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Politics of the bin Laden Killing; Second Gunman in Kennedy Assassination; Surface to Air Missiles at Olympics; Zimmerman Raised More Than $200,000 on Web Site; Titanic Will Sail Again; John Edwards Trial; The Dangers of Sitting; Chinese Dissident Escapes; Obama Shows Lighter Side at Correspondents Dinner; Big Meeting Expected Between Romney, Santorum; Beyonce Speaks Out About Baby Rumors
Aired April 30, 2012 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sunday, the White House offered up the president's counterterrorism adviser for a relatively rare round of Sunday morning political talk. John Brennan arrived with high praise for his boss' steely nerves and nothing on the ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BRENNAN, WHITE HOUSE COUNTERTERRORISM ADVISOR: First of all, I don't do politics. I'm a Democrat, I'm not a Republican.
CROWLEY: That's why I asked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: It wasn't like this the night Bin Laden was killed. Not in public where the president said there would be no spiking the football nor in private when he called the people he thought most wanted to hear the news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL DUFFY, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "TIME MAGAZINE": When the raid happened, the first two people President Obama called were in this order George Walker Bush and then Bill Clinton, because he knew at some level both men had tried to actually kill Bin Laden and had been unable to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: This other public reaction a year ago may not have been as solemn as the phone calls sound. It is nonetheless true that Bin Laden's death was greeted then across party lines as a matter of justice, not politics. Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get you up to speed. A witness to Robert Kennedy's assassination says there was a second gunman. In a CNN exclusive, Nina Rhodes-Hughes says her claim was overlooked back in 1968 and that someone altered the testimony that she gave. But she remembers it vividly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NINA RHODES-HUGHES: I can hear the rhythm of the gunshots in my head, and I know it was -- at first I thought it was flash bulbs. It was pop, pop and then pop, pop, pop, pop, pop very, very rapid fire to my right in back of senator Kennedy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Convicted assassin Sirhan Sirhan is asking a court to release him from prison or give him a new trial based partly on this woman's story.
Think of it as the safest apartment building in the world. Residents in an east London apartment complex have been warned in leaflets that surface to air missiles could be put on top of the building, that's right, to defend the summer Olympic games. There could be 10 soldiers positioned there for up to two months. The building is about two miles from the site of the Olympic stadium where games are kicking off in less than three months.
George Zimmerman has a new Web site. He's the man who killed the unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. Well, is now back online, this time the site being run by his defense attorney. The attorney says it's a place where people can get information about his case. They can also donate money to his defense in Zimmerman's previous Web site. Raised more than $200,000 which he failed to disclose to the court until just last Friday.
And take a look at this. Might be tough to watch. More than 500 pelicans turning up dead on a beach in northern Peru. Hundreds of other birds are also dead. It is the same stretch of coast where some 877 dolphins washed up earlier this month. Peruvian authorities are investigating and they say it's not immediately clear if the deaths are connected.
The titanic will sail again. An Australian billionaire commissioning a Chinese shipbuilder to create an exact replica. It's going to complete every detail just as luxurious with modern technology. Now, construction on the new Titanic starts next year. The ship could be ready to sail by 2016.
More than a decade after the terrorist attack brought down New York's twin towers, One World Trade Center, also known as the freedom tower, is about to become New York City's tallest building, surpassing the Empire State Building. Workers are scheduled to install a beam that would lift the tower to 1,271 feet. That is 21 feet higher than the city's tallest building right now, the Empire State Building. Poppy Harlow, she is live in lower Manhattan with this historic occasion. It is a milestone. The timing of this, Poppy, this is happening a day before the one-year anniversary of Bin Laden's death. Is that coincidental? And how is that impacting this celebration?
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's absolutely a coincidence but what odd timing, right? I was talking -- MALVEAUX: Yes.
HARLOW: -- to the man that's really leading the construction down here and I said, you know, I -- this is just so close. Is it really a coincidence? He said, absolutely. It wasn't until about a week ago that we knew we would be at this height by this time. They have been building at a pretty rapid clip, about one floor a week at One World Trade. You can see it right there. But this -- they found it out about a week ago and therefore made the preparations, but today is a beautiful sunny day in New York. A lot of New Yorkers that I have been talking to are happy this is happening. They feel this is, you know, a real sense of pride for the city. At the same time because of the timing a day ahead of that one-year anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's death, it brings up a lot of security questions.
