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Anthony Trial's Closing Arguments; Strauss-Kahn Case Crumbling?; Mother of Killed Soldier Says Don't Vote on Human Rights; Latest on Dominique Strauss-Kahn Case; Emily Good Says Officer Still Finds Nothing Wrong with Her Arrest

Aired July 03, 2011 - 18:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Right now on CNN:

It's time to get in the last digs and details. Attorneys go at it as closing arguments draw to a close in the Casey Anthony trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF ASHTON, PROSECUTOR: She had to choose between two -- sacrificing two things. The first was her dreams and the life she wanted. The second was her child.

JOSE BAEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That stain that never was is reasonable doubt. All of these aspects, the way this was presented to you is all reasonable doubt.

And here's the thing: if you don't know what happened, that's it. If it wasn't proven to that you it happened, that's it. It's over. It's not guilty on every count.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And there's more, the judge had enough of the sniping and took attorneys from both sides to the woodshed.

Plus this -- a very high-profile rape case appears to be unraveling, the head of the International Monetary Fund off house arrest and smiling while his accuser is now being called a liar. Her neighbors in her immigrant community in New York now perplexed and some embarrassed. A report coming out from there about whether she made the whole thing up.

Plus --

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

LEMON: The story of Andrew Wilfahrt. He was killed in Afghanistan. Here's video of his comrades honoring him. He was openly gay. His parents are now fighting for same-sex marriage in their home state of Minnesota.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORI WILFAHRT, MOTHER OF GAY SOLDIER KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN: When you enter the military, you have to take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and to protect the country against foreign and domestic enemies. The enemy here is intolerance, misinformation, bigotry, probably greed. So, as a soldier, that is what he is fighting for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: More on my conversation with them and a Minnesota state senator who is trying to outlaw gay marriage.

But, now, to our top story -- and we're going to begin in Orlando, Florida, because very soon, Casey Anthony's fate will rest with the jury of seven women and five men. Both sides today presented closing arguments. Each attacked what they consider the flaws and weaknesses of the other's case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAEZ: These types of decisions are life-changing, unchangeable decisions. And this type of evidence is reasonable doubt. That stain that never was is reasonable doubt. All of these aspects, the way this was presented to you, is all reasonable doubt.

And here's the thing -- if you don't know what happened, that's it. If it wasn't proven to you that it happened, that's it. It's over. It's not guilty on every count.

ASHTON: The only way Casey's lies work is if Caylee isn't talking. Caylee's 2 1/2, almost 3. She's starting to become verbal. She's starting to talk.

Caylee is not going to cooperate. She can't. She doesn't know enough to lie.

At some point, Caylee is going to say something. Someone's going to ask her about Zanny and she's going to say who? It just can't keep going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. Criminal defense attorney Holly Hughes is here with me. She's also a form prosecutor. And CNN's David Mattingly joins us from Orlando.

And I'm going to start with you, David. A little bit of a dust-up in the courtroom, you saw a little bit of it there, between the prosecutor Jeff Ashton and defense lawyer Jose Baez. What happened? The judge didn't like it.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, while Jose Baez was reaching a critical point in his closing arguments in front of the jury, he looked over and saw Jeff Ashton, the prosecutor, smiling. And he made a note of that. He called him laughing guy.

That, of course, brought everything immediately to a halt. The judge called them both up and later came back and said, "You know my rules. This is against the rules. If this happens again, if either of you does anything like this again, I'm throwing you out."

So, it was a stern warning, very late in this trial. But it just shows you how emotional things have got and how sensitive everybody is inside that courtroom.

LEMON: All right. David, stand by. I have another question for you. But I want to bring in Holly now.

Holly, it was unusual for a judge to do that, and he meant business.

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: In fact, what he's told them, it's kind of like the umpire throwing you out of the game, throwing the coach out of the game, because what he told both attorneys was, if this happens again -- you know, I'm going to let it slide this time because you're both at fault. If this happens again, you guys are out of the courtroom. And whatever lawyer is left on your team sitting at that table, that's who's going to wrap this thing up.

So, just Judge Belvin Perry has had enough, Don. We've seen these two clashing swords before. It's been, you know, six or eight weeks of this contention and they're just as tired, the jury is exhausted as well and the judge knows it.

LEMON: Before I head back to David Mattingly in Orlando, I have to ask you this -- this seems to be taking quite a long time. What's going on here?

