sedation. that's what i need. >> for you, not the children? they just need french fries and mangos and they would be fine. >> i need the entire weekend to recover from that. see the most recent "shots" at our website, ac360.com. very adorable kids. that does it for "360." thanks for watching. larry king starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com tonight, nancy grace, a tough talker tears into news of the day. >> breaking news tonight. >> on convicted dog killer michael vick. why is he playing pro-football again? on charles manson follower squeaky fromme. she tried to assassinate a president. should she be out of prison? on michael jackson's doctor. defense attorneys. while she'll never turn her back on victims of crime. her new book, fiction, which reads a lot like real life, her life. nancy grace, next on "larry king

live." i'm anderson cooper sitting in for larry king tonight. our one and only guest, the one and only, host of hln's nancy grace. former prosecutor. author of "the eleventh victim," first novel, victims' rights advocate, nancy grace. >> thank you for having me. i'm happy to see you. >> you have a best-selling book and now a novel. i understand this took ten years for you to actually write. >> that's right. believe it or not, it took me that long. so much ensued between the time i started and the time it hit the shelves at the bookstores. when i left prosecuting in 1997 to start a show, "cochran & grace" at court tv with johnny cochran, god rest his soul. i missed the courtroom so much. i missed striking juries and going out on the street, investigating crime scenes. i didn't really miss autopsies

too much. but i missed the contact with victims and witnesses. so i started writing this book. so much ensued between then. i was at court tv nearly 11 years. came here to headline news, ultimately published another book. got married, got pregnant. delivered. nearly died. didn't die. >> good thing. >> and the twins are almost 2 years old. i finally -- >> 21 months, aren't they? >> 21 months. i just told him that in the break. he did not know. okay? >> i knew the general timeframe. >> i knew everything about you. yes, they are 21 months, saying words. >> it's a great age. >> i want to surprise anderson. the twins are here. i want to bring them out together. but if they both sit in my lap, they start fighting each other. i'll bring them out one by one and i have the purell, and you can hold them if you agree to

wash your hands again. >> we'll bring them out a little bit later. the book is "the eleventh victim." the lead character in this book, there are a lot of parallels between you and her. haley dean and you. she had a husband who was murdered. became a prosecutor. how much of you is haley dean? >> i didn't start out that way. it's loosely based on what i know. but she is a much, much better person than i could ever be, anderson. she's cool, calm, collected. she gets a lot of trouble in the book because of -- the prepgs of the book is she's a psychology major. i was an english literature major. and her fiance was murdered shortly before their wedding, as was mine. she reverses -- she changes gears and goes to law school to become a prosecutor, as did i. after many, many years prosecuting and being saturated in murders, rapes, child

molestations, one autopsy table after the next, she quits. moves to manhattan and goes back to being a counselor/therapist, and everything is fine, until her friends began dropping like flies. one after the next in the same m.o. a very unique m.o. as her last serial murder prosecution. >> is it harder writing a novel? >> it is so much harder. when i wrote "objection" years ago, the fact scenario is laid out for you. you analyze them. you give your legal analysis and critique. you look to the future and determine what may happen in those cases. here, you have to create everything from the color of someone's eyes to their hair, to whether the breeze is blowing, and there's one scene where there's an environmentalist who sits down in the sand late one night down by the ocean and just describing sits down in wet sand and the breeze and the moon. it takes a lot more work than commenting on something that

already exists. >> but you liked it. you liked the process? >> i liked it. i don't think i would ever have finished it if i hadn't pitched my publisher's hyperion, another nonfiction. and they said, you got anything else? i was a little taken aback. i said, well, no, but i do have a partial manuscript, about 300 pages of a murder/mystery. so gretchen young, my editor said, yeah, i'll look at it. the next day they said, we read it. we want two haley deans. then i was in the very precarious position of having to finish the book. and then i was between a rock and a hard spot. i did it. if it hadn't been for that, i would never have finished it. it's not like on tv, where you see people kicked back on the front porch with the breeze blowing in the air. they're having a little herbal tea and the news, you know, flips across and they have -- no. the twins would be up at 2:30 and 5:30 every night.

