>> presumed nominee is precisely what it sounds like not official but certain enough to act like it is. today -- >> instead of expanding the government i'm going to shrink it. instead of raising tax, i'm going to cut them. >> drawing battle lines. >> gender politics. with republican congresswoman kathy rogers and carolyn maloney. sizing up obama versus romney. plus, comedian and actor, the outspoken bill cosby on politic, and the man who killed trayvon martin. >> it doesn't make a difference if you're a racist or not. >> i'm candy crowley. and this "state of the union". but first two break stories

we're following. a series of attacks across afghanistan and a deadly tornado outbreak here in the united states. we want to begin with those tornadoes that tore through the midwest and central plains overnight. authorities say at least a dozen twisters touched down across four states in the northern oklahoma town of woodward, five people including two children died from injuries related to a suspected tornado. twisters also decimated thurman, iowa where 75% of the homes were damaged or destroyed. in the nearby town, tornadoes forced the evacuation of a hospital that was damaged. dangerous as it is, there are some people who actually chase tornadoes, one of them is jeff who joins us on the phone from tulsa, oklahoma. jeff, i imagined you had a sleepless night following these tornadoes. tell us what you've seen. >> we started off yesterday early around noon in woodward, oklahoma and that's because of the collision of the draw line and the jet stream and we had,

you know, high risk out for a tornado outbreak and extreme weather event has been publicized for a couple of days. we followed the storms from woodward into the 3:00, 4:00 time chased those storms to wichita. tracked them into the city of wichita where last night at 9:30 we saw a tornado. i think this is what we witnessed, 20rks 30 tornadoes over one storm. i talked to other chasers that witnessed literally 1020 large tornadoes in central and northern kansas. >> jeff, from your experience, put this on a scale for us both in terms of the numbers of tornadoes and in the force of those tornadoes. >> well, we don't have the damage assessments yet. definitely going to be on the upper scale. these are significant tornadoes. ef-3 to ef-5. do i think -- i don't think

there was any ef-5s yesterday but quite a few ef-1s, 2s and 3s and we'll have to wait and see if there were any ef-4s or 5s. these storms were moving anywhere from 50 to 70 miles per hour at times with quarter to half mile watch. >> at 50 to 70 miles per hour, are these tornadoes still alive as we say? where are they headed? >> right now the storm system is now turning to what we call a squall line. you have a large squall line across a multi-state area. there's another risk from minnesota down to east texas ahead of the squall line there could be tornadoes along the squall line and damaging winds is a high probability with this system. very large scale, jet stream very powerful, a lot of strong winds. still could be tornadoes this afternoon from minnesota southward down to evident texas ahead of this cold front and squall line. >> sounds like we'll be talking to you again later in the day.

thank you so much. >> thank you. now governor sam brownback of kansas. governor, i know you're in topeka getting ready to take a look at what has happened overnight in your state. but give me a thumb nail sketch of what you know now. >> 97 tornadoes touched down at various times throughout the state. about 40% of the state at one time or another had a tornado warning. the people heeded it. no fatalities that we know of as of now. there is quite a bit of damage. but god was merciful. it looks like we had made it through the initial look without a fatality. >> pretty remarkable, 97 tornadoes. to what do you attribute the fact that at the moment so far as we know there are no

fatalities. some injuries, i under but no fatalities. >> i really think if people took the warnings and they took it very seriously, we had more notice on this system than you normally do. you normally are looking at a couple of hours notice. women this one had really almost had two days notice. remarkably accurate on the quality of the system as far as its ability to produce tornadoes. people took it very seriously. acted. prepared. and grace to god, really is just amazing to have that many tornadoes and hopefully looking like this right now, no fatalities. >> and when you're looking for, what are your weather forecasters telling you in terms of what's ahead or is it over? >> you know, the system still is around, the nature of it. most of it has passed through.

