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Confessions of a Bank CEO; Presidential Hopefuls Debate in Egypt; Romney Apologizes for H.S. Pranks; Romney Supports Gay Adoptions; Magazine Cover Fuels Nursing Debate; Fast-Lane To Fly; Michelle Obama Addresses VA Tech Grads

Aired May 11, 2012 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN headquarters in Atlanta, where it's 12:00 noon, 9:00 a.m. on the West Coast, I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

I want to get you up to speed for this Friday, May 11th.

The fate of an American POW isn't on the back burner or not. Talks with the Taliban are now stalled, but U.S. officials say they told the Taliban that releasing Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl would score them some negotiating points. America's highest ranking general says the military is still going all-out to find Bergdahl and bring them home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: I can assure you that we are doing everything in our power using our intelligence resources across the government to try to find, locate him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Bergdahl's family is still hopeful, but they are not counting on the government's help any more. His father is now directly appealing to militants holding his son. We've got more on this later.

And they are safe and recovering now two weeks after the kidnapping ordeal began. Alexandria and Kyliyah Bain were released from a hospital this morning. The FBI found the girls in a wooded area yesterday.

The rescue ended a nationwide manhunt for the alleged kidnapper, Adam Mayes. He also suspected of killing the girl's mother and older sister. Now, authorities say Mayes killed himself as officers moved in.

(BEGINV VIDEO CLIP)

AARON FORD, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Mayes pulled a semiautomatic pistol from his waistband and shot himself in the head and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Other agents moved in to rescue Kyliyah and Alexandria who were lying on the ground nearby. The girls were hungry, thirsty, and dehydrated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: A picture from the family ever George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, is now being seen by some as evidence that Zimmerman did not racially profile the unarmed teenager. Take a look at this CNN exclusive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK NEJAME, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The man in the middle is apparently George Zimmerman's great grandfather. The woman above him is, in fact, his grandmother who is half black and the little child in the gentleman's lap is his mother. So, we see he really has significant multiracial, multicultural roots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: A possible new milestone in the fight against AIDS. For the first time, an FDA panel is backing a pill to prevent HIV infection. Truvada tablets are already used to treat patients who have the disease. Well, now, the government health experts say the drug could be approved for daily use by people who are considered high risk of contracting the virus. The FDA is expected to adopt the panel's recommendation next month.

And federal agents are searching the home of an alleged mobster in Connecticut. His attorney says they are looking for hundreds of millions of dollars of stolen art, paintings, drawings from Rembrandt, rather, that were stolen from the Boston museum back in 1990. The suspected mobster is facing drug and illegal weapons charges. His attorney insists his client is not involved in the art heist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN MCGUIGAN, ROME & MCGUIGAN PC: If he does have the information, it certainly would be in his interest to give it because the underlying case I'm assured will go away amicably, and he also -- that means he'll be able to go home to his wife and his family. And he'll also be given a $5 million reward. Now, any person in their right mind would take that deal, wouldn't they?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We are watching your money right now. Begin with some news about the country's biggest bank.

We're talking JPMorgan Chase. It has lost $2 billion since April.

Jamie Dimon, he's the CEO. He made a surprise announcement during a conference call yesterday. He said the loss was a case of, quote, "bad judgment".

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JAMIE DIMON, CEO, JPMORGAN CHASE: We have more work to do, but it's obvious at this point that there are many errors, sloppiness, and bad judgment. Number one, we're going to manage it to maximize economic value per shareholders. What does that mean? It means we're not going to do something stupid, willing to hold as long as necessary inventory, and we're willing to bear volatility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Ali Velshi is live in New York.

Ali, first of all, tell us essentially -- this is a lot of money. What happened?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. All right. So, first of all, it's important to know, this isn't an operating loss. This isn't a quarterly loss. This was $2.3 billion lost on trading.

Now, these investment banks are not -- they didn't start as trading firms. They started as firms that matched up investors with businesses that needed money. Then they started trading for their own account, making directional bets on how things would go. That's actually what the Volcker Rule is meant to address.

So the bottom line is, this is JPMorgan Chase making bets on these credit default swaps. You'll remember that term from 2008 because that's what got AIG into all this trouble. And it was a bad bet or a bad series of bets that cost them all this money. That's why this is such an interesting and big deal.

It also emanates out of an office in London that dealt with risk management that has shades of AIG. And the biggest worry is that JPMorgan is actually supposed to be one of the better run banks with Jamie Dimon in charge of it.

