american people, and if they give you permission, how do you implement it. in that sense, everything you have done has been a preparation for this. >> thank you very much. best of luck. that's all for us tonight. tomorrow, i talk to the author of a tell all, a controversial new book, the obamas. for now, ac 360 starts now. good evening. it is 10:00 on the east coast. we begin with breaking news from mississippi. a judge issued a temporary injunction a short time ago to keep pardoned prisoners behind bars for now, in response to a move by outgoing mississippi governor haley barbour. it outraged victims and their families. hundreds of criminals from shoplifters to rapists and murderers granted pardons. he approved full pardons for 199 people, including 14 convicted murderers. he declined invitation to be on the program. mississippi attorney general jim hood will be on tonight. went to court to block some of the pardons. he says they're a slap to the

face of everyone in law enforcement, he will be with us with jeff toobin in a bit. first, four of the convicted murderers that got pardons were released sunday, according to mississippi department of corrections. one link between them, they all worked at the governor's mansion on a work release program. one of the men is david gatlin. these him there. the shooting victim he left behind and family of the victim that didn't live to tell the story are in a word scared. martin savidge joins me live. martin? >> reporter: it has been a chaotic last couple hours as the legal wrangling is under way to try to bring to a halt in some way the pardon process that was brought about as a result of former governor haley barbour. as you point out, there has been success on the part of the mississippi attorney general. they have that temporary injunction. what that means, those in prison, 21 that have not been released will stay in prison. as for the murderers, they are out, but ordered now to report through department of corrections on a daily basis. but right now, they are still essentially free.

and what that means for the families of victims, they're not going to sleep until those men are back behind bars. i went for a strange drive with randy walker. >> you're feeling the butterflies. >> a little bit. i don't know why. >> reporter: we ended up at a trailer park. how does it feel to be back in the neighborhood. >> it is a little weird. >> reporter: this is where he nearly died. july 2nd, 1993, the same trailer park, that's randy on the stretcher. >> i heard the first gunshot. he stepped up to tammy with her holding that baby in a cradle position, shot her with that baby's head no more than 8 inches from where he shot her, just real close. he came around the edge of the bed, put the gun between my eyes. turned my head sideways, instead of shooting me in the forehead, shot the side by my eye. probably saved my life. >> it was a bloody scene. two people shot in the head.

very horrific. >> got to my mom's house, and she came up to me and hugged me and she said he killed her, tiffany. and i knew immediately that it was david gatlin. >> reporter: he shot his estranged wife tammy as she held their six week old son in her arms. then shot her friend, randy walker. walker survived, ellis didn't. david ruth was the first police officer on scene, and has never forgotten what gatlin did. >> i think he is a barbaric individual to shoot someone like that, especially holding his child, his own child, and him leave that child laying on the floor. >> reporter: the governor saw him differently. the confessed murderer worked in the governor's mappings. impressed the governor. he called him diligent and dedicated. that's not all.

he also cancelled gatlin's life sentence, setting him free. as of early this week, david gatlin, convicted murderer, is a free man. >> a full and unconditional pardon. >> yeah. >> which means -- >> which means he has the same rights you have. he has the same rights i have. >> including to carry a gun. >> yeah. >> do you worry about david? >> yes. >> are you afraid of david? >> i am afraid he will come after my family, randy's family, and like randy says, finish what he started. >> she also fears gatlin will try to contact the son he left in his dead mother's arms, who is now 18, and the family is desperately trying to protect. with a simple swipe of the pen, barbour triggered a strange role reversal. gatlin goes free while his victims say they are now sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in fear, and it is not just gatlin. victims say they have the same fears for the dozens and dozens of violent convicted criminals he turned loose in his last

days, including other convicted murderers. >> how is the state of mississippi better off? how is the country better off? all these guys aren't staying in mississippi. they're going to be all over the united states. >> reporter: do you feel betrayed? >> i feel the system worked for the victims in this family. but i feel that the governor at that time is the one that let this family down, not the system. >> reporter: governor barbour. >> yes. >> in my heart i would like to think he didn't know, because if he did, we've had a monster for a governor, you know, a nonhuman feeling person. >> cnn senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin joins me along with attorney general jim hood. thanks for being with us. the court issued a temporary injunction which you saw it, blocking release of any of the pardoned prisoners until a hearing takes place. is it the sheer number of

