Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

President Obama Speaking Before The Troops; Man Discovers He's On Missing Person's List; Edwards' Former Aide Getting Grilled; New Rules For Secret Service; Party Crasher Eyes Governor's Mansion; Interview with Tareq Salahi; Identity Thieves Target Dead; Cedric the Entertainer to Host White House Dinner; Mother Wants Answers about Son's Death

Aired April 27, 2012 - 13:06   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama and the first lady there at Fort Stewart in Georgia speaking before the troops.

We are following another story. John Edwards' attorneys now looking very closely at potentially what would be -- I'm sorry. We first want to bring another story. We're going to go to the John Edwards story in a moment but we want to talk about a Philadelphia man. He was adopted 30 years ago. He was recently discovered that he is on a missing persons list. It turns out that his biological father had been looking for him all those years. The mother disappeared with the son, never came back.

So, check out the missing persons picture. This is the picture Steve Carter discovered of himself on the national center for missing and exploited children's Web site. That's what the center thought carter might look like at age 28 based on his baby picture. When Carter saw the picture, he contacted his father on the phone. I spoke with him just within the last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: What did you think when you first saw that photo and you recognized yourself?

STEVE CARTER: I thought, minus the mullet, it was pretty much spot on on what I look like.

MALVEAUX: How did you react to that?

CARTER: It was a bit shocking, I have to tell you, to see yourself and to realize that, you know what? People have been looking for you for that long. I was shell shocked.

MALVEAUX: I understand that you actually went -- this led to your real father. Tell me about how you approached him, how you found him, and how he reacted to you.

CARTER: Actually, it took a while for all the blood tests to come back and for me to be confirmed as Marx Panama Moriarty Barnes. When it did come back, I was a little hesitant to really go forward with the news. I've known since about October of 2011, didn't really do anything with it. You know, I really wanted to figure out what I want to do and how I wanted to go forward with it. It's a lot of information and it can be quite emotional. So, decided to take my time and slowly over the months, you know, worked up the idea that I'd give my biological father a call. And also my half sister. So, February of this year I reached out to both of them.

MALVEAUX: How did they respond to you? Tell us about that --

CARTER: It --

MALVEAUX: -- moment your father actually realized that you weren't missing anymore.

CARTER: There were a lot of awkward pauses, as well there probably should be. It was a big announcement for both of us. It was a life-changing event I would say. You know, we talked about me growing up, what I do now, what he did. It was very eye-opening.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: By the way, Steve's real mother is still on a missing person's list. He's been in contact with his half sister as well.

John Edwards' attorneys are going after the former campaign aide for a third day. They are grilling Andrew Young. The prosecutor's star witness trying to convince jurors that he is not to be trusted. Edwards is accused of illegally using nearly a million dollars in campaign cash to hide a sexual affair. Diane Dimond is a special correspondent for "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast." She's been in the courtroom since the beginning of this trial. Diane, first of all, tell us anything new stand out in your mind in terms of how Andrew Young is holding up after several days of this pretty intense questioning?

DIANE DIMOND, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, "NEWSWEEK" AND "THE DAILY BEST": Oh, it's been brutal at times actually, Suzanne. I'll tell you what, it's like he had a five-hour energy right before he hit the witness stand today. This was the first day I ever saw Andrew Young take the stand in the morning, and then we wait for the jury to come in and whatnot, and he looked over at John Edwards, first time, and he's been on the stand all week long.

Then when Abbey Lowell, the defense attorney, started to question him, it was like there was a different kind of witness on the stand. Instead of saying, I don't know, I don't remember, I don't recall, he just shot back the answers to Abbey Lowell. I think that Lowell was actually kind of taken aback by this new Andrew Young. It was really quite stunning. I have to tell you. I don't know what happened overnight but something did.

MALVEAUX: Tell us about, you say Andrew Young actually looked and turned to John Edwards. What was that exchange like? When you said that they flashed each other a look.

