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Feds to Open More Floodgates; IMF Head in Court on Sexual Assault Charges; 60-Second Startup; Trump Won't Run For President

Aired May 16, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Want to get you up to speed.

Space shuttle Endeavour is settling into orbit after its final liftoff that happened today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zero, and liftoff for the final launch of Endeavour --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Endeavour's launch is the next-to-last for NASA's 30- year-old shuttle program. Just a short time ago I talked with former Endeavour astronaut Mae Jemison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MAE JEMISON, FORMER ASTRONAUT: It's very bittersweet because it was a wonderful, beautiful launch. I was on the second mission of Endeavour. And things are transitioning.

When we spoke last year, we were there talking about the fact that the shuttle era was coming to an end, and now the United States was putting more of its research money into how to do interplanetary travel, how to come up with the kinds of engines that are needed to go to (INAUDIBLE) to an asteroid. So, that transition is great, but it's sort of hard to see the shuttle program ending.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Astronaut Mark Kelly, he is commanding Endeavour's last flight. His wife, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was at the Kennedy Space Center for today's launch.

Well, the head of the International Monetary Fund, the IMF, will be arraigned in New York today. A hotel housekeeper accuses Dominique Strauss-khan of attempted rape. A law enforcement source says she picked him from a lineup. An attorney says his client did nothing wrong and consented to a forensics exam.

Water from the Mississippi River is surging into Louisiana's Cajun country. That is happening today. The Army Corps of Engineers has opened nine floodgates on the Morganza Spillway and plans to open many more. The gush of water will cause a 20-mile-wide flood that will peril the Mississippi's path to the Gulf.

In Canada, a runaway forest fire is threatening to burn the entire town of Slave Lake. That is in central Alberta. All 7,000 residents have been told to get out or face arrest. Already, the town hall, the library, the high school have all gone up in flames.

The Vatican today tweaked its guidelines on sex abuse allegations. The Church says that Catholic bishops should cooperate with police, but it does not require them to report allegations. The Vatican concedes that there really is little new. The changes are meant to standardize the Church's response to allegations.

Well, doctors are moving beating victim Bryan Stow from a hospital in Los Angeles to one near his home in San Francisco. Doctors say that Stow is out of a medically-induced coma and showing signs of some cognitive brain function. Two men jumped him after the Dodgers-Giants baseball opener March 31st, kicking and punching him in the head. No arrests have been made.

To south-central Louisiana, Cajun country. Some of it is already now under water after the floodgates opened near Baton Rouge. Thousands of people live in that lower-lying area, and most of them are now grabbing what they can, they're getting out.

Our Ed Lavandera is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in Butte La Rose, Louisiana, the parish president says about 90 percent of the people who live here have already evacuated, and the water from the Atchafalaya River we can see is already starting to rise.

But what's interesting is, is that the water makes its way back and curves around here, and gets into the backwaters behind the town of Butte La Rose. That is the water that will cause the major flooding here in this small community, and actually in many of the small communities that go through the Atchafalaya River basin. And all of this water is being diverted off of the Mississippi River through the Morganza Spillway.

Over the weekend, one of those floodgates were opened. Now we're up to nine of those floodgates being opened, and that's diverting a lot more water down through this river basin. And that means people are running out of time to get out of the water's path.

In St. Landry's Parish, just up from where we are, upstream, mandatory evacuation orders were issued yesterday. About 240 homes affected, some almost 800 people we saw packing up and starting to move toward higher ground.

Here, in Butte La Rose, the parish president says that he doesn't expect to have to issue the mandatory evacuation order until the end of the week. So this is a long, slow, tedious process, and that's what the parish president says here is the most difficult part -- Suzanne.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Thank you.

Politicians, infidelity, your vote. Carol Costello with the "Talk Back Question of the Day" -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's on my mind today?

MALVEAUX: What's on your mind?

COSTELLO: Sex and politics.

MALVEAUX: Why do we both crack up when you say that?

COSTELLO: I don't know. It seems to go together these days. Who knows?

