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Dominique Strauss-Kahn Case Falling Apart?; Hugo Chavez Has Cancer; The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Visit Canada; NASA Prepares to End Shuttle Program; Financial Experts Give Advice; New Fundraising Numbers For Presidential Candidates

Aired July 01, 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: And hello to all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

I want to begin the hour with -- really, what's been an astonishing turn of events in the rape case in New York against French political bigwig Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Now, late this morning, Strauss-Kahn appeared in court and heard prosecutors announce that their case is in trouble. They say the accuser here, their main witness, has a credibility problem.

As a result, Strauss-Kahn is no longer under house arrest, but authorities do still have his passport. Now, prosecutors say they are not dropping charges, at least not yet. This thing gets a whole lot deeper, but I want to take it step by step, starting in New York with my colleague CNN's Richard Roth.

Richard, I have a bunch of questions for you, but, first, what is it that caused the prosecution today to go into court and to notify the judge and Strauss-Kahn's attorneys that the case against him which is potentially fatally compromised?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: The prosecution said that, in follow-up interviews with the alleged sex assault victim, that hotel maid, that there were inconsistencies in her descriptions and stories and her history and that, at times, she admitted that she lied because of other circumstances, enough that, of course, legally, they were required to probably come forward regarding the bail application they knew that was going to be made by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, but they knew they had to get ahead of this and stories were going to come out.

But what the issue is, is, no matter what happened in that hotel room, does she have enough credibility to convince a jury which has to convict or not based on the evidence to prove what the prosecution alleges? And that's what it really comes down to. So, the charges still remain at this point against Strauss-Kahn.

BALDWIN: But quite a bit of drama this morning unfolding outside the courtroom -- courthouse, and, as I said, you know, this whole story gets deeper, because here's what happened. The accuser's lawyer turned up outside court. He accused the DA of being scared to lose the case. He spoke of family connections between the district attorney's office and Strauss-Kahn's lawyers. And the big thing here, he said, regardless of any credibility issues, as Richard was just outlining there, his client was raped, pure and simple. And this is graphic stuff.

I want to play some sound, Richard Roth. Let's listen together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNETH THOMPSON, ATTORNEY: The only defense that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has is that this sexual encounter was consensual. That is a lie.

He grabbed her vagina with so much force, that he bruised her vagina. When she went to the hospital later that day, the nurses who examined her saw the bruises on her vagina that were caused by Dominique Strauss' hand, and they took pictures of the bruises on her vagina, and the district attorney has those pictures.

When Dominique Strauss-Kahn threw the victim to the floor, he tore a ligament in her shoulder. That is a medical fact. Dominique Strauss-Kahn ripped her stockings. There are holes, there are rips in her stockings, and the DA knows that.

When she was on her knees and he was sexually assaulting her, after he finished, she got up and started to run for that door and started spitting Dominique Strauss-Kahn's semen out of her mouth in disgust all over that hotel room. She spit his semen on the wall. She spit it on the floor.

And guess what? As soon as her supervisor came upstairs, she saw that. The security staff at the Sofitel, they saw that. The detectives of the NYPD, they saw that. And there was a prosecutor from the district attorney's office who went into that hotel room on the day it happened, and she showed him where the semen was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Told you it was graphic.

Richard Roth, back out to you.

I want to just ask you straight up here, has anything been offered in court or perhaps even leaked by the prosecution to suggest the accuser here just totally fabricated this story about this alleged rape?

ROTH: Not about the specific facts or details of whatever happened in that Hotel Sofitel room, luxury suite.

But her attorney is coming out there, knowing what has been reported and was hinted at in court. In a filing by the prosecution, they're saying that this hotel maid had a phone call with a prison inmate, a drug dealer. The lawyer for the hotel maid says she didn't know it was a drug dealer, she didn't know it was being recorded. And she's asking him right after this whole thing went down that weekend, what should she do? Should she pursue charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn? Other stories in the filing by the prosecution, the pattern of the inconsistencies is that she claims she immediately reported it to the hotel supervisor.

