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Anger Spreads in Teen Killing; Armed Standoff in France; Pushing for More Junk Mail; Romney Halfway To Magic Number; Girls Going For The Kill; Girls Going For The Kill; Your Password Or Your Job; NFL Punishes Saints For Bounties

Aired March 21, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN headquarters in Atlanta, it is 12:00 noon here, 9:00 a.m. in the west coast. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

I want to get you up to speed for this Wednesday, March 21.

Anger over the killing of an unarmed Florida teen is spreading across the country. Almost a million people now have signed an online petition demanding the arrest of George Zimmerman. He's the neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman says he acted in self-defense.

Tonight, supporters of Martin will gather in New York for what they're calling a "Million Hoodie" march. Martin was wearing a hoodie when he was gunned down in Sanford, Florida, last month. And a Florida congresswoman talked about the case on CNN earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. FREDERICA WILSON (D), FLORIDA: This is racial profiling, and this is murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And just a few minutes from now, we're going to talk to a guy who knows George Zimmerman. He was a neighborhood watch captain in the same neighborhood.

Hundreds of police officers in France are now surrounding an apartment block. Inside is a suspected killer who reportedly calls himself an al Qaeda jihadist. Police think that he is the man who killed several people in the past few days, three French soldiers shot to death, and three children and a rabbi killed in a Jewish school just two days ago. We'll get the latest details when we're going to live from the scene in Toulouse, France, in a couple of minutes.

And more than 10,000 people -- 10,000 -- are now dead in the Syrian uprising against the government.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

MALVEAUX: That number, 10,000 people, was released today by an opposition group tracking Syrian casualties going back a year.

Now, just today more than 50 people were reportedly killed by Syrian troops. An activist posted this video showing a neighborhood in the city of Homs reportedly being pounded again by Syrian artillery and mortars.

People in southern Mexico are surveying the damage that was left behind from a major earthquake. At least 11 people were injured. Some officials say that no deaths, however, have been reported. The magnitude 7.4 quake damaged hundreds of homes, reducing some of them to piles of rubble.

Broken tiles, pieces of buildings fell on the sidewalks as far away as Mexico City. That's about 200 miles from the epicenter.

All right. So, the hottest item on the market today is literally the hottest item on the market. We're talking about the super popular new iPad from Apple. Now, some people, they dashed out, they bought the new iPad, and now they're complaining it's heating up to the point that they can barely hold it.

A tech test at "Consumer Reports" shows parts of the iPad can get hotter than 115 degrees Fahrenheit while playing certain video games. Too hot or not, Apple has sold 3 million new iPads since Friday.

And we are closely following developments in the shooting death of the unarmed Florida teen, Trayvon Martin. He was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch captain last month, and police say that George Zimmerman told them that he acted in self-defense.

Well, there is anger now spreading across the country over this teenager's death. There's a massive protest march planned tonight in New York.

I want to bring in John Zarrella. He is in Sanford, Florida, to talk a little bit about the latest.

And, John, I understand that there are some young people who showed up at the governor's office, Governor Rick Scott's office, and that the governor is now saying the Florida stand your ground self- defense law may need to be re-examined. What does he mean?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, Suzanne, in the wake of this tragic incident, what's happened is that I a lot of people are now taking another look at this so-called "Stand Your Ground" law. In fact, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which keeps statistics on this, said that last year, 2011, there were 40 cases of, quote, "justifiable homicide" using the "Stand Your Ground" law. That's three times more than back in 2005 when this law was enacted.

So, yesterday on two occasions, the governor was asked about this. One time meeting with reporters in his offices, and then another time when students arrived at his office to rally and to call for justice in this case and to get the governor and find out where he stands on all this. And the governor did come out and say, "Look, I think that if this law is being abused, then, yes, we need to take another look at this." And, Suzanne, no the only the governor said that, but now a local state legislator from south Florida has come out and said, "We need to start moving to perhaps amend this law."

So there is a lot of movement on that issue -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, John. Thank you.

911 calls released in the case are shedding new light on this case. Some news outlets are reporting that the watch captain, George Zimmerman, could be heard saying what sounded like a racial slur. Well, several editors at CNN have repeatedly listened to this call and the sound was actually enhanced by one of our top audio engineers. There's no consensus among those who listened about what he actually said.

