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CNN Saturday Morning News

Anthony Trial Testimony Ends; Strauss-Kahn Case in Jeopardy; Gadhafi Threatens Europe; Greece Stops American Activist Boat From Heading to Gaza; Same-Sex Marriage Laws Provide Boom For Wedding Businesses

Aired July 02, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And we're coming up on the top of the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Good morning to you all on this July 2nd. I'm T.J. Holmes.

The Florida murder trial of Casey Anthony is close to being in the hands of the jury. She, of course, accused of killing her 2-year- old daughter. Both sides have wrapped up testimony.

We are covering this case for you this morning. Shawn Lavin has been watching the proceedings for us there in Orlando. Also we'll be joined by Holly Hughes, an attorney here in Atlanta with me in just a moment.

Shawn, let me start with you and just talk about the schedule essentially. They wrapped up when yesterday and they're not in court today, even though we've seen them on most Saturdays?

SHAWN LAVIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they wrapped up yesterday afternoon, T.J. And just because they're not in court today does not mean that both sides are not working very hard. The judge gave them the day off today so that they can prepare for those crucial closing arguments tomorrow. Those are going to start tomorrow about 8:30, 9:00 in the morning, both sides will give their closing arguments.

After that the judge will read the jury some instructions and then the jury will go into deliberations. And theoretically we could have a verdict tomorrow. That's not very likely though. The court is prepared to go into the fourth of July and let them deliberate as long as they need to until they can decide if Casey Anthony is guilty of first degree murder.

HOLMES: All right, let me bring in Holly Hughes how, an attorney here in studio with me.

Holly, you hear -- I'm talking about this wrapping up, not likely I guess necessarily that they would get a verdict tomorrow after the closing arguments. But how many more surprises could there be? Is this really it tomorrow?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: (INAUDIBLE) Old saying from the movie "Jaws" just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, just when you think it's safe to go back in the courtroom, any crazy thing can happen. So you know, Judge Perry has done his best to move this along and be respective of the jurors and their schedules.

So yes, I think we are going to see the closings tomorrow. But they're going to take a couple of hours. I think we're going to have closings in the morning. There's going to be a lunch break. They'll come back. He'll have to charge them on the law. They're probably not going to start deliberating until about 2:00. I think we're going to see them come back want to continue to deliberate on the fourth of July. We might have a verdict by about Wednesday or Thursday after they've had a chance to go through all this evidence.

HOLMES: And good call or bad call, Holly? Everybody was debating about it, should she take the stand? Something you were discussing with me downstairs, before we came up here for the newscast is that they put a much greater burden on themselves, the defense, when they introduced this theory of how the child actually died. Caylee actually died. But wasn't it Casey, isn't she the only person who can prove that theory by getting on the stand and saying this is what happened.

HUGHES: That's exactly right. You know, as we all know in criminal cases, it is the prosecution, the state, that has the burden of proof, beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense doesn't have to say or do anything. And, there's actually a jury charge, T.J., where the judge says, you cannot hold it against the defendant for not testifying. You cannot draw any inference, harmful or hurtful, if she maintains her constitutional right to silence.

So what they did was they shifted that burden on themselves, they put up all these wild accusations that George molested her and Roy Kronk is morally bankrupt and Lee molested. All this craziness. And they didn't prove it. She was the only one who could have done it. It fell flat. It's not there. They can't argue it in closing. And the jury is going to be angry because now they're going to feel like not only is the defendant a proven liar but her attorney lied to them as well.

HOLMES: OK. Does he really, Holly, have to knock it out of the park, the defense attorney, in closing? Can he even - I mean in these type of cases how much of a difference does a closing argument make after a month of testimony?

HUGHES: I tell you what, these are exactly the cases where it's crucial because the jury has had a month of testimony. It's been so long since they've heard the state's case. So everything is scattered. It's drawn apart. These are crucial times. These attorneys state and defense, need to get up and stitch all of those pieces back into a cohesive picture for the jury.

