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Knives on Planes Now OK?; Obama's Dinner Diplomacy; Small Knives to be Allowed on Planes; Sex, Lies and Horror in Jodi Arias Trial; Ballet Dancer Behind Vicious Acid Attack

Aired March 06, 2013 - 18:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Dinner diplomacy. The president shakes up his strategy for dealing with Republicans.

Knives on planes. We will debate a new easing of the rules. Would passengers be at risk? Lion attack, a deadly incident at a haven for wildcats. Trial twist -- jurors, yes, jurors get a chance to ask questions in the tawdry Jodi Arias murder case.

And sellers, beware. Wait until you hear what a real estate agent was caught doing in a client's home.

I'm Wolf Blitzer, along with Kate Bolduan. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

A powerful winter storm that swept across the country plowed into the East Coast today with mixed results. Virginia seemed to get the worst of it. It's under a state of emergency right now. But here in Washington, D.C., we got off relatively easy. And that's raising questions about the forecast and why so much of the federal government simply shut down.

Let's begin our coverage this hour in Virginia.

That's where CNN's Joe Johns is standing by -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the power, it's really just calmed down here a lot since early this morning, when we had all that snow in Winchester, Virginia. Now the concerns are more about power outages and potential flooding as all that snow begins to melt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): Thick, heavy, wet snow, beautiful to look at, but hard to deal with, brought a late winter discomfort to almost everyone in its past -- in the Pittsburgh area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's beautiful out here. The snow is heavy. It's like mashed potatoes.

JOHNS: In parts of Virginia where the snow felt the heaviest, it also meant trouble for electrical wires and the tree limbs closest to them. With tens of thousands of people without power across Virginia, the governor declared a state of emergency, though officials on the ground realize that the situation could have been much worse.

On the roads, work started well before the first flakes fell. Late into the night at the salt piles in Virginia, thousands of trucks loaded up to treat the streets, often with marginal success, luckily not much traffic to deal with. Transportation officials had asked everyone who could to stay off the roads.

ED CARTER, VIRGINIA DOT: If you have to get on the road, use extreme caution, drive slower than you normally would.

JOHNS: The warnings were heeded and by noon about a foot of snow had fallen in the Shenandoah Valley. Transportation officials were saying main roads were generally passable, but some secondary roads were not. In the city of Winchester, which had been viewed as ground zero for the storm, the city manager was speculating that it could have been a lot worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's going real well, to be honest with you. We have had a lot of snowfall, but so far the accumulation has only been about six inches here in the city.

JOHNS: The few shopkeepers who brother to open their doors this day reported almost no customer traffic.

(on camera): Easy day at work?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, pretty much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Now, the governor's state of emergency authorizes up to 200 members of the National Guard to help the Virginia State Police with weather-related issues; 50 of those troops are expected to work in the central and northern parts of the state -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Joe Johns in Virginia for us. Joe, thanks very much.

Kate Bolduan is here.

You know, Kate, we had been told there was going to be a lot of snow here in D.C.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And not so much. That's not necessarily what we got, that's for sure.

It's been more of a messy mix of snow, slush, and rain. Still not awesome, but it's still not what they said it was going to be. Much of the federal government shut down anyway. So did forecasters or the feds overreact?

(WEATHER UPDATE)

BOLDUAN: From a sudden change in weather to a sudden change in the president's political strategy. He sits down for dinner later this hour at the Jefferson Hotel. You're seeing some video of it, pictures of it right there and you're looking at a live picture right now. He will be sitting down with 11 special guests. They're Republican senators, including some of his harshest critics. It's the start of a new outreach campaign by a president who's been accused of being aloof and not very social.

Let's bring in our national political correspondent, Jim Acosta.

So, Jim, it sure does state -- it says something about the state of things when it's news the president is sitting down for dinner with lawmakers.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly does, Kate. That's right. And that dinner getting started in less than a half-an-hour from now just about four or five blocks from where we're standing here at the White House.

