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A U.S. Soldier Allegedly Kills Afghan Civilians; Japan Remembers the Deadly Quake and Tsunami One Year Later; New Non- Traditional Ways to Have a Baby

Aired March 11, 2012 - 17:00   ET

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: And thanks so much for tuning to this special hour of politics. Joins us every Sunday, 4:00 Eastern time. Now stay right here for the latest news right here in the NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): A lone American soldier goes house to house in Afghanistan killing men, women and children. U.S. military leaders now hope to stop tensions from rising.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is one of the main roads downtown. A year later, there is still nothing here.

WHITFIELD: We're live in Japan as survivors of a devastating earthquake and tsunami remember that horrible day one year ago.

Plus, a new documentary targets bullies, the motion picture association rates it r because of strong language but that r rating will keep kids from seeing it.

CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: An army staff management goes on a shooting rampage in Afghanistan opening fire in at least two villages. Afghan officials say at least 16 people were killed, most of them children. A NATO spokesman says the American sergeant acted alone. He turned himself in after the rampage and right now he is in NATO custody.

The president of Syria and U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan spoke face to face again today in Damascus. Annan is the highest level diplomat to meet with President Bashar Al-Assad since Syria's violence uprising started a year ago. The former U.N. secretary general Annan asked for cease fire and wants Syria to allow relief agencies access to people caught in the fighting. .

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY TO SYRIA: I have been here for a very short period. Almost every Syrian I met wants peace. They want the violence to stop. They want to move on with the alliance.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: While the few men talk peace in Damascus, violence raged across Syria. Opposition activists say at least 32 people were killed in fighting today.

And a dramatic rescue in Italy after a cargo ship ran aground off Sicily. Italian coast guard crews battled heavy rain and high winds to rescue 19 crew members. The ship had started to take on water after it ran aground in extremely rough seas. We're told the crew is safe and in good condition.

The world's first nuclear aircraft carrier set out for its final deployment today. USS enterprise left its home port of Norfolk, Virginia, just afternoon Eastern Time. The enterprise is heading to the Middle East. A bit of pop culture, the enterprise was the carrier used in the movie "Top Gun."

Whitney Houston's family talks to Oprah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Days bond of a mother and a sister.

OPRAH WINFREY, TV SHOW HOST: Does it feel real yet that she's gone?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Tonight in Oprah Winfrey's television special, members of Houston's family open up about Houston's life and troubles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICIA HOUSTON, WHITNEY HOUSTON'S SISTER-IN-LAW: I saw her chasing a dream. You know, looking for love in all the wrong places.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oprah also talks with Houston's daughter, Bobbi Christina. The entire interview airs tonight on Winfrey's own network.

President Obama tells Afghanistan's president, he is shocked and sad about that American soldier shooting rampage in Kandahar. Mr. Obama called President Hamid Karzai earlier today.

Let's see straight to Kabul, Afghanistan right now with CNN's Sara Sidner is. So, Sara, an update on this shooting and status of that American staff sergeant?

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The staff sergeant is still in the detention, he is still being detained and certainly at this hour, most likely being questioned. We have heard from President Karzai who has called they say the pourable action called this an act of terrorism that is unforgivable.

Now, he talked about in his statement to the media that there were Afghan forces on the ground. Some villagers said there were more than one U.S. coalition forces on the ground in these villages where is this happened. However, ISOP had said no, indeed, this was just one soldier acting on his own who had left the base in the early morning hours on Sunday, around 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. The soldier went off base, that's when in incident occurred and then came back to base when he was detained.

And so, investigation - a full investigation is underway right now, not only NATO officials but Afghan officials as well have gone to the ground there and try and ascertain exactly what happened.

We talked to a member of the tribal council in that area in this particular district in western Kandahar. He told us that as far as he knows from the people who have witnessed this, the soldier went into four different homes. In one home they're saying that the soldier killed 11 people in one home alone and then went on to two different villages and ended up killing a total of 16 people. We do know that five people had been wounded as well and they're being treated by coalition forces at a medical facility in the area - Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: And what do we know about that confirmation from ISOP or even NATO forces that are saying he acted alone is it possible that this staff sergeant can leave the base without anyone else knowing about it?

