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Hole Rips Open in Roof of Southwest Airlines Jet During Travel; Radioactive Water Leaking From Damaged Plant at Fukushima; Gadhafi Calls Opposition's Proposals 'Silly'; Traveling Safely in Tumultuous Times; Top Legal Cases of the Week Broken Down; Face to Face With Bethenny Frankel

Aired April 02, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I know you touched on this in a great way earlier, our top story, continuation this hour, a terrifying ordeal on a Southwest Airlines flight. The Boeing 737 was headed from Phoenix to Sacramento, yesterday, when a three to four-foot hole opened in the roof. Many of the passengers thought they were doomed, but the pilot managed to land the plane safely at a military base in Yuma, Arizona.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is there.

So, what are you hearing about the likely cause of that hole? How did it get there?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, nobody's speculating at this point, Fredricka, understandably, the investigation is just getting underway. In fact, we just saw a government plane land, a United States plane presumably carrying investigators as part of this NTSB/FAA team that will lead this investigation.

A few moments ago we saw representatives from the NTSB go on board the aircraft and take out a couple items and remove them. That's really the only action we've seen, here.

The investigation, as we say, is just starting to get under way. A hundred and eighteen passengers on board, five crew members. What they say happened, boy, will make your skin crawl. Just imagine sitting on an aircraft and seeing -- first hearing some noise, according to passengers, and then seeing a hole in the top of the aircraft. Passengers say they could see the sky above them, and then they say there was a tremendous drop. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBIE DOWNEY, PASSENGER ABOARD FLIGHT 812: My husband and I looked up, you could see blue sky. You could see the wiring, the cabling. We looked at each other and thought, oh, my gosh, this is not a good sign. Immediately put our head down, looked up, the air masks fell down immediately within seconds, so we grabbed our masks, started to kind of look out the window and as soon as I tried to look out the window and put up the shade screens, the aircraft went into a complete nose dive, fast. LARRY DOWNEY, PASSENGER ABOARD FLIGHT 812: We descended so quickly that it was -- you know, and it was so noisy that the plane decompressed pretty quickly, so if you didn't get your mask on, it was -- it was a pretty scary situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Yes, pretty scary indeed. Now, let's talk practically here, Fredricka, of what could have happened, here. Either somebody or something did something to this plane, there's no indication that that happened at this point. Or there was something wrong with that area, a structural failure, if you will, the skin of the aircraft, the metal could have suffered metal fatigue.

It has happened before with airplanes, specifically 737s, and specifically to Southwest. Actually in 2009, there was an incident in Charleston, West Virginia (AUDIO GAP) and there was a decompression scenario similar to this one. And then in Hawaii there was an incident in 1988 where a flight attendant was actually swept out of the plane after a huge hole was -- happened in the skin of the aircraft.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I think we lost --

ROWLANDS: -- right now. It is imperative these investigators find out what happened, though, because this is the workhorse of the industry, and the idea of this happening just, you know, makes people very nervous, obviously, because there are thousands of these in the air, every day.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's extremely frightening to hear about this. So, glad to hear that no one was hurt in the end. Ted Rowlands, thanks so much, from Yuma, Arizona. Appreciate that.

All right, meantime, overseas we're keeping a close eye on a highly radioactive water leak from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Officials with Tokyo Electric say it is coming from this eight-inch crack in a concrete line basin outside the No. 2 reactor. They still don't know how the radiation is getting into the water.

Right now contaminated water from reactor one is being pumped into containers on a huge barge that is anchored next to the plane. Japan's prime minister, meantime, personally thanked some of the workers today during a visit to the operation center. It's about 15 miles from the plant itself, right on the edge of the evacuation zone.

And then take a look at this, this glimmer of hope, here. Three weeks after that earthquake and tsunami rescuers found this little guy right here, a dog, floating on a pile of debris more than a mile offshore and you can see, right there, extremely hungry and as they plucked him to safety, they had a few little treats for him waiting in the form of biscuits and sausage.

All right. Now back to the seriousness of this nuclear plant, still leaking radioactive water into the ocean. Last hour, nuclear expert, James Action, talked about the danger there. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES ACTION, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT, NUCLEAR PROGRAM: I actually think the radioactive water leaking into the Pacific is not the primary concern here, because radioactive water that leaks into the Pacific is going to become diluted. I'm actually more concerned about the radioactive water that's leaking into the groundwater supplies, and I still think the biggest concern here is what's going on in the reactor cores.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, CNN's Martin Savage joins us from Tokyo where it is now early Sunday morning.

