stomach. >> "scrubs" i love that show. that's going to wrap things up for "sgmd" follow me on twitter. get a sneak peek. take a fascinating look at infern tilt and new age baby making. it got your attention? it got mine. make an appoint to see us next saturday and sunday. top story in the "cnn newsroom." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com live from studio 7, this is ""cnn sunday morning."" >> from cnn center, this is "cnn sunday morning." it is february 26. good morning, everyone. i'm deborah feyerick. thanks for joining us today. well the search is on for a gunman who killed two u.s. military officers in

afghanistan. we're going to get a live report from kabul. also -- the race for president heads to daytona where a big race of another kind is also taking place. tonight is oscar night in hollywood. once again, comedian billy crystal taking on the toughest job in show biz. we start with the search for a gunman in afghanistan blamed for killing two ranking u.s. officers inside the heavily for the fiortified ministry of law enforcement. nato is pulling advisers from minute tris and it suggests it may have concerns over secure how secure facilities are. nick, this is really like some one walking into the pentagon or the justice department, going into an office, and then opening fire. what are you learning? >> reporter: the afghan justice

department, yes. we're learning interesting details from senior afghan counter terrorism official about this gun man, apparently an employee of the interior ministry. registered out a pistol, went to this secure area of the ministry called the command and control center, where he shot these two senior american military officers who were there in an advisory capacity, and then he left. he appears to have escaped and is still at large. that pretty much tallies with an explanation given by the taliban in an e-mail yesterday, both this counterterrorism official both saying the motivation he was furious over the american mistaken burning of a koran near ly a week ago. >> how did this killer get out? there must have been closed circuit televisions or something like that.

>> reporter: that's a huge question. somebody mouft have heard the gunshots perhaps unless using a silencer or, all speculation. he had authority to be in that part of the ministry and clearly somehow walked calmly out of there as well. surely people must have heard something, perhaps they went into lockdown immediately. it's not entirely clear. there were not report ife repor lengthy shoot-out. breaking news, protests across the country for pat past five days. we had four today but they quieted and after five straight days of violence. but we are hearing reports from isaf officials of a number of personnel injured at a base in the north after there was an explosion and small arms fire outside this base, known as fortitude. outside the base as a protest of 400 people continued in anger at this burning of the koran. so if this instant pans out we're into our sixth day of

violence protests. >> and isaf that you mentioned, those are the military advisers that helped train afghan officers. is there a sense or are there questions that maybe the taliban has infiltrated afghan forces and does that hurt their ability to even secure the country once u.s. forces leave? >> reporter: that's a huge concern. the taliban have suggested they have infiltrated different parts of the afghan security forces, some dismissed by propaganda. we've seen in the last year, months, an increasingly regular series of instance in which men in afghan army uniform, whether soldiers or imposters shot dead isaf personnel. a number of french shot dead, making france question its presence here. and this instance explained being down to personal disputes or combat stress. but this regularity's causing many to wonder what kind of impact it's having on that

relationship between the american and afghan officials here to train afghan security forces. that trust is so important they work together so afghans can take over security of afghanistan and nato troops can leave. but instances like we are seeing in the past month and yesterday's interior ministry can't stress how much that's preying on the psyche of soldiers here. >> nick paton walsh, thank you so much. the ability to figure out who's who there. thanks, nick. well, for more on afghanistan, join candy crowley at 9:00 a.m. eastern for "state of the union." she hassen exclusive interview with the ambassador to afghanistan, ryan crocker. and to syria where today brings a mix of voting violence. people are voting on a new constitutional referendum but in homs the shelling is still going on. activists say at least 11 people have been killed there today.

