captioning funded by cbs and ford-- built for the road ahead.

>> stahl: there are close to 850,000 of them in the u.s., twice the number of atms. the new slot machines, the main attraction at casinos, are like high-tech video games, and states across america are increasingly relying on them to raise revenue-- 38 states and growing, including pennsylvania. but the governor there didn't appreciate some of our questions about it. >> you guys don't get that! >> stahl: i do get it. >> you're simpletons! you're idiots if you don't get that. >> pitts: in the past four years, more than 30,000 people have been killed in mexico's battle against powerful drug cartels, the violence and corruption now appearing in places like santiago, a quaint tourist town just a few hours from the u.s. border. last august, santiago's mayor, edelmiro cavazos, was kidnapped and killed. to understand what is happening

in mexico, you need to understand what happened in santiago. >> kroft: when michael jackson died, he was nearly a half a billion dollars in debt. since then, things have gone very well for his career. and this is not unusual. decades after their demise, some departed stars draw more income than they ever made while they were drawing breath. and there is a growing legion of agents and managers willing to represent them. >> we're a business agent for about 250 entertainment, sports, music and historical clients, but most of those are deceased. >> kroft: dead. >> dead. >> kroft: they're working stiffs. >> i guess you could say that. >> i'm steve kroft. >> i'm lesley stahl. >> i'm bob simon. >> i'm morley safer. >> i'm byron pitts. >> i'm scott pelley. those stories and andy rooney tonight on "60 minutes."

>> good evening. crude oil prices could climb because the transalaska pipeline is shut down following a leak. gas prices rosed cents in three weeks to an average of $3.08 a gallon. verizon is set to announce tuesday it is offering the iphone on its network. and "true grit" won the weekend box office. i'm russ mitchell, cbs news. working in the garden, painting.

>> stahl: it wasn't that long ago that, if you wanted to gamble, you had to travel a long way. today, to shoot craps or play slots, all you have to do is get in your car-- there's probably a casino in your state, or right next door. there are casinos now in 38 states, which use the revenue from gambling to help solve their bloated budget deficits. the main attraction at these casinos is now the new slot machines. there are close to 850,000 of them in the united states-- twice the number of atms.

we americans spend more money on slots than on movies, baseball and theme parks combined. but with the modern slot machines, there is a greater potential for a dangerous side effect-- gambling addiction, as more people are addicted to slots than any other form of gambling. this is what slot machines used to look like, where you pull the handle and hope for three of a kind. this is what they look like today. the modern slots are like high- tech video games that play music and scenes from tv shows. you can play hundreds of lines at once, and instead of pulling a handle, you bet by pushing buttons, which means each bet can be completed in as little as three and a half seconds. it looks like great fun, but it can be dangerously addictive. >> natasha schull: whether or not it's their intention, the

gambling industry is designing machines that can addict people. >> stahl: m.i.t. anthropology professor natasha schull has studied gambling addiction for over 15 years. she's interviewed gamblers, casino owners, and slot machine designers. do you think that most people would even think that a machine could addict you? that a machine could do the same thing that a drug could? >> schull: what addiction really has to do is with the speed of rewards. and these machines, if they're packing 1,200 hands per hour into play, you're being exposed... you could see that as being exposed to a higher dose. >> stahl: a higher dose, says schull, because all that speed means more bets, and that means more excitement. and no machine is better for that than the penny slot, the most popular game on the casino floor. because the bets are small, you

can place hundreds of them at a time. >> schull: another core aspect of the addictiveness is their continuous nature. you're not interrupted by anything-- you're not waiting for the horses to run, you're not waiting for the guy next to you to choose his card to put down, there's no roulette wheel spinning. it's just you and the machine. it's a continuous flow without interruption. >> sandi hall: i found that the machines were wonderful. i loved the excitement. i loved the people, i loved the camaraderie, the high fives when you win. it was just very exciting. >> stahl: sandi hall lives only a short drive from thousands of slot machines in rhode island and connecticut. married with two daughters, she worked in a bookstore, and used to look at the casinos as an entertaining break. but eventually, she was playing slots so much, she burned through her retirement funds. >> hall: my every thought and every being, if i wasn't at the casino, i was figuring out how i was going to get there, where was i going to get the money. >> stahl: you know, you sound like a heroin addict. >> hall: it takes your soul, it takes your humanity.

you drive home, pounding the steering wheel, promising yourself you're never going to go again, you're never going to do it again. and you know that you're going down, and you're going down, and you're going down. i became... from a nice person, i became a manipulative, deceitful, lying person. >> marilyn lancelot: lies just manufacture themselves. you didn't even have to think about it. >> stahl: marilyn lancelot, another slot addict, ended up embezzling over a quarter- million dollars from her employer in phoenix, arizona. >> lancelot: my daughters lived within... two houses away. they did not know i was stealing money or gambling, until one day, seven police cars drove into my yard and took me away in handcuffs. that's how they found out. >> stahl: handcuffs? >> lancelot: yeah. >> schull: this is gambling for gambling's sake, and the aim is not to win a jackpot. >> stahl: she's not talking about most people who go to casinos; she's only taking about addicted gamblers. are you saying they would rather stay in the game than win the money?