And you know, you nailed it, T.J., he just does not need a home run here, it's got to be a grand slam. It has got to be out of the park. To even get one juror to think there's reasonable doubt and then at least he hangs it.

HOLMES: All right. And Sean Lavin, our reporter we have down there in Orlando for us, one quick thing to you since you are seeing what's happening outside of the courthouse. We have seen all kinds of madness out there over the past month of this trial, now that it's actually wrapping up, are you seeing, I guess, more activity, more people just stopping by to take a look, just what is it like outside the courthouse?

HUGHES: Well, the court had to take some measures to stop things from getting out of control, because we had people waiting in line all hours of the night. They would come up before midnight, T.J., to stand in line to get a ticket here in court. The court changed the policy so now people wait during the day, it's safer. So we don't have those crazy crowds that we used to. We have a more orderly line. There are more media coming here. There are more bystanders coming to take a look, take pictures of the courthouse but we don't have that craziness we saw a couple of weeks ago when people were fighting literally for a spot this courtroom.

HOLMES: It was ugly there for a while. Now the craziness has been just confined the courtroom it seems for the last few days. Sean Lavin in Orlando, for us. Holly Hughes here in studio with me. Holly, always good to have you as well. And Sean, thank you so much.

We'll turn now here at five minutes past the hour, new video to show you of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund. This is him smiling as he heads out for a night on the town with his wife. This scene came last night just hours after a judge released him from house arrest. He's accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid, but the judge in this Strauss-Kahn house arrest after prosecutors detailed problems with his accuser's story.

Inconsistencies with that story are now complicating this case. Here is how "In Session" legal contributor Sunny Hostin described the prosecution's concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: The problem here is that the prosecution would have to put her on the witness stand to prove its case, and if you read the letter that they did send to the defense team, it is clear that she has made so many errors in judgment, in terms of the stories that she has told, that it would be very, very difficult to put her on the witness stand and she would not be able to withhold, really, cross-examination. So I think unfortunately, even if there was a sexual assault here, this case is going nowhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Dominique Strauss-Kahn is due back in court July 18th. Meanwhile his accuser could face legal penalties or even deportation based on the details of her story.

We turn now to the Libyan leader who is vowing to, "move the battle to Europe". Friday, Moammar Gadhafi vowed Libya would retaliate for NATO's bombing mission. His message was broadcast to supporters in Tripoli's Green Square as well as on state television. This morning from Spain, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Gadhafi should step down from power.

Also a man who flew across the U.S. without a ticket, remains in jail this morning. A federal judge refused to set bail during a hearing yesterday. The suspected stowaway was caught traveling from New York to Los Angeles using somebody else's boarding pass. But when he arrived in Los Angeles police let him go. He then tried to board a plane from Los Angeles to Atlanta a few days later, using the same trick. He was arrested that time.

Turn to Minnesota now where for the second time in six years, signs like these are posted on state office buildings. Minnesota's state government is shut down. Shut down a minute after midnight Friday morning because the Republican-controlled legislature and Democratic governor could not agree on a budget. More than 20,000 state employees are now laid off because of the shutdown.

Let me bring in our Reynolds Wolf to check out some video, but also explain this to me. Reynolds, you're my - actually lightning expert. You and I talk about lightning probably more than we should, but this is a scene in Chicago. The Willis Tower now, excuse me, but this was last night. Oh, no, Thursday night, Reynolds, it looks like the tower is being struck.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, T.J., in the various conversations that you and I have had over the phone - hours and hours talking about the beauty and splendor of lightning and how incredible it can, you're absolutely right. This is an amazing stuff. There is a chance we might see more of these thunderstorms erupt across parts of the Great Lakes today and again mother nature providing a little bit of firework action on her own. WE got that coming up in a few moments and the heat wave that continues to control much of the southern half of the U.S. and fire weather in parts of the four corners, rough going for the firefighters, very low humidity, strong winds, later on today, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Willis Tower. Willis Tower.

WOLF: That's right.

