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Body Bomb Threat; Occupy Behind Demonstrations; Plot to Blow up Bridge Near Cleveland Foiled; Edwards Trial Has Ex-Aide's Wife on Stand; New Poll: Most Muslims Don't Like Bin Laden; Tsunami Debris Reaches U.S. & Canada; Homeownership at Lowest in 15 Years; Interview with David Arquette

Aired May 01, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get you up to speed. First this hour, we're covering developments on two major stories. First, on the anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden word of a new potential threat -- body bombs. A source confirms there is renewed concerns about bombs being implanted in passengers on flights bound for the U.S.

The other top story, May Day protests around the country and around the world. Here in the United States the Occupy movement is behind the demonstrations. In other countries, huge crowds taking to the streets to mark international workers day. We're going to have live reports from here as well as overseas.

One year ago, an elite team raided a compound in Pakistan, killed the most wanted man in the world, Osama bin Laden. Well today, on the anniversary of bin Laden's raid, we're learning about possible new threats, including the use of bombs implanted inside the bodies of terrorists. Susan Candiotti, she's following the story for us. Susan, explain to us what this is about.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, Suzanne. Steps are being taken to guard against a new threat involving body bombs possibly being planted inside passengers on flights headed for the U.S., this is according to a U.S. government official with knowledge of the threat. However, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security adds that DHS has no indication of any specific credible threats or plots against the U.S. tied to the one-year anniversary of bin Laden's death. Now, a source tells CNN the new information originated from overseas within the last two weeks and has been shared with various agencies and countries including the U.S. and the U.K. -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: So, how does the United States, how does TSA, deal with this? Because we've been through all of this intimate screening now. Do we think that is enough to protect ourselves from these terrorists coming through who have these bombs inside of their bodies?

CANDIOTTI: In fact, that's the question, isn't it? It's really unclear as to how much the United States, and other countries for that matter, are able to detect it using the current technology. Obviously, it takes quite a lot to implant something like this, an explosive inside someone's body, and also it would be very unstable, very difficult to keep it inside and active and be able to carry out this kind of an attack -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Do we think there are going to be extra security measures as a result of this information?

CANDIOTTI: Well, certainly they have already been doing a lot given the fact that the timing here of the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death. And of course, they would be, and I'm told they are and have been adding additional air marshals on flights, in particular those heading from overseas to the United States.

MALVEAUX: All right, Suzan Candiotti. Thank you, Suzan.

Now, to the May Day protest. It is international workers day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Hey, hey, DLA, who did you foreclose today? Hey, hey, DLA, who did you foreclose today?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Demonstrations are under way across the country as well as around the world. You're looking here, this is New York. And then San Francisco, Istanbul, Havana, Moscow and Hong Kong. The protests in American cities, they are part of the Occupy movement against corporate greed and economic inequality. It started on Wall Street, spread nationwide and organizers today, they are trying to rejuvenate this movement by joining the global demonstrations. We've got reporters live on the front lines of these protests in several cities. I want to go, first, to Poppy Harlow, she's in New York. Poppy, tell us about the turnout, what are you watching?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people -- a few hundred people here in Bryant Park, Suzanne. What we watched right after our last live shot with you at 12:00 was about half of the people that gathered here marching down to 41st Street to join a protest over immigration rights. Again, this is international workers. They've got a lot of union members here, a lot of people fighting for immigration rights.

Down here, you have people making signs saying, let freedom spring. The overall message I've heard here since about 7:00 in the morning is that the number one thing on the minds of these protesters is economic inequality and disparity. And that is an issue in the election, you're hearing more talk about politics and Washington than I did before covering this movement in Ducati Park. Another thing that I'm hearing is reaching out.

This movement, which I didn't see a lot of in the fall covering, is reaching out really to the masses, to the 99 percent, some of the people that may have been alienated from the movement but believed in the cause and some of the message. They are saying now, the members of Occupy, that we won't succeed unless we are the 100 percent. You're seeing more of a mass outreach here. They are going to leave in about an hour. At 2:00, they're going to march straight down Broadway to Union Square which is in Lower Manhattan. They are going to have a big rally thee with the union workers.

