here to discuss all this, nick burns, now professor at harvard's school of government and dan seymourthe council on foreign relations. nick burns, go first to you, how do you assess the threat of a regional war in the middle east breaking out? >> i think the threat is very low of of a regional war but the middle east is in terrible shape right now and syria, the government is brutalizing its own people and there has to be a way to create safe havens to protect those innocent civilians, we ought to be involved working with turkey and the arab world to make it happen. the larger problem is iran. because they have gone after israel, they are proceeding with their nuclear problem, they are completely unreliable, the advantage we have, larry, is we had nearly a single integrated policy between president bush and president obama. we are threatening to use force, we have the capacity, we shouldn't be afraid to use force but at the right time and right now the emphasis by the u.s., europe and the others is on central bank sanctions by the u.s. against iran, and oil sanctions by the european u

we have forminger under secretary of state, nick burn, now at the kennedy school of government.k, what do i know? i'm reading the article that says one of the reasons that the greek government cannot make a deal is get this, mithey are missing the paperwork. this is the second day they are talking about missing the paperwork. i regard this as instantity and i want you to tell me how we work out of it? >> the prime minister is about as good a person you can get to lead the greek government, he is a man of honesty and trust. and tomorrow i think he has to cross the real barrier, he has to convene a meeting with the three party leaders that are all angling to run in the next party election and convince them to accept harmful budget cuts, those that will lose government jobs and suffer wage decreases, and it's a key moment, another key moment along this continue yum for the greek authorities. >> you are right, can they get it done. and the related question is chancellor marco who i think is the savior of europe, she is losing patience and everyone is losing patience s, what are the

ambassador to nato nick burns on the rising tensions are iran. he's seen it all.mron hall has a look what's next. >> great to see you. lunch rick santorum go there? some conservatives are urging him to stay away from his recent comments on religion and stick to the economy and jobs. santorum says he won't be silenced because he can defends everything he says, but will he go there tonight during the debate? that's one of the questions in our preview. plus politico's roger simon describes the republican presidential field as "not just weak but barren." roger calls the gop the party of "would have, could have, should have." he'll join me live next on "news nation." i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have 6 grams of sugars. with 15 grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a s

as for this, i'm less optimistic than nick burns.here will be a friends of syria meeting in tunis tomorrow. it's significant that tunis is the place. hillary clinton is going there and i applaud her, along with 70 other nations. that is an opportunity, one would hope, to put more pressure on the bashar government. i think she's right that he has to go. he's about -- or his government is about to be named as war criminals by theuati united nat. i want to put up there a thought, and that is, let's look at the success of the transition of yemen, which six months ago i said was the most dangerous place on earth. sada, the autocrat who had ruled the place in a totally vicious way is now out of there. he's been granted personal immunity, but his vice president has been elected, albeit in a plebside, earlier this week, in a fair election, and the violence has subsided, and certainly, we, the u.s., are able through whatever means to try to reduce the al qaeda presence in the boonies in yemens. maybe there's an example there for syria, maybe

ambassador nick burns will be here on the latest threats from iran and the controversy over birth controlthe hill today. wait until you see what nancy pelosi did. "andrea mitchell reports" next right here on msnbc. if there was a pill would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye-care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. [ male announcer ] ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now, that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. i refer to her as "that woman with the great gums." as jill's dentist, i know that her gums are a foundation of a healthy smile. jill knows that, too -- so she uses crest pro-health clinical gum protection toothpaste. it helps eliminate plaque at the gum line, helping prevent gingivitis. it's even clinically proven to help reverse it in just 4 weeks. and it protects these other areas dentists check most. crest pro-he

intellectually with any integrity say that ahmadinejad is focusing on it, even former ambassador nick burnsn credit for sanctions. let's understand, listening to rick santorum and his colleagues lecture us about iran and the dangers it represents, they were the advocates of the bush administration policies that destabilized the middle east that in fact empowered iran and who is iran's biggest ally, it's the new iraqi government that the bush administration put in power. >> robert, i hate to tell you this but the only arguing that i've seen and the only reaction that i've seen from the u.s. government on ahmadinejad's ties in latin america is from the foreign administration. >> that's because you're -- >> and believe me, in latin america, when the u.s. speaks, it matters. the u.s. has not spoken on this and, in my view, he should. >> okay. last comment on that? last response on that, robert? >> ana, i think realistically, you've got to read more than republican talking points to understand that this administration has shown in addressing the iran crisis. we all know it's a difficult situatio