In poll after poll, Americans say they care more about a candidate's ability to handle the economy than just about anything else. But character is also important, which leads to us the infidelity trap.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich began seeing his current and third wife while still married to his second. Gingrich is hoping voters will forgive and forget.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I clearly have done things that were wrong. I've clearly had to seek God's forgiveness. I believe people have to decide whether or not what I've said and what I've done is real. And I think that if people watch me and talk with me, get to know me, my hope is that the majority of Americans will decide that I can help this country get back on track in a way that no one else can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That kind of sounds like another presidential candidate from long ago defending himself against charges of infidelity on "60 Minutes."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, I have acknowledged wrongdoing. I have acknowledged causing pain in my marriage. I have said things to you tonight and to the American people from the beginning that no American politician ever has. Anybody who's listening gets the drift of it. And let's go on and get back to the real problems of this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, yes, Bill Clinton. You know what happened there. Clinton's escapades with Monica Lewinsky almost derailed his presidency. Never mind that it was then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich leading the impeachment charge against him.

Still, despite the Lewinsky scandal, Clinton's presidency was successful if you judge it by the economy. It hummed (ph). Unemployment was four percent. And who's to say Newt Gingrich cannot do the same, despite his messy marital past?

So, the "Talk Back" question today: Should infidelity matter to voters?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your comments later this hour.

MALVEAUX: All right, Carol. Thanks. Can't wait.

Here's a rundown of some of the stories we are covering today.

A children's bounce house blows away at a fifth grade graduation party.

The boss of one of the world's most powerful organizations accused of attempted rape.

Then, an arrest warrant sought for Moammar Gadhafi.

Plus, take a good look at this kid. He could save you a ton of money.

And rappin' for Wall Street? Two unemployed bankers take to the mike.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: More details now in the arraignment today of a powerful finance chief and politician on sexual assault charges. Dominique Strauss-Kahn is accused of attacking a housekeeper in his $3,000-a-night hotel suite in New York.

Now, Strauss-Kahn is the head of the IMF. That's the International Monetary Fund. His arraignment was delayed until today, after he agreed to undergo physical and forensic exams requested by the police.

Now, his attorneys insist that he's innocent. They say that they will vigorously defend him in court.

Our CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin was asked about how Strauss-Kahn's French citizenship might affect the legal proceedings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: This is not an international matter at all. New York, being the cosmopolitan center that it is, has non-citizens arrested all the time, and they are entitled to have contact with the embassies of their host nation. And certainly French consular officials will have the right to go see him and make sure he has a lawyer.

And I understand he's hired Benjamin Brafman, who is one of the finest lawyers in New York City. So, other than having access to people in his embassy, he is just going to be treated, as I understand it, like any other criminal defendant who's facing very serious criminal charges.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: In addition to his role as head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was also considered a leading candidate for the president of France. But this is not the first time that he has been involved in controversy.

I want to bring in our CNN senior international correspondent Jim Bittermann, who is in Paris.

Jim, give us some background. Who is this man? What are we talking about here?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, when you say "a leading candidate," he was the leading candidate. According to all public opinion polls that have been taken over the last six months, he was the only candidate among the runners in the election contest for 2012 who could actually beat President Sarkozy. And so the Socialists had great hope that he would come back and announce the fact that he was going to run. He hadn't yet done that, but nonetheless, the opinion polls all showed him way out in front.

So, as you could imagine, there was a lot of despondent people over at the Socialist Party headquarters today, some of them in tears, actually, over the idea that they had just seen this morning that perp walk, the idea of Strauss-Kahn, the man they put their hopes in to lead France, being walked by two policemen in handcuffs into the courthouse. So it was a pretty dramatic morning over there.

They say they're going to find another candidate, that they're going to continue onward. But by every kind of thing you can imagine, there was a lot of depression over there, and a lot of desperation, and kind of a little chaos, too.

MALVEAUX: Sure. And Jim, what do we suppose this means for his political future? Do we think he's done?

BITTERMANN: Well, "The Liberation," the Socialist newspaper here, had a headline this morning that said, "DSK OUT," and that translates into any language. "DSK" meaning Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and "OUT" meaning out, as in out in politics.

I think that the people are really writing him off. It's hard to imagine he could pull out of this with any kind of respect, any kind of image at all. And certainly the idea of running for president, if he loses his passport, as we suspect he might during this arraignment hearing, he can't run very well for president of France while he's nailed to the floor in the United States, in New York.

MALVEAUX: All right. Jim, thank you very much.

What exactly does the International Monetary Fund do? Our Carl Azuz is going "Beyond the Headlines" to break down what the scandal could mean for the IMF, as well as the international community.

Remind our viewers, first of all, what the IMF does and what it means.

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Sure, Suzanne.

