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Debt Deadline Nearing; What Killed Amy Winehouse?; Woman Accusing Strauss-Kahn of Sexual Assault Interviewed; Hundreds of Same- Sex Couples Marry in New York; Band Buffalo Springfield Interviewed

Aired July 25, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I don't know. I don't know what to say that. So, I'm just going to zip my mouth.

Randi Kaye, thank you so much.

And good Monday afternoon to you. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Look, let's get right to the latest here on this tug-of-war over what's essentially the nation's credit limit. So, within the past hour, we have been given -- we'll call it dueling debt ceiling plans. They are two different paths to raising the debt ceiling and ensuring the continuing flow of checks to America's creditors.

Now, one plan comes from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democrats and the other comes from House Speaker John Boehner and the Republicans.

So the question is could one of these latest plans make it through Congress and meet with the approval of the president? Or is the United States hurtling towards a potential financial disaster. Folks, keep in mind the deadline August 2, eight days away.

Let's go straight to my colleague. There she is flipping through the latest perhaps iterations of plans and keeping it all straight, Lisa Desjardins live for me on Capitol Hill.

You're a correspondent for CNN Radio. You have been following all the ins and outside of the debt debate. Lisa, let's look at each plan here. I want to begin with the one offered just within this past hour. We heard from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. What's in this latest plan?

LISA DESJARDINS, CNN RADIO: Yes. You saw me looking at the paper they gave out at that news conference.

And I was realizing this is $2.7 trillion in proposed cuts, Brooke, on two sides of a piece of paper. So obviously a lot of details still need to be filled in, but what Senator Reid is proposing is raise the debt ceiling by this month, and we will cut by that much. The cuts include about $1 trillion cuts immediately in discretionary spending.

He's also getting a lot of money, Brooke, from war money. He's saying as Afghanistan and Iraq wrap up, that there's about a trillion dollars in savings. That's kind of controversial, Brooke, because Republicans don't count that money. But bottom line, $2.7 trillion all in savings cuts. You might not like all them. But that's what Reid is saying. And he wants the debt ceiling raised by that much.

He also has a longer-term committee in here but it would just make recommendations for long-term reform, really would have a vote on that but wouldn't force those reforms to happen.

BALDWIN: So I want to look at this plan here that you now have. I want to look at what supporters would say and also opponents. Because from everything I have been reading trying to keep up with all of this, the big difference here from the Democrats' side is that there's no mention of revenue increases, correct?

DESJARDINS: That's right. Huge concession by the Democrats. This whole time, for week, oh, Democrats say there must be revenue on the table. republicans say there can't be. Now Democrats are dropping that huge demand.

So here is what supporters would say. Democrats would say, this plan gets it done. They would say we're out of time. We're not going to push for all of our demands anymore. And we are backing down in the interest of the country. That's what Democrats say.

Now, Republicans will say, wait a minute, we think this is a setup. We don't think that these spending cuts really do as much as you say. We don't believe this $1 trillion in war money is necessarily real. And we also think that this doesn't do enough long-term. They say that this is not as hefty as Democrats claim. Does that make sense?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Sure. Let me point something out, though. Because we know Harry Reid said something that made us all kind of wonder. He's talking about the Tea Party influence, right, in all these different debt debates and discussions. So I want to take a listen and I will pose a question to you on the other side.

DESJARDINS: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: We should not let these extremists dictate the outcome of this debate or the direction of our country. The time for ideologically -- the time for ideological extremism should end. Now is the time for cooperation and consensus building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Has this process, Lisa D., has this gone too far for cooperation and consensus building? Are these two sides just too far apart?

DESJARDINS: You know what's funny, Brooke? As I heard this news conference I was writing down the figures. And I thought and I tweeted out, I don't think these plans are all that far apart. These two sides have been very far apart coming into this. But to be honest this doesn't wash with me as much right now. We will get into -- I know you will probably get into the Republican plan that is coming out right now.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let me ask you about that. Let's talk about that. The House speaker, John Boehner, he's been talking to the president back and forth. And now we know those talks ended over the weekend. That was a breakdown. So now he has proposed this new plan. He's recently come out in the last hour. What is he proposing?

DESJARDINS: Right.