DIMOND: Well, you know, I have noticed that every time Andrew Young comes into the court, his head is down, and he deliberately doesn't look at anybody. He doesn't look at the jury, he doesn't look at John Edwards. He hardly even looks at the federal prosecutors, and he's their key witness. So today, he just seemed a lot looser, and there was a moment where he looked over at John Edwards, and I looked to see if Edwards was looking and he was, but then Edwards looked right down.

You know, it's a small little moment in a big, long trial, but to me, it's -- it told me that Edwards -- I'm sorry, that Young got some new sort of impetus overnight. His attorney was not here in the courtroom with him yesterday, David Generus (ph) is his name. I guess he had to go back to Washington or something. And so, maybe he felt ill at ease yesterday when there were so many, I don't know, I don't recall. But today, there were -- at one point, for example, Abbey Lowell said to him, well, you know, your version of the truth, and Young jumped in and said my version of the truth? It is the truth. It is the truth, sir. And that --

MALVEAUX: (INAUDIBLE) --

DIMOND: -- was in such stark response. Yes, yes.

MALVEAUX: Describe for us the relationship between these two men, Andrew Young and John Edwards and some of the personal e-mails, what are being revealed there. Because I believe there was a moment when he asked about whether or not he had fallen in love with John Edwards and whether or not he was still in love with him.

DIMOND: Yes, the -- you know, Abbey Lowell is doing is good job, I think, of putting in the jury's mind the fact that this was -- Andrew Young was a sycophant, that he glommed onto Edwards early on. Of course, Andrew Young would tell you that he was enthralled with John Edwards and everything he stood for early on. But Abbey Lowell says that he was an opportunist that tied himself to John Edwards, because he was such a dynamic character, and, in fact, actually fell in love with him. At one point he said, in effect, this isn't a direct quote, you felt spurned by him and now you despise him. And Andrew Young had to admit, he said, yes, yes, I do despise him now after all the things I have been through the last few years.

One of the things he said today, Suzanne, made me sit up and remember all the interviews I've done with Andrew Young in the past before he had to clam up, and it was that he and his family have been affected by John Edwards' request that he claim paternity since 2006. Now, that's many years ago. In 2006, they gathered up their three children, they hit the road, they went to Colorado and California, back to Colorado, back to another part in California, and their lives have never been the same.

And at one point in the proceeding today, I'm going to read you a little quote, he was talking about the last time he ever talked with John Edwards. He said, it was a surreal meeting. John Edwards hadn't spoken to him in a long time. He called him out to his property in Chapel Hill, and they drove for about 10 minutes down country roads. He said, I was really scared at that point. I didn't know what to expect. And Abbey Lowell said, well, what, did you expect he was going to do you physical harm? And he said, well, it crossed my mind or maybe tape record me. And then he said, isn't it true that you are just mad at him, and you're still angry at him? And he said, listen, when we went into hiding, quote, "my father was dying. We were not allowed to communicate with anyone. We moved to California. He completely abandoned us, and we had done everything he had told us to do. I was extremely angry." But when he said it, it was a new Andrew Young, and I saw the jury lean forward like they were really listening.

MALVEAUX: I mean, clearly, their relationship, really at the heart of this matter, you know, whether or not you believe Andrew Young's story and whether or not you believe John Edward's story.

Diane, thank you so much. I really appreciate the details. I'm going to have to leave it there.

Here's a rundown on some of the stories that we're covering over the next hour. First, the secret service faces a third possible scandal involving prostitutes. Hear why a Brazilian woman is suing the U.S. government.

And, he became notorious for crashing a White House state dinner. Well, now businessman Tareq Salahi is running for governor of Virginia. We're going to talk to him.