The IMF essentially is like the rich uncle of the global financial market, which is an analogy I just love. When there is a country, and its economy is in trouble and threatening to collapse, the International Monetary Fund swoops in and gives low-cost loans to the nation in need.

The loans generally come tied to strict conditions to try to force the troubled nation to clean up its act. The idea, to keep the global economy healthy by not letting a country that's drowning in debt pull the rest of the international market into the drink.

Formed over 60 years ago, at the end of World War II, the IMF includes 187 countries, and is a specialized agency working out of the United Nations. Representation in the group is based upon the relative size of each nation, so kind of like states in the U.S. House of Representatives.

After the global economic collapse of 2008, the role of the IMF has taken on even greater importance because that many more countries are in dire straits. So the fund's lending capacity tripled to around $750 billion. And between trouble in the European Union, and concern over China manipulating its own currency, the IMF has been a big power player on the world stage.

As head of the fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been generally applauded for his work in leading the IMF and helping lead the world through the dark times of the great recession. So the timing of his arrest for alleged sexual misconduct, that couldn't have been worse.

This week, the IMF is going to be part of some big deals -- building a bailout package for Portugal, looking into lowering the interest rate for Ireland. And here's a really big one -- deciding whether Greece's economic collapse is cause for emergency funding.

So There are a lot of economists the world over who are going to be watching this very closely, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Yes, a very powerful organization and a powerful man. Thank you very much. Appreciate it, Carl.

AZUZ: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Well, pitching your dream idea in 60 seconds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These young entrepreneurs are 60 seconds away from winning $10,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Wow. Minority entrepreneurs given a priceless opportunity to finance their own startup.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Anticipation building now at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis. That is happening right now.

The commencement speaker next hour is going to be President Barack Obama. The school won the president's 2011 Race to the Top challenge. Its graduation rate has soared almost 30 percentage points since 2007.

Live coverage from Memphis, that is coming up.

Also, we talked last week to the principal and a student from the school where the president's going to be speaking, and we asked the principal what the school did to turn things around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISHA KINER, PRINCIPAL, BOOKER T. WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL: Look, just treat each kid as an individual. It's not about tests. It's about meeting the kid where they are. Parents send the best kids they have to school every day. It's our job to meet them there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Graduating senior Kenneth Roberson talked about his reaction to the news that the president is going to be speaking at his commencement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNETH ROBERSON, GRADUATING SENIOR: I was shocked. I was very shocked. And I was willing to do whatever it was and whatever it takes to see the president. And I'm just looking forward to shaking his hand, and hoping that I say the proper things to the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We're sure he will.

The president isn't the only one who's giving words of encouragement to the class of 2011. Over the weekend, first lady Michelle Obama was the commencement speaker at Spelman College, historically a black women's college in Atlanta. She talked to them about their education as an inheritance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: And I've chosen that word "inheritance" very carefully, because it's not an entitlement that you can take for granted. It's not a gift with which you can do whatever you please. It is a commitment that comes with a certain set of obligations, obligations that don't end when you march through that arch today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: This week, "CNN In Depth" focuses on America's job hunt. We are collaborating with CNNMoney.com and "TIME" magazine to look at where the jobs are, how to get them, how to keep them. I want you to watch our weeklong coverage. Log on to CNNMoney.com and Time.com for more reporting on America's job hunt.

Howard University is offering people with a business idea and a dream the perfect opportunity to launch their own startup. They just have to sell an audience on the idea in one minute.

T.J. Holmes reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): These young entrepreneurs are 60 seconds away from winning $10,000.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole (INAUDIBLE) plan is pretty much --

HOLMES: That is if they can come up with a perfect business pitch. The upstarts recently attended the 100 Urban Entrepreneurs Event at Howard University. They had 60 seconds to pitch their dream business idea to a panel of four judges. Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer Brian Michael Cox was among them.

BRYAN MICHAEL COX, ADVISER, 100 URBAN ENTREPRENEURS: I'm looking forward to a business if it makes sense. If it - if it can be effective, if it can be profitable and I'm looking for the charisma.

HOLMES: The pitches range from an interchangeable jewelry design business to ways of bringing organic food into the inner cities.

PRATHER: Finally, someone came up with this idea.

HOLMES: The team of Toni Hall and Natalie Prater was one of the five winners. Their pitch -- Size 12, a shoe boutique catering to women who wear sizes 10 to 14.

