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Al Qaeda Could Have Slipped Through Security; Police Beat Homeless Man; Sex, Lies and Campaign Cash; China Media Crackdown; Obama Speaks in New York; Linda Evans, Linda Gray Team Up for Meals on Wheels

Aired May 08, 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.

A personal political issue of same-sex marriage is on the ballot in North Carolina today. Amendment one would change the state constitution to say, quote, "Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state."

Former president Bill Clinton recorded robo calls opposing it. Billy Graham took out ads urging support.

And U.S. experts trying to determine if the latest Al Qaeda bomb could have slipped through airport security. The device contained no metal and showed a new level of sophistication. Well, it was seized by the CIA after a tip from the Saudis. Apparently, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had dispatch add suicide bomber from Yemen. He was meant to board a flight to the United States with that device under his clothes. Now, authorities believe Ibrahim Hassan Al Aseery was behind the plot. He was also behind the so-called underwear bombing attempt on Christmas 2009.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: The plot itself indicates that these terrorists keep trying. They keep trying to device more terrible ways to kill innocent people. And it's a reminder as to why we have to remain vigilant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: This is something that is pretty disturbing. This is a homeless man. He is yelling, pleading for help as he's kicked, punched, repeatedly tasered by police officers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (INAUDIBLE.)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Well, that man died last July, five days after the beating. Well now, one of the Fullerton, California officers is charged with second-degree murder and man slaughter. Another is charged with manslaughter and excessive force. Both have pleaded not guilty. The judge is deciding whether or not there is enough evidence for them to be tried.

New developments minutes ago in the search for a kidnapping suspect in the two young girls. Well, the suspect's wife and mother are under arrest on especially aggravated kidnapping charges. The situation so desperate because of the bodies of the girls' mother and older sister were found in a shallow grave at a home linked to this man, Adam Mayes. Police think he abducted the Tennessee mother and her three girls. He is still out there somewhere.

Evidence is sobering. Al Qaeda operatives were becoming better at building bombs designed to slip past airport security. And it's perhaps the most alarming thing that we are learning from the latest Al Qaeda plot. The new device contained non-metallic explosive. It was similar to the underwear bomb plot, right, aboard a plane heading to Detroit, Christmas 2009. But a malfunction prevented that bomb from being detonated.

Well, this latest plot was foiled two weeks ago in the Middle East. It was also intended for a flight coming into the United States. Now, authorities say that the plan attacks bear the hallmarks of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. I want to bring in CNN National Contributor Fran Townsend. She's joining us via Skype, a member of both the CIA and Homeland Security external advisory committees. So Fran, first of all, should we be worried about looking at this kind of bomb and others like it that they are not going to be detected in the airports?

FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL CONTRIBUTOR (via Skype): Well Suzanne, of course it's worrying because we're all familiar going through metal detectors. But there are other kinds of devices, there's the back scatter and the millimeter wave detention, those are the ones people had real concerns about initially but those are just the kinds of ones that will find an anomaly, something that is on your person that shouldn't be there. We also have hand -- there's this layered approach to aviation security that includes people looking for certain behaviors. You are screened coming through.

You know, there's also the swipe test that is in some airports that is done randomly. All of these layers provide us with some level of confidence that one of them will catch you. The problem with this is, as you've pointed out, Suzanne, the greater level of sophistication. This is a virtually odorless -- if it's the same sort of explosive, PETN (ph) that was used, say, by the underwear bomber, it is virtually an odorless, very high explosive, not much is required. And if they've gotten the detonation device correctly this time, you know, he could have got -- they could have gotten lucky.

MALVEAUX: Is the TSA ready to handle this? I mean, do we have the kind of equipment necessary if this bomb had actually made it on a plane, on that suicide bomber? Would it just have simply gone undetected and gone off?

