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Ex-IMF Chief Indicted; President Obama Addresses Middle East
Aired May 19, 2011 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Randi, thank you very much.
I'm going to pick on -- up on exactly what you were talking about.
Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
We're watching. We can show you that picture once again because we're going to be going back to it, more than likely, a lot in this hour, as we wait on the attorneys, waiting on attorneys to come out, the attorneys for Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who we can now say is the former world banker charged with trying to rape a hotel maid, former, we're saying here, because Dominique Strauss-Kahn has now resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund.
He's going through a hearing as we speak. And we did find out a short time ago that he has, in fact, been indicted in this case and charged in this sexual assault. You know this by now, the story by now, that he's accused of trying to -- or accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid at a high-end hotel there in New York City.
We have a couple of reporters who are covering this for us, one of them being Richard Roth, who is outside the courthouse right now.
Richard, what can you tell us about went on inside that courtroom?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: The hearing is still going on. As the prosecution announced, there's been an indictment filed by a grand jury against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund.
Strauss-Kahn walked into court, acknowledged his wife and daughter, who are present now in the front row, with a smile, and then he sat surrounded by three courtroom officers. The defense said he should be granted bail. There's a private security company which has now been hired or is available to watch him 24 hours a day with detention.
They already have put up the deed of his Georgetown home, $1 million in bail. The judge has not ruled on any of that. The prosecution has argued that, because an indictment has been filed against the defendant, he should not be free on bail. There is a risk, a flight risk, they have said. The prosecution says he has the means, he's an international figure with global influence, to see enormous -- to us enormous resources and has a network of contacts.
Quote: "We have nothing -- we see nothing about his assets or his accounts to negate that."
The sole asset in D.C. is not in his name. It's in his wife's. So, the prosecution is arguing strenuously that Dominique Strauss-Kahn should not be freed -- T.J.
HOLMES: Richard, is that the crux of what is going on in there now? Is that the back and forth that is happening in the courtroom? What else can we expect to come out of the hearing that you say now is still go on?
ROTH: Well, this was primarily a meeting about the new application by the defense team to get Dominique Strauss-Kahn out of his 11-foot-by-13-foot Rikers Island jail cell.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn denying the charges against him when he issued a statement stepping down last evening from the International Monetary Fund. The attorney for the alleged sex crimes victim says that she will feel less safe if Dominique Strauss-Kahn is allowed free on bail.
The judge, Judge Obus, has not ruled in state Supreme Court here in New York on the arguments. That is the world media is here, is gathering to see exactly if Dominique Strauss-Kahn is coming out the door with his wife and daughter.
HOLMES: All right. As -- you stay with me for a second, Richard Roth. I'm getting more from what's happening inside the courtroom.
And I'm going to share this with our viewers just as I'm getting it here in my inbox from our folks who are inside saying that the prosecutor saying there's no right to bail here, the strength of the case and potential sentencing. There is a presumption of innocence. The proof is substantial and it is growing every day.
She made multiple, assuming the victim here, outcries to hotel staff and police, just some of what we are getting from inside. We will continue to go through some of the details here, but we will go back to this.
Again, we're expecting the attorneys for Dominique Strauss-Kahn to step out to those microphones when -- when this hearing is over. Not sure exactly when it could get wrapped up, but, right now, the back and forth whether or not this man, this man with powerful international influence, should be allowed to be free, essentially, at least while this case continues. He's offering to put up $1 million, made some other concessions.
But will that be enough, now that officially he has been indicted and charged once again?
Richard, you can pick up on some of these points as well. I think you're getting some of these notes about what's happening inside. But you talked about -- it's a man -- give us a little bit more about him, if you will, and an understanding of, even though, yes, he could put up $1 million, even though, yes, he could turn over the deed to a home, he could do all these things, this is a powerful, powerful man with the means who it sounds like prosecutors are making a good argument that, hey, no matter what you do, this man has the means to get out of the country if he wants to.
ROTH: Well, that's what they're trying to say.
Now, the prosecution also saying they have a very credible witness, that hotel maid who came here, is an immigrant from Guinea in Africa, the prosecution telling Judge Obus, the forensic evidence supports the victim's version of the attack, that she identified him in a lineup, and that an indictment has been voted against Dominique Strauss-Kahn with reasonable cause filed to support those charges.
