-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com thanks for joining us in the cnn newsroom. for weeks we have been telling you about the violence tearing apart syria. but we want you to imagine the

suffering for the people in holm homs. imagine in this was your home a once peaceful place under attack from the government. [ gunshots ] >> activists say 14 people died today in homs. hundreds more have reportedly died in the past week. ivan watson is in neighboring turkey. one country struggling with how to respond to this violence. >> reporter: residents of the besieged city of homs awoke once again at dawn on saturday

morning to another day of sustained bombardment from the syrian military. that is routine. a deadly routine they have lived for the better part of a week. a routine that killed hundreds of people and wounded hundreds of more at the hands according to the u.s. ambassador to syria of the syrian military. take a listen to what robert ford had to say to wolf blitzer on friday night. >> we know who is shelling homs. it's the government and that's why i wanted that picture put on our facebook account so people would key there is the artillery and that is what is firing at homs right now. the armed opposition has rifles and machine guns and even has a few rocket propelled grenades no artillery. >> reporter: the syrian government has argued since the beginning of this uprising 11

months ago is it fighting armed terrorists linked to al qaeda. that is how they have termed the what started as peaceful protests around the country. increasingly we are seeing signs that the opposition is reporting to the use of arms to fight back against the syrian security forces. one opposition group claimed responsibility for killing ten syrian soldiers in a northern province as the result of an improvised explosives device and an ambush. those are the tactics we saw in iraq during the u.s. occupation in that country. the turkish foreign minister said is it going to apply to the united nations at its headquarters in geneva to find a way to send humanitarian aid to syria. the potential obstacles to send aid in would be significant and

probably require the permission of the syrian regime itself which is accused of enkirkling cities like homs and preventing fresh supplies of food and basic medicines. ivan watson, cnn istanbul. a solemn day in tacoma, washington as family and friends remember charlie and braden powell. ♪ my heart to fear >> hundreds of people gathered to pay their last respects. the boy's grandparents thanked people of all faith who prayed for their family. they were kill in a home explosion set by their father josh powell. his wife susan cox powell has been missing since december of 2009 and presumed dead. josh powell is the only suspect

in her disappearance. in 20 minutes more on the josh powell case. what led to the murder-suicide and could anything have been done to stop it all? i'll be joined by wendy walsh and holly hughs, 7:30 right here on cnn. it is not a big state and it was a narrow victory but a win is a win. and as you saw, last hour on cnn a few minutes ago, mitt romney is the winner of the maine caucuses a slim victory over ron paul. romney got 39% of the vote and ron paul 36%. santorum was third and newt gingrich was fourth. how important was this win for mitt romney? >> very important. it comes on the heels of a straw patrol at the conservative political action conference. romney winning that straw poll as well.

he needed it after setbacks to rick santorum. that surge was on the minds of so many mitt romney supporters. that is why romney campaigned in maine. john, tell us how mitt romney did it and what it means in the days and weeks to come? >> maine is now the ninth state to vote. santorum won minnesota, missouri, colorado and iowa. so entering today senator santorum had the most wins. now governor romney has tied him. 39% to 36%. that is a narrow margin. 194 votes separating the candidates. one county didn't have its caucuses because of the weather. romney gets the state of maine. here is where we go next to michigan and arizona. those are the only votes left in the month of february. super tuesday in march.

on february 28th michigan and arizona vote. these are states where romney has the early lead. but had he lost again after losing out here? would the psychological of the race change in a big way? and will this race go all the way to the convention? let's do this and show you where we are right now. here is where we entered the day romney with 115 delegates. you have to get to 1144 to win. 1144. you see gingrich and santorum and ron paul. romney wins. some of these delegates. today is nonbinding but our estimate that romney and gingrich and senator santorum pick up a few. it gives romney six more and santorum three more. early in the delegate chase but the cpac straw poll and with this maine victory, romney ends on an upbeat note a week that