TOWNSEND: Suzanne, that's exactly the right question. And I feel some degree of confidence now knowing that the FBI has probably got the best bomb analysis and forensics lab in the world. And this bomb is now at the FBI's bomb facility where they are analyzing it. And they'll be able to -- basically by reverse engineering and looking at how it was built, how it was constructed and what the detonation element is, they'll be able to determine whether or not we are -- have an appropriate array of security screening going through or whether we need to, you know, bump that up, whether we need something different.

MALVEAUX: Do we know anything about this suicide bomber? Is he alive? Is he dead? Do we know where he might be?

TOWNSEND: It's interesting, a senior administration official said to me last night, he is no longer a threat. And other sources have been saying the same thing. Now, that, of course, says to you he is either dead or in custody. And then overnight, we learned that he is -- he is alive. So presumably, the bomber is in the custody of either the United States or more likely one of our foreign partners.

MALVEAUX: What do you suppose they are looking from him? What kind of information do they need from that guy?

TOWNSEND: Well, you want to -- first -- your very first question to him is, was there only one bomb constructed or were there others? And if the answer is there were others, because of course we know Al Qaeda is known for these multiple simultaneous attacks, it's unlikely they made just one. And so, what you want -- what you hope to get from him first and foremost is, were there others, who was carrying them, what flights and where were they headed?

MALVEAUX: Is that the kind of information that is easy to obtain?

TOWNSEND: No, it's not, frankly. And if Al Qaeda were smart of course each individual only knows about himself. He can't identify, you don't let him have that information in case he gets caught. But I mean, that's what you -- that's what you're looking for from him, whether or not he knows any of this?

MALVEAUX: Do we know if he is a part of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula? Is that a group that he is a member of? And is that a strong terrorist organization that poses a threat to us now?

TOWNSEND: Al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula is certainly the most operationally capable. That's the language that John Brennan used this morning during his interviews, and I think that's right. We don't know whether or not this individual is a member , but if it's emanating out of the Aseery cell, he's the bomb maker, as you mentioned earlier, who is responsible for the underpants bomb. If it's coming out of that cell, it is likely that this is emanating from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and, of course, the people, our allies that work most closely against that group are the Saudi intelligence who provided the tip.

MALVEAUX: The United States -- is the Obama administration satisfied with the help they are getting from the Saudis? TOWNSEND: Oh, I think -- you know, they are the ones who gave us, literally, the air bill invoice number for the cargo planes. We wouldn't have found those -- the cargo plane bombs without them. They work very closely. And prince Mohamed Benia was almost assassinated by one of the series bombs. And so, I think in this instance, they have been extremely satisfied with the cooperation they're getting, but I think the Saudis weren't alone in their help for us. It's clear that also the Brits were helpful and perhaps the (INAUDIBLE.)

MALVEAUX: All right, Fran Townsend. Thank you very much, I appreciate it.

U.S. lawmakers, they're talking about this new Al Qaeda plot today. And House Homeland Security Chairman, Peter King, tells CNN the Al Qaeda operation shows what he is quoting as a new level of sophistication within this terrorist organization.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER KING, CHAIRMAN, HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY: Al Qaeda and its affiliates can metastasize and morph. And they are constantly adapting. They are constantly trying to catch up. Whenever it appears we have them boxed in, they find a new method. They find a -- they are very able scientists, doctors working for them. These are very sophisticated people. They never stop and that's why it's so wrong when people in the national arena somehow say the war on terrorism is over or Al Qaeda is defeated. Now, certain parts of Al Qaeda have been knocked back. On the other hand, just when you get to one place, they start somewhere else. This is a very sophisticated deadly organization and they have one goal in mind, and that's destroy western civilization, particularly the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Here is a rundown on some of the stories we are covering the next hour. An attorney for a billionaire takes the stand in the John Edwards trial. Also, China's crackdown on foreign journalists. A major news organization has to pull out of Beijing. And time running out on how to find two children. Police believe they have been kidnapped by their mother's killer. Looking at the latest on the man hunt.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Former financial advisor, John Edwards, he's the latest witness to testify at Edwards' corruption trial in North Carolina. I want to bring in Diane Dimond. She's a special correspondent for "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast."

