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Dominique Strauss-Kahn: Out of Work, Maybe Out of Jail; Reaction to President Obama's Mideast Speech; Mississippi River Waiting Game
Aired May 19, 2011 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Our top story takes place moments from now in New York, where Dominique Strauss-Kahn is out of a job and might soon be out of jail at least for a while.
The now former head of the International Monetary Fund is back in court hoping to sell a different judge on a more restrictive bail request than the one rejected on Monday. As you probably know, Strauss-Kahn is charged with sexually assaulting a maid at a posh Manhattan hotel last Saturday.
Well, last night, from his cell on Rikers Island, the French socialist who scaled the heights of global finance resigned from the IMF, saying, "I want to protect this institution and especially -- especially -- I want to devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence."
Soon, in a Manhattan courtroom, Strauss-Kahn will offer to put up $1 million in bail and submit to home detention with electronic monitoring. He'll also give up his passport.
CNN's Susan Candiotti is watching and waiting for all of this, and she has this report for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Randi, Dominique Strauss-Kahn wants out, out of the jail cell, a far cry from the lifestyle that he's used to. Also, a cell where someone looks in on him every 15 minutes while he's been under a protective suicide watch.
Here's the offer that's on the table.
He is telling the court that he would put up $1 million bail -- that's the same amount he offered on Monday -- but this is a different judge and a different hearing. He's saying that he will remain at home 24/7, won't leave, that he would submit to electronic monitoring that would probably include, for example, an ankle bracelet, and having to call in by phone every day with the court to tell them where he is. That he would give up his passport and his United Nations travel documents.
He also puts up the deed to his $4 million home in the section of Washington, D.C., called Georgetown, that he would also waive extradition if he wound up in another country that does not have an extradition treaty with the United States. He would willingly return to the United States.
Now, why does he say he deserves bail? Well, he's telling the court in writing that he has no criminal record, that he has strong family ties -- for example, two daughters that live here in New York -- and that he is not a flight risk. That when he left -- or tried to leave, get on a plane to head to Paris, late on Saturday, that he was not rushing away from an alleged attack. Instead, he said he was in a hurry to leave the hotel to have lunch with his daughter and then go on to the airport.
Will the district attorney accept these charges? Will the judge? If the judge does, then he could walk out of court a free man, pending trial. If not, it's back to a jail cell -- Randi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: All right, Susan. Thank you.
Now, before we move on, I want to share just a few details about the life Dominique Strauss-Kahn is leaving behind.
In 2010 -- listen to this -- his contract called for a base salary of almost $442,000, with an added allowance of almost $80,000, no strings attached. He could do what he wanted with that allowance. Oh, and no taxes. Did I mention that? No taxes either.
First-class airfare was covered for Strauss-Kahn and his family whenever he was on official business. Hotel expenses, as well.
Now to an issue that's been on the radar of every U.S. president in modern times, the Middle East.
As you may have heard live, right here on CNN, President Obama reset the course of U.S. policy in the wake of the Arab uprisings, of the death of Osama bin Laden, of the new Palestinian alliance, of the nuclear standoff with Iran. Yes, I could go on.
Mr. Obama talked about all of these things and one more -- the seemingly perpetual conflict between the Palestinians and Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: While the core issues of the conflict must be negotiated, the basis of those negotiations is clear -- a viable Palestine, a secure Israel. The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan and Egypt, and permits Israeli borders with Palestine. We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed swaps so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves and reach their full potential in a sovereign and contiguous state.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: My colleague Wolf Blitzer just wrapped up an interview with Tony Blair. You know him best as a former British prime minister, but his current job is representative of what's called the Mideast Quartet: the U.S., the U.N., the EU and Russia.
Here's an excerpt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The president was very specific. He says Israel and Palestine, the new borders should be based on the '67 lines with mutually agreed swaps.
Does that mean if Israel, for example, were to take some parts of the West Bank, they'd have to give up an equal amount of land to the pre-'67 Israel?
TONY BLAIR, FMR. BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think it's not absolutely predetermining what's happening in the negotiation, but I think it's saying, in essence, that the Palestinians have got to be sure that their state is viable in terms of territory. And that means, if you like, a size of territory that's at least comparable to that laid out by the 1967 lines.
So, obviously, there's going to be deviations or changes from those '67 lines which are mutually agreed through swaps, and that's been part of the negotiating process for a long period of time. But the president's trying to say, look, on the one hand, the Palestinians have got to know if they go back to the negotiating table, that they're going to get a viable state. On the other hand, Israel's got the right to protect its security and we will stand behind them on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: And, of course, you can catch the full interview with Wolf Blitzer on "THE SITUATION ROOM." That's today at 5:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
So, how is all of this playing in the region?