had been the worst of his campaign. >> he needed the wins and he got these two wins, cpac straw poll and maine caucuses responsibility stuff. the next major event is february 22nd in arizona. guess what it is? the cnn republican debate. we are heading out to phoenix for that. >> looking forward to that. thank you, wolf and john king. as you referenced mitt romney got another victory today when he won the cpac presidential straw poll in washington. it shows where conservative activists stand in the race. romney with 38%. santorum with 31% followed by gingrich with 15% and ron paul with 12%. sarah palin took to the stage

afterwards to close the day. >> our candidate must be someone who instinctively turn right to constitutional conservative principles. it is too late in the game to teach it or spin it at this point. it's either there or it suspect. >> sarah palin has not endorsed anyone. mitt romney spent a lot of time promoting his conservative credentials and he tweeted that he is honored to have won that straw poll. which is a bigger win? cpac or the mein caucuses? we're talking to her expert political panel in three minutes. and a troubling trend making headlines. moms drunk behind the wheel with their children strapped in the backseat. we're taking a closer look. for a limited time, passages malibu

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if you have been watching cnn you know it is a good day for mitt romney. in a span of two hours romney won the straw poll at cpac and the maine caucuses as well. both victories come at the right time for the front runner who once again found his status challenged over the past week. going to bring in now our chief political analyst gloria borger and ms. donna brazil. and i have to say this mr. david -- we don't want to be sexist here. so gloria what is the bigger victory? cpac or maine? >> i think it's probably maine but he is happy he won cpac. with maine he will pick up delegates.

it would have been really, really embarrassing for him if he would have lost this to ron paul. he was supposed to have today off but he attended a couple of caucuses in maine and was in portland on friday night. he knew he had to win this. and after the trifacta that he lost last week. he just had to do it. if he would have lost cpac that would have been an embarrassment but it would have been easier to talk down. too many ultra conservatives there. >> i was -- i think it was you guys. i was watching and i'm not sure where, donna and they were counting the number of times that mitt romney said conservative in his speech as to reinforce, putting on armor there. what did romney do at cpac to win over the conservatives? >> he outorganized his opponent and brought in his surrogates to insure they would talk up his

campaign. he basically labeled himself as severely conservative. i hope david can explain what that means but this was a big victory. a small victory in terms it was narrow. cpac was a narrow victory over santorum and this was a very narrow victory over ron paul. but romney needed to show he could win and regain his status as the front runner in this race. he has to win arizona or michigan. and if he loses michigan is a state where he was born, a state where his father was governor, a popular governor i'm telling you, mitt romney will run into deep trouble, you know accumulating the delegates. but mitt romney in 2008 won with 51% of the vote. tonight 39% of the vote. he had less people voting for him in 2012 than voted for him in 2008. that should worry him. >> david as you are thinking

about your definition of severely conservative here. i want to ask you about something else. ron paul did well in maine losing by less than 200 votes. you heard his interview. but here is what he said just a few minutes ago. >> it is like we could call it a tie. but anyway the votes will be counted. all the caucuses will meet. but i do want to make a prediction if i were a betting man and i do not have $10,000 to bet. if i were a betting man i would bet that we will control the maine caucus when we go to tampa. >> that was good that dig. the $10,000 one. he is counting this as a win. is he right? >> he reminds me of jerry seinfeld's joke about winning the silver medals, congratulations all the guys who lost you came first. this is probably his best state

and he lost. he remains a boutique candidate. he is a marginal candidate. he is not a factor. and the question -- the only question haunting mitt romney's win of the nomination is can conservatives at this very late hour somehow make up their mind to choose either rick santorum or newt gingrich as the alternative and before it is too late and the answer is breaking in mitt romney's favorite. >> gloria you want to jump in here? >> to me the irony is that now for mitt romney he's got to hope that newt gingrich stays in. if he stays in and splits that conservative vote with rick santorum he's got a better shot at you know winning a state like arizona, for example in which he's probably favored anyway because he is to the right of newt gingrich on immigration. the enemy of my enemy is my

friend and newt gingrich is mitt romney's friend if you want to look at it that way. >> go ahead, donna. >> there was significant weather up there in maine and i don't think it would have changed the result given the fact that mitt romney is a neighbor to the state of maine. ron paul generated 994 more people to attend the caucuses for him than attended back in 2008. but the republicans had perhaps more than 100 extra people who voted this time over 2008. but they still have an enthusiasm gap. 16% of the caucus goers voted against mitt romney. i don't believe mitt romney has been able to get the conservative vote at this point. but this contest will become interesting in the next couple weeks as we watch arizona and michigan. >> gloria and david i want you to weigh in on this. the bounce that rick santorum got from his wins in minnesota