Instead, according to the prosecution, she now admits she went to another room and cleaned it and didn't wait in the hallway, and then decided to call a hotel supervisor, lied about being gang-raped back in Guinea. Now her attorney is saying she was scared when she described how she needed asylum here in the United States -- didn't match up with her later stories.

He's trying to champion how her -- his client has come forward now with new information for the district attorney. All of that is grist for the mill for the defense, which would tear her apart on the witness stand. Was she raped in the hotel room? Still possible. But if there's enough lies or inconsistencies in her background, that would not play well with any potential jury.

BALDWIN: Yes, and all those details and then the questions that arise from those details would have emerged today.

I want to go back to outside of the courthouse. After we heard from the alleged victim's attorney who got out there, we saw, and ripped the DA, ripped Cyrus Vance, really ripped him a new one, my question is this. Did he do anything to rebut the charges that, A., a rape did, in fact, occur or, B., Richard, that Vance is just simply afraid he's going to lose the case?

ROTH: Definitely wanted to try to get ahead of this.

He said, look, we have protected this victim, despite what her own attorney is saying, where she was screamed at by prosecutors, what he alleged in that long appearance before the court. He's saying, we have to follow the evidence. We have to follow what she said. She said enough to the cops so that they dragged Dominique Strauss-Kahn off that Air France jet.

He said, we're still -- the case still stands. Next appearance here for Dominique Strauss-Kahn, confirmed a few hours ago by the district attorney's office, still July 18 -- that was planned. The difference is, he is probably not wearing that ankle bracelet and he could be flying in from California. He's almost a free man.

BALDWIN: Yes.

ROTH: He's not going to be able to go to Europe because they took his passport.

BALDWIN: Right. They still have his passport.

But back to DSK, as you mentioned, house arrest rescinded. What are the immediate plans beyond -- or, let's say, before that July 18 court date?

ROTH: Yes. Sorry to get ahead of you there.

Look, the -- the family says they're deciding what to do right now.

BALDWIN: Yes.

ROTH: He's in a very expensive rented Tribeca townhouse, where people have been staking out.

But now he is -- you know, he could go anywhere. I'm sure he wants to take a break from the cocoon he's been in, and how he would celebrate the July Fourth weekend, Independence Day, as his -- as the defense attorney noted, emblematic of the freedom that his attorney says Dominique Strauss-Kahn should be granted, in light of the conflicting stories of her past by the hotel maid who has lobbed these very serious accusations against the French financier.

BALDWIN: But will these charges ultimately and completely be dropped? That's the big question. The answer, we do not know yet.

Richard Roth, excellent job there for us in Manhattan. Thank you so much, sir, for that.

And we have been describing this man as DSK. You have also heard him described as the head of the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, who resigned in the wake of this rape allegation. But what some folks may have missed here is that this man was on the way to potentially running for president back in France.

And Jim Bittermann tells us that, in the wake of all these developments in New York, he might still do it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Some of the leading Socialists here -- the Socialist Party, of course, is Dominique Strauss-Kahn's party -- they have been reacting after this brief court hearing this afternoon, perhaps a little prematurely in some respects, because of the fact that the charges against Strauss- Kahn are still out there.

His passport has not been restored. The only thing that has changed is his bail conditions. But, nonetheless, some of the Socialists here are taking this to mean that the charges will eventually be dropped against him. One said there's a lesson in all this, and the lesson is that we should not react on emotion, but we should employ reason instead.

And another one of the leading Socialists here said, I think a page has been turned. The mudslide on behalf of the press, the endless comments, the statements made about DSK, about us, meaning the Socialist Party, his entourage and the criticism saying that we protected an alleged rapist, all that has collapsed.

Well, not of that has collapsed, at least not yet, because the case hasn't been tried yet. But, definitely, as one leading Socialist said, there's an enormous relief at the fact that the bail conditions have been changed somewhat. Now it remains to be seen how it proceeds from here.