HALL: (INAUDIBLE). I figured I was so frustrated at finding fashionable shoes, so a lot of other women were frustrated, too.

HOLMES: Wanting to turn agony of shoe shopping into something positive, Toni researched starting a business and conducted surveys of other women shoppers.

PRATHER: There is one woman who came here last week. She actually wore size 13. She picked out a two pair of flats and she was like these are a little tight. Do you have a 14? And I went in the back and I came out with 14 in three different styles. And she looked at me like - HOLMES: The duo heard about the competition from a previous winner who encouraged them to enter.

HALL: I feel so honored.

PRATHER: Extremely blessed.

HALL: Blessed.

PRATHER: Honored.

HALL: We're very grateful. This is amazing. Yes.

PRATHER: It's an amazing opportunity just the fact that they had this program. It's awesome. HOLMES: Organized just over a year ago and with a $100,000 backing from one of the most famous entrepreneurs, P. Diddy, 100 Urban Entrepreneurs chairman, Dan Carriere, says its mission it to give young minority business people a hand up.

DAN CARRIERE, CHAIRMAN, 100 URBAN ENTREPRENEURS: I can tell you that being an entrepreneur is attainable for many. We just need to level the playing field and give the tools and inspiration to what I see in urban America as a tremendous hustle, a desire to get forward.

HOLMES: So what happened to Toni and Natalie? Well, their 60- second pitch landed them to go on to win $10,000 and participate in an eight-week mentorship.

T.J. Holmes, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Good for them.

Is a college education worth the money? That's the big question behind a new Pew Research Center study.

When asked to rate the job higher education is doing in providing value for the money, only five percent said it is doing an excellent job. Thirty-five percent said good, 42 percent said fair, 15 percent said poor. But when college grads were asked whether college has been a good investment for them, 86 percent says it has.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

MALVEAUX: Picture-perfect liftoff for the shuttle Endeavour on its final voyage. It blasted into space about three-and-a-half hours ago from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Six astronauts are on that mission. It is commanded by Mark Kelly, who is also the husband of wounded U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who traveled to Florida to witness the launch.

Want to bring in Chad Myers.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MALVEAUX: All right. Tell us a little bit about the weather. I know Ed Lavandera was talking about the situation with the flooding in southern Louisiana, some real problems that they're having.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It happened over the weekend. It happened on Saturday.

They opened that Morganza floodgate, that gate that brought all the water in out of the river and into the Gulf of Mexico in a shorter distance of time. It flooded three million acres of land. It's still flooding right now.

Here is your iReport right here from Cajun country. That's the water coming up here, and it's going to continue to come up, because there's only -- not even half of the gates are open.

They are going to keep the gates open to keep the water level -- level -- in New Orleans. That's their goal right now, keep is at 17 feet. That's at or right about flood stage. They're not going to worry too much about it. It's not going to be at the top of the levee, because it could have been much, much higher, and of course the top of the levee could be a problem.

Let's go right to the Morganza Spillway, and I will tell you what you it means.

Here's New Orleans, here's the Mississippi River, all the way down. What they did over the weekend is they opened up a gate.

They opened up the gates at Morganza. The gates allow water to come down in a low area, a low level. This is the bayou. These are ditches and swamps and the bayou.

But people do live there. But they knew -- these gates haven't been opened since '73. They knew when they moved there, or they knew when they built there, that this was a possibility. This is the outlet to save New Orleans and save Baton Rouge, and they had to use it.

Now, New Orleans actually crested. Cresting right now, going back down a little bit. They're not going to let the water go too far there from where it is now. Still going to be cresting though for Baton Rouge and the like.

And I have one more picture. Because remember we talked about Bonnet Carre how they opened that spillway. Here's New Orleans right there. And all of that mud was coming down the river, coming down the river. And now that muddy water is spilling into Lake Pontchartrain as we thought. But it won't fill up Lake Pontchartrain because they did open Morganza. A lot of water will go down there, not pollute, so to speak, Lake Pontchartrain like it could have.

MALVEUAX: All right, Chad. Thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome. MALVEUAX: After the raid that killed terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden, the U.S. is now focusing on mending relations with Pakistan. Senator John Kerry is in the Pakistani capital. A live report on his mission, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Want to bring you some live pictures here. The excitement unbelievable! This is at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, Tennessee. President Obama to speak at their commencement. Kind of shows up a little bit ahead of time.