I want to bring in CNN's Rima Maktabi, who was watching this speech and is following the fallout in Beirut, Lebanon.
Rima, was anybody besides you watching the speech there?
RIMA MAKTABI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Nearly all of the Middle East has been looking for this speech. Arab TV networks have been airing it, and they aired the full speech of President Barack Obama, translated in Arabic for their audience. And even now they're airing analysis of the speech, hosting a various number of political analysts from across the region.
It is the top news for us here in the Middle East. And even Syria TV, which Obama addressed, direct quotes to President Bashar al- Assad, even Syria TV was airing the speech, and the analysis after that was a bit negative.
KAYE: What were people saying there when you say it was negative?
MAKTABI: Well, the analysts were saying that President Barack Obama has nothing do with internal affairs of Syria, he shouldn't interfere. And he said that the change and reforms should come from within, from Syria itself, and they claim that this is what President Bashar al-Assad is doing.
KAYE: What kind of reaction was there on social media after the speech?
MAKTABI: As you know, these days, the social media networks, along with two major news networks, Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera, are the main players here in the region. There were many tweets with different opinions. I will read one from Syria. The general mood of Syrians was a bit disappointed with the speech.
One tweet reads, "Obama, guess what? We Syrians started this alone, and if you are too afraid to take an action, we can handle this alone."
Another tweet from a well-known blogger in Egypt says, "So what we will get is a symbolic reshuffle of debt. Nice. Yes, that will fix things."
In general, we can say people on Twitter expected a little bit more on Syria and on Bahrain.
KAYE: Rima Maktabi for us in Beirut, Lebanon.
Interesting reaction there, Rima. Thank you.
The historic flooding turns deadly in Mississippi, and the waters, well, they are only getting higher. Thousands of people wait for the inevitable.
We'll take you there live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back.
Now to the disaster in Mississippi, where a 69-year-old man from Vicksburg has died after being pulled from the floodwaters. Now, this is the first death linked to the flood in the state and the second since the flooding actually began. And this is the same area where the Mississippi River is cresting today to new historic levels.
Life up and down the Mississippi River has become one of survival and a torturous waiting game.
David Mattingly joins us downstream. He's in Natchez, Mississippi, where the flood is expected to crest on Saturday.
And David, the Army Corps of Engineers, keeping an eye on the levees. What's the situation where you are?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right here where we are, Randi, there's a certain sense of relief in general because the water's going to be a foot shorter than what they originally projected the crest to be. And right now, fighting this Mississippi is a game of inches.
For instance, this levee I'm standing on right now, having that water six inches down means a whole lot of less pressure near the top of the levee, where it's most vulnerable. In fact, right now, the Army Corps of Engineers is continuing to be vigilant, watching for problems all up and down the Mississippi. They're addressing a problem right now to the north of here on the main line levee here in Mississippi.
What they're looking at is a problem where water's been getting under the levee and possibly eroding part of that. So they've been dumping a lot of dirt on it, dump truck after dump truck after dump truck going into that area. They're saying it's not a breach and they're not in danger of a breach at the moment, but this is a problem they've been looking for and they are addressing right now.
And get used to this, Randi, because as long as this water is this high, we are going continue to see problems as this flood goes on.
KAYE: And David, what about those who are about to lose their homes and businesses? Do you have any idea how many more we're talking about, having looked at so many in the thousands who have already lost homes?
MATTINGLY: Well, 4,900 in Mississippi, and thousands more to the south of us, in Louisiana. This flood is not done yet. But right now, when you talk about people losing everything, no place epitomizes that more than where I'm standing right now.
This levee was not built with taxpayer money, and it's not maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers. This levee was built by one family, as they try to protect their business that was started a century ago.
Five generations of the Jones family here have been running a lumber company, and the only thing separating that lumber company from this high water right now is this levee. They have been working on it constantly. The problem now is making sure it stays in one piece. And they're giving it everything they've got.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE JONES, PRESIDENT, JM JONES LUMBER: We're trying to keep this thing going for the community, you know, and for this -- these generations, is what we're trying to do. And if we fail, we fail. You know, and if we fail, we'll just say, well, we tried.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: And they're not ready to give up yet, not by any stretch of the imagination. But the river is so high, it is already a huge task at hand to keep it back.
They're also worried about the river traffic that's going through here. The tows that are pushing the barges up create a wake, particularly in the northbound traffic here. Those wakes hit up against this levee that they built and gouge out precious bits of that fragile dirt that they've got underneath here.