There's still some here who expect that it could be possible for Strauss-Kahn to come back and restore his political career and perhaps even run for president in the 2012 election.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Some people speculated he was so ill, that he was on his deathbed. But Hugo Chavez shows up on television. What the Venezuelan president is saying about his own health and his political future, that's next.

Plus: Much of the world wants this man gone, but Moammar Gadhafi's daughter says he's not going anywhere, vowing he will work with the devil to stay put.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: United States nemesis Hugo Chavez does have cancer and he is being treated in Cuba.

After days of silence, the Venezuelan leader addressed his people from Havana, where he said the news of his cancer was personally delivered to him by Cuba's Fidel Castro. Chavez hasn't been seen since June 18, sparking official denials and rumors and questions about his leadership of South America's biggest oil producer.

The 56-year-old leader looks less vibrant than usual, and there is no current word as to when he plans to return home to Venezuela.

One of Moammar Gadhafi's staunchest supporters, his only daughter, is going public. Aisha Gadhafi gave an interview in Tripoli to CNN affiliate France 2. And I want you to listen to her words. She explains why her father will not be driven out of Libya.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AISHA GADHAFI, DAUGHTER OF MOAMMAR GADHAFI (through translator): This word of departure -- departure -- what I find strange is, where you would like him to go? This is his country, his land, his people. Where would he go?

There is one thing that you don't understand and that you will never understand, is that my father is a symbol, a guide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN's David McKenzie live for me in Tripoli.

And, David, we know, you know, despite the International Criminal Court's issue just this past Monday, that the arrest warrants for Gadhafi, his daughter plays down any suggestion that her father would ever leave his homeland.

But let's talk about timing, because we don't often hear from her. Why are we hearing from her now?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the government here, Brooke, is trying to give a sort of PR push, as it were, going to selected broadcasters, telling -- talking to selected audience, in this case, the French public.

You know, the Gadhafi government is up in arms about the French government admitting that they are dropping weapons to rebels just southwest of the capital here, Brooke. And, certainly, they're trying to get the message across that Moammar Gadhafi is strong, that he's here, that he's not going anywhere.

And, also, one important thing that Aisha Gadhafi said is that the family is tight and tightly knit. Certainly, in the early days of this conflict, there were -- there was word or rumors whether the family would split and potentially sort of takeover, at the expense of Moammar Gadhafi.

It's also -- it's just -- not just the family, though. It's also the public here. We have just had a large rally in Green Square. We just got back, certainly the biggest crowd we have seen here in Tripoli for some time, Brooke. And Moammar Gadhafi got on the airwaves with an audio message. He affectivity threatened revenge on NATO countries and likened the revenge of the Libyan people to a swarm.

BALDWIN: OK. So, not only were we hearing from his daughter. We're also hearing from him on the radio.

Let me ask you this, though. Aisha Gadhafi also said -- and this is a quote that's gotten a lot of traction, David McKenzie -- saying, "We're ready to ally ourselves with the devil, with the rebel army" -- end quote -- "to end the bloodshed."

How -- I mean, the devil equated with rebel army, how is that being interpreted both where you are in Tripoli and also among rebel forces?

MCKENZIE: Well, it's very hard to get a sense of what everyday people here in Tripoli are saying, Brooke, because we're just not allowed out of this hotel. If we're taken somewhere, we're taken with government minders.

BALDWIN: Yes.

MCKENZIE: When we slip away, we're able to get a sense of what people are saying. But it's very unclear where the loyalties of people lie.

Certainly, the government has said time and time again that they are talking to third-party countries with the rebels. Now, Aisha Gadhafi said that they're in direct talks. We have seen no concrete proof of that. And the government certainly wants to put across that they're trying to resolve the situation.

I don't know if we have sound there, but I would like to play a little bit about what Moammar Gadhafi said just recently at the square, so let's take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MOAMMAR GADHAFI, LIBYAN LEADER (through translator): People of Libya might exceed your houses and offices, your families. All of them will be fair military targets. The same way you turned our offices, our headquarters, our house, our children. You turned them to legitimate military targets. We will treat you the same, eye for eye, ear for an ear, a drop for a drop, a family for a family, a House for a house, a headquarter for a headquarter.