We actually -- this is tape. Turning around some tape here that just happened.

They are just rising to their feet. They can't believe he's there. One girl, can you see there -- tears are just flowing there. So exciting. This is an incredible class of students. They've won the 2011 president's challenge, the Race to the Top challenge in terms of their own performance. Oh, let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Y'all kind of excited about graduating, huh?

(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)

OBAMA: Well, listen. I just had a chance to meet your principal and these two outstanding classmates of yours. And I just want to say how inspired we were. We were inspired by the video you sent. We're inspired by the stories you told. We're inspired by how you turned this school around.

Now, obviously a lot of that has to do with your outstanding principal. And we are proud of her.

(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)

OBAMA: 25. She started when she was seven as was a child prodigy. Teaching high school at seven years old.

Obviously, it has a lot to do with great teachers. But, this is mainly your day and your success because a lot of you -- I'm going to talk about this at the commencement -- a lot of you had to struggle to get here. Most of you weren't born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

But what you've shown is determination. What you've shown is character. What you've shown is a willingness to work hard and the ability to steer clear of folks that were trying to send you down the wrong path.

And so as a consequence, you've now become role models for all the young people coming up behind you. You've become an inspiration to the city and the state of Tennessee and the country. So, I just want you all to know, you inspire me. That's why I'm here. I could not be prouder of what you do.

But I still got some big, big expectations for you, so don't think just because you graduated from high school that that's it. You've got a lot more work to do, because I expect all of you to be leaders in this community and communities all across the country. And this is just the beginning. This is not the end. All right?

So God bless you, guys. I'm so excited to be here.

(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: You can see students are absolutely in tears as they are greeted by President Obama there, who's going to be giving the commencement speech in about 20 minutes or so. Just overwhelmed some of these students as they meet the president. They have accomplished a great deal. Their graduation rate going up 30 percent -- percentage points since 2007. These are the winners of the administration's 2011 Race to the Top challenge. Obviously a lot of accomplished students there, very proud moment for many of them, their parents and their teachers. Congratulations.

Senator John Kerry is on a mission to mend U.S. relationship with Pakistan, but don't expect any apologies for the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. Kerry appears to be standing firm as he meets with top officials in Islamabad.

Our Stan Grant is in Pakistani capital. Stan, tell us what is Kerry's main message today?

STAN GRANT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPODNENT: Suzanne, the main message here is how to get this relationship started again. In his words, how to reset this relationship. The killing of Osama Bin Laden has really exposed some cracks, and he came here with some tough words. He said to the Pakistani leadership, the president, the prime minister, the heads of the military and the intelligence service that there are those in the United States, in Washington, who are asking some very tough questions about this alliance, wondering what Pakistan knew about Bin Laden's presence here in the country.

Now he said he wants to move beyond that. Although he is setting some goals here, some benchmarks, there are some things he says that Pakistan needs to do to be able to get this relationship back on the right foot. There has been more discussion about this. Some officials from the U.S. are coming later this week. And there is a planned visit by the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also to try to mend these fences.

Now, there's been a lot of criticism from Pakistan to the United States as well. They've been pointing the finger back at the U.S. about the secrecy of the raid on Bin Laden's compound. They're saying that Pakistan did not know about it and that infringed on Pakistan's sovereignty.

And this is what John Kerry had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: My goal has been to talk with the leaders here about how to manage this critical relationship more effectively. About how to open up the opportunities to put this relationship back on track where isolated episodes, no matter how profound, don't jeopardize the larger relationship and the larger goal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRANT: And he's not here to apologize at all for that raid. He said it had to be carried out secretly. In fact, he didn't know about it either until after Bin Laden had been killed. What he's stressing to the Pakistanis is to focus on the things that you know Pakistan and the U.S., the fight against the insurgency, Taliban, al Qaeda and not their differences. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: And Stan, the fact that Bin Laden was hiding plain sight in Pakistan has many here concerned and convinced that Pakistani officials were either complicit or incompetent in this hunt for this terrorist leader. Is Kerry pressing for answers regarding that?

GRANT: I put that question directly to him in the news conference, Suzanne. I said, the bottom line here, do you trust what they're saying? He said to me there is no evidence to suggest that the Pakistani officials, the military, the intelligence, the civilian government, did know about Bin Laden's presence here, and he said he wasn't going to speculate. He said he'd rather focus on moving the relationship forward than getting into speculation. He said he'd rather focus on moving the relationship forward then getting into speculation.