So, I spoke to the NYPD deputy commissioner, Paul Browne, about that asking did you raise security levels here, did you bring in more police officers? He told me, Suzanne, they've got about 200 permanent police officers down here at the site. That's been in existence for about six months. This is also what he told me, we'll bring up the statement for you. He said, there's no known threat to the World Trade Center or New York City because of the anniversary. But, he said, the NYPD continues to maintain a robust counterterrorism posture.
So, that has been their stance and they are maintaining it. What is very different today than, say, the days preceding the ten-year anniversary of September 11th, is that there has been no credible threat, no credible information coming that Al Qaeda is targeting New York or the U.S. around this anniversary. That came from the NYPD and also the FBI echoed that sentiment late last week, Suzanne. So, there is a focus on security here, but, at this point, nothing to heighten concerns about, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: And Poppy, we actually saw some pictures of you touring the tower as it was being built. Tell us what it was like to be up there.
HARLOW: Well, it was terrifying because I'm terrified of heights but I'm very glad I went up there because I almost said no. This is back in August, and I got a chance to tour the whole site and go up to what was the top floor, the 76th floor at the time, with a guy named Mike Manella, who built the first World Trade Center, watched the towers fall, and then came back to lead the construction again. Just an extraordinary thing to see.
What really amazed me was the scale, the complexity. They're building subway lines, as you know, Suzanne, right through the building. This may be the most complex construction project in the world, I have been told. And also, the amount of people working on it. You have literally got, and I'm not exaggerating, thousands of workers a day on that location, building not only One World Trade but the other sites as well. We also had a chance, this morning, to go around and to talk to different people, New Yorkers, tourists, about what this means to them. Take a quick listen to some of the people we spoke with.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really think it's just an overall coming together and unity for everybody and it's a great memorial for anybody who was alive during that time and shows a lot of just innovation of things that are to come.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No matter what the obstacle is we're faced with, you know, we will survive, we will resurface. We can do this. So, it's a pride thing as an American, but more importantly as a New Yorker.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: So, that was the general sentiment, but, Suzanne, I will tell you, I talked to one New Yorker who told me, you know, I don't know why they're rebuilding this. I really didn't think that this was the best way to use the money, the funds, and to build another building, you know, just as tall as the Twin Towers were. So, a little mixed emotion but overall on the streets here in New York, I think there's a big sense of pride and more of a sense of completion. We won't have the final buildings done until 2013 or 2014 but we're certainly getting there.
MALVEAUX: All right, Poppy, and when does this happen?
HARLOW: 1:30 p.m. I think they're going to carry it live. They're going to place that steel beam on the top of the 100th floor winds permitting. Not very windy down here right now. So, as far as I can tell, it's a go right now.
MALVEAUX: All right. We're keeping our eye on the clock there, Poppy. We're going to bring that to all of our viewers live in about 30 minutes or so, to capture of that milestone event. Thanks, Poppy.
Now, on to the salacious criminal trial of John Edwards. On the stand today is Cheri Young, she is the wife of the prosecution's car witness, Andrew Young, who has testified at length about -- last week about his role in trying to cover up Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter. Edwards is accused of illegally using almost a million dollars in campaign cash to hide that affair. I want to bring in Diane Dimond. She's joining us from Greensboro, North Carolina. She's a special correspondent for "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast." And she's been in the courtroom since the start of this trial. Diane, thanks for keeping it real for us, all the details that you can bring to us.
DIANE DIMOND, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, "NEWSWEEK" AND "THE DAILY BEAST": You bet.
MALVEAUX: First of all, folks want to know why Cheri Young, in the first place, because this sounded so bizarre when we first followed this story, is how she allowed her husband to claim paternity for the child that Edwards fathered with his mistress? Has she talked about that today?
DIMOND: Yes. In fact, that was the most dramatic moment of this morning's testimony, Suzanne. You know, she is this little teeny tiny woman. She's the mother of three children. She is a devoted wife. She is a nurse but mostly a stay-at-home mom. And it became very clear, my words, not hers, that she was bullied into it. At one point, the checks started arriving from Bunny Mellon, huge checks for huge amounts of money and they wanted the money to go through her bank account with her signature on it. She said she was absolutely disgusted by that idea and she wasn't -- she didn't think it was legal. She said to her husband, I'm not going to do this unless I hear from John Edwards himself that this is legal.
So get this, I wrote this down very carefully. She testified that, I heard Mr. John Edwards tell me on the phone he had talked to his lawyers. This was not a campaign donation. He said get the money in. He was very short with me and very angry. In the opening statement here, Suzanne, we heard that John Edwards didn't really know anything about this Bunny money as they called it. But here is two people now, Andrew Young first and now Cheri Young saying, no, she's not the way it was at all. He not only knew about it, he was directing what to do with the money.