And with a whole bunch of new polls, Kate, showing the president has taken some hits when it comes to his approval numbers, after his handling of this so-called sequester, he is looking to change the political climate here in Washington. The question is whether this will be just a break from the big chill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): On a cold winter day dubbed "snow-quester", President Obama is hitting the defrost button when it comes to his chilly relations with Republicans in Congress. After both sides failed to work out a deal from those forced budget cuts from kicking in, the president decided to invite nearly a dozen GOP senators, including some of his toughest critics, to dinner at a D.C. hotel.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I think he's doing the right thing. We need to stop the campaign. The election is over.

ACOSTA: One of the senators on the list, Republican Ron Johnson, says it's a step in the right direction.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R), WISCONSIN: Hopefully what I'm going to hear out of the president is a serious sense of purpose, finally acknowledging we've got to look at the entire budget. We've got to take a look at Social Security, we've got to look at Medicare.

ACOSTA: A White House official tells CNN that the president hopes to revive talks for a grand bargain on the deficit."Yes, but we are not naive about the possibilities here," the official said."These are just conversations. Getting from there to a deal is hard."

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The majority of the American people agree with me.

ACOSTA: After weeks of campaign-style events blaming Republicans for budget gridlock, the White House acknowledges it's a changed approach, one that started over the weekend when the president began calling lawmakers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this a charm offensive?

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president is engaging with lawmakers of both parties and will continue to do so.

ACOSTA: A far cry from just last week when on the same day that the automatic cuts went into effect, the president dismissed the notion he should be altering his tactics.

OBAMA: Well, Julie, give me an example of what I might do.

ACOSTA: The White House argues that the president has tried a grand bargain before only to be rebuffed by House GOP leaders. Both sides remain dug in with some Republican senators noting that multiple independent fact-checkers have skewered the Obama administration for making repeated false statements about the impacts of the automatic cuts.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: While the president has been out there playing Chicken Little, members of Congress have been waiting for the White House to send over its budgets.

ACOSTA: Democrats insist the GOP is still obstructing the president's nominees, whether it's to the courts or the CIA. No wonder both sides have doubts that breaking bread can fix a broken government.

JIM MANLEY, FORMER AIDE TO SENATOR HARRY REID: But for anyone to think that this is going lead to some sort of kumbaya or sort of Jesus moment, they've got another thing coming.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: But they are still going to try not just tonight, but also later next week. That's when the president goes up to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers in both the House and the Senate, something he has not done in years.

And, Wolf, here is a copy of the menu at the restaurant where they will be sitting down later on tonight. We should point it has an $85 fixed-price menu, also an option for a $1,776 menu.

I don't think they will be taking part in that tonight. But we also should note, we talked to the P.R. folks for the restaurant that's putting on this affair. And they say that the chef who is preparing the meal has had diplomatic training, culinary training with the State Department. A little diplomacy might go a long way, even at the dinner table, Wolf.

BLITZER: Is the president picking up the tab?

ACOSTA: We still have not heard back from the White House on that, Wolf. Don't know.

BLITZER: Let's find out. Thanks very much, Jim Acosta, at the White House.

Now to a developing story out in California, a deadly lion attack.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is joining us right now with the latest information.

What do we know, Paul?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have been able to confirm with the Fresno County Sheriff's Department that there has been a worker killed at the Cat Haven wildlife park. That is just about 45 miles east of Fresno.

Authorities also confirming the call went out at 12:30 today and the cat was put down. Now, as for Cat Haven, as we said to you, it's in the foothills east of Fresno at about 2,400 to 3,000 feet.

On the Web site -- Project Survival runs Cat Haven. They say they're dedicated to the innovative preservation of wildcats. And Dale Anderson, the owner -- it's been around for about 20 years -- is well-known on the talk show circuit. He's been on "Ellen." He's been on "Jay Leno" often showing the cats there. This has all manners of cats and leopards s and whatnot.

