facebook.com/carolcnn. thanks, as always, for your comments. i'm carol costello. "cnn newsroom" continues with fredricka whitfield. i'm fredricka whitfield in for kara phillips. it's 11:00 on the east coast. 8:00 on the west. it is the shock on wall street felt around the world. jpmorgan chase rolled the dice and lost big time to the tune of $2 billion. the bank says it was triggered by a massive trading bet that backfired. jpmorgan chase shares fell sharply at the opening bell. right now the market is weathering the storm with the dow up 34 points. we'll keep a close watch on the markets. so jpmorgan says the blunder was triggered by a massive trading bet that backfired. and the ceo, jamie diamond, is taking the blame, saying the bad bet was the result of error, sloppiness and bad judgment.

for the nuts and bolts on this fias fiasco, it's the impact on the markets and your own investments. alison kosik joins us now. just what was this massive trading bet all about? before it went south? >> reporter: fredricka, what jpmorgan essentially did was made a big game am. they made risky bets and lost. the bets they made were to protect against possible losses on jpmorgan's other investments, but clearly they backfired and the bets produced losses of their own. how did this come out? it came out in a surprise conference call that ceo jamie diamond called for lamon called. shares are down almost 8% right now. shares of others are getting hit hard right now. wall veit is worried about other banks wondering, you know what, if jpmorgan can do this and it's considered the stronger of the banks or the strongest of the banks, what kind of bets are the

other banks making especially, once again, that aren't as strong as jpmorgan? fredricka? >> so the ceo, jamie dimon, had quite the reputation as did jpmorgan altogether. so what does this do to that reputation of both? >> reporter: no doubt you're going to see the reputation of dimon, the reputation of the company going to take a hit. dimon is well respected on wall street, in the financial industry. you know what, even president obama has called him to washington for meetings on the economy. cheerily he is not happy about this. but he is owning up to it. listen to some of his -- of what he said last night in the conference call. >> speaking for the senior management team and myself, what we can't assure you, we won't make mistakes. we can assure you we will try not to. these were egregious mistakes, self-inflicted, we're viable, it violates our own standards and pri principles how we want to run the business.

>> reporter: clearly he's not hiding from it. he's owning up to it, being blunt, saying the losses were cause bid errors, by sloppiness, by bad judgment and he's warning that $2 billion loss can grow by at least another $1 billion. fredricka? >> all right, alison kosik, thanks so much in new york. an arizona sheriff mired in scandal earlier this year says he's ending his run for congress. he was in hot water over allegations that he had threatened to deport an ex-boyfriend. at the time he was co-chair of mitt romney's arizona campaign, but he resigned after the story went national. he was running for a house seat, says he's now going to run for re-election as sheriff. we're still learning some pretty fascinating details from the al qaeda bomb plot that was foiled by saudi intelligence. a researcher who was briefed by the saudis says the mole who infiltrated al qaeda operations

in yemen is a britt of saudi descent. he lived much of his life in the uk where he fell in with jihadists but was courted by saudi intelligence. they sent him to yemen where al qaeda in the arabian peninsula saw him as a new talent and his passport was a major asset. at that point the danger was constant. the stakes monumental. and cnn's nic robertson will join us with that in our next half hour. there's also a new concern about the fate of an american soldier being held by the taliban in afghanistan. they say talks aimed at winning the release of bo bergdahl has stalled. this is the first time the confidence building negotiations with the taliban included the army sergeant who was captured three years ago. this was revealed in an interview bergdahl's parents had. they told the times they were speaking out because of a lack

of progress in the talks. as many as 60,000 fans are expected to say good-bye to the late junior seau at a public memorial this evening at san diego's qualcomm stadium, home of the linebacker's former team, the chargers. seau also played for the miami dolphins and the new england patriots in his 20-year career. seau died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his oceanside home on may 2nd. he was 43. the recent suicides of several former players has the nfl examining the impact of concussions over a lifetime. to mississippi now where the newest member of the fbi's ten most wanted list is wanted no more. today adam mayes is deceased. the two girls he allegedly kidnapped are safe and we're just getting word of three new arrests in the case that began with two murders two weeks ago. mayes took his own life in a remote patch of woods where the

kidnapped victims, aged 12 and 8, lying on their stomachs nearby. martin savidge joins me now from from the town of alpine with more on this. so, martin, what can you tell us about these new arrests? >> reporter: well, that's right, fr fredricka. the prime suspect may be dead in this particular case but the investigation goes on. and as authorities have threatened that if they found anyone who assisted mayes in any way they would assist them. that appears to be the case. three people were taken into custody in part for giving false information or at least inaccurate information to authorities. and then on top of that also for firearms violations. and it appears that one or two people may have been involved in getting gun to adam mayes, the same that he ended his life with last night. that happened around 5:30 in the evening a short distance down this dirt road in a very rural part of union county, mississippi. a tip came in to authorities from someone who said, hey, there's a cabin down the road

there and have you thought about checking that out? authorities had been through the area several times but it's very wooded, very difficult terrain. so they went into that specific area with a s.w.a.t. team, 31 members divided into two, and as they closed in on a particular part of the woods, they came across one of the young girls laying on the ground. and then a short distance away they found adam mayes. he jumped to his feet, pulled out a gun and shot himself in the head according to authorities there. but the two girls who once again had to witness tragedy were rescued. they had suffered from exposure. it appears they had been living out in the open in the woods. they were dehydrated, mosquito bitten, but alive and taken to a nearby hospital. they've been reunited with family members. >> and so, martin, where do things stand with mayes' wife and mother? >> reporter: right, you have two people -- now five people that are in custody that we know of. teresa mayes, that is the wife of adam mayes, says that she was complicit in helping to carry out the murder of jo ann bain

and adrienne bain, that's the mother and older daughter that were murdered a couple of weeks ago. so she is still charged. that investigation is going to move forward. you have the mother charged with conspiracy in helping the kidnapping in some way, shape or form. this investigation is still very active even though, as we say, the prime suspect is dead. >> and then a press conference scheduled for later on today, 4:00 eastern involving the governor as well and s.w.a.t. teams, right? >> reporter: right. i have to say that, for many people, this was the answer to their prayers. at least with the fact that these two young girls are found alive and well. there have been many in the area that had speculated he might go out with a blaze and would take the young girls with him. that was not the case thanks to the fact that authorities moved in and were able to take control of the scene. >> all right. thanks so much, martin savidge. appreciate that from alpine, mississippi. >> reporter: you bet. >> stick with cnn. we will have that press conference involving the governor of mississippi and the s.w.a.t. team. it's very important to understand

how math and science kind of makes the world work. in high school, i had a physics teacher

by the name of mr. davies. he made physics more than theoretical, he made it real for me. we built a guitar, we did things with electronics and mother boards. that's where the interest in engineering came from. so now, as an engineer, i have a career that speaks to that passion. thank you, mr. davies. and just a quick note for those of you heading out the door, you can continue to watch cnn from your mobile phone or, if you're heading to work, watch cnn live from your desktop. just go to cnn.com/tv. all right.