pardons you take issue with? other mississippi governors pardoned convicted murderers before. >> that's correct, but in this instance he didn't follow what's required by the constitution. i got out of the courtroom, the court issued a temporary injunction because our constitution expressly says in order for a pardon to issue, the person who is applying for it has to publicize in the local paper for 30 days prior to grant of the pardon. we have already found that wasn't done on many. the court ordered the 21 presently being processed by department of corrections, she has made department of corrections stop processing those until a hearing week from monday. five, four murderers, one armed robber are out and they have to report back to the department of corrections daily. i wish we could have gone out and arrested them, but the law wouldn't allow me to do that on those five. we are doing the best we can there. as far as the other pardons he issued, we have to go through

those to see if there's any publication. >> if there was no publication in newspapers 30 days before, and the folks are out already, have already been released, do you want to -- would you call for them to come back to prison? >> that's correct. they will have to report to the court unless they can show it was published. >> all of the pardons would be null and void? >> right. they'll have to go back and serve their sentence. former governor barbour ran the state and governor's office like boss hog. he didn't follow the law. this is a simple constitutional provision, and governor barbour just didn't even follow it. it is very clear he had to have this information. he didn't obtain it before he signed the pardons, and that's caused a public safety issue. these families are afraid out here, the victims have been through a terrible amount. it is a slap in the face to all of the law enforcement, jurors,

i was district attorney, some he cut loose, haven't had a chance to check the list for those, my former customers i prosecuted years ago. so you know, this is a significant problem, but i think we're going to get a handle on it. i think the evidence we've already seen, he violated the constitution and many if not most of those so-called pardons he gave will be held null and void. >> jeff toobin us with us. >> mr. hood, can i ask about the provision requiring publication in a newspaper of application for a pardon 30 days before the pardon is granted. in your experience has this ever been done, in earlier pardons, earlier in haley barbour's term or previous governors, had this been honored,this requirement to publish news of application for the pardon? >> yes. i mean, when you apply, parole board sends a packet telling the lawyer, whomever wrote the lawyer for you, what you have to do. many of them have followed it, and in fact, you know, just two

years ago because of some of governor barbour's actions, we had to pass legislation requiring him to give notice to the victim and an opportunity to be heard before he issued a pardon. so we passed a law and he signed it, he completely violated that. he never sent information to victims and gave them a chance to respond. so it is apparently something that there again, he tried to rule the state like boss hog and he didn't think the law applied to him. certainly now we are having to clean up the mess he's made. >> attorney general, a lot of folks may not know, you are the only democratic holding statewide office in mississippi, obviously governor barbour is republican. some folks may say your actions are politically motivated. >> no. there are so many upset law enforcement officers that are republicans, this isn't a partisan issue. either you followed the constitution or you didn't. the judge found the constitution is clear, it appears the

governor didn't follow it in many instances. i think by -- you can look at the constitution and you would agree. >> i have to say, i was unfamiliar with this provision. most states, and certainly the federal government, does not have this provision. the president can pardon anyone he wants and it has been controversial. president clinton pardoned mark rich at the end of his term. this requirement is straightforward. you don't have to be a lawyer to understand it. it says no pardon can go into effect without -- >> you think they can be overturned? >> i think they will be overturned unless you can prove the applications were made in the newspaper. >> governor barbour has issued a statement. i want to read you part of what it says. he says, quote, approximately 90% of these individuals were no longer in custody, and a majority were out for years. pardons were to allow them to find gainful unemployment and acquire professional licenses as well as hunt and vote. my recommendation was based on recommendation of the parole board in more than 90% of the cases.