I then asked him if this indeed is negligence then on the part of the Pakistanis, is he happy with that? Again he said this is not something he wants to get into.

You see the emphasis here really is not about trying to go it (INAUDIBLE). The whole goal (ph) is about trying to get this relationship going forward. Pakistan is very important to the United States. It has its flaws. We know that there are those in the United States who suspect Pakistan of playing a double game. But it is so crucial to try to end the war in Afghanistan that right now, they're prepared to live with some of these differences and try to get the relationship moving again. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right. Stan Grant, thank you very much.

We've got a little bit of breaking news here. Want to bring you up to speed here. This of course is the case -- the case against the IMF chief, Dominique Strauss-Khan. Prosecutors are arguing against bail for the head of the IMF. These are allegations -- rape charges, they're arguing against bail. He is facing sexual assault charges. They are saying that during the arraignment they believe that Strauss- Khan has engaged in similar acts, at least once, and so they are rejecting the idea -- the notion of bail. The defense attorneys for Strauss-Khan, however, say they will agree to bail of $1 million.

That's the latest development out of this case that we are following very closely. We'll have a quick break, we'll get right back to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We've got some breaking news. I understand that IMF chief Strauss-Khan, there are developments in that case, the court case over whether or not he will actually have -- be held on bail or be released. We know that his attorneys are arguing back and forth on the matter of whether or not this is going to take place. He's the head of the IMF.

Want to also go to another story, breaking news story. This is coming from Kevin Bond, our CNN senior producer here. This is a statement, Donald Trump announcement, saying, "after considerable deliberation and reflection, I've decide not to pursue the office of the presidency." This is Donald Trump's statement from a person in his office saying, let me just read a bit of it here.

It says, "after considerable deliberation and reflection, I've decided not to pursue the office of the presidency. This decision does not come easily or without regret, especially when my potential candidacy continues to be validated by ranking at the top of the Republican contenders in polls across the country." He says -- he goes on to say, "I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately the general election. I have spent the past several months unofficially campaigning and recognize that running for public office cannot be done half- heartedly. Ultimately, however, business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector."

He goes on to personally thank -- he says, "I want to personally thank the millions of Americans who have joined the various Trump grassroots movements and written me letters and e-mails encouraging me to run. My gratitude for your faith and trust in me could never be expressed properly in words, so I make you this promise -- that I will continue to voice my opinions loudly and help to shape our political thoughts. My ability to bring important economic and foreign policy issues to the forefront of the national dialogue is perhaps my greatest asset and one of the most valuable services I can provide to this country. I will continue to push our president and the country's policymaker to address the dire challenges arising from our unsustainable debt structure and increasing lack of global competitiveness. Issues including getting tough on China and other countries that are methodically and systematically taking advantage of the United States were seldom mentioned before I brought them to the forefront of the country's conversation. They are now being debated vigorously. I will also continue to push for job creation and initiative that should be this country's top priority and something that I know a lot about. I will not shy away from expressing the opinions that so many of you share, yet don't have a medium through which to articulate. I look forward to supporting the candidate who is the most qualified to help us tackle our country's most important issues and am hopeful that when this person emerges, he or she will have the courage to take on the challenges of the office and be the agent of change that this country so desperately needs. Thank you and God bless America."

This statement coming from Donald Trump. We have seen and heard a lot from Donald Trump over the last weeks or so promoting the whole birther controversy around President Obama, taking full credit for that after the president released a long form birth certificate an then, beyond that, we have heard from Donald Trump talking about policy. Very critical of U.S. policy regarding China, the wars and other matters.

But this, making it very clear now, that Donald Trump, who has flirted with the idea of running for president, is no longer going to be pursuing that goal.

We'll have more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We are just getting word we just read a rather lengthy announcement from Donald Trump now saying that he is not going to be running for president. He'd been flirting with the idea and certainly with the media for quite some time, at least quite vigorously over the last couple of weeks, about the potential for doing so. But he's releasing a statement saying that he's decided not to pursue this. That his ultimate interest is in business. His greatest passion. And he says he's not ready to leave the private sector.

I want to bring in Gloria Borger.

Gloria, what do you make of this?