Diane, good to see you as always, bringing us the inside, inside that courtroom there. So, we are talking about former financial adviser, Eileen Mansaras (ph) who was on the stand when the trial broke for lunch?

DIANE DIMOND, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, "NEWSWEEK" AND "THE DAILY BEAST": Yes. MALVEAUX: What is her role?

DIMOND: Yes. Well, she was on the stand for a short time. I'm not sure what the there is going to be there, you know what I mean? She was explaining how she -- when she met John Edwards, when she went to work for him. She began to volunteer for him in 2003, she did say a couple of interesting things, one, that she was with John Edwards when he would pick up the phone and start doing his own fundraising calls. She was asked was he good at it? And she said, oh, yes, he was good at it. That he knew campaign law, what the rules and restrictions were, and, that he had a cadre of the very prolific donors known as the trial bar, the trial attorneys -- the trial attorneys in America behind him. And that was used to get him on the ticket with John Kerry because wherever he went the money would come.

MALVEAUX: So Diane, why is it important for them to show that John Edwards was good at raising money and getting money from folks? What's -- what is behind that?

DIMOND: You know, we have not -- I think everybody needs to realize we've only seen the prosecution case so far. The defense, however, in cross and in their opening made it sort of clear that John Edwards was the candidate, you know, he stood back from what was happening. Of course, he knew that there was money coming in but he removed himself from that. It's testimony like Eileen Mansaras (ph) that puts him smack in the middle of it.

MALVEAUX: Is there also testimony -- I understand Tim Tobin was one of the people who was before the stand. What is his role in this?

DIMOND: Yes, he was very interesting. And I'll tell you, the defense, I think, scored some very big points in their cross- examination. Tim Tobin is the very good friend and the close confidante of Andrew Young when Andrew Young was on the road, on the run with the pregnant Rielle Hunter. This is the man I wrote about in "The Daily Beast" who at 4:00 one morning in December of 2006, spirited them all the way to the airport so they could go on the run, the Youngs and this very visibly pregnant woman who he didn't know who she was.

But today on cross-examination, the defense attorney, Allison Van Laningham, that's hard to say, scored some big points asking him about his collaboration with Andrew Young and how hostile he was to the Senator. And he said, no, I was very disappointed by the senator because I was a supporter, but I'm not hostile, I'm not bitter, I just feel like I was let down.

Well, she then brought out -- I counted at least 19 or 20 of the e-mails that he and Andrew Young had exchanged. And in these e-mails these two men called John Edwards all sorts of names, some of them I cannot tell you on the air. But things like a skeeze (ph), a pathetic little man, an evil little what was it -- a sick and evil bastard. He called Elizabeth Edwards a bitch. When he was asked about that, he said, yes, I am embarrassed to say yes, I did call her that. So, I think it did go to his credibility a bit. And his -- MALVEAUX: Diane, I want to ask you -- sorry about that truck there. I want to ask you real quickly here. All of that language, rather harsh language, obviously a lot of emotion. People feel betrayed, they are angry, they are upset. How are the jurors reacting to that when they heard that kind of language coming from folks on the witness stand?

DIMOND: There is an African-American woman, juror number three, who sits in the front. And I saw her sort of visibly stiffen a little bit, especially at the characterization of the now deceased Elizabeth Edwards.

I saw them really lean forward when the defense attorney revealed that this man, Tim Toben, had gone on, left Edwards' support and gone to the Obama administration. He had dinner with an Obama operative in North Carolina, specifically to say, to tell him what he knew. He said, I know that "The National Enquirer" doesn't always get it right, but I think they got it right this time. And I've just come from a dinner with John Edwards and he's talking about being your vice president. I'm just telling you, you ought to take care in the vetting process because I think this stuff is true about this affair and this baby.

MALVEAUX: Wow. So you had an Edwards insider --

DIMOND: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Who essentially was having dinner with the Obama folks saying, look, heads up on this guy, we don't think he should be your running mate?

