hospitalized, we'll have the latest on the 93-year-old's condition. >> a scene that reminds many of black friday, these people are running for a bargain, i'll explain the frenzy. from the cnn center, this is cnn saturday morning. we begin with breaking news out of afghanistan, two u.s. officers have been killed, possibly in response to nato troops 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 isaf forces here in afghanistan, general john allen in, a statement released a couple moments ago. "i condemn the attack of the interior ministry that killed two of our partners, our thoughts and prayers with the loved ones of the brave individuals lost today" he calls the attacker a coward and says "for obvious protection reasons, he's taken the measure of withdrawing all isaf working in personnel around kabul. advisors out there, advising afghan forces, ministers, et cetera, will be taken away from these ministries while they work out what it was that happened here. this could be a very bad psychological blow for many americans and nato soldiers. they work hand-in hand with afghans. we have periodic instances when weapons are turned on them, increasingly common, this is different in some ways. if it turns out to be linked to the quran burning feeds in the sense of fury from the afghans against this unintentional error the americans say they made. if it's the taliban, it bring as whole new sense of unease for many americans working here as to where they are exactly safe. >> nick, the taliban claimed responsibility but didn't necessarily give a reason. is the taliban using this unintentional quran burning as almost a lightning rod to harness the anger that many ordinary afghans may have experienced during while u.s. troops were there? >> reporter: absolutely. the taliban's statement is explicit, they said their holy warrior killed the individuals because of the qurans. there were fears the taliban would tap in this. they made a statement calling on all afghans to rise up against foreigners because of this burning. we have also seen protests yesterday and again today, where five people were killed and apparently advanced on a u.n. building. this is quite different, it's a sign this is perhaps going potentially affect the relationship of trust that has toamericans, nato and afghans. if they are to hand over the country, so americans can go home, deb. >> obviously, this happened in the interior ministry, kabul is one of the safer places with the taliban in citing all this, do you get concern there is concern in the karzei administration? >> i think there are concerns in the karzei administration, they have to play two games, they have to stay with the afghan people they are supposed to represent. on the other side they know they need the americans, infrastructure support, american money, basically. a lot of time to keep them in power and alive i'm sure afghan officials are concerned about the post-american future where they don't have nato to fall back on. i think karzei will be concerned about what it will do to the relationship but at the end of the day he has to seem to present the anger afghans are feeling about this, although he has been calling for restraint. >> nick paton walsh, thank you so much. to syria now, a key ally of the government changing sides. hamas says they are backing the anti-government activists. they are literally fighting for their lives in places like homs. we have incredible video from inside syria showing the growing humanitarian crisis and the ongoing battle for freedom. something you'll see only here on cnn. images were recorded by french journalist who was with anti-government fighters. take a look. >> reporter: guerilla warfarris relentless and terrifying. the fighters appear fearless and take crazy risks. they still find time to look out for mani. [ gunshots ] >> back at headquarters, the battle is raging. syrian forces detonated a bomb below the roof top position where government snipers are trapped. after more than 12 hours, the snipers are putting up a fight. casualties are mounting. that is a look at what anti-government activists are facing. today more shelling by the syrian military. joining me is michael holmes, live in beirut. michael, what are you hearing out of that region today? >> reporter: yeah, been a lot more violence today, deborah. in homs itself more than a dozen deaths, that is not counting the injuries. we can't get a number on the injuries. around the country, 36 is the death toll, officially from the activist side of things, but our experience is that is likely to go way up before the end of the day. there has been violence in fact all around the country, not just in homs, several deaths in another area, families killed according to activists. we have seen impacts of shells being uploaded to youtube, activists telling us we were speaking to one activist earlier said the shelling in homs had been almost constant and we could hear the shells impacting as he talked to us via skiep. for the people in the neighborhoods, this is very much a war underway. deborah? >> michael, the red cross was hoping to get in, a lot of people injured, hoping to get them to safety but there's no cease fire, no detante, what is the red cross' position, what are they going to try to do? >> reporter: a good question. i actually just got off the phone with a represent kniative damasc damascus. they went in and came out with seven wounded syrians and 20 others described as ill. they got them out. when you consider the death tolls we're seeing out of homs every day and wounded as well, that is a drop in the ocean, just that one convoy brought in four ambulances, now 5:00 p.m. here in the region of the world, they have been trying all day to get back in and get more people out, and the spokesman i spoke to said negotiations are continuing, they are difficult, he said we need the agreement of everybody on the ground involved in the fighting, we do not have those assurances. he did say, however, they still have high hopes to get in today and