So Marty, it seems as if they fix one problem and yet another, you know, surfaces. What's taking place, now?

MARTIN SAVAGE, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a very interesting day, Fredricka. I mean, for a long time we've been wondering how is it possible radioactive water was getting into the ocean, and today they identified the exact spot, as these photographs that we've seen point out. You see water that's actually flowing at a very good rate from the shore into the ocean. And it's coming from the shaft which you identified in the eight-inch crack in that shaft, and so that's the transmission point. What we don't know, and you point out quite correctly, is how is that water in that shaft getting contaminated. That's still the big mystery, here. But, they filled the shaft with cement, you see it's at one level and then they fill it even higher. What remains to be seen, Fredricka, is if that in fact will shut off the flow of water going into the Pacific Ocean, and it's too early to tell, right now.

WHITFIELD: OK, so they're also pumping this contaminated water, as I mentioned, into a big barge, but then where does it go?

SAVAGE: Yes, well there's another barge that's coming, the mega float, and this barge is massive. It is so large that in fact it's used as a park, a floating park, by a community south of Tokyo. And the idea is they're sail this up to Fukushima. It's going to take a little while to get ready. But once it gets up there, that gives them the capacity of something like 10,000 tons of water that this thing can hold, which is a tremendous amount of water. So all that water which they've been wanting to get off site, which has been contaminating a lot of places, they can load into this barge to a point. But as you rightfully ask, what happens when that barge becomes full of water? Where does it go and what do you do with it? And quite frankly we haven't heard an answer to that dilemma.

WHITFIELD: All right, that's going to be a big dilemma. All right, Martin Savage, thanks so much, where very windy and early morning there in Tokyo. Appreciate that.

All right, meantime, straight ahead, more overseas news, the back and forth battle in Libya. Well, it's not showing any signs of slowing down, leaving some to wonder if the fighting has hit a stalemate there, and then what? We'll tackle that topic, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: To Libya now, where the back and forth battle between government and rebel forces seems to have met a stalemate. Today a Gadhafi official laughed off a ceasefire plan offered by the opposition, calling some of the proposed conditions, "silly."

In fact, the Libyan government says it has no intention of pulling its military out of any cities, but in Misrata, yesterday, rebels celebrated at the site of a coalition strike against pro- Gadhafi forces.

CNN's State Department producer, Elise Labott, joins me now from Washington.

So Elise, you know, the U.S. Ii admitting there is in fact a stalemate, or is it?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Well, Fred, officials are likening it to a football field -- a football game where neither team is really either kind of skirmishing in the midfield and neither one can move the ball to the end zone. Although rebels have made real gains, as you see, in Misrata and other cities, I think that there's recognition that they're not going to be able to take Tripoli, that they're not going to be able to have a military battle in Gadhafi, which is why you saw the rebel ask for this kind of cease- fire.

Now, there has been some kind of discussions, although the Libyan government and Moammar Gadhafi's regime has laughed it off, there are a lot of discussions going on. There have been loyalists to save Gadhafi, his son, having talks in London, and it seems to be that what you can have is really the rebels controlling the eastern part of the city, Colonel Gadhafi holds in the west with his tribes and forces, and you could have a really extended open commitment by the united states and NATO for a long time to come.

WHITFIELD: Well, I wonder, is the U.S. And international community prepared for that?

LABOTT: Well, they really don't have a choice, now that they're in for a penny, they're in for a pound. You could have a no-fly zone that goes on indefinitely with a really split country. That's going to keep U.S. commitment, U.S. financial commitment and military commitment for some time. Now that they went in it, they really have to stay.

WHITFIELD: So now, You talk about Gadhafi talking to his son in London. Well, there's this ex-Libyan foreign minister, now, Moussa Koussa, who has defected to Great Britain. You have to wonder what information they, this international coalition, might be able to get out of him. How would this be to the advantage of the international coalition?