And then, Priscilla Presley, now the godmother of a paddle wheel steam boat. Yes. We're going to talk to the wife of the king of rock and roll about her life now and Elvis' lasting legacy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The scandal over Secret Service agents using prostitutes lead to new rules of conduct. Agents on the job will no longer be allowed to go to so-called places of bad acts or to bring foreigners into their hotel rooms. Meanwhile, the investigation into bad behavior by agents is expanding as authorities now looking into new allegations. We've got details from Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A congressional source tells CNN, reports of misbehavior by Secret Service agents beyond the Colombia incident have been brought to Congress. KIRO TV, a CNN affiliate, cites a U.S. government contractor who worked extensively with the Secret Service advance team, saying he was with about a dozen Secret Service agents and some U.S. military personnel a few days before President Obama's visit to El Salvador last year. The source says they were at a strip club, where members of the American team drank heavily, that most of them paid extra for access to a VIP section where they were provided sexual favors in return for cash. This is from one unnamed source and CNN cannot independently confirm the allegations.

Contacted by CNN, the Secret Service issued a statement saying, "any information brought to our attention that can be assessed as credible will be followed up on in an appropriate manner." I asked veteran Washington criminal defense attorney Jeffrey Jacobovitz, if he was head of the Secret Service or any other security agency --

TODD (on camera): are you nervous right now that something's going to blow up?

JEFFREY JACOBOVITZ, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If you're the head of -- well, sure. If you're the head of the agency, you're very nervous because this is the kind of publicity you do not want in your agency.

TODD (voice-over): "The Washington Post" reported that an unnamed source says such behavior is part of the culture at the Secret Service. Not a one-time occurrence. Barbara Riggs, the first woman deputy director in the agency's history, denies that.

BARBARA RIGGS, FMR. SECRET SERVICE DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Throughout my career, I have been on advance teams, I've supervised advance teams, and I've worked, you know, on presidential detail on two different occasions and I have never witnessed anything of this magnitude.

TODD: And the Secret Service is hardly alone. In December of last year, in the Brazilian capital, three U.S. Marines and a State Department employee were involved in an altercation over payment with dancers and prostitutes from a club. One woman allegedly started a fight inside a Marine's vehicle. According to the Pentagon, she was removed from the car and was injured when she tried to get back in.

LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Those that were involved have been punished and held accountable.

TODD: The Marines were reduced in rank. The U.S. embassy staffer, removed from that post. I asked Jacobovitz, could it be used as a possible defense if there was a culture in certain government agencies, if this kind of behavior was widely tolerated?

JACOBOVITZ: You know, that is not a good defense. It's like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, where companies say, well, everybody is bribing foreign officials. We're doing it also.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Brian Todd joins us live.

Brian, you've been trying to reach some of those agents who are subjects of this investigation. Have you had any luck?

TODD: Not yet, Suzanne. We've called and e-mailed Lawrence Berger (ph), the attorney for some Secret Service officers investigated in the Colombia case, to ask about all of this, some of the latest developments and about the El Salvador situation. We've not heard back from him. We have heard from a lot of former Secret Service officers in recent days. And one of the things they told us that the agency basically drill it into its recruits when they're in training not to place themselves in these situations. So they're offering at least some of the defense there of what the agency does preemptively in these situations.

MALVEAUX: And from talking to those folks, what's the sense of how much pressure right now the Secret Service is under?

TODD: It's enormous. I mean you've got two congressional committees investigating the Secret Service. You've got an independent body investigating them. People want answers. There's all sorts of speculation that maybe some of the agents may come out publicly in the next few days and give their side of the story. I had one former agent tell me basically that short of an assassination or an assassination attempt on a president, it doesn't get any worse than this for the Secret Service.

MALVEAUX: Wow.

Brian, what are you working on for "The Situation Room" later today?

TODD: Well, just kind of more along the lines on the pressure, Suzanne, that the agency is under. You know Peter King, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has given the Secret Service until Tuesday to answer a list of 50 questions. I've got a letter from him with these 50 questions. Very specific, succinct questions. And they're under pressure until Tuesday to answer those questions. We're going to take a look at some of the questions, whether they're going to be able to answer some of these. Maybe they won't be able to answer some of them.