In fact, look downright down here, that group of people down there. This is something that's going on constantly out here. They are loading sandbags at an area where some of the dirt has fallen away.
And Randi, this work is constant for this one family. They're trying to save a five-generation legacy here, and they're giving it everything they can. They stopped operations at their lumber company here over 20 days ago, and they're devoting every resource they have into keeping this levee up and keeping it strong -- Randi.
KAYE: What a battle under way there in Mississippi.
David Mattingly, thank you.
Well, if you have a bright idea for any kind of project but don't have the money, there is a Web site that can help. We'll explain how coming up in the "Connection."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: In this week's "Connection," one Internet company is helping people turn their ideas into reality. It is a Web site called Kickstarter, and it's a place to go if you have an idea but you also need the bucks.
Deborah Feyerick reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Got a good idea? Yancey Strickler has an idea for your idea.
YANCEY STRICKLER, CO-FOUNDER, KICKSTARTER: Take that special project, that piece of art, that record, whatever it is, and put it out to the world and let them have a say versus some boardroom, some businessman.
FEYERICK: In this small office on New York City's Lower East Side you won't find a boardroom, just Strickler and two dozen employees, the heart and soul of an Internet company called Kickstarter. Their concept is simple: fund and follow creativity.
STRICKLER: It's a way for creative people of all kinds -- artists, filmmakers, musicians, documentarians, chefs, technologists, whoever -- to bring ideas they have to life.
FEYERICK: It's not charity; rather, something in between art patronage and commerce. Through Kickstarter, user can post a plea for their projects and anyone can support them with a financial pledge. In exchange, the project creator gives donors a reward or unique experience like a signed memento or tickets for screenings.
You can see how much a project has been funded already and how many days remain to reach the goal. Kickstarter won't give the project creator any money until all funds have been raised.
ALEX VESSELS, CO-FOUNDER, WEE FLASHY: When we're out biking or walking --
FEYERICK: Alex Vessels and Mindy Chu (ph) are two grad students who came up with an idea to create more fashionable reflective clothing. It's called We Flashy.
VESSELS: We're both casual bike riders, and we wanted clothes that we could wear everywhere, but also provided us with extra safety and visibility.
KAYE: It started as a class assignment to make wearable technology. They used special materials on shirts that would reflect light on busy streets, but that are hardly noticeable in normal environments. They took We Flashy to Kickstarter and raised well above the $6,000 startup costs.
VESSELS: Not only was it our classmates and our friends who were donating, but people we've never even met before.
FEYERICK: To date, Kickstarter has raised more than $50 million and supported more than 20,000 projects, ranging from an artist who wanted to pen a handwritten letter to every person in the world, to a short film nominated for an Oscar last year.
STRICKLER: Some of the projects that we have on the site, you know, are from people who could probably get more traditional money and here are opting for a different venue. And other people here, this might be their only chance. And so to create a place where all that can happen, and happen very simply, was definitely the dream.
FEYERICK: A dream letting other dreams come to life.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: The U.S. hit its debt ceiling on Monday, and some are calling it a crisis. But are they just crying wolf? Ali Velshi and Richard Quest will debate that topic next in a special edition of "Q&A." That's right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS," and so do I. We're here together in the CNN NEWSROOM and around the world.
Hello, Richard.
RICHARD QUEST, HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Hello, Ali.
Each Thursday, Ali and I are coming to you from around the world for ritual humiliation as one or other of us gets to be beaten up on business, travel and innovation.
VELSHI: Nothing is off limits, including one of the biggest topics this week. We're talking about debt.
The United States hit its debt ceiling this week, and some people are calling it a crisis. But are they crying wolf?
Richard, you've got 60 seconds from the minute I hit this bell to tell us.
(BELL RINGING)
QUEST: Ali, if it wasn't so serious, it would be almost comical. But the numbers are truly huge.
The U.S. debt, now over $13 trillion and rising at an astonishing rate. It's the size at which the debt is growing that is truly amazing.
From the year 2000 to now, it has gone up by more than 300 percent. And even allowing for the recession, the situation gets worse.
The real problem is, everyone says the ceiling will be raised, but nobody realizes what could happen if it doesn't. Think Greece, think Ireland, think Portugal, think of all that and multiply many times over.
While they are arguing, something could go wrong. And if that goes wrong, and it defaults, even for a split second takes place, then there would be financial calamity.
By the way, Ali, while I've been talking, the debt interest has cost $464,231.
(BUZZER)
VELSHI: Well, you are quite a talker. I'm disappointed, Richard, that you and I probably agree on this point. Let me take a go at it.
(BELL RINGING)
VELSHI: The United States reached its debt ceiling on Monday and we're still here. We're still alive and kicking.