And then about 5:30 this afternoon, they are going to march down to Wall Street. We're going to march with them and follow them down, Suzanne. But you do have a much better turnout now than we had this morning when we only saw about 20 to 30 protesters. So, the weather has gotten better and it has certainly picked up here. A lot of people I talked to think this is going to determine whether or not we're going to see a resurgence to the movement.

MALVEAUX: All right, Poppy, thank you. We want to go across country now to Dan Simon in San Francisco. Dan, this was supposed to be a test for Occupy's staying power. What do you see?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're expecting to see some protests throughout the San Francisco Bay area this afternoon. There were concerns that protesters would actually try to come here to the Golden Gate Bridge where we are and actually shut down the bridge. There was a heavy police presence earlier in the day and they have all left. You can see traffic moving just fine here along the bridge.

Across the bridge in Marin County, there were some problems when workers went on strike this morning at a couple of the ferry landings. So, it did cause some problems for people trying to get over to the city, but service is expected to resume later in the day. We should note, though, there were some problems last night in the city of San Francisco in the Mission district, protesters vandalized a few businesses,. also targeted the local police station. But so far things looking good today. We'll keep an eye on things as the protests kick up -- or kick off later this afternoon -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, thank you, Dan.

Overseas, there is a big turnout in Turkey. I want to bring in our Ivan Watson, he is joining us from Istanbul. Ivan, describe for us if you will, you've got a pretty diverse group of demonstrators where you are.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. People with -- 10s of thousands of people with very diverse messages. We have everything from leftists and communist parties to labor unions, to fans of soccer teams, to gay lesbian, bisexual transgender groups, Kurdish nationalists, even, for the first time, a group that could be described as Islamic communists coming out to protest against capitalism. And then, as you can imagine, the agenda here was pretty diverse, people protesting against abuse against women, against restricting labor rights here. Against U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. And against Turkey's government as well.

For the most part, this was a peaceful and festive rally, Suzanne. And this has been a traditionally a politically tense holiday in Turkey. These types of rallies were banned in this part of Istanbul for 30 years and just made legal a couple of years ago. We didn't really see any major incidences of violence. A lot of people coming out to criticize their own government which is interesting when you look across the border to the east to Iran, and to Syria, where criticizing the government can land you in jail or much, much worse -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Ivan Watson in Istanbul. Thank you, Ivan.

Here's a rundown on some of the stories that we are covering over the next hour. First, finding organ donors on Facebook. A new push by the social networking giant could change the face of medicine and save lives.

Then, the details paint a dark picture full of lies, sex and politics. We've got the latest on the trial of John Edwards.

And a year after he was hunted down and killed in their country, we're going to hear what Pakistanis think about Osama bin Laden.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: I want to get you up to speed on top stories. On the first anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the word of another potential threat, body bombs. A source confirms there is renewed concern about bombs being implanted in passengers on flights bound for the United States. A government official says steps are being taken to guard against this threat. Also, the FBI has arrested five people accused of plotting to destroy a bridge near Cleveland. The suspects allegedly conspired to get their hands on C-4 explosives to build two bombs. Now, they're charged with conspiracy and attempting to use explosives. Agents say the explosive material was not operational, that the public was never in danger.

If you need to update your Facebook status, well now you can choose organ donor as a possible option. The status will appear with other personal information. It's in a section called wealth and health -- health and wellness. Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ZUEKERBERG, FOUNDER, FACEBOOK: Recently, you know, when the tornados came through in Missouri, a lot of people were using Facebook to organize and return items that were lost. In Japan, people were using Facebook to help locate their friends and family. So, we figured, OK, well, could we do anything that would help people solve other issues like all of the people who need organ donations --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Pretty cool. Delta Airlines getting into the fuel business now is spending $150 million to buy a refinery near Philadelphia. By making its own jet fuel, the airline hopes to save about $300 million a year. The fuel makes up about one-third of Delta's operating costs.

And a big headline out of England, today. (INAUDIBLE), Rupert Murdoch, is not fit to run his own company. That is the harsh assessment coming from British lawmakers. They are investigating the phone hacking at Murdoch's now defunct news of the world tabloid.