If I were on that jury, I would be like, hurry, can you get to it already? We've seen the evidence. We've heard the evidence. Let's get to it, correct?

HUGHES: Exactly. And this is a mark of an inexperienced attorney. Jose Baez -- and, you know, forgive me, I described the defense this way before, but even with this closing argument, it's like a fart in a blizzard, Don. He's all over the place. He's not making sense. He's not pulling it together. It's not cohesive.

And at times, he contradicts himself. I was taking notes frantically this afternoon, and there are four or five times when Jose Baez says one thing and then turns around and says completely the opposite and contradicts his theory of the case. So, when Jeff Ashton got up, boom, boom, 45 minutes, laid out what he needed.

LEMON: Done.

HUGHES: During verdict, he's going to do the same thing.

LEMON: When did the dust-up half? It happened after lunch or before lunch?

HUGHES: This was after.

LEMON: After lunch, OK.

So, David, listen, this was after lunch. But there was a long lunch break. And I'm sure you got to at least sort of sample the mood or the temperature there. Take us inside of what's happening in the courtroom and in Orlando, outside of the courtroom where you are as we get down to the final moments here.

MATTINGLY: The jury has been paying very, very close attention to what is going on inside that courtroom. It's only been in the last hour or so that they started to fidget around in their seats. They are listening to every detail from these attorneys.

And you talked about how long the defense is taking with their closing arguments, they had an awful lot to cover. We had over 100 witnesses called in this case and now they're going through piece by piece, driving home the point of what they're calling fantasy forensics. And they are also calling out every opportunity they can to drive in reasonable doubt, pointing out there's no cause of death here. There are no fingerprints. There's no DNA -- some very big blind spots in the prosecution's case that their trying to exploit here and let the jury know that if you have reasonable doubt, you have to find her innocent.

LEMON: And, David, do you get a sense -- we get a sense, as you said, the jury is starting to fidget. What about the judge? We heard from the judge. He said, listen, I've had enough of all of this. What about him? Looking at him personally and close up. Tell us about that.

MATTINGLY: We have heard him say more than once enough is enough. He's proved to be very stern with his warnings. He's also been in the moment. He was in the moment this time, calling a very abrupt end to the proceedings when one person got angry and called the other laughing guy.

And he admonished both of them. He makes it clear he is in charge in there. He's very concerned about what the jury sees and hears because the last thing he wants in this case, particularly at this late hour, is something that would cause a mistrial.

LEMON: And what about Casey?

MATTINGLY: Casey Anthony herself has been emotional many times today. One time when the defense was talking about what a good mother she was, she got very emotional then. She got emotional at times when the attorneys were talking about her family.

Again, she is on trial for her life. All of these emotions that she's been going through for the last weeks that this trial has been going on are now sort of reaching a crescendo. This is her last chance with her attorney to convince this jury of her innocence. Of course, they don't have to prove that. They just have to show reasonable doubt.

But, again, this is her last chance to either get out of prison or avoid death row. So, the stakes are incredibly high.

LEMON: I want to tell viewers, you are looking at live pictures now of Casey Anthony inside of that courtroom. We're going to continue to follow it here on CNN. David Mattingly, thank you very much. I would love to talk to someone who can judge body language on this to talk about Casey Anthony. And maybe you and I will talk it as well.

Holly Hughes, we appreciate you joining us.

There is another profile case that we'll be watching closely this week, and that's the possibly crumbling case of Dominique Strauss- Kahn. You'll recall the former IMF head was charged with sexually assaulting a New York hotel housekeeper six weeks ago? Well, prosecutors seemed to think that they had an air-tight case.

But, Friday, that all changed. That's when prosecutors learned the accuser had a major credibility issue.

So, the judge released Strauss-Kahn from house arrest. And now, it is a game of wait-and-see.

Will the Manhattan D.A. go ahead with charges or drop the case altogether, or is it something totally different that's possible here, like a plea deal?

Holly Hughes, I want you to stay right here because I want you to weigh in on this case on the other side of this break. So, don't go anywhere.

You know, the deadline for Congress to make a decision on the debt ceiling is fast approaching. President Obama is catching some heat after scolding congressional Republicans in a news conference. We'll ask two political experts what's at stake.

And you may be asking for information on social media, you can reach out to us on Twitter, on Facebook, on CNN.com/Don, also on Foursquare.