SIDNER: That's the big question right now and probably where much of the investigation is centering. How does that person leave without being noticed? How did this occur and exactly, you know, how did people miss this if indeed he was on the base and left and ended up coming back.

There are a lot of conflicting reports as to exactly what happened, whether he turned himself in, whether he was arrested or whether Afghan forces were involved in any way in bringing this person back to the command center there so there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.

They do want to talk about one thing. Let me talk to someone we spoke to earlier, Prince Abdul Ali Seraj, the head of the national coalition for dialogue with Afghans tribal. He has basically said this is the worst possible thing to happen at this time after the Quran burning which just happened a few weeks ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE ABDUL ALI SERAJ, COUNCIL FOR DIALOGUE WITH TRIBES OF AFGHANISTAN: It's extremely important that they look at this very seriously and this is not something they can wash away by saying I'm sorry or forgive me and it's regrettable because the Afghan people, when it comes to murder, they do not understand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: And we're seeing a lot of officials saying that they're deeply saddened by this. But, he is saying look, there has to be justice and it has to be swift. But you know how justice works. Usually it's a slow process and a full investigation is underway, so we have to wait and see what that turns up in the coming days and weeks -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sara Sidner, thanks so much for that update from Kabul.

So tensions are already high between civilians and NATO forces in Afghanistan. And this incident certainly makes it worst. Of this year, six American troops died in violent incidents linked to the burning of the Quran by U.S. troops.

In one of those attacks, a gunman wearing an Afghan uniform kills two U.S. troops in a remote eastern province. And then, just 10 days ago, an attacked in an army uniform shot dead two NATO troops in Kandahar.

All right, coming up, in 25 minutes or so, we will talk with the former ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker. He has been to Afghanistan and will share his insights on the culture, the military and the violence there.

And then, remember this? It has been one year since a killer earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. In a moment, we'll show you some stunning before and after pictures and talk about what's being done to help Japan recover.

And later, smart is the new rich. How you can make money just by doing your home work.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: People in Japan gathered to commemorate the one-year anniversary of a deadly effort quake and tsunami.

Hard to forget those images, 300,000 people were killed and it caused a $300 billion in damage. And at some cases, entire town were turned to rubble.

So, we want to show you some before and after pictures of this disaster, one year later.

On the left of your screen, the image that was taken one week after the tsunami, a man is surrounded by what's left of his home, and it's just debris. To your right, 12 months later, that same street, a lot of debris removal but no rebuilding.

And there's this, days after the tsunami hit, a woman hugging -- digging rather out of the mud of what was left of her home and you can see a boat stuck in the debris behind her, one year later the debris is gone, but still, no rebuilding.

CNN's Kyung Lah, takes us to a town where survivors fight to rebuild the town the tsunami destroyed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAH (voice-over): Futoshi Toba is still getting used to driving his two kids to school. Not knowing really what to say to them. His wife did all of this before he died in the tsunami. Turning not only his world upside down the Rikuzentakata, the city he governs as mayor.

How challenging is it juggling being a father and a mayor of this place?

To be honest, he says, I haven't done enough for my boys as a father, but I try to be with them when I have time.

Time is in short supply for Mayor Toba, the work is overwhelming, getting funding for an eight-year reconstruction plan dealing with all the wounded neighbors, and still clearing the rubble in a city gutted by the tsunami at a cost of $1.6 billion.

One out of 10 people have represent Hakata died in the tsunami. Then, more than a thousand survivors left here same little hope for the city's future, and you can see why. This is one of the main roads in Rikuzentakata's downtown. A year later, there is still nothing here.

Rebuilding Rikuzentakata will only work with survivors refuse to give up, says Nurse Fumiko Suzuki. We met this nurse last year right after the tsunami hit. She was in shock after losing everything, including her bedridden patients, a dozen who drowned as she made the gut wrenching decision to save her own life and run to the roof.

Are you still in the process of healing?