Listen to how one member of parliament describes Murdoch's role in the scandal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM WATSON, BRITISH PARLIAMENT: Everybody in the world knows who is responsible for the wrong doing of News Corp, Rupert Murdoch. More than any individual alive, he is to blame.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Would you want to see a plane crash from inside the cabin as it happens? Well, A T.V. crew, they wanted to and intentionally crashed a passenger jet in the desert. No one was hurt, of course. The pilot ejected minutes before the impact and crash dummies were belted in as passengers. Producers say, the series will explore questions how to make plane crashes more survivable. The episode is set to air later this year on The Discovery Channel.

A wife says, she agreed to live with a lie to help a friend who was running for president. That friend was John Edwards who is now being tried on federal corruption charges. Cheri Young, she is back on the witness stand today. Her husband, Andrew, is a former Edwards campaign Ed -- aide rather. And yesterday, she says it was Edwards himself who told her that using donations to pay his mistress's expenses was completely legal. Diane Dimond is a special correspondent with "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast," and she is covering the trial from inside the courtroom in Greensboro, North Carolina. Diane, good to see you as always with the inside scoop here. We know that Cheri Young is being cross-examined today. How is she doing? How is she holding up there? And are they picking her apart?

DIANE DIMOND, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, "NEWSWEEK" AND "THE DAILY BEAST": You know, among the Press Corps (ph), words like moxie and spunky have come up to describe her testimony. She is this little tiny woman that every other woman feels fat standing next to, you know? But she is so full of dare I say spunk? There are -- there were three main things so far. Allen Duncan is the defense attorney at this point in the game, and he tried to get her to say that she really doesn't have a lot of firsthand knowledge about what has happened here, that she got most of her information from her husband and of course the defense has already tried to smear his character. They continued in that vein through Cheri Young and some of her past statements. Sorry, there is something very loud going by me here. He brought up the fact that during an interview with the FBI and other occasions, Cheri Young had talked about how her husband drank a lot, in the time period of 2006-2007, when this so called cover-up was taking place.

In addition to that, he got her to admit that he also, he, Andrew Young, also takes Ambien to go to sleep and that he gets kind of loopy when he takes it. They were trying, of course, to show that maybe his memory was not so good once he was drinking so much and taking Ambien, which, of course, you're not supposed to do. At one point Cheri Young said, you know, I had to swallow a lot of things during this time period. And Duncan jumped right on that. He's a southern gentleman, but he didn't let that pass. He said to her, all those things you had to swallow, didn't it cause you to want to take down John Edwards and, boy, she sat forward in her seat and she said, quote, "sir, that is a completely false statement. I am here to tell the truth about my experiences and what happened. This has been a third of my life okay. I'm learning from my own mistakes. There is no hatred. I cannot live like that, sir," unquote.

MALVEAUX: And, Diane, did she also talk about the money that they made as a couple from their dealings with John Edwards, and even a possible movie or book deal that's coming out of all of this?

DIMOND: That was another big point. A lot of the testimony centered on how much money they got from Bunny Mellon and Fred Baron, two of the biggest Edwards supporters, what they did with it. And then the money they made from the book. How much did you make? Well, she said, I don't really know. Mr. Duncan brought forward a royalty check for $244,000. And that was just one of the checks they got.

Then they brought up the whole issue of having a movie. And he said, don't you hope to make significant money from that, significant income? She looked around. She said, income? For me? Yes, I'll take income. That would be good. And everybody in the place laughed, including the jury.

They do seem to be a little bit disengaged today. Juror number 10 has a very bad cold and he's sitting with a handkerchief over his face for most of the day. Juror number two is the most expressive. He's a financial consultant I notice from the jury questionnaire. And when Mr. Duncan started the cross-examination, they brought up one, two, three, four huge boxes of files and that juror looked over and he smiled and, like, oh, boy, here we go, the paper trail. So the cross- examination continues after lunch.

MALVEAUX: Dimond, do we think that they are doing a good job at punching holes in their testimony, in their character here when you look at Cheri and you look at Andrew, or do people seem to be supporting them? Do they still seem like they're credible as a couple?