more perspective on today's developments we're joined by former undersecretary of state nicholas burns. nick, good evening to you. with the whole world watching here, can anybody do anything to stop this? >> right now, it's all up to the neighboring countries, the arab league, saudi arab, and turkey. they have the influence, and they have the proximity, but no one else is intervening at this point. >> reporter: what about the united states. can it play any role here at all? >> at this point, the obama administration has decide not to intervene milltarily. it's going to rely on those other countries in the region to take the lead in the international efforts and to try to find some way to help these besieged civilians, the victims of their own government. >> dubois: and then there were chine expha russia. so far they have been no help at all. >> chine and russia have vetoed all humanitarian efforts. hillary clinton rightly described the efforts despicable yesterday. they are certainly are. >> dubois: when we look at the fighters, the rebel fighters themselves, who are they made up of? who are

burning copies of the koran. it brought the total to four american dead as this deepened. abc's nick schifrin starts us off from kabul. >> reporter: tonight there is a rice cyst of trust and they're still furious over the burning of korans and americans are upset about the death and injuries of their soldiers. it has one target, u.s. soldiers. protesters threw a grenade onto a u.s. base injuring ten. it's enough for afghan police to defend the bases and solve a chilling case of fratricide. the man who killed two u.s. soldiers point blank. he was one of the drivers for the interior ministry. he was authorized to carry a gun and had access to the most secure areas. investigators say he isn't taliban. but went to the kind of religious school in pakistan that has produced many militants. they traced his cell phone today and within kabul within noon and then the trace went cold. anything you can do to guarantee this won't happen again? >> this is what they've done. the only guarantee of is time. we have been trying to clean our forces out of these elements. >> reporter: for u.s. forces th

. >>> overseas to afghanistan, where fury over burning karans tonighted today. nick schifrin covers the latest from kabul tonight. nick? >> reporter: george, i've lived in this region for four years. and i never felt this level of anger at americans. and now, that anger has led to the murder of two american troops. afghan fury has been fierce. it spread to all corners of the country, and inside a u.s. base. an afghan soldier shot and killed two u.s. troops. he escaped into a crowd of anti-u.s. protesters. and two of those protesters were killed by soldiers guarding the base. today's written apology from president obama himself failed to pacify the crowds. even in areas where the taliban have little influence, afghans called for the death of americans. apologies, he says, are not enough. at another u.s. base, protesters threw rocks and tried to storm the walls. afghan soldiers responded with bullets, but couldn't prevent protesters from raising a white, taliban flag on the base's outer wall. tomorrow are traditional friday prayers. and demonstrations are expected to g

the old tiger would have burned to that baby. today, nick what any advances. >>gary: monster trucks are in oakland this weekend. here is the best of those monster truck drivers. earlier we sat down with the driver of the grave digger. >>gary: when you get hit like that, do you feel it? >> yes. we have a great suspension system, many of them did not feel bad, you never know which one is going to hurt you. i always say, you need a big right foot and a small brain. >>gary: is that the deal for oakland? that was a couple of years ago, it was raining. if any of those nascar guys try to do with you do, a chemical it off? >> i heard they only lasted a couple of its. >>gary: they could not. >> i do not want to say they could not but i heard some of them did not. >>gary: i will say it. they could not. is this the son of the original grave digger? >> yes. this is his son. >>gary: what hurts on your body right now? >> my lower back. >>gary: when we come back it is a democrat patrick time. interior did that got the car it as always it they say she is feeling fine. rea deb

nick. how did this burning happen in the first place?id it was a mistake, and now they said it was to get rid of extremist communications. which is it? >> reporter: the manner in which it was disposed was the mistake. a military official said to me that they were collecting these materials from a detention facility known as polawan chfls connected in this die gram. pieces of paper were being used to pass extremist communications, they were afraid, and someone was told they were extremist in nature, anyway, so they gathered these up to keep the prisoners from talking to the outside or to each other. but when they went to dispose of them, and this is where the mistake was made, they were supposed to be disposed of differently, with respect, but instead they were taken to the incinerator on the base run by local afghans on the base, and that's where this whole thing began, brooke. >> what next? how did all these afghans find out these qorans were even being burned? >> reporter: the rumor spread there were pictures purported to be damaged. t

