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Libyan Woman Dragged Away After Describing Rape to Reporters; Libyan Rebel Forces Take Ajdabia; Political Pioneer Geraldine Ferraro Dies; NATO Takes Control of Libya No-Fly Zone; Cash Sales New Trend in Housing; Lohan, Bonds, Dr. Conrad Murray Trial Developments

Aired March 26, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And as I mentioned, always good to be back in one of the big parts (ph), get to talk to you on the air again. Time for me to hand the airwaves over, Fredricka.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you so much. I know you've had a very busy morning.

HOLMES: We have. (INAUDIBLE) continue that now, yes.

WHITFIELD: We will for the day, as well. We're going to inherit.

HOLMES: Yes. It's all yours.

WHITFIELD: Your leftovers.

HOLMES: It's all yours.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: OK. All right, thanks so much, T.J.

HOLMES: We'll see you (INAUDIBLE)

WHITFIELD: Have a great day. All right. Meantime, it has been exactly one week since the coalition military operation in Libya began, and that milestone was indeed marked today with a major rebel victory in the east, and we'll have a live report on that in a moment.

But first we want to share with you a very disturbing story coming out of Libya's capital today. A woman burst into a hotel, reportedly, where Western journalists are staying and she actually began shouting to them that Moammar Gadhafi's forces had beaten and raped her.

CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson was at the hotel. Give us an idea exactly how all this played out today.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, this is the only hotel in Tripoli that is full of international journalists, and this woman had come here to tell her story. She's told us she was picked up at a government checkpoint, held for two days, her wrists and ankles bound. She was beaten, she said. She was repeatedly raped by government forces -- by people from the government armed militia on the streets here, repeatedly raped. And she'd come to tell her story.

But as she started to tell it, government officials in the hotel immediately moved in to close her down. Even one of the kitchen staff in the hotel pulled a knife on her and told her that she was a traitor to the country. Not only did the government officials try and close her down, shut her down, bundling her out of the way, putting a bag over her head, they literally threw journalists to the ground, kicking the journalists, beating the journalists.

Our own cameraman, Kahlil Abdullah (ph), was shooting this. They grabbed his camera, they forced it out of his hands. They took the camera to the other side of the room and systematically smashed it in the corner of the room, taking away the video that he'd recorded from the camera, and then continued to beat other journalists.

And eventually, they took this woman, kicking and screaming, out of the hotel, bundling her in a car. Journalists could do nothing to stop it. She was asked where she was going. She said she didn't know. And as officials were saying she's being taking to hospital, she said, They're taking me to prison, taking me to prison.

This was an example of one person here trying to speak out against the regime to all the reporters here, the first time we've had an opportunity to hear all these things on camera, government officials brutally shutting her down and bundling her into a car, taking her off, we know not where. We know not what is happening to her right now.

We've demanded to government officials that they assure us and prove to us that she is safe and secure. They're throwing their hands up in the air. They say they'll do their best. But right now, her life is very probably in danger -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nic Robertson, thanks so much for a very complex, detailed account of what reportedly happened.

All right. Meantime, rebel forces are celebrating a victory of another sort in Libya, and they are in control of a strategic eastern city. They recaptured a city from Gadhafi's forces earlier today after those forces were hammered by coalition air strikes. CNN's Arwa Damon is live right now. So Arwa, where -- and were those air strikes the reason that Gadhafi's forces retreated?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, it would certainly appear to be the case. Rebel opposition forces had been fighting, trying to uproot Gadhafi's military from both the northern and western entrances to the city of Ajdabiya. And they'd been bogged down in this fight for a week now, unable to defeat the tanks that had dug themselves into those positions.

Overnight, we were told air strikes finally opening up the route for opposition forces to charge through and clear Gadhafi's military out of Ajdabiya. And we saw the impact that these air strikes have had. At the northern entrance especially, at least 14 tanks, many of them damaged, some of them appear abandoned and a number of them clearly taken out by these air strikes, massive craters next to them, their turrets blown off, the armor on these tanks appearing to have melted into the ground, opposition forces climbing on top of this wreckage, celebrating, chanting their victory and chanting their gratitude to the international community for those air strikes without which they themselves say they would have struggled to be able to retake Ajdabiya.

And this is a very critical location because it is the gateway to the west. It is, the opposition firmly believe, the gateway for their ongoing march now. They say that they're going to try to take all the way to Tripoli -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And now, tell me about the other eastern city of Misrata and what is or isn't taking place there.