DIMOND: They seem very much in love as a couple. Both of them talked on the witness stand about their deep love for each other in spite of all the travails that they've had.

Do I think that they're believable? Well, Cheri Young especially brings a real human element to this courtroom. She's like your next door neighbor. You'd lean across the fence and, you know, talk to and gossip with. She speaks very plainly, but very firmly at times. And, you know, there's just no - there's nothing like just being a plain old folksy person to get across to a jury, especially in a place like Greensboro, North Carolina.

Her husband one day especially had a lot of, I don't know, I don't recall, I don't recollect, I don't remember. That never sits well with a jury. But Cheri Young, I do get the impression that she's a real person that was struggling mightily to keep her family together during this really tough time. She often talks about the cover-up and the fact that the senator did not come clean so we had to write the book. MALVEAUX: Yes, I mean, it's so fascinating to realize that these two, their involvement in all of this. And, you know, I mean how a wife is able to actually agree to allow the mistress to come in and the husband to claim paternity and all of that.

DIMOND: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Who's next? Who's next on the stand here? Do we know?

DIMOND: Well, we don't know. We don't get -- we do know that she'll be on the stand the rest of the day. That was just announced, that the cross will take at least that long. Oh, you want me to guess, don't you?

MALVEAUX: Sure. Guess. You're pretty good at guessing.

DIMOND: I'll tell you, there have been guesses that Rielle Hunter might be next. I don't think so. I think it will probably be Bunny Mellon's go between person. A man named Bryan Huffman. He's the one to whom she wrote checks and then he sent the checks on to the Youngs.

I could be wrong though. Maybe it is Rielle Hunter. I'll tell you one thing. The judge has ordered a new little test in the courtroom and it's with an audio system that can be put into an overflow room because she's expecting a big crowd. So maybe Rielle Hunter. I don't know.

MALVEAUX: Could be.

DIMOND: Ah, you know.

MALVEAUX: I mean reading the tea leaves there, it could be. It could be a sign of that.

Well, Diane, as always, thank you. We're going to get back to you and certainly find out if there's anything else from the courtroom later today and certainly tomorrow.

Thanks, Diane, good to see you.

He was the face of evil for a decade, and not just for Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll remember him as a terrorist, you know, just as he was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will always associate him with --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We're going to hear more from people in Pakistan about what they thought about Osama bin Laden.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: Today is the first anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden. And Navy SEALs shot and killed the al Qaeda leader in his compound in Pakistan. Well, a new poll shows that no love loss for bin Laden in the Muslim world today. Only 13 percent of people in Pakistan have a favorable view of bin Laden, 55 percent have an unfavorable view, and 31 percent have no opinion at all. Reza Sayah, he has set up an open mic in Islamabad to hear first-hand what people think of bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been a year since the death of Osama bin Laden and Pakistan is still criticized for being the country where the most wanted man in the world managed to hide for nearly a decade. It's no surprise many Pakistanis have strong opinions about one of the most notorious men in history. This segment of open mic, we hit the streets of Islamabad with this question -- how will you remember Osama bin Laden?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it rolling?

SAYAH: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi mom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Osama bin Laden was a terrorist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll remember him as a terrorist, you know, just as he was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will always associate him with the war on terror.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He should not be remembered.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't have anything -- any positive feeling about him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to remember him. Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would remember him as a freedom fighter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a freedom fighter maybe he was. But other than that, he was just a nobody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the case of Afghanistan, I believe a foreign country, you know, they invaded a land. In my opinion, aggression was committed on that land. And those people who were trying to retaliate, I see them as freedom fighters, including Osama bin Laden. That's my personal feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All those people who are saying him as a freedom fighter were wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What he did (p) was right or jihad of any kind I believe it wasn't right at all. His views (ph) weren't. And I wouldn't agree with him. Not now. Not in 10 years or 15 years or whenever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did we know him? We never knew him. We got to know him because of America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. foreign policy that they need to sort that out. That's my opinion. They've created a lot of mess around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: If you want to hear more comments from Pakistanis about Osama bin Laden from the open mic, go to cnn.com.