If we decided, we are able to move to Europe like locusts, like bees.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: Well, Brooke, certainly a typical kind of angry rant there from Moammar Gadhafi, but significant because he's directly threatening European homes, European civilians because of the NATO campaign -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Clearly a direct threat, very angry, and the sheer numbers of people who are there at the demonstration, wow.

David McKenzie for me in Tripoli -- David, appreciate it.

And it will not be a fun holiday weekend for folks in Minnesota -- state parks, state zoo, racetracks all closed after a budget stalemate shuts down the government, Republicans refusing to tax the millionaires. The Democratic governor refuses to cut social programs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAROLD WIEGNER, MINNESOTA STATE EMPLOYEE: -- on politics. It's turned into a sport, rather than working to solve a problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Is Minnesota perhaps more of a microcosm for what's happening in the nation's capital? That's coming up.

Plus, this -- well, listen to that, the royal newlyweds wowing crowds in Canada, Prince William speaking his best French. But let's face it. All people really care about is what Princess Catherine is wearing. And I will admit to it. I'm kind of paying attention as well. I will talk to TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta"'s Monte Durham about Catherine's fashion choices coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: The political showdown over taxes claims a victim. Have you heard about this? Minnesota state government shut down at 12:01 this morning. Democrats and Republicans just couldn't reach a compromise over the budget.

Sound familiar? Here is Minnesota's governor, Mark Dayton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK DAYTON (D), MINNESOTA: But just one basic difference remains. They don't want to raise revenues on anybody, and I believe the wealthiest Minnesotans can afford to pay more in taxes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Rachel Stassen-Berger covers politics for "The Star Tribune." She's good enough to join me from Saint Paul.

Rachel, here's my first question. We just heard from the governor. We're hearing this in many different states, and Washington very much so included, part of the national conversation, right? Lawmakers unwilling to budge. In your state specifically -- and you may not even have an answer, but I have to ask -- how long could the shutdown last? And put it in perspective for me. How many state workers, how many programs are affected here?

RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER, "THE STAR TRIBUNE": Well, we honestly don't know how long it could last, and that's part of the uncertainty of this.

As soon as they reach a budget deal, we're done. We can put government back together and put all those pieces working again. You know, they have been meeting intensely over the last week. We're already a month past our legislative session. They just couldn't get it done. Who knows?

How do you change people who are -- one side says we must tax. The other side says, absolutely not. We must do some deeper cuts. You know, does politics change in a really hot, dry summer? We don't know. There are probably about 20,000 workers out of their jobs. State parks are closed.

You know, right now, actually, over in our judicial center, people are pleading for different funding for child care or for disabled services, just to make sure that they have enough money to survive. So there's a lot of impacts that are being felt broadly and widely.

BALDWIN: Well, let's talk about that impact. You mentioned the number, 20,000 -- 20,000 state workers getting ready for life without paychecks, but then others are affected here as well.

I want to listen to one Minnesota state worker. This is what this person is saying about all this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WIEGNER: A sad commentary on politics. It's turned into a sport, rather than working to solve a problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Is this stalemate, you know, Rachel, is it more ideological? You have this governor, Democrat, elected January 1, you know, Republican-controlled state legislature. I mean, what prompted lawmakers to really hold so firm here?

STASSEN-BERGER: Well, I think frankly, both the Democratic governor, Mark Dayton, and the Republican lawmakers are holding firm.

And a lot of us who have been watching this for a while sort of saw shades of this the moment voters left the polls in November. You know, our gubernatorial race went to a recount, which we're kind of familiar with, since we just had a recount with the Coleman-Franken Senate race a little while ago.

We have a very divided public. And what you get when you have a divided public is a divided government. And those two sides don't easily bridge. So, we have seen this, you know, from -- it's sort of a slow-moving train that everyone hoped wasn't going to come down the track, but here we are.

BALDWIN: So, here we are. Final question, and then I will let you go -- I know that the government will be shut down for the weekend, but does that mean that both sides will continue talking, continue trying to hash this thing out? And if you could predict, who do you think will blink first?