this develops because you get a mixture of high energy and winds coming from directions that can produce the swirling. so you can get those indexes, but they do move through and this one by and large moved through. but, we're at the time of year where these systems can develop significantly and quickly and we're in tornado season. >> and what happens now as far as your concern? what's your next task? what's the task of the government? and what should people do who have perhaps had homes destroyed? >> we're doing damage assessments even now to get first light and people are flying and looking at that. we'll do damage assessments. we'll help people with debris removal. we'll see what all is needed for emergency shelters for individuals. and, you know, frankly too, just thanking, congratulate people for really acting prudently and

preparing and showing that that's really the course to go when you get these tornado warnings. >> kansas governor sam brownback, a busy day ahead of you. thank so you much for taking some time. get fwux after you get your tour of state to see what happened. >> let's go now to cnn susan candiotti. she's in wichita, kansas. susan, i know it's hard to cover four states suffering from tornadoes from one spot. but tell us from your perspective what you know. >> reporter: thanks, candy. good morning. certainly the governor really made the point here, people here had much more time to prepare than they have in the past. so here in wichita, clearly this was the most populated area of all of the spots that were hit by those 97 tornadoes that ripped through this state. and i'm in the area here in wichita where probably they suffered the most damage. fortunate, again, no serious

injuries. mobile home park is closed off to the public. 100 mobile homes back, there only six of them destroyed and, again, no serious injuries. nevertheless they are doing at this hour a third and a fourth check of that area to make sure that everyone is accounted for. they believe that everyone is safe back there. so now it's just a matter of making assessments now that the sun is coming up and to make sure that they find out how much damage there is throughout this particular area. we can tell you that they had a bit of a scare at the arena here in wichita last night where there was a concert for country singing star miranda lambert. they kept everybody inside. she tweeted about it this morning, wichita rocks. thanks for coming out and we all made it through the storm. back to you. >> sounds like there was some luck at least last night. susan candiotti in wichita for us. thank you. now to the other breaking news. the u.s. embassy in afghanistan in kabul is on lock down after a

series of explosions in what appears to be a wave of coordinated attacks across the country. mohamed, tell us what you know. >> reporter: candy, this series of coordinated attacks began around 1:15 p.m. local. nato's assistant security force said facilities that have diplomats in it were targeted. they did provide assistance to afghan security forces initially. now they say they are happy with how afghan supreme court forces have handled these operations today. now, we also heard that the taliban has claimed responsibility for these attacks. the taliban in a text message to local journalists took responsibility for these attacks and other attacks in the eastern part of the country including a suicide attack targeting an airfield where u.s. members are based. taliban dispatched 10 of suicide

bombers inside the capital today. they are claiming this as a success. nato said they don't know of any casualties. the spokesman for the u.s. embassy said u.s. embassy was put on lock down. they did hear gunfire and explosions in the area but that all u.s. embassy staff are accounted for at this hour. candy. >> thank you so much for that update. joining us now by phone from kabul is lieutenant colonel jimmy cumming, spokesman for the international assistant security force in afghanistan. thank you for joining us. what can you deed our information about what's going on there? >> there have been several attacks throughout okay but and a few of the places in afghanistan. our initial reports indicate that insurgents took up positions in unoccupied

buildings outside of the green zone. the attacks as reported earlier, the u.s., german, british embassies and other afghan facilities took indirect and direct fire but, again, this is from outside the green zone. so they did not breach the green zone at all. the afghan security forces responded to the attack very quickly. we're getting unconfirmed reports they have captured a number of the attackers and possibly a planner of today's attack and actually one of the reports indicates that they captured two possible suicide bombers before they reached their targets. good news out of this today is how the afghan national security forces responded to today's attacks here in kabul. >> that was lieutenant colonel jimmy cummings. thank you so remember for being with us. we're on the phone with temple

bassy, there u.s. embassy. we want to talk to ambassador kroerk. we'll have him coming up later in the hour to update us on the circumstances cane bull. monitor the breaking stories throughout this morning here on cnn. next up obama with romney with rnc chair. dry mouth is very common. a lot of people aren't really aware of it. water alone isn't a solution. dry mouth can have a profound effect. it can lead to bad breath, to tooth decay. it can lead to just general discomfort. i recommend biotene because it contains supplemental enzymes. biotene works really, really well. they make an oral rinse, a mouth spray,