GLORIA BORGER, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, in talking to some Republicans, I think it really isn't totally unexpected. There was a whole school of thought here that Donald Trump was doing this to raise his already high profile, to raise ratings for his television show, "Celebrity Apprentice" on NBC. We know that they've just renewed that show. And that there were some who were also quite skeptical, Suzanne, that when it came time to providing his financial records, releasing all of those, as you have to do when you run for president, that that would be problematic for him because, as you know as well as I, there's an awful lot of scrutiny that goes on when those financial forms are released. So, in effect, some Republicans say, you know, this was all about raising Donald Trump's profile. This really wasn't about the Republican Party's profile.

MALVEAUX: Gloria, I'm curious, because, you know, I had a chance to interview with Trump and we went back and forth over the whole birther issue, the controversy there. And he had said, well, he'll release his financial records when the president releases the long form birth certificate.

BORGER: Yes. MALVEAUX: So he kind of trumped him on that one, if you will. But how do you think he changed the debate? Did he change the debate at all among the Republican Party or even in the main discussion about moving forward for 2012?

BORGER: Well, you know, I think he did change the debate. And that was kind of the worry within the Republican Party, was the debate seemed to turn to the issues that were diversionary, if you will, and out of the mainstream. The question of the president's birth certificate. In talking to Republicans from other campaigns, an Republicans in Congress, the worry was that he was making the Republican Party look out of the mainstream. What he was trying to do was show that he had a ready-made base. And he did have a ready-made base of support. The minute you raise that birth certificate issue, there are plenty of people out there who are willing to believe that the president wasn't born in the United States, even when presented with the proof. But the worry among Republicans is, look, he was diverting us from the issues we need to be talking about, which is jobs, the economy, gas prices. You know, those are all good issues for Republicans. And so they were worried that he had essentially hijacked the conversation away from the more legitimate conversation that could actually help them win the election.

MALVEAUX: Gloria, do you think there was any concern among Republicans that Trump might actually do well? And if he did well, that that would be a big problem for them?

BORGER: Sure. Sure. I mean I think there was a concern. Look, he's a dynamic guy. He's a well known guy. He was doing well in our polls, which are largely about name identification at this point. So he did have a ready-made base of support. And there is always a worry that he's going to take -- you know, in a pretty large field, that he's going to take away support from some candidates who obviously would want it from the Tea Party, for example. But I think, in the end, people I spoke with always believed that while Donald Trump dipped his toe in the water here, that he would find out that the scrutiny was not the kind of scrutiny that he would really want or enjoy.

MALVEAUX: We noticed, too, at the White house Correspondents Dinner he certainly got a lot of scrutiny from the president, as well as the main headline comedian there.

BORGER: He did.

MALVEAUX: Gloria, we're going to have more --

BORGER: But he was not smiling.

MALVEAUX: No, he was not.

BORGER: He was not smiling, right.

MALVEAUX: Did not smile about that. He was not happy about that criticism. We're going to have more on this story as well as the IMF chief who is facing allegations of sexual assault in his trial and what's happening next. That after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: More developments now that we are following. This is the trial of IMF chief -- this is Dominique Strauss-Kahn. And both sides now in a Manhattan courthouse. So the defense saying that they will -- are willing to agree to pay a bail of a million dollars. The prosecution saying, no, that's not going to happen. They don't want that to happen. At least, because they say, that there have been similar incidents of alleged sexual assault or abuse in previous occasions. So I want you to take a listen to how both sides are laying out this case for the head of the IMF.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The defendant is a well known, well respected international person. He is also probably the most easily identified individual in the world today as a result of the publicity that has been generated during the past 72 hours.

I also would add, for the benefit of the defendant, that he denies these charges. That he is presumed innocent of them under the law. Something which I did not hear at all coming from the people's position. And he is presumed innocent. And indeed this is a very defensible case. There are significant issues that we have already found simply with the preliminary investigation and, in our judgment, makes it quite likely that he might ultimately be exonerated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The strength of the case as it now stands and the potential for additional evidence to be generated, the defendant has additional motivation to flee. We also know that the defendant has the personal, political and financial resources to, in fact, flee and evade (INAUDIBLE). He is a person of means, sophistication, and by all appearances he has the resources to evade capture of the prosecution were he to be released.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and that court case that is taking place in Manhattan now. Both arguments being made whether or not he will be actually held or released on bail.

OUR CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Randi Kaye, who's in for Ali Velshi.

Hey, Randi.