MALVEAUX: All right, Brian, we'll be watching "The Situation Room" later today. Thank you, Brian.

From White House party crasher to the governor's mansion. Tareq Salahi says he is seriously running for office. But is it just a stunt? We're going to ask him, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The man notorious for crashing a White House state dinner and appearing on a reality show says his next conquest is elected office. Tareq Salahi and his wife are best known for bypassing White House security back in 2009, attending a state dinner uninvited. Even managed to meet President Obama. Tareq Salahi says he is now running for governor of Virginia. He says he is passionate about politics. He's passionate about Virginia. And, in his words, he's in it to win it. So, want to talk to him. Tareq Salahi joins us from Miami.

Thank you very much for being here. You've done a lot of interviews and television. A lot of people look at you and, quite frankly, they see the background and they see you crashed the White House dinner, you go on this reality show, you're in the middle of a costly divorce that's playing out on all the TV shows. Why should anyone take you seriously as a potential governor?

TAREQ SALAHI, CONSIDERING RUN FOR VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: Hi, Suzanne. Thanks for having me on.

You know, previous to reality TV and Hollywood, my real passion was always Virginia horse and win country, Virginia agriculture, Virginia tourism. And the -- this was really who I was and it is who I am now again. You know now that I've closed that chapter in my life with my divorce, I'm moving forward and starting my new life again.

MALVEAUX: A new life. You look at your recent history here and it does not look like there are a lot of credible accomplishments here. Do you think you could be -- people could look at you and say, you know what, this is just more publicity, that this is a joke?

SALAHI: You know, it's not a TV show. It's not a PR stunt. It's very serious. I am in it to win it, as you said. And, you know, actually, if you look back at my past, in fact I've -- I've done things that people said I couldn't do. I remember running for National Man of the Year for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. They said, oh, you would never win it. But, you know what, I won it nationally. I broke the fund- raising effort in the history of the Leukemia Society. So, yes, I do -- I do have some -- you know, I do have a great past and very passionate, as you said, about Virginia and Virginia agriculture, and Virginia tourism. And I'm very focused about winning this race.

MALVEAUX: Well, let's talk -- let's talk about Virginia and some of the real issues that the voters are going to be looking and turning to you if, in fact, you became the governor. First and foremost is tobacco. And there's basically a stipend here to support farmers. Subsidies for not growing tobacco. Is that something that you would support as governor?

SALAHI: You know, actually it is, because in Virginia, we wanted to do a lot of things with the Virginia tobacco farms that are there and convert them into vineyard space, vineyard land. You know, vetaculture (ph) is a very big industry. It's where Thomas Jefferson, you know, was the founder of really the American wine industry in Virginia. Most people don't even know that. But that would be a great thing to convert some of this tobacco land into vetaculture land and plant vines there. You know, it's a win win. Everybody wins. You know, the more wine we make, the more taxes that benefit the coffers and the Virginia General Assembly. You know it helps education, it helps teachers, it helps pave roads, you know, on the highways. So that's a very positive thing. So, absolutely.

MALVEAUX: Let's talk a little bit about something that's rather controversial. It was two years ago Governor Bob McDonnell declared April Confederate History Month in Virginia. There are a lot of people who think that that is not right. That it flies in the face and is potentially racist in some ways. As governor, would you support flying the confederate flag and keeping that month?

SALAHI: Well, look, I think Governor McDonnell was a great governor. I think he's done a great job for the commonwealth of Virginia. You know with respect to the confederate flag, you know, that's something that's, you know, maybe been a passion of his. You know, I'm going to have my own passions, my own doings. But --

MALVEAUX: What would you do as governor?

SALAHI: Well, I'll tell you, many things. But certainly I'm only going to make sure Virginia wine is in the governor's mansion exclusively. No disrespect to our friends --

MALVEAUX: We're not talking about Virginia wine. We're talking about the confederate flag. What would you do on that point?