We understand from one of the affiliates that the cat they believe was put down is named Cous Cous, sort of a celebrity cat, if you will. That's we know right now, that it was at 12:30 today that someone was killed at this park and this park is now closed -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Paul Vercammen, you will update us on when we get more information. Thank you.

BOLDUAN: There's an urgent new warning today about the spread of a deadly bacteria that's nearly impossible to kill because it's resistant to antibiotics.

Up to half of the patients infected with this so-called superbug die. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is calling it a nightmare and say hospitals need to take action now. One of the main recommendations, more hand-washing to prevent the bacteria from spreading.

Sounds simple, but clearly not done enough.

BLITZER: Not enough.

Safety officials now think it's OK to carry certain knives on airplanes. Air marshals, flight attendants think it's not such a good idea. We will have a debate on this very sensitive subject.

Also ahead, Senator Rand Paul has a big gripe with the Obama administration, and he's talking about it, and he's talking, and he's talking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: I will speak until I no longer can speak. I will speak as long as it takes. (END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Right now, Republican Senator Rand Paul is on a crusade against the Obama administration's policy on drones.

You're looking live at the Senate floor, Rand Paul still speaking on the Senate floor, and he's been speaking almost nonstop for several hours on the Senate floor, in an old-fashioned filibuster against John Brennan's nomination to head the CIA.

Some of his fellow Republicans, along with a Democrat, have joined him on a vote -- joined him, and a vote on Brennan's nomination has been delayed. Paul says he's doing this because the administration won't rule on the possibility of a drone strike against Americans on U.S. soil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: No American should be killed by a drone on American soil without first being charged with a crime, without first being found to be guilty by a court. That Americans could be killed at a cafe in San Francisco or a restaurant in Houston or at their home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is an abomination. It is something that should not and cannot be tolerated in our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Attorney General Eric Holder says there's little chance, if anyone, that an American terror suspect sitting at a cafe or anywhere else in the United States would be the target of a drone strike. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: The government has no intention to carry out any drone strikes in the United States. It's hard for me to imagine a situation in which that would occur. We have, within the United States, the ability to use our law enforcement capacity. And, as a result, the use of drones is, from my perspective, something that is entirely, entirely hypothetical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Holder talked about drone policy during an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. And he got a little heated.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Certainly did.

There's another reason that a lot of people are worried about drones flying over the United States. The FBI is investigating a claim that a drone was spotted near one of America's biggest airports.

Brian Todd is following this story for us.

Brian, what do we know?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf and Kate, this happened at midday over JFK International Airport in New York, where the security situation in the air and on the ground is very sensitive. What's got officials concerned is not only the sighting of this possible drone, but just how close it might have come to a passenger yet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): On a approach to New York's JFK Airport, an Alitalia Airlines captain spotted something very close to his jet. Here's what he said to the control tower.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you see?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw a drone, a drone aircraft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alitalia 608 uniform heavy, roger. What altitude did you see that aircraft?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About 1,500.

TODD: The FBI now says the unmanned drone came within 200 feet of the passenger plane. Alitalia says the co-pilot saw it too. The flight landed safely.

The incident Monday afternoon is now under investigation by the FAA and the FBI, which is asking for the public's help in finding the aircraft and its operator. A source with knowledge of the incident says investigators have interviewed the pilot and others on board the Alitalia plane. The pilots of two other jets which were approaching JFK at about the same time said they didn't see the unmanned aircraft.

Experts say even small drones can pose a risk to commercial jets if they collide with them or get sucked into their engines, like birds sometimes do. The incident also raises questions about rules governing these vehicles.

(on camera): Unmanned aircraft can be as small as this drone or smaller or as big as a passenger plane. Under FAA rules, you can fly it recreationally like this, but not more than 400 feet of the ground and not near an airport.

(voice-over): If an operator does fly one within three miles of an airport, he or she has to let air traffic control know. Experts say most drones are small, weighing only about five pounds, and are made of a carbon fiber substance, meaning many of them can't be detected by radar. They're not allowed to fly in restricted airspace.

But could a terrorist weaponize one and attack places like New York and Washington anyway?