George Zimmerman, he was a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, and Frank Taaffe, he's Zimmerman's neighbor, himself a former watch captain. And he says Zimmerman was confirmed by the homeowner's association.

Frank Taaffe is joining us live from Sanford, Florida.

First of all, the 911 tapes, we're not quite sure what he said in these tapes. At least CNN cannot confirm it. Is George Zimmerman the kind of guy -- you knew him well -- who would use racial slurs?

FRANK TAAFFE, FORMER NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH CAPT.: No, Suzanne. First of all, thank you for having me on the show and I'd like to get this cleared up once and for all.

George Zimmerman is a good dude. He's straight up. That's why I'm front running for him today, and have been since this incident broke. He's a good dude. He needs to be stood up for. And most guys who are stand upped into to be stood up for and that's why I'm here.

MALVEAUX: How do make sense of this? You say he's a good dude and yet we have reports from eyewitnesses and people who explain a situation that looks like he is hunting down this young kid and that he is killed in cold blood, not in self-defense. How do you explain what we've heard so far?

TAAFFE: Suzanne, in our neighborhood, we've experienced eight burglaries, one of them being a daytime burglary. I, myself, credit George for thwarting a burglary to my own house.

Two weeks before Trayvon Martin got shot, Mr. Zimmerman was able on his nightly walk, his nightly patrol, noticed a young black male was looking into my house. I had an open window. He called Sanford police, and due to his efforts and his due diligence, my house wasn't burglarized at that point. That's just about two weeks prior to the Trayvon Martin shooting.

There's been a heightened sense of anxiety and tension in our neighborhood. I've been here since 2006. I'm one of the original owners. And I've watched this neighborhood go from pristine to sketchy, at best.

MALVEAUX: Do you think this was a racial incident? Do you think he was motivated by race? I mean, does it surprise you that he reacted this way?

TAAFFE: Suzanne, let's go on the record here. You know, there's a report that George had a bloody nose and there was blood on his pants. How did he get that? Was that self-inflicted?

I challenge Bernard -- Mr. Crump, who side-stepped that question this morning on the "Today" show, why don't you answer the facts in this case and let's quit sugar-coating this and look at what it is?

Trayvon's family, I empathize. I lost a child a little over three years ago at 21 years old. So I am a parent who has experienced a loss of a child and how devastating that is. I don't condone the use of the gun. Being a former block captain, we were never instructed to use weapons as lethal as a 9 millimeter. Maximum, I would ever use maybe is a pepper spray or a taser, something nonlethal.

But, no, George -- I'm going to go on camera and say George is not a racist.

MALVEAUX: And do you believe that -- do you believe that he did the proper thing? You believe -- you do believe his story then, that this was somehow self-defense? I mean, there are a lot of facts and things that we have to get sorted out, but you're going on record as well as you believe his story. Is that right?

TAAFFE: One hundred percent.

MALVEAUX: Is it -- is it typical for someone like George Zimmerman, did he have any training to become the neighborhood watch captain here? And is it typical to be armed?

TAAFFE: There was no formalized training.

MALVEAUX: So what does it take to become a watch captain in your neighborhood?

TAAFFE: Essentially volunteer. George volunteered for this position. He wasn't being compensated, and he stepped up to the plate and ensured the safety of all the residents after all these crimes have been perpetrated by young black males.

Suzanne, this was a perfect storm. Based on documented prior burglaries and who that group of individuals were that perpetrated these crimes, it just became a tragic perfect storm where there's a loss of a young man's life, and now another man is on trial -- he's already been tried and convicted in public opinion.

Let's let justice work its course. You know, that's why this is America, and we're not in, you know, the Soviet Union in the old days.

MALVEAUX: Just to wrap this up, Frank, have you spoken to George Zimmerman? You guys -- you call him a good dude, buddies. Have you guys said anything lately? Has he talked to you?

TAAFFE: No, but I'm glad you've given me this podium. I would like for George to contact me. He has my cell number.

And I would like for he and I to come forward and let's clear the air on this because I think my voice alone is good, but if I can get him with me and we can go in front of the camera, we can get this resolved or at least let's hear his real side.