So the fear is if this is happening there, is it happening at those banks that we're -- we don't know as much about or we don't think are all that well-run? So, the fear in the market is this shades of 2008 again where the banks that are too big to fail are now engaging in remarkably risky behavior that could threaten the economy again?

MALVEAUX: And, Ali, what does this mean for regulators? Do they want to revisit tightening controls on the banks, especially talking about the Volcker Rule --

VELSHI: Yes.

MALVEAUX: -- that is actually underway in the summer?

VELSHI: And we already heard from Senator Carl Levin and others who said this is exactly why we need to tighten rules. Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase, has led the charge against more regulation, so that is back on the table again.

And there's some real sense that, you know, these are those dark corners of the economy that we don't fully understand even after the financial crisis. We never fully got to understand it. And that our regulators can't keep up with these guys anyway. These are highly paid almost quasi secretive organizations that regulators can't stay on top of.

So, there's a lot of anxiety. You see the market there, Suzanne. The Dow is back up. It started badly today. There were some real market reactions.

So, the bottom line is, everybody seems to be taking this in stride and saying this is probably not the end of the world but it sets a feeling off when you hear things like this is happening.

MALVEAUX: Sure. I mean, I would imagine investors are pretty nervous and customers as well. Are we seeing that?

VELSHI: Yes. And, first of all, for everybody watching this who thinks who cares, they're big risk takers, let them lose $2 billion. But it costs you in your 401(k) when the stock market goes down.

Now, I got to say, we're back up again. We started the day down. But this is what you have to worry about. There's really a concern, I think JPMorgan Chase is going through its books right now to make sure there isn't more of this. Probably every other bank is I saying we don't some trader doing things that are costing us a lot of money, are we?

We'll probably find out over the next few days if there's anymore of this going on and the markets will react to it. But remember, this will affect your 401(k), because if we start thinking people are playing with fire, we're not ready --we're not far enough away from the financial crisis to feel comfortable with that yet, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Ali Velshi, thank you. I'm going to be checking my 401(k) this afternoon.

VELSHI: Yes, you should.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, Ali.

Here is a rundown of some of the stories we're covering.

More than a year after the bloody Arab spring, Egyptians who fought for democracy are now seeing the fruits of their labor. Their first presidential debate on TV.

And then a bad flashback for Mitt Romney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did some stupid thing when I was in high school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The presidential candidate apologizes for offending anyone when he was in prep school. But a former classmates says one of Romney's pranks was no affront, it was an assault, rather.

Also, this "TIME" magazine cover of a mother and her 3-year-old sparking a debate. How old is too old to breastfeed?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Something historic happened in Egypt last night that we take for granted here every election season in the United States.

Well, there are two men, the leading candidates for president. They went on television live and debated. A democratic debate live on television in Egypt has never happened, not during Hosni Mubarak's 30 years in power, certainly not before that.

Voters in Egypt, they're going to go to the polls, pick a president in less than two weeks.

I want to bring in Michael Holmes from CNN International.

This was not something that we could necessarily see. And I understand it was not Egyptian state television but two private stations that carried this live. Why does that make a difference?

MICHAEL HOLMES, ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT, CNNI: Well, it does, because there's 13 candidates for president. You only saw two of them last night. They are the two front-runners but it was an interesting decision.

As you say, private television decided on the two, and they didn't include anyone from the Muslim Brotherhood. The owners of the main stations, they like the Muslim Brotherhood.

MALVEAUX: Still some politics, still some censorship and politics that are playing out.

HOLMES: Yes. Only these are two front-runners, Amr Moussa, 75 years old. He was the foreign minister in the Mubarak government but left it back in 2001 to become the Arab League secretary-general.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

HOLMES: The other guy is Abdul Fotouh. He's an ex-member of the Muslim Brotherhood, portraying himself as a bit more of a liberal these days. But he is back by the Salifists. And that is the most conservative grouping in Egyptian politics.

So, a lot of doubt about whether this is a Muslim Brotherhood guy in liberal clothing, if you like.

MALVEAUX: And do they have exit polling like we do? I mean, can you actually tell? Do the Egyptian people weigh in and say, I think this guy won, I think this guy was strong?

HOLMES: They've had polls. Not post-election -- not post- debate, rather. I haven't seen any polling post-debate. They have had polls that put these two guys in front.

And, by the way, you reckon, we get bored with debates, they speak for four hours.

Ben Wedeman, our correspondent in Cairo, he was like, let me out of here.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: They might regret having these live presidential debates.