The alleged victim made multiple outcries to hotel staff and police, the Hotel Sofitel in Times Square on Saturday. She's given complete forensic information and is consistent since the attack. And as one attorney said, they had to find -- know -- they had to know that she was a good witness to get a high-profile man like Dominique Strauss-Kahn off an airplane at JFK Airport to act so quickly and immediately.
Yes, they are saying that he's an international figure with global contacts and influence. So, they still fear that he's a flight risk.
HOLMES: And they go on to say, Richard, as I'm reading here again from our crew inside and to our viewers -- I'm reading to you here, coming to our folks. It's to my inbox, so I'm going to just read it to you here, saying: "He's a temporary guest in New York. Again, we're in possession of his one and only passport. We don't know what he could get. He has resources to live a life of means in parts of the world that are beyond this court. His exit from the hotel was unusually hasty. His exit from the crime scene suggests something went on in that hotel room."
Richard, we're going to check in with you again.
Again, to our viewers, you are seeing --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Oh. It sounded like you wanted to jump in there. Go ahead, Richard.
ROTH: Well, just briefly, further down, and you may -- I don't think you mentioned this -- not sure -- the prosecution saying, Dominique Strauss-Kahn's own conduct has shown the propensity for criminal conduct.
(CROSSTALK)
ROTH: On Monday, they hinted that there may be other cases involving other women, no information or evidence brought forth, but, definitely, they're digging in that direction. HOLMES: All right.
Our Richard Roth right outside the courthouse where all this is going on -- that hearing continues.
To our viewers, we're going to get back to Richard. And we will get back. Again, we have shown you the picture of those microphones, because we're all standing by to hear from the attorneys for Dominique Strauss-Kahn. So, we will go back, a lot still to come out -- already a lot has come out of that courtroom, but we're expecting a whole lot more. We will take you back there live as we get it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For six months, we have witnessed an extraordinary change taking place in the Middle East and North Africa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Our Fareed Zakaria is going to join us next from Cairo, which is, of course, a very important city in the context of the president's big speech on the Middle East today that just wrapped up a couple of hours ago. We will find out how his message, the president's message, went over with them and in other places around the world.
Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: So, the president sent a message to the Arab world today. He said, from now on, if it was not the case before, the United States will side with the people of the region over the powers that be.
This is a speech that comes in the midst of a half-year of tumult throughout the Middle East, punctuated now by the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The president made the speech today at the State Department just a few hours ago.
He hit on a lot in this speech, had a lot to try to wrap into it. It went 40-plus-minutes long. We're going to be talking to our Fareed Zakaria this in just a moment. But, first, let me just give you a taste of what the president said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have the chance to show that America values the dignity of the street vendor in Tunisia more than the raw power of the dictator.
There must be no doubt that the United States of America welcomes change that advances self-determination and opportunity.
Yes, there will be perils that accompany this moment of promise. But after decades of accepting the world as it is in the region, we have a chance to pursue the world as it should be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, the president and the White House billed this as a major address today, had a lot to try lump into this speech. Let me give you an idea of some the things he did talk about.
He said that throughout the Arab world, a new generation has emerged, also says -- has presented the United States with a historic opportunity to assert its values, also said that, across the region, peaceful voices for change have accomplished more in the past six months than terrorists accomplished in decades.
Also, on what's happening in Libya, he said Moammar Gadhafi's days are numbered, also accused the Assad regime in Syria murdering its own people and demanded the Syrian government enter a serious dialogue with its opponents.
Throughout the region, he said, the U.S. will back democratic reforms and transitions to democracy, beginning with pledges to Tunisia and Egypt, both of which have overthrown autocrats.
Also, on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the president called on both sides not to stand by as change occurs around them, but to settle on a map for a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders and with security guarantees for Israel. He said other disputes can wait for later.
Let's get to what's been done right now. Listen to more now with the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: For the American people, the scenes of upheaval in the region may be unsettling, but the forces driving it are not unfamiliar.
Our own nation was founded through a rebellion against an empire. Our people fought a painful civil war that extended freedom and dignity to those who were enslaved.
And I would not be standing here today unless past generations turned to the moral force of nonviolence as a way to perfect our union, organizing, marching, protesting peacefully together to make real those words that declared our nation: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, and, again, a whole lot more from what the president had to say.