how do you respond, mr. hood? >> you know, the statistics excuse the situation. i am not talking about those that are ill, that we released on medical release or suspended sentences. only ones that we're dealing with are those that got full pardons. i think there's somewhere in the neighborhood of 175 of those, of the 216 total that he issued. so we're going to deal with those on pardons. some may have been entitled to a pardon. i mean, may have been grandfather done things right out there. still have to follow the constitution. the governor didn't do that. he didn't get the assurance that publication was done before he signed the pardons. now you see the results of it. >> jeff toobin, like the man convicted of murdering that woman while she was asleep, trying to shoot the other guy, is this as if that never happened now if he is pardoned? >> that's the thing about pardons that are so

extraordinary. it goes back to before the american revolution. it goes back to the power of kings. it's as if he wasn't arrested. if you are a felon, you can't get a gun, run for office. if you get a pardon, all of that is out the window. you can buy a gun tomorrow, do anything someone never convicted of a crime. a pardon is a really powerful tool. >> mr. hood, there's a long history of convicted prisoners working at the mansion. my dad wrote a book about growing up in mississippi, at that time when i was a kid in '74 and '75, convicts were working in the mansion. do you think this is just because governor barbour met people, knew the people that he felt he would make these pardons? attorney general hood. >> there's a long history of convicted murderers working in the governor's mansion. it is part of the program.

i stayed in the governor's mansion in the '70s once because my dad wrote a book in mississippi under governor finch. do you think this is because governor barbour knew these guys that he decided to pardon them? yeah. i mean, you know, there is a history for that. but you know, you still have to follow the law and you know, he failed to do that, and do it in a proper manner. he had the department of corrections try to publish notices for the five recently released. the ones that worked at the mansion. but they didn't get them done in time. they began publication, one in particular on december 15th, and the governor signed pardons on january 6th. so that's not 30 days. it is out of compliance with the constitution. it is not the convict's fault, but nevertheless, the law is the law and we have to follow it. >> attorney general hood, i will continue to follow it. thanks. jeffrey toobin, thanks. follow me on facebook or twitter. up next, the latest from south carolina. could be the last chance for the rest of everybody else to stop mitt romney. and shadowy super pacs paying for the attack ads. while the election watchdog can't seem to do its job on campaign anything. and the mysterious death of a journalist in syria. nic robertson was there moments before it happened. syria's dictator launches more violence against his people. and check in with isha.

he seemed to be falling asleep in court the other day, couldn't stop yawning. joran van der sloot managed to stay away long enough to enter a plea in the murder case against him. we will tell you about the plea and the case against him. that and more when 360 continues. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] entune mobile technology. ♪ stronger! ♪ stand a little taller [ male announcer ] stay seamlessly connected to your smart phone. available on the reinvented 2012 camry. from toyota. ♪ my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron,

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keeping them honest on the campaign trail. the big reason the republican battle between mitt romney and newt gingrich has gotten nasty, not surprisingly has to do with money, with a system that allows people and companies to donate unlimited dollars with limited accountability and almost no one there to make sure they obey what few rules there are. it is turning south carolina into armageddon. that's where all of the major candidates were. mitt romney trying to make it three in a row after his victory last night in new hampshire. he finished fourth in south carolina in 2008. this time, rick perry standing by his attacks, calling bain investments get rich quick schemes. newt gingrich echoing that, slamming romney in an ad as someone that governored proabortion and quote can't be trusted. for ron paul, came in second, last day campaigning, taking the next four days off. the rest, a nonstop scramble.

to stop mitt romney. last night he talked to piers morgan. >> this will be armageddon. they will come in with everything they've got, every surrogate, every ad, every negative attack. at the same time, we're going to be basically drawing sharp contrast between a georgia, reagan conservative and massachusetts moderate who's pro-gun control, pro-choice, pro-tax increase, pro-liberal judge, and voters of south carolina have to look and decide. >> see all of that interviews on piers morgan tonight. those ads are the kinds that tore him to pieces in iowa and bought and paid for by a super pac for mitt romney. restore our future. spent $4.5 million on anti-gingrich mailings and advertisements since beginning of the election cycle. before you feel sorry for speaker gingrich, the super pac supporting him, winning our future, hopes to spend $3.5 million in south carolina, including a half hour documentary titled when mitt came to town, running infomercial style on local

stations. super pacs are new things, product of a supreme court ruling that allows people, corporations, labor unions, anyone to make unlimited political donations. super pacs and campaigns aren't allowed to collaborate, but restore our future is run by old friends. while gingrich rails against fat cat donors, his pac has a billionaire, sheldon adelson. he has written winning our future a $5 million check. it is difficult to know who is donating what. they require super pacs disclose donors monthly or quarterly. many timed it so they won't have to name names until the end of the month. by then, the race may be close to decided. keeping them honest gets worse when you look at the federal election commission. a coalition of watchdog groups is going after it. the fec is without question one of the most dysfunctional agencies in the federal government.

