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Defense Secretary Condemns Photos; U.S. Troops Pose With Body Parts; Bin Laden Family Ends Detention; Mother Shot For Her Baby; Senator Says To Clean House; Pippa's Pal Says Sorry; Mega Millions' Winners Surface; Buffett Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer; Stocks Struggle; Mother Shot for Her Baby Jane Fonda to Play Nancy Reagan; Entire Girls School Poisoned in Afghanistan

Aired April 18, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get you up to speed. First up, the outrage over pictures of U.S. Troops posing with severed body parts of Afghan bombers. CNN has not independently authenticated these photos. They are gruesome so we are blurring some of the images here.

This one showing soldiers and Afghan police holding the severed legs of a dead bomber. "Los Angeles Times" published it today. The U.S. Military asked the "Times" not to publish the photos, but the paper's editor defends the move 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 American mission in Afghanistan, including the allegation that the images reflect a breakdown in unit discipline that was endangering U.S. Troops."

Chris Lawrence, who's joining us -- joining us live from the Pentagon. Chris, first of all, how is -- how are the military reacting at this point?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Strongly, Suzanne, in a word. Defense secretary Leon Panetta thought this was serious enough to have to address it during a NATO meeting overseas. He said bluntly, this is war. It is very violent. Young people caught up in the moment will make foolish decisions. He also, again, strongly condemned the paper for releasing the photo, saying that the military had urged them not to. He said photos like this have been used to incite violence against American and allied troops in the past. But he also said -- that being said, there is no excuse for what happened and what's shown in these photos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: That behavior that was depicted in those photos absolutely violates both our regulations and, more importantly, our core values. This is not who we are, and it's certainly not who we represent when it comes to the great majority of men and women in uniform who are serving there. I expect that the matter will be fully investigated.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LAWRENCE: In fact, that investigation we've learned was launched a few weeks ago by the Army's criminal investigations' division. They are looking into this. And based on the fact that the military has seen not just the two photos that were publicly released, but all 18 that the soldier provided to "The L.A. Times," it is likely that they have identified at least some, if not all, of the soldiers who were involved in these photos. Again, this incident is believed to be from 2010, so one thing that the military would have to do is to determine how many of those soldiers were still in active duty service and how many may have left the military by this time.

MALVEAUX: And Chris, do we have any new details that you are learning about what took place in these pictures?

LAWRENCE: Well, we're still digging through that. The soldier, "The L.A. Times" is reporting that the soldier who gave them to them said that the unit was going to simply fingerprint some of these insurgents, that they were more of an evidence collection mission, that the unit had been through a lot in that time span, and that when they got there to that area, that's when the photos were taken because according to what the soldier told "The L.A. Times," the insurgents were blown up by their own explosives that they were making to be used against coalition forces.

MALVEAUX: All right. Chris Lawrence, thank you very much.

I want to bring in Major General James Spider Marks here, joining us from Washington. General, good to -- good to see you here, obviously, to give --

MAJOR GENERAL JAMES MARKS: Hi, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: -- some perspective. This is something that happened two years ago, but clearly when you release these pictures now, the timing of this is quite damaging. You've got a string of embarrassing scandals this year alone. I want to remind our viewers what we're -- what we're seeing here, in January we saw photographs of U.S. troops urinating on Afghan corpses. In February, you had the incident where the Qurans were being accidentally burned on a U.S. military base in Afghanistan sparking widespread protests, and in March you have U.S. Staff Sergeant Robert Bales allegedly massacring Afghan civilians. How damaging is this now to see these pictures come out?

MARKS: Suzanne, this is very damaging to all the U.S. efforts, specifically the U.S. effort, to ensure that it stays in harness with the Afghan government and the Afghan security forces moving forward on this critically important mission. So, this does nothing but throw sand into that fabric of trying to establish and trying to reinforce what has lasted for the last decade, a relatively good relationship.

So, this -- there's nothing good that comes from this. And, sadly, what happens is these soldiers were asked -- if we understand it appropriately, these soldiers were asked to perform a forensics task, a biometrics task, to try to figure out who these bad guys were so that you could better understand the network, where did they come from, which bad guys are now out of the network, who remains? And so, it's an intelligence collection effort which really could have provided some great results and I bet it did. Sadly, what you had is you had these soldiers ostensibly dehumanizing an enemy. That can't be done. You've got to hold these bad guys with the respect that they deserve. If they're willing to kill themselves in order to achieve a goal, I think it's very, very important, and our soldiers understand this.