ALAN FRAZIER, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA: Well, I think some classified programs that the Department of Defense operates in the District of Columbia could potentially detect and neutralize a drone or a manned aircraft going into that airspace.

TODD: Alan Frazier, an aerospace expert at North Dakota University, says a big concern he says is that more people are using drones in unauthorized ways, breaking the rules. He says even media entities like paparazzi trying to get photographs of celebrities have at least inquired about using drones. And he says he's heard of documented cases where they have used them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: And one law enforcement official told us that they are also looking into the possibility, the possibility that this could have been a law enforcement or even a military aircraft, but, Wolf and Kate, Alan Frazier, that expert we spoke to, said it's probably unlikely that it was a law enforcement aircraft, because if it was flying that high, as the pilot said, it would have been flying too high to have been used effectively for surveillance, and the people flying it, if they were law enforcement, would have known better to have sent it up that high.

We will see what this thing was.

BLITZER: We will get more information and we will update our viewers. Brian, thanks very much.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Brian Todd. Thank you so much.

Still ahead, a soldier missing in action for 33 years has now been found. We have details coming up.

And later, a stunning change in the rules will allow small knives and big sticks aboard airliners. Flight attendants are furious. We will hear from one of them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

BLITZER: Up next, we're going to speak with a flight attendant who's angry about the rule change that will soon allow small knives and other potential weapons to be carried aboard airliners.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There's a lot of debate under way right now, but a change in the rules for what you can take on board an airplane.

BOLDUAN: Yes, Federal officials have decided it's now OK to bring some small knives on board, along with pool cues, golf clubs, and hockey sticks.

Some people see it as a convenience. Others think it sounds pretty dangerous. We will have a debate on all of that in just a moment.

But, first, let's go to CNN's David Mattingly at the Atlanta Airport.

This is big news for everyone who travels on a plane, David.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kate.

And the knives we're talking about aren't all that big. This is one of those pocket knives that would actually pass the TSA test that's coming up next month. It's less than two-and-a-half inches long. It's about less than a half-inch wide. So that would be OK, according to the TSA. They want to be able to allow things like this to go through security and on to airplanes, because they want to spend more time looking for the things like explosives, things that could actually bring an aircraft down.

But critics of this plan say that by allowing these knives and those other items on to a plane, that passenger safety may actually suffer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): You will still have to remove your shoes. if you're carrying a bottle of water, forget it. But a hockey stick will be OK. So will a small pocket knife. TSA's changes to what you will soon be able to carry through security and onto an airplane already find stiff resistance.

KAREN JAMES, FLIGHT ATTENDANT: If some type of argument could escalate, guess what? Someone pulls out a knife, then I'm here. I have to defend myself and make sure all the other passengers are safe.

MATTINGLY: The decision includes allowing ski poles, pool cues, even golf clubs. A TSA spokesman tells CNN these items "don't pose a catastrophic threat to the operation of the aircraft."

JOHN PISTOLE, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: Our greatest concern, the greatest risk is non-metallic IEDs, whether that's explosive, whether that's an electronic initiator or a chemical initiator, whatever that may be. That's what I want our security officers to focus on.

MATTINGLY: But travelers have their own ideas.

PERRY SHORTS (PH), AIR PASSENGER: I actually prefer if they'd change the rules on the liquids, because I've lost too many things. In fact, on the way here, they took -- I had a little jar of peanut butter, and I had no idea that that counted as a liquid and a gel.

MATTINGLY: This man carries a pocket knife all the time, except when he's flying.

KORY BEIDLER (PH), AIR TRAVELER: I would prefer that they stay off airplanes.

MATTINGLY: This couple, however, isn't worried.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I guess it's...

BETH HENSON, AIR TRAVELER: I guess I want the stewardesses to carry knives or something, you know, to protect us if needed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I know we have flight marshals on the airplanes that take care of us.

MATTINGLY: The Flight Attendant Union Coalition says the change "will further endanger the lives of all flight attendants and the passengers."