HOLMES: That's enough.

MALVEAUX: Just don't have 20 of them for God's sake.

Tell us about what the Egyptians are concerned about. Clearly the voting issues over there, it's not going to be universal health care. It's not going to be same-sex marriage. What are they focused on?

HOLMES: Well, certainly not same sex marriage. But I mean, a lot of very similar things. They're worried about law and order. They're worried about taxation, reform of the political system. They're worried education. They're very worried about unemployment, which is a huge thing at the moment.

Religion is part of the discussion though. You know, six out of 10 people in Egypt want Islamic law or Islam to play a major role in government. So that's something that is concerning to people on the outside looking in, but that's what Egyptians want.

MALVEAUX: But they're not talking about Sharia law, as we see --

HOLMES: Some of the candidates are.

MALVEAUX: Some of them are.

HOLMES: Some of the candidates are, and that's why they're worried about Fotouh, that he's at the moment saying, he's not talking about Sharia law. He's talking about Islamic law but not going that far. But people are worried that -- as soon as he gets in, if the Salifists help him win, with their backing, once he gets in, he may dump the moderates under the bus and go the other way.

And that way, you will see a government that's more Saudi Arabia and less Turkey, if you like, in terms of secular versus religious.

MALVEAUX: Yes, that might be concerning to the Obama administration. They want to make sure there's democracy that's in place in that key part of the region.

Do you think the Egyptians are confident now that this is the end of the Hosni Mubarak era?

HOLMES: Yes, very much so. I mean, nobody wants to go back to that, and, you know, it's been 60 years since they've had anything like a debate like we saw last night. They want to have democracy, but, you know, it's not necessarily our democracy. It's not the democracy we see.

It may be a democracy that's more religiously based, but they like being able to have the choice. And even both of these candidates last night were talking about limiting presidential powers so you don't end up with another dictator.

But the U.S. is vitally watching this, because we have interests there.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. All right. Michael, good to see you.

HOLMES: You've got me sitting down and you standing up. If we did it the right way.

MALVEAUX: It's so unfair. No, no, let them believe I'm really tall.

HOLMES: You are.

MALVEAUX: Today at least. Have a good weekend.

HOLMES: Good to see you.

MALVEAUX: Some of Mitt Romney's high school classmates say they helped him pin down another student and cut off his hair. Romney says he doesn't remember the incident from his prep school days. Hear why psychologists say that's not unusual.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: As you can imagine, Twitter messages about same-sex marriage skyrocketed after President Obama's big announcement this week. The spike showed how the issue peaked as the president came out in support of same-sex marriage.

Now, according to Twitter, gay marriage and related terms were mentioned more on Wednesday than any other day since President Obama took office. There were 1.6 million tweets. They peaked at more than 7,000 tweets per minute, around the time President Obama's announcement came on TV.

Mitt Romney trying to shift the focus back to the economy during a stop in North Carolina next hour. But Romney's also facing some questions about something he's accused of doing years ago when he was in high school. Classmates described an incident where they say Romney and other students pinned down a boy and cut off chunks of his hair.

The boy had bleach blond hair, looked different than the other students, and those involved say it went beyond bullying. Here is how Romney responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: I don't recall the incident myself, but I've seen the reports, and I'm not going to argue with that. There's no question but that I did some stupid things when I was in high school, and obviously if I hurt anyone by virtue of that, I would be very sorry for it and apologize for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: I want to bring in our clinical psychologist Jeff Gardere to talk about this.

Jeff, quite frankly and honestly, I have no idea what Romney did or didn't do. But the one thing I find and many people I talk to today, is you go to your high school reunion and the bullies never recall what they did. I mean, it's absolutely astonishing. The kids who tormented and taunted others, seem to have no idea as adults how their behavior actually impacted others.

Is that actually typical?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes, it could be typical because it's a situation of where as they mature in life, they become very embarrassed by those sorts of actions, and if they end up becoming better persons, it's easier to repress some of those horrible things they did when they were younger so that they can have a more stabilized and normal view of themselves as being productive citizens.

MALVEAUX: Well, this guy, Phillip Maxwell, he was a classmate of Romney's at the school in 1965. He says he participated in this event, and he brings up two points. First of all, he says, it's hard for him to believe that Romney doesn't remember the event. He says it's unfortunate that Mitt simply hasn't owned up to his behavior.

Is it possible he really doesn't recall what happened here in this incident?