Our Fareed Zakaria who is in Cairo, Egypt, for us is going to join us here in just a bit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: And President Assad now has a choice. He can lead that transition or get out of the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Change or leave. Will Syria's leader follow President Obama's advice? We delve into this, what the president outlined in his Middle East speech. Going to be speaking to the man who once served as U.S. ambassador to that country and to Israel, another key part of America's policy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Want to get back to the story, the breaking story we are following out of New York. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, of course, now the former IMF chief, in court having a hearing today. We found out that, yes, in fact, he has officially been indicted by a grand jury in this alleged sexual assault of a maid at a hotel in New York.
Our Susan Candiotti was inside that courtroom.
Susan, you have been able to step outside of the courtroom right now. But does it mean the hearing is over?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're in a brief recess, T.J., right now. But you're right. We learned so far that there is an indictment. But so far, both sides are presenting their arguments for and against bail.
We got see him for the first time since a few hours after his arrest. He was allowed to wear a business suit into court. His wife's sitting in the front row. His defense attorney said of Mr. Strauss-Kahn that -- quote -- "He has only one interest, to clear his name," and called him an honorable man, said that he would turn over his passport, that they have already hired a monitor company to come in and keep track of him, including a 24-hour guard, that his wife is now here in New York and has already rented an apartment where they would live and said it was ludicrous that he might flee.
The state, on the other hand, is saying he does not have a right to bail, that they do believe he is a risk of flight, that they revealed that the -- quote -- "proof against him is substantial and is growing every day."
The state backed up the story of the alleged victim in this case, said she has an unwavering story and that there is strong preliminary evidence that is being gathered from the hotel room. The judge has decided, T.J., that he will take this under consideration and might make a decision today. It's possible he might get bail, but we will have to find out.
And, with that, I have got run.
HOLMES: Well, all right. We will let you get back in there. Susan Candiotti, we appreciate you hopping on the line while you had a chance. But, again, you're hearing more of what is happening inside that courtroom, quick recess that we hear. That's why our reporter was able to step out and hop on the line with us.
But Dominique Strauss-Kahn fighting right now to stay out of jail, doesn't want to go back to Rikers Island. And who would? Doesn't want to go back to that jail while going through this whole legal process. We will see if the judge -- and, again, like Susan Candiotti said, maybe, maybe the judge would rule today even whether or not to allow that bail, allow him to be out of jail with some -- some serious considerations and some serious -- certainly, the million dollars he would have to put up, the monitoring and so on and so forth. So it wouldn't be easy.
But now he has officially been indicted. We will go back to New York when we get more. Again, expecting to hear possibly from his attorneys when they step out of that hearing room as well.
But, right now, I want to turn back to the president's speech today, the major speech the president made just a few hours ago from the State Department to the Arab world on the Middle East. It's kind of rocking the Arab world as we speak right now.
President Obama, in that major address today, said Israel and the Palestinians should, they need not, should not stand on the sidelines and wait for things to shake out. He said it's time to move forward with talks toward peace. He suggested that they can hammer things out, two things now in particular, security guarantees, as well as a map.
That was just one of a number of things the president had to weave into this major speech on the Middle East.
Let me bring in someone right now. Joining me from Houston, Ed Djerejian, the former U.S. ambassador to Syria and to Israel.
Sir, we appreciate you being here with us.
You and I were kind of chatting just in the commercial break a second ago about the audiences. A lot of folks seem to think it was meant for a couple of different audience, but more so who, the U.S. audience or the audience in the Middle East?
EDWARD DJEREJIAN, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SYRIA AND ISRAEL: Well, T.J., I think it was addressed to both the American audience and to the international audience, especially the audience in the Middle East and the broader Muslim world.
But certainly, to the American audience, I think President Obama made an excellent presentation, trying to explain the complexity, the challenges that U.S. foreign policy faces in the wake of these Arab uprisings. And I think one of the key messages was that we have two guiding posts, if you will, to our policy, our values and principles as Americans. We're on the side of what I think he labeled individual self-determination, freedom, and, on the other side, our national security interests, and he outlined what some of our basic national security interests are and that, as president, he has to balance out values and our interests as we approach each one of these countries.
Libya obviously different than the way we're approaching Tunisia and Egypt, where there is a political transition -- he made a very strong statement on Syria, to the president of Syria: Either move on with reforms or get out of the way. That was a very powerful statement.