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no we're not. yeah, we are. no...we're not. ♪ the allstate value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. mitt romney still has primaries to go and a restless newt gingrich on his right but that's the least of it. he needs to preset for the fall and that means wooing those lukewarm conservatives who don't trust him emphasizing that part of his candidacy that will appeal to moderate swing voters by not going too far one way or the other. joining me now to discuss the presumptive nominee's spring and summer agenda is republican party chairman. i want to start out with something that will happen on the senate floor tomorrow and that is the so-called buffet

rule that would have a minimum tax for millionaires. and i want to show you and our view ears gallop poll recently that said, talking about adults nationally, 60% favor the buffet rule, 37% are opposed. forget arguing, it doesn't help with us the debt, it doesn't do this. politically it appears that you're on the wrong side of this. >> i don't think so, candy. i think that people once they see what this is all about, and once they see what this whole strategy of barack obama is all about it's all about dividing and conquering. let's face it. listen, this is and we all know what this is. this is a shiny object that barack obama wants the country to look at which as you know if you added up every dollar of revenue that this little rule would put into place, if you took every dollar over a year, it would add up to paying for 11 hours of the federal government.

so i think the bigger question is why is it that the president is using all of this time, 23 public appearances, air force one, bringing it on the floor of the senate when these same democrats haven't proposed or excuse me haven't passed a single budget in over 1100 days. i mean, come on. designee must be doing something right since 60% -- my point is of that politically you all seem to be losing this argument that there's a fairness issue here that people look back and say why shouldn't millionaires pay more in taxes? >> part of the problem here, candy, we're just not talking about millionaires, we're talking about small businesses pass through s corporations. we're talking about a president who promised that he would get the economy back on track. that he would lower unemployment below 8%. we've had 38 straight months of unemployment over 8%. the deficit he said he would cut in half. the point of this is here we are

talking about one single tiny alteration of the tax code which he said he would reform completely that amounts to 11 hours. this is obama's strategy. look over here at this shiny object here. don't look at the big picture. an economy on the brink that i didn't do a thing about and made things worse. that's what this is about. >> let me just point out because democrats are very sensitive to this that the president did not himself say hey listen unemployment will stay under 8% it was his soon to be economic advisors that drew up a report. but i understand your point. >> said 6% by now. to tell truth. >> by now in that projection. >> we're talking about 11 hours of revenue. this is where we've shut down washington, d.c. to talk about 11 hours of revenue while millions of people are out of work. >> let me ask you about your presumptive candidate mitt romney, who said on friday listen i'm not going -- i need

an extension on my tax returns due monday, the 17th of april. i just wonder if that's a good move for your nominee because you know the democrats are going to pound him. why not get this stuff done and put it out there. he's a wealthy man. we all pretty much know how much he'll pay in taxes and you saw how much he got hammered during the primary for not putting out his taxes. don't you think this is a bad mistake. >> talking about irony coming from the obama administration that won't talk about solyndra, will plead the fifth on the gsa debacle and now let's talk about tax returns for mitt romney. first of all, mitt romney released his 2010 tax returns. he released the estimate to the 2011 tax return. what we're talking about is an extension to file paper work. but the worse than the irony

here is the tactic. the tactic of this president to talk about tax returns and a buffet rule when in reality we have bigger issues to talk about and this election won't come down to the timing of a tax return. this election will come down the state of this economy and how barack obama failed this country. >> given all the things that mitt romney has on his plate it seems to me this is an easy one. put the things out there. >> first of all, he did put out the estimate for the 2011 tax return. when you run for president, just so the viewers understand, you know this, but the type of the rigorous financial disclosure requirements when running for president are so expansive and vast that if you were to look at what john kerry, john mccain, all of these other presidential candidates -- mitt romney will do the same thing. >> let me ask you about the course of the campaign as it moves forward. we got this presumptive nominee

