president trump doubles down on his anti media rhetoric as some news outlets including cnn find themselves blocked from a press briefing. >> and a chemical weapon used to kill kim jong un's brother at an airport and the story of a man who wanted to end his life but wound up instead with an incredible second chance. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta. to our viewers here in the united states and around the world i'm george howell.

cnn news room starts right now. it is 5:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast. a lot to talk about this day. senior white house officials are pushing back against cnn's exclusive reporting they're denying any wrong doing and asking the fbi to speak out against reports of contacts between the trump campaign and russians. the administration does confirm it spoke to the fbi about those communications but in an unprecedented move, white house press secretary sean spicer blocked cnn and several other news organizations from an informal press briefing held friday. pamela brown has more. >> reporter: the white house is saying it did nothing wrong after cnn's exclusive report that the fbi refused the white house's request to knock down media reports about contacts between donald trump associates and russians during the campaign. a senior administration official says the unusual white house

request came only after the fbi approached white house chief of staff reince priebus to stay a story in the new york time social security not true. the white house explained its actions by saying the conversation happened on february 15th after a 7:30 a.m. meeting led by priebus. fbi director asked priebus for five minutes alone after the meeting and calls the new york times report quote total bs. priebus asked, can we do anything about it to set the record straight? and in followup phone calls both declined priebus' request but did say he could cite top intelligence officials to say there's nothing to the story. >> i've talked to top levels of the committee and they've assured me that was grossly

overstated, and inaccurate and totally wrong. >> reporter: the back and forth between the white house and the fbi raises questions about whether either side violated long standing justice department procedures. >> it's very important that you limit contacts between the white house and the justice department for two reasons. you don't want pressure placed on the department of justice in connection with the investigation or prosecution and you don't want the appearance of political influence with respect to an investigation or prosecution. >> reporter: according to these memos the communication should only happen when quote, it is important for the performance of the president's duties and important from a law enforcement perspective. and the memos exclude white house officials about talking about pending investigation. >> it comes from the attorney general or the deputy attorney general. it would be unusual for the fbi director or the deputy director

to have conversation with white house officials without the presence of the attorney general or the deputy attorney general, because they report up to the attorney general. >> with the unusual communication now under scrutiny, president trump railed against the leaks that have plagued his administration writing on twitter, the fbi is totally unable to stop the national security leakers. classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on the u.s. >> i'm against the people that make up stories and make up sources. they shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name. >> pamela brown reporting there for us. we are also hearing reaction from the former white house press secretary for former president george w. bush. here's what he had to say earlier. >> he speaks on an offensive

fashion, i get that. but he meets with the press more than anybody i can think of. he held a marathon news conference. he's done sitdown interviews with the wall street times, the today show, time magazine, you name it. he is tremendously accessible. he came back on air force one and did his own on the record meeting. >> but you would disagree with him -- you would disagree with him in calling the media the enny of the people. yes? >> i already have. i said that publicly. yes, i think that's wrong. they're not the enemy of the people. but my point is the press has a tendency to think everything a isn't themselves. the first amendment is under threat because of the things he says but they ignore all the things he says that are tremendous for the media. he is making journalism interesting and great again. >> it really isn't about the

media. it's about the story. but as these attacks continue on the media it is certainly a new frontier for many journalists. my colleague jake tapper had some very direct words for the white house. >> let's not make any mistake about what's happening here. a white house that's had some difficulty telling the truth and had some trouble on getting up to speed on the basic workings of government and has called the press the enemies of the american people, they are taking the next step in attempting to avoid checks and balances and accountability. it's not acceptable. it's petulant and indicative of a lack of basic understanding of how a white house adult functions. this white house does not seem to value an independent press. there is a word for that line of thinking. the word is un-american. >> jake tapper, thank you.