DAMON: Misrata is one of those locations that the opposition keeps sounding an alarm bell on simply because it has been completely encircled, it would appear, by Gadhafi forces. And for quite some time now, residents, eyewitnesses have been reporting of massacres taking place in that city. Today, according to a doctor at the main hospital, at least 20 people were wounded by sniper fire. Yesterday, at least seven people were killed, 70 more wounded.

There were air strikes, we heard, taking place there on the outskirts of the city targeting Gadhafi's forces in the city. We heard reports of shelling. But Misrata very much an example of just how far these air strikes can go, in the sense that they are able to disrupt Gadhafi's supply lines. They are able to target units on the outskirts of these cities. But they cannot target units and fighters, Gadhafi's fighters, that are inside simply because it would cause way too many civilian casualties.

And this is why the opposition has been calling for better weapons and better equipment because they are struggling on the ground when it comes to facing up against Gadhafi's tanks and artillery. There is great concern for the civilian population in Misrata. And if the stories that we heard out of Ajdabiya are anything to go by, those concerns are very well founded -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Arwa Damon, thanks so much for that update.

All right. Meantime this weekend, the U.S. is handing over control of the Libyan no-fly zone to NATO. We'll have live reports from the Pentagon straight ahead, as well.

Also, we want to take you to another city overseas, London, where tens of thousands of people are marching through the streets. The protest was organized by the Trades Union Congress. Its leaders represent the vast majority of organized workers in Britain. They say the government's proposed spending cuts are not the way to fix the deficit. So for the most part, the march has been peaceful, but we have seen a few skirmishes between protesters and police. Of course, we'll keep you posted. All right. Turning now to the Japan crisis. The latest concern is over rising radiation levels in the water. Tests show levels of radioactive iodine are more than 1,250 times higher than normal in the ocean near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

It's not clear where that contamination is coming from. An official with Tokyo Electric, which owns the plant, speculates that it could be runoff from all the water being pumped into the reactors. Others worry one of the reactor cores may have cracked during the earthquake 15 days ago now. What you see in yellow is the reactor core. Already, the cost of the damage from the quake and resulting tsunami is being put at $309 billion. More than 10,000 people are dead. Another 17,000 are still missing.

A lot of survivors are wondering, what about that drinking water, and when will it be safe to go home, especially those living near the damaged nuclear plant.

Joining us from Boston right now is Jim Walsh, an international security analyst. Jim, good to see you again. Let's begin with the plant. Three workers were exposed to high levels of radiation earlier in this week by stepping in this contaminated water. Talk to us about the safety, or lack thereof, when you have contact with skin and this radiation or contaminated water.

JIM WALSH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, this was a severe accident for those three workers, and it adds to a total of about 17 workers that have suffered direct injuries from working at the plant. There's some question about whether -- you know, all of those workers wear a little alarm to tell them -- supposed to tell them when the radiation is getting high, a dosimeter. And then the question is, did that dosimeter malfunction or did they -- did it go off and they just ignored it because it was going off too frequently and they thought it was a false alarm. We haven't been able to determine that yet, but this is a complicating factor.

They're making progress. Things are stabilizing. But they have discovered this contaminated water, Fredricka, not only in that plant but in all three plants, units one, two and three, and they're going to have to vacuum that water out and dispose of it safely if they're going to continue to get closer and try to get the operating systems running again.

WHITFIELD: And so of course, there's a real trust issue going on between the Japanese people and the government. They're hearing mixed messages, many of the residents say they are. First the tap water is contaminated, be careful about your infants. And then we see a Japanese official actually drinking the tap water, saying, No, it's really OK.

So what is anyone to believe in terms of the level of radiation or contamination that may, indeed, be in the water? And what constitutes being dangerous?

WALSH: Yes, it's a great question. And as you and I have talked about this from the beginning, going back two weeks, Fredricka, the critical issue, the critical commodity for the government is credibility. And when they lose that credibility, it's very hard to get it back and they're going to need that going forward. Let's say everything works out -- and we're still some distance from that point, but let's say everything works out. Then there's going to be clean- up. There's going to be decontamination. They're going to move people back, if that's the appropriate course of action. At each one of those points, they need to have credibility, and right now I think it's in doubt.

One of the things that will help is that the International Atomic Energy Agency, as of yesterday, or today, sent a new team out, a team that focuses on water and food radiation. And so they're going to be out there taking their own samples. And so there will be an independent voice, an independent agency that will be collecting data, and hopefully, that will have more credibility than the Japanese government does at this point.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jim Walsh, thanks so much for joining us, in Boston. Appreciate that.