How about you have got Harry Reid, $2.7 trillion in cuts. John Boehner, $2.8 trillion, so $0.1 trillion difference. The main difference in these two proposals is how they do it. John Boehner would like to do it in two parts. Give you a trillion dollars now, Mr. President, for the debt increase and then you will get $1.6 trillion next year if -- this is the main difference here, Brooke -- next year if a committee passes long-term reform and if Congress and the president approve that long-term reform.

This is where talks broke down over the weekend. Republicans say we want this committee to put through long-term reform. And only if that passes will we let the debt ceiling go up next year. Democrats, if you want to talk supporters vs. opponents, opponents of John Boehner's plan say that's too dangerous, that that again puts the debt ceiling in the middle of the political battle and that we will just have this debate again next year. Republicans say, no, we need it.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Right. And I will talk to Brianna Keilar at the White House. And I'm sure she will reiterate your point, that the president has said time and time again he will veto any kind of plan. And to use his phrase in terms of kicking the can down the road, we know he wants a long-term fix.

But have to ask, because this is something that Americans -- look, we all face deadlines, right? So we are eight days, Lisa Desjardins, from this debt deadline, the debt ceiling deadline. We have heard from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. In fact we knew this day was coming even before last January. So why? Why are members of Congress waiting until it's almost too late?

DESJARDINS: Well, you're right. We're reporters. We basically only operate on deadlines so I can't throw stones too far.

But I decided -- I'm not a member of Congress nor do I necessarily want to be. I think, Brooke, and maybe I'm being a little bit too open here, after watching this months and months, these are obviously very smart men and women in the Capitol, very smart politically. But, Brooke, I have got to say after watching especially this last week, when it comes to thinking about the long-term future of the company, when it comes to planning ahead for future generations, these guys are acting like idiots.

There's really nothing else you can say. They really are looking short-term and not long-term.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Lisa Desjardins, I thank you very much for helping us understand at least both sides of the latest version of these plans. Thank you.

And as I mentioned, let's go to my colleague Brianna Keilar. She's live for us at the White House.

And, Brianna, let's just ask you here, gosh, can either of these latest plans satisfy the president? What are you hearing at the White House?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, we know that the president has already rejected the Boehner plan. This was discussed last night at the White House with Democratic leaders.

And we're still waiting for official reaction to the Reid plan. But let's just kind of look at each one and see where the White House, where the president objects. On the Boehner plan you have House Republicans saying this is a two-part plan. But the way the White House, as well as Senate Democrats feel, they feel like this is a two- part plan, because that second increase in the debt ceiling that would need to happen around perhaps February or March isn't necessarily guaranteed and the way the plan is set up, we would see a whole big debate, this kind of rhetorical brawl that we have been seeing go on for weeks that is not pretty, Brooke.

We would be seeing that all over again and the White House wants to avoid that. The issue, though, is if there's some way to kind of change that second part, that second increase in the debt ceiling, perhaps this is the thinking the White House might be more amenable to it. But that hasn't been any breakthrough on that. In fact that's really the impasse in the discussions between Democrats and Republicans on the Hill.

Now, on the Reid plan what's interesting is obviously Senate Majority Leader Reid has been talking to President Obama and you have Senate Democrats working closely with the White House. But there's also something in this if you listen to what the president says he wants, which is a balanced plan which could tackle entitlement reform he's still talking about and what Democrats want, tax increases, this balance plan.

You just said it, Brooke. The Reid plan does not include it -- it's $2.7 trillion in cuts and an increase in the debt ceiling. So obviously is that ideal for what the president says he wants? No. But I think the sense is as we get closer to the deadline here, the president may just have to go ahead and sign whatever will get through Congress.

BALDWIN: So how do we go now, Brianna Keilar, from now until maybe one of these plans gets the final stamp of approval? Does this one vote go to the House to see how that may pass through, or the Reid plan? And what does the president do in the meantime?

KEILAR: In the meantime he's keeping an open line of communication with Republicans. We have heard that. We know that he placed a call to Speaker Boehner yesterday, Brooke. But really the communication the White House is having right now we know from sources is much more with Senate Democrats.