The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association agrees, calling the move "dangerous" and "ill-advised."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And these groups will continue to challenge this proposed rule change. They have well over a month to do it, before it takes effect -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: We'll see what they have to say about that. David Mattingly, thank you so much.

BLITZER: Groups representing air marshals and flight attendants, they're asking the TSA to reconsider changing the rules about these small knives going on planes.

We're joined now by the president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, Laura Gladding. She's joining us. Also, Bob Frances, the former vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Laura, first to you and then I'll let Bob weigh in. What's your biggest concern?

LAURA GLADDING, PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: Well, I think the whole decision was absurd. And I have many concerns.

Again, we weren't consulted. I'm all for a review and we all are, periodic reviews of the policies. But knives are a no-starter. Nobody should be able to bring any kind of weapon on an airplane. Absolutely not.

When I entered the building today, they checked my bag, and I asked the security officer, "What are you searching for?"

And she said, "You know, weapons."

And I said, "If I had had a pocket knife, would that be allowed?"

And she said no.

I'm in a building in New York City, and it's not allowed. Why is it allowed on an airplane?

BLITZER: All right, Bob, what do you say?

BOB FRANCES, FORMER VICE CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION BOARD: I say that I agree with -- with the TSA administrator. I think that -- that what you have here is his wanting to use his resources in the most effective way he can.

He's -- he's in the business of countering terrorism. He's not in the business of making sure that somebody doesn't get cut, perhaps. So, I think that that's his job, and he's doing what he should do. He's cutting back on -- the burden on screeners. He may be able to use them, those resources more effectively in other areas.

I just, I think it's risk management. It's what we do in safety. And there's no reason that the same rules should not apply to security.

BLITZER: I want -- Lauren, I want you to respond to that, but a former chief of the Transportation Security Administration, Kip Hawley, goes even further than this current proposal, telling CNN, "They ought to let everything on that is sharp and pointy, battle axes, machetes. While you may be able to commit an act of violence, you will not be able to take over the plane." What do you say about that?

GLADDING: You know, the whole thing, again, is absurd. And I first read those comments and thought, it must be a joke. It's insanity. As the passenger had said, the flight attendants would have to be armed, then, to protect the passengers. What kind of a job has this become? It's just -- it doesn't make any sense whatsoever to me.

And we were never consulted, never had any kind of communication that this was going to be happening. And we're virtually just letting bats and knives on airplanes. I don't think the passengers like the idea. The flight attendants surely don't like the idea. It's just a very -- very dangerous place to go.

BOLDUAN: And Bob, let me ask you. Another flight attendants' union put out a statement, calling this move a poor and short-sighted decision by the TSA. The head of the air marshals group is also outraged, telling CNN that flight attendants are going to be sitting ducks. You say you agree with the TSA's decision, but don't the flight attendants have valid concerns here?

FRANCES: I think it was very unfortunate that the flight attendants and the marshals' union or group were not asked and discussed this with the TSA before the rule was proposed. But I...

BOLDUAN: You're a former -- you're a former vice chairman of the NTSB. Why do you think that the flight attendants and the air marshals' associations weren't -- weren't brought into this conversation earlier? They sure seem to be broadsided by it, blindsided by it.

FRANCES: I -- I can't answer that question. It's a question of rule making and how it's done. I just express my own opinion.

But I do think that -- that small knives or bats or whatever are in the -- are in the -- in the cabin. Sure, they propose or pose a threat to someone, perhaps, getting cut or hit, but it's not going to be even close to taking down the aircraft, which is the mandate of TSA.

BLITZER: But -- but, Bob, it might not be the mandate -- it might not be -- they might not be able to bring down the plane, but they could certainly -- a lot of us remember the bad old days when planes were hijacked when somebody had a knife. They grabbed a flight attendant for example, put the knife up against that flight attendant, for example, put the knife up against that flight attendant's neck and said, "I'm going to kill this person unless you fly me to Havana" or someplace else. That could be a serious problem.