>> schull: not only am i saying that, but i found instances where gamblers who won a jackpot then became irritated because it stopped the flow of play. >> stahl: researchers at the university of waterloo in canada measured how players respond physiologically while they gamble, and showed that the new machines can make them think they're winning even when they're not. the gambler almost always gets some money back-- if he puts in a dollar, he might get back 50 cents. but the sounds and flickering lights trick his brain into thinking he came out ahead. the constant feeling of winning creates so much pleasure, says natasha schull, that regular players can slip into a trance- like state, a place she calls the "zone." >> schull: one gambler told me that when he's in the zone, he couldn't remember his children's name. >> hall: you go into that trance, that zone, that box-- nobody can touch you. you have escaped from reality. no one can ask you for anything.

>> stahl: when you sat in front of those machines, did you get into the zone? did you have a buzz? >> lancelot: i was having a love affair with that machine. that was my love. if anybody came near it, touched it-- "back off. don't touch my machine." it was the same as a kiss from a lover. >> stahl: really? >> lancelot: it was sweet. sweet. >> stahl: and yet, not everyone is convinced the machines addict people. listen to howard shaffer, the director of the harvard medical school division on addiction, the man the gambling industry loves to quote. and your position is machines are not addictive, that machines, inanimate objects are not addictive? >> howard shaffer: machines didn't make me do it. if slot machines caused addiction, then most people who played slot machines would develop addiction, and it's the opposite. >> stahl: but at one point, you said that slot machines were the "crack cocaine" of gambling. >> shaffer: i did say that. >> stahl: and how does that square with what you're telling me today?

>> shaffer: not everybody who uses crack cocaine becomes addicted. >> stahl: yeah, but nobody's going to sit here and try to tell me crack cocaine isn't addictive. and if this is like crack cocaine, the conclusion is, it's addictive. >> shaffer: i don't come to the same conclusion because... >> stahl: how could you not? >> shaffer: ...because a majority of people that have used cocaine have not developed cocaine addiction. only a small minority have, and the same would be true with gambling. >> stahl: the problem is, that that small minority that does get addicted is hit hard. >> dr. robert breen: you are getting a little dose of gambling in your brain every three seconds. it's a gambling i.v., and there's a drip, drip, drip. >> stahl: drs. robert breen and henry lesieur are gambling addiction specialists at rhode island hospital. they've treated 1,300 slot addicts who, when they try to stop, look like heroin addicts in withdrawal. >> dr. henry lesieur: and they're coming in and they're quite literally... they have shakes. >> stahl: really? they physically...

>> lesieur: they're physically having these responses. and you tell yourself, they've got to be on something, and it turns out that they're withdrawing from the gambling. >> stahl: slots, in particular? >> lesieur: right. >> stahl: and yet, state after state is turning to slots as an easy way to raise revenue and increase jobs. and no state has been more aggressive in luring gaming in the last few years than pennsylvania, where the opening of the sugar house in september made philadelphia the largest u.s. city to house a casino. so far, there are ten gambling halls in the state, with plans for 61,000 slot machines. an 11th casino, on the drawing board, would be close to the main entrance of the gettysburg national battlefield. governor ed rendell, who's about to leave office, championed the casinos. >> governor ed rendell: look, gambling is not anything we should say, "oh, thank the lord, we have gambling." but it is a decent way to raise revenue, where the upsides

that's produced is significantly better than any downside that comes from it. >> stahl: you said there was downsides to gaming. what are they? >> rendell: the biggest downside is that some people lose their paychecks. but understand, lesley, they're not losing their paychecks because pennsylvania instituted gaming. those people were losing their paychecks in atlantic city, in delaware at the racetracks, or in west virginia. >> stahl: so why not lose it here? >> rendell: well, if they were going to lose it anyway, let's get the upside. we were getting all the downside and none of the upside. >> stahl: the upside, he says, is the $1 billion the state got in gambling revenue last year, which was used to provide a $200-a-home property tax reduction, plus more relief for senior citizens. >> rendell: people have been gambling since organized society was formed on the banks of the tigris and euphrates. they were gambling. and they will gamble as long as there's life on this planet. and that's a fact. >> les bernal: no one is saying that people can't gamble. this is about government using gambling to prey on human

weakness for profit. >> stahl: les bernal is head of the national organization, stop predatory gambling. he and massachusetts state senator sue tucker have been fighting a move to bring casinos and slot parlors to the bay state. >> bernal: we are in the worst economic crisis since the great depression, and the daily voice of government to most americans is "we're going to push casinos and we're going to push lottery tickets." >> stahl: well, but you have a situation where states are desperate. they're way over budget, they have to find revenue somewhere. they know people will gamble. >> sue tucker: as a revenue raiser, it defies every principle. it's regressive-- in other words, it takes far more money out of lower income people's pockets than higher income. it is cannibalistic-- in other words, it eats other forms of revenue. when you have your citizens dumping $2 billion down the slots, they're not buying a new car and you lose that tax. >> stahl: you brought these casinos to the state.