MALVEAUX: Right.

MARKS: So, these are -- these are a -- these are several bad apples and that's it. This is not representative of our military.

MALVEAUX: General --

MARKS: But you need to always respect your enemy, so you better understand them.

MALVEAUX: So, what does the Pentagon do now? I mean, what kind of position is the Obama administration and the Pentagon -- what do they need to do here to convince the world that, hey, for the most part, you know, the military is operating the way that has discipline and understands the rules?

MARKS: Suzanne, the record of the military in our conflicts, both in Afghanistan and Iraq and routine activities that take place every day around the globe, decentralized out to young men and women like these folks who sadly made a huge mistake, but most folks, 99 percent of them, don't. Ninety-nine percent of our military folks do a magnificent job.

So, you let the record speak for itself. What you have to do locally, and general John Allen understands this intimately, is you've got a lot of damage control that has to take place right now. You have to anticipate what the reaction is going to be, specifically in Afghanistan. It speaks to this isolated incident and it doesn't speak to a full breakdown in terms of morale and discipline and capabilities in our military.

MALVEAUX: We all remember Abu Ghraib and the damage that was done after that. Now, we're in this age of social media, things go viral, does it become more complicated here to try to convince folks to get this message across that this is an isolated incident?

MARKS: Well, it is very difficult to convince someone. I mean, it's been said many, many times before, if you're explaining, you're losing. And Sadly, the military in this case is losing ground because they have achieved so many great things, specifically in Afghanistan, and then this sets it back. But clearly, everybody who is in uniform needs to acknowledge that everything they do, 24, 7, is available for scrutiny. You don't do anything behind closed doors anymore.

So clearly, the definition of discipline is doing the right thing when nobody is looking. But in this particular case, and in all cases in this day and age, is you have to assume that at some point somebody is going to look at you. So, do you need that motivation of somebody over your shoulder to convince you to do the right thing or can you put yourself on the right path? And in this case, these young troops, ostensibly -- again, ostensibly made a terrible mistake.

MALVEAUX: General Spider Marks, thank you very much.

MARKS: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: I want to ask you, what do you think all this? How damaging are these pictures for our troops? Watch me here on CNN for more of the story. Tweet me so we can get you're your thoughts @SuzanneMalveaux and like me on Facebook.com/ SuzanneCNN. I'm going to read some of your responses later in the hour.

Osama Bin Laden's three wives and two daughters now free, no longer under house arrest. They were in custody in Pakistan since the U.S. military raid that killed Bin Laden. Well, that was last May. The five women, they were convicted of living illegally in Pakistan, had to serve 45 days of detention. They could be deported back to their home countries at any time.

Police say a Houston nurse faces capital murder charges for killing a woman, so she could steal her baby. An arrest report says 30-year-old Verna McLean has admitted shooting Kayla Golden as she left her pediatrician's office. The three-day-old baby being reunited now with his father.

Democratic senator has some advice for the agency involved in spending $800,000 on that lavish party with the clowns, the mind readers. That's right, Barbara Boxer says the General Services Administration should clean house to root out corruption.

And a new round of hearings on the spending scandal got under way today. Democrats pointed out that the GSA has a history of misconduct under Democratic and Republican administrations.

Apologies all around now from people close to Pippa Middleton, the sister-in-law of Britain's Prince William. She and a car load of folks were photographed in Paris a few days ago when the driver pointed a realistic-looking pistol at the photographer. Well, they say it was a toy gun. The driver now could face charges.

And new Mega Millions' lottery winners, they are now reveals. Merle and Pat Butler, a retired couple from a small town in Illinois. They're holding the winning ticket, the third winning ticket from last month's massive lottery. It is worth $218 million. The Butlers, they came forward today after spending the past two weeks, as you can imagine, hiring financial advisors and a lawyer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERLE BUTLER: After I looked at it for a couple minutes, I turned to my wife who was right there with me and I says, we won. And she kind of looked at me funny. And I says, no, we won. And then she started giggling. And she giggled for about four hours I think.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: Good for them.

Here is a rundown of some of the stories that we are covering in the next hour. First, Warren Buffett announces to the world that he has stage one prostate cancer. What does it mean for him as well as his stockholders?