STASSEN-BERGER: Right now, I don't see any blinking. And I certainly can't predict.

You know, I have been talking to finance experts and lawmakers and saying, OK, so now we're shut down. Where's the answer? What's the solution? Nobody has one, which is kind of worrisome about how long this could last.

Right now, they're not talking. This is the first day for a week that they haven't met in budget talks, secretive budget talks. They haven't told us what's going on behind closed doors. You know, they're going to have to start talking and somebody is going to have to make some major compromises. And we just don't see the seeds for that yet.

BALDWIN: Rachel Stassen-Berger, we will continue following this and see what happens there in Minnesota. Here's hoping this is not what happens on a bigger scale come August 2. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

STASSEN-BERGER: Thanks.

BALDWIN: The defense rested its case and the prosecution was ready for its rebuttal, but an unexpected snag this morning hit the Casey Anthony murder trial. We will have an update for you coming up. Plus, Nike just does it, re-signing Michael Vick to an endorsement deal. What's behind their change of heart? Huh. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time now for a check of some of our top stories here.

First, the Casey Anthony murder trial is back on track after it came to an abrupt halt earlier today. Just as the case seemed to be in the final stretch, the judge unexpectedly called an indefinite recess to settle an argument over witness testimony in the prosecution's rebuttal. The judge previously said he expected testimony to end today and for closing arguments to take place starting Saturday morning. He's now warning attorneys they could be working through the weekend.

The U.S. Defense Department has a new boss. Leon Panetta was sworn in today as the nation's 23rd defense secretary. He replaces Robert Gates, who we saw retire yesterday. Panetta previously worked as the chief at the CIA, and he won confirmation by the Senate last week in a rare unanimous vote. Panetta's replacement at the CIA will be General David Petraeus, the current commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Michael Vick has a sponsor once again here, that being Nike. The Philadelphia Eagles' controversial quarterback has signed an endorsement deal. And while Nike says they don't condone Vick's past mistakes, they support the positive changes he's made to better himself off the field. Nike severed ties with Vick back in 2007 over his involvement in that dog fighting ring.

Now this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very scary, especially when there's thousands of people that travel every day, especially what happened 9/11.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not great at all, because then anybody could go through it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, one man did go through it, allegedly boarding a plane in New York without a proper boarding pass and an invalid I.D., and trying to do it once again in Los Angeles. So, how did this passenger get through airport security twice that we know of? That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We first told you about this story just yesterday. Allegedly this man was able to fly from New York all the way to Los Angeles on a Virgin America flight without a proper boarding pass. It was expired. It didn't even have his name on it or even being on the flight manifest, so that was last Friday.

But he wasn't actually arrested until this week when he was accused of trying to pull the same stunt in Los Angeles. He was back in federal court today.

Let's go to L.A. to CNN's Sandra Endo, who is following this case. I know you were in the courtroom.

What happened in today's hearing?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, I can tell you the alleged stowaway, Olajide Noibi, just appeared here in federal court in Los Angeles, and he was dressed in street clothes shackled at the ankles and the wrist. The prosecution argued in front of the judge not to allow him any bail. He said -- the lawyer actually was saying that he's a flight risk, that he was no ties to Los Angeles. He does have family in Georgia and Michigan and also his homeland of Nigeria, where he told FBI agents when he was arrested that he was planning to fly there actually next week.

Now, federal prosecutors also argued that he's a potential risk to the community, saying that he was using other people's identities, stolen boarding passes to try to fly across the country and to other cities for free.

Well, the defense lawyer argues that Noibi, their client, says that he's very embarrassed by all this, all the media attention surrounding this case as well as the fact that Noibi says he comes from a respectable family. Apparently defense lawyers also talked to those family members in Georgia and Michigan as well.