FRANCES: If the pilots are doing what they're trained to do and the reason that they're behind a locked door, they are not going to do that. They are not going to give in and let anyone back there, no matter how many knives there are, tell them what to do with the aircraft.

BLITZER: And they're not going to care about a flight attendant or some other passenger getting killed?

FRANCES: They're going to have to do what their rules tell them to do. Of course they'll care, but they're not going to endanger the aircraft for -- for what may or may not be a serious threat.

BLITZER: In fairness to the TSA, Laura, and we've got to go after this, but in fairness to them, they say they're just complying with what the rest of the international community is doing. Europe, Asia, they have these limited restrictions on these pocket knives.

GLADDING: Right, I understand that. But, look, 9/11 happened here. It happened in the U.S.

And what are we saying? That we don't want to be safer than the rest of the world? Of course we do. And 9/11 happened as a result of the knives.

And in response to, you know, the pilots would do what they have to do, why put them in that position? Why put us in that position? Why endanger people on the other side of that cockpit door? It doesn't make one iota of sense to me.

BLITZER: All right. This debate is obviously going to continue, and we'll continue it here on this show, as well. There's, I think, 45 days for the TSA to reconsider if they will. Thanks, guys, very much.

GLADDING: Thank you.

FRANCES: You're welcome.

BOLDUAN: Still ahead, a shocking confession in the Bolshoi Ballet acid attack. We'll look at what an insider calls the perverted passion in the dance world.

And then, sex, lies, and horror. An extraordinary day in the trial of Jodi Arias, accused of murdering her ex-boyfriend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Fascinating day in the trial of Jodi Arias. She's the woman accused of brutally murdering her ex-boyfriend in Arizona.

The trial took an extraordinary turn today when Arias took questions from jurors. That does not happen very often, at all. It's only allowed in a handful of states. We'll explain that in just a minute. But first, CNN's Randi Kaye explains how we got here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This case has court watchers riveted. Not only because of the severe brutality of it, but also because of the couple's salacious sexual relationship. They videotaped themselves having sex and took provocative photos.

On the day of the murder, June 4, 2008, the two snapped naked photos of each other at Alexander's home, right before the killing.

(voice-over): What exactly happened that night is still unclear. In part, because investigators can't get a straight, or at least consistent, story out of Arias.

KIRK NURMI, JODI'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Do you remember stabbing Travis Alexander?

JODI ARIAS, MURDER DEFENDANT: I have no memory of stabbing him.

KAYE: The couple first met back in 2006, at a convention in Las Vegas. She was an aspiring photographer. He was a salesman and motivational speaker who was active in the Mormon church. They started dating a few months later, even though he lived in Mesa, Arizona, and she lived hours away in California.

Arias soon converted to Mormonism like her boyfriend, and agreed to be baptized. On the day of her baptism, she told the court, Alexander tied her up while they were both still wearing sacred garments, then forced her to have anal sex.

NURMI: After this encounter, on this spiritual day, how did you feel about yourself?

ARIAS: I didn't feel very good. I kind of felt like a used piece of toilet paper.

KAYE: Arias claims Alexander often abused her, physically and sexually. But on the couple's phone sex tapes, played in court, she seemed to be enjoying herself.

TRAVIS ALEXANDER, MURDER VICTIM (via phone): The way you moan, Jodi, sounds like you're a 12-year-old girl having her first orgasm. It's so hot.

KAYE: How things turned from phone sex to this is still a mystery. But investigators say there's no question Travis Alexander suffered. The medical examiner says he was stabbed first, then shot. So it may have been taken him some time to die. Crime scene photos show his hands, bruised and bloodied, which may indicate he struggled to fight off his attacker, who was stabbing him.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: And as we mentioned just a moment ago, the trial took an extraordinary legal turn today. Arias answered questions directly from the jurors -- well, the questions coming from the jurors. That's only allowed in three states, including Arizona.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is live in Phoenix.