And remember these chilling images of the tsunami that devastated Japan. Well, ever wonder where all that stuff ended up? We're going to get a look at a Harley-Davidson motorcycle just washed up on the beach in Canada.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown of some of the stories that we are working on next.

Devastating reminders of the Japanese tsunami washing up in Canada and the U.S.

Then, despite all the deals, why more and more Americans are renting instead of buying.

And later, he's an actor who loves children's art. And he's on a mission to save it. We'll talk to David Arquette about raising creative kids.

It has taken 13 months, but the debris from last year's tsunami in Japan is now reaching the shores of Alaska, Hawaii, and the West Coast, as well as Canada. That is a journey of thousands of miles. Chad Myers is joining us from Atlanta.

Wow, Chad, so according to the Japanese government, they estimate 70 percent of the debris sank after the tsunami.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

MALVEAUX: What do we think is going to wash up?

MYERS: Just still millions of tons of stuff that's still out there. And literally the lives of the people that were lost.

There is Japan. A very long trip around the eddies and the currents. Things that were above water, like that boat, like that fishing vessel that they sank a couple of weeks ago, that were above water and getting pushed by wind moved a little bit quicker. But now things that are just kind of floating in the water, just moving along are now washing up in Canada and eventually across the western portions here of the U.S. Let me show you the latest. A box. I mean literally a cargo box really. Like what you might see on the back of a truck. Inside that box was a Harley Davidson motorcycle. There you go. That's kind of the part right there, that white part you see, that'd go on top of the cab. There is the motorcycle that had floated now all the way across the Pacific. We know it was Japanese because of that -- look at the license plate. Japanese writing on the plate. And now officials are looking to see if they can find out whether the person that owns that plate is still alive.

Obviously, they have found no soccer balls. They found other things in this that they can't believe it floated all the way. It should have just gone down to the bottom of the ocean. But there is so much other stuff out there that will eventually float onto the shores of U.S. and Canada, up into Alaska and even to Hawaii as it makes a big circle there in the north part of the Pacific.

You have to understand, the Pacific Ocean is almost half of the world. Get a globe. Show your kids what the Pacific Ocean looks like. It almost covers the entire western half of the U.S. all the way -- you hardly see land. That's how far this has traveled and there is so much more to come on shore.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Chad, you can't help but see those pictures -- when you mentioned the soccer ball, something like that -- thinking of the people. It's rather emotional if you see something like that, it arrives on your shore, that the lives that were lost during all of this. What do we know about these kinds of artifacts of people's lives? Are they safe? Radioactive? What do we know?

MYERS: Technically, there is not much radiation in these articles that are coming across. The cesium 131 has a half life of eight days. It's gone. I did find a study just produced, it was about a couple of weeks ago, did find cesium 131 in some of the kelp off California. That was a year ago. In the eight days half life it eradicated that. It's all gone. But we don't know what happened to some of the fish that ate some of that cesium 131 or that iodine 131, whatever it might be. There is still a lot out there that we don't know yet.

MALVEAUX: How long do we expect this is going to be washing up?

MYERS: Oh, for decades, literally.

MALVEAUX: Is there any -- might sound strange -- will there be any remnants of those who passed away, any human remains at all that would be washed up along with some of these items?

MYERS: That's really a hard thing to even for me to talk about because it's happened before. What -- you can go on line and you can search this. Shoes wash up, tennis shoes that float, with people's bottom of their legs, their feet still inside those tennis shoes. We haven't seen anything yet from this tsunami but it's happened before as they landed in the Canadian shores before.

MALVEAUX: So tragic. MYERS: It's something you can't think about.

MALVEAUX: Thank you so much, Chad.

MYERS: Yes.

MALVEAUX: The market flooded with some amazing deals right now, so why is homeownership at a 15-year low? What it means for the value of your house. That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Owning a home might be cheaper than in a while but low prices, they aren't enticing buyers. Homeownership for Americans at its lowest point in 15 years.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.

Alison, are we becoming essentially a nation of renters?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't think we're getting that far over sort of that pendulum swinging that far. Most people own homes but that number of people who own homes is falling and it's falling fast. That homeownership rate you mentioned, in the first three months this year, fell to about 65 percent, so that's the lowest level in 15 years. And that rate could slip more.