So the White House is more clued in or really sort of connected into what they are doing. At this point, though, even those discussions that were going on before everything kind of fell apart over the weekend between Senate Democrats and House Republicans, the White House was not involved in those discussions.

So right now there's a lot of just looking at what's happening on Capitol Hill. This is going to be a crazy week. We're going to be seeing a lot of meetings. We will be seeing -- there will be a lot of conversations. There will be conversations and meetings we don't even necessarily know about as we have learned from the last several weeks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Eight days to go, Brianna Keilar. We're going to have a busy day ahead of us, as you mentioned. Bri, thank you.

KEILAR: Oh, yes.

BALDWIN: And you know what? A whole other piece of this whole thing, the markets. Everything is keeping one eye on the financial markets, too, as we move perilously -- perilously -- perilously close -- I can say that three times -- to the August 2 deadline to raise the debt ceiling.

(MARKET UPDATE)

BALDWIN: And coming up next: the man who says he's the one who slaughtered 76 people in Norway. Does a 1,500-page manifesto hold clues to the puzzling question of why?

Plus, listen to her. She had the voice. She had the stardom. But Amy Winehouse also had a deadly addiction. But is that what killed her? Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A nation is in mourning today. Talking about Norway, deep shock and sadness bringing an estimated 150,000 people to the streets there of the capital, the capital of Oslo. They are paying somber tribute to the 76 people killed in Norway's worst act of terrorism ever, those who died when a massive car bomb exploded in the center of the city and then the horrific shooting that followed, leaving nearly 70 people dead, most of them teenagers.

It all was unfolding during the show on Friday. And then, of course, through the weekend, a portrait slowly began to develop of the man who claims he acted alone when he set off the bomb and opened fire on that political youth camp some 20 miles from Oslo.

Well, today that man here in the red sweater, Anders Behring Breivik, he is believed to be a right-wing Christian extremist, with radical, zero-tolerance views of immigration, other religions, cultures, and has reportedly confessed to both attacks.

Today he did appear before a judge who ordered him held until a court date two months from now. Investigators are sifting through these details of this enormous manifesto they believe Breivik wrote and then put online the day of the attacks.

I want you to watch this report, this from our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is how the man accused of being Norway's most notorious mass killer apparently wants the world to know him. A smiling, Norwegian nationalist, a serious military-style marksman. Not just a cold- blooded killer police say stalked and gunned down innocent young victims on a remote rocky island.

Anders Behring Breivik is believed to have posted these images to YouTube in a 12-minute video embedded in a 1,500 page manifesto just hours before he began his deadly killing spree with a massive car bombing outside government offices. CNN cannot independently verify their authenticity. Together, the video and manifesto appear to answer how and why the 32-year-old became a mass murder.

The video reveals an intense fear that Muslims will dominate Europe and anger at what the author calls Marxist European governments he blames for doing nothing and a belief that a Christian crusade is the solution. A belief he hid when he met this mainstream right wing politician eight years ago.

JORAN KALLMYR, PROGRESS PARTY: I am actually sorry because I didn't -- because if I had said something like that, maybe we could have discovered it.

ROBERTSON: Kallmyr suspects Breivik was attracted to his party's anti-immigration reputation but found them too moderate.

KALLMYR: I probably thought that he would find the people inside our Progress Party that will agree with him or something like that and he wrote in his -- in his manifesto he was disappointed.

ROBERTSON: The manifesto titled "2083, the European Declaration of Independence" rails against such political inaction."My government and our media capitulated to Islam several years ago. Thousands of Muslims pouring in annually through our asylum institution, or by family reunification. The situation is just chaotic. These suicidal traitors must be stopped."

The author turns his temper on his family, on friends, cruelly discussing sexual diseases he claims they have had, cataloging their failings. He also reveals why he rented a farm outside Oslo, to plot undetected, a mission he describes in graphic detail."I have just completed the explosives research phase and have summarized several new chapters for the compendium. My rifle application came through and I have now ordered an 800 euro silencer, specifically created for automatic and semiautomatic rifles. Needless to say, this is an extremely vulnerable phase. In fact, it is the most vulnerable phase of them all. If I get through this phase without trouble, I will be very close to finalizing my operation."

