opportunity in the middle east. this hour, his vision for the region and the controversial way he's pushing the israelis and the palestinians to make peace. we want to welcome viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." the financial power broker who bailed out countries is being baled out himself as he awaits trial on charges he sexually assaulted a hotel maid. dominique strauss-kahn denies the allegations that many people find shocking. but the former head of the international monetary fund has been tied to previous allegations of sexual misconduct. our brian todd has been looking flow that. >> wolf, we've learned about one serious allegation that strauss-kahn wasn't even publicly linked to till his arrest in new york. and about another incident in his past where at the very least, his character and judgment came into serious question. his attorney and his wife vigorously defend dominique strauss-kahn saying the imf's managing director is innocent of the charges. prosecutors suggest there may be a pattern to his alleged behavior. >> this information includes reports that he has in fact engaged in conduct similar to the conduct alleged with this complaint on at least one other occasion. >> reporter: he could be referring to an alleged incident that strauss-kahn's been linked to only since his arrest on saturday. french journalisttrist tran ben yoen says he tried to rape her nine years ago in paris apartment. his attorneys didn't respond to our inquiries on the allegation and one of them only mentioned it briefly in court. >> this is an individual with no criminal record. i can't respond to angations made in a foreign country that did not result in any criminal prosecution. >> tristan did not report the alleged incident to french police at the time. why not? her mother told a french tv station what she told her daughter at the time. >> there wasn't a rape strictly speaking. there was an attack. for the rest of your life, you would have on your resume you know tristan bannon, that's the girl, who, well? >> french tv reporter and polean demo layer who wrote a profile of strauss-kahn in the washingtonian magazine says this about his wife, a popular tv figure in wife, american born ann sinclair. >> she is always beside him. she's really taking his arm wherever he goes. so yes, there have been probably some ups and downs but she has been by his side. >> even during affair he had a few years ago. strauss-kahn was investigated for what he later acknowledged was an improper relationship with a female employee. an independent investigation found that the relationship was consensual and there was no harassment, favoritism or any other abuse of power by him but he did later apologize to the imf, to his family and to the employee. i asked harassment attorney debra katz about that case. does that is particular case have any relevance here. >> it's a different kind of standard. the fact that he engaged in a improper relationship with someone at work shows his character and poor judgment but it may not be relevant legally to this issue of sexual assault. >> but strauss-kahn may have other legal problems in france. the attorney for that young woman tristan bannon now says she's preparing documents against strauss-kahn. wolf? >> right, todd, thanks very much. let's dig deeper with jeffrey toobin. jeff, he's going to be living under house arrest in new york city. what's next legally in the case? >> well, the most thing that's next is the investigation has to proceed. there is a lot that needs to be looked at here. especially in terms of scientific forensic evidence. was there dna left at the crime scene? is there hair and fiber at the scene? what do the videos, the surveillance videos in that area show? what about the timecards of when people went in and out of that hotel room? all that has to be looked at and experts from both sides have to have the opportunity to look at the evidence. it could take a long time. >> will his own attorneys be looking for a speedy trial rushing to trial or do they want this to drag on? >> delay, delay, delay. especially in a case like this be where passions are high. there's a lot of attention. and that's also why this bail decision is so important. because if he had been in rikers island for the months prior to trial, he would be telling his attorneys i can't stand this. get me to trial. now he's going to be in a relatively comfortable apartment which will certainly be cramped and frustrating him because he can't live his normal life. but he'll be eating normal food, sleeping in a normal bed, able to see people. he will not be pressing his lawyers to go as fast as he would be if he were in rikers island. >> he does have some excellent attorneys. benjamin brafman is very well-known in new york. you know him. >> absolutely. if you were to ask people in the know in new york city, who's the best trial lawyer in new york city, i think ben brafman would get more votes than anyone else. now, it is still true that he is not undefeated. he is not more important in a case than the evidence is. but certainly he's going to have the best defense that strauss-kahn could have found anywhere. >> i think it's fair to say those new york prosecutors are pretty good as well. >> very good. and this case will get a lot of attention. this is the first really big case that is cyrus vance junior has had as the new relatively new manhattan district attorney. he knows that his reputation is going to rise and fall at least initially based on this case. so those prosecutors are going to have all the resources they need. >> he's the son of the former secretary of state, cyrus vance. here's a question, it goes to trial. let's say it goes to trial six months from now, a year from now, whenever it goes to trial in new york city. can he get a fair trial in new york, a jury trial given all the publicity out there, the tabloids in new york? some of whom have already convicted him for all practical purposes? what's the argument in terms of keeping the trial in new york or moving it to another location? >> well, you know, we in the news media i think, we always have this question. everybody's following this so closely. how can he get a fair trial. when you actually get to jury selection, i think i am always surprised at how much people are not following a big case. and i think that will be particularly true in a case like this. if you were to ask most people in manhattan two weeks ago, who was dominique