All right. Meantime, in this country, a lot of folks are thinking politics, and not just any old politics. They're talking about the run for the U.S. presidency, and many of those potential runners are actually in Iowa right now. We'll tell you what's going on there right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Liberal Democrats are blasting the U.S. president over his Libyan war policy. One has even mentioned impeachment. Let's bring in our legal guys, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor in Cleveland, and Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor joining us from Vegas. All right, good to see you, gentlemen.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: It's been so long, has it not?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Going through separation anxiety here!

WHITFIELD: Me, too!

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: And T.J.'s back, too. T.J.'s back. We're all together.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: This is one big reunion weekend. Where's Peaches and Herb anyway?

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: All right, good to see you guys. All right, let's talk about this first because this is a very serious matter. You've got Dennis Kucinich, among other lawmakers who are saying there need to be impeachment proceedings because the president didn't consult with, get a vote from Congress, Avery, before proceeding with this military engagement. Does that kind of challenge stand a chance?

FRIEDMAN: Well, I think actually, Dennis -- his tooth is still hurting from that, you know, tuna wrap lawsuit that he had.

WHITFIELD: Stop it!

FRIEDMAN: But quite -- honestly, he's a purist. He's an anti- war guy. The fact is that there is the 1973 War Powers Act, and it authorizes the president to take military action as long as he consults with Congress within 60 days. Well, the fact is that allied forces are taking over our activity involving Libya today. We'll never get to the 60 days. However, the good thing is that President Obama did consult with Congress yesterday. It's a tempest in a teapot, a little bit of pretzel-ized thinking, but I understand because Dennis is Dennis.

WHITFIELD: And the president will be addressing the American people on Monday, too. Well, first, let's hear -- in fact, let's hear what Dennis Kucinich had to say in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), OHIO: The question has to be raised about abuse of executive power. That's a serious question and that's the question I'm raising. Impeachment's a process. That's a whole different thing. But as far as whether or not the Constitution's been violated, I think it has. I don't think it's a close question, frankly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So Richard, the White House has responded through the press secretary, Jay Carney, who says, you know, there was, quote, "an urgency to act," and that's what instinct this president was calling upon.

HERMAN: Right. And that gives our president the authority to do it. It gave President Reagan the authority with Grenada. It gave President Bush, H.W. Bush, the authority to go into Panama. So it's just political partisanship, Fred. It's really -- you know, they've got to stand behind him right now. Let's finish off Libya nice. We've got troops in Afghanistan. We've got troops in Iraq. It's just -- it's just -- you know, we've got to stand with our government right now.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, this is going to be interesting to see how this, indeed, plays out. All right, next up, let's talk about this court-martial. And we're talking about at least one U.S. soldier who has pled guilty in exchange for his testimony against his other colleagues, the allegation being they were killing Afghan citizens for sport.

And so Richard, now we're already talking about a plea deal. One would think now the other defendants don't stand a chance.

HERMAN: Well, look, they got this individual to stand up in court and admit under oath that he was involved in the murder of three individuals. They tried to cover up the murder to make it look like it was part of the war there. He's -- he pled guilty to obstruction of justice. He pled guilty to conspiracy. And in return, just like Lawrence Taylor got a plea deal, this officer got 24 years in prison, as opposed to life, which the judge wanted to give him.

WHITFIELD: And it may not be 24 years.

HERMAN: But he'll be up for parole --

WHITFIELD: Right?

HERMAN: Right. He'll be up for parole in seven years. Right.

WHITFIELD: OK. And --

HERMAN: For horrific crimes.

WHITFIELD: You know, it's interesting, too, Avery, because, you know, we've heard so much dialogue about court-martials versus civilian court. And now we're seeing a court-martial play out, this involving, of course, you know, enlisted military, our armed servicepeople. What potentially could come from this, particularly, as you have the Justice Department that has had its dialogue about when court-martial is appropriate, when civil court is appropriate?

FRIEDMAN: Well, the Justice Department's not going to have any objection to this. He's a soldier. Jeremy Morlock is going to be an important witness to show what happens when military personnel commit crimes. It's actually a proper action. I agree with the military judge. Why not life? They need Morlock's testimony. And amazingly, Fredricka, there's technology here. There are Facebook communications. There are actually photos with these guys posed with the dead Afghans that they murdered. So the bottom line is --

WHITFIELD: Very reminiscent of the Abu Ghraib --

FRIEDMAN: No distinction.