One year isn't enough to heal she says, my job is to be with people and share their pain. It's why she won't leave her job or her town.

When you look at the city hall, do you ever get used to the sight?

I don't like to come down here, says Mayor Toba. He only came here for this interview. Toba tries to keep his mind on the future because the past is too painful.

Do you miss your wife?

MAYOR FUTOSHI TOBA, RIKUZENTAKATA: Of course, why not?

LAH: It's so hard for me, he says, to live without the person who was supposed to always be with me I feel her telling me to washing hard for this town. Someday soon my sons will look at this town and understand why their father wasn't around more. The mayor, his sons, the survivors, still getting used to the new reality, rebuilding their town by rebuilding their lives.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Rikuzentakata, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Infertility can be a problem for women over the age of 35. In fact, one-third of couples have troubles conceiving.

Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on fertility treatment in today's "Health for her." (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOCTOR SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michelle and Mike Herring now have the family they always wanted, but it wasn't easy.

At 30, she had to use hormone therapy to get pregnant. The result was their son Levi who's now 7-years-old. Two years later, they again had a hard time conceiving their second child, so they tried hormone therapy and IVF, in vitro fertilization.

MICHELLE HERRING, FERTILITY PATIENT: By the third time, I sort of knew, OK, you know, it was becoming - it was stressful.

GUPTA: But after rounds of unsuccessful treatments, she learned she had premature ovarian failure. She couldn't produce any viable eggs. So, she chose to use and egg donor and May was born.

MICHELLE HERRING: It was an emotionally taxing journey, I know that one day I will look back and forget the struggle and I did. I mean, it's hard for me to think about it now. But, you know, I mean we have a wonderful family, I can't imagine it being any other way.

GUPTA: The decision to use sperm or egg donation is a personal one. Embryologist, Dr. Peter Nagy says it's often the best solution since donor egg and sperm can offer higher success.

DOCTOR PETER NAGY, EMBRYOLOGIST, REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY ASSOCIATES: Coming from women who are somewhere around 21 to 28, 29 or so.

GUPTA: So a 40-year-old woman says, I'm not making eggs, good quality eggs anymore. So, I'll take a donor egg.

NAGY: Correct.

GUPTA: From a 25-year-old. Has that woman's 25-year-old genetic material, and you combined with sperm from --

NAGY: From her husband. Correct.

GUPTA: That person's partner. Is this something that happens a lot?

NAGY: Yes, absolutely. Here in the United States about 10 to 15 percent of all IVFs girls (INAUDIBLE) every donations.

GUPTA: Reproductive specialist, Dr. Dorothy Mitchell-Leef says more and more families are choosing this route to have a family.

DOCTOR DOROTHY MITCHELL-LEEF: They have a baby picture they can choose from and also know most of their background history, or what their genetic makeup is, their interests, maybe their education.

GUPTA: They get to choose their eggs.

MITCHELL-LEEF: They get to choose their eggs, yes.

GUPTA: How much does that process cost?

MITCHELL-LEEF: It is $16,500 and that includes everything.

GUPTA: If a woman in mid-40s, gets pregnant, has baby, is it almost assumed that woman had an egg donor?

MITCHELL-LEEF: I think I had five women that overall in 30 years, they got their pregnancy at 45 with their own eggs. That's not a lie.

GUPTA: Michelle and Mike say they plan to share conception stories with both their children.

MICHELLE HERRING: It needs to be OK, and not be looks at as some weird thing to use alternate methods. You know, non-traditional ways to have a family.

MIKE HERRING, HUSBAND OF FERTILITY PATIENT: If we're describing, in ten years ever fully -- it's like describes, you know, a visit to the doctor that it's become so prevalent that the stigma's gone. So, that will help, too. It's nothing we've worried about.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: One half of the Republican presidential contenders are campaigning at this hour. Two primaries just two days away and the focus, is in the Deep South.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Time for a check of what's happening in the week ahead.

GOP primaries will be held Tuesday in Alabama and Mississippi. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum will be in Alabama tomorrow in search of last minute votes.

