happening now right here on cnn. president obama you see there in memphis, tennessee right now to address graduates of booker t. washington high school. these are live pictures from the event. the school won the honor of having the president speak by winning this year s race to the top commencement challenge. the school boosted its graduation rate from 55% to 81%. over the last three years. while in the memphis area, the president will also take a look at the flood damage from last week. now a very special graduation moment. we don t usually spend time showing graduates walking across the stage, but one guy really caught our eye. his name is austin whitney. here he is getting his degree this weekend at the university of california at berkeley. austin is a paraplegic who wore a pair of mechanical legs to help him get out of his wheelchair so he could walk up and get his own diploma.
but he didn t walk alone. all 15,000 people there cheered him on. an amazing sight and very special story but we re not done. austin whitney joins me now from berkeley, california. austin, so great to have you on the show today. you said it was the greatest moment of your life. it certainly looked that way. tell us what you were feeling as you stood up on that stage. randi, thank you so much for having me today. it was truly, truly a unique experience. standing up for a second, going back to the worst memories of my life, a car accident that put me in a wheelchair, then some of the best memories of my life, being accepted to berkeley, then realizing i had completed in four years a goal that i had almost given up on at one point. looking over, seeing 15,000 people giving me a standing ovation and cheering me on. it was truly the stuff treatments are made out of. totally surreal, something i will never forget.
new york city. dominique strauss-khan was arrested saturday for allegedly chasing a housekeeper through his luxury hotel suite naked and trying to force himself on her. let s go straight to richard roth who s been following today s developments. richard, bring us up to date. reporter: randi, the proceedings have just concluded and basically, dominique strauss-khan, the leader of the international monetary fund, has been charged with sexual assault on a maid in a new york hotel in times square on saturday. we re just now seeing and we just heard the formal charges so it is important i think to go through these. strauss-khan charged with two counts of criminal sexual act in the first degree, one count of attempted rape in the first degree, one count of sexual abuse in the first degree, one count of unlawful imprisonment in the second degree. one count of forcible touching. one count of sexual abuse in the third degree. the top charge, criminal sexual act, carries with it a ma
he is charged with trying to rape a maid in an upscale manhattan hotel. strauss-kahn is accused of emerging from a bathroom naked, then dragging the 32-year-old housekeeper into the bedroom of his $3,000 a night suite and attacking her. before his arrest strauss-kahn was considered a front runner to become france s next president. richard roth is tracking the latest developments. strauss-kahn was supposed to be arraigned last night. why was that delayed? this was like a night court version. they are doing forensic tests and apparently reportedly some delays in figuring out a bail deal as this financial big wig was sitting, cooling his heels in a new york special victims unit precinct house. this is a bombshell of a story. this man, who leads the international monetary fund, based in washington, but a french citizen, walked by new york city police there, this is astounding to see, at an unbelievable weekend news development. he is accused of sexual assault on a maid at a