It's noteworthy because this could be a prime time to buy a house because loans and houses are pretty cheap right now, considering. Mortgage rates are close to record lows. Home prices are at their lowest since 2002. It means owning is cheaper than renting in many places. So it's a buyer's market. Just not everybody is looking to buy right now -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: How much is from the housing bust, the recession?

KOSIK: There is a huge link with that. What's happening with housing right now has really everything to do with the recession. Most economists will tell that you the housing market is still depressed. And it doesn't help that accessing credit, getting credit is still really tough because lending standards are much tighter now. And those no-money-down loans, where you didn't have to put down money, those are a thing of the past.

Also, people aren't in a rush to buy these days because these housing prices actually are falling more. Many people wait for a bottom before they think they can get the best price they can.

Also, you have to remember there is a weak job market. People don't buy if they don't feel confident that they are going to keep their job or they don't have the confidence in the economy. That's not there in a strong way -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Any idea who is buying homes now?

KOSIK: You can look at a breakdown by race. When you look at the breakdown, you could have whites and a group that includes Asians and native Hawaiians and Alaskans -- has had the highest rate above 50 percent. Homeownership for Hispanics and blacks, the rate is lower because housing is tied to the job market, as I said. Blacks and Hispanics have higher unemployment rates. They are at more than 10 percent so it makes it harder for them to buy homes -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Everybody trying to chase the American dream, own a home, and it's difficult right now.

KOSIK: It is.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Alison. Appreciate it.

KOSIK: Sure.

MALVEAUX: It's not just about Elmer's Glue, finger paints. It is about raising creative kids. I'm going to talk to actor, David Arquette, about his passion, saving school art programs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: This weekend I bumped into this guy, David Arquette, director, producer, actor and, of course, recently on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." He's joining us live from Los Angeles to talk about his innovative nonprofit nonpartisan group, called the Creative Coalition. And it's about fighting for more arts in our schools.

David, great to see you again. Thanks for joining us.

You and I talked about this. I know --

(CROSSTALK)

DAVID ARQUETTE, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, ACTOR: Good to see you.

MALVEAUX: Good to see you. I know this is one of your passions. Tell us why this is important to you, the role of arts in schools.

ARQUETTE: Well, arts is our second-largest export in America. And we're just trying to inspire people. I'm here with the Creative Coalition, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that supports the arts and entertainment community. And there's been studies that have shown that kids that are exposed to the arts have more of a chance of graduating high school, going on to college.

You know, the arts help drive $166 billion of revenue for America and employs five million people, and with an additional three million people in the distribution and creation of art. So, it's just a really important topic.

You know, in America we may not be the country that can produce the most and compete with China, for instance, but we can come up with the creative ideas, the new inspiration. Everything that goes into an iPad, everything that fills up a Wal-Mart -- that's furniture and clothing -- all of that has design elements, and that comes from the creative mind. MALVEAUX: How do people do something about this? You've got these budgets, and all these school systems are totally squeezed and they look to the arts programs and they are often the first ones that are canceled. What can folks do?

ARQUETTE: Well, they can speak out. They can express how important it is to them. The creativecoalition.org has started a program called the Arts Corps where 50 members are going to go to their individual hometowns and express to the superintendent of the school, the mayor of the town, the politicians, the parents, that how important art is. And how important -- see, I'm doing a travel show right now for the Travel Channel. And I've been going around the world.

One thing I noticed is that America is winning in the cultural war, in the arts war. You know, we are innovators. We come up with new ideas. We create these businesses that generate billions of dollars for our country. It's really important to give people inspiration.

For me, I was running around town, a graffiti artist, kind of like a little lost.

(LAUGHTER)

And I got directed into the arts, into doing plays, into doing fine art with beautiful teachers that inspired me to then go on and seek a career in the arts.

MALVEAUX: Hey, David, what do you think would have happened to you if you had not been actually directed in that direction where you were still doing graffiti art. You think you would have remained lost? What do you think would have happened to you?