MALVEAUX: Well, a lot of people do want to hear from Zimmerman. And, Frank, we appreciate your coming on and talking about him a bit. And clearly there's an investigation that is going on at the highest levels, not only the state of Florida but now the Justice Department getting involved in this case. Thanks again, Frank.

Here is a rundown of some of the stories we are covering:

First, a dramatic standoff in France between is self-proclaimed al Qaeda jihadist and hundreds of police.

Plus, heading into a job interview, you're ready to be grilled. But what if they ask for your Facebook password? Should you give it up?

And tired of getting junk mail? Be prepared for more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Suspected killer is holed up inside an apartment block surrounded by police. This is in southern France. This is the city of Toulouse. The man inside says he's a jihadist, a member of al Qaeda. Officials say he is armed.

Now, a short time ago we talked to a journalist who actually spoke to the suspect and asked him why he was doing this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EBBA KALONDO, SENIOR EDITOR, FRANCE 24 (via telephone): He said it was necessary to reclaim the dignity of Islam after the affront done to it by the French state after it enacted a law, outlawing the wearing of the full veil here in France, and he also said he wanted to protest against France's continued military participation in the war in Afghanistan, and also he said that the shootings on the Jewish school in Toulouse was to avenge Palestinian children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: CNN's Diana Magnay, she is at the scene right now.

Diana, we know that this guy, he's now talking to journalists. Is he talking to police as well?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, he talked to that journalist just two hours before the raid commenced at 3:00 a.m. this morning. So, it will be interesting to know whether he actually anticipated the police coming after him quite so soon after he made that call.

He has been in negotiations with police sort of on and off over the course of the day. We've heard that he's dealt with them in a very determined and stubborn fashion. We just heard a press conference from the chief prosecutor of Paris, who is overseeing this case, who said that he has said that he's prepared to hand himself over at some point this afternoon. So that is obviously what police are hoping for.

But right at the start of this raid more than 12 hours ago, he responded to the police breaking into his apartment with some very heavy fire, fire that the prosecutor said meant bullets went almost straight through their bulletproof vests. His brother and his mother both handed themselves over.

But the suspect, Mohammed Merah, who has admitted to police that he is the man responsible for gunning down those four people, three of them children in the Jewish school on Monday and three soldiers last week, that he is responsible for all of that, done in the name of Islam and to which he has no regrets, he says, other than that he hasn't been able to carry out more murders -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Oh, my goodness. What does he want now? He's negotiating. What is he asking for, what is he demanding?

MAGNAY: Well, that has not been made clear really. I suppose that he wants his -- you know, the three things that have been highlighted, the plight of the Palestinians in his eyes, the fact that the French still have military engagement in Afghanistan, the fact that France has banned the veil, those things come back to the top of this agenda. And bear in mind this is political campaigning period. The elections here are in a few weeks' time.

But we're not entirely clear what he does want. Apparently though the prosecutor said that this isn't your typical sort of jihadist who is prepared to commit suicide for what he wants. He wants to bring these issues to the limelight in the name of Islam, but he doesn't want to die for it apparently, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Diana, I understand the president, President Sarkozy, has weighed in on this as well. What is he saying?

MAGNAY: He said -- gave a very moving speech at a memorial ceremony for the three soldiers who were killed, and I think the real point there was that he said the French people must not let themselves sort of bow to revenge. That it must be unity that carries us through this -- unity no matter your color, your creed, that we must not and will not let this kind of killing and this kind of ideology win, and that really France had to be united in this kind of a threat.

The deaths of the victims, the deaths of the children, the deaths of the soldiers, he said, we owe it to them he said to stand against this man.

MALVEAUX: All right. Diana Magnay, thank you so much. Please bring us details if there's any breaking news regarding that standoff.

Pink slime -- yes, it sounds disgusting, right? Well, some ground beef actually has it. It is filler made with cheap scraps traditionally used in dog food and cooking oil. Well, now, some grocery stores they're not even going to sell this stuff anymore.