mitt romney appears to be adding a twist to his stand against same sex issues. he says he's fine with gay couples adopting children. take a listen. >> i happen to believe that the best setting for raising a child is are where there's the opportunity for a mom and a dad to be in the home. i know that many circumstances where that's not possible. through death or divorce. i also know many gay couples are able to adopt children. that's fine. >> asked in the same interview about president obama's announcement that he supports same sex marriage and the impact on the november election, romney said he hopes voters will focus on the major issues of the day, the economy, getting people back to work, and foreign issues like syria. so was it a prank or bullying, and was mitt romney involved? a romney high school classmate says he witnessed the event nearly 50 years ago. romney and a group of friends allegedly held down a classmate and cut off chunks of his long hair. philip maxwell, now a lawyer,

implies it was an assault not a harmless prank. the story was first reported by t "the washington post." and romney says he doesn't remember anything about that at all. jim acosta joins us now from washington. first off, tell us how the story got out into the open. >> reporter: well, i had a chance to talk with philip maxwell last night, the gentleman you mentioned, one of romney's former classmates from that school in michigan and he tells me, fredricka, he is still haunted by what he claims he witnessed back in 1965, that romney and a group of friends held down a classmate and cut his hair. an incident that maxwell told me he considered to be an assault. and here is what he had to tell me about romney's recollection of the incident. as you know, fredricka, yesterday mitt romney did a couple of interviews? which he said he did not recall that exact incident but he did engage in high school pranks and that he apologized for any harm that he caused during his time at that school but look at what

philip maxwell told me last night in a phone conversation that we had about mitt romney's recollection of that incident. he told me, quote, he says he does not remember it and i find it difficult to believe. it's unfortunate that mitt, in his words, mitt simply has not owned up to his behavior. and i asked him, do you think this should be taken into consideration by voters? after all, this is something that happened back in high school. you know, fredricka, if any of us were to be held accountable for all the things we did back in high school, you know, some of us would be in a lot of trouble right now. and i asked maxwell about this and he said, you know, i think you have to take it into account. here is another quote from him. i guess you have to take it into account. are you the kind of person who would stop the abuse of an innocent person? and i have to tell you, when i was talking to him, fredricka, i really got the sense that this gentleman, maxwell, is deeply haunted and very regretregretfu remorseful for what he says

happened in 1965. as you know from "the washington post" article, the young man who was bullied in the incident or allegedly bullied, died back in 2004 according to "the post" account and maxwell told me he wishes he could have apologized to him when he was alive. now mitt romney, as i mentioned, earlier did apologize for his pranks back in high school. here is what he said yesterday to fox news. i don't recall the incident myself but i've seen the reports. i'm not going to argue with that. there's no question but that i did some stupid things when i was in high school, and obviously if i hurt anyone by virtue of that, i would be very sorry for it and apologize for it. >> reporter: now the romney campaign is not ignoring this. they did put out some statements from some other former classmates of mitt romney from that school. one of those classmates really, you know, disregarded this story and said that, you know, mitt

romney was not a malicious person. yes, he was clownish. yes, he engaged in pranks, but he was not a malicious person. and the romney campaign, as you might expect, fredricka, is trying to turn the corner on this, trying to turn the page. he has an event at 1:00 talking about the economy. he will do that tomorrow at liberty university down in virginia in a commencement speech at that school tomorrow. fred sfled. >> so a couple of things on that. phillip maxwell, is he saying there he will throw his support behind mitt romney after he's been quoted like this, and then what's been the reaction, say, among those who have been tweeting you? >> reporter: maxwell has done other interviews where he has said that he thinks mitt romney would make a pretty good president and that he might vote for him. i got the sense from talking to him -- i didn't ask him that question to be quite honest with you. i didn't ask whether he would vote for mitt romney because this gentleman was so upset about the story and that was

surprising to me talking about something that happened 50 years ago. the response has been what you might expect. a lot of people have been saying that, you know, one thing or the other, either this was high school and that people can't be held accountable for what they did in high school and other people say, look, mitt romney should acknowledge that this happened and apologize. as you know, as he said yesterday, he doesn't recall this happened. fredricka? >> jim acosta, appreciate that. one other note, attorney phillip maxwell did tell nbc news he is a registered independent who has voted for both democrats and republicans. like the dual-defense antioxidants in our food that work around the clock... supporting your dog's immune system on the inside... while helping to keep his skin and coat healthy on the outside. with this kind of thinking going into our food... imagine all the goodness that can come out of it. just one way we're making the world a better place... one pet at a time.

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flesh eating bacteria has claimed her left leg and part of

her abdomen. doctors said her chance of survival were slim to none, but one word describes 24-year-old amy copeland, fighter. she is showing signs of improvement. doctors are also fighting, trying to stay ahead of this flesh eating bacteria. but amy's dad says she will probably lose both her hands and her other foot. the nightmare began last week on a kayaking trip around the little tallapoosa river about 50 miles west of atlanta. amy was on a homemade zip line when it snapped, she fell, and badly gashed her left calf. days later doctors discovered flesh eating bacteria invaded her wound and was creeping into other parts of her body. amy's dad, andy copeland, has been by his daughter's bedside every did i. he's on the phone with us from the hospital where amy is being treated. also joining us infectious disease expert dr. buddy creech

from vanderbilt to give us perspective on this as well. mr. copeland, how is amy doing right now? >> she is actually doing well. we saw her this morning. she is quite alert. and she is able to actually match certain words. she has a breathing tube. it makes it difficult to read lips. i would say that she has more commands than questions right now. one was, i can't talk. we said, we know, honey. you have a tube down your throat. she said, then take it out. so her spirit, her fighting spirit, is obviously shining through. >> well, that is encouraging. is she aware of the potential amputations? >> absolutely not. there's no way i would reveal that to her in her current state. i believe it would traumatize her further. >> well, at what point and how

do you have that dialogue with her? at what point do you give her an idea what may be ahead? >> believe me, that's been a grave concern for her mother and i. i actually talked to the doctor about it and asked him what's the process here? and they had a psychiatrist on staff who will come by and talk to her, but she has to have the breathing tube removed first before she can have a meaningful dialogue with a psychiatrist. >> all right, dr. creech, let me bring you into this. explain what the flesh eating bacteria is, where it comes from, and what it is doing to her body and what more it can potentially do to her body. >> well, there are a lot of different bacteria that can cause this type of flesh eating process, and hers happens to go by the name aramonus which is remarkably common in water and in the environment. and when it gets into the deeper tissues, it has a remarkable ability to destroy the tissues

that surround it in sort of this hunt for nutrition. and when it does that, those tissues die and we see the inflammation and the swelling and the destruction that can be very difficult to control. >> so, dr. creech, how did this bacteria get into this wound? was it at the time she was in the water and had this gash? was it, you know, some other kind of environmental impact along the way, or was it at the place where she got her initial treatment, that she had been exposed to the bacteria? >> well, it's always very difficult to know. what we do know is the skin is our first line of defense, and anytime that skin is compromise ed through a deep cut or something like that, it's very easy for germs to get into those deeper tissues. and when that happens, it's hard for our immune system to keep it at bay for very long. and what we know is that this germ is remarkably common in almost every water source. and so whether it comes from fresh water or comes from a

