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Family Searches for Casey Kasem; Nigerian Girls Avoid School; Nigerian Girls Avoid School, Terror Threat; Kids Hurt as Bounce House Takes Flight; National 9/11 Museum Opens Tomorrow

Aired May 14, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The family of radio legend Casey Kasem is filing a missing persons report as they desperately try to find out where he is. This heartbreaking fight is being playing out in court between the Kasem family and Kasem's current wife. Now, the long-time "American Bandstand" host and voice of Shaggy in "Scooby Doo" suffers from a form of dementia and after a visit from his family last week, Kasem was moved to an unknown location, possibly by his wife, which could actually be out of the country. No one knows. Kasem's daughter and their attorney spoke to Bill Weir last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRI KASEM, DAUGHTER OF CASEY KASEM: We had a heads up, actually, from one of Jean's family members that said, hey, I overheard a conversation that possibly Jean is trying to get him out of the country, onto an Indian reservation first and then out of the country from there. So we kind of had a heads up. We weren't sure where he was and we weren't sure if that was accurate. So when we did hear it from her attorney that he was already out of the country, it was -- it was shocking.

BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How is his health? When's the last time you saw him and is he -- can he communicate? Is he lucid?

JULIE KASEM, DAUGHTER OF CASEY KASEM: So, let's see, last time we saw him was last Tuesday when Kerri's, one of her attorneys was able to get us into see him at the facility where he was staying. And so we spent like a wonderful few hours with him there. And I don't want to speak specifically to his health, but, I mean, as it's been said, he does have Lewy body dementia and so his communication is obviously limited.

That being said, he knows who we are. He was able to respond appropriately to simple questions or simple things we said to him. And it was very clear he was able to smile. He was able to say "I love you." When we told him, we'll be back, dad, we'll be back, he looked at us and said "when?," which was heartbreaking.

Anyway, so, you know, it's -- there's so much more meaningful communication we can have with him. We want him back. He knows that we're his children and he knows how much we love him and he feeds off that love and we feed off his love and we want him back.

WEIR: So what happens next? I understand there is -- the judge ordered an investigation, protective services, to try to figure out where your dad went?

K. KASEM: That's right. You know, we have adult protective services looking for him. We've got the court-appointed PDP attorney looking for him. You know, and, Troy, talk a little bit about -- because I don't know much legal jargon, but we have -- I am - I have been appointed temporary conservator, but we need the paperwork to go through to file a missing persons report.

WEIR: So that's --

TROY MARTIN, ATTORNEY FOR KERRI KASEM: Well, basically, we've been having a little - we've been having a little problem with the authorities and solidifying what Kerri's role is, what her obligations are, what her authority is. We couldn't get that until we had the order, which we just got signed by the judge today.

WEIR: Right. So a little red tape.

MARTIN: Even though he stated in court that it was -- exactly. So now that we have the order, it was signed today, we will be taking those steps with the appropriate authorities to make sure that we can get Mr. Kasem back here safely.

WEIR: And Kerri, Julie, do you -- where do you think he is? What about this Indian reservation? Do you think he could be out of the country?

K. KASEM: It's possible. We don't -- it's possible he is still in the country. And this is why we're doing so many interviews. This is why. I mean, we want as many people to, you know, be on the lookout for our dad. If you see him, if you know his whereabouts, if you hear anything about him, please, call the police. You know, we want to stop her from moving. You know, we think she's moved him quite a few times. And this is terrible for his health. A man in his condition should not continually be moved. And especially with Lewy body disease, he's confused, he can - you know, he's probably very afraid and he's not getting proper medical care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joining me now, Bill Weir and CNN legal analyst Paul Callan.

Welcome to both of you.

Bill, I'll start with you. What do you think this is about? Is it just a hateful family feud? Is it about money? What's it about?

WEIR: It's so interesting, Carol. It is a - you know, they portray their stepmother as an evil stepmother in the most drastic terms. It goes back to -- we all remember Casey Kasem, "American Top 40," even the voice of Scooby Doo. And in 1980 he married Jean, who was sort of a bid (ph) actress. You might remember -- fans of "Cheers" will remember her as Loretta Tortelli, sort of the bubble-headed statuesque blonde. They got married in 1980. And according to the kids from his first marriage, as you just saw Kerri and Julie, she wanted nothing to do with them from the very start. They've had, they say, three conversations in 25 years with their stepmother. She would have visitations where armed guards were there observing their visits and their interactions. That softened in recent times.

