nick walsh, cnn, kabul. >>> before we go, i want to show you this picture.any got a huge boost. here it goes, taking off on its maiden flight. 6,000 boeing employees were on hand to watch this inaugural flight and boeing actually wouldn't say where this particular jet was going, but our flight tracker shows it few over the atlantic and headed back to south carolina. that's it for me. i'm brooke baldwin here at cnn headquarters in atlanta. now to my friend wolf blitzer. "the situation room" starts right now. >> thanks very much. >>> mitt romney defends his record as a business leader and said he'd get the jobless rate down to 6% in his first term as president. >>> also general colin powell held the line against gays serving openly in the military. he now says he has no problem, obviously not with that, but also with gay marriage. my in-depth interviewom

nick walsh, cnn, kabul. >>> before we go, i want to show you this picture. the

let's bring in nick walsh. he's in kabul. nick, what are you seeing, what are you hearing on the ground? >> reporter: very little, indeed. about 6:00 this evening there were rumors saying obama was already here and that was flatly denied. and a great uncertainty as to whether he was coming at all and it's fair to say an hour and a half, two hours ago we heard the first helicopters. this city unusually quiet, frankly, suggesting that this visit was under way and confirmation about it, and this comes at an absolutely key time in the entire afghan-u.s. relationship. it's been a disastrous four month, really, anything from u.s. marines and urinating on corpses of insurgents and the burning of korans and the killing of 17 afghans in kandahar to the collapse of peace talks between the taliban in qatar. you can a lon li of disasters, really, and the strategic partnership agreement they're signing tonight is one spot of good news that diplomats and officials here have been very keen to seize upon as a potential channeling for the way

we begin with cnn's nick paton-walsh live in kabul. first to you, nick, in kabul. a very secret mission, a very successful mission, it seems, and now the fallout from the president's visit. take me there. >> reporter: two hours after air force one was wheels up in kabul, a car driving into something called the greenvilleage here, where foreign ex-pats, contract workers live in high security. it's not clear what happened after this blast. some guards at the scene, it's suggested, began opening fire. what we know is there are seven dead, including one school child and ten schoolchildren wounded in this cross fire. all continued explosions. suggestions there may have been other attackers who attempted to enter that compound. a bloody reminder to afghan civilians that despite the edifying speech and phraseology we heard from the president of the united states, those in the capital are no safer. >> so, nick, there's a lot of hoopla. this visit by the president is being touted as the beginning of the end, and yet a lot of things still unanswered. troop levels going forwa

nick payton walsh is in kabul for us. set the scene for us.he rumors had been wild throughout the day in the afghan capital. we assume he's very secure inside that presidential balance has. but all of this was stop secret given the security precautions that are necessary to protect the president of the united states. first of all, tell our viewers what time it is in afghanistan and what's going on. >> we're just past midnight. about six hours ago, one of the leading tv stations broke the news. many immediately denied that. i heard from one afghan pishl that in fact presidential palace staff were asked to go home around about midday sparking rumors that there may be some sort of vip visit. as you say, he's been to bagram. and of course now on to the presidential palace in kabul where they should sign the partnership agreement. >> nick, stand by. gloria borger is with me. as we look at the video coming in, you're working your sources. what are you hearing >> i've just been communicating via e-mail with a senior white house advise who are is actu

nick paton walsh is in kabul. >> reporter: it's hard to imagine anything more traumatizing than seeing talking to them over skype. but they can now positively say that this captain was not shot. in fact, there are only minor abrasions to his body and possibly a broken nose. there are toxicology tests that have to be performed to be absolutely sure. but at this point, investigators are saying it's unlikely that it's foul play. there are others suggesting that suicide is highly unlikely as well. and the most probable cause in this circumstances is national causes. erin? >> thanks, nick paton walsh. >>> now let's check in with anderson for a look what's >> maybe that's what we should be doing with our food. that's a scene from "animal house." well, there's a food fight going on in this country right now that is no joke. that's because the lobbyists for the largest food companies in this country are trying to tell all of us what we eat every day. they are telling us what we eat every day and we may not even realize it. there's a new report out today that says by 2030, half of the people in

