i think that he was -- he was a child and he sang with the same talent and soul and intensity of an aretha franklin or a james brown or any great vocalist. >> extraordinary. lenny, you're also an extraordinary talent. it's been a great pleasure meeting you. really has. >> all right, man. >> thank you very much. that's all for us tonight. run for your lives. run for your lives. >> we scrambled around the ship looking for the best way to go. we made ladders out of ropes that claimed down. >> one minute a luxury vacation. in an instant, a nightmare. a cruise ship runs aground. a hole ripped in its hull. how did they survive? how would you? in just moments, the survivors share their stories. >> free at last?

>> do you think he should have been let out? >> almost 200 criminals, some convicted murderers, hardened by mississippi's outgoing governor. the public now in fear for their safety, even their lives. that and more, right here and right now on cnn. more than 4,000 people are no doubt celebrating life like they never have before. they escaped death by drowning in a cruise ship that nearly became their floating coffin when it suddenly ran aground off the coast of italy. just a short while ago, we learned that rescuers pulled two more survivors out, more than 24 hours after the ship hit rocks. at this moment, the ship is capsized with 160 foot long cash in its hull. it is that damage that forced passengers to scramble for the lifeboats.

three people are dead, another 20 are injured. as many as 50 people could still be unaccounted for. an estimated 126 americans were on the cruise, but none of them was hurt. the italian captain is under arrest. he could be charged with manslaughter and abandoning ship. we've been talking with some of the americans who had to flee the cruise. for some, the ship turned into a dangerous obstacle course. others got out quickly but had to leave everything behind. >> we thought it was part of the act in a way. because all of a sudden everything was just totally sideways. >> the people manning these boats were just, you know,

cooks, it wasn't the captains or the officers. never heard from my of those guys. never heard their voices. they never helped us to evacuate. we were totally abandoned. when we got to shore, we were never told where to go. we were never told to gather anywhere. people curled up in churches and in shops, and then in the morning, boats came and we were just told to get on the boats but were given no reason why. we weren't told why we were going or what the next plan was. we were never told who was in charge or what was going to happen to us. we didn't know who was alive. we didn't know where we were going. >> they brought us to the down side of the ship, real close to the water, and we -- they had a life raft that they blew up, but it got caught in a crepe and the

boat started moving very quickly. there were maybe 200 people there, and the life raft exploded because the boat was on top of the life raft. so we jumped in and swam to shore, about 300 feet, or 100 meters. so 200 people swam to shore and climbed up on the rocks. >> everyone was rushing up to get to the lifeboats, and people were pushing and shoving. there was no order. there was no lines. there was no system in place. and there was no one in charge. it was every crew member who walked past would shout instructions but the instructions contradicted each other. at one point we were ordered to go back to our bunks and wait for orders. when we went to the stairs to go to the bunks, we were ordered not to go back to our bunks and to get back out to the boat. the orders were contradictory, and children were shouting and

panicking. the boat had turned up on its side and people were sliding on the slippery decks and landing in broken glass from wine glasses in the cafeteria. >> we were helping the staff more than they were helping us. there were very few that knew what were going on. only one person was shouting, don't jump, but if we wouldn't have, we would have died. >> it was the marks brothers watching these guys trying to figure out how to operate the boat. one of them would suddenly drop one end of the boat and everyone would scream. and then they would reel that side of the boat back up and try to get it even. i heard that there were other boats that twisted and turned so that the passengers were falling

down into the boat. i felt like the disaster itself, hitting the reef, the capsizing of the boat was manageable, but i felt like the crew was going to kill us. >> the captain always goes down with the ship. well, apparently not this time. journalist barbie nadal tells us what kind of trouble the captain is in. barbie? >> reporter: the captain of the cruise ship that ran aground here on the coast has been stopped by italian authorities and being investigated for manslaughter and for abandoning ship. these are two very serious offenses in maritime law. a number of the passengers today that we spoke to will not be surprised and in fact if this captain and cruise ship are found culpable. there were numerous complaints about the way the evacuation was conducted, about the lack of

information on this cruise ship. they basically felt evacuated in a number of ways. the ship was listing and they still had and called people to their muster stations. the people took it upon themselves to help each other and the find a way off the ship. the divers who are looking under the water level of the ship off the coast, about 18 miles from where i'm standing right now, have stopped their search for tonight. they have not found any more bodies other than the three dead who were recovered from the water earlier this morning. their investigation will continue again tomorrow morning. they have a huge area of the ship under water that they need to take a look at. the divers have only finished a fraction of the search. there are still 51 people unaccounted for. whether that's an administrative

