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New Scandal Over Soldiers' Photos; Troops Pose With Suicide Bomber Bodies; GSA Grilled Again; Polygraphs Offered To Secret Service; Prostitution Scandal Rocks Secret Service; Evaluating Obama's Oil Plan; Missing North Carolina Soldier May Be In Danger; Subway Plot Suspect On Trial; Vanessa Williams Reveals Deep Secrets; U.S. Pay Gap Gets Wider; Secret Service Prostitution Scandal; Senate Panel Probes GSA Lavish Spending

Aired April 18, 2012 - 10:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Don Lemon in today for Carol Costello. Carol is on assignment, by the way.

Happening right now in the NEWSROOM, breaking news to tell you about. There are new pictures of U.S. troops in Afghanistan posing with the bodies of suicide bombers. This morning, the military in full damage control.

Suspicions and concern, Fort Bragg, North Carolina today, looking for one of its own after a mysterious disappearance where a 23-year-old Army Private Kelli Bordeaux, where is she?

Scandal, shocker. Brand new details this morning on that widening Secret Service investigation. We're now learning the agents will now take lie detector tests.

And you might need a small loan to fill up at the gas station in California or anywhere else really. Look at how much a gallon of supreme will suck out of your wallet right now, $6.01 per gallon.

Coming up in just a few minutes, we'll ask a petroleum analyst if President Obama's plan to deal with rising gas prices will help. The NEWSROOM, of course, begins right now.

We are going to begin with some breaking news. A new scandal is erupting for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. There are trophy photos showing U.S. soldiers posing with and mocking the bodies of suicide bombers.

First, two disclaimers, CNN has not independently authenticate the photos and second, they are very graphic. OK, here are they. These images published in the "Los Angeles Times" web site just a short time ago are more than ghoulish and we have blurred them.

That's soldiers holding the obliterated legs of suicide bombers. Previous scandals like this have fuelled violent retaliation against U.S. troops.

Given the high stakes, the "L.A. Times" defends its decision to publish saying, quote, "After careful consideration, we decided that publishing a small, but representative selection of the photos would fulfill our obligation to readers to report vigorously.

And impartially on all aspects of the mission in Afghanistan including the allegation that the images reflect a breakdown in unit discipline that was endangering U.S. troops."

CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us. Barbara, good morning to you. Military leaders condemned the images even before they became public. Tell us what you know right now.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Don. That's right, in your e-mail inbox this morning. There were statements from top commanders already condemning this before the "L.A. Times" even published the photographs, full damage control trying to get ahead of the story.

And it began perhaps with George Little, the spokesman for Defense Secretary Leon Panetta saying, quote, "Secretary Panetta strongly rejects the conduct depicted in these two-year-old photographs. These images by no means represent the values or professionalism of the vast majority of U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan."

Today, he goes on to say an investigation is under way. In fact, there is an army investigation underway. This incident apparently took place back in 2010 in Eastern Afghanistan. The "L.A. Times" says they were given the photos by a soldier who wanted to draw attention to what he felt was the possible breakdown of discipline in those army units.

That said, you saw the "L.A. Times" response that it felt it had an obligation to bring this to the public's attention. We have seen these types of incidents before in Afghanistan. They go back been years.

There were the so-called kill team photos in southern Afghanistan when an Army unit was engaged in misconduct there. We've seen other incidents. We saw the Marine Corps video urinating on dead bodies.

We saw the Koran burning. That's one with its deep religious implications that sparked the most violence. And of course, we've recently seen the tragic death of 17 Afghan civilians allegedly at the hands of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales.

So these cases, of course, are always investigated and it will remain to be seen whether anyone is brought to discipline. They have to find out if these people are even still in the army -- Don.

LEMON: Interesting. OK, so are they releasing the names, have any of the soldiers been identified, Barbara?

STARR: Well, they may well be identified inside the army. Usually I have to tell you, when these cases come up, these young troops think about they keep their sun glasses and helmets on, nobody's going to figure out who they are.

The Army, Marine Corps has a way of figuring out who you are. They usually figure it out pretty quick. Those names have not been released yet. And if they get so-called administrative punishment, a letter of reprimand, some kind of punishment sort of criminal activity, which by all accounts it's not, those names are not likely to be made public.

LEMON: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, thank you very much.

