Dominique Strauss-Kahn Accused of Rape; Some Protests Against NATO in Chicago Turn Violent; Chaos In Chicago; Kristin Wiig Says Farewell
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome, everybody. Our STARTING POINT this morning, those violent clashes in Chicago, protesters fighting with police outside the NATO summit on Afghanistan. It's day two of the summit today. Will it be chaos again? And from Beijing to the Big Apple, the Chinese activist in the middle of that fight between the United States and China lands in the United States. He is now free to speak and we'll tell you what he's saying. Plus, a failure to launch. Facebook falls flat and opens the trading week pretty much where it started on Friday. Could the stock be a total bust? Plus, Mick Jagger channels another iconic lead singer, mocks him, and nails it on "Saturday Night Live." It is Monday, May 21st. And STARTING POINT begins right now.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking News.</s>O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Let's get started with some breaking news on what could become very soon new charges of rape against the former IMF chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Let's get right to Christine Romans. She's got some details for us. Hey, Christine, good morning</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Soledad. Dominique Strauss-Kahn could soon face charges in the alleged gang rape of a Belgian prostitute. This happened during a party at her hotel in Washington, D.C. almost two years ago. That's a story at least French prosecutors are investigating, launching an investigation into this. A French newspaper says these allegations came from statements that two escorts made to Belgian police. DSK held one of the most powerful positions in the world of course as IMF chief. You may also remember he was arrested after a New York hotel maid accused him of sexual assault. He was cleared on that charge after her story fell apart. Soledad?</s>O'BRIEN: All right, Christine, thank you for the update. We're watching that story, obviously. It has been chaos in Chicago as thousands of protesters against the war in Afghanistan are at the NATO summit. Demonstrators were clashing with police who were wearing riot gear yesterday. They were voicing their opposition to the war. Police arrested at least 45 people. The protests happened just blocks away from where world leaders are meeting to talk about the endgame in Afghanistan. This brings us to Ted Rowlands who was in the middle of that chaos. Ted, good morning.</s>TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. There were 40 arrests and several injuries one of the protesters standing close to me had a few teeth knocked out. Another was bleeding from the head but there were also police injuries. According to the police department four police officers were injured. One officer apparently stabbed in the leg. The big question today as the sun rises in Chicago, what will the city be in for? There as large protest scheduled at the Boeing Corporation today a few blocks from where we are downtown. Protesters say they plan to shut down Boeing. And police are going to be out in force. Most businesses have told their employees to stay home today to avoid what could be a very chaotic day here in Chicago.</s>O'BRIEN: As far as I can see you have two groups of protesters right? You have the protesters who for the most part are relatively peaceful. Then you have the black block protesters wearing black with the black bandanas around their faces. How many of those black block protesters are we talking about?</s>ROWLANDS: Just a handful. And when you say there are two groups you're absolutely right. There are the groups that are for their protests, for their marches, and they have been following the letter of the law all week long. There have been events. Then there is the fragment groups, these are the folks causing the problems, usually around the scheduled protests like yesterday, all of that melee happened following a scheduled protest when police said the time is up. Please move on. That's when the chaos started. That's really the problem here. It's just a handful of people, but they are causing all of the problems.</s>O'BRIEN: It's been really interesting to see. I think the focus on sort of two pieces of videotape, one we were just showing a moment ago, which was the police using their batons to fight back that crowd. Another one that I thought was very interesting, Ted, was this police van, Chicago police fan. There it is right there. Look as they're pushing a guy out of the way. He is trying to slow the truck. Watch the guy in the black. He is going around the back of the car, stabbing the tires. You see it there. Now you're going to see him right here, he is wearing black shirt, running back out to the crowd. I guess he has stabbed the tires of that truck. The guy who apparently the truck was pushing was able to move out of the way. That is the slow-mo version of that guy. Give me some more sense of just how violent these protests have gotten, because certainly on TV, I've got to tell you, Ted, they look really rough.</s>ROWLANDS: Yes. It was violent yesterday definitely, and the case with the police van, you have two separate stories here. Immediately after that incident there was an alert out by the protesters saying one of our people has been hit by a police van. Well, talked with the police and they say we had a police officer assaulted. In fact, the most serious injury in that incident was to the driver. The police officer there had a concussion because he was struck in the head during that situation. They say he was moving that van to get out because he was in danger. So the answer to your question how violent, in pockets it's very violent. When you see the batons flying and people getting hit, it's pretty intense. But for the most part, and this is what the main demonstrators are concerned about, for the most part these demonstrations have been peaceful. It's just this video is so dramatic this really is the lasting image that people have so far from the protests here.</s>O'BRIEN: Remarkable to see. Ted Rowlands for us this morning, thanks. I want to bring in the Illinois Democratic lieutenant governor Sheila Simon joining us now. Nice to see you. Thank you for being with us. We certainly appreciate it. How comfortable are you with sort of the visuals that you are seeing? How often are you talking to the chief of police and how do you feel about the strategy in dealing with both sets of protesters that we were talking about, the more peaceful protesters and some of those folks you're seeing on TV with more violent protests?