Now, true, the treasury has some wiggle room between now and August to divert some funds here and there before Congress has to decide to raise that debt ceiling again and by how much they're going to do it. Just like they've done, by the way, 74 times since 1962. So this is commonplace.
Why, Richard? Because arguing over the debt ceiling is really arguing over whether or not the United States pays bills that it has already incurred.
A perception, as you hinted, of U.S. default on its obligations would be far too great a price to pay. And politicians on both sides of the aisle know it. Where they're playing with fire is insisting that America can get going forward simply by slashing spending.
It's not enough, Richard, and at some point in the near future, American politicians are going to have to tell their constituents that they're going to have to pay higher taxes if they want to rein in the debt and balance the budget. And that's going to spell political doom for some people in Congress. But, Richard, Americans are going to have to hear that discussion now.
(BUZZER)
QUEST: Do you know the best part of a million dollars has just been paid by U.S. taxpayers in interest while you and I have been waffling with hot air.
And now, talking of real hot air, "The Voice."
(BELL RINGING)
THE VOICE: Gentlemen, I prefer lukewarm air myself. But let's jump right into it.
The United States has the largest amount of public debt in the world, and treasury bonds are how governments like the United States borrow money. China and Japan own by far the most U.S. treasury holdings.
At end of 2010, who was the third largest owner of U.S. bonds? Was it, A, Brazil; B, Canada; C, Taiwan; or, D, the U.K.?
(BELL RINGING)
THE VOICE: Richard?
QUEST: I'll say the U.K.
(BELL RINGING)
THE VOICE: That is correct. The U.S. was the third largest holder of U.S. treasury bonds at the end of last year.
On to question two. The G-20 is made up of the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries. At the G-20 summit in Toronto, much was made over the fact that most of the member countries agreed to work on lowering their debt to GDP ratio in some way. According to the IMF, which of these 19 G-20 nations had the least amount of debt to GDP ratio last year? Was it, A, Australia; B, Russia; C, Saudi Arabia; or, D, South Africa?
(BELL RINGING)
THE VOICE: Ali?
VELSHI: Saudi Arabia.
QUEST: You're guessing.
(BUZZER)
THE VOICE: Nice try.
Richard?
QUEST: I would say lowest debt to GDP ratio, Australia.
(BUZZER)
THE VOICE: Nice try.
Ali, want to give it another go?
(BELL RINGING)
VELSHI: Russia.
THE VOICE: That's correct. Russia is the runaway winner, with just over eight percent of their GDP as debt. Saudi Arabia is a close second, with just under 13 percent.
VELSHI: OK.
THE VOICE: Now, let's go to the other end of a scale. We've already established that the United States has the largest amount of public debt in the world, but there are other countries with even more dire debt situations. In fact, there is a G-20 country with a debt- to-GDP ratio of over 227 percent.
According to the IMF --
(BELL RINGING)
THE VOICE: Richard?
VELSHI: Oh, come on! He can't press his bell before you even ask the question.
QUEST: Well, he's going to finish the question.
VELSHI: How do you live with yourself?
THE VOICE: Well, since you jumped the gun go ahead, try to answer the question, Richard.
QUEST: So which G-20 has the highest level of GDP? Ali, you know the answer to this. It is Japan!
THE VOICE: That's correct, Richard. Well done, even though you spoke out of turn.
VELSHI: I'm just - I'm polite. I was waiting for the question to be asked first.
THE VOICE: Nice guys finish last, Ali. I'm out of the here.
VELSHI: See you, Voice. Thanks very much.
QUEST: That will do it for us -
VELSHI: We need some new rules in the game, Richard.
QUEST: Oh, stop! This -- that will do it for this week. Did you know the answer, by the way?
VELSHI: I knew the answer, yes. I knew the answer to the first one, too, but you're a little quick with your little bell.
QUEST: Well, it's because I've got to be quicker than you.
We are here each week, Thursdays on "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" at 18:00.
VELSHI: And in the CNN NEWSROOM, 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Keep the topics coming on our blogs at CNN.com/qmb and CNN.com/ali. Tell us each week what you want us talk about.
See you next week, Richard.
QUEST: See you next week, Ali.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: It is half past the hour. Let's check the headlines and other news you may have missed.
