New Elvis Exhibit Opens in Graceland
PHILLIPS: Well, if you spent your days as one of the biggest stars in the world, how would you spend your nights? Elvis After Dark shows what the king of rock 'n' roll did. The new exhibit opened yesterday near Elvis Presley's Graceland home in Memphis. Among the King's antics, taking a shot at one of many TVs his record company gave him. And, if you wonder how this gets us to the business guy, well, let me point out that Velshi is...</s>PHILLIPS: ... an anagram of Elvis, plus an H. Ever notice that, Ali?</s>ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes.</s>VELSHI: That's pretty good. That -- I -- I wonder if I can somehow parlay that into making some money, because nobody actually would pay money to see an exhibit of what I do at night.</s>PHILLIPS: No, I wouldn't be so sure. You have got quite a fan club. We get the e-mails. I read them.</s>VELSHI: Oh, is that right?</s>PHILLIPS: Yes.</s>VELSHI: Send some of those my way.</s>PHILLIPS: You want me to -- OK.</s>VELSHI: Velshi: It's Elvis, just mixed up.</s>PHILLIPS: OK.</s>VELSHI: There's a lot of money in this business, though -- for Elvis, not for me. You know that about a half-million people go through Graceland every year? And this company that owns Graceland -- this used to be Lisa Marie Presley. And she sold it. The family sold it in February to a guy name Robert Sillerman. Now, Sillerman also owns "American Idol." He goes around and buys these revenue-generating things. But all of this Elvis stuff generates about $40 million a year. That's Graceland, the tourists through it, the Heartbreak Hotel, a 128-room hotel across from Graceland, the licensing, the movies, that kind of thing. As you know, Kyra, the Elvis music library, that was sold. Michael Jackson was a part owner of that with Sony. So, they don't get the revenues from that, but about $40 million in the Elvis stuff tours business, a lot of people look at that and say, it's not enough. This has not grown for a long time. And, you know, everything that is old is new again. So, expect to see some more action, more activity in the world of Elvis in the next few years, particularly now that Sillerman is involved.</s>PHILLIPS: Have you ever been there, to Graceland?</s>VELSHI: I have never been to Graceland.</s>PHILLIPS: OK.</s>VELSHI: I always wanted to go.</s>PHILLIPS: You have to go. My mom and I were making a road trip. And we were driving through. And we looked at each other: "Should we stop? Should we stop? Nah." Once you get there and you see this just...</s>PHILLIPS: ... just place after place, and it -- it's just -- you have to stop. You have to stop, because it's so amazing.</s>VELSHI: Well, the -- here's the thing. Apparently, the experience is so good, that that's what makes people think that there should be more Elvis stuff going on, not just the music being played. And people are going to get this kind of experience all over the place. There's some talk that -- that Sillerman might build Graceland replicas in other places. And there's talk of an Elvis casino in Vegas, which would make....</s>PHILLIPS: Oh.</s>VELSHI: ... a lot of sense.</s>PHILLIPS: That would be -- that would be fun.</s>VELSHI: Yes.</s>PHILLIPS: It's just so outlandish, you can't believe t.</s>VELSHI: This is what sells.</s>VELSHI: I mean, it's kind of interesting that Michael Jackson bought, you know, half of the -- the rights to Elvis' songs at one point. But that is the kind of stuff that attracts people. And, I mean, this was -- this was so big. And it was the kind of thing that kicked it off in Nashville, that there's some sense that there's just not enough being done with it. People talk about it the way you talk about it, but it has stayed steady. The amount of money that the estate brings in over the last years has stayed -- stayed steady, at about 40 million bucks. There's apparently a lot more money in this. So, I guess it's long enough now.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, there's so much mystery.</s>VELSHI: It's a whole...</s>PHILLIPS: Yes.</s>VELSHI: Thank you. But...</s>PHILLIPS: You hear about all the stories of, you know, Elvis meeting with the Beatles in these rooms at night and talk -- things that they talked about...</s>VELSHI: It's -- it's fascinating.</s>PHILLIPS: ... and other unusual characters. Exactly.</s>VELSHI: This guy's story at every -- and -- and part of the -- the exhibit that is on now is sort of little windows into his life, you know. But, when you think about it, Elvis' story, at different parts of it, are dramas unto themselves. And they're so big. And there are enough people now, Kyra, who are younger than us who didn't sort of grow up with it or know it as kids, that they can reintroduce this as a new -- a new thing for a whole new generation. And I think that's what you're going to see.</s>PHILLIPS: Interesting stuff. Ali Velshi, all right, you have got to listen to this next story, this historic find, OK? Check this out. We will see you back at the closing bell.</s>VELSHI: Yes. I will see you in about half-an-hour, yes.</s>PHILLIPS: OK. Well, listen to one: color illustrations of Homer found in Cyprus -- not Homer Simpson, but the real-life long dead author of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey." Ornate decorations were actually found on a 2,500-year-old limestone sarcophagus in a tomb on the western side of the island. Archaeologists found red, black and blue images on a white background, dating back to 500 B.C., when Homer's work was a big hit wherever the Greeks had influence. They think the images depicts Ulysses and a battle between Greeks and Trojans. Well, forget whodunit. The real questions are, who drew it and who signed it? Confusion surrounds an alleged Picasso scribble that recently sold for a penny less than $40,000 on the Costco Web site. Yes, I said Costco. But it turns out, the discounter was doubly duped. Along with the drawing, Costco provided a photocopied certificate of authenticity signed by Picasso's daughter. But "The New York Times" says the daughter insists that her signature was forged. While Costco debriefs its dealer, it has offered the buyer a full refund. Get out of town: That seems to be the motto in Congress this year. The halls and seats are empty. What the heck is going on? LIVE FROM looks for answers -- coming up.