HOLMES: It's hard to get rid of the other Sears Tower

WOLF: You're perplexed because you're into the whole lightning facts. You've been a lightning fan forever and it's right up your alley so, of course, it just makes -

HOLMES: And again, the lightning capital of the U.S. is where?

WOLF: It's going to be along the i-4 corridor in central Florida.

HOLMES: Local sky. All right. Reynolds, appreciate you as always. Talk to you again here shortly.

Well, nine minutes past the hour now. It was almost over as soon as it began. Authorities in Greece turned back a U.S. ship bound for Gaza, only 10 minutes after it left port. CNN was on board. We'll show you what happened and talk to the activists on board. That's after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. 12 minutes past the hour now.

Greece has stopped a U.S. ship carrying American activists from sailing to Gaza. The Greek Coast Guard intercepted the Audacity of Hope -- that's the name of it -- only 10 minutes after it left port yesterday. The ship is part of a flotilla of ships in Greek ports. They want to sail to Gaza, the (INAUDIBLE) Israel sea blockade of Palestinian territory.

CNN's Phil Black was on board.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The moment the boat moved, the passengers started to celebrate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Audacity of Hope has set sail.

BLACK: The Audacity of Hope one of 10 protest boats hoping to sail from Greece to Gaza to challenge Israel's blockade of that Palestinian territory. The Greek authorities have refused to give the flotilla vessels permission to sail. This U.S. registered boat was making a break for it.

ANN WRIGHT, LEAD ORGANIZER, AUDACITY OF HOPE: For the last year been working for this minute, to be sailing, sailing, sailing, it's a thrill beyond belief.

BLACK: On board, five crew, around 10 journalists, including our CNN team, and 36 activists. Heddy Epstein is one of them, 86 years old, as a young girl she escaped the Holocaust. Her family did not survive Auschwitz.

Now she is thrilled to be standing up to Israel.

HEDDY EPSTEIN, ACTIVIST: As we were leaving I had a huge lump in my throat and bubbles in my stomach. I can't believe it that we're really on our way.

BLACK: But a Greek Coast Guard patrol boat was already in pursuit, quickly catching up and forcing the protest boat to stop. Because of radio problems, the two captains spent the next three hours yelling at each other across the water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are not allowed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, that's not right. We have been surveyed to be safe.

BLACK: The activists began to despair.

EPSTEIN: I'm hurting. I'm sad. I'm angry. I want to go to Gaza. BLACK: The U.S. boat refused to turn back, so the Greeks called in backup. A team of armed commandos, boarded the patrol boat and aimed their weapons at the activists.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, your mothers don't want you to hurt us. Or your wives don't want you to hurt us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From your daughter, from your child.

BLACK: They begged, chanted and sang.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we are singing, singing for our --

BLACK: But the men in black were unmoved. They offered a choice, comply or they would take the boat by force. The Audacity of Hope followed the Coast Guard back to port.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The confrontation should be with Israel on the commandos and not the Greek commandos.

BLACK: Some of the activists were devastated. Others, including Pulitzer prize-winning author Alice Walker, insisted this was a win.

ALICE WALKER, ACTIVIST AND AUTHOR: I'm feeling extremely happy because I wanted to be sure the people of Gaza would know that we made a movement toward them.

BLACK: While all of this was happening the Greek government, which formally opposes Israel's blockade of Gaza, announced it would not let the flotilla sail because its mission was too dangerous. The activists say Greece is being bullied by Israel. Israel says it's using diplomacy to stop the flotilla.

(on camera): The passengers aboard the Audacity of Hope expected there would be a mission to stop them. There would be a confrontation. They thought it would be with the Israeli defense force and they hoped it would take place a lot closer to Gaza.

Phil Black, CNN, off the coast of Greece.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. A quarter past the hour now. A billion dollar industry just got bigger. Same-sex couples in New York are not the only ones smiling about the new law that makes their marriages legal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, at 19 minutes past the hour now. The number of people living in states that allow same-sex marriage essentially doubled last week when New York made those unions legal. That means the billion-dollar wedding industry just got bigger.