And to learn more about me and my journeys in journalism and other things, make sure you check out my book "Transparent," available anywhere books are sold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SSG FELIX BURGOS, U.S. ARMY: Hello. I'm Staff Sergeant Felix Burgos from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, here in Joint Base Balad. I want to say hi to my wife Madia (ph) and my son Nick and all my friends and family from all over the place. Happy Fourth!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Welcome back, everyone.

Now, to the case that we have been telling you about before the break. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the powerful political player in France and possible presidential candidate, charged with sexual assault against a New York hotel housekeeper. A judge released Strauss-Kahn on his own recognizance on Friday after prosecutors learned of a possible credibility problem with the accuser, their star witness.

Now, the case is in limbo. And the question is: will the Manhattan D.A. go forward with this case now or drop the charges against Strauss-Kahn?

Wow, what an incredible turn of events, Holly Hughes. I want to bring her back now.

You know, this case -- I mean, you know, of course, someone versus the other. It's a he said/she said. But it really brings her credibility into question when you hear about allegedly what she did, this phone call, this conversation with her boyfriend or some guy in prison saying I know what I'm doing. This guy has a lot of money.

Is this case going to go forward?

HUGHES: Right. I don't see how it can. And what's unique about sexual assault cases, Don, is that when you have DNA in a sexual assault case, in any other case, in a murder, in an armed robbery, that's the gold standard of evidence. And people would be thrilled to have that evidence. In a sexual assault case, if you have DNA, it doesn't matter, because he can say or she can say it was consensual.

So, you've done is you've taken that that out of the picture and left only the credibility of the people involved at issue. So, it comes down to who's more credible. And they have proven that she lied to law enforcement officials. She lied on her IRS papers. She lied on her INS, her asylum application, saying she was gang raped, and it wasn't true.

So, how do you, seriously -- how do you argue to a jury she's lied about all these other things in official statements, but please believe her now.

LEMON: OK. But, listen, I understand that. But some people are saying this is a case of blaming the victim, because what about his past? He's had some issues when it comes to his treatment of women as well.

HUGHES: Right.

LEMON: Why doesn't that play into it? It's not part of this particular case.

HUGHES: Well, it should be, but there's something called prior bad acts. And, typically, in a court of criminal law, you cannot bring in prior bad acts. Now, the exception --

LEMON: What about with her, though?

HUGHES: OK. But the exception to that, Don, is when your acts are what they call crimes of moral turpitude, or they go to deception and lies.

LEMON: OK, got you.

HUGHES: OK? So, because she is --

LEMON: Because she's the accuser, he's not accusing her.

HUGHES: Right, exactly.

LEMON: All right. So, listen, I want to get this straight and I want to bring this, just the credibility issues, get it on the record here. Less than two days after the alleged victim said the attack occurred, she spoke over the phone with a boyfriend in an Arizona jail in a recorded conversation.

And here's what it says -- a source tells CNN that she said that she's fine and this person is rich and there's money to be made. The source also said the alleged victim had bank accounts in multiple states with several deposits of thousands of dollars at a time -- the indication here that she was potentially involved in drugs. That's pretty damning stuff.

So, could this be a case of extortion by the accuser? Is that what's coming into play here?

HUGHES: I don't think so, because we have seen her attorney, Mr. Thompson, on the television, talking about the fact that not only was there DNA evidence, which is evidence of some sexual activity, but that she sustained injuries as well. So, you know, unless they're going to say, hey, this is a rough sex thing and she, you know, purposely injured herself to politically set him up, I think it happened. You know, women do not subject themselves to this kind of scrutiny just to make up a story.

LEMON: I have to run, but what if this is a false allegation? Will she then face charges?

HUGHES: She will absolutely face perjury charges.

LEMON: All right. Holly Hughes, thanks again.

HUGHES: Absolutely.

LEMON: Appreciate it.

Time now to get you caught up on the headlines. An apology from ExxonMobil today after as much as 42,000 gallons of crude oil leaked into Montana's Yellowstone River. ExxonMobil is cleaning up the spill and the breached pipeline has been shutdown. It started leaking near the town of Laurel, about 100 miles downstream of the Yellowstone National Park. About 200 people were evacuated when the spill was discovered Friday. They're now back at home.

State government offices in Minnesota have been closed for three days now, and it's not because of the Fourth of July. A stalemate over the state budget has forced the shut down, which is likely to drag on for days. The governor's spokeswoman tells CNN that talks won't likely happen until after the holiday. State parks are closed. Social service agencies have lost funding and as many as 23,000 state employees are set to be laid off. Former President Bill Clinton is weighing in on the Washington debate over raising the nation's debt ceiling. He urged Barack Obama to stand firm and he compared the current stalemate to the 1995 budget shutdown. In Clinton's word, "This is the political equivalent of the government shutdown when I was president."