this from a letter the group sent to president obama last spring. they say it is unacceptable the only agency charged with enforcing campaign financing rules on our nation's highest elected official is largely awol. here is why. it is split three to three, each are appointed by party leaders. that political deadlock stopped a number of potential investigations recommended by nonpartisan fec staff from going forward. prevents them from revamping rules to take the new super pacs into account. the house held hearings on the fec dysfunction last fall, but only lasted one day. members only questioned the six fec commissioners, not outsiders that may have more ideas. joining us to talk about that and the free for all in south carolina, ari fleisher. and cornell belcher, and erick erickson.

erick, the rules state super pacs can't have contact with campaigns or the candidates. is there any chance that someone like this guy sheldon adelson would fund a 27 minute anti-romney film if newt gingrich didn't want him to do it? >> probably not. they take their queues from candidates on the campaign trail. i think the issue of money and politics is overwrought by a lot of people. most voters don't care. the adds come one way or the other. the only thing sillier getting money out of politics is assuming we're going to have peace in the middle east. >> it might hurt romney. could it end up hurting gingrich as well? >> i think the bain attacks are going to hurt newt, could also hurt romney. there's a rally around romney because attacks on bain are seen as attack on profit and loss and that which makes capitalism work. job creation work. i have to remind everybody. the reason we have super pacs is campaign finance reform.

the parties used to basically be the policemen, and they were unheard of when the parties were in charge. they banned soft money and money flowed elsewhere, where? to millionaires with the money. >> cornell, isn't there a chance bain attacks may be coming too soon from a democratic perspective? with all the coverage, they might be old news to voters by the time the general election hits? >> no, it reinforces a narrative that will happen anyway about sort of, you know, in perry's words this vulture capitalism. so from a democratic stand point, you know, they can't come soon enough. it doesn't stop what we're going to do. still going to follow this narrative about whose side mitt romney is on. i think it is interesting that republicans are now sort of latching onto that populism. if you look at a state like south carolina, twice the unemployment as in new hampshire, more downward scale,

you have that populism strain there i think is a place where a perry or newt can take advantage. you see a main street grass roots conservatism versus wall street conservatism that says you can't question authority and can't question the rich and powerful. it is an interesting divide in the republican party and i think perry and newt are crazy like foxes to go after it. >> are you surprised the field is this crowded, that everyone got a ticket out of new hampshire? >> to a degree, i am surprised by huntsman moving on. i think what a lot of people miss, anderson, is this year isn't like prior presidential election seasons because the republicans changed the calendar. up until about april 3rd, pretty much all of the delegate races are proportional. it isn't until april that winner takes all. someone could ride the wave and

try to -- 60% of delegates for the convention aren't decided until after april. a lot is up for grabs. we picked 2.01% as of yesterday. >> but south carolina, that's the last retail politics stop before florida. florida, you need big money. >> and south carolina is not even retail any more, anderson. this is ad wars. we are at the phase where the old fashioned tv campaigns and show up in the state to get on tv. iowa and new hampshire are over. each candidate is hoping to be the last man standing because mitt romney is vulnerable if someone can get him one on one. i think newt is the only one left that has a chance and he has virtually no chance at all. i am shocked huntsman is staying in. he looks like he could be dressed in a red sox uniform in the bleachers at yankees stadium. that's how much he fits into south carolina. his base is not a republican base.