burning. let's get right to nick payton walsh live from kabul this morning.edad. what we're hearing today is of course the taliban coming forward quickly and claiming this suicide attack, which apparently damaged four civilian cars, some personnel lightly injured but we understand they are back at work now. it's not clear what the precise target was. but as you say, nine civilians were killed in this. it's not clear really if the taliban had planned this a long time ago and are just trying to claim responsibility for it now, suggesting it's part of the qur'an burning response for some sort of political capital, but i'm sure what people will be worried about in the months ahead is if the taliban consistently try to claim they are avenging this burning of the qur'an. that could spoke popular anger here. perhaps even see some people share a common cause with the insurgency after this decade-long war. but i bring you to another event today also which is causing concern amongst many people. as you mentioned, this perhaps attempted poisoning further east near the p

as nick mentioned, the military says those korans were burned by mistake at bagram air field. an investigation is now under way. >>> former south african president nelson mandela is said to be recovering comfortably after undergoing hernia surgery. mandela was hospitalized earlier today. the news sparked fears that the 93-year-old icon was seriously ill but a family member insists the surgery was planned and says mandela will likely be released on monday. the name of the hospital where mandela is being treated was not released. >>> now nelson mandela is beloved by his nation, as you know, and around the world he gained notoriety after enduring 27 years in prison for battling apartheid. after his release in 1990 mandela was awarded the nobel peace prize. in 1994 he went on to become south africa's first black president serving one year as promised. retired from public life eight years ago and since then has remained in seclusion. >>> now to new york where fresh details are emerging in a bizarre hospital incident involving the youngest sochbt late-senator robert kennedy. we're s

burning qurans. it happened at the afghan interior ministry in kabul. let's go to nick paton walsh, nick, what are you learning? >> reporter: a lot that is unclear, what we do know is two americans were shot dead in the interior ministry here in kabul. that should be one of the safest places, frankly, for them in the country. we do also know the taliban have claimed responsibility for this attack. naming the man they refer to as their holy warrior, saying he shot four american personnel, obviously at times they tend to exaggerate their claims of their acts here. unclear at this point from a senior security source, exactly who was behind this, pretty clear from isaf the individual was not a westerner, we can out internal dispute between nato forces and pointing toward the possibility of some kind of afghan being the gunman here, but this came up from the taliban. we hear quite often sometimes they are right, sometimes they're wrong but they always try to get political capital from instances like that. i should bring more breaking news we're hearing from the commander of

have been packing the streets across afghanistan for five days furious over the burning of korans at a nato base p. nick payton walsh joins us from kabul. what are nato and the u.s. going to do to get other westerners out of harm's way is th? because clearly the situation is not stable. >> reporter: absolutely. what they've immediately done is the head general john allen has withdrawn advisers from ministries in and around kabul. now, that's not a huge number of people, but it is deeply symbolic because obviously this this is a war going on here and they're in a deep hurry to train up afghan security forces to take over the job of keeping this country secure. so may toe can leave. this isn't going to help at all. an incident like this play there is to the essential trust between afghan soldiers and americans in nato here undertaking that training mission. let me tell you exactly what we do know at will point. sources say the gunman who managed to enter a secure part of that secure interior ministry where the americans were, that gunman was not a westerner. and that he is at large. so he escaped from tha

it will release the results of the investigation into why the korans were burned, hoping that that can calm some of the fury. nickfor that report. well, the pentagon has recovered the remains of the last american soldier missing in the iraq war. army staff sergeant ahmed al taie was positively identified at the military mortuary in dover, delaware. he was kidnapped when he sneaked off a military base in baghdad to visit his iraqi wife back in 2006. family members in michigan say they have not been told the circumstances surrounding his death. >>> we now turn to a deadly train accident in canada. a passenger train heading to toronto from niagara falls derailed in southern ontario yesterday. three rail employees riding the locomotive were killed. 45 people were injured. ctv's omar sachedina spoke to passengers who survived this crash. >> reporter: those who survived the devastating derailment describe it as a moment of sheer horror. >> it was like a plane crash. it was people were flying, stuff was flying. everybody's luggage was flying. and i just kind of ducked and was holding on. not to go flying myself. so. >>