And then he made, I believe, an equally powerful statement to the Israelis and the Palestinians and to the Arab world in general that delay in Israeli/Palestinian negotiations is not an option, that we have to get on with it.
And, as you mentioned, he focused on territory and security as the way to move forward.
HOLMES: Ambassador Djerejian, as you mentioned there, trying to make that balance between the values and the interests. And I think that's a part that a lot of people take issue with, people in the Middle East: How are you treating us one way and you're treating the other country another way?
And I know each of these countries and each situation is different, but a lot of people are looking for a consistency of some kind. And they didn't hear Saudi Arabia mentioned as well , or they think that, OK, Syria's being dealt with differently than Egypt and so on and so forth.
So, do people still want and are they going to crave that consistency and criticize this president for not having it?
DJEREJIAN: Well, everyone wants to have simple answers to complex problems, but I really believe, T.J., that in this complex situation in the Middle East, one size doesn't fit all.
And the president has to balance out our values and our national security interests. For example, on Bahrain, he made a good statement on Bahrain. But, remember, Bahrain is the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which plays an essential role since 1949 in guaranteeing the free passage of oil through the Straits of Hormuz to the world.
So, the Saudis sent troops to help the monarchy in Bahrain suppress the protests in the streets. But the president definitely, I think, balanced that out, saying there's a need for law and order, but you have to engage with the opposition. That's as close as he got to mentioning Saudi Arabia in his speech.
HOLMES: All right.
Ambassador Djerejian, we appreciate you hopping on, giving us some perspective here. Thank you very much.
I need to turn now to our Fareed Zakaria, who is in Cairo, Egypt. Of course, Cairo was the centerpiece of what was happening in all this Middle East/North African unrest. He is in Cairo for us. We're going to join him right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Want to give you a look at some of the stories making headlines right now.
The FBI wants a sample of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski's -- Ted Kaczynski's DNA. They are trying to determine if he's connected to the 1982 Tylenol poisoning scare. You remember that? That's when seven people died after taking Tylenol laced with potassium cyanide. Kaczynski is serving a sentence for a string of deadly pipe bombings spanning 17 years.
He has handwritten some documents for the court filings involved in this case. We will talk more about all of this with a man who knows the Unabomber well. Join us for that. That's coming up at the top of the hour.
Also, tragic news from the Mississippi River flooding -- the first death linked to the slow-moving disaster apparently happened near Vicksburg, Mississippi. The victim was a 69-year-old man. Walter Cook is the name. He was pulled from the floodwaters on Tuesday. And he died this morning. The Mississippi River is topping out at an all-time high at Vicksburg. Certainly no certainty of what the floodwaters -- or when the floodwaters will recede.
Look at this. People are doing what they can to protect their belongings. You can see, in some of these pictures, essentially, what you're seeing is people have made their own levees around their homes. And, in some cases, it appears it's working.
Well, the mothers of two American hikers held in Iran are now on a hunger strike. They fear their sons are in grave danger. Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer are -- have been jailed in Iran since 2009. Their trial was supposed to begin last week. Neither was brought to the courthouse, though. The moms have not had any explanation about that delay. They say their sons are being denied justice and compassion.
Fattal and Bauer are charged with espionage after being captured by Iran while hiking along an unmarked border between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you sit there and you go, there's somebody's dead and this is the mother. They're saying that she confessed to doing that. So, no, that's troubling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: So, a mother arrested for an unthinkable crime. She's even confessed? Now her neighbor friend thinks he may know why this all happened. He's going to join me next.
Plus, thousands of families across the South still trying to recover from deadly tornadoes. Country legend Hank Williams Jr. raising money to help them out -- he's asking for you to join in as part of CNN's Impact Your World.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANK WILLIAMS JR., MUSICIAN: Hi. I'm Hank Williams Jr.
And you can make an impact to help the people of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi that have been totally devastated by the worst disaster in the history of the state. You have to be here. You just can't describe it. It's absolutely unbelievable.
These cities need not millions. They need billions. Help is on the way. America can survive and Alabama can survive.
So, please join the movement Impact Your World. Go to CNN.com/impact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're at the bottom of the hour here now. Let's get back to the president's speech on the Middle East. He just wrapped it up a couple of hours ago. It was really billed as a speech that would really help people understand the U.S. policy toward what we've been seeing in the Middle East over past several months.