rick perry isn't doing well, he is not credible. rick santorum, i don't see him having the money and credibility. that's why it comes down to newt and sheldon adelson. newt gingrich could be the last one standing, get him one on one. because of proportionate rules, it could go a long way. newt has to decide it. he can do tremendous damage and never win the presidency. he has to make a judgment call what does he want out of being in this race. does he want to take down the likely nominee and hand the election likely to barack obama or stand in and make a point. >> cornell, the fact that romney is doing so well in south carolina, in a state of conservative voters, does that surprise you? does that concern you as a democrat? >> no. 3,000 were killed by drug violence, according to new data by the country's attorney general that said numbers showed

the rate of killings is slowing. joran van der sloot pled guilty to all charges against him in the killing of a peruvian woman, then apologized. the 24-year-old dutch man will be sen tansed friday. he faces 30 years in prison. his lawyer asked for reduced sentence. food safety officials are testing shipments of imported orange juice for traces of fungicide. officials say they learned a juice company in brazil found low levels of it in the juice. the company hasn't been identified. and anderson, try to wrap your head around this. an international team of astronomers calculated that on average there's more than one planet per star in the milky way. that adds up to a grand total of about 100 billion planets in all. findings were published in "nature." >> when i think about that, the size of the universe, my head explodes. >> you have a pretty head. >> i can't wrap my head around it.

>> keep your head as it is. >> it is crazy. it will drive you insane to think about it. >> so let's leave it there. >> i don't know. i was thinking about this the other day. really, anyway. >> you were? after breakfast you were thinking about this? >> i was worried about the ever extending universe. >> that's what's keeping you up at night. we will check back with you later on. how many delegates did mitt romney win, and how many came out to vote. will it mean big turnout for the republicans this fall. john king crunches numbers for world politics. inside syrian chaos after mortar strike in homes. a french journalist was killed. nic robertson was nearby and he joins me ahead. [ male announcer ] lately, there's been a seismic shift

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raw politics. new numbers. cnn predicts mitt romney took seven of new hampshire's 12 delegates with 39% of the vote. ron paul picked up three, huntsman two, leaving gingrich with none. you need 1144 delegates for the nomination. for the number of voters, it was a record. not by much. the question, does the turnout in new hampshire and iowa signify success for republican candidates this fall? john king has more. >> there were two contests into the republican race. one of the big debates in american politics, are the republicans showing the necessary intensity to beat

barack obama. let's look at the iowa caucuses and republican turnout there. if you look from 2000 to 2008 to 2012, numbers go up, but democrats look at that compared to that and say that's not so great. if you want to beat our president, you need more excitement and more passion than that. republicans say see you in november. new hampshire, the same conversation after last night. again, look at the statistics. in 2000, 2008, 2012, sure, that's a new record, republicans say. democrats come back and say a lot of those voters were independents, a record number of independents voting in the republican primary. they say republicans shouldn't be proud about that number. where do you go next? south carolina. this will be a red state in november by all accounts, but will we see republican intensity. the 2000 number was not matched in 2008. turnout went down. what will we get in 2012? that's the question we'll answer in ten days. among factors there, look at this. darker the area, higher the number in this screen of voters that are evangelicals. are they excited about the possibility of a romney nomination?

excited about the possibility of stopping him? we'll watch that vote. another vote, strong tea party state in 2010. darker the area, higher the percentage of tea party voters, will they come out. south carolina will add to the debate about republican intensity. but republicans say democrats are overstating any problem, and the reason they say that is look at this. a new poll in florida just today, despite all of this conversation about intensity, shows governor romney in one of the biggest fall battlegrounds ahead. statistically in a dead heat with the president of the united states. the cbs news poll, romney and obama, romney slightly ahead. that's a dead heat. republicans say maybe we have room to improve, need more passion and intensity, but at this point in the race, if romney is the nominee, we would be in pretty good shape. they think if any republican could beat him, numbers would look similar. this debate will continue from now until november.

>> john, stick around. i want to bring in gloria borger. you saw what john outlined. if romney can harness anti-obama intensity, will that be turned game over in terms of the primary? >> it would be important for him. intensity is what mitt romney has never had before. voters in the republican primaries and caucuses have been looking for the anti-romney. and what we saw in new hampshire was 61% of the people that voted said you know what, it would be fine if mitt romney were the nominee. if he can finally focus that intensity and get people enthusiastic about his candidacy, he is on wait to the nomination. >> as long as santorum and gingrich and perry split that other vote, romney has to feel secure. >> feels secure in getting the nomination. still underscores the challenge of unifying the party going ahead.