We're going to go now to Afghanistan and CNN's Nick Paton Walsh. Nick, I want to know what you're hearing on the ground now.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This really comes after a very, very difficult three months for the NATO campaign here. We do more often than I'm sure the general would like receive statements from him apologizing for the misconduct or alleged misconduct of his troops here.

As Barbara says, January, urinating, U.S. Marines urinating on bodies, burning of Korans, March, the massacre of 17 civilians by U.S. staff sergeant so a negative tone for end of NATO's decade long presence here.

It's yet to be seen exactly how Afghans are going to react to these images. Publishing only two of 18 allegedly from two separate incidents not far from where I'm standing. In which these two suicide -- instances in which suicide bombers remains were as you saw held up almost as trophies by these U.S. soldiers.

And I think certainly with these incidents coming to light in the past few months or so, there are concerns that they're the tip of an iceberg and certainly Afghan's questioning the level of conduct and professionalism of some Americans on the ground here.

It is actually the case that these numbers of pictures seem to emerge towards the end of this long war -- Don.

LEMON: Nick Paton Walsh in Afghanistan. Thank you, Nick.

If history is any guide, insurgents will waste no time in seizing upon the photos. Our next guest is all too familiar with the battle of hearts and minds in Afghanistan.

Robert Baer is a former CIA operative and he joins us from Berkeley, California. You heard both of our reporters there talking about winning the hearts and minds, reaction here in the United States and of course in Afghanistan.

What's your reaction when you see these images and to know that there are more? They are only two that have been released.

ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: I'm connecting these to the attacks on Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan last couple days. And I think the situation there is going from bad to worse. I know General Petraeus was out there and he got a very grim briefing from the CIA station that, you know, we could be leaving there on helicopter pads like we did in Vietnam and another year, things continue to go down.

It's incidents like these, which are dividing American troops from the Afghans. And I just don't see it getting better. Of course, this is an isolated event. It's not the end of the world. But about if continues on, more bad news, we're going to have a very, very difficult time stabilizing this country before 2014.

LEMON: And Robert, listen, as we're speaking here, I want the viewers to know what they're seeing because some of it has been blurred. You're looking at the photographs now and that particular photograph, that's soldiers and a few civilians, as well, they're holding up legs that have been blurred.

Let's think about the time line that's supposed to be 2014 that they will start withdrawing most of the troops except for support troops out of Afghanistan. If incidents like this continue and we see there have been a string of them, is this going to move -- force the administration, force the military to move that time line up because they can't win over the hearts and minds of people in Afghanistan?

BAER: You know, getting into one of these wars are very easy. I mean, this started this October of 2001 and it's a mission creep. It's very difficult for a White House to walk away from this especially when the same people that attacked us on 9/11 are going to come back.

A politician to say, you know, let's forget about it, let's hope for the best, let's leave. And this is the problem facing the White House. They cannot be seen to be losing a war and it doesn't really matter that we've never really won the war.

It's just morphed something else into a quagmire, a guerrilla warfare. So I don't think we're going to see -- we're going to speed it up.

We'll just hope for the best and try to get better control of the military and hope that the Afghans are will be able to take it this over. And I'm not very confident, though.

LEMON: Robert, I want to put up the graphic now of past incidents that have happened. Those are the kill team photos and then the urinating on corpse, then the Koran burning and then the massacre by Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, 17 civilians killed with that.

Can we talk about our men and women in uniform, most of them young people thrown in this sort of situation, not say that anything condoned what they were doing, but these are young people who face extraordinary peril and tragedies. And see it every single day in a war zone. Can you speak to that, not that there's anything right with what's in these images?

BAER: You know, Don, you're absolutely right. These are 19, 20- year-olds. You know, they've been pulled out of some nice city where they've been living, sent into the military. They get mortared every day in Afghanistan. They get IEDs going off.

They're wounded. They don't even have -- no contact with the local Afghans and this is not surprising at all. What I'm surprised it didn't happen more often.

I think our military has been extraordinarily disciplined in Afghanistan considering the nature of the conflict, just how hostile the Afghans have become. So obviously this is an exception and it's terrible, but thank God it is the exception.

LEMON: All right, Robert Baer, thank you very much. Robert Baer is a former CIA operative in the Middle East joining us with this latest scandal to come out of Afghanistan, these photos, by the way, from 2010. Thank you, sir.

BAER: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: So what is the solution to those high prices at the gas pump? President Obama says it is putting a stop to speculators. A petroleum analyst joins me next with his thoughts.