And a Texas nurse is in jail accused of killing a mother and stealing her new baby outside a pediatrician's office.

Then a British writer gets a ton of hate mail for saying that people hate her because she's beautiful. We're going to talk to a psychologist about why she has gotten so much criticism from women.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Warren Buffett is going to start treatment for prostate cancer in about three months. The 81-year-old billionaire investor says his cancer is in the early stages. We want to bring in Elizabeth Cohen to talk a little bit about the prognosis here. Is this -- is this devastating news? Is this something that he can overcome?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is not devastating news. His prognosis is excellent. And there's two big reasons for that, first of all, stage one, which means that it's well contained within the prostate, it hasn't spread anywhere else. And also, Suzanne, prostate cancers are very slow growing for the most part, very slow growing. So that an 81-year-old man with stage one prostate cancer will likely die with prostate cancer, not from it. And when you look statistically, 99 percent of men who are diagnosed with his stage prostate cancer are alive five years later.

MALVEAUX: That's great news. So, what would his treatment involve?

COHEN: He says he's going to get radiation. That he'll get radiation, it'll probably be every day, five days a week. That's customarily what's done. And you do it for about two months. Now, that's one of the options for prostate cancer. Other men choose surgery. Some men choose hormonal treatments. Some men choose watchful waiting. And this is very confusing to people, because it means doing nothing.

So, men have prostate cancer, and they decide to wait and keep an eye on the cancer to see what it does, because the treatment can be worse than the cancer. Once you treat cancer, you've got to accept that there might be side effects like incontinence, impotence, those are two possible side effects of radiation. For all of the different options and how to make the choices, CNN.com/EmpoweredPatient.

Because I have to say, this is not an easy decision about how to treat prostate cancer and men do different things and all of them are reasonable and respectable.

MALVEAUX: And how was this detected? COHEN: His was detected, he says, through a PSA test. So that's a regular test that some men opt to get. An elevated PSA test will then lead to other testing that can indicate whether there's a cancer or not.

MALVEAUX: All right. We wish him the very best.

COHEN: Uh-huh.

MALVEAUX: All right, thanks, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: Appreciate it.

So Buffett revealed his diagnosis in a letter to shareholders of his firm, Berkshire Hathaway. What is the impact on the revelation having on the investors? I want to join us -- joining us, Alison Kosik, to talk a little bit about that.

Has anybody reacted to this?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you can certainly not see much reaction in the share price right now of Berkshire Hathaway shares. Only down a little over 1 percent. So clearly not a huge drop. Investors taking this announcement in stride because at least what Warren Buffett says is that he's still healthy enough to lead the company. Also, you know, the survival rate. What you just talked about. You know, for prostate cancer, is very high.

But the way Wall Street sees it, their big concern is who will take over for Buffett if needed. That's really been an issue for a while because of his age. Warren Buffett is 81 years old. And Berkshire Hathaway shares often drop when this talk about succession is brought up in the news.

Now, Buffett has said he has someone in mind. He hasn't given any details. And investors, they continue to be worried because they're not sure anyone can really replace him. You have to remember what he did for this company. He made Berkshire Hathaway into this huge, diverse company. You know, now having a hand in everything from railroads, to chemical companies, to insurance, to banks, you know, and on and on. And you look at how successful this company is. Just look at what the share prices for its common shares known as the Class A shares. Each goes for more than $100,000.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Alison, we've seen some of this play out before, the late Steve Jobs of Apple and his health declined, that there were investors who talked about what was going on. They got nervous about this. Do we think that this is the kind of thing that's is going to play out? We just have to wait and watch and see?

KOSIK: Probably. And you see Wall Street with this situation is most likely going to keep tabs on Warren Buffett's health. But you look at the situation with Steve Jobs, it was very different. You know, Jobs wasn't totally honest. You know he said he had a nutritional problem. Then he said he had a hormone imbalance. But the truth was he had cancer. So what you saw happen with shares of Apple, the stock dropped 8 percent in three days back in 2009 after he announced his medical leave.

Now, we're not expecting that with Berkshire Hathaway because you look at what Buffett did, he seems to be really open about it in this letter to his shareholders. You know, he's talking about how he feels, his prognosis, his treatment and that his daily routine, other than travel during his treatment, won't change. So he's being very, very transparent, at least the way shareholders see.