And, plus, tired of sorting through all the junk mail? Well, you got to get ready for some more because the post office wants to fill your mailbox with more of it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right. Most of us can't stand it, but the Postal Service, they love it. We're talking about junk mail, all the coupons, the flyers clogging our mailboxes. Postal officials -- they are pushing for more of what they call direct mail.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.

OK, Alison, I mean, every day it's nice to get mail, right? But I would say four out of the five letters you just throw it away. Why is the post office doing this?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's all about money, Suzanne. And for the USPS, the postal service, it's all about finding new ways to make money because the Postal Service really needs to generate more mail to deliver because it's losing a lot of money. So the USPS is looking to small businesses to do that. Making it easier for those businesses to send out marketing materials, what we like to call junk mail.

So, what the USPS has done is developed a tool. It's making it easier for these companies to find you so they can send you more stuff to pile up on your kitchen counter. This new tool IDs customers by their zip code so they don't need your name or address. And the USPS says it could bring in at least $1 billion.

This plan, by the way, has already been in the works for several months. I don't know if you have noticed an uptick in the amount of junk mail you have in your house.

MALVEAUX: Yes, I have.

KOSIK: It's already brought in $150 million for the postal service, so they love it. We don't.

MALVEAUX: Yes, I have actually noticed a lot more junk mail lately. Is it that bad? Is the post office situation that bad that they got to do this?

KOSIK: It's pretty darn bad. You know, it's bleeding money because the reality is we're just not sending as much mail as we used to -- thanks to e-mail. You know, plus, the USPS is stuck paying a higher retiree health care cost.

You look at how the USPS has done over the last five years, it's lost $25 billion. That's billion with the B. It says it could lose another $18 billion by 2015 if nothing is done. It's looking to close plants, raise prices, cut Saturday service.

So, the big issue is that most of these changes it wants to make, this he have to go through Congress, they have to go through their unions. Yes, good luck getting everybody to agree on any changes in a timely fashion -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK. That's kind of how it works with Congress.

Tell us about the markets. How are they doing right now?

KOSIK: Looks like investors are kind of taking a breather so far this week. But good news, the S&P 500 is up 11 percent so far this year. That's great news because many of the mutual funds and retirement accounts track the S&P. But this latest pause we're seeing come after sales of previously owned homes fell almost 1 percent in February from January, but good news, home prices, they ticked a bit higher, clearly not high enough to give a boost to the market.

Right now, the Dow is down about 13 points -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Alison.

The Gingrich camp is up against the ropes after another brutal loss last night in Illinois. But nobody expects to see the former House speaker step out of the ring anytime soon. So, what is he holding out for? We're going to talk about it with our political round table.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here is a rundown of some of the stories we're working on next.

It's a win Mitt Romney needed, but he still has a long way to go before he can shake his rivals.

And same-sex marriage proposal on ice.

And later, the movie "The Hunger Games" is bucking the stereotype that women cannot hunt. Whole generation of girls getting in on the action.

Romance, hockey sounds like an odd mix, but not for one woman who decided to pop the big question at a hockey game in Ottawa. So what's the big deal about this proposal? It was a first of sorts.

Jeanne Moos explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hockey and romance go together like beer and kissing on the kiss cam.

(MUSIC)

MOOS: Guys bending their girl over, once in a while. Someone famous like Tom Hanks smooching his wife.

It's all usually very heterosexual, except when pseudo-gay couples ham it up.

Or there was a girlie teens.

But wait a minute. This is no tease. This is love.

Love on center ice at the Toronto Maple Leafs versus Ottawa Senators hockey game the other night. It was the Ottawa team's very first gay proposal, complete with lovey-dovey jumbo screen message, "My love for you is a journey starting at forever and ending at never."

They used a ruse to get Alicia Walton, in the blue, out onto the ice. Her girlfriend, Christina Bionti, surprised her reaching into her jeans pocket.

The crowd cheered, after all, this is Canada, and gay marriage has been legal here for seven years.

(MUSIC)

MOOS: Christina, by the way, picked the Bruno Mars song "Just the Way You Are."

(on camera): But no matter where you stand on same-sex marriage, there is something sinful about this union. Something unnatural.

(voice-over): Alicia is wearing Toronto's jersey while Christina is decked out in Ottawa's. Wearing the jerseys of bitter rivals? These women weren't born dressed this way. That's a choice.