but you have two other men still in this race, newt gingrich and ron paul. how much of a problem is this given that this season is pretty rushed now. you don't have time to sit around all summer and wait for the convention to make something official. and yet you do have folks still running against him. >> well, i mean we haven't officially declared a presumptive nominee. out of respect for ron paul and newt gingrich, obviously -- >> you haven't officially declared it but you're out there thinking it. >> sure. mitt romney a great month and he's clearly on a pathway to be presumptive nominee and we'll have a unified party when this is all said and done and the reason we'll have a unified party is no matter where unit in, republican, conservative, independent, this is not candy about the future of the republican party. i can promise you that. i think people around this country know this election is about the future of america, and we want to be able to tell people that you can work hard, you can play by the rules, and you can still live the american

dream but we need to have a republican in the white house. >> republican party chairman, a busy man. come back and see us. >> thank you. >> gender politics and a sex scandal involving secret service agents up next. ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network.

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joining me now is republican congresswoman kathy rogers of washington state and democratic congresswoman carolyn maloney. i want to start out with a topic i said at the end of the week

enough and that's the whole, you know the mommy war, war on women. let me start with you. do you think that the republicans, we know the republicans in the form of mitt romney has a 20-point gap between women who support president obama and women who support mitt romney. what do you think is wrong that accounts for that 20-point gap? >> as the republicans are able to rally around our nominee, governor romney, i believe you're going to see that gap close. >> how? >> because the policies that governor romney is promoting. they are policies that will help women succeed in this country. and all people in this country succeed. president obama's policies are the ones that are failing, americans failing women. you saw in 2010 where the republicans won the women's vote. first time since reagan. in some ways you can say that it was american women that stood up and said president obama, we don't like your policies. and whether it's health care and

the fact that women make 85% of the health care decisions, the economy, the debt, you have seen where women are really, they are rejecting the policies of president obama. >> congresswoman maloney, it's true the republicans made inroads in 2010 and what we've seen is since january where mitt romney trailed president obama among female voters by 5% it's grown 20%. what do you think accounts for that? >> i believe that women will turn out in droves to vote for president obama in this election. because they realize how much is at stake. >> because women do tend to vote democratic since the early '90s i think. >> for good reason. because of the policies that democrats put forward to protect women, children and families. when president obama took office this country was jetting 700,000 jobs a month. we're now in the 25th month of job creation and job growth.

and when you look at the republican initiative, not only on the federal level but in the state houses across this country, there are attempts to roll back and assault the rights and programs and services of women is absolutely stunning in its scope and appalling in its indifference to women. and to pretend that that does not exist is to double down on that indifference to women. >> let me move you on because there's a couple of subjects in the news that i want to get your take on. first of all, we have a new poll out, "the washington post"/abc news poll this is among republicans and republican leading independents and the question was do you think the war in afghanistan has been worth fighting or not. 55% of republicans say is not worth the cost. now we know democrats have turned sour on this war a while back. so now an overwhelming majority it would seem to me of the public is against this war. we're now having these bomb explosions in kabul today.

we have spectre of the embassy hunkered down there. is it time for you all to push an end to the war earlier than the president envisions. it's been a tough ten years in afghanistan. i think it's important that we remember the reason that we're in afghanistan. it goes back to 9/11 and the attacks that were made on this country. we've seen certainly some successes when i talk to our military men and women. they can-foot the successes and, you know, think about the opportunities for women right now in afghanistan and i enthusiast it's so important we continue to stand for human rights for women all around this world and that's a key to defeating terrorists. i don't think that we can ignore the fact that there are those terrorists, al qaeda that continue to threaten america and threaten freedom around the world. and so i've supported president obama in his approach in winding down and making that smooth transition in afghanistan but i