MALVEAUX: And, Alison, how are the markets doing today? What are we watching?

KOSIK: Stocks look like they're taking a bit of a step back, Suzanne, after the Dow jumped almost 200 points yesterday. Worries about Europe, specifically Spain, are creeping back into the market again. Spanish came out with some data today showing that Spanish banks are holding more bad loans than expected. That's weighing on stocks today.

Also, corporate earnings. That is really driving the action as well. And some less than stellar corporate report cards came in from tech heavyweights like IBM and Intel. Wall Street was expecting better. The reason you're seeing the Dow down about 66 points right now.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, Alison, thank you.

So earlier we told you about the bride who went to extreme measures to lose weight before her wedding. She reportedly used a feeding tube to lose 10 pounds in 10 days. Well, we asked you, tell us the most extreme thing that you've done to change how you look before an important event. Here's what some of you said.

@SethFirkins tweets, "yikes, feeding tube diet? I'm on the treadmill, exercise is the only way."

@IBarba424 says, "the master cleanse last summer. Seventeen pounds in 10 days."

@matthewdodd2010 writes, "I guess this bad publicity is going to ruin my new 'medically induced coma diet,.' It was going to be all the rage."

All right, sense a humor there.

Keep the conversation going. Tweet me @suzannemalveaux or send me your thoughts on facebook.com/suzannecnn.

A newborn baby is stolen from his mother only three days after he is born. We're going to have a live report on the nurse accused in this case and the mother's desperate attempts to save her son moments before she was killed. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Just getting this video in out of Palm Coast, Florida. This is surveillance video from a Publix grocery store. It is -- it is disturbing video because -- and I want to warn you it's disturbing before you actually see this -- because of the nature of this. People just fleeing and running.

But this is what you're seeing. This is a car that is driving through -- right into the grocery store and people -- they are standing by when this car just plows in and hits. It happened on Saturday. And folks had no warning whatsoever what was going to happen. At least 10 people, from this surveillance video, you can see them running and fleeing, were injured. At least one person we understand is in critical condition here.

Now, there were 911 calls that were released as well as the surveillance video that we're getting from our affiliate there. The Florida Highway Patrol says that this was careless driving and they've charged the driver because of this. It is incredible when you look at that video that no one died from this incident, but we do know that one person -- at least one person is in critical condition.

Police say a Houston nurse faces capital murder charges for killing a woman so she could steal her three-day-old baby. Larry Seward from affiliate KHOU has got more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY SEWARD, KHOU REPORTER: The suspect being held here without bond is Verna McClain, a single 30-year-old licensed vocational nurse who moved from San Diego to Houston two years ago. In interviews yesterday, detectives here say McClain said she wanted a child of her own. To make it happen, they say she killed a young mother, then kidnapped that woman's baby.

It happened outside Northwood's pediatric center as Kala Golden was leaving with her three day old baby, Keegan Schuchardt. Witnesses say Golden fought for her baby until McClain fired seven shots into her chest. With the baby in hand, McClain left and told her sister she had the child she's wanted and would be needing to do the adoption. Acting on tips, authorities found the baby Keegan unharmed with McClain's sister at a North Harris County home near FM1960 (ph). McClain was arrested and charged with capital murder. But for people we met at this makeshift memorial for Golden, what happened is stunning.

BRYCE PIZZONIA, LIVES NEAR PEDIATRIC CENTER: I guess you can't have a baby. There's many people out there that can't have babies and they deal with it every day, you know. It doesn't mean you go out there and you steal one and you kill somebody to get one. It's horrible and people don't do that. They don't need to do that, you know.

LINDSAY CRAIG, LIVES NEAR PEDIATRIC CENTER: People just don't care anymore. And I do. It's just a real tragedy. And I think everyone, whether they knew them or not, should be praying for the family and for the future of that baby. SEWARD: Judging by the growing memorial and the comments from people that we've met, many people already are.

Now, yesterday, there were witnesses that said they saw a man helping McClain with this crime. Today investigators say they're not so sure. They believe and McClain admits that she acted alone. In a couple of hours, there will be a joint news conference here between the Montgomery County district attorney and the Montgomery county sheriff's office.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Very disturbing story.

Coming up next, Afghan police say dozen of women and girls wound up at a hospital after suspected poisoning at their school.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown of some of the stories we are working on next.