error in terms of the list of the passengers or whether those are actual fatalities from this accident, we have yet to find out. barbie nadal for cnn. >> here's why it's so tough to stop a cruise ship of this size. the ship is 950 feet long and it can move as fast as 26 miles per hour. when it was christened in 2006, it was believed to be the biggest cruise ship in all of italy. it's owned by costa cruises. another costa ship smashed into a dock in egypt, killing three crew members. check out cnn.com for more store yis, and more pictures of the ship that once sailed the saes but is now on its side, partially under water. former mississippi governor

haley barbour has created an uproar. he's defending his decision to pardon several convicted murderers.c1 [ beep ] [ mom ] scooter? the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. it's got tender white meat chicken. the way i always made it for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. i want healthy skin for life. [ female announcer ] don't just moisturize, improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion.

the natural oatmeal formula goes beyond 24-hour moisture. it's clinically proven to improve your skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. for healthy, beautiful skin that lasts. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy, beautiful hair, try nourish plus haircare. only from aveeno.

new capzasin quick relief gel. (announcer) starts working on contact and at the nerve level. to block pain for hours. new capzasin, takes the pain out of arthritis. but nobody is more upset than the families of the victims. when ronald bonds wants to see his sister, jennifer, this is the only way. a photo album. >> that's jennifer, yeah.

>> reporter: jennifer was murdered in 2001 by a man ronald knew, her husband. >> we grew up together. good friends. that was my friend. we were good friends. >> reporter: anthony shot his wife in the back, in front of a room full of witnesses in this after-hours spot on the outskirts of town. >> he would have stood right here, and his attorney right here. >> reporter: mccray admitted the killing in court and the judge michael smith sentenced him to life in prison. last sunday, mississippi governor haley barbour set him free after less than ten years. do you think he should have been let out? >> you kill somebody, man, you need to do the time. he took somebody's life, you know what i'm saying? >> reporter: as a prisoner, mccray worked as the governor's manage. the governor got to know him and trust him. and this week, he pardoned him. which means in the eyes of the law, the murder never happened. >> how are you going to give a

murderer, somebody that shot another female, you know, a person that they said they love and shot them in the back, you're going to wipe his slate free? >> reporter: for bonds, there is no fresh start. he misses jennifer every day, especially as he raises her 18-year-old son, also named anthony. let me ask you, as the son of the man convicted of murdering your mom, what do you think about all this? >> i just -- when i think about it, i just have to forgive him, the fact that he did it and she's gone, and i've got to move on in life. >> reporter: and that's where this story might have ended if it weren't for somewhat happened next. we were led to this street here. it's an area where anthony mccray used to live. as we drove by, another person who was in the neighborhood pointed out that anthony mccray was inside the house.

we're going to look. hello? i knocked on the door. mccray came out and i couldn't believe it. you were the man who was convicted of killing jennifer mccray? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: the man pardoned by the governor this >> yes, sir. >> reporter: he told me what it was like to be free. >> i've been saifd, baptized, i've been reading the bible for 12 1/2 years. that's a true blessing. i didn't do this, god did this. god touch haley barbour's heart to do this for us. >> reporter: do you think people should be angry at the governor for this? >> no, sir. >> reporter: but judge smith is angry at the former governor. he says it's wrong to overturn his ruling when the murder was so blatant. >> there's no question. i don't think the governor

should have pardoned the defendant. >> reporter: do you think because of the public anger you may have to go back? >> it's a great possibility. >> reporter: judge smith hopes he's right. not just in his case, but the other three murderers the governor freed as well, saying the pardons have only brought back pain. >> now they're back from where they started from, the families and the victims. >> reporter: back in what sense? >> back in the grief and the misery that the murders caused. >> reporter: what you could talk to governor, what would you ask him? >> think about it, did you think about how many people it would affect? >> reporter: the governor continues to defend the pardons, although he declined to talk to cnn.

he said it was the right thing to do. there are many in this state who would disagree. mart an savage, cnn, jackson, mississippi. here are your headlines right now. rick santorum campaigns across south carolina and christian conservatives are endorsing him for president. perkins told cnn that santorum is the group's preferred candidate after three rounds of voting. a california man is in custody and police say he fits the description of a serial killer who's been preying on the homeless. witnesses led police to the suspect after a man was killed last night. he hasn't yet been linked to the three other killings of homeless men in the los angeles area last month. a man suspected in a series of rear end slashings last year in virginia is in custody in peru. police issued a warrant in

september charging him with malicious wounding. he was captured friday in lima. all the victims were women. each attack, the victim was distracted before being cut on the backside. coming up, meet a cnn hero whose goal is changing the world and he's barely 18 years old. so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. i understandt can help lower cholesterol? you need a little help with your mortgage, want to avoid foreclosure.