variety of sources, we know that when the top layer of skip and those deeper tissues are stripped away we lose the first line of defense. >> if you're saying it could be in various water sources, how about the water getting into your ears, your nose, any openings of your body? >> well, it's a great point. when we see it clinically we see it as diarrhea because young children or children with immune problems drink the water and they can get a very significant diarrhea illness from it. it's much more uncommon that we see it in this way where we see wounds get infected and the infection runs wild. those are the two main ways which it causes disease in people. >> what aimee is going through, is this unusual, doctor? >> well, it's, unfortunately, not. it's a terrible story of how these germs can start a process that really causes a lot of destruction. and we see not only the disease

from the bacteria up front but then we see a lot of the residual damages of the tissues dying over time and it's a very tough fight that she's fighting and one that shows her courage and her perseverance. >> so, mr. copeland, what are doctors telling you about the road ahead for aimee and perhaps you have a question for dr. creech? >> i think they're just telling us the road is going to be extremely difficult, but they really don't have to tell us that. that's a fairly intuitive thing that you can arrive at. it's obvious. if you're missing one limb, it's going to be hard enough, but if you're missing all of your limbs, it's going to be incredibly difficult. but the thing i just want everybody to know is that she's not alone. she's got her family to support her in this, and not just us. she has the support of the entire world right now and that's really what's humbled us

greatly is just knowing that everybody is looking at aimee and praying for aimee and offering their undying support. for that we'll be eternally grateful. >> we wish you the best. we wish the best for aimee and hope for the best. please keep us posted on her progress and the next step for aimee. andy copeland, thanks so much, and dr. buddy creech, thank you from vand erbilt. of course you can find out updates on this family. they have created a website here, and they're revealing some details on her facebook page created by the family. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics...

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than white children. that's why i started the josh project, to educate families about the importance of being water safe. >> take the ring and tlhrow it right at the victim. >> many parents, they don't know how to swim. he was afraid of the water. >> he's the first in my family to learn how to swim. he's come a long way from not liking water in his face to getting dunked under. >> you like it? all right. i'm so happy to see that so many of them have learned how to swim. good job. that's one life we saved. it takes me back to josh and how the tragedy was turned into triumph and it makes me happy. all right. >> and, remember, cnn heroes are all chosen from people you tell us about. if you know someone like wanda who is making a difference, go to cnnheroes.com. your nomination could help them help others.

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it's may which means one thing for college students, graduation. but virginia tech's class of 2012 is quite different from most. it's the first graduating class that applied to the school after this. the 2007 campus shooting that shocked the nation and fellow student gunned down 32 people before killing himself on april 16th. brianna keilar joins me now from the campus. first, are what's the mood like there today? is this tragedy style on the minds of the students, the families and the professors? >> reporter: you know, i think the mood today, fredricka, is sort of the mood that you would see at a college campus anywhere across the u.s. you talk to students here, they're excited about graduating. their families are in town. they're looking forward to the next step whether it's grad school or going on to a job or it's that uncertainty of looking for a job.

it's the rare student that's here at virginia tech that was here that day of the shootings. in fact, this is the first class that actually applied to virginia tech after the shootings. here is how one student we talked to explained his decision. >> there's a time to remember what happened and definitely reflect and never forget about what happened. there's also a time to continue on with your life and not let that define what your decision is going to be and how you're going to live your life. >> reporter: now that said, the memory of that day and of the victi victims, i will tell you, fredricka, is still very strong. the memorial, the permanent memorial is here on campus and most students would walk by it on their way to school and certainly the spring is a time for remembrance because it's the anniversary of the shootings and also because graduation certainly is makes people reflect. but this is, five years later, a campus that by and large has really, really started to move on, fred.

>> so enrollment wasn't deeply impacted or it has picked up since 2007? >> reporter: yeah, that's the interesting thing. everyone was wondering because of when the shootings happened in april of 2007, a lot of students had been admitted and they were getting ready to send in their commitment to come here. enrollment actually went up following the shootings. >> the first lady is going to be the commencement speaker today. i'm sure that campus is excited about that but always the talk of politics given that virginia is a swing state. what's the reception about her being the speaker, and is she likely to inject politics into the equation? >> reporter: i don't think she'll be talking politics. i think she'll talk about the resiliency of the community here. politics are on the minds of some of the students. virginia tech is a pretty interesting place. president obama is pretty comfortable. the obamas are pretty comfortable on college campuses. young voters tend to go for them over republican opponents. but virginia tech is actually

pretty split down the middle. there is a large conservative contingent compared to other universities but i think mostly the students here are excited. here is what one student told us. >> i think she is a great role model and i don't know how she got picked for her list of commencement speeches but i think it's going to be really moving and i think that she has a lot to say that she can take and put into our lives as future leaders. >> i think it's interesting that we're a battleground state and she's speaking in it. >> reporter: you think that's a coincidence? >> maybe. >> reporter: or maybe not, ri t right? >> hopefully she doesn't talk about politics. >> reporter: so we'll be looking for michelle obama's comments next hour, fredricka, and we'll bring them live to you on cnn. >> we look forward to that. thanks so much. we're also getting word now from jacksonville, florida, that a judge has seven is tensed an a abused wife and mother to 20 years in prison for trying to stand her ground. marissa alexander says she feared her husband would have

killed her had she not fired a single shot into a wall while trying to escape their home in 2010. the husband was not hurt and admitted to a history of beating his partners. still, a judge and jury rejected the stand your ground defense and convicted her of aggravated assault. after the sentencing, a remarkable confrontation between u.s. congresswoman brown and state attorney angela corey. listen. >> my feeling is that your office initially overcharged her in this case. this is my feeling. this is my feeling. but we can't try it here. >> yes, ma'am. that's why we're asking that it not be tried now and that the facts are going to be put out. and i told mr. lincoln alexander, i wanted to sit down with him. you can't tell people -- madam -- >> the southern christian leadership conference among other groups has taken up

alexander's cause. her attorney says he'll appeal her conviction. the government has wrapped its case in the corruption trial against former presidential candidate john edwards. while the case is far from a slam dunk for the prosecution, joe johns explains why the defense's motion to get the case thrown out may come up short. >> reporter: the last thing the prosecution did before resting its case is play for the jury an abc news interview from 2008 in which john edwards admitted having an extramarital affair with his mistress, rielle hunter, and falsely denied fathering her child. earlier the prosecution put former edwards economic adviser hendry on the stand who shed real light on the action behind the scenes in early 2008 as then-are senator barack obama was winning the iowa caucuses and edwards was coming in second. the night of obama's big win, henry said edwards instructed him to reach out to obama adviser and senator tom daschle and offer edwards up as a

running mate. just days later, henry said, he told the obama campaign if edwards couldn't be vice president, he believed he had the qualifications and the ability to be attorney general. he says they talked about a more elaborate long-term goal of edwards which was to become a supreme court justice. as prosecutors got in some of their last evidence they were paying close attention to private charter flights and hotel bills and other payments for edwards' mistress, rielle hunter, and her handlers which had been covered by edwards' benefactor during the period edwards was running for president and before he suspended his campaign in late january 2008. the government has a difficult job to show that edwards knowingly and willingly accepted illegal campaign contributions without the benefit of the testimony of three key witnesses. his ben fact tres, bonnie mellon, fred barron, and his late wife, elizabeth. >> the problem the government has is unavailability of

witnesses. you have mrs. mellon, almost 102 years old, unable to be here. you have fred barron, passed away from cancer. and you have elizabeth edwards who john says that he was lying to protect and she's, unfortunately, passed away as well. >> reporter: now that the prosecution has rested its case, the defense is expected to ask the judge to acquit edwards, though most legal observers don't expect her to grant that motion. >> we have a new judge, and throwing out a case is pretty dramatic because there's no opportunity for even the government to appeal. and there's really no harm if you think about allowing the jury to ultimately hear the case. >> reporter: the judge told members of the jury they don't have is to be here on friday while the lawyers argue their motions. assuming the trial continues on monday, it's still not clear whether edwards will take the stand in his own defense. joe johns, cnn, greensboro, north carolina. and so far the edwards defense team has argued much of the money in question was used by edwards' former aide, andrew young, for his personal use f.