and missouri, colorado just a flash in the pan? first to david? >> i think he can't sustain a national campaign. i know he has the resources but i don't think he has the message. i think this week's contraception debate that the republicans stumbled into. the first day was a good day for them. the second day when the debate expanded to cover contraception more broadly and republicans are suggesting that it is inappropriate for any insurer to cover at all. that is a debate that the republicans don't want to have. but rick santorum insists on having it. >> gloria i have 15 seconds. >> one thing i have learned in this campaign is there no such thing as a bounce. there is a lot of bouncing around in the republican field but nothing is guaranteed. santorum has a rough road ahead of limit but if he does well in the state of michigan, who

knows. >> thank you, gloria and donna and david. safe travels to you. the weather is not great. >> that's right. >> take it easy. rick santorum is riding high on a string of victories and campaign donations this week. how far can it carry him? some of the panelists were pessimistic about it. we will ask him on cnn's state of the union at 9:00 a.m. eastern. the first lady taking time to answer your questions personally. michelle obama sat down with cnn and let our reporters fire away. here is one you might be wondering about. >> my mom is from north of iraq. my question is how do you manage to be the first lady in the united states and a mother of two children and a wife to a husband all at once? >> thank you for that question.

you know, it's a balancing act trying to be first lady, a mom, a wife, a daughter. but i don't think that my balancing is any different from anyone else's out there. i know that there are a lot of parents who are juggling in the same way that barack and i juggle. we are doing it in a more high profile way. the key is making sure i'm healthy. if i'm feeling good and in good spirits then everything else i do from being first laid request to being a mom i do with the a level of energy and authenticity that often works. >> watch cnn.com on monday to watch the full interview with michelle obama and hear her personal fitness challenge for cnn i reporters. next it's a plan that could trim the welfare rolls, testing

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if you have a drug felony on your record and you are on

public assistance you may have to pass a drug test to get welfare money in pennsylvania. cnn's susan cadiotti has more on this controversial program. >> reporter: gil g. has done time for drugs. so did michelle b. a mother of three. and bobby p. a single dad who did time for dealing coke relapsed after 20 years on the wagon. all three are recovering addicts in treatment. when they get out they face random drug tests in order to receive welfare. it's pennsylvania's new pilot program and the state is starting small. anyone with a felony drug conviction in the last five years or on probation can be randomly tested. if you fail but complete a drug treatment program you get a second chance.

if you fail a second time you lose your benefits for a year. if you fail a third time you will not get the benefits again. the state senator says that the constituents applaud the program. >> the last thing they want to do with tax dollars is to pay for welfare benefits for people to buy their own illegal drugs. that is just crazy. >> reporter: unlike florida where the courts stepped in to require everyone to take the drug tests pennsylvania thinks its law will stick. >> we believe that as long as we isolate the law only to apply to people with previous drug felonies we believe the law will hold up in the courts. >> reporter: allen jennings runs a community outreach program saying that the drug tests are wrong especially at a time when the treatment programs are cut 20%. >> there is a lot of ignorance and a lot of meanness out there. there is not a lot of evidence

that says a large amount of people on welfare are using drugs. this is a mean-spirited harassment of poor people. >> reporter: bobby says he knows where taxpayers are coming from but he worries about drug users who might lose help. >> yeah, they maybe push them over the edge farther. >> from the moment that we realize that we have a problem the first thing we want to do the get help. how can we get help if you worry about three strikes and you out. >> reporter: michelle is ready to prove herself. >> on the other hand i'm having to prove to everybody. so, like, you should already believe me that i am clean. >> reporter: if the drug testing program isn't cost effective the state says they will drop it. for now the main goal for michelle, bobby and gil is to stay clean with or without a welfare check.