And online comments there was plenty of booing, someone posted, "I would rather have my kid seeing a hockey fight than two lesbians kissing." Well, at this game fans got to see both. There was a fight. Guy on guy, girl on girl, girl on girl on lion mascot?

Jeanne Moos, CNN --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations to Christina and Alicia.

MOOS: -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Punch line time. A lot of buzz over the new iPad right now. But not everybody is lining up for this latest technology.

Here's Jimmy Fallon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, COMEDIAN: Check this out. I was just reading the sales of typewriters are up this year. Come on. That is ridiculous. I mean, people haven't used typewriters for like -- like 50 years!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Mitt Romney halfway there. Big win in Illinois primary. Romney has almost half the delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination, so is this a big turning point for the campaign?

Is the game essentially over for the rest of the field? Want to bring in our political panel. Democratic strategist, Simon Rosenberg, CNN contributor, John Avlon and Republican strategist, Lenny McAllister who's on the phone.

Lenny, man, I'm disappointed we don't get to see your handsome smiling face today. I was told now you're on the phone.

LENNY MCALLISTER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST (via telephone): I'm disappointed not to be there, but it's all good. You know, I'll be back in Tucson, but thanks for having me.

MALVEAUX: All right, it's all the guys today. So let's talk about Romney here, close to finally sealing the deal. What do you think, Simon?

SIMON ROSENBERG, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, he had a good night last night, and clearly this is becoming a two-man race that he's winning at this point. I don't really know why Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are still in this thing, but I think the real challenge for Romney, and we saw it a little bit today with this Etch-a-Sketch comment, is about what he believes.

It's not about what his changing of his positions. It's that his basic beliefs, he's doubling down on the Bush strategy, which is failed foreign policy, failed economic policy. That's going to be the major issue for him in the fall and that die is cast, I think, in this race so far.

MALVEAUX: Lenny, I want to bring you in here because we took a look at some of the exit polls from Illinois, and it shows Romney was winning among some of the groups he's struggled with in the past.

So he beat Santorum 47 percent to 39 percent among conservative voters and among Tea Party supporters he wins 47 percent to 36 percent for Santorum.

And he also picks up this endorsement today from the former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Do we think now that the Republican base finally going to rally around Romney?

MCALLISTER: I think we're finally going to start seeing that coalescing happen behind Governor Romney. One big reason for that is because people are not talking about this, Rick Santorum may have made one public flub too many. The comment about the unemployment rate and how it factors into his presidential candidacy might have been one too many verbal flubs for conservatives to coalesce behind him. He doesn't have the money.

He's not able to compete for all the delegates when he goes into some of these states and then he keeps making these types of mistakes. And over the last six weeks, he's popped himself out of frontrunner status.

I think we're going to get to a point of time where, yes, he will win Louisiana, but after this it may be a two-man race by the time we get the Yankee primary day in April. And after that it may be one person standing alone and that will be Governor Romney.

MALVEAUX: All right, let's move to Louisiana. That primary is this Saturday. Santorum says he's feeling pretty good about Louisiana and he's really been hitting hard at Romney. I want you guys to listen to this sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is an election about fundamental and foundational things. This is an election about not who is the best person to manage Washington or manage the economy.

We don't need a manager. We need someone who is going to pull up government by the roots and throw it out and do something to liberate the private sector in America. That's what we need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So John, if he wins Louisiana, how much longer can he stay in this race?

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I mean, he can stay in until he's mathematically eliminated. I think it's important we don't get caught up in the day's news cycle when we are looking at the essential long game map of winning the Republican nomination.

This is a fight to hit the magic number of 1,144. Mitt Romney's team had a great win in Illinois last night and they did succeed in expanding their map, expanding their base, winning Tea Partiers.

But some of the fault lines under the GOP field still exist. Santorum won the very conservative, Evangelicals, there's still an economic gap. So, look, we're heading into Louisiana and Santorum has a big lead. That however is complicated by the fact that he's had an organizational deficit and you have seen that take its toll going forward.

We have Wisconsin going forward. And that's April 3, and then at states he could really be very competitive in, of course, home state of Pennsylvania, Texas, et cetera.

