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"early start." and it is very early, i'm ashleigh banfield. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. we are bringing you the news from "a" to "z." we're happy you're joining us this morning. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. let's get started. the taliban claiming they poisoned food at a base in afghanistan. we have explosions and car bombs and the u.s. is pulling out more americans working in afghanistan. >> and it's one of those questions you have when you wake up. did gas prices go up again while you were sleeping? well, guess what? $6 gas is already a reality and is it in the place where you live? we'll let you know. and the political roller coaster continues. first the surge, now the slip. a new poll shows rick santorum falling behind mitt romney again. one day now before michigan and arizona, the primaries there. the candidate says he is tweaking his strategy on the trail now. >> if you watch any kind of red carpet, this was a moment to behold. oh, my lord, you didn't. the whole question, who are you wearing? ryan seacrest apparently wearing kim jong-il's ashes. it's a joke, trust me. look at ryan seacrest's face. >> i don't think he thought it was such a good joke. >> i don't think he thinks it's funny. look at security, too. we'll get to the bottom of that in just a moment. the slow-mo shows it all. oh, my lord. >> how did he get to do that in first place? we'll get you up on what happened oscar-wise as well. deadly suicide bombing overnight in afghanistan. in an apparent attempt by the taliban to poison the food of nato troops. we have this information confirmed now. the food contaminated at forward operating base near the afghanistan/pakistan border. this is what they found, traces of bleach in the fruit and in the coffee. luckily, no one was hurt. nobody's been sickened. there is a full investigation under way at this hour. >> also overnight, there was a suicide car bomb apparently nine people killed at this point, 12 injured. we're watching to see if those numbers changed that happened at the gates of jalalabad airport in eastern afghanistan. no americans at this point among the victims. 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 among all of our troops, all nato isaf troops? and what are they going to be doing about it? >> the fear is a new level, ashleigh, at this point. we're seen instances in which afghan soldiers have turned their weapons on the weapons or personnel training them. that's normally in the field, on bases, on patrol or outposts. this particular interior ministry instance is particularly troubling for many american soldiers. it was supposed to be such a secure place, a command and control facility inside a secure ministry. people wondering how on earth did that happen? how did the gunman's timing in pakistan linked to extremist groups, how did that go unnoticed? with this and the claims of poisoning today there could be further suspicions of these afghan soldiers who americans are supposed to work with that could harm that vital trust they need to keep the job going here. ashleigh? >> nick peyton walsh, live from kabul this morning. thank you for that. secretary of state hillary clinton says the koran burning that sparked a week of violence in afghanistan is deeply regrettable. but things have gotten out of hand and it needs to stop. that's what she's saying. clinton speak to cnn foreign affairs reporter yesterday. she says republican candidates have no business for bashing obama for apologizing over the koran burning. >> i well remember during the eight years of president bush's administration when something happened that was regrettable, unintentional as this incident was, president bush was quick to say, look, we're sorry about this. this is something that we obviously did not mean to do. that's all that president obama was doing. >> we have much more of the interview with secretary of state hillary clinton in the 6:00 a.m. hour of "early start." we are minding your business this morning at six minutes past 5:00 a.m. on the east coast. and this just in. it happened again. as you were sleeping, gas prices jumped again, this time just a penny though in the last 24 hours. it doesn't sound like much but it is unfortunate because it just keeps happening. the national average is $3.70. gas prices have been rising for the past 20 days in a row. they're up more than 10% since just the start of this year. >> alison kosik is here in for christine romans this morning. the national averagen is as telling as the break down of gas prices state by state. tell us about that. >> when you put the average in you can't really understand how it affects you. we have a map that shows state by state, you know, what you're paying. clearly, you know, if you're on the west coast, if you're in the northeast, you're really feeling the sting. first of all, gas prices are going up because oil prices are going up because of tensions with iran, the improving economy because the expectation is the banned is going to increase. if you return to another map and show by region, depending on what your income is, that really makes you