for 20 years to his current wife, american-born anne st. cla clair, a huge tv star in france. >> she has these majestic blue eyes. it's such a couple. it's more than a couple. i would say it's a team. >> reporter: love, of course, is one thing. sexual violence is another. [ speaking foreign language ] four years ago, on a tv talk show, a young french writer, tristane banon, said strauss-kahn attacked her in 2002. [ speaking foreign language ] banon never pressed charges. her mother, fearing for her career, told her not to. in court today, the prosecutor said the powerful defendant was a flight risk and should be denied bail. >> he is a person of means, of sophisticati sophistication. by all appearance, he has the resources to evade capture -- >> reporter: in fact, strauss-kahn was arrested on board a plane at jfk airport, about to take off for france. more evidence, prosecutors say, of guilt. but his lawyer, benjamin brafman, organized otherwise, forcefully. >> this theory he ran is simply not true. i've also indicate head went to the airport on a fl