Now, the step kids, their families, are fine on their own. They're doctors and lawyers. They say they don't need their father's tens of millions. His net worth is estimated -- I've seen figures up to $80 million based on all his syndication deals.

COSTELLO: Wow.

WEIR: But it is really heartbreaking. And you've got to think that at some point they tried to sort of plead to their father, she's cutting us out of your lives, and he must have been complicit in some way, but now that he is virtually incapacitated, Jean, his current wife, has all the power and that's evident in her taking him out (ph).

COSTELLO: Yes. And I wanted to ask that question of Paul. But, first, this Indian reservation thing. That is so weird. Why would they -- why would someone bring Casey Kasem to an Indian reservation?

WEIR: The only hint they got, and they heard this from Jean's nephew, was that they were looking for a place with a private air strip. So if they could get him there first, then have a private jet come in and spirit him away with less scrutiny than at a major or a municipal airport.

COSTELLO: So weird.

OK, so, Paul Callan, doesn't the wife trump the kids?

COSTELLO: Well, normally she does. And I've got to say, you know, as tragic as this case is, and as sad as this case looks to be, being cut off from his children this way, she's been married to him for 34 years. And I understand they have a -- they have a child by the second marriage.

This is a scene that plays out in a lot of courtrooms across America. As people get older and they have second wives and second families and there's a battle for the affection and control, essentially, of the estate of, you know, elderly people. And we're seeing it close up here.

What's very surprising, I think, Carol, in this case, is that the theory is that the judge really granted this order, giving the children this conservatorship. They made an allegation that this is elder abuse by the first wife. Now what's the elder abuse? Not cutting off medical treatment, but denying him the right to meet with his blood children. That that's a form of elder abuse. And it's an interesting theory, and there may be some legitimacy to it. Obviously, the judge thought yes.

COSTELLO: Well -- WEIR: And the girls - the girls actually said that the reason that first judge granted Jean the power was that she had two days to clean him up and put on a good face for protective services. And then as he got ill, they thought it was Parkinson's initially. As he got ill, they actually - the stepchildren and Jean agreed that he couldn't care for himself, and so in 2007 they signed an order that would allow -- give the kids some say. But they now claim that in 2011, once he was too ill to understand what was going on, she changed it, Paul. So I don't know legally how they might be able to challenge that.

COSTELLO: Yes. Well, we'll continually watch this case. Thanks to both of you for your insight. I sure appreciate it. Bill Weir, Paul Callan.

I'm back in a minute.

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COSTELLO: New this morning in the search for Nigeria's kidnapped school girls.

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COSTELLO: Officials say 77 of the girls in this video released by the terror group, Boko Haram, are now identified as the school girls snatched in last month's raid on their boarding school. But some parents tell CNN that the tape includes girls who were kidnapped as much as two years earlier. It's all part of the mission by the Islamism militant group to forbid the education of girls. And sadly, their ruthlessness is scaring away a generation of girls. CNN's Nima Elbagir has this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A burned out dormitory, broken windows, what's left of the Chibok girls' secondary school, where a month ago the students' dreams were stolen, along with hundreds of girls abducted from their beds.

ELBAGIR (on camera): If the attack hadn't happened, right here is where now the girls would have been taking their school (INAUDIBLE) exams. This school, these exams were supposed to be the gateway for them into a bright new future that would take them beyond the boundaries of Chibok and out of the shadow of Boko Haram. For many of these girls now, even the thought of such a future is pretty much incomprehensible.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): Educating girls is a sin in the eyes of Boko Haram, the terror group claiming responsibility for this devastation. For one of the girls lucky enough to escape her abductors, it's a message she's received loud and clear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it's in Chibok, I will never go again.

ELBAGIR (on camera): You'll never go back to school?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. ELBAGIR: Because they made you afraid?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ELBAGIR: What did you want to be?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doctor.

ELBAGIR: You wanted to be a doctor?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): Now that seems far out of reach.

Daniel Muvia and his family fled into the bush the night of the attack -- luckily, all together and all safe. But what he witnessed that night still has him shaken. This area has been under siege for years.