another word for it, unacceptable. an official response from the cable news network cnn saying this. this is an unacceptable development by the trump white house. apparently this is how they retaliate what they don't like. let's bring in sylvia, a reporter with politico. can it be considered a distaction, a continued effort by this white house to distract, to refuse from coverage on topics they don't want to talk about, like russia? >> well, i mean, this is not new to trump. he's been having this attitude toward the media all throughout the campaign. but they had promised that in case he was elected president things would have been different and in december his press

secretary said that, you know, those kind of things and cutting out the media from press briefings would have happened when he was in the white house because of course, regardless of the issues that are at stake, it's the president's duty to brief the media and to brief all of it and also to receive criticism and questions from the media. so actually i don't know if it's a distraction or the fact that the trump administration doesn't like criticism at all. one of my colleagues that was there yesterday at the white house asked the press secretary for comment as to what protocol was being followed for cutting out the media and the press secretary said that she was being threatened by my colleague's questions. so i mean, this is a completely new landscape here and i'm not sure it's just a distraction. it's just a different approach to the media and a different approach to criticism. >> it is interesting to point out these attacks continue at the same time. this is the office of the presidency of the united states. the president due level of respect that presidents are due. at the same time the media will continue to dig on these

different stories and to separate fact from fiction. the president spoke today at cpac. keeping in mind, this was the same gathering of conservatives who tried to derail his path to the white house last year. let's listen to the president speaking to the crowd. >> as you saw throughout the entire campaign and even now the fake news doesn't tell the truth. doesn't tell the truth. so just in finishing, i say it doesn't represent the people. it never will represent the people, and we're going to do something about it. >> well, the news exists to ask questions of the people who hold power. mr. trump targeted the media. he targeted globalization. he drove home his message of american first and economic nationalism, but the question here to you, is that message fully uniting conservatives? >> well, i mean, the question is

who is trump speaking to now? because the fringe of the republican party seems like it's become main stream now. what these people want to hear is precisely what trump is telling them, but i mean, where is the republican establishment? we've barely seen them at cpac and the people that were there and you know, they were applauding him for lashing out against fake news against the media, against the threats to the u.s. border, promising deportations, people who want to hear what trump is telling them and are fuelling on this kind of rhetoric. >> let's look ahead to tuesday. the president of the united states will address congress for the first time not just speaking to a friendly crowd that we saw here at cpac. these conservatives that came together, but rather speaking to representatives on both sides of the aisle, also speaking to all of the american people, even those who opposed him. is he likely to take this opportunity as he suggested

before to unite the nation around his agenda? >> well, somehow he's going to have to reboot and restart, because this has been a very complicated first month for him and probably what he's going to do in his televised address to the nation is sort of tick the boxes of all the promises that he's maintained and outline the new ones in the way forward. the same he's going to be doing in congress, outlining his policies and trying to get democratic lawmakers aligned with his policies. but he's not going to go into much detail i think. he's going to talk about tax reform, about infrastructure investments, about repealing obamacare and those are things he's promised all along and that he's now trying to tell the people, you know, i'm going forward with my strategy, what i had promised and after all the difficulties and after where obama took this country i'm making america great again. the problem is, is he credible at this point? >> all eyes will be on that

message come tuesday. thank you so much for the insider perspective. just days after two u.s. administration officials held high level talks in mexico city a trade war with the u.s. seems more possible than ever. mexico's foreign minister says his country will respond in kind if the trump administration imposes a so-called border tax on mexican goods. let's listen. >> translator: mexico will face this as a reality and not just as a triple threat because we had realized that threats come and go. naturally the mexican government needs to respond. our response will probably not be to put together a tax on all imports from the united states. >> still ahead here on cnn newsroom, malaysia says kim jong nam was poisoned with a nerve

agent and the airport is saying loud and clear that passengers traveling through there are not at rusk of exposure. more on the deadly poisoning ahead. a look at the operation to retake mosul as the u.s. helps iraqi forces to drive out isis. stay with us. feels great. pro-look, full coverage in 14 brave new shades. go paint yourself. new infallible lip paints. from l'oreal makeup designer/paris. sometimes you capture the moment. and sometimes, it captures you. marriott now has 30 brands in over 110 countries. so no matter where you go, you are here. join or link accounts.

welcome back to cnn news room. inmalaysia, officials say if

traveling through the airport, no one needs to worry about coming into contact with the nerve agent used to kill kim jong nam. they say the airport has been cleaned and no one has gotten sick from vx that killed him last week. the twists and turns on this mysterious case. >> reporter: some of the last moments of kim jong nam's life. he approaches airport security to complain that someone grabbed his face and that he's feeling dizzy. he's escorted to the airport clinic. a photograph of him slumped over if his chair, apparently unconscious. he dies before reaching the hospital. in a twist that reads like the script of a hollywood thriller malaysian authorities now confirm that the half brother of north korea's dictator was killed by vx, an internationally