LABOTT: Moussa Koussa has really been close to Gadhafi, really one of the closest aides to him that's outside the family and not only was he someone who negotiated the nuclear program, the Pan Am 103 deal, he really knows a lot about Gadhafi.

So, what U.S. officials are saying, British officials are saying, they're looking to know what is his state of mind? What is his endgame? How does he see this playing out? What kind of troops are loyal to him? What kind of his inner circle possibly who could defect? And really where he was the last time he's seen him? All these things that can paint a picture of Moammar Gadhafi, not only his state of mind but where he's going with this.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right. Fascinating. All right, Elise Labott, thanks so much. We'll talk to you again at the 3:00 Eastern hour, because I really want to talk to you about what's at stake for the conflict that's taken place in that entire region.

All right, back in the U.S. now, the so-called "Underwear Bomber" is preparing for his day in court. He'll be representing himself, by the way. No doubt our legal guys will have a few things to say about that when we see them after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A very disturbing case in New York. Two of the city's finest on trial, accused of raping a drunk woman.

Let's bring in our legal guys, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor joining us from Washington, today, and Richard Herman, and New York criminal defense attorney and law professor, joining us from Las Vegas.

All right, gentlemen, this is an extraordinary case. We're talking about two New York police officers who are accused of, back in December 2008, escorting a woman who was drunk to her apartment and now they are facing some very serious charges. One, with rape, the other who was allegedly complicit because he was the lookout man, so to speak.

Richard, where is this case going? What's the evidence?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it's going before a jury. Here's the problem, Fred. You know, you must prove your case beyond a reasonable doubt. And it's a tragedy what happened to this poor women, but on proving the case on the facts here -- she does not recall that evening, going to the club. She doesn't recall who she spoke to at the club. She doesn't recall how she got home. She doesn't recall conversations with the cabbie. She doesn't recall how she got into her apartment. She cannot identify the officers, doesn't recognize them, could not pick them out of cards or lineups or anything. So her memory is shot.

They have surveillance video of the officers going back three or four times to her room, but they don't have it. They have physical evidence of her, but no DNA. It's a very tough case.

WHITFIELD: So Avery, there is a lot of hearsay going on here, somebody said we think this happened, let her know about it once she was coherent and then the charges soon followed?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Yes. I mean, actually, with Richard's litany of why she's going to be a lousy witness, to me I see two smoking guns. Number one, the victim actually had a conversation with Kenneth Moreno, the lead defendant here, the cop, and she was wired by the D.A.

Number one, he admitted doing it. Number two, he used a condo. Number three he went on and said, you know, don't worry about pregnancy or diseases, that tape is irrefutable.

On top of that, Franklin Mata, his partner, is going to testify that he raped the victim. So whatever memory issues the victim has, I think this case is overwhelming, and I think we're looking for a conviction.

WHITFIELD: And then there are also allegations here, gentlemen, that these two officers, Mata and Moreno, return to this young lady's apartment at least three times after this alleged incident -- Richard?

FRIEDMAN: Four.

WHITFIELD: Four times?

HERMAN: All caught on videotape. All caught on video surveillance, Fred. It's unbelievable.

WHITFIELD: OK, all right, well, let's move on now to another case that is pretty unbelievable. This involving some parents who say their daughter was killed, that we know, and that a paramedic who responded to the case of this young lady dying took photos, put these photos on Facebook, and the family is saying, you know what?

We're not just going after this paramedic, who was fired, who was let go, who pleaded guilty to that act, but they're pursuing Facebook for the responsibility of putting these images on -- online, on Facebook. So, I wonder, Richard, do they have a case to be pursuing Facebook or do they need to just be sticking with the paramedic?

HERMAN: Well, they're not suing Facebook for monetary damages, Fred. They're not looking for any money from Facebook. They just want a return of the photos that were sent to Facebook, which Facebook published. Facebook is completely shielded by a 1996 communications decency act -- incredibly phrased, but they're completely shielded by that, Fred. They can't get monetary against Facebook, but Facebook is working with them, it's taken it down off all their servers, they're not publishing the photos anymore, and I think this is just going to dissipate.