SALAHI: In respect to the confederate flag. No, you know -- you know, that -- that is part of the history of the commonwealth. There's no question about that. But, no, that's not something -- anything I would focus on and, you know, that's really Governor McDonnell's passion or focus. As to mine, you know, I'll have my own and my own agenda, but that's not something I'm going to be focusing on.

MALVEAUX: So you would keep -- would you keep the confederate flag -- raising the confederate flag, flying the confederate flag?

SALAHI: No. No, I wouldn't.

MALVEAUX: You wouldn't. OK.

Let's talk a little bit about Virginia. It's got the biggest Navy base in the world at Norfolk. There are 80,000 active duty military, 30,000 civilian employees there. The Pentagon has some real ideas about drawing that base down. As commander in chief of Virginia and the National Guard, what would you do to help those troops find work, find employment?

SALAHI: Well, you know, I'm not too sure that that's something that needs to be done. You know, I don't see a need to downsize, you know, that Navy yard in Virginia. You know, that's been part of the commonwealth, part of Virginia for, you know, for a long time. And, no, I'm not convinced that's the right thing to do. I mean obviously that's going to be a federal decision on the Pentagon level. But certainly if we do find jobs -- we do need more jobs --

MALVEAUX: Would you fight the federal government on that? I mean if they decide they're going to drawdown the troops and close part of the base there, you would fight the federal government on that?

SALAHI: Look, I'm pro-military. I went to a military academy myself. So I definitely -- you know, I would definitely do what I can to not let that happen, not see, you know, these men and women, you know, lose their jobs, you know, in Norfolk.

MALVEAUX: Do you have any specific ideas about how you would do that?

SALAHI: No, not yet. You know, right now we're just, you know, starting our committees and we're starting, you know, building our bases here in terms of around my run for governor. So we're just in the beginning phase. You know, we just announced only 24 hours ago. But certainly, you know, I'll come back on and I can give you some more ideas that I have to win this governorship.

MALVEAUX: The education system in Richmond, you're looking at a $50 million budget cut there. That is a very significant. How would you actually cover the costs considering that that is the kind of budget that you're going to have to balance there? Where would you get the money to pay for the education system?

SALAHI: Again, you know, we're just beginning these exploratory committees. One idea that, in fact, that's been discussed when I was on some various different governors boards, both Democrat and Republican, was a look at the Virginia ABC system, our ABC stores and privatizing those possibly. It's something that's been discussed to generate additional revenue for the commonwealth of Virginia. There are things like that as an example that can be explored and we can go into to generate more income for the commonwealth of Virginia.

MALVEAUX: I'm sorry, I just lost you there.

SALAHI: I'm sorry, which part? On the ABC stores?

MALVEAUX: The $50 million budget cut. So you were suggesting that you could somehow make up the difference?

SALAHI: Yeah, certainly. Through the Virginia ABC stores, that can be done. That's an opportunity. It does exist. It generates a lot of income right now for the commonwealth. A little over $250 million in profit every year and growing. You know, this is an area that certainly can be looked at and get creative in this area. That's just one example of many.

MALVEAUX: All right. Tareq Salahi, thank you very much. Obviously, we would like to have you back when you have some more detailed plans and study a bit more about Virginia and what needs to take place in that state that you say you love. Thank you.

SALAHI: Thank you very much. Thanks for having me on.

MALVEAUX: We call it the nerd prom. I have been to about ten of these White House correspondents dinners. It's quite the party. Up next, Cedric the Entertainer, who played host at one of these, he has all the juicy details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Tonight when we journalists get a glimpse into Hollywood glamour. Celebrities, Washington insiders, athletes all get to mix with the president. It's the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. It's tomorrow night.

