minister david cameron. and on wednesday, the president will travel to -- he'll host a formal state dinner for the prime minister and then on friday, the president attends campaign events from chicago to atlanta. now stay right here for the latest news right here in the newsroom. a lone american soldier goes house to house in afghanistan killing men, women and children. u.s. military leaders now hope to stop tensions from rising. >> this is one of the main roads downtown. a year later, there is still nothing here. >> we're live in japan as survivors of a devastating earthquake and tsunami remember

that horrible day one year ago. plus a new documentary targets bullies, the motion picture association rates it r because of strong language but that r rating will keep kids from seeing it. an army staff management goes on a shooting rampage in afghanistan opening fire in at least two villages. the american sergeant acted alone, he turned himself in after the rampage and right now he is in nato custody. the president of syria kofi annan spoke face to face again today in damascus. he is the first to meet with

assaad. annan wants a cease fire. >> i have been here for a very short time. almost every city imaginable wants peace. they want to move on with the alliance. >> while the few men talk peace in damascus, violence raged across syria. activists say at least 32 people were killed in fighting today. and a dramatic rescue in italy after a cargo ship ran aground off sicily. the ship had started to take on water after it ran aground in extremely rough seas. we're told the crew is in good condition. the uss enterprise left its home port of norfolk, virginia, the enterprise is heading to the northeast. the enterprise is the carrier

used in the movie top gun. whitney houston's family talks to oprah. >> does it feel real yet that she's gone? >> tonight in oprah winfrey's television special, members of houston's family open up about houston's life and troubles. >> i saw her chasing a dream. you know, looking for love in all the wrong places. >> oprah also talks with houston's daughter, bobbie christina, the entire interview airs tonight on winfrey's own network. president obama says he is shocked and saddened by that shooting that took place in afghanistan today. sarah, an update on this shooting and status of that american staff sergeant?

>> the staff sergeant is still in the detention, he is still being detained and certainly at in hour he is being questioned. president obama has called this an act of terrorism that is unforgivable. he stalked about in his statement to the media that there were after begghan forces ground, more than one u.s. coalition forces on the ground in these village where is this happened. but isop had said no, indeed, this was just one soldier acting on his own who had left the base in the early morning hours on sunday, around 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. he went offbase and that's when in incident occurred and then came back to base when he was destained. so a full investigation is underway, not only nato officials but afghan officials as well have gone to the ground there and try and ascertain

exactly what happened. we talked to a member of the tribal council in that particular district in western kandahar. he told us that as far as he knows from the people who have witnessed this, the soldier went into four different homes. in one home they're saying that the soldier killed 11 people in one home alone and then went on to two different villages and ended up killing a total of 16 people, we do know that five people had been wounded as well and they're being treated by coalition forces at a medical facility in the area. fl fredericka? >> and what do we know about that confirmation that says he acted alone, is it possible that this staff sergeant can leave the base without anyone else knowing about it? >> reporter: that's the big question right now and probably where much of the investigation is centering. how does that person leave without being noticed?

how did this occur and exactly how did people miss this if indeed he was on the base and left and ended up coming back. there are a lot of conflicting reports as to exactly what happened, whether he turned himself in, whether he was arrested or whether afghan forces were involved in any way in bringing this person back to the command center there so there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. let me talk to someone we spoke to earlier. this is the worst possible thing to happen after the koran burning that just happened a few weeks ago. >> it's extremely important that they look at this very seriously and this is not something they can wash away by saying i'm sorry or forgive me because the afghan people, when it comes to murder, they do not understand. >> we're seeing a lot of officials saying that they're

deeply saddened by this, and he is saying that there has to be justice and it has to be swift. usually it's a slow process and a full investigation is underway, so we have to wait and see what that turns up in the coming days and weeks. so tensions are already high between nato and afghan forces this. year six american troops died in incidents sparked by by the burning of the koran. a gunman wearing an afghan uniform kills two u.s. troops year year -- we'll talk to the former ambassador to nato, kirk volker, will share his insights on the

violence there. and it has been one year since a killer earthquake and tsunami hit japan. in a moment, we'll show you some stunning before and after pictures and talk about what's being done to help japan recover. and later, smart is the new rich. how you can make money just by doing your home work. [ male announcer ] let's level the playing field. take the privileged investing tools of wall street and make them simple, intuitive, and available to all. distill all that data. make information instinctual, visual. introducing trade architect, td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform. take control of your portfolio today. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up to $600 when you open an account. trade commission-free for 60 days, imagine if you could always see life [music] in the best light. every time of day.