WHITFIELD: So Avery, as if this Wimmer family hasn't been through enough, you know, that they lost their daughter, Caroline Wimmer, to this horrible crime, now they have to deal with this. FRIEDMAN: Well actually, I don't think it's going to dissipate, and let me tell you why. The wonderful thing about this tragedy is, in Albany, both Republicans and many Democrats are getting together, Fredricka, to talk about Caroline's Law, and that will be that if you're a public official and you're on duty, and you take a picture because that's what this fellow did, Musarella, for his own amusement, and he publishes it without consent, without any authorization, it can be a felony up to four years.

So I think in the member rip of this woman who was murdered, that legacy can be maintained by making public officials accountable and making them criminally responsible for doing what Musarella did in this case.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, another extraordinary situation taking place, Umar Abdulmutallab, people remember him as the "Underwear Bomber," he is going to be in a pretrial hearing on Monday, but he's not just the client in this case. The defendant, Richard, he is representing himself. Why would the court allow this? Because the court does have the discretion to say, no, this is not going to happen, you need a public defender or you need an attorney of some other form or fashion.

HERMAN: You're right, Fred, and the court made a mistake, in my opinion. This guy has no knowledge of the legal system, he has no knowledge of the federal resumes of evidence, he's never represented himself before, he's never been involved in the federal courts before, and for this judge to allow him to represent himself, that's a travesty and that's grounds for an appeal.

Now, they assigned shadow counsel to look over his shoulder, which I'm sure this defendant really loves someone looking over his shoulder, that's why he fired his other attorneys, because he didn't trust anybody. I'm just looking at a case that hopefully they get a conviction against this guy that stands and now I see an immediate appellate issue on appeal.

WHITFIELD: OK, so Avery, I wonder, can there be an about face for the court. Can it say, you know what? Second guess that one, you do need an attorney. We really don't want to go down the road of a potential, you know, appeal.

FRIEDMAN: Right, right. Well, I think the fact that there's a shadow attorney will essentially assert rights even if this defendant, who's clueless about what this case is about, will have to be done. I think there's going to be a conviction, you have 289 passengers on that plane, you have admissions made by this defendant, the evidence is overwhelming. They're going to get the conviction. I don't see any issue for the appellate court, Fred, none.

WHITFIELD: All right, Richard, Avery, thanks so much. We're going to see you again later on in the hour, we're going to talk about some residents and homeowners association going to toe to toe over quiet or not in their neighborhood.

All right, on to the issue of Japan, concerns about the growing --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories, right now, terrifying moments for the passengers and crew on a Southwest Airlines flight. A three to four-foot hole opened in the Boeing 737's roof after takeoff from Phoenix. The pilot was able to make an emergency landing at a military base in Yuma, Arizona. When the hole opened, some of the passengers panicked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was texting my sister to make certain that she told my kids that I love them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In back of me to the left. And I did hear it. It sounded like a shot and a lot of air decompressing and it was quick, and it was scary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Super scary stuff. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

All right, Greg Feith is a former senior investigator with the NTSB and he's with us now on the phone from Denver.

A crack in the fuselage is terrifying, a complete peel back of the material. So how in the world can something like this happen?

GREG FEITH, FORMER NTSB SENIOR INVESTIGATOR: Well, when you look at an airplane, it actually breathes. Every time you pressurize the airplane it goes through a cycle so it's constantly expanding and contracting and so over a period of time, of course, if there's any kind of crack or -- developing or if there's any kind of precursor to causing a crack, you're going to have this cycling of the fuselage and the skin eventually fail. Just like bending a paperclip a bunch of times and then it eventually fails.

WHITFIELD: So is this an issue of the age of the plane? Is that what the NTSB and other investigators will be really examining here?

FEITH: Of course, that's the obvious, because this is an older 737. It has been the subject of a number of air worthiness directive inspections, and, of course, stemming out of the Aloha event back in 1988, we have this aging aircraft inspection. But for this, we have to be careful, because while southwest has had other issues in the past, this may be totally unrelated to those issues with regard to inspection programs and where the failure actually occurred.

WHITFIELD: So, there are inspections of all planes before they, you know, take off, before passengers board. Would a crack be detected? Can it be detected, a crack that would be significant enough to cause this kind of peeling back in the fuselage, can that be overlooked or would it be that obvious?