MALVEAUX: And you mentioned that Cheri said she felt bullied into agreeing that her husband would say he is the father of this child. Who was she bullied by? Did she describe or explain that?
DIMOND: Oh, yes. By her husband a little bit, but really by John Edwards. She said there was a phone call with Rielle Hunter, her, her husband, Andrew Young, and John Edwards. And John Edwards she said started on this campaign speech. She's very animated in the way she speaks. She said he started on the campaign talk, and, you know, it was good for the country and it was good for America and, you know, if we would just make it sound like there were two staffers having an affair, nobody would care, it would be, quote, "a one-day story."
And she said, we got off the phone. I just had to go stop and think about it for a while. But then my husband came back and told me he was going to do it. And she was asked for her reaction, and that's when she very silently started to cry. She put her hands up to her face. She -- her shoulders started to shake. The whole room was quiet and finally the judge said to the jury, you're excused for a moment until she collected herself.
MALVEAUX: And before she collected herself, how did the jurors react? How did they respond when they are watching this woman and describing the story? What was their reaction?
DIMOND: I wish you could have been in the room, Suzanne, and I'm glad you asked that question. They were really riveted, I must tell you. They were riveted by her testimony. Number one, because she's so animated, and because the story line is believable when you hear her say it. She is now explaining all those human emotions that were going on that her husband didn't bother to explain. Well, let me tell you the first time she said she figured that there was an affair going on before her husband figured it out, and then all of a sudden the pregnant mistress of a presidential candidate was coming to stay at my house, she said. So, they ran around, they got ready all day, and Rielle Hunter arrived one night. And she said she took a spin around my entryway and she said, I'm here. Just like that. That's how she testified. She said there wasn't a hello. There wasn't anything. It was just, OK, I'm here. I'm pregnant and I want the world to know about it, she said, is the way she acted.
MALVEAUX: Wow, Diane, you can't make this stuff up. Unbelievable.
DIMOND: No, you can't.
MALVEAUX: I'm so glad you're watching. You're our eyes and ears inside the courtroom every day. All right, Diane, we'll get back to you in a bit. Thanks, again, appreciate it.
DIMOND: You bet.
MALVEAUX: Here is a rundown of some of the stories that we are covering over the next hour. First, just sitting in the office, spending your weekend stretched out on the couch, well, might be killing you. We're going to get a reason why and stay active could save your life.
And one man's incredible escape story turning into a diplomatic nightmare for two super powers.
Later, they call it the nerd prom, but you wouldn't believe, yes, there are some cool kids that I met at the White House correspondents dinner.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: For millions of men with erectile dysfunction, there's now another option. The FDA has given its approval to a new drug called Stendra. It will compete with other drugs now on the market, Viagra, Cialis and Levitra. But tests show that Stendra may work faster than the others.
And now to a health concern for kids. A new study finds that type two diabetes progresses more rapidly in children and is harder to treat, though experts really don't know why. The rise of type two in children is not surprising when you look at the increase in obesity. This is the first large study of the disease in kids. Before 1990, type two diabetes was hardly ever seen in children.
All right, you might want to stand up -- yes, stand up for this segment. These days it seems like just about everything, right, is bad for your health. Well, believe it or not, there is a new study that says sitting, yes sitting, can be unhealthy, too. I want to bring in our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, who joins us from Atlanta.
There are some people who are calling sitting the new smoking. Is that an overstatement here?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's a little strong. That's a little strong. However, I think it is interesting, and most people don't know, that sitting can actually be bad for you. There's this study that some researchers did. They looked at folks who spent six hours a day or more sitting and they found they were 40 percent more likely to die during the course of the study than people who sat for three hours or less. So the less sitting, the better.
And, Suzanne, it makes sense. When you think about it, as human beings sort of evolving through the ages, we're not meant to sit. We're meant to run around and do things and search for food and take care of children and whatnot. We didn't evolve to sort of sit on our rear ends all day.
MALVEAUX: Well, I like the fact that you're standing for this segment.
COHEN: Yes.
MALVEAUX: That's a good thing. I'm still sitting right now. So if I sit all day at work but then I go and I work out after work, because I love to go for a run, is that OK? Is that cool?
COHEN: You know, I mean it's certainly a good thing to do and we don't want to discourage anyone from working out, but it doesn't necessarily undo the whole day of sitting. Those numbers I gave you about being 40 percent more likely to die, that was true even if those sitters went out and exercised after their day at work.
MALVEAUX: Really?