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have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber. people in japan gathered to commemorate the one-year anniversary of a deadly effort quake and tsunami.

hard to forget those images. 300,000 people were killed and caused a billion dollars in damage. we wanted to show you some before and after pictures of this disaster a year later tonight left of your screen, a picture taken one week after the tsunami. a man is surrounded by his home, and it's just dream. 12 months later that same street, a lot of debris removal but no rebuilding. and a woman digging out of the mud of what was left of her home and you can see a boat stuck in the debris behind her, one year later the debris is gone. but still no rebuilding. cnn's ken gloss take us back to

a town where they fight to rebuild the town the tsunami destroyed. >> reporter: this man drives his two kids to school. not knowing really what to say to them. his wife did all of this before he died in the tsunami. turning not only his world up side down. he's also the mayor. i haven't done enough for my boys as a father, but i try to be with them when i have time. time is in short supply for mayor toba, the work is overwhelming, getting funding for an eight-year reconstruction plan dealing with all the wounded neighbors and still clearing the rubble in a city gutted by the tsunami at a cost of $1.6 billion. one in six people in this city died in the tsunami and then the

ones who survive -- this is one of the main roads in downtown. a year later, there is still nothing here. rebuilding will only work with survivors refuse to give up. we met this nurse last year right after the tsunami hit. she was in shock after losing everything, including her bedridden patients, a dozen who drowned as she made the gut wrenching decision to save her own life and run to the ceiling. one year isn't enough to heal she says, my job is to be with people and share their pain, it's why she won't leave her job or her town. >> when you look at the city hall, do you ever get used to the sight? >> i don't like to come down here, says mayor toba, he only came here for this interview, he

tries to keep his mind on the future. >> do you miss your wife? >> of course, why not? it's so hard for me, he says, to live without the person who was supposed to always be with me i feel her telling me to washing hard for this town. someday soon my son also look around and know why i could been around much. [ engine sputtering ]

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infertility can be a problem for women over the age of 35. >> michelle and mike now have the family they always wanted, but it wasn't easy. at 30, she had to use hormone therapy to get pregnant. the result was their son levi who's now 7 years old. two years later, they again had a hard time conceiving their second child, so they then tried

ivf, in vitro severfertilizatio. >> she couldabilin't produce an viable eggs and then her daughter may was born. >> it was an emotionally taxing journey, i know that one day i will look back and forget the struggle and i did, it's hard for me to think about it now. but, you know, i mean we have a wonderful family, i can't imagine it being any other way. >> reporter: the decision to use sperm or egg donation is a personal one. this doctor says it's often the best solution because a donor egg and sperm can have the best

outcome. >> so a 40-year-old woman, i'm not making eggs, good quality eggs anymore, so i'll take a donor egg from a 25-year-old. it has that 25-year-old's genetic material and you combine it with sperm from her husband or her partner. does this happen? >> about 10 to 15%. >> reproductive specialist dr. mitchell lee says more and more families are choosing this route to have a family. >> they have a baby picture to choose from and they know most of their background, history, what their genetic makeup is, their interests, maybe their education. >> they have to choose their egg? >> they get to choose them, yes. >> how much does that process cost. >> it's $16,500.

and that includes everything. >> a woman in her mid 40s is pregnant, has babies, is it almost assumed that that woman had an egg donor? >> i think i have had five woman overall who have gotten pregnant with their own egg over 45. >> it needs to be okay to not be looked at at some weird thing to use alternate methods, nontraditional ways to have a family. >> if we're describing it in ten years, hopefully it's like describing it to the doctor, that the stigma is gone. but it's just nothing we have worried about. 1/2 of the republican presidential contenders are campaigning at this hour. two primaries just two days away and the focus is in the deep south.

time for a check of what's happening in the week ahead. gop primary will be held in new jersey and mississippi. in austin, texas, a south by southwest, the tech, music and movie conference is currently underway. rocker bruce springsteen will give a talk and play there on thursday. and apple's highly anticipated ipad will be in stores on friday. if you preorder the ipads online, some will be shipped march 19, rather than march 16.