And later, this army private reported missing and possibly in danger. Take a good look. Her family says she got spooked while getting a ride home from a bar.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Live to Washington now. There you go. Looking at live pictures from a Senate panel hearing into GSA wasteful spending, General Services Administration.

This is the third day, by the way, the GSA officials have faced a grilling by lawmakers. Taxpayer outrage has boiled over with the release of video clips from a lavish 2010 Las Vegas conference. You've seen them, outrageous video.

Want to go now to the scandal involving Colombian prostitutes and the Secret Service. Agents have sworn duty to take a bullet for the president, but apparently investigators have little trust in their word.

Lie detector tests are now being offered for the officers who range from newbies to long time veterans. CNN's Athena Jones is at the White House for us.

Athena, what a scandal this is blowing into. The administration is defending the agency and the director. Tell us about that.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. As you know, the president is set to travel to Ohio later today to talk about job training initiatives at a community college, but of course, not surprisingly, they can't dodge any questions here. They're getting a lot of questions about the Secret Service incident and spokesman Jay Carney was asked about it in yesterday's briefing. He said that the president has confidence in the director of the Secret Service, Mark Sullivan.

That Director Sullivan acted quickly in response to this incident and that he's investigating the matter. Now Director Sullivan has also gotten some support from other quarters most specifically New York Congressman Peter King who is the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee on the House side.

He told Piers Morgan that he has confidence in Mark Sullivan, doesn't hold him responsible for this at all, and that he acted very effectively in jumping to deal with this. I should mention that not too long ago, the presumptive Republican nominee, Mitt Romney talked about this issue in a radio interview.

Romney said that the president has confidence in the Secret Service as do I, and I believe the right corrective action will be taken there. Romney went on to say that, of course, everyone's very, very disappointed in these stories and that they're uncharacteristic of the Secret Service -- Don.

LEMON: You know, I spoke with Peter King this weekend as well and he wanted to point out that no laws were broken. No laws were broken because in parts of Colombia, prostitution is legal.

But what he wanted to stress, Athena, was that they certainly went against the code of conduct. So while there is no president with this, these people will probably face some pretty severe punishment.

JONES: Well, absolutely. As the investigation unfolds, we'll see what happens in the end. We know they've had their security clearances revoked right now. We also heard Jay Carney say, you know, generally speaking the work of the Secret Service does in protecting the president and his family is he said exemplary as a rule.

They put their lives on the line. It's a very difficult job and the president acknowledges that and appreciates that. So certainly this is not -- it's a stain on the Secret Service as a whole. And there are lot of agents who are disappointed, of course, about the reputation that they're getting.

But as this investigation unfolds, well, we are sure that members of Congress and the White House will make sure the people are punished appropriately if all of these turns out to be true -- Don.

LEMON: Athena Jones at the White House. Thank you, Athena.

You have seen it, you have felt it in your wallets. I'm talking about gas prices near record highs in some areas. Topping $6 at this station in California. Now President Obama unveiling his plan to help you pay less at the pump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We can't afford a situation where some speculators can reap millions while millions of American families get the short end of the stick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The president is talking about speculators. People who he says are manipulating oil markets and driving prices higher. Patrick Dehaan is a senior petroleum analyst for gasbuddy.com.

Patrick, thank you. There's nothing about gas that's buddy right now. So Patrick, speculators only account for about 15 percent of oil prices. Is the Obama administration focusing on the right or wrong thing?

PATRICK DEHAAN, SENIOR PETROLEUM ANALYST, GASBUDDY.COM: Well, I certainly think it's a tackling of the issue and certainly one of the issues in high oil prices is speculation. You know, there are so many other things that go into it.

My question is, are we looking at the right things and only the right things. I think there's so many different things that we can list behind the reason for high oil prices. Speculation certainly a good issue to tackle and the president outlining a few factors certainly will do good things at least a start.

Now, of course, the question is this political and of course, it is. It's an election year and obviously the president looking to score with the voters. But beyond that, is this the only issue here?

I think in addition to speculation, I think some of the government's own regulations are behind the high prices, as well. And that's something we haven't really talked about.

LEMON: And there are other things besides speculation that drive up gas prices, correct?

DEHAAN: Certainly, and that's how we've gotten here. Springtime is when gas prices go up the most and that's why we're here is because these government regulations every year by the EPA, the Clean Air Act that we switch over to summer gasoline, I think that's a lot of the reason for the increase.

So we're talking about speculators, something that's going on year-round and we're not really focused at all on government regulations that are also costing motorists at the pump.