In Austin, Texas, a south by southwest, the tech, music and movie conference is currently underway. Rocker Bruce Springsteen will give a talk and play there on Thursday.

And apple's highly anticipated iPad will be in stores starting on Friday. According to company's Web site, if you preorder the ipads online, some will be shipped March 19, rather than March 16.

A lot of us are trying to save money any way we can. And there are things that we can do to cut cost on the home front starting with the cheaper mortgage.

Here's this week's "smart is the new rich" with Christine Romans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Here are four ways for homeowners to unlock the money in their house. If mortgage rates are at least two percentage points less than the rate you are paying, you need to refinance even if you've done it recently. The 15 years of popular refinancing two of those rates, 3.36 percent.

Next, appeal your property taxes, most people who do get money back, on average around $1,300 a year that's according to value appeal.com. But do your homework. Call the assessor's office first to make sure you understand the formula for determining your home's value. The assessment listed on tax bills as often only a fracture of the thrill value that determines your tax.

And do sweat the small stuff, they add up. Using a programmable thermostat will save you $180 a year. This is according to energy star. And don't overpay for your technology, bundle your internet, your phone, your cable, shop around. You can save up to $60 a month if you switch to a bundle plan. You got to make sure, you assess your needs and you don't pay for too much.

Are you paying for multiple boxes, have you considered internet phone service, an hour of comparison shopping and several more hours of waiting for the proverbial cable guy could save you a bundle.

I'm Christine Romans with this week's "smart is the new rich".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, taking our top story first to Washington state where the suspect in a courthouse shooting is in jail. Steven Kravitz was arrested yesterday at his mother's house after she called police. He allegedly shot a female officer and then stab adjudge who came to help her.

The judge and the officer are both OK.

All five remains inmates held in the Mississippi pardons controversy are free. The state Supreme Court upheld the pardons granted by former governor, Haley Barbour. The attorney general tried to stop the process but Barbour defends his move saying all of the convicts are rehabilitated.

A big day today in sports as the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Kentucky Wild Cats are loose in their respective conference championships. Both teams will likely be number one team in the national tournament. And for college basketball fans, it is time for the big announcement.

NCAA selection Sunday. Well, that's tonight and I'm actually filling out a bracket. Are you? If you are, test your bracket skills against mine. That's going to be interesting. Visit CNN.com/brackets to join the March madness CNN group.

Have a little fun with it.

All right. The world's first nuclear aircraft carriers set out for its final deployment. The USS enterprise left its home of Norfolk, Virginia just afternoon Eastern time. The enterprise is headed to the Middle East. A U.S. soldier goes off base in Afghanistan and shoots afghan civilians in two villages. President Barack Obama says he is shocked and saddened. The Afghan president says 16 people were killed and he calls the shootings unforgivable.

Defense secretary, Leon Panetta, promises to find out what happened.

Let's talk now to Ambassador Kurt Volker. He is a former U.S. representative to NATO.

Ambassador Volker, good to see you. Your reaction to what took place early this morning in Kandahar.

AMBASSADOR KURT VOLKER, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TO NATO: Well, thanks for having me, Fredricka.

Look, I think our military is extremely professional and everybody does their very best to do the best job possible. And it is a war, however, and so incidents like this can happen. When they do, it's tragic because it really steps back the effort. We're there to be helping the Afghan people and something like this gives a very strong impression in the local population. You heard from President Karzai that we're there against them. And that's just immediately setting back the efforts that we are there for.

WHITFIELD: But when you say incidents like this could happen, that's certainly not what that host country would anticipate nor welcome or want. Are you saying that this is kind of the collateral damage that comes with, you know, trying to button up a ten-year war?

VOLKER: Well, I think of it this way. You know, we saw the Quran burning a few weeks ago, we saw incidents of Afghan soldiers firing on Americans. There are things that are hard to control and so incidents do occur.

The real question, I think is to look at the longer trajectory. And that's where I think this. It's a little bit of significant, not because it makes or breaks the difference. But because it illustrates that we have got a longer term challenge, a longer term problem. And by that I mean, we face this deadline of 2014 where we said we were going to be getting out. But are we trying to achieve between now and then and what's the purpose of being in Afghanistan.