We affectionately call it the nerd prom. You never know who you are going to bump into, whether it's Karl Rove or Sarah Palin or Cee Lo or the actor from "The Blind Side." This year's host is late-night comedian, Jimmy Kimmel. Last night, when I talked with Cedric the Entertainer who hosted the event back in 2005, I asked him if he got nervous.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER, COMEDIAN: It is weird because you get a call from the White House, like right away they do and want you to do this, and it's one of those kind of odd calls. I find myself not wanting to answer the call for bill collectors, but, you know, when the White House calls, you just -- you kind of ask a stupid question like right away, like how did y'all get this number? Like -- the White House.

MALVEAUX: Did you believe that it was the White House that was actually calling, or you did you think somebody was spoofing you?

CEDRIC: I thought -- that was during the time of pranked, you know, with Ashton Kutcher, so I thought they were setting me up.

MALVEAUX: Well, I want to play a little clip for our audience here. This is part of your performance. This was when you were talking about Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

CEDRIC: There's two people. You know the name is broken down, there's the Condi, the person you see on television with the nice hair and very professional, and then there's the Leezza. She's the one with her hair wrapped up on the phone with her girlfriend watching BET talking about, girl, isn't that Usher fine? Look at Usher.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: I love that. Cedric says he is sure that Jimmy Kimmel will do a great job as this year's host. I want you to join my colleague Don Lemon tomorrow night for special coverage of the White House Correspondents Dinner. He's going to go behind the scenes, talk to "SNL" cast member, Darrell Hammond. You know him for his impersonations of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld; 9:30 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night.

And we have Elvis, the king of rock and roll on your minds. There's a news queen in his hometown. We'll take you to Memphis. Priscilla Presley joins us live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The countless songs, legends, romanticizing the steamboat, and the Mississippi River. Well, now, there is a new giant on the majestic waterway. It is called the American Queen. It is the largest paddle-wheeled steamboat ever built.

The vessel is being christened today by none other than Priscilla Presley, and she is joining us live from Memphis. So nice to see you. So nice to have you on the show here. I suppose it's very fitting, right? For the American Queen to be christened by former wife of the king of rock and roll. Tell us why this is special to you.

PRISCILLA PRESLEY, ACTRESS AND WIFE OF ELVIS PRESLEY: Well, first of all, I'm the godmother to the American Queen. Like you just earlier, it's one of the most elegant largest steamboat ever built and Memphis is very, very proud that it's going to be docked here, right in front of the famous Beal Street.

And now you can see it in the background, and it is so elegant and it's like a floating hotel. So we're all very excited about this and taking trips down the Mississippi River, sites we've never before seen. I talked to the tourist yesterday who just came back from a tour of about seven days, and they had the best time of their lives. So I'm even thinking about taking this tour myself.

MALVEAUX: We certainly hope you take the tour. What do you like most about the American Queen? PRESLEY: Well, I think the elegance that takes you back in time. As you go down the Mississippi River, you learn all about the history, the heritage, the culture of life on the Mississippi River. You go into the towns, you get off the boat, you walk into the towns, you have a historian on the boat that tells you about the history, the whole culture of our wonderful South Heartland that we've never really experienced.

Most of us travel all over the world, all over the states, and here we have it right in our back yard -- a very relaxed, very relaxed journey. You feel like you're back in the Victorian ages. They have even a Mark Twain in the library. I was in the boat yesterday, and he looked very much like him. He tells you all about that history of Mark Twain and his works and his life.

It's just -- it takes you to the Heartland. And it's such a history that we tend to forget. You know, you go to Vicksburg, which of course is the history of the Civil War, and I can't say enough about it. It's quite beautiful. All the people that I talked to, I asked if they enjoyed the trip. They said they're coming back. There's nothing like this.

MALVEAUX: It is quite stunning. It is quite beautiful. One of the Nation's treasures, as you know -- Graceland. One of the most visited tourist destinations, still, in the world. What do you think the fact that your husband's legacy, that it only continues to grow?

PRESLEY: It does continue to grow, and I think, you know, it's just that he gave us so much. He gave us so much, that we -- you know, from his music to his life to movies to his talent -- that we're able to embellish and help that, and with new generations, people who come here -- we have about 10 million visitors that come here in Memphis -- and that has been the place they want to go see, first and foremost.