i would write when i got off the show until, like, 3:00 in the morning and get up at 5:30 with them and start all over again. it was hard, very hard. but that's what every working mother in the country does. it ain't easy. >> more about the book later on. let's talk about some of the items in the news. michael vick signs with the philadelphia eagles. should he play football again? >> well, i think what's getting lost in the story is looking back to the brutality that was inflicted on -- don't laugh, the victims in the case. the dog victims. anders anderson, a lot of people get more upset about animal victims than they do people victims. many dogs were drowned, electrocuted. female dogs on a rape stand, where if the dogs did not want to mate and pro create, and the fighting was absolutely vicious. here is the reality. and our justice system for dogfighting, you don't stay in jail forever, right? that's for murderers. >> do you think he's really apologetic? he's given this interview to "60 minutes." i saw one clip of it.

i don't know if you seen it. do you buy his apology? >> no, i don't buy his apology. >> you think it's something lawyers said, you have to say this, say that in. >> i think the lawyers carefully crafted what he had to say. i think is he not necessarily sorry he did it, but he's sorry he got caught. but the reality is, you can't keep somebody in jail forever on dogfighting. he had to get out. he's a football player. so you know what? go play football. that's all he knows how to do. >> are you giving him a second chance? >> sure. yeah. >> he's done his time. >> he's done his time. not enough time i might add. he's done his time, and some of that was in his own home and i don't believe -- if he had not been a celebrity, he would not have gotten to serve part of his sentence in his luxury mansion, all right? >> do you think people care more of the dogs in this case than sometimes people care about other humans? >> in some cases, yes, because dogs, animals are so innocent they cannot protect themselves from us, the humans just like children.

and those are our victims that absolutely have no recourse. and i think that's why people are so touched and so outraged when animals are taken advantage of like this. but, look, you can't keep him in forever. he's out. he did his time. i say get on with it and quit giving him any attention. >> would you go to a philadelphia eagles football game and watch him? >> no. >> all right. >> i would not pay for a ticket that would support michael vick. what are they going to do with mcnabb? he's all scrubbed in sunshine. you have vick over the corner, a convicted felon that made dogs fight to the death. now, that's certainly two ends of the spectrum for the philly eagles. >> nancy's answering your questions. they're coming up. ( crack of bat, cheering ) not playing with the kids? not on these legs.

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we're back with nancy grace, talking about her new book, "the eleventh victim," her first novel. a lot of big news items of the day. we talked about michael vick. let's talk about squeaky fromme, a charles manson follower, released from prison. attempted to assassinate president gerald ford. should she have gotten out? >> anderson, i'm very surprised at you. being the thorough journalist you are, you left a few facts out. okay. number one. back in the '60s as you mentioned, she was a devoted manson follower. during his trial on mass murder, she supported his defense and showed up. >> she sat outside. >> yes, with an "x" cut into her

forehead. after that, she was arrested on another murder and she was released. then and i believe it was '75. she showed up in sacramento wearing red robes with a gun underneath. she had four bullets in the gun, anderson, but the chamber was emp empty. so when she fires, they grab her and says, hey, hey, it didn't go off. that was her defense. she tried to escape. >> she tried to escape in 1987. to be closer to manson. >> she also tried to kill another inmate with a claw hammer behind bars, anderson, so this is not some sweet little girl that was confused and misled when she tried to kill our president. a lot of people would argue, hey, just because he's president doesn't make him more important or more valued than anybody else. she should get out. that is not true.

no. gerald ford's life is not more valuable than yours or mine. he is a symbol of our country. when you look at her tract -- we have the story just in to cnn. a huge blast has echoed through the afghan capital, a plume of smoke rising saturday morning in the direction of the u.s. embassy in kabul. there was no immediate word on casualties. the explosion comesle less than week before afghanistan holds elections for president and provincial counsels and as you well know, coalition troops have been moving into afghanistan in the past several weeks in helmand province. again, a huge blast echoed through the afghan capital. smoke seen coming in the direction of the u.s. embassy. we are working the story to give out more details to you as soon as we get them. we'll, of course, bring them to you. for now, we'll turn back to our regular newscast. it was the seminal event of the '60s for many people and 40

years later woodstock is as big as ever. the three-day music festival began august -- >> has distinguished herself behind bars. she has tried so desperately to do good behind bars. she's got the best chance. >> there's a woman, susan atkins, she has terminal brain tumor. >> she's 61. let's see, how old was sharon tate when she was murdered and her unborn child who never had a chance? i'm not impressed. she's 61. so what. >> she has a brain tumor, you think nothing -- >> no, absolutely not. i don't think any of them should be paroleed. it was mass murder. are they going to parole them? probably. do i think they should? >> no. >> what do you think it is about charles manson that fascinated people for so long?