WHITFIELD: Well, you see - if I can just stop you right there. Does this mean that an incident like this might help expedite the dialogue about expediting that deadline and then maybe 2014 is too far off into the future when this happens on the heels of kind of the string of incidents that you just outline.

VOLKER: Right. Well, I think it illustrates the need to answer this fundamental question, what are we there for right now?

When we went into Afghanistan, was to go after al Qaeda. I think we realized that in order to make sure there is no safe haven. We were going to have to have a long-term approach to helping Afghanistan build up their own country again. That's what we talked about for years. Lately, all you really hear about lately is a deadline for handing over to afghan security forces and that is going to take a couple of years. So, for the next couple of years we're going to have people in harm's way, we need to know exactly what objectives we're there for.

WHITFIELD: and how do you answer that question? How do you outline with that objective is?

VOLKER: My personal view, I think the deadline is a mistake. I think that what happens in Afghanistan will have much bigger repercussions for our national security, for security in the region, for human rights, and women's rights, for Pakistan. I think there's very important long-term objective that matter to our country. And therefore we have got to define and clearly and stick with it. When we put up and artificial deadline, we're basically telling the Taliban that this is when you can count on us not being there. And therefore, the local population can't really be blamed for thinking that we are not going to be there in the long term but the Taliban will.

WHITFIELD: Ambassador Kurt Volker, thank you so much for your time and your perspective this afternoon.

VOLKER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We're gathering information from all sources on this. In about 15 minutes or so, I will be talking to Captain John Kirby. He is the Pentagon spokesman working with NATO's international security assistance force. We will be talking about where in investigation goes from here.

Afghanistan quickly became a topic on the Sunday talk shows. Senators McCain and Reid speaking out, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Mississippi voters are getting a lot of face time with the candidates for the White House today.

Rick Santorum held meet and greets at restaurant in Tupelo. And in just a few hours, Newt Gingrich attends a church service in the town of Brandon followed by a campaign rally there. Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are taking the day off. Both Mississippi and Alabama hold primaries come Tuesday.

All right, tune in Tuesday night as the best political team on television tracks the Alabama and Mississippi primaries starting at 7:00 p.m. with Erin Burnett followed by complete live coverage at 8:00 Eastern with Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper, election primary coverage on CNN Tuesday night.

All right, today on the Sunday morning talks shows, the presidential candidates and top law makers talked about the presidential race and the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. Here are some of the highlights.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BOB SCHIEFFER, HOST, FACE THE NATION: Is it time for us to leave Afghanistan, Mr. Speaker?

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it is. I think that we have to reassess the entire region. We have to understand that our being in the middle of countries like Afghanistan is probably counterproductive. We are not prepared to ruthless enough to force them to change. And yet, we are clearly an alien present.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I understand the frustration and I understand the ganger and the sorrow. I also understand and we should not forget that the attacks on America on 9/11 originated in Afghanistan. And if Afghanistan dissolved into a situation where the Taliban were able to take over, or a chaotic situation, it could easily return to al Qaeda base for attacks on the United States of America. That is still our goal as it was the day that we went in.

SEN. HARRY REID, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I think that we're on the right track to get out of Afghanistan, just as soon as we can. There's a way we stabilized some of the problems we there. There's conversation going on with Karzai now, when I think our timetable is pretty good.

GINGRICH: What a crowd.

GINGRICH: I'm submitted to going all the way to Tampa. That, I mean, what part of this was I have 175,000 people who have donated to the campaign, 95 percent of them have given under $250. They want a visionary conservative in the Reagan tradition and I think they deserve to have a voice and I'm doing everything I can --.

DAVID GREGORY, HOST, MEET THE PRESS: Would you like to see them get out at that point?

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, yes, David, I would like everybody to get out, that would be great if they could just clear the field. But, you know, congressman can stay in, the speaker can stay in as long as - as long as he wants. But I think the better opportunity to make sure that we nominated a conservative is to give us an opportunity to go head to head with Governor Romney at some point in. Hopefully that, that will occurs sooner rather than later.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST, ABC'S THIS WEEK: They are saying the Democrats should be asking Bill Maher, the comedian to turn back at million dollars he gave to Obama super PAC because of his history of attacks on women. Should Democrats give the money back?

