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Spacex Docking With Space Station; Arrest In Etan Patz Mystery; When A Child Is Missing; Tallying The Votes In Egypt; "My Suffering Was Beyond Imagination"; Hurricane Bud Holds At Category 2; The Crippling Of NOLA's Newspaper; Rapid Fire Politics; Knocking the Rust Off; David Beckham Sends President Obama a Gift; Sunscreen Best and Worst; From Diplomat to Cover Boy; Facebook Stock Down Again

Aired May 25, 2012 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are initiating the capture of the dragon, standing by.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: OK, and this is history actually being made. It has been made in outer space. Just minutes ago, a private unmanned spacecraft docked with the International Space Station for the very first time.

Yes, Dragon has birthed, as they say. John Zarella is watching this for us from Miami. And it's always an amazing sight, isn't it?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, Carol, if you ever thought watching paint dry could be exciting, I mean, this was it this morning. It was methodical. It was behind schedule.

But they did everything by the book, by the letter, because they had never before captured a commercial orbiting spacecraft. And remember, both of these vehicles are traveling at 17,500 miles an hour, although it doesn't look like it there, attached to the end of the space station's robotic arm.

But just after the capture was made, Astronaut Don Petite, who performed that capture operating the robotic arm from inside the International Space Station, said we have the Dragon by the tail. How appropriate.

And now they will sit there and they will wait a while, and they may go ahead and try to birth today, but they could just leave it out there on that arm overnight because the astronauts are kind of against a timeline.

You know, their work schedule, so many hours a day that they work, et cetera, et cetera. So waiting to see what the next step is going to be. But success in space, historic, the first commercial company ever to rendezvous and birth with the International Space Station -- Carol. COSTELLO: Well, John, you continue to watch paint dry because we're going to get back to you. At least it's history-making paint drying.

ZARRELLA: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Yes. John Zarrella live in Miami.

Now to the arrest of a man in the decades-old Etan Patz case. At any time this man could walk into a New York City courtroom and answer for the disappearance of a little boy 33 years ago to the day.

His name is Pedro Hernandez. This is a picture of him on "Inside Edition." Police say Hernandez confessed to killing the 6- year-old. Etan patz vanished on his way to school.

And that mystery kick started a national discussion on missing children. But for the parents, it was a daily battle of heartache and fading hopes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. CHRIS ZIMMERMAN, NYPD MISSING PERSONS SQUAD: Mr. Patz was taken aback, a little surprised, and I would say overwhelmed to a degree. He handled the information very well, but we also agreed that we'll speak as the investigation goes further.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Susan Candiotti is following all of the latest developments. Susan, welcome. What may happen in court today?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, for the very first time certainly we'll get to see this man in court, and we will hear how prosecutors plan to charge him. It's already been flagged by the police department.

Commissioner Ray Kelly saying they expect him to be charged with second degree murder. Prosecutors are the final arbiter on that. So we'll find out whether he might enter a plea at this time. He doesn't have to. He's not obligated to.

And the judge in this particular level of court could accept a guilty plea if he made one, but he will have a chance to address the court.

Also the next step after this would be that it would likely move to a grand jury proceeding to see whether he would be indicted on this charge. So, of course, this is just the very beginning stages of this process.

COSTELLO: Susan, the headlines in the New York tabloids are just brutal. I mean, take a look at "The New York Daily News." This is the headline, "Choked, bagged, and thrown in the trash." For the parents of Etan Patz, seeing this thing, if they did see it, this has got to be tough. I mean, for 33 years, they have held out hope that Etan would come home. They have lived in the same apartment, right?

CANDIOTTI: They sure have. What a heartbreak this has been for them throughout. An emotional roller coaster they have been on. And they haven't moved from that location because, they said, just in case he might show up.

They never changed their phone number. They have the same message on their machine that they did so long ago. And even to the extent that a month ago, when they were searching that basement, they put a note up on the door saying, please, we'd like to be given our privacy.

But then later spoke with the author of a book on the investigation and told them, this is always difficult for them, the ups and the downs of all of this.

But according to police, they were surprised to hear this information when they were directly told by detectives about this. And they asked specific questions, but the authorities wouldn't share that with us. But, yes, Carol, you can imagine what this latest development means to them.

COSTELLO: It's just awful.