get more people out. not happened so far, though, deborah. michael holmes, thank you so much. it appears that syrian president is digging in his heels, doesn't care what everyone else around the rest of the world is saying. michael holmes, thank you so much for us there in beirut. nelson mandela was in the hospital for surgery today, according to his family, the 93-year-old former south african re president had a hernia operation. it was planned, not an emergency. all went well with the surgery. he's expected to be released from the hospital as early as monday. the youngest son of robert f. kennedy charged with harassment and endangering the welfare of his newborn. douglas kennedy allegedly tried to take his two day old son out of a new york hospital despite a nurse's warnings. according to wnbc, nurses tried to stop kennedy from taking the boy out of the maternity ward and out of the hospital. he allegedly kicked one of the nurses then fell down himself while holding the newborn in his arms. he and his wife say they did nothing wrong. crowds in several states are literally rioting, fighting for the chance to slip in a pair of these. the glow in the dark nike galaxy, hundreds camped out and lined up outside malls. that was the scene at one mall in indiana. just look. they are going crazy, the frenzy forced some stores to cancel release out of safety. we have more come injuring way, michigan, the latest battleground in the fight for the republican press shall nomination, will mitt romney be able to pull off a win in his home state, what does it mean if he doesn't? strong storms move across the south, we have the weekend forecast. that is coming up just ahead. and two of hollywood's heavy weights will be fighting it out for best actor honors tomorrow night. which do you choose, george clooney, brad pitt? talk to us about their oscar chances. as producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation 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. domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... like splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweeteners. this bowl of strawberries is loaded with vitamin c. and now, b vitamins to boot. coffee doesn't have fiber. unless you want it to. splenda® essentials™ are the first and only line of sweeteners with a small boost of fiber, or antioxidants, or b vitamins in every packet. mmm. same great taste with an added "way to go, me" feeling. splenda® essentials™. get more out of what you put in. . meterologists alexandria steel, two tornadoes tore through south carolina. >> the front has moved through, the warm moist buoyant air is done, temperatures much chillier. let me show you pictures, there are 120 reports of severe weather reports from yesterday's storms that moved through the southeast. ef-2, tornado in wagner, south carolina, winds of 130 miles per hour. ef-0 near pinewood, south carolina. a possible tornado with two homes destroyed, four damaged near eilinton, south carolina. the storm threat moved through, behind it winds are the big factor. wind threat, 40 mile per hour winds can knock down trees and power lines, we will see in excess of that, 50, 60 mild per hour gusts, you can see in the darker orange the bigger threat is here where it's most exposed, east end of long island, could see gusts to 60 miles per hour. it's a threat today in tonight, late tonight, we'll watch the threat diminish. you can see the current wind gusts, pitbutsburgh, philadelph, 35, this will impact travel especially at the airports. new york, boston, 33 miles per hour gusts right now. the big picture, a bit of snow coming in, believe it or not, lakes are still open, there is not ice on the great lakes, lake effect snow a factor, a few inches, syracuse, buffalo, lake-prone areas. winds the biggest threat in the eastern portion of the country, southwest it's warm. fire threat here, been dry, the winds kicking in. pacific northwest, one-two punch had the first round, this is the second round, snow elevations coming down where they were before. in terms of temperatures, so warm, 48 hours ago, 76 degree temperatures, well above average. 56 today. believe it or not even with the big drop, 15-20 degrees still at seasonable levels. temperatures have dropped but those winds it will feel much cooler than that. in the northeast, 40, 44 new york, boston, 45. but again winds making it feel cooler. 56 in dallas, 68 in los angeles, dry, sunny skies. deb, we'll talk about the winter thus far, chicago big snow storm, thursday into friday. but what's left of the snow season, believe it or not, not much. we'll show you the numbers in a bit. thanks, alexandra. the battle for oscar gold, an actor's greatest reward being recognized by your peers, this year the competition is getting personal. cnn entertainment correspondent karynn winter has the low down. >> reporter: george clooney and brad pitt going toe to toe. melissa mccarthy and octavius spencer are neck-in-neck. they make up the hottest showdowns this year. >> i hope you were the groom. >> clooney and pitt share a bromance. pitt shook up a lead actor nomination for "money ball" clooney for "the descendants" sounds like the rivalry is heating up. >> what is the competition -- >> there is nothing friendly about it, i'll tell you that. >> we'll wrestle it out, fight it out and last man standing. >> my money is on brad. >> he's my friend. >> in a fist fight. >> they are not the only big stars squaring off on the road to gold. >> i can whoop meryl streep's behind. >> she is the favorite in the lead actress category despite being nominated against meryl streep. octavia spencer is honored to battle it out. the big show down pits her against her pal, melissa mccarthy. >> if it were people i didn't know, maybe there would be the competitive thing. i know what she has been through and she knows what i have been through. we're thrilled to be there side-by-side or head-to-head, shoet downs will be decided on the oscar stage, no matter who ends up with the gold the contenders