That shutdown, you may remember, ended with Republicans getting most of the blame for bringing government operations to a halt for nearly a month.

Clinton also warned that if there's no deal by the August 2nd deadline, interest rates will rise and the nation's credit rating will decline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're in one week, out one week. Then they're saying, "Obama's got to step in." You need to be here. I've been here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. President Obama shifted his tone of late and went after congressional Republicans in his Wednesday news conference -- well, tagging them as friends of the wealthy and giant oil companies who don't always put in a full week's work. So let's talk about the debt debate and everything that's going on with two political pros here.

Lenny McAlister is a Republican analyst and Maria Cardona is a Democratic strategist.

Thank you both for joining us.

Maria, to you first.

I'm curious, is the president ramping up his rhetoric as a negotiating ploy maybe?

CARDONA: Well, certainly, whenever the president does something like this, it is part of the negotiating process. But I think what he said was really important and it's important for the American people to hear and it's important for all of Congress to hear. In fact, Harry Reid, I think, took him up on his offer because he is making the Senate stay in or come back from recess next week to try to get this done.

I think his point is this, Don, you have Democrats who are willing to give in. You have Democrats who are willing to share the pain, who are willing to accept trillions of dollars in cuts that their base is not going to like because they understand that we have to solve this problem.

Republicans are not willing to share the pain. They are not willing to give in. And they need to do that in order to solve this big problem. And that's what the president was saying. LEMON: I want Lenny to get in there. Lenny, are Republicans really going to risk a financial default rather than give up tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires?

LENNY MCALLISTER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I think they're not willing to risk hitting the debt limit. What they are willing to do, however, is force Democrats and the president to come to the table and say, what types of cuts do we actually need to put into place? Just the same argument that we had in December 2010, and eventually, the Democrats and the president came to the table, made some agreements when it came to the Bush era tax cuts and subsequently got other pieces of legislation passed.

So, this is going to be, I hope, another example of eventually both sides coming to the middle, getting this done by August and hopefully putting some things in place that will start getting the unemployment rate down and getting this economy back on the right foot.

LEMON: When you start saying I hope, then it means that you're saying I know. You're not very confident about it.

So, I'll let you think about it.

But, Maria, will President Obama sign a deal that does not include some kind of tax hike?

CARDONA: I think that what the president is going to really focus on -- and he has said this many times -- is that we need to have a balanced approach. We need to have a fair approach. And again, he has talked about and Democrats have talked about being led by Joe Biden accepting trillions of dollars in cuts that their base is not going to like.

But, again, understanding that we need to give here because we do need to reduce the deficit and everybody understands that there's a lot of spending.

LEMON: OK. All right.

CARDONA: The problem here, Don, is that Republicans want to continue to protect the millionaires and billionaires, the jet-setting corporate executives, and the oil and gas companies. And that is not a fair approach. And the American people understand that.

LEMON: Why are you shaking your head, Lenny?

MCALLISTER: Because those jet-setters are also called job creators. And that's who they're trying to protect. What I would like to say is I say hope, because if the president comes as negotiator in chief, both sides will have to give up something.

LEMON: OK, Lenny, not every jet setter -- not every jet setter is a job creator. Come on, you can't -- you can't say that with a straight face.

MCALLISTER: But plenty of them are absolutely, positively job creators, Don. They are small business creators and that's what we have to get the economy going again.

LEMON: OK. All right. I'll give you that.

Let's talk about Libya. At times, the president is hearing criticism from Congress on both the left and the right. Earlier today, Republican John McCain told our Candy Crowley that the U.S. should have done more to get rid of Gadhafi by now. The president insists that he is taking the right path and Wednesday, the president's choice of words sounded like someone else.

I want you both to listen very closely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have engaged in a limited operation to help a lot of people against one of the worst tyrants in the world, somebody who nobody should want to defend. And we should be sending out a unified message to this guy that he should step down and give his people a fair chance to live their lives without fear.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I made a decision to remove a dictator, a tyrant, who is a threat to the United States, a threat to the free world, and a threat to the Iraqi people. And the world is better of without Saddam Hussein in power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Two different presidents, two different military actions. But, Lenny, is this word choice -- it's similar. Is this a coincidence?

