have known where osama bin laden was hiding. we'll talk to peter king about his hearing next week into the death of bin laden and what he hopes to learn. i'm wolf blitzer and this is "the situation room." let's begin with breaking news on the case involving the head of the international monetary fund jeffrey toobin is getting new details on what is going on. jeff is joining us on the phone. what are you picking out, jeff? >> it looks like the defense will go back to court tomorrow to ask for bail for their client. they think that they have a package that the court will accept. there is no deal yet in the works but this is the main preoccupation for the defense. they think it's bad for his health and there may be another court hearing in the case tomorrow. >> and dsk, dominique strauss-kahn, is at rikers island, in a small cell. why would they give him bail if potentially he is what they call a flight risk if he would give up $1 million if he were to be able to provide $1 million in bail and still leave the country along the lines of roman polanski or something like that? >> that's the argument that has kept him in prison. the argument that would get him out is that he would agree to such onerous conditions, including electronic monitoring, an ankle bracelet. including very restrictive conditions, not to leave an apartment, not to leave a hotel room or office. and an enormous amount of money. plus, the surrender of his passport. all of these conditions that would make his escape from the united states impossible. >> i believe, jeffrey, and you probably know this better than i do, his lawyers, one of the best criminal defense attorneys in new york, didn't they make that case to the judge earlier in the week, that he would do all of these things and she rejected all of those conditions. >> she did. but that initial appearance was so soon after his arrest. the defense hadn't had a chance to make the full presentation. they hchbt hadn't had a chance k to the people that do the ankle bracelets. this would be a more comprehensive presentation but he's still not a united states citizen. he's still a very wealthy man. those are all arguments to keep him in jail but the defense thinks that they want another bite at the apple here and they think it is very important both to their client and to their chances of winning to get him out of jail as soon as possible. >> i want you to hold on for a moment. i'm about to interview the man representing the woman at the center of this case. can you hear me okay? >> i sure can. >> let me get your immediate reaction to what jeff toobin just reported. how do you feel about dominique strauss-kahn being let out on bail? >> the idea that this man would somehow or another be on the streets and free, i'm sure it would cause her a great deal of concern. she's very concerned about her security. she's very concerned about what has happened and what this man is capable of and the fact that he would be free is something that she would be very alarged about. >> so you would argue against any -- i assume the prosecution in new york, with the prosecution argue against him being freed on bail? >> you know n. this particular situation, here's a man on the plane on the way to france and would have done that but for the intervention of the police that arrested him and got him off. if he's not a flight risk, i'm not sure who is. >> it would make the case that he doesn't have a criminal record and not a threat to the community given that he would be under such restrictive conditions and given the notoriety of the case, it would simply be impossible for him to flee the country and the argument that the defense would make is that bail is not supposed to be punishment. it's supposed to be a community to make sure that thus he should be released. >> mr. shapiro, how is your client doing? >> i think she's doing remarkably well considering what she's been through, starting with this attack she's not had a moment of peace since then. she's been separated from her daughter for a considerable amount of time. she doesn't know what her future will be. she hasn't been able to get professional help of any sort. she's been subjected to the interrogation but in cooperation with the new york city police department and disstrict attorney's office, she's had trouble sleeping, had to wear the same clothes for three days because she didn't have a change of clothes but if someone can with c wi withstand all of that, she's been able to do that. >> i know you went with her to the grand jury and you couldn't go in with her. based on what you heard, how did that go? >> you know, i cannot comment on anything which took place within the grand jury. that solely is within the province of the grand jury. so i would like to keep that commitment. >> i understand. walk us through what you can share with us what happened? she goes into the room at the hotel, thinking that she's going to clean the room, walk us through what happened next look, what has been reported in the press and essentially as she went into the room, thinking that it was unoccupied, this event took place and she was assaulted sexually and physically. she reported this to hotel security who then contacted the new york city police department and came to the hotel, interviewed my client, examined the crime scene. based upon their professional judgment, the trustworthiness of her and also what they saw they caused this man to be arrested. >> did she immediately go to hotel security, her supervisors, and tell this story right after this event, or did she wait? >> no, she went there. she thought that was her obligation to do that. i mean, she was, you know, a very respectful and grateful employee of this hotel and believed it was her responsibility to make this report, which she did. >> she made the report right away. in terms of the forensic evidence -- and i don't know how much you can share with us, is there bodily harm? were there bruises or cuts or anything that would show that there was a struggle going on? >> again, all of the forensic evidence in this case has been gathered by the district attorney's office and it's within their control. they have it and i can't comment on it with you unfortunately today. >> in some way that might interview with what the district attorney is doing and i don't wish to do that. >> you know her lawyers, benjamin, among others, are among the