and that is after nearly 50 people were killed yesterday. the united states is promising humanitarian aid. and new details also emerging about a journalist killed in syria. the sunday times reporting that war correspondent marie colvin was trying to get her shoes in an effort to escape a shelling in homs last week. colvin worked for "the times" she had taken her shoes off entering a building which is part of syrian custom. colvin's mom says she'll likely be buried in syria because the situation's too dang troerous tt her body out. a court in egypt hearing the case of 16 american aid workers accused of frouaud. that has been adjourned until april. the case stems of a crackdown of nongovernment organizations. the offices were raided saying they were encouraging unrest in the egyptian country. the americans are charged with

operating in egypt without being registered. earlier this morning secretary of state hillary clinton talked about ongoing negotiations with egypt. >> we are having intense talks at the highest levels of the egyptian government because obviously we'd like to see this resolved. our relationship with egypt is, i think, very important to both countries and we have a lot of work to do together. we want to support the new egyptian government. we want to support aspirations of the egyptian people, and we have to resolve this matter. >> are you going to surrender them for trial if you can't resolve this? >> i'm not going into legal issues. >> but this is a country, how do you feel about this, 30 years you've been supporting the egigss thegigs egyptians and this is what they do the americans? >> i don't want to make this a dramatic confrontation. it's a problem we have problems with a lot of friends around the world. we're trying to resolve it. >> now the americans were not in

that egyptian court today. nine of them have already left the country. the other seven are believed to be at the u.s. ambassador. former south african president nelson mandela is heading home. this comes one day after efficients said the 93-year-old anti-apartheid activist under went treatment for an abdominal ailment. he last appeared in public 2010 during the closing ceremonies of the world cup in south africa. just hours ago, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck southern taiwan. you can see things rattling inside the building near the epicenter. joined by meteorologist alexandra steele in for reynolds wolf. what can you tell us about the quake? >> you can see images there. it happened 10:34 a.m. sunday morning their time. and as you said, 5.9 magnitude. but what was key about this the depth of it.

13.9 miles, so that is good. the deeper it is, the less damage that's done. southern point of the island, 21 miles west southwest of taitung, taiwan. no reports of casualties at this point. minor damage to property. that's all we know now. earthquakes rattle taiwan more often than not with little or no damage. let's hope that is the case with this one. >> stay where you are. we're going to be back with you in a couple of minutes for the entire weekend forecast. >> we're going to have daytona and oscar forecasts. that's coming up. >> thanks so much. well, danica patrick is looking for a big finish today in daytona. the race car driver's going to have to avoid doing what she's done twice already this week. yeah, that's right. plus, just imagine having rick santorum driving along with you at 180 miles per hour. politics, racing, we're mixing it up, all coming together. i am lovin this greek yogurt. i like yoplait. it is yoplait.

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well the flag drops on great american race, the daytona 500. the past champions are taking a backseat today to a rookie. danica patrick has been the hot topic at the track. hln sports reporter joe carter is live from daytona right now. joe, all right, danica's had a pretty eventful time there already. and the race hasn't even technically begun yet. what's going on? >> reporter: well, you know i like how you say it has been an eventful time for her because it's been an up and down wild few day for danica. she's crashed two different cars in three days. that's the bad news. the good news, neither of the crashes were her fault.

thursday she crashed into the wall during the duals and friday came back, the top qualifier and then on saturday she crashed again. this time she was bumped by her own teammate, cole witt nudged her in the back bumper enough to spin her car to control. you can see on the angle she gets frustrated there was some heated exchange and chatter between her and her crew chief. just a frustrated danica patrick. this is not the way she wanted to start her daytona weekend. she finished yesterday's race in 38th place. certainly not how she wanted to not only start here in daytona but start her first full year in nascar. >> more than anything, i'm just frustrated because the go daddy car was so fast, it was so fast. i could keep up to tandem cars in front of me all by myself and it's so frustrating when you have one of those kinds of car and it -- and it's gone. because there are other days where you don't have that kind of a car and nobody seems to manage to find your bumper ever.

>> reporter: best part about sports, she gets another crack at it today. you can hear the band lenny kravitz and company tuning up. feeling like race day here, deb. >> two quick questions. it's interesting watching from the outside and she gets tapped and she's been tapped twice. technically not her fault but race car drivers they're supposed to be able to recover from those. in some cases can you simply not recover? >> reporter: i believe you asked me a question about recoverying. we expect tdanica patrick to recover. thursday she crashed, came back friday and was the top qualifier. the first woman since 1994 to be sitting as the front car to start a nation wide race. so we saw her recover well. so we expect her to do good things today. she's been on the course several times, run her best on the track.