MCALLISTER: It's not. The bottom line is: President Obama didn't call it what it is, it's a regime change. Either you go in and make the regime change like President Bush did, or you stay out of the way, you don't go in the middle.

And, unfortunately, President Obama is trying to tiptoe his way through this and it's not working out as well as he would have hoped. Either you say this is a regime change because this is a bad guy in there and the Arab Spring have to continue in Libya, or you stay out and you let the people of Libya deal with their own problems internally. One or the other, not trying to both at the same time.

LEMON: Maria, I have to ask you -- how long can this go on before the president starts to face some tough criticism? Is it going to be different because, as long as there are no troops in harms way and you don't see the troops coming home sadly, you know -- or not coming home, I should say, that he's going to start to face some criticism?

CARDONA: Well, I think that as long as we see progress in Libya, which we are seeing, the opposition is gaining a lot of ground every single day.

And there could not be more differences in the situations, Don. This was not a preemptive strike the way it was in Iraq. This was not based on faulty intelligence and frankly something that did not turn out to be true in terms of weapons of mass destruction, which was the reason that Bush went into Iraq. This was based on an organic uprising that happened among the Libyan people because they said it was time to get rid of dictator. Not because Obama said it was time.

LEMON: And it's also different. One was a ground battle where a lot of people died. And a lot of people injured.

CARDONA: Absolutely. There are no troops. Not one single American troop is on the ground in Libya now. There have been no plans to have anybody there.

LEMON: That's going to have to be in it.

Maria and Lenny, thank you both. Happy Fourth of July to you.

CARDONA: Thank you so much, Don.

MCALLISTER: Thank you, Don. God bless you all.

LEMON: All right.

An openly gay soldier killed in action in Afghanistan. Now, his parents are picking up where he left off, challenging a Minnesota state ballot initiative prohibiting same-sex marriage. I'll talk to them and the man sponsoring the bill. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Minnesota is shaping up as the next battleground in the same- sex marriage debate. Voters next year will consider a ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to define marriage as one man and one woman. The family of Corporal Andrew Wilfahrt is adamantly opposed to it. Their son, who was openly gay, was killed by an IED in Afghanistan last February.

I recently spoke with the Wilfahrts about why gay rights have become so important to them. But, first, I want you to listen to Minnesota State Senator Warren Limmer as he explains why he pursued a ban on gay marriage at a time when his state is in dire financial trouble.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WARREN LIMMER (R), MINNESOTA STATE SENATE: I just ended a five-month session in the Minnesota legislature. We focused on a lot of issues. We're a diverse community.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Hang on, your government is shut down now over a budget impasse. And this -- is this the biggest issue that's facing the people of Minnesota?

LIMMER: No, it certainly isn't. But it's one of many issues facing the people of Minnesota. This was decided about a month and a half ago in the Minnesota Senate. The legislature, as it focused on the budget, it's an entirely different focus and an entirely different debate. And, you know, we in Minnesota have a number of bills that we have to define and direct as a part of the responsibilities of the legislature.

LEMON: What do you say to those parents who believe their sons, their son, who fought for everyone's right, is being discriminated against and people like him are being discriminated against? What do you say to that family?

LIMMER: First, I'd want to tell them that I'm very sorry for the loss of their son, and the service that they -- that their son provided for the people of the United States. The people of Minnesota.

However, that son may have had a different view than I have. But why is his views any more important than, let's say, a heterosexual soldier that lost his life in Afghanistan as well? How do we define the direction? And do we just listen to one soldier? One family? Or do we try to include everyone in it, in this decision?

And the best possible way is the next year and a half to have a state conversation, statewide conversation, with the people of Minnesota and give them the opportunity, and give them the right to direct the legislature on the right policy here in the state of Minnesota.

LEMON: What do you say to Minnesota State Senator Warren Limmer, who is the author of this ballot initiative? He wants to ban same-sex marriage in your state? What do you say to him?

LORI WILFAHRT, MOTHER OF GAY SOLDIER KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN: I would say the people didn't ask to vote. People should not vote on human rights. It was -- it just kind of came out of the blue, although he was kind of planning it for years. We have a budget problem in Minnesota. And all these people were elected to create jobs, balance the budget. They were not asked to legislate on gay marriage.