doesn't have the ring to no drama obama in the last campaign. but he is a no drama candidate. he likes to stay calm, be cool, collected. you have an evangelical base, tea party base that's anti-obama. they want more red meat, more passion. they don't see it in romney, plus they have policy questions. a fractured field in south carolina helps governor romney. if he wins there, then he has to go on, the exclamation point being florida. there's a challenge for those not for him now to be there for him in november even if they have reservations. >> gloria, how important for the romney campaign to advance this inevitability? >> i don't think that's what they want to do. that never works. hillary clinton was the air of inevitability, it didn't work out so well. it is generally the media that makes a candidate inevitable. we tend to talk that way. what they want to advance is the notion of electability. if he goes up against barack obama, he can beat barack obama,

and his challenge in terms of enthusiasm is to get those people that really want to beat barack obama enthused about mitt romney, if he is the nominee, his vice presidential nominee and get them out to vote. john mccain had to pick sarah palin to get the base to turn out at the polls. >> you mention polls show romney doing well against obama in florida. we all remember the 2000 election in florida, obviously crucial. what do the numbers tell you? >> the numbers are more reflection on a vulnerable incumbent. he will be able to raise money, has a great campaign team. not having an opponent allows them to watch the republican race and learn valuable lessons. but he will be running with unemployment in the ballpark of 8%. as we have this conversation if it is romney, make it a capital i-f, see what happens, say some tea party voters and evangelicals stay home. republicans argue guess what, maybe african-american turnout

won't be as high because it won't be a history making election. maybe latino vote is down or republicans get a slice of that. maybe some liberals don't like that gitmo is open or his record on gay rights. maybe democratic turnout is down. as we watch for intensity on the republican side and it is an important conversation to have, there's still a huge question mark come november about intensity on the democratic side as well. >> john king, gloria, thanks. >> sure. two dozen more deaths in syria, including a french journalist at a pro-government rally in homs. nic robertson was there, we will talk to him and find out what he saw next. search for a missing toddler focuses on a river in maine. through diet and exercise, alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. let's fight fat with alli. ♪ let8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle -- wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss

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tonight, a new sign of growing danger in syria. the u.s. state department ordered a number of state department employees to leave the country as soon as possible. opposition groups reported 24 people were killed today, including 10 in homs, where a pro-government rally was targeted by a mortar strike. the attack caught on video. take a look. a french journalist gilles jacquier was among those killed

in the attack. he is the first western journalist to die in syria's ten month old uprising. the rally was part of a government authorized trip. after the strike, the scene was chaos. need to warn you, the next video is hard to watch. you see the french journalist's girlfriend rushing to the car where he has been moved. [ screaming ] gilles jacquier was a veteran war correspondent and prize winning reporter. nic robertson was nearby when the mortar hit. he is safe tonight and nic joins me on the phone. you were in homs, left the area less than ten minutes before the attacks happened. what did you see out there? >> reporter: the government minders escorting us said there was a pro-government rally. they told us that they would like us to go in cover, we said we have seen enough government rallies, and as we were driving away from the area, the exact area of the strike where the incident happened where we had been filming in the past hour,

we saw gilles and the other reporters following the small government crowd. less than ten minutes later, we were getting phone calls to say gil and the others were hit. this was an area that just before had been bustling with people. at the time, it was close to the front line. a few minutes to the frontlines. we had seen wounded soldiers were in there in an ambulance a few minutes earlier. >> is it known who is responsible for the attacks, is that even possible to find out? >> i would say it is impossible to find out. the government blamed the opposition. they said the opposition knew that foreign journalists were going there, that's why they targeted it. i can tell you a lot of journalists on the bus with me would question that assessment. it doesn't add up. and it doesn't make sense. we may never know who fired the mortar rounds. >> most opposition groups are desperate for journalists to

come tell their story. >> reporter: absolutely. and only yesterday, the president of syria came on the television and absolutely blamed the very same western reporters who were caught up in that attack today for being responsible for the opposition, for making the opposition bigger than they were. he spent several minutes of two hour speech vilifying western reporters and others. yet as you rightly say, the opposition have looked for journalists like us to come and cover them because their message for the most part is almost impossible to hear and impossible to get out. so it doesn't add up that they would be the ones killing these. >> were you able to go, you're under tight control by the government. you were able to go to anti-government protesters. i want to play a clip of what you saw on the streets. >> reporter: the level of anger and passion here is absolutely palpable. we are just a few miles from central damascus. this is a crowd here -- thank