CANDIOTTI: And what else is interesting, Carol, remember it was this family that years ago won a civil judgment against a man by the name of Jose Ramos who is still in jail on an unrelated child molestation case.

And a civil judge found that man liable for death of Etan. So this new development is yet, you know, another shock to the system for this family.

COSTELLO: This is just an unbelievable incredible case. I want to introduce my next guest. He's all too familiar with the anguish that Etan Patz's parents have felt for the past three decades.

His name is Marc Klaas. In 1993, his daughter, Poly, was kidnapped from her California home at knife point during a slumber party. Her body was found two months later.

Marc went on to start the Klaas Kids Foundation to help stop crimes against children. He joins us now on the phone. Thank you for being here.

MARC KLAAS, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION (via telephone): Sure.

COSTELLO: The Patz family, they haven't spoken out for many years and they haven't spoke out yet today. What do you suppose they're feeling? And I can only ask you that from your own perspective. KLAAS: Sure. Before I get into that, I think we need to acknowledge the fact that today is National Missing Children's Day, which was commemorated by President Reagan based on the date that Etan disappeared back in 1979.

As far as the Patz family goes, they have to have a sense of overwhelming relief, if they believe in fact that this is the guy that actually committed the crime. As Candy said, you know, they go through this almost on a yearly basis around this anniversary.

But the fact that the police believe strongly enough in this character that they arrested him for this murder that there has to be a sense of overwhelming relief, but there's also got to be a sense of defeat.

That finally 33 years later, that very thin thread of hope that they had held onto has finally been broken.

COSTELLO: Yes. I wanted to ask you a little bit more about what happens on anniversaries. This is the 33rd anniversary of Etan Patz's disappearance.

And every anniversary, police get dozens of calls from people who say, I know who did it. So even though police say they have this guy, and you're right. There's no physical evidence tying him to the murder of Etan Patz.

Police only have his confession, as far as we know. So do you think there would be a sense of this may not be over so we don't want to speak out right now?

KLAAS: Well, sure. I mean, they have got to be very cynical. How many times have they gone through this? The little boy was declared dead in 2001, I believe. They won a civil suit against Ramos.

People pointed fingers at Ramos. We're convinced that it was Ramos then this whole business last month so it's got to be just excruciating to go through something like this.

It's just got to be absolutely awful. And it has to raise scepticism and it has to raise cynicism. Hopefully, they'll be able to get through that and be convinced that this finally has led them to the truth.

COSTELLO: Yes. Because there have been many legal experts that have come out and said, you know, New York police only have this confession and nothing else. And what if this man recants the confession? So that means this starts all over for the Patz's.

KLAAS: Well, it will never end for the Patz's, unfortunately, will it? It really won't. They have been living with this doubt for 33 years now. That's got to grind you down emotionally, so many ways.

You have to find some kind of a middle ground, but they'll never get over this. I mean, this is their lives, unfortunately. And just put yourself in the position where the best news you can hope for is that the person that killed your child will finally come forth and admit to that crime. That's a hell of a starting point, if you ask me.

COSTELLO: Yes. And the saddest part about this is they'll probably never find this little boy's body.

KLAAS: No.

COSTELLO: It's just no closure. Mark Klaas, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

KLAAS: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: History continues to unfold in Egypt, where votes are now being tallied in the country's first-ever free presidential elections.

An election official reports roughly half of the country's 50 million registered voters cast ballots in the election involving 11 candidates.

The Muslim Brotherhood is predicting its candidate, American educated engineer Mohammed Morzy, will force a runoff election with the former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik.

This morning, we want to share an extraordinary conversation with Chinese human rights activist, Chen Guangcheng. He's now in the United States starting a new life after years of the Chinese government tormenting and isolating him.

Chen spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper in his first in-depth TV interview since his dramatic escape from the home where he was being held. Just don't call it house arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN GUANGCHENG, CHINESE ACTIVIST (through translator): I want to correct one thing here. When we talk about my situation in the future, let's not use the word "house arrest."

But instead let's use the term "illegal detention." It's hard for me to describe what it was like during the time, but let's just say my suffering was beyond imagination.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "AC 360": Did you feel like there was an end to it? Did it feel like it was just going to go on and on?

GUANGCHENG: I didn't see much hope.