Afghan police say that dozens of women and girl are in the hospital after possibly being poisoned at their school.

And then a British writer ignites a firestorm with an article entitled "don't hate me because I'm beautiful." It sparked a spirited conversation on our team about women's self-esteem. We're going to talk to a psychologist about that.

And in 15 minutes, could Jane Fonda pull off playing Nancy Reagan in a movie? Well, some conservatives say, not so much.

So, just how much snack is there in a snack-sized bag of chips? Some people are using the Internet to say, not enough. Jeanne Moos found out that some of them take this stuff very seriously.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Poke them, squeeze them, shake them, pop them. Is your potato chip bag half empty or half full? How about almost completely empty?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's count. Let's count the chips. Three, four, five, and then some crumbs.

MOOS: No wonder this guy has a chip on his shoulder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, Lays, are you serious?

MOOS: And though his complaint is the most recent to go viral, he's not alone. This guy found only two chips.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's it? MOOS: Poor Lays. Some are laying it on thick.

"I love it when I buy a bag of air and the company is nice enough to put some chips in it."

It reminds us of that old classic --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where's the beef?

MOOS (on camera): Where's the chips?

MOOS (voice-over): But if you're feeling cheated over your half empty bag of chips, listen to the Consumer Reports researcher who wrote an article called "Air To Spare."

MOOS (on camera): Empty air is protective.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It absolutely is on many levels.

MOOS: Todd Marks (ph) warns of false walls and too much head space in lots of packaging. But when it comes to fragile, breakable chips, he's convinced the empty space is needed, especially on the assembly line.

MARKS: Those rollers can damage the chips and turn them into crumbs.

MOOS: They may be called Lays, but if you lay bags on top of each other during shipping --

MARKS: And there's not enough air to cushion the chips, guess what, you're going to have more mashed chips.

MOOS: But Marks says there's no excuse for this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's it?

MOOS: We bought five packages of chips from our newsroom vending machine and investigated the contents of each.

(on camera): Can't complain about that one. 39, 40, 41, 42 and change.

(voice-over): The guys whose snack packs were almost all pack and no snack, a spokesman for Frito-Lay said, "In any manufactures process occasionally there's a glitch in the system, and clearly it wasn't filled in the proper way. We'd be happy to replace that for him."

(MUSIC)

MOOS: If you ever find your chips are down, don't take it out on the bag. Call the 800 number on the back. Give them the lot number.

MARKS: Don't throw out that bag and then ask them for a coupon.

MOOS: Remember that old slogan --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AD ANNOUNCER: Betcha can't eat just one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: -- unless that's all there is in the bag.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: All right. I want you to think about this. If you had to pick this year's most influential people, who would be? "Time" about to come out with their 100 most influential. That edition hitting the stands tomorrow. A sneak peak, some of the names right on the cover. Many of them pretty obvious. They're names, faces, household names, the expected politicians, sports stars, celebrities. Who are we watching? We see President Obama, Mitt Romney, Rihanna, and Adele. Also some controversial folks, including Bashar al Assad and some others who are quietly making their mark and influencing lives. People you don't know, but you should, such as Manal al Sharif. She posted on YouTube a video of herself driving in Saudi Arabia and was arrested, jailed for nine days just for driving.

So who do you think should be on the list? Tweet me @Suzannemalveaux. Keep the conversation going.

And police say they have now solved the mystery of Tom Petty's stolen guitars. Find out what happened to the vintage instruments.

(SINGING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SINGING)

MALVEAUX: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers celebrating today. The reason? They got their stolen guitars back. Five instruments, including three valuable vintage guitars, were stolen last week from a sound stage where the group was rehearsing. A private security guard has been arrested on grand theft charges in Los Angeles. Police say they were tipped off after one of the stolen guitars was sold at a pawnshop.

Jane Fonda, she has got hard-core conservatives angry, super angry again. This time for taking the role of Nancy Reagan in an upcoming movie set in the White House.

Want to bring in Nischelle turner from L.A.

Wow. Nischelle, she's not known for her conservative politics. I imagine she's got some ruffled feathers to deal with here.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: You can see the drama in this one a mile away. When this casting was announced that Jane Fonda would play Nancy Reagan, a lot of conservatives were upset because they still see Jane Fonda as Hanoi Jane, who is one of the most liberal members of Hollywood. To have her play the first lady in the upcoming film "The Butler," it has them up in arms.