Let's bring in Fareed Zakaria who is in Cairo, Egypt for us now. Fareed, we have been talking about so much and playing for viewers what the president did say in the speech today. But from your estimation, what was missing from that speech?
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": Well there were some things missing that were understandable. He didn't talk about Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is the place where our interests and our values collide most sharply. Now, he pointed out that there would be tension between short-term interests that we have and our long-term values.
He didn't talk much about Saudi Arabia in specific and I don't blame him. Saudi Arabia, incivility in Saudi Arabia means $250 barrel of oil, another global recession. That's one he has to navigate carefully. He did fall back and gave people a broader sense of how people's values are powerfully aligned with what's happening in the Middle East, why we should welcome it, why we should support it. He was successful though there are awkward places where our interests and values collide as in Saudi Arabia.
HOLMES: You talk about some of those places, and people are looking for some kind of consistency. So after this, I don't know how much reaction you've been able to gauge so far, but are people still going to be looking for that consistency. And some people in these countries, folks that are down on streets out there protesting in some places getting killed for what they believe in, are they going sit back and say, do we have a partner in the U.S. or in this president if we have to wait for him to balance out this country's interests and balance out this country's morals? ZAKARIA: You know, T.J., the most interesting thing about being here is you realize how much this is a wholly owned local set of revolutions. They're not looking for the U.S. to bail them out. They're not looking for the U.S. to somehow ride in on a white horse. They do want support, moral support, political support, economic support.
And I think that what Obama has made clear, in general, we support their aspirations in general the United States is going to try as best it can to help make these revolutions successful. But there are going to be differences in our response. I mean, we intervened militarily in Libya. It doesn't mean we're going to inter convenient militarily everywhere. It depends on the likelihood of success, which is very low in Syria. The regime has to talk about an exit strategy, as it does in Yemen.
I think people here are looking for some kind of cookie cutter strategy. I think what they were looking for is general support. I think to a large extent they got it. There are going to be some aspects that they would have liked stronger support of the Pakistan cause, I can guarantee you that. But in general, what's powerful about these movements is they really are about the Arabs and not about the United States.
Fareed Zakaria for us in a bustling Cairo, Egypt. Thanks so much. Certainly we'll be hearing more from Fareed throughout the day on CNN and of course this weekend as well on his show.
Next, I'm going to be talking to a neighbor friend of that mother from Texas who is accused of killing her child in New England and leaving his body in the woods.
We're getting new video also from inside the courtroom, as the former IMF chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn facing a New York judge today as we speak.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: You're looking at now new video we are just getting in to us from a hearing going on. It continues to go on as we speak. This is Dominique Strauss-Kahn. That's the judge in the case. But Dominique Strauss-Kahn, now the ex-head of the international monetary fund, the IMF, dealing with charges now, he has officially been indicted on charges that he sexually assaulted allegedly sexually assaulted a maid in a hotel room in New York.
Now he says he is innocence, but we are seeing this play out. We have a reporter, some of our crew, in that courtroom giving us some reporting from what's happening inside. But he is trying right now to get out of jail. He's been held at Riker's Island. He's trying to get out of there. He's offered up $1 million of his own money, turned in his passport, but still the prosecutor saying this man has international connects and he is a flight risk.
But this is video from inside. We don't have a live picture but we'll be checking back in with our reporters. They had a brief recess. I believe they just reconvened but the judge could decide today whether or not Dominique Strauss-Kahn is out on bail while the process, the legal process, moves forward. We'll be checking back in with them here in just a moment.
Meanwhile, let me turn to this story of a mother, of a 6-year-old boy, found dead on a remote main road over the weekend is being returned to New Hampshire to face second-degree murder charges. Julianne McCrery was taken into custody Wednesday. She was reading the bible when she was arrested.
Her son, Camden Hughes, found under a blanket near the Maine/New Hampshire border Saturday. Police reached out to the public to help identify him after the body was discovered and brought in naval investigators because witnesses reported seeing a Navy sticker on McCrery's truck. Residents held a vigil including people who lived on the property where the body was found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard my wife screaming, no, no, no, that boy will never be unwanted again. So even though he's not bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, I feel like he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The "Boston Globe" reporting that McCrery previously tried to commit suicide and quoted her mother saying she had led a troubled life. With me now is Christian Von Atzigen a neighbor of Julianne McCrery where she had been living in Irving, Texas. Sir, we appreciate you taking time out with us. Is this a woman you considered a friend?