But the prosecution is not buying all this. They counter argued saying that when it comes to security, especially on flights and in the air, it's very serious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOM MROZEK, U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE: We have a very significant system set up to try to ensure the security at our airports, to try to secure security on planes that travel both here in the United States and internationally. Anytime that there may be a breach, a perceived breach, something that may indicate there's a problem, that makes it a serious matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENDO: Now, the magistrate Judge Michael Milner argued that there's not enough information here, they don't know where he's from, what he's doing, how stable his family ties are, so in court today, Brooke, he did not grant bail and said down the road that any conditions further on would not include his ability to fly. Brooke?

BALDWIN: I suppose that makes sense. Sandra Endo for me in Los Angeles. Sandy, thank you very much.

The royal newlyweds crossing the pond for their very first official overseas trip. And if the warm welcome -- look at this -- if this warm welcome in Canada is any sign, I'm thinking they're making a pretty good first impression. Coming up next how the duchess of Cambridge is dazzling the crowds. And who best to talk fashion than my dear friend who is getting miked up there Monte Durham. Hey, Monte, how are you?

MONTE DURHAM: I am great, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thanks for coming.

DURHAM: How are you?

BALDWIN: We'll talk after the break, Monte Durham, stand by for all things fashion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Britain's royals are helping millions of people celebrate Canada's 144th birthday, today. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended citizenship ceremonies in the commonwealth just this morning where they pledged their allegiance to queen Elizabeth, William's grandmother.

The royal couple was treated to a carriage ride, a 21-gun salute, and a fly-by from Canadian military jets. Wherever they go, the royal duo is getting a rock star reception. The crowds love them. I want you to just listen to Prince William.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: Catherine and I are also thrilled and excited about the prospect of the next eight days, especially of being part of the Canadian family.

(APPLAUSE)

It will be an adventure that we'll never forget. Happy birthday, Canada.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Royal watchers describing this trip as a homerun. But Princess Catherine seems to have a special way with her well-wishers and her personal style is the talk of the town and the world, everywhere she goes.

I want to bring in to talk fashion my dear friend, a friend of our show, Monte Durham with TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress, Atlanta."

Hello, thank you for coming on.

MONTE DURHAM, FASHION DIRECTOR, STYLIST: Yes. Yes. The similarities here -- Catherine and you, there we go. We can just talk about it, there you go. BALDWIN: We're the same size, too. Let's talk about the dress, because I love, love, love this dress. Three dress changes, first of all, yesterday, day one of their North American trip.

DURHAM: Amazing, beautiful. A note here that, beautiful, understated, classic, right above the knee, careful so when she steps off the steps when they're seated that there's nothing exposed that shouldn't be, so she's following world protocol. And a repurposing. This is the clutch she had when she greeted Mrs. Obama in the palace.

BALDWIN: Do you know what, speaking of repurposing, which I love that about her, we've seen this bird print, it's --

DURHAM: Yes. It's from a London designer who was in the running for the wedding gown design. She didn't get it.

BALDWIN: She said, do you know what, I'll wear the dress a few times.

DURHAM: Like any woman, there are dresses that you'll pick up and throw on and you'll be photographed and you'll look great, and this happens to be one. And she's pulled her hair back casual, she's keeping with her total look.

BALDWIN: The shoes.

DURHAM: She's 5'10."

BALDWIN: She's tall.

DURHAM: She's the tallest heir to the throne.

BALDWIN: We've seen her in a lot of Navy.

DURHAM: Navy is her favorite. The one thing about this is it's understated. You see very little jewelry on her. At Wimbledon, her dress was beautiful, the white tiered dress was beautiful, she had a beautiful charm bracelet on, I couldn't read the monogram. But this is one of my favorites. Look at that. Fascinators, she's still doing that. Yay for her.

BALDWIN: I'm told my Andy Massey, that it was her official monogram on the bracelet. That's what it was.

DURHAM: I couldn't see in the photos and I was watching diligently. But very understated, not a lot of jewelry still.

BALDWIN: This is her more casual, because looking ahead, this is her first trip, at age, what is she, 30 years old. This is her first trip to the United States, once they're done with Canada, they're heading to L.A. Will we see her in jeans?