ROBERTS (on camera): The whole ugly episode is so devastating Norwegians are only just beginning to grasp the enormity of it. Breivik's manifesto is like a second hammer blow, too soon to fathom the implications of it. But already the question is being asked, how did he get away with it?

Nic Robertson, CNN, Oslo, Norway.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: So, I want you to stay with us here on CNN, because we're going to take you live from Oslo in just a matter of minutes where this long legal process against Anders Behring Breivik has just begun. And we learned today that, according to Norwegian law, the maximum prison sentence he could receive is 21 years -- 21 years -- if convicted on terrorism charges, bombing, shooting, killing.

Now, there are certain conditions that could apply in this case. We will get into that a little bit more with my colleague Michael Holmes just outside that courtroom. Definitely stick around for that.

But coming up next, the autopsy, it is complete, but questions remain, how did Amy Winehouse die?

Plus, Hollywood of course reacting to the singer's untimely death. We will check in with A.J. Hammer for that part of story.

Also, the hotel maid who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault breaking her silence. She is speaking out, folks. She's not backing down -- what she's announcing today, that's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now to the death of Amy Winehouse, not totally unexpected, currently listed as unexplained. It's what's trending.

Here is what we know right now. A court procedure to determine the circumstances of the singer's death did start today, even as parents identified her body and an autopsy was conducted. Now, an official cause of death will have to wait until toxicology results come back. That will happen in a couple weeks, but a family funeral will not. It could be held as early as tomorrow.

And the death of this young woman with a soulful voice straight out of the early 1960s and a terrible drug problem out of the '70s is ricocheting through the entertainment industry right now.

A.J. Hammer hosts "Showbiz Tonight" on HLN. A.J. joins me live.

And, A.J., I read a pretty fascinating, I'm sure you read it, too, this really -- it's almost like a tribute from Russell Brand, who wrote this long post about Amy Winehouse who he met many years ago. And he wrote this on this Web site. He tweeted it out. He calls it "For Amy." And in it, he talks about two types of phone calls that an addict's loved ones know is coming.

Here's what we writes. Let me read part of this. "The sincere hope is that the call will be from the addict themselves telling you that they have had enough, that they are ready to stop, ready to try something new. Of course though you fear the other call, the sad nocturnal chime from a friend or relative telling you it's too late. She's gone."

Amy Winehouse's death has really had I'm sure quite an impact within the entertainment community. Who are you hearing from today?

A.J. HAMMER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, not surprisingly there was an avalanche of comments coming through on Twitter since her death was announced.

There are a couple of notable reactions, one from Lady Gaga, who tweeted this. "Amy changed pop music forever. I remember knowing there was hope and feeling not alone because of her. She lived jazz, she lived the blues."

Let me read what Adele wrote: "Amy paved the way for artists like me and made people excited about British music again. I don't think she ever realized just how brilliant she was and how important she is. But that just makes her even more charming. Although I'm incredibly sad about Amy's passing, I'm also reminded of how immensely proud of her I am."

And you mentioned Russell Brand. And besides knowing Winehouse personally of course he fought his own battle with drugs quite publicly. One other thing that he wrote that really to me sort of sums up how a lot of people are feeling is this. "Whether this tragedy was preventable or not is irrelevant. It is not preventable today. We have lost a beautiful and talented woman to this disease."

Brooke, you can't say it any more plainly than that.

BALDWIN: Yes. It is a disease. And I'm actually going to talk a little bit about that with a special guest next hour.

But let's just talk about the scene, right, the scene outside of Winehouse's apartment. I know it's become quite the gathering point for fans. I imagine people are coming from all around the world.

HAMMER: Sure. You would really expect there to be an international flavor there since she had fans everywhere. Their reaction has been incredibly passionate as you would imagine.

The crowds of her fans have been gathering outside Winehouse's homes -- home there. They're leaving flowers and mementos. They have offered some comfort to Winehouse's family who actually mingled with the fans at the memorial in what was really an emotional scene earlier today.

In fact, Brooke, Amy's dad, Mitch, thanked the fans for coming saying they are actually making this time easier for the family.

BALDWIN: Well, let's remember a moment. Talk about a superstar voice and the look on her face, A.J. Hammer, remember, when she won that Grammy for song of the year, let's watch this moment again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the Grammy goes to Amy Winehouse.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And there's the look. I mean, she's stunned. She was extraordinary. How long, though, A.J., has she been spiraling downward?