susan cadiotti, cnn, pottsville, pennsylvania. so jackie, i was riding high, excited with the warm temperatures. and then what happened? >> arctic cold front, my friend. >> brr. >> it is affect everyone. we have snow coming down heavy. this is out of indiana and this is lake effect snow. the winds have been so strong with this system creating zero visibility at times and you get in the bursts of heavier bands of the snow and it makes impossible to travel. they are seeing this in indiana and parts of ohio and west virginia and even moving into parts of pennsylvania at this time as well. being very heavy and snow in parts of maine impacting conditions there. just really the extreme northeastern part of that state. behind this thing is that cold arctic air.

it has been the big plunge so to speak for everyone east of the rockies, the temperatures finally where they should be for this time of the year even below average in the plains here. low temperatures on the thermometers tonight down in the teens. but the winds are still gusting. you could take 5 degrees from what the thermometer says and that is what it is going to be feeling like. even tampa down to 36 tonight. there is a wind chill advisory for disney world in orlando. it will feel like the mid-20s to mid-30s. we are looking at this swirl out here. it doesn't amount to much but as it moves through the four corners we'll get moisture in there bringing heavy snows. this is starting a tomorrow event and continuing to monday. the winter storm warnings and advisories have been posted in parts of colorado and the san juans. 9 to 16 inches of snowfall.

it is going to be tricky for travel for a lot of people in the southwest tomorrow. the northeast is getting better, though. staying cold. >> i'm not happy about it. >> staying cold. it's february. this is thunderstorm. >> yeah. >> we changed our standards a little bit. you know. we really have. >> thank you, jackie. all right. thank you. half past the hour right now. want to look at your headlines. first off the violence raging in syria claimed 46 lives today. 14 victims were in homs a city pounded by syrian security forces. saudi arabiay is preparing a united nations general assembly resolution condemning the violence. but turkey, jordan and lebanon have registered 20,000 refugees. an american student is in egyptian police custody accused of paying egyptians to join in

angry protests against the government. the american and an australian journalist were detained with their translater. the three plotted efforts over the internet. and the rest comes as the egyptians were marking a year since their protests. atlanta police arrested one of three men who were videotaped beating a gay man on the street and shouting gay slurs. christopher cain is charged with aggravated assault and robbery. you we are about to show you a tape of the beating. it is disturbing. the police know who the attackers on in this video. an arrest should happen soon. atlanta's mayor has offered a $10,000 ar reward in this case. a close win for mitt romney in the maine caucuses. he got 39% of the vote to ron paul's 36%. afterwards ron paul pointed out

he lost by less than 200 votes and vowed to continue his campaign. glenn campbell has had his share of battles. now, as he is being honored this weekend at the grammy awards a lifetime achievement award he is getting. we look at his biggest personal battle. ♪ like a rhinestone cowboy >> what did they diagnosis me as? >> alzheimer's? >> alzheimer's. >> what is alzheimer's? >> you start losing your memory. and your ability to reason. >> ♪ some days i'm so confused, lord ♪ ♪ my past gets in my way ♪ ♪ >> this is not campbell's first butch in the road.

he has successful battled drug and alcohol addiction. >> i was for given for being a dummy. >> reporter: but now the 75-year-old entertainer says he is calling it a day. >> ♪ ghost on the canvas >> reporter: in august he released his final album ghost on a canvas. and he is on a tour with three of his kids. >> he looks confused and i just smile at him. i try to make him feel like he is surrounded by people that love him on stage. >> ♪ i'm a lineman for the county ♪ >> reporter: he is being honored with a lifetime achievement award and he will be performing at the grammy telecast. >> i'm flattered. i really am. all i wanted to do ever since i can remember is play my guitar

and sing. ♪ for another -- yeah. don't cry over spilled milk. get up and be a man and do what you got the do. >> reporter: michelle turner, cnn, los angeles. and up next, two little boys their lives torn apart when their morvanishes murdered by their father who was the only suspect in his wife's disappearance. we are looking at what led josh powell to kill his own children and take his own life. [ deep beetle exhaust ] ♪ [ door creaking ] [ dog whimpers ] ♪ ♪ get up offa that thing ♪ and dance till you feel better ♪ ♪ get up offa that thing ♪ and dance till you -- sing it now ♪