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all right, taking our top story first to washington state where the suspect in a courthouse shooting is in jail. steven was arrested yesterday at his mother's house after she called police. he allegedly shot a female officer and then stab adjudge who came to help her. all five remains inmates held in the mississippi pardons controversy are free. the state supreme court upheld the pardons by haley barbour. barbour defends his move saying all of the pardonened are

rehabilitated. and for college basketball fans, it is time for the big announcement. ncaa selection sunday. well, that's tonight and i'm actually filling out a bracket. are you? if you are, test your bracket skills against mine. that's going to be interesting. visit cnn.com/brackets to join the march madness cnn group. have a little fun with it. the world's first nuclear aircraft carrier the uss enterprise left its home of norfolk, virginia. the enterprise is headed to the middle east. a u.s. soldier goes off base in afghanistan and shoots afghan civilians in two villages. president barack obama says he is shocked and saddened.

the afghan president says that 16 people were killed and he calls the shootings unforgivable. leon panetta vows to find out what happened. ambassador volker, what are reaction to what took place early this morning in kandahar. >> look, i think our military is extremely professional and everybody does their very best to do the best job possible. it is a war, however, and incidents like this can happen. when they do, it's tragic because it really steps back the effort, we're there to be helping the afghan people and something like this gives a very strong impression in the local population, you heard from president karzai we're there against them. >> when you say incidents like this could happen, that's certainly not what that host country would anticipate nor welcome or want. are you saying that this is kind

of the collateral damage that comes with, you know, trying to button up a ten-year war? >> well, i think of it this way. you know, we saw the koran burning a couple of weeks ago, we saw incidents of afghan soldiers firing on americans. there are things that are hard to control and so incidents do occur. the real question, i think is to look at the longer trajectory, that's where i think this -- not because it makes or breaks the difference, it just means we have got a longer term problem. we face this deadline of 2014 where we said we were going to be getting out. but what's the purpose between then and now. >> does this mean that an incident like this might help expedite the dialogue about expediting that deadline and that 2014 is too far off into the future when this happens on

the heels of kind of the string of incidents that you just outline. >> i think it illustrates the need to answer this fundamental question, what are we there for right now? when we went into afghanistan, we went after al qaeda, we knew we were going to have to have a long-term approach to helping afghanistan build up their own country again. that's what we talked about for years, all you hear about lately is a deadline for handing over to afghan security forces. so for the next couple of years we're going to have people in harm's way, we need to know exactly what objectives we're there for. >> what do you think that objective is? >> i think the deadline is a mistake. i think what happens in afghanistan will have much bigger repercussions, for human rights, women's rights, for pakistan. i think there's a lot of

long-term objectives when we put up and artificial deadline, we're basically telling the taliban that this is when you can count on us not being there. >> ambassador kurt volker, thank you so much for your time and your perspective. we're gathering information from all suources on this. we'll be talking about where in investigation goes from here. afghanistan quickly became a topic on the sunday talk shows. senators mccain and reid speak out next.

mississippi voters are getting a lot of face time with the candidates for the white house today. rick santorum held meet and greets at tupelo and in just a few hours. newt gingrich attends a church service. mitt romney and ron paul are taking the day off, both mississippi and alabama hold primaries come tuesday. tune in tuesday night as the best political team on television tracks the alabama and mississippi primaries

starting at 7:00 p.m. with erin burnett followed by complete live coverage. election primary coverage on cnn tuesday night. today on the sunday morning talks shows, the republican candidates and -- and is u.s. mission in afghanistan, here are some of the highlights. >> is it time for us to leave afghanistan, mr. speaker? >> i think it is. i think we have to reassess the entire region. we have to understand that our being in afghanistan is counter productive. it is not for us to for them to change. >> i understand the frustration and i understand the ganger and the sorrow. i also understand and we should not forget that the attacks on

america on 9/11 originated in afghanistan and if afghanistan dissolved into a situation where the taliban were able to take over, or a chaotic situation, it could easily return to a al qaeda base for attacks on the united states of america. that is still our goal as it was the day that we went in. >> i think that we're on the right track to get out of afghanistan, just as soon as we can. there's conversations with karzai now, i think our timetable is pretty good. >> what a crowd. >> i'm submitted to going all the way to tampa. i have 175,000 people who have donated to the campaign, 95% of them have given under $250. they want a visionary conservative in the reagan tradition and they deserve to have a voice.