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♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] virtual wallet can help you be that person who's good with money. see what's free to spend. move money with a slide. save with a shake. feel good about your decisions. all right. breast-feed i breast-feeding. doctors have always said it's one of the best things you can do for your baby, but what about this? baby seems is to be a relative term here. if you haven't already seen it, take a look at "time" magazine's newest color on stands starting today. a 26-year-old mom breast-feeding her 3-year-old son. check out the headline. are you mom enough? social media atwater coolers are

burning up with debates over what's called attachment parenting. it's an increasingly popular trend, moms keeping their kids close for longer periods of time to establish a deeper physical, emotional bond. you've heard all kinds of sentiments all the way around. so this is raising a lot of important questions. is it extreme or just a difficult way of parenting? >> well, absolutely, fredricka. and, you know, i think like anything in life, it really depends on just how far you want to take it. and that's the part of the debate, do you breast-feed for one year? do you breast-feed for four years? if you physically can't or don't want to but you love your baby, nurture your baby in other ways, is that good enough? is your entire baby's life dependent on one thing, that one thing being whether you're breast-feeding. this is not a new debate. dr. fears wrote the baby book about 20 years ago. what is new is this in your face

get comfortable with it "time" magazine cover. at the heart of attachment parenting is that babies develop a strong emotional bond and feel secure the more they're held, the more sensitive parents are to the baby's needs, that includes this extended breast-feeding but it's also about bringing baby into bed, co-sleeping, wearing baby in the slings so the baby feels the mom's rhythm and is soothed by it. here is what jamie lynn grummet had to say about it. >> i feel they don't show the nurturing side. attachment parenting, which is more -- this isn't how we breast-feed at home. it's more of a krcradling, nurturing situation, and i understand what they're saying, but i do understand why "time" chose this picture, you know, because it is going to be such a -- it did create such a media craze, to get the dialogue. >> and really what is

interesting we spoke to one mom who said the breast in america is seen as something ov oversexualized. she has started weaning him. these moms let the child sort of dictate when they're ready to give it up, fredricka. >> okay. so the american academy of pediatrics recommend children be breast-fed exclusively for the first six months of their lives. now when we see this picture and we see breast-feeding by way of this attached parenthood style, is there science that's backing up some real health benefits? i know you talked about the emotional bond but some other benefits scientifically that is supported here? >> absolutely. there are amazing benefits of breast milk. breast-feeding helps children develop strong immune systems. it does aid in development. they make it get sick less

frequently. dr. sears made breast-feeding something to be embraced not embarrassed about. in other cultures, as i mentioned, something parents do through the age out of 4, because of necessity, because of where they live in the world. when a busy mom nurses, fredricka, and you may remember this, it release as hormone that makes the mom relax. the baby relaxes. it's very nurturing to both. so it's not for everybody. >> all right, deborah, thanks so much. appreciate that. here's a dose of reality according to the cdc. most moms in the u.s. fail to meet the recommendations by the american academy of pediatrics and the u.s. surgeon general to breast-feed exclusively for six mont months. nearly 75% of moms start nursing their newborns, but only about 15% are exclusively breast-feeding without using infant formula when their baby is 6 months old. and by the time the baby turns 1, less than a quarter of moms are breast-feeding at all. his e! luckily though, ya know,

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it's fast becoming the world's worst kept secret in global intelligence. the undoing of an al qaeda plot to put a hard to spot bomb on an airliner bound for america. you know about the mole. you have heard some chilling details of the bomb, but that's really only scratching the surface. cnn's nic robertson joins us now from london with the very latest on the intel to dribble out. nic? >> the things that we're learning, this agent had a british passport, that he had saudi roots, that he was recruited by saudi counterterrorism officials about a year ago. that he moved in what we're told were jihadist circles. and then he was directed by his saudi counterintelligence

recruiters to go to yemen, go to an arabic teaching center, and try to sort of be there and attract the attention of al qaeda and let al qaeda think that he was a natural recruit for them and essentially he was bait for al qaeda, and that's how he managed to get into this cell. that was a year ago,. a couple months ago he found they were plotting to put a bomb on a plane. he informed his handlers. they informed the cia and mi-6, british intelligence services, and now we have the bomb and that's being examined. of course, all these details coming out now about this agent and how it all happened. that's information al qaeda is going to be able to use in the future against us. >> and do we know where he is now? >> no, we don't. that's a very carefully guarded secret, and we don't know his name. we don't know what he looks like. the al qaeda operatives with whom he was before will no doubt

know who he is, but we understand that he is in another country. he's not in yemen, and therefore he's out of any immediate danger, fredricka. >> so then he might not be able to be useful again. >> it would seem very, very unlikely in this context in this place. we don't know exactly who he is. he may have relatives, he may have been sort of trusted by al qaeda because of family connections or connections to other jihad iss. it's possible other people who knew him are being put at risk by this. >> nic robertson, thanks so much. u.s. authorities stress the flying public was never in any danger from the yemeni plot. tor. there were two things i could tell: she needed a good meal and a good family. so we gave her what our other cats love, purina cat chow complete. it's the best because it has something for all of our cats! and after a couple of weeks she was healthy, happy,

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so j.r. martinez, you may know him from "dancing with the stars," but he's one of the countless servicemen forever affected by combat. over 40% of his body was burned from an ied, so he knows the troubles facing vets returning from war zones around the world. well, today he takes us through the plight of national guard troops returning from afghanistan as part of the upcoming cnn documentary "vets wanted." >> i don't think that a lot of people are aware of the fact that what our veterans and their families go through when they come home. everybody is happy to see you, but, you know, you got to get

back to reality sooner than later. if you have a job, you have to get back to work. if you don't have a job, you have to look for work i have applied for some security companies. i got a few police departments. >> they are hoping thomas can find a job before the savings from his deployment runs out. >> anybody that's military or vet-friendly, anything that seems interesting, i click on. >> some of our peak days we only have 1500 to 2500 people on the site at a given time. in the last six months we're seeing periods of time during the day where we'll have 6,000 to 8,000 people on the site at one time. we're seeing our traffic very high even at 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning now. ♪ in the army national guard you can ♪ ? >> . >> the past the national guard was used for mostly national

emergencies but on 9/11 that changed. >> before 9/11 most national guard units didn't deploy, didn't go to combat. you had one weekend a month and two weeks a year. now you have units that have been deployed three times for a year since 9/11. they're not weekend warriors. they're full-time warriors now. >> they're good, they're qualified. they have proven themselves, and there are a way to prosecute their wars without bringing more people in. it's sort of become easy. from an investment perspective in terms of our taxpayers, it's a good investment, and it is cost-effective. from a personal perspective on these guard members and reserve members and their family, it's a huge cost. >> the complete cnn documentary "vets wanted" airs this sunday night 8:00 eastern time. thanks so much for watching, everyone. the cnn "newsroom" continues right now with suzanne malveaux.