we expect her to come back and give the boys a run for their money. >> quickly, political undertones. you can't leave politics alone when it comes to daytona. what's going on? >> reporter: yeah, there is a political feel here today, deb. presidential candidate mitt romney is expected to here today, he's touring the grounds talking to crew chiefs as well as some of the drivers. he's expected to stay for the race and enjoy festivities. rick santorum also a presence here. he won't be here in person but his campaign has sponsored the 26 ford driven by tony raines. political presences felt in other races in 2004, bush campaigning for the presidency. he waved the green flag here in daytona and last year, michelle obama was at homestead to end the season down there in miami. so, yes, there's going to be a political feel as well as a celebrity feel here today. we have john cena, kate upton,

lenny kravitz practicing about 50 feet to our right, deb. >> joe, thanks so much. we'll let you go and get in on those warm-ups. thanks so much. appreciate it. into politics now because we are only two days from the next republican primaries in michigan and arizona. and we're just a week away from super tuesday. joining me is patricia murphy, a contributor for the daily beast. i want to talk to you about a new tlooreport that came out th committee responsible for the federal budget and looked at republicans' tax plans and found rather than reduce the deficit, it would raise the deficit for newt gingrich, it would be raised by $7 trillion over a two-year term. >> yes. >> santorum, 4.5 trillion. mitt romney, $2.6 trillion. that's exactly what they're accusing the obama administration of. so how do you rectify this? >> all of the candidates all of the republican candidates cut federal spending they all cut

taxes, newt gingrich cuts taxes so deeply that this report says that will drive up the deficit. so the next person who cuts taxes the most is rick santorum, only ron paul among the gop decreases the deficit by $2 trillion with his plan because he cuts taxes and slashes federal spending, eliminates five federal agencies, cuts military spending. he's the only one this senator said would reduce the deficit. also say that president obama would reduce the deficit by $2 trillion with his plan. >> which is rather remarkable because that's going to be one of the key things that resonates with voters come election time. >> yes. >> which is how are you going to get the country balanced again. >> absolutely. every republican voter you talk to says, i am crazy mad about president obama's spending policies under his watch, the deficit has grown by trillions of dollars, which is true. however, his plan, this group says will cut spending and cut the deficit. the republican response to this is that, republicans and

conservatives really don't believe that cutting taxes should be scored against the federal budget. their contention is that if you cut taxes it will jump start the economy, everyone will make more money and pay more taxes, but economists say you can't count on that. what if there is a global meltdown on the economy? you can't promise what's going to happen to the economy. you can't make assumptions like that. >> so it really is fair to say on some levels if you try to cut taxes you cannot basically predict that, oh, we're going to cut taxes and create 5 million jobs or whatever the up in is. next question, wednesday, cnn, arizona debate -- >> yes. >> try tosh get thing to get th. last time face to face before the primary areas and super tuesday. rick santorum says rivals ganging up on him. >> of course because he's the front-runner. once you're in the front of the pack you have a big target on

your back and everybody's shooting at you. they were hammering him, all of the other guy on the stage going after rick santorum. he was right, yes, they were ganging up on him. >> you're in a situation with world leaders you can't says france and germany are teaming up against you. it's a little bit -- >> doesn't usually sell among voters. >> now women, which is going to be so fascinating to watch come elections time. what's interesting in the near term is that women are actually increasingly moving towards rick santorum. why is that for republicans? >> i find it fascinating. republican women moving to rick santorum. republican women largely pro-life who largely agree with his policies. all of the conditions are pro-life. but when i talk to republican women at santorum's events they say i relate to him as a person. they know about his family, they feel like he's a good man and feel like he relates to their lives, their middle class lives, he's somebody who knows has struggled and feels like he is fighting for them.

they look at mitt romney, they don't feel the same connection. we're seeing rick santorum in the midst of the controversy over contraception, his support among gop women is skyrocketing and mitt romney's is falling. so nobody predicted that was going to happen. >> right. fascinating. and it's lovely to say your wife drives a couple of cadillacs which mitt romney has done. >> doesn't everyone drive a couple of cadillacs? >> yes, they do, but they don't. thank you so much. you've got that article online now. >> on "the daily beast." everybody can see how rick santorum's doing with women. an 86-year-old world war ii vet, attacked, car jacked and forced to crawl to safety. nobody helped him. it all happened in broad agine facg the day with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved

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to learn about a free trial offer. [oinking] [hissing] [ding] announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. detroit police trying to find the person who car jacked a world war ii veteran in broad daylight at a gas station. 86-year-old aaron brantley on his way home from church and that's when someone jumped him from behind, broke his leg, and drove off in his car. to top things off, no one bothered to help him as he crawled away. look at those. those people just looking at him. >> i opened the door and proceeded to get in all i knew, i was on the ground. >> tough man. well, according to affiliate

wxyz the car was found a few hours later. tires and radio were gone but his bible was still there. 22 passengers from a carnival cruise are robbed in mexico. the cruise line says the victims were on a guided exkurgs went their passports and valuables were taken. no one was harmed. two weeks ago the state department issued a travel warning to mexico because of all of the increased violence there. more than 47,000 people were killed in drug-related violence in mexico between december 2006 and last september. pay tension to where you park. unless this could happen to your car. we're going to explain in a moment.

lake winnebago in wisconsin could start being called lake ford, lake buick, lake toyota. dozens of cars parked on the frozen lake, soaking wet or worse after the ice broke under their weight. there was were as many as 150 cars parked there for a popular fishing tournament. meteorologist alexandra steele is in for reynolds wolf. you call up your insurance and say i parked on a frozen lake, pretty sure it's not best place to park. >> they would say did you see alexandra steele's list of ice thickness and how safe it is? i saw a jeep cherokee, these are medium sized trucks. deb, take a look at this. ice thickness, how safe is it? lake winnebago on the whole now, people reporting the depth of the thickness is about 9 inches.

i want to show you where that is. all right. this is new clear ice, the safest ice, two inches less, stay off. four inches, ice fish, anything on foot is safe. five inches go with an atv or snowmobile. 8 to 12 is a car/small truck. lake winnebago 9 inches. 12 to 15 inch ice thickness, medium sized truck. certainly safe out there. we have seen shots of arctic air in the upper midwest but a diet of mild weather. to the southeast, rain and racing. they just don't mix. we've got a batch of rain, area of low pressure off the coast moving into florida, jacks jacksonvil jacksonville. orlando, tampa, south florida dry. what will happen to daytona? this is the prognostication for the day ahead into tomorrow. here's the time on it. 8:00 this morning here's daytona. you can see 1:00 to 3:00 where the rain is, it's right there. it certainly looks as though rain is likely today.

keep an eye on that as we look. as we head toward tomorrow more rain in the forecast as well. if it does get postponed or delayed tomorrow tomorrow doesn't look better. rain in the southeast. sunny and cool in the northeast. winds continue and snow in the upper midwest where it belongs. >> alexandra steele thanks so much. by the way, would they cancel it or delay in. >> yes. >> do they delay it? >> absolutely they could move it. we have a lot of rain especially later on in the day. that's the balance of the rain. oscar forecast, sunny, 60 on the red carpet. no issues there as well. >> thank god. i was worried for myself. i'm not walking. alexandra steele, thanks so much. just ahead, one-on-one with former president jimmy carter. he opens up about his new book, his faith, and a near-death experience during his time in the navy. that's coming up.yo have diabes.. y get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes.

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...we inspected his brakes for free. free is good. free is very good. my money. my choice. my meineke. checking top story, a junior intelligence official named as a suspect in a deadly shooting at the afghan interior ministry. officials say the shooting, which killed two american officers, was apparently in response to a koran burning by nato troops. that incident has sparked violent protests across afghanistan, killing 29 and wounding nearly 200. president obama and other u.s. officials did apologize for the koran burning, saying it was an unintentional error. a fraud trial for 16 american aid workers in egypt has been adjourned until april. none of the workers, including the son of transportation secretary ray lahood, appeared in court today.