>> would you like to see them get out at that point? >> well, yeah, david, i would like everybody to get out, that would be great if they could just clear the field. >> i think the better opportunity to say that we nominate a conservative is to give us an opportunity to go head to head with governor romney at some point. >> the democrats should be asking big mar about -- should democrats give the money back? >> well, no. bill maher is a comedian, it's much different. rush limbaugh has tremendous weight in the republican party. bill maher's a comedian who's on at 11:00 at night but has very little influence on what's happening here. >> from life threatening obesity to a triathlon victory, that's

the path dr. scott son took. dr. sanjay gupta has his story. >> fred, you know, we're near three now the fit nation challenge. we see some remarkable transformations among the cnn viewers who have raced with us. dr. scott zan decided to start his own triathlon challenge at the medical center where he works. i visited him to see how he's helping people change their own lives. this idea to try to get other people to join you in doing a triathlon, what is -- >> it actually wasn't that hard when they saw what happened to me, the transformation that i had made, so a lot of people were very excited about trying it themselves. we had about 50 employees that had applied, and it was hard to

pick just six of them to be our six pack. >> you got off medications yourself and a few of your triathletes have a history of heart disease or heart disease. and what are you telling them as a doctor. >> as a doctor, i'm telling them it's something they can certainly do. look at me as an example, getting off of medications and still able to stay off of them. the people in the six pack here, they're also having that same goal to get off of medication, to get off the blood pressure medicine and so far with the weight loss that they have seen, it looks like they're going to be able to go that as well. >> i just find that very inspiring. i remember you getting off one of your medications pretty quickly after you started training and that could be sort of inspiration enough for a lot of people who are watching. have you been able to keep it

going, i know you've tried this in june and you're going to join us? malibu in september. how hard is it going to where to maintain you on what we started you on. >> it's hard to keep it up to find the time and the motivation, but it's easier than it was before i started this whole process. i still look forward to the workouts, i just make sure that i put them into my daily routine. >> i'm proud of you scott zahn, you're a role model for a lot of people out there. >> you can meet scott and also the triathletes at cnn.com fitnation. >> a man who was bullied as a child himself has made a movie about the subject. but he worries not everyone will get to see it because it's rated r. my conversation with director lee hersh coming up also. and we're following a story

out of afghanistan where a u.s. soldier is accused of killing 16 afghan civilians.

billying is a problem that affects millions of children. >> i am upset enough, i don't want him to ride the bus anymore. >> [ bleep ]. >> move. move. >> if they're not in your care, they're in the care of someone else that's just as capable as you and i don't feel that. >> the film's director lee hirsch is fighting to lower the rating to pg-13. >> many, many films have had their ratings overturned. there's a very recent example of a documentary that has over 46 uses of the f-word and lots and

lots of violence which was turned from an r to a pg-13. so i think there's a lot of precedent and also if you think about just the incredible amounts of violence and aggression and all the things that we often see in a pg-13 or a pg movie who says that's fine, but this is not, it's so frustrating for us. >> why do you believe in production is being treated differently in your view? >> i wish i knew that. i wish i understood that, i think we have tried really hard to appeal to them. i mean it was extraordinary. alex who you just saw in the clip being horribly bullied, he spoke incredibly movingly, he said what you're effectively saying is that i can't see my own life. and others can't see what they see every stay.

i don't know what the hangup is. i wish i did. because i could speak to that. but it seems like it's arbitrary, it seems like the process is mysterious and we're hoping very much that that will change. >> so without diluting the message of the documentary, diluting the reality of what it is and how brutal it is to be bullied, involving the families from the students, everyone's perspective, is there a way in which to appease both, the motion picture association, but still get the message across so that a larger movie going audience in your view can see and appreciate this film? >> that's a great question. we're still exploring that. i know that the families in this film have said please don't edit the movie. it's very easy to say that we can just bleep it or we can cut it. but whata really is doing is

minimizing the experience of bullying and that's what happens over and over and over again. we have made this film for the millions of kids that are bullied or have that experience on a constant basis ratcheted down, they're told it's not -- stick it out, it will be okay, kids will be kids, that experience is always minimized, so if we do that to this film, we are doing the same thing. >> so we had a statement from the motion picture association of america. saying this, the armed restriction does not mean that children cannot see the film, as with any movie, parents will decide if they want their children to see "bully". back to our top story now, a u.s. army staff sergeant leaving his base in afghanistan and then going on a shooting spree. the afghan president says 16 civilians are dead, mostly children.

navy captain john kirby is with me this morning. good to see you, captain. >> thanks for having me, fredericka. >> so where does this investigation go from this point forward? what's the story behind why and how this staff sergeant, american staff sergeant was able to go off base and allegedly open fire like this? >> well that's what the investigators are trying to figure out, fredericka, they were online very, very shortly after the incident, they have already started to interview the suspect and we don't know what motivated this video and we're not really sure where this is going to take us. but i can tell you general allen has made it clear, this investigation is going to be done thoroughly and it's going to be done rapidly in an expedestrian dish shus way. >> does it sound plausible that he could have left base even though it was the middle of the night without anyone's knowing?

