the vie violence escalating in afghanistan. u.s. military workers among those hurt one day after two americans were killed and tonight we're beginning to learn the names of the dead, the controversy spilling over into u.s. politics on the same day a white house hopeful garners a big endorsement in a key battleground state. and it promises to be a stellar event as the stars align in hollywood and up in the heavens, too. i'm don lemon, where the sky's the limit and you're in "the cnn newsroom." we begin with new developments in the catholic church sex abuse scandal. for years it has been all about who knew what and when inside the catholic church. now we may have found a smoking gun, potential proof that a major cleric knew about dozens of suspected priests and ordered the evidence destroyed. all of this has been kept secret now for 18 years. cnn's susan candiotti following the story for us.

susan, explain what has been found here. this is potentially very explosive. >> yes, don. did philadelphia's former roman catholic cardinal anthony bevilaqua order his staff to deep six evidence about abusive priests? a 1994 memo surfaced that appears to make that claim. it's a handwritten note on a memo that, according to court documents, lists the names of 35 priests the church suspected of sex abuse. a bishop writes this, "i shredded four copies of these lists from the secret archives" and lists four people including his boss, the cardinal adding "this action was taken on the basis of a directive i received from cardinal bevilaqua at the directors meeting of 3/15/94." bevilaqua di last night. paul kcallan speaks.

>> it's a shocking indictment of the highest ranking people in the roman catholic church in the united states. >> that memo is now evidence in the trial against monsignor william lynn believed to be the first high-ranking priest charged with knowing about child abuse and not doing anything about it. lynn's lawyers will hope the memo will prove he tried to warn his superiors about abuse but they ignored it. don? >> susan, how did this document show up after all this time, after 18 years? >> you know, don, it's a stunner. court documents show the memo was found in a locked cabinet and a related file was found in a safe, put there by the bishop who was supposed to shred the papers. the file was discovered after that bishop died. a defense motion says the general counsel for the philadelphia archdiocese found it, put it in a drawer, and somehow did not turn it over to a grand jury.

>> so, susan, any reaction from the archdiocese or from prosecutors at this point? >> that's the tough thing. there's a gag order on all the lawyers, including prosecutors, so don, right now, no one is commenting. >> all right, susan, thank you very much. we appreciate you joining us on that story. in the meantime we're going to move on now and talk about muslim-american community in new york, angered over newly released nypd documents, leaked internal police report allegedly details police surveillance of muslim-owned businesses and mosques in newark, new jersey. it reportedly shows maps and photographs but included no references to terrorism or criminal activity. muslim business owners are angry over the surveillance. >> it makes me feel like i've been violated, you know, like i've been, like someone has come into my home and has watched me without me knowing, and i don't think that's right. >> new york's police

commissioner raymond kelly defending the program is fair, sensitive and legal but governor chris christi calls it disturbing and asked the state's attorney general to investigate. theager in afghan statute of burning of korans at the nato base shows no signs of dying down. afghan's rage was clear today in several cities in northern kanduz province. several were wounded when the base was attacked with. lieutenant colonel john loftus was a 44-year-old air force officer from kentucky. the suspected gunman is an afghan intelligence officer who spent two months in a pakistani religious school. with that going on is t is hard to imagine voting taking

place in syria at the same time as a brutal war but that's exactly what happened today. activists say 45 people were killed today across the country including 21 in the city of homs. at the same time, a referendum on the changing of the constitution was being held, critics say the vote will do little to change the balance of power in syria. international red cross is still negotiating a cease-fire to deliver humanitarian aid to homs. those talks have gone in where over the past few days. a police motorcade escort the former african president nelson mandela home from the hospital. he was discharged after a short stay that included minor surgery. government officials say the 93-year-old had an unspecified stomach ailment, but they added that doctors assured mandela is in good health. the former president last appeared in government in 2010, he was hospitalized last year for treatment of an acute respiratory infection. the high profile legal