think everyone is getting tired of the war. >> if i can get you to answer quickly because i want to move you on to one more subject. it time to push for a quicker removal of the troops than the president want? >> certainly do believe so but we have to plan for what we're going to leave there. i agree with former secretary of state kissinger to get the countries to come around and that this will be a neutral stone and there will be peace. we have to have a plan when we leave of the stability and continuation of stability and ain anti-terrorism. >> we also have this breaking news about the secret service, they had to pull back 11 members that have been down in colombia with the president doing some of the advance work. they were not his body men but they went ahead of him. they had to pull them back. the secret service said thain statement the nature of the allegations against these 11

coupled with a zero tolerance on personal misconduct resulted in the secret service taking decisive acanthony to relieve these individuals of their signment. they brought new ones in. sent those others back home. engaging with prostitutes. nothing illegal as far as we know right now. what do you make of that? i know you're on the oversight committee. >> i think we should look into it, but i think we should always stand up for american values. one area we've worked together is in combatting sex trafficking. the leadership that our country has taking in rating countries in how they respond to protecting innocent girls and boys from being abused is admirable. but we have to stand up for our values and the laws of our country. >> how big of a problem is this for the administration or is this isolated? >> it's unfortunate. we never like to see these kinds of situations. we need to hold these people to the highest standards, the

highest ethical standards. we need to look into exactly what happened and take the appropriate action. >> wish we had more time. i hope you'll come back. appreciate your time this morning. >> we thank you for not having to ask the question where are the women? bring women into your show. >> we try. thanks so much. when we come back we'll be joined on the phone by u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, ryan crocker. [ jennifer garner ] there's a lot of beautiful makeup out there. but one is so clever that your skin looks better even after you take it off. neutrogena® healthy skin liquid makeup.

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as reported earlier there were a series of explosions across afghanistan particularly in kabul. we want to go on the phone now with me u.s. ambassador to afghanistan ryan crocker. mr. ambassador, thank you for joining us. we had heard earlier you put the embassy on lockdown because of these explosions. is that still the case? >> that is still the case. i'm not sure for how much longer because the afghan national security forces pretty much have the situation under control in kabul now. still some reports of a couple of terrorists out there, but i think this one is clearly winding down. >> and is it your understanding, from what you've heard from

afghan authorities that some of the perpetrators have either been killed or captured. >> it can be a little bit confusing out there. what we're hearing from the afghans is that they have been successful in killing and capturing the terrorists who put together these attacks while suffering relatively few casualties of their own. they equipped themselves very well, very professionally and it's all afghan security forces not international forces. >> we know that in some way, shape or form the taliban has claimed responsibility for this saying it's the beginning of a launch, an assault. do you have any reason to believe that is or is not true? >> well, the taliban are really

good at issuing statements. less good at actually fighting. my guess, based on previous experience here with a set of network operations out of afghanistan and pakistan tribal areas. frankly i don't think the taliban is good enough. >> mr. ambassador, one final question and that is you and i have spoken before about the feeling in the u.s. that we need to end this war more quickly than the president currently has in mind. we talked about that in the wake of a number of things that have happened there. i think this will likely add to that with spectre of the u.s. embassy being, you know, locked down so as to avoid the danger in the streets of the capital of afghanistan. what is your response to what i'm certain will be a feeling like here's more proof we need to get out of there. >> candy, i see it in exactly the opposite way. attacks like this demonstrate why we need to be here.

again, we've seen a very professional performance by afghan security forces. they are able to deal with events like this on their own. a clear sign of progress. and, you know, that's how we do get out responsibly as they take over. but there's a very dangerous enemy out there with capabilities and safe havens in pakistan. to get out before the afghans have a full grip on security which is a couple of years out would be to invite the taliban and al qaeda back in and set the stage for another 9/11 and that, i think, is an unacceptable risk. >> the u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, ryan crocker. thank you so much for your time. stay safe there, sir. >> just would add one thing. you know, we did not suffer any

casualties, merr mercifully throughout this country. but a number of afghans were killed. our hearts go out to their families. they are our allies and partners. we mourn their loss. >> thank you for your assistance. we'll continue northern this breaking news story other in cnn.