LEMON: You mentioned the politics of it and of course, each size will seize on it, the left will say the president is only trying to help the voter, the American.

And then the right will say this is strictly for political reasons. Republicans are expressing hair doubts about the president's plans. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had this to say and I quote here.

He said if I were to guess, I'd say today's proposal by the president polls pretty well, but I guarantee you it won't do a thing to lower the price of gas at the pump.

So the administration has hit the Obama administration on drilling and exploration delays and all those things are going into playing of the politics of this whole issue.

DEHAAN: It is. It's very interesting, though. Obama's the incumbent here. He's the one trying to get back. So he really has to sell himself a lot with this whole gas price situation, something that has spiralled out of control.

Everybody cites the fact when Obama came into office, prices were much lower. So he has to take care of this and that's why even Mitt Romney hasn't said a whole lot about what he would do with gas prices.

Romney disagrees with Gingrich that $2.50 gas is even possible something that Gingrich wants. But a lot of what we're seeing is just speculation. It's certainly something that we do have to look at.

The ease of being able to trade oil and to buy into oil commodities, and you know, I could sit here and pull out a laptop computer myself and I can contribute to volatility.

LEMON: You're going way into the weeds here. Patrick Dehaan, we appreciate it and gas buddy.com, it would be great when gas is really our buddy in the future.

DEHAAN: Thanks so much.

LEMON: And from gas prices to unemployment. President Obama is talking about the economy today as he heads to Ohio State. That could be critical in his bid for re-election. CNN will have the president's comments live for you. It's coming up around 2:30 Eastern this afternoon, of course, right here on CNN.

Still to come though, the man accused in plotting to blow up the New York City subway takes the stand. A live report from New York is coming up.

And we know Vanessa Williams as a beauty queen, a pop star, now an actress, a singer. But she's also getting very personal in a memoir and what she reveals is pretty shocking. NEWSROOM back in 2 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Fayetteville, North Carolina, police are asking for the public's help in finding a missing Fort Bragg soldier, also planning a ground search.

The 23-year-old Army Private Kelli Bordeaux was last seen Saturday morning leaving a bar with an employee. Her family says she got spooked during that ride and told the driver to let her out before she got home.

And Bordeaux was reported missing on Monday morning when she failed to report for duty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLIVIA COX, SISTER OF MISSING SOLDIER: She's an amazing soldier. Being a soldier to Kelli is something she wouldn't jeopardize for anything. Missing work is for the something that is in character for Kelli. Her friends and family love her very much. If anybody knows anything, please contact the Fayetteville Police Department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The Army says Bordeaux sent a text message saying got home safely, but the family believes she never really made it back to her apartment. Local police are not confirming that report and though they say the private may be in danger, they are not saying for now that foul play may be involved.

The master mind of a 2009 plot to blow up several New York City subway stations is back on the stand today in a trial that pits the would-be terrorist against his high school classmate.

CNN's Susan Candiotti tracking the developments for us in New York. Susan, Najibullah Zazi, man, haven't said that name in a long time, has confessed to this attack, but what does he say specifically about the incident so far?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you, Don. Good morning. It's been fascinating to watch how this would-be terrorist, Najibullah Zazi. This is a guy who is a New York City street vendor who used to sell coffee on the streets.

To talk about how he became radicalized and how he and two of his friends planned to pack explosives on their backs and carry these backpacks into New York City subway trains and blow themselves up.

He and another friend have already pleaded guilty, but the third says he's not a terrorist. This man talks about how they became radicalized in Pakistan, how they went over there and originally wanted to stay in Afghanistan and fight American forces there.

But they were convinced by al Qaeda operatives to, no, come back to the United States and do something here. He said, quote, "We were told to go back to America and carry out a martyrdom operation to die for a cause."

Don, they decided to do this after going to al Qaeda training camps and watching all kinds of suicide bomber videos that really glorified those missions in the past. And al Qaeda wanted them to do the same thing in the United States.

LEMON: Susan, move us forward. What can we expect today? CANDIOTTI: Well, today while he's on the stand, he'll be talking more it's expected about how they put -- went about getting explosives training and how they then came to the United States and put these bombs together.

And how it was quite by chance really that the FBI found out about something in the works just literally days before this was supposed to happen in September of 2009.

LEMON: And what about his demeanor?