ARQUETTE: Well, I mean, teachers are so important. And I would love to see them, you know, have more funding and focus. Part of what we're trying to do is inspire people not to cut the National Endowment for the Arts. In the current budget Obama has 1$154 million set aside for it. That's an $8 million increase from last year. And even though that doesn't seem like a lot, it is an increase. And anybody sort of in Congress or the House of Representatives and the Senate don't want to increase the budget at all. We're just trying to inspire them and tell them that it is an aspect of our economy. It's the second-largest export.

MALVEAUX: You have clearly done your home work on this subject. The last that a lot of us saw you here was "Dancing with the Stars," and a lot of folks want to know what is next for you? What's your next big gig?

ARQUETTE: I've got a show coming out on the Travel Channel. That should come out in the fall. I have "Cougar Town" that I'm executive producing with my production company and my ex, Courtney Cox. That's on tonight on ABC.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: Wow. OK. A little shameless plug. What is that like?

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: Tell us what that's like to work with your ex-wife.

ARQUETTE: It's incredible. You know, what it does is -- we work really well together and she's incredibly talented but what we also do is employ a lot of people. And that's sort of the halo effect with the entertainment industry in general. You know, you help support dry-cleaners and lumberyards and transportation and, you know, hotels, restaurants. With the Internet, as big as it is and, you know, video games, and all of this requires design and technology. And technology is really the creation of art. That's sort of what we're saying and trying to get out there. Really express to people that it's so important. It saved my life.

MALVEAUX: Wow. Well, that's a very powerful message.

David, thank you so much for being with us.

I can't let you go because I know there are a couple of people on my team want to know if you are dating or what your status is. I can't let you go before you answer that.

(LAUGHTER)

ARQUETTE: Oh, my god. I'm dating a lovely girl named Christina McLarty.

MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you for answering that. And happy birthday early birthday to your 8 year old daughter, Coco (ph). I know her birthday is coming up soon.

Thank you very much, David. Appreciate it.

ARQUETTE: Thank you very much.

MALVEAUX: Next time you get on Facebook to update your status, you know, single, in a relationship, you can choose "organ donor" as an option. Find out why this is so significant to the donor community.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A new study finds a commonly used pesticide affects some child brain development. The chemical was a household pesticide until the EPA phased it out 10 years ago. But it's still being used commercially on crops. The Columbia University study looked at 40 children, 6 to 11, all were given MRI scans. Those who had higher- than-normal exposure to the chemical had either too much or too little growth in the areas of the brain associated with attention, emotion, behavior, even I.Q. A spokesman for Dow, the company that makes the chemical, questioned the small size of that study group.

Facebook now added a new status update to your world. It is "organ donor." (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ZUCKERBERG, FOUNDER, FACEBOOK: Recently, when the tornadoes came through in Missouri, a lot of people were using Facebook to organize and return items that were lost. In Japan, people were using Facebook to help locate their friends and family. So we figured, OK, could we do anything that would help people solve other types of issues like all the people who need organ donations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Elizabeth Cohan is joining us.

Elizabeth, this seems like a cool idea that -- this is an issue that affects so many people. What do we know about the community? What do we know about it, the medical community?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The medical community is definitely excited about this because more than 114,000 people in the country are waiting for or an organ. The wait can be so long. 100 million people die every day waiting for organs -- or 100 million are on the registry. 18 people die every day waiting for an organ. And those are terrible numbers.

And sadly, there are plenty of people who die and those organs are buried with them when those donors could be on the donor list.

The experts don't say now that this is on Facebook, we're not going to have a shortage anymore and we'll be fine. But they really hope this helps bring those numbers down.

MALVEAUX: You could put organ donor on your time line but it doesn't officially put you on the list? Is that right?

COHEN: Right. You have to do something else. You put it on your time line and then that will bring you to a web site where you can actually go and register. You have to put your name down and give information. It doesn't just happen by putting it on your time line. You click on your state and it's very easy.

The second thing that you don't absolutely have to do but that you should do is tell your next of kin because, god forbid, you're in a car accident, they see your organ donor card, there's a good chance they'll still ask your next of kin if it's OK to take your organs. So make sure your next of kin know that you want to be an organ donor. Hopefully, they're your Facebook friends and they already know.