the president's apology has really done very little to calm the moods of the burnings of the koran in the middle east. nick? >> many afghans out in the street. protestors were initially peaceful but obviously hating it. in the west of the country, a series of demonstrations which outside the u.s. in which police clashed with protestors. a total of six people dead, 60 injured, one person dying of protest. in the north of the country, another dying in the east. in the capital of kabul, police firing over the heads of the crowd. a total of 70 people injured today in these protests. so deep concerns, really, about tomorrow, and people appear to be coming out day after day despite these freezing temperatures. wondering if fears could really be tempered, especially given that president obama has apologized and they have appealed for calm at this particular point. we also heard from nato commander general john allen, a man normally very calm, considered to have visited troops at a base where yesterday two americans were shot by a man in afghan army uniform where he is seen in conjunction with the protest of this

burning. >> it certainly is a dramatic development for sure. nick patton walsh, thank you very much. >>> syrian forces relentlessly foundry sich pound -- it raises worries about the effectiveness. dozens of countries to increase pressure on president al assad while laying groundwork for a political transition. it includes immediate humanitarian aid, giving legitimacy to the opposition and endorsing a joint arab/u.n. peacekeeping force. the epicenter of the violence is homs. it has been rocked by shelling every day for the past three weeks. >>> our other big story, former south african president nelson mandela is in the hospital right now. a relative says he had hernia surgery. joining me now is cnn -- what is the latest we're hearing from there. was this a planned operation? >> reporter: well, that's what the presidency is saying. they just recently released an updated statement. of course the first time we heard of this hospitalization was this morning when the presidency said that mr. mandela had an abdominal complaint, a long standing abdominal c

nick? >> president barack obama issued an apology over the burning of religious texts on an air base here inhat's doing very little to calm popular fury and protests across the country. >>> i'm mark preston in mesa, arizona. political knife fight took place last night between the four political candidates seeking the party's nomination. we'll have winners and losers at the top of the hour. >> thanks, guys. >>> and we all know how real reality tv is, but what used to actually reflect the diversity of american life, some say as degenerated into straight up slees. the story in next hour on today's installment of "i am america." ♪ the story in next hour on today's installment of "i am america." [ male announcer ] offering four distinct driving modes and lexus dynamic handling, the next generation of lexus will not be contained. the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. see your lexus dealer. >>> just because jeff makes none of us now because of our cheesy pun, we're keeping it up. >> i'm all in. >> oh. >> i'm cool with it. >> he didn't put up a ton of points, jeff, but he did lin. i like

but the taliban is weighing in on this and saying this is all about those koran burnings at bagram air base last week. nick peyton walsh is live from his post in kabul, afghanistan this morning. let's start with the breaking news, the contamination of the food at torkim. how bad is this, nick? >> reporter: i think it would scare some peoplep this they don't know if it was definitely a poisoning. an afghan worker went to his bosses and said, look, i found something in the food. it appears to have been chlorine bleach in the coffee and the fruit. that caused that particular dining facility to be closed. the troops there, they're all eating preprepared rations that come out of packages. at this particular point they're investigating how this could have happened. the taliban swift to come forward, saying this was a cook acting from outrage over the koran burning and five americans were killed. that's not true. >> a gunman getting in the interior ministry, signing himself in, getting his weapon and opening fire on two of our soldiers, one a colonel, another a major. how bad is the potential for infiltration now

nick. >> reporter: diane, tonight, there's a crisis of trust. the afghans don't trust the americans because of the koran burning. the question is, how do you win a war when you don't trust the person you're fighting next to. tonight, a nationwide manhunt. after the most chilling case of an afghan killing an american in ten years of war. an afghan working for the government walked into one of the most secure buildings in kabul. he shot two american officers in the head as they sat at their desks. the threat to americans has never been higher. this morning, suicide attackers rammed a car into the largest u.s. base in eastern afghanistan. it's all creating fear between american and afghan partners. here's how that's playing out. for years, i've watched soldiers meet with afghan officials without body armor to show trust. not anymore. tonight, one officer told me there must now be five armed soldiers in the room when he meets with an afghan. and here's why that trust is critical. the whole plan for the u.s. withdrawal involves embedding american advisers inside larger afghan units. today, the americans are worried t

