.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They told her they wouldn't hurt anybody if she got back there with the money. She believes them. I think she's walking out now. She's walking out now.

KAYE: 9:26 a.m., Hawke-Petit gets into her car along with suspect Steven Hayes. The bank manager describes the vehicle to police. Officers are dispatched to the house to set up a perimeter. 9:27 a.m., a police captain tells officers not to approach the house. Almost 30 minutes go by. Still, not a single officer approaches the Petit home. No other authorities are alerted. Not the fire department, not state police.

In court, police testified that was protocol. In a hostage situation, they said, they don't storm the house. Adding they had no reason to believe anyone was in immediate danger.

At 9:54 a.m., a police dispatch. Dr. William Petit, who would turn out to be the only survivor of this horrific crime, was in the yard calling for help. He was bleeding badly from his head, his ankles still tied.

(on camera): By now, nearly 40 minutes had passed since the bank manager had warned Cheshire police about the nightmare scenario unfolding in the family's home -- 40 minutes.

Police would soon learn that Jennifer Hawke-Petit had been strangled. She and one of her daughters, sexually assaulted.

(voice-over): In chilling testimony, Dr. Petit described how he had been beaten with a baseball bat, then tied to a pole in the basement. He said the suspects yelled to him, quote, "Don't worry. It's all going to be over in a couple of minutes." And it was.

Dr. Petit managed to free himself through a basement door, but minutes later the house was on fire, his wife and two daughters dead.

Hayes has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and murder.

Around 10 a.m., the suspects race out of the driveway in the family's SUV. As smoke billows from the back of the home, the suspects slam into police cruisers, only then do officers realize the situation was much more urgent than they had thought.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Let's talk more about this horrifying case, this home invasion trial taking place in Connecticut now. Sunny Hostin is with us. She's with our sister network truTV's "In Session."

Good to see you.

SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION" TRUTV: Good to see you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: I think this story makes -- this case, this trial -- makes everyone just kind of cringe. So given all of this evidence, does this seem like a fairly easy conviction? Or are there difficulties, particularly because Stephen Hayes, the first of the defendants being tried, there are some questions as to whether his attempted suicide may have made him cognitively incapable of carrying out this trial? HOSTIN: I hate to ever say, Fred, a case is a slam-dunk. As a former prosecutor, I know that is not the case. But in this particular case, I think the evidence is very overwhelming.

And I've been following it very closely, I think, as much as all of America is, because it really strikes at one's heart, because this is a home invasion, someone invade the sanctity of someone's home.

So the fact he has been found able to stand trial, competent to stand trial, and the fact that he has been ill, this defendant, during the trial doesn't mean that this is not going to end in, I think, a guilty conviction.

WHITFIELD: Would it be too late for his attorneys to say, you know, let's pursue an insanity plea? Is it too late for them to change his plea?

HOSTIN: It is. An insanity defense is off the table.

However, they did want a plea deal here. They wanted to plead guilty to this horrific series of crimes in return for the prosecution taking the death penalty off the table. As you know, in Connecticut, the death penalty is rarely, rarely enforced, but if any case calls for that, the prosecution in this case felt that this case was worthy of a death penalty.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And then there are criticisms that perhaps the police didn't do enough, that they made a mistake. How might that impair or have any bearing whatsoever on this trial at this juncture?

HOSTIN: It's interesting, you know, the police in Cheshire, Connecticut are really taking a lot of heat over their decision to wait 33 minutes, Fred, before entering this home or even approaching the home. They set up a perimeter and this woman was inside being assaulted at the same time the police were outside.

And so, the defense in this case has really made that an issue. It's a nonissue, I think it's sort of the defense strategy of, you know, throwing everything at the wall, throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. That is not going to stick.

But I will say that -- and I hate to criticize law enforcement, cause I think officers do the best that they can possibly do -- when this woman went to the bank and indicated very, very clearly there are men holding my family hostage and they indicated if I called the police, they will kill my family, that is eminent danger. What better sign for a police department that someone is in trouble than that?

And so, I think, certainly, they may have dropped the ball here. And hopefully, the takeaway is the protocol for police in Cheshire, Connecticut for home invasions will change.

WHITFIELD: So horrible.

All right, let's talk about the Natalee Holloway case, which more like a Beth Holloway-Twitty case at this point because the mother of this young girl who has been missing for so long now, the mother decides to go to Peru, meet face-to-face with the man she is still convinced, Joran van der Sloot, is responsible for the death of her child.

In what way might she have jeopardized the ongoing investigation of the whereabouts of Natalee Holloway?

HOSTIN: Certainly, you know, I think we can all feel for Beth Holloway at this point. Her daughter has been missing for five years. We all know that Joran van der Sloot is the prime suspect in her disappearance, as well as in the death of another girl in Peru.