COHEN: So really that's why I asked your producers if, for these three minutes, I could stand because even this is good for you. I'm actually burning more calories than you are.
MALVEAUX: Oh. But -- and I'm still going to go for a run and it's still not going to pay off. Let me ask you this. So we're all sitting around here. What can we do?
COHEN: All right, there's a bunch of different things you can do. And I actually want to show you some great video from the Georgia Poison Control Center and -- because their people, they are so interested in making sure that their folks do a good job and that they give them sort of treadmill desks and they get to stand up. We'll show you that. So that they can be on their calls and walking at the same time. So, you know, not everyone gets to work in a great office like this, but there are things that you can do.
So, first of all, you can stand up at your desk. You don't have to sit. You can stand up. And also, while you're at home just sort of watching TV, run around, clean up the room, do something. You don't have to necessarily just sit there.
And, also, take regular walking breaks. I mean there are very few jobs where they're so mean that they won't let you get up and walk around every so often. And if you go to cnn.com/empoweredpatient, you can see some articles by my colleague William Hudson, and he talks more about different things that you can do to stick in a little bit of action in your day.
MALVEAUX: All right. Well, maybe we'll try to, you know, stand for the newscasts from now on. I understand that my team in the control room putting on this show, they're all standing right now during this segment, Elizabeth.
COHEN: That is great. I'm glad to hear that.
MALVEAUX: So I guess that helps, right?
COHEN: That's right, every little bit helps.
MALVEAUX: All right, thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: A blind man pulls off a daring escape, suddenly becoming the center of an international tug of war between two super powers. So where is he hiding now?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: One of China's best known dissidents has managed to escape from house arrest. It's said that he's being hid inside the U.S. embassy in Beijing. It comes as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepares to leave for China tonight. So the stage is set now for an extraordinary tug of war between the two countries. Stan Grant has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Somewhere behind these walls may well be the answer to China's great guessing game, where is Chen Guangcheng. Within minutes of pulling out our camera, security at the United States embassy in Beijing pounced.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't take photo here.
GRANT (on camera): I understand we can't take photo, but is Chen Guangcheng here at the embassy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know -- I don't know whether he --
GRANT (voice-over): The blind human rights activist has been in hiding after escaping house arrest in his provincial village and fleeing to Beijing. Now, a close friend and fellow campaigner says Chen is indeed here, given refuge at the U.S. embassy.
"When Chen Guancheng first fled to Beijing, we had to keep moving him from place to place to ensure his safety, and we agreed the U.S. embassy is the only absolutely secure location in town."
Hu Jia is seen here in these photos with Chen in recent days. Chen also meeting Hu's wife. They're among a group of supporters who have aided Chen's dramatic escape. Hu himself is targeted by Chinese authorities and would only speak to CNN away from our cameras. But even then, within hours, he was detained, questioned, and later released.
He Peirong is another friend of Chen's, seized by cops. She spoke to CNN by Skype just before disappearing, telling how Chen Guangcheng saying he has no desire to flee China.
"When I asked him if he would go abroad," she says, "he said he wants to live freely in his own country. He said he hopes to take my hand and take me to his village one day."
GRANT (on camera): More details are emerging about just how Chen Guangcheng managed to escape. Now according to activists who know what happened, they say that for months he had lulled his captors into a false sense of security. He was spending more and more time asleep on his bed. They got used to his absences and then dropped their guard.
Now, here's where it gets interesting. Under cover of darkness it is said that Chen made his break. He climbed over a wall and then this blind man managed to cross a creek. Along the way he stumbled, he injured himself, but finally managed to meet a car at a secret rendezvous point and they brought him to Beijing.
GRANT (voice-over): Chen had been under heavy guard for the last 18 months. The self-taught lawyer angered Chinese authorities by campaigning against alleged forced abortions and sterilizations. He'd spent more than four years in prison convicted of disrupting traffic and damaging property during demonstrations. Since his release, he's been in lockdown.
This is what happened when we tried to visit Chen last year with Hollywood actor and "Batman" star Christian Bale.
GRANT (on camera): We've been stopped. We've been stopped. And as you can see --
GRANT (voice-over): Now Bale has released a statement to CNN. In it he says, "an innocent family has been horrifically tortured. While it gives hope that for now Chen Guangcheng is safe, his family is not. As a world leader, China must now show it's wisdom and compassion and remind the world of its rich cultural history by permanently freeing Chen Guangcheng and his family and never allowing thuggery and corruption to tarnish China's reputation again. China's citizens deserve more."