Miguel, you were inside the courtroom, so tell us about these questions that the juror -- that the jury was asking.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, clearly, this is a jury that is either unsure of what Jodi Arias testified to or is skeptical as to what she testified to. A lot of the questions having to do with what happened that day, June 4, 2008, the day that Travis Alexander died.

Here's a little sample of some of the questions that were put to her by the judge today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE SHERRY STEPHENS, PRESIDING OVER ARIAS TRIAL: "Why is it that you have no memory of stabbing Travis?"

ARIAS: I can't really explain why my mind did what it did.

STEPHENS: "Why did you place Travis's body back in the shower?"

ARIAS: I could only speculate, because I don't remember.

STEPHENS: "Why would you take the time to delete the photos off the camera after you killed Travis?"

ARIAS: I -- that would go with all the other things that I did that day, when things happened. I don't have memory of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Now, the judge got about a hundred queries from the jurors, but there were many parts to some of those queries, so we're up to over 150 questions at this -- at the moment. The judge asking them in rapid-fire style. Jodi Arias answering them fairly quickly, for the most part.

Many of these questions having not only to do with what happened on that day, most of which she says she does not remember, what happened on the day that Travis Alexander died. She remembers the gun going off, and then she remembers nothing else. Perhaps the most damning question of her that was asked of her during that time was, how is it that the single casing from the bullet fired from that gun ended up on top of a pool of blood? She says, and she's said repeatedly, that it -- the gun was the first thing to go off. You would think that the gun would then be covered in blood, given how much had happened to Travis Alexander's body after the fact.

There were many questions about her relationship, not only with Travis Alexander, but with other men that she had dated, and how those relationships went. Her relationship with her family.

There was one juror in particular that seemed to take her side of it and ask specific questions about how it was she got into the closet and why she feared for her life -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: It all comes down to a question of was it self-defense or was it murder? And that is the big question they're trying to answer. Miguel Marquez, thanks so much.

BLITZER: A stunning confession in the acid attack that shocked Russia's famous Bolshoi ballet and the entire dance world. That's next.

And later, a real-estate agent caught on camera doing things he shouldn't do in his client's home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: One of the world's oldest ballet troupes is now caught up in an acid attack scandal. CNN's Phil Black is following the story for us from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, suspicion has always focused on the Bolshoi Ballet itself and the likelihood someone who works there was responsible, but it was still a huge surprise that one of the company's leading dancers confessed he planned the whole thing. (voice-over): This video, released by Russian police, shows Pavel Dmitrichenko, a leading dancer with one of the world's greatest ballet companies. He says, "I'm suspected of organizing the acid attack on artistic director of the Bolshoi Theatre, Sergei Filin." He's then asked if he did it, and he confesses. "I organized this attack, but not to the extent that it happened," he says.

This is the result of what happened. Sergei Filin, his head wrapped in bandages, on the night sulfuric acid was thrown in his face outside his home. It is a shocking contrast to the beauty and grace to the art form both men have dedicated their lives to.

The Bolshoi Theatre is famous as a house of intrigue for the powerful ambitions, rivalries and jealousies of those who work here. The professional differences have never before come to anything like this.

Police say the two men had a hostile working relationship but have not offered any details of the specific motives. Pavel Dmitrichenko performed in the title role in last year's production of "Ivan the Terrible," the story of a Russian czar with a violent reputation.

Police say Dmitrichenko directed two other men to carry out the attack, and they've also confessed. One threw the acid. The other was a driver.

Sergei Filin is receiving treatment in Germany and doesn't know how much of his eyesight will come back. He's confident he'll return as the Bolshoi's artistic director. Just as he was always very sure it was a colleague, a ballet dancer, who used violence to try to drive him out of that job.

(on camera): There's a lot of public speculation here about precisely what the motive was, and the most popular theories revolve around the dancer's alleged frustration with the slow progress of his career; perhaps his girlfriend's career. She's a dancer at the Bolshoi, as well -- Wolf.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Phil Black in Moscow. Thanks for that report.