DANIEL MUVIA, CHIBOK RESIDENT: Fear is all over. Fear is everywhere. Presently what we are seeing that has happened to our girls here now, for those that are kept and those that are yet to be taken to school. Now there is a big question mark over every parent on what to do about the lives of our children when we take them to school. Because no one is -- no one can afford losing a daughter.

ELBAGIR (voice over): But he's not giving up hope completely. He prays a day will come when his daughters will be free to pursue their futures.

(on camera): What do you want your daughters to be when they grow up?

MUVIA: Things like lawyers, doctors, engineers. Because when I see one of these people doing their jobs, I have all of the hope that I want my children to be like them.

ELBAGIR: You have high hopes for them.

MUVIA: Very high hope for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That's just heartbreaking. Nima Elbagir traveled to that tense rural area to talk with the parents. She joins us now from Nigeria's capital. You know -- you know the great thing would be if somehow Nigeria was to provide protection for these schools so that these girls could feel safe. But apparently they're unable to do that? Or unwilling?

ELBAGIR: Probably a combination. It's a really difficult territory. It's very -- it's very out there in terms of trying to penetrate that bush, trying to move people. And you become -- unless you move very large numbers of troops and very quickly, your own people are exposed. And some of the stories we were hearing from the villages, when they fled, the police that were supposed to be guarding them, the army that was supposed to be guarding that village, fled with them. So how do you then stop people when this terror descends in the night from trying to protect their lives, not the people they're supposed to be guarding?

This was one of the last schools in that region that was still open. That's the tragedy of this. So many secondary schools in the Nigerian northern (inaudible) are closed. And this is one of the few places people were still willing to risk their lives, their daughters' lives, the teachers, the matron, everybody had come together in such an incredible act of courage. And now that's gone.

And the next school, the next time people want to try and do this, there is a message there. And I wouldn't blame them if they decided this wasn't worth the risk -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Great reporting. Nima Elbagir thank you so much. If you would like to help girls worldwide trying to overcome barriers to education, go to our Web site. The address, CNN.com/impact.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: This is a really scary story. Two little boys are in the hospital after strong winds sent their backyard bouncy house soaring 50 feet into the air. Witnesses say the inflatable play area whipped around before those kids, a five and six-year-old boys, fell out of the house. They fell nearly 20 feet.

Rosa Flores joins us now with more on this story. That's just crazy.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh I know Carol. You look at those pictures and it's difficult to believe that it's real. But indeed it is real and unfortunately for these two kids, it is real.

So here's what we know. We talked to police. And they tell us that yesterday about 3:20 there were these two boys, a five years old and six years old and they were playing inside that bouncy house.

Now police say that this little bouncy house was anchored to the ground but there was a gust of wind. It was sudden. It lifted that bouncy house into the air and unfortunately it lifted those two boys as well.

Now here is what we know. Here's what they tell us. They say that the five-year-old fell near the apartment building parking lot. And the six-year-old was found on the street. But -- but hear this. The bouncy house was 15 to 20 feet up in the air and so both of these boys were transported to the hospital with serious injuries.

We talked to witnesses and here's what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR SEYMOUR, WITNESS: He hit his head off the back of my car and then landed right where that little spot is and then the bouncy house just kept going and cleared my apartment and the trees. STEPHANIE HANSEN, NEIGHBOR: Anything that could have been done wrong wasn't. Everything was done properly. And that's the only thing that I can say positively. That nothing was done wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: And that was from our affiliate WRGB. Now we did get a statement from Little Tikes the maker of that little bouncy house. And here's what they said "Providing safe and wholesome play experiences is of utmost importance to little Tikes. We are looking into what happened in South Glen Falls yesterday. In the meantime our thoughts and prayers are with the children and their families."

Now Carol here's the other thing that we did, we looked online to find the instruction manual for Little Tikes. And I do have to tell you that in the safety warnings it does say and I'm going to quote here "Do not set up in windy or rainy conditions. Sudden gusts of wind may lift the product off the ground."

And we should also mention that police do say that this was a sudden gust of wind and not that it was windy yesterday but just to point out that it is in those instructions.