GRANT (on camera): If indeed Chen Guangcheng is here behind the gates of this U.S. embassy, then this threatens to become a political tug of war between China and the U.S. At the moment, neither country is making any public statements, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due in Beijing this week. And in the past, she has championed Chen.
Stan Grant, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: If you're a journalist, it's the biggest party of the year. Some of the notable guests we ran into, director Steven Spielberg, Secretary Leon Panetta, and actor George Clooney. But it was comedian Dave Chappelle doing behind the scenes this -- around this year's White House Correspondent's Dinner festivities. I got a chance to ask him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown on some of the stories that we are working on next.
Bill Clinton, Barack Obama haven't always been allies. In fact, far from it. But now they're teaming up to defend the White House.
Terrorists knocked them down, but now there is a new tower rising in lower Manhattan. The Freedom Tower is minutes away from getting -- setting new heights.
And later, teaching kids to deal with autism through acting.
It's a night the president and first lady join the nation's journalists, along with celebrities, athletes, politicians, newsmakers to poke a little fun at themselves. It is the annual White House Correspondent's Association Dinner. This year it was hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel. It's affectionately nicknamed the "nerd prom" and it often generates some controversial headlines the next morning depending on who's doing the roasting. It also gives the president a chance to show a lighter side, sometimes zing his opponents.
Here is a bit about what the president said, joked what his second term would look like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In my first term I sang Al Green. In my second term, I'm going with Young Jeezi.
(LAUGHTER)
Michelle said, yes.
(LAUGHTER)
I sing that to her sometimes.
(LAUGHTER)
In my first term, we ended the war in Iraq. In my second term, I will win the war on Christmas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
In my first term, we repealed the policy known as Don't Ask, Don't tell. In --
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: -- wait though. In my second term, we will replace it with a policy known as it's raining men.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Having been to about 10 of these, the evening did not disappoint. One of the highlights was finding the missing comedian, Dave Chappelle. He was searching for a ticket to the dinner. He ended the festivities leading a "Soul Train" line with actress, Rosario Dawson, at an after party that wrapped up at 4:00 in the morning. He tells me he's been in Ohio on a ranch with his family, including his 3-year-old daughter that he's had since he dropped out of the spotlight.
Obama's BFF and top advisor, Valerie Jarrett, also hitting the dance floor, getting down to Justin Timberlake's "Bringing Sexy Back." And an unexpected moment. Actor Jessie Tyler Ferguson from ABC's hit, "Modern Family," photo bombed me and actress, Goldie Hawn. Even the Kardashians made an appearance as well at the president's event.
My colleague, Paul Steinhauser, our political editor, he was also there.
We sat together at the CNN table, Paul. It was a lot of fun.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You had all those celebrities. What about me? Come one. I was a real big celebrity you were with, right? Come on. Let's be honest.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
STEINHAUSER: You did great. You had a lot of celeb photos. I have to give you credit.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: You and I had a great time together. It's great to have like a table buddy that you can just like kind of relax and talk to.
We're going to talk a little bit more about the dinner but, of course, we want to talk about politics. Big stuff that's happening here, as you know. Newt Gingrich, he is about to end his campaign. What do we know about the announcement?
STEINHAUSER: He's going to do it his way. This whole campaign he's done it on his terms. He's going to end his campaign his way, too. It's been almost a week since we learned he's going to be ending his campaign. Still hasn't done it. We hear it's going to be Wednesday. We hear it will probably be right here in the nation's capital or nearby, an event. What we believe is he will suspend his campaign and officially endorse Mitt Romney.
Suzanne, the big question mark is, will Mitt Romney be there? We know Romney will be in the Washington area on Wednesday right about the same time for an event, so it could be likely the two men could show up together. Stay tuned -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Tell us about something else we're expecting this week. A meeting between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. This is the big awaited meeting. Remember, before Santorum dropped out of the race and suspended his campaign back in early April, he was really Mitt Romney's main rival. This is what we know. We expect them to meet on Friday. Don't know where, don't know when. The big question, will Santorum finally endorse Mitt Romney? There was a lot of bad blood between these men coming out of the primaries. We don't know if there will be an endorsement yet.
You know Romney really wants that endorsement. Why? Because Santorum did very well in the primaries. Got a lot of backing from Tea Party supporters, from social conservatives. The kind of voters Romney didn't grab in the primary. So he really wants Santorum to endorse him so the party can coalesce and move on to the general election -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: We know that President Obama is not really letting the Republicans steal the spotlight. At least he is formally kicking off his campaign on Saturday, and we expect former President Clinton playing a major role in the campaign. The two appearing together at a fundraiser last night. Tell us a little bit about this kind of new cozy relationship, if you will, or working relationship between these two.