CHRISTIAN VON ATZIGEN, FRIEND OF JULIANNE MCCRERY: I've known her going on 15 years. And, yes, I mean, she's babysit my child and been at my house I was there the day Camden was born at the hospital. Yes very close friend. You know, I -- Julie was like family to, you know, to me.
HOLMES: Sir, what do you think it means? Does it mean anything to you when you hear that her mother's quoted as saying she led a troubled life? Do you agree with that? What does that mean?
VON ATZIGEN: No, I don't. I don't agree with that. Julie had her ups and downs, but she always kept going. She didn't try to blame her problems on anybody else. She always worked. You know, she had a few different jobs but she tried and, you know, she did what, you know, she had to do to survive. I mean, like I said, everybody has their ups and downs but I -- she didn't have a troubled life, not to me. Not to me.
Ho. Last thing here, quickly, sir, is there any -- I think I heard you actually say you think this might have been an accident. She's accused but you don't think there's any way you, never saw any indication she might have hurt her child?
VON ATZIGEN: Not at all. This is -- this is not the Julie McCrery I know. I don't understand what happened. I've known her for a long time. I don't -- I don't know. But I do -- I know -- I know Camden and her other son, Ian, and I've set up a trust and I would like to give information on that. I know a lot of people in Boston have tried.
HOLMES: We're going to get that information from you. Our producers will get it on the line from you for sure, and we will pass that along to our viewers. We appreciate, again, a neighbor friend of Julianne McCrery accused of second-degree murder in the death of her son found on the side of the road.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE ROWE, HOST, "DIRTY JOBS": I certainly wouldn't suggest all knowledge comes from college. I might, instead, suggest that skill is always a matter of degree, and we need to celebrate all forms of education.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: You recognize that guy? He's the host of "Dirty Jobs" talking about the importance of training skilled workers as CNN's Catherine Callaway goes in depth on America's job hunt. Which jobs are in high demand and where can you train for them - that's all next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, all week CNN's been going in depth on America's job hundred. Despite the high unemployment rate, there's a guy who wants you to know about hundreds of thousands of jobs that are available right now if, though, if you don't mind getting your hands dirty. Mike Rowe, he is on the Discovery Channel, host of "Dirty Jobs." He recently testified in Washington about what he calls the "skills gap," a phenomenon in this country that he thinks is just a travesty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROWE: If we're seriously going to try to create three or four million shovel-ready jobs, we've got to come to terms with the fact that our nation no longer respects people who are still willing to pick up a shovel.
The skills gap isn't a function of anything other than what we value. We don't value those kinds of jobs the way we used to, so we don't encourage them. Look at the nomenclature in education, higher education, right? That's the thing you want for your kids, right, because higher educations a four-year degree and a four-year degree guarantees a certain measure of success and prosperity.
Bull crap. It doesn't guarantee anything. Right now 60 percent of all college graduates matriculate into debt, real debt. Student loans right now are eclipsing mortgage loans. There's going to be a student loan crisis, if there isn't already.
Meanwhile apprenticeships, scholarships, on the job training programs and other opportunities to learn a practical, useful trade, nobody celebrates them. We know they're there. But nobody really gives them any love, you know?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Let's give them some love. Here now is CNN's Katharine Callaway with a look in the surge of technical school enrollment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the oldest, older than the instructor.
KATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At 61, John Appleby is a true senior among students at Chattahoochee Technical College. This house painter's journey back to school to study diesel technology began with a decline in construction that left him out of a job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got tired of not being able to do any work because nobody wanted to pay me none. So I thought I'm going to do something I can make a living at and something I will enjoy.
CALLAWAY: Appleby is counting on making more money as a trained diesel mechanic. Many workers especially in the manufacturing sectors turn to technical schools to maneuver themselves into better-paying jobs.
Enrollment here at Chattahoochee Technical College increased 15 percent over the last year in large part due to the struggling economy. Students come here to get degrees in fields that range from mechanical to medical, from cosmetology to computers.