do you ever just say to yourself, "oh, my god, i'm... there are a lot of people who are suffering, and they're taking whatever money they have..." >> rendell: lesley, you don't listen. you don't listen. >> stahl: "...and they're throwing it away in these casinos." and do you ever just say... >> rendell: lesley, you... you... >> stahl: ..."oh, what have i done?" >> rendell: you don't listen. anyone who has that bent would be doing it in other places had pennsylvania not legalized gambling. >> stahl: the counter-argument is that you're creating new gamblers, and lots of new gamblers. >> rendell: we're not creating new gamblers. >> stahl: well, because it's down the street. >> rendell: those people play the lottery. they bet on football. how much money is bet on the super bowl? >> stahl: people are losing money for the state to get its revenue. they're losing money. >> rendell: let me answer this. you... you've... i've always... i've known you for two or three decades, you're a very smart person. >> stahl: but not now. >> rendell: but you're not getting it. >> stahl: i'm dumb now. >> rendell: you're not getting it. those people would lose that money anyway. don't you understand? >> stahl: our pressing him on this point led to this. >> rendell: you guys don't get that! you're simpletons. you're idiots if you don't get

that. >> stahl: we couldn't figure out why all the emotion. but his main point was that gambling is good entertainment, and people should be allowed to make their own decisions about it. but since the first casino opened in pennsylvania five years ago, calls to gambling addiction hotlines in the state have tripled. sandi hall says her problems didn't start till three casinos opened near her. >> hall: i cannot read my local newspaper without having full- page ads of upcoming events and slot play and free this and free that. the exposure is phenomenal because of the proximity of three casinos. >> tucker: fewer than 25% of massachusetts residents went out of state to gamble. >> stahl: but that's a lot of people. >> tucker: 75% didn't. >> stahl: i know, but 25%... >> tucker: that's the group industry wants. they want the 75% that can get on the "t" and go to a nearby casino and get in trouble with gambling.

that's the playbook. as a kid, i couldn't wait to skate on that ice. what was i thinking? but i was still skating on thin ice with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol, stop. lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering medication, fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. lipitor is backed by over 18 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect.

let's go! [ laughs ] if you have high cholesterol you may be at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. don't kid yourself. talk to your doctor about your risk and about lipitor. >> man: delivering a 200-pound ice sculpture means i don't have any margin for error. one wrong turn, and i could end up unloading a puddle of water. >> gps: turn right ahead. >> man: so i make sure i have the right guidance to get me exactly where i need to be. it's the same with taxes. turbotax has a unique gps feature that guides me step-by-step. automatically double-checks along the way and even lets me talk to a tax expert so i'm never alone. which helps me know it's done right and get to my maximum refund, guaranteed. >> try turbotax online now. you don't pay unless you're satisfied with the results. [ male announcer ] this rock has never stood still. since our beginning, we've been there for clients through good times and bad, when our clients' needs changed we changed to meet them. through the years, when some lost their way, we led the way with new ideas for the financial challenges we knew would lie ahead.

this rock has never stood still. and there's one thing that will never change. we are, the rock you can rely on. prudential. >> pitts: in the past four years, more than 30,000 people have been killed in mexico's battle against powerful drug cartels. the violence and corruption is now appearing in places that

would have been unthinkable just a few years ago-- places like santiago, a quaint tourist town just a few hours from the u.s. border. last august, santiago's mayor, edelmiro cavazos, was kidnapped and killed. to understand what's happening in mexico, you need to understand what happened in santiago. there and elsewhere around the country, drug cartels armed with guns and cash are forcing a choice on politicians and law enforcement. that choice, as beleaguered mexicans put it, is between silver or lead-- take a bribe or a bullet. tell me about your husband. >> veronica cavazos: he's a very special man. i'm still in love with him. >> pitts: veronica cavazos and her husband, edelmiro, were enjoying a good life, raising three children. he was a successful lawyer with a family-run real estate business. then, in november, 2009, at the age of 38, cavazos was elected mayor of santiago, a picturesque town where he and his wife grew up.