best criminal defense attorneys not only in new york and the country, they might argue that this was consensual -- his lawyers, i'm sorry. excuse me. his lawyers may say that it was consensual and there was no physical evidence showing of coercion. how do you deal with that? >> when you're a victim of sexual assault, you can't take the public stage because you want to be protected. your identity wants to be protected. but one day she will be able to walk in court and tell a jury what happened. and when that day comes and the jury tells her story, it will be quite clear that there was no aspect whatsoever about this encounter which was in any way construed as consensual. >> what can you tell us that would make us all appreciate what happened? >> my involve in this case with this young woman is to support her and help her figure out how to put her life together from this point forward. so with respect to, again, evidence at the crime scene and what may or may not exist in terms of prosecuting this case, you know, it's not been my concern with her and not something i could comment on. >> so you can't comment on this other report that when she went in she left a door opened as opposed to closing the door right away. you've seen those reports? >> i can't comment on that. i can't do it. >> this woman is an immigrant and came here several years ago. she's described as a good muslim. does she wear a head scarf? what does that mean? >> i don't know what anybody means by it but what i think it means, in her case and from my observation of her, is that this is a woman who is an observant woman. she's strong and came here under adverse circumstances. had a lot of difficulty there and came here with her young daughter and limited education and virtually no opportunity for professional career. in her homeland she came here, found this job, was able to support both herself and her daughter. was very grateful to have this job and to be in a country in which there is laws and justice and freedom and hopes for a better life for her daughter as anyone that comes to this country does. i have to tell you, i have great, great admiration for her and based upon the hours that i've spent talking to her. >> have you prepared her for what is in store in the next coming days and weeks and months and maybe years? >> here's the problem. somebody that is a victim of a physical assault and a rape needs lots of help in many different areas and here is someone that hasn't had the opportunity to begin that process to find any peace at all. so what i've tried to do is tell her what exists today is not going to exist tomorrow. her life will be okay, that she will be able to come back to a life of normalcy, that she will be safe, that she is safe, that her daughter is safe, and life will be okay for her in the future. >> i don't know if jeffrey toobin is on the line. if you have a question, go ahead. >> i'm sorry. i was distracted. i did not have a question. i'm sorry. i don't. >> mr. shapiro, anything else thaw want to tell our viewers that you think they need to know right now before i let you go? >> i would just say to you that i've heard from people around the world who support her and there's been a lot of things stated out here of conspiracy theories and various other things and they are not true. the most important thing is for her to be vindicated. she has no other agenda other than to tell the truth and to be able to live her life the way she did before this event took place. >> and getting back to the breaking news that jeffrey toobin reported at the top of the hour, his lawyers will ask for some sort of opportunity that he can be released from rikers prison and be released on bail. what i heard you saying is that that would be a horrible mistake? >> look, i'm devoted to this woman and this client and i want what she wants. to the extent that his freedom would impair her feelings of safety and security, that would deeply concern me. >> explain that -- if he's out in new york, he's got an ankle bracelet and he's in new york, she would feel threatened by that? >> this comes from a world in which safety is not guaranteed. the police are not necessarily your friend. this is the background that she comes from. so the idea that this perpetrator, the person that attacked her is free and can do what he wants to do, whether he flees the country doesn't mean that he can't do something, in her mind, that could cause her some harm. >> jeffrey, thank you very much. we'll continue our conversation of the days and weeks to come. appreciate it very much. please wish her the best. obviously she's gone through a lot. >> thank you very much. thanks for letting me come here and tell at least part of her story. >> thank you. appreciate it. jeffrey shapiro. i should point out that we invited benjamin and his attorneys to come on our show. they declined our invitation at least for now. they have an invitation to join us at any time. much more on this story coming up later here in "the situation room." we'll go to paris. jim bitterman is getting reaction from the french, the media, and government officials are saying is. you're going to be fascinated by the kucultural divide. also, president obama is giving syria new reasons to ease up on protesters. but will it be enough to stop the bloodshed. and maria shriver tries to show the world that she's not falling apart. the scandal is playing out very publicly. 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[ speaking chinese ] [ gasps, speaks chinese ] do you guys like dumplings? i love dumplings. working with a partner you can trust is always a good decision. massmutual -- let our financial professionals help you reach your goals. quality education and quality teachers are in jack cafferty. >> the union back safety net that will protect safety net from school teachers from being fired. there is job security in a time with cash-strapped states are trying to make cuts everywhere they can. critics say the policy can harm students more than it protects the teachers because they often lose their jobs and going through the motion until their pension kicks in can't be touched. that's because when the district announces layoffs, the last in, first out union rule generally takes over. that means the least experienced teachers take fewer years of service and more senior teachers do. in many cases no matter how well they do or