GARDERE: Yes, it's possible that he may not recall some of the incidents, but the fact that he apologizes for it anyway tells me from a clinical point of view that there was something that he may have some memories of, but again may not want to even admit it to himself. And when we look at this as far as a psychological mechanism, this is what we call repressing -- repressing to the point of where we push it to our unconscious.

MALVEAUX: Is it admit it to himself or admit it to us?

GARDERE: Well, I don't think he wants to admit it to himself if it did, in fact, happen because that does not fit the view he has of himself as being a person who provides public service. As a matter of fact, we do hear when he was in that school his life changed where he did a lot of community service. So, there was some sort of this being a transformation from being this bully, if this, in fact, happened, to someone who was much more useful at his school.

MALVEAUX: And let's talk about that transformation, because you're absolutely right. There are other classmates who come to his defense, and they say, look, you know, that was a time when he met Ann who would later become his wife, and that he matured and that it is possible to go from someone who perhaps was doing those kinds of things to someone who is very caring and very loving and service oriented.

Is that typical? Can you really change?

GARDERE: Yes. You absolutely can change. This is something that happened 50 years ago. We don't see that kind of a person now, though we know that he certainly does not have the most progressive ideas as to same-sex marriages.

But I have to tell you and I have to be very honest about this, even as a psychologist, I don't see something that was so vicious, if it happened, how you would forget that and how you would apologize for it if you state that you couldn't even remember it. You would just simply say, I don't remember it, I didn't do it, but to admit to apologizing it tells me there is something brewing in there, in the head of Governor Romney.

And I think he's embarrassed about it as he should be, and that is appropriate.

MALVEAUX: So you see something that's inconsistent in his story there, trying to square those two things.

I also want to bring up the fact that his classmate, Maxwell, says, and I'm quoting, he says, "I'm now a lawyer. I know what assault is." This kid, the alleged victim, he was scared. He was terrified. That's an assault. We've heard a lot about Mitt Romney loving to prank, carry out these pranks.

What is the difference between a prank and bullying?

GARDERE: Well, we heard about some of the pranks once where there was a teacher that -- who was visually impaired that he walked into a door and laughed uncontrollably, giggled about it. That's a prank.

But to hold another student down, along with a bunch of students and cut that student's hair because you feel he may be a feminine or may be gay, that is not a prank. That is a deliberate action that is something that is very violent, and in these days if something like that happened, that person would be prosecuted perhaps for a hate crime and God forbid the victim of that would become suicidal, depressed, and that person would be held to task for that.

So we can laugh about that, perhaps he could laugh about it, others could laugh about it, but this is something that's no laughing matter, especially if it happened today, and certainly it may have had an affect on the victim of that particular event back then all the way up until the time that he actually passed away.

MALVEAUX: All right. Jeff, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

GARDERE: Tank you.

MALVEAUX: Everybody is talking about President Obama's change of heart on same-sex marriage, but how much does Joe Biden's off the cuff style force his hand? We're going to talk about it in our political segment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: President Obama rakes in big bucks at a star studded Hollywood fund-raising hosting by actor George Clooney at his home. The event pumped $15 million into the Obama campaign. Another indication of just the huge amount of money that is pouring into this presidential race, and a sign that the president certainly still has a lot of friends in Hollywood.

Joining us to talk about that and more: Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Maria Cardona, and conservative commentator Matt Lewis.

So it pays to have celebrity friends, of course. One super PAC, however, already coming out with an ad attacking President Obama, calling him -- he's got this rock star image, that somehow he's a celebrity guy. It did not work the last time in 2008 when he faced that criticism. Why do you suppose it's going to work this go-around?

Matt, I'll let you take that one.

MATT LEWIS, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: I don't know that it really does work. Does it ever work to say like he's too popular, he's too cool? Don't like him.

But I do think that what Republicans can do if they're smart is don't just talk about him being a celebrity. You have to sort of also talk about how that's different and out of touch with regular folks who are struggling.

So if you juxtapose President Obama hanging out with cultural elites in Hollywood versus average folks struggling in Ohio, you know, in North Carolina, all of a sudden now you have a real compelling message, and then it becomes a problem for President Obama.

MALVEAUX: Matt, don't you think though that most folks, you know, if you're struggling, they still love George Clooney and every once in a while they will go see a movie and say, that's kind of cool.

LEWIS: I think it's tough -- it's going to be tough for Republicans to make a lot of political hay out of it. But I think if it can become part of a larger narrative. I mean, remember, President Obama also took more money from Goldman Sachs than anybody else.