But no attorney would have advised her to go into the prison without warning and confront the main suspect in the --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: And she went with a Dutch film crew, so she may have misrepresented herself.

HOSTIN: She did. Yes, exactly.

But I will say, I don't think it's going to have any bearing on the case, any bearing on the investigation.

WHITFIELD: OK.

HOSTIN: And I think we can all agree that any mother whose child has been missing five years is going to get rather desperate.

WHITFIELD: OK, and now let's talk about another case, talk about misrepresenting the facts. A Washington woman, Bethany Storro, who claimed she was attacked by a woman, she even gave a full description of this woman being a black woman who splashed some acid in her face. Now come to find out, she admits to police this was a hoax, this was self-inflicted.

What kind of charge is she facing now besides filing a false report, perhaps, for starters?

HOSTIN: You know, I think that, for starters, I think that's the only charge she would face.

I think this is a case with a woman who obviously is very sick. Any woman or any person, for that matter, that would disfigure themselves calls into question their mental state. And so, when a prosecutor looks at the charges, she really only hurt herself. Granted there were taxpayer dollars involved in this search and police time, but she only hurt herself.

And it is unfortunate that she named a black woman as her assailant. And so several women apparently were stopped, were interrogated.

WHITFIELD: Right, I wonder if they would have a case then.

HOSTIN: Will they bring charges against her?

WHITFIELD: That's what I'm wondering.

HOSTIN: Will they bring a civil complaint? It's possible. It's possible.

WHITFIELD: OK, and she might be looking at a fine, who knows? You know, for helping to pay all that was spent on this investigation.

HOSTIN: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: We're going talk to you again, Sunny, in a minute about other cases, Goldman Sachs for one, women who are filing suit saying men were being paid and promoted and women were not at the same rate.

Also, Michael Jackson's mother filing suit against AEG Live saying they bear some responsibility in his death.

All that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, more legal cases on our docket now, including Michael Jackson's mother suing a concert promoter over her son's death. Let's take a look at this case and others.

Sunny Hostin is back with sister network truTV's "In Session." Good to see you, again.

All right, let's talk about what Katherine Jackson is trying to do. She is alleging that AEG Live, the promoter of this concert, essentially forced Michael Jackson to perform and rehearse even though he wasn't feeling well. So she says they bear some responsibility in his death.

Will this claim go anywhere?

HOSTIN: I don't think so. And I hate to make predictions like that, because you really never know and we are talking about the "King of Pop," a beloved subject, you know, and his terrible death.

However, I think that the evidence is pretty clear that Michael Jackson insisted on having Dr. Conrad Murray as his personal physician because of his addiction to Propofol and other drugs.

WHITFIELD: And wouldn't she and the family know that, and her attorneys know that, though, because that was already made public, that he is the one that requested Dr. Conrad Murray? But here in this claim she is saying and her attorneys are saying that AEG made this decision.

HOSTIN: Exactly. And I will say what is interesting is that they are saying because AEG paid for this doctor and because AEG also not only paid but hired him and didn't conduct a full background search on him, this doctor became an agent and really was an employee of AEG and they are therefore is responsible. That does pass the legal smell test, I will say, that sort of agency-agent argument.

Will it go anywhere? I really don't think so. I don't know that a jury or a judge would find that credible.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, well, let's move on to Goldman Sachs.

Three former employees suing Goldman Sachs for allegedly discriminating against them, saying that men were not only paid more than women but men were more likely to get promoted.

Now we've seen this kind of class-action suit happen before. Why might this be more difficult as it pertains to Goldman Sachs?

HOSTIN: Well, you know, Goldman Sachs has really taken a hit in the public arena. Their PR is doing very, very poorly right now. We all remember they've been sued, they were sued by the SEC for Madoff-like allegations.

And I will say, I've taken a look at this lawsuit. It's a hefty lawsuit, there's 42 pages, and it was brought by three women as lead plaintiffs that are heavy hitter women, highly educated, highly paid.

WHITFIELD: Well, that's why I was wondering if this will be difficult -- yes, because one of the plaintiffs was a vice president, so how is she going to allege and prove that she suffers as well because she wasn't promoted? I mean, I don't know how long it took her to get to vice presidency, maybe that would be the issue. But wouldn't that be a tough sell?

HOSTIN: I don't think so. I don't think it's a tough sell. This plaintiff is sort of your dream plaintiff, Fredricka, because --

WHITFIELD: She's fairly young.

HOSTIN: -- she is so talented, fairly young but so talented, and others similarly situated that were men were promoted at a higher rate, given more money, given more responsibility.