STEINHAUSER: Remember four years ago, right now, when you were covering it on the campaign trail, former President Clinton was backing his wife's bid for the White House. She was battling Obama for the Democratic nomination. That was then. There was a lot of bad blood back then. This is now. That's a photo from last night. You can see right there that's President Obama on the left, former President Clinton and Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic National Committee chairman and a member of the Clinton inner circle. A fundraiser at McAuliffe's house in Virginia. Expect the former president and the president to team up for a couple more fund-raisers.
Check this out. This was an Obama re-election team web ad the other day. Look who it starred, former President Bill Clinton. Clinton touting Obama's role in the decision-making process in that raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Of course, tomorrow is the one-year anniversary.
So, yes, expect former president Clinton to do a lot more this year to help Barack Obama try to win that re-election.
MALVEAUX: He's really going to try to go after the moderates as well as hit some of the conservative states. They think President Clinton will actually do a better job in resonating with those voters.
Paul, let's talk about the dinner. What did you -- what was one of the highlights? I understand you were taking a lot of pictures for other people.
STEINHAUSER: I didn't grab any good photos myself. I took a couple of you. Everybody kept giving me their Blackberries and cell phones and saying, please take a picture of me and this person. My wife got a photo with Woody Harrelson. That was for me personally, big highlight.
We were sitting together, you and I, watching the speeches. And my big question was, was President Obama going to say anything about Mitt Romney? He had a couple gentle digs. Nothing too deep or too strong. Again, it's a campaign, election season, so I was wondering whether he would or wouldn't. For you, from the speeches, from Jimmy Kimmel or President Obama, what was your highlight -- Suzanne?
STEINHAUSER: I guess the dogs were not off-limits.
(LAUGHTER)
He went for it, this whole dog thing. They really got kind of into that whole joke.
I want to show a couple pictures that we got here. I know we showed -- it was a little bizarre to discover Dave Chappelle the night before with a backpack and he didn't have an invite so he was looking for an invite. I caught up with him the next day at an after party -- you see us there. He actually gave me a couple of his tickets so we -- we went in with a little group in that after party. They ended up at the end, late, late into the night. Rosario Dawson stole the show at the Italian embassy with a dress that everybody was talking about.
And also had a chance to see some folks. Woody Harrelson, we were both there during that garden brunch before.
STEINHAUSER: Oh, yes.
MALVEAUX: We chatted him up a little bit with his wife. And David Arquette was very sweet. He was one of these folks who talked about his passion. And one of his passions, he says, is bringing arts back into the schools. And so we're kind of hoping he's going to talk to us about that on the show. And the Kardashians. You know, they got a little flack there for even showing up. They were invited by our rival network.
(LAUGHTER)
And the president went after them a little bit saying, why are they so famous? There you see Eva Longoria, really a good time. She talks about voting rights for Latinos. She's going to be on as well.
Just a good time. Didn't disappoint at all. And to have you as my -- you and I table mates, that just made --
(CROSSTALK)
STEINHAUSER: I was honored. And you were talking about other people's dresses. Your dress was beautiful. You looked fabulous on Saturday night.
MALVEAUX: Thank you, Paul. That's so nice. That's so sweet. I had such a great time. It was a good time. And thank god it just happens once a year because I really can't hang. I don't know about you.
(LAUGHTER)
I can't do that more than once a year.
(LAUGHTER)
All right. Good to se you, Paul.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks.
MALVEAUX: Beyonce says rumors that she faked her pregnancy are just crazy. Months after her daughter was born, Beyonce now is talking. We'll tell you what she said straight up ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Months after the cruel rumors claiming Beyonce faked her pregnancy, the singer, recently named world's most beautiful woman, is now speaking out.
Nischelle Turner is joining us from L.A.
Nischelle, I remember when folks started questioning and taking a look at these pictures of her baby bump and saying it didn't look natural. I imagine that really probably made her furious, and wanted to say something at the time. Now she's finally saying something, yes?
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And, you know, it did make her furious, Suzanne. Beyonce is telling "People" magazine that those stories are just plain crazy. She called the rumors hurtful. She told the magazine when she first heard these stories she was asking herself, where do people come up with this? She wants everyone to know there was no surrogate. Her mom, Tina Knowles, was even more outraged. She told "People" the reports were unfair and very cruel. And Tina says she was actually asked directly about these stories which she called stupid and ridiculous.