"Showbiz Tonight" caught up with her last night at the premiere of a documentary about Bob Marley last night, and she says the critics should just simmer down a little. Let's watch what she told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE FONDA, ACTRESS: I am, and I intend to be very respectful.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORT: Some conservatives are probably scratching their heads.

FONDA: Well, I can understand that but they have nothing to worry about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TURNER: Well, there you have it from Jane herself.

One thing to remember here is this is acting. You know, actors should want to take on roles opposite of themselves that make them stretch. And I'm actually really interested to see how this all plays out because, by the way, Suzanne, the role is not a starring role in the film. It's a supporting part, but you know people will definitely be watching this.

MALVEAUX: She seemed pretty gracious. Said I can understand their concerns. Who else is involved in the movie?

TURNER: Oprah is going to be in it and Forest Whitaker will be playing the starring role of "The Butler." This movie is about the White House butler from -- I think it was '85 -- in the '80s, that just kind of his life story and what he went through as a member of the White House staff. So Oprah, Forrest Whitaker, I think I heard John Cusack would be a part of this movie. Lots of big names for this movie. It's being directed by Lee Daniels, the man who did "Precious" as well.

MALVEAUX: Wow. It sounds really interesting. Sounds like it could be a good one.

Tell us a little bit about there's a controversy that's happening here, "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette," a lawsuit in the works?

TURNER: Yes. There definitely is. There's a couple would-be bachelors who say they were given the brush off during their interviews because they're black. One plaintiff is Nathaniel Claybrook. He is a college football player who most recently played for a Minor League team, the National Storms. The other is Christopher Johnson. He's described in the news release only as an aspiring National Football League player. Claybrook and Johnson are both African-American and they're seeking a class action status for their lawsuit. This is according to their attorneys. They're saying the lawsuit will be filed in a U.S. district court today on behalf of all persons of color who have applied for the role of the bachelor or bachelorette but been denied the opportunity on the basis of race. They point out, over 23 seasons, neither show has ever had a bachelor or bachelorette of color.

There's a couple things here, Suzanne. We were talking about this in the bureau. This is not the first time we've heard people say this about this show, but the question is, even if you're correct, can you sue for that? And are the producers of the show and ABC legally required to have diversity on a reality show?

We reached out to ABC and right now the network is not commenting on this. In the past though, they have said that really their eligible contestants don't come out for the show's casting calls. They kind of go to the contestants themselves and ask them to be a part of the show.

MALVEAUX: It will be interesting to see if they get someone of color on their shows.

TURNER: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Nischelle, good to see you, as always.

TURNER: Yes.

MALVEAUX: For the latest entertainment news from Hollywood and beyond, watch "Showbiz Tonight" at 11:00 eastern on HLN.

It was pretty rainy in Georgia last night, and the following day as well, just rained and rained. A lot of street flooding in some parts of Atlanta. I want to bring in Chad Myers.

Chad, it kind of kept me up last night.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Did it?

MALVEAUX: I kept hearing more and more.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: It's supposed to be soothing.

MALVEAUX: Not when I'm trying to get to sleep.

MYERS: There was thunder in there as well. It's been a very wet couple of weeks, in fact, from Texas all the way to Georgia. And that's great news because for a long time we have been in a significant drought, especially Texas.

Let's look at how much rain Texas has picked up through Louisiana. Here are the states to help you pick these out. This is Georgia over here, and here is Texas over there, Houston, Corpus Christi, and then all of these in between. So the rain has been coming down. But it's been beneficial rain because this area has been so very dry. Just a year ago, almost the entire state of Texas was in some type of drought. Now at least the northern part, northeastern part, and also the southeastern part of Texas completely now out of a drought. That's good news because they need the rain. And maybe they will get some summer crops in because a lot of things died last year, billions of dollars worth of crop damage in Texas because it just never rained.

MALVEAUX: Chad, I understand you're also watching a volcano? Is that right?

MYERS: I'm watching a cool-looking volcano, Popocatepetl.

MALVEAUX: Wow. You really said that?

MYERS: I think it's a little scary though. I practiced the name for 48 hours.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: I can imagine.