banned highly lethal nerve agent that can kill within minutes. >> if you get any of it on you, you're dead. there is nothing a doctor can do for you. you know, you just die. you get a microscopic dot on you on vx and you die. >> reporter: south korea is pointing to the volatile north korean state and the leader himself is the prime suspect. the dramatic assassination took place in broad daylight moments after kim entered the crowded check-in hall. malaysian police claim that two women who can just be made out here wiped kim's face with some kind of liquid. one of the women can be seen walking off, wearing a bizarrely catching lol t-shirt. two female suspects are now in custody. and it gets more surreal. indonesian thoerds sauthorities of the women told police she was

participating in a prank for a tv show. a claim malaysian officials dismissed. >> these two ladies were trained to swab the deceased's face. and and then they were instructed to clean their hands and they knew it was toxic. >> the hunt is now on for these four north korean suspects who left the country on the day of the attack. among them, a senior official with the north korean embassy. and yet another bizarre twist, police said someone tried to break into the -- where kim's body is being kept. >> reporter: of more concern to u.s. officials is how the dangerous dictator got his hands on one of the most deadly chemical weapons in the world and what else he could do with it. >> it's a nerve agent that has

terrified intelligence agencies in the west for a long time because it's so lethal. saddam hue sane was accused of having it. in fact, he didn't. what disturbs me is they have figured out how to weaponize it. would he use it on the united states? there's simply no way for us to know. and our alexandra field is following this story with the very latest on the investigation. alexandra? >> reporter: yeah, and what we're learning is they've had access to the indonesian women seen inside that airport. they've been holding her along with another vietnamese woman. but the deputy ambassador from indonesia here who met with her

today says that this woman is again telling authorities that she thought she was participating in a prank. she tells them she met with a group of people who she believes were korean or japanese. they gave her a substance that she describes appearing as to baby oil and they told her to go ahead and do this, george. >> what's the latest on this dispute between malaysia and north korea with this investigation? >> reporter: there has certainly been a rush of tensions over this investigation. they're fighting mainly over the body of kim jong nam. the body was found to have a diplomatic passport on it. they say malaysia is in violation of international norms by not returning the body but officials are saying they want next of kin to come identify the body and provide a dna sample before they hand it over. they've been highly critical of this investigation from the

start. they say they're being unduly influenced by south korea media reports which they say led to the poisoning suspicion. they deny he was poisoned. of course the malaysian officials say they've got the proof after finding that vx residue in the face and in the eyes of kim jong nam but both of these sides having a lot of trouble working together. they need cooperation from the north korean authorities as they still work to question as many as seven north korean citizens in this attack in the investigation, george. >> alexandra, thank you for the reporting. on now to northern syria. isis has claimed responsibility for a car bombing that killed as many as 60 people. turkish state media says the blast in a village targeted a security building that was being used by rebels fighting the terror group. in the meantime a second set of attacks in homs homicias killed

people. iraqi forces are closing in on a key area of western mosul as it fights to retake that city from isis. our correspondent is live from east of there. it's good to have you with us, ben. let's talk about this particular part of mosul. it was heavily fortified with defenses by isis. they'd been there for several years. they dug in. how difficult is it? how is the battle going to retake that part of the city? >> at this point, george, it appears that the iraqi forces are making some progress in entering the southern part of the western city just north of the airport. ma we've seen is that they've entered two neighborhoods which are just north of the airport, but yes, it really is hard going. once they've -- you know the airport is an open field, basically. quite easy to take, but the city itself is very difficult.

we've seen, for instance, that isis seems to be taking a scorched earth policy. every area they pull out of, they essentially set on fire. in addition to all the other things they have in place. for instance, tunnels, ieds, snipers and so on, but what's interesting at this point, when we were up at the front lines yesterday, it appears that american spotters and advisors are getting ever closer to the action. >> we take it now and try to move up and mark that location. >> american soldiers they declined to say their names are setting coordinates for isis positions. just a little over a mile away from the extremists. they never fired their sniper rifle but used it to identify targets. nearby, a drone. pentagon officials say u.s.

service personnel are operating ever closer to the action. the bombardment of western mosul is intense and steady. iraqis flying russian made mi-35 attack helicopters blasted isis targets inside the city. rapid response force says resistance has been stiff because isis fighters realize they're cornered. >> translator: they're surrounded, he tells me. there's no escape. either they die fighting or they surrender. the airport on the southern edge of the city is in ruins. the runway strewn with concrete blocks. >> the fighting is proceeding at an accelerated rate.