strauss-kahn, i think you would get 99 out of 100 saying they heard of him. now it would be less -- it would be more people would have heard of him but i still don't think this is a big obsession here in new york. so i don't think the picking a jury in this case will be all that difficult and i don't think this trial is going to be moved. >> we're going to watch it together with you, jeffrey, thanks very much. jeffrey toobin, our senior legal analyst. dominique strauss-kahn is used to the good life. ivan watson takes us to the paris neighborhood where he lived. ♪ >> reporter: this is one of the most elite expensive neighborhoods in paris, a centuries old planned square in the heart of the city where the french author victor hugo once lived. it's also where dominique strauss-kahn maintained a paris residence right here in number 13. now, this expensive neighborhood couldn't offer more of a stark contrast to the bronx apartment building where the alleged victim of the assault in that new york hotel lives. dominique strauss-kahn had come under some criticism in the past. he's a leading member of the socialist party but he was photographed getting into an expensive porsche here in this neighborhood once leading some to criticize him calling him a caviar socialist. the neighbors here, the owners of the boutiques and gal riz around here are very camera shy. but some of them tell cnn they would periodically see strauss-kahn and his wife ann sinclair getting in and out of chauffeured vehicles here but they were always polite, always say hi, how do you do. a new york judge has released strauss-kahn on $1 million in bail. he'll now live in a new york rented apartment under near constant surveillance wearing an electronic tracking device. it's likely to be many long months before he ever sees his home here in paris ever again. ivan watson, cnn, paris. >> a top contender for the republican presidential nomination stumbles right out of the gate. can newt gingrich recover from a very bad week? speaking of bad weeks, more details coming out about schwarzenegger swsz's extra marital affair and secret child. plus, president obama delivers a major speech on the middle east and u.s. relations with the arab world. we'll talk about it. how it's being received. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." ♪ ♪ when you're resonsible for this much of the team, you need a car you can count on. ♪ curtis: welcome back to geico it's savings, on the radio. gecko: hello clarence from stevens point. clarence: ok, you know the grapes at the grocery ore? clarence: well, sometimeyoone. take it foa terive, see that's stealing.rence: s i say it's sampling. what do you think? gecko: yeah, um, listen clarence, i can't really speak to the moral bit, but if you switch to geico, you could save hundreds of dollars on yinsurance. you could buy a whole heap of grapes. how's that? vo: geico.cosa yo% more insurance. you could save hundreds of dollars on yinsurance. that weight watchers online was for guys, too. i'm like, it's not rainbows and lollipops. after i read this beer cheat sheet, i knew what the difference was between a light beer and a dark beer as far as points go. i use the grilling cheat sheet -- you drag it over onto the grill and it gives you a point value. this is a plan for men. i lost 109 pounds. 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[ men laugh ] [ male announcer ] hurry, join for free today. weight watchers online for men. finally, losing weight clicks. just days after launching his campaign, newt gingrich was forced to apologize for slamming a key republican budget plan. gingrich stumbled so badly coming out of the starting gate that many question whether he can even recover. joe johns is here following this uproar for us. what's the latest? >> wolf, the first few days and weeks are sensitive for campaigns. any candidate would love to get off on the right foot, set the right tone. but in the case of gingrich it has not happened so far. >> when it rains it pours. newt gingrich's first week in the race has been so bad by any measure when a gay activist known for political pranks sprinkled glitter on the former speaker and his wife, that old adage came to mind. >> stop the hate. stop anti-gay politics. >> while the left certainly has its beef with newt gingrich. the onslaught this week came from the right and he had no one to blame but himself and his choice of words. in his 35th appearance on "meet the press," one question about a house proposal to turn medicare into a voucher program and gingrich's sharply worded answer made him the center of attention. just like when he was on capitol hill. >> i don't think right wing social engineering is any more desirable than left wing social engineering. i don't think imposing radical change from the right or left is a very good way for a free society to operate. >> one analyst told cnn he could have accomplished much the same thing without the edginess by just calling the house medicare over haul plan a good start that needs improvement, but accusing conservatives of social engineering was seen by some as over the top. the author of the proposal, house budget committee chairman paul ryan, fired back on the laura ingram show. >> with allies like that, who needs the left. >> so many conservatives recoiled by that midweek, gingrich had walked back his comments apologizing. >> i made a mistake and i called paul ryan today, who's a very close personal friend and i said that. >> but if excessive talking is his biggest problem, plain excess apparently runs in the family. financial disclosure forms filed with the house of representatives indicated that as recently as five years ago, gingrich carried debt up to $500,000 with tiffany & company of new york, one of the premiere jewelers on the planet. he declined to answer questions about this on the fox television network tuesday. >> i'm not commenting on stuff like that. i am perfectly happy to talk about what we need to do for america and to help americans. but i frankly don't want to play the gotcha games in washington. >> given all this out this week, the first week of his campaign, the question is whether gingrich's candidacy is already done for. >> i say it's on life support. his fund-raising numbers are not where he wants them to be. but the key for him here is while he represents the past is to show why he's relevant to the future political discussion. >> reporter: the gingrich people seem to be complaining