So the celebrity thing in and of itself I don't think hurts him, but if it can become part of a larger narrative, that he's out of touch, maybe then you cobble together more compelling narrative.

MALVEAUX: Maria, let's talk about all that money though, because we're talking about $15 million in one night.

A lot of people look at that and they go, wow, there's some danger in that, that you've got so much money that is being thrown into this campaign. It's unprecedented.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It is unprecedented, Suzanne, but the danger in a lot of money in campaigns doesn't come from these kinds of fund-raisers. We know exactly who this money is coming from. It comes from the super PACs that, frankly, came out of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision supported by Republicans where you can have anonymous amounts of money, millions and millions of dollars worth, not knowing who it's coming from funding these outside groups who are supporting candidates. Therein lies the danger.

Everything that the Obama campaign has raised, we know who it's coming from, whether it's high dollar donors, or whether it's the majority of President Obama's donors, which are small dollar donors. It's the small dollar donors who are funding this campaign, real people, real Americans who are supporting what this president is trying to do for this country.

LEWIS: Really?

CARDONA: Yes, really.

LEWIS: George Clooney is a small dollar donor, funding his campaign?

CARDONA: I said the majority, the majority of President Obama's donors are small dollar donors.

LEWIS: Maybe the majority of donors but not the majority of money, and $15 million adds up --

CARDONA: No, the majority of President Obama's money has been raised by small dollar donors. Go look it up.

MALVEAUX: That is true.

But, Matt, people are still talking about President Obama, the announcement that he supports same-sex marriage. Mitt Romney -- he believes that marriage is between a man and a woman, but he wanted to reaffirm today his support for gay adoption. Here is what he said on FOX.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: I happen to believe that the best setting for raising a child is where there's the opportunity for a mom and a dad to be in the home. I know there are many circumstances where that's not possible, through death or divorce. I also know many gay couples are able to adopt children, that's fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: All right. So, Matt, help me understand this because I'm a little confused. How does he score in these two positions? Same sex couples can adopt, but they can't get married?

MATT LEWIS, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, "THE DAILY CALLER": Well, it's tough. I think -- first of all, I think what he says ideally having a dad and a mom is probably the best situation. I think he's also right when he says there are fairly a lot of kids out there who needs to be adopted and maybe there's not a dad and a mom that can adopt them.

What are you supposed to do with them? You're right. It becomes problematic for Romney. I would say it's not problematic because Romney opposes gay marriage. But it is problematic probably because he opposes civil unions.

I think you can make a clear distinction there. You could be in favor of allowing traditional marriage to be a special designation with one man and one woman, but also allowing same-sex couples to have some sort of other classification.

But I think Romney is against that and so you're right, it does become sort of a difficult thing for him to navigate.

MALVEAUX: Yes, it's very, very confusing to me because on the one hand it looks to me as if the social conservatives -- he's not going to win social conservatives over if he says, well, now it's OK for gay couples to adopt but not to get married. I don't suppose that's their position.

LEWIS: I think public policy is incredibly messy, and that's what we're seeing right now. Once you start redefining marriage, a lot of things are wrapped up in this. And so this is a very complex and very difficult situation, and they're sort of figuring some of this out on the fly.

MALVEAUX: Maria, do you want to jump in there? I mean, are they making it -- are they over -- making this complex or do any need to simplify here?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, absolutely. What it looks to me is that Romney is just tying himself up in knots over this. I can only imagine the phone call that he's getting or his campaign is getting from Tony Perkins, the head of the family council, after he heard this.

Because it does not comport with conservative -- actually, it's two things. It does not comport with conservative values, but at the same time he's promoting for children to be adopted out of marriage again, not comporting with conservative values.

LEWIS: Let me make a point there --

CARDONA: I don't think he himself really knows where he stands on this and it shows in these lopsided positions.

MALVEAUX: Matt, go ahead.

LEWIS: I'll make an important distinction when we talk about conservative values. Conservatives are not monolithic. When you start to talk about where do conservatives stand on marriage?

I mean, there are a lot of conservatives who think government shouldn't be involved in it. They shouldn't be defining it for same-sex couples or opposite-sex couples, that governments shouldn't be involved.

Other conservatives believe same-sex marriage would make gays conservative. They would become bourgeois and start voting against tax hikes. It's more complex than the media makes it out to be.