MYERS: This is a very large 18,000-foot high volcano not that far from Mexico City. And that's the rub. It's very close to the city, about 40 miles away. It has been an active volcano for many years now. Over the past 500 years, 15 significant eruptions. It is a big volcano. There's a big cone there. There's also a glacier on top that could cause a problem if it melts the snow and ice. That could cause floods. Although it doesn't appear there's much here, because Mexico City is about 40 miles away. There are many, many little towns around there. And now they're thinking about having to evacuate some of those people because it's rumbling now, sending ash into the sky and ash is coming down in parts of Mexico City.

MALVEAUX: Time to get out.

Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: Not for Mexico City yet.

MALVEAUX: Not yet. OK.

(LAUGHTER)

Baseball season only a couple weeks old. Already a player making history. Jamie Moyer of the Colorado Rockies is old enough to be most of his teammates' dad. Give it up for him. Details coming up next.

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MALVEAUX: Hard to imagine somebody deliberately poisoning children let alone a whole school of them, but that is exactly what police believe happened at a girl's school in Afghanistan.

Mohammed Jamjoom joins us from the Afghanistan capital.

Mohammed, I understand as many as 170 girls and teachers were poisoned. Who do they think did this and why?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, this happened in the northeastern province of Tokar. Officials believe Islamic extremists who are opposed to girls' education were behind this. The reason, they believe this, even though lab results haven't come back yet from Kabul and they don't know yet exactly how they were poisoned or what was used, they believe this because here in Afghanistan this has happened before.

In 2010, more than 100 girls in different provinces across Afghanistan were poisoned. Their drinking water also was poisoned. They fell ill because of that. That was also blamed on the work of Islamist extremists. This was a country ruled by the Taliban from 1996 to 2001. They didn't allow women to go to school.

It's amazing, 10 years into this war now the Taliban no longer in control, hasn't been in quite some time. Still, it goes to show how difficult it is for women here, especially in the remote provinces where it's very hard to protect them from these kinds of attacks -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: And what can you tell us about the victims here?

JAMJOOM: We know that there were 171. They were ranging from the ages of 14 to 30. They went to the hospital last night. Now, all except for four have been discharged. They complained of dizziness and nausea. The ones in the hospital are semi conscious, but we're told it's improving.

It's very worrying for the officials there. And they're really concerned about exactly what this means for that province and what it means for the women and the girls in that school -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right. Mohammed, thank you very much.

Back in this country a Major League pitcher is making history now. Jamie Moyer started pitching when Ronald Reagan was president. Last night, at 49 years and 150 days old, Moyer became the oldest pitcher to win a game in the majors. He threw seven innings against San Diego for the 5-3 win. He says it was a night to remember.

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JAMIE MOYER, OLDEST PITCHER TO WIN IN MAJORS: It's a special night for me. You know, it's a lot of emotion. It's been a long time since 2010. It's only three games, but, you know, winning my first game, as I said earlier, I kind of feel like it's my first game. You know, and it's pretty much all I know, and it's pretty much all I've done my whole life. And, you know, I'm still able to live the dream. And I still believe I have the passion for the game. And, you know, it's just a special night for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: Don't hate her because she's beautiful. That is the message a British writer put out and she's getting a lot of angry mail because of it. But why are so many women upset about what she said. We'll talk to a psychologist about the decades'-long battle between beauty and self-esteem.

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MALVEAUX: She says "I am beautiful." Roy Orbison had a hit with "Pretty Woman." But the subject of women and beauty can get down light ugly. That's right. British writer, Samantha Brick, struck a nerve with her column, "Why Women Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful." In the column, Brick wrote -- and this is the quote, "I'm tall, slim, blond and so often told a good-looking woman. I know how lucky I am, but there's down sides to being pretty. The main one being other women hate me for no more reason than my lovely looks."

This set off quite a backlash. A lot of debate going on.

I want to bring in psychologist, Jen Berman. She is the host and lead therapist on VH1's "Couples Therapy," and has a new episode airing tonight.

Here's some of the examples of how people responded to her and her column.

Annie says, "Sorry if it sounds mean. The writer is not that attractive. In fact, she's only marginally OK looking."

Maria Marianne wrote, "OMG, is this woman for real"?

Even Ann Curry called her a narcissist.

Why do you think there was this kind of response to Samantha Brick's column? Her blog?