WHITFIELD: -- moment. I think that's a very fair observation. That's exactly right.

WHITFIELD: OK. And now we're going to move on to something that is right there in your backyard, sort of, kind of, Richard, there in Vegas, this being a very interesting case. We're talking about a jilted bride-to-be who says, You know what? I'm not only upset at the fact that my groom-to-be was not faithful and true to me because he engaged in some other activity during a bachelor party there in Vegas -- that's where the Vegas part comes in -- but she says, I'm taking it one step further. I am suing him for $60,000 and all her investments made to prepare for this wedding. So Richard, where is this one going? Is this unusual? HERMAN: Well, it's unusual. I think Illinois is one of the only states that has this "breach of promise" cause of action. She spent over, like, $60,000 for her wedding dress, for her honeymoon deposit, for the ceremony deposits and everything. And she wants --

WHITFIELD: It all adds up.

HERMAN: Look, she wants to get that money back from him. Yes, I mean, it sounds like it's fair. He should probably have to pay half. But was he involved in the purchase of the dress? I don't know. Breach of promise -- could she sue him to compel him to marry her? I don't think so. She let him to go to Vegas, "Sin City." She knew he was going on this honeymoon --

(CROSSTALK)

FRIEDMAN: Fredricka, I don't even understand the concept. Why do guys put themselves in this kind of position anyhow? And on top of that --

WHITFIELD: Why have a bachelor party?

FRIEDMAN: -- the evidence --

WHITFIELD: Or why go to Vegas?

FRIEDMAN: Yes, I just don't even understand the concept. You know what? You almost asked T.J. that question. I don't think he was going to give you an answer on that.

WHITFIELD: I wanted to ask, but then again, I wasn't going to do it.

HERMAN: He's afraid of his wife.

(CROSSTALK)

FRIEDMAN: He looked nervous.

WHITFIELD: I don't think so! Not T.J. You mean this groom-to- be? He looked nervous?

HERMAN: Yes.

FRIEDMAN: Maybe T.J. I don't know. We just don't know. We have no idea.

WHITFIELD: OK. Yes. I mean, it is unusual. I only asked is it unusual because you always wonder if there's some other precedent- setting case to make someone say, You know what? I have a chance at that. So that's really why I kind of asked. But OK, well, go for it, right? I

All right, Richard, Avery, we're going to see you again, OK? We're going to talk, you know, Barry Bonds, that trial under way and some very tantalizing -- maybe that's not the right word to use -- testimony in which to discuss. All right, we'll see you in a bit. Thanks so much.

Also, we're going to talk politics. I mentioned that already, a number of Republicans, those who are eying that Oval Office, they are conferencing. We'll tell you where and why now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This information just coming in, very sad news. Former congresswoman and former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro has died. She died at the age of 75. Our senior political editor, Mark Preston, joins us now from Iowa. What more do we know about her death? We know that she had been battling cancer for a very long time. What were the circumstances? And what's the source? Where is this coming from?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, Fred, we've actually heard from Geraldine Ferraro's family just a short time ago that, in fact, she has passed away. She passed away up at Massachusetts General Hospital. She'd been battling blood cancer for 12 years.

Considered a trailblazer in American politics, as you said, she was the first woman vice presidential nominee back in 1984. She was on the ticket with Walter Mondale, a losing ticket, but albeit she was on that ticket. She was a congresswoman for three terms before being picked.

She was also part of the CNN family. Back in the late '90s, she was a co-host of "CROSSFIRE," our very popular program back in the 1990s. Geraldine Ferraro, as you said, Fredricka, has died at the age of 75.

WHITFIELD: OK, and the event where you are attending right now -- I can hear lots of voices in the background -- people thought they were going to be covering for the most part all of these various potential candidates in their run for the White House. But now that this has transpired, I wonder what the sentiment is from a number of conservatives, namely, many Republicans who are there, and what they may have to say upon learning of her death.

PRESTON: Well, I think in a situation like this, they'll -- if -- and I have to tell you, this has just happened so we are now just reporting it, as news outlets are now just reporting it. So nobody around me actually knows that Geraldine Ferraro has passed away.