understand that sticker shock. depending on how much you take in and put out in paying for filling up your car. if you live in montana, the dakotas, you're paying about 10% of your income to fill up your gas tank. the situation actually is much more in mississippi where drivers pay almost 12% of their income. that's how much is going in to filling up your gas tank because the median income is just under $38,000. it illustrates how difficult it is state by state, if you're not making as much money how much it really hurts. i know we sound like broken records tracking the gas prices but people really feel it in their wallet. >> everybody on the campaign trail, at least the republicans on campaign trail have been getting on president obama. most economists will say the president can't really mac a difference. what about the salt caverns with that huge reserve? is that possible if there were, you no he, barrels released, would it make a difference in our gas prices? >> many analysts say it really wouldn't. it releases a certain amount of oil into the economy but you know what, if you want to make a difference andtry and tweak how much you pay, i want to give helpful information to people who are watching. go to the aaa website. you can break it down in your neighborhood, where you can find the cheapest gas in your neighborhood. also if you're taking a trip. this is useful, too, go to fuelgaugereport.com. if you're taking a trip from "a" to "b," you can track your trip "a" to "b" and figure out where along that route you can go and get the cheapest gas. at this point, you know, we know why it's happening. tensions in iran, the improving economy. all right. we know this is a certainty at least in the short term. gas prils are going to go up. can we control how much we spend? those websites are helpful. >> i was driving around trying to find the cheapest gas. i thought, this is dumb. >> don't drive around. these are helpful websites. >> that's very smart. alison kosik, we appreciate it. >> we could solve world peace. that would do wonders. nine minutes past the hour. we tell you the stories you will be talking about tonight. new explosions overnight in the city of homs in syria. the results of the syrian referendum on a new constitution are expected today. the u.s. already calling the vote a phony sham men the to justify the government's bloody crackdown there. >> it's the last full day of campaigning before you guessed it, two more key primaries in mitt romney's home state of michigan and in arizona as well. romney and rick santorum and ron paul will be in michigan today. >> and for the first time in the 54-year history of the daytona 500, the race will be run on a monday. rain postponed yesterday's race. it was rescheduled for noon today but guess what, the forecast is calling for more rain. race officials say they are prepared to wait all day if they need to. they're ready to race under the lights if necessary. you know rick santorum is sponsoring a car there? >> i saw that. >> he made a surprise visit yesterday. too bad he didn't get to see them run. >> wow, that's a weird place to be in florida when that race was already determined. if you're trying to off set what it's like to have rick santorum's name on one of the nascars, you go and visit. 54 years it hasn't been rained out? that's remarkable. >> they say they're going to go through it all night, even if they have to race under the lights. >> do you know what the weather is like there today? >> they may be racing on a tuesday at this point. you know, there's a reason they have it in florida, daytona in february, because weather typically, you know, is pretty nice. bright sunshine, dry air. it's not really the rainy season. a bit of bad luck, disturbance, boundary right over daytona. this is the batch of moisture coming in right now. it may lighten up later in the day. it's still light but it's a nuisance sort of rain. if the track was just 50 miles to the south of where it is, which is right there, you can see, this line hasn't changed much in the past 24 hours, if it was down closer to say, cape canaveral, it wouldn't have been a problem. it is where it is. as you can see on the radar, there's more rain that will be annoying them throughout the day today, especially just to the north. if you are traveling via plane versus a race car, orlando, some rain today. detroit, phoenix, showers new orleans, chilly temperatures in los angeles. there's a decent storm beginning to move into california. we have a series of strong storms that will continue to hit the west coast and make their way through the mountains. the next one will cause blizzard conditions potentially across parts of the high plains. this one will take more of a western great lakes track. 