MALVEAUX: Matt, isn't the problem he needs the social conservative ultimately. He's got to win that group over because they've been so tepid in their support for him, and he ultimately really needs that group to win?

LEWIS: Well, I don't see where they're going to go. I don't think they're going to go vote for Barack Obama. I do think that Romney needs to have a coherent philosophy on these issues, and, yes, he needs them to be motivated and to vote.

But it's not as if social conservatives are going to go vote for Barack Obama or Gary Johnson the libertarian candidate, by the way, who is pro guy marriage and pro legalization of drugs. I think Romney has that base fairly locked up.

MALVEAUX: All right, we have to leave it there. Matt, Maria, have a great weekend. Good to see you both.

CARDONA: Thank you so much.

MALVEAUX: Here are live pictures of Virginia Tech's graduation ceremony. It's where the first lady is going to give the commencement speech any minute. We're going to take it live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the "Help Desk" where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Greg Olsen, a certified financial planner, and Lynnette Khalfani Cox is the founder of the financial advice blog, askthemoneycoach.com. Thanks both for coming in today.

Lynette, your question comes from Penti in Florida. Penti wrote in, I owe over $14,000 on a credit card with a high interest rate, but have never missed a minimum payment. I'm 83 years old with no job. How can I get out of debt?

LYNNETT KHALFANI COX, FOUNDER, ASKTHEMONEYCOACH.COM: Tough situation. I'm sorry to hear somebody who is obviously retired to go through a financial situation like this.

Couple of things I think you should try. One, call up your credit card company and negotiate. Ask them for a lower rate. Believe it or not a lot of people who do this, 75 percent of consumers according to one study actually get a lower interest rate right there on the spot.

Yes, so don't be afraid to ask. Especially if you have a competitive offer from another bank or another credit card issuer, which is option number two. You might think of a balance transfer where you go with a new card that has a lower rate.

You pay that off quicker because you're paying less finance charges. Also, think about tweaking the budget. I'm sure he's on a fixed income, maybe getting Social Security, but see if there are other areas you might be able to cut back and apply more cash to the credit card.

HARLOW: I was looking at my credit card bill and I was like those little things all add up. You have to look at the little stuff, too. Thank you.

And Greg, your question comes from Vicki in Arizona. Vick writes in, is it a good idea to take a loan from my 401(k) to pay off my car loan?

GREG OLSEN, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER: I think one of the biggest financial planning mistakes is people look at their 401(k) loan interest rate, compare it to their consumer debt and say this is going to be less so it makes sense to pull money out of my 401(k), correct?

HARLOW: Right.

OLSEN: Well --

HARLOW: They don't think about taxes.

OLSEN: It's a loan so there's not going to be taxes but they're not thinking about the appreciation in the market that they're going to miss. If somebody did that last October, they would miss out on a 25 percent appreciation in the market. Think about that as your interest rate. I would make the payments on the car loan consistently. Once it's paid off drive that car into the ground.

HARLOW: They last for a long time these days. Thank you, both. We appreciate it. If you have a question you want answered, just send us an e-mail anytime to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.

MALVEAUX: A "Time" magazine cover is grabbing a lot of people's attention and here's why. A mother is posing breastfeeding her toddler.

The boy turns 4 next month and that many say is far too old to be nursing. The mother, 26-year-old Jamie Grumet was breastfed until she was 6 and she believes it boosts children's self-confidence.

This morning on NBC' "Today" show, Grumet was asked how long she plans to nurse. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE GRUMET, MOTHER: He's self-weaning right now. And it's a big commitment, and it's not -- it's not right for everybody, and I think that that's the big thing is you need to do what's best for your baby and for your own family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So the question is, is it beneficial to breastfeed children when they're no longer infants? Elizabeth Cohen, she is joining us live from Boston.

Elizabeth, let's first start off with the health benefits of nursing. How long do doctors recommend that mothers breastfeed?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what's interesting, Suzanne, is that they don't give an upper limit. Let's first take a look at the American Academy of Pediatrics.

When asked the question, how long should moms breastfeed, they say for one year or longer as mutually desired by mother and infant. And the World Health Organization goes even further. They say up to two years of age or beyond.

Now, of course, they don't mean exclusive nursing and I'm sure that child in that picture isn't just nursing. He's obviously eating food as well, but they don't give an upper limit.

MALVEAUX: The child on the magazine cover is almost 4. Is he getting any kind of benefit from this being nursed by his mom at this age, at this stage?