>> i think the mystique surrounding him is highly unusual and it created a cult-like following. he had this gaggle of beautiful young women that surrounded him and loved him. >> i was wasn't really cognizant when he was, i guess, you know, committing these crimes. i've only seen the tapes of later in prison giving rambling interviews. it's lard to believe anybody would follow this guy. >> i agree. looking back. it kind of epitomized what many people believed was going on in the '60s. i consider him your run of the mill mass killer. i don't think he's special. >> are most killers smart? >> oh, no, anderson. that is for tv. they are not. that's when movies -- once in a while you'll get a really intelligent killer and they're sometimes very hard to catch. that's few and far between. >> it amazes me people talk to the police. if you are arrested or brought

in, after all that we've seen on television, all the police shows where people try to convince -- >> i'm glad you mentioned that. haley get arrested in this book for all these murders and goes back and forth because she knows, just like you said, don't talk to the police. she does. >> if you were ever charged with something, what defense attorney would you call? >> well, first of all, i wouldn't need a defense attorney because i'd be innocent. yes, i would talk to police. >> don't innocent people -- you would talk to police? >> yeah, i'd probably talk to police. >> you wouldn't have an attorney present? >> i don't think i would have an attorney present. >> why? >> unless i did it. then you're darn right i would have an attorney present. >> uh-huh. what defense attorney would you -- >> anderson, you're trying to get me in trouble with all of my guests on the show and pick one. i have to roll them all together, i guess. >> i don't buy that for a second. i think you have a speed dial. back with nancy grace in 60 seconds. we just know. announcer: finding the moment that's right for you both can

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breaking news that we are learning about, an explosion in the capital of afghanistan in kabul. just a couple weeks before the presidential election. we have received reports of smoke going in the direction of the u.s. embassy. we want to bring you more information now. we have our reporter there for us. ati, what can you tell us about this latest incident? rrl natalie, i can tell you it was a very large explosion. we are blocks away. yet, we could still feel it. it did shake our bureau. we did go up to watch to see if there was smoke rising which we usually do when there's an explosion in kabul. again, yes, we could see it. looks like it was in the vicinity of isaf headquarters. we can't pinpoint exact location now. we're trying to make calls but

most phones are down at the moment like mostly after a suicide bombing or any kind of car bombing. we don't know if it's a suicide bomb or car bomb. we're still trying to gather a little more information on that, but there was an explosion in kabul. we're five days a way from the second-ever presidential election. this is a pretty big deal considering this past summer we have seen violence throughout afghanistan. we haven't seen it inside the capital of kabul. they have been doing the security in afghanistan as well as coalition forces have been doing a very good job in securing the capital city. obviously, today, five days before the election, we see that the insurgence can actually infiltrate the capital as well. natalie? >> atia, i know you can't see that clearly exactly the area where this explosion occurred. can you see whether there's a fire that has broken out around the smoke? when you say a huge explosion, very large, give us an idea what

kind of area it encompasses? >> reporter: well, as for a fire, i can't see that from where i am at the moment. we do see smoke rising from that vicinity. that area, it is an area that has international organizations as well as companies, such as isaf headquarters that incorporates 41 different nations. of u.s. forces as well. it's also close to the -- near the u.s. embassy. i can't say the bomb infiltrated near the u.s. embassy. there is large security in all these areas. we're trying to pinpoint exactly where this explosion occurred and how they were able to actually get through. there's a lot of security in the afghan capital at the moment. you have afghan security as well as ana, the afghan national army, the afghan national police. they're being backed up by coalition countries. >> considering the fact that they've had such stepped up security, what has the mood been

like in kabul leading up to this election this past week? has there been tension or a feeling that the area was somewhat safe because of security? what's your experience? >> reporter: just yesterday we had news down south in kandahar province which is pretty -- it's further away from kabul. kandahar is considered one of the most volatile provinces. yesterday we heard village elders were talking to local taliban commanders to actually have peace on the day of the elections to avoid carnage and bloodshed. we obviously see that hasn't taken place in kabul. in the past few weeks we have seen attacks outside of the afghan capital. outside of the borders of the province of the capital, even. we have not seen it inside kabul city. this is very important to recognize there are areas in afghanistan, some of the most volatile areas where they're working together. you're seeing village elders and taliban commanders workinging to to make sure there isn't

bloodshed. today, in the city of kabul, we've seen that some ideologies are too strong to even work with negotiations. >> atia abawi there at our offices there in kabul. we thank you so much for your reporting. again, a large explosion there in kabul. just five days away from presidential elections. it had been relatively quiet in the capital city, but just now, an explosion. we'll continue to follow it and find out exactly the location and continue to bring you updates. for now, our cnn/usa audience leaves us and returns to regular programming. we'll continue here at cnn international with our news. that maybe has to choose between paying their credit card or putting food on the table. our main objective is to reach out to the customers that are falling behind on their payments. a lot of customers are proud and happy