LEMON: Your son died defending our country, and defending and fighting for our rights and our freedoms. And now I would imagine that you think his rights and freedoms are being taken away because he was a gay soldier, openly gay. what do you think he would say about this initiative? Do you think he would be fighting to keep it off the ballot and do you think he would be fighting against the Senator?

WILFAHRT: Absolutely. He -- this is a guy who actually read the Constitution. He thought that states took great liberties with the Constitution by putting topical things of the day on it. He believed it was a document that protected all human beings, and it was for equal rights. And he would be really upset by this for two reasons, putting another amendment on the Constitution that maybe is only important to a small group of people at this period of time in history, and it marginalized himself and his community. So, yes, he would be really upset about this. He would be doing what he could, too.

Also, when you enter the military, you have to take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and to protect the country against foreign and domestic enemies. The enemy here is intolerance, misinformation, bigotry, probably greed. So as a soldier, that is what he's fighting for.

LEMON: My thanks to the family and the Senator.

The Casey Anthony trial is coming to a close. We'll tell you about the fireworks in the courtroom straight ahead.

First, members of the Ghanaian community express concerned over the progress of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case. I'll talk with "The New York Times" reporter who got their accounts first hand.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I want to get you caught up on the headlines.

The Casey Anthony murder trial in Orlando could go to the jury at any time now. Both prosecution and defense presented closing arguments today. The defense said there was no compelling evidence and lots of reasonable doubt. But the prosecution argued the defense's theory about how 2-year-old Caylee died was a fantasy. Casey Anthony could face the death sentence if she's convicted of killing her own daughter.

We could learn this week whether prosecutors will drop charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The former International Monetary Fund chief was released on his own reconnaissance Friday amid allegations that a sexual assault case against him could be falling apart. The prosecution said there are credibility problems with the accuser.

For more on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, I want to bring in Sam Dalnick, a reporter for "The New York Times." He's been doing some digging on this.

Sam, thanks for talking with us today.

SAM DALNICK, REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Happy to talk with you, Don. Thanks for having me.

LEMON: Listen, "The New York Times" is the first to report on some of these so-called credibility issues with the accuser. She has admitted to lying about the details on her asylum application into the U.S. She is from Guinea, and that's where she falsely claimed she was gang raped. I know you did some reporting on how local West Africans in the accuser's Bronx neighborhood have reacted to these revelations. What are they saying to you?

DALNICK: There's largely a sense of bewilderment, similar to two months ago, where they were at the center of this international story. Now, again, the story has turned. There's wariness at the international media that descended upon them, and now the extra scrutiny coming on their community in general.

LEMON: She was apparently -- she used to cell phone cards. So the people you talked to -- I'm sure some of them know the accuser. The ones who know her, what have she said about her?

DALNICK: People are keeping their distance. Nobody wants to get caught up in this story, especially since it's changed so much every time. So the people who do know her don't want to go on the record. Lots of people who claim to know her, but their ties are shaky. It's a murky situation still.

What it seems like is these people are wary of the whole situation, of the whole story. They are putting -- the imam at her mosque, encouraging everyone to put their faith in the American justice system now. That the truth will come out and either way, whatever the courts decide, the community will support.

LEMON: So let's talk about --

DALNICK: So there wasn't a sense of a conspiracy theory at play or anything along those lines, other than the facts are still emerging. We'll see what the courts decide.

LEMON: Sam, that's what I want to talk about. Let's talk about the facts here. A source familiar with the case said the alleged victim had bank accounts in multiple states with several deposits of thousands of dollars at a time. The indication here is that she was potentially involved in drugs. You talked to folks in the Bronx who defended the victim against such claims, correct?

DALNICK: Well, again, people in the Bronx were very hesitant to talk directly about the claims, to talk directly about the case. They view this as a legal matter that is still being decided and that is out of their hands.

The people who would talk about her, you know, spoke rather generically that they knew her from the neighborhood. They never saw any connections to crimes or to drugs or money laundering. But no one ruled that out. They said that investigators are looking into it and they will believe what the case as the facts that emerge.

LEMON: Sam Dalnick of "The New York Times."

Whatever it is, you have to admit this is a strange turn of events.

We appreciate it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Politics get physical in the Philippines. That's ahead in "Globe Trekking."