iraqi forces may be eager to avoid a repeat of the grueling three month offensive to liberate the eastern part of the city. taking mosul airport is really just the first step. now these iraqi forces are heading into the city proper. that's when the real battle will begin. a battle in which americans may play an even greater role. >> and iraqi government says that within the last 24 hours about 1,500 people have fled one part of western mosul. and we're also getting reports from the iraqi federal police that somewhere over 50 people were killed and wounded when they were fleeing the city and ended up in an isis mine field. >> our senior international correspondent, live from iraq. thank you so much for the

reporting. we'll stay in touch as the fighting continues. the president of the united states enjoying a victory lap of sorts, taking the stage before a crowd of enthusiastic reporters. we'll have the latest from cpac. broadcasting live on networks both in the united states and around the world at this hour, you're watching cnn newsroom.

a warm welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. it is good to have you with us. i'm george howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour. indonesian officials have spoken with a suspect in connection

with the vx nerve agent suspect that killed kim jong nam. she told officials she was asked to apply it inside the airport. she thought the substance was quote, a kind of oil like baby oil. we'll continue to follow that story. in syria suicide attacks in the city of homs that killed at least 32 people including a military intelligence official. this is all according to syrian state media. reports say the bombers targeted two security centers, the syrian umbrella organization that includes the new front claims responsibility. iraqi forces are closing in on portions of mosul. this as they fight to take that city from isis. iraqi fighter jets also bombed isis targets in both iraq and syria for the first time friday. the white house says it did

nothing wrong in asking the fbi to publicly knock down reports of contacts between russians and the trump campaign back in 2016. senior trump officials say the fbi broached the subject first, but when the white house followed up with fbi director james comey he declined to comment on an ongoing investigation. the president of the united states donald trump was once an unlikely champion for american conservatives but now he is a leader of that movement as he demonstrated at a major conference on friday. sarah murray has this recap for us. >> reporter: the president further escalating his attacks. >> we are fighting the fake news. it's fake. phony, fake. a few days ago i called the fake news the enemy of the people and they are. they are the enemy of the

people. >> reporter: after an extended opening screen against the media -- >> it doesn't represent the people, it never will represent the people and we're going to do something about it. >> reporter: he touted his presidential achievements so far. >> basically all i've done is keep my promise. >> reporter: and defended plans to crack down on undocumented immigrants living in the u.s. >> as we speak today immigration officers are finding the gang members, the drug dealers and the criminal aliens and throwing them the hell out of our country. >> reporter: as trump ticked through his top agenda items he revised his campaign rallying cry and vowed to build a wall along the southern border. >> we're building the wall. in fact, it's going to start soon. >> reporter: u.s. customs and border protection will soon ask

for pro toe type wall structures. trump previewed a new executive order. >> we are going to keep radical islamic terrorists the hell out of our country. we will not be deterred from this course. and in a matter of days we will be taking brand new action to protect our people and keep america safe. >> reporter: all of this as trump offered clues about his first presidential budget. the president has insisted he would cut spending but he pointed to a dramatic increase in military spending. >> we're also putting in a massive budget request for our beloved military. it will be one of the greatest military buildups in american history. >> reporter: and he vowed yet again to repeal and replace

obamacare, dismissing the outcry members of congress have seen back home in their districts. >> the people that you're watching, they're not you. they're largely, many of them are the side that lost. you know, they lost the election. it's like how many elections do we have to have? they lost the election. but i always say obamacare doesn't work. >> for trump the event was something of a victory lap while his 2011 speech at the conservative political action conference previewed his political ambitions, trump snubbed the event last year and what a difference a year makes. >> you know, the dishonest media, they'll say, he didn't get a standing ovation. >> the president of the united states on stage at the cpac conference. that was sarah murray reporting for us. mr. trump drew applause from the conference, but a prominent journalist says the president has some republicans concerned.