CANDIOTTI: You know, it's interesting to see this man is cool, calm and collected as he almost emotionlessly describes all the steps he took and also interesting to see the interaction between him and one of his friends watching him there, the man who is on trial. And so we expect to get a lot more detail about what happened while he was in the United States before this plan was to be carried out.

LEMON: Susan Candiotti on trial watch for us in New York City. Thank you, Susan. We appreciate it.

Still to come here on CNN, Ted Nugent, he rocks, he rolls, he reeks of truth according to him. And he rants to the point where the Secret Service reportedly is looking into some things he said about President Obama. Our "Political Buzz" panel weighs in. That's coming up.

And more fallout in the Bobby Petrino scandal. The young woman who had the relationship with him has quit her job. That story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Here they are, your headlines. Right now, the "L.A. Times" has just released on its web site gruesome photos, which we blurred here showing U.S. soldiers posing with body parts of Afghan suicide bombers. The "Times" says a soldier provided the photos. The U.S. military is condemning the release and conducting an investigation.

Let's take you now live to Washington, live pictures from a Senate panel hearing into GSA wasteful spending. This is the third day that the General Services Administration officials have faced a grilling by lawmakers. The taxpayer outrage has boiled over with the release of video clips from a lavish 2010 Las Vegas conference.

The woman at the center of the Bobby Petrino scandal has quit her job at the University of Arkansas. Jessica Dorrell will receive a $14,000 settlement from the university. Petrino was fired last week from his as head football coach. Arkansas officials say Petrino never told them about his consensual relationship with Dorrell when he recommended her for a job.

And 49-year-old Jamie Moyer -- congratulations -- has become the oldest pitcher to win a Major League Baseball game. He's not that old, come on. The Rockies starter pitched seven innings against the Padres last night without giving up an earned run. Moyer's first Major League win came in June of 1986 -- June 16th as a matter of fact, 1986. Six of his current Colorado Rockies teammates were not even born yet.

They were just babies. Just babies.

All right. "Political Buzz" now. Your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions -- count them, three -- 30 seconds on the clock. Playing today: CNN contributor, Maria Cardona, she's on the left, of course she's a lefty. Crystal Wright, editor of conservative BlackChick.com is on the right -- let's see if I can get her in trouble again today. And Dean Obeidallah, of the Arab-American Comedy Festival is in the middle, he's going to make us laugh. We hope. I think he's stalking me --

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, CO-FOUNDER, ARAB-AMERICAN COMEDY FESTIVAL: I'm going to try Don.

LEMON: -- I've seen more of you than the loved ones in the past couple of weeks. Ok are you guys ready?

All right, let's start with the Romney refresh. A new CNN/ORC poll shows voters are willing to give Romney a fresh look now that he'll likely be the GOP nominee. Listen to Stephen Colbert's statement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST OF "THE COLBERT REPORT": And it's finally happening. America is falling in love with the idea of liking Mitt Romney. And they just can get exactly enough of him. In fact, today's Gallop tracking poll has him beating Obama by five points. And it might be more since Mitt hides some of his points in Cayman Islands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Ok. All kidding aside, what should Romney do now that he has a clean slate of sorts? I'll start with you Crystal first.

CRYSTAL WRIGHT, EDITOR/BLOGGER, CONSERVATIVE BLACKCHICK.COM: What Romney should do is what he is continuing to do, reminding the American people that President Barack Obama has no record to run on. And really the joke is on the President.

And Romney is the candidate of opportunity and this is why he's inching up in the polls and edging out President Obama. He's reminding the American people that hope and change, that aren't working out. Persistent high unemployment, run away debt and spending and oh yes, that little thing called Obamacare will costly could be found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. So there you have it.

LEMON: I guess that buzzer means you're done. Maria.

WRIGHT: I guess. LEMON: Let's go.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Romney is going to -- is going to need to hope that voters are either stupid or that they have a short term amnesia, Don. Because he's going to -- it's going to be very difficult for him to really etch-a-sketch his way to voter's minds after he has been so right-wing in terms of the policies he's had to embrace in order to gain the nomination.

President Obama is going to continue to talk about his great record on creating jobs and helping the middle class and helping the working class while Mitt Romney is going to continue to embrace those right-wing policies which frankly is going to take us exactly back to the place that caused this recession in the first place.

LEMON: That buzzer, that buzzer. Ok she got an etch-a-sketch reference in there. Let's see if you can get a war on something in there. Something Dean, give us something.