I suspect that we will hear from the likes of Sarah Palin, perhaps Michele Bachmann, women who are Republicans, and even though Geraldine Ferraro was a Democrat, probably looked up to her because she was such a trailblazer. If there are any comments that we'll hear today at this political forum that I am at, it will probably just be words of kindness and talk about her as a trailblazer.

But in the whole sense of politics, though, this is a very important what we call political cattle call for Republicans, Fredricka. These are five presidential candidates who have decided to come to Des Moines on this cold, wet day, to try to talk to between 400 and 600 political activists. What they're trying to do is get these activists to support their candidacies.

We've already heard from Newt Gingrich and Haley Barbour. We expect to hear from Michele Bachmann shortly, as well as Herman Cain and John Bolton. So while the nomination -- the first contest will happen here in Iowa in February of 2012, we're already seeing Republicans who are interested in running trying to court these all (ph) influential voters -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And very interesting, Mark, when you talked about the parallels, we were looking at the old file tape with Geraldine Ferraro, you know, in that debate. You know, very interesting because we saw those old clips one more time just prior to Sarah Palin's debut in her vice presidential debate, and there were a lot of parallels being made about the behavior of her opponent, the body language, and how things would be read differently when you have a male candidate up against a female candidate.

So you mentioned Sarah Palin. Is the expectation that she will, indeed, be at this conference there in Des Moines and that that might be a discussion that will be had with her in terms of how she prepared for her debate and whether she, indeed, used Geraldine Ferraro and that debate as an example, or a real teaching moment?

PRESTON: Yes. Well, you know, it's interesting. Sarah Palin will not be here today, and some would say that they're waiting to see whatever -- you know, what she plans to do now. Sarah Palin has been very careful, Fred, about what she plans on doing. She's not really letting us know. If she does decide to run for president, as some thinks she will, we probably won't hear her make that announcement until October.

Now, Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman, seems to be filling that void. We'll hear from her about an hour now in the ballroom right off to my left. And she could fill the void that Sarah Palin seems to do so well with conservative voters, specifically social conservative voters out here in Iowa.

You know, just to put -- compare Geraldine Ferraro back in 1984 to Sarah Palin when she ran as the vice presidential nominee on the Republican ticket in 2008, that had been a long stretch of time. And if you looked at someone like Geraldine Ferraro, think about some of the obstacles she had to overcome back in 1984, Sarah Palin faced a lot of questions as being on the ticket, certainly, in 2008. But time had elapsed and we've seen women make so many strides, certainly not enough strides as we'd all like to see, but certainly have made a lot more strides -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Mark Preston, thanks so much. We'll talk again with you throughout the day about the political landscape.

Meantime, again, if you're just now joining us, at the age of 75, former U.S. congresswoman and former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro has died. She died at the Massachusetts General Hospital after a very long battle with cancer. We'll have much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. A look at our top stories right now. New concerns at the crippled nuclear plant in Japan. Radiation has spiked in sea water near the plant. The level is 1,250 times higher than normal. But on a positive note, radiation levels in the air around the plant have dropped.

A key win for the opposition in Libya. Rebel forces are now in control of the strategic eastern city of Ajdabiya. Moammar Gadhafi's forces retreated after coalition jets pounded government tanks located at the city's gates. Ajdabiya is a critical stopping point on the road to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

And there's a new twist in the Joran Van Der Sloot murder case. Authorities say Van Der Sloot lied about having his laptop computer on the night a 21-year-old Peruvian woman was killed. Police have said that Van Der Sloot admitted to attacking Stephany Flores after she read an e-mail on his computer linking him to Natalee Holloway's disappearance. Van Der Sloot was arrested twice in the Holloway case, but never charged.

And there's about to be a major change to the coalition military operation in Libya. This weekend, the U.S. will pass control of the no-fly zone on to NATO. CNN's Chris Lawrence is at the Pentagon. So Chris, how will this shift affect the operation overall?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, I was talking to a coalition official who said it should take less than 48 hours for the coalition to hand off to NATO. He said, basically, all that has to happen is the senior military commanders of the coalition have to brief their NATO counterparts. But he said the actual pilots who are flying -- they're still going to get their same briefs, they're still going to get their same rules of engagement. So they won't feel the change very much at all. But the coalition says it is ready to hand off that part of the mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. CARTER HAMM, U.S. AFRICA COMMANDER: We expect that NATO will take over the no-fly zone this weekend. And then the next piece, the third and final piece, is the mission to protect civilians. NATO is -- my understanding, NATO has agreed to that in principle and will this weekend decide on the procedures and the timing of accepting that mission. But I think that will probably occur in the very near future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: So what he's talking about there, when he talks about protecting civilians, are these strikes that are taking place on Gadhafi's forces, bombing his troops and tanks and armament on the ground. Some nations like Turkey have not wanted to be a part of that particular mission, but that mission is continuing, with the U.S. really still firmly in the lead when it comes to that specific part. Overnight, there were air strikes in Misrata, air strikes in Tripoli, air strikes in Ajdabiya. So those strikes on Gadhafi forces are still continuing, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And meantime, now, Chris, the president is going to be taking to the airwaves. He'll be delivering a speech on Monday about this very mission. How detailed is he likely to either get into the military end of this operation or the decision into which to engage?