here's what carl bernstein told anderson cooper. >> does it surprise you the extent to which how much the republican party has embraced this sort of economic national lichl? >> i think two things are happening. the base of his victory have embraced it and we're watching at cpac a narcissistic demagogue even going farther with his message of anger and with his message of exclusion. while on capitol hill what is happening, he is scaring the hell out of a lot of movement conservatives and a lot of senators and congressmen who worry about his stability and are well aware that he is presenting this in a fact free universe. there's great concern on capitol hill. i'm sure that others on this broadcast can attest to that. and so we're heading in two different directions where there's some real skepticism in his own party in washington

about his -- his approach and whether he really is a president who knows what he's doing while at the same time he's energizing those who brung him to the dance. >> carl bernstein speaking to our anderson cooper. federal authorities are investigating a possible hate crime in the united states, the state of kansas after an indian man was killed. the man's widow says she was worried about violence against foreigners but her husband said everything will be okay. he died wednesday after being shot while having an after work beer with a friend who was wounded himself in that shooting. the victim's widow spoke friday about her husband. >> his passion was aviation. he wanted to succeed so much in this industry and do so much for this country.

and he for sure, he did not -- i'm sorry. he did not deserve a death like this. >> authorities later arrested this man, 51-year-old. witnesses told local media that he shouted, get out of my country before returning to the bar and opening fire. police have not corroborated that information at this point. still ahead here on cnn newsroom, how 56 hours changed this man's life forever. plus hollywood is getting ready for oscars. we'll look at who could win that coveted statue and who might go home empty handed. stay with us.

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the story of a man in the u.s. state of wyoming who is getting used to seeing someone very different in the mirror these days. he had a face transplant. doctors say the surgery appears to be working and andy says he's getting his confidence back. >> reporter: ten years ago andy attempted suicide, shooting himself in the face. rushed to hospital, he miraculously survived but was left with life changing injuries. without a nose, chin or most of

the flesh below his eyes. >> you know what? i was stupid. i made the wrong choice and now i'm paying for it for the rest of my life. >> reporter: a decade on last june he was given a ground breaking opportunity to get a new face via transplant. a donor was found who like andy had turned a weapon on himself age just 21. his tragic death offering andy a glimmer of hope. his surgery finally able to go ahead. a team of specialists had been practicing the face transplant technique for three years rehearsing the full operation more than 30 times. >> a face transplantation is a combination of so many other procedures that we do, including eyelid surgery, jaw surgery, facial nerve surgery. >> reporter: it involved mapping and preserving an intricate web of nerves on both andy and the

donor's face. the surgery lasted a full 56 hours with surgeons taking shifts. and the result after a few weeks of recovery, unable to fully talk yet, andy writes down his feelings for his medical team. >> far exceeded my expectations. you don't know how happy that makes us feel. >> reporter: andy's new facial features completely restored though not the ones he was born with. his life, half a year later is now transformed. >> i was absolutely blown away by the results. i just feel like a normal person walking around outside. going to the shopping malls, nobody asks any questions. nobody stares. i feel like another face in the crowd and now with this transplant i just feel more comfortable and more confidence in doing these things. >> he will need to continue speech therapy. >> i boiled the peas.

and he'll be on medication forever to stop his body rejecting the transplant. with a new face and a new lease on life. cnn, london. >> very good for him. she spoke to the medical surgical director about the transplant and why it's so important. >> his goal is to be able to walk in -- into a crowd and not be noticed like this is an abnormal person and that's what we had in mind the whole time preparing for this transplant. three and a half years ago we knew we were approved to do this. we knew we had a patient. we spent 50 saturdays in the cadaver lab just practicing and understanding the nuances, the small details that would make the biggest difference in his function and his appearance. we looked at every aspect of this, thought about it a thousand times. so when we did the operation and got the result it would be something worthwhile and one of the most significant things

about this and we can't ignore this at all. we train and train and train as surgeons but it's the generosity of the donor and the donor family and the beautiful face that he had and he gave to andy, that's really what made it so spectacular. >> he also told us he believes that andy will do well in the long-term. switching over to weather now, the seasons have become a bit twisted up in some parts of the united states. this week we've got record breaking high temperatures across the south and dramatic snowstorms across the central part of the u.s. our meteorologist is here to tell us about it. derrick, i don't know where to start with this. >> i'll tell you that punxsutawney phil was incorrect in his prediction for a late spring because it seems like it's come early. plants are blooming already, trees are budding, but that wasn't the case if you're coming out of minnesota and you're watching us now. take a look at what they had to deal with this morning. that was yesterday actually but they'll still be waking up to