battle centered around the bassive bp oil spill in the gulf of mexico has been delayed. it was said to begin tomorrow but postponed a week while settlement talks continue. the trial will determine civil liability for the april 2010 disaster, the worst oil spill in u.s. history. among the defendants are oil giant bp, rig owner transocean and construction contract oor halliburton. nearly 5 million barrels of oil leaked from the rig in the months after that explosion. it has been 30 years since meryl streep won an oscar but a favorite to take home another statue or statuette at tonight's academy awards. live pictures from the red carpet. we're going to have this as well speaking of stars a rare celeste

leg ial sight in the sky at sundown. where and when to look up or catch a glimpse on cnn. i'm not sure exactly what happened here last night. i was out helping people save money on their car insurance. 2 more! you're doing it! aren't they doing great?! hiiiiiii!! come sweat with me! keep going richard. keep sweating!! geico. fifteen minutes could save you sweat! sweat! fifteen percent or more on car insurance. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪

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stars are starting to arrive. why didn't i get this assignment? why was this assignment pawned off to a.j. hammer, outside of used to be the kodak theater, i don't know the name of it anymore, we look at the gorgeous faces, is that jane seymour, right? you got any favorites for us? tell us what's going on, a.j. >> first of all t is the hollywood and highlands center and the stars are rifg and don you're right, you didn't get this assignment because i got this assignment because "showbiz tonight" is here for the "showbiz road to gold" gets under way in 19:30 from now but there are a lot of favorites and the best picture category all odds on "the artist" at the moment. it's the oscars. "the descendants" nine nominees in the best picture category and the real showdowns everybody's looking are the best actor and actress categories. best actor we've had the great

time of having george clooney up against one of his best friends, brad pitt for "money ball" and george for "descendants" they love to play practical jokes on each other everybody has had fun. the competition will be i think between clooney and john dijiordan. meryl streep has been nominated 17 times, could win for "iron lady" although, don, my money tonight and i love you, meryl, my money is on viola davis from "the help." best actress oscar. >> tough category as we look at the beautiful people out there. i said i misspoke, said it was 86, getting ahead of myself, hopefully the 86 i'll be nominated for something, it's 84th. a.j., huge controversy back and forth reading the e-mails coming from our hollywood folks, you

guys, sasha baron cohen, is he expected to show up and how? dressed as what? >> well, is he not expected to show up. shabazz al adin the middle eastern sex crazed despot, an altar ego played by sasha baron cohen. the short story is sasha had the plans to show up as the dictator. the oscars said thanks but no thanks, we don't want publicity stunts as a part of our red carpet. there was a lot of back and forth and in the end they said we welcome you with open arms. don i think that happened when the folks from the academy more people will tune in to see how sasha baron cohen shows up on the red carpet. expect him to show up as the ittic tator. i think he wins. look at the amazing amount of publicity he's gotten. did you know he was coming out in a movie called "the

dictator"? there you go. >> no publicity is bad publicity. a.j. you'll be hanging out here and more clothing than bruno, so that's good news. "showbiz tonight: road to gold" begins at the bottom of the hour on cnn and mr. a.j. hammer live on the red carpet. two of the most hated words in nascar, rain delay. for the first time in its 54-year history daytona 500 has been postponed until tomorrow. can you believe it? drivers spent the afternoon waiting for the rain to stop. there's tony stewart, danika patrick making her park this year in nascar. she's already made a name for herself in the male dominated sport but had trouble two wrecks already. no one way be more upset by that than danika herse danica hersel.

the final gets under way tomorrow at noon eastern. we'll tune in to the academy awards. straight ahead is republican presidential contender rick santorum paranoid? we'll ask our political experts n three minutes. ahh, one. two. three. one. two.

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all right, less than 48 hours, polls open in two key primary states, michigan, arizona. right now it's a tossup in both states with rick santorum showing a slight edge in michigan and mitt romney with a narrow lead in arizona. i bring in elzie granderson and cnn contributeor will cain. we don't have the normal two hours, so keep it to love pats no, time for a full-on fight. romney picked up a key endorsement on cnbc. january brewer. roll the tape. >> he has got pro-business

background and has that political history that i think that he would serve america the best of all the candidates, and so it was a difficult decision, but i think mitt is by far the person who can go in and when. >> l.z., is this another high profile endorsement that will do nothing for romney? does this endorsement mean anything? >> i think it means a little bit in terms of being able to get perhaps the attention of the tea party to consider him a little bit before she endorsed him. had she endorsed santorum that would have been bad for mitt to get the tea party's vote. >> i want to move to rick santorum and play something he said on the stump yesterday on a speech to conservative activists. >> president obama once said he wants everybody in america to go to college. what a snob.