COOPER: You filed a class action suit on behalf of these women. Do you know that the state would arrest you? Did you know that you would get in trouble?

GUANGCHENG: It would be dishonest of me to say I had never thought of it. But I didn't imagine they would disregard the law so blatantly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Chen tells CNN that he and his wife were beaten periodically in China. They are now in New York, along with their children, so Chen can study at a New York university under a fellowship.

Traveling to a popular Mexican resort? You might want to call ahead. Hurricane Bud bearing down on the western coast of Mexico. We are tracking the storm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's 15 minutes past the hour. Checking our top stories. It's a day that's been 33 years in the making. Pedro Hernandez, the man arrested in the killing of Etan Patz, is expected to appear in a New York City courtroom where police will formally charge him with second degree murder. The 6-year-old Etan Patz vanished in 1979 while on his way to school.

An annual military tradition more than 60 years old at Arlington National Cemetery where soldiers placed American flags at the graves of more than 260,000 service members. The event known as "Flags-in" takes place every Memorial Day weekend.

If you're heading to a Mexican resort for Memorial Day weekend, we've got some not so great news. You may have a hurricane to deal with. And it's kind of early in the season, isn't it, Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Very, very early actually and to have a hurricane this strong this early is pretty much unheard of, a category 3 storm last night.

It's been downgraded somewhat, but still a very strong category 2 storm. At the end of this hour, we'll have an update from the National Hurricane Center.

But here's the latest as of this morning, winds of 110 miles per hour. You can see the satellite right here. Well defined eye, heading into slightly cooler waters and some drier air as well so it's beginning to see some weakening.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was knocked down to a category 1 storm here in the next few hours. Here's the forecast, at one point yesterday, the official forecast was to put on the brakes and to dissipate before really even made landfall.

And the new forecast has it basically making landfall later tonight as a category 1 storm already scraping the coastline with big waves and heavy rain. Obviously, it's going to be some wind with this. But the heavy rain will be the main culprit I think especially as you get up into the elevations of the mountains. Flash flooding and some mud slides certainly a potential with this.

Again, this is the strongest hurricane that we've seen in the Eastern Pacific this early in the season. Also unusual, what's going on in the Atlantic basin. Now keep in mind, June 1st is the start of hurricane season for us.

And we've already had one tropical storm. This disturbance right here, it's not very good looking here on the infrared satellite picture. But a lot of computer models are drifting it towards the coastlines of the U.S.

Now it probably won't get that strong, Carol. So we're hoping just to get some rainfall out of this, because this part of the world certainly needs it. But either way, a very active and unusual start to what has yet to become this year's hurricane season.

COSTELLO: And a lot of ruined picnics.

MARCIANO: Maybe so.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob.

If you're one of those people that you love to open up the paper, physically open it up, well, that tradition is quickly coming to an end in four southern cities. These papers are cutting back to three days a week. We'll talk about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time for "Middle Class Talk Back." A segment we kicked off two weeks ago. We wanted to give middle class Americans a chance to ask direct questions of the presidential candidates.

Today, it's Skip Becker's turn. He is from Hershey, Pennsylvania. He is a semiretired small businessman who's worried about what the future will bring for his grandchildren. This week, he had a question for Governor Romney and President Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SKIP BECKER: Governor Romney, I'd like to ask a question about trust. I don't trust the government. I don't trust our legal system. I don't trust Wall Street. I don't trust the media or the internet. I don't trust banks, and I'm afraid the middle class is beginning to lose trust in each other.

Except for government, which of the remaining items do you think we should trust first and how would you and your administration help restore that trust?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: A lot of people have the same question, Skip. So we went to both campaigns with your question. And guess what? They had the same answer.

Both camps said we'd love to help, but the question did not relate directly to the campaign because it was just too broad. Well, Skip, I didn't think so. So I decided to try to find the answer for you.

Here's what Governor Romney said in New Hampshire in January.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got to have that respect for one another in this country. And if we see it among our leaders in Washington, and if they are men and women of integrity who we elect that I think we'll have greater trust and confidence in our government to do the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: As for President Obama, he is pushing for financial reform on Wall Street, and that Dodd-Frank, the law regulating banks, will be fully enforced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The fact is, this crisis has left a huge deficit of trust between Main Street and Wall Street. And major banks that were rescued by the taxpayers have an obligation to go the extra mile in helping to close that deficit of trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Now, Skip, I know what you're going to say, because I know you. I know none of that directly answers your question. But both men are in a tight race for the president, and they tend to answer questions very carefully. But that does not mean I won't keep trying. We'll have another question next week.