In a major policy speech today, President Obama outlined his hope for the future of the Middle East and North Africa. He expressed his concern over the growing division between the U.S. and the Arab world, acknowledging that their futures are tied together. And he pledged economic support to new democratic governments in nations such as Egypt and Tunisia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We do not want a democratic Egypt to be saddled by the debts of its past. So we will relieve a democratic Egypt of up to $1 billion in debt and work with our Egyptian partners to invest these resources, to foster growth and entrepreneurship. We will help Egypt regain access to market by guaranteeing $1 billion in borrowing that is need to finance infrastructure and job creation. And we will help newly democratic governments recover assets that were stolen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: In New York, the newly resigned head of the International Monetary Fund is back in a courtroom, trying to get out of jail. Lawyers for Dominique Strauss-Kahn are asking for a million dollar bail and home detention in Manhattan this hour with electronic monitoring. Strauss-Kahn is charged with sexually assaulting a hotel maid last Saturday.
And last night from his cell on Rikers Island, he stepped down from the IMF while strongly professing his innocence.
Doctors are calling Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' progress almost miraculous one day after they planted a second of synthetic bone in her skull. Part of her skull had to be removed after she was shot in her head to allow for brain swelling. They also implanted a shunt to drain excess fluid from her brain. Doctors say Giffords is recovering "really, really well." That's their direct quote at this point.
Giffords was shot in the January outside a Tuscon, Arizona supermarket, where she was greeting constituents.
NASA is inspecting possible damage to heat shield tiles on the shuttle Endeavour. The tiles appear to have been gashed by falling debris during the launch. So far these are the documented areas of interest, which received the damage. Here you can see the impacted tiles up close.
Right now, engineers are trying to determine how deep the gouges are in those tiles. Russian astronauts were able to capture these images of Endeavour so engineers could assess the impact sites. Mark Kelly, who is commanding the shuttle's 16-day mission to the International Space Station says, they've seen this kind of stuff before and it's not too big of a concern. Additional inspects may be needed on Saturday if engineers determine repairs are needed.
Osama bin Laden speaking from beyond the grave. Hear what he wanted to tell the world in his last recording before his death. That is coming up right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: He's dead, but the world is still hearing from Osama bin Laden. A recording of bin Laden praising the uprising sweeping the Middle East surfaced just yesterday.
Michael Holmes joins us Atlanta to talk about this. Michael, when was this recording made? Any idea? And what's the message?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, it's difficult to be exact. It was actually done in the Islamic calendar. But we're pretty sure it was made shortly before he was killed on May 2nd.
Now, as with all of these tapes, we're unable to absolutely confirm the authenticity of it, but it does call for the downfall of those tyrants and replace with those based on strict Islamic law, referring, of course, to the Arab Spring. At one point he actually asked what are you waiting for? Save yourselves and your children because the opportunity is here. So that's what we're hearing on the tape.
KAYE: And who is the audience, would you say, for this tape? I mean, after all, these uprisings apparently occurred in spite of bin Laden and al Qaeda.
HOLMES: Yes, which probably annoyed him a lot. They were caught off guard, like everyone else, you know?
Not really sure who is listening to this except obviously the more extreme Islamists. As you mentioned, those leading the revolt are moving more in the direction of democratic reform, democratic governments, which, as I said, would be really annoying to al Qaeda because they missed the boat on this.
It's also interesting to point out it came out on the same day that al Qaeda announced that the Egyptian Saif al Abdel is the temporary leader. Remember that.
KAYE: Yes. If we can, let's turn to Afghanistan, to the war in Afghanistan. I want to talk about the Taliban because they're certainly wanting to keep their name in the headlines, claiming responsibility now for killing at least 36 construction workers, is right?
HOLMES: That's right. Attacked their camp. Happened in eastern Paktia province on the border with Pakistan. Also heard that more than 70 workers -- 72, I think - were kidnapped as well as those killed. What was happening was these guys were working on a road, building a road that was being used or to be used by U.S. and NATO forces. and the Taliban said that was the reason they attacked.
KAYE: So what's happening here? I mean, is this more evidence that the Taliban spring offensive is underway?
HOLMES: Yes, absolutely. I mean, that's safe to say that. Remember, the Taliban recently declared they started spring military operations. We saw that action also in Kandahar, in Helmand province just the other day that we were talking about.
KAYE: I want to talk about this Washington Post story. Some really good reporting today on the apparent failure to recruit Taliban defectors. What's that about.
HOLMES: Yes, interesting, and it just bring us back to a point that you and I have discussed before, and that is the ineffectiveness of the Karzai government. As with so many of the country's problems, the blame for this pretty much falls in his lap, as well. And the sheer inefficiency of the government. U.S. and Afghan officials told The Post they're losing the chance to capitalize on the military gains that we've seen and the death of bin Laden, et cetera, et cetera, by not bringing people into the fold.
KAYE: So, what's the delay all about it? I mean, what's causing it?