. >> our nick payton-walsh is live in kabul. there were attacks in kabul two weeks ago that really rocked the capital. >> reporter: absolutely, this is a place where presidential security detail didn't feel enormously comfortable bringing him in daylight. u.s. and afghan officials doing their best to quash rumors about seven or eight hours ago that he was already in kabul. as you saw the president there addressing a hangar, many of those troops will perhaps be on their way home, bagram being a hub or many troops returning back to the united states and i think keen to try to suggest as he said a year ago the tide of war is still receding, choosing this anniversary, the death of bin laden, the man for americans the reason why they came to afghanistan, choosing the anniversary of his death to take this narrative an extra stage forwards and explaining exactly how america will tie up the loose ends of the decades-long war and how his presence will look like in the years ahead. >> nick what is the strategic partnership agreement? it d

>> thanks, nick paton walsh. >>> now let's check in with anderson for a look what's coming up on "a.che president under pressure on his stance or lack of one when it comes to same-sex marriage. we'll have that and the latest comments by vice president biden. also tonight, just when you thought the birs had puhe copiraorbout president obama's birthplace to rest. controversy is popping up again, this time in north carolina. some leading republican congressional candidates are questioning the president's birth. the certificate in an effort to try to gain some advantage in tough primary rates they're facing. we'll talk directly to one of them that's raising questions. keeping 'em honest. and it is simply outrageous. a charity raising millions of dollars that promises to help america's disabled veterans. so why is there no sign of that money actually going to help the men and women who have sacrificed so much? drew griffin investigates that. those stories and a lot more, tonight's ridiculist at the top of the hour. >> anderson, thanks. see you in a few moments. >>> now, "outfront 5." food

nick payton walsh is in kabul and i asked him when security will get better. >> reporter: almost twonistans. president barack obama able to fly in under the cover of darkness and address the american people while many afghan people were asleep. a blast two hours after he left waking many people in kabul as a suicide bomber targeted a maximum security compound, often lived in by foreigners, killing seven afghans and injuring ten schoolchildren nearby caught in the crossfire, an act condemned by the united nations saying the taliban should have known there was a school 200 meters away. despite the rhetoric we heard, the president reminding afghans living in this country that they aren't that much safer after a decade of nato being here. >> thanks to nick peyton walsh. >>> now to london, the british spy, his body was found naked, decomposing in a padlocked bag in his bathtub. everybody was wondering what happened to him but some said it was a sex game gone wrong. now they say he was probably unlawfully killed but they say it's unlikely they will ever know what happened. that's what the

nick walsh is in kabul, and how are the girls doing now, nic?well, initially 122 schoolgirls and three teachers were rushed to the hospital. they went to class in the morning and felt sick, and symptoms like dizziness and vomiting and headaches and appears that the 22 of the 40 were in a slightly more condition, and needed to stay in the hospital longer and the vast majority released quickly. but the vast seriousliness of what happens and the police are investigating what is happening, and they are not certain it is poisoning, because they are await i awaiting the blood tests to be returned. but they suspect that it is poisoning because five more girls had return to the hospital. and there is absolute terror in the school. you can image what it is like to go into class and seeing your schoolmates around you start to feel sick. kyra? >> it has been ten years since we went to war in that country to create democracy, and still, women are not being treated equally. >> that is true. you could argue that ten years ago women didn't have a chance to go

nick paton walsh, cnn, kabul. >>> i'm suzanne malveaux. he killed etan patz according to law enforcement sources. etan is the 6-year-old boy who disappeared in 1979 on his way to school. it raised national awareness about missing kids. the maen is in custody but a law enforcement source says authorities are treating his claims with, quote, a healthy dose of skepticism. >>> more details are coming out about george zimmerman's changing his opinion about the sanford police department. you will remember he's the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with second-degree murder in the death of trayvon martin. during a public meeting in january 2011 zimmerman said he had been on a ride-along with police. >> i also have had the opportunity to take ride-alongs with the city of sanford police department, and what i saw was disgusting. the officer