We all know that New Orleans has been through a lot since Hurricane Katrina struck. Now the city's newspaper readers are taking a hit they may not recover from.

"The Times Picayune," one of the nation's oldest newspapers is cutting back to just three days a week. It joins three other southern papers owned by the paper's parent company that are also going to three-day editions.

"The Times Picayune" you may remember won a Pulitzer for public service journalism following Katrina. So let's get some perspective from media critic, Howard Kurtz. Hi, Howard.

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, CNN'S "RELIABLE SOURCES": Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: I mean, this big historic paper "The Times Picayune," you're a long time newspaperman. What goes through your mind?

KURTZ: It just breaks my heart for somebody who grew up in newspapers, and particularly for New Orleans "The Times Picayune," which did such a heroic job in continuing publish for a few days online and get the paper out after the devastation of Katrina. It really is a sad story. But what makes it even sadder for me is the fact that I don't think this is the last paper and the last city that's going to go through this. New Orleans is now the largest city in America not to have a daily newspaper. There will be more.

COSTELLO: You know, newspapers have known this was coming for a long time. They just seem to can't figure out how to make money anymore. Why is that?

KURTZ: Well, because all the action is moving online. And newspapers, some of them, have very good web sites and have extended their reach.

But the amount of money you make from online advertising is a fraction of what you make from printed ads. And so, you know, I know some people out there are probably watching, particularly younger folks, so what?

Just become a website. Who needs a paper flopping on your doorstep, that sort of thing? I guess I feel that for one thing, the economics of newspapers are such that without a vibrant print edition you can't support the newsrooms that do the kind of in-depth and investigative reporting that we are accustomed to.

Along with the announcement here of cutting back to three days a week of "The Times Picayune, they are also slashing the staff. And the second thing is there is something about holding it in your hands. You can take it on the subway.

And you see things that maybe you don't see when you're just surfing along the paper's web site.

COSTELLO: I think you have something there. We were talking about this in the newsroom. And when we read news online, we tend to skim the articles. But when you're holding a physical copy of the newspaper, you tend to read it carefully.

That's just from my personal experience. I wanted to ask you, though, about the "Wall Street Journal" and "The New York Times." "The New York Times" just started charging for content online. Is it working?

KURTZ: It's working remarkably well. I think other newspapers are eyeing the same model. Part of the problem is print circulation shrinks, as I mentioned, you don't get the revenue online. So now "The Times," which is a big influential national newspaper, is letting people read I think the first 20 articles for free and after that you have to pay some on a sliding scale.

Well, we can't give it away online forever. There has to be some kind of revenue coming in. At the same time, you don't want to drive everyone away and then you have kind of eroded your base. So "The Times" can get away with it.

The question is how many other papers can. "The Los Angeles Times" now moving to a form of a pay wall. I think in two years you'll see most papers charging something for reading the paper online.

And for people who say it's outrageous, I have to get it for free, somebody has to pay the salaries of the reporters and editors who produce this product. Otherwise, you won't have this level of journalism.

COSTELLO: That's right, Howie. People say that to me all the time. And I'm like, I don't work for free. It takes a lot of work to report. It really does. I don't think people realize that. Yes, I want to be paid for what I do.

KURTZ: Well, we spoiled everybody by giving it away for free at the beginning because we didn't really understand the internet. And I think it's coming back to bite us.

Now "The Times" is leading the way. But you know, "The Times" has a pretty affluent national audience. If you're a good regional paper in St. Louis or Boston or Miami, it may be harder to pull this off.

But I think it's the only route to survival for papers as the New Orleans case now indicates are clearly struggling.

COSTELLO: Howard Kurtz, thanks for joining us.

KURTZ: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Jon Huntsman, remember him? He didn't make primary voters swoon, but the AARP is swooning over him. They think he's really sexy. So is he the hippest dude in the conservative crowd? We'll pose that question to our buzz panel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. It's 30 minutes past the hour. Stories we're watching right now in the NEWSROOM.