live from cnn headquarters in atlanta where it's 12:00 noon, 9:00 a.m. on the west coast. i'm suzanne malveaux. want to get you up to speed for this friday, may 11th. the fate of an american p.o.w. isn is it on the back burner or not. talks are now stalled but officials say that releasing bowe bergdahl would score them some negotiating points. >> i can assure you that we are doing everything in our power using our intelligence resources across the government to try to find -- locate him. >> bergdahl's family is still hopeful, but they are not counting on the government's help any more. his father is now directly appealing to militants holding his son. we've got more on this later.

and they are safe and recovering now two weeks after the kidnapping ordeal began. alexandra and ka lea bain were found in a wooded area yesterday. the rescue ended a nationwide manhunt for adam mayes. authorities say mayes killed himself as officer moved in. >> mayes pulled a semiautomatic pistol from his waistband and shot himself in the head and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. other agents moved in to rescue kyliyah and alexandra who were lying on the ground nearby. the girls were hungry, thirsty, and dehydrated. a picture from the family ever george zimmerman, the man who shot and killed trayvon martin, is now being seen by some as evidence that zimmerman

did not racially profile the unarmed teenager. take a look at this cnn exclusive. >> the man in the middle is apparently george zimmerman's great grandfather. the woman above him is, in fact, his grandmother who is half black and the little child in the gentleman's lap is his mother. we see he really has significant multiracial, multicultural roots. a possible new milestone in the fight against aids. for the first time an fda panel is backing a pill to prevent hiv infection. the tablets are already used to treat patients who have the disease. now the drug to be approved for daily use by people who are considered high risk of contracting the virus. the fda is expected to adopt the panel's recommendation next month. federal agents are searching the home of an alleged mobster in connecticut. his attorney says they are

looking for hundreds of millions of dollars of stolen art, paintings, drawings from rembrandt that were stolen from the boston museum back in 1990. the suspected mobster is facing drug and illegal weapons charges. his attorney insists his client is not involved in the art heist. >> if he does have the information, it certainly would be in his interest to give it because the underlying case i'm assured will go away amicably, and he also -- that means he'll be able to go home to his wife and his family. and he'll also be given a $5 million reward. now, any person in their right mind would take that deal, wouldn't they? >> we are watching your money right now. begin with some news about the country's biggest bank. we're talking jpmorgan chase. it has lost $2 billion since april. jamie dimon is the ceo. he made a surprise announcement during a conference call yesterday. he said the loss was a case of, quote, bad judgment.

>> we have more work to do, but it's obvious at this point that there are many errors, sloppiness, and bad judgment. number one, we're going to manage it to maximize economic value per shareholders. we're willing to hold as long as necessary inventory and we're willing to bear volatility. >> ali velshi is live in new york. ali, first of all, tell us essentially, this is a lot of money. what happened? >> so, first of all, it's important to know, this isn't an operating loss. it's no the a quarterly loss. this was $2.3 billion lost on trading. now, these investment banks -- they didn't start as trading firms. they started as firms that matched up investors with businesses that needed money. then they started making directional bets on how things would go. so the bottom line is this is jpmorgan chase making bets on these credit default swaps. you'll remember that term from 2008 because that's what got aig into all this trouble. and it was a bad bet or a bad

series of bets that cost them this money. that's why this is such an interesting and big deal. it also emanates out of an office in london that dealt with risk management that has sads of aig, and the biggest worry is jpmorgan is actually supposed to be one of the better run banks with jamie dimon in charge of it. so the fear is if this is happening there, is it happening at those banks that we're -- we don't know as much about or we don't think are all that well-run? so the fear in the market is this shades of 2008 again where the banks that are too big to fail are now engaging in risky behavior that could threaten the economy again? >> what does this mean for regulators? do they want to revisit tight tightening controls on the banks especially talking about the volcker rule? >> we already heard from senator carl levin and others who said this is exactly why we need to tighten rules. jamie dimond, the head of jpmorgan chase, has led the charge against more regulation, so that is back on the table

again. and there's some real sense that, you know, these are those dark corners of the economy that we don't fully understand even after the financial crisis. we never fully got to understand it, and then our regulators can't keep up with these guys anyway. these are highly paid almost qua ququa si secretive organizations. everybody seems to be taking this in stride and saying this is probably not the end of the world but it sets a feeling off when you hear things like this is happening. >> i would imagine investors are pretty nervous and customers as well. are we seeing that? >> first of all, for everybody watching this who thinks who cares, they're big risk takers, let them lose $2 billion. but it costs you in your 401(k) when the stock market goes down. we're back up again, but this is what you have to worry about. i think jpmorgan chase is going

through the books making sure there isn't more of this. probably every other bank is i saing esaying we don't have any trader that's costing us. if we start thinking people are playing with fire, we're not far enough away from the financial crisis to feel comfortable with that, suzanne. >> thank you. i'll be checking my 401(k) this afternoon. >> you should. >> thanks, ali. here is a rundown of some of the stories we're covering. more than a year after the bloody arab spring, egyptian who fought for democracy are now seeing the fruits of their labor. their first presidential debate on tv. then a bad flashback for mitt romney. >> i did some stupid thing when i was in high school. >> the presidential candidate apologizes for offending anyone when he was in prep school. a former classmates says one of romney's pranks, was no affront, it was an assault. and this cover of a mother

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something historic happened in egypt last night that we take for granted here in the united states. the two leading candidates for president went on television live and debated. a democratic debate live on television in egypt, it has never happened, not during hosni mubarak's 30 years in power, certainly not before that. voters in egypt will go to the polls and pick a president in less than two weeks. i want to bring in michael holmes. this is not something that we necessarily could see. i understand it was not egyptian state television but two private stations that carried this live. why does that make a difference? >> because there's 13 candidates for president. you only saw two of them last

night. they are the two front-runners but it was an interesting decision. as you say, private television decided on the two, and they didn't include anyone from the muslim brotherhood. the owners of the main stations, they like the muslim brotherhood. >> still some politics, still some censorship and politics that are playing out. >> only the two front-runners. the foreign minister in the mubarak government but left it back in 2001 to become the arab league secretary-general. the other guy is an ex-member of the muslim brotherhood portraying himself as a bit more of a liberal. a lot of doubt about whether this is a muslim brotherhood guy in liberal clothing, if you like. >> and do they have exit polling like we do? can you actually tell? do the egyptian people weigh in and say i think this guy was strong? >> they have had polls. not post-debate. i haven't seen any polling

post-bedate, and you think we get bored with debates, four hours. >> they might regret having these live. >> that's enough. >> just don't have 20 of them for god's sake. tell us about what the egyptians are concerned about. clearly the voting issues over there, it's not going to be universal haeealth care, not gog to be same-sex marriage. >> they're worried about law and order. they're worried about taxation, reform 69 politicof the politic. education. they're very worried about unemployment. religion is part of the discussion though. six out of ten people in egypt want islamic law or islam to play a major role in government. so that's something that is concerning to people on the outside looking in, but that's what egyptians want. >> but they're not talking about sharia law. >> some of the candidates are. >> some of the candidates are.