HOLMES: Well, it's things like political squabbles. You've got bureaucratic delays within the government. Money's not getting it to where it needs to go. Because there is a system in place to provide for Taliban defectors. The U.S. also unable to be providing stopgap solution because of the way U.S. aid is interpreting the congressional restrictions on the use of the reconstruction funds.
It's gotten so bad, in fact, the delay and the training and the funds and all of that, the governor in Kandahar province, birthplace of the Taliban, he's actually told Taliban leaders, mid-level leaders who want to come in and be protected and part of the surrender program to hold off, delay it for a while. He says because they're not as prepared as they should be. Can you believe that? After repeated prodding from the U.S., Karzai government has approved the plan to win over Taliban fighters. What it does it it offers an amnesty to those who haven't committed war crimes.
But what a situation. They want to come in, can you wait a bit guys until we're ready? Just crazy.
KAYE: Yes. Exactly. All right. Let's head to Ireland. The queen had been on a pretty serious mission there, trying to mend relations. But she had a little fun today.
HOLMES: She did. Day three of this historic visit, she actually went to Ireland's national horse stud breeding center. The queen - the whole royal family, actually. The queen's mum was huge on horse racing. The queen is as well. The queen mum used to sit back with a gin and tonic, watch the races, and call her bookie, so people said. The queen got to meet jockeys; unveiled a statue marking her visit as well.
KAYE: That's very nice. Was a much more serious occasion last night, right?
HOLMES: Yes, remember we were saying that she was going to state dinner, and it would be the only time you would hear her speak in public. And she did indeed. In fact, she opened her remarks speaking in Gaelic, which was something of a big surprise, started off speaking in the Irish language and impressed everyone with that.
She also, in the speech, said that she had deep sympathy for the victims in both countries over the long and deadly conflict that ultimately led to the independence and the creation of the Irish public back in 1921.
It wasn't an apology, but it was close, you know? A lot of people admired it.
KAYE: Yes. Got to love the tiara. Love looking at the queen. Sorry. Just had to say that!
(LAUGHTER)
KAYE: She looks great! More power to her.
HOLMES: She's really regal, isn't she?
KAYE: Yes, she is. May we all look that good at her age.
HOLMES: Yes. She's 85 years old. Good to see you too. Quiet here without you, I've got say.
KAYE: Yes. All right. Thank you. See you back in Atlanta tomorrow.
HOLMES: Indeed.
KAYE: Hurricane season officially starts June 1. How many hurricanes will hit the U.S. this year? Five, 10, 20? Take your pick. We break down the numbers and what you need to know more importantly. So, don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. Hurricane season officially starts on June 1. Well this morning, the U.S. government's weather agency, NOAA, released its predictions on what we can expect this year. Severe weather expert Chad Myers joins me now to break it all down. He's been watching all this, of course.
Chad, what should we expect? Is this year looking to be better or worse than the last?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEORLOGIST: Depends on your point of view. Busier would be the word I'd use. Then normal.
But here we go. You hear -- everybody's got some kind of hurricane forecast, but there'sonly one official one, from the National Weather Service and from NOAA. So, here we go. NOAA's May forecast. Now, this is going to change as the year goes on. But the forecast right now, 12 to 18 named storms, 6 to 10 hurricanes, and 3 to 6 major hurricanes. A major hurricane is 111 or more miles per hour.
So, how does NOAA usually do? Let's go back to last year. NOAA said 14 to 23. They were right in the middle. The actual was 19. Hurricanes, eight to 14. There were 12. Three to seven majors, there were five.
Now, none hit the U.S. They all kind of turned off into the middle Atlantic. But another busy season in store for us this year.
KAYE: And Chad, I hear there's a pretty cool app that you can get that actually warns you about storms?
MYERS: Yes. Let's come over here. It's for the iPhone only right now. But it is very, very cool. You can download it for free today. It's called iMap Weather Radio for free. First 100,000 that get it will get it for nothing. And that's awesome!
It knows where you are because you're iPhone has a GPS in it. And if you're driving, it can alert you if you're driving into a tornado warning. How about that? Nobody else can do that right now.
So, we turned on just a random city. Elk City, right now, severe thunderstorm warning in effect until 2:30. We know that. So, the whole story here is, as we change this pattern from a hurricane pattern to maybe tornadoes or even severe thunderstorm warnings, this will warn you. That's a great little app.
Also, let's me do something else. I can even show you where that cell is. There's Elk City. There's the cell. Thunderstorm. You can do this, you can make it bigger or smaller. You know how you can do all this stuff with it iPads and iPhones. This is for the iPhone.
I'm still stuck in the flip phone. So, I don't have this yet. I'll get there when I'm 60.