born to be mayor, you think? >> cavazos: probably. he had this special light, this special feeling of helping people since he was a kid. >> pitts: but veronica was worried. >> cavazos: it was a dangerous time to be the mayor, in my opinion. >> pitts: he was well known. you all were comfortable financially. so why do this? >> cavazos: and you know what his answer was. "there is something i can do to help my town, to help my people. and that's the way i'll do it." >> pitts: cavazos was eager and everywhere. he could be found with a smile at civic presentations and at every improvement project. he had no apprehension about the job? >> cavazos: no. he was a dreamer, i think. >> pitts: a dreamer, your husband? what did he dream for santiago? >> cavazos: a perfect place for his kids. >> pitts: santiago dates back to the 1600s.

its history and natural setting make it a popular tourist destination. but beneath the postcard appearance is another santiago, a place important to drug traffickers. the town straddles the major highway from the drug producing regions of southern mexico and south america. controlling santiago makes it easier to move shipments north to monterrey. from there, the marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines are shipped to cities on the border three hours away, and smuggled into the united states. >> ramon garza: so from that place, you can go anywhere in the border. >> pitts: so, in many ways, the drug world intersects at santiago? >> garza: exactly. >> pitts: ramon garza has been an investigative journalist in mexico for 35 years. he says santiago became a safe haven for wealthy drug cartel bosses who blended in with the town's other wealthy residents. >> garza: it's a place where you can hide your activities, because it's a place for

tourism, for... for nice homes, for weekends. >> pitts: and for years, the drug trafficking organization in control of the region, including monterrey and santiago, was the gulf cartel. their enforcers-- the zetas, a ruthless gang that started with former army officers from mexico's elite special forces. hired guns. >> garza: hired... >> pitts: well-trained hired guns. >> garza: well-trained... it... they were like a... like a swat. >> pitts: trained originally to go after the cartels... >> garza: exactly. >> pitts: ...and now they're part of the cartel. >> garza: exactly. they became the army for the cartels. >> pitts: in february, only three months after becoming mayor, cavazos was caught in a feud when the two cartels split. by then, many of santiago's police were on the payroll for one of the cartels. cavazos later disciplined some of the officers for extortion. so, cavazos thought he was in control of everything. >> garza: he wanted to be in control of everything. >> pitts: but he wasn't. >> garza: he knew... he knew

that he was not in control, because i had a chance to talk to him several months before his killing. he was worried of the police department. >> pitts: worried, because of the corruption. >> garza: of the corruption. he didn't know exactly who do they work for. >> pitts: and he's not willing to look the other way. >> garza: he wanted the police department to be... to be the cleanest possible and not to be involved with the group of cartels. that's what he wanted. >> pitts: and that was dangerous, to want that. >> garza: well, because, at that moment, the police department didn't belong exactly to the mayor or to the county. >> pitts: so their uniform may have said, "santiago police department." >> garza: exactly, but in reality, they were working for the cartels. >> pitts: mexico's four-year war against drug trafficking has led to chaos and bloodshed. many of the more than 30,000 drug-related deaths are due to the criminals killing each

other. but not always. >> cavazos: i was worried about him. everybody was. my mother-in-law also was worried about his life. >> pitts: if cavazos was worried, he never told his family. last august 15, the mayor was in santiago's town square, celebrating international youth day. it was the last time townspeople would see him alive. with his family visiting relatives in texas, cavazos went home to an empty house. a security camera captured what happened next. we've sped up the video. it shows the police officer who guarded the house at night walking towards an approaching line of cars. when they pulled up to the front, armed men got out. another camera caught the gunmen threatening cavazos at the door. moments later, he was pushed into the back seat of the lead vehicle. the police guard walked to the car behind and got inside. in less than three minutes, the kidnapping was over.

the surveillance camera at his house, how important was that to your investigation? >> alejandro garza y garza: very important. >> pitts: alejandro garza y garza is the attorney general for the state of nuevo leon, the lead agency in the cavazos investigation. he says, when the police guard was found the next morning, he claimed he was also a victim. >> garza y garza: and he say he was be... he has been kidnapped with the mayor. >> pitts: but the video showed he had not been kidnapped. >> garza y garza: that's right. that's right. >> pitts: at the cavazos home, family waited hours by the phone for a ransom demand. none was made. >> cavazos: when i saw that this wasn't for money, i suspected that this wouldn't have a happy ending. because he loved his town so much. and since... beginning, he wanted to do things right. >> pitts: he would not negotiate? >> cavazos: no. >> pitts: he would not be bought? >> cavazos: uh-uh. that's exactly what happened.