HAMMER: Well, when you look back, and it's wild seeing that moment, because it sort of clarifies that her high point was really pretty brief. It sort of surrounded that time in her life.

She really only had one significant success with that album, "Back to Black." It came out in 2006. You heard Adele crediting her for starting the current trend of Britain blues singers like Adele that are so popular these days. But, yes, Brooke, the downward cycle for Amy Winehouse had been going on for a long time. We're talking about a woman of course who became famous for her song "Rehab." And ultimately her last appearance was at a concert last month in Belgrade. She was so erratic, she was booed off the stage there. That was supposed to be the start of her comeback tour.

BALDWIN: That's the video we're looking at.

HAMMER: Yes. And it really was the last time we saw her. And it's sad to me that this is the video footage that will archive that last moment. You can count me among those that are really sad by her death.

And I would like to say that I'm surprised, but sadly I am not. And that's what a loot of people are saying today about this immense talent. I always rooted for her. I always imagined the day, Brooke, when she would grow into her old soul sound and artistry. I really looked forward to further greatness from Amy. I thought it was possible.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Talk about an amazing voice, A.J. Hammer. It's just sad all the way around. A.J., thank you. I know you guys are putting together a special "Showbiz Tonight" on HLN. You will ask, will Amy Winehouse be a wakeup call? Excellent point. Will it be a wakeup call to troubled stars like Lindsay Lohan? That's tonight 11:00 Eastern on HLN.

A.J., thank you.

And coming up next, a horrific end to what was supposed to be an outdoor survival course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you say? We're just like so thankful he's alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A brown bear and her cub maul a group of teenagers out in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. Wait until you hear how long the victims had to wait and sit for help and what they did to save themselves. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, let's get to a quick look at some of our top stories, beginning with competing plans on the nation's debt. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid released his own deal just last house which President Obama by the way has now endorsed. And we're just getting that news in the last couple of minutes here.

What it includes is $2.7 trillion in cuts over the course of 10 years, raises the debt ceiling through 2012, makes no changes to entitlement benefits or taxes.

Meantime you have House Speaker John Boehner's plan. That would aim for roughly $3 trillion in cuts and raise the debt ceiling in two stages. It would allow the treasury to continue borrowing through early 2012 but tie the increase to tax reform and entitlement changes. The deadline to raise the debt ceiling is eight days away.

Also this, airlines have squashed potential price break for passengers. Remember Congress failed to reach a deal to extend the FAA's powers last week, the airlines had to stop charging all the extra money for cargo and jet fuel and sales taxes. That would have amounted to $50 per international ticket and $30 if you're flying domestically. But consumers will never see the deals because over the weekend airlines hiked fares by an equivalent amount.

The four and a half month old NFL lockout is almost over. The big news today members of the players association unanimously approved the new labor deal that was reached with the league early this morning. The players still have to vote on the plan, but they are expected to approve it. Details of the plan still not quite clear yet. Team facilities, though, could reportedly open as early as tomorrow with preseason games kicking off August 11th.

And now to Alaska, have you heard about this, where four teenagers are in critical condition at this hour after being mauled by a brown bear and her cub. This whole thing happened Saturday. There were seven boys in total in this group, learning survival skills in the Alaskan wilderness not too far from Denali National Park.

One of these young men told a Colorado news channel that he thought he was going to die when the bear went after him, bit him. He says the other guys made a makeshift bandage out of a garbage bag, fixed him up until the rescuers did finally got there.

These boys were involved in this national outdoor leadership school program and they were on their own without an instructor for the very first part of that trip. But after the attack they did take action, setting up a camp, treating one another's wounds as best as they could, activating a personal locater beacon which let authorities know where they were.

Rescuers did finally reach the group by helicopter just about six hours later but it took another four hours for another aircraft to get there and transport the most seriously injured to the hospital.

And she is accused of one of the world's -- she's accusing one of the world's most powerful men of assault. And now the hotel housekeeper that claims former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn attacked her is breaking her silence. She's not backing down, but is she telling the truth now?