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tragedy unnoelded in washington state this week. in a story that began more than two years ago. josh powell the lone suspect in his wife susan's disappearance is at the center of it all. he is accused of igniting an explosion in his graham, washington home killing himself and his two young boys. i spoke to some people about the case. kevin i'm going to start with you. you are outside the church where funeral services just ended for to two boys. give us a sense of how the community is reacting now. >> well obviously the community

reaction was great. the funeral service was moved to this church the life center in tacoma from near the cox family home near puyallup because of the people who wanted to be here. we are told a little more than 2,000 people attended the service as well as people who came to be near the church. this has struck a chord in this community. they have gotten to know the powell boys in the last week with a lot of photographs coming out. a lot of people talking about them now that they've passed and there has been an outpouring of grief and sadness in this community and questions about how this was allowed to happen. people came here to say good-bye for the boys and remember them for the cheerful and energetic kids they were. >> we spoke to the social worker

who was bringing the bois over for their supervised visitation. >> there were no indicators. i never saw suicidal indicators from him. i never saw anything other than tender loving care to the boys. he didn't look like a monster. >> holly why would powell be allowed to have supervised visitation in his home and not in a public place? >> because somebody dropped the ball, quite frankly. depends on the state and the procedures for the division of child and family services in that state. in georgia a supervised visit is at a center that is supervised. you have to go through a metal detector. if the court determined that you need be to be supervised with your children there is a problem. why they would let them go out to the house is beyond me. i think we will see new

legislation popping up. >> you believe that someone dropped the ball. was this a game to josh to winning his kids back here? you think? >> i don't know it was a game. but what it was certainly he knew the gig was up at this point. he was going to have to undergo a psychosexual assessment and the kids were talking that mom had been in the trunk. he knew the gig was up and the wagons were circling around him. and it seems like this was his thought as a way out. >> so sad. kevin, we know that josh was in an ongoing custody battle as we have been talking about here. but there were a lot of warning signs weren't there? >> there were warning signs especially at the last custody hearing on february 1st. previous to this there was of course no criminal record involving josh. he was a person of interest in his wife's disappearance but there were no signs of abuse

until steven powell was arrested on child pornography and voyeurism charges. but the state attorney general revealed that pornography was found on josh powell's computer that was seized back in 2009. it was described as realistic animation that depicted scenes of an incent use nature and child pornography. at the time powell was ordered to under go a psychosexual evaluation and take a lie detector test. the court decided that supervised visits would go on. josh had done everything that the court asked him to do at that point. and four days later, this happened. josh powell saw this was the end of all that once he took that lie detector test and had that evaluation he may be found out and it cost the boys their

lives. >> agree. you know, kevin with wendy with what you just said. the gig was up. it makes you wonder back and forth if he viewed his kid as possessions, wendy. >> not just possessions but extensions of himself is my bet. his brother-in-law referred to him as a narcissist. if he had that personality disorder his kids are not separate beings. they are extensions of him and his ego. >> holly you mentioned there may be more legislation. you heard kevin say this was found on his computer and that was found on the computer the case and all of this. what type of legislation? what type of changes could be put into effect because of this? >> what we need to do is step up and start protecting our children. so when you go into court and ask your expert your child

social worker your division of child services do you think visitation should continue and they say no and you give the children over something needs to be done about that. >> thanks to my guests. next up a troubling trend making headlines. moms drunk behind the wheel with their children strapped in the backseat. we're taking a closer look three minutes away. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes?

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41-year-old emily lee is accused of driving drunk with who kids many the car. she is one of six georgia moms charged with dui while kids were in the car in the last month. in southern california karen honeycutt got 19 years in prison for driving drunk in a crash that killed her nine-year-old daughter chloe. heifer blood alcohol content was three times the legal limit. 350 foo children die in drunk driving crashes. two thirds in the car of the drunk driver. they are the third leading cause of deaths in kids under 15.