So when you read this complaint, it does appear on its face -- I mean, we haven't been in court on this yet -- but it does appear on its face that men were running things there and there are other, some allegations of going to strip clubs to celebrate promotions of men, things like that.

And so, when you look at the complaint, if these allegations are true, they are very serious and could be a class action, notable case.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. It always seems like it's very difficult to prove these cases, too, because history will show that it's often difficult to be able to get those who are in charge of either writing the checks or building the contracts to be able to testify that they were using a different template for women versus men.

HOSTIN: Exactly. However, I think that the prove is going to be in the details. I mean, they are going to have to go through what we call a discovery period where they turn over their records. And I think if you look at that and you analyze it and it supports what they are alleging in the complaint, Goldman Sachs may -- may be in trouble here. WHITFIELD: Sunny Hostin, good to have you. I'm sorry I called you "Houston," cause you know, I've got my producer today who is a Houston. All these Hs, it's killing me.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: But Sunny Hostin, good to see you.

HOSTIN: No worries. No worries.

WHITFIELD: Next time in Atlanta, hopefully, always joining us usually from New York, however.

HOSTIN: Yes, yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much.

Banks and airlines, well they're not the only ones these days inventing all sorts of new charges and fees driving travelers nuts. How about renting a car now and paying additional fees? We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Time for "CNN Equals Politics" update. CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is keeping a close eye on all the latest headlines from the CNN.com Political Ticker.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: A lot of stuff happening right now in the CNN Political Ticker. And where do you find it? CNNPolitics.com.

Let's talk about that Value Voters Summit. This is an annual gathering of conservative activists right here in the nation's capital. And you know what? A lot of it's about 2010 and there midterms coming up, but also a lot about 2012.

We have a bunch of possible, possible people who may want to run for republican presidential nomination the next time around. They talked yesterday. Newt Gingrich, another one, the former House speaker, talking this morning.

And later today, let's keep an eye on that conference cause they're going to have the as a results of a presidential straw poll coming out this afternoon. Last year, the former-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee won that straw poll.

Let's also talk about what's going on in this year's elections, right? We've got those midterms. Check it out, on Monday the president is going to be pretty busy. The president will be headlining a DNC fundraiser Monday in Philadelphia.

And while he's up there in Philadelphia, the president is also going to be helping raise money for Joe Sestak, the two-term congressman who is also the Democrats Senate nominee there. That's a seat the Democrats would like to keep in party hands.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, and for the latest political news, go to CNNPolitics.com. Thanks so much, Paul.

For months now, airlines have been piling on fees for checked bags, food, drinks, better seats in coach, you name it, making so many people so frazzled. And now it looks like car rental companies will be following suit.

George Bauer, host of Public TV's "The Seasoned Traveler", is here to explain what's going on and how you can avoid those excessive fees.

It doesn't seem possible that you can avoid them at all, but first off, why are they doing this?

GEORGE BAUER, "THE SEASONED TRAVELER": Well, I'll tell you why, just as airlines are merging like mad, so, too, are auto rental companies.

For example, just this week, Hertz bought out Dollar Thrifty. It beat out Avis, which already Budget Rent-A-Car and was trying to get even bigger. So now you've got those two, plus Enterprise already owns Alamo and National.

The bottom line is fewer companies, less competition. And the companies that are still standing are shedding inventory. They have sold off thousands and thousands cars and trucks, which means less cars and trucks available, which means a higher price for those who rent them.

WHITFIELD: OK, so punish the consumer? You want that customer to come back, but now there are new fees being tacked on. So when I rent a car, it's $45 for the day. I want that GPS, I'm in treacherous weather, I want those tires to make sure I'm safe -- I've got to pay for that now.

BAUER: You do, and some would say they're adding them on like crazy.

You mentioned the GPS, that's extra. You mentioned the snow tires. Say you take your child with you, you need a car seat, that's extra. Say you want your wife or husband to drive, that's extra. See a pattern developing here?

WHITFIELD: Oh, yes.

Does that means nobody won't want to rent a car anymore. Do they say that pattern?

BAUER: Sometimes they have to. But here's one thing I just noticed, it used to be that your rental rate included unlimited mileage, but that's not so much the case anymore.

WHITFIELD: Oh, yes. That was always a great perk.

BAUER: I'll give you an example. Just a couple of months ago, I rented a car here in Atlanta for two weeks, and I told the company I'm going to be driving several hundred miles. They said, in order to get unlimited miles, you'll have to pay $50-a-week extra.

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness.

BAUER: Added $100 to the bill.

Now let me tell you about these fees, Fred, that nobody even notices about. I just went online, I booked a car at an airport location, standard car for one week -- $192 a week, $27 a day. Sounds competitive, but wait. It was $30 extra for a customer-facility charge. Do you know what a customer facility charge is? Another $22 for airport concession fee, $7 for rental motor vehicle tax.