Coming up next, the "Newsweek" reporter who sat down in this three hour interview is going to join me. You don't want to miss these new details coming out now. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The hotel maid who accuses one of the financial world's most powerful men of sexual assault is now breaking her silence. Her name is Nafissatou Diallo. She spoke to "Newsweek" magazine and also to ABC News about her claims about former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. She says she's coming forward now because she wants Strauss-Kahn to face justice, including time in prison.

By the way, he has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of sexual abuse and attempted rape. And we learned a couple hours ago that Diallo's attorney plans to feel a civil case against Strauss-Kahn later this week.

Now prosecutors still say they are trying to decide whether to move ahead with the criminal case or drop the charges. They say they discovered evidence that Diallo lied about where she was after the alleged attack back in May but also allegedly lying about several incidents about her past. But Diallo says that doesn't mean she's not telling the truth now. I want you to listen to ABC's Robin Roberts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAFISSATOU DIALLO, ACCUSES STRAUSS-KAHN OF ASSAULT: "I'm so sorry." I turn my head. He come to me and grabbed my breast. "No, you don't have to be sorry." I said "Stop. I don't want to lose my job." He kept pushing me, pushing me to the hallway, back to the hallway, keep pushing me. I was so afraid. I was so scared. ROBIN ROBERTS, ABC NEWS: What do you want?

DIALLO: I want justice. I want him to go to jail. I want him to know you cannot use your power when you do something like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And now we are reading detail after detail from Diallo herself in that "Newsweek" magazine cover story. It's out on the newsstands now. You can you also hop online to find it just as I did this morning. John Solomon sat in on the three-hour interview with Diallo and co-wrote the piece in the magazine. John, great to have you on.

I just want to start with why she's talking. It's so rare. As you and I know working a journalism team that you ever hear from an alleged victim. Were you pursuing her? Did you a call from her attorney out of the blue saying, hey, she wants to talk? How did this go down?

JOHN SOLOMON, NEWS AND INVESTIGATIONS EDITOR, "NEWSWEEK": Yes, you're right. It would be like Monica Lewinsky talking in the middle of the Clinton scandal. It is really unprecedented.

It's sort of a confluence of events. We had been reporting, really doing old fashioned gumshoe reporting, getting the hotel records, talking to witnesses, and little by little building the stories on "The Daily Beast" and inside "Newsweek."

And when she had made the decision she wanted to go forward, she chose us because she felt like we had a good grasp of the record. That's what she told us, that's what her lawyer told us. I think the cover probably was attractive to her, a magazine that would be on for a whole week, her photo would be out there.

BALDWIN: So John, you spent three hours with her in her attorney's office. Overall what were your impressions?

SOLOMON: You know, I have three poignant members, and it's almost seeing three personas during the course of the interview. At the very beginning she was reluctant to talk about her past, where she had been Africa, why did she lie on the asylum application for the states. And very shy, looking down. As we got to the point of the attack, she got very animated. And you could tell the passion would come through in the interview. I remember her dropping to the floor on her knees to show us what happened and moving her head about as you saw in the clip.

BALDWIN: When she was talking to you, she literally got on the floor to show you what happened?

SOLOMON: Literally, literally dropped to her knees on the floor. At another point she grabbed her head. You could see her moving her head, thrashing it about. And it was a very strong emotional moment when she talked. And at the end I have a very strong recollection of how proud she was to be a maid. She could tell you all the minutiae of housekeeping and how she did her job. She was glad to be an immigrant that came to the United States. I think one of the questions you ask, why did she fight more, do more? She described pushing and shoving. She was afraid to lose this job she held in high regard. And I think that that was insightful during the interview.

SOLOMON: She says that over and over, she doesn't want to lose her job. She doesn't want to lose her job.

But I do want to ask at what point did Diallo say she fully comprehend who this white-haired man in the room was?

SOLOMON: It's funny you said the "white-haired man," the first night in the hotel we have the hospital records, you can see she doesn't know who it is, silver hair, "white-haired man." The next day the news channel on, sitting with her daughter with her and she realized this was one of the most powerful men in the world, certainly the financial world, the presidential candidate of France. She thought oh, my god I've got to get my daughter out of the house and we have to go hide because they're going to come kill me. That was her experience in Guinea when women challenged powerful men there, and I think that was an insightful part of the interview as well.