thank you for joining us. first i'll go to wendy. what in the world is going on here? as i read the introduction and all the statistics? >> it is easy to blame moms and put it on individual responsibility and some blame needs to go there. but with we have to look at societal and cultural things. there are a lot of pressures on moms. we are medicated women now. one-third of american women are on a psychotropic medication. i'm concerned that women are pressured to be the providers, protecters and nurturers and look hot like a super model. we have to look at all the factors in all these cases. >> holly you heard what the doctor said. people are medicated a lot and all of those factors. but what about stronger legislation about duis? would that help moms and kids or

change anything? >> it just depends, don. what it will definitely help with is the punishment aspect. if you get stronger legislation and say for instance, make driving drunk with your kid in the car a felony you are no longer looking at a possible 364 days in the county jail. you are going to big-boy court and be sentenced to prison. if those type of people who are drinking and driving are the people who would be deterred by other laws. they are good citizens and don't want to risk that then will the make a difference. but if it doesn't you make them pay a greater price. >> i see barry. you are shaking your head up and down as holly is talking. i think many moms are going i had a couple glasses of wine but you are agreeing with what she says. >> i think there is a misconception that folks who are

caught driving drunk had one too many. the facts don't bear that out. it takes four or five drinks in a two hour period to hit that legal limit. you have had plenty of time to consciously consider your options. your best option if you are going to be driving are simply don't drive. >> what about organizations like m.a.d.d. are they offering things? >> we offer victim services. we have in fact a every child deserves a designated driver kit that anyone can pick up from a m.a.d.d. office. call 1-800-madd-help and we can get this to you. we can help you get the resources you need to try and intervene. >> when a mom gets to court you have seen it. >> yep. >> what happens? for the moms who are watching

out there. just have one with my kid. what happens when they get in court? >> they will tell you -- they might put a lock on your car. you are going to lose your license. i understand there is a lot of pressure but that doesn't mean you get to load your children who have no option and no choice in the have no option and no choice in the matter into a loaded missile basically. when you're drunk driving on the road, the other driver sees you coming, they might have a chance to take evasive action. when you are the 18-month-old strapped in the baby seat in the back of your drunk mother's car, you can't take evasive action. you are going down. and actually shields, the one that we mentioned at the top of the program here, they had to take her 18-month-old out with the jaws of life. >> my thanks to holly hughes, wendy walsh and from mothers against drunk driving, barry

martin. you can go to madd.org. upneck, meet the first cnn hero of 2012. he's sober, having fun and inspiring others to do the same. they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪

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tonight we're honoring the first cnn hero of 2012, an every day person changing the world. his name is scott strobe. after beating his addiction to drugs and alcohol, he used sports to fill the void they left behind. what works for scott is helping hundreds of others stay sober while experiencing a healthy high. >> i get on my bike and go ride up in the mountains. it really just brings peace. in my drug and alcohol use, it was the opposite. i got into it pretty young. by the time i was 15 i was using pretty serious drugs. when i got sober and i lost my group of friends because they were still out drinking and using, i got into boxing,

triathlon, climbing. i had this new group of friends. i had completely redefined myself so i thought how can we give this to other people. i'm scott strode and i want to help people find a better life being sober. we offer about 50 event as week. all the programs are free to anybody that has 48 hours sober. >> looking good, zach! >> you see that you're capable of whatever you put your mind to. we have this common connection so it's easy to make new friends. we do bike rides, hiking, triathlon train, strength training. it really is just a new community of folks to hang out with. >> i'm an example of hitting rock bottom. i had a heroin overdose. they had to jump start me with the paddles. >> roll it over, drill it in there. >> going out biking and going boxing, hitting the bag really fills the void. it's the best sport i can

imagine having. >> we're having fun and we're proud of being sober. so come out and go climbing with us. >> nice guys. keep it up. keep it up. remember, cnn heros are all chosen from people you tell us about. to nominate someone making a difference in their community, go to cnn heros.com. got some top stories on cnn. the violence raging in syria has claimed 46 lives today, just today. 14 victims were in homes, a city pounded by syrian security fors. saudi arabia is preparing a united nations general assembly resolution condemning the violence. >> a close win for mitt romney today in maine' presidential caucuses. he got 39% of the vote to ron paul's 36%. rick santorum, newt gingrich mostly ignored the contest. so now you know. i'm don lemon of the cnn world

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