candy? um-- well, you know, you're in luck. we're experts in this sort of thing, mortgage rigamarole, whatnot. why don't we get a contract? who wants a contract? [honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. betty: we're out of toner. announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, talk to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at...

young people say they want to change the world. tonight, cnn heroes justin churchman is just 18 years old, and he's already changing lives,

one house at a time. >> you give someone a home from your heart to their heart. you literally change their life forever. my name is justin churchman. i work for an organization that builds houses in juarez, mexico. after i built my first house, it changed the way i saw the world. it's an addiction. >> he built the home and handed the keys of that home to that family in need. >> this is our first house, and we built it after we met this wonderful lady. i've just fallen in love with it. [ speaking spanish ] >> he had a goal early on that he wanted to build 18 houses by

the time he turned 18. >> my parents supported me and the organization supported me. and on my 18th birthday, i completed my 18th house. >> he's absolutely a young wonder, changing the world one house at a time. >> do you know someone who is making a big difference in the lives of others? go to cnn.com and nominate the next cnn hero. owls like these are popping up in the heart of the u.s. all over. what is that all about? we dig deeper next in our saturday night mysteries with jacqui jeras.

that's scary. i love it. time now for saturday night mysteries with jacqui jeras. we're going to start with a harry potter owl eruption. >> it's a snowy owl. normally you find them up in the tundra, towards the arctic circle. it's a sudden burst in the natural population, and they've been showing up in places that you normally wouldn't see. they've been spotted in canada, washington, kansas, oklahoma. >> really? >> really. we know why they're there. they're looking for food. but we don't know how long they're going to stick around or why there's so many of them. our cnn meteorologist, karen, she's a wildlife photographer.

and she took some amazing photos, just got back from a trip from the pacific northwest. here's what she has to say about the eruption. >> the snowy owls love lemmings, and they're the main course and dessert. they live off of this in the arctic. they're like little hamsters. there was a great lemming explosion, the owls are eating, they're fat and happy, they're reproducing. the young are competing for food with the adults, and that's why we have seen this eruption here. they are leaving this arctic region and coming and foraging out to other areas. this particular area just across the border -- >> you just got back from this trip. how exciting was that for you to see so many owls? >> you are not going to see this again. and maybe never again in these

kinds of numbers. for five or six years, that's how cyclical it becomes. >> so cool to look at. >> she's such a great photographer. love them. so we have another them. the marlboro man, is that the original marlboro man? >> it's not the same kind of tobacco. we have the first physical evidence now basically of tobacco use from the mayans, and it likely wasn't the kind that we're talking about. we're talking about a powdered substance here. but basically there are a bunch of these vessels, clay pots and they have hieroglyphics on the outside of them and traces of nicotine have been confirmed on the inside. what's interesting is that the images and the depictions on the outside for the most part haven't matched the chemical tests of the inside. but the translation is the home of tobacco and that's the one they found nicotine in.

so they're hoping this could help them learn a little more about hieroglyphics. >> you have some cool stuff in saturday night mysteries. that was great stuff. thank you, jacqui. >> thank you. we'll have one next weekend. up next here on cnn, we have a special report for you. a journalist goes inside a syrian city that's become a battle zone between rebels and government forces. that's in 2 1/2 minutes. i'm don lemon in atlanta. thank you for joining us. i'll see you in a bit.rm a improves skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] only from aveeno. hi. looking good! you've lost some weight. thanks! you noticed! you know these clothes are too big now, so i'm donating them. not going back there again.

good for you! how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. whole grain? whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't... multigrain cheerios has five whole grains and 110 lightly sweetened calories per serving... more grains. less you! multigrain cheerios.

good evening. i'm don lemon. right now, a cnn special program. a journalist recently went under cover for six days in homs, syria. a city at the center of a crisis. a city that's become a battle zone between rebels and government forces. the stories are of living, of fighting, and of dying. a cnn special presentation, "homs: city under siege" begins right now. >> this is the ugly, cold reality of syria's revolution. daily exchange of sniper fire, the desperate run for cover. the mundane routines that somehow survive the violence. this program will take you to

the heart of the uprising. to the shattered city of homs, the traditional bastion of opposition, to explore the mosaic of hardship, resistance, and death, which has gripped this country and its people. this is the story of a journalist who dared to go undercover in homs on the front line of syria's uprising. he must remain anonymous for his own safety. the journalist, whose voice you will hear, visited a neighborhood in the north of the city, which is under constant attack from assad's army. >> reporter: they brought me here.

