good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us, i'm betty nguyen. the taliban said it set off a pair of deadly explosions at a military training center in pakistan to avenge the killing of osama bin laden. this morning's bombings in northwest pakistan killed at least 80 people. most of them paramilitary recruits. dozens more were wounded. most of the victims were boarding buses to return home to the base -- or from the base. witnesses say a suicide bomber detonated the first bomb at the compound's gate. it is unclear what caused the second blast. also in pakistan, it is reported that u.s. intelligence officials have questioned bin laden's widows. the three were in bin laden's compound during last week's navy s.e.a.l. raid. cnn reports the women were hostile during the interviews, with the eldest wife speaking for the other two, and offered little information. we are learning this morning how bin laden was able to e-mail his supporters without being detected. lacking internet access, bin laden was able to type a message on a computer and save it on a flash drive. a courier would take the flash drive to an internet cafe, send it, and wait for a reply. cbs news has learned that thousands of such messages were recovered, including the names of previously unknown al qaeda operatives. also this morning, we are getting a more accurate picture of just what happened during the raid that killed bin laden. david martin has that part of the story. >> reporter: the 40 minutes it took to kill bin laden and scoop his archives in garbage bags were all recorded by tiny helmet cameras worn by each of the 25 navy s.e.a.l.s. officials reviewing those videos are reconstructing a more accurate version of what happened. the only firefight took place in the guest house. where one of bin laden's couriers opened fire, and was quickly gunned down. the s.e.a.l.s first saw bin laden when he came out on the third floor landing. they fired but missed. he retreated to his bedroom. the first s.e.a.l. through the door grabbed bin laden's daughters and pulled them aside. when the second s.e.a.l. entered bin laden's wife rushed at him, or perhaps was pushed forward by bin laden. the s.e.a.l. shoved her aside and shot bin laden in the chest. a third s.e.a.l. shot him in the head. the electronic files the s.e.a.l.s carted away contained, among many things, the names of terrorist operatives which until now were unknown to u.s. intelligence. the files also contain a small 12-page journal of bin laden's handwritten notes about launching a major attack against the u.s. don't use arabs because they arouse too much suspicion. go after trains. time it to coincide with the tenth anniversary of 9/11. u.s. officials can't understand why bin laden apparently left what amounts to the keys to his terrorist kingdom just lying around his compound in plain sight. none of it rigged for self-destruction. if he had just hidden his files the s.e.a.l.s would not have had enough time on the ground to find them. david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. here in new york, two men are being held without bail charged with plotting to bomb a synagogue and perhaps the empire state building. the suspects are u.s. citizens of north african descent. they were arraigned thursday on conspiracy charges. one day earlier, they allegedly bought weapons from an undercover officer in a sting operation. this is a police photo of the moment when they were arrested. in alaska, helicopters made risky high altitude rescue attempts for two climbers stranded on mt. mckinley, north america's tallest mountain. the 20,000 foot peak, also called denali, is 180 miles north of anchorage. one of the climbers was actually dead when he was found. the other had a broken leg, and was brought down safely. in arizona, two u.s. border patrol agents were killed in a collision with a train. their suv was hit by a freight train thursday about 85 miles southwest of phoenix. the department of homeland security says agents eduardo rojas and hector clark were trying to position their vehicle to catch illegal immigrants from mexico. now to the flooding in the mississippi delta, where more heavy rain is expected today. the mississippi and its tributaries continue to rise, as the flood crest surges south. 11 counties in mississippi have been declared federal disaster areas. the damage estimate there has reached $275 million. thousands of acres are flooded with hundreds of homes lost. down river in louisiana cajun country, engineers are hoping to save the cities. but at the expense of farmland. and the people who live there. the action will affect hundreds of thousands of acres, and tens of thousands of residents. yesterday, the army corps of engineers opened more of a major spillway north of new orleans, and it's considering doing the same at the morganza spillway near baton rouge. dean reynolds has more. >> reporter: in butte la rose, louisiana, dwayne farrell is gathering up what he wants and leaving the rest to the floodwaters about to inundate his home. >> there's nothing we can do about it. so get