Today the man arrested in the killing of Etan Patz is expected to appear in court. Thirty three years to the day the 6- year-old disappeared from his New York City neighborhood. New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says Pedro Hernandez is expected to be charged with second degree murder.

And some call it bud light. The hurricane near Mexico's southern coast has weakened, but officials are warning residents to make preparations now before Hurricane Bud's expected landfall tonight. The storm is currently a category 2 storm.

The man at the center of the General Services Administration's scandal is no longer with the agency. Jeff Neely became the poster boy for wasteful government spending in organizing that lavish Las Vegas conference. Neely was placed on administrative leave in March. Yesterday a spokesman said he's left the agency. The Justice Department could still go after Neely in a criminal investigation.

"Political Buzz" is your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions, smart answers. Playing today, Jason Johnson, he's an independent, he's a political science professor at Hiram College and chief political correspondent at Politic 365. Leaning to the right, CNN contributor Dana Loesch.

Happy Friday to you both.

JASON JOHNSON, HIRAM COLLEGE PROFESSOR, POLITIC 365 CORRESPONDENT: Happy Friday.

DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Happy Friday.

COSTELLO: You don't sound so excited about it. I am, however.

LOESCH: Happy Friday.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: OK. Let's begin with three seconds that Mitt Romney wishes he could take back. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I like being able to fire people that provide services to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Romney says that's the gaffe that makes him want to try to be more careful about what he says. The late-night comedians aren't letting him forget it, though. Jay Leno milked it again last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST, "TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Donald Trump says he would be Mitt Romney's perfect choice as a running mate. Hey, come on, they do have one thing in common. They're both famous for saying you're fired a lot. They both have people --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So has that been the biggest gaffe of Romney's campaign season? Dana?

LOESCH: I don't think so. Well, in the conversation that he was having and that speech that Romney was giving, he was talking about the ability to be able to fire people who provide to you bad service, which under this administration there are a lot of programs in place that are kind of making that difficult, i.e., Obamacare, which is what he was kind of getting to.

But now, honestly, I think kind of -- you know, the biggest misstep of the Romney campaign was when he kind of went after Rick Perry on the topic of Social Security. I thought that remained the biggest gaffe. But some of these attacks that I've seen, I mean, they're kind of rehashes of some of the primary attacks and the Ted Kennedy attacks, too, way back in the '90s.

COSTELLO: Jason?

JOHNSON: You know, I actually think his worst gaffe was saying, I don't know much about NASCAR but I have friends who own NASCAR teams. That's terrible. Not only is that offensive, I mean he could have said like Jeff Burton who's from south Boston, even if it's south Boston, Virginia. It showed that he didn't understand NASCAR. He doesn't understand his own constituency. He doesn't understand sports.

And it re-demonstrates this idea that he's this sort of this rich old patriarchal guy who doesn't understand regular people. That's the one that folks are going to remember. The $10,000 bet and, you know, having the $15 million car garage, I don't think those are nearly as bad as not understanding NASCAR as a Republican.

COSTELLO: OK. On to question number two.

(CROSSTALK)

LOESCH: -- corpsman.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: On the question number two. A government study suggests federal spending is rising at the slowest pace since the early 1950s. A market watch columnist says the Obama spending bid you hear about so much never happened. Democrats are celebrating the news. Republicans are spinning it. Regardless, can President Obama overcome the belief that he's a big government spender? Jason?

JOHNSON: I think he's got more of a problem overcoming the belief that he's doing a terrible job as president. I think the fact of the matter is, look, he's cut back on the budget. But what we've seen is one of the reasons why unemployment has stayed so high is because of cuts in government jobs on the state level.

So I think Barack Obama is fine on the issue of spending. He needs to demonstrate that he can get people back to work. He needs to demonstrate that teachers and firemen of the local level can be hired. That's his biggest concern. Not whether or not he is spinning the budget deficit. We had that issue already with that sort of party they had out in Las Vegas.

COSTELLO: Dana.

LOESCH: I'm not quite sure what facts that market watch columnist was looking at because the CBO report that I just spoke about yesterday morning actually discussed how really spending is still at an historic high, and the CBO projects that even by 2017, spending is still going to be at a historic high. So you can't really look at some of these programs that the administration was coming out with and saying that they're cutting spending.