BALDWIN: How did she respond to these accusations that she has not entirely been forthright?

SOLOMON: Pretty straightforward. I made some mistakes. I did make up a story about rape first to get in the country. then I told prosecutors I did it because I didn't want people to know I had lied on my application.

But then what happened? Well, it wasn't that rape but I was raped once by two soldiers. I was out past curfew, picked me up from the place I was working, got raped. She described it in detail. She addressed it head on. There was no question she wouldn't answer. I think we asked upwards of 300 questions over the four hours.

BALDWIN: Finally one thing she mentions over and over, she doesn't want to lose her job. At the end of the piece she doesn't want to say, hello, housekeeper, she doesn't want to go back to that particular role? What's she want from all this, her biggest concern?

SOLOMON: I think the fact she did the interview is a reflection of two goals that she has. The relationship between prosecutors is broken between her attorney, her and the prosecutors. I think this was designed to jump passed them go to American public, to the court of public opinion.

I think the second thing is she wants to push back against anonymous reports that had her pegged as a prostitute or as a money grubbing con artist. And she wanted people to see who she was, an African immigrant, and try to make a story directly to the American people.

BALDWIN: Your old-fashioned gumshoe reporting John Soloman, paid off. It's an excellent write. I highly recommend it in "Newsweek." You and Christopher Dickey did a fantastic job. Thanks for coming on.

SOLOMON: Thanks a lot, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Now, watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's huge. It really is huge. And we hope as New York goes that so goes the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: It is a moment hundreds have waited a lifetime for. Hundreds of same-sex couple line up to tie the knot in New York. But one group wants the marriage stopped. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It took just hours for the first legal challenges to New York's same-sex marriage law to emerge today. Conservative groups filed a lawsuit in New York's state Supreme Court aimed at the now enacted Marriage Equality Act. That is the law that makes New York the sixth state to recognize same-sex marriages. Weddings began after midnight Sunday morning. The state issued licenses for more than 760 couples to marry. Folks, that was yesterday alone.

One of those weddings officiated by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. The setting was the Gracie mansion. The two men he married about both senior members of his staff. Mayor Bloomberg was the first city mayor to preside over a same-sex marriage.

And don't forget, many of you are tweeting me saying I can't watch you. I'm at work. Yes, can you. First news networks in U.S. to stream online and mobile devices, which means even if you aren't sitting in front of TV, not advocating not doing work, we can multi- task, you can watch me and other shows live. All you have to do is go to CNN.com/video.

And now, watch this.

After a four decade hiatus, Buffalo Springfield resumes rocking in the free world. The band on its 30-day reunion tour. That's next on your "Music Monday."

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BALDWIN: It is time for "Music Monday." And today we have the story of a reunion over 40 years in the making. I'm talking about Buffalo Springfield back embarking on a 30-city tour this fall and hitting the rose, certainly no easy task for most musicians.

So how has a group who hasn't played together since the '60s hold up? CNN caught up with two of the band members at this year's Bonnaroo musical festival. When the train came I held my breath with my eyes closed

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

STEPHEN STILLS, BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD: My primary emotion is relief, because I've been wanting to do this for so long.

(LAUGHTER)

STILLS: Hi. I'm Stephen Stills, and I'm entirely too old to be here.

RICHIE FURAY, BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD: Hi. I'm Richie Furay, and I'm just glad to be here.

STILLS: Me too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who are you here with?

FURAY: The Buffalo Springfield.

STILLS: There's no "the." It's just Buffalo Springfield.

FURAY: See, I never knew that.

(SINGING)

FURAY: It's great fun. You know, when we got together in California last year, it came together like a glove. We tried it in the '80s and it didn't work at all. It hit the wall.

STILLS: The songs held up really remarkable well. And actually, now that we're more mature, they've got a resonance we didn't know they had.

FURAY: That's right. I find that when I sing a couple of these things. I'm like, that's deep. I'm shocked. Yes, we were 21 or something?

STILLS: Musically, when we're playing, sometimes I literally just go back to when, you know, when you remember the good moments of 1965 or '66, you know? And the music, you just get lost in it. I do. Here we are, we're playing the same songs we played 40 years ago.