Kirsten Palladino is co-founder and editor in chief of "Equally Wed" magazine, now that's an on-line magazine for people who are trying to get married. Same-sex couples who want to get married. I want to make sure I'm describing it correctly here.

KIRSTEN PALLADINO, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "EQUALLY WED" MAGAZINE: Absolutely correct.

HOLMES: Now, you just told me you have a strong presence in New York - people checking out your on-line magazine.

PALLADINO: Right.

HOLMES: What happened after New York made same-sex marriage legal?

PALLADINO: Well, we had a huge spike in advertisers and then also in Facebook users and readers as well, just, you know, first let me start out by saying that there are many gay couples across the country that consider themselves already happily married and have had their weddings even though they don't have the marriage certificate that go with it.

But there are plenty of gay couples out there that don't feel like they can get married and have that wedding until it's legal in their state. So because of that, we had a spike of different readers coming on to keep - well now I can get married. So let me figure out how to plan my wedding.

HOLMES: Let me go back to that point. It's a good one you make. A lot of people already consider themselves, have ceremonies, even though it might not have the paperwork from the state. You and your partner are in that group as well.

PALLADINO: We are, yes.

HOLMES: OK. Right. You had a ceremony. I've talked to you before here on the air. Do you all plan on going to New York?

PALLADINO: We do. We definitely plan on going to New York. That's where we got engaged and so we have, you know, has a special place in our heart. We won't have, you know, a huge over-the-top wedding like we did already, but we are certainly going to go and get that piece of paper and then have a celebration with our friends and family.

HOLMES: Are you hearing a lot of that from certainly some of your readers and the on-line magazine, when New York did this, all right, we're going to New York.

PALLADINO: Right. Absolutely. You know, I think it's for a lot of different reasons. You know, there's - New York has, you know, a place in our hearts because of, you know, Stonewall, it's certainly not the birth of gay pride, but it is, you know, a huge place in our hearts for that, and then also, you know, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and then also, you know, 9/11, I think we all became New Yorkers at that time. And so I think we just as a country have a connection to New York like no other state.

HOLMES: OK. And help people understand who might not know, forgive me if this sounds like a silly question, a lot of people might have it, are gay weddings like any other wedding essentially you've ever been to? Same thing - got a cake, somebody walking down the aisle, you got the dress, is it the same?

PALLADINO: It's the exact same thing. The only difference is the gender of the two people standing at the altar.

HOLMES: Now do advertisers even have to - I mean, do you have people I guess caterers and different things like that who necessarily, forgive the expression, cater for gay weddings or a lot of people are just wedding planners who are coming to you and saying we have services you might need?

PALLADINO: Right, or we have, you know, I guess - it's three varieties, the gay and wedding planning businesses, that specialize in gay weddings, and straight wedding planning businesses that cater to both and then we have different, you know, like those coming to us saying we only do same sex ceremonies, how can I advertise? You know, how can get in front of the LGBT community?

HOLMES: How soon is your wedding? How soon are you all going up?

PALLADINO: Well, it could be, you know, the end of July, but maybe the end of the year.

HOLMES: So soon?

PALLADINO: Soon, yes.

HOLMES: Right. And you just had twins. So I want to mention that as well.

PALLADINO: Just had twin boys in March.

HOLMES: Three and a half months.

PALLADINO: Yes.

HOLMES: You probably don't appreciate coming to the studio getting a little break.

PALLADINO: It was wonderful. Thank you for having me.

HOLMES: So good to see you again.

PALLADINO: Thank you so much.

HOLMES: Thank you so much. I'm sure we'll be talking to you again down the road. Kirsten Palladino, again, it's equallywed.com.

PALLADINO: Correct. Thank you.

HOLMES: Thank you so much.

Well, we're 22 minutes past the hour now. A lot of people out there, you may be thinking about buying a car, cnnmoney.com, come up with a list of the biggest rip-offs to listen out for.