KAYE: Yes. That is cool that it can warn you. But you know, honestly, Chad, I rely on you to warn me. And you're free, too, except for my cable bill. So, I'm going to stick with you.
MYERS: Get me on Sirius Radio, Sirius for XM, and you can drive with me, too.
KAYE: All right! I will do that. Thank you, Chad. Cool stuff.
MYERS:
KAYE: We'll be right back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: We have some breaking news just into CNN related to the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case. AS you know, there's been this bail hearing at this hour in lower Manhattan. We want to get you straight to Richard Roth, who is outside the courthouse to bring us up to date on this breaking news.
Richard, what do you have for us?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, here are the developments. The prosecution has told the court that Strauss-Kahn, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, formally head of the International Monetary Fund, has been indicted about a grand jury. This sets the stage for potential trial.
Now, the defense is arguing for their client, Strauss-Kahn, to be released on bail. The prosecution in the court has said it opposes this. The defense, in the last few minutes, stating to the judge, Judge Obis, that the conditions for bail are more than sufficient. That yesterday he was ahead of a major global organization, now he is not a security rise. He can stay with his wife in an apartment in New York City and that they have recommended a security company to do the monitoring. The defense saying, quote, "We have obtained service of a well-known security company. We are proposing the most restrictive possible conditions that he live with his wife in a residence in Manhattan." The defense opposed the presence of the video camera. The judge denied the request, saying there is high interest in this case.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn walked into the courtroom, acknowledged his wife, who is now there and his daughter, with a smile, then sat down, surrounded by three court officers.
So, once again, the prosecution telling a judge here that an indictment has been filed against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who is accused of several sexual assault crimes against a hotel maid in Times Square Saturday afternoon. Randi, back to you.
KAYE: And Richard, just quickly, what was his reaction in the courtroom?
ROTH: From our producers in the court, we do not know. I'm not sure if they had a view of him. But the defense, again, stating that he did not try to flee. That he called the hotel twice, asking for his cell phone, told them where he was, that he was at JFK airport, preparing to get on an Air France flight to Europe. And that he is not a flight risk.
The prosecution on Monday said, he is indeed a flight risk. He could become like film director Roman Polanski, who escaped criminal charges in California. No ruling yet as far as we know from the judge.
KAYE: All right, Richard. Thank you for that update on that breaking news.
I want to bring in our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin. He's on the line with us.
Jeffrey, I'm sure you could hear the breaking news, an indictment now has been filed against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Your thoughts on this.
All right. We seem to have lost Jeffrey Toobin there. We're going to try to get him back on the line --
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST (on the phone): Yes, I'm here. I'm not hearing this. I'm only heard Richard --
KAYE: There is an indictment filed against Dominique Strauss- Kahn.
Let's try Jeffrey Toobin one more time to get his take on this. Jeffrey, if you can hear me this time what do you make of this?
TOOBIN: Oh, I'm sorry.
KAYE: I'm told he's there. We're working on getting him so we can get this important reaction from him.
TOOBIN: Well, I mean, he is -- Strauss-Kahn is now in an even bigger world of trouble than he was before, because now it's clear the government feels it has enough evidence to bring this case to trial. It also makes bail a tougher -- a tougher road for the defendant, because the stakes are now much clearer and much higher. So, this is just more bad news for Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
KAYE: So, obviously, yes, it means that things are much more serious for him. Is there anything you think he can do to get bail at this point?
TOOBIN: Well, I do because if you believe that bail is supposed to be not a punishment but just a means of making sure that a defendant will show up for trial, I think Strauss-Kahn has a very good argument for bail. With his passports take away, with 24-hour house arrest, with electronic monitoring, with the fact that he is an international celebrity, the idea that he would escape somehow like Roman Polanski does seem very farfetched.
So, I think the argument for bail is a pretty good one. I think this is a very tough call for the judge.
KAYE: All right. Jeffrey Toobin, appreciate your insight. Glad we got you on the line. Once again, the ex-IMF chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has been indicted. We will continue to follow that.
In the meantime, switching gears just a bit. Two days from now, that is when a California minister predicts the rapture will happen. It's the day many Christians believe they'll be taken up to heaven to meet jesus. The man making the prediction responsible for thousands of billboards just like this one around the world. The billboards clearly state that May 21 will be judgment day, when Christians will be saved and others, nonbelievers, will be left behind to a world of chaos.
89-year-old Harold Camping the president of Oakland-based Family Radio. He made a similar prediction back in 1994. Well, this time, he says he's sure about the date because of a deep and complex study of religious texts.
