Mother Shot for Her Baby Jane Fonda to Play Nancy Reagan
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.</s>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.</s>JANE FONDA, ACTRESS: I am, and I intend to be very respectful.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORT: Some conservatives are probably scratching their heads.</s>FONDA: Well, I can understand that but they have nothing to worry about.</s>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.</s>MALVEAUX: She seemed pretty gracious. Said I can understand their concerns. Who else is involved in the movie?</s>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.</s>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?</s>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.</s>MALVEAUX: It will be interesting to see if they get someone of color on their shows.</s>TURNER: Yes.</s>MALVEAUX: Nischelle, good to see you, as always.</s>TURNER: Yes.</s>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.</s>CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Did it?</s>MALVEAUX: I kept hearing more and more.</s>MYERS: It's supposed to be soothing.</s>MALVEAUX: Not when I'm trying to get to sleep.</s>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.</s>MALVEAUX: Chad, I understand you're also watching a volcano? Is that right?</s>MYERS: I'm watching a cool-looking volcano, Popocatepetl.</s>MALVEAUX: Wow. You really said that?</s>MYERS: I think it's a little scary though. I practiced the name for 48 hours.</s>MALVEAUX: I can imagine.</s>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.</s>MALVEAUX: Time to get out. Thank you, Chad.</s>MYERS: Not for Mexico City yet.</s>MALVEAUX: Not yet. OK.