FURAY: And I just look dazed again.

(LAUGHTER)

FURAY: And it's really fun on stage, too just watching Steven and Neil go back and forth with their guitars. It's exciting to watch that.

These songs stand right up today. Certainly it's a different genera of music that we're going back to recreate, but we're recreating it with a current attitude, if you will. And I think that is why it's connecting over the years. Our parents love the music so much that they introduced it to their kids.

(SINGING)

STILLS: And thematically we used to take on genuine issues with life itself. So it's not necessarily time specific at all.

FURAY: And we're going to get a chance to finish this up and do 30 shows. So we're not done yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: And my big thank you to the guys and gals at CNN.com who produce sound check. We love to share those pieces with you on music Monday. If I can't quite make it to a show, you can always check out their work. Go to CNN.com/showbiz. And I'm a music lover, too. That's why we do music Monday. You can check out some of my previous "Music Mondays." Just go to our blog, CNN.com/Brooke.

Coming up here in mere minutes to the top of the hour, many of you are talking about it. We will as well. The sudden death of singer Amy Winehouse. Her battle with drug addiction certainly not a secret, but her death still comes as a shock to many. We're getting new information on her autopsy. We're going to share those details with you coming up.

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BALDWIN: Time now for your CNN Equals Politics update. Let's check in with Wolf Blitzer with the latest news fresh off the CNN Political Ticker. Wolf, what do you have?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Brooke, thanks very much. We're all getting ready. We expect to hear from the Republicans in the House of Representatives. I know you'll be covering it momentarily. The House Speaker John Boehner has a proposal that he's putting forward to see if they can advance the situation as far as raising the nation's debt ceiling. Only one week to go before the U.S. potentially could default on some of its loans, some of its financial obligations.

You heard Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, come out with his plan just a little while ago. Interestingly, Harry Reid's plan, as you pointed out, has no tax increases, which is what the Republicans want. At the same time, no real cuts in entitlement spending like Social Security or Medicare.

I just posted it on our CNN "SITUATION ROOM" blog, something very interesting. Both the president and the speaker, President Obama and John Boehner, they were both willing to upset their respective bases. The president by going ahead and be willing to have cuts in entitlement spending, Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, change of cost of living index, formulas, for example, what's called means testing. A lot of Democrats didn't like that, especially on a liberal base.

But Boehner was willing to anger a lot of Republicans by going along with $800 billion in increased tax revenues, if you will, what a lot of people call a net tax increase. He said the negotiations with the White House collapsed because the president was seeking another $400 billion in more tax revenue or tax increases, if you will.

So it's still a work in progress. They have a week to go, but they really only have a few days, because if they have votes in the House, votes in the Senate, you have to post the legislation three days in advance. You have got to let people look at it.

If one version passes the House, a separate version passes the Senate, under normal circumstances, Brooke, as you know, there's a joint house-Senate conference committee that comes up with something sort of in the middle. But right now, I don't know how much time they have to do that. They don't have a lot of time. The whole world is watching. Let's see if they can get their act together.

What's interesting is, as you know, the White House endorsed Harry Reid's proposal within the past few minutes or so.

One final note. Let me point it out because it's not getting a lot of coverage -- the president once again reiterating his support today is for comprehensive immigration reform. He spoke before the national council of La Raza saying the problem is not with the White House or the Democrats, it's others. He says he had no dance partner. He had promised when he was a candidate there would be comprehensive immigration reform. He would take it up in his first year as president. Now it's year three, it still hasn't come up. So some Hispanics, Latinos and others, are concerned about that.

But he did reiterate he hopes to get comprehensive immigration reform at some point down the road.

Right now, he has a much bigger issue, namely trying to raise the debt ceiling.

BALDWIN: Wolf, thank you very much. And as Wolf so aptly points out just want to remind all of you and let's show that live picture, we are waiting for House Speaker John Boehner to officially outline some of the details of -- we'll call it the Boehner plan. There are essentially two dueling plans. You have the Boehner plan and then as we heard from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, within about an hour and a half ago, we heard his plan.

And so that is what we have on the table, as Wolf mentioned. Folks need to get their acts together. We're eight days away before the August 2 debt ceiling deadline.