OBEIDALLAH: I'll try. I'm going to try. Don if Mitt Romney is watching, Mitt here is my advice. Try to stick to a position for the entire campaign. That's one thing. I think because many people didn't like George Bush, but at least they knew what he stood for.

The problem with Mitt Romney, he's this "me, too, candidate". Whatever you believe in he does too, he's slipperier than an eel in olive oil which might be tasty to some people but it's not good for a candidate. Also don't put the dog on the roof of the car, don't say you like to fire people and don't brag about your Nascar friends and don't say in the south you like grits and in the north you like cars.

Stick to your principles. That's it, win or lose on your principles. That's my advice.

LEMON: All right, you guys are going over a little bit. When the buzzer -- when that buzzer --

(CROSSTALK)

OBEIDALLAH: Two seconds Don come on.

LEMON: -- you're supposed to stop, you're supposed to when that buzzer. I'm going to hold you to it.

All right, so President Obama's re-election campaign is planning to run ads in Spanish in Colorado, Nevada and Florida three battleground states with lots of Spanish-speaking voters. Obama won about 67 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2008.

Does this ad campaign suggest that he'll have to work harder to win that block this time around? Maria go.

CARDONA: (inaudible) Don, he's a 67 percent right now with Latino voters and you know why, it's because he's actually talking to them respectfully and in a humane way about the issues that Latinos care most about. Education, health care, the economy, jobs and yes immigration.

While Mitt Romney is going around having people as advisers like Pete Wilson, like -- like Chris Kobach (ph) who authored the SB 1070 law in Arizona and he's out looking for the approval of Joe Arpaio who is the most anti-immigrant sheriff in the country. So -- there you have it.

LEMON: Boom, gone. I'll give you ten extra seconds if you can do it in Spanish.

CARDONA: I could have done that.

LEMON: That's what I was going to say, go for it. What do you say, give me some Spanish.

CARDONA: (IN SPANISH)

LEMON: Perfect. That's how should you have done it. Come on now.

OBEIDALLAH: Wow.

LEMON: Dean, go for it.

OBEIDALLAH: Dean, I could say "el nino es trabajo el avion" (ph). Which means the boy is in a good plane, it's in the Rosetta Stone and that's what I've been learning. And maybe Mitt Romney should get the Rosetta Stone to connect with the Hispanic voters.

Maria is actually right, when you look at the poll numbers, Obama is leading three to five to one over Mitt Romney. It's going to be Mitt Romney's issue about being against the Dream Act, supporting Arizona's stringent immigration laws. But that plays the Republican base at the end of the day, it's going to come down to Independent voters and what do they think on those issues.

So I think he's got the Latino vote sewed up pretty well. I think Independents that might go either way in the immigration issue.

LEMON: Ok, Crystal.

OBEIDALLAH: Oh I have two seconds. I have two seconds Don.

WRIGHT: Yes, I -- I think the President should get a record to run on to connect with all voters, including Hispanic voters, women, white voters, black voters. But back to the Hispanic voters, you know disapproval ratings for Barack Obama have inched up over 51 percent I think. They don't think he's doing a good job.

And those include Hispanic and Latino voters. So maybe the President should start doing magic tricks to convince voters that he should get another four years to get us out of the mess that he made worse and worse and worse.

LEMON: Oh look at that she did it with four seconds left.

WRIGHT: Yes thank you.

LEMON: All right Dean so beat that. Maybe you can do it your buzzer --

(CROSSTALK)

WRIGHT: Time left over.

LEMON: -- in the buzzer beater. Here it is 20 seconds each. No one has ever accused NRA leader and Mitt Romney supporter Ted Nugent of being a delicate meek little wall flower. These comments he made to the NRA have gotten the Secret Service's attention condemnation from Democrats and the Mao rebuke from the Romney campaign. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED NUGENT, MUSICIAN, ACTIVIST: And if you want more of those kinds of evil anti-American people in the Supreme Court, then don't get involved and let Obama take office again because I tell you this right now, if Barack Obama becomes the President in November again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He denies he was making any threats and later he told Dana Loesch that he reeks of truth and that the people who disagree with him are idiots. So does Mitt Romney need to come out and say -- he doesn't really have to address this, does he, Crystal?

WRIGHT: No, no, he doesn't. His campaign issued a statement. They said it was offensive, his spokesperson and you know what, let's hold Barack Obama accountable for Bill Maher who gave $1 million to Barack Obama's Super PAC.