it took me a while to appreciate what was happening. to understand where the snipers are, and to see where i have to hide and where it's better to run. through this hole, the snipers have been trying for a couple of hours to shoot the snipers at the other part of the building a couple hundred meters away. i couldn't stay the entire battle, because the activists asked me to leave in order to be safe. i figured out later they did kill the sniper of assad's army. [ gunfire ] >> translator: we are surrounded from all directions by snipers and security forces.

every time there's a demonstration, they come and shoot at us. there's no cover. we cover our faces because if we expose ourselves, they will arrest our family. and there will be a lot of suffering. >> reporter: i came to this junction and i realized that somebody wanted to cross the street with a huge pack of cigarettes. i could hear the snipers shooting. >> translator: there's the main

>> translator: there's the main road which we cannot cross because of the snipers. anyone crosses it, women, children, men, elderly, they will not be spared. yesterday, each by car we wouldn't cross it. now i'm stuck here. i can't cross over to go home so i have to sleep here. where i can sleep? we need to eat, sleep, we need to go out in the street. are we going to be imprisoned in our own home with no food and no electricity? >> reporter: these neighborhoods are dependent on how much they can smuggle inside the city. every time they're able to have a normal day where the bakery is running well, they will go there

and buy as much as possible. >> translator: there's no water, the power is cut. we can't use the telephone. there's also a shortage of food. and to buy bread, you may have to stand in line for three hours. > reporter: one of the biggest problems right now is the winter. every night the temperatures are falling below freezing and the people are unable to heat their houses because there is no oil. so they started to cult up the trees to have firewood to heat and to get a little warmer. >> translator: we have no gas, no electricity, and no diesel.

and telephones are disconnected. so what can we do? we have to have wood for heating. >> translator: we don't want bashar, we don't want him. we're not eating, we're not drinking. there's no hope for our kids. we don't have any diesel. we have no electricity. the children have no hope. we hardly have any bread to feed our children.

>> reporter: it was very difficult to understand how people can survive this, and why is not everybody leaving? but i realized not everybody knows somebody in the countryside where they can go with their entire family to be safe. >> translator: this army is killing us. they keep kidnapping people and killing them. wherever you go, snipers are planted there. i know some people and i'm going to them. they gave us a house to stay in. >> reporter: my days here have been the most frightened days for me in the entire trip.

through all the hardship, they remain defiant. for the people of homs, it's too late to stop. resistance is their only path now. the way i always made it for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. but think about your heart. 2% has over half the saturated fat of whole milk. want to cut back on fat and not compromise on taste? try smart balance fat free milk. it's what you'd expect from the folks at smart balance. welcome. i understand you need a little help with your mortgage, want to avoid foreclosure. smart move. candy? um-- well, you know, you're in luck.

we're experts in this sort of thing, mortgage rigamarole, whatnot. r-really? absolutely, and we guarantee results, you know, for a small fee, of course. such are the benefits of having a professional on your side. [whistles, chuckles] why don't we get a contract? who wants a contract? [honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner. [circus music plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at...

>> reporter: i went into syria for six days into the heart of the revolution and the uprising in the city of homs. at the beginning of my trip, i had this clear show of the strength of the syrian army. a convoy of 45 tanks being transported by trucks towards the city. >> the journalists traveled the

few kilometers to the neighborhood of one of the first areas to be liberated by the free syrian army. >> reporter: when i first went into bab amr, i saw two bodies laying on the streets. the activists told me that the soldiers kidnapped the two guys, tortured them, killed them and threw them out on the street. currently, this was the way of fighting. people would not be able to be close to them to pick them up to bring them to the cemetery because they would get shot. they drove slowly and i could see the destruction on the

walls. you could see the garbage piling up. 50,000 people are living in this area, secured by the free syrian army. >> translator: we are here in order to protect this area. it's about 25 to 30 meters with tanks and all their equipment. we protect this street or they kill everybody, young and old. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: i asked the activists to bring me to the streets where the snipers are aiming basically on everything, which is moving. >> translator: at the

university, there are snipers and there are other snipers in the to youers at the tops of the houses. there are about 50 snipers. they shoot at civilians, women, children, anybody. even cars passing by. every day we have about 20 casualties. >> reporter: the activists have been telling me, don't run. don't make any move which is suspicious. just keep on walking, and i could literally feel the sniper aiming on my heart, and it was up to him if he's going to pull the trigger or not. i had to cross the name roads where others have been killed a couple of hours before. >> reporter: after the prayers,

people started to go straight to the demonstration. i see this family coming to the demonstration, singing songs against the regime. i didn't see any kind of fear. it was almost like a party. it was the purest moment of liberty i've seen. people are able to sing songs they've never been able to sing before.

