Trying to remove passenger side airbag. what is trick to getting out screws on each side of the airbag

you should be able to remove it buy undoing the 2 or 4 tamper proof torx bits. make sure you got the battery disconnected for about 10 mins before messing with the connector. If you remove it from the system permanatly your whole airbag system will be rendered inoperable.

there are 2 screwa on the sides that i can't get to

when you remove your glove box and look up under the airbag module you can see the only bolts that hold the bag in to the dash. They are the torx bolts I referred to. all the other bolts attached to it are brakets of the module assmbly and will stay attached to the module assembly. You slide the whole bag upward through the top of the dash. The pad on the dash over the air bag is part of the airbag assembly.

could mine be different. i removed the the torx screws but it wont release. the replacement airbag has two additional #10 bolts on each side and i can feel the one the left but cant even see the one on the right side. it seems to be obstructed by the a/c duct work that goes to the vent. i took this air bag out of a 99 pathfinder and i could lift up the dash pad to reach the one on the right side but the 2000 dash pad is different. also. the air bags on maximas also have screws on the side of the air bag

A early production 99 pathfinder is different then a late production year so likely you have 2 different airbags. If there are any bracket screws that need removal they would be straight up into the dash area not from the sides. It sounds to me like your trying to unbolt the brakets from the airbag. those air bags are usually snapped into the dash pretty good.