LAWRENCE: Well, I think what a lot of people want to hear is what is the end game here. The president has said, you know, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi must go. The military mission stops short of that. The military mission doesn't mention any sort of regime change. And so I think people will be eager to hear exactly how, through sanctions or through diplomatic pressure -- how the president expects to fulfill that goal because when the president of the United States comes out and says, This man must go, if he doesn't go, you know, that has a chance of making the president and the United States look weak. So the American people will want to hear about that.

And Congress is, of course, still waiting to hear about an accounting for all this. You know, we launched 160 Tomahawk missiles. Those are well over $100 million each. There's a cost of refueling a lot of these jets, things like that. And so I think a lot of people will want to know some sort of, you know, broad budget of exactly how much this costs and how it's going to get paid for.

WHITFIELD: Chris Lawrence, thanks so much, at the Pentagon. I appreciate that.

LAWRENCE: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: Meantime, something else that may hit very close to home for you is your house, or your desire to actually own one. With the market in such shambles, can you imagine the new trend is actually buying houses with cash? I'll tell you why it might be a good idea, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We turn now to a surprising uptick in a market that was all but flattened two years ago. An increasing number of people are actually paying for real estate with real cold, hard cash. Christine Romans has this week's "Smart Is the New Rich" report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we'll start with the kitchen.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, HOST, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" (voice-over): Mark Worst (ph) and his fiancee, Mary Mappee (ph), are looking at their 26th house in their search for their first home.

MARK WORST, HOME BUYER: This is nice and big.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Isn't it? It's pretty special.

ROMANS: They'll be paying for it in cash, taking advantage of the market's low housing prices.

WORST: This is a great time to buy houses because they are so much less than what they were at even four years ago.

ROMANS: From coast to coast, cash sales are up. According to the National Association of Realtors, 32 percent of all properties purchased in January were purchased with cash. That compares with 26 percent in January last year. Columbia University real estate professor Christopher Mayer (ph).

CHRISTOPHER MAYER, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: I think the cash purchases in the market are really a function of where we are in the cycle, the challenge of getting financing, and you know, what I think some people perceive as real opportunities to purchase property.

ROMANS: Many are investors who fix up condos and houses and then sell or rent them out. But for first-time home buyers like Mark and Mary, cash means not having to worry about loans and credit for a mortgage.

WORST: Big enough refrigerator.

It gives you a distinct advantage over other buyers and can probably get you a discount on a house. I don't need 90 days to get a mortgage approval. It's cash.

ROMANS: And that may just help the battered real estate market get back on its feet.

MAYER: It's going to be a really slow road to picking up again. And so I think people coming into the market and having confidence that we've hit a floor and they're willing to pay for properties with cash is a net positive.

ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll see you Saturday. OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And no one knows how long this trend will last, but experts agree cash buyers are making the real estate market stronger, and that's a good thing.

OK, was it a good thing or not? Lindsay Lohan says no to a plea deal. We'll find out what our legal guys have to say.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Lindsay Lohan is heading back to court. She tells the prosecutor, No deal, I'm not striking a plea deal. Our legal guys are back, Avery Friedman in Cleveland, Richard Herman in Las Vegas.

All right, Richard, you first. Big gamble on Lohan's part to say, No, no deal, I want a jury trial? RICHARD HERMAN, LAW PROFESSOR: Fred, it's beyond stupidity. She's changing her name. She's deleting the Lohan and she's going to be adding Lindsay Inmate here. She's facing three years in state prison, not that little cushy where she, you know, strolled out like the catwalk after she got out after, like, a week or two. Three years state prison.

There's no way they knowingly gave her that necklace. And by the way, that necklace is so skinny and so ugly, but that necklace is going to do her in.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, LAW PROFESSOR: Hey! Hey!