our stuff out and hope for the best. >> reporter: his property lies two football fields from the atchafalaya river where the water is already over its banks and up the trees. perhaps as early as saturday the army corps of engineers will open the spillway at morganza, an hour's drive away, to relieve pressure from the bulging mississippi river as it rolls south. >> we're doing everything that we can to take that excess water off of the river, and take the stress off of the levee systems. >> reporter: by opening the floodgates, some of the mississippi river water will temporarily be allowed to merge with the atchafalaya and pour a torrent of water over the low-lying farms, homes and businesses for 100 miles south to the gulf of mexico, but bypassing big cities. they really had no other choice. keeping this spillway behind me closed would have raised the mississippi river to catastrophic heights. the army corps said that could have destroyed levees, and floodwalls all the way down to new orleans. and drowned that city in as much as 25 feet of water. as 25 feet of water. dean reynolds, cbs news morganza, louisiana. now to politics. another prominent republican is expected to announce today that he is running for the white house. tara mergener is in washington with details. good morning, tara. so, who is it this time? >> good morning to you, betty. well this list of gop hopefuls is now getting longer. but the race is still considered wide open. texas congressman ron paul is expected to make his third presidential run official. this morning in new hampshire, aides say, he'll throw his hat into the ring for the republican nomination. he'll join former speaker newt gingrich, who announced his run earlier this week, and former massachusetts governor mitt romney. >> i'm going to talk today about repealing and replacing president obama's health care system. >> reporter: in michigan thursday, romney blasted president obama's health care overhaul. but he also defended the model for that plan. his own program in massachusetts. >> our plan was a state solution to a state problem. and his is a power grab by the federal government to put in place a one size fits all plan across the nation. >> reporter: the gop is still pushing other potential candidates to jump in. among them, indiana governor mitch daniels. he was president bush's budget director, and big donors are already promising their support. hundreds waved run mitch run signs as daniels took to the stage in indianapolis last night. while he admitted a run for the white house isn't out of the question -- >> i'm not saying i won't do it. >> reporter: he still seemed undecided. >> it's never been any intention of mine. >> reporter: on the democratic side -- >> good morning, obama for america. >> reporter: things are much clearer. president obama isn't expected to face any major competition. and just yesterday, his campaign headquarters in chicago opened for business. and at this point, most polls show president obama has a big lead over potential gop rivals. betty, back to you. >> all right, tara mergener in washington for us. thank you. just ahead on the "morning news," facebook's dirty tricks in its push against google. plus "two and a half men" may have a new man in the house. this is the "cbs morning news." 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[ male announcer ] you do everything so they're at their best. so start their big days with the incredible protein. eggs. while i took refuge from the pollen that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. sky gazers in australia are getting a look at a rare astronomical phenomenon. the alignment of four planets not seen in more than 100 years. venus, jupiter, mercury form a flat triangle with mars as just a tiny red dot up to the left. on the "cbs moneywatch," a mixed bag on asian stock markets this morning. ashley morrison is here in new york with the latest on that. good morning, ashley. >> good morning to you, betty. yes, a mixed day for the asian markets. japan's nikkei was down slightly, but hong kong's hang seng edged high he and the price of oil fell to nearly $99 a barrel. today wall street gets the latest on consumer prices and inflation. on thursday, stocks finished higher after commodities bounced back. the dow gained nearly 66 points. while the nasdaq added almost 18. google is reportedly close to settling a government criminal probe by paying half a billion dollar fine. the tech giant has been under investigation for allegedly making millions off ads from illegal online pharmacies. google recently set aside $500 million to cover a possible settlement. meanwhile, facebook has a public relations fiasco on its hands. one involving its competition with google. the social networking site admitted hiring a pr firm to try to plant stories harshly critical of google's privacy practices. the plan backfired when someone they approached went public. facebook says it wasn't a smear campaign, but admits it violated its own internal policies. mortgage rates have hit new lows for the year, and could go even lower. according