don't do their jobs and how well the students perform but states have all passed bills to end the last in, first out layoff policies in the past year. and trying to make changes to tenure as well, supporters are up in arms. tenure is an important policy that attracts teachers. so should tenure be taken away. violence and threats to the peace and democracy in the middle east as he prepares for a major policy speech. he's putting new pressure on syria by slapping top officials with tough sanctions today. let's bring in jill dougherty for us. tough sanctions. will it make much of a difference? >> in a way it won't, technically, because what they are doing is they are sanctioning the property or assets of assad and senior officials. actually, they don't have a lot of property. in that sense it's not big but it's very big in the terms of naming him and these officials and really saying this is it. we no longer trust your promises that you're going to perform talking to u.s. officials and international officials, they have been given a promise by assad that he would reform and change. he's been saying it literally for weeks. but all you had to do was look at what is going on on the ground and it's very clear that he was not the violence is getting much stronger and we don't believe that is he going to change. >> why isn't the president doing what so many members wanted to do, namely what he did towards gadhafi, libya, mubarak, simply saying that bashar must go. >> they have been fine tuning this and nobody know what is will come next. it's a great concern. so what they are doing is going right up to the edge. the phrase was, lead a political transition or leave but they are now to the point where they are saying, you must step down the people of syria must decide what to do and they really don't believe anything is going to change. >> the president has not recalled the ambassador from damascus. >> sometimes, right. but we talked with two state department officials who say they have no plans to do that and sometimes it's useful to have the ambassador there to tell him to go over and talk to the senior officials and deliver the tough messages. >> tomorrow's tough speech. is the president going to have more or is this it? >> we are believing that he will. and it's going to be a lot tougher. >> the future of u.s. policy in the region, our coverage will air at 11:30 a.m. eastern. 8:30 a.m. pacific right here on cnn. i'll be anchoring the coverage tomorrow morning. a congressional hearing on osama lynn laden's death could reveal more military secrets. i'll ask peter king if he's worried about helping terrorists and the politics of torture. likely presidential candidate rick santorum is on damage control. 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[ male announcer ] there's just something about werther's caramel that makes a chocolate so smooth and creamy, you don't just taste it, you feel it. ♪ magic [ male announcer ] werther's original caramel chocolate. what comfort tastes like. osama bin laden and reporters that pakistani officials know that bin laden was hiding in their country. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, though, is warning that all of the publicity that is going on right now makes the u.s. military a little bit more at risk. >> we have, from my perspective, gotten to a point where we are close to jeopardizing this precious capability that we have and we can't afford to do that. and secondly, when you now extend that to concern with individuals in the military and their families, from my perspective, it's time to stop talking and we have talked far too much about this. we need to move on. it's a story that if we don't stop talking it will never end and it needs to. >> joining us now from long island, congressman, thanks for coming in. >> thank you, wolf. thank you very much. >> all of this talk is hurting so the question to you is, why have you decided to hold yet more hearings now before your committee on this killing of bin laden? >> well, the hearing is not so much to discuss hearings but it's important for the american people to realize that even though bin laden is dead, we are not going to find out anything about the special operations units or anything like that, but i think it's important for us to realize domestically what threats we face. that's what this is about. what threats the homeland faces as a result of bin laden's death. that's an obligation that i have as chairman of the homeland security. i think too many people believe that with bin laden dead -- >> do you believe that national security has been compromised, all of the details that have been released over the past couple of weeks? >> wolf, i believe it's been compromised as far as talking about the actual operation itself. for instance, i don't even know why we disclosed that it was navy s.e.a.l.s involved. i don't know why we gave any of the details as to how the helicopters landed, how they got out, how we got information on bin laden to begin with. i don't think we should have been giving any of those details out. it should have been discussed as a special operation successful and and all we did, and it's focusing so much on the s.e.a.l.s team that none of this should have been made public. >> you're the chairman of the homeland security. what do you know about this interim leader, this guy who has been named to take over for bin laden? is he a real problem? >> well, we know he's been active for many years. he's an egyptian and i'm not certain he's going to be strongly in command. i think this was an attempt by the egyptians to take control of al qaeda. but many of the elements within al qaeda do not want egyptians running it. they want somebody from saudi arabia, more traditional islam. what they see as traditional islam. so bin laden, the unique ability that he had, the saudis, the egyptians, i don't know if he's in a position to do that. so i think it's a bit of a power play by the egyptians to say al za raur ree is able to do t i don't think anybody has been heard from him since bin laden was killed. whether or not he can actually hold al qaeda together, i'm not so sure. >> looking ahead to your hearings, based on what you know, the information gleamed from the compound where bin laden was killed, is there an active threat, terror threat to the u.s. homeland right now that we need to know about? >> no, i'm not awa