JEN BERMAN, PSYCHOLOGIST & HOST, COUPLES THERAPY: For a number of reasons. First, there are always unhappy people who are willing to hide behind the anonymity of the Internet so they can lash out and try to feel better about themselves. This says a lot about someone, how much energy they puts toward saying mean and critical things about someone expressing their opinion and her life experience.

On one hand, women are told they should value their looks and look a certain way, and on the other hand, they shouldn't be too attached to their looks. I think when people disown that sense of vanity and they see it in someone else, they hate it and despise it and they attack.

MALVEAUX: A lot of people are talking about it, young women, and they are saying it's not so much they're hating on her because they're attractive, but they believe she's bragging about herself or she's boasting and she put this out there in kind of an obnoxious way. Do you think people have a case for that? BERMAN: So what if she is? So what if she is? If she's boasting, it's people's reaction to it, to me, that is so telling. This is her experience in life.

And, you know, I do think that there's more to the story regarding her than meets the eye. I think when you have an experience over and over and over again, where people are reacting to you a certain way, you have to look at, what is it you're putting out there besides your good looks, what kind of attitude, what kind of energy, what kind of vibe, what kind of behavior you're putting out that people are reacting to you over and over this way.

MALVEAUX: So what does this say about our society? About women and the sense of self-esteem and beauty here? That you have such a visceral reaction to this woman just putting out that statement saying, I'm beautiful, I know I'm beautiful, and people hate me because of it?

BERMAN: I think that our society is incredibly conflicted about women and looks. And I think that we are taught as women, our looks are so important, and it's something we need to really focus on. And in order to win a man and have a career, have great things in our life, we have to look a certain way.

Yet, at the same time, we're criticized if we're involved with our looks in any way.

And we teach our kids from an early way to be princesses and wear sparkles and to look pretty. We need to focus on a sense of mastery and confidence instead of about their worth being about their looks.

MALVEAUX: Jen, how do we teach young girls or young women that they don't need to be consumed and obsessed over their outer beauty?

BERMAN: We work on taking the emphasis off that. We work on a sense of acceptance and also helping kids find what their passion is and find what they can master and feel confident. That sense of competency will help kids grow up to be adults who are about what they do, what they achieve, and how they affect others as opposed to just how they look.

MALVEAUX: Do you think we're going backwards right now when we look at reality shows and the bad behavior some women. And we wonder is this inner beauty people are working on? When you see the models and there's this obsession over outer beauty? Why is it we seem to be going backwards here?

BERMAN: Well, I think that we are in a society where, yes, looks are valued, and also sort of drama and intensity and borderline behavior, and narcissistic behavior get a lot of attention. And unfortunately, women in particular, but also men on reality shows are getting too much attention for the wrong kinds of things.

MALVEAUX: All right. Jen Berman, something we all got to work on here, trying to help people feel better about themselves.

Jen, good to see you.

BERMAN: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: So many of you tweeted us about the pictures of the American soldiers holding what appear to be the body parts of Afghan suicide bombers. We're going to have some of your responses up next.

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MALVEAUX: Now to your response of the lead story, pictures of U.S. troops posing with body parts of Afghan bombers. CNN has not authenticated the photos. They are gruesome so we are blurring some of these images.

This one shows soldiers and Afghan police holding the severed legs of a dead bomber. The "Los Angeles Times" published it today. The paper says it was among 18 photos taken two years ago by a soldier who said he wanted to draw attention of the safety risk of a breakdown in leadership and discipline.

The U.S. military asked "The Times" not to publish the photos. But the paper said it was obligated to report vigorously on all aspects of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

So what do you think about it? How damaging are these pictures for our troops?

Brittwhitmire tweets, "Very damaging, very disturbing. Doesn't do anything positive for our men and women in harm's way."

Thinkdeeper76 says, "Not saying it's right, but let's not forget that they torture us brutally and videotape beheadings."

Yezdance writes, "Less damaging than the acts of GSA senior managers who stole from tax payer, and that's a fact."

And from Facebook, Cynthia says, "It is disturbing. Lack of respect. There is such a lack of respect from our military in these matters."

Steven writes, "How damaging is it? It's ignorant, disgusting, but not nearly as damaging as the actions of the bombers."

We thank you for your responses. Keep this conversation going. Tweet me @Suzannemalveaux. Send me your thoughts at Facebook.com/SuzanneCNN.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Brooke Baldwin.

Hey, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Suzanne, thank you so much.