</s>SHEILA SIMON, (D) ILLINOIS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: I'm obviously saddened that there's violence involved that police have been injured, that protesters have been injured, but what I'm pleased with is that for the most part thousands of people have been able to express themselves, have been able to state their opinions about war, about NATO, and Chicago has shown a capability to respond to be a global city and I'm pleased with that.</s>O'BRIEN: Garry McCarthy is the superintendent of police and he was asked about that use of batons. We've seen that in a couple shots and here is what he said.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you authorized officers to use batons?</s>MCCARTHY: Absolutely. To overcome an assault, absolutely.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said you were concerned about the image but ultimately the batons did come out and it is not a pretty thing.</s>MCCARTHY: No, but ultimately the officers were assaulted. They don't have to stand there and take an assault.</s>O'BRIEN: Are you concerned that many of the conversations that have been taking place over the weekend and probably will continue to take place today are about the violence and not conversations about what's really happening at this summit?</s>SIMON: I am concerned about that because I think those small images, those few images do form some kind of impression. I think, though, for the most part people who were participating and I have a staff member who was on the scene said that for the most part things were very orderly, that there were plenty of law enforcement officers around to make sure the people could express themselves, that there were legal observers, medical staff, and that it was really an effective use of a democracy where we have to tolerate and appreciate all opinions.</s>O'BRIEN: I know that the protesters have said that they're going to try to, quote, shut down Boeing today, which is based in Chicago and obviously makes gear for defense and aircraft as well. What's the strategy for protecting or I guess keeping the protesters if there is one from Boeing?</s>SIMON: Well, I think the strategy has been all along to work with all of the different law enforcement agencies in concert, and I think for the most part they've been doing a fantastic job of making sure that people are protected and free speech rights are protected as well. It's a tough balance to get but I think they're doing a good job.</s>O'BRIEN: A quick question for you about financial costs. The estimates that I have seen are about $55 million for security. A chunk of that is paid for by the feds. But the upside I've also read is somewhere around $128 million potentially by some estimates being made in, you know, sort of housing and hotels and restaurants, et cetera, et cetera, for the city. Do you think it's been worth it?</s>SIMON: I think on balance it's a very positive thing for Chicago, for the state of Illinois. Chicago is a city with a global influence and now we can demonstrate a global impact. We have lots of advantages in the ability to put something like this together well.</s>O'BRIEN: Sheila Simon is the state's lieutenant governor. Nice to see you. Thank you for talking with us. Appreciate it.</s>SIMON: Thank you.</s>O'BRIEN: Time to get a look at the rest of the stories making news this morning. Christine has a look at those.</s>ROMANS: Good morning, again, Soledad. Newark, New Jersey mayor Cory Booker is now backing off some surprising comments he made criticizing President Obama for attacks on Mitt Romney. Booker told NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday he was uncomfortable with president Obama attacking Romney's record at Bain Capital.</s>CORY BOOKER, (D) NEWARK, NEW JERSEY MAYOR: You look at the totality of Bain Capital's record, they've done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses, and this to me, I am very uncomfortable with.</s>O'BRIEN: Now Booker says Romney's record at Bain is fair game. In a new YouTube video booker says the president is, quote, "reasonable to scrutinize Romney's business record."</s>BOOKER: I believe that Mitt Romney in many ways is not being completely honest with his role and his record even while a business person and is shaping it to serve his political interests.</s>O'BRIEN: Booker says his earlier remarks were meant to express his frustration with negative campaigning overall. Booker, a Democrat, is supporting president Obama for reelection. The Lockerbie bomber will be buried today. Abdelbaset Al- Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence officer, was the only person ever convicted in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103. And 270 people died when that plane exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. Al- Megrahi died Sunday nearly three years after he was freed from a Scottish prison on humanitarian grounds because he was said to be gravely ill. It is sentencing day in the Rutgers webcam spying case. Dharun Ravi could get 10 years in prison for hate crimes against Tyler Clemente. A jury convicted him of spying and intimidating his gay roommate. Clemente jumped off New York's George Washington bridge and hanged himself after Ravi used a web cam to spy on him with another man. Did you see it? Incredible pictures of yesterday's solar eclipse. Millions looking into the skies to catch a glimpse of the ring of fire. This eclipse, the first of its kind in 18 years, created a golden ring around the moon's silhouette and it was visible on the west coast and in Asia. The next one will happen in 2023. Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees has lost his battle with cancer. Gibb founded the group, which included his two brothers. They sold more than 200 million records, and together they helped turn Disco into a global phenomenon, writing much of the music for the iconic film "Saturday Night Fever." Robin Gibb was 62, and, Soledad, a voice of a whole generation.</s>O'BRIEN: My goodness. No question. Remember my mother used to think that "More than a Woman" was "Bow-Legged Woman," and she'd run around the house singing "bow-legged woman."</s>O'BRIEN: Christine, thank you for the update. Still ahead on STARTING POINT, his daring escape from house arrest sparked a diplomatic crisis and really angered China. Now activist Chen Guangcheng has landed in America. He's already exercising his freedom of speech. And the greatest spectacle in racing, the Indianapolis 500 is this weekend. There is controversy. New cars, they say some people slower. Drivers Marco Andretti and Jared Hildebrand are going to join us. And our panel will be talking about that and much more. Nice to have you guys. Welcome. How are you?