But others, they're are not buying it, including many Christians, who point to this scripture from Matthew. It reads "But about that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
So, let's debate this, shall we? With our Stream Team. Father Alberto Cutie, the Episcopal priest. Dean Obeidallah, is co-creator and co-producer of the New York Arab-American Comedy Festival. And Rabbi Shmuli Boteat is a best-selling author.
All of you, thank you for joiningg us. I want to start with Father Cutie. Does this prediction harm Christianity and give nonbelievers another reason to doubt?
REV. FATHER ALBERT CUTIE, EPISCOPAL PREIST: I hope not. Certainly there is so much fanatical stuff out there, and there's no doubt that the end of the world has been a topic of discussion for thousands of years. In the 2,000 years of Christianity, we saw it in the first millennium, we saw it with the Y2K crisis when the year 2000 was just around the corner. And we see how these groups continue to try to instill some fear in people, to tell them oh, the end near.
Well, we know the world's going to end, but we don't know when. Jesus made that pretty clear.
KAYE: And Rabbi, I want to ask you. I mean, do you also believe that this gives some people another reason to mock religion?
RABBI SHMULEY BOTEACH, AUTHOR: Of course. Legitimate religion has been fertile ground for quacks and nut jobs, and there seems to be too many houses of worship that has a magnet that draws these crackpots.
Having said that, religion is supposed to be about life. Moses says, choose life. And yet we always have these predictions about death and apocalyptic visions of mass slaughter for nonbelievers. And it's not just limited to religious circles. It's even in secular circles. We have radical environmentalists who are also saying life on earth is coming to an end because of our abuse of the environment.
You know, we have to begin to ask what is it about our culture that we just love focusing on death? All our movies are about people being slaughtered and even our religions now are about getting virgin sex for suicide bombings. And now these strains are unfortunately moving into Christianity. I know that in Judaism, our emphasis is specifically on choosing life.
KAYE: And Dean, what is your take on all this, on this whole doomsday prediction?
DEAN OBEIDALLAH, COMEDIAN AND PRODUCER: Well, I'm hoping it's true because I stopped paying my credit card bills two months ago counting on this. I've been taunting the student loan people as well.
I mean, the man predicted it in 1994. Hundreds gathered. It didn't happen. I guess there's one word to describe that: awkward. I mean, are you kidding me?
I mean, there's some subtle signs of the apocalypse. The tsunami in Japan, you had flooding in the Midwest, the Mets won five out of the seven last games. But in reality the average person, we laugh at this. It's a joke. We know it. It's not a mainstream part of Christianity, it's a fringe man in California saying this.
KAYE: Father Cutie --
BOTEACH: In order to ensure it doesn't become part of mainstream, let's not forget that unless the center condemns these extremists instead of just laughing them off as some sort of clowns, this can become mainstream. We can start speaking about the rapture that Christians specifically are going to heaven and those not believers in Jesus, like Jews or Muslims are going to go to hell. Let's stop believing this is simply on the fringe. A lot of the beliefs are beginning to invade the center more. So, we risk just denegrading as comedy -- we saw this happen in Islam. Islam is a great world religion. Look at how the extremists started pushing in from the side and saying violence should be done in the name of God.
I think we need to take this stuff kind of seriously and repudiate it logically and say it has no place in mainstream place.
KAYE; Father Cutie, what do you think of this party that some nonbelievers have scheduled? We have just about 30 seconds left. But is that taking things too far?
CUTIE: It is. And the only thing it's doing is getting more attention to the craze that's go on. I totally agree with the rabbi and Dean, and what they said is totally right on target for us. As Christians, we don't think we need to sell celebrate this craziness, but certainly we shouldn't continue believing that the religion of fear, which seems to be growing, needs to be considered a legitimate religion.
This has nothing to do with the New Testament. It's go to do with a radical interpretation, a totally fundamentalist approach to the Bible that really mainstream people don't believe.
KAYE: All right. Thank you al for weighing in on this. And we will -- I guess we'll se what happens on -- come Saturday. So, thank you all.
OBEIDALLAH: Hope to see you Sunday.
BOTEACH: Thank you.
KAYE: I hope so, too.
Meanwhile, I want to take you back now to lower Manhattan. Want to show you a live picture outside the bail hearing for Dominique Strauss-Kahn. We are awaiting news from the attorneys there. That's a media stakeout.
The news breaking just moments ago that an indictment has been filed against the ex-chief of the IMF. They have been asking for $1 million bond. He was willing to wear an ankle bracelet. He wants out of Rikers Island, where he's in prison. We will continue to follow that.
Meanwhile, NEWSROOM continues right now with T.J. Holmes, in for Brooke Baldwin.