Now, Beyonce also took the opportunity in the interview to shoot down stories that surfaced about Blue Ivy was born about their demands for security and privacy impacting other new parents on the maternity ward. She said those reports were crazy and ridiculous as well.
So I guess if Beyonce and her mom had one word to respond to these stories it would be ridiculous.
(CROSSTALK)
TURNER: She did also say -- exactly -- after giving birth to Blue Ivy, she does now feel like the most beautiful woman in the world, and that motherhood has helped make her feel that way.
But I tell you, Suzanne, I think "People" magazine missed the boat. I saw those pictures of you on Saturday at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
(LAUGHTER)
Lady, you know how to wear a lip and a lash. Yes, you do.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: If I'm in the top 10 or top 20, I will take it.
(LAUGHTER)
TURNER: You got my vote. I tell you.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: Well, Nischelle, also in the news, Octo-mom. What do we know about her?
TURNER: I have an interview, exclusive sit down with her tonight. She is really in a tough spot. We're talking about Nadya Suleman. On Friday, I went to her home outside of Los Angeles to see how her and her 14 children are living, and it was there she admitted to me that she and her family are actually in danger of losing their home. She says, like millions of other Americans, her home is in foreclosure and she's desperately trying to find a way to earn enough money to keep a roof over their heads.
Now, she says she's hit rock bottom and this includes receiving food stamps. So now she says any job offer out there is on the table, and I mean everything. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NADYA SULEMAN, OCTO-MOM, HAS 14 KIDS: In regard to "I will never pose nude," you know what, if the opportunity comes up I will eat my words. All that matters is I take care of my family.
TURNER: What about the porn offer, adult film?
SULEMAN: It's a job and it's a well-paying job and it will allow me to get us out of here in a very safe, huge home that they deserve, I'm going to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TURNER: Now, she maintains that she still would not do porn if it involves touching or kissing another person. If she was solo though, she said she'd definitely consider it.
Now, she did get an offer to do an adult film more than a year ago for reportedly $1 million but she turned it down then.
And, Suzanne, she actually opened up her home to us to defend herself against all those allegations that her children are being neglected. I have to say there's a lot of work to be done on her end, definitely, but what I did come away with is she does have happy, healthy kids.
MALVEAUX: Wow. OK. That's good. All right. Nischelle, nice to see you. You and I both should try to get on that "People" list next time.
(LAUGHTER)
TURNER: I was following your tweets all weekend and looked at those pictures. You had a lot of fun.
MALVEAUX: It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. Once a year you can do that kind of thing.
Thanks, Nischelle. Appreciate it.
TURNER: Yes.
MALVEAUX: For all the latest entertainment news watch "Showbiz Tonight," 11:00 eastern on HLN.
Remember Joe the Plumber? He's back, running for Congress. And he just called the president's parents Communists. We'll run through our "Political Fact Check" next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: With all the political rhetoric flying back and forth it can be tough to separate fact from fiction. We're putting some of those political claims to the test.
Bill Adair is the Washington bureau chief for the "Tampa Bay Times," editor of Politifact.com.
Good to see you, Bill.
Let's start with this one. This is on Mitt Romney's web site. Romney says, "In the Obama economy, the youth unemployment is double the unemployment rate for all Americans." How does that statement measure up?
BILL ADAIR, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF TAMPA BAY TIMES & EDITOR, POLITIFACT.COM: That one got a half true on the truth-o-meter. This is a classic political half truth, the kind of thing we see a lot at Politifact. Yes, sir, it's true, but it was also true under President Bush. We went back and looked at the numbers under Bush. It's been consistently about double since 2001. So, yes, true under Obama but that's not unique, so half true on the truth-o-meter for that one.
MALVEAUX: What about this one. President Obama says, "Under Republican economic policies, the typical American family saw their incomes fall by about 6 percent." True or false?
ADAIR: This one also gets a half true. And the reason is here he has -- he's wrong about the numbers. If you use the time frame that President Obama used in the speech, it's actually more like 3 percent. To get it to 6 percent, you have to kind of cherry pick the "begin and end" dates. And one other element of this one is whether it's fair to blame Republican policies for much bigger forces in the economy. So overall, that one, too, gets a half true.
MALVEAUX: And I remember this guy from the campaign back in 2008. He has re-emerged, Samuel Wurzelbacher. Better known as Joe the Plumber. In a letter published by the Christian Broadcasting Network, he says that President Obama's parents were Communists. What about that?