>> well, again, that's something we're going to try to figure out. they don't know exactly -- >> is that possible? >> obviously it's possible because it certainly appeared to happen. now it's not typical for soldiers to be able to walk off of an outpost. but clearly this individual did and we're going to try to figure out that. >> would that individual be in in a situation where no other u.s. force would be able to see or seen document that this person had left their post at this hour? >> actually it was noticed that he left. in fact that's how we know that there was only one individual involved in this incident because it was noticed that this manage left the outpost. in doing that accounting, they

were able to identify that there was in fact one person doing the shooting. -- in terms of jeopardying thei there in kandahar, in afghanistan as a whole? >> look, kandahar has actually been a big success story for the strategy, but it's as tragic as this incident is, it would be a larger tragedy to let it affect the mission at large and what we're trying to do throughout the country. general allen made it clear to his commanders this morning after word about this incident happened that we're not going to let it affect our engagement strategy and we're going to continue to be out there amongst the populace, continue to try to beat back this insurgency. the mission continues as it must. >> captain john kirby, thanks so much for your time from

washington. >> my pleasure. >> much more straight ahead with my colleague don lemon right here with me with a preview. >> what a horrible story. terrible, tashble. we're going to be talking about that, of course. it will be our lead story. also talking about joseph kony. it's been all over, he's become a household name in the united states? just the last three days thanks to a new documentary that aims to make the african warlord infamous. we're going it talk live with jason russell, who is the filmmaker behind "kony 2012" which has been watched more than 65 million times. it's electrified the world. it's also causing controversy and at least one survivor says kony is not the person who should be celebrated in that film. >> i feel really hurt because i

don't know -- it's not easy to be a survivor, but i'm glad i was able to escape. maybe the purpose is why i am sitting here, and it's very painful for me to hear that joseph kony is right now in the united states a celebrity. and i ask myself, what is a celebrity? the kids are the ones who are supposed to be a celebrity because they have been through a lot. >> we will talk about the creator about the ground swell support and the controversy it's created and also ask him what he thinks about what she said as a survivor. also another disturbing story, hiv and aids, fred. we don't seem to hear a lot about it anymore, but still people -- it's killing people around the world. there's a new study a university in atlanta that uncovered an alarming statistic when it comes to hiv cases among black women in the states almost as high as the rate in parts of africa.

we'll be talking to a researcher. >> still considered the fastest growing population victimized by hiv and aids, black women? >> yes, fastest growing, but on sop of this, that new study, those numbers even worse than first thought and there's a warning that goes to women in those cities as well. >> thanks so much, don lemon. about eight minutes from now. jacqui jeras is tracking some potentially severe and dangerous storms out of louisiana. we'll be checking in with her next. [ male announcer ] the cadillac cts sport sedan

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some pretty dangerous -- potentially dangerous weather on the horizon particularly in the south. >> we're watching some nasty thunderstorms in western parts of louisiana right now. some of which could be producing some wind damage. this is the same line of storms that moved through the houston area earlier today. check out the video we have from there. record rainfall in houston, 2.81 inches, just shy of 3 inches there. that was a record for the day, and we also have a surplus now finally for the month, even for the year. so a nice drought-buster in parts of texas. that's the good news. the system will move to the north and east and we could see severe thunderstorms pushing

into parts of arkansas as well as maybe even into western tennessee. that's going to be late for tonight, so that will be the area we're watching for the wind damage and isolated tornadoes are going to be possible as well. now, the plus side of this whole system is that the temperatures have been crazy warm. we had a lot of record highs out there today. take a look at this. pierre, south dakota, 74 degrees. 74 degrees. minneapolis/st. paul at 26 and t -- at 64 and those warm temperatures will stick around. >> spring is sort of here. >> it's working on it. >> we'll see you throughout the evening. i'm fredricka whitfield. thanks for being with me. my colleague don lemon is coming up with more of the "newsroom." have a great week. and hurtle us all into space, which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd and you still need to retire, td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life.

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