HERMAN: This is grand theft, it's grand theft. It's not a game. It's not a video game. She's in the big leagues right now. It's a critical blunder by her. She had a global deal, which also included the Betty Ford incident, which now prosecutors are investigating further and will probably bring charges against her on that.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

HERMAN: She's in big trouble, this girl.

WHITFIELD: But this really is perplexing in so many different ways, Avery, especially since -- I mean, her attorney -- she's very highly respected. Everyone says she's got --

FRIEDMAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: Lindsay's got a fantastic attorney who has done incredible things to help her client. But then why -- what would be the logic here --

FRIEDMAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: -- that this defense team would feel like, You know what? We can prove that she was loaned this necklace, that she didn't steal it, that the videotape that shows the young lady at the jewelry store -- there didn't seem to be any animosity. It appeared as though she was holding the door for her politely for her to exit with this necklace around her neck.

FRIEDMAN: That's what it looks like. Look, Shawn Holley is a very fine lawyer, but she's not a magician. That's the problem here. I am -- there's no doubt, I think in any experienced lawyer's mind, that Shawn sat down with Lindsay and said, Look, this is a real problem. If you get hit on this, you'll also deal with your probation revocation --

WHITFIELD: You think she probably tried to talk her out of it.

FRIEDMAN: -- and more time on top of it.

HERMAN: Absolutely.

FRIEDMAN: Absolutely. There's no question. And you know what? I have to tell you, the defenses are also inconsistent. You know, I did it accidentally, My boyfriend forced me to do it, I thought I paid for it, The jewelry store is letting me volunteer -- bottom line is, I think the attorneys, the defense team, very, very frustrated. Let's see, as we get closer to the trial date --

WHITFIELD: Right.

FRIEDMAN: -- we may actually see a plea.

WHITFIELD: Right. And then, of course, there's no trial date yet because the judge is actually going to hear about more evidence come April 22nd --

FRIEDMAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: -- and then they'll decide whether to go to trial. So she -- while she may think she's going to trial, there's a pretty good chance that this won't even go to trial, Avery?

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

HERMAN: And Fred, at that preliminary --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: I'm sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead, Richard.

HERMAN: At the preliminary hearing, which is going to come up, the judge is going to rule there's sufficient evidence to go to trial on the grand theft.

FRIEDMAN: Absolutely. Absolutely.

HERMAN: At that very moment -- at that very moment, he could put her in prison that day for violation of probation.

FRIEDMAN: And the judge has already warned her. The judge has already warned her that there's going to be jail. There's no question about it. I mean, no doubt about it, it's going forward unless she enters a plea. No doubt.

WHITFIELD: OK. Another case, this being in California, this involving Dr. Conrad Murray. This is the former doctor of Michael Jackson, who is now accused in the death of the pop star. Jury selection under way.

I would imagine this is going to be very tough in which to seat a trial because who in this jurisdiction wasn't completely engrossed in all that's transpired involving Michael Jackson, Dr. Conrad Murray. So will this be a case in which, Richard, perhaps his attorney at the last minute could say, I need a change of venue, this is not going to be suitable for my client? Is it too late for that?

HERMAN: I don't think so, Fred. They're going to fight hard to keep that jurisdiction. You know, you're going to get a lot of stealth jurors that are going to come in, they're not going to be honest when they answer the questionnaire. You want a jury to come in without any preconceived ideas. Everybody has preconceived ideas about Michael Jackson.

FRIEDMAN: Sure, they do.

HERMAN: Most people, I think, in that jurisdiction are going to love him. It's going to be difficult. But Conrad Murray has real defenses, Fred. I've been saying this all along. He has real defenses and I will not be surprised of an acquittal in this case.

WHITFIELD: Avery, you're shaking your head. You're in complete disagreement.

FRIEDMAN: I don't buy that. The problem in this case is -- of 160 -- 158 potential jurors who already said they knew about it, the two that said they didn't I think were the stealth jurors. We can't even get a jury selected here. There are going to be preconceived notions. I think he's got an uphill battle. I think we're looking for a conviction against Dr. Murray, I really believe that.

WHITFIELD: All right.

FRIEDMAN: So we'll see. We'll see.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about another heavy-hitting case I know you guys cannot wait to take a swing at. Get it? Barry Bonds, that trial.

HERMAN: That was good, Fred. That was good.

FRIEDMAN: Got it.

WHITFIELD: Already under way. OK, so you know what? This --

HERMAN: This is what we missed.