And we know Maher has called Sarah Palin and her daughter the "c" word. All sorts of awful things Don, that you wouldn't even kiss your mother with a mouth like that.

So when -- when the President of the United States wants to distance himself --

LEMON: That's it. That's it, I'm sorry. That's the rules. Go ahead Maria.

WRIGHT: Ok.

CARDONA: Yes, absolutely he needs to come out and say something. And his silence is deafening. Because Ted Nugent clearly anybody with a brain knows exactly what he was referring to.

And I'm glad the Secret Service is looking into it because it's downright scary what he said. He also talked about this administration doing something unspeakable with the Constitution that I can't really describe on your family-friendly show, Don.

So, yes, he needs to come out and say something. It's vile. LEMON: See why would anyone with a brain even pay attention to something that Ted Nugent said something like that?

WRIGHT: Thank you.

LEMON: Wouldn't you just be like whatever?

OBEIDALLAH: Right, I agree, but I have a question, do we get to choose, does he go to jail or death, is that our option? Because I'd like to put it to a vote of Americans. And if he -- if it was death, his albums will finally sell again. So I think his label will like it.

You know I agree with Crystal, we can't have every -- the candidates should have to be held for what they say, not what every supporter says around the country. If you're paid by this campaign or you're asked to speak, you say something stupid, ok, maybe. Come on this war, this apology war is ridiculous. Can we stop it?

WRIGHT: Right.

LEMON: All right. We're going to stop this right here -- done. Hey, you guys are good sports. Always appreciate it. Don't come back anymore.

CARDONA: Thanks Don.

OBEIDALLAH: All right Don.

LEMON: Bye-bye.

New numbers -- surprise, surprise -- show the rich are getting even richer faster. How does your paycheck compare? A closer look at America's pay disparity is coming up.

And a "Desperate Housewives" goes beyond candid in a new memoir. Vanessa Williams' very personal secrets revealed.

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LEMON: Time for a little show business. "Desperate Housewives" star Vanessa Williams star gets very personal in her new memoir which she co-wrote with her mother. In it she revealed she was molested by an older girl when she was 10 and that's not all.

"SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" host, A.J. Hammer has Williams' other revelation. A.J. what else is she saying?

A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST: Some pretty stunning and heartbreaking stuff here, Don. The book is titled "You Have No Idea" and when you read this it's pretty easy to understand how she came up with that name.

Vanessa also reveals that she was pregnant and had an abortion in high school. The called that the most frightening that happens in your life. She really seems to be telling all in this book. It's being called "remarkably candid". As Don mentioned, Vanessa wrote the book with her mom and these revelations were even a shock to her.

Her mother told "Nightline" that she had no idea that Vanessa was molested until they were working on this book together. And Don the book also explores that nude photo shoot that Vanessa had when she was 19 and how those pictures wound in "Penthouse" magazine and of course cost her the title of Miss America. Thankfully that whole thing didn't seem to hurt her very long and fruitful career one bit. And you remember Don, back then people thought it was done for her.

LEMON: Yes. And it's very interesting how she has just overcome so much in her life. She keeps going after that scandal with Miss America, people though that she would never come back and she reinvented herself and did.

HAMMER: She sure did. And I think the reason that she's speaking out about it now is that she's 49. She's comfortable with who she is. She says that she's at the stage in her life where she's learned to embrace her life and the choices that she has made. And I believe as you well know, Don, it is quite cathartic putting it all out there in a book like that.

LEMON: Absolutely. And anyone who's ever had to deal with abuse like that -- it's not surprising to me that her mother didn't know about it. Usually you don't want to tell anyone. You just keep it bottled up. I know from experience.

Thank you, A.J. We'll be watching "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" later on tonight on HLN. Appreciate it.

HAMMER: You got it.

LEMON: The rich are getting even richer and they're doing a lot faster. New Labor Department figures show the widening pay gap. Just ahead, Alison Kosik with all the numbers.

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LEMON: Since the end of the recession, the pay gap between the rich and poor has gotten wider. Sobering new Labor Department numbers to tell you about. Guess who has it? Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange to break it all down.

So we know it exists, right, but how big of a gap are we talking about now -- Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what Don? It's really not a huge gap, but it really is big enough at this point to make it into quite the talking point on the campaign trail, whether it's President Obama who has made it a recurring theme in his campaign or Mitt Romney who is calling what President Obama is doing as bitter -- as making it sort of a discussion of bitter politics of envy.