egypt is cracking down on nongovernment organizations which it says helped spark unrest. and former south african president nelson mandela has been released from the hospital. a family member says mandela had hernia surgery but officials declined to give any more specific detail saying only he had a, quote, diagnostic procedure, unquote. former president jimmy carter is no stranger to writing books. he has penned more than two dozen of them. his latest "through the year with jimmy carter" 366 daily medications from the 39th president. but also mixed in is politics from the presidential office. instances where faith helped president carter through tough times and hard decisions. he shared his lessons on faith with our martin savidge. >> first of all, mr. president,

thank you very much. >> it's a pleasure. >> this is your what number book? >> 26th, i think. i've written another one since then. >> this is definitely a book that interests you. it's an inspirational book that's very deep in your faith. and it seems to be a book not only written for people to read but a book for people to use in their life. i'm wondering how you hope people will use it. >> well, my hope that is people will take it and maybe read through it first and then maybe put it on their bedside table and read a few pages each night, if they are inclined to do so. it really is -- each page is an abbreviation of a 45-minute lecture. >> these are the sunday school. >> sunday school lessons, bible lessons. >> you put the date of the lesson at the top of the page. >> yes. >> what was the reasoning for doing that? >> the lessons are not arranged chronologically. in fact 14 of the lessons i

taught in the first baptist church in washington when i was president. i just felt like it was worthy to explore what point in jimmy's life did they write this they can look at the actual date to see whether it was 1990 or 2010 that i wrote the lesson and maybe judge by my development of more and more maturity if i got increased wisdom and so forth or maybe wanted to compare to what they remembered from their particular era. >> there are other instances you mention in the book, life and death ones especially the navy. there's one you talk about, i believe on the deck of the submarine and a wave sweeps you off into the ocean. >> yes. >> did god save you? >> well i think there was a skill of my captain that really saved me because in those extremely rough seas i wasn't really on the tower, which is 15 feet above sea level and enormous wave surprisingly came

and picked me up and i floated in the wave and when it came down, i landed on the backside on the stern of the ship. if we hadn't been precisely on courser i would have been swept to the side and my life would have been lost because it was at night, in the middle of the pacific ocean, and by the time they -- anybody realized i was gone, it would have been too late. >> how do you balance that with your faith? it was good fortune? >> it was good fortune. and i don't have any doubt that god's hand was on it. but i don't attribute it to supernatural causes. i try to put it into kind of mundane perspective of a navy officer. >> do you think as a society we've become too morally permissive? >> i think so. but that's probably been the case throughout history. even in the old testament and in the new testament as well, 4,000, 2,000 years ago, there

was a promisive society that displeased deeply religious people including jesus christ himself and abraham and moses and others, as they witness the departure from moral values of the people that they led. so, yes, we are perhaps too permissive in our society but i wouldn't say just frelating to sexual images and things of that kind. i think we're too permissive in our society in condoning or promoting conflict, war. when we christians worship the prince of peace, not combat. quite often some of the most prominent christian entities are the ones that encourage conflict as they're speaking out openly in maybe taking military action against iran, for instance. and other things the departure from justice.

the equitable treatment of people regardless of what their status in society might be. the economic status or their educational status or their race. those are the kind of things that bother me much more than, say, some of the television movie images that you have. >> thank you mr. president. >> it's a pleasure. thank you. >> and go to our belief blog, cnn.com/belief, and that's where you can also share your thoughts. two american officers killed in kabul, deadly protests over a koran burning, a lot happening in afghanistan, and "state of the union" candy crowley has an exclusive interview with the top diplomat there. she joins us for a live preview, next. and sti goals?h your weighs you can with green giant frozen vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties have sixty calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce. try bayer advanced aspirin.

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"state of the union" with candy crowley is coming up here at the top of the hour. candy has an exclusiven view with u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, ryan crocker. she joins us now. candy, this shooting at close range in a building almost like the pentagon, that's got to be so unnerving. is the ambassador expected to have new information on the two american officers who were killed? >> well we certainly hope so. we know that the afghan

government has said that the perpetrator of this was a member of the afghan intelligence service who in fact had spent a couple of months over in pakistan. so the question here is, and it seems that he had a free pass into the building. this is a building where apparently you had to pass through multiple checkpoints, you get padded down and nen you went through a metal detector. this man apparently worked there. now as you know, nato has said okay, all of the u.s. soldiers out, all of the nato soldiers out of the ministries, afghan man industry. it sets up a dynamic we're working with a government but we don't trust that u.s. soldiers are safe inside that government's buildings. so it is -- it is a sticky wicket over there, as they -- the u.s. tries to sort of move towards withdrawal and now this whole burning of the koran and the riots in street. i imagine the ambassador has a