And from Wall Street to the White House, we'll have what's in store for you in the week ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAREN CORREDOR, SPECIALIST, U.S. ARMY RESERVE: Hello, I'm Specialist Karen Corredor from Joint Base Falad (ph) in Iraq. I'd like to say Happy fourth of July to my mother, my sister and everyone back at home in Brooklyn, New York. I love you guys. I'll be home soon. Take care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Now to the big stories in the week ahead. From Washington to Wall Street, our correspondents tell you what you need to know. We begin with what's ahead for the week on Capitol Hill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jill Dougherty at the White House. With the July 4th Independence Day celebration Monday, the fireworks continue over the budget and the debt ceiling. The Senate is canceling its vacation, saying it will work on both issues. President Obama is at Camp David, and on July 4th, he will celebrate the 13th birthday of his daughter, Malia.

KATE BALDWIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kate Baldwin on Capitol Hill. The big focus up here this week continues to be the stalled negotiations over raising the federal debt ceiling. The House will be in session most of the week. The Senate canceled its planned break in order to stay in town to continue the talks. But big divisions remain between Democrats and Republicans, especially on the issue of taxes. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has invited the president and the vice president to come meet with Democrats Wednesday to discuss the ongoing battle, but still no bipartisan meeting scheduled between the main negotiators here.

POPPY HARLOW, HOST, CNN MONEY: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Investors will get their latest look at how retail sales in June. The nation's chain stores tally up those numbers on Thursday. On Friday, this is critical, that the government's monthly jobs report and economists are calling for a gain of roughly 90,000 U.S. jobs last month. That would follow a much weaker than expected gain in May. We need to see many more jobs created to bring down the unemployment rate. Of course, we'll track it all week on "CNN Money."

LEMON: We will be watching.

Ahead in sports, a new number one in tennis. We'll look at how he got there.

But first, bomb disposal is a dangerous job. What happens next? We'll show you in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Look at your TV. You won't believe this video. A bomb ripped apart a car in Thailand. You won't believe what it did to a man who was inches away. OK. There he is encased in a bomb suit. The outfit -- look at that. It did its job. The explosion goes off. The bomb squad member gets up. He walks away. He had only minor injuries. Routers is reporting someone nearby probably detonated the bomb remotely. A tip led police to the scene which is in a province of south Bangkok. Amazing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(GUNFIRE)

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LEMON: You are not watching the front lines in a war zone. These are the sidelines at a soccer match. Who was playing when gunfire erupted? The answer in moments.

But first, we will go "Globe Trekking." A great story on the Fourth of July eve. A new nation is forming in Africa.

International desk editor, Azadeh Ansari joins me with the details now.

Azadeh, so we're talking about south Sudan.

AZADEH ANSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL DESK EDITOR: That's right. So right now, Africa -- Sudan is the largest country in Africa. When this happens next week, on Saturday, on July 9th, they will celebrate their independence. This has been long in the making. They've dealt with decades and decades of civil war, as we know. Once this kicks off, it's not going to be all peachy, Don. Look, the south is an oil-rich region. The borders have not been defined yet. As you know, George Clooney is one of the four people on this -- trying to make sure that no conflicts break out and everything. We've even sent an envoy from the U.S. to Sudan to ensure that this is a smooth transition that takes place. This week, we'll just monitor Sudan very closely to see what falls out from this.

LEMON: It will be interesting, definitely, to see what happens.

OK. As I just mentioned a bit ago, we know soccer. It's taken seriously overseas. Why was there shooting at a game and who was playing?

ANSARI: The irony here is what -- this was supposed to be a friendly match. It wasn't like a qualifier game.

LEMON: Listen to that.

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(GUNFIRE)

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ANSARI: Listen. So it was a game versus -- it was the Kuwaiti national team versus the Lebanese national team. Five minutes to the end of the game, what happens? They get into this fight.

LEMON: Oh, my gosh. ANSARI: Now, what instigated it? It's still under investigation. They don't know the ins and outs yet.

But, again, this is a story we can hear more of going into next week. But, again, look at this, you have the military marching into the field. This is the Lebanese military. This happened in Beirut.

LEMON: All right. Disturbing.

Azadeh, thank you.

Coming up on CNN --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY GOOD, ARRESTED FOR VIDEOTAPING POLICE: I'm going stand in my yard if that's OK.

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LEMON: A woman in Rochester is arrested while videotaping police. But the charges are later dropped. I'll talk to her next.

We're back in two weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOOD: What did I say to you that offended you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOOD: I'm going to stand in my yard, if that's OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. So a lot of people have been commenting on this particular story online. Remember this video? It's Emily Good, of Rochester, New York, recording police as she stood in her yard. Then police put her under arrest, causing an outcry that the officer overstepped his authority. The outrage turned to jeers after the prosecutor dropped the charges against the Good, seen there. You see her hugging her attorney. That's her in the foreground right there, hugging that gentleman right there.