for more on the tight security around the trip and all trips, we're joined by nick paton walsh and johning. nick, it does not get much riskier for a president on the ground. what kind of security measures went into this visit, particularly considering the attacks we saw in kabul just weeks ago. >> initially i would say the afghan media broke this about 6:00 local time. u.s. and afghan officials tried to clarify that. we heard from one official that everybody in the presidential palace was sent home around noon but still there were attempts to keep this under wraps. the path he took, pretty much as safe as you can imagine. flying into bagram. a base occasionally attacked. but protected capability of air force one. then the helicopter ride into the capital. and the motorcade into the presidential palace. we saw a city in lock down. little air traffic. we normally hear many helicopters buzzing low over the city during the evening. but nothing really until about an hour before we heard news of the president's arrival. suggesting that the rumors of a very important person arriving could be t

nick paton walsh is joining us live from kabul. ll, explain to us what is going on there. i mean, the fact that you have one of the negotiators, taliban negotiators, being assassinated and all of this back and forth at a time -- a critical time when they're trying to take over their own security. >> reporter: arsala rahmani who was shot dead is a former taliban official himself who joined this thing called the high peace council sed up by hamid karzai to try to get negotiations going with the insurgency. those toalks have been in trouble. it is hoped people lycra ma -- like rahmani to keep the chatter going. his death shocked many. he was on his way to work. what's been slightly confusing is the taliban came out very fast and said it wasn't them. some say that's because they don't want to be seen as having killed somebody as popular as rahmani. we had a text message from a splinter group named after a hard core leader of the insurgency killed a few years back saying they had done it and they would continue to do it. either way the t

coming here to break down tonight's speech is nick paton walsh and wolf blitzer. also president george w. bush's assistant secretary of state. and douglas brinkley. i want to start with nick who's in kabul. what is the mood in kabul tonight? what is the reaction of the afghani people to this announcement by the president? >> to be honest, it's hard to tell. dawn has just broken. it coming under the secrecy of darkness. something the administration was to exploit. it was a wonderfully defying speech, beautifully choreographed. all in a number of hours. but it doesn't change the harsh reality on the ground here. it's been an awful four months sign of a taliban on the rise in many ways. terrible attacks by afghan men in army uniform against nato personnel. so badly needed at the transition of securities to happen successfully here. so while it's possible to hear barack obama and feel that everything's on track that there is is plan and we can relax and let everything pan out, it doesn't really tally with the kind of harsh reality we've been going through in the past f

. >> it is infuriating nick paton walsh to hear stories like this and i am stunned that she came forwardou about this so candidly. you mention in a piece that she's in a shelter now? that's still the case? >> reporter: absolutely. we saw her this morning in a reasonably secure shelter somewhere in the capital. she seems to be, despite her terrible shyness, the trauma overshadowing most of her daily life. there are moments when you see her acting overjoyed to have the attention of some sort of future ahead and the idea of studying another language, poetry and interested in being a doctor or more personally saying she might want to study law, become an attorney and prosecute the kind of men who carried out the sort of attack she suffered, brooke. >> you mentioned, i think it would have been her husband, is on the run. the punishment was ten years. where can she go next because certainly he could come find her. >> reporter: i think it's a pretty slim chance at this time that her husband will be arrested somewhere in of aing of coursa, a country plagued by insurgency, lawlessness and much of