>> pitts: two days after he was kidnapped, the body of edelmiro cavazos was found dumped by the side of a road in santiago. were they trying to send a message in the way in which they killed him, in the place in which they dumped his body? >> garza y garza: the message of the bad people is that "we don't stop with anybody. we can kill people. we can kill policemen. we can kill mayors. we can kill everybody." >> pitts: santiago was stunned when state investigators arrested six of the town's police officers for their alleged role in his kidnapping and murder, including the man assigned to protect the cavazos home. the state's case against the officers rests heavily on their confessions. >> garza y garza: we have testimony of six or seven policemen that say that they thought he was working for the other cartel. mayor cavazos was against them. so that's why they kill him. >> cavazos: when they captured

some of the persons that were involved, they said that to the authorities. "he didn't want us to do our job. so, he was like a rock in the way, and we just took him away." >> pitts: a rock in the way? >> cavazos: for them. for the rest of the town, and for me, he was our light. >> pitts: by week's end, the people of santiago were back in the town square to pay their final respects to the mayor. ( applause ) earlier, his wife veronica had bid a private farewell. >> cavazos: i thank him. i thank him... >> pitts: you thanked him? >> cavazos: uh-huh. >> pitts: for? >> cavazos: for all the happy moments we lived together. for my three kids. for letting me being a witness of all the good things he made through life. >> pitts: santiago today is sad

and fearful, and tourists are staying away. journalist ramon garza says another casualty of the drug war is trust. >> garza: how many people want to work at the police department in santiago now? >> pitts: long line of people applying for jobs? >> garza: no. nobody want to be a police anymore here. why? because they know if they have to go, they have to go-- silver or lead. >> pitts: silver or lead. >> garza: yes. >> pitts: either you take the money and live, or reject the money and die. >> garza: exactly. >> pitts: taking the money from the drug cartels has been an easy choice for many police officers, with starting salaries at only $500 a month. >> jorge domene: they are very easy to be corrupt because of... >> pitts: because the cartels can pay more? >> domene: much more. >> pitts: how much more? >> domene: double. >> pitts: jorge domene is director of public security in the state of nuevo leon. he says that, for now, the drug

cartels hold the upper hand with both silver and lead. >> domene: there's no police in mexico that can fight the cartels in terms of the level of equipment they... they have. >> pitts: what... what kind of equipment would a police officer in santiago have? >> domene: a pistol. that's it. >> pitts: the cartels, what... what do they carry? >> domene: ( laughs ) you name it. whatever comes to your mind, they have it. ak-47, ar-15. >> pitts: so it sounds like local police are bringing a pocket knife to a gunfight? >> domene: right. you're like tarzan against rambo. >> pitts: domene is directing a new effort to eliminate all local police departments in nuevo leon, including santiago's. in their place would be a state police force that is better trained, better equipped, and even more important, better paid-- professionals, he hopes, that won't be corrupted. how long before you think the cartels decide, "okay, we'll start paying you more money." >> domene: in my opinion, my experience is a point in time

that is not more money; it's your beliefs, your principles. >> pitts: three months after his death, a mass was held to remember edelmiro cavazos. he was one of 14 mayors murdered in mexico in just the past year. in places where the cartels are in control, being a public figure means being a target. no one knows that better than attorney general alejandro garza y garza. his own brother, one of the state's top criminal investigators, was gunned down by a cartel four years ago. >> garza y garza: we're in a war. all mexico is in a war against the cartels. but in this war, the bad guys, they don't have any rules. [ male announcer ] sitting, waiting, hoping. that's not how successful investing is done. at e-trade it's harnessing some of the most powerful

yet easy to use trading tools on the planet to help diversify, identify opportunities, take action. it's using professional grade research and your brain to seek maximum returns to reach your goals. it's investing with intelligence and cold hard conviction. you made the money. you should have everything you need to invest it. e-trade. investing unleashed. ♪ hey mike, what's up? they've been singing the same song for the last three hours. ♪ just call me angel ♪ of the morning ♪ angel ♪ just touch my cheek before... ♪ [ nathan ] that was painful to watch. he needs a highlander. one that comes with a sweet rear-seat entertainment system. [ male announcer ] see the stylish new highlander at youtube.com/highlander. [ male announcer ] see the stylish new highlander you are a little biscuit. i'm carol. uh, we should skedaddle 'cause it's girls' night. so...oh, wow.

[ male announcer ] movies right when you want them. watch unlimited tv episodes and movies instantly all for only 8 bucks a month from netflix. i'm loving weight watchers new pointsplus program and the edge it's giving me. ♪ and i'm feeling good go on, join for free. weight watchers new pointsplus. because it works. just shake it. [ rattling ] [ male announcer ] need ink? this week at staples, spend $40 on ink and get a $10 visa prepaid card via easy rebate. that was easy. host: could switching to geico realis a bird in the handre on worth 2 in the bush? appraiser: well you rarely see them in this good of shape. appraiser: for example the fingers are perfect. appraiser: the bird is in mint condition. appraiser: and i would say if this were to go to auction today, appraiser: conservatively it would be worth 2 in the bush.