There's so much about him that people are interested in.

MALVEAUX: What do you think -- if your husband was alive today -- what do you think he'd be listening to?

PRESLEY: What would he be listening to?

MALVEAUX: Yes, what kind of music, what kind of artist do you think he'd be listening to?

PRESLEY: Oh my gosh. Elvis had an appreciation for all artists and their talent. He loved all music, truly. I mean, from rhythm and blues to Gospel to pop, obviously rock and roll, and believe it or not -- opera. So, I think, you know, his taste was so varied that he would be -- he would be very appreciative.

I know, Bruno Mars is great. Lady Gaga is fascinating. I mean, she -- and I think he was like her -- she seems to be very moral- driven. And that meant a lot to him, so I think it would be quite varied, just like it was back in his day.

MALVEAUX: Do you think he would be a fan of hip-hop or rap, do you suppose?

PRESLEY: Gosh, that's a good question. I think some, I think, in some form. Pop, absolutely. There's definitely kinds of rap and hip-hop -- I think there would be some that would be interesting.

MALVEAUX: What would you -- how do you spend your time now? Share something with us. We haven't seen you in a little bit.

PRESLEY: I spend a lot of my time, some here in Memphis, some in New York, some in L.A. Now that my daughter has moved to England, I spend time there also. So it's usually out of a suitcase.

MALVEAUX: All right. Priscilla Presley, it's so nice to have you on the show. it' s good to see you. We wish you all the best, and congratulations, again.

PRESLEY: Thank you so much.

MALVEAUX: Thank you.

A bear going to college ends up flying through the air. We're going to show you the pictures next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here is a sight you don't see every day.

A bear flying through the air. This shot was taken just as the bear was falling from a tree in Boulder, Colorado. The police shot the animal with a tranquilizer gun after it wandered into the University of Colorado campus. The bear landed safely on a cushion. He's being released now into the wild.

Certainly isn't the first time a bear has been forced down from a tree.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice over): Remember this video back in 2003? A trampoline helped break the bear's fall. This was in Montana. Crazy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Just when you thought identity theft couldn't be any more despicable, we find out that they are now targeting the dead. Felicia Taylor, she's running with us from the New York Stock Exchange. Felicia, I don't even understand how this is done. Identity thieves are able to steal personal information from the diseased?

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's quite a phenomenon, really. It does mostly happen by accident, however, 2.4 million deceased Americans do have their identity stolen. Most of those stats, about 1.6 million, are by chance. A result of thieves putting a random Social Security number on to a credit card application that just happens to match a person who's no longer alive.

Another 800,000 are intentional. Thieves exploit publicly available information to open credit card and cell phone accounts for dead people. In most cases, though, banks and credit card issuers are going to take a loss on this type of theft. But if you're managing someone's estate, you could be held responsible, so it's very good to be on top of it and vigilant when it comes to this.

MALVEAUX: How do you protect your family?

TAYLOR: Well, it's really about protecting yourself. You need to protect yourself. You need to report the death to the Social Security Administration immediately. Also report it to the banks. Shut down any accounts, credit reporting companies like Trans Union, and cancel the deceased's driver's license.

So you must cancel everything and do it as soon as you possibly can. Don't wait weeks. That's too long. Keep personal details out of the newspaper. No addresses, no complete date of birth in obituaries. Finally, keep an eye on things for at least a year after the death.

Watch out for credit cards, bank accounts, the same way that you would your own. Even if they've been closed down, make sure that there's no paper trail anymore, you're not getting statements from the bank anymore so that the bank understand that this person is no longer alive.

MALVEAUX: Very quickly here, is there anything the government should or could do to prevent this from happening.

TAYLOR: The Social Security Administration known for having managing who's dead and who's not. They maintain a database called the Death Master File. They have over 87 million names on it. In the past, though, we've heard about cases where people are declared "accidentally" dead. That, obviously, creates problems.