COHEN: It's a tricky question to answer, Suzanne, because breast milk, like cow milk or any other kind of milk, has nutrition so he's getting some kind of nutritional benefit from drinking it. But you know, I think pediatricians would say that it's not nutritionally necessary obviously at his age.

I mean, breast milk, which is so important for little babies, you would say it's even critical, it's not critical obviously for a 4-year-old. But I can't say that he's getting nothing out of it because there's nutrition in that milk.

MALVEAUX: The mother, Jamie Grumet, she believes breastfeeding children boosts their confidence as well. But there are others who look at this and they say this kind of practice is what they call emotional incest.

Meaning the mother is creating this unhealthy co-dependent relationship and she's actually harming her child psychological. What do you make of that?

COHEN: You know, it's interesting because, again, the nation's pediatricians who study this issue, they don't say that. I mean, they don't say -- come out and say you must stop by age 3 or 2 or whatever because your child will be damaged after that.

They don't say that. On the other hand, I understand that you look at that photo and you sort of this eye-popping -- it makes people uncomfortable. And I understand why. That is a large child. I mean, he's almost 4. That's on the outer edges of toddlerhood.

But again, I think it's interesting what the mother said was that she was doing it because she felt like it boosted her son's self- confidence, and I want to say here I'm going to go on a little bit of a mommy rant.

You know, do we really care that this mother is nursing her 3- year-old if she says it's good for her 3-year-old? As a mother, I don't like to judge other mothers. If she says it works for her child, I don't really care.

I have to trust her as a mother that this is good for her child, and I think what happens sometimes is that mothers who don't nurse get judged. Others who nurse their 3-year-olds get judged. It can be tough to be a mom.

MALVEAUX: Yes, you know, Elizabeth, you make a really good point because all the people I talked to this morning, all the moms I talked to, none of them wanted to judge. They said, you know, that might not be right for me.

It might be right for her, but I am not in a position to judge, and then they tell you their stories about what it was like for them to nurse.

For some it was very successful and others had a hard time of it. What about the moms who can't breastfeed? Is there something they can actually do?

COHEN: Right. I mean, again, those mothers get judged, too. I know mothers who bottle fed their infants and strangers would come up to them and say don't you know breast is best. So that's another terrible thing that we do to mothers.

Obviously, breast is best, but there are also obviously millions of us who were not raised on breast milk and we turned out just fine. I think mothers need to know that breast is best and they should certainly try it.

The unfortunate reality in this country is that most mothers do try to breastfeed, but by age 6 months less than half of them are breastfeeding. So we probably need to do more to support breastfeeding mothers in this country.

Make it easier for them to pump at work, give them less grief when they're breastfeeding in public. I think as long as moms have that knowledge that breast is best, we then have to let them make their own decision.

MALVEAUX: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, happy Mother's Day to you.

COHEN: And thank you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right.

In the next hour I'm going to talk to Mayim Bialik. You may know her from the 1990 sitcom "Blossom" and her current show, "The Big Bang Theory."

She's also an outspoken advocate for breastfeeding. She has strong feeling about this controversial "Time" magazine cover and she's going to joins us live.

These are live pictures of Virginia Tech's graduation ceremony where the first lady is going to give the commencement speech in a minute. We're going to take it live.

All right, are you anxious to get through the airport quicker? We all are. You can if you're a frequent flyer. It's part of a new pre- screening program that will be rolled out at 35 airports by the end of the year. Lizzie O'Leary, she's got some details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIZZIE O'LEARY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Keep your shoes on. Check. Belt, too. Check. Even a jacket. Check. This is Pre-Check.

PERRY DAVIS, PRE-CHECK PARTICIPANT: If you are in a hurry, the benefit is that you get through security a lot faster and you don't have to take your computer out of the bag or your liquids or, you know, your shoes off and that saves some time.

O'LEARY: It's a fast track route, complete with a dedicated security lane, that will be in 35 of the busiest U.S. airports by the end of the year. The idea is that travelers who give the government more personal information, your name, birth day and gender, and are well-known to the airlines, like frequent flyers, are less of a security threat. TSA Administrator John Pistole calls it reducing the haystack of risk.

O'LEARY (on camera): How big a deal is that?

JOHN PISTOLE, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: Well, it's a significant paradigm shift both for TSA and the traveling public in the way we engage in a partnership to say, look, let's work together to say, if you're willing to share some information about yourselves, then we can work with you perhaps to have expedited physician screening so we can focus on those that we know less about and can focus on those higher risks is what we assess.