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in the past larry king live reached out to dr. conrad murray for response in comments about him in connection with michael jackson. here's part of a statement given to us by his spokesperson. dr. murray continues to cooperate with los angeles investigators in their efforts to find out the cause of michael jackson's death. you were talking before the break about reports and reports are emerging. nothing has been confirmed by cnn. nothing has really -- >> hard to believe anything will be -- >> a lot of rumors and speculation swirling around. >> i don't typically believe anything until i hear it in a court of law and then i still have doubts to the credibility of the witness. people are all focuses on conrad murray, the doctor. if he is involved, he's not the only one. who's giving him propofol? he's not going into the hospital and getting it. >> the idea anybody would be taking propofol in their home is -- >> outrageous. >> any responsible doctor will tell you it should not happen. >> look at jackson. look at him.

he's a tall man, he weighs about 110 pounds. he's barely eating. and who would administer propofol to someone that is so obviously emaciated? >> the other thing about it, it doesn't actually -- from all the anesthesiologists i've talked to, it's not something that helps you sleep. it puts you under, knocks you out. sleep allows your body to recover and to heal yourself. >> i'm looking beyond that. they're going to -- it's going to be a tough case to build. you asked that earlier. tost going to also require a paper case which i recall making when i was doing consumer protection antitrust law with the feds. a paper case takes a long time to put together. if his shipping propofol via fedex or some other method, you're going to have to prove how he's getting it from texas, let's just say, where he lived, to wherever jackson is. there's going to be a lot of

paper proof in this case. because, again, there's no eyewitness. >> what do you make of the fact the l.a. county coroner has completed the autopsy? has the results but is not releasing them? >> i think that's preferential treatment. that's what i think about that. >> what's preferential about that? isn't the argument, perhaps, they don't want witnesses or potential suspectses, potential people may be charged able to line up their stories? >> they're going to have plenty of time to do that as soon as someone becomes a target. once somebody is an official target they have a right to discovery. long story, short, once there is a charge and i think there will be a charge -- >> do you think one person will be charged? >> i think there will be more than one -- >> do you think anyone will end up behind bars because of michael jackson's death? >> yes, if it were not michael jackson the answer would be no. there's so much scrutiny. they're going to have to do the right thing. giving dope to a dope addict,

enabling him to die in this manner is a crime. >> it's interesting, though, conrad murray's attorney gave an interview -- >> i didn't say conrad murray. i said giving dope. >> can rod murray's attorney gave an interview with "the los angeles times" which he said a new line of argument that dr. murray did not know that michael jackson -- did not know what, if any drugs, michael jackson was taking before signing on. once he got involved in michael jackson's care, he realized hi had a number of unusual issues. >> and am i supposed to be impressed by that? i can look at michael jackson and all of his friends, all of his family, apparently knew something was wrong. tried to stage an intervention to help him. he resisted like any dope addict would do. so everybody knew. >> the jackson family now denies that ever happened. >> right. but here's one last point on him, anderson. i had the same problem when i would, for instance, have a dope

murder. juries would be thrilled a dope dealer had been murdered. it would be difficult to get a conviction on that killing, all right in if you look at this case, whether jackson did or did not commit child molestation, i, for one, did believe the boy victims. whether he did that or not is irrelevant. in this case, someone enabled a dope addict to be doped up and die. that is a crime. >> we're going to talk about nancy's personal life. she has one, yes. your questions ahead on "larry king live." you're going to meet the twins.

we are back with nancy grace. you spent a lot of time on the casey anthony case. is that -- the florida mom

accused of killing her daughter, caylee -- is this the strangeest case you've ever seen? i mean, with the mother who -- >> i have seen many strange cases. it's hard to identify one as the most -- the strangest case. >> a mother who tells police so many different stories, literally taking them around. >> oh, anderson. they're lies. don't put perfume on a pig, anderson. okay? they are not stories, they are not fairy tales, they are lies, okay? now, she led the cops on such a wild goose chase. in fact, in a recent development, just this past week, the state got the authorization to go in and take a photo of one of tot mom's -- also known as casey anthony's tattoos. why do we care about a tatt? because after the child, her 2-year-old child, caylee anthony, goes missing, instead of searching for her or calling police, she goes to a local