But what really seems to be happening here when you look at the data is that the rich are getting richer faster than others. There are new figures out from the Labor Department that show that since the recession, the incomes of the top 10 percent of workers in this country are up 7 percent. But then you look at the incomes for the workers at the bottom 10 percent, and you look at their pay, their pay only rose just 2.5 percent.

Keep in mind, though Don, this trend isn't new. It's really been years in the making at this point. But the gap is becoming more stark. So even though the economy is recovering right now, many are still feeling that income divide. And you know that. Just go ahead and ask one of your neighbors, chances are they're feeling that -- Don.

LEMON: Oh, yes absolutely. An obvious question -- what's the cause?

KOSIK: Well, you know, you look at how the economy is moving ahead and the U.S. economy is really changing. And so are the jobs, the kinds of jobs available. That's changing, too. You look at many of those lower-skilled, those high-paying manufacturing jobs, guess what, they're gone. Replaced by technology. You know technology is a huge part of the workplace now. Also most big companies are doing business overseas. It's making it more clear these days don that education is even more key these days -- Don.

Alison Kosik, appreciate it very much.

"Not just a few bad apples." That is a quote, that's what one of the members of the Homeland Security Committee is saying about Secret Service agents accused of hiring prostitutes in Colombia and that this kind of thing has probably happened before. Dana Bash has caught up with Senator Susan Collins. Her interview is going to be right after the break. You don't want to miss it.

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LEMON: Al right. We're getting some new details now on the Secret Service scandal hitting the White House. Our senior Congressional correspondent Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill. She has been following this story for us.

Dana, you just spoke with Senator Susan Collins from the Homeland Security Committee. She says she can't believe this is the first time that this has happened.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, she absolutely believes that it is cultural. She said but in the first place, part of what has been going on is a little bit of controversy between Susan Collins and the Secret Service because Susan Collins said recently that she was briefed that there were 20 to 21 women involved here. And the Secret Service pushed back on that saying that that's not true.

So I'll update you on that. And she basically said that she reviewed her notes, she is standing by her comments. She said that in her conversation with the Secret Service director, he said he had to be, quote, "scraped off the ceiling when he heard about this because he himself has three daughters".

And she said regardless of the number, it is absolutely appalling and, as you said, she thinks it's cultural.

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SEN SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: It's so difficult for me to believe that this is the first time that this kind of behavior would have happened. And the reason for that is it wasn't just one or two personnel. It was 11 Secret Service personnel and approximately 10 military personnel. That is so troubling.

It's not one or two bad apples. And that raises questions about the culture, it raises questions about oversight, and most of all, it raises questions about whether or not this has happened before in other countries on other important missions.

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BASH: Now, the other thing that she said is despite Secret Service saying that the agents who were in these hotels didn't have the information that would have been necessary frankly to really harm the President, she said that she just doesn't buy that. That anybody who is in these hotels could have put eavesdropping devices in and that the agents and other personnel who were in Colombia already they were there to do scouting trips. So she believes that they had the plans, that they had the routes -- maybe not the details of the schedule, but enough to have a big problem.

LEMON: Well Dana, it looks like you pulled the straw for scandal patrol today because the other scandal in D.C., now lawmakers beginning the third day in hearings for over the GSA, how they squandered taxpayer money. You and I talked about that just ridiculous video this weekend. What do you expect to learn today? What are you expecting, if anything, new from these hearings?

BASH: It's going to be different -- it already is under way. You see a picture of the live hearing going on now here in the Senate. A very different - we're told approach, in the house, which is controlled by Republicans. They were very, very tough on the witnesses, including now former GSA officials about why they let this happen and so forth.

The Senate which is run by Democrats, they're focusing more on how we can fix it for the future and reminding people that this is not just a problem in the Obama administration, spending went up also during the Bush years.

LEMON: Dana Bash, thank you. Appreciate it.

BASH: Thank you.

LEMON: Time now for your "Daily Dose" of health news. We've all heard about the power of positive thinking. Now a new Harvard study suggests a little positivity -- a little positivity can go a long way in fighting heart disease. The study's authors saying in part, quote, "the most optimistic individuals had an approximately 50 percent reduced risk of experiencing an initial cardiovascular event compared to their less optimistic peers. And those researchers add that people with a better outlook enjoy a variety of benefits including healthier cholesterol and blood pressure. So now you know.

CNN NEWSROOM continues in just a moment. Don't go anywhere.

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