How about this one? This car is perfect. Trust me. You heard that before? If you are counting on the salesman to find the best car for you, you're probably in trouble.

Also if you hear this, sorry, but your credit is awful. Actually, you need to understand your own score before you go to the dealer. The best approach is to have your financing arranged before you walk out the door.

Also if you hear this one, check out the low monthly payment, they are coming after you on this one. It's easy to shrink a monthly payment if you stretch out the loan over years. A long loan means more interest and you'll probably end up owing more than it's worth if you try to trade or sell that car.

So look out for that. There's one big question a lot of sales people will ask you, the wrong answer will cost you. That question is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. 25 past the hour now. Before the break we were telling you about some of the biggest car buying rip-off lines you might hear at the dealership. This is the question if you hear this one, it could really cost you a lot of money.

And if that salesman says to you, what if something goes wrong? This is where you're going to get the pitch about the extended warranty, but the thing is, most cars these days come with warranties that cover the biggest expenses, you know, the engine, the transmission, cover that for five to 10 years, just about everything else is covered for three years. You'll probably get rid of the car before you ever need any extended warranty. Hope that helps you out.

Maybe if you go to do some car buying this weekend, big weekend for that. Also a big weekend for, I don't know, beaches and barbecues and beer and all that stuff.

WOLF: Yes. All kinds of stuff. I mean not all at the same time or maybe some of the things at the same time. It should be a great weekend for a lot of people. The problem is it's going to be bad for a lot of others out working in parts of the desert southwest and in parts of New Mexico where they're battling the blazes in spots like Albuquerque (INAUDIBLE) all the way into El Paso, Texas. Very, very dry.

In Los Alamos the fire situation there has been just brutal. About five percent contained at this time. Nearly 100,000 acres already scorched by this point at the southern end of the (INAUDIBLE) Mountains, it has just been a brutal time out there. The men and women battling this fire working so hard around the clock.

It looks like Los Alamos, the city's south port now appears safe and that is certainly the good news. But what brutal conditions, very low humidity, strong winds through the weekend, certainly will not help. Let's go back to the weather forecast. If you're planning on going outside into Atlanta, Georgia, having a comfortable day, you might need help too. Drink plenty of water. 94 degrees the expected high. Washington, D.C. with 91, 85 in New York, Boston with 79, 92 in Chicago, 86 in Billings, 95 in Salt Lake City, 80 in San Francisco and 78 in Los Angeles.

Now, it is going to be warm for you in Chicago, but you may get a stray shower too that might cool you down. The reason why you can see the stray shower pretty simple, got this frontal boundary, the storm system cruising through parts of the Great Lakes, storms possible through the afternoon hours. Detroit you might get a rumble of thunder too, eventually this is going to be pushing its way to the northeast and through the empire state of New York and back to the keystone state of Pennsylvania. Hazy, hot and humid in the southeast, hot, of course, in the desert southwest, plenty of sunshine for much of California and into Oregon. Seattle a different story, you could see some showers before the day is out.

That is a wrap on your forecast, T.J., let's hand it back to you. There you go.

HOLMES: Reynolds, appreciate you as always.

Getting close to the bottom of the hour now. One of the world's most powerful men enjoying his freedom today. Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has been released from house arrest. The judge ordered it. The prosecutors say they're not sure they believe the woman who says he sexually assaulted her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, a look at the stories making headlines this morning.

In Florida closing arguments in the Casey Anthony trial will likely start tomorrow morning. Court is off today. She, of course, accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter, Caylee. Casey never took the stand in her own defense. The trial has lasted some six weeks.

Also, the former head of the International Monetary Fund is enjoying his first day free from house arrest. The sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is in danger of collapsing. Prosecutors in New York now say they are not sure they can believe the hotel maid who said he sexually assaulted her.

Also, with the huge crowds supporting - shouting at support, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi says he will in his words move the battle to Europe, says he'll target homes and offices against NATO airstrikes.

I'll be back at the top of the hour with more live news. Right now, it's time for "YOUR BOTTOM LINE."