DIMOND: Right. Exactly. And he was questioned about that. And sort of had no apologies. He said look, you know, I wanted a Democrat in the White House. I did not want to chance it. I had some information. It was public information. I just wanted to make sure -- I'm paraphrasing him now --

MALVEAUX: Sure.

DIMOND: I just wanted to make sure that everybody believed what they were reading because I knew it to be true.

One more thing. It was revealed that the last e-mail that Andrew Young -- the last e-mail that was shown here between Andrew Young and Tim Toben was mocking Senator Edwards for going to Haiti to help the earthquake victims. And there was a very juicy exchange between the two men saying, well, this is bull blank. All he needs now is a cape. And he was asked, well, don't you think it's a nice thing to go and help Haitian refugees? And he said, yes, I do. My brother Steve works for a foundation that's in Haiti every day all year around.

MALVEAUX: Right.

DIMOND: Given the time that he did it, to go in and wave a flag, I thought it was disingenuous. And the time frame there, Suzanne, was just as the book, Andrew Young's book "The Politician," was being released to the public.

MALVEAUX: I find this also fascinating, Diane, when you think about this, the fact that you had an Edwards insider giving the Obama campaign a heads up. And you know during the time when I was covering the Obama campaign, they were looking at Edwards very seriously and he was really -- he was trying very, very hard to win their favor, saying, look, you know, I'm going to talk about poverty and all these other things and hand you all these supporters here.

Final question to you. Rielle Hunter, what do we know about her? Where is she now? How's it going with her?

DIMOND: That is the $64,000 question, Suzanne. I'll tell you, I don't know. And nobody knows. And nobody's talking. It is my feeling that the federal prosecutors here will not call Rielle Hunter. Why should they? She is the defense's problem. She is the elephant in the room so to speak. They've had a very good sort of clean case here. And she's very, very unpredictable. I think they're ready, willing and able to let the defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, take on Rielle Hunter. And they just do the cross examination.

MALVEAUX: All right. Diane Dimond, great as always. Thank you. Really appreciate it. Good to see you.

The Chinese are cracking down on foreign journalists. We're going to show you what's going on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The media wars is intensifying in China. The government has kicked out al Jazeera's English reporter. Now this comes amid growing international outrage over Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng. He is the blind activist who was fighting to stop forced abortions and sterilizations in this country. Our Stan Grant reports that China is now taking stronger action to control the media coverage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ever get the feeling you're being watched?

GRANT (on camera): We're here to interview this man. But while our camera is set up -- there's a camera here and a camera here -- the small one here to watch us.

GRANT (voice-over): Sima Pingbang is a foot soldier in a propaganda war. A blogger who runs his own website speaking for those who see America as the enemy. Now he's taking aim at blind activist Chen Guangcheng.

"Local people say he's an American agent and a traitor," he says, adding, "I don't think he deserves the political symbolism others are giving him."

In an editorial for the communist party "Mouthpiece Global Times," he labels Chen a pawn. A trump in U.S. political games. China appears to be ramping up a smear campaign against the blind activist as he waits for a passport and visa to leave for the U.S.

But as it unleashes its state-controlled media --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I.D. card.

GRANT (on camera): OK. Yes.

GRANT (voice-over): It's also accused of trying to stifle foreign press. Journalists are being locked out of the Beijing hospital where Chen has been holed up for nearly a week. He was brought here from his refuge at the U.S. embassy after escaping house arrest. Reporters are being warned by Chinese authorities not to enter the hospital or risk having their visas revoked.

Al Jazeera English reporter Melissa Chan has been kicked out of the country. Her credentials not renewed. While not believed to be directly related to the coverage of the Chen case, media groups say this is another indication of China's hard line stance against sensitive reporting. Her network is giving no reason for the expulsion. China's foreign ministry spokesman saying journalists must abide by the country's rules, while defending China's treatment of reporters.

"We have always provided a convenient environment for foreign journalists to report in China," he says. "This is a fact for all to see and you can all feel it."