So I think it's -- while the Jeb Bush endorsement for team Romney is great, to call this all but over because of last night's big win for Romney, I think is mistaking the force for the trees.

MALVEAUX: Simon, let's take about Newt Gingrich here because he is under more pressure now. He's in more pressure to drop out. The campaign is apparently running short on cash. He promises to go all the way to the convention. Can he really survive if he doesn't have the money to do that? How does he do that?

ROSENBERG: I don't know why he's still in this race. He has no chance of recovering the momentum he had earlier. Santorum really is the only viable alternative to Romney. We all have to have a lot of humility about this Republican primary.

This thing has thrown us all lots of curves over the last few months. It's been huge ups and downs for all the candidates and I agree with what John was saying. I don't think this thing is over yet.

Look, we all recognize that if Santorum stays in the race, he could still deny Romney an outright majority, which then leads us into, you know, a potential brokered convention. So this thing has still got a long way to go I think.

MALVEAUX: Lenny, I want to turn the corner here. We're talking about gas prices, and as you know, Republicans blame the president for rising gas prices, whether or not he is to blame.

But we heard the president announcing he's going to try to speed up at least creating part of the controversial Keystone pipeline. That really is upsetting a critical group of his base, the environmentalist.

Is it worth it up to him? Is he playing it well politically? Is it going to help him get those voters who believe he needs to do more about gas prices?

MCALLISTER: This isn't a good move. He took a presidential stance by saying he did not want to make a rush decision just several weeks ago. Now he's doing this based on polls, he's doing this based on pandering to public opinion at this point in time with the gas prices going up.

He has to look presidential and make Mitt Romney look like a politician. As soon as President Obama starts looking like a politician in chief and not the commander in chief, not the current incumbent president, now he's on a peer status with Mitt Romney and that's exactly where Governor Romney wants him to be.

Because then he can go after his record -- candidate, the candidate, not candidate to incumbent. This I don't think is a good political move for the president, but obviously he's responding to what he's seeing with the gas prices and how it's impacting his approval ratings. MALVEAUX: John, what do you think? He's a very savvy politician. Do you think it's a good move for him to do this? Some of the moderates might move over and certainly people who are worried about rising gas prices.

AVLON: Well, I think it threatens to muddle the message because he's doing essentially a half measure. I think it's saying we can begin progress on this front. I think it does show how concerned the White House and Obama campaign is about the impact of gas prices.

As they rise on the poll numbers and down the grip you're seeing so it's an attempt to show that he's taking action, that he's being responsive to that concern. It will not have a direct impact on gas prices, make no mistake and it does threaten to muddle the message.

MALVEAUX: All right. John, good to see you. Simon, welcome. Good to see you for the first time. Lenny, hopefully we'll see you next go round, all right?

MCALLISTER: You shall. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: All right, thanks, guys.

AVLON: Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

It's the movie everyone is buzzing about. It's called "The Hunger Games." It's shooting down some stereotypes about female hunters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Girls gone for the kill? That's right. If you think of hunters as men in camouflage, think again. The latest government data says there are some 300,000 female hunters under the age of 16.

CNN Eatocracy is taking aim at some of the stereotypes. Sarah Letrent is joining us from New York. I don't know, Sarah, I was surprised. Are people still surprised there are girl hunters?

SARAH LETRENT, CNN EATOCRACY ASSOCIATE EDITOR: There are. So most of the young women I spoke to in this article were very, very surprised with the reaction that is they got.

A lot of people thought they were joking when they said they hunt because this isn't your average after school activity. You know, it's not soccer practice, and the really compelling thing is they found a sense of solidarity with Katniss, the lead character in "The Hunger Games" book.

Because she's a 16-year-old girl and has to hunt for herself and her family to survive so they really saw a role model within the pages, not just kind of entertainment. MALVEAUX: I wonder if they see another role model in Sarah Palin. She's known for killing her own meat. I want to show this clip. This is her taking down a caribou.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Each year the 12 districts of Panem shall offer up a new tribute, one young man and woman, between the ages of 12 and 18 to be trained in the art of survival.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait for him to stop. He's coming right here. Just wait, wait, wait until he turns broadside and stops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, go ahead. Right in the neck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: All right, so some people were convinced, that she really hunts, other people not so much. But I think a lot of people are concerned about where their food is coming from. Is that part of this kind of growing interest in hunting?