tattoo parlor, has a very -- and i've interviewed this guy. has a very extensive conversation with them on several occasions about her next tattoo. ends up getting a tattoo on her left shoulder that says "the beautiful life." now, anderson, i'm sure you as a fair and balanced journalist would say that does not prove murder. i disagree. i think the state would use that to show state of mind. because even if the twins had a fever, i'm not thinking about going to get a tattoo. much less if they were missing. >> this gets to what your critics say about you. you are basically convicting people on tv. >> i can't convict anybody on tv. that doesn't make any sense. i don't know why you said that. >> come on. you've heard that criticism. >> right, she's convicting them. why are we having a trial? she's not convicted. look, i have two syllables to utter to you. o.j. i went out on a limb and predicted. did he? did he, anderson?

did he get convicted on double murder? >> no, he did not. >> did i affect the jury? no, no. >> not affecting the jury. just what about the whole notion of respecting the idea until innocent until proven guilty? >> i respect that in the courtroom. but i'm making obvious deductions that any rational person could make, and not a single night goes by on our headline news show, that i don't stack the cards against me, and put two, three, defense attorneys to argue their very, very best, the other side. which they do very effectively. all of the lawyers we have on the show are not a lot of talking heads that just might have gotten a law degree. they have been in the trenches trying cases. winning defense cases. >> what do you make of the grandparents? >> i think they love their daughter, tot mom, very, very much. >> why do you call her tot mom? >> because she is a tot's mom. why do you call her casey? >> i don't know. >> i think they love her very much.

they love their grandchild very much. and i understand that you would do everything you think you have to do to protect your daughter. >> it's got to be a bizarre -- horrible, horrific situation for them. >> awful. awful. a lot of critics have argued that they, the anthonys, have stonewalled police and not cooperated. i don't think we'll know the truth of that until we hear it in the courtroom. >> the chutzpah, though -- i guess you can call it chutzpah, of tot mom, casey anthony, actually saying she worked in an aust, i think it was at one of the theme parks and actually leading police -- >> down at disney in florida. >> and leading police down corridors, oh, yeah, it's here and suddenly saying -- >> look, it goes as far -- they got her at the police station and she gives them her work number, her office, everything. they get in the car. can you imagine she's sitting in the back of the car, going, they're actually taking me? they get there. they talk to security, she gives some fake name.

they say we don't have anybody by that name that you work for. hello, everyone, i'm natalie allen at cnn center in atlanta. we want to welcome our cnn u.s. viewers to bring you this breaking news out of kabul, afghanistan, 20, 25 minutes ago, a huge blast rocked the afghan capital. a plume of smoke seen rising from the direction of the u.s. embassy. we are just getting first pictures from the scene. this is the smoke that people saw. this is even closer to where the explosion occurred. we have not pinpointed the exact location. we did have initial reports that the smoke was coming from the direction of the u.s. embassy in kabul. we don't have any word on casualties. what was the cause of the explosion. but we have been talking with our reporters at our bureau in kabul and they did describe the explosion. they all heard it. as very large. they could see the smoke in the

distance. that's all they could tell us. they're working the story right now. also, you should know that presidential election will be held in afghanistan in just about five days. our reporters were telling us a few moments ago that security here in the capital of kabul has been extremely tight and they weren't sure how something could have happened, if this, indeed, was some sort of violent terrorism act. this is the scene in kabul, afghanistan, of the aftermath of this explosion. it happened about 25 minutes ago in the area of kabul. that is also described as an area home to many international companies and corporations. as we mentioned, the u.s. embassy is also in this area, but we have received no word whether the embassy was a target or whether this explosion happened very close to the embassy. that's something we're trying to get information. again, these are the first

pictures we have been getting from the scene. all you can see is the smoke and the rescue crews in the area trying to figure out what happened, put out the flames, and find out the source of this explosion. afghanistan, as you know, u.s. military has been moving into many areas of afghanistan, trying to end the taliban stronghold on many areas, leading up to this election, this presidential election. also, many of the people running for president, there are more than 40 people running for president. many of them have been out campaigning despite the extreme, dangerous nature that permeates this country. we have with us now, atia abawi, one of our team members there at our offices there in kabul, afghanistan. atia, what can you tell us about what you're hearing about what's happened? >> reporter: well, natalie, we

still have -- [ inaudible ] little information. what we can go on, in the morning, we felt a strong explosion here in kabul like the rest of the kabul, we went on our roofs and saw smoke rising up in the vicinity. also a vicinity near the u.s. embassy. we can't exactly pinpoint where it was, but we do know that this is only five days from the elections. the militants have infiltrated the city's capital. this is an area, as you said, that has had very strict and tight security for the past summer. we haven't seen much violence here at all this past summer. the capital of kabul. we have seen a lot of violence throughout the country, but the security here in the capital has been fairly tight but today five days a s away from the electione saw the militants, the insurgents can infiltrate the city's capital five days away from the afghanistan presidential elections.