WHITFIELD: I know! This is what we've missed, and now we're going to, you know, jar everyone's memory about why this case is important because there's been a lot of talk about different steroids during this proceeding already, how these steroids are administered, with testimony to follow. But guess what? This is really not about his steroid use, this is actually about perjury.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: So where is this case going so far, Avery, based on how it started, with this kind of testimony on the science of steroids?

FRIEDMAN: Well, let me tell you something. The difference between state courts in California and federal court -- picked, sworn in, one day, the jury was ready to go. And the prosecution, the U.S. attorney has moved quickly. We've heard testimony from a former good friend growing up. They're going to try to introduce an audiotape of the trainer, Greg Anderson, who's sitting in the penitentiary because he won't testify. And we then heard from a doctor who talked about the condition of what steroids do to the pituitary, enlarging hands, enlarging head, shrinking genitalia. And that tees up Monday's witness, Barry Bonds's ex-girlfriend, Kim Bell. And guess what she's going to be testifying about?

WHITFIELD: And that was -- I'm glad you brought that up because I was trying to think, How do I bring this one up, you know, without it being so awkward, because, you know --

FRIEDMAN: Delicately.

WHITFIELD: Yes, very delicately. This is going to be interesting testimony coming from the ex-girlfriend, who is going to be asked to testify about his size, the size of his testicles, and whether there was a difference over a certain period of time which would reflect whether there is, indeed, you know some steroid use.

HERMAN: Oh, man. Fred --

WHITFIELD: There is no delicate way of putting it. Sorry about that.

HERMAN: No, but on my cross-examination, I would put on Kanye's "Gold Digger," and then I would begin my cross-examination of her. Listen, Fred, please --

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

HERMAN: -- in 2003, Barry Bonds testified before a grand jury on the Balco investigation. And he said, At the time, I was taking this arthritis balm and flaxseed oil and I didn't know at the time --

WHITFIELD: It's the knowingly part.

HERMAN: -- that that was steroids. That's the lie that he told the grand jury. This girlfriend is going to come in and say, Barry told me he was taking steroids then. That's the lie.

Fred, $6 million they spent on this investigation! And if he gets convicted, he's probably going to get house arrest. This is really ridiculous. Hammering Hank Aaron --

FRIEDMAN: Well, we'll see. We'll see.

HERMAN: -- everyone knows is the home run king. That's it.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right.

FRIEDMAN: Well, we'll see.

WHITFIELD: Richard, Avery, always, you know, delivering on a home run for us. Appreciate it.

HERMAN: Oh! Fred!

FRIEDMAN: Listen to that. Well, you --

HERMAN: Unbelievable!

FRIEDMAN: -- set up. You threw the pitch.

HERMAN: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, and I took the swing. Homer! All right, thanks so much.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

(LAUGHTER)

FRIEDMAN: See you soon.

WHITFIELD: You know I love sports. All right, Richard and Avery, good to see you. Thanks so much.

All right, let's talk about hitting the jackpot now. I guess I could ask Avery (SIC) about all this while he's in Vegas. Well, this jackpot hit not in Vegas, but it says somewhere else, and it's amounted to $319 million. We'll explain after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's take a look at the top stories right now. A pioneer in U.S. politics has died. Geraldine Ferraro passed away today after a long battle with cancer. In 1985, Ferraro was the first female vice presidential candidate from a major U.S. political party. She served as a U.S. congresswoman before that, three terms. Ferraro was 75.

Rebel forces are now in control of a crucial city in eastern Libya. Government troops have retreated from Ajdabiya. The city is considered a gateway to Libya's vast oil fields and a stopping point on the way to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

And NATO is expected to take control of the no-fly zone over Libya from the U.S. as soon as tomorrow, and it's considering an even broader role. The U.S. military commander for Africa said the alliance has agreed in principle to protect civilians and that details -- that details, rather, will be worked out over the weekend.

And we'll have much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Stay with the CNN NEWSROOM this afternoon. At 2:00 o'clock Eastern time, property values continue to slump across the country, so many of you might be facing foreclosure. Financial adviser Karen Leaf (ph) with some free advice on how you might be able to stay in your home. You don't want to miss that. Then at 3:00 o'clock Eastern time, mandatory state tests for students. Students have to take them, but a new movement is urging parents to actually opt out and keep their kids in school. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. I'll see you later on this afternoon. Meantime, time for "YOUR MONEY."