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, NEW YORK: Well, No. Bill Maher is a comedian. It's much different. Rush Limbaugh has tremendous weight in the Republican Party. No one will rebut him. Bill Maher's a comedian who's on at 11:00 at night but has very little influence on what's happening here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. From life threatening obesity to a triathlon victory, that's the path Dr. Scott Zahn took after he became one of CNN's fit nation triathlete last year.

Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has his story.

GUPTA: Well Fred, you know, we're near three now the fit nation triathlon challenge. And we see some remarkable transformations among the CNN viewers who have raced with us. One of those people is Dr. Scott Zahn. Scott is a pediatrician and he decided to start his own triathlon challenge at the medical center where he works.

So, I caught up with him and found out how he is paying his experience forward in helping other people now change their own lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: This idea again, of trying to get other people to join you to do a triathlon, what was the reaction from your colleagues and friends, your employees that are doing this with you?

DOCTOR SCOTT ZAHN, 2011 FIT NATION TRIATHLETE: Well, it actually wasn't that hard when they saw what happened to me, the transformation that I had made, so a lot of people were very excited about trying it themselves. We had about 50 employees that had applied, and it was hard to pick just six of them to be our six PAC.

GUPTA: You know one of the things we talked about quite a bit is the idea of using this sort of lifestyle as medicine. You got of medications yourself. I think a few of your triathletes have a history of heart disease or have heart disease. How does that workout for them? How are they doing? And what are you telling them as a doctor?

ZAHN: As a doctor, I'm telling them it's something they can certainly do. That, you know, look at me as an example, getting off of medications and still able to stay off of them. The people in the six PAC here, they're also having that same goal to get off of medication, to get off the blood pressure medicine and so far with the weight loss that they have seen, it looks like they're going to be able to go that as well.

GUPTA: I just find that very inspiring and you were able to get off. I think I remember talking at least one of your medications pretty quickly after you started training and I think that could be sort of inspiration enough for a lot of people who are watching.

Have you been able to keep it up? I know you are doing this tri again, the one in green bay in June. And then you are going to join us in Malibu in September. How are you doing? How hard is it going to where to maintain you on what we started you on a year ago?

ZAHN: It's challenging to keep it up, to find the time and the motivation, but it's easier than it was before I started this whole process. I still look forward to the workouts. It is just a matter of making sure that I put them into my daily routine.

GUPTA: I'm proud of you, Dr. Scott Zahn. Appreciate you're a great role model for a lot of people out there. Good luck and see you soon. (END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: You can meet Scott and also this year's fit nation triathlon challenge at CNN.com/fitnation -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Sanjay.

All right. We often we know a child who was bullied. Well now, a man who was bullied as a child himself has made a movie about the subject. But he worries not everyone will get to see it because it's rated R. My conversation with Director Lee Hirsh coming up.

Also, we're following developments out of Afghanistan where a U.S. soldier is accused of gunning down16 afghan civilians. I will be talking to a Pentagon spokesman right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Bullying is a problem that affects millions of children. And now, it is the focus of a documentary coming out this month called "Bully."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am upset enough. I don't want him to ride the bus anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE KID: Move. Move.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they're not in your care, they're in the care of someone else that's just as capable as you and I don't feel that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The motion picture association of America has given "Bully" an "R" rating specifically for language. The film's director Lee Hirsch is fighting to lower the rating to pg-13.

Earlier, I spoke with Lee Hirsch about the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEE HIRSCH, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, BULLY: Many, many films have had their ratings overturned. There's a very recent example of a documentary called "gone are palace" that have over 46 uses of the f- word and lots and lots and lots of violence which was turned from an "R" to a "PG-13."

So, I think there's a lot of precedent and also if you think about just the incredible amounts of violence and aggression and, you know, all the things that we often see in a PG-13 or a PG movie that they says that's fine, but then this is not, it's so frustrating for us.