to freddie mac the average for a 30-year fixed loan has dipped to 4.63%. the record low is 4.17% hit last november. but it still is not easy to get a loan. job concerns and strict lending standards are keeping many would-be buyers on the sidelines. and finally, if you've got your eye on a new prius, well, don't hold your breath. toyota announced today that buyers may have to wait until next year to get one of the new roomier prius models. the so-called prius alpha was supposed to launch last month but a battery shortage and production problems following japan's quake and tsunami set the automaker back. betty, i'm sure we'll see a little bit more of that going on. but going to have to wait on that one. >> yep, wait till next year. all right, ashley thanks so much for the heads-up on that. joining us live here in new york. actor ashton kutcher may be near a deal to replace charlie sheen on "two and a half men." deadline hollywood reports that kutcher, who is married to demi moore, has signed a contract to star in the revamped sitcom. kutcher gave his millions of followers on twitter a big clue with a tweet asking, quote, what's the square root of 6.25. the answer, yep, 2.5. kind of witty. straight ahead, your friday morning weather. and in sports, a decisive game six for the bulls and hawks in the nba playoffs. the lemon. we've become synonymous with "dud," "reject," "flop," "failure," "bust." introducing the mccafé frozen strawberry lemonade from mcdonald's. we're tart and tangy with the sweet taste of strawberry. oh, yeah. how do you like me now? 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i've lost a few pounds and i've never felt so light. at 70 calories, delicious activia light helps you be light and feel light too. ♪ activia on the "cbs morning news" here's a look at today's weather. there will be heavy rain at times in the southeast, including the flooded mississippi valley. it comes from a slow-moving storm system that reaches from the gulf coast to the canadian border. here's another look at this morning's top stories. floodwaters continue to rise in the mississippi delta. today, engineers are expected to open a large spillway in louisiana to protect baton rouge. but, that would flood hundreds of thousands of acres in cajun country. and texas republican ron paul is expected to announce that he is running for president today. it will be paul's third presidential bid. among other things, paul wants to abolish the internal revenue service. gasoline prices are just as high this morning as they were 24 hours ago. and members of the senate finance committee admit they knew making oil company executives take a scolding yesterday would not help change things. but they went through the motions anyway. as nancy cordes reports. >> reporter: the leaders of the five largest private oil companies did not give an inch as senate democrats argued they should give up their tax credits. >> i don't think the american people want shared sacrifice. i think they want shared prosperity. and what we have to offer -- >> oh -- a lovely statement. but do you understand how out of touch that is? >> reporter: those five companies are on track to make a combined $140 billion in profit this year. so democrats want to eliminate $2.1 billion worth of tax deductions for domestic production. and other write-offs. >> do you think that your subsidy is more important than the financial aid we give to students to go to college? could you answer that yes or no? >> well, that's a very difficult question for me. two totally different questions. >> but we have to weigh those two things. >> reporter: but the executives argued that raising their taxes would push gas prices even higher. and drive down domestic production. >> i'm going to take my capital, if the u.s. is not attractive, i have to go somewhere else. >> even in the context of record profits? >> we make about six cents on sales. >> reporter: it's true. last year oil producers had a net profit margin of six cents per dollar compared to 16 cents for computer makers and 17 cents for the pharmaceutical industry. >> we're asking for the same treatment and comparable treatment to other industries. >> reporter: the top republican on the committee called the hearing a farce. >> it is designed to distract their constituents from the simple fact that the democrats have no energy policy whatsoever. >> reporter: but oil industry analysts say the republican proposals to expand u.s. production wouldn't bring down prices either. >> it's a little disingenuous to suggest that we're going to drill our way out of this, as well. >> reporter: in fact, if anything, what this hearing highlighted was just how little congress can really do to bring down gas prices. nancy cordes, cbs news, capitol hill. a little bit later on "the early show," could an unknown like indiana's mitch daniels, be the 2012 republican nominee? some say yes. we'll tell you why. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." why. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." 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