MALVEAUX: Is there a sense of why more people don't register to become organ donors?

COHEN: I'm going to tell you a story that Art Caplan told me. He was in line to get a refuel for his license in Pennsylvania and he told the woman at the DMV, I want to be an organ donor. And she said are you sure, because if you go to the hospital, they might kill you early basically so they can get your organs. That's a terrible thing to have said. It's not true but some people feel they'll push you over the edge so they can have your organs. That's so not true. If you do die and they can use your organ, you will save seven lives. That's an amazing thing. So that's the reason to sign your organ donor card.

MALVEAUX: Wow, seven lives?

COHEN: Seven lives between your pancreas and heart and kidneys, et cetera, your lungs. And you can save even more if you're donating cartilage. You can save someone's sight if you're donating corneas. We can be useful after our death.

MALVEAUX: That's amazing.

Elizabeth, thank you so much.

COHEN: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: Yesterday we told you about a six month old girl with a rare incurable genetic disorder. Her parents made a bucket list, a list of things to do before her death. It went viral online with more than a million views. On the list, wake up smiling, eat a cupcake, play with play dough. We're sad to report that little Avery has passed away. One of her lungs collapsed and she went into cardiac arrest. Her father made the bucket list to draw attention to her disorder, spinal muscular atrophy, type one. They want to encourage couples to get tested and find out whether they're carriers of the gene. You can find out more about the disease and Avery's fight by going to her family's web site, averycan.blogs.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: With the violence escalating in parts of Mexico and the number of security firms is also glowing. And a big part of their business is showing you how to defend yourself.

Our Rafael Romo signed up to find out first hand just how to do it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An armed robbery in broad daylight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

ROMO: But in a fraction of a second that assailant is subdued. It's a mock exercise, part of a training drill for bodyguards at a Mexican security firm.

VICTOR HUGO ARGUIRRE, OWNER, VIP PROTECTION & FORMER MEXICAN ARMY OFFICER: You have to watch, hands and eyes, hands and alls, all the time.

ROMO: Victor Hugo Arguirre, a former officer in the Mexican army with training and intelligence, tactics and weapons, nine years ago, opened the VIP Protection, a firm that provides security for foreign executives and high-profile clients.

ARGUIRRE: They say, OK, we need security. I need bodyguards. I need guards in my home. I need technology for my car. I need security in my home.

ROMO: Helping meet that need in Mexico are firms like Arguirre's. He says the number of security firms tripled to more than 500 as violence increased exponentially in the last few years.

(on camera): Now we'll demonstrate a situation in which I'm a politician at a public event and all of a sudden I'm attacked.

Let's do it.

(SHOUTING)

ROMO: And in this scenario, I'm an armed criminal about to commit a robbery.

Give me your money.

ARGUIRRE: Take it easy. I'm cooperating. Take my wallet. (INAUDIBLE)

ROMO: That was fast.

(voice-over): Arguirre's company even offers different kinds of armored vehicles.

JIM DA SILVA, VIP PROTECTION: We're looking at a 2010 level-5 security anti-ballistic suburban.

ROMO (on camera): I was noticing that the windows glass is extremely thick.

DA SILVA: It is thick. It is also level 5. It's resistant to a .45 caliber weapon to a hand grenade and anything below that.

ROMO (voice-over): With clients with higher security needs, they offer vehicles equipped with a panic buttons. One activated, a panic button sends an alarm signal to a command center in Mexico City and teams are dispatched.

ROUL SANDOVAL, VIP PROTECTION: You just have to press for three seconds and they will be sent a signal with the center, the command center.

ROMO: Also available, reinforced concrete barriers resistant to .45 caliber weapons and even a grenade blast. Of course, not all scenarios are life threatening. It may be an unwelcome handshake.

ARGUIRRE: I'm going to push.

ROMO: Rafael Romo, CNN -- ARGUIRRE: Keep down.

ROMO (on camera): Owe! Owe!

(voice-over): -- Mexico City.

(on camera): Owe!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: CNN NEWSROOM continues with Brooke Baldwin.

Hey, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Suzanne. Thank you so much.