>> one is not talking about sharia law. talking about islamic law but not going that far. some are worried if the salafists help him win, he may dump the moderates under the bus and go that way. you may see a government that's more saudi arabia and less turkey, if you like, in terms of secular versus religious. that might be concerning to the obama administration. they want to make sure there's democracy in place in that key part of the region. do you think the egyptians are confident now that this is the end of the hosni mubarak era? >> very much so. nobody wants to go back to that, and, you know, it's been 60 years since they've had anything like a debate like we saw last night. they want to have democracy, but, you know, it's not necessarily our democracy. it's not the democracy we see. it ma i be a democracy more religiously based but they like being able to have the choice. both of these candidates last night were talking about

limiting presidential powers. but the u.s. is vitally watching this because we have interests there. >> absolutely. all right. michael, good to see you. >> you've got me sitting down and you standing up. >> let them believe i'm really tall. >> you are. >> have a great weekend. some of mitt romney's high school classmates say they helped him pin down another student and cut off his hair. romney says he doesn't remember the incident from his prep school days. hear why psychologists say that's not unusual. [ male announcer ] research suggests

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as you can imagine, twitter messages about same-sex marriage skyrocketed after president

obama's business announcement. the spike showed how the issue peaked as the president came out in support of same-sex marriage. according to twitter gay marriage and related terms were mentioned more on wednesday than any other day since president obama took office. there were 1.6 million tweets. they peaked at more than 7,000 tweets per minute around the time president obama's announcement came on tv. mitt romney trying to shift the focus back to the economy during a stop in north carolina next hour, but romney's also facing some questions about something he's accused of doing years ago when he was in high school. classmates described an incident where they say romney and other students pinned down a boy and cut off chunks of his hair. the boy had bleach blond hair, looked different than the other students, and those involved say it went beyond bullying. here is how romney responded. >> i don't recall the incident myself, but i've seen the reports, and i'm not going to argue with that. there's no question but that i did some stupid things when i was in high school, and

obviously if i hurt anyone by virtue of that, i would be very sorry for it and apologize for it. >> want to bring in our clinical psychologist jeff guaardere to talk about this. i have no idea what romney did or did not do but the one thing i find and many people i talk to today, you go to your high school reunion and the bullies never recall what they did. i mean, it's absolutely astonishing. the kids who tormented and taunted others, seem to have no idea as adults how their behavior actually impacted others. is that actually typical? >> yeah, it could be typical because it's a situation of where as they mature in life, they become very embarrassed by those sorts of actions, and if they end up becoming better persons, it's easier to repress some of those horrible things they did when they were younger so this they can have a more stabilized and normal view of themselves as being productive citizens. >> well, this guy, phillip

maxwell, he was a classmate of romney's at the school in 1965. he says he participated in this event, and he brings up two points. first of all, he says, it's hard for him to believe that romney doesn't remember the event. he says it's unfortunate that mitt simply hasn't owned up to his behavior. is it possible he really doesn't recall what happened here in this incident? >> it's possible that he may not recall some of the incidents, but the fact that he apologizes for it anyway tells me from a clinical point of view that there was something that he may have some memories of, but again may not want to even admit it to himself, and when we look at this as far as a psychological mechanism, this is what we call repressing, repressing to the point of where we push it to our unconscious. >> is it admit it to himself or admit it to us. >> i don't think he wants to admit it to himself if it did,

in fact, happen because that does not fit the view he has of himself as being a person who provides public service. as a matter of fact, we hear when he was in that school his life changed where he did a lot of community service, so there was some sort of this being a transformation from being this bully, if this did happen, to being someone who was much more useful at his school. >> there are other classmates who say that was a time when he met ann who would later become his wife, and that he matured and that it is possible to go from someone who perhaps was doing those kinds of things to someone who is very caring and very loving and service oriented. is that typical. can you really change? >> yeah. you absolutely can change. this is something that happened 50 years ago. we don't see that kind of a person now though we know that he certainly does not have the most progressive ideas as to

same-sex marriages, but i have to tell you and i have to be very honest about this, even as a psychologist i don't see something that was so vicious, if it happened, how you would forget that and how you would apologize for it if you state that you couldn't even remember it. you would just simply say, i don't remember it, i didn't do it, but to admit to apologizing it tells me there is something brewing in there, in the head of governor romney. and i think he's embarrassed about it as he should be, and that is appropriate. >> so you see something that's inconsistent in his story there, trying to square those two things. i also want to bring up the fact that his classmate, maxwell, says, and i'm quoting, he says i'm not a lawyer. i know what assault is. this kid, the alleged victim, he was scared. he was terrified. that's an assault. we've heard a lot about mitt romney loving to prank, carry out these pranks. what is the difference between a prank and bullying? >> we heard about some of the pranks once where there was a

teacher that -- who was visually impaired that he walked into a door and laughed uncontrollably, giggled about it. that's a prank. but to hold another student down along with a bunch of students and cut that student's hair because you feel he may be a feminine or may be gay, that is not a prank. that is a deliberate action that is something that is very violent, and in these days if something like that happened, that person would be prosecuted perhaps for a hate crime and god forbid the victim of that would become suicidal, depressed, and that person would be held to task for that. so we can laugh about that, perhaps he could laugh about it, others could laugh about it, but this is something that's no laughing matter, especially if it happened today, and certainly it may have had an affect on the victim of that particular event back then all the way up until the time that he actually passed away. >> all right. jeff, thank you very much.

we appreciate it. >> thank you. everybody is talking about president obama's change of heart on same-sex marriage, but how much does joe biden's off the cuff style force his hand? we're going to talk about it in our political segment. on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you.

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president obama rakes in big bucks at a star studded hollywood fund-raising hosting by actor george clooney at his ho home. it pumped $15 million into the obama campaign. a sign that the president certainly still has a lot of friends in hollywood. joining us to talk about that and more democratic strategist and cnn contributor maria cardona and conservative commentator matt lewis. so it pays to have celebrity friends, of course. one super pac, however, already coming out with an ad attacking president obama, calling him -- he's got this rock star image, that somehow he's a celebrity

guy. it did not work the last time in 2008 when he faced that criticism. why do you suppose it's going to work this go-around? matt, i'll let you take that one. >> i don't know that it really does work. does it ever work to say like he's too popular, he's too cool? don't like him. but i do think that what republicans can do if they're smart is don't just talk about him being a celebrity. you have to sort of also talk about how that's different and out of touch with regular folks who are struggling. so if you juxtapose president obama hanging out with cultural elites in hollywood versus average folks struggling in ohio, you know, in north carolina, all of a sudden now you have a real compelling message, and then it becomes a problem for president obama. >> matt, don't you think though that most folks, you know, if you're struggling, they still love george clooney and every once in a while they will go see a movie and say that's kind of cool. >> it's going to be tough tor

republica -- for republicans to make a lot of political hay out of it. remember, president obama also took more money from goldman sachs than anybody else. so the celebrity thing in and of itself i don't think hurts him, but if it can become part of a larger narrative, that he's out of touch, maybe then you cobble together more compelling narrative. >> maria, let's talk about all that money though. because we're talking about $15 million in one night. a lot of people look at that and they go, wow, there's some danger in that, that you've got so much money that is being thrown into this campaign. it's unprecedented. >> it is unprecedented, suzanne, but the danger in a lot of money in campaigns doesn't come from these kinds of fund-raisers. we know exactly who this money is coming from. it comes from the super pacs that, frankly, came out of the citizens united supreme court decision supported by republicans where you can have anonymous amounts of money, millions and millions of dollars worth, not knowing who it's coming from funding these