woman: really? appraiser: it's just beautiful, thank you so much for bringing it in. woman: unbelievable anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. you won't believe your taste buds. you won't believe it's fiber. benefiber. clear, taste-free, and dissolves completely. what a beautiful way to get fiber everyday. that's the beauty of benefiber.

pure... and also delicious. like nature valley. granola bars made with crunchy oats and pure honey. nature valley -- 100% natural. 100% delicious. you can make a big difference. did you know that by march 1st, more than $50 million can be earned by schools just like yours! buy participating products now, to earn your school's share of more than $50 million! oh yes hi. can you put my grandma on the phone please? thanks. excuse me a sec. another person calling for her grandmother. she thinks it's her soup huh? i'm told she's in the garden picking herbs. she is so cute. okay i'll hold. she's holding. wha? (announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup. can you enjoy vegetables with sauce and still reach your weight loss goals? you can with green giant frozen vegetables.

over twenty delicious varieties have sixty calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce. >> kroft: michael jackson's first new studio album in nine years is number five on the billboard 200 and tops the r&b charts, just part of the reason he earned $275 million last year. not a bad living for a performer who died a year and a half ago, a half a billion dollars in debt. since his death, jackson has had a successful concert film, been given a new seven-year, $250 million contract with sony, and seen his career resurrected. and he's not alone. decades after their demise, some departed stars continue to work on new projects and draw more

income than they ever made while they were drawing breath. and there is a growing legion of agents and managers willing to represent them. as we first reported in 2009, dead celebrities can be just as lucrative as many live ones, and in some cases, a lot less trouble. >> mark roesler: i was known for going up and down hollywood boulevard. >> kroft: no other agent in the world represents more famous people than mark roesler. >> roesler: errol flynn-- of course, robin hood-- natalie wood. >> kroft: stroll down hollywood boulevard, he'll point out 62 of his clients who are immortalized with their own stars on the walk of fame. >> roesler: gloria swanson, marilyn monroe... >> kroft: his client list includes some of the biggest names of the 20th century-- actresses like ingrid bergman and bette davis, baseball legends babe ruth and lou gehrig, singers ella fitzgerald and billie holiday, who all have one thing in common besides their greatness. >> roesler: we're a business agent for about 250 entertainment, sports, music and historical clients.

but most of those are deceased. >> kroft: dead >> roesler: dead. >> kroft: they're working stiffs. >> roesler: i guess you could say that. >> kroft: you could call roesler's business a william morris agency for the departed, the c.a.a. of the d.o.a. it's called c.m.g., and it's headquartered far from the glitter of hollywood in an office park on the fringes of indianapolis, distinguished only for the orange wind sock for roesler's heli-pad and his green bentley. inside is a multi-tiered office lined with memorabilia from his departed clients. first stop, a suit worn by one of the blues brothers. >> roesler: i've represented the family of john belushi-- his widow, judy-- for almost 20 years. >> kroft: it is all tastefully done, and quiet as a morgue-- a shrine of sorts for legends whose time on earth has ended, but whose career still has a pulse strong enough to produce a stream of revenue. it is part of their legacy now, and may be the ultimate show business compliment.

they may be dead, but they still have an agent who's finding them work. what do you do for them? >> roesler: well, it's really not that much different than if they were alive. >> kroft: you can't book them for personal appearances. >> roesler: that's correct. we can't talk to them, we cant get their approval, but we'll get somebody's approval. >> kroft: his real clients are the heirs and estates of the dearly departed, who ultimately approve or reject the merchandising deals that c.m.g. puts together. >> roesler: this is our basement, where we have kind of the archives of the past 27 years of the company. a lot of the different samples. >> kroft: they range from low- end tchochkeys... >> roesler: trash cans to handbags to... >> kroft: ...to the mid-range items like marilyn merlot... >> roesler: rated as one of the best california merlots, year after year. >> kroft: ...to the playfully prurient outfits inspired by the late pinup queen, betty page. they are marketed as halloween costumes, but roesler says they seem to sell all year round.

>> roesler: this is the devil costume. >> kroft: is the whip included? >> roesler: the whip is included, yes. and the tail and the horns. >> kroft: the product endorsements run the gamut from paraphernalia to the pinnacle of post-mortem prestige. and roesler has licensed more than 200 deals with the u.s. postal service. >> roesler: here's the boxer, jack dempsey. of course, jessie owens. one of the early stamps with babe ruth. of course, jackie robinson, a big part of the baseball series. a very successful stamp with malcolm x. >> kroft: so, these are all clients? >> roesler: yes, these are all clients. >> kroft: the agency has created web sites for all its deceased clients, and maintains and revives their fan clubs. >> roesler: we get at least 15 million hits a day that come through this building for the different clients that we represent. >> kroft: it is all part of a legal and entertainment niche that roesler pioneered more than 25 years ago after graduating from law school. where did that idea come from? >> roesler: i really thought