And 17-year-old Emily Wilson is the face of another growing population at technical schools. The young student, who takes college courses in high school. Through a state program, she's using tax dollars that would go to her high school to pay for her technical college education.
EMILY WILSON, TECHNICAL COLLEGE STUDENT: It makes me excited, because I know I'm getting ahead where I need to be, to be able to finish college as soon as possible and get my career on a start.
CALLAWAY: Emily will graduate high school with a year of classes completed toward her two-year associate degree in accounting. She'll be able to work sooner, and that may allow her to continue her education at a four-year institution. The president of CTC says the colleges have to adapt to the needs of the job market.
SANFORD CHANDLER, PRESIDENT, CHATTAHOOCHEE TECHNICAL COLLEGE: If we're going to grow a group of entrepreneurs in the future, a group of people who can lead our country out of this transformational recession we've seen, then we think that we do that through changing the technology that they know, their knowledge base. And it will be done across a spectrum of people from the traditional student to the nontraditional student.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first day of math class, I mean, I'm saying, I raised my hand and I said I haven't done an algebra problem since 1964.
CALLAWAY: Appleby says going back to school at his age has been difficult, but as retirement age rises he knows training for skilled jobs is a must for the young and old alike.
In Georgia, Catherine Callaway, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: To our viewers, we want to remain you of what we're standing by for. This is a hearing going on now. Dominique Strauss- Kahn, who is now the former head of the IMF, accused, now indicted officially by a grand jury on seven criminal charges related to an attempted sexual assault of a maid at a hotel in New York. That hearing is going on right now.
He is trying to get bail. We will go back live to New York. We're standing by to hear from attorneys. When that hearing is over, he could, could possibly, the judge ruled today, and actually have him out on bail. I'm told by my producers we're going to let you listen in to some of this we got earlier. Let's listen to the attorneys as they go back and forth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- economic resources and network of contacts throughout the world. The defendant's request that the court should set bail at $1 million is unreasonable in light of those factors.
While we have been given some details about the monitoring arrangement that the defendant has proposed, we have received nothing about the defendant's assets both liquid and illiquid, the number and type of bank accounts and brokerage account his might have access to or the location of those accounts.
And for these reasons, judge, the proposition that $1 million is too high a price for the defendant to pay for his price of freedom simply doesn't make sense. The idea that the defendant has substantial ties to New York or to the United States is actually belied by their own motion papers, your honor.
The sole asset that is attributable to him, a house Washington, D.C., is not even in his name. It's in his wife's name. And the fact that his daughter is a student here is really of no moment. That suggests that she is most likely a temporary guest here in New York and in this country.
As an international figure, as a diplomat, the defendant can travel with an ease that most ordinary citizens and people cannot. We are in possession right now of only one tourist passport from the defendant.
Beyond this, judge, the defendant is a citizen of France, a country that, by law, does not extradite its own nationals. And I disagree with the characterization that Mr. Strauss-Kahn would somehow be a fugitive on the run. He has the stature and the resources not to be a fugitive on the run but really to live a life of ease and comfort in parts of the world that are beyond this court and indeed this country's jurisdiction.
The fact that his -- and I want to say the fact that his travel plans have been booked in advance does not change the fact that his exit from that hotel almost immediately after that incident was unusually hasty. So while he may have already had plans to leave the country, his exit from the crime scene certainly suggests that something had gone on in that room. And he left quickly knowing that, in fact, he had a plane that he was to board out of the country.
And frankly, judge are, the bail package, really, any bail package, would be insufficient to ensure that he returns to court. We have just been given these documents by defense counsel. We, of course will review them, but we have not had an opportunity to as of yet, and I presume the court also has not had an opportunity. And these are very important details to be considered about the specifics.
And so we really can't say at this point whether or not the proposed package is, in fact, what defense counsel represents, which is enough to ensure that he returns to court. Our position is that there is no bail package at this time what we have been presented with that would ensure his return, and that is the issue, not might he return, not is it likely he will return. This court must be satisfied that the defendant will come back, and the people simply are not.