Good spoke with me, along with Erica Bryant, a columnist for the "Washington Democrat & Chronicle."

Good says she is relieved the charges were dropped but is disturbed that Rochester police still find nothing wrong with her arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GOOD: Justice has not been done and that officer has not yet been brought to justice. He still hasn't faced the reality that he committed an unlawful act.

LEMON: This week the union, the Rochester Police Locust Club, right, said your episode, Emily, has crated a defiant and dangerous attitude.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE MASSEO, PRESIDENT, ROCHESTER POLICE LOCUST CLUB: Ms. Good's message that has gone out to the public that you have a right to interfere and question the actions of a police officer -- is irresponsible and a danger to the officers, the individuals the officers they're dealing with, and any other bystanders. A simple street stop can turn deadly in seconds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Emily, what's your response to that?

GOOD: If we don't have a right to question police officers, then we're living in a police state.

ERICA BRYANT, COLUMNIST, DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE: If you are in a situation where you feel that your rights are being violated, you should stand up and say something. but the column that I ended up writing about this incident was, my husband and I were talking about Ms. Good and how she stood her ground and how brave that was, but I said that I wasn't want my son to do that, because I would fear for him due to cases like, where a man, who was reaching for a wallet, was actually believed to have been thought to be reaching for a gun and shot 41 times.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: We asked to interview the officer involved and Rochester police officials and police union leaders, but they declined or did not respond to our request.

First the NFL, now the NBA. Both leagues may not be ready when their respective seasons begin. How long will the lockouts ask? We'll ask that gentleman right there. He'll break it down. Jon Wertheim, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOVAK DJOKOVIC, 2011 WIMBLEDON CHAMPION: It's just amazing. Amazing to be able to do that, you know, in three days' time. Over 20 years of work and come back to the place where I -- you know, where I grew up, and started playing tennis, and it all comes back to me. You know, I'm living my dream.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. That is Novak Djokovic, and in those three days he mentioned, he won Wimbledon and will now become the world's number-one tennis player.

"Sports Illustrated's" Jon Wertheim joining us now from London.

There's the cover of this week's S.I.

Jon, you were there today. It sounds Djokovic dominated his championship match against Rafael Nadal.

JON WERTHEIM, SR. INVEST. REPORTER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Yes, more or less. This is the fifth time in a row he's beaten Nadal this year. He's done it on three surfaces without Nadal. Nadal, seems the more ferocious player, defended better. We had this great reign of Roger Federer. We had this great reign of Rafael Nadal, and we have Djokovic, who lost one match this year, and now is the Wimbledon champion. It's a funny, lucky era in men's tennis. We've had our third team now.

LEMON: Yes, I was going to ask you, you mentioned Roger Federer. Is this a changing of the guard? Because either Nadal or Federer had won the last eight Wimbledon titles.

WERTHEIM: And those two have been number one for the last eight year. Really, they were way above the rest of the field. And now -- you know, Djokovic has been sort of sniping at them and he's so like the little kid brother. Now he's finally in the club. I don't know if it's a changing of the guard so much as a new rivalry. It's not Federer, Nadal anymore. The new rivalry, Nadal and Djokovic. Nadal has to figure out what to do to beat this kid.

LEMON: OK. We may soon not have any sports but baseball in this country. Let's turn to the labor front where the NBA joins the NFL in locking out its players. Is the NBA situation more dire than the NFL situation?

WERTHEIM: More dire. This sportsocalypse. I think the NFL will get settled in the next two weeks. Remember, they're making money. They've got $9 billion to divide up.

The NBA is much different. 22 of the 30 teams are losing money. Owners are digging in their heels. I think this is going to be the much uglier labor front. I think it's a lot different when you're trying dividing a pie than when you're really trying to restructure things and two-thirds of the teams are losing money. There may well be no basketball for a long time.

LEMON: Really?

WERTHEIM: I think the NFL gets done. I think basketball will get ugly. What it really comes down to -- as I was talking last week, it comes down to how long can the players hold out without the checks coming in? Because these sides are way far apart.

LEMON: All right, Jon Wertheim of "Sports Illustrated."

Thank you, sir.

He's the author of the book called "Sportscasting."

Thank you, Jon.