it'd be nice to be an agent. but i really couldn't... being from indiana, i really couldn't represent anybody famous because everybody living would have already been represented. so, really, the only opportunity was to represent deceased people. and i happened to notice that deceased personalities didn't have really any protection. >> kroft: until roesler came along in the early '80s, a celebrity's right to control or profit from their good name was buried along with them. their heirs had virtually no say in how their loved one's image or persona was used, and no claim to any of the monies they generated. so, roesler set about trying to change that in courts and in state legislatures around the country... your first client. ...helping to establish what is now recognized as the postmortem right to publicity. the right to publicity-- i don't remember reading that in the bill of rights. where does that come from? >> roesler: we have the right to prevent our name, our likeness, our image, our signature, our voice, from being used in some commercial fashion.

>> kroft: now, in a number of states, that right passes on to the heirs, just like a house or a bag of old coins. and one of the first beneficiaries lived right down the road from roesler in fairmont, indiana. marcus winslow is the cousin of james dean, who died in a car accident in 1955 after making just three movies. is this it? but the image of this rebel without a cause has become a commercial icon. and 50 years after he crashed his porsche, james dean is still selling german cars and italian shoes. but when roesler first showed up at the family farm in 1982, dean's heirs had no idea how big their jimmy had become. until mark showed up, the estate had gotten no money at all from... >> marcus winslow: that's right. >> kroft: ...from james dean? >> winslow: i don't think he would approve of perfect strangers making money off of his name and his likeness if his family didn't have something to say about it. >> kroft: so he's made a lot more money... >> winslow: oh, yes.

>> kroft: ...since he died? >> winslow: oh, yes. no question. >> kroft: than he did while he was alive? >> winslow: oh, no, no question. oh, yes. >> kroft: he'd be an old man now? >> winslow: yeah. he'd be 77 years old. but he'll never be any older than 24. >> kroft: that image is frozen in time now, and the success of dean's post-career career has helped turn the marketing of dead celebrities into an $800 million a year industry. and advances in technology are creating more and more opportunities for the deceased. personal appearances are still out of the question, but nearly anything else is becoming possible. all it takes is a virtual set like this one at cbs television city in hollywood, and some computer-generated imagery, and you can revive long-dormant careers. >> lucy: hello? why don't you take one of your big hits and do it over for ricky? tailor it for him? "it happened one noche"? ( laughter ) >> kroft: i'm afraid not. >> lucy: well, it was just a thought. "the ricardos of wimpole street"?

( laughter ) >> kroft: sorry, lucy. the heirs of fred astaire were able to re-launch his career, selling electric brooms during halftime at a super bowl. >> ♪ if i can dream of a better life... ♪ >> kroft: and elvis was able to sing a duet with celine dion on "american idol." >> ♪ tell me why, oh, why oh, why? ♪ >> kroft: elvis, many think, is the perfect business model for the michael jackson estate. elvis is the all-time king of afterlife income, and still pulls in $50 million a year. but then, elvis is more than a dead celebrity. he is also a destination, at $28 a head. >> everybody ready to see graceland? >> all: yes! >> kroft: graceland and the rest of the elvis realm is now controlled by billionaire entertainment entrepreneur robert sillerman. >> robert sillerman: and this modest, by today's standards, home is the second-most visited

private residence in the united states. it's seen by 600,000 people a year. >> kroft: sillerman doesn't just represent elvis; he owns elvis. four years ago, he spent $100 million to buy 85% of the rights to the presley estate. >> sillerman: turned out to be a wonderful deal for us and for the family. >> elvis presley: ♪ love me tender... >> kroft: with everyone now getting their 15 minutes of fame on cable television and the web, sillerman doesn't believe there will ever be another phenomenon quite like elvis, who has turned out to be relatively recession proof. some parts of his business are actually up. why do you think they're up? >> sillerman: well, i would love to say that it's because of our brilliant management. >> kroft: you just did. ( laughs ) >> sillerman: i said i would love to say it; i didn't say it was true. but the fact is that you can't manufacture the affection and the appeal that elvis has. >> kroft: he's dead. >> sillerman: are you sure?