We have a man who, by his own conduct in this case, has shown a propensity for impulsive criminal conduct. And at the end of the day judge, the defense is asking you to release him with that proclivity and immense resources with really only a bracelet with a battery. And that is just not sufficient at this time to ensure that he returns to court. We request that the court consider remand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. McConnell. I was just handed the documents with regard to the security company, and I did have some questions. In your papers, counsel, you have referred to this company as being acceptable to the people, or something along those lines. What does that mean?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't mean to say that it was acceptable in the sense that our application was agreed to. But when we had a discussion with Mr. Alonzo about monitoring, he suggested the use of this particular company as one that he was familiar with in which their office had confidence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And with regard to the monitoring and again, I will take moment to read this before any kind of decision is rendered, you talked about setting up the electronic and in the meantime, have human beings accompany the defendant. What is supposed to happen when he leaves the apartment to go to court or any place else?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can invite Mr. Valenti here. The way this works is they accompany him wherever he's going. There is -- in addition, let me be clear. In addition to the bracelet and the video, there is a human being with a gun who is on duty 24/7.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that person would under the agreement you have reached here actually accompany the defendant any time he left the premises for legitimate purposes, like coming to court?
And with regard to the travel documents, Mr. McConnell appropriately suggests that all he has so far is one passport and that the other document you referred to presumably is in hands that can be made -- it can be made available to the people of the court. What other passports or documents of that nature does the defendant have?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have checked this with the French consulate. I'm authorized to represent to the court that he has no other passports.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And with regard to the matter of -- I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Confusion has perhaps arisen because he has two documents. They are the same passport. He travels so much that he ran out of pages in the first passport, a stamp when you go through immigration and customs, so he had to get a second document. This is the G-4 visa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, the G?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The G-4 visa is attached to the first passport. When he ran out of pages, he is issued a second passport, but he has to carry both of those. It is, in effect, one passport. It is simply a matter of how do you get enough pages in the passport so that the number of countries he goes to can be stamped.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So when you say one passport has been turned over, is it both documents?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both documents.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And another matter that was appropriately raised by the people was the matter of the defendant's assets and the I realize we haven't had a statement of his asset others than -- we will wait for that to go by.
(SIRENS)
It's my other case.
HOLMES: OK, to our viewers, what you have been watching here this is moments ago and we have got an update. Since this all happened, you have been hearing them go back and forth. They are trying to make the case whether Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who is now the former IMF chief, whether he should be allowed to be free, to get bail while the legal process goes forward.
He, of course, now has been indicted on seven counts, seven different counts now related to the sexual assault, alleged sexual assault that took place at a New York hotel. Well, now we have learned that, in fact, the judge has granted bail and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, if he can come up with it, will be allowed to go free and not have to sit in Riker's -- not sit in Riker's Island. He can at least be out of jail while the legal process moves forward. It's pretty hefty here. What the judge says he needs to hand up -- my producer saying something in my ear, I can't understand you there. It's $1 million cash bail is what the judge is saying. He has to put up $1 million cash to get out, and also, a $5 million bond that can be in property or something else. So, a big chunk of change, if you will here, that the judge is saying he has to put up.
Also, he will have to submit to home detention. Also, have to submit other travel documents as well. So the judge allowing him to get out. A lot of people thought this might not happen because after the grand jury finally officially came back and said, yes, in fact, we are going to indict you, those charges, seven of them, include two criminal acts, two criminal sexual acts in the first degree, attempt to commit rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment, sexual abuse again, another count, and also forcible touching.
But what you're seeing now is video taped from inside it happened just moments ago, of the back and forth between the two attorneys as they try to figure out whether or not they were going to allow Strauss-Kahn to be out on bail. Let's listen back to this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- is to say something totally without proof and is simply an assumption with no basis in fact. It is exactly what he said he is and until Saturday, they have been engaged back and forth from the United States to foreign countries with -- on the business of the IMF.
And I suppose one can always imagine situations in which people who become highly visible fugitives from the sex offense charges, but frankly, that is unrealistic and in this case, really an unprovable and not a very -- not a very ready argument, if the court please.
We have he checked out of the exit at 12:25 and met his family at a midtown restaurant at 12:45 there in plain view to the entire world there until about 2:15, hardly consistent with a man trying to hide himself in the city of New York.
Thank you, your honor.
I wanted to read what was submitted here. As I understand it, the people, at least in the past, have indicated no problem with the integrity of the company, although they have certainly not agreed that it be employed in this case.
As I understand it -- and please correct me if I --
HOLMES: All right, we lost that video there.