FEITH: No, this kind of crack is not obvious, even to mechanics in some regards only because of its location. When you look at where it cracked, it was in what they call the crown of the airplane, which is above the window belt where the windows are and it's not visually inspected by the flight crew as they do their preflight inspection. It may be found during the course of a maintenance inspection which, if the maintenance folks were in that particular area or working in that area, unless it's a prescribed inspection, but on a normal day- to-day basis, you wouldn't see that.

Point two would be that if there was a breach early on, the flight crew wouldn't have been able to pressurize the airplane and because of that, they would have not taken off. So this crack developed to the point where it failed in flight by flying at altitude, not prior to them taking off.

WHITFIELD: Well, this -- are all incredibly lucky then, aren't they?

FEITH: They are. These kinds of events are always very scary, but pilots are trained to handle these types of events and as long as the structural integrity is maintained of the aircraft, it is flyable.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, Greg Feith, thanks so much, former senior investigator with NTSB.

FEITH: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: All right, other top stories we continue to follow, Japan's crippled nuclear plant is still leaking radioactive water, and officials with Tokyo Electric say it's coming from this eight-inch crack in a concrete lined basin outside the No. 2 reactor. What they don't know is how the radiation is getting into the water. Workers are now filling the shaft with concrete.

Japan's nuclear crisis is turning into a public relations meltdown for the utility company, TEPCO. Everything from angry words to death threats have been hurled at TEPCO executives and the employees.

Here now is CNN's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tempers flare at a TEPCO company housing unit for workers. This man is upset that we've shown up on this public street trying to talk to TEPCO employees.

Tokyo police officers, six of them, quickly arrive, and a man who identifies himself only as a company officer for TEPCO explains why.

"The people who live here are nervous," he says.

(on camera): Are you worried about the safety of the workers?

"There's a lot of threats on the Internet," he replies. Not just angry threats, but death threats on numerous Japanese Internet chat sites. One threat is titled, "How to execute a TEPCO executive." This comment says, "put them in the pressure vessels," referring to the nuclear plant. And another, "Death is too easy for them, they should go into the plant."

More alarming, the TEPCO executives who have held the news conferences are now seeing their home addresses posted all over the web. Their salaries, and criticism for how much top executives make are also on numerous sites. TEPCO says 40,000 complaints from the public are coming into their offices every single day. Police officers are now posted around their Tokyo headquarters. Public criticism towards TEPCO has grown almost daily as the company goes back and forth on data, and the crisis now threatens to stretch into months.

Sympathy growing for the workers, while rumors the company is forcing families to stay quiet about their health and work conditions inside the plant is fueling resentment against TEPCO.

Which is why at the TEPCO company housing unit tensions are so high at the mere sight of a TV crew. A picture of the front of this building appeared on a blog, reposted on other blogs. The blog then posted this picture, with the words TEPCO on the building were covered with black tape. Today the sign simply states the neighborhood and the word "dormitory."

"This is all because of the Fukushima incident," says the TEPCO officer. The Tokyo police officer says, We can't air any of this tape, even though we're on a public street and in no violation of the law.

(on camera): We're going to go. All right. Arigato.

(voice-over): An embattled energy company, facing not just a nuclear emergency, but a crisis of public confidence. Kyung Lah, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: What's happening in Japan and in the Middle East has a lot of American travelers worried about some vacation plans. Planning a safe trip, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Florida, NASA engineers will begin a detailed inspection of the Space Shuttle Endeavor today. This after severe storms, including a 90-mile-per-hour wind gust pounded the area Wednesday and Thursday. A lightning strike near the launch pad caused minor damage to the spacecraft. Endeavor is scheduled to launch on its final mission come April 19th.

So much for the Sunshine State, our Bonnie Schneider is live in the CNN Weather Center.

But it happens, Florida, very typically, lots of crazy storms that pass through. BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's true, actually, Tampa, Florida, on the other coast sees the most thunderstorms annually of any city in the U.S. So Florida Sunshine, also stormy. But improvements, improvements are ahead in the forecast.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Weather is just one concern when you travel abroad, but there are other conditions you should consider to ensure a safe trip. Our Stephanie Elam has some tips on how to be a safe globe trotter in this week's "On The Go."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's beautiful, but is it safe? When travel brochures don't answer that question, the State Department can be a good resource.

JAMES PETTIT, BUREAU OF CONSULAR AFFAIRS: We never say you cannot go to a given country. What we do is try to provide as much information as possible so people can make an informed decision.