LETRENT: Definitely. Just as more and more people are interested in growing their own vegetables and supporting community supported agriculture, CSAs, they want to know the path to their plate. And sometimes that means coming face to face with where their meat is coming from. And as you saw in that Sarah Palin clip, she got a lot of backlash from that, but at the same time, a lot of people came out of the woodwork and supported her because she was really being a mindful omnivore in that what she was hunting she was actually eating later.

MALVEAUX: And your article is germinating a lot of responses. What are folks saying about this?

LETRENT: It kind of runs the gamut, but the surprising thing was, it wasn't as anti-hunting as we thought it would be. A lot of people really don't have a problem with hunting, so long as it's for sustenance and not for support. And the really curious thing was, a lot of vegetarians and vegans in the comments said, you know what, I would actually eat meat if I knew the person that hunted and killed it instead of going to the grocery store and not exactly knowing what's going to be in your meat.

MALVEAUX: All right, Sarah, thank you. I don't think I know anybody who would hunt and bring my food to the table, but you never know.

All right, looking for a job? Beware. Employers may ask you for your FaceBook log in at your next interview.

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MALVEAUX: Choose your friends and Facebook friends wisely. Your next job may depend on it because some companies want to know more about those friends and the rest of your life, reportedly asking for your Facebook password during a job interview so they can log on to your account. Well, is that even legal? CNN legal contributor Paul Callan, he's joining us now.

So, Paul, wow, this is really fascinating when you think about it, the fact that so many of us are engaged in social media and now you have employers, potential employers, asking for the password to your Facebook page. Is that even legal?

PAUL CALLAN, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, it's really shocking, Suzanne. And, frankly, probably the part of the country that's under the age of 40, they live their entire life online and on Facebook. And to think that some employer is going to ask for your Facebook password, it's very, very shocking. It's a true privacy violation. But the most surprising thing is that it's probably perfectly legal.

In the absence of a special state law of some kind or a constitutional amendment, an employer can ask you for your password, and, you know, the answer is basically, if you don't like it, go work someplace else. So it's perfectly legal in most states for employers to ask for this. I think most of them don't, fortunately, and would you want to really work for somebody who wanted your Facebook password? But it's legal in virtually every state in the United States.

MALVEAUX: Wow, that is so surprising to me. Is there any -- if you were to be in an interview and -- is there any recourse you have here if you say, you know what, I'm not giving you my password here? Can you take action against the company?

CALLAN: You wouldn't be able to take legal action against the company. The only laws on the books now which actually protect you in the interview process are laws relating to discrimination on the basis of gender or race or creed or religion. Now, if they were trying to get your Facebook password in order to discriminate against you in one of those categories, you'd have a lawsuit. But that's not really what they're looking for. They probably want to find out if you were at a party and had a drink in your hand or -- they want to be too intrusive. And, frankly, with the state of the existing law right now, there's very, very little that you can do about it.

MALVEAUX: Well, Paul, it's not like they haven't been doing it before, right? I mean these companies have been Googling, using other ways to check out potential employees, their profiles online, for years. Is this taking it to another level?

CALLAN: Yes, I think it is taking it to another level. And I think the reason that this is occurring is that so many people now are posting so much information on social media sights and employers, many of whom are older individuals who maybe were unaware of how much information is on the Internet, are now starting to realize, you know something, if I can look at their Facebook profile or their profile in another social media outlet, I'm going to get a real sense of who this person is. So I think for the first time employers are becoming aware that this is a rich source of information about who they should employ. And as a result of that, I think that state legislatures around the country are going to start looking at this and start passing laws placing limitations on it.

MALVEAUX: And, Paul, in the meantime, should we just have two separate Facebook pages, one that's, you know, the personal one, and the other one that's kind of, you know, work friendly?

CALLAN: Well, I think that would be a good idea. I think it's always a good idea, anything that's publicly posted, you have to assume that an employer might be able to see it at some point in the future.

But I also think, and this is very important, if you're going to work for a company that is going to snoop on you in this kind of way, do you really want to work for that kind of company?