burns they gave themselves. a desperate cry for help in the only way they know how. here's nick this unit die. for the rest, survival normally means lying about what brought them here. >> translator: the gas blew up. i was in the kitchen. it burned me. i wear no pain could be greater than what i suffer now. she was married off to her cousin, age 10. doctors say after six years of abuse from her mother and sister-in-law she became an opium addict. her suffering silent, no one to cry to. then one day, she committed the only act of protest she could think of. >> she burned herself because of domestic violence at home. for her, she poured the oil. because of violence at home. >> reporter: it has taken months for her to admit what happened in private. in public she insists she is another accident. here again, these women are silent. also a victim of self-mutilation. her wounds are still raw and her instinct of self-preservation still means she calls what happened another cooking accident. >> seemingly she is saying it was the gas but when the patient comes to emergency room, here you

burned old copies of in the koran, something muslims never do. u.s. and nato officials have issued profuse apologies. >> this morning, that rage is spreading. nick schifrin joins us live with more. what is the latest? >> reporter: good morning, rob. good morning, paula. this is real fury on the veets. outside one of the largest u.s. bases, hundreds of people were throwing rocks. they set fire to a tanker. the guards had to fire guns into the air. police have fired into the crowd. some of the shops have been attacked. cars have been attacked. there has been some looting. that leaves troops, diplomats inside afghanistan on lockdown. those in the embassy are not allowed out. there are fears this will get worse. the protests have spread already outside of kabul in the base where the kor rans were mistakenly burned. four cities are seeing protests. one turned deadly. one protester has died. >> several u.s. officials have apologized. is that likely to squelch any of the tension or will the flames continue to be fand over the next few days? >> reporter: it's not going to stop the tension. it will probably get worse on friday after prayers. many afghans

this climate of mass afghan fury because of the koran burnings, how this may impact on the vital relation of trust between afghans and americans. >>> nick peyton walsh. the pension released a statement today this comes from pentagon press secretary george little. "this act is unacceptable and the united states condemns it in the strongest possible terms." >>> turning to politics and the gop race for the white house. let's take a look at the latest poll numbers coming out of arizona. it's a dead heat. mitt romney leads with 39%. rick santorum is close behind with 35% but that four-point difference is within the margin of error. newt gingrich trails with 11%. ron paul comes in last with just 9%. arizona is just one of two battleground states voting this tuesday with santorum and romney in a dead heat in super tuesday around the corner. joe johns is in michigan. i thought it was intense at the debate. is it more tense than that? >> reporter: it's funny. midwesterners don't get that intense. i come from ohio, so i'm familiar with the scenario here in michigan. there is a certain degree of competition. people pretty much take it in stride. o

nick paton walsh. >> two-thirds of women admitted this burn unit in iraq die. what brought them here. >> translator: the gases blew up, she says. i was in the kitchen cooking. it burned me. i swear no pain could be greater than what i suffer now. she was married off to her cousin, age 10. doctors say after six years of abuse from her mother and sister-in-law, she became an opium addict. her suffering in silence. no one to cry to. one day she committed the only act of protest she could think of. >> she burned herself because she was -- i burned myself. because of violence. >> reporter: it's taken months for her to admit what happened in private. in public, she insists it's an accident. again, here, these women are silent. at 19 they say also a victim of self-mutilation. her wounds are still raw and her instincts of self-preservation still means she calls what happened another cooking accident. >> she's saying i burned the gas. but, when the patient come to you, here you will smell the fuel. it's the taboo of society. the shame of it. >> reporter: the truth would

burning of korans at a nato base. this is new video of afghan forces firing on protester as they attack the united nations office earlier today. nick paton walsh joins us from kabul. two american officers killed in what would have been a secure area. what do we know about the kind shooter able on pull something like this off? >> reporter: well, many different claims at this point. what we know is it this will gunman was not a westerner and he is currently at large. so escaped from the scene of the shooting. as you say, the taliban have named him saying he was acting for them as a result of anger from the koran burning that happened nearly a week ago on an american base not far from where i'm standing. but that's pretty much it at this point. u.s. officials very keen to stress they are still piecing together the facts here, although we have recently learned from the department of defense state side that in faskt the afghan defense minister has apologized for will incident and also pledged to investigate, cooperate in the investigation as to how it happened. so a hint there perhaps that maybe afghan personnel are somehow involved in