you. thank you. this is a crowd of perhaps several thousand people. they are putting rocks in the road to prevent the police coming in. >> look at him. 32 years, only because he said -- >> who killed him, who is responsible? >> the government is responsible. >> i am afraid there, when i am talking to you now. why? because i am going to lift this scarf and go into my home and i am not 100% sure that i'm going to be safe because if not today, if not tomorrow, they will arrest me. >> and so many have been arrested. it is amazing people were willing to talk on camera, while admitting they're afraid of what might happen. they know you're under observation. >> you can see the fear in their eyes. they're so desperate to get their message out. they feel they're completely cut off from any means of telling

their story of what's happening to them on a daily basis. we only got into that situation because a couple of arab league monitors went to find out details how the man was being buried in that protest, which was also a funeral, find out details how he was killed. i was told by one of the protesters if the monitors hadn't been there, they would have been too afraid to be out on the street. they were grabbing an opportunity, even though they knew it might cost them their freedom. and this all happened what you saw there, happened just less than 15 minutes drive from the center of damascus. that gives you an idea of what's going on outside this capitol that at times looks fatal. >> you spoke to pro-government supporters also on the street. i want to play that. >> this opposition is not legal. >> not real. >> not legal. >> how do you mean not legal or real? >> i think it is fake.

>> how tightly are you being controlled? >> we couldn't go to homs today, for example, without government permission. and we went on a bus that was organized by the government, and there were government minders with us. they don't interfere and stop what we do, but at the same time, we go to locations of their choosing. we wanted to go to areas where opposition was strong in homs. they wouldn't let us. it is not that we are trying to hide it, they are dangerous areas. we were able to roam around and get to that rally. but essentially the government controls our movement and controls our time in the country. the reason i am talking on a telephone is because they banned us from bringing into the country any live broadcast equipment. they're making it very tough for us to work. our visas short and extending only a short time. they're keeping us on an

incredibly short leash that you can imagine will be yanked if they feel we transgress, i have already been told the lady of administrative information that handles us is upset. that's just another message of intimidation that you have to follow the government line. our reporting will be independent. but that's the kind of atmosphere we work under here. >> nic, stay safe. thank you for doing what you do. nic robertson in syria. up next, latest in the disappearance of 21 month old ayla reynolds. also, why two ships trying to bring fuel to an isolated alaskan town have a tough time getting there. diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback right now, get 5% cashback at gas stations. it pays to discover. [ male announcer ] when kelley blue book's kbb.com gave the 2012 camry a best resale value award, we were delighted. ♪

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>> let's take a walk down memory lane. think back to the first time you saw the shake wake commercial. perhaps you were in your living room and you wondered, is this for real? >> this is a revolution. this is shake weight for men. and it's going to kick your butt. >> you just shake it. back and forth. there's no motor.

no batteries. and you get the results you want. >> i have nothing disparaging to say about the product makers. they had to know. they just had to know that there would be parodies. and oh, there have been some parodies. here's a little bit of one from "saturday night live." >> you never know when it's going to be on. sometimes, you only catch the very end of it. but, now, there is a convenient way to see the shake weight commercial every day. introducing the shake weight commercial dvd. a lightweight dvd featuring the shake weight commercial three times on a loop, then some static and then nothing else. >> oh, yeah, this dvd is great. first of all, you can show your friends that it's an actual commercial. that's kind of cool. >> now, i, too, have been shaken to my very core. watch what happens live. andy and i play a game and

here's what happened live there the final category. take a look. >> camille, anatomy and physiology. show me your best dance moves and i'll award the point. >> they want me to dance? yeah? what am i doing? i don't know, what do i do? >> there you go. [ cheers and applause ] >> she gets the point. thank you very much. >> anderson cooper, show me how to use this shake weight and you get the point. [ laughter ] >> so, camille won the game, but i'd like to think i won on principle. there's just some things i won't do on tv. i won't dance, i won't sing and i won't get tricked into using a shake weight. i will, however, play a shoulder game with camille. how can you not? >> anderson, what has camille tried to