Other cases where relatives to the deceased keep getting Social Security checks even though the person is dead. You must not cash those checks. When it comes to identity theft, part of the problem may be this public access to this Death Master File

MALVEAUX: All right. Felicia Taylor, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Coming up, a lesson of bike safety for city dwellers from none other than our Sanjay Gupta, up next

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Moving through heavy traffic can be dangerous, especially if you're on a bike. Here's CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

SANJAY GUPTA, M.D., CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, you know that I'm training for this triathlon, and I can tell you, getting around on a bike and pushing yourself in and around traffic is one of the scariest parts of the training, and I'll tell you, it's also a very hot topic right now in New York City. I've been talking to people who say that police say people are overlooking the safety of cyclists, even after fatal accidents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice over): This surveillance shows the waning moments of a young man's life. Just before midnight, October 18th, 2011, a crane truck pulls up to an intersection in Brooklyn. Moments later, so does 30-year-old cyclist, Matthew Lefebvre, shown here. Within seconds, Lefebvre is dead.

ERICA LEFEBVRE: We were devastated when we heard the news and we are still devastated.

GUPTA (voice over): Erica Lefebvre says it's not just her son's death that is devastating. It's the battle she's waged for more than six months against the New York City Police Department.

GUPTA (on camera): After this awful task of having to identify your son, you go to the police precinct and are you looking for answers?

LEFEBVRE: We just wanted to know what happened.

GUPTA (on camera): What did they tell you?

LEFEBVRE: We had waited at the precinct for hours. We were just brushed off. It wasn't important.

GUPTA (on camera) Navigating New York City is sort of like an urban jousting match. You have pedestrians who at times who jaywalk, cars speeding, even through red lights. A lot of people out there breaking the law. But advocates say they are angered by what they perceived to be a bias against bicyclists. Last year, the NYPD gave more than three times as many court summons to bike riders as it gave to truck operators.

LEFEBVRE: We know that right over there, that's where he was hit. And then his bicycle was dragged down for another 171 feet. According to Lefebvre, when information about her son's case has trickled out, it showed stunning gaps in the investigation.

At first, the NYPD claimed that Matthew ran a red light. But that was later disproven by a surveillance video. And there were vital clues that could have implicated the truck driver for a hit and run that were missing from the police report.

STEVE VACCARO, ATTORNEY, RANKIN AND TAYLOR: The truck had this blood and paint evidence on the front bumper, but the camera stopped working.

GUPTA (voice over): Steve Vaccaro is the Lefebvre family attorney.

VACCARO: They did not document that evidence anywhere in their investigation of the case. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The NYPD does not taking crash investigations seriously and is not prosecuting motorists, even when evidence clearly shows they were violating a traffic law.

GUPTA (voice over): We repeatedly tried asking the NYPD about the Lefabvre case and its policy regarding cycling investigations, but we got no response. At the corner, where Matthew Lefabvre died, a ghost bike. A haunting reminder of life lost.

GUPTA (on camera): Does it hurt to talk about that?

LEFABVRE: When you lose a loved one, you want to talk about them all the time.

GUPTA (on camera): I'm so sorry.

LEFABVRE: Because that's one of the ways he stays with you. But on the other hand, it is difficult to talk about it because of the pain that you feel.

GUPTA (voice over): Erica Lefabvre hopes that the truth, some semblance of resolution about Matthew's case might ease that pain.

GUPTA (on camera): We can definitely see the pain there. She's not suing. She says she just wants to get the truth, the whole story of how her son died, how he was killed. Suzanne, back to you.

MALVEAUX: Quick programming notes, starting this weekend, you can see Sanjay Gupta, M.D. on Saturdays at 4:30 p.m. Eastern and still on Sundays at 7:30 in the morning. CNN Newsroom continues right now with Brooke Baldwin. Hey, Brooke.

BROOK BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Suzanne, thank you very much.