WHITFIELD: So hopefully, they are telling you this all up front.

BAUER: You'll see it, but most people pay no attention to it. So, in this case, it added $80 to my bill.

WHITFIELD: So you didn't get such a great, great deal after all.

Is there any way to avoid these charges? I mean, OK, you don't have the child traveling with you, you don't need to rent the car seat. But the other things, such as some of those things you just added, can you subtract those in some way?

BAUER: First thing is don't rent from the airport. It's convenient, but it's more costly. So what you do is, fly into town, take a cab to your hotel or take the free shuttle bus to your hotel and then rent from in town or a suburban location. It's cheaper and you don't have all those fees like the concession fee.

Second thing, do a wide Internet search. Look everyone where you can for the best possible price. And remember, booking online is cheaper than on the phone or in person.

Reserve early. Here is what I do, if I know I need to rent a car, I make a reservation six months out, three months out, three weeks out, then a week out. I keep them all in play, pick the cheapest one and cancel the one, because the price may change over time.

You may also want to consider going to --

WHITFIELD: That's some serious planning.

BAUER: -- these small mom and pop companies. Like for example, here in Atlanta there's one called Cash Rentals, even though they take credit cards, but they advertise low, low rates. So you can find these --

WHITFIELD: But you may not get those airline miles, and that's a big perk when you want to go to the other --

BAUER: Sure, but Kayak.com will help you find those.

And then finally, call a local car dealership if you're going to a city and say, do you rent cars and how much? They may be cheaper.

WHITFIELD: Really?

BAUER: But let me tell you, avoid those add-ons like the plague, if you can.

WHITFIELD: Gosh, I would love to do that. Oh, man.

Thanks so much, George Bauer. These are all fantastic tips, but boy, it's just making traveling so much more unbearable.

BAUER: It doesn't get any easier.

WHITFIELD: So many of us love to travel and now they are making us not like it.

BAUER: Thanks, Fred. My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: Thanks, George, appreciate it.

All right, dog owners, listen up. In a twitter with the latest way to supervise Fido? Well, CNN's Gary Tuchman takes us to the "Edge of Discovery."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Roscoe. Thanks to his high-tech tag he's learning a new trick -- how to tweet.

RACHEL COOPER, MATTEL: When I'm at work, I able to just hop on Twitter and I can see what my dog is up to.

TUCHMAN: These pups are pawing away at a keyboard, though. They're tags have a motion sensor and microphone that can tell when they move or bark.

RON BAGLEY, DESIGN DIRECTOR, MATTEL: Data is sent from the tag to the antenna and then the software evaluates this data coming in and determines an appropriate tweet to send to your dog's Twitter page.

TUCHMAN: So now you'll know when your dog is taking a nap, chasing its tail or even chasing away the mailman. It might be a novelty toy, but developing it was doggone tough.

BAGLEY: We spent many days in many different homes with dogs, trying these on, putting these on dog's collars and having them sit still, then run around. We would test very little dogs like Chihuahuas on up to big dogs like Great Dane, and this helped us to tune the microphone to pick up on the bond range of volume, decibel level.

TUCHMAN: Cutting-edge technology that might end up a chew toy.

Gary Tuchman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now.

Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski is attempting to do what's only been done successfully once before in U.S. history, that's win a U.S. Senate seat as a write-in candidate. Murkowski, the incumbent, is forced to take the unlikely route for election after a loss in the state's GOP primary to a Tea Party-backed candidate.

And the voting is over in Afghanistan's national election. More than 2,500 candidates are completing for 249 Parliamentary seats. Counting the votes could take until the end of October. Taliban militants called for a boycott of the election and in the first hours of voting, there were reports of scattered roadside bombings and rocket attacks; several people were killed.

And pro-baseball now, L.A. Dodgers manager Joe Torre says this is his last season of dugout duty for Dodger Blue. The 70-year-old skipper says he's stepping aside for his batting coach, Don Mattingly, who will succeed him next season.

But Torre isn't ruling out retirement completely and some New York media are reporting the Brooklyn native could be talking to -- could be talked, rather, into managing the New York Mets, a team he previously managed and played for. It's hard to believe given that he was also former manager for the Yankees.

I'll be back with you in an about hour from now at 2:00 Eastern Time. If you're looking for a job, scammers may be looking for you. We'll tell you how to avoid getting burned.

In the 3:00 p.m. hour, we are live in London with the pope. We'll get a reaction to his apology for the church's sex abuse scandal.

Then at 4:00 Eastern Time, bacterial meningitis can kill with almost no warning. We'll talk to a survivor and get some simple tips for prevention.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield, "YOUR $$$$$" starts right now.