BOLDUAN: CNN's Erin Burnett is "OUTFRONT," starting at the top of the hour on a wild situation happening right now in the U.S. Senate. Erin, what do you have tonight?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Seven hours and I think we're five or six minutes now, Kate and Wolf, pretty incredible, that Rand Paul has been filibustering the nomination for the new CIA chief.

And he's been doing it for a very serious reason. He says that this administration has not categorically said it will use drones to kill Americans on American soil.

But one thing that's interesting about this is seven hours and five minutes and counting, and Rand Paul has not taken a bathroom break, yet. I know that these things seem small, but that to me seems to be a pretty significant part of the story. He has had some real -- he's been sticking with it today. He is scheduled to be our guest at the top of the hour. We'll see if he will come about from that filibuster and talk to us.

And also in tonight's episode, we're going to be talking about Taylor Swift versus Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Back to you guys.

BOLDUAN: So are you going to be able to get, like, a phone from the Senate floor? How are you going to pull this off?

BURNETT: I know. I'm trying to figure out how it's going to happen, and I'm also worried that when he leaves, he may decide to take that much-needed bathroom break before he comes to the cameras.

BOLDUAN: No time, Senator, straight to the studio.

BURNETT: That's right.

BOLDUAN: Erin Burnett. Sounds like a great show. Thanks. See you in a bit.

BURNETT: See you, Kate.

Also still ahead for us in THE SITUATION ROOM, a couple notices that things keep going missing from their house. Hmm. And what they found on a surveillance camera can only be described as pretty creepy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Surprise move today involving CNN's parent company, Time Warner. It's now spinning off its entire magazine division, Time Inc. It will become an independent publicly-traded company, a process that should be completed by the end of the year.

Time Inc. is the No. 1 magazine publisher in the United States, publishing dozens of magazines, including "People" magazine and "Style," "Fortune," "Money," "TIME" magazine, "Sports Illustrated," among others.

Rumors have been rampant about possible sale of Time Inc. to a rival publisher, Meredith. The company confirmed those discussions today after news of the spin-off. But this is a major development in the publishing world.

BOLDUAN: Sure is.

BLITZER: And a couple's attempt to sell their house takes a bizarre -- it's not such a major development.

BOLDUAN: Not such a major development but bizarre. They expected to see people looking at their home, but instead, they caught a real-estate agent doing something very different. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here. Come on in.

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Talk about multitasking. As this real-estate agent was giving directions to the home he was showing...

STEPHEN BRUMME, REAL-ESTATE AGENT: Park in back. You can park in the back.

MOOS: ... he got caught with his hand not in the cookie jar, but in the lingerie drawer, casually pulling out and inspecting at least five items and then dropping down to explore the lower drawers. When the homeowner and his wife viewed the Web cam video, one word kept cropping up. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's creepy. It's creepy.

MOOS: The couple went out of town last month while an open house was scheduled for the Arlington, Virginia, townhouse they'd put up for sale.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like to see people's reactions to our house. They're on the open house. And so we set some cameras up.

MOOS: He did not expect to record 60-year-old real-estate agent Stephen Brumme rummaging around in his wife's drawers. Brumme seemed to stash something in his back pocket...

MOOS (on camera): ... which gives a whole new meaning to the "open house." Open drawers, open closets.

(voice-over): Several online commenters noticed his wedding ring. Posted one, "Maybe he was shopping for his wife."

Police arrested Brumme and charged him with burglary. He's out on bail. Authorities say his real-estate license was immediately suspended. We tried calling Brumme but got no answer.

(on camera): Police are asking home sellers to come forward if they notice items missing. They say Brumme has been inside hundreds of homes.

(voice-over): Hey, that's not part of your commission. Get your hands off her real estate.

Jeanne Moos, CNN...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like, wow. That's creepy.

MOOS: ... New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Wow, that's creepy.

BLITZER: Indeed. That's it for us. "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.

BURNETT: "OUTFRONT" next, an old-fashioned filibuster in Washington, D.C. Rand Paul talks and talks and talks and talks for hours. We're in hour eight.