DURHAM: I don't think so. I think she'll make everybody rise to the occasion in L.A. she's definitely star-studded material, and wherever she walks, there will be a red carpet. So, I think what's going to be interesting here is to see what she pulls out. She favors dresses. She loves jackets, and as you see, her clothes and always in a pump, I've yet to see her in a strappy sandal or open toe.

BALDWIN: I've seen her in a wedge.

DURHAM: She's pretty conservative.

BALDWIN: Back to this picture, if I want to buy this dress?

DURHAM: Gone, gone, gone, anything she's had, including this beautiful bag, gone. The minute she deplaned, she was on the way -- here she is going to board the plane, to come to Canada, by the time she got to Canada, it was gone. The luggage was standing by the plane, did you see them?

BALDWIN: I saw the bag.

Do you know what was more important than the luggage? The royal hairdresser was right there in tow with him, they have a photograph of him.

BALDWIN: What do you make of her hair?

DURHAM: Beautiful.

BALDWIN: Down, long.

DURHAM: Very smooth, very polished, and you don't see a lot of curl to it. It's on the ends mainly. Very flat and smooth and shiny.

BALDWIN: Will we see a mistake, a fashion mistake?

DURHAM: I don't think so, she hasn't shown one yet.

BALDWIN: How many people does she have helping her out?

DURHAM: I would think -- I don't think she has a stylist, she's doing it on her own. She definitely has a hairdresser. But this is a woman that knows her place, you remember, at 29, going into this role, she's seasoned. She's made mistakes already.

BALDWIN: What would you love to see her in?

DURHAM: I would love to see her in a slinky, sexy, very much what her sister was wearing at the wedding. Kate, do one, do it for Monte. Do it for Monte!

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Monte Durham, thank you for coming on. Enjoy your wedding.

DURHAM: My pleasure, as always.

BALDWIN: Now to this, you'll be watching CNN next week, right?

DURHAM: I'm watching it every day. BALDWIN: T-minus seven days to countdown to the end of the era as NASA prepares to pull the plug on the space shuttle program, CNN takes a look back 40 years and a $115 billion later. Back in a moment with that.

But, first, free money advice from the CNN help desk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARTER EVANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the help desk where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankery.com, and Lynette Khalfani-Cox. She's founder of the financial advice blog askthemoneycoach.com.

Lisa in Indiana asks, "I recently lost my job and I can't pay my credit card. I've called and they refuse to work with me to settle this." What is your advice, Lynette?

LYNETTE KHALFANI-COX, FOUNDER, ASKTHEMONEYCOACH.COM: The best strategy for this individual is to get a third party involved and try to get some help here. A nonprofit counseling agency is the route I would recommend. There's a lot of them out there. Go for the ones that are HUD approved credit counselors. At least you get a little bit of a safety net there somewhat to think about that somebody sort of blessed or looked at these organizations and tried to give you guidance about where to go.

The thing, though, is that when you go to a credit counseling agency, if they're not going to negotiate on your behalf, you might have to go to one element of some credit counseling agencies which is a debt management program. Typically those are the programs where you get the lowest interest rates. They sort of negotiate on your behalf with your creditor, and then you have a more affordable payment that you can make to the credit card company.

EVANS: Right, a structured payment so you know what you'll be paying every month. Bill in Sacramento asked "My mortgage is underwater. My credit score's in the 800s. I've got no problems paying my bills. Is there any program to help the financially responsible adjust the loan to the current value?"

It's a great question, because we talk a lot, Greg, about the people that are under water and cannot pay the bills. What about the people who are responsible?

GREG MCBRIDE, SENIOR FINANCIAL ANALYST, BANKRATE.COM: Well, there is a government program out there, Bill, it's one that's designed for people like you that have made your payments on time, it's called HARP, Home Affordable Refinancing Program. What it's designed to do is facilitate refinancing for people that have been current on the payments but they have little equity or they're upside down as you are, this can help you get into a fixed-rate loan that may be out of an adjustable rate or just lower than what you're currently paying, free up money and the household budget every month. Go to makinghomeaffordable.gov for more information about that HARP program. But you're barking up the wrong tree if you are expecting your lender to cut your balance just because you owe more than the home is worth. It doesn't work that way.