there are good, decent men and women who work hard every day and put their skills to the test that aren't taught by some liberal college professor and trying to indoctrinate them. >> okay, will. >> yes. >> are conservatives telling kids around the nation right now not to go to college? is that a big deal? i mean did he go too far in that? remember i think it's for unemployment a college graduate it's cut in half but like 8.9% now, 8% and 4% for college graduates. what's he talking about? >> what was your question to me, are conservatives telling kids not to go to college? >> yeah, is it a big deal? did he go too far in saying that? shouldn't there be a goal of trying to go to college and doing the best for yourself? >> yeah, there's a lot packed into what he said and you can analyze on several different levels, several will never be analyzed and those are the most

impactful to discuss but will not be. calling obama a snob uncalled for. pay between those with a college degree and those that don't have a college degree is at historical highs. all that being said while college should be aspirational, the obama is right it should be a goal but college isn't for everyone and shouldn't encourage people spend a year or two figuring that out while they're wracking up debt. there are vocational education and tracks like that, that shouldn't get swept under the rug. there are a lot in the statement that should be brushed away and we'll focus on the snobbery part of it but there are things to discuss. >> i think you said it very well although aspirational, college isn't for everyone and we know that but it's good if yous aspire to do that. >> right. >> santorum accused ron paul of

secretly working with romney which paul says is ridiculous. you hear about this and the college indoctrination comment and him railing against prenatal screenings. l.z.? >> is it ron paul working with mitt romney or the definite still in if you remember his speech the devil is busy doing things, too and i'm not quite sure which of the two evils are working with romney but he does seem to be paranoid about someone. >> you know, just because -- >> couple seconds. >> -- because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. that's the cliche. i can't imagine the two guys together, i can't reconcile that, don. >> i go the to go but say best picture, quickly? >> the help. >> descendants. >> thank you. see you next week. bye-bye. get your binoculars, a rare and cool sight about to happen

in the sky, minutes away, meteorologist jacqui jeras here with the details after a quick break. with these 4g lte tablets, you can do business at lightning-fast speeds. we'll take all the strawberries, dave. you got it, kid. we have a winner. we're definitely gonna need another one. small businesses that want to grow use 4g lte technology from verizon. i wonder how she does it. that's why she's the boss. because the small business with the best technology rules. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 1-800-974-6006. will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com.

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each week on "the next list" our dr. sanjay gupta profiles innovators from all walks of life and you'll meet dan agola, and in kenya he's created a support system and a place to exchange ideas. take a look. ♪ >> i found a community support group to empower the people in kapira, by sharing knowledge and also providing a platform for people to explore their talents. my thinking was that was another way of breaking the vicious cycle of poverty. >> make sure you catch "the next list" sex sunday, 2:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. you can catch one of the best

shows out there tonight by looking at your tv but there's another one, too, you can catch by looking up, meteorologist jacqui jeras is here with a celestial programming guide. >> yes. >> of course you can watch us or watch the light show. >> out there the last couple of nights, you might have seen it because it's prominent in the sky you almost can't miss it. our ireporters captured great images, we can see jupiter, venus and the moon, in a triangular forming last night. this image from matt harmon on thursday, that is jupiter, venus and the moon so very bright. look in the western sky as the sun is setting, this is an earlier in the evening thing that will be better for your viewing. a second light show for some parts of the country, that one you can see across the world tonight, this one you got to be in the northern tier of the country. we had another kme as we call it or basically a big ejection of plasma here from the sun, and what that does is that enters

towards the earth's atmosphere, it creates a beautiful display of the aurora borealis. here is a look at who will see it tonight, missouri on northward so hopefully the clouds will stay clear and you can see two great shows tonight. >> we got to run. see you back here at 10:00. "showbiz tonight" live begins in three minutes. your erectile dysfunction -- that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours.

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