lot to say about this. >> it's going to be interesting to see whether in fact how he sort of assesses the situation, whether it was just because of the koran burning or whether it's just this pent-up frustration amongst the people there. that's going to be interesting. you also have president obama senior campaign adviser, somebody that we more family know as his press person, robert gibbs, he's joining you there today. what are you expecting from him? >> we want to talk about obviously how the democrats view the republicans up and down race. we want to talk about gas prices with him and the president has said there's nothing he can do. but we also know, from a lot of economists, that once the national average hits $4 or above, if indeed it goes that far and everyone thinks it will, it begins to really undermine the economy. so does the president have something up his sleeve in how big of a political issue is this? we've seen it on the campaign trail already. that's one of the issues we'll be talking to him.

we'll be talking to him a bit about the situation in afghanistan. >> candy crowley, look forward to the interviews. appreciate it. keep it here for "state of the union" with candy crowley, starts in just about 17 minutes 9:00 a.m. eastern, 6:00 a.m. pacific. and it's only here on cnn. well, he's back. yes, that's how billy crystal continues to simply pass the oscar hosting test when others have failed. chchasase e scscenene,e, x cocomimingng s soooonn exextrtra a bubutttter titickcketets,s, s swon pepengnguiuin n jojouruy jujuninioror m minints momoviviefefononee evevilil p pririncncee bobollllywywoooodd 3-3-dd shsharark k atattatack nened d ththe e hehead 5%5% c casashbhbacackk ririghght t nonow,w, g getet 5 k onon m movovieies.s. itit p payays s toto d di.

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a familiar face returns to the oscars tonight as billy crystal, once again, hosts the telecast. our entertainment correspondent has more on the bright spotlight. for those who take center stage during hollywood's biggest night. >> this year oscar and i reunited. >> reporter: it's been called the toughest job in show biz. >> but it's hollywood.

how long can it last? >> reporter: hosting the academy awards. producers brian graze sure and don might be teaming with host billy crystal because degree it's a tough gig for anyone. >> it's the wrong place to make a mistake, if you know what i mean? but with billy, we've got one of the three greatest oscar hosts of all time, the other two being bob hope and johnny karsen. >> reporter: bob hope faced off with sensitive studio execs and a global audience of millions 19 types. >> seen in 200 nations translated into 73 languages, and you know, it's -- it's weighty. it's got gravitas. >> i loved it. if they said do it again i would. >> reporter: the first african-american to host alone, whoopi goldburg did do it again but the third time followed 9/11 and the somber mood led to the longest show on record.

>> i'm vibrating inside. >> reporter: from national crisis to overwhelming expectations ellen degeneres hired after the grammys and emmys but critics called the show predictable and the academy hasn't asked her back. >> saying good night. >> reporter: jon stewart's best hosting moment in 2006 noned but jon got a second chance. >> i've bombed in front of better and bigger crowds than this. >> reporter: in 2008, jon faced a new challenge and had to tough it out with the writer's strike. in the end he only had four days to rehearse. but critics loved it. >> just tired of getting my ass kicked in oscar polls. if i'm here, nobody can say anything. >> reporter: 70 hosts have graced oscar's stage but no one more widely considered a better host than -- >> the oscars, not just an awards show. okay, it is but it's the best won. >> reporter: look up any top ten list, you'll see his name a lot. like in 1998, when "titanic" won

big and the oscars won even bigger hitting a record 5 million viewers. of course the question now is, what about 2012? >> pretty spectacular and it's funny. >> reporter: producers aren't spilling all of the show's secrets you can count on one thing for sure -- >> i'm billy crystal and i approve these oscars. >> the countdown is on to hollywood's biggest night. "showbiz tonight" live at oscars for "showbiz tonight" road to gold. live from the red carpet at 6:30 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. and one of robert f. kennedy's sons facing charges over recent hospital confrontation. now it's turning into a he said/she said. who is the one telling truth? you're going to decide that is coming up on the other side of the break. ♪