This administration is a notorious spender. And the budget, the budget that was proposed was rejected by all of the Democrats in the Senate. There's that. We have a $15 trillion deficit that the president, again according to the Congressional Budgetary Office, added $5 trillion to. These are big spending things. That you can't spin.

COSTELLO: OK. On to question number three. What do George Clooney and the former GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman have in common?

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Yes, they are both on the AARP's list of sexiest men over 50. Huntsman was just behind Clooney. Yes, Jon "hottie" Huntsman. There's just something about that leather jacket.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Is he the hippest dude in the conservative crowd?

Dana, I pose that question to you.

LOESCH: Carol, I'm going to have to be honest, I did not know that the AARP had such a list. I mean, this is -- we're talking about the sexy people list. That's basically what this list is. Was it quite aware that it existed? But you know I have a new perspective on things now.

I mean, Jon Huntsman, he's a -- he's got nice hair. He is a nice-looking guy. I've met him. He is a very nice gentleman. I honestly don't know what to say to that.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: He has nice hair. That's a ringing endorsement, Dana. Jason?

JOHNSON: You know, my own assessment of what sexy is probably not going to be as good as either of yours.

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNSON: You know, Carol. But, you know, the fact of the matter is, there's plenty of other Republicans who are sexy. You got Aaron Schock, he was on the cover of "Men's Fitness." You know, you've got your candidate up in Massachusetts. You know, I think Herman Cain was kind of sexy. That might have been one of the things that got him in trouble. So I think there's plenty of Republicans out there who might be sexier than Jon Huntsman.

COSTELLO: That's good. That was an enjoyable question.

Jason and Dana, thanks for playing today.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

LOESCH: Thank you.

COSTELLO: First, President Obama teased David Beckham. Now the soccer star is kicking it up a notch with a special delivery to the White House. You won't believe what it is. Details ahead in today's "Showbiz Update."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: OK. Are you ready to feel a little bit old? Maybe a lot old. Thirty-five years ago today, a certain space movie hit the theaters. And earth has not been the same since.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Use the force, Luke. Let go, Luke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The force is strong with this one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Can you believe it? "Star Wars" hit theaters on this day in 1977. It's the movie that 20th Century FOX thought would be a disaster. Well, guess what? Box office mojo says the movie has taken in $1.4 billion in sales worldwide. So there.

This morning, Hollywood is trying to knock the rust off "Ironman." The movie franchise's third installment is in the works along with buzz of a new cast member.

Nischelle Turner is in Los Angeles. Spill it.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I've got a lot to spill for you, Carol. You know, Robert Downey, Jr. has proven to be Hollywood's "Iron Man" at the box office, right? But after the massive success of the first two "Iron Man" films and the recent record-breaking numbers from "The Avengers," we kind of saw this whole third movie coming.

Now, of course, every superhero movie needs a villain, and in the third installment one of the villains is a government cyborg called Firepower. Now according to "Variety" actor and former "Dancing with the Stars" contestant Ashley Hamilton is in talks to play this role.

Now previous "Iron Man" bad guys were played by Jeff Bridges and Mickey Rourke. "Iron Man 3" is going to hit theaters next May. And the co-stars will be Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Chidel, Guy Pearce, and Ben Kingsley.

Now, Carol, here's a little back story for you. Ashley Hamilton and Robert Downey, Jr. are good buddies so that may be one of the reasons why he's getting a look for this role. So if you thought Ashley Hamilton sounded kind of weird, that's probably why.

(LAUGHTER) COSTELLO: I did think it sounded kind of weird, but I didn't want to say anything.

David Beckham -- David Beckham, a present for President Obama?

TURNER: Yes. This is a good one. It's one of those stories that kind of makes you do a double take. But yes. David Beckham is sending the president, get this, some of his undies.

COSTELLO: No.

TURNER: Here's the backstory on all of this. Yes, he is. While hosting Beckham's MLS team, the L.A. Galaxy, at the White House, President Obama jokingly jabbed Beckham about his H&M underwear line saying that it's rare that a man like Beckham can be so tough on the field while also having his own line of underwear. Well, Beckham apparently really liked the gesture because he told the television show "Extra" that he appreciated the president plugging his underwear and he's, quote, "definitely going to send him a big box of it."