natalie? >> atia, it's hard to decipher exactly where this explosion occurred from the pictures we are getting. it appears to be the smoke coming up from a street location. is that the best you can tell from your vantage point? >> reporter: well, what i can tell you from the past with suicide bombings in kabul, if it is a car bombing, we still aren't sure if it is or not. when it comes do car bombings, suicide bombers they, themselves, get nervous. if they get stopped or near a coalition force or any kind of international -- maybe an njo, a u.n. car, even, they target them, they explode. they blow themselves up hoping to cause some casualties. in the end, what they do is they do cause casualties but primarily afghan casualties. the last time i felt a blast like this in kabul was back in january. then, again, we felt the windows rattle. we felt the house shake. we went up on the roof and saw

smoke rising up and a lot of casualties including u.s. soldier deaths. natalie? >> you talk about all the security that has been in this city for the run-up to this presidential election that happens in five days. characterize, if you will, the strength of security forces that you've seen in the streets and the military that's present there. >> reporter: well, just yesterday we were driving around the streets of kabul, i was with my cameraman and we noticed there were more ana, afghan national aeshl vehicles and stronger vehicles on the street patrolling, standing on the sides of the round yabt abouts, to catch anything suspicious. there's afghan intelligence, they get word when there is a suicide bombing that would infiltrate the capital. as i mentioned, the last one i felt was in january. by no means was that the only

infiltration in the afghan capital. a few months later, eight taliban suicide bombers infiltrating the capital, infiltrating ministries within the capital. one was able to blow himself up killing several people. the others got in a fight with the ana, the afghan national army. they were able to quell the situation. obviously this time they weren't able to stop whoever it was trying to provoke the people of afghanistan to make sure they felt fearful five days before afghan elections. >> thank you for that. stand by just for a moment. our producers are telling me that we have some video of people who were injured in this explosion. this is video just in to cnn. we're seeing it for the first time. we're told these are people who were injured in this explosion that we still don't know the source of yet or where it happened. these are pictures we're getting

in from afghanistan of this explosion that happened just about 30 minutes ago. we don't have the numbers as far as the injured or if anyone was killed. these are the pictures we wanted to bring you. atia abawi is there with us in afghanistan. you were talking about this being unusual. you not experiencing an explosion within the city limits of kabul since january, atia. what about the presidential candidates? have they within moving freely about kabul as they visit with the people and the voters? >> reporter: i wouldn't say freely, natalie, because we have to remember that the top three candidates are two foreign ministers and actually the current president, hamid karzai. they've had very tight security around them. everywhere they go, they try to make sure it's a safe area that they have forces going in beforehand to clear it out. as you said right now, you have

images of the injured there and the explosion. this is what's happening. these insurgents that come in who blow themselves up who blow cars up, who try to attack coalition forces for some sort of ideology, in the end, they're killing more afghans. this shows you the afghan people, they have nowhere to turn right now. they feel they're under attack from both sides. the coalition forces trying to protect them. the taliban saying they're trying to protect them, but anywhere you go, anywhere across the country you go, it's a war zone. these people are dying in the middle of a battle that they don't want to be a part of. they just want peace in their country. in the end, they're seeing their sons, daughters, wives, husbands, mothers and fathers dying on a daily basis. they've been seeing it for the past 30 years. they are truly tired of it. natalie? >> obviously many people somewhere injured. we want to apologize for the scenes you're seeing on the screen. injuries from the explosion today. atia, as we try to wait and see

where this happened and kpa exactly happened, we mentioned the u.s. embassy is in this vicinity. tell us about what it looks like as far as the security that surrounds the u.s. embassy? >> reporter: the u.s. embassy has very tight security. the area we saw the smoke rising from, we believe it's an area in the vicinity of isaf headquarters as well as the vicinity of the u.s. embassy. areas that have very, very tight security. any bomber that is going into that area will not make much of an impact when it comes to the u.s. embassy, when it comes to isaf headquarters. what they will make an impact on are the areas outside of it where you will see afghan civilians. you've see foreigners patrolling, whether it be isaf troops or u.s. embassy employees walking maybe from one area to another. so they're not going to have such a strong impact for their