shoveling some fresh fallen snow. this is in rochester and they had full on blizzard conditions in some locations across the midwest but george alluded to these seasons being mixed up. mother nature not quite sure whether it's spring, whether it's winter, whether it's summer or whether it's fall. take a look at this. this is the daily leaf index, okay? people actually keep track of this stuff and what you're basically looking at here is that shading of red that stretches across the entire deep south from the mid-atlantic all the way to texas. it's an indicator of when the first leaf would occur on the trees. and what we're seeing is actually a 20 to 25-day earlier than usual laefing of these trees. unbelievable and it's all thanks to this prolonged period of warmth that we've experienced. nearly 7,000 record high temperatures have been broken since the beginning of the year. yesterday alone we just tallied up a new number.

80 record highs tied or smashed yesterday. some all-time winter high temperatures actually reported but we can say good-bye to these warm temperatures because the seasons are about to change. a little bit of a lesson from me to you if you're watching, don't plant your vegetables too early. this could catch you offguard because we get these cold arctic blasts. look at the temperature separation. we're talking over 30 degrees today. unbelievable. obviously something happening. the collision of air masses, cold air infiltrating the central and eastern parts of the country and we know what happens this time of year when we start to see cold air meeting up with warm and more humid air. we get the potential for severe weather. we saw that across the ohio river valley yesterday. now that threat moves east ward and look who is in the radar scope of this? new york to philly to washington, d.c. you have the potential for large hail, isolated tornados,

damaging winds, so something we'll monitor very closely. cold air across the north. chance of rain showers for the oscars this weekend in los angeles. here's our rainfall potential across the east coast. i'll end off with this. this is coming out of lake s superior in duluth. it kicked up some surf on the lake water. >> they asked me to do the polar plunge in chicago, and i couldn't do that. >> you saw the ice chunks floating by and said no way. thank you. i want to tell you about the story that the network is -- important for the net work. the focus is on modern day slavery with a launch of my freedom day on march 14th.

driving my freedom day is a simple question we posed to you. what does freedom mean to you? here's what some students in the u.s. have to say about that question. >> freedom to me means being able to own my body and my actions. >> to me freedom is a fundamental human right for every single person. it means being able to live a life free of exploitation and having the opportunities and the resources to reach your full potential. >> it means being able to live my life without fear. >> my freedom day, march 14th. send us your answer via text, photo or video across social media using the #my freedom day. stay with us. you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin®. because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. try zyrtec®. muddle no more®.

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does your makeup remover every kiss-proof,ff? cry-proof, stay-proof look? neutrogena® makeup remover does. it erases 99% of your most stubborn makeup with one towelette. need any more proof than that? neutrogena. welcome back to cnn newsroom. while conservatives and supporters in the united states cheered the current president, the former u.s. president, barack obama was also met with cheers and applause on the streets of new york.

the woman who took the video said she heard a commotion near her job and wanted to go check it out. after a 30 minute wait she was rewarded with the video. the president was walking out of a starbucks right in front of her. and some fans of the former u.s. president want him to lead their nation next. it can't happen, but a campaign is trying to get a million signatures on a petition urging him to run. the organizer says the campaign is a joke, but he wants to show french politicians that the people are fed up. the first round of voting for the new president of france is april 23rd. finally, this hour, hollywood gearing up for its biggest night on sunday. stefani shows us what to watch out for. >> reporter: musical romance,

family drama, and extraterrestrial life all competing for oscars. la la land is the film to watch with 14 nominations, tying all about eve and titanic for the most nods in oscar history. the musical is up for best picture along with a rival, fences, hack sau ridge, man chester by the sea and moonlight. >> some people think that maybe "hidden figures" could eke out in the end but i think in the end "la la land" will prevail. >> reporter: return winners meryl streep and natalie portman as jackie, but stone is the front runner. >> emma stone has essentially won every single award you can win. >> reporter: the race for best actor is tight.

andrew garfield and others are all up for the honor but the momentum is for denzel washington for "fences." >> do you know who's hosting the oscars right now? he's touching your face. >> jimmy kimmel is taking on the challenging role. he' he'll mc the oscars. >> he'll try and make them comfortable and relax. >> although a few will be excited and emotional after striking oscar gold. >> all eyes will be watching to see what happens. we thank you for watching us this hour. i'm george howell at the cnn center in atlanta. for our viewers in the united states. "new day is next. thank you for watching cnn. we are the world's news leader.

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