WHITFIELD: So, why do you believe in production is being treated differently in your view? HIRSCH: I wish I knew that. I wish I understood that. I think we have tried really hard to appeal to them. I mean it was extraordinary. Alex who you just saw in the clip being horribly bullied, went himself with Harvey Weinstein to appeal before the board. He spoke incredibly movingly. He said what you're effectively saying is that I can't see my own life. And others can't see what they see every stay.

I don't know what the hang up is. I wish I did because I could speak to that. But it seems like it's arbitrary. It seems like the process is mysterious and we're hoping very much that that will change.

WHITFIELD: So without diluting the message of the documentary, diluting the reality of what it is and how brutal it is to be bullied, involving the families from the students, everyone's perspective, is there a way in which to appease both, the motion picture association, to whether it be in delete out or cloud some of the language but still get the message across so that a larger movie going audience in your view can see and appreciate this film?

HIRSCH: That's a great question. We're still exploring that. I know that the families in this film have said please don't edit the movie, you know. It's very easy to say that we can just bleep it or we can cut it. But what that really is doing is minimizing the experience of bullying and that's what happens over and over and over again.

And you know, we have made this film for the millions of kids that are bullied, that or have that experience on a constant basis ratcheted down. They're said - they are told it's not -- stick it out, it will be OK, kids will be kids, that experience is always minimized, so if we do that to this film, we are doing the same thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Director Lee Hirsch on his documentary "the bully." So we had a statement from the motion picture association of America. Saying this, "the R rating and description of some language for "Bully" does not mean that children cannot see the film. As with any movies, parents will decide if they want their children to see "Bully."

Back to our top story now, a U.S. army staff sergeant leaving his base in Afghanistan and then going on a shooting spree. The afghan president says 16 civilians are dead, mostly children. The soldier is in custody right now.

Navy captain John Kirby is with me from Washington. He is the spokesman for the defense department and for General John Allen, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan. Good to see you, captain.

CAPTAIN JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: Thanks for having me, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: So where does this investigation go from this point forward? What's the story behind why and how this staff sergeant, American staff sergeant was able to go off base and allegedly open fire like this?

KIRBY: Well that's what the investigators are trying to figure out, Fredericka. They were on scene very, very shortly after the incident, they have already started to interview the suspect and we don't know what motivated this individual and we're not really sure where this is going to take us. But I can tell you that General Allen has made it clear, this investigation is going to be done thoroughly. It's going to be done rapidly in an expeditious way. And we are going to hold the perpetrator of this attack to account.

WHITFIELD: Well, does it sound plausible that he could have left base even though it was the middle of the night without anyone knowing?

KIRBY: Well, again, that's something we're going to try to figure out. They don't know exactly --

WHITFIELD: Is that possible?

KIRBY: Well, obviously it's possible because it certainly appeared to happen. Now it's not typical for soldiers to be able to walk off of an outpost like that individually. But clearly this individual did and we're going to try to figure out that, exactly how that happened and --.

WHITFIELD: I guess another way of putting that is, would that individual be in a location where no one else - no other NATO force, no other U.S. force would be able to see or even document that this person has left their post at this hour?

KIRBY: I see. Actually it was noticed that he left. In fact that's how we know that there was only one individual involved in this incident because it was noticed when the individual left the outpost. And it was reported up to chain of command. They did exactly what they should do which is try to take a proper accounting of everybody at the outpost. And in doing that accounting, we're able to identify that there was in fact one person missing and they knew who it was.

WHITFIELD: I see. So now, what is your concern about other U.S. military personnel or NATO forces there and what this incident might insight in terms of jeopardizing their safety there in Kandahar, in Afghanistan as a whole?

KIRBY: Well. Look, Kandahar has actually been a very big success story for the strategy, in fact. But we are not -- it's as tragic as this incident is, it would be a larger tragedy to let it affect the mission at large and what we're trying to do throughout the country. And General Allen made it very clear today to his commanders this morning after word about this incident happened that we're not going to let it affect our engagement strategy and we're going to continue to be out there amongst the populace. We are going to continue to try to beat back this insurgency.