ADAIR: Politifact Ohio, our partners from the "Cleveland Plain Deader" rated that one false on the truth-o-meter. The reason is they talked to some historians who looked at Obama's family. They found there's no solid evidence that Obama's parents were Communists. The only shred of evidence that has been cited by a lot of conservative blogs has to do with a paper that President Obama's father wrote in 1965. But an expert says that's been misunderstood. So overall, that one gets a false on the truth-o-meter.
MALVEAUX: Yes. Did a doc on the Obama's family. Never found any kind of Communism in there.
Bill Adair, thank you so much. Good to see you.
ADAIR: Thanks, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Terrorists knocked them down but now there's a new tower that is rising in lower Manhattan. The Freedom Tower, minutes away from setting new heights.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: You're looking at live pictures of the lower Manhattan skyline. More than a decade after the terrorist attack brought down the twin towers and on the eve of the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death, it is One World Trade Center, also known as Freedom Tower. It is becoming New York City's largest building. Workers are installing a beam, lifting the tower to 1,271 feet. It's 21 feet higher than the Empire State Building. About 200 feet shy of Chicago's Will Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower. We're awaiting hat live event. As soon as it happens, we'll bring it to you.
And a mother takes on her child's autism by putting him on stage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Did you know that nearly one in 88 children in American has autism. That is according to a CDC study. It is a sobering statistics. Many autistic children have trouble interacting with other people, which got an Atlanta mother thinking maybe acting classes might help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Eric's and his mom, Judith Breitkopf, arrived for class.
JERRELL ANDERSON, ACTING COACH, THE GREEN ROOM ACTOR'S LOUNGE: UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a lot of team work that we're doing.
UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: But in this class, you won't see any pencils or papers.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron is one of 12 acting students with autism at the Green Room Actor's Lounge in Atlanta.
ANDERSON: So somebody show her a good way to share.
UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: With acting skits, the class teaches them how to adapt to real-life situations.
SHANNA NASH, CO-OWNER, THE GREEN ROOM ACTOR'S LOUNGE: It's a program that is acting and peer modeling and things of that nature to teach basic social skills and the appropriate social interactions that you just need to survive in this world.
UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Shanna Nash knows all too well the importance of making sure children with autism have what they need to succeed. Her son, Jason, is also autistic. When she moved here a few years ago, she couldn't find a program tailored towards helping with acting skills. So she formed a partnership with Actors for Autism, a California-based organization.
ANDERSON: It's short scripts. We take the scripts and build improves off of them. And use those to address the social skills. Like today, we're going to do taking turns.
(SHOUTING)
ANDERSON: Antonio, take the ball.
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, students, what's the correct way to play?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron's mom says he was bitten by the acting bug early. And she appreciates the classes teach him the basics.
BREITKOPF: Skills like eye contact, accepting criticism, criticism.
AARON BREITKOPF, STUDENT PARTICIPANT: Accepting consequences.
BREITKOPF: Accepting consequences. What else have you learned?
AARON BREITKOPF: Things that can hurt people's feelings.
BREITKOPF: Right. UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: The coach sees firsthand how it affects all of the students.
ANDERSON: The program is great for brining kids out of their shell. At first, a lot of the kids when they first started were hesitant to become something they weren't in themselves.
You're supposed to always let them see your face.
UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Created out of need, parents feel this class provides an environment that children can gain confidence and so much more.
ANDERSON: The stage is their magic box where they can be anything they want to be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Good for them.
The safest apartment building in the world. Residents of an East London apartment complex have gotten leaflets warning them that surface-to-air-missiles could be put on the top of their building to defend the Summer Olympics Games. There could also be 10 soldiers there for up to two months. The building is about two miles from the site of the Olympic Stadium where games are going to kick off in less than three months.
Atika Shubert is joining us from London.
Wow. I can't imagine getting a leaflet like that and hearing that news. It must be disconcerting in some ways to folks.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Definitely disconcerting, as you can imagine. Basically, they woke up over the week and found leaflets in their mailboxes saying their roof top would be made into a launch pad for missiles.
Now, to be fair, these are surface-to-air-missiles, the smaller version. And so, according to the ministry of defense, they won't make a whole lot of noise, for the most part, unless, of course, they need to be used, which is only in the case of extreme emergencies. They say it's perfectly safe. However, residents are still concerned. They're concerned with the way they were notified, with a leaflet. They feel there should be more consultation.
MALVEAUX: Atika, is there any credible threat against those folks in that apartment building?
SHUBERT: No, not at this point. This is only going to be used in the event of an aerial attack. And of course, the ministry of defense says it's very unlikely but they still have to be prepared, they say.
MALVEAUX: All right, Atika Shubert out of London.
Thank you, Atika. Good to see you. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Brooke Baldwin.