outside groups who are supporting candidates. therein lies the danger. everything that the obama campaign has raised, we know who it's coming from, whether it's high dollar donors, or whether it's the majority of president obama's donors, which are small dollar donors. it's the small dollar donors who are funding this campaign, real people, real americans who are supporting what this president is trying to do for this country. >> really? george clooney is a small dollar donor? >> i said the majority, the majority of president obama's donors are small dollar donors. >> maybe the majority of donors but not the majority of money. $15 million adds up -- >> the majority of president obama's money has been raised by small dollar doanonors. go look it up. >> people are still talking about president obama, the announcement that he supports same-sex marriage. mitt romney, he believes that marriage is between a man and a woman, but he wanted to reaffirm

today his support for gay adoption. here is what he said on fox. >> i happen to believe that the best setting for raising a child is where there's the opportunity for a mom and a dad to be in the home. i know there are many circumstances where that's not possible, through death or divorce. i also know many gay couples are able to adopt children, that's fine. >> so, matt, help me understand this because i'm a little confused. how does he square these two positions, same-sex couples can adopt but they can't get married? >> well, it's tough. first of all, i think when he says that ideally having a dad and a mom is probably the best situation, i think he's also right when he says there's probably a lot of kids out there who need to be adopted and maybe there's not a dad and a mom that can adopt them. what are you supposed to do with them? it becomes problematic for romney. i would say it's not problematic because romney opposes gay marriage. but it is problematic probably because he opposes civil unions.

i think you can make a clear distinction there. you could be in favor of allowing traditional marriage to be a special designation with one man and one woman, but also allowing same-sex couples to have some sort of other classification, but i think romney is against that and so you're right, it does become sort of a difficult thing for him to navigate. >> it's very, very confusing to me because on the one hand it looks to me as if the social conservatives -- he's not going to win social conservatives over if he says, well, now it's okay for gay couples to adopt but not to get married. i don't suppose that's their position. >> i think public policy is incredibly messy, and that's what we're seeing right now. once you start redefining marriage, a lot of things are wrapped up in this, and so this is a very complex and very difficult situation, and they're sort of figuring some of this out on the fly. >> maria, do you want to jump in

there? are they making it -- are they over -- making this complex or do any need to simplify here? >> absolutely. what it looks to me is that romney is just tying himself up in knots over this. i can only imagine the phone call that he's getting or his campaign is getting from tony perkins, the head of the family council, after he heard this because it does not comport with conservative -- actually, it's two things. it does not comport with conservative values, but at the same time he's promoting for children to be adopted out of marriage. again, not comporting with conservative values. >> let me make a point there -- >> i don't think he himself really knows where he stands on this and it shows in these lopsided positions. >> i'll make an important distinction when we talk about conservative values. conservatives are not monolithic. when you start to talk about where do conservatives stand on marriage, i mean, there are a lot of conservatives who think government shouldn't be involved in it. they shouldn't be defining it for same-sex couples or

opposite-sex couples, that governments shouldn't be involved. other conservatives believe same-sex marriage would make gays conservative, they would become bourgeois and start voting against tax hikes. it's more complex than the media makes it out to be. >> isn't the problem he needs the social conservative ultimately. they've been so tepid in their support for him, and he ultimately really needs that group to win? >> i don't see where they're going to go. i don't think they're going to go vote for barack obama. i do think that romney needs to have a coherent philosophy on these issues, and, yeah, he needs them to be motivated and to vote, but it's not as if social conservatives are going to go vote for barack obama or gary johnson the lib eertarian candidate who is pro guy marriage and pro legalization of

drugs. i think romney has that base fairly locked up. >> we have to leave it there. have a great weekend. >> thank you so much. live pictures of virginia tech's graduation ceremony. it's where the first lady is going to give the commencement speech any win. we're going to take it live. we're here at the famous golden ox steakhouse in kansas city where we switched their steaks with walmart's choice premium steak. ♪ this is really good. like what i grew up with. only one out of five steaks is good enough to be called walmart choice premium beef. can i let you in on a secret? you're eating a walmart steak. no kidding. noooo!

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that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. time now for the help desk where we get answers to your financial questions. joining me have hour, gregg olson, a cert financial planner, and lynette calfani cox is the founder of ask the money coach.com. lynette, your question comes from penti in florida. i owe over $14,000 on a credit

card with a high interest rate, but have never missed a minimum payment. i'm 83 years old with no job. how can i get out of debt? >> tough situation. i'm sorry to hear somebody who is retired to go through a financial situation. call up your credit card company and negotiate. ask them for a lower rate. a lot of people who do this, 75% of consumers, actually get a lower interest rate. so don't be afraid to ask. especially if you have a competitive offer from another bank or another credit card issuer, which is option 23478 t -- number two. you might think of a balance transfer. also, think about tweaking the budget. i'm sure he's on a fixed income, maybe getting social security, but see if there's other areas you might be able to cut back and apply nor cash to the credit card. >> i was like those little things all add up.

you have to look at the little stuff, too. vicki rights in, is it a good idea to take a loan from my 401(k) to pay off my car loan? >> i think one of the biggest financial planning mistakes is people look at their 401(k) loan interest rate, compare it to their consumer debt and say this is going to be less so it makes sense to pull money out of my 401(k), correct? >> right. >> well -- >> they don't think about taxes. >> it's a loan so there's not going to be taxes but they're not thinking about the appreciation in the market that they're going to miss. if somebody did that last october, they would miss out on a 25% appreciation in the market. think about that as your interest rate. i would make the payments on the car loan consistently. once it's paid off drive that car into the ground. >> they last for a long time these days. thank you, both. we appreciate it. if you have a question you want answered, send us an e-mail at cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com. a "time" magazine cover is

grabbing a lot of attention. this boy turning 4 in a month. the mother was breast-fed until she was 6 and she believes it boosts children's self-confidence. this morning she was asked how long she plans to nurse. >> he's self-weaning right now. and it's a big commitment, and it's not -- it's not right for everybody, and i think that that's the big thing is you need to do what's best for your baby and for your own family. >> so the question is, is it beneficial to breast-feed children when they're no longer infants? elizabeth cohen is joining us live from boston. let's start off with the health benefits of nursing. how long do doctors recommend that mothers breast-feed? >> you know what's interesting is they don't give an upper limit. let's take a look at the american academy of pediatrics. when asked the question, how long should moms breast-feed,

this he say for one year or longer as mutually desired by mother and infant. and the world health organization goes even further. they say up to two years of age or beyond. now, of course, they dond mean exclusive nursing and i'm sure that child in that picture isn't just nursing. he's obviously eating food as well, but they don't give an upper limit. >> the child on the magazine cover is almost 4. is he getting any kind of benefit from this being nursed by his mom at this age, at this stage? >> it's a tricky question to answer, suzanne, because breast milk, like cow milk or any other kind of milk, has nutrition so he's getting some kind of nutritional benefit from drinking it. i think pediatricians would say it's not nutritionally necessary obviously at his age. breast milk, which is so important for little babies, you would say it's even critical, it's not critical obviously for a 4-year-old, but i can't say that he's getting nothing out of it because there's nutrition in