Blogger Sima Pingbang certainly wanted us to feel it today. And with three cameras pointed at us, it was there for all to see.

Stan Grant, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: The intense manhunt is underway for a man who police believe to be a killer and a kidnapper of these two children. The bodies of their mother and sister have been found. We're going to go deeper into this story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: President Obama now visiting a high tech campus in New York. The president is speaking at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. It's part of the State University of New York in Albany. The president is pushing Congress to support his plan for jobs and economic growth. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And, most importantly, give your kids a chance to do even better than you did. And that's something we believe has to be available to everybody, no matter where you come from, no matter what you look like. We can make a difference. And if this break or make moment for America's middle class, there's no excuse for inaction. There's no excuse for dragging our feet. None. Now, over the last few years, there are certain steps that I've been able to take on my own to help spur the kind of innovation that we're seeing here and also to help the overall economy grow. So we announced a new policy several months back that will help families refinance their mortgages. Save up to thousands of dollars a year. We sped up loans and competitive grants for new projects all across the country so thousands of construction workers can get back on the job. We simplified the student loan process to help roughly 5.8 million students, like the students here, save money on repayments.

So these are some steps that the administration has been able to take on its own. But the truth is, the only way we can accelerate the job creation that takes place on a scale that is needed, is bold action from Congress. Because of the Recovery Act, because all of the work we've done, we created over 4 million jobs over the last two years. We created hundreds of thousands of jobs each month over the last several months. So we're making progress, but everybody knows we need to do more. And in order to do that, we're going to need some more action from Congress.

Democrats and Republicans have to come together. And they have shown that they can do it. I mean they did some important work. They passed tax cuts for workers, approved trade deals to open up new markets for American products, we reformed our patent system to make it easier for innovative ideas to come to market. Those are all good things. But the size of the challenges we face requires us to do more.

So back last September, I sent Congress a jobs bill. It included all sorts of policies that we knew would help grow our economy and put more Americans back to work. That wasn't just my opinion, that wasn't just the opinion of Democrats, it was the opinion of independent, nonpartisan experts. Economists who do this for a living and analysts on Wall Street who evaluate what's going to really make the economy grow. The one big piece that we were able to get done was make sure that we didn't see payroll taxes go up and people get $40 taken out of their paychecks each time.

But most of it didn't get done in Congress. Just about every time we put these policies up for a vote, the Republicans in Congress got together and said no. They said no to putting hundreds of thousands of construction workers back on the job repairing our roads and our bridges and our schools and our transit systems, no to a new tax cut for businesses that hire new workers, no to putting more teachers back in our classrooms, more cops back on the beat, more firefighters back to work. And this is at a time when we know one of the biggest drags on our economy has been layoffs by state and local governments. That's true across the country.

And it's worth noting -- by the way, this is just a little aside -- after there was a recession under Ronald Reagan, government employment went way up. It went up after the recessions under the first George Bush and the second George Bush. So each time there was a recession, with a Republican president, compensated -- we compensated by making sure that government didn't see a drastic reduction in employment. The only time government employment has gone down during a recession has been under me. So I make that point -- (APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I make that point just so you don't buy into this whole bloated government argument that you are hearing. And, frankly, if Congress said yes to helping states put teachers back to work, and put the economy before our politics, then tens of thousands of more teachers in New York would have a job right now. That is a fact. That would mean not only a lower unemployment rate but also more customers for businesses.

Now, I know this is an election year. But it's not an excuse for inaction. Six months is plenty of time for Democrats and Republicans to get together and do the right thing, taking steps that will spur additional job creation right now. Just saying no to ideas that we know will help our economy isn't an option. There is too much at stake. We've all got to pull in the same direction.

So even if Republicans are still saying no to some of the bigger proposals we made in the Jobs Act, there are some additional ideas that could help people get to work right now and that they haven't said no to yet, so I'm hoping they say yes. They are simple ideas. They're the kinds of things in the past that have been supported by Democrats and Republicans. These are traditional ideas that had bipartisan support. They won't have as big of an impact as rebuilding our infrastructure or helping states hire back teachers but, together, all of these ideas will do two things, grow the economy faster, create more jobs.