So Beckham is known, of course, for his impeccable fashion sense as well as his soccer playing. So President Obama could be in for a big treat when that box of underwear arrives.

Now, Carol, there's one thing missing from the story, though.

COSTELLO: What?

TURNER: We didn't get to see the still of Beckham in his underwear. They could have done us girls a solid going into the holiday weekend. Come on.

COSTELLO: Yes, what's up with that, Executive Producer Brian?

TURNER: Come on. Come on, Executive Producer Brian. Get with it.

COSTELLO: He's not answering me.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Actually, I was going to say, Michelle Obama will be more excited about the underwear than perhaps the president will be.

TURNER: There you go. There you go.

COSTELLO: Nischelle Turner -- I can't believe I'm talking about the president's underwear. Nischelle Turner, thank you very much.

TURNER: You're welcome, darling.

COSTELLO: Want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world? AJ has got it tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" at 11:00 Eastern on HLN.

Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of summer. So as you spend more time outside, which sunscreen should you use to keep your skin safe? A hint. The most expensive isn't always the best.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Forty-five minutes past the hour. This just in to CNN. We have just learned that Pedro Hernandez, the man at the center of the disappearance and murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz, is undergoing an evaluation at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan.

Hernandez is expected to be formally charged with the killing of Etan Patz. New York Police say he confessed to the crime, admitted he lured Patz to a store with the promise of a soda before killing him. Etan Patz was just 6 years old when he vanished in 1979.

This is what it looks like in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where Hurricane Bud is moving on the southwest coast. The category 2 storm is expected to make landfall tonight. Officials say it could dump up to 15 inches of rain in some areas.

Turning to Arlington National Cemetery where soldiers placed American flags at the graves of more than 260,000 service members. The tradition known as Flags In is in honor of Memorial Day. It has taken place every year since 1948.

In today's "Daily Dose", we're talking about your skin and the best way to protect it from harmful rays this holiday weekend. "Consumer Report" has released its ratings for the very best sunscreen.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with the breakdown. I'm ready.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: OK. Well, first of all, you've got to hand it to "Consumer Reports." So let me tell you how they figured this out. They took real people. Divided their backs into quadrants. Put four different sunscreens on each quadrant and then exposed them to UVA and UVB light inside and then saw what happened to their skin.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

COHEN: It is interesting. I would love to have that -- well, maybe I wouldn't love to have that job. Anyhow, so what's interesting is that their best buys, the ones that they consider the best are not really the fancy schmancy expensive ones. I mean there are products like No-Ad, Walgreens, Coppertone's, those are three that got their best buy votes.

So the key is here, money does not necessarily make a difference. And also the number doesn't make a difference. I mean anything over around 30, 35, it doesn't matter. There's no difference between a 30 and a 100. That just -- that doesn't matter. So if you go to CNN.com/empoweredpatient, you can see the press release from "Consumer Reports" that has their best buys.

COSTELLO: So just give us the top three because I am interested. Because I just bought with, you know, 100 SPF in it. COHEN: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: And you're saying it doesn't matter.

COHEN: Probably it's not really necessary.

COSTELLO: What were the top three best?

COHEN: The three best buys are No Ad with aloe and vitamin E, and Walgreens continuous spray, and Coppertone oil-free foaming.

COSTELLO: And do they have the worst, too, or they just list the best?

COHEN: They list the best and there are some that they said didn't work as well. So we're emphasizing the positive here, use the ones that they say you should buy.

COSTELLO: OK. They also have some advice on, you know, whether you should spray kids with sunscreen. Should you?

COHEN: Yes, you see this all the time. Parents spray their kids. My children went to a day care where they said we will only spray your child. We will not put lotion on your child. I think because it was quicker to do the spraying. But "Consumer Reports," and I've heard this from other people, too, say, you know what, you really shouldn't be spraying your child. There's all these particles and you don't know what they're breathing in.

And also it may not sort of cover them as well. But they recommend against spraying your children. Just, you know, lotion them up.

COSTELLO: OK. So advice taken for this Memorial Day Weekend.

Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

You'll never guess who's gracing the latest cover of "Vogue's" Italian men's magazine. Here's a hint. He's a pretty big gig. Not in fashion. Can you believe this? This guy is gracing the cover of "Vogue." Alina Cho will explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: "Vogue" magazine is known as the bible in fashion. So when Italian men's "Vogue" recently put U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki- Moon on its cover, many thought, is this some kind of joke? It turns out it is not. The question is, why?

Alina Cho spoke to the secretary general, and she joins me now to tell us what he said.

Good morning. ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning. You know, Ban Ki-Moon, fashion, not two words generally uttered in the same sentence. You know, when you think of Ban Ki-Moon, you generally think world's top diplomat, as U.N. secretary general, he travels the world, meets with presidents and prime ministers, and his mission is to keep the peace.

So when he recently posed for the pages of "Vogue," I had to wonder, why?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice-over): Lady Gaga. Uma Thurman. Nicole Kidman. Ban Ki-Moon? Wait a minute. Is that the U.N. secretary general on the cover of Italian men's "Vogue"? It is. BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: As you can see, I don't have much passion for fashion. But I have a passion for Africa.

CHO: Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has made Africa his number one priority, with the goal of saving 16 million lives by 2015. Italian men's "Vogue" devoted its entire May-June issue to rebranding Africa, which is how the U.N. SG landed on the cover. Inside, a lengthy interview and a full spread of photos, including ones with his wife and granddaughter, many of them taken at his home.

(On camera): The photo shoot was quite intense.

BAN KI-MOON: That's right.

CHO: Tell me what that was like.

BAN KI-MOON: You see, I'm not accustomed to this kind of a photo shoot. I'll interview Oprah.

CHO (voice-over): But in his words, important.

BAN KI-MOON: Magazines like "Vogue," they have a great reaching power, global reaching power.

CHO (on camera): Were you happy with the photos?

BAN KI-MOON: Yes, I'm happy. I'm very much honored.

CHO (voice-over): Secretary-General Ban is not the first dignitary to grace the cover of Italian men's "Vogue." Nelson Mandela and Al Gore have also posed for the pages. Franca Sozzani is "Vogue Italia's" editor-in-chief.

Who cares about fashion for men? It's some thing --

CHO: Sozzani says the magazine is about much more than just fashion. She interviewed the secretary general and admits she was nervous.

SOZZANI: I really prepared myself. I couldn't come and just say, hello, here is "Vogue," good quality, fantastic image, and you being on the cover, so fantastic." It's a different approach.

CHO: Secretary General Ban says he'd do it again. That cast on his left hand, a soccer injury. Yes, he plays soccer, too. He's on the road more than a week a month, and is serving out his second and final five-year term.

(On camera): And then what?

BAN KI-MOON: Retirement.

CHO (voice-over): Who knows? He could have a future in fashion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: You never know. So are we seeing a softer side of Ban Ki- Moon, Carol? Well, maybe. His spokesman says a big reason why he decided to do the interview with "Vogue" is because there's a pretty big conference in Rio next month on global advancement, and the secretary general thought this would be a great way to highlight the work that he's doing in Africa.

As for that minor fracture on his left hand, I know you're wondering about this, I asked him when he'd be back on the soccer field, and I said in a month? And he said, well, maybe two.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Alina Cho live in New York for us. Thank you.

CHO: You bet.

COSTELLO: Facebook stock, it slips again. How much? Alison Kosik will tell us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Facebook stock down again. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange. How much?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, you look at the week. OK, so Monday and Tuesday, you saw Facebook shares to drop about 20 percent. On Wednesday and Thursday, it was up about 6 percent. And guess what? It's down again.

Yes, we are seeing Facebook shares down about 3.5 percent, trading at $31.85 below that $38 IPO price that we saw on Friday.

Now the volume of trades, we are looking at that as well. The number of trades that are being made for Facebook shares. The number of trades has fallen significantly compared to the first couple of days of trading. But it's sitting at about 14 billion shares trading hands, so it's still relative high to other stock. So there is still interest in trading the stock.

But everyone is kind of treating it like a hot potato at this point because every day we come out with a new story of lawsuits, of -- you know, of brokers saying that they're going to be out money, of Morgan Stanley having issues. So it's one issue after another. And we've got this long weekend coming up. So you're seeing investors not wanting to hold on to the stock over a long holiday weekend -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange.

I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me today. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Fredricka Whitfield.