that the media's pile ong here and his campaign press secretary rick tyler put out a statement saying gingrich will not be intimidated by what he calls the political elite. those relies familiar phrases. >> we've heard it many times before. gloria borger is here. gloria, can he get beyond this really bad start? >> he's really trying to. he's been on an apology tour this week, called up congressman ryan. spoke with rush limbaugh. and don't forget, people very often have bad starts to their campaign. remember joe biden? he had a terrible start to his campaign. first week out of the box, called barack obama clean and articulate. caused him a lot of trouble. >> didn't do all that well in the race for the democratic nomination. >> guess what, he's vice president right now. so did recover. >> republicans have said also look at john mccain. he was pronounced all but dead in his campaign and went on to get the nomination. didn't win the presidency. so it's probable that newt gingrich gets back on his feet. >> the difficulty is how he misread the republican constituency, the tea party constituency. he always when he became speaker of the house in the 90s and engineered the republican takeover, he always knew where the party regulars were, where the base was. people i talked to this week say what's surprising is that he didn't seem to know how important this ryan budgeting is to the republican base. >> and this notion of blaming the mainstream elite media for his problems. >> why not. >> you've heard that many times before. >> and it works a lot of times, sarah palin did it. a bunch of politicians resort to that refrain when they get themselves in trouble. but the question is always in the facts. what was it that you actually said, where did you say it. when you look at this situation on "meet the press," newt gingrich had been on that program an 35 times previous. he knows the deal. it wasn't a setup. it was a simple straightforward question and newt gingrich gave his answer. >> all on videotape too. >> right, but it's also republicans who were criticizing newt gingrich. they saw the show and knew what they saw. the other republicans weren't coming out and saying you know what, newt, somebody played a game of gotcha with you. it was the republicans saying no way. >> joe, you pointed out this half a million dollar credit line he had at tiffanies and he didn't want to talk about it. if you're running for president of the united states, you have to assume that everything in your personal, financial, political life is open. you have to talk about it. you can't just say i'm not talking about it. >> it's impossible. the cat's out of the bag. when you're running for president, everything is fair game. he knows that. he was raked over the coals in a lot of ways when he was on capitol hill. people got into his business. go pac is a good example of it. so speaker gingrich nose the deal. a lot of people are asking whether he's trying to play politics. '90s style when we're in 2011 and when things move so fast with twitter and facebook and like that, you have to be really quick on your toes. >> we've invited him several times to come here in "the situation room." we hope he'll eventually accept our invitation. quickly, mitch daniels is he the hope right now a lot of the establishment republicans have as far as a nominee is concerned? >> a lot of establishment republicans are reaching out to him. tim pawlenty is going to announce his candidacy on monday. but mitch daniels is one of those fiscal conservatives whose kind of a wonk. been in washington, gets the budget issues. been a successful governor. so lots of republicans are saying he understands the spending issues better than anyone else. and he might be able to be a good person to go toe to toe with barack obama. so you have to say. haley barbour is pushing. he was once considered a possible candidate, the governor of mississippi, he dropped out. >> there's also a little bit of suspicion on the conservative side about daniels particularly because he called for a truce on social issues so the country could get its financial matters in order. this is a guy who's going to have to answer questions like that before conservatives sort of anoint him as the front runner. >> joe and gloria, thanks very much. we now know the identity, yes the identity of the woman who arnold schwarzenegger secretly fathered a child with. what we're learning. stand by. and president obama deliver amajor speech on u.s. relations with the arab world, but does it really represent the start of what he calls a new chapter in regional diplomacy? lots of news happening right here in "the situation room." building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. ♪ flash, aah-ah l aboutou the bblackberry playbook?. that's right. it runs flash. so unlike some tablets we could mention, you get the best of the internet - not just part of it. ♪ flash, aah-ah ♪ flash, aah-ah a lawyer for arnold schwarzenegger says the former california governor is putting his movie comeback on hold to focus on personal matters. that announcement came as we learned the identity of the woman with whom he fathered a child while married to maria shriver. cnn's thelma gutierrez is standing by with more in los angeles. >> wolf, the woman was first identified by "the new york times" as 50-year-old mildred patricia bane na, a native of guantanamo and worked for the schwarzeneggers for 20 years. she recently moved to bakersfield, california, and neighbors in the upscale subdivision told us she openly talked about working for the family and about her desire to retire to bakersfield with her son. now, since the scandal broke, she has kept a low profile and so has the former governor of california. >> on the day that maria shriver made a grand appearance at one of the final episodes of oprah, her high profile husband was laying low trying to stay away from reporters. a source close to former california governor arnold schwarzenegger told cnn the fallout from the revelation that he fathered a child outside of his marriage has been very hard for him, that he realizes the terrible mistake he made and has a lot of work to do to repair his relationship with his family. the power couple who were married for 25 years, have four children. since the scandal broke, two of them have posted their feelings on twitter. 17-year-old patrick schwarzenegger who also goes by shriver on facebook and twitter tweeted some days you feel like expl