we can nick walsh reporting earlier that day at the presidential palace in kabul that they were toldlear it out. they didn't know why. it started the buzz about a vip visit. whether or not that led to the news report that then led to the tweets that then led to the story and then all that had to be taken down or undone. >> so give us an idea of how this transpired. what was said exactly and, you know, how potentially dangerous was this? >> it's always very dangerous when you have a head of state, a president, going into a war zone. afghanistan is still a very hot war zone. and the president coming there has to come under cover of darkness. air force one is blacked out. we heard john king talk about his trip with president bush a few years ago where he had to come in and they almost had to corkscrew down to make the landing. on this trip, according to our pool reports, the landing was almost a straight down to come onto the runway and then everything was very dark. so it's very dangerous. there are still thousands of shoulder-mounted grenade launchers out there unaccounted for in afgh

nick payton walsh reports. >> reporter: in parts of rural afghanistan the battlefield is everywhere,hools. the next generation is hostage to a power struggle between the taliban and government. recently, the taliban demanded the closure of some schools in two eastern provinces. in realiation for motor bikes often used by the insurgents. we recently filmed an afghan. but locals say the taliban are more compromises. our cameraman visited one school in which we won't identify people for their safety where the taliban forced the school term to start late this year with one big condition. they had to have the taliban oversee the syllabus, the schoolteacher says. >> translator: they tell us what to teach and what not to. if we don't xwoo what they say, they have a representative checking things. they increased the number of hours we teach religious subjects and decrease other subjects like english. it would threaten teachers and very possible they would close the school down. >> reporter: a deputy education minister told cnn that in area wheres the taliban had more control, sometimes the g

nick paton walsh is standing by. how realistic is that these conditions that the president spelled out for bringing the taliban to a peace agreement can actually take place? >> reporter: it sounded new when barack obama said it. it is not new and it's something that's been on the table for months and the taliban have flatly rejected further talks with the americans saying they want further clarification of the u.s. position. since that taliban statement there have been no talks at all and there are deep concerns there may be none to come in the future so barack obama was talking about what they hoped would happen earlier on this year and outlining conditions which we have heard from various different sides and it will be tough for the taliban to make particular concerns, too, that u.s. officials have at length asked them to renounce al qaeda and they haven't had that small concession first. >> they won't even renounce violence which is one of the conditions and they certainly won't accept afghan laws which include eq

cnn correspondent nick paton walsh is joining us from kabul. ther attack by the taliban? what's going on, nick? >> it seems to be, afghan officials are blaming the taliban and they can't be sure who did it because nobody is claiming responsibility, but you can imagine the terror this morning when the school girls went into class, sat down and noticed a strange smell in the air and all began feeling sick. here are rare pictures of the aftermath of that attack. to afghanistan's most extreme conservatives like the taliban girls going to school is so offensive they'll do anything to stop it, including poison school girls. this morning students went into class at the girls school in northern takhar province, and they began to fall ill. 120 girls began to rush ill, and dizziness set in forcing the girls to require longer treatment. >> translator: the number of girls age 15 to 18 were brought to the hospital today. generally, they're not in critical condition. we are looking after them, but let's see what happens later. we understand so far from the si

. >> nick paton walsh live in afghanistan, thank you. >>> president obama and mitt romney focusing theirgling to pull ahead there even with the numbers on his side? numbers on his side. i'll talk about that, next, as we take you live to ohio. fits m. it is 28 miles a gallon. that's pretty awesome. park assist? no hands. i didn't think that was possible. make me want the fusion. it's pretty. it's fun to drive. and the fuel-efficiency... up to 33 miles per gallon. pretty awesome. it's the swap your ride sales event. get a fusion or escape with 0% financing for 60 months plus up to $1750 cash back. >>> get ready, ohio, for a billion ro bo calls and visits by president obama and mitt romney. mitt romney will be in cleveland this afternoon to talk about jobs, jobs, jobs. his campaign spokesperson is making the rounds this morning. >> president obama is a nice guy as well, but he's just in over his head. he doesn't understand what it takes to get this economy going again. and right now, he has no real plans to jump start any parts of the economy. >> but if you look at the numbers and fact, ohi