>> kroft: if he is not dead, a lot of people have wasted money on flowers. then, there's more than 5,000 elvis-related products, and all those impersonators. >> sillerman: in 2002, the bbc did a report on occupations in the united states. and they said that, according to the i.r.s., that over 84,000 people said that being an elvis tribute artist, then called an elvis impersonator, was their principal occupation. >> kroft: sillerman is not the only billionaire in the dead celebrity business. the photo archive corbis, owned by bill gates, has branched out from photo and film rights to representing the deceased people who appear in them. the agency, called greenlight, was run until recently by martin cribbs. its eclectic clientele includes the wright brothers, opera star maria callas, and steve mcqueen, who has had a couple of break- out years selling mustangs and watches. what is the brand? what does the image say? >> martin cribbs: i think that the image of steve mcqueen is

really the anti-metrosexual. it's being sort of sophisticated and masculine without affectation. >> kroft: it's not clear whether the macho man would be happy modeling clothes for dolce & gabbana, but that decision now rests with his family. do you have a name for your deceased clients? >> cribbs: ( laughs ) "delebs." >> kroft: "delebs?" >> cribbs: "delebs," yes. >> kroft: as in "dead celebrities"? >> cribbs: correct. >> kroft: who's your biggest deleb? >> cribbs: albert einstein. he's our number-one man. >> kroft: bigger than marilyn monroe and james dean? >> cribbs: huge, huge. the biggest in the world. albert einstein was "time" magazine's person of the century. >> kroft: every 12-year-old in the world recognizes his picture and instantly equates it with genius. and einstein's beneficiary, the hebrew university of jerusalem, has earned millions and millions of dollars from baby einstein videos and nike commercials featuring kobe bryant executing a genius move as the late princeton professor.

the last time we saw martin cribbs, he was working up a campaign to resurrect the mildly scandalous career of hollywood siren mae west for a pitch to stationers and perfumers. unlike agents for the living, he was at peace knowing that he didn't have to worry about her next movie bombing, or his client getting sent off to rehab, or the headaches of having to deal personally with the notorious diva, maria callas. are there advantages to representing people who are dead? >> cribbs: absolutely. if you owned a cosmetics company and you have invested a million dollars in maria callas, i can guarantee you there's not going to be any wardrobe malfunctions or embarrassing photographs getting out of a limousine in front of la scala without any underwear on. so that's a huge advantage. >> kroft: mark roesler's stable of departed stars has grown in the past few months, adding, among others, clark gable, dizzy gillespie and chris farley.

robert sillerman is no longer running elvis' career. he resigned as c.e.o. of his company, but remains its, and elvis', biggest shareholder. >> hello, everyone. this is the cbs sports update presented by viagra. baltimore routed kansas city 34-7 behind joe flack yes's two touchdown passes. the ravens advance to next weekend's divisional playoffs where they'll face the steelers in pittsburgh on saturday. sunday's playoff is a rematch as the new york jets revisit the new england patriots. for more news and scores, log on to cbssports.com. and yourself.

>> pelley: now, andy rooney. >> rooney: i think it makes everyone feel superior to find a mistake in anything they read. i always like to find a grammatical or factual error in a book or in a newspaper article. the other day, i read a story about some historians in virginia who said they found 140 mistakes in one fourth-grade history textbook that was used in the public schools there. a lot of words were misspelled, words like "developement," "ammendement," "secession," "neccessary," and "seperate." there were a lot of factual errors, too. for example, the author said that significant numbers of african americans fought for the

confederacy during the civil war, which isn't true. imagine having to recall those textbooks from all the schools in virginia, though. maybe they should let the students use the books the way they are, and the kids who found the most mistakes would get the highest marks. writing a book is hard. the money's only fair and the work is really tough. i've written a lot of books. when an editor complains about something, i tell the editor that i'm the one who had to fill up those blank pages with all the words. and the editor, all he had to do was correct my mistakes. we all like to catch someone else's mistakes, and editors have all the fun because that's what they do for a living. think about how good those historians felt when they found 140 mistakes that the publisher missed. the author of the textbook tried to defend herself by saying that she found a lot of her information for the book with the help of the internet.

well, that's not a good excuse, miss-- or is it madam? >> pelley: i'm scott pelley. we'll be back next week with another edition of "60 minutes." [ male announcer ] if you have type 2 diabetes, you struggle to control your blood sugar. you exercise and eat right, but your blood sugar may still be high, and you need extra help. ask your doctor about onglyza, a once daily medicine used with diet and exercise to control high blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. adding onglyza to your current oral medicine may help reduce after meal blood sugar spikes

and may help reduce high morning blood sugar. [ male announcer ] onglyza should not be used to treat type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. tell your doctor if you have a history or risk of diabetic ketoacidosis. onglyza has not been studied with insulin. using onglyza with medicines such as sulfonylureas may cause low blood sugar. some symptoms of low blood sugar are shaking, sweating and rapid heartbeat. call your doctor if you have an allergic reaction like rash, hives or swelling of the face, mouth or throat. ask your doctor if you also take a tzd as swelling in the hands, feet or ankles may worsen. blood tests will check for kidney problems. you may need a lower dose of onglyza if your kidneys are not working well or if you take certain medicines. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor about adding onglyza. extra help. extra control. you may be eligible to pay $10 a month with the onglyza value card program. to pay $10 a month with discover customersl are getting five pcent cashback bonus at restaurants.

it pays to switch, it pays to discover. captng