seem to be enjoying it. >> really nice, fun. that what is it's about, having fun. for the first time in more than a decade the academy awards won't be held in the kodak theater in hollywood. well, not exactly. it will be the same venue, just not being called the kodak theater anymore. as part of the bankruptcy filing a judge let kodak out of the $75 million contract, that put their name on the place. the theater's owners have not quite found a replacement. for now being called the hollywood and highland center, just rolls right off the tongue. be sure to tune in tomorrow night as a.j. hammer hosts our special. live coverage of the oscar, the r road to gold. a bitter battle is brewing in michigan with three days to go until the primary, it's no holes barred for mitt romney and rick santorum. we have the latest on the race coming up on the other side. ♪ [ woman ] i was ready for my trip, but my smile wasn't. 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[ female announcer ] new intensive professional effects whitestrips. and try 3d white toothpaste and rinse. from crest. life opens up when you do. mitt romney and rick santorum are both in michigan today. pair battling it out ahead of tuesday's primary. mitt romney is from michigan, his father was governor there. so why isn't he running away with the state? cnn's senior correspondent joe john's is in michigan. joe, why does it seem like mitt romney simply stuck is in neutral especially in a state that technically should or could be a slam dunk? >> reporter: you know, deb, that is what everybody has been asking around this state over the last several days and i think you can say mitt romney had some trouble with conservatives, with evangelicals, and that in large part has been the margin, the big difference in the polls, evangelicals and conservatives going heavily so far for rick santorum. both of those guys appearing here in try to, michigan, a big grass roots gathering of conservative activists, held by americans for prosperity, rick santorum appearing just a little while ago before this pretty healthy crowd, over 1000 people in the room, hitting mitt romney very hard on a variety of issues, just listen to this, he talked a little bit about romney's positions on emissions and global warming. listen. >> i don't -- i don't go out and crow that i imposed the first carbon cap on power plants. as governor romney did when he was governor of massachusetts and talk about how we're responding to the severe threat of man-made global warming. i didn't buy it. i didn't buy climate science. i didn't buy it because i new this climate science, it was political science. >> reporter: mitt romney also expected here later this afternoon or right around noontime eastern, he is coming off his big speech last night at the detroit economic club, huge room, obviously, ford field, which seats 65000 people, only 1200 there for him. the club essentially had to change locations because they got so many people signed up but obviously, wouldn't have been able to fill the room up. he talked about a variety of things, we found it interesting that he also talked about the cars he and his wife drives, listen to this. >> i love this country. i love the state. this feels good being back in michigan. you know the trees are the right height, the streets are just right. i like the fact that most of the cars i see are detroit-made automobiles. i drive a mustang and chevy pick up truck. anne drives a couple cadillacs, actually, and i used to have a dodge truck, i had all three covered. >> reporter: so deb, you listen to the sound bite it goes back to your question at the top, why isn't he able to seal the deal in his home state of michigan? there is the question of mitt romney being able to connect. clearly he's trying to connect with michigan voters, we'll see still a tight race here in the state of michigan. back to you, deb. >> he's trying to connect and it's hard for folks there who were so close to losing their jobs to be told that his wife drives a couple of cadillacs, kind of a niche market. joe johns in michigan, thaengs so much, we appreciate it. making house calls by boat. for one doctor it's the only way to get to his patients. meet this week's cnn's hero coming up next . taking medicine to remote areas, the lack of easy access isn't keeping this cnn hero from making his rounds. take a look. >> i'm dr. benjamin labrot, i don't have a private practice, i make no salary. >> ben you want to take her, this is ingrid. >> i started an organization called floating doctors to use a ship to bring health care to communities that have fallen through the cracks and denied access to health care. has a 76 foot, 100 ton ship we refurbished from a hull. since we set sail 2 1/2 years ago our mission has been continuous, we were two months in haiti, honduras, working in panama the last eight months. in the last two years we've treated nearly 13,000 people in three countries. i'll find patients who have never seen a doctor before in their lives. >> that was about as good a result we could possibly hope. >> typical communicate tirk living no electricity, no water, no su waewasewage. we built schools, we've done community projects, provided health education for thousands of patients. floating doctors is an all volunteer organization, nobody gets paid, all supplies are donated. i had postpone many aspects of my life. i don't have a home somewhere, i had to give up a lot but i gained everything. remember, all of our heros come from you, from your nominations, so go to cnnheros.com and share the inspirational stories about people you know about. the next big stop on the campaign trail is michigan, so why is mitt romney having such a hard time in the state where he grew up? i'll ask the political experts right after this. you see them, there they are, stay with us. what do you got? restrained driver in a motor vehicle. sir, can you hear me? two, three. just hold the bag. we need a portable x-ray, please! 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