we saw people dancing, and i realized that they've been chanting and cheering. this is the nephew of the foreign defense minister of the regime. >> translator: the army is protecting the people and demonstrators, as well as confronting the thug gangsters and security services. >> reporter: everybody was, like the entire neighborhood, has been praying for him and cheering for him and his soldiers.

>> translator: the army's role is to protect the people and civilians in accordance with our oath. but the orders we were receiving were in violation of that. as a result of the actions and violations by the members of the security services, and the army, i defected on the 2nd of june, 2011. >> translator: we are in contact with soldiers who are in the army. they tell us a no-fly zone is essential to prevent them from getting bombed if they defect. >> reporter: at night, they search everyone entering and leaving the area to stop

government death squads. >> translator: the street you see over there is controlled by the secret service. they've been known to kidnap our women and children. we try to kidnap that. we stop and search strangers when they come here. >> reporter: the revolution started to create legends and heroes and a lot of those heroes are singers. ♪ >> reporter: muhammad is a singer of the demonstration. this demonstration, i could see

women and children coming out to the streets to express their opposition against the regime. so the demonstrations are now a daily part of their lives. >> translator: the longer the revolution lasts, the more energetic we become. i'm 42 years old and i feel like i'm 20. the longer it continues, the more active we become. god is with us, and we rely on him to get rid of the regime. we're fighting for god, for our children, and lastly, for ourselves. >> reporter: while these demonstrations are going on, elsewhere in the city, the killings continue. people are fearing, hoping, praying help will come soon. the hardship and resistance on

, i've learned that when you ask someone in texas if they want "big" savings on car insurance, it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat... ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have our answer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios.

the hardship and resistance on the streets of homs in the neighborhoods. but just outside the city is where bashar al assad's troops can still strike with deadly

force. i asked the activist to take me to where the injured people would get treated by doctors who are risking their lives. when we got to the makeshift hospital, i realized it was a normal flat. with an emergency room and with an intensive care. they had a pharmacy and a laboratory. >> translator: this patient, who was injured by shrapnel all over his body resulting from a nail bomb.

he also received a more severe and dangerous injury which broke his skull and caused a hemorrhage. >> reporter: activists told me that anyone who was injured in this neighborhood are not able to go to a public hospital because those hospitals are infiltrated by agents of the regime. and they would get either kidnapped or even killed inside the clinics. >> translator: we keep what can help us to provide aid for those poor, injured people. these are tetanus injections that we use, and these are some of the blood banks that we use for the injured.

these are different types we use, in addition to some other drugs that must be kept ridge frustrated, as well as our food and drinks. >> translator: long live syria and down with bashar al assad. >> translator: if we do not survive the fighting, our children will win and pay tribute to us. >> reporter: a family member of an activist got killed, and we decided to go to his funeral. >> translator: he was driving his car with his friends. he was stopped at a checkpoint and their identities were checked. they searched them and let them go.

they waited for them to walk away and then they killed them. >> reporter: outside an entire village was waiting for the families to come out. >> translator: we will hold anyone accountable who is oppressing us, any of them. we know the officers giving the orders, we know all of them. >> reporter: this funeral procession became more and more of a demonstration where they expressed their outrage against the regime. among all the mourners was his distraught little brother.

in many other urban areas, this kind of large funeral processions are not possible. activists feel it's part of the assad regime's policy to deny dignity to them and their family members. >> translator: her brother was two streets away. about half an hour later, he started to cross over the roofs of the houses until they managed to get her and they recovered her body. about half hour later, they brought her here to my home, because right at that spot, we couldn't reach her. which couldn't have a funeral or bury her. we still cannot bury her. >> reporter: the assad troops

would immediately shoot on this funeral procession. that's why just four people are going with the coffin to the cemetery. >> translator: he went to buy bread. and he was killed by a sniper from the assad thugs. he was asking for freedom. nothing more. he was just asking for freedom. >> reporter: each fresh grave tells the story of another family plunged into grief. the u.n. estimates 5,000 have died so more.

>> that was a cnn special presentation, "homs: city under siege." i'm don lemon. good night.