ELAM: For detailed information on any country in the world, check out Travel.state.gov.

PETTIT: When you actually enter that site you'll see a summary of the most recent warnings and alerts. What I would recommend for any traveler is to look at the country specific information because it covers a variety of areas, including traffic safety, prevalence of crime, environmental concerns.

ELAM: U.S. citizens can also notify the State Department of their travel plans through STEP, the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.

PETTIT: Our posts overseas can notify them directly through what we called the Warden System, those are locally based targeted messages that we send out to people who have registered, who are actually in country.

ELAM: This may speed up communication and assistance in case of an emergency.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: One Florida neighborhood wants to ban kids from playing outside. That's coming up next. We'll tell you why they want to ban kids playing right there in front of the houses.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Remember how your parents always said, why don't you just go play outside? Well, a neighborhood in central Florida is trying to ban kids from actually doing that.

Our legal guys are back; Avery Friedman in Washington, Richard Herman in Las Vegas.

Oh, my goodness. We're talking about -- it sounds crazy on the surface, but there's a good argument on both sides, right? Edgewater, Florida, this homeowners association for 48 town homes is saying it's just not safe for kids to be playing tag, skateboarding, riding their bikes, et cetera, in the parking lot right in front of the town homes there. And if you do so, there's going to be a $100 fine for every violation.

So, Richard, can an HOA really do this? Lawfully?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, they can, Fred. They can, and they should. Homeowners associations, condominium boards, co-op boards, they're charged with regulating the common areas for these facilities. What this board is saying is that for safety reasons this is a parking lot. Kids shouldn't be riding, and if one of these kids should get injured or hit by a car, this community is going to get sued for a lot of money. They don't want that.

They're trying to protect the environment. If you don't like it, vote new people in the homeowners, have your vote heard and try to overrule it.

WHITFIELD: So I wonder, Avery, is it an issue of, does this neighborhood not have a playground, so the money that people spend, you know, toward their HOA, does that mean that the HOA now has to be aware of the populace there, there are kids. There's got to be a safe place for them to play, so why don't they use that money and erect a playground? Might that be a decent argument?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I guess. Look, Fredricka, the fact is this activity, this proposal is a dope slap concept that flies in the face of the Federal Fair Housing Act.

HERMAN: What?

FRIEDMAN: Ronald Reagan enacted legislation, signed a law in 1988 that prohibits the homeowners association from doing what they are doing. Let me tell you something. Justice Department will be down there. The only one that will bring suit in federal court faster than they will be me. It violates federal law. They can't do it. There's no way they can justify the law. $100 for playing tag? I don't think so.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. OK. We've just heard the beginning of it, because we know this will be heated if for a while.

FRIEDMAN: You bet. You bet.

WHITFIELD: Another heated argument taking place this time before the Supreme Court of the United States. We're talking about Wal-Mart now, where they're beginning to hear arguments, Supreme Court is, in what could be the biggest employment discrimination case in U.S. history.

We're talking about six women who sued Wal-Mart with discrimination about pay, promotions, but they wanted it to be much bigger than that. But at issue here, gentlemen, not whether there is, you know, a viable fight here in court, but whether a class action suit can be too big.

So, Avery, where is this going? That's what this court has to decide first, right?

FRIEDMAN: Right. And the court, basically the argument is, look. Women by the thousands have been underpaid by Wal-Mart. Wal- Mart basically saying, hey, we underpay everybody. But seriously, it's a case where the size of the class indeed will be the largest. The U.S. Court of Appeals said, yes, it's satisfactory to have a class matter. Justice Scalia said I'm whipsawed by that kind of thinking, and I think what we're looking for is a 5-4 reversal, which upheld the class, the case will be thrown out. That means there will be thousands of individual cases, which means the case will never move forward.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.

So, Richard, so 1.5 million women, as part of this class action, would just simply be too large.

HERMAN: Mega. Mega class, and I don't want to agree with Avery, especially today, but I'm going to have to agree with him. This is going nowhere. I'm going to have to-Kennedy and Ginsburg voiced serious concerns about the calculations for damages, as well as the inconsistent pleadings. Was this a centralized discrimination by Wal- Mart? Or did the individual managers have so much discretion? Major problems with the case. It's not going to go through. I agree with Avery.