that milk. >> the mother, jamie grumet, she believes breast-feeding children boosts their confidence as well. there are others who look at this and they say this kind of practice is what they call emotional incest, meaning the mother is creating this unhealthy co-dependent relationship and she's actually harming her child psychological. what do you make of that? >> you know, it's interesting because, again, the nation's pediatricians who study this issue, they don't say that. they don't say -- come out and say you must stop by age 3 or 2 or whatever because your child will be damaged after that. they don't say that. on the other hand, i understand that you look at that photo and you sort of this eye-popping -- it makes people uncomfortable. and i understand why. that is a large child. i mean, he's almost 4. that's on the outer edges of toddlerhood. but again, i think it's interesting what the mother said was that she was doing it because she felt like it boosted her son's self-confidence, and i want to say here i'm going to go on a little bit of a mommy rant,

you know, do we really care that this mother is nursing her 3-year-old if she says it's good for her 3-year-old? as a mother, i don't like to judge other mothers. if she says it works for her child, i don't really care. i have to trust her as a mother that this is good for her child, and i think what happens sometimes is that mothers who don't nurse get judged. others who nurse their 3-year-olds get judged. it can be tough to be a mom. >> you make a good point. all the people i talked to this morning, all the moms i talked to, none of them wanted to judge. they said, you know, that might not be right for me, it might be right for her, but i am not in a position to judge, and then they tell you their stories about what it was like for them to nurse. for some it was very successful and others had a hard time of it. what about the moms who can't breast-feed? is there something they can actually do? >> right. again, those mothers get judged, too. i know mothers who bottle fed their infants and changers would co -- strangers would come up to

them and say don't you know breast is best. obviously breast is best but there are millions of white house were not raised on breast milk and we turned out just fine. i think mothers need to know that breast is best and they should certainly try it. the unfortunate reality in this country is that most mothers do try to breast-feed, but by age 6 months less than half of them are breast-feeding. so we probably need to do more to support breast-feeding mothers in this country. make it easier for them to pump at work, give them less grief when they're breast-feeding in public. i think as long as moms have that knowledge that breast is best, we then have to let them make their own decision. >> elizabeth cohen, happy mother's day to you. >> and thank you, suzanne. >> all right. in the next hour i'm going to talk to mayim bialik.

these are live pictures of virginia tech's graduation ceremony where the first lady is going to give the commencement speech in a minute. we're going to take it live. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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even a jacket? check. this is precheck. >> if you are in a hurry, the benefit is that you get through security a lot faster, and you don't have to take your computer out the bag or your liquids or your shoes off and that saves some time. >> reporter: it's a fast track route complete with a dedicated security lane that will be in 35 of the busiest u.s. airports by the end of the year. the idea is that travelers who give the government more personal information, your name, birth day, and gender, and are well-known to the airlines, like frequent flyers, are less of a security threat. tsa administrator john pistol calls it reducing the haystack of risk. how big a deal is it? >> it's a significant paradigm shift both for tsa and the traveling public in the way we engage in a partnership to say let's work together to say if you're willing to share some information about yourselves, then we can work with you

perhaps to have expedited screening so we can focus on those we know less about and can focus on those higher risks. >> reporter: precheck is free and only for domestic u.s. flights. select american citizens are invited to join by airlines. tsa officials won't disclose exactly who gets an invitation, but it's clear that they are very frequent flyers. >> the more prescreening we can do with individuals because they're willing to share information either through the frequent flyer program or trusted traveler programs such as global entry, then we can make some prescreen decisions and expedite the physical screening. >> reporter: the global entry program, which is separate from precheck, costs $100, and requires u.s. citizens to be fingerprinted and interviewed by customs officers. in return they get to use the fast lane and speed through customs. he's expedited screening programs are proving popular and tsa is expanding them to include some senior citizens, military personnel, and kids. all precheck members will still

go through security and some will be subjected to random screenings. so it's not always life in the fast lane. lizzie o'leary, cnn, washington. here is a live picture of virginia tech's graduation ceremony where the first lady is going to give the commencement speech. >> i also want to recognize governor mcdonald --

first lady michelle obama is delivering the commencement address right now at virginia tech. it comes five years after a massacre on that campus that left 33 people dead. brianna keilar is at the tech campus in blackburg joining us live.

ind t i understand the first lady chose this campus because of their resilience in getting through that very difficult time. >> yeah, that's right, suzanne, and she just referenced this as she spoke to students saying she knows she's here to give them some advice, but she said she watched them along with the rest of the nation go through their journey, and she thinks actually the country could learn some things from them. i wonder if we can listen to some of michelle obama's comments coming in live from virginia tech. >> what is a hokie? what is your answer? what is a hokie? when someone says let's go, you answer. they told me you'd do that. very cool. and whether you're celebrating your triumphs or coming together in times of tragedy, what is clear is that you all didn't just choose to attend a school. you chose to be part of a community, and that feeling of belonging, those connections to your classmates and professors i

know for so many of you, that's what has made your time here so special, and i know that some of you might be feeling a little sad about leaving the community you found here in blacksburg, but here is the thing, graduates, the hokie community didn't just happen. it didn't just exist on its own. all of you created it. you worked hard for it. you nurtured it every step of the way, and i want you to know that you can do that again wherever your journey may take you. now, it's going to be a little harder when you're working a job and raising a family, juggling all the responsibilities of being adults, but i promise you that no matter where you wind up, you can create a thriving community of your own if you're willing to put in the same kind of energy and effort that you invested here at virginia tech. so that means continuing to show

up, but instead of showing up to games and extracurriculars, it might mean attending those town hall meetings or going to that school assembly or those neighborhood picnics. it means reaching out like you did to your classmates here at virginia tech, stopping by to welcome a new neighbor to your block or bringing over a hot meal for someone who is going through a hard time. and it means continuing to serve, volunteering in your local school, cleaning up your local park, doing your part to help others in need. and that brings me to the second lesson all of you at virginia tech have taught us, and that is the power of service. service is truly at the core of the virginia tech experience. it is your motto, that i may serve. it was your founding purpose as a land grant school designed to open the doors of higher

education to people from all walks of life. it's the mission of your core of cadets, men and women who have served this country in every armed conflict right from the very beginning, and every year virginia tech students do tens of thousands of hours of community service here in virginia and around the world. i understand this year through the relay for life, you have raised more than half a million dollars to fight cancer. [ cheers and applause ] and at this year's big event, more than 6,800 people volunteered on 990 different projects. one of today's graduates, a young man named justin grays, has committed himself to helping at least one person every single day. way to go. as he put it, and these are his words, justin said, life is all

about what you have done for other people, and you all haven't just taught us about the power of service to lift up our families and heal our communities. you have also shown us that through service, we can heal ourselves. over the past five years students here have run memorial projects, building housing, hosting dance workshops, teaching french and german in local schools. you have created a fund to honor the sacrifice of officer derrick krause and through these and so many other acts of service, large and small -- >> we're listening to first lady michelle obama delivering the commencement address for virginia tech. we'll have more after a quick break. [ dad ] i'm usually checking up on my kids,

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