So today I'm announcing a handy little to-do list that we put together for Congress. You can see it for yourselves at Whitehouse.gov. It's about the size of a Post-It note. So every member of Congress should have time to read it. They can glance at it every so often.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Hopefully, we'll be checking off the list. Just like when Michelle gives me a list, I check it off.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Each of the ideas on this list will help accelerate our economy and put people back to work, not in November, not in next year but right now.

I'm going to go through the list. First, Congress needs to help the millions of American who is have worked hard, made their mortgage payments on time, but still have been unable to refinance their mortgages with these historically low rates. This would make a huge difference for the economy.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Families could save thousands of dollars. And that means they got more money in their pocket, which means they can either build their equity back up on their homes or use that money to do things like helping their kids finance a college education. So Congress should give those responsible homeowners a chance to refinance at a lower rate. We estimate they would save at least $3,000. So that's on our to-do list. It's not complicated.

Second --

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Second, if Congress fails to act soon, clean energy companies will see their taxes go up and they could be forced to lay off employees. In fact, we're already hearing from folks who produce wind turbines, solar panels, a lot of this green energy that they are getting worried because there is uncertainty out there. Congress hasn't renewed some of the tax breaks that are so important to this industry. And since I know that the other side in Congress have promised they will never raise taxes as long as they live, this is a good time to keep that promise when it comes to businesses are helping us break our dependence on foreign oil.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: So we should extend these tax breaks. That's on the to- do list. That's number two.

Number three, Congress should help small business owners by giving them a tax break for hiring more workers and paying them higher wages.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We -- we believe --

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: -- small businesses are the engine of economic growth in this country, we should not hold them to a situation where they may end up having to pay higher taxes just by hiring more workers. We should make it easier for them to succeed. That's on our to-do list. That's number three.

Number four, Congress should help our veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, find a good job once they come home.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Our men and women in uniform have served this country with such honor and distinction. A lot of them come from Upstate New York. Now it's our turn to serve them. So we should create a veterans job corps that helps them find work as cops, firefighters, employees at our national parks. That's on our to-do list.

Then the last item, the fifth item, which bears especially on what's going on here, the last item on our congressional to-do list is something that will help a lot of you in particular. You know better than anybody that technology has advanced by leaps and bounds over the last few decades. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

OBAMA: And that's a great thing. Businesses are more productive. Consumers are getting better products for less. But technology has also made a lot of jobs obsolete. Factories where people once thought they would retire suddenly left town. Jobs that provided a decent living got shipped overseas. The result has been a lot of pain for a lot of communities and families. There is a silver lining in all of this. After years of undercutting the competition, now it's getting more expensive to do business in places like China. Wages are going up. Shipping costs are going up. Meanwhile, American workers are getting more efficient. Companies located here are becoming more and more competitive. So for a lot of businesses, it's now starting to make sense to bring jobs home.

(END LIVE FEED)

MALVEAUX: President Obama talking about his to-do list for Congress. But back in Washington, a Senate smack-down in the fight over student loan rates. Just moments ago, Republicans blocked a bill to extend the 3.4 percent rate that's in effect now. Rates are set to double next month. Both parties want to extend these lower rates but don't agree how to pay for it. They have to come up with some kind of agreement. Today's vote, largely symbolic.

Back in the 80s, it was all about big hair and shoulder pads and those nasty fights for the stars of "Dallas" and "Dynasty." We'll meet two of the biggest actresses from these shows and hear why they are on Capitol Hill today fighting for a cause that is close to their heart.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Apple is the most valuable tech company and a staple on the Fortune 50 list. It revolutionized the way we play with devices such as the iPad and iPhone.

After the passing of CEO Steve Jobs last year, Tim Cook took the helm. Cook joined Apple in 1998 after Jobs personally sought him out.