55 degrees, the high temperature in new york, 53 in d.c., 59 in atlanta. we certainly hope they get her done in daytona this afternoon. >> get her done. nice reference. that's awesome. wow. i have a new appreciation for you. >> i'm a big nascar fan. >> good for you. >> thank you, rob. >> thanks. big throwback night if you were watching the oscars. >> a silent movie dominate and billy crystal returned to save the show. >> reporter: it was a night of cheers, tears, laughter and memories. the 84th annual academy awards have come to an end and for a few lucky winners their lives have been changed forever. >> oscar goes to at the artist". >> reporter: it proved to be the sideline the film that could, winning the best picture, best director, and best actor for desjardins who gave a one-two punch to george clooney and brad pitt in that category. as for supporting actor, no one could knock out 82-year-old christopher plummer. he was favored to win and he did. "the help" came in with three, three acting contenders but left with one winner, the supporting actress gold going to octavia spencer. as for viola davis, she may have racked up a shelf full of awards this season but in the end, 17-time oscar nominee meryl streep became a three-time oscar winner for her work in "the iron lady." >> oh, my god. >> reporter: from the iron lady to the goldman, oscar has once again changed lives and entertained millions. c kareem winter, cnn. i'm shocked she's been nominated 17 times but only won 3. >> she's incredible. >> the moment everyone is talking that happened before the show. >> the interesting thing is, actually -- we dropped kim jong-il on you. wait a minute. we have to clean this up. it's okay for you. if somebody asks you what you are wearing, you will say kim jong-il. >> have fun this evening. >> good gracious. this is what sasha baren cohen dressed as the dictator dumped an urn all over ryan seacrest's tux. they claimed they were kim jong-il's ashes. he looked upset. he tried to go to break. "e!" milked it for everything it was worth. seacrest had to do interviews with kim jong-il all over him. he could actually press charges for that stunt. >> when anybody asks you what you're wearing, you say kim jong-il. all right, borat, you are my newest hero again today. the twitter universe was buzzing about j. lo. did you see it? >> i didn't understand. >> when you get the slipperoo and the dress is cut a little low, hello, fuzz did i. >> that's because there is a claim there's been another wardrobe malfunction. >> you can't see anything. >> who saw it? >> i don't know. her stylist, jennifer lopez's stylest says the dress fit perfectly every inch and there was no slip. no slip. there was no slip. i'm not sure if she meant nip slip or an undergarment slip. >> if we all can please think back to this, the 2000 grammys when everybody, including matt lauer was absolutely aghast. is this when the gentleman on her right was named puff daddy? i don't think it was p. diddy at the time. >> there was no wardrobe malfunction, right? that was just -- >> just a special dress, less than a bikini. >> she never fails to surprise with fashion, does she? or to create a bit of a buzz. >> 16 minutes past the hour here. time to check the stories making news this morning. >> we have a big one coming out of afghanistan. the taliban is taking responsibility for a suicide car bombing overnature at the gates of jalalabad's airport in afghanistan. nine people killed. none of them americans at this point we can tell you. nato forces are also reporting another bizarre finding. traces of chlorine bleach in their fruit and in their coffee. luckily, no one got sick but, again, taliban weighing in and claiming responsibility for that little move, too. some tragic new details in the death of american journalist marie colvin in syria. the sunday times" is revealing she died while trying to get her shoes. she was in a makeshift press office under siege by the syrian army and was following the local custom of taking your shoes off before you enter a building. and rising gas prices, just won't let up. today's national -- latest national average, a penny more than when you went to sleep. this morning it's $3.70 a gallon. they've been rising, if you're counting, for 20 straight days in a row. americans in parts of california, alaska and hawaii are now paying more than $4 a gallon. and a couple of states aren't far behind that $4 mark at this point. a train flipped off the tracks, killing 3 railway workers and injuring 45 passengers. a train was traveling from niagara falls, derailing just west toronto. this was on sun. officials are investigating to see what happened there. cnn has learned rick santorum will be getting secret service protection, that is beginning this week. right now mitt romney is the only republican candidate who has been granted protection. the source says newt gingrich has requested secret service protection and is now waiting for a response. this one is from the medical miracles file. still ahead, scientists have used stem cells to grow human eggs. does this mean that there is a new horizon for fertility treatments? or is this just something that is so far off on the horizon it won't affect anyone alive now? a world war ii vet is car jacked in detroit. an 86-year-old man crawling, trying to get some help. everybody ignoring him. he was headed back from bible study. we're going it tell you so much more about this -- >> people walking right by him. >> you're watching "early start." 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. 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