EVANS: Unfortunately. If you have a question you want answered, even if you don't like the answer, send us an email anytime at CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com.

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BALDWIN: Next Friday marks a milestone for NASA's space shuttle program. That is when the final shuttle mission ever is scheduled to launch. The shuttle program was a long time in coming and it was on the drawing board nearly a year before the Apollo moon landing. So given all of that why is NASA pulling the plug right now? Our John Zarrella asks the experts, was the shuttle program a success, or was it a failure? Watch?

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JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So why now? Why call it quits now? From the time of its inception 40 years ago until the shuttles are retired, the program will have cost the American taxpayers just shy of $115 billion. That's less than $4 billion a year, a drop, if that, in federal budget. Still, the problem is money.

CHARLIE BOLDEN, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: There's just not enough money in NASA to continue the existing programs and start a new program at the same time.

ZARRELLA: Was it time?

BOLDEN: Yes, it was time. And it has been time for some time to phase out of shuttle and go back to exploration.

ZARRELLA: Whether you hated it or hailed it, felt it a waste or worth it, the shuttle was an iconic flying machine that symbolized America's inspiration and ingenuity.

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BALDWIN: And I hope you watch this with me, John's special "Beyond Atlantis, the Next Frontier" Sunday night 8:00 eastern right here on CNN.

And looking to next week, I'll be joining my colleagues Anderson Cooper and John Zarrella and Chad Myers from the Kennedy space center for the final launch. Atlantis lifting off on July 8. Our coverage begins Friday morning, 10:00 a.m. eastern right here on CNN. I'll see you then.

Coming up, just imagine the scene -- empty arenas, stadium shutdowns. It could become a reality with two of America's biggest sports now in jeopardy. It could become a reality. I'll speak with Isaiah Thomas about today's lockout and whether next season can be salvaged.

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BALDWIN: Time for your "CNN Equals Politics" update. Let's go to Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Wolf, what do you have?

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Brooke, thanks very much. One thing we're going to do later today, there's a chunk of the interview I did this week in Chicago with former president Bill Clinton that hasn't aired yet. We're going to run that whole exchange because it's a good one on this accusation that a lot of Republicans make against president Obama that he's engaged in class warfare when he says he would like to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

President Clinton feels very strongly on this issue and he insists it is not class warfare because the richest Americans have done so well over the past 20, 30 years compared to other Americans. And he goes through this whole experience that he had when he was in his first term when he did raise taxes, went up to 39.6 percent, the highest income bracket for the wealthiest Americans during the Bush administration went down to 35 percent. Obama would like to see it go back up to that Clinton level, 39.6 percent.

And it's a good exchange. I want our viewers to watch it. That's going to air today in our 6:00 p.m. eastern hour. It comes at a time when there is this huge debate over raising the debt ceiling. The treasury department is insisting the August 2 deadline is very real. It's not just an artificial deadline. They're not -- you should forgive the expression, crying wolf, if you know what I mean. They're seeing this would have catastrophic consequences if there is no deal. So the pressure is clearly on to go forward.

One addition note that we're watching, they had last night at midnight the quarter for fundraising for presidential candidates ended, and all of us are anxious to know how much President Obama, who doesn't face a democratic primary opponent, how much he raised during this first quarter since he announced he's running for reelection, how much others raised like Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, some of the others raised. Those numbers will slowly but surely come in. It will give us an indication of where it stands. In politics, like so much else, money talks.

BALDWIN: How much is President Obama hoping to collect?

BLITZER: One of his campaign advisers months ago said he was hoping to raise $1 billion. Other advisers say that number is way too high. You know, he doesn't even have an opponent for the nomination, for the Democratic nomination, but they're worried about having cash for the negative ads and all sorts of other ads as well.

BALDWIN: We're looking forward to that Bill Clinton interview. Wolf Blitzer, thank you very much.