WHITFIELD: Now we're moving to a case that is oh, so embarrassing. Oh, my goodness. We're talking about the Italian prime minister, Berlusconi, scheduled to go to court to trial on Wednesday. He's accused of paying under-aged young women, particularly one, named Ruby, for sex, then trying to cover it up.

But what's interesting here, too, that's interesting on the surface, right? But what's even more interesting is actor George Clooney is among those being called by the defense to testify. Where in the world is this one going, Richard? Why would Clooney be in all this?

HERMAN: First, Fred, your dress is so neon, I don't know when you signed up for the cast of "Grease", but --

FRIEDMAN: Hey, hey, hey!

WHITFIELD: I love it.

HERMAN: I need some shades here, because I can't.

FRIEDMAN: Holy smokes.

HERMAN: The pink is overwhelming. WHITFIELD: You got the pink memo, I see.

HERMAN: But you look marvelous.

WHITFIELD: Oh, I see. Thanks.

FRIEDMAN: She sure does.

HERMAN: All right. Listen. Why is Clooney -- why are they bringing him in? For Ruby, the heart stealer? Why are they bringing him down for the bunga bunga trial? Because Ruby made comments to the police when she was interviewed. And during the period of time, she said, oh, and one of the dinners I saw George Clooney with his date.

So Clooney's defense team just wants to corroborate her. They want to show, yes, that she wasn't lying to police. Because she adamantly denies that Berlusconi even laid a finger on her. So that's going to be hard to prove a rape case if the victim says she was never raped. But anyway-

WHITFIELD: Well, Avery! You can finish your point, I'm sorry.

HERMAN: I'm just say being, it's a ridiculous case against Berlusconi. Like the other 100 previous cases they brought against him. The guy is just Teflon. They can't get him.

WHITFIELD: That's a lot of love for Berlusconi.

So, Avery, I wonder, you know, Clooney is saying, OK, yes, we had a conversation. But it was about money to Darfur.

FRIEDMAN: Right. It was not about bunga bunga, in fact, it was about Darfur. The fact is, that's exactly right. Ruby, the heart stealer, did identify George at a party. His girlfriend, Elizabeth Canellas (ph), says well, we weren't there, but the fact that George is on the list, there's 78 people on the list. He's not going to testify in this case. If he does, he's certainly not going to help prosecution. Interesting, but I think it's going nowhere.

WHITFIELD: Oh, OK. Interesting stuff. This is like a soap opera, isn't it?

HERMAN: Isn't it? Absolutely.

FRIEDMAN: Riveting.

WHITFIELD: OK. Avery, Richard, always good to see you. Yes, I'm totally digging the shades there. That's hot, Richard, very hot.

HERMAN: We're digging your outfit, Fred.

FRIEDMAN: It's a wonderful outfit.

WHITFIELD: You all are sweet. I appreciate it. Always digging you.

HERMAN: See you soon.

WHITFIELD: Have a great rest of the weekend.

Thanks, guys.

Reality TV star Bethenny Frankel, you know her, right? Well, she knows how to get what she wants out of life. I'll sit down "Face To Face" with her straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Time to now go "Across Country" to see what other stories are in the headlines.

Despite rallies in the state's capitol Friday, a spokesman for Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, says he will not pardon Gladys and Jamie Scott. The two sisters were released from prison, you recall, back in January, on the condition that one sister donate a kidney to the other. They served 16 years for a 1993 armed robbery that netted $11. The sisters say a full pardon would help them secure jobs and move on with their lives.

On to Little Rock, Arkansas, now, an Atlantic Southeast Airline jet was forced to make an emergency landing after it struck a flock of birds. Incredible damage to the plane's nose that you can see right there, aside from being a little shaken up, the 49 passengers and crew members were not hurt.

And then check this out. This is the most expensive single- family house ever sold in America. The price, $100 million. The location? Silicon Valley. A Russian billionaire investor shelled out the cash for the 25,000-square-foot mansion.

All right, she has become America's favorite self-described skinny girl. Bethenny Frankel, bestselling author, natural food chef and breakout reality TV show star. She's hugely popular in large part because of her sharp tongue, wit and wisdom. I sat down "Face To Face" to talk about her third book, which reveals how she gets what she wants out of life.