intended target. they will have an impact, not only an impact physically but mentally as well. five days, again, i'm going to mention it again. five days, again, before the presidential elections. >> and as we wait to find out more about this explosion, who might have been behind it and how it was carried out, how do you usually get the information there in kabul? where do you go for sources when things like this break out there in the capital city? >> reporter: we call our sources -- we call our sources. we have various sources within the capital. we've been trying to call the interior ministry. we called the taliban for a reaction to see if they will take credit for the explosion. we're trying to make those calls. unfortunately right now we can't make many phone calls out. the towers seem to be down depends on what carrier you have. that tends to happen after an explosion in the country or whatever city that you're in at the moment. we're trying our best to get that information. we have people working on it

right now. after this live shot i will also be making some calls. natalie? >> all right. atia abawi. stand by. we'll talk to you again in a moment. we keep referring to the presidential election, as she said, happens in five days there in afghanistan. we want to bring you more information about what's going on with that election. right now, afghan president hamid karzai has a strong lead into the august 20th election. latest poll gives mr. karzai 44% of the vote, short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. his closest competitor, former foreign minister, abdullah abdullah polling around 26%. if no one wins a majority, the top two finishers face a runoff in early october. this is the second presidential election ever held in afghanistan. and it's not easy to hold a vote in a war-torn nation. ivan watson looks at the

challenges the candidates face during their campaigning. >> reporter: it's been the bloodiest summer yet since the overthrow of the taliban eight years ago. despite the violencviolence, cas for afghanistan's top office out on the campaign trail. among them, incumbent president hamid karzai making rare trips from the safety of his presidential palace. reminding supporters that after three decades of war, ruin and disaster, 5 million refugees have returned from exile to live and work in afghanistan. after seven years as president, karzai is afghanistan's most recognizable politician. >> why do you like karzai? >> because karzai's the only man that people believe in. he serves the country, the afghanistan people. >> reporter: karzai refused to appear in this recent televised

debate with two top onpposition candidates. >> a disappointment, the fact we ran a party, hopefully many people will feel there will be accountability. >> reporter: opposition candidates like former foreign minister, abdullah abdullah, slamming karzai's record in office. >> because of the failure or the current administration, in losing support of its own people, there is a vacuum. that vacuum, of course, has led to deterioration in the security as well as in our part of life. >> reporter: the crowded field of candidates including candidates, islamists, women and former taliban commander, many trying to appeal to afghanistan, disillusioned by poverty and crime. county and former finance minister, ghani has been telling his supporters, quote, let's get

rid of this corrupt regime. warning to look out for fraud on election day. >> i expect to be fair. >> close the boxes. >> reporter: to make sure there's no cheating, right? >> yeah, yeah. >> reporter: in the warehouses of afghanistan's independent election commission, workers prepare ballot boxes for august 20th. shipping as many as 95,000 election kits across the country with as few paved roads as afghanistan has is a massive, difficult challenge. some of these are going out by truck. others have to be shipped by airplane, by helicopter, and even by donkey. but because of the taliban insurgency, these ballot boxes aren't expected to reach an estimated 10% of the country's polling stations. a major obstacle that could undermine the legitimacy of afghanistan's next elected president. ivan watson, cnn, kabul.

and, again, that president will be elected in just five days from now. and five days before we are having a story develop out of kabul, afghanistan, an explosion that could be a car bomb explosion. we haven't confirmed that. near the headquarters of nato and the u.s. embassy. let's go back to atia abawi in kabul right now. atia, as far as violence around, outside of kabul, what have you seen outside of this, here, just a short time ago in the run-up to the election? >> reporter: natalie, a very, very bloody month in afghanistan, the southern regions of afghanistan, an area where we've seen thousands of u.s. marines and coalition forces flood lg into hoping to secure village areas under strict taliban control. we have seen deaths and

bloodshed in those areas. we've seen it outside of the kabul province area. not necessarily kabul city. kabul province, a province called logar next door. we have seen violence. we have seen insurgents infiltrated government institutions trying to target government officials. but we have not seen it this summer in the capital city. we've seen people try. we haven't seen a success like today. today it was a very large explosion. it shook the city. it shook our bureau. we know there will be casualties. the last time i felt an explosion like this in the capital city, there were casualties. although we don't know what kind of an explosion it was, whether it was a suicide bomber or felt like a car bomb, unfortunately, when you come out to these areas, whether it be iraq or afghanistan or other war zones you tend to adapt and tend to realize what kind of bomb you're dealing with. at the moment from what it felt