O'LEARY (voice-over): Pre-Check is free and only for domestic U.S. flights. Select American citizens are invited to join by airlines. TSA officials won't disclose exactly who gets an invitation, but it's clear that they are very frequent flyers.

PISTOLE: The more prescreening we can do with individuals because they're willing to share information, either through the frequent flyer program or trusted traveler programs such as Global Entry under Customs Border Protection, then we can make some pre-screening decisions and expedite their physical screening at the checkpoints.

O'LEARY: The Global Entry Program, which is separate from Pre- Check, costs $100 and requires U.S. citizens to be fingerprinted and interviewed by customs officers. In return, they also get to use the fast lane and speed through customs.

These's expedited screening programs are proving popular and TSA is expanding them to include some senior citizens, military personnel, and kids. All Pre-Check members will still go through security and some will be subjected to random screenings. So it's not always life in the fast lane.

Lizzie O'Leary, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: These are live pictures of Virginia Tech's graduation ceremony where the first lady, she's going to give the commencement speech. We're going to take it live.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: But you've just got to know, I play to win. All right. I also want to recognize Governor McDonnell and --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: First Lady Michelle Obama is delivering the commencement address right now at Virginia Tech. It comes five years after a massacre on that campus that left 33 people dead. Brianna Keilar, she's at the tech campus in Blacksburg, joining us live.

Brianna, I understand that the first lady chose this campus, this university, because of their resilience in getting through that very difficult time.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Suzanne. And she just referenced this as she spoke to students, saying she knows that she's here to give them some advice, but she said she watched them, along with the rest of the nation, go through their journey. And she thinks that actually the country could learn some things from them.

I wonder if we can go ahead and listen to some of Michelle Obama's comments coming in live here from Virginia Tech.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: What is a Hokie? What's your answer? What is a Hokie? And when someone says let's go, you answer? They told me you'd do that. That's very cool.

And whether you're celebrating your triumphs or coming together in times of tragedy, what is clear is that you all didn't just choose to attend a school, you chose to be part of a community. And that feeling of belonging, those connections to your classmates and professors, I know for so many of you, that's what has made your time here so special. And I know that some of you might be feeling a little sad about leaving the community that you found here in Blacksburg, but here is the thing, graduates, the Hokie community didn't just happen. It didn't just exist on its own. All of you created it. You worked hard for it. You nurtured it every step of the way. And I want you to know that you can do that again wherever your journey may take you.

Now, it's going to be a little harder when you're working a job and raising a family, juggling all the responsibilities of being adults, but I promise you that no matter where you wind up, you can create a thriving community of your own if you're willing to put in the same kind of energy and effort that you invested here at Virginia Tech. So that means continuing to show up. But instead of showing up to games and extracurriculars, it might mean attending those town hall meetings or going to that school assembly or those neighborhood picnics. It means reaching out like you did to your classmates here at Virginia Tech. Stopping by to welcome a new neighbor to your block or bringing over a hot meal for someone who's going through a hard time. And it means continuing to serve. Volunteering in your local school. Cleaning up your local park. Doing your part to help others in need.

And that brings me to the second lesson all of you at Virginia Tech have taught us, and that is the power of service. Service is truly at the core of the Virginia Tech experience. It is your motto, "ut prosim," "that I may serve." It was your founding purpose as a land grant school designed to open the doors of higher education to people from all walks of life. It's the mission of your core of cadets, men and women who have served this country in every armed conflict right from the very beginning. And every year, Virginia Tech students do tens of thousands of hours of community service here in Virginia and around the world. I understand this year through the Relay for Life, you've raised more than half a million dollars to fight cancer. And at this year's big event, more than 6,800 people volunteered on 990 different projects. One of today's graduates, a young man named Justin Grays (ph) has committed himself to helping at least one person every single day. Way to go! As he put it, and these are his words, Justin said, "life is all about what you have done for other people."

And you all haven't just taught us about the power of service to lift up our families and heal our communities, you've also shown us that through service we can heal ourselves. Over the past five years, students here have run memorial projects, building houses, hosting dance workshops, teaching French and German in local schools. You have created a fund to honor the sacrifice of Officer Deriek Crouse. And through these and so many other acts of service, large and small --

MALVEAUX: You're listening to First Lady Michelle Obama delivering the commencement address for Virginia Tech. We're going to have more after a quick break.

OBAMA: You all have helped this community heal. And year ago, I went through a similar process in my own life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)