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checking top stories, more

violence against u.s. troops in afghanistan. police say demonstrators threw a hand grenade at a military site injuring seven american service members. it happened one day after two american officers were shot at close range and killed inside an interior ministry building in kabul. a suspect in the shooting, a junior intelligence official with ties to pakistani religious schools, remains at large. the shooting was in response to a nato koran burning. shelling continues in syria where opposition activists say at least 29 people have been killed today. those deaths come as syrians vote on a constitutional referendum that the assad regime says would enable reform but was critics dismiss the plan as superficial. gop presidential candidate rick santorum is sponsoring a car at today's daytona 500. as you can see, the number 26 ford will have santorum 2012 on the hood. it can cost between $2 million

to $20 million for that kind of exposure. so we'll see how many laps it gets. secretary of state hillary clinton going out on a limb, saying president obama will win in november. it's not something you normally hear from cabinet members this early in the game. she talked about her comments this morning with our own alece labott. >> you said yesterday that president obama will be re-elected. it's not -- it raised a lot of eyebrows. it's not really the secretary of state to say anything about an election and it seemed to be kind of a campaign statement. >> well, remember the context of it, you know, i was asked whether the comments in the primary campaign, some of which have been quite inflammatory, represented america and i represent america and i know what happens in campaigns. i've been there, done that, and i know that things are said that, you know are not put into practice or policy, but i did

think i needed to point that out to the audience. and probably, you know, my enthusiasm for the president got a little out of hand. >> well -- no political juices flowing there? >> well, you know, i'm trying to dampen them down, i'm trying to have them taken out, you know, blood transfusion. but you know, occasionally they rear their heads. >> does that suggest maybe going back in at some snoin. >> no, it suggests i want what's best for my country. >> this morning robert f. kennedy's son douglas is facing child endangerment and harassment charges accused of knocking down a new york nurse during a confrontation over his newborn son. our national correspondent susan candiotti has the latest. >> deborah, good morning. was he defending his right as a parent and protecting his child, or refusing to follow a nurse's order? douglas kennedy was visiting his wife molly in the maternity ward two days after her c-section and

said he wanted to take his baby outside for some fresh air. it was about 7:30 on a saturday night last month in a hospital in a new york city suburb. baby bo was swaddled in his blanket and cap. kennedy says some nurses were willing to let him go, but when others disagreed, things took a nasty turn. in sworn depositions to police, nurses say they convinced kennedy to leave an elevator but then headed to stairwell. the nurses say that's when things got physical. >> in this particular father grabbed her wrist, her arm, and twisted it so severely she had tremendous pain in her arm. she then backed off with the other nurse standing right there. this gentleman proceeded to kick her, and kick her so hard with so much violence that she flew through the air and landed in the middle of the corridor. >> kennedy's lawyer says kennedy was trying to protect baby bo and used a knee, not a foot to stop the nurses who were

grabbing for his baby. >> the only aggressors were the nurses and in fact, the nurses said he could go outside and it only changed when another nurse and then another nurse after that became aggressive and blocked douglas from walking with his baby outside to get fresh air. >> the nurses told police the baby's head was, quote, shaking violently from side to side. kennedy's lawyer denies it, adding the baby slept through the whole them. attorneys for both sides agree the baby was not injured, and emergency room doctor, visiting kennedy and saw what happened, defended his boyhood friend in a statement. quote, i can state unequivocally that the nurses were the only aggressors. to charge mr. kennedy with a crime is simply incompetent henceable. seven weeks later the local d.a. charged kennedy with a misdemeanor for child endangerment and harassing the

nurse. it's not clear whether the nurses will sue kennedy civilly but last month sent him a letter suggesting he might want to hire a lawyer. deborah? >> thanks, susan. well, it's good weather if you're walking the red carpet, not if you're racing in daytona 500. alexandra steele in with the latest. what's going on? >> rain and racing do not mix. you know what? this batch of rain has a direct highway toward daytona. here's the radar, daytona picture where 95 sign is moving right directly toward it. we'll see rain, whether it hits at wrong time or not. here's the forecast. the model showing you where the rain is, 1:00 to 3:00 on daytona. and if they do postpone it until tomorrow, more rain in the forecast then as well. so, could be a tough go. interesting to see how that pans out. sunny in the northeast today. beautiful conditions, deb, for the oscars but other stars to line tonight, look high in the western sky, a beautiful sight. the crescent moon and jupiter and venus, i saw it last night and triedo