A fitness enthusiast, Cook has been known to quote cyclist, Lance Armstrong, in Apple meetings. He also serves on the board of Nike.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: They played rich women on the hit shows "Dallas" and "Dynasty." Now Linda Gray and Linda Evans are fighting for the poor and elderly on Capitol Hill.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Back in the 80s, prime-time soap operas "Dallas" and "Dynasty," -- remember them, full of big hair, should pads, fights, back-stabbing. Who could forget "Dynasty's" Crystal and "Dallas'" Sue Ellen? They became two of the most iconic characters of the decade. Today, the actresses who played those characters, Linda Evans and Linda Gray, they are on Capitol Hill and they're showing their support for a Meals for Mom campaign being run by the Meals on Wheels Association. More than 7.5 million seniors now facing the threat of hunger. And senior women are most at risk here.

They join us from Washington.

Good to see you both. You both look absolutely beautiful, just as I remember watching both of your shows there.

Forgive me if I call you Crystal and Sue Ellen.

(LAUGHTER)

It's nice to see you.

LINDA EVANS, ACTRESS: We're used to it. Thank you very much.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. Give me a sense of why you took up this cause here. What drove you to get involved with Meals for Moms?

Let's start with Linda Evans first.

EVANS: I'm the new kid on the block, but I'll tell you something. They got in contact with me. They wanted a recipe from a book that I had written, and I said, who are these guys? And when I found out who they are and what they did, I was compelled by my heart. There was no way I couldn't be here. I am a senior. I'm 69. The fact that these women are fed, you know, one meal a day for lunch, not on weekends, I said we have to do something about this.

Linda, now, she's been here for a while. She can tell you.

MALVEAUX: Yes, Linda. You've done it for much longer now. Tell us what you see and who you talk to and what the situation is for a lot of these older women.

LINDA GRAY, ACTRESS: Well, I'm a senior also. A little older than this one, my younger sister here.

(LAUGHTER)

And I'm a mother and a grandmother. When I heard that 8.3 million Americans are hungry, it was kind of staggering to me. More than staggering. I had been to developing countries and fed children in different countries. And when I found out our own country has 8.3 million people hungry -- so our CEO invite immediate to Richmond, Virginia, and I went into the Meals on Wheels kitchen, green kitchen, amazing people. Then I went into the packaging room, packaged everything, threw it in the van and went to meet these people. I sat on their couches, their stoops, and heard their stories. And I realized programs perhaps I was the only person they had seen that entire day, the only person to listen to them and hear what they had to say. And they are homebound. They can't cook and they rely on Meals on Wheels. For me, it was nourishment for my soul. For them, nourishment of heart and soul and spirit. And you don't -- you don't walk away from that. You go in and say look, this is happening in America, and we have to do something about it. So that's what we're doing.

MALVEAUX: That's such a poetic way of putting it.

Miss Evans, talk about what are you doing on the Hill there. What are you hoping to accomplish by bringing attention to this?

EVANS: Well, awareness. When I heard the facts, I had to do something about it. We're hoping that we can get this out to America, that perhaps they'll listen to us tell the story about how this is going to affect every single one of us. One in seven seniors is going to have this problem. And there are a lot of us around right now. We want to get the word out so we can stop this horrible cycle of millions of people being hungry every day.

MALVEAUX: Are you talking to members of Congress or are there specific things that either one of you would like people to do?

GRAY: I had a meeting with my congressman this morning, Senator McKeon from California. He was very -- he was -- he listened. He was very supportive, very open to the fact that, yes, he knows about it. And there's a Meals on Wheels in his district so I think if we get those people -- I said to him, I'd like to see world hunger ended like everybody else, but he said it's like taking an elephant in the room and how are you going to eat an elephant, one bite at a time. That's what we're hoping to do is take one little bite, send awareness to everybody listening, and hope they will pay attention to the seniors in their community.

MALVEAUX: Does it surprise either one of you, who have grown up working and who look so beautiful and who had such wonderful and, in some ways, glamorous lives, to know there are older women who are suffering the way suffering the way they are in this country?