Bethenny Frankel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETHENNY FRANKEL, AUTHOR, REALITY TV STAR: It's been an incredible journey, and it's kind of hard to hold on. But I'm trying, and holding on for dear life.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): On her hit reality TV show "Ever After," holding on to so much looks easy for Bethenny Frankel.

FRANKEL: It's been quite a year. My business kind of exploded over the last year, and few years. I got married, I had a baby, my own show is quite a success.

WHITFIELD: She's the fast-talking brain child behind the ever so popular 100 calorie premixed Skinny Girl Margarita. The witty first runner up on NBC's "The Apprentice", Martha Stewart, and the once take-no-prisoners standout in the Bravo hit series "The Real Housewives of New York."

FRANKEL: I left the "Housewives" and ironically became a housewife.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Funny how that works out.

FRANKEL: It is funny how that works out.

WHITFIELD: A meteoric assent in the public eye in just five years. A blink by entertainment business standards.

FRANKEL: Basically, the way that I got here, my life, is coming from a place of "yes".

WHITFIELD: Yes. The basic ingredient she says to just about all that's come her way.

FRANKEL: That does not mean I'm always positive, it doesn't mean I'm always in a good mood, it just means there is no such word as no in my vocabulary and it's just yes, with he can get it done, and it will help, and I will make it happen, and keep going. Plow straight through things.

WHITFIELD: Yes is also the premise behind her third book. "That Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life". Where did this come from?

FRANKEL: People don't really ask me that many questions about my personal life because they know a lot of it. They ask me, how did you succeed in business. My book "Place Of Yes" is how I got here. And it tells mostly women how to get there in whatever you want to do. If you want to just be married, if you want to be a great mom, a tri- athlete, a philanthropist, CEO, whatever it is you want. A place of yes is telling you how to get it and how I got there.

WHITFIELD: First you break the chain. And then you say, you say everything is your business. You have 10 rules, but we're not going to go through all 10. So I've just selected a few. You say everything is your business. Give every job your all. Respect others. Play fair.

FRANKEL: Everything is your business. I have had a woman work for me who was a coat check girl at a party, and she treated it like she was the president of the United States, and she later went on to run Bill Gates and Paul Allen's event businesses, and has a big job marketing at Red Bull now.

WHITFIELD: All roads lead to Rome, which is another big rule.

(voice-over): Rules of life Bethenny Frankel may not be the first to have penned, but like in her shows -- FRANKEL: I was told by an ex-boyfriend you should not be using reality television for therapy.

WHITFIELD: And her business ventures --

FRANKEL: And I say, why not? You should use everything for therapy.

WHITFIELD: She's unapologetically honest. Engaging a huge audience that can't seem to get enough of Bethenny Frankel's life's recipe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And later on this afternoon, more of my "Face To Face" interview with Bethenny Frankel. She'll be talking about why she's so unapologetic and she is also talk about the lessons she hopes to impart to her daughter, now just six months old.

It could have been a disaster in the air. We'll hear from a passenger who will share what happened when a big hole opened in the roof of a Southwest Airlines jetliner.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories now.

A terrifying moment for passengers and crew on a Southwest Airlines flight. A three to four-foot hole opened in the Boeing 737s roof after takeoff from Phoenix. The pilot was able to make an emergency landing at a military base in Yuma, Arizona.

And when the hole opened, some of the passengers simply panicked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was texting my sister to make certain she told my kids that I loved them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was in back of me, to the left, and I did hear it. It sounded like a shot and a lot of air decompressing and it was quick and it was scary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Very scary stuff.

Workers at Japan's cripple the nuclear plant are pouring concrete now into a pretty scary situation there. A cracked shaft that is actually outside reactor 2. Highly radioactive water is leaking out of that basin and into the ocean. They suspect one of the many pipes inside the reactor is actually leaking radioactive material.

And a second day of anti-American protests has turned deadly again in Afghanistan. Officials say at least nine people were killed today while protesting a Koran burning by a Florida pastor. A dozen people died yesterday in an attack on a U.N. compound in northern Afghanistan.

All right. Here's a question for you, do you think $1 million is enough to retire on? Come back at our 2:00 Eastern hour to find out.

Meantime, time now for YOUR MONEY.