like, it probably was a car bomb. natalie? >> and that is what the associated press is -- defense ministry spokesman tells the associated press it was a suicide car bombing. that is some of the news we're getting here, atia. you said you felt the impact. how far -- can you take a guess how far were you -- how far was the bureau from where this took place today? >> reporter: what i can tell you is we were several blocks away. several blocks away. we did feel it in the distance. i'm sure people further out felt it as well. kabul is surrounded by mountains. it's in a bit of a valley. one impact you do feel miles away. sometimes it impacts miles away. last time when i was explaining, january, near the german embassy which did kill a u.s. soldier, when we would go blocks away

from that explosion, we would still see house, offices, gathering up glass, gathering up pieces of their building trying to salvage what they could of their building though they were blocks away. no matter how far away, it will impact the people of kabul, not only physically -- it's a mental -- this is a mental thing as well. the suicide bombers intention was to shake up the afghan people five days before the election, hoping the afghans won't brave it out and go to the polls. when we were talking to afghans, it wasn't the danger, they lived with 30 years after danger. it's more of the fact do they have motivation? do they believe in a candidate strong enough? we might see people stepping back because of the danger and see the afghan who are strong, resilient people, stepping up because of this suicide bombing. natalie? >> atia, as you speak, we can still hear sirens behind you. from the best you can tell, does

it seem like there are still rescue people going through the area? does it seem like they're going away from the area perhaps to hospitals? >> reporter: to be honest, natalie, i can't see it from here. in all likelihood it's both, leaving the area as well trying to take some of the victims to hospitals and others coming in because there probably still are victims on the ground and cleanup crews. the afghan people, the afghan government has worked very quickly when it comes to car bombings and suicide bombings in the past. we will see security getting b even tighter than it was and it was already very tight here in the capital. >> atia abawi in kabul. we can't thank you enough for your reporting. we go to our terrorism analyst, peter bergen, currently in kabul and he apparently felt this explosion that happened about 45 minutes ago as well. peter, what can you tell us

about what you have seen? >> 45 minutes ago there was a very, very large blast on several miles north of where the blast happened and it was so loud it was, like, somebody slamming a door very loudly next door to me. then i rushed out. there was a very large plume of smoke rising over the city and, you know, in the area of the isaf headquarters, afghan government officials telling me that the blast did take place near -- appears to be a suicide blast. number of casualties, unclear. >> all right. we've been getting video of some of the injuries. it seems like afghan people who were injured there on the street when this explosion occurred, peter. like you said, it was so loud it sounded like someone slamming a door next to you. is that the closest you've experienced there in afghanistan since you've been there? >> reporter: you know, i've been

in kabul when other blasts have gone off. in fact, you know, it was a blast in a very similar location when a couple of years back when i was here, perceived to be much larger than i've experienced before and given the fact i'm several miles north, it was loud enough so everybody in the place i'm staying in ran out to see what was happening. >> peter, we've been talking with our correspondent who also described that this was a very large explosion. she also was talking with us about the very tight security that's in kabul in the run-up to the election. now just five days away. what can you tell us about what you've experienced there as far as security and the presence of the taliban still in areas in and around kabul? >> reporter: well, flying over the city over the last several days, there's a very large balloon which clearly is engaged

in surveying the city in various forms looking for a potential, you know, indicators of some kind of attack happening. i wouldn't say the security is sort of outrageously tight. i mean, clearly there is a great deal of concern. you can travel around the streets of kabul with no problem. you know, there are routineny traffic jams every day. there is no lockdown right now. that may change on election day. you know, i -- to be honest with you, you know, on the surface level, the security in kabul doesn't look a great deal different than it does any other trip i've been here. u.s. military officials and others including the afghan army, afghan police, in a heightened state of alert. and so far this is really being the only incident of any great -- inside the city there was a rocket attack a few days

back. but so far, you know, given the taliban desire to really interrupt the election, as far as kabul is concerned, their presence is not enormously large lately. >> that's what i was going to ask you as far as -- did they have a very good sense of what the presence there is in kabul by the taliban or what areas outside kabul, perhaps -- how far from the city limits of kabul do they know that the taliban operate? rather viciously? >> reporter: well, you know, the united nations put out a map that i reported on for cnn.com based on afghan national army assessment of the security situation, this was back in the spring. according to that map, not intended for public consumption, cnn early reported on the map. they don't actually show the nap.