EVANS: Yes, it's stunning. It's shocking. And we're hoping that everybody else will have the same feeling about it. And if they can't donate anything to them, that they can volunteer. I mean, a lot of the people who volunteer are seniors. And there are families, whole families that deliver meals. There are so many things that people can do. It isn't just about money.

GRAY: It's not about Republican or Democrat. Here in Washington. It's about humanity.

MALVEAUX: And I can't let you go without asking both of you, what's next for you? Do you have projects on the big screen?

EVANS: She's got a big project.

You tell them what you're doing.

GRAY: "Dallas" is coming back June 13.

MALVEAUX: Oh. Oh. Really?

GRAY: Oh, you bet. You bet. We're coming back. TNT, June 13th, 9:00.

MALVEAUX: Sue Ellen returns? Yes?

GRAY: Wait till you se what she's up to. Yes, and everybody else. It's quite spectacular. So don't miss it.

MALVEAUX: Ms. Evans, do have anything -- is "Dynasty" returning as well?

EVANS: Well, I don't know. I guess we're going to watch.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm certain this is going to be something.

I just did a book called "Recipes for Life," where I had my memories for life and recipes, because food is one of my passions for life, which is one of the reasons I though, my god, here's all these people struggling for just a meal a day. So I'm now interested in this, in this project, Meals for Wheels (ph).

MALVEAUX: It's so nice to see you both. And really, I mean, it's -- it really is just like going back in time. You both look beautiful. I appreciate your time.

EVANS: Thank you.

GRAY: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: And obviously, it's a good cause. So thanks again for joining us.

EVANS: Thank you.

GRAY: Thank you for having us.

MALVEAUX: Thank you.

Every child is perfect in their mother's eyes, right? Well, that could be a dangerous problem, however, in the fight against childhood obesity. We're going to tell you why.

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MALVEAUX: We've been looking at the growing rate of obesity in the United States. A new study puts some of the blame on mothers. Researchers found 70 percent of mothers misjudge their toddler's baby size. When it came to mothers of overweight children, nine out of 10 mothers thought they were in the normal range. Doctors say baby fat might be cute, but too much increases a child's risk of being overweight. Only mothers were part of the study. Fathers were not included. U.S. experts are trying to determine if the latest al Qaeda bomb could have slipped through airport security. The device contained no metal and showed a new level of sophistication. It was seized by the CIA after a tip from the Saudis. Apparently, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had dispatched a suicide bomber from Yemen. He was meant to board a flight to the United States with the device under his clothes. Authorities believe that Ibrahim Hassan Alasiri was behind the plot. He was also behind the so-called underwear bombing attempt at Christmas back in 2009.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: The plot itself indicates these terrorists keep trying. They keep trying to devise more and more perverse and terrible ways to kill innocent people. And it's a reminder as to why we have to remain vigilant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Clinton-Biden ticket in 2016? Or would it be a Biden- Clinton ticket? The vice president joked over the weekend about teaming up with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. Clinton sat down for an interview and was asked about teaming up with Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: We've been friends for a long time. And, you know, we've been on the same team. We've been on the same team in the Senate. We're on the same team now for President Obama. And no matter what I do in the future, I would love to have Joe be on my team. He's a great and effective person who cares deeply about our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Secretary Clinton was also asked about what some of her calling her more relaxed image. Here's what she said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I feel so relieved to be at the stage I'm at in my life right now, Jill. Because, you know, if I want to wear my glasses, I'm wearing my glasses. If I, you know, want to pull my hair back, I'm pulling my hair back. At some point, it's not -- it's just not deserves a whole lot of time and attention. If others want to worry about it, I'll let them do the worrying for a change.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: It doesn't drive you crazy?

CLINTON: It doesn't drive me crazy at all. It's not something that I think is that important anymore.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: Good for her. She's not just pulling her hair back, she's also letting her hair down, as we saw in some of those pictures from Colombia.

CNN NEWSROOM is continuing in a few minutes with Brooke Baldwin.

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