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joining me now, the chief political reporter for "new york times" and the chef correspondent for "the washington post". two chef correspondents, wow. two guys who know what they are talking about. so as we like to say the battle lines are drawn. what are they? >> it is a classic election that we're coming up against. for obama it will be don't go back, the pa is worse than what we've had. you may think it could be worse but it won't be. we're making progress. for governor romney it's clear. it is too much government with too few results. >> i think it's very clear on the republican side it's going to be just a failed presidency is their argument and they will

turn to the economy. on the republican side i think, i don't know about you guys i find it interesting -- right now they are trying to tie him to the most extreme in his party. the way republicans went after john kerry and you couldn't paint him out of the political mainstream but the whole wind surfing thing, back and forth, didn't know him. etch-a-sketch is more of a central argument against his leadership qualities. >> interesting. right now if you look at romney's plate it is to a, bring in the right and the conservatives that don't trust him, b, move to the middle and c, not look like a flipfloper. can he do that? >> well, it takes time to do all of that. he can't do all of that in the next 15 or 30 days. i think over time the party will come together. i nene you look at the structure of the republican party the people who most dislike

president obama are the people who were most resistant to governor romney. in the end faced with that choice they will be with governor romney. how enthusiastically. i don't know. it depends on how governor romney handles himself. the bigger issue is can he get to the middle in a way that's credible. he does have problems with women and hispanics. the obama campaign the president himself are attacking him on those fronts. the obama campaign is taking a page out of the bush 2004 campaign. they are trying to keep the pressure on governor romney at a point when he's got a lot of things to do and try to pin him down and never let him be able to deliver the kind of message he wants to deliver. >> matt, the thing about you all coming on, i was thinking about how generally there's always a guy who is right for the times. you saw ronald reagan come in, big strong, i'm all america every where when americans felt

weak and embarrassed overseas by jimmy carter you have bill clinton coming in and taking it away from the first george bush because he seemed he got that people were in economic trouble. i wonder if the resume and the bank account of mitt romney are running counter to the times? >> you know, i don't think. there's a lot of interpretations. i don't think wealth in and of itself a deal breaker. >> americans like wealth. >> don't know we're at the fiery populace at the moment that the left, you know, lean based in the democratic party thinks we are. there there's an authenticity issue. to the extent he seems like a guy who is trying to relate and be regular and it underscores the idea we don't know who mitt romney is and he seems to be of a changeling where the moment calls for it. that would undermine his

candidacy. to the point he can make an argument and say yes i'm successful and i'm here to defend success and it's consistent with where he is down the line as candidate it's less damaging to him. >> candy, when the romney team drew up the playbook for this campaign, i think that they assumed his profile was good for these times, obviously. a person who had been in business, who had helped to turn around things, who had a record of success. not overly ideological. he's lost some of this through this difficult primary fight and what the obama campaign has been able to do. the we is can he get back to that? >> thank you both so much for coming by. >> thank you. >> next, the serious side of bill cosby a conversation with a comedian about politics, race and president obama. all energy development comes with some risk,

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and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. >> bill cosby is an activist with an interest in politics. i caught up with him this week in washington. >> i wanted to talk to you a little bit about politics before we talk about this amazing theater. you know that there has been some disappointment in the african-american community, some disappointment in the lesbian-gay community, some

disappointment for those sort of on the lower end of the economic ladder that the president hasn't done enough, that he got into office and went too middle of the road. do you find anything that he has done that disappoints you? >> i'm disappointed that people that don't look at the woes and trouble given to this man. people blatantly speaking out against his color, wasting time, starting up new stories about whether or not he was born here. saying things that they can't prove, and i feel sometimes -- not all the time -- that it's like watching -- his job -- people want to make it as