COSTELLO: Right. Still I would take a bouncy house indoors. Thank you very much. Rosa Flores, reporting.

FLORES: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Nearly 13 years after the attack that changed American life forever, the museum at Ground Zero is about to open. That will happen tomorrow. President Obama and the First Lady will be on hand for the dedication of the National September 11th Memorial Museum. It's going to be opened privately for six days so the families of the victims, first responders and those directly affected by the attacks can see it before the public does.

Kate Bolduan is following the story in New York. Good morning, Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes as you mentioned, the long-awaited opening of this 9/11 Memorial Museum. That will be tomorrow with a dedication ceremony for all of those so that were most directly affected by that day. But we were able to get in to get a sneak peek of the experience, of the exhibit, that really chronicles the day, the lives lost and the heroes that emerged.

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JOE DANIELS, CEO, 9/11 NATIONAL MEMORIAL & MUSEUM: These tridents were from the north tower. They were recovered in the aftermath of the attacks. We brought them back here and basically built the museum all around them.

BOLDUAN (voice over): Nearly 13 years after terrorists destroyed the Twin Towers killing almost 3,000 people the 9/11 Memorial Museum is set to open -- a commemoration of the day America changed forever.

Joe Daniels is president and CEO of the 9/11 memorial.

(on camera): You're not white washing it. This is the raw, dirty material.

DANIELS: Exactly. I mean this is the steel that bore the attacks.

BOLDUAN (voice over): The museum is built almost entirely underground some 70 feet down. It sits in the precise footprint of the World Trade Center.

DANIELS: This is exactly where the South Tower started and went up 1,350 feet.

BOLDUAN: A striking display of the sheer scale of the destruction with poignant reminders of the tragedy at every turn.

(on camera): I mean this -- this is unbelievable.

DANIELS: This is actually the front of this fire truck. This is the cab.

BOLDUAN: You wouldn't know.

DANIELS: Wouldn't know -- and it's completely burned out and destroyed.

BOLDUAN (voice over): Then there's the retaining wall that remarkably held strong even when the towers fell.

DANIELS: When the towers came down, all that debris that was here in this space provided bracing for that wall and when that debris was cleared, there was a big concern that the wall would breach, would flood lower Manhattan.

BOLDUAN (on camera): It could have been so much worse. But this wall held under all of that pressure. Visitors will also walk alongside the survivor stairs.

DANIELS: Used by hundreds of people as the buildings are crumbling, running from the dust cloud to escape to safety. And it's for all of our visitors to understand the story of survival.

BOLDUAN (voice over): And likely one of the most emotional stops in the museum, this art installation mimics the blue sky on that fateful morning. Behind it, the still unidentified remains of 9/11 victims -- the move met with mixed emotion from their families.

DANIELS: A still shocking statistic is that 1,100 family members never got any human remains back to bury; never got to go through the ritual of laying their loved ones to rest. It's not a public space at all. Only family members are allowed back behind the wall.

BOLDUAN: Right next door, a room dedicated to the lives lost.

(on camera): Adjacent to this is the Reflection Room which is so important and why we can't show and won't show it is because the families get to see it first.

DANIELS: Exactly. That room is in an area called "In Memoriam" and it's a photographic portrait of each and every one of the 2,983 victims. You see pictures -- a father coaching his son's Little League Team; a wedding; you see lives that were lost that day and not just about how they died, it's who these people were.

BOLDUAN (voice over): Throughout the museum, chilling reminders of the day. Handmade flyers for the missing, a cross emerging from the wreckage -- everyday items simply left behind.

DANIELS: We help through these artifacts and images tell that story of just -- it was panic, and people were getting out as fast as they could.

BOLDUAN (on camera): And it's not just the shoes. It tells -- the shoes worn by this woman, Linda. I mean you're telling everything about that day.

(voice over): And while the museum is vast, one small exhibit has been the biggest source of controversy. Its focus -- the terrorists themselves, including a film criticized for not making a clear enough distinction between Islam and al Qaeda.

(on camera): There has been a lot of criticism. Why give any time to the terrorists?

DANIELS: You know, it's one way to look at it is you don't build a Holocaust museum and not be very clear that the Nazis were the ones who committed those atrocities. Al Qaeda was an extremist, terrorist group that essentially bastardized that religion for their own purposes.