MALVEAUX: Right.

CALLAN: Because it says something about the company. You know, in the past, those companies could have asked for your e-mail passwords. And if somebody asked for that, you'd say, oh, my gosh, I really don't want to work for then.

MALVEAUX: Right. Right.

CALLAN: So I'd think twice about going to work for somebody who asks for this information.

MALVEAUX: Yes, I would, too.

All right, Paul, thank you very much. Good to see you.

CALLAN: All right, Suzanne. Nice being with you.

MALVEAUX: If you eat ground beef, you might be eating something known as pink slime. Yes, that's right. Now a major grocery chain says it's going to stop selling this stuff.

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MALVEAUX: Have some breaking news here. This is from the NFL announcing discipline of the management of the New Orleans Saints. This is over an issue of bounty and whether or not certain players would be rewarded for actually knocking other players out. I want to bring in our Ed Lavandera, who's in New Orleans, to talk a little bit about the details.

What are we learning now? And if you can remind our viewers what this was about initially because it was quite shocking when we first found out the allegations.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Of course, Suzanne.

This story stems back to a few weeks ago when the NFL announced that an almost three-year-long investigation into the New Orleans Saints found that there was this pay for performance. The NFL called it a bounty system. And the most egregious of the information and details that the NFL released against the Saints was that there had been this system in place where players could be -- defensive players could be paid $1,500 for knocking a player out of the game, $1,000 --

MALVEAUX: I think we've lost Ed.

Ed, do we have you still?

Nope. OK.

Let's bring in Jim Trotter of "Sports Illustrated."

Jim, you're on the phone from San Diego. Can you hear me?

JIM TROTTER, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED" (via telephone): Yes, I can.

MALVEAUX: What is the -- what's the outcome of this? Who's going to pay for this?

TROTTER: Well, it says here, according to the NFL release, that they're suspending Saints Coach Sean Payton for one season without pay and they are suspending Rams defensive coordinator Greg Williams, who was the defensive coordinator of the Saints from '09 to '11, indefinitely. So -- and Saints GM Mickey Loomis has been suspended for eight games.

So this is major. We knew that the NFL wanted to come down hard on this. You know, this goes against everything that Roger Goodell has been preaching the last couple of years about an increased emphasis on player safety and the Saints violated those protocols. So this isn't surprising at all, but it is historic in terms of the discipline.

MALVEAUX: Are we expecting that other teams are going to be in trouble because of this as well? Because there have been previously reports that perhaps other teams were involved in these kind of bounties.

TROTTER: If they can find out that these things did take place, then, yes, I think you could see more action. But I think it's going to be tough for the league to find that there were other teams involved with this because part of the problem -- or one of the reasons that they could be so strong against the Saints is that there was a paper trail on this and they had e-mails in which the fine (ph) system -- or, I'm sorry, the bounty system was outlined. So from that standpoint, the league felt it had a very strong case. I think you would have a much tougher time going after other teams because, to be quite frank, I'm not sure other teams or other players would be dumb enough to put it in writing.

MALVEAUX: Why is that happening, Jim? I mean, why has it gotten to the point here where these players were actually being offered money and being paid potentially to take out their opponents?

TROTTER: Well, Suzanne, it depends on who you talk to. When you talk to the players, they get really upset when this is characterized as a bounty because they say what happens on almost every team, if not every team, is that during the week or before games defensive players in particular will get together and they will say, hey, $100 for an interception. You know, $100 for a forced fumble. $100 for a big hit in the game. Those sorts of things. And they say that those are things that are on boards in meeting rooms that teams chart. And so, therefore, in their minds it's not perceived as a bounty.

Where I believe the league terms it a bounty is when you put money on injuring a player, on knocking a player out of the game, on having a player carted off, as the Saints did. You know, in the players' minds, those are two different things. And a number of players I've talked to said, when you talk about injuring a player, that crosses the line, you know, and that disrespects the game. And so that's where some players have -- or what they have a hard time with. They don't have a hard time with putting $100 on forcing a fumble, $100 on a sack, $1,000 on a big hit. To them, that's acceptable. But the problem here is that the league said even that is a violation of league rules.