And so, the mission continues as it must.

WHITFIELD: All right. Captain John Kirby, thanks so much for your time from Washington. Appreciate that. KIRBY: My pleasure. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Much more in THE NEWSROOM straight ahead with my colleague Don Lemon right here with me with a preview.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What a horrible story. Terrible, terrible. We're going to be talking about that, of course. It is going to be our lead story. But also, we are going to be talking about Joseph Kony, Fred. You have been doing a lot of reporting and network. It's been all over, he's become a household name in the United States. And just the last few days thanks to a new documentary that aims to make the African warlord famous or infamous.

Tonight at 7:00 Eastern, we're going it talk live with Jason Russell, who is the filmmaker behind "Kony 2012" the you tube phenomenon that has been watched more than 65 million people, 65 million times. It's electrified the world. It's also causing controversy and at least one survivor of Kony's Lord Resistance Army, L.R.A. says Kony is not the person who should be celebrated in that film.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVELYN APOKO, L.R.A. SURVIVOR: I feel really hurt because I don't know -- it's not easy to be a survivor, but I'm glad I was able to escape. Maybe the purpose is why I am sitting here, and it's very painful for me to hear that Joseph Kony is right now in the United States a celebrity. And I ask myself, what is a celebrity? The kids are the ones who are supposed to be a celebrity because they have been through a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Fred that was very emotional interview. Again, 7:00 Eastern, we are going to talk about the creator of "Kony 2012" and asked him about both the ground swell support for the film and the controversy it's created and also ask him what he thinks about what she said as a survivor.

Also another disturbing story, HIV and AIDS, Fred. We don't seem to hear a lot about it anymore, but still people -- it's killing people around the world. There's a new study a university here at Atlanta that has uncovered an alarming statistic when it comes to HIV cases among black women in the Unites States almost as high as the rate in parts of Africa. One of the lead researchers, we are going to be talking to him tonight.

WHITFIELD: It still considered the fastest growing population victimized by HIV and AIDS, black women?

LEMON: Yes, fastest growing, but then on top of this is this study, those numbers even worse than first thought in many cities and there's a warning that goes to women in those cities as well.

WHITFIELD: All right. We are going to look for that. Thanks so much, Don. Appreciate that.

LEMON: All right, Fred.

WHITFIELD: A few minutes from now, about eight minutes or so from now.

Meantime, Jacqui Jeras, well, she is tracking some potentially severe and dangerous storms out of Louisiana. We'll be checking in with her next.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Some pretty dangerous -- potentially dangerous weather on the horizon particularly in the south.

Let's check in with our Jacqui Jeras - Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Ok, Fredricka. Yes, we're watching some nasty thunderstorms in western parts of Louisiana right now. Some of which could be producing some wind damage. This is the same line of storms that moved through the Houston area earlier today.

Check out the video we have from there. Record rainfall in Houston, 2.81 inches, so just shy of three inches there. That was a record for the day, and we also have a surplus now finally for the month, even for the year, so, a nice drought-buster in parts of Texas. That's the good news out of all this.

The system will move to the north and east and we could see severe thunderstorms pushing into parts of Arkansas as well as maybe even into western Tennessee. That's going to be late for tonight, so that will be the area we're watching for the wind damage and isolated tornadoes are going to be possible as well.

Now, the plus side of this whole system is that the temperatures have been crazy warm. We had a lot of record highs out there today. Take a look at this. Pierre, South Dakota, 74 degrees, 74 degrees. We are only March. Minneapolis, St. Paul at 64 and those warm temperatures will stick around. We are just going to end with a beautiful picture.

WHITFIELD: That's nice. Very encouraging today.

JERAS: That's beautiful.

WHITFIELD: All right. Spring is sort of here, right?

JERAS: It's working on it.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jacqui. Thanks so much. We'll see you throughout the evening. That is going to do it for me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks for being with me this afternoon.

My colleague Don Lemon is coming up with more of the "NEWSROOM." Have a great week.

LEMON: Bye, Fred.

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