difficult as the one that sisiphist had. then when you see that he made promises and said things, the people who were supposed to be working with him didn't. the people who are supposed to be working even for another party didn't care about the american people. they wanted to get him. when people make statements like i hope he fails, you can't color that any other way except the way it's said. yes, okay, gays, lesbians, blacks, illegal aliens, pardon me, people like that all right. it didn't happen. look at where it didn't happen. it's a man trying to go about doing his job and a ton of other people voting against him and regardless of what he says. >> isn't that kind of, though, the definition of politics and

how washington doesn't always work with the parties. sn. >> worse. this was worse. everybody knows it was worse. i think that this second term is one where we are really going to see a man who gets it, knows it, and it's going to be better, period. >> so you're confident there will be a second term? >> i am more than confident because he knows now who to say no to. he knows now who to say i don't care what you say, this is going to happen. and i believe he is for the people. >> what do you think of the trayvon martin case? are you -- is there an aspect of it that worries you more than -- >> no, i think it's -- i think

it is. i listened to his parents, trayvon's parents, and they seem to be very, very pleased with what is going on. i'm a person who believes that the gun, the gun, all around this united states -- when a person has a gun, sometimes their mind clicks that this thing, it will win arguments and straighten people out. in the wrong hands, in the wrong mind, it's death. it's wounding people. people who don't have money to buy a decent meal for

themselves. yet, someone will put an illegal gun in their hand. we in this country have got to continue to be out there in the streets about the gun. i'm not saying you can't have it in your home to protect yourself. people don't care. they don't think well, and they will kick in your door. so you have to protect yourself in your own home. i also believe that when you tell me that you're going to protect the neighborhood that i live in, i don't want you to have a gun. i want you to be able to see something, report it, and get out of the way because you happen to be a part of the neighborhood. i don't want you to get hurt. i don't want you to hurt anyone.

>> so you saw more a gun issue than a race issue, is that -- >> how are you going to solve a race issue when it becomes he-said-she-said or he said-he said? and the other question is what is solved by saying he is a racist, that's why he shot the boy? what solves that? this and what is he doing with it and who taught him and told him how to behave with this because it doesn't make any difference if he's a racist or not racest. if he is scared to death and not a racist, it's still a confrontational provoking of

something. i don't know what happened, but i know that this -- i used to have a gun. the policeman who ok'd it said to me, mr. cosby, when you pull this trigger, you can't call it back. so i had the gun. the reason why i had it was to protect my family. i also knew that anything that went on outside and it appeared to be something that wasn't on the okay, i went out with my gun, and the thought was if this person is not right or if that doesn't move when i say move, i'm going to show that i have a gun. when you have police -- >> you scared yourself? >> when you have police, you

call, and cops even call back-up, and they have a gun. so -- >> you got rid of it, it sounds like. >> oh, listen, i gave it back. yes. i just feel that this thing -- this thing, we need to get rid of it on the streets, and if people have one, they should be checked out so thoroughly, and they should be given all of the answers before they even go to this, and every answer should be don't go for this. every answer should be don't even go where you can -- you see somebody break in, call in, sit tight, call back-up, here they come. >> no lone rangers? >> no. >> this morning's breaking news

prooebts us from learning my full conversation including a historic theater. you can see that on our website at cnn.com sotu. also on our website, find out how cosby hides things from his wife, the secret he shares with president obama, and who should play him in a movie. here's a preview. >> i want betty white to play because she's funny, she's around my age, and when they do your life story on film, it's not really your life story. these are people manipulating scenes. >> please stay with cnn for continuing coverage of two breaking stories we'll follow throughout the day. the deadly tornadoes across the midwest, the series of coordinated attacks across afghanistan. i'm candy crowley in washington